Greek National Museum of Archeology

If you want to see some of my pictures from Greece, visit this Flickr webpage:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/song_bird/

I've put up about one third of the pictures I want to share and this week I'll put more on. I have to resize them first, so it takes a little while.

Since this was my fourth trip to Greece I was taking different pictures this time. Up until this trip, I was taking pictures of quaint scenes, but since we were staying near Athens and not going to any islands, the quaint scenes weren't available, so I took pictures of things that interested me. Sometimes you may wonder WHY I took the picture, but that's just my style. I like color, graffiti, odd pairings, irony. (My son will question what I mean by irony.)

I am glad we didn't get out to the islands because we experienced so much of Athens and the nearby area, that I realized there is much more to see on the mainland than I had realized. The mainland isn't as pretty as the islands and I will never want to have a trip to Greece where we can't visit at least one island, because the beauty and the quiet makes them the best places on earth. Michael's cousins say they are touristy, but the locals can't control the color of the water or the sky or the temperature and feel of the air or the smells of the olive trees and the beaches. Yes, the towns have lovely little tourist trap shops, but I still love them and the Bougainvillea is incredibly bright against the white-washed buildings which sit against the brilliant blue sky. It is breathtakingly beautiful and I ain't gonna give it up! The postcards don't lie--but most of them are taken on the islands. Athens is a different story.

We visited the National Museum of Archeology one day in Omonia, with Michael's cousin, Mary, who is my best friend in Greece. She is very cultured, speaks French, Italian, Spanish, perfect English, as well as her native language. She co-owns a pharmacy. More on that later. The museum was extraordinary, one of the best I have ever experienced--better than NYC Metropolitan, better than our own SAM, better than the tiny museum in Las Vegas's Bellagio, have never been to the Louve, so I can't say, or to any museum in London. But I'd make a bet on those as well. Of course, Greece has some of the most ancient artifacts and statues in the world, but they display them in a way that allows for a person to breathe on them--there are no ropes, except around the most fragile items--you are not supposed to touch, but you could if the watchers were looking the other way. And the watchers are not wearing uniforms, only name tags, so I didn't feel constantly watched like I have in other museums. No flash cameras, like in every museum, but cameras without flash are allowed and I took tons of pictures. The statues from 400 BC were the most fascinating to me--the veins on the arms and the feet, the perfect depiction of anatomy 18 centuries before Michaelangelo dissected dead bodies to see how the tendons and muscles lay beneath the skin. The perfect little limp penises--no fig leaves here! It was interesteing to see the change in sculpture when the Romans arrived. Up until then the faces on the statues were idealized, beautiful men and women, no flaws. The Romans did "portrait" sculpture and the heads showed real faces, jowly, broad, long nosed, bald. They still often used the idealized bodies to put these heads on, making some interesting and odd compositions.

Mary was thrilled that the Thera exhibit was open. Thera is more commonly known as Santorini, the island that is the rim of a volcano, and probably the most famous of the Cyclades islands and the most dramatic. Her father has a tiny house there that he used to live in and now rents out. We stayed there in 1994, during my first trip to Greece. We visited the archeological dig while there--I stood in one of the dig sites and declared, "Ema archeologo!", the only two words besides hello, please and thank you that I knew at the time. The Thera exhibit contained two walls that were intact from this ash buried site from 1500 BC. The colors were still as vivid as they had been when painted and depicted life in the village at the time--sophisticated and beautiful art. There were also household implements, jewelry, a huge olive jar and other artifacts that were found in the village that was abandoned before the volcano erupted. No bones were ever found there, so all the residents escaped. No one knows where they went.

Michael kept asking Mary, as we made our way through the rooms looking at the incredible statuary, what kinds of tools the sculptures used--he couldn't wrap his mind around what tools they used and how the tools might have been made. Mary explained that iron was available to them, as well as other metals. I hope one day we can find a museum that shows the tools. We saw many other practical items--a strainer, spoons, knives, forks, cups, bowls, cooking "pans", all the things that people in every century all over the world used in their daily lives. All of these things dated from many centures BC. The jewelry was incredible. One regret is that we didn't visit the gift shop because jewelry replications can be found there. Anyone who knows me, knows that jewelry is one of my favorite things!

