🎃🕯️🌜Happy Allhallowtide 🕯️🌛🎃

Lulu, from CreamHeroes on YouTube.

As you may remember, I grew up in Louisiana. As the daughter of a German-Irish Jewish mother and a French Creole Catholic father, my upbringing was a combination of both cultures and religions. My parents respected each other's beliefs and my sister and I were raised to do the same.

Traditions, including holidays, were observed in various ways. For example, Hanukkah and Christmas were equally important in our home as were Easter and Passover. They could have easily clashed, but before they exchanged their wedding vows, my parents vowed to keep their own religions and cultures alive for future generations. They had seen too many other couples marry and have children and discard their own heritage in favor of their spouses, and they and their children suffer because of it. They also wanted their parents to be honored.

I think it instilled a much more open minded view of other cultures and spiritual beliefs in me, and that is always a good thing.

As a child, we celebrated Halloween and the two following days, All Saints Day and All Souls' Day. On All Saint's Day, we visited the cemetery and tidied the graves, put out wreaths and bouquets of flowers and favorite sweets and lit candles.

On Halloween, my parents hosted a masquerade party for business associates, friends and family. I remember the ladies and gentlemen in their beautiful costumes waltzing in the candlelit ballroom. It was like a dream. For years, before I was finally old enough to attend, I watched from the top of the stairs with my nanny, Miss Belle. When the refreshments were served, she would go downstairs and bring up a tray for us to share with dainty cakes and finger sandwiches and ice cream. When we moved to California, my parents were invited to many parties. I went with them occasionally, but it was not the same. Something was missing.

I was never allowed to go trick or treating, so the concept was new to me, when I came to work for My Mr. Cham. Now, he loves Halloween and I love him, so I like to help him to enjoy it. He decorates, buys the treats to bestow on our costumed visitors, chooses our costumes, and makes dinner. I usually assist him at the door and provide the dessert for our post-festivities dinner. He also chooses our entertainment for the evening.

This year, our dinner was Panda Express Orange Chicken, fried rice and egg rolls. 

Dessert was little sweet potato pies with whipped cream. My Mr. Cham is partial to an extra sprinkling of nutmeg.

 I also made a tray of brownies with walnuts, candy corn and pumpkins. 

We did not have any trick or treaters this year, so after dinner we watched the YouTube playlist that my dearest had prepared. All of our favorite animal channels had Halloween videos this year, including Claire Luvcat https://youtu.be/iA8gyRbIR6s

TT, that hat becomes you so!

We also enjoyed this offering from Mugumogo https://youtu.be/E7lhfs3TIFg

Oh Maru, is there a container you have not tried?

And we recently began watching Reachfortheskylar, the first channel I have seen that uses American Sign Language. Terrific! Reachfortheskylar Channel

Our movie was The Most Dangerous Game with Joel McCrea and Fay Wray. https://youtu.be/_DXLTw22HOQ

Old movies are still the best. I have not set foot in a movie theater in over a decade and I do not miss it. Anything worth seeing, will be available on dvd eventually and I am a patient person. Good things come to those who wait. My Mr. Cham is proof of that.

Happy Halloween.

Tess🌷

WHERE AM I ???

         Tess: 🤭Home !

           Me: What day is it ??????

Tess: Thursday.

Me: 😦What happened to Wednesday ???

Tess: 😞 You slept through it.... and Thunderbirds day.

Me: 😃 You're kidding !!!

Tess:  No. 😢

Me: 😬.

My Tess says I was sleeping so deeply that she almost called a doctor. She's said that about 5 times

since we came home. What can I say ? I missed my own bed🛏️. 😁

Hey Kids, 

How's everybody doing ???

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). 😉

🎉🍨🎂🎁😉😊HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!! 😉😊🎁🎂🍨🎉

🎈To our favorite Tracy brother, Virgil. 🥳

🎈(Technically, he wasn't born until 2041, but if we can celebrate the birthdays of long dead historical figures, then what the heck, we can celebrate the birthday of someone who hasn't been born yet 😃.)

So, yesterday,

we had a little party for Virgil.

We had cake 🎂 and ice cream 🍨

Oh my G_d, it was soooo good 🤤!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tess'. She didn't love it.

MINE !!!
(ALL mine)

and watched 🌡️☀️🚀 "Sun Probe".

(Available on YouTube)

It was a nice day.

So, how's

everybody doing?

Taking good care of yourselves?

Good.👍

Oh, I almost forgot......

We also moved 

back to New York😁🙂 🌁🚛🚗 !!!

But, that's another story 😔.

See you soon !!!

(ln less than another 70 days. Promise😉🤞).

Hey Kids,
I know, I know. We've been MIA for  47  days😯 !!! (is that a record ?) Where have we been?

ORLANDO !!!

