Mike and Marna went down the shore when Mike got home from work today. Mike went to turn the water on. Our house is completely closed up during the winter, no electric, no water, no gas, no phone. We have no heat....it's strictly a summer home, so it takes a bit of elbow grease to get in working order for the summer and even more work to get it closed in the fall.

We needed a new water heater before the water was turned on. We have had the same water heater since 1967. My grandfather built the house in 1926, with no hot water. He wouldn't allow hot water to be put in! He wanted that house the same as it was when he built it. I remember my mother boiling water for the big claw bath tub (that we still have) and boiling water to do dishes. What a pain!!! The outside shower felt very frosty after the beach with no hot water...but we took showers daily. Guess what my parents bought the summer after my grandfather died???? The water heater we just got rid of.

Mike called the plumber.....one we have used for years ......in the beginning of March, giving him PLENTY of time. We usually make our first weekend Mother's Day weekend....before that the nights are usually too cold. We can get some nippy nights after that too....but it's a good benchmark. About two weeks ago we really started bugging the plumber.....he called last Saturday, his stupid supplier sent an electric water heater so he had to wait until a gas one came in. So we finally got the call yesterday that the new water heater was in. The gas company needs 10 working days notice to get the gas turned on....I sent the letter out last Saturday. If it got there on Monday, it will be just 10 working days. I am so hoping they get it turned on by next Friday...if not we will have to wait another weekend and no one here wants to do that!!

Everyone gets excited about going down the shore for the first weekend. We almost count the days once Christmas arrives. On Christmas cards sent to shore friends (90% of whom are only summer residents), we always put something like "Only 5 more months", "See you in May", "Can't wait for May" and they do the same. Mike said neighbors from two blocks down drove by honking their horn and waving out the car windows....they are obviously caught up in the 'time to go down the shore' annual rite, as well.

Luckily the kids get caught up in this excitement as well. They are fortunate enough to have friends on our block. Marna has two year round resident kids as friends and Brody's best friends in the world are summer residents, staying at their grandmother's house all summer. I played with their mother, aunts and uncles when I was little!!! There are other kids who come every summer for a week or two and the kids always look forward to their arrival as well. Our block is unique in that several of the houses have been passed down through the generations (as ours has) and my kids are now playing with the children of kids I used to play with!

Our shore house is so special, not only because of its location, but because of its history. My mother spent every summer of her life there from age 9(except 3 years during WWII, when my father was in CA). I have never spent a summer anywhere else. It is definitely home for me. It's also special because my grandfather built it...every board nailed there was a labor of love. His hand prints are all over the ceiling of the unfinished upstairs where he oiled the tongue and groove boards so they would easily slide together. I love to lie in bed at night and look at them....there is even some of his figuring in pencil on the upstairs wall. My mother told me all the stories of her summers there as a young girl, it is certainly a different town from when she was young. I know the stories so well and have so many pictures I almost feel as though I was there in the 1920's. I have already begun to relate those stories to my kids. I will tell them many times so they too will know them as well as I do and will be able to tell their children. Sometimes I almost feel my grandfather looking down and smiling as he watches his great-grandchildren enjoy his home and the beach he loved.

Another warm day.....not too humid, so I didn't turn the AC on. I was determined to finish cleaning the house (I started yesterday) before noon, so it wouldn't be too hot to stand it. I love the house right after it's cleaned....too bad the kids mess it up as soon as they walk in the door!!! I used to harp on them constantly about cleaning it up. Now I just make them do it before they go to bed. They are more willing to cooperate and I don't have to nag.....it works out well.

Went for my annual pap this afternoon. I am faithful about getting it done, but GAWD I hate it!! I think the worst is waiting for the doctor to come in the room. Sitting there with my little drape on ....with a full length mirror capturing it all for me to see!!! No thought whatsoever was put into the placement of those mirrors...thankfully you can only get a sideview of yourself !! I mean how long do they think a person needs to take their clothes off???? Folding it all in the neat little pile on the chair takes the most time. WHY do we do that? Have you ever seen a gynecologist come in and look at the chair to see if your clothes are in a neatly folded pile?????

Thankfully it's done for another year......

A gorgeous spring day here in South Jersey today. Mike took the top off of his jeep this morning and when he got home from work I just HAD to take a drive. The only time I EVER wear a baseball hat is when I am in the jeep with the top off....I have to, otherwise I wind up eating my hair. Finally found my hat buried in the back of the closet and Marna and I took a ride out on some lovely country roads. It was so much fun! I haven't driven Mike's jeep since early fall. I miss driving a stick shift. It's REAL driving to me. The last car I had that was a stick shift was our '94 Accord Wagon. It is impossible to find sticks on some models...so I have to drive a boring automatic.

Took the kids to the dentist when they got home from school....I noticed Brody's teeth were incredibly whiter after his cleaning.....shows me he is not doing too hot a job of brushing on his own. I told him I would be inspecting his teeth and if they don't pass my inspection they will get a brushing from mom. It will be interesting to see if he believes me......I WILL brush his teeth if I deem it necessary!!

Getting old is so weird! Mike and I were discussing the other night that people you grow old with....spouses, friends, siblings....don't look their age. What I mean is I know Mike doesn't look as old to me as he does to the general population, and I know he doesn't see me as old as the rest of the world. Same thing with our close friends and siblings....we just don't look as old to one another. It holds true when one looks in the mirror, as well. Sure I look older....I can't deny that....but I know I don't look as old to myself as I do to others.......and Mike is convinced he is THE youngest looking almost 49 year old on the planet.

