A squeaky rocking chair, slowing swaying in the wind …

Your favorite story, read lovingly at your bedside every night, until you are old enough to read it yourself …

Memories of a grandmother.

These are memories of a grandmother, I am sure, but they aren’t my memories and they aren’t of my grandmother.

My grandparents at our wedding in November 2007

As the oldest granddaughter of a woman with 29 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, I was denied the luxury of grandparents whose lives revolved around me. My cousins, my sister, and I took turns staying at Maw Maw and Paw Paw’s house, because there just wasn’t room in that 2-bedroom house in the “forest” for all of us at once.

We didn’t have grandparents who paid a down-payment on a car for us, or helped put us through college, or even always remembered our birthday, but we have so much more.

Our Thanksgiving Dinner could never consist of a turkey, dressing, potatoes, and pie with everyone sitting around one table giving thanks. Oh, no. Our Thanksgiving Dinner has two turkeys, a ham, a brisket, two pans of cornbread dressing, etc… , etc… , etc… , with nearly 50 people sprawled throughout the house and lawn. My grandmother makes that happen.

The family Christmas party is the same. Sometimes you don’t even see all of your cousins until they come back through the house saying their “goodbyes,” but Maw Maw is always there, with a present for everyone, even the not-quite-yet-in-laws and their kids.

She even started a Halloween tradition, almost 30 years running, so her grandchildren could safely get candy for Halloween. You see, if we got it from her, it had to be safe, and no one could have put a razor blade in the Laffy Taffy.

Homemade buttermilk biscuits.

Family shopping trips to the mall-where we always ate at the Piccadilly Cafeteria so she could get her fried chicken.

Clarence Carter’s hit “Strokin’” blasting throughout her house.

These are the memories of my grandmother.

The one who keeps my family of 50+ people together.

The one who makes sure no one feels left out of a game night or a trip to the lake.

The one who makes sure everyone has a role to play.

The one who, until yesterday, I thought was immortal.

“Call me when you get this message” was on the instant messenger from my mom.

“It is hardening of the lungs, and it is in both of them,” she said.

“The doctor said there was nothing he could do.”

I wasn’t immediately saddened by this news. Whether it was denial, or ignorance, I don’t know, but I feel like the doctor was probably wrong. There is something he can do. There has to be.

The thought of my Maw Maw not being able to breath properly is … suffocating. The idea of my Paw Paw’s agony upon hearing the news … unbearable. The suggestion that my grandmother won’t be at my wedding, won’t see my children, won’t take the trip to Italy we were just planning … it’s too much.

So instead, I will think about the Sunday Evening dance she would do for us.

How nervous she was the first time she served wine during Mass.

The True Crime magazines piled beside her chair.

These thoughts are a little easier for me to live with … at least for now.

*Update: January, 2010. My grandmother is still living with her illness and we recently celebrated an absolutely beautiful Christmas at her home in Texas.*

SEC charges Penn Traffic with accounting fraud

The Business Journal – Central New York October 3, 2008 | Reinhardt, Eric SYRACUSE – The Penn Traffic Co. has agreed to settle charges of accounting fraud without admitting or denying the allegations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the charges and settlement Sept. 30.

The settlement ends an investigation into Penn Traffic’s accounting practices and policies prior to the company’s emergence from bankruptcy in April 2005, a Penn Traffic statement said. The SEC imposed no fines or monetary penalties on the company. in our site bilo weekly ad

Penn Traffic has worked to address a number of “legacy issues,” so its resources can again focus on its operations, Daniel Mahoney, Penn Traffic senior vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.

“One of the legacy issues facing the company was this SEC investigation, so the settlement is another important step in the right direction,” Mahoney said.

The SEC charged the Syracuse-based supermarket operator and wholesale food distributor with fraud for orchestrating multi-million dollar accounting schemes that inflated its operating income and overstated its after-tax net income.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. district court for the Northern District of New York, alleged Penn Traffic carried out the accounting fraud over several reporting periods. The company failed to file certain required financial reports with the SEC, or filed reports that did not fully comply with SEC regulations, according to the commission.

David Rosenfeld, associate director of the SEC’s New York regional office, wouldn’t say when the Penn Traffic investigation began, but says the company’s conduct lasted several years.

