We came back to New York two weeks ago. Our housesitters, a French Canadian couple who have been with me since before Tess arrived in 2009, kept the house, the dog and my horse safe and sound for about 6 months 😌, so we've sent them off to Montreal for a little R&R on the two of us 🧳✈️.
The dog,
who didn't seem to know if we'd been gone for 6 months or 6 minutes😆, greeted us warmly🥰.
My horse
gave me a "Do I know you 😒?" glance and went on chewing his alfalfa. "Someone" was apparently expecting a present.🎁🍎🍌🍪🍬💵. Message received😏.
Tess missed the pool🏝️🏊 and the ducks, Homer and Marge.
I missed my car 🚗 and my favorite coffee cup☕ and we both missed the house 🏰 and Tess' "onsen" 🛀🏻🧖.
We decided not to buy the house we looked at in Florida 🌴because when I asked Tess what she wanted for her birthday in July, she finally admitted that what she really wanted, was to go home 🤗. DONE !!! My parents were a little disappointed, but they understood and we've promised to visit them more often and we'll have them here as soon as possible. Mrs. D was a lot harder to convince 😬, but I can be pretty persuasive when I need to be 💐💝💎😉. So, long story short (😆), we hopped the train 🚝 and came home. It's cooler here and we're in for some rain 🌧️ this week. Oh well, it'll be good for the crops 🤨🌾.
I've officially retired, although a couple of clients aren't sure where they're going to go yet, so I'll be helping with the change over the next month or so. A colleague sent me a link that listed PR as one of the top ten most stressful occupations. Thanks a lot, late Uncle Myron ☹️. As a kid, I thought of becoming a doctor 👨🏻⚕️, like my dad. As a teen, I wanted to write the Great American novel📚. During college, I worked summers for my aforementioned maternal uncle at his PR firm. It was exciting and I met a lot of famous, interesting people. (This isn't a kiss and tell, so I'm not going to name any🤐. ) After graduation, I traveled around Europe🏰🏔️🗼🧳 for a year and then came back and joined the firm. Seven years later, when my uncle died suddenly, I inherited the firm and it became my life. I married, became a father twice👦🏻👧🏻, travelled ✈️ too much , worked too many hours💼📱, eventually got divorced🎉, and traded the city 🏙️for the country 🌄 (at least on weekends).
The industry used to be great, but it's seen too many changes. The real stars are long gone, the glamour has faded and moviegoers want more and more of the same violence, profanity, superheroes and stupidity.
Tess and I were raised on the Golden Age of Hollywood🎬 🎩🎥by our parents and grandparents. Back when screenwriters typed something other than slang and four letter words, actors and actresses were talented, good looking and likeable, movie studios were all actual studios with sound stages and backlots instead of independent production companies. A few remain, but it isn't the same.
The studio system wasn't necessarily a bad thing because it kept some people in line. Serious actors didn't kibosh their own careers by ignoring their more experienced handlers to choose schlock over substance.
I was taught by my uncle to take care of my clients, to look after them, to protect them. It's a good practice, but it only works when your clients keep up their side. Creative people are......how can I put this nicely....🤔? Complicated. And when they're also stubborn , foolish, and self-destructive, you spend a lot of time hitting your head against a brick 🧱 wall. Then, you try to mend fences, run interference, do damage control and if you're really desperate to save them from themselves, you force your fiancée (😢) to help you cover for them and you both wind up in Hell 😬🔥!!!
Oh well, all's well that ends well and I'm done with all of that, thank goodness ! A couple more years of that and I would've ended up like my Uncle Myron.🚬💣⚰️
Tess is still making pages for the movie blog and seems to be enjoying it. I'm hoping that when the holidays get closer, she'll come back over here and pretty the place up. Now that we're back home, I'm trying to decide what I'm going to do next, so made a list 📋.
1 Sleep late 🛌🏻, have breakfast🥞🍳🥯🥣.....or brunch 😃, lunch 🍔🌭🥪🍟🍕and dinner 🍜🍗🍛🥩🍣🍝🍛🍧🍨🍦🥧🍰🧁🍪🍷☕.
2 Go swimming🏊.
3 Clean the garage🧹😩.
4 Walk the dog🐕.
5 Wash my car🧽🚗.
6 Hug and kiss My Tess a few dozen more times a day😘🥰🤗.
7 Soak in the onsen🛀🏻.
8 Start chopping firewood for the upcoming cozy Autumn evenings🌋.
9 Dust off the gym equipment and start using it.😆🤞
10 Count my blessings. (I'm moving this one to Number 1). 😉