We will go to this museum again. We missed the Cyclades art, ancient but modern looking. The famous Cyclades head was used as a symbol in the opening ceremonies of the Athen Olympic Games in 2004 and we have a replica on our fireplace mantel. And I want to visit the gift shop!

I'm Back--Sort of

There won't be a full-fledged post today. My body is back but my brain is somewhere else over the Atlantic and I bet I couldn't put together 4 sentences today, so I'll just put a picture here--one of 500 or so that I took on our trip to Greece--the 4th I've taken. It was an entirely different trip, which I will explain when my brain finally gets here.

It's All Greek to Me

I am posting this from Greece. It is a quiet day with not much activity planned and Cousin Paniotis has left the computer accessible to us so I've been looking at grandchild photos on Flickr and will write a little here for the heck of it.

I have been learning how to read the Greek alphabet this trip and am getting pretty good at reading signs phonetically, even though I often don't know what they mean. Sometimes I can tell because the word is so close to the English version. I have learned some more generalities, like HOw are you? and I'm fine and essential phrases like that and am not so afraid to try Greek words. I know that when someone comes from another country and tries to speak our language we are very happy about it and encourage them, so why would it be any different here.

I found a Greek costume for Alison--most of them were very expensive--the Euro has not been good for tourists or for Greeks, but they are trying to get used to it. but I found a costume that was not quite as expensive and it is not quite as nice or well made. I may have to do a little work on it before I send it to her. It's not as nice as the dress that Maria sent to her. But it has a hat! And will the hat fit? That is the big question--if not Ali, one day it will fit Zuzu!

We have not gone to the islands and won't be able to this trip. It's too early in the season. We've spent all our time around Athens and Kefisia, though we went Southwest to a casino last night. Of course, Michael's mother wanted to gamble while she was here, but his Aunt Eleni, who is not a gambler won 700 Euros with one coin! Equivalent to about $1000! Lucky!

That's all for this post. Michael is chomping to get on the computer. I think he's beginning to miss his computer. We have been walking miles and miles every day and taking the train, which I love. You can get anywhere!

Caio and Yasas for now. Back too soon!

Fossil Guy's Birthday

It's Fossil Guy's Birthday today. He would have been 74. I thought he would live to be 90 and beyond. I'll be thinking of him all day. Happy Birthday, Fossil Guy. Here's to you, wherever you are.

Funny Isn't It?

This is an ad that I found in the Sunday paper coupon insert. The part that got my attention is "We buy energy credits!" Yahoo--Yippee!! Good for you! Are we supposed to buy this product because this company buys energy credits, even if it clogs our arteries and makes us fat? Hey, we buy energy credits, so it's okay and you can eat our product without guilt! I think we're going to see lots more of this. On the one hand it's great that saving the environment has suddenly become the "cool" thing to do, but I think it's little late for cool. Funny? Not very.

I hope others watched the debate the other night, the most recent one of many, many debates between Obama and Hillary, so they understand this cartoon, which I found to be right on the money and hilarious! I kept wondering when Charles Gibson and my favorite news guy, George Stephanopolis, would get to the real issues--turns out they didn't get there until question number 16! For shame! Funny, but not really.

Since we're talking funny, here is a politically WAY-incorrect joke I heard BJ Novak (writer for and actor {Ryan} in The Office) say on Bob River's radion show on KZOK this morning:

"Battered women sound so delicious, but it doesn't make it right!"

He also said, "If I could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, I'd choose living...."

Now that's funny!

Dreamy Wednesday

This day began with a dream that showed just how anxious I am about what we might run into on our trip to Greece next week. Here's the dream:

