DWG

My day with grandma was productive, I think. My first stop was the North Tonawanda Public Library. When she walks in the library everybody calls her name out; (like a scene in Cheers when Norm storms in). She gently puts her books down and searches for new ones to read. No book fine this time. Grandma quickly picked up three books and checked them out; all Murder Mysteries. I picked up the pamphlet that had all the candidates running for the November elections in Niagara County. She will have the names circled of who she is voting for; when Jff eagerly picks her up on Election Day.

After the library, we headed straight to Lou's. We agreed that we would cut back on lunches; before we grew to be as big as houses. Plus, it is putting a hole in our pockets, okay Grandma's pocket. During lunch, she could not stop talking about a Halloween card she received from the Newlyweds. She quickly pulled it out of her purse to show it off. (Adam, I have a mailing list of fellow Lou's customer's that would also like a Halloween card). After our $11.34 check, we quickly left and headed on our next journey.

Grandma wanted to finish most of her shopping today. She suggested we go to Target. On our way there, she pulls out her "shopping list". We begin to go over who she has left. I dropped her off with specific instructions to wait for me inside. No matter what time or day you go to Target; it is always crowded. I fought, cursed, and cut someone off to win the best parking spot. Inside, Grandma was waiting; drooling over the popcorn. "Okay, but only if your on your best behavior." She saw a gold purse with bright gold sequence staring right at her. "Who could get this?" she said. "Jff" I yelled! "He would look great with that." We both laughed, and headed on our way. I almost had to confiscate her shopping cart and steer it myself. She ran over three heels, and bumped into four people. That didn't stop her. She was on a mission.

She found what she was looking for, and headed to the checkout line. When the total came, she swiped her VISA (I can give everyone her account number for a small fee). We left Target proud of our accomplishments on the day.

We went on to TOPS, so she could buy her Crossword Puzzle scratch offs and Dorothy Vanilla icecream. She has a whole philosophy on where the lottery money goes. If you need to be bored out of your mind, ask her to talk about it.

Where have my cousins been? I can't help but notice, we haven't heard from them lately.

Have a great day. I will blog more later.

No DWG

Well, it has been a while since my last blog. I haven't been able to hang with grandma. Plus, she doesn't want to spend time with me. I think we may have broken up. She has now put restrictions on our visits; which include no more lunches. I think it is the best interest of the both of us; so we aren't as big as a house. We will venture out on Wednesday for our Christmas shopping excursion. Again, I will try to steer her away from those plastic Santa's, sweatshirts, or anything else that may have been popular in the 1970's.

Jule, Grandma's friend (Grandpa's cousin) lives in Fort Meyers. She called Grandma today and said she was okay. The Hurricane touched down near Fort Meyers early this morning. Grandma said she lives in a "old folks home". She asked her if it sounded like a train. Jule said "no Nancy it was a hurricane". She was happy to hear from her today.

I know my cousin was upset when I didn't post the other day. Unfortunately my therapy session ran longer than expected. After the blog, I have had to talk about more things. My therapist said we are making progress, I just am not there yet.

I will post more on Wednesday after my day with Grandma. Keep in touch.

Happy Birthday Jill!! (DWG) Birthday Lunch

My DWG (day with grandma) began at 11:30 am. She came running out, waiting for her day to start. We went to desert deli to get Jill a birthday cake. I must admit, they have the best birthday cakes. She waited in the car, counting her quarters that a resident gave her for the Halloween party coming up. ( October 31st at 6 pm in the Community Room if anyone wants to crash it).

We went to the Golf Dome for lunch (Thanks to UC this is her favorite place to go). I think she has tried every beer battered fish fry from North Tonawanda to Yorkbeach, Maine. Grandma was rather feisty at lunch; I thought she was going to have to be subdued. I pity the waitress who doesn't bring her a diet coke refill on time. I also know her biggest pet peeve is when a waitress brings her a small take out container (She thinks she should get a big container for her half of sandwich and handful of chips). I know the blogging family loves to know what Grandma's scope of discussions were:

1. When asked if Grandma was a contestant on survivor, what item would she bring (Eye Caps and Heating pads are included). Her response was IVORY soap.

