It's Nice to Be on Vacation

Is there anything better than opening your eyes in the morning and realizing that you don't have to go to work today? Ahhhhhhhh.

I made a short supermarket run before, after a really good Wii workout. I hit 30 minutes on the Fit and then bowled and also hit some baseballs. Needless to say, everything hurts, but I'm experimenting with regular Tylenol to see if it has any effect. So far, so good.

I just had a nice long conversation with the bride-to-be, and it looks like all her plans are starting to come together. This is fun! And will be, I suppose, except for the paying for it part. We're currently looking at October 24, but the date is not yet 100% set. The funny thing is that she and the SnL have looked at wedding venues literally all over the state of New Jersey, and it looks at the moment that they're going to be married in the same place, the same room, where the Hubs and I were married 32+ years ago. Pretty amusing, I think. A very nice place, somewhat on the elegant side. We had a cocktail reception wedding -- not a sit-down meal -- and it looks like they're leaning that way as well.

Speaking of the wedding, I've come to a very big decision for me: I'm going to start coloring my hair. Tomorrow, in fact. I have very short hair with a nice touch of gray across the front, but I have no interest in looking like the bride's grandmother. So I'm getting it colored -- my own color -- and tomorrow, Ray (who cuts my hair) and I will develop a plan so that come next October, I have enough hair for him to do something with on the day of the wedding. Oh, and I've lost about four pounds, which means I have until April -- my goal date -- to lose six more. We'll see if that's do-able before I start thinking about another ten, and I'll see where I am in April before I buy a dress. Yes, a dress. I really want to wear a dress, and not pants. As always, the shoes will be my biggest problem.

If I get a decent picture of my new hair tomorrow, I'll post.

My Week in Review

Friday already?

So this is the second of my two days off, and what can I say? I LOVE THIS. I don't love it enough to retire yet, but I love it plenty. I slept nice and late yesterday, although I woke up with the alarm this morning due to a doctor's appointment. (Meds adjusted, no big deal.) But then I took a nap from 11:45 to 2:45!!! YAY!! Go me!

So it's that kind of lazy time off. The biggest project I worked on was getting all my pictures uploaded to Picasa; I'm not sure why or what I'm going to do with them there. Tag them, I guess, so I can find stuff.

My desk is neat, my bills are are ready to go as soon as someone gives me some money. (And it's on its way, I'm happy to say.) I have laundry to do, but not urgently.

K has gone to visit an old roommate in DC for a few days, from yesterday to Sunday, so the house is quiet -- it's always quite, actually; I never once had to tell a kid to turn down music -- but it's neater when she's gone. No dishes in the sink, no jackets on the couch, and so on.

Oh, btw, I apologize to the rest of the country for the moron New Jersey elected as its governor the other day. A big, stupid idiot-oaf, a former prosecutor who, according to his campaign ads, doesn't understand some basic law. Heaven knows what rights he will attempt to take away from us; he's a conservative buffoon, as opposed to the financial genius (former CEO of Goldman Sachs) who was our incumbent. We always elect liberal senators in New Jersey, but every so often, the electorate settles on some fascist for governor. Ah well, time will tell.

I'm much better than I was last week, but the post nasal drip is still kicking my butt. I'm on multiple nasal sprays now, and am guzzling tea like there's no tomorrow.l




watching PROJECT RUNWAY :: ENTRY #2132
READING: Slept Away by Julie Kraut

Settled ... I Think

I got home about midnight on Saturday. Since then, I've been catching up, catching on, trying to get a handle on things. Which I may now have, or maybe not. This could be a long entry, and then again ...

First, the trip. The trip was excellent, despite the unbearable heat -- how do people live in Florida in the summer? -- and the constant pain we were all in from all the walking. The four of us never had a moment of conflict during the whole trip, and we had lots and lots of laughs. My sister was essentially sick the whole time -- a migraine every day -- but she persevered, and let nothing slow her down. I won't give you a play by play of the whole trip, but we were relaxed, saw what we wanted to see, and ate copious and delicious meals.

We got the meal plan because that's what made this such a good deal: the offer was a free meal plan if you stay five nights. I had never gotten the meal plan before, but let me tell you, I won't go without it in the future. It was a real steal. For example, I would get a cafeteria style breakfast (eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, bacon, biscuit) plus a drink and a snack, they would ring up $17.00, and I would give them my card and it would zero out the balance. Dinner for the four of us at nice restaurants would run from $120 to $150, and we would give them the card and it would zero it out. Even if you had to pay for the meal plan, it would still be a bargain.