Then today we get our college alumni magazine with pictures of a few people we know. Now we haven't seen these people for 25 plus years..... man, .what a shock!!! They all look so damned old!! Mike, of course, assured me that he looks much better than these guys....but I bet were they to see our pictures they would be just as shocked. They don't have that "familiarity cushion" that helps us look a bit younger .

One of the true gauges of growing older is reading about classmates.....peers....who have died. Mike was shocked to find an ex-roommate of his had died and I found the name of a friend on my dorm floor who had died. Mike and I were both out of touch with these people, but it still hits hard, especially when you remember them as you last saw them, in their early 20's. I feel sure we will be seeing the names of more people we know in the "In Memoriam" section of our alumni magazine. It's just a cold, hard fact of growing older.

Found this link on ChrisC's blog. My results had me LMAO.....What's Your Perfect Car?

Darla, you're a Beater

What do you care if your exhaust pipe drags a little on the pavement or if it takes a few tries to wheeze that motor to life in the morning? The car for you is a Beater, since you don't have time to worry about the quality of your wheels. We're thinking a 1970 Dodge Dart or a 1974 Chevy Nova maybe still painted its original salmon orange or moccasin brown. With over 100,000 miles on that odometer, it's been around the block more times than you can count, and there are some great memories buried in that cracked vinyl backseat. Besides being a testament to your laid back lifestyle, and that ironic take on life, you recognize how owning a beater is a great advantage on the road. Notice how other cars don't mess with you, knowing you wouldn't think twice about ramming them just to make a point. Maybe some will call it an eyesore, but your time-honored ride is just proof of your true individuality.

Came across an interesting site last night. Philly Foods Missing many of these foods is one of the reasons I couldn’t stand living in Virginia when Mike and I were first married.

I went to college in central Virginia, 6 hours from my home in New Jersey. I loved living on campus and accepted that I would have to eat sucky college food, so I didn’t miss my regional goodies during my 4 years there. Living off campus was a whole different matter.

My mother kept the home in which I was raised until I graduated from college. My father died my freshman year and the house was too big and with an acre and a half of lawn, too much for my mother to take care of. I graduated in May 1976. My mother and I immediately went to the shore for the summer and when the summer was over we began our search for a condominium for her to buy in Philadelphia. Her closest friends still lived there and she wanted to be closer to them.

I loved condo hunting! I had lived in the same house all my life, so this was new to me. We finally found a brand spanking new duplex. My mother bought the upstairs unit, her friend from high school bought the downstairs. We moved in December 1976.

My mother’s condo was near the outskirts of the city….not city-like at all. The area was filled with newer ‘regular’ homes and wooded areas. But what I loved about it was that it was only 20 minutes from center city Philly….a far cry from the hour, 15 min. it took me from Jersey. I loved those few months I lived in Philly. There was so much more to do and see…nothing like the rural area I was from. I had spent much of my childhood in Philly visiting both sets of grandparents, but I had never lived there!

Mike and I were married in June 1977. He had been out of college 2 years and had an apartment in the city of our college. In August we left the shore to begin our new life together in Virginia. I loved being married…..but hated being in Virginia. For the first time in my life I had to grocery shopping. There was little in the stores I recognized. Different brands of food and none of the ethnic cuisine I was used to in the Philly area……they didn’t even have delis then!! I had to buy Kraft packaged cheese and Oscar Mayer luncheon meat. This is a CATASTROPHE for anyone from my area!!

And take out???? Forget it!! There was one hoagie place…..it was blasphemous to use the word hoagie….packaged cold cuts and cheese on a seeded (SEEDS on a hoagie roll????) hot dog bun, they had no clue how to make real pizza down there and I swear had I asked for a cheese steak I would have been served a T-bone between two slices of bread!!!

I knew I wasn’t going to like living in Virginia and told Mike BEFORE we were married that I had no intention of spending my life there. Thankfully he agreed and said we would be out of the south within 5 years….he called it the 5 year plan.

Mike realized how miserable I was in Virginia. I was too far from my mother, too far from the shore and the foods I loved……I wasn’t going to make it on grits, black eyed peas and okra!! My mother never made me feel as though I had to live near her, but at the time, I felt obligated since my father was no longer living. Looking back, I now know I needed her more than she needed me.

Mike started applying for teaching jobs in the NJ/PA area. He landed one quickly here in Bridgeton. We moved in July 1978 and have lived in this town ever since. We were living an hour and 15 minutes from my mother, an hour from the shore and I could actually buy what I wanted and was familiar with in the grocery stores! I was a happy little camper and still am…..this has turned out to be a wonderful town, full of small town friendly people and a great, safe place in which to raise our children. Virginia is a gorgeous state, especially near the mountains where we were…..but New Jersey is home.

Brody and I went shopping yesterday. I managed to lose my freaking debit card. Now Mike can add that to his list.....loses keys, credit cards (yeah, I have done that at least twice) and debit cards. I had the debit card and my market card (for those non-clippable coupon savings!) in the pocket of my blazer from the night before. I got them both out before Brody and I left. I put the market card in my checkbook and thought I remembered putting the debit card in my wallet. Brody and I get to Target and it's not in my wallet. I had to write a check. I checked the floor by the cash register, the ONLY place I went into my purse since Brody and I had left the house, it wasn't there Went out to the car, not there. I call Mike on the cell phone to get him to check .....the freaking cell phone goes dead!!!!! Grrrrrrr.......

Never did find the debit card, it wasn't here at home, either. I had to report it lost yesterday and have to call the bank tomorrow. It is driving me crazy that I don't have it. I SWEAR I put it in my wallet. LOL Oh, and the cell phone is recharged!!