I'm in New Jersey. I have just been "dropped off" there somehow, after missing a connection to a flight. This New Jersey place is strange. It's very little, a small town, like it's in the boonies of NJ, with lots of Mexicans around. There is a grocery store/bar/drugstore establishment that I go into looking for ways to get on another flight. A woman who has been manning the drugstore part of this place says, "Come on over here and I'll take care of you", as she leaves one counter and goes to another, which is apparently the place she can take care of me. She says, "Yeah, I can put you on another flight, no problem." I ask her when it will be leaving and she says offhandedly, "A couple of days." I am appalled! Horrified! I have to stay in this strange, little NJ town for a "couple of days"?! I walk out of the establishment in shock and run into three other women who are in my same boat. These woman are tall and veeerrry wide, but they are women who understand my predicement and they're nice, so we decide to go together to get something to eat and talk over the problem. We get a taxi--yes, there is a taxi in this odd little town--and all four of us get in the back seat. I am squished by them to the point that my cheeks (on my face) are so pushed together that my mouth is in a pucker! But we get to a restaurant which is, predictably, Mexican. I usually don't have anything against Mexican food, in fact we eat quite a lot of it, but this restaurant looked like a place that hadn't seen a food inspection in a looooong time. So, in addition, to having to spend "a couple of days" in this town, I am worried that I might have to spend a couple of days in this town with loose bowels. While I am eating the gray, porky, fatty, suspect food I look out the window at the street. It is very colorful, lots of signs, people dressed in vibrant reds, yellows, greens, blues, there seems to be a parade of some kind--and then a bus goes by hung with skulls--skulls dangling on every square inch--a Day of the Dead spectacle. All I can think of in my panic is that I have to call my husband--he can get me out of here--he will call who ever it takes to get me a flight out of this place, this dangerous, scary place. That's when I woke up. I was still in New Jersey, but at least my dream had allowed me a plan of action. Where is Tony Soprano when you need him?

*************************************************************************************

A couple of hours after the dream I was in the dentist chair looking through an "O" magazine and waiting for Dr. Redd to replace a worn out filling. He had already told me that he didn't have to give me novocaine because he could do it in a jiffy, pain free. All the way to the dentist's office I had been thinking I was going to get one of those needles in the roof of my mouth and compared to the awfullness of that, the dream I woke up with would seem like a lovely fairytale. He did it, though. He ground a little, he filled a little, he put the blue light on it and polished it and I had a new filling, with no pain and no needle in the roof of my mouth. I celebrated by getting an Americano coffee at the Safeway Starbucks and by buying lettuce, tomatoes and peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie dough!

*************************************************************************************

With Americano in hand I visited my Mom, as I always do on Wednesdays. I took with me the recent pictures I had Flickr print for me of my two beautiful granddaughters, Alison and Zuzu. I knew Mom would appreciate them and she did. She exclaimed over Zuzu's sweet smile and Alison's wonderful eyes and what a great parent her "sweet little grandson, Christopher" had become. Mom always has the TV on, usually on the classic movie station and today was Charlie Chaplin day. The movie was one from the 50s where Charlie is white-haired and wearing a tuxedo most of the time. A pretty woman came into the scene with a swoopy 50s hat and gorgeous eyes. I didn't recognize her and I'm usually pretty good at recognizing movie people--Mom said, "I think she's Dawn Adams or something like that." I'd never heard of Dawn Adams so I couldn't dispute or corroborate, but later when the credits came up, there was her name, Dawn Adams! At 86 my Mom still impresses with her memory for movie star trivia! I told Mom about my New Jersey travel dream and she responded that she was a little bit glad she wasn't going to Greece with us because she'd been watching the news and being in an airport right now didn't look like much fun to her.

***********************************************************************************

It's time to go read "John Adams" now (ancestor of Dawn?) and finish my Americano--I can nurse one all day. In a half hour Michael will come home and I'll tell him my dream and accentuate the part about how I knew he would solve all my problems for me. He'll like that.

Brain Teaser

I have a brain again! To explain: have you ever had a cold that compromised the activity of your brain? I have had that cold this past week. What happens in there, I wonder? Is it the gi-hugic quantities of mucous that are being created by the workings of the cold germ? Is the mucous accumulating in my sinus cavities and pressing on the lobes of my brain? Is my brain being strangled by the ropes of green, gunky mucous? Whatever the physical causes, the fact is I felt brain-damaged, in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease, unable to make a coherent thought, remember a word, form a plan. All gone! If this is a little hint of what it’s like to have dementia, I don’t want to live that long!

Winter Blahs

Or Winter Blues. Or Winter Boos. Or even better, Winter Booze! Maybe that would help with this uncharacteristic Pacific Northwest Winter we are experiencing. I am so tired of the cold and the wet. Whether you subscribe to Global Warming or Climate Change or neither, anyone who lives around here will agree that this winter of 2007-08 has been colder and snowier and wetter than we are used to. I thank my lucky stars every time it snows, that I retired in the Fall and I don’t have to decide whether I am going to risk my limbs by driving to work in the stuff. At least there’s that.

