Getting to know Bubba

In her first real Balices Pieces appearance, here's Sue-Sue!

1. Describe your hairstyle in two words or less:
Too long (To be remedied tomorrow night)

2. What's your favorite song/artist?
When you are this old, and love music the way I do, it's hard to give "favorites". I do love "Don't Let the Sun Catch you Crying," and Garth Brooks "The Dance" - or something like that. I love easy listening and Broadway - as most of my family knows.

Gerry and the Pacemakers - "Don't Let The Sun (Catch You Crying)"



3. What's the last movie you really enjoyed?
Again, when you are this old... I did enjoy Sex in the City. I can't think of a recent one I "absolutely loved" and would love to see again. One of my all-time-favorites is "The Thornbirds" (can't tell you how many times I have seen that one)

4. How's your love life?
Been married 20+ years - we won't talk about it

5. If there was one dessert you could eat until it hurts, what would it be?
Hmmm, don't care too much for desserts. Guess it would be T.A's pumpkin or raspberry pie

6. When is your bedtime?
Too damn late - that's for sure. Usually around midnight; should be 11:00

7. Einstein said: "A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin. What else does a man need to be happy." Customize this quote to fit yourself.
Good health, good friends, good food, a lot of laughter. Money wouldn't hurt, either

8. What is your pet's name?
Don't have one anymore

9. What's the funniest thing you can recall Grandma June saying when she was mad? (Insert quote from your own grandma if June was your great-grandma).
Guess I don't know - it wasn't too funny when she was mad. I do, however, remember the first time I heard her say "s--t". It was at the dinner table, and dad said something she didn't like. I was dumbfounded. I had never heard her say such a thing. Can't remember my age, but I remember her saying it like it was yesterday.

10. What's your favorite thing about Balice Christmas Eve?
Everyone getting together and laughing. The food is always good. I do enjoy the extended guests these days, who have become "like family" (i.e. Celia and Dennis, Jim and Cindy)

From where I sit...

Sundays Never Come

I’ve always heard how great it is to be a grandparent and I am right smack in the middle of knowing why. The more time I spend with grandson No. 1 the more I am learning about life.

Seeing it all from a child’s perspective is an amazing gift. Unless you are walking down the street with a child and really paying attention, you miss so many little miracles. In a very short amount of time the child within begins to emerge with very little notice. All of a sudden you are gasping at the sight of the moon, or a jet air stream, or a dandelion. As you begin the instructions regarding 'wishers' you find yourself believing (and remembering) each and every whim that has ever entered your mind.

Childhood games, stories, and songs come back as if they had been just slightly buried in my brain by all the minutia of life. Our time together is spent shooting hoops, blowing bubbles, drawing pictures, working on puzzles, and spraying each other with the hose. He is never satisfied with a simple "yes" or "no" and almost always follows up with “we can try?!” to which we reply “maybe Sunday”.

He learned very early on that Sunday was a day off for his parents... The connection made and stuck because whenever he asked to do something, or get something, or fix something and they didn’t have the time or the inclination they would say “maybe Sunday." It doesn’t take long for a 2-year-old to make connections. Once he learns the days of the week we’ll all be in trouble but we’ll take that leap when we have to.

Speaking of connections, I’m slowly working on that with grandson No. 2. He’s smiling, cooing, and recognizing familiar voices, faces, and sounds. He had his first outing on the golf course this week and seemed to enjoy the ride as much as his older brother did. He is pretty good natured but appears to have developed a slightly different temperament than we are used to. When he wants something you know about it right away, where Miles seemed to emit more of a transitional warning.

In just a few short years I had almost forgotten about all the little baby steps because I was concentrating so much energy on the child who had become my buddy. My time with baby Jude is spent just trying to entertain him by talking, singing (such as it is), and carrying him around with a bounce in my step to comfort him. He doesn’t seem phased by loud music, television, or animals yet, so apparently he began his adjustment in utero.

He sleeps all night, eats heartily and is trying to laugh... and boy is there a lot to laugh about these days. By the time grandchild No. 3 arrives, he’ll be well on his way to walking and talking, his older brother might be off the 'potty train' and we’ll start all over again.

The beauty of grandchildren goes way beyond 'do-overs', second chances, and even unconditional love. No matter what is causing you stress, concern or even heartache, hearing the little voice of a little person saying “it’s OK” or “look at me” or “I did it!” strips you of just about any narcissistic whining you may have felt entitled to.

After all, I’d be totally naive to believe that there won’t be plenty of opportunities to lament, complain, cry, moan or deal with in the next few decades of watching these angels grow into adulthood. Sometimes it takes a grandchild to make you stop and smell the flowers and boy do they smell sweet at the moment.