Mrs.D and Lily recovered from their bout with Bronchitis, but My Tess was still in bed🛌, not eating much and very depressed😢, and we were all pretty concerned. I've been keeping in touch with my parents by phone☎️ and email 💻and they were concerned because they love her too.
My dad is a retired Cardiologist ❤️👨🏻‍⚕️ and my mom is a retired dietician 🍎👩🏼‍🏫and she used to teach pilates classes. They met in college. I'd been planning to take Tess to see her doctor in NY when we're able to travel, but my parents suggested bringing her to see them first, so that's what we did.

My parents live in a senior community in Orlando. It's a great place, really beautiful, everyone has their own yard, there's a lake🚤 and golfing⛳, and there are lots of activities 🕺💃🎥🎭🎾🎣🎨🖌️🎤🎉🎢🛶🚲🍾🛍️🛒💈⚔️, but it's also really relaxing.Tess had never been there before. I told her I wanted to take her there for a change of scenery, but she said that she wasn't fit company☹️ and my parents would rather see me alone. 😄 Silly child.

My Mom: Come for Shabbos!
Me: It's after 4 o'clock.
Mom: Sundown isn't until after 8 now, Sweetheart. You have plenty of time to get here.

So I packed a couple of suitcases,
 👜👜, threw Tess over my shoulder😲, put her in the trunk of the car🚗 😄and drove like crazy😵!

In less than an hour we were sitting on my parent's deck enjoying iced tea and "assorted nibbles", as my mom likes to call them, before dinner.
Tess perked up as soon as she saw the lake (she loves water 🛀🏼🏊🏻‍♀️🧜🌧️🛥️) and the next morning she and my mom started planning a new diet and exercise program for her, while Dad and I went to play 9 holes ⛳ before lunch.
Tess told my mom that she couldn't eat meat anymore🤢, so we're going vegetarian again😣🍍🍊🍓. My
 parents are pescatarians🐟🐠 (mom occasionally eats chicken when🍗she goes to a restaurant) so that didn't seem  odd to them. Tess insisted that I don't have to change what I eat, that we'll work it out, but I felt so good when we went on our "Blue Lagoon" diet on the boat and I lost 11 lbs 😁 and it wouldn't hurt me to lose a few more. Good health is precious and if you don't have your health, you don't have anything. We can abuse our bodies from childhood until our thirties, if we're lucky, but once you hit fifty, everything counts.😞 EVERYTHING !!!

When my mom went grocery shopping a few days later, I tagged along.
I wanted to see what our options were.
Surprisingly, there are a lot ! Tess had been sort of vegetarian when she first came to work for me. I unknowingly ate MORNINGSTAR FARMS CHIK PATTIES as "chicken fried steak" and their SAUSAGE PATTIES in Tess' delicious Red Beans and Rice and loved both of them and I enjoy tofu in Ramen, but beyond those, I wasn't aware of what was new on the market.
Our beloved WALMART carries several brands of meatless "meat" including the aforementioned MORNINGSTAR FARMS, GARDEIN (who has beef,chicken, turkey and deli style substitutes as well as the first pork and fish alternatives that I've seen) and
We aren't going vegan because I'm not giving up eggs🍳🥚, butter, cheese🧀🍕or milk in my coffee☕🥛).

Left to right - Tillamook cheeses don't use animal rennet and they're really good !😋 Mountain High yogurt is delicious !! (We already ate that) MorningStar Farms has a lot of great meat substitutes including chicken, beef, bacon and sausage.  And Miso soup because Tess is still being Japanese. She loved my mom's lucky bamboo plant🎋. Tess' is still in NY.

          Tofu, of course.

GARDEIN makes "fish" and🐟we both love fish and chips, so we'll have to try that next.

There were a lot of other things I know we'll both want to try, but the cart was full of fruits and veggies and herbs, so next time.
I made ramen for everyone that weekend and Tess ate
most of hers. I smothered it with fresh veggies (the ramen is underneath, barely visible in the lower right hand corner). I put it a couple of the new "chicken" nuggets on top to tempt her.

We went swimming for the first time since we left New York and took rides around the grounds in my parent's golf cart (I miss my car 😢) and on one of our little jaunts we passed a house with a FOR SALE sign in the yard.
Tess: (squeals with delight) Oh, how darling!
Me: (slams on the brakes, almost killing both of us🤪)
Tess: Honey be careful, there are senior
citizens here! The sign says 20 miles an hour.
Me: I was only driving 30.
Tess: (looking at the house😍) Isn't it sweet? I wonder why it is for sale.
Me: Because someone's selling it😉.)
Tess: 😞 How sad.
Me: You're missing the house, aren't you ?
Tess:  We lived there for a long time.
Me: Do you want to go home ?
Tess: I should help your mother with dinner.
Me: No, I mean back to New York ?
Tess: We are not allowed to, are we?
Me: If we drove straight through.....Don't you want to go back to your mother's ?
Tess: I suppose we should, but it is lovely here.
Me: 🌺🌴🏝️🏡🐊🐻🐙. Do you want to look inside ?
Tess...........no.

Later, when we were all having dinner, Tess mentioned the house that we'd seen. Mom knew the couple who had lived there. Apparently, they wanted to travel 🛳️so that's why they were selling it.
Me: Tess wants to look inside.
Mom: Why don't you call the office tomorrow and schedule a tour?
Tess: 🙂.
Me: 🤔.
Mom: 😁.
Dad: 🧐.