I was in Wisconsin in December and in Rhode Island this month and I’m here to tell you, those who say a dry cold is better than a wet cold are absolutely right. Coming back here after being in bitter cold in Wisconsin and semi-cold in Rhode Island made my bones ache! There is nothing to compare with a cold, WET day. The damp crawls right up inside you and camps there. You can’t get warm no matter how many layers you put on.

This morning I woke up to snow falling again, on March 28 of all things! I know that Wisconsin and the entire Midwest, probably, has snow on the ground that won’t likely go away until the end of April, but that’s not supposed to happen here. We are supposed to have a nice regular 3-month season. Three months of Spring, three months of Fall and three months of Winter. I’m leaving out Summer because that’s a crap shoot. Sometimes it lasts for a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple of months. I could do with a nicer Summer, but having a short summer and a looonnnng winter is too much!

I look at the temperatures across the U.S. every day in the newspaper and long to be with my daughter in San Diego, where it is 67 today, or with my daughter in Norfolk where it is a balmy 75. What warm joy that would be! Even London weather, notorious for its gloominess, has been better than ours. Today it’s 55 degrees, 10 degrees warmer, at least, than in Kitsap County, and 18 degrees warmer than in my yard, where it has now risen to a chilly and WET 35 degrees.

Okay, I’m going to pray to Jeff and Andy and Steve, our main PNW TV weathermen, to bring us warmer temperatures. I am going to do a sun dance. I am going to put sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt on my snowman. I am going to build an altar to the sun and burn said snowman. I am going to promise to worship the sun exclusively if only, if only it will return. But first I’m going to go put on another layer, put some anti-fungal between my toes, take an allergy pill against the mold and mildew, replenish the Kleenex and crank up the teapot.

15 Things I've Learned Since Retirement

I have had 6 months now of freedom from 9 to 5 work and I have learned a few things:

1. If you don’t wear lipstick every day your lips get chapped.

2. You can cook much better dinners when you have more than a half hour to create them.

3. Just because you aren’t in the land of donuts, chocolate, pastries and cakes (which is what my workplace was) doesn’t mean you are going to lose weight. Probably it’s because of those “better dinners” and lunches out!

4. My plan of walking to get the newspaper (1/4 mile) before having coffee and breakfast quickly changed to having the coffee and breakfast first.

5. FreeCell is really fun and challenging!

6. I like to wash the dishes every morning. It cleans my fingernails and warms up my hands!

7. I eat lunch out more often than I used to.

8. It’s really fun to stay in bed some mornings and watch an episode of Lost or Boston Legal that I’ve recorded. It feels decadent!

9. A not-yet-retired husband still wants to grocery shop and go to Costco on Saturdays.

10. The “exercise everyday” resolution quickly went the way of the newspaper before breakfast one.
11. My house is tidier and cleaner now though not nearly as spotless as I had planned.

12. It’s cheaper to be retired. I am not tempted to donate to coworkers’ children’s fund raisers or to buy gifts for every birthday and occasion. And I drink my own coffee rather than buying it.

13. I was afraid I wouldn’t have anything to talk about with my husband at the end of the day, but I have plenty. For one thing, I can now read the entire paper before he gets home and there’s plenty of fodder there.

14. It took me 3 months to come up with a new routine that helped me remember to brush my teeth!

15. I heard a retiree say that you don’t know how good the weather is in the Pacific NW until you’re retired. He was absolutely right. When you are sitting behind a desk the only weather you are aware of is what happens on the weekends. For instance, the sun is shining right now, but if I was in an office I would hardly notice it except for longing to be out in it.

Hope

Yeah, it's time for a new post. That last post just kind of said it all for a long time. But the sun is out today, Obama is winning more primaries and it feels like hope is in the air. I have been spending more time out in my garden--it takes about 1 1/2 hours before it gets too cold, but in that time I'm cleaning up some stuff and noticing the little shoots coming up. Today the crocuses actually bloomed. If a crocus isn't hope, what is?

Bookworm's blog post was about fun. That's hope.

My oldest daughter posted on her blog two days in a row! That's hope that there will be more.

There's a picture of my son and his new baby daughter sleeping together. The hope there is that Zuzu will be a snuggler, which was his hope, disappointed, with his first daughter.