I didn't take many pictures, but I'll share a few:


One of the few pictures I took at a park, of a Mickey topiary in the Hollywood Studios.


This is the s'mores dessert I had at the 50's Primetime Cafe. It was so good I had to take a picture of it.


I got this great shot of the other three one evening on the bus. Left to right, the Sibs, Colorado Cousin, Crazy Cousin.


This is me on the plane. It speaks for itself.

We were having the professional photographers take our pictures everywhere, and I just ordered a download of the best one, which I'll post tomorrow, probably.

So, home. I finally got to go into the city and visit OldFriend today, which was wonderful. K had another interview this morning, and I think is now starting to get very depressed. Maybe she'll have good news by the end of the week, but she doesn't think so, and she's been pretty optimistic up to this point. My heart is breaking for her.

Tomorrow, I need to go into school and get some things done. Our first day is next Tuesday; the kids' first day is the day after that. I still have no idea how many people will be on the library staff this year, or who they are, or if I have a lunch period in my day. I'm going to try to speak to the principal in the morning, but I don't expect much to come out of it, even if he's willing to see me.

And so on. I have so much to do this week, I don't know how I'll fit it all in. But I suppose I will, somehow.



watching FAMILY GUY :: ENTRY #2109
READING: --- by ---

Done!

School's out for summer! (Which were the exact words the principal used to dismiss us from the final faculty meeting. Oh yeah, and the words from an Alice Cooper song, of course.) He let us out by 11:30 this morning. Very nice.

Which caused me to learn that I do actually have the energy in the middle of the day to do other things, as opposed to coming home from work and collapsing. I got all my laundry done and put away, so I can start the summer with a clean slate. I tidied up my car and the living room. I decided to cook myself some dinner.

I know! Me!

Well, I've been thinking about how I was going to eat intelligently this summer, which I do intend to do, without going on any kind of actual plan, because I never want to get caught up in obsessing over food again. It turns out I did eat well today, so far only about 1000 calories (which means I can finish the Coffee Toffee Frosty in the freezer; I'm not a fanatic.) Anyway, I went to the produce market in town, which also has a fabulous fresh fish counter, and made some tilapia with veggies on it in a parchment paper packet in the microwave. I could have that every night, but I think they say you shouldn't have fish more than three times a week because of the mercury and stuff.

I could even do some Wii yoga tonight, but I'll be horrified enough when I step on it tomorrow and see my weight in the morning, I don't need to see my after-dinner weight. Perhaps a bit of bowling or golf might be a good toe-in-the-water to see how my shoulders and elbows take it.

Massage in the morning, and then I need to pick out my first book of the summer. I have ... counting ... about 15 books on the piano bench, and a few more ebooks, and one coming from my sister. I know I won't read them all, but I like knowing that I'll get to a lot of them. Some are YA novels, which I'll either love, or toss aside after the first few pages, and three big books are the Mary Stewart Merlin/Arthur trilogy, which I read many years ago and loved, and I'd like to try to re-read.

I'm going to go sort out the dry cleaning to see what I need to take in tomorrow. Whatever I get cleaned (shirts, for me) will just sit in the closet, ready for September, because I like to wear only denim shirts in the summer (I have six or seven) over a tank top. And jeans. Voila, my summer wardrobe is complete.

More tomorrow from the exercise front.



watching THE GOLDEN GIRLS :: ENTRY #2074
READING: ----- by -----

Back To My Regularly Scheduled Life

Thanks to all of you for your comments on my last few entries. It was not my intent to make fun of my cousin; you know that's just how I speak, and write. It's mostly just hard to know what to make of her. But I know we'll enjoy the time in DW, assuming nothing comes up that makes us unable to go. I like knowing that we're going to be expanding her little world a bit.

It was a beautiful day today, and tomorrow is supposed to be outstanding, over 70 degrees. And then rain, and then back to work on Monday.

I got a haircut today, and asked to have it styled curly to see what it looks like. I'm not posting a picture, because it looks pretty much like the cat lady on The Simpsons. And with lots and lots of product in it, so a shampoo is my first order of business tomorrow. Also, I have no car tomorrow since mine is in for service, so I guess it's chores around the house for me.

I really have gotten a lot done this week. Most of all, I got software and a little scanner that scans and saves receipts, and reads them and puts them into categories and such, and I have shredded all the originals, so I am not drowning in paper for, like, the first time ever. I got a better desk organizer, so my desk is very neat. I haven't read much, only this YA (Young Adult) novel I'm working on, which is cute. And looking more and more into the Disney trip.

I remembered today that I have concerns about flying regarding the Crohn's. I actually remembered yesterday, when I read a news article about a man who was arrested on a Delta flight because he was insistent that he had an emergency and had to get to the bathroom. (Of course, there was a bit more to it than that.) But this is my big flying fear, that I'm going to need to get to a bathroom and they won't let me go. So I ordered a kind of medical alert bracelet, which I only intend to wear when I fly, and not all the time.

I may have finally slept like a normal person last night. Even so, I slept until nine this morning, when the phone rang, a wrong number that thought we were a fax machine. I got the same wrong number twice again during the day. There's a trend I hope doesn't continue.

My sister is in California, and called me the other night at about 11:45 pm because she got the time difference mixed up. I was awake, so all I did was laugh, because I would probably do the same thing.

And now I'm getting sleepy, not that it means anything.





waiting for PARKS AND RECREATION :: ENTRY #2029
READING: Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Last Chaapter

Another delicious vacation day. I did some closet organizing, more desk tidying, and got my nails done.

Okay, so the story continues. A little bit of warning here: part of tonight's story is serious, and sad. Life is like that sometimes.

Okay, so my cousin moved to Oregon to prove her independence. She did reasonably well there, having a good friend who had already moved there, and that woman's circle of friends. As they were all new-agey types, cousin began to get involved in that as well.

She also met her friend's brother, either for the first time, or it was the first time they noticed each other. He was also into all the new-agey stuff, and loved animals, as cousin was now coming to realize she did as well. He worked from time to time as a substitute teacher, because he really couldn't understand how a person could have a full-time job and still get things like laundry and food shopping done. No shit.

They did indeed fall in love, and decided to live together. At some point, somehow, they bought a house, and began to acquire a quantity of cats and dogs. This was all happening somewhere in the early 90's, I would guess, although I don't remember a specific timeline.

My aunt and uncle would visit them, and cousin and her guy would visit her parents in L.A. My aunt and uncle liked him very much, and were certainly ecstatic that she had found someone. She had waited for love, and was very happy.

They lived together for three years, I think, before they got married. Three weeks after they were married, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He died a few weeks after that.

No jokes then, because this was serious and tragic. She continued to live in the house, work occasionally, acquire more pets, and become more and more new-agey, and more weird.

My uncle died in 1994. My mother and sister and I flew out to L.A. for his funeral, bringing a ten year old K along with us because R was off on a Girl Scout trip and I didn't want a ten year old home alone all day until the Hubs came home from work. Anyway, this was the most time I spent with this cousin since the airport visit. (Although I had certainly spoken to her after her husband passed away.) She was still sweet, and compassionate and cute, and weird. At one point, I recall, she was standing behind her mother, who was sitting in a chair, and she was cleansing her mother's aura, which I cannot describe to you because, of course, she wasn't actually doing anything.

Not long after that, as my aunt became more and more ill, she moved up north to live near her daughter, the nurse. So that's at least ten years now, and of course my aunt passed away a few weeks ago, which is what prompted this whole trip we're taking. During this time, let's see, my cousin became one of the Y2K people, who stockpiled supplies and spent that New Year's Eve in hiding because the world was somehow going to come to an end. She has one cat that doesn't get along with any of the other animals, so that cat has the master bedroom in the house. Cousin sleeps on a couch in the living room. And as you know, a vacation to her is a hotel where you can sit in your room and look out at the ocean.

I think Disney World will be wonderful for her, because she grew up in L.A., and must have gone to Disneyland hundreds of times, so I'm hoping it will be a nice recalling of childhood good times. Yes, she moves slowly, so I'll probably have been to two parks and six rides before she's ready to get up and go for the day. Even so, the whole thing falls under the category of doing a mitzvah, a good deed for someone who needs one.

And there you have it. She is not a sad person; she's actually kind of bubbly. She's just quirkier than most, even in a family of very quirky people.

I'll post a picture of us all from the Magic Kingdom when we go.





waiting for FRIENDS :: ENTRY #2028
READING: Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

And So On

My doctor's visit today resulted in a new medication, the one they advertise on TV with people made out of plumbing pipes. We'll see how that goes. I also got my bedroom straightened up and clothes put away, and my desk all tidy and even dusted, for heaven's sake.

But I know what you want to hear.

It was the oddest hurricane ever. For one, it struck on a summer afternoon with no warning. (I'm thinking now it was July, so it wasn't actually a hurricane, since they come later in the year. It was some kind of hellacious storm.) There were gale force winds and a whole lot of rain, but it never got dark like a hurricane does. Locally, we were still out driving around in it. Late afternoon, I brought older cousin and my two kids back to my house. Come dinnertime, we were going to IHOP. The phone rang.

