Sights of Summer

It seems like yesterday that a crew showed up at our home ready to powerwash and stain our entire house and deck. It was May 5th, so I greeted the Hispanic crew with "¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!" It was like a scene out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon when there was nothing but silence and crickets. With that, the crew dispersed, pulled equipment out of their truck and started to powerwash our cedar home. In the meantime, I grabbed a cup of coffee and walked upstairs to my home office. It never occurred to me that water may get under the single-pane windows in our older country home, until...I found water all over my desk, company paperwork and my unluckily opened organizer. A little warning would have been nice! Perhaps they were a little disgruntled by my Mexican-heritage-celebration-greeting since I learned later from their boss that they were, in fact, from El Salvador not Mexico, and El Salvadorians do not get along with Mexicans. My bad, amigos. But thank you for the close-up sight outside of my office window when you painted the window frames the next day.

It seems like yesterday that it was June when my fiancé and I wanted to have some part in our kitchen renovation, so we started tackling the walls right away. And, what conveyed when we bought this country home two years ago? Wallpaper, of course! Unlike the other wallpapered rooms, the kitchen was extra special since it had THREE layers of wallpaper. The "copper pot" border and the plaid wallpaper were both easily removed with a warm water/fabric softener cocktail. But, the surprise sight of "strawberry" wallpaper underneath the other two layers was not so easy. It's as if the house was built around this layer of wallpaper! The glue must have been applied during The Last Supper because it wasn't going anywhere - unless it took the drywall with it, and, in fact, it did. We patched and sanded all of these areas prior to painting, but it was nothing like the area we had to patch when we removed the ceiling light. Who cuts a large, rectangular hole into a kitchen ceiling to install a workshop light? Obviously, the previous owners.

It seems like yesterday that the new countertop, ceramic tile floor and stainless steel appliances were finally installed in July. I found myself with the contractors quite a bit to ensure quality work, so this was an opportune time for me to take some photos of the guys. Of course, I had to get a shot of the plumber low-crawling under the dishwasher. Unfortunately, he pulled up his shorts right before I took the shot, so the infamous "plumber crack" is not visible. I apologize. And, what's up with the knee pads? Did he have a volleyball match after work? 

And finally, it seems like yesterday that our home renovations for the summer of 2011 came to an end as we packed up for a much-needed vacation at the beach in August. We rented a home for a week on the 4x4 only Carova Beach in North Carolina (a.k.as “North Cackalacky”). However on the third day, Hurricane Irene forced evacuations along the East coast. We tried to wait it out and push the envelope as long as could, but we finally gave into the mandatory evacuation by day four when: (1) we noticed that the beach was empty; (2) the only vehicles traveling on the beach were trucks carrying plywood for boarding up homes; (3) the Sheriff pulled his truck right up to us as we were walking along the surf and told us to evacuate immediately; and, (4) county officials came to our beach house to make sure that we were packing and leaving the area away right. Geez. Oh, and the fun wasn’t over! We came home to find ourselves without power due to the hurricane. In the dark for almost a week…not a pretty sight at all.

Well, those were my very own “sights of summer”. Now, if you excuse me, I would like to close my eyes and recall my favorite sight of the summer...

 

Hold on! It's fall now, so I would like to switch out my beer for an Appletini.

In honor of Mr. Sam Vitelli

The first day of April marked the 100th birthday for my Grandpap Sam. A centenarian on April Fool's Day...Seriously?...Seriously. Since I live a few states away (and Grandpap has enough slippers to open his own slipper store), I wanted to do something special for him long distance. My Mother gave me the idea of somehow getting at least 100 birthday cards sent to him at the health center where he lives - otherwise known as "the jail", in my Grandpap's own words. [As far as I know, jails don't offer gourmet meals, special events and cute nurses!] I posted my Mother's idea right away on my Facebook page for all of my friends to see, while my sister did the same on her page. Excited responses started pouring in from all of our friends and the cards were on their way to my Grandpap...at the jailhouse.

In the meantime, a friend gave me a couple of other ideas for my Grandpap's 100th birthday celebration: (1) request a birthday greeting from the President; and, (2) have Willard Scott announce his birthday on the TODAY Show. Without hesitation, I was on the phone submitting a request via my congressman for the birthday greeting from the President. It was only two weeks before my Grandpap's birthday and I was well aware that "requests should be received at least six weeks in advance of the event date". But, I still wanted Grandpap to eventually receive the greeting from El Presidente!

Then, I went to work on my email request to Willard Scott for the on-air announcement on the "Smuckers" segment of the TODAY Show. Once again, I learned that I was behind schedule since requests should be received approximately four weeks in advance, but I still wanted to give Grandpap a shot at his 10 seconds of fame on the air. In accordance with the instructions, I submitted: my Grandpap's name, date of birth (of course, this might be helpful), mailing address (1 Prison Lane), etc., along with a recent photo (no black-and-whites from 1911) and "anything interesting about the celebrant". Without a doubt, I thought the most interesting thing about my Grandpap was the fact that he played both the trumpet and trombone in a big band for many years. I remember staying with my grandparents on weekends and Grandpap sitting there at the dinner table with a maroon velveteen jacket, white ruffled shirt, and "Sam" embroidered above the left chest pocket. I stared at my Grandpap and I was so proud knowing that he was a musician, while other grandfathers were most likely sitting at home in their LazyBoy recliners reading the newspaper. So, I hoped and prayed that my Grandpap's interesting fact was enough to get him on the show even if the submission was two weeks behind.

On the morning of Grandpap's birthday at 0830, I tuned into the TODAY Show anxiously waiting for Willard Scott's birthday announcements. One "white-top", two "white-top", three "white-top", four 'white-top", then the jelly segment ended. That's it?...only four birthday announcements?! C'mon Willard! I know that you're busy playing shuffle board at your off-site location in Florida, but you couldn't have squeezed my Grandpap in the announcements?! Perhaps next year...if Grandpap hasn't checked out of the jail. Until then, I'm sending both of my requests to the White House and Willard Scott 48 weeks in advance!

In the end, my Grandpap received a total of 107 birthday cards - seven over our goal of 100! This included a very nice congratulatory letter from Willard Scott and the last item received as #107 was an official White House greeting signed by the President and Mrs. Obama - most likely a stamp, but very much appreciated. My Mother hung every item received on the wall in Grandpap's room (jail cell) to remind him of how much he is loved...thanks to everyone.

My sister and I want to thank each and everyone of you who helped make my Grandpap's 100th birthday so memorable! Hmmm...I wonder if my niece and nephew snuck a file into Grandpap's cake so he could escape from the jail?


Signed,
Grandpap Sam's favorite grandchild,
Jodi...owner of The Simple Laugh (a trendy web store that does not sell slippers)