It's Over

It’s over now. Fossil Guy has passed away, a beautiful memorial service took place yesterday, Bookworm’s stepchildren will be going back to their own homes today. Today we will watch the Superbowl. I washed clothes this morning. Tomorrow I will vacuum the floor. I expect Bookworm will start seeing clients again. Life is going on. We are picking up where we left off a year ago. A year ago it seemed as if life would never be the same again, and though it isn’t the “same”, because FG isn’t in it anymore, we will all create a new “same”, a life without him. We are still alive and we will go on living.

Yesterday, on the way to Bookworm’s house after the service, my Mom, sitting in the back seat with Bookworm, said, “Now the hard part begins”. But I don’t think that’s true. I don’t think she realizes just how hard this past year has been. From the moment FG was diagnosed there was the certainty of his death looming and all who loved him put their lives on hold, their full happiness on hold. In my house, any time my mate would say, “It’s going to be a great year!” I’d have to remind him that FG was going to die this year, so “great” was not a word I could use. I know BW found much joy in her last year with FG, but there was still the dark specter of death in his cough, in his chemo, in his growing weakness. It couldn’t be ignored.

I am thankful that after I retired at the end of August I was able to visit weekly and then more often as the days grew short. I don’t want to imagine how I would have felt if I’d been working and wouldn’t have had the energy and will to visit as often. I am also thankful that the last days were not as bad as predicted by the nurses. It could be that somehow Fossil Guy willed himself to be clear until the end and to die before he was vulnerable to the point of total helplessness. He relied on us, but he was in control. He could still hold his water cup, he could still sip from it. With help, he could reach the bathroom or a chair. There was no humiliation. That is probably what I feared the most, having experienced it with my Dad.

I don’t think it will be “the hard part” for Bookworm because she is so strong, resilient as the silly putty she often kneads in her hands. Any woman who can live through what her son has given her to endure can live after this. She is from hardy stock, feisty, buoyant people. And she has scores of friends who love her. That counts. I’m not saying it’s going to be a cakewalk. FG was so special that he will never be replaced, but he “saved” her life, as she says, and she doesn’t need saving anymore.

So life goes on. It’s one of the most used cliché’s there is, but cliché’s are born and flourish because they are true. Life will go on and we’d best make the most of it. Who can ever know when the death sentence will be written for us?

Preparing

I feel it's time for me to ready myself for the loss of my dear friend, Jim, or Fossil Guy, as he is known to blogger friends. He has stopped eating and maybe that's his way of saying, "I am done". Who knows what goes on in the minds of people who know their time is short--he even called himself a short-timer recently and the other day when I was visiting he said, "I don't have to do anything anymore". I have known for a year that Jim would die, but I have kept the deep feelings of loss at bay, trying to keep the stiff upper lip, the good attitude, the calm exterior. But it is too obvious now--he is much thinner, his thought processes are slower, his complexion is gray, his voice is thinned and higher.

The only thing I can think to do is to keep visiting, to be there for Bookworm, to remember all the times through all the years we've been together--to help sustain me. Yesterday I was so sad and then angry that it had to be Jim. Why couldn't my useless brother be the one? I was shocked at the thought, but in fact, Jim has been closer to me and more important to me than my own brother. For 40 years he has always been out there, 10 years ahead of me exactly. Our birthdays are 2 days apart. When I have been anxious about a point in my life he has always had wise words for me, from 10 years more experience. Who will be able to do that for me when he is gone? Who will be able to diffuse a worry with a few words of rye wit? Who will be able to put the crazy political/social landscape into perspective like Jim can? Who do I have the history with?There is nobody like him and there never will be. I have to prepare to lose the solidity, the calmness, the intelligence of him. I know I will never be ready.

Happy New Year

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve—and soon it will be 2008, a brand new year to start, with brand new ideas of how it should be and surprises to mess up those ideas. It has become my own tradition to put my journal together on New Year’s Eve. Since the arthritis in my hands made it so that it was painful to write in long hand, I have been using a 3-ring notebook for my journal. There are 11 notebooks—this year’s will be the 12th.