It was crazy cousin, calling her sister to ask, essentially "WHAT DO I DO NOW?"

The four of us were in my family room, I recall, as the rain poured outside under a brightening sky. My girls and I heard only one side of the conversation, of course, which went like this:

"You need to go to Traveler's Aid."

"It's a desk. There's a sign above it that says 'Traveler's Aid'."

"Get a luggage cart."

"Okay, okay. Get a Skycap."

"A man with a luggage cart."

"It says "Skycap" on his hat."

"Which terminal are you in?"

"Okay. Turn left."

"About a hundred feet."

And so on. By this time, we were certain that 8 year old R could have figured this all out of her own; at least she would have read signs and figured out where the ladies room was. K could have done it at that point. But older cousin had to guide her sister through every step of the way. Finally, she was in the right place, and we went out to eat.

She called again as soon as we got back. The airlines had settled all the people from the canceled flight in an airport hotel, and re-booked them for the next day. She had had a choice of a morning flight and a late afternoon, and knowing how little she liked getting up and getting ready in a hurry, she picked the afternoon. In the meantime, she had the absolute time of her life. She hung out with the other passengers, she had a nice room, she got room service. She was in heaven, and assured us that no, we didn't have to pick her up in the morning and then bring her back in the afternoon, she'd enjoy the hotel and take the shuttle back.

You know what happened, right? Or not.

The storm blew back in the next afternoon, and her flight was canceled. Again. She went happily back to the hotel. My father was having an apoplexy. The rest of us could not stop laughing.

On the third day, she flew home to L.A. and her concerned parents. All was well, until a couple of months later, when she proclaimed that the incident at the airport had changed her life, and now she knew she could handle independence, so she was truly going to strike out on her own. She had a friend who lived in, of all places, Oregon, and she was moving there.

Uh ... yeah, right.

But she did. I guess she lived in an apartment at first, and worked to her level of what she could work.

Did she grow up? Did she find true love? Tune in tomorrow.



waiting for WIFE SWAP :: ENTRY #2027
READING: --- by ---

Sprung

It was a beautiful spring day today, a little blustery, but lovely. A great day to have no work to go to, only driving around doing errands and tasks all by myself. When no one else is in the car with me, I can turn up the radio and therefore hear it. (Otherwise I have to keep it turned down enough to hear conversation, which means other people can hear the radio, but I can't. :<)

Moving on from yesterday. My cousin lived at home with her parents until she was at least 30, maybe later. I know that at some point, her parents moved to a senior citizen community and she didn't live with them after that, but she probably moved out before, I guess once she finally finished college. (She was a very good student always, very book smart.) When she did move out, she rented a room in someone else's apartment. They were not roommates, as such; she was a tenant in someone else's apartment. She had her room, and of course, use of the bathroom and kitchen, although I doubt she used the kitchen much. I think that for a while she probably still joined her parents for dinner every evening. In her apartment, she had a bed and a small portable TV and no other furniture. (She also owned a car.) Everything she owned was still in boxes from when she moved; she used the boxes as her dresser. Oh, did I mention she has a bit of a compulsive shopping problem? I think it started around this time. She doesn't shop for expensive things, she just keeps acquiring more and more stuff. Still does.

She had friends, she socialized, she worked, or so we assumed here in New Jersey. (About the work, I mean; she did have friends and socialize.) The big turning point came in the summer of 1989.

Her older sister, as I've mentioned, is very accomplished. By this time, she had gotten two more master's degrees on top of her first one, had published one book, had traveled all over the world, and had a teenage son. She would visit us here once or twice a year, and was due to come in July. Her sister thought this would be a great opportunity to come and visit us as well, while her sister was here. It's also possible that her parents thought it would be good for her, and set it up. Either way, their schedules overlapped but were not the same, since one was coming from Colorado with her husband and child and the other from L.A. They all stayed in my parents' house.

One rainy afternoon, we sat around my sister's living room -- she lived in a big house then -- and chatted, while chaos reigned around us. Our children were then, let's see ...

Cousin's son, the oldest, turned 16 that week. (His father had gone to visit family out of state.)
JJ, my sister's eldest, was just 15.
Wonderful Niece and Good Guy nephew were 11.
R was 8.
K was 5.

The six of them were actually playing together, chasing each other all over the house, hiding behind the couch we were sitting on, up the stairs, down the