Laugh Often & Much: Invite Stupid Over. She Makes Snow Angels Too!

Step, step, step... Happy Sunday! Kate came home this weekend! I attended a bridal shower for my cousin Laurie Hart in Bayonne; and Colleen was working in New Jersey this week so she made her way to Pt. Pleasant. So all-&-all, I'd say we had a ball! Ut oh - I had only a little time for my Virgin HealthMiles GoZone steps during this busy weekend, but I learned that "laughing often and much" is as good for our health as stepping!

On Thursday, February 4th, my Harry left for Las Vegas to attend our niece Jennifer Ferguson's wedding. She got married to Ian David Tate and word is a splendid time was had by all! As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, Scott was supposed to have his BIG All-Shore Concert event on that same Saturday, so I stayed behind in New Jersey to cheer him on. In the end, the concert got cancelled due to a giant snow storm that dumped 18 inches of snow in our front yard and 26 inches of snow in the backyard. If you think that's impressive, my sister Maggie & her husband Paul had 36 inches in Aberdeen, Maryland and Cousin Sheila & Jeff had 5 feet on their deck in Clarksville. Let me warn you, if you try making a Snow Angel in snow that deep, you risk not being seen again until the spring! And I know this for a fact because 25 years ago I made 100 Snow Angels at the Utica, NY home of Katie and Tom Brusgard to honor the birth of their beautiful daughter Jennifer while we celebrated her christening! There had been a blizzard and with 40 guests cheering me on, I almost didn't make it out of their backyard!!! Uncle Chris decided I was crazy that day and the rest - as they say - is history...

Following the daily routine of the Ferguson Family commuting car that takes me to Jersey City and Harry to New York City Monday through Friday is a little bit like watching a clip from "Driving with Miss Daisy." Yes - I admit it: I've got it pretty darn good! My Harry clears a path in the snow for me, heats up the car to a perfect temperature, throws my morning newspapers on the passenger side, stocks up on bottled water so there is no chance of dehydration if we get stuck on a highway and then he gives me the signal that the coast is clear to hop in for our 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive to work.

We then make our way to 7-11 to grab some fresh brewed coffee and the Wall Street Journal and away we go... When we get to Jersey City, he usually pulls the car to the curb (as close to the front of my building as he can get), let's me hop out and then he makes his way to the Parking Garage at the Newport-Pavonia Path Station. After he parks the car, he still has another half hour ahead of him as he makes his way across the Hudson River by ferry or underground tunnel and FINALLY across the Island of Manhattan to get to his NEW & FANTASTIC job at the United Nations, where he manages Website Marketing & Communications for the Global Finance Team at UNICEF.

Something happened this month that helped me realize that it's time to admit that I've been very pampered and spoiled with this unique travel arrangement. Some would say, "I got a little lazy..." I dropped Harry at Newark Airport for his trip to Las Vegas on Thursday, February 4th. The next day - Friday, the 5th - I had to get myself to work! Oh my gosh - by the time I was done doing everything he does for me in Pt. Pleasant and after navigating through 60 miles of those cell phone, texting maniacs and makeup-applying speedsters that nonchalantly run those of us paying attention off the road at every mile marker - I got to work an hour later than usual and a tad disheveled. That night I barreled into Pt. Pleasant at 8:30 p.m. just as the Nor'easter Snow Storm was making its way into town.

When I pulled in the driveway, I decided to take a cue from my neighbor and FRIEND - Ray Pell - by pulling the cars out of the driveway and backing them in so both cars would be close to the road facing outward. When I jumped out of the car, I dropped my briefcase on the lawn; emptied our mailbox and rushed Friday's mail and my favorite local newspaper - The Ocean Star - into the house; I ran back outside, opened the garage and retrieved the snow shovels so they would be within my reach after the big storm... and I thought I was set. I felt remarkably prepared.

For the last 16 days, I've been looking for my briefcase; for the first few days it was actually a frantic search - to say the least - since my work ID, calendar items and my extra reading glasses were all inside! Do you think I'm kidding? When Aunt Mary Gunsiorowski and Aunt Mary Brusgard joined Harry and I at the Dublin House in Red Bank for a quick dinner before Scott's rescheduled All-Shore Concert on Saturday, February 13th, they both had to read the menu to me!!! Today is Sunday, February 21st and I found my eye glasses.

For gosh sakes the briefcase was buried in the snow under our basketball net to the right of the driveway. When the snow melted, the darn thing was exactly where I set it down when I arrived home on THAT Friday - February 5th - when I was in my little frenzy without my Harry to prepare for that darn storm.

No worries - I'm sure my Aunt Marie is smiling down on me today because she would expect nothing less than a story like this from someone who doesn't even know where her water heater is! But to my earlier point: Stop making Snow Angels when the snow exceeds 12 inches OR use a buddy system. We don't want to be finding any cousins on our front lawns in the Spring!

Best regards,
Everybody's Cousin Tish
Score: 16/51

TWO Quotes of the Day: Okay - I admit it: #2 is more appropriate for today's blog entry!

1) “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

2) “It is one of the blessings of old friends (and cousins) that you can afford to be stupid with them.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson