Mr. Moskowitz, my seventh-grade Math teacher, was a nice enough guy, and a pretty good teacher. One thing that annoyed us, as students, were his “surprise quizzes”. The quizzes invariably came on Mondays - but not every Monday (otherwise where’s the surprise?).

When I first moved to Manhattan, 1975!, I couldn't imagine ever wanting to be anywhere else, but after 20 or so years, I began thinking about a home outside of the city. Eventually, my sweetheart and I purchased a lovely cabin in the woods in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. We rented a home in Middletown, NY to see if we really would use it or if it was just a theoretical want. Well, we did really use it and have enjoyed our Bucks cabin for about 8 years.

I do not understand the sneaker mania craze. A few years ago, I blogged about a Sneaker Expo that my son and his friend attended. Recently, however, sneaker mania leapt to new levels in my house.

  I have a habit that drives my husband crazy; I am a snoozer. Every morning, I set my alarm clock for, at least, fifteen minutes before I have to get out of bed. Then, in the morning, I let the alarm clock go off and hit the snooze button, at least three times. Obviously, my snoozing habit wakes my husband up if he’s still sleeping.  

We had a family dinner outing last night, Eve, my sister Alison, son Joshua and daughter in law Lisa,and son Max and his girlfriend Jaymie. It was a celelbration for Max and his success in law school.  

I have had a beard for about 30 years and now beards are huge. They change the way we (men) look and some baseball players grow them till they lose. As it turns out, there are many health benefits to having a beard! Beards can:  

Over this past raw and rainy weekend I engaged in annual Fall rituals brought on by the change in what had been a wonderful long stretch of dreamy weather. I brought in the out door furniture, wore long pants and a jacket, swam my last laps, took a long drive on a leafy highway and rotated my closets.  And, most significantly, Joanne turned on the heat.

Although I am a Mets fan, I routed for the Yankees on Monday night. On Tuesday, I heard the last sportscasts of how the Yankees did and it won't be until next season that I'll have to wait to hear about the Bronx Bombers before hearing the sportscasters talk about my Mets. So here we are with the wild card teams decided and the playoffs are underway with the boys from Queens representing Gotham City.