VACATION

I know I am on vacation most everyday. I don't count days that the laundry has to be done or when dusting, closet cleaning or floor washing are a necessity as vacation days. Days like today when it is 2:10 in the afternoon and I am only half dressed cause I was really busy doing volunteer work which I love and creating brochures which brings out my artistic side I consider vacation days.

But the real vacation is coming in 5 days. Vegas here we come. I can't explain why I love it so much. It is a different world from the one we live in. I love the sound of the music playing while I'm sitting at the slots trying to win my fortune. Listening to the shout of the people striking it rich. At least that's how loud they yell. I love eating at restaurants whenever you want to. I love the lights, the beautiful art of each and every hotel. I pretend I can afford the stuff in those ritzy shops even though I wouldn't buy most of it even if I was as rich as Oprah. Not a glitzy person. I always feel like I am a different person when I'm in Vegas. And most of all I love spending those lazy, happy days with close friends, sharing time with we don't get much of during the rest of the year.

Although I would probably never need the slogan "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" the idea of knowing it's there is exciting.

So here's hoping I strike it greedily rich but knowing if I don't and if God is willing I'll go back next year and try again. If there are no more blogs from me, I'm traveling the world with all the money I won. I'll call instead.

POLITICS

Most people in this country, or at least the people I know have just about gotten the Presidential election and campaign out of their blood. They have stopped watching most of the political news stations on cable and are able to turn on the TV without hearing about the polls or who is ahead or who won the debate last night. They have stopped complaining about how long the campaign is and how much it cost. But not me. As anyone knows from reading my first blog or knowing me personally I was so involved, election day was a wonderful day for me but Nov. 5th was a punch in the stomach. It was over. My life for the last 2 years as I knew it was over. My political conversations were over. My political social life stopped. I had nothing to do. Most were happy, I was lost. Luckily there was the close knit group who worked side by side for 2 years who understood and felt the same way.

But life has begun again. Oh I kept myself busy. Redecorating a bedroom. Joining a neighborhood volunteer group. Catching up with old friends. And watching political news daily. But now it starts all over again. Not quite so big. There is no presidential elections. All local but that's ok. I will be involved. Tuesday was petition day for the 2010 candidates.

My friend who I worked closely with during President Obama's march to the White House has been hired as campaign director for a gentleman running for congress in a district in Chicago and has asked me if I would be willing to help. Of course I said yes. I said yes because I would help him no matter what He is a good guy, my friend, not the politician. I said yes because I loved doing this before and will love being involved again. And I said yes because I love our city, our country and I feel if you are unhappy about the way things are run then you have to do something to change it. I know I can't change a great deal about the way politics are but I can keep trying. And at my age when you learn about new things, it's a good day. And I am learning new things daily.

YOUR MOTHER'S DAUGHTER

A blog written by my niece sent my mind wandering about my mom. The blog was not about moms, it was about napkins. She mentioned how older folks, especially grandmas always seem to have a tissue, paper towel or something on or near by at all times. As my mother got older, more and more there was always a paper towel in her hand or a tissue in her pocket or tucked into the sleeve of her blouse. My siblings and myself would shake our heads when helping her with the laundry cause 9 out of 10 times tissue that was left in a pocket was spread all over the clean clothes. The problem with that is I find myself doing that all the time. I can't sit at the table without a paper towel in my hand. And yes I do stick them in the sleeve of my shirt.

It's amazing what DNA does for you. My mom was of German heritage and dad Italian. We never mentioned or lived the German part. We were Italian in our actions, food and even friends but as I age I can't go a day without someone who knew my mom say "I feel like I'm looking at your mom right now. You look so much like her." And looks are not the only thing.

I think I am the luckiest of my siblings. Not to brag, or maybe I am, but I think I have picked up some of my mom's best traits. When my first child was starting school there was a parent meeting to get to know the teacher. Talking to my mom that day she warned me, "Don't volunteer for anything". "Sit on your hands." You see she was a doer. She was involved in everything we did growing up. I used to get so mad at my friends as a teen cause they loved her and wanted her chaperoning everything we did. Parties, dances, trips to the beach. Not much fun to have your mom around all the time but really I was proud of her. Needless to say before I left that meeting, I was the room mother, craft helper and anything else they needed me to do and I have been volunteering my whole life. I will join.

I am also proud to say I picked up her crafty talents. She did it all and was self taught. I don't ever remember her hiring a decorator, she did it all herself. Someone asked me how much a painter would cost. My reply was "I don't know, never hired one." I just did it. She never had a lesson in her life in any craft but got a job as a craft teacher with the Chicago park district. She taught herself to design and make her own hats. I never went that far, hats for women went out of style, but I was never afraid to try anything. I love art, crafts and decorating and in my next life I will become a famous designer or artist of some kind.

All thanks to you, mom. And still after 15 years I miss you daily and want to pick up the phone and ask you for help on some project I am working on.