2. Grandma believes that we can not have a women run for President. This comment did stir up a raise of commotion from the restaurant. She said she believes the task it to large for a woman to take. She did retract herself and say any one of her granddaughters or her great grand daughter could easily take on the world. But, she said she would vote for Ellen Degeneres if she were to run. Her favorite president was Truman. Her least favorite was Nixon. She said she despised the man. I believe she might have been involved in his ultimate downfall. Again, she brings up politics. I truly believe she is trying to start a new political party. She brought up Election Day, and how happy she is that JT is taking her. :)

3. Her favorite birthday party was her 80th at Aunt Sue's house. She said all her friends were there, it was a girls only party. But, somehow JT was there. She wasn't sure if he was invited, but showed up for the Chicken a la king.

4. Her favorite Christmas was in 1988, the Christmas Grandpa came home from the hospital. She went on to tell the story about how Grandpa was away for Thanksgiving in the hospital that same year, after his Triple Bypass Surgery. It was also the best Christmas present she got. I could see she was getting upset, so I didn't want to press the issue anymore. But she really believed she was going to lose him that year. Fortunately, he stayed with us for 14 more Christmas'.

5. When she was younger, Christmas was just another day to her. Her only "gift" was a stocking filled with a orange, apple, and a banana. It was the depression. The worst of times, were the worst of times she said.

6. Grandma does not understand the power of the internet. She was upset because Aunt Patti had 44 e-mails the other day. She thought she had to pay for those. I really think we should take Cousin K's offer to hook up the internet in the Luther Manor. We may have to put firewalls up on certain sites.

Some of the blogs will be humorous, some will be touching. All will have a memory that grandma shares with all of us.

In the previous post, our game started "Guess who is getting this?" I had one comment, from Raul, who didn't want the pumpkin, but wanted Grandma.

I also think that when family members will be away for a period of time, they should let us know in writing (Cousin K we weren't aware you were heading to Atlanta). I do collect shot glasses from the cities I travel to (Hint Hint)

Cousin R, I think I bring bad luck. Everytime I try to listen on-line, you aren't in the station. Bring Grandma back a Rolling Stones Tee.

Tonight is also the T-NT football game. Go Warriors!!!! All for Now, more later

DWG (Day with Grandma) 66 days until Christmas

My day started at 1:30 pm today while I picked Grandma up from the Luther Manor complex. She was already awaiting my arrival in the "lobby". The "lobby" consists of one bench. If you aren't familiar with the "lobby", all the residents convene there prior to the paperboy or the mailman coming; like vultures on roadkill. She came running out, happy as can be with her red, white, and blue library bag in hand. Our first stop, LIBRARY. She carried her bag and promptly checked her books in. To her amazement, she had her largest book fine ever. The librarian asked her how she wanted to pay her $.20 fine; cash or check. I pulled out a quarter and told her to keep the five pennies. "Put it towards her next late fee", I cried. Grandma continued to argue swearing she turned them in on time. She was so pissed! I later called my mom and told her I was putting in for a raise. ( I will pass along a tin can during Christmas to help defray her library costs)

I asked the librarian if we could use the computer. We quickly logged in and I showed grandma her website. When she saw the picture of her and grandpa a tear fell. I began to read the post to her. (I was shushed three times by the short stalky guy who was checking grandma out) She told me of the picture, 1988 Christmas in Lockport, where they lived for three glorious years, before moving to "dreaded" West Clarksville. We printed out the post at a cost of $.45. She enjoyed the post, but quickly got up to look for her murder mystery books. She searched each book to see if they had her defaced checkmark on the inside. (For those who don't know, she puts a big bold #2 pencil checkmark on the inside of the book; to let her and the rest of the world know that she read that book already). The total cost of damages at the NT library was $.65. Grandma gave me a look all to well, she's hungry and I thought to myself, "Not Lou's again." Mission Library was completed.