During the year I type entries on the computer, or if I’m visiting someone I bite the bullet and write them out with a pen on whatever paper I can get my hands on. I save emails that seem important, from people that are important to me—my friend, Bookworm, my kids, certain other friends. I put all of these records in a basket in our guest room, along with mementos picked up here and there, on travels or from restaurants of note, or programs from concerts or plays, birthday cards, Mother’s Day cards, etc. On New Year’s Eve day I bring them all out and put them all together in a new notebook—the entire year laid out in front of me. It never fails to surprise me—the things that have happened and how many of them I’ve forgotten—what made me anxious 9 months ago and is just stuff under the thing now.

Since the beginning I have chosen notebooks that have those clear plastic inserts on the cover and the spine, so I can insert cards or pictures in a collage that symbolizes the most important events of the year. The year I accompanied my friend, Sid, to New York, the cover was all about what I saw and ate there. This year there will probably be a lot of new granddaughter and Alaska and Mexican cruise stuff. And a picture from my retirement party!

I’m looking forward to looking backward over the year. It’s been a busy year with great news and awful news and travels and new family members and life changes—a rich year. I wish any of you who read this blog a

Happy New Year

I hope 2008 is a rich year for you.

Ali's Baby Zuzu

This is my Granddaughter practicing a sponge bath on her own "Baby Zuzu" doll, right after she watched her Mama do the same with her new baby sister.

Mama and New Baby, Zuzu

DSC_6398
Originally uploaded by Porkbone

I got my Christmas wish. I arrived in Wisconsin to "be there" just in case the baby, that was due December 22, should arrive early. The baby decided to come very early! She was born December 4 at 3:35 in the afternoon (approximately). I had barely 48 hours of "training" to take over the job of caring for Alison, who is now 30 months old. We call it a Christmas Miracle, because it went so well. We can also posit that Ali is a resilient youngster, smart enough to know that Grandma was there for an important reason and that it would be best to go along with the program.

We played inside and outside in the snow. I read her stories and fed her lunch and played the "pretty rock soup" game many, many times. We learned how to sing Frosty the Snowman and in this process I learned to understand Ali's words well enough so that I only had to fake it a few times--"sure, honey, whatever you say".

Ali was non-plussed by the baby, even after she had been home for 12 days, but she was beginning to be interested in observing her when she had her diaper changed and when she had a sponge bath. She quickly named her doll Baby Zuzu and began to give her sponge baths, too. As I watched her attempting to adjust to this huge change in her life, I felt like I ought to apologize to my first daughter for not being more sensitive to her feelings when her little sister was born. It was clear that Ali knew her world was now different. And maybe not different in a better way!

But I got my Christmas Wish. I was there to help and to hold my newest grandchild when she was brand new and barely awake to the world yet. I was there to see my granddaughter's reaction and, in some small way, to help her through the first days. We got to know each other much better this trip. Maybe when I visit her next she will remember the Grandma that played pretty rocks with her and made "reedy, reedy big houses" with her wooden blocks, and sang Frost the Snow Man with her. I can only hope!

Factory Closed

As of yesterday, the cooking/baking factory is CLOSED! I am done, at least for 2 weeks. The packages of baked goods have left the building and are on their way, through the mail routes to their destinations, Norfolk and San Diego. I also sent a big rescue vehicle toy to my Grandson, Alex, but the dang thing was a challenge to wrap--read that: ###$^%&&** hard. It would not fit into any of the boxes we had saved in the garage for sending things in and because of it's shape it couldn't just be wrapped in brown paper. I had to cut and tape and tape and cut other pieces of cardboard to wrap around it and then cut up paper bags to wrap the wrap. It was very odd-shaped by the time I was done and nearly waterproof because of all the tape.

Now it's just get the suitcase packed and wrap a few presents before I go on December 1, to Wisconsin. I put the Christmas tree up and got lights on it yesterday and a few ornaments. When I got home from my Mom's house yesterday, Michael had placed presents under it already. He is one of THOSE. He wraps things as he gets them. It seems so logical and organized, so why can't I do that? I always have to go into a frenzy of wrapping in order to get it done. I wrapped all of Michael's presents today, except for the one that isn't here yet. Then I got ready to walk out to get the paper and just as I was leaving the phone rang. At this time in my life I don't let the phone ring. It could be a crisis at my Mom's house or it could be Irene calling to say she is on her way to the hospital to have that new little granddaughter. As it turned out, it was Irene, reporting on her earlier report of two days ago, that she is dialated to 2 centimeters and is in lots of discomfort but that she is still hanging on. She had phone numbers to give me, lots of "just in case" information and new tales of Alison's antics. She has also made a list of Ali's idiosyncracies and her routines, just in case. She is doing the best job she possibly can to avert any "second baby" traumas.

