Last week was not a week I’d like to relive. I spent three days in bed sick with what I thought was a sinus infection that just wouldn’t quit and was resistant to antibiotics. But, as I dozed in and out of feverish headaches, body aches and chills, declining any food, one thought broke through the veil of thick-coated sickness. It’s the flu. It seems many people in Syosset are sick with varying degrees of illness from the symptoms of fevers, chills and coughing to vomiting. Maybe it’s the cold and snow keeping us locked up in such close quarters where germs incubate and spread faster than …

Okay, so now that we made it through one of the biggest blizzards to dump on Long Island in a decade, it seemed to have started an onslaught of sloppy weather with more snow expected Tuesday. Is it just me or has Long Island snowstorms been increasing?   I’m certainly not a weather expert but in looking back over family photos, we have been getting more snow than ever these past few seasons.  That can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. It’s all about perception. My kids Robert, Kelly and Melanie love playing in the snow. Our dog, Daisy, loves it too—built-in fur coat and all.  My…

My husband and I arrived slightly late as we pulled up to the Fox Hollow Inn restaurant one night in mid-December. Lit up in all its festive glory with green, red and white lights, Fox Hollow looked like Cinderella's Ball and we were dressed appropriately in chic black. Tom even wore an uncharacteristic tie. We joined our extended family upstairs in the Hunt room decorated with Poinsettias and a warm fireplace blazing.  The piano player sang and played holiday songs.  Each family has a "tune" that resonates with one another to help create traditions.  Sometimes something so random sticks—like…

Watching the snow covered world out the window Monday morning as our laughing and giggling kids threw snowballs, my husband announced from the den, "Teena Marie died.  Who's that?" he asked. I love music.  Who doesn't?  But, I also love to play music that creates kind of an eclectic taste from rock musicians to emulate—you know—Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, to enjoying the pure dance rhythms of Prince and Donna Summer that my sister and her boyfriend (now husband of 27 years) brought into our house growing up.  "Who's Teena Marie?" I choked on my coffee.  "What?  You don't remember Lady T?" Teena …

The Baskin-Robbins near the train station was crowded last Wednesday night around 9:30 p.m. If you happened to drive by or were in the mood for a little ice cream, you might have noticed all of the cars clogging the parking lot and the line inside was long—really long. That's because Berry Hill, A.P. Willets, Walt Whitman and J. Irving Baylis Elementary Schools and had their winter concert performances that night.  Afterwards, most of the parents and kids from those schools piled into Baskin Robbins or Friendly's for a little "after hours" party.  Our daughters, age 8 and 11, were in the J. …

Our daughter Kelly will be 11 tomorrow.  Today is what she calls her Vatugava (the day before your birthday) in her secret language she created called—Squage. 11 - It's hard to believe it, but true.  As it is for most parents, time is just flying by.   My husband, Tom, cleaned out the shed this weekend, and found a cherished toy you ride—a plastic green inch-worm with yellow wheels and matching pea hat.  He heaped it on top of the garbage pail at the curb. We had been given the inch-worm by our previous neighbor when we lived in our first house in the neighborhood behind Carvel. It made it …

It was cold this year as the menorah and Christmas tree lights were lit commemorating the Syosset Chamber of Commerce's 13th annual Holiday Lighting event. My three children and I dropped wrapped presents into the Toys for Tots bin at Astoria Bank Plaza and stood watching dancers and dignitaries celebrate another year. As my 37th year living in Syosset, the holiday celebration is not so much a division of cultures as it is a community sharing a moment together blending traditions. It also officially demarks the end of one year and the beginning of another.  Although some religions celebrate …

So when I went to France last month, stowing away on my husband's business trip, we managed to tack on two days in Paris.  While on-line waiting to fly from Nice to Paris, I kicked my shoes off, loaded cell phone and Timex watch in the plastic security tray, and placed my pocketbook and carry-on luggage on the conveyor belt.  As I turned to go under the metal detector the security guards behind the x-ray machines began an agitated discussion regarding my bag – in French. My French is not so good…something was wrong.    They backed up the conveyor belt, pulled bags out and motioned for me to …

Last Friday was Observation Day at J. Irving Baylis Elementary School where parents, guardians and / or grandparents are invited to be a fly-on-the-wall and watch their child's classroom in action.  It's not a scheduled one-on-one teacher conference where you hear the good, or maybe not so good, tidbits about your child's academic progress.  No, this day, always in November, is district-wide throughout all the Syosset elementary schools and is specifically geared towards watching the classroom in full swing. Observation Day gives a chance to touch and feel what your child does all day long …

Now that the holidays are barreling down on us, that means shopping; school winter concerts and searching for black pants / white shirt for the kids to perform in; teacher conferences; Thanksgiving, Christmas and for us, add Kelly's 11th birthday in the mix. Just like many Syosset families, we're busy to say the least. Lately I'm crazed and feel exasperated to keep up with the never-ending treadmill of doing things.   The other day after work, I was weary-in-my-bones exhausted—so tired, I thought I was coming down with the flu. After we all ate together (rare these days) I cleaned the dishes …