Next stop (I still have the meter running), HSBC Bank. Her pin number (for future reference its the years grandma and grandpa were born) Don't worry you are all the last to find out. After spending 20 minutes with her, I needed to make a pit stop (see above picture)

Her Christmas shopping began at Target. It's her favorite store because she can sit down and eat popcorn until they kick her out. She purchased two gifts, which brings her total of 6 out of 20 people completed. She paid her Target bill, and I quickly realized where our SS money goes from our checks. GUESS WHO IS GETTING THIS??

Grandma's scope of discussions today were:

1. What she would like for Christmas- She would like; enlarged print books, stock in Lou's, and a weekend in DC with Cousin K ( I swear she said that).

2. What to do with the 50 photo albums when she is gone? I asked her where she was headed, and she said "Well, I'm not going to be around forever." She said she wrote her wishes down and gently placed them in her "panty" drawer. I believe the oldest grandchild can fish that out, Jeffrey.

3. Voting day- A sore subject within this group. But, I quickly nominated Jeffrey to take her and her Lutheran Manor "Sistas" to the polls. She never missed an election since FDR she said. How's that for a guilt trip "JT".

All in all it was a productive day. Her back was starting to bother her, so I quickly took her home, after I mooched gas money from her of course. She is free tomorrow if anyone wants to take her out. Just make sure she checks her book.

Can someone please forward this to Aunt Sue and Uncle Gary, since they don't have a computer. That request was made by Aunt Betsy.

On a personal note, my sincere apology for the misspelling of a family members name. As you see, this BLOG has taken up much of my time; and I haven't really slept because of this.

Thank you to all for your interest. Keep checking daily. Grandma had no idea we were all talking to each other, she got a kick out of it. She has been a great sport as well. If you look real close, you can see Grandma inside "Frank's Liquors."

Aunt B and I are in the process of developing a contest for the blog. It may be; most creative Christmas story, or something else. We aren't quite sure yet. But we will keep you posted.

I won't delete any entries, I was just checking to make sure it really worked. Like I said, lack of sleep.

Countdown to The Charles F. Holtz Sr. Family Christmas

I have fond memories of the Holtz Christmas' that I will cherish forever. When I was little, the most important thing was opening up the Barbie doll, which I already knew I was getting (since it was opened three nights earlier and rewrapped). Or, watching Jill eat the candy and blame it on my dad because it wasn't replaced fast enough. Now, Christmas has become more special. Although, Grandpa is not with us; we have created memories in his honor. A lovely brick in his name purchased by my very generous cousins (which Grandma proudly displays in Luther Manor Apartment # 203 next to her eye caps and heat pads), and many memories more to come. See, the Holtz family Christmas is not your traditional Christmas gathering. For some families, we only meet once a year, and the first words out of our mouths are always "Go Yankees, or Go Boston." We laugh, rarely cry; except when these are appropriate times. When we leave, we countdown to the next Christmas.

Welcome to the CHAZ F. Holtz blog site where we can read my updated excursions with Grandma. I will also drop a few hints on where I went, the sky is the limit with her. I will post often (until I get a full-time job) then I will forget this exists. I will also print this out Christmas Eve and pass it along Christmas day.

My Christmas shopping began when Grandma picked up a plastic Santa and said "Who should we give this too." First off, I set some guidelines. Just because I am her eyes, My name is not on the tag. So if you don't like it, you can't send me threatening e-mails. Second of all, I told her to give the plastic Santa to Kristin. (Just making sure you were paying attention). She did purchase the Santa, but later returned it. I was not told who would be the lucky recipient of this "MAJOR AWARD."

I will post more with perhaps some pictures! There will be a "guess who is getting this contest" and as I drive Grandma all over Western New York, I will have her recount her Christmas memories and I will post them on here as well.

This Blog includes the Rice Family and the Koch Family and anyone else lucky enough to stumble on this website.