So we took a tour and Tess fell in love with the house, but we're still thinking about it. We haven't listed the house in New York because of everything that's been happening and to be honest, I'm thisclose to officially retiring and we still need to decide what that will mean to the rest of our life in terms of where and how we want to spend it. We have some serious talking to do.

Two days ago we returned to Mrs. D's and found out that her maid has handed in her resignation and won't be returning (she ran when the 3 of them started coughing). So, Tess has to hire her replacement as soon as possible. It won't be the first time, as Mrs.D is apparently not easy to work for.
I think she missed us while we were gone, because she paid me the first compliment since I have known her.

Mrs. D : You are good for my daughter. (Me:😮) She looks happy again. I think I have misjudged you. (Me:😲)
Me: How so ?
Mrs. D: You are not like your😒.....friend. You are an honorable man. You are a Mensch.
Me: 😊. Thank you! That means a lot to me.
(I felt like Motel,when Tevye tells him he's a person, in Fiddler On The Roof !!!)
Mrs. D: Now, when is the wedding?
Me: 😒. Ask your daughter ! If it was up to me, we would've gotten married years ago !
Mrs. D : TESS!!!!!!!!😠
Me: Oy Gevalt !!! I have to get a front row seat for this !!! 🍿🥤

I'll let you know who won.😉

🎩👒HAPPY EASTER (DÉJÀ THORIS) 🎩👒

Hey Kids !!!
Well, today was Easter. In our house, anyway.
As I'd anticipated, we had to postpone the festivities. Mrs. D and Lily have recovered, but My Tess is still in bed. That cough is stubborn, it's still hanging in there, but so is she. We had another visit from Mrs. D's doctor beau and he says that because of Tess' already compromised immune system, she was hit harder. I'm all too familiar with that phrase. Several hospital coffee machines and I have bonded over the years.

Tess was disappointed and guilty about missing Easter, but she slept well last night and so I decorated her bedside table with a few things I scavenged from the holiday boxes in the garage.

It made Tess smile. That's all I was hoping for.

I made a little basket for her.

Part joke, part necessity.

 and Lily and I made a few things to try and tempt Tess' appetite, which hasn't been very good lately.
The wheezing makes it too hard for her to breathe, but the doctor said she was safer at home and the humidifier he suggested has been helping.
Mrs. D. (bless her heart😉) can't boil water, but she does make a fine hurricane🍹and her table setting skills are stellar, so she went up to visit Tess while the two of us made brunch.

She'd bought these salt and pepper shakers for Tess in Japan, but had mislaid them until yesterday (they were in her hatbox 👒😄)!!!

Chicken Waldorf salad, deviled eggs, rolls, a little fruit and cherry Danish. We had sweet tea, but I forgot to take a picture of my glass☹️.

I told Tess that was me on the left and her on the right. "What is that between us?"  An egg, I said. "Wishful thinking?" Yeah.

The Danish came from Harris Teeter.🤨

The little sweet potato pies were from Walmart. Too hot to bake. It's been in the 80's here (50's in NY). I don't think the ladies are loving this weather. 😥🔥

We watched Easter Parade (1948) and the Easter Parade from Tokyo Disneyland (from YouTube. It was probably 10 years old, but it met the "kawaii" criteria. I don't think I'll ever get that "hop,hop,hop, hop, hop, funny bunny land" song out of my head 😵!!!)

My deviled eggs, not as good as My Tess' 😔.
Brunch was good. Tess ate a little, I ate a lot. Who else is comfort eating ?🖐️ I won't judge. We've had a couple of nibbles on the house, but I'm not in a hurry to sell or even to go up and show it. Our housesitter says the dog is fine, the horse is fine, and the house is fine. I talked to my parents yesterday, they're both well 👍,and they want us to visit as soon as we're able.
Soon, I hope. Priorities #1 Tess, #2 Family.

Summer is coming. ☀️ 😎

💐🐰🐥Happy Easter🐥🐰💐

 💛From the two of us.💛

Hey Kids,
How's everybody doing ?
I thought I was coming down with Bronchitis too, but it wound up that I'd just put too much pepper in my bowl of soup.
 Miss Belle sent us two bottles of her homemade elderberry syrup and everybody has been taking it. Lily is up and on the mend, but Tess and Mrs.D are still in bed.
I made another batch of horehound drops and thanks to My Tess, who always plans ahead, we're doing fine on food and other supplies.
We'd be stuck in a hotel right now,if we'd gone with plan A, but plan B (moving in with Mrs.D while we look for oúr new home) was Tess' idea and she was right. Again. I even think this might be a turning point in my relationship with Mrs. D. who told me yesterday that she appreciated how I've been looking after everyone and that "Tess is right. I have not given you a fair chance." 😲😲😲😲😲😲
Maybe it was the NyQuil talking, but it still meant a lot. 😉
Take care.