This week begins my 38th year living in Syosset. I didn't plan it.  No, I dreamed of striking out on my own, as everyone does in his/her youth, and being someone or something more than just this one way of looking at life—through a Syosset lens.    Didn't ya just see your name in lights on a marquee in your teens and twenties?  Didn't ya want to break out of this one-dog town?  "I'll show them!" to scrape and work and be discovered, and hope that the work you do would transcend your existence and leave an indelible mark—change the world? Ah, youth! Okay.  Crashing back to reality, somehow …

Sunday Halloweens are tough! Halloween consumed our weekend and it seemed difficult for our three children to coordinate efforts with their friends to make definitive plans.  Soccer games and flag football took a bite out of the day, delaying festivities.  It took much work to align groups early enough because Sundays, you know, seep into school-night mode for the dreaded Monday morning up and out routine.  Our son Robert, 12, is done dressing up.  Kelly created a "Sqaog" outfit kind of like an Indian Squaw in Mexico and Melanie was an updated Elvira-type witch. Halloween mid-week is much …

It was the first piece of furniture my husband and I ever bought together—a loveseat and matching sofa with a pullout bed. It was made of heavy burlap sack material, in thick striped beige and navy blue design with detachable back cushions (that I later would grumble about picking up off the floor incessantly). With oversized armrests, the seat cushion accommodated Tom's 6-foot-1 leg span comfortably.Tom and I had been together two years–one dating and one engaged–and we were moving into an apartment in Forest Hills. We were nervous spending $1,100 for the set. Until then, the only other …

My son and his friends often hang around our house after school, and it stinks.  Well, not that they're around. We have one of those spontaneous, casual families where kids ring our doorbell to ride bikes or play driveway basketball. I like being a freelance writer for that reason; I'm here when my kids get home from school and the mischief starts.   What I mean is, these kids really smell. OK, puberty. Can you say…hormones?  At 12, they are clearly growing up, bodies are changing, and that brings confusion as to how to control it.  Before, they didn't necessarily need to bathe every day, and…

Those revolutionaries are tough on the joints. After spending five days traveling overseas (France) in "coach," which means squashed in as tight as the airline can pack bodies in on six-hour flights, I needed a good stretch. Yoga works wonders. I came to yoga only a few years ago through my friend, Marie. We take the summers off and miss it tremendously. Now, we're devotees of a particular class offered through the Syosset Central School District's Continuing Education for Adults program. When the blue pamphlet used to be mailed home in September, we'd quick like a bunny mail in our checks …

I'm speechless.  As you read this I'm on the way to France on my first European jaunt, ever. My husband had a business trip and I muscled my way in—a stowaway. After explaining he needed to attend a media trade show in Cannes, all he said was, "Do you want to…?" "Go to France with you? Yes! Oui!" And I began making plans—dog, kennel, kids to my parents' house, packing everything chic and black and managing to squeeze two days in Paris on the itinerary.  We'll be eating peanut butter and jelly for a year to make up for it, but, "C'est la vie."    Most of le shopping will be under the guise of …

There's a piece of music my son and I created two years ago that depicts our relationship. I need a musical outlet in my life. As a novice musician, I play guitar, sing and write songs, but don't play piano. I can sort of decipher notes, counting from middle C outward to plunk chords on the ivories. On one particularly chaotic day–I'd been working on a novel for a few years, simultaneously pitching journalism ideas to editors while on assignment, too–I received yet another rejection. I was feeling sorry for myself. Why am I in this business? When will life get easier? I'm just a housewife …

In a way those two days off the first week of school were a blessing in disguise, as we slowly ramped three children up for this school year. The kids' tans faded as the need for more supplies sent us out to the store for four straight days. We spent close to a thousand dollars between clothing (on sale) and school supplies, both the prepackaged boxes our PTA develops and running to Diamond Drugs for more items, as well as joining the PTA and filling out meal plans. The newest change within the Syosset School District was "going green." Finally, I no longer receive three of everything–what a …

So, my birthday is this week. I like to use the magic number 102. It's my favorite number that I annoy the kids with endlessly.  "How old were you when you had me?" Kelly asks. "102," I answer.  "What?  How could that be?"  After too many times hearing wisecracking answers to life's mysteries–"How many years have we lived in this house?" "102." You get the drift–they finally stopped asking age questions.  Time blew by and they forgot, until I hit them with it, guard down. "How old is Nonna?" Melanie asked. I couldn't resist. It's too easy. "102," I say. Melanie rolled her eyes. Now I'm …

I've made some new friends through this column, and other folks I know stop me in places like Rite-Aid (hey Trish) to say it's nice keeping up with my family through Patch, since I'm kind of an open book. Glad about Tom's job. Pearl Jam must've been great! Watch out for those bicyclers. Yes, that was me in Staples dancing a jig last week because tomorrow is the first day of school. Yippee! We're ramping up for a new school year with Melanie in third grade and Kelly in fifth and a new principal all happening at Baylis Elementary. Robert will be in seventh grade at H.B. Thompson Middle School. …