By the time that phone call was over Michael had come hope with the paper, soI took off my coat and ate some lunch. Just as I was ready to go lay out all the stuff that had to go in my suitcase, I got another call. This time it was a Mom Crisis. "Chris! I'm at the Mall and I can't find my car. I have been everywhere and I just don't see itand I'm exhausted. Can you come and help?" So, off I went to the Mall and rescued Mom, whose car was on the other side of the Mall from where she'd been looking. After a few questions it was pretty easy to narrow it down.

So even though I am not baking, I am still cooking on all four burners. Now, if the snow will just hold off until I get to the airport on Saturday I will be a happy camper and on my way to a new, exciting adventure.

Cooking Factory

It's been a cooking factory around here this past week and today I'm taking a day off. Last week I baked three kinds of cookies and then made ALL of the Thanksgiving Dinner, except for a jar of baby dills! I'm tired of that stove and that counter and measuring cups and spoons, and chopping and basting and checking for doneness! Ack!!!! But next week I have to do it all over again because I have more bread to bake and one more batch of cookies before I fly off to Wisconsin on December 1. I have to get it all done and shipped, to say nothing of wrapping. But you know, even though I am tired of cooking/baking today, it is something I love to do and I couldn't do much of it if I was still working. I could have made the big turkey, etc., but bread and cookies wouldn't have been on the agenda. So why am I complaining?! Oh well, a little whine never hurt anybody. Today I am looking forward to Turkey Sandwiches, the best thing about Thanksgiving, in my book. With a little cranberry sauce in the sandwich and a nice big piece of lettuce--oooo, my mouth is watering.

We had a nice afternoon/evening yesterday--ate the lovely, delicious dinner (too quickly) with the music from "Cold Mountain" in the background, then played a game of Quiddler, while listening and singing to my Retirement Mixed CD, and with pumpkin pie and heaps of whipped cream, we watched "Flushed Away", one of those clever cartoon movies. I think my Mom and Brother are very happy that they have me to arrange all of this for them, otherwise they'd end up at Angel's Buffet! And this year it wasn't half the exhaustion I usually feel, which means retirement is helping my energy level! On a related matter, I went to the doctor last week, too, between batches of baked goods, and my blood pressure was much lower than it has been in years.

Today is going to be a very (sorry Bookworm) low blood pressure day because I'm not going to ask anything of myself, except to lounge around, read the next in the series of the Diana Gabaldon books I'm reading, a big fat one called The Fiery Cross, drink warm liquids and have that sandwich. And I do believe there will be leftovers for dinner.

Friendship Vows

After spending the day accompanying Bookworm to a doctor at the University of Washington medical center on Monday, it occurred to me that there could be vows said between friends and if one weren't willing to say these vows, then they would not be deemed a TRUE FRIEND. The vows would be something like this:

I promise to be your friend to love and to cherish,

In success and in failure

In fame and in obscurity

In pain and in contentment

During embarrassing medical examinations

During times of too much drink

During overweight and underweight

Regardless of lunatic sexual adventures

Whether we like ourselves or not

In silliness and soberness

In times of honesty or white lies

While in anguish or euphoria

While lost or found.

In times of direst need

I promise to hear every word

And never to judge

For as long as we both shall live and even after.

Ali Ice Skating

DSC_5061_edited-1
Originally uploaded by Porkbone

I know you are all aware of how extraordinary my Granddaughter, Alison, is, but lest you forget, here she is imitating an Olympic ice skater. I am impressed that she interacts with the little TV she is allowed to view, rather than sitting in front of it slack-jawed.

Photogenic Fall

I love the Fall. It's colorful, crispy chilly, full of plans for Halloween and for the coming holidays, for a new school year, for a new TV season. You can get prettier pictures in the Fall than at any other time of year and I'm always inspired to get outside with my camera. Here are a couple of pictures from this year and last year. I think this year has been one of our prettiest Falls. The picture above is the seedball that is left after a small clematis flower is done blooming.

This fungus picture was taken at Scenic Beach.

And this one is of a leaf on my grape vine.

This photo and the next one were taken next to the river that flows through Leavenworth.