“The commission continues to focus on accounting improprieties,” Rosenfeld says. “It’s a big priority for the commission and has been for many years, and we will take action when a company engages in fraudulent conduct that falsifies the company’s financial condition.” Penn Traffic intentionally inflated its operating income and other financial results by prematurely recognizing promotional allowances, the SEC’s complaint alleged. The commission said the scheme lasted from approximately the second quarter of Penn Traffic’s 2001 fiscal year through at least the fourth quarter of its 2003 fiscal year. go to web site bilo weekly ad

Promotional allowances are fees paid from vendors in exchange for various marketing and promotional activities, such as inclusion in a supermarket’s weekly circular.

Penn Traffic then prematurely recorded a total of approximately $10 million in operating income and reported false results in financial reports filed with the commission, the SEC alleged.

The SEC’s complaint also alleged a separate scheme from at least the first quarter of Penn Traffic’s 2000 fiscal year through the first quarter of its 2003 fiscal year.

The company recorded fraudulent entries in the books and records of Penny Curtiss, its wholly owned baking subsidiary that has since closed, according to the complaint. For example, the commission said Penny Curtiss fabricated accounting records to overstate inventory and reduce the cost of goods sold.

As a result, Penn Traffic overstated after-tax net income by more than $7 million and reported the false results in financial reports filed with the commission, the SEC said.

Penn Traffic closed the Penny Curtiss bakery in January 2008. The closure was unrelated to the SEC investigation, the company said.

The SEC’s complaint further alleged that Penn Traffic failed to file financial reports or filed non-compliant reports with the commission between the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2003 and the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2008.

Penn Traffic consented to a permanent injunction against future violations of federal securities laws, the company said.

As part of the settlement, Penn Traffic will hire an independent examiner who will provide annual reports to the SEC, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, and the company’s board of directors. The reports will outline the company’s internal controls on promotional allowance, as well as financial reporting, according to a Penn Traffic statement.

The examiner should be retained within 30 days and will serve for three years, the company said.

The SEC previously charged two former Penn Traffic executives and one Penny Curtiss executive for their roles in the fraudulent schemes alleged in the complaint.

The commission’s case is pending against Leslie Knox, Penn Traffic’s former senior vice president and chief marketing officer, and Linda Jones, Penn Traffic’s former vice president of non-perishable merchandising.

In 2005, the commission obtained a consent judgment against Michael Lawler, the former director of manufacturing at Penny Curtiss, permanently enjoining him from violating the antifraud and books and records portions of securities laws.

Penn Traffic operates 93 supermarkets in upstate New York Pennsylvania, Vermont, and New Hampshire under the P&C, Quality, and BiLo names. It also supplies independent supermarkets and wholesale accounts through its wholesale food distribution business.

Reinhardt, Eric

Back pain prevention

Honolulu Star – Advertiser February 1, 2011 | Porter, William When people reach a certain age — we shall refrain from going into the depressing particulars — they need to start paying more attention to keeping the lower back in shape.

You ignore your back at your peril. Then one day you make an innocent but awkward move: picking up a box, moving a chair, toweling yourself dry, reaching down to scratch the dog’s ears. lowerbackexercisesnow.net lower back exercises

Bingo, you throw out your back. And after a couple of weeks where a strained whatchamacallit becomes the center of your universe, you heal enough to tell yourself: “Well, I never want to go through that again.” That’s where the preventive medicine of a proper exercise routine comes in, one that targets the muscles of the lower back and the core muscles of the abdomen, which provide a crucial supporting role.

We asked longtime Denver fitness trainer Donna Miller to put together a few basic lower-back exercises that can be used by beginners and advanced athletes alike. this web site lower back exercises

“There are lots of different ways to skin a cat in keeping your back healthy, but these are good basic exercises,” Miller says. “You don’t need a gym to do these exercises. You can do them at home.” Some of the exercises require a fitness ball or 8-pound kettlebell weight, available at most sporting-goods stores and gyms.

Miller advises doing the exercises in slow, controlled movements, with strict attention to form — mainly keeping the back straight. The goal is to make the overall session last about 30 minutes.

Try to do each exercise for three sets of 10 repetitions each, although beginners might be able to do only five or so reps at the outset.

“People who are really looking to improve their back strength should do these routines four times a week,” Miller says.

Credit: William Porter Denver Post Porter, William