~ Karen Balice Gregory

Anthony models La Femme Monkita blanket

I was only three weeks late in delivering Anthony's custom made blanket. He modeled for me after I gave it to him tonight.



Check out the blog about it I posted, over on Monkita Knits.

I'm not gonna lie, he was kind of a diva. But next time I'll try to have the right pacifier he requested, so he doesn't throw a little fit at the photo shoot.

LBizzNys takes the mic!

JBizzNys prodigy Little LBizzNys takes the MIC in his home studio recently. Balices Pieces brings you behind the scenes photos and his first ever recording.







LBizzNys world exclusive release!!!!

Next up to the plate...

...is another Gregory baby. For the love of pete, let this one be a girl. :)

I poached some pictures off of Baby G's blog. I can't wait to tickle that little foot.

The Gregorys Three hit up Cleveland in style

Two peas in a pod.

Uncle Joe and "Nucas" had some fun down in Joe's room the other day, so I thought I would share.

Deep Thoughts by Gigi

I just returned from spending a week at the Baidas household to help out upon the arrival of Anthony Richard. Some observations from this over 60 grandma:

1. I am still truly amazed at what a miracle it is to create and give birth to a tiny human being. How fortunate for all of us that so far we have been blessed with this ability to reproduce. Not so long ago I remember how devastated I was that I couldn’t get pregnant and how on May 1, 1975 we put in for adoption at Catholic Social Services accepting the fact that we might not be able to have children of our own and also that the adoption process could take possibly 5 years. We had spent lots of money and I cried lots of tears prior to that 27th birthday. Just a few weeks later I was pregnant with Sarah.

2. Several times over the course of the week Sarah voiced her concern about taking care of two kids after I left, Loren went back to work and Joe was working at his other jobs. She asked me how I did it. For the most part I didn’t remember except that I got lots of help from family. Many of you took Sarah while I tried to take care of Kirsten and her defecation problem*. Kirst was literally crying most of the time except when she slept when someone was holding her. Sarah’s comment when Mom brought her to see Kirsten on the first day home from the hospital, “Send her back”. I was reminded of that when Anthony was crying and Lucas said, “Stop crying, baby!” and although he is being good isn’t all that thrilled that someone else is stealing his thunder.

3. Of course, we can’t forget the birth of Joseph Clayton in 1984 when I was a mere 36 years old. Everyone was told it was a surprise but "Mommie Dearest” had a plan and God saw fit to give me yet another miracle.

4. My observation of Loren for the week made me smile. If I had been married to someone like him, I would have celebrated my 39th anniversary last weekend. It was wonderful to see such a loving, patient and caring husband and father taking care of his wife and his children i.e. cooking, cleaning up, running errands, spending time with Lucas, helping with Anthony and comforting Sarah through the trial and tribulations of hormones raging and breastfeeding dilemmas. All of us worked together as a team for all the jobs that needed to be done and at the end of the day I felt very blessed.

5. My last observation. I am grateful for all the support that the siblings give each other, to their own kids, to each other’s kids and now to grandkids. This is really the way it is supposed to be. On more than one occasion we have commented that sometimes we think all families are like this but when you think about it you realize for the most part we are not the “norm”. Thank God for that. I can see Mom & Dad smiling...


* As moderator of this blog, I'd like to say, thanks a lot for mentioning the "defecation problem" mom.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

You all know I'm back to my former life as a reporter. It's been a relatively smooth transition. Working for a weekly has eased me back into the life-changing that is being a reporter.

But, working at a weekly also means fewer actual deadlines, fewer adrenaline rushes, etc. This week I fortunately happened to get a couple of fluff stories done before the proverbial poop hit the fan.

One of them is about a couple of high school kids who made their prom outfits out of duct tape and are in the top 10 of a national contest for doing so. If they place in the top three (they're fighting for third right now) they get each get some dough for college (Haley's going to GVSU!) and her high school (the local Catholic girls' high school) gets some cash too.

You can check out the story HERE.

They're nice kids, so I've been voting for them daily. For every e-mail you register, you can do the same, so if you feel like it...

So, that was the first part of the week, when people call you back and you've got all the time in the world and have time to eat lunch and go to the bathroom.

Then the day before your deadline hits, the tides turn and the madness begins.

Thursday morning started easy enough. I had a few different stories I was waiting for a call back on but every confidence I would get everything finished by 3 p.m. Friday. Then the police chief calls to tell you they've solved a murder from 1979 and there will be a super-secret-announced-at-the-last-minute press conference announcing the arrest of two super cool guys who finally are getting what they deserve (in some people's opinions. I'm unbiased and objective of course...).

