roll out the barrel
It's a gorgeous fall day in New York City but unfortunately, I'm not out taking advantage of it. I was gone most of the weekend and had to come back home so that I could do some work today. This past week was rather trying in the workplace so I just spent a few hours getting caught up. I got a nice chunk done but I think I'll have to go in early tomorrow to get a head start. Pardon me while I laugh uncontrollably at my own naivete. Me up early? HA HA HA.
I'm so happy that the weather is turning brisk. I love October -- post-season baseball, my birthday, crunchy leaves under foot, pumpkin-flavored stuff, autumn color schemes and the appropriate weather to showcase my rather large sweater collection. I'm not really a fan of football but I have the Jets game on in the background because it just helps further the fall-like feel. It's the perfect soundtrack to the season.
I spent the past two days in NJ hanging with my niece and my oldest sister and brother-in-law. I arrived at their house late Friday night to find my niece's stuffed lion named Bushy on my bed "to help [me] sleep." She's a punk but she can be so incredibly sweet at times. I woke up yesterday morning to find Bushy right in my face making my nose itch. The niece thought that would be the appropriate wake-up call. She giggled as I opened my eyes and rubbed my nose. She then proceeded to chirp away -- without pausing -- for a good 30-45 minutes straight. She covered a variety of topics including different types of pumpkins, what she learned at gymnastics class, the roster of her classmates at school and some other stuff I don't recall/couldn't comprehend.
In the afternoon, I took her to my friend Filomena's shop to get her fitted for a velvet-y cape to complete her Snow White Halloween costume. Sweet Filomena was so incredibly patient as the niece manhandled EVERYTHING in the shop and fidgeted during the entire measuring process.
After that, we went to a feast sponsored by my niece's school where I ate enough pizza, pasta and pierogies to ensure that my recent weight loss was only a temporary thing. It was cold and damp outside but the event still had that nice autumn feel to it. Even better, I saw a bunch of people I know and had a great time catching up with them in between stuffing my face on a gusty day.
My sister's friend was there with her two children who were both recently diagnosed with autism. The younger girl has the more severe case. Her older brother is delayed but he's a lot more functional. I asked how the two kids got along and the mother said, "They don't interact with each other." That just broke my heart. I knelt down and looked at the little girl in her stroller. She's got enormous blue eyes and the chubbiest cheeks ever. It's hard to resist the urge to pinch them and smother her cute face with kisses. But she and her brother don't like people touching them. He talks and socializes with others but she just stares off into space. My first impulse was to feel sad for her but then I saw her occasionally smiling at her own thoughts. She doesn't talk at all but she keeps herself amused with a series of grunts, hums and the occasional raspberry noise. Much to my delight I discovered that she's ticklish. Getting a smile and a giggle out of her was a major accomplishment. The expression on her face was the greatest gift I got all day. She later took my hand and let me put her on a playground slide. It was quite funny because she just went limp and slid down very business-like. No whee sound. Nothing. She just laid there afterwards looking around sort of like, "That's it?"
The boy reminded me of my cousin Gregory. Gregory has Down's Syndrome and is the biggest mush, both in body shape and in deed. He throws his arms around people and hugs them with all of his might. He's so completely lovable and well-meaning... even though he tends to knock people down with his unbridled excitement. The little boy yesterday was the exact same way. When my niece climbed a rock wall, he squealed in delight and congratulated her heartily. He offered the same praise to all the kids around him. His heart is just huge and he runs around trying to share it with everyone. He crashes into people left and right but it's part of his charm. I saw him bolt off at one point so I chased after him to give his frazzled mother a rest. As a result, I ended up dancing with him to polka music as his chosen route was right across the dance floor. When I caught up to him and took his hand, he immediately started dancing to the music. Who was I to leave him hanging? So we whirled about for a few minutes before he was on the move again.
