A Very Little Christmas

By this time last year, Lifelongnewyorker was deep into the blog … much more than lately.  Looking back, I see much discussion of the tree cutting, the decor, the food associated with the holiday, along with some idle thought about what this year would bring. The answer is “Not much.”  To say that our holiday [...]

Lifelongnewyorker Catches Up

Consider this a round-up of odds and ends from the uncharacteristically silent (of late) Lifelongnewyorker. Weather.  Is delightful, thank you.  Today, October 24, it’s 81 degrees and dry.  I’m still hanging around in shorts and t-shirts, the windows are open and a delightful breeze stirs the white linen curtains.  I will enjoy what my mother [...]

A Little Bit of Osage Knowledge

Where to start this tale?      In a car.  Driving down Narrow Lane Road next to the Montgomery Country Club and seeing what seem to be … tennis balls? … moss-covered softballs? … hybrid softballs with neon green tennis ball covers?     No! By Jove, they’re osage oranges, and they are all over the place. So that’s what those [...]

Too Much Drama

Over dinner and a bottle of wine at the lovely restaurant attached to the Staten Island Hilton Garden Inn, Mr. NYer and I reminisced about the last 26 years and 11 months we spent in one house.  We smiled, laughed and got teary remembering the ghastly decor when we moved in, the collection of neighbors, the [...]

Untethering

Where is my tether? I’m referring, of course, to the cord that attaches my Blackberry to my computer and allows me to have Internet access anywhere.  Once we turn in the cable boxes, we’ll need it.  I can’t find it. This is probably the 10th or 15th item I couldn’t find today.  On the phone, [...]

You Can Go Home Again

In a few short hours, Lifelongnewyorker leaves for the airport to go … home?   Well, back to Alabama. During the visit to the real home – defined as any place where Mr. NYer, the two cats, and the Abandoned One live — she has had to hold her tongue a few times and refrain from referring to the [...]

Week One

It’s good to start a new job on a four-day week.  Although I’m enjoying playing the rookie role at the office, I think I’ve had enough crammed into my brain for now. The stuff pouring out of my ears takes several forms.  Each day, I’ve engaged in a sort of one-on-one seminar in the history of [...]

Of fish and Christmas, traditions and change

Do something once, it becomes a precedent.  Do it twice and it’s a tradition, especially at Christmas time.   Lifelongnewyorker knew that the move to Alabama meant that many holiday traditions would change next year, but it turns out the big changes are happening now.  Truth be told, traditions have been shifting — at least [...]

Inside-the-beltway dreams

LifelongNewYorker has been absent the last few days, and apologizes. Four days inside the Beltway has pretty much expelled any sense of real life.  I’ve enjoyed a luxurious hotel room where the government’s buying power reduced the rack rate by a factor of five (which I consider a strong argument for a single-payer health care system …), [...]

The Inspector Calls

Our  prospective buyers came by this afternoon with the Home Inspector.  This is the guy who will look closely at the house and tell them everything that can possibly go wrong.  A bad report can queer the deal; a good one is the first hurdle cleared on the way to a closing. When we bought the house, we [...]