Update... Dec 20, 2007

Good morning, eh!

Well, I am in Toronto… “my country away from my country”. It really has become like a second home to me now. I walk into the hotel and the people know me, I walk into the Tim Horton’s (the Starbucks equivalent in Canada) and they know me, I walk into Boston’s Pizza (we only eat dinner there or at the hotel) and they know me… by the way, if you are ever at the Boston’s in Mississauga ask for John, tell him Martha sent you and he will take care of you. I am really starting to know Canada. I know to stay clear of the Mexican food. It is ridiculously bad. The Italian food isn’t good, but isn’t bad… stay away from the tomato sauce dishes. My advice… eat at Wendy’s it tastes the same everywhere!

This is the last “update…” of 2007! I can hardly believe that the year is coming to a close. I can hardly believe that 2008 it staring me in the face. I am excited for the new year, I am excited to see what it brings and where I go from here. 2007 has been a great year for me, it truly was the “Year of the Martha”. I had a lot of good things go on with my career (some bad, but who remembers those?) I have made some great new friends and even gotten closer with some current friends. I have made some amazing memories this year, many of them documented in the “update…”. I think that my favorite memory this year is the trip to New York for my sister’s birthday. I have been to New York many times, and I really love the city. But this trip was so different for me. I had never been to the Big Apple with anyone from my family, and let me tell you that was the ingredient that made that trip one of the best. I have to admit I love my mother, my sisters and my aunt, but more importantly I really like them as well. I like to be around them, I like all of the laughter and all of conversation. The trip was fabulous, and there are a few things I will never forget. I will never forget getting into a limousine to get from the airport to hotel and then back again… how Vegas were we? I will never forget how Mary Pat looked in her sparkly new diamond earrings or how she complained about not wanting to go to high tea and then loved it! I will never forget how iceberg cold it got on the top of the bus during the night tour. I will never forget the “wild card” meals. I will never forget the 813 times that my sisters and I had to stop and wait for my mom and aunt to catch up. I will never forget how the trip seemed to be literally charmed… I remember walking into Angelos and the place was packed, our reservations weren’t for 15 minutes and so we thought we would belly up to the bar, and we did only to find that that were exactly five seats at the bar, and it was like they were literally waiting for us. It was the highlight of my year and I cannot wait to see what happens next year. But let me share one last story to close out 2007.

Now, the one thing that has been told to me by a few people that are close to me… is that they are careful what they say and do around me for fear that it might end up in an “Update…” and I have to admit I can understand the concern. I can understand it, but it doesn’t deter me in the least. I actually doesn’t really even enter my mind as I sit down to type.

This last story isn’t about me. It is about my nephews… Mason and Mitchell to be specific. Mason and Mitchell live in the Phoenix area with my twin brother and his wife. They are eleven and eight respectively and are really coming into their own with their own ideas and own agendas. Unfortunately these two kids have not yet learned that communicating these ideas and agendas is really to their benefit as it is much as it is to those they live with. So, let me set the stage a bit. My brother works for Wendys as a district manager, in his own words this is the “hardest job in the company”. My sister-in-law Mendy has been promoted to manager of her group which makes the helmets that infants wear to correct skull formation problems. Mason and Mitchell both attend Montessori school that is located more than 45 minutes away from their house. They live in a two story house where all the bedrooms are upstairs, and where every morning is a race to get out the door.
A couple weeks ago my sister-in-law is getting ready to walk out the door, put the kids in the car, race them to their school, and then speed to work in order to start her day filled which had a “to-do” list that seemed endless. So, she grabs her purse, grabs her car keys, and the kids are parading out the back door into the garage. Mason stops and says “Mom, our Christmas dinner is tonight and I signed you up to bring stuff!” Mendy, a veteran at this sort of thing by now, calmly says “Ok, what do I need to bring?” Mason looks at his mother without missing a beat and says “Lasagna for 80”. It was amazing the matter-of-fact tone he used to drop this bombshell on his mother. This kid had never breathed a word of this to Mendy, she had no idea it was coming… and he what did he sign her up for? Not drinks… not chips and dips… not even dessert… but “lasagna for 80”. I am sure the words were still hanging in the air when she finally regained consciousness. She looked at her beloved firstborn and said “No way! Mason, first of all, I don’t even make lasagna! Second of all, I am leaving for work there is NO time to make LASAGNA for EIGHTY!! We are not doing this”. She takes the bull by the horns and calls the school to verify, and yes, Mason had signed her up for that. What was this kid thinking? She told the lady that her son had not informed her of this ahead of time and that she was not going to be able to whip up a steaming hot batch of lasagna for eighty before the dinner started. She told her “Look, I cannot bring lasagna so what else can I bring that I can pick up at the store”… the settled on something and catastrophe was averted. Now, the one thing you can take away from all of this is to go ahead and tell you kids every year when the school year starts, “if you are ever asked to contribute to a pot-luck party… remember, sign me up to bring the paper plates!”. You have to preempt those sort of things.

Now you would think that the lesson was learned, that Mason would think from then on… gee, if I need my mom’s help on something I should tell her in advance. Oh no, not my nephew… he takes after his dad! This may be a boy thing, I am not sure. Last Monday or Tuesday (cant remember which) Mason wakes up and tells his mother “Oh my gosh! We have to leave early I need to go to Target!!!” Mendy, still a pro, calmly asks “What do you need to get at Target”. My nephew then proceeds to tell her that it is “secret Santa” day and that he needs to bring a ten dollar gift, and of course he doesn’t have one yet, and he needs it TOOOOO-DAY! So, Mendy puts her morning into overdrive. She tells Mitchell, Mason’s brother, that they need to leave early so he has to hustle. They are all racing through the house, oddly enough they looked like they were on one of those time-elapsed videos, you know everything is really choppy but moves ten times faster. Anyway the zoom out of the house and Mendy makes gets them all into Target in time for Mason to shop for his secret Santa gift. Mason is a slow shopper and he is doing his due diligence and trying to pick a ten dollar treasure that will be the most popular gift! Mitchell is standing by watching him shop, and getting more and more frustrated… finally he cant keep it in any longer. He looks at his brother and says “You are wasting MY time”. Mason is a little shocked and says “What?” Mitchell persists, “You’re wasting my time! This is my time and you are wasting it. I could be watching TV or eating my breakfast or just relaxing and you are wasting my time!” Mason, tries to get something out, and Mitchell cuts him off and says, “When we have to come here tomorrow to get MY gingerbread stuff for school, I don’t want to hear any complaining from you!” Mendy about falls over, “WHAT?!?!?! You need gingerbread house making supplies for tomorrow and you weren’t going to say anything? We are here!!! We are getting it now!” She marches this kid over to the baking aisle and gets the supplies. Can you believe that? He was going to wait until tomorrow to lay that one on his mom! I love this. The irony in that is just so amazingly thick, and these kids are just so incredibly funny.

That does it for and for the year! Hope you all have a fantastic holiday season…

Peace, love, and lasagna for 80!
Martha