It was only a brief bout of polka-ing but it was enough to rekindle my relationship with Bobby Vinton. Yes, he's a regrettable crush looks-wise but there's no denying that he has a very pleasant singing voice. I defy any of you to not tap your toes to the "Beer Barrel Polka." It can't be done as far as I'm concerned.
I'm so happy that the weather is turning brisk. I love October -- post-season baseball, my birthday, crunchy leaves under foot, pumpkin-flavored stuff, autumn color schemes and the appropriate weather to showcase my rather large sweater collection. I'm not really a fan of football but I have the Jets game on in the background because it just helps further the fall-like feel. It's the perfect soundtrack to the season.
I spent the past two days in NJ hanging with my niece and my oldest sister and brother-in-law. I arrived at their house late Friday night to find my niece's stuffed lion named Bushy on my bed "to help [me] sleep." She's a punk but she can be so incredibly sweet at times. I woke up yesterday morning to find Bushy right in my face making my nose itch. The niece thought that would be the appropriate wake-up call. She giggled as I opened my eyes and rubbed my nose. She then proceeded to chirp away -- without pausing -- for a good 30-45 minutes straight. She covered a variety of topics including different types of pumpkins, what she learned at gymnastics class, the roster of her classmates at school and some other stuff I don't recall/couldn't comprehend.
In the afternoon, I took her to my friend Filomena's shop to get her fitted for a velvet-y cape to complete her Snow White Halloween costume. Sweet Filomena was so incredibly patient as the niece manhandled EVERYTHING in the shop and fidgeted during the entire measuring process.
After that, we went to a feast sponsored by my niece's school where I ate enough pizza, pasta and pierogies to ensure that my recent weight loss was only a temporary thing. It was cold and damp outside but the event still had that nice autumn feel to it. Even better, I saw a bunch of people I know and had a great time catching up with them in between stuffing my face on a gusty day.
My sister's friend was there with her two children who were both recently diagnosed with autism. The younger girl has the more severe case. Her older brother is delayed but he's a lot more functional. I asked how the two kids got along and the mother said, "They don't interact with each other." That just broke my heart. I knelt down and looked at the little girl in her stroller. She's got enormous blue eyes and the chubbiest cheeks ever. It's hard to resist the urge to pinch them and smother her cute face with kisses. But she and her brother don't like people touching them. He talks and socializes with others but she just stares off into space. My first impulse was to feel sad for her but then I saw her occasionally smiling at her own thoughts. She doesn't talk at all but she keeps herself amused with a series of grunts, hums and the occasional raspberry noise. Much to my delight I discovered that she's ticklish. Getting a smile and a giggle out of her was a major accomplishment. The expression on her face was the greatest gift I got all day. She later took my hand and let me put her on a playground slide. It was quite funny because she just went limp and slid down very business-like. No whee sound. Nothing. She just laid there afterwards looking around sort of like, "That's it?"
The boy reminded me of my cousin Gregory. Gregory has Down's Syndrome and is the biggest mush, both in body shape and in deed. He throws his arms around people and hugs them with all of his might. He's so completely lovable and well-meaning... even though he tends to knock people down with his unbridled excitement. The little boy yesterday was the exact same way. When my niece climbed a rock wall, he squealed in delight and congratulated her heartily. He offered the same praise to all the kids around him. His heart is just huge and he runs around trying to share it with everyone. He crashes into people left and right but it's part of his charm. I saw him bolt off at one point so I chased after him to give his frazzled mother a rest. As a result, I ended up dancing with him to polka music as his chosen route was right across the dance floor. When I caught up to him and took his hand, he immediately started dancing to the music. Who was I to leave him hanging? So we whirled about for a few minutes before he was on the move again.
It was only a brief bout of polka-ing but it was enough to rekindle my relationship with Bobby Vinton. Yes, he's a regrettable crush looks-wise but there's no denying that he has a very pleasant singing voice. I defy any of you to not tap your toes to the "Beer Barrel Polka." It can't be done as far as I'm concerned.
posted by curly mcdimple @ 5:47 PM :: permalink :: ::
