Update Vol. X: Visitors and the 4th of July
Greetings all,
It's official - there is a NYC Update Jinx. A few times ago, you read about Hans getting fired, and, well, there has been another downsizing. Mickey Dolens (see Update VII) was recently fired by WCBS, in part because the station decided to switch formats.
We had a few visitors over the past several days, and the house is now in a full state of withdrawal. Soon the wailing and gnashing of teeth will come to a close, as the children realize that being alone with their parents isn't so bad after all. For starters, Jeff, Mary, George, and Jackie Watson stopped by on their whirlwind tour of the eastern seaboard. They need to send out an email of that crazy trip - 11 states in 7 days or something insane like that. I popped an ulcer just imagining taking our three kids on that kind of a trip. They were gracious enough to let Reege and the kids impose upon their hotel pool (remember those days, when you were a kid and the coolest thing in the world was to go to a hotel and swim), and they even let Jimmy accompany them on their trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (as Maggie told me "Dimmy went to the City today"). Needless to say, tears were shed when they departed. Jimmy is a big fan of his first-cousins-once-removed. Reege is a big fan of her husband once he's removed too, but that's another story.
And for the 4th of July weekend, Grandma Watson came to visit the Grandkids. Coming back up from the lows resulting from the Watsons' departure, there was much rejoicing, especially from Maggie who had been talking about this visit since mid-May I think. "Maa-ma comin? In just a minute?" We had a fantastic visit. On Saturday, Grandma, Jimmy, and I took in the local town fireworks. We drove a few minutes to the local grocery store parking lot and had a decent view of the pyrotechnics that were being fired off from the County College of Morris, just a mile or so down the road. What made the occasion so special, was not the revelry with 400 fellow idiots in lawn chairs in the mosquito-ridden grass surrounding the parking lot, or the originality of the fourteenth passerby who was honking from the road as they sped by...no, it was the phone call from Reege about half way through the display to inform us that that the show could be seen clearly from the south windows of our house.
On Monday, Independence Day, we decided it would be appropriate to honor our country. After all, we reside (currently) in our nation's 3rd state, home to important battles that helped secure our independence from the tyrannical King George III. Naturally, we should take this opportunity to....visit the Crayola crayon factory in Easton, PA. Yes, that's right, the spot where over 126 billion crayons have been manufactured, half of which are in our basement in various Tupperware containers. Easton is a nice little Rockwell-painting town about an hour's drive from the abode (and home to Lafayette College, for those obscure sports fans who might get excited about the Lehigh/Lafayette rivalry). The Crayola Factory and Store are in the center of the town, and for the literalists out there (like my son ... "Dad, it's not 8:30, it's 8:28"), it is not the site of the actual factory. The actual factory is seven miles away. This is a made-for-tourism replica and museum that features interactive displays, tours, the 1,000,000,000th crayon manufactured, the world's largest crayon, and merchandise (see what I mean, the perfect way to celebrate our country).
Following our visit to the Crayola factory, we headed back to the car. We tried to stop at a museum of Pez dispensers, but it was closed, so we loaded back up. One "highlight" to report --- when Regis was putting Annie back in the car, she noticed that her diaper was missing (Annie's not Regis's). In all likelihood, somewhere in the factory, there was, in fact, a used diaper. So, if you read of any related news, regarding the shutting down of the Crayola facility, we may or may not be involved.
That's all for now. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend.
Take care,
Jim
It's official - there is a NYC Update Jinx. A few times ago, you read about Hans getting fired, and, well, there has been another downsizing. Mickey Dolens (see Update VII) was recently fired by WCBS, in part because the station decided to switch formats.
We had a few visitors over the past several days, and the house is now in a full state of withdrawal. Soon the wailing and gnashing of teeth will come to a close, as the children realize that being alone with their parents isn't so bad after all. For starters, Jeff, Mary, George, and Jackie Watson stopped by on their whirlwind tour of the eastern seaboard. They need to send out an email of that crazy trip - 11 states in 7 days or something insane like that. I popped an ulcer just imagining taking our three kids on that kind of a trip. They were gracious enough to let Reege and the kids impose upon their hotel pool (remember those days, when you were a kid and the coolest thing in the world was to go to a hotel and swim), and they even let Jimmy accompany them on their trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (as Maggie told me "Dimmy went to the City today"). Needless to say, tears were shed when they departed. Jimmy is a big fan of his first-cousins-once-removed. Reege is a big fan of her husband once he's removed too, but that's another story.
And for the 4th of July weekend, Grandma Watson came to visit the Grandkids. Coming back up from the lows resulting from the Watsons' departure, there was much rejoicing, especially from Maggie who had been talking about this visit since mid-May I think. "Maa-ma comin? In just a minute?" We had a fantastic visit. On Saturday, Grandma, Jimmy, and I took in the local town fireworks. We drove a few minutes to the local grocery store parking lot and had a decent view of the pyrotechnics that were being fired off from the County College of Morris, just a mile or so down the road. What made the occasion so special, was not the revelry with 400 fellow idiots in lawn chairs in the mosquito-ridden grass surrounding the parking lot, or the originality of the fourteenth passerby who was honking from the road as they sped by...no, it was the phone call from Reege about half way through the display to inform us that that the show could be seen clearly from the south windows of our house.
On Monday, Independence Day, we decided it would be appropriate to honor our country. After all, we reside (currently) in our nation's 3rd state, home to important battles that helped secure our independence from the tyrannical King George III. Naturally, we should take this opportunity to....visit the Crayola crayon factory in Easton, PA. Yes, that's right, the spot where over 126 billion crayons have been manufactured, half of which are in our basement in various Tupperware containers. Easton is a nice little Rockwell-painting town about an hour's drive from the abode (and home to Lafayette College, for those obscure sports fans who might get excited about the Lehigh/Lafayette rivalry). The Crayola Factory and Store are in the center of the town, and for the literalists out there (like my son ... "Dad, it's not 8:30, it's 8:28"), it is not the site of the actual factory. The actual factory is seven miles away. This is a made-for-tourism replica and museum that features interactive displays, tours, the 1,000,000,000th crayon manufactured, the world's largest crayon, and merchandise (see what I mean, the perfect way to celebrate our country).
Following our visit to the Crayola factory, we headed back to the car. We tried to stop at a museum of Pez dispensers, but it was closed, so we loaded back up. One "highlight" to report --- when Regis was putting Annie back in the car, she noticed that her diaper was missing (Annie's not Regis's). In all likelihood, somewhere in the factory, there was, in fact, a used diaper. So, if you read of any related news, regarding the shutting down of the Crayola facility, we may or may not be involved.
That's all for now. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend.
Take care,
Jim
posted by Watts at 9:25 AM
<< Home