And then the same day, McCain announces he's opening a regional office in the city you cover. And then the U.S. Attorney announces 28 people have been arrested and are being charged with federal mortgage fraud charges and one of them is from your coverage area. And then a major automotive component company announces they're going to build a $27 million expansion in your coverage area instead of Tennessee because of a $2.5 million tax cut Granholm passed. And then you end your day going to a planning commission public hearing at 7 p.m. because the residents are up in arms about a proposed master plan, and about 4 dozen residents take their 5-minute turns, until they finally decide to adjourn the meeting to another date just after midnight.

So, that's when your week gets interesting. And your heart gets to pound for a change and your forearms grow weak.

HERE's the story on the murder if you care to read that one.

I have no idea if anyone's even going to this blog yet. I hope so, because I think it could be a lot of fun. If anyone has sent me stuff and it hasn't gotten up yet, I'm spacing them out because I haven't gotten much yet.

So get the pictures and updates and everything else coming! Or I might have to send out a questionnaire for you to fill out like Dan did for his family....

Blogging through life

I thought it was only appropriate to post KK's column this week here...

BLOGGING THROUGH LIFE

As families grow and start spreading out (both figuratively and literally) it gets tougher and tougher to keep up on all the news and happenings. Those of us who have access to technology and can maneuver around cyberspace have the advantage of reading up about our friends and family almost momentarily. My youngest son and his wife now have a blog so we can no only read about their lives, but we can comment about it. There are journal entries by both parents-to-be as well as pictures and a guest book where we can submit our own views and even give them advice. It's a wonderful opportunity for families to check on and check in especially when the miles separate us. Cell phones with immediate pictures and all sorts of other communication devices also give us a birds eye view into what others are seeing, doing, and experiencing. Recently one of my nieces decided that our extended family needs a blog of our own to keep track of the comings and goings as well as showcasing any talents and events that we want to let everyone in on. I have to laugh when I think about what life might have been like prior to all of this when we were all growing up. I don't envision my parents entries would have rivaled those flowery Christmas Letters. In fact, they might have titled their blog “Wishful Thinking” instead.

It seems unimaginable that our parents and grandparents would have had the time let alone the inclination to document everything that went on in the course of a day or a week or even a month. It would have be great for all of us to go back and read about our childhoods from their perspective, but that's what keeping a diary is all about and not many people did that then or even now unless it's on line. I kept diaries for many years through my twenties and thirties and even into my forties and although it's a bit scary to look back through them I have been forcing myself to do just that. I have become curious and a bit nostalgic about what it was like raising my kids and I thought that maybe if I ran across something interesting I could relay it on our family blog. The thing that I find most startling about my journal entries is how uncreative I was back then. General statements such as “The kids got into some trouble today”; “I wonder if he will be scarred for life” and “Thank God I followed my parents advice (or didn't)” are just some of the examples of how shallow my thinking was before I grew into midlife. I haven't dug deep enough into the bins of writing to search out catastrophic or milestone adventures but I'm still looking.

The longer I live and the more people that I am losing to old age, illness and accidents the more I think about history and how much we all really crave knowing more about our families and how they got here, what they thought, and the struggles and joys of times we either can't remember or never knew.
How fortunate the younger generations are that they have the knowledge, capabilities and technology to document life instantaneously as it happens. So often when we all get together, another piece of information from the past slips out when one of us comments “I never knew that” and these kids won't have the opportunity to feign ignorance. If nothing else, they have way too much information...so much so that they may overlook or underestimate their own instincts, the very thing that has kept all of us old fogies hanging in there (in more ways than one.)

Softball, sun and Sue-Sue

Here are some photos from Aunt Janet from a recent softball game of Ellie's, a little birthday gathering for Sue and a couple shots from Florida.

Ellie's team plays in Saranac and is coached by Mike.

Uncle Jeff either has grown immensely or is drinking a very tiny can of Coca-Cola.

The maiden voyage

I'm totally stealing Dan's idea and creating a family blog. The theory is, there are so many cool things we're all doing, instead of chain e-mails or not hearing about them at all, we could post updates, photos, announcements, etc. and all have them on this blog.

If you have news, information, events (summer birthday BBQ anyone?) or photos (pregnant Beata anyone?) to post, e-mail them to balicefamily@gmail.com and I will put them up.

If anyone has a blog that I don't know about, let me know and I will add it to the blog list at the right (those are my 3).

I can almost guarantee none of you know what an RSS feed is. So, I'm going to say just check back regularly for updates at www.balicespieces.blogspot.com.

Apparently it's also possible to have notifications go out to 10 e-mails when the blog is updated, so if you want to be one of the 10, let me know and I'll figure that out.

I hope this encourages everyone to cough up the latest news and information from your families -- anything you've got, big or small.


I'll start it off with pictures of the latest to our clan, Anthony Richard Baidas. If I am remembering correctly, he was born Monday, June 9 at 8:27 p.m., weighing 8 lbs, 7 1/2 oz., and 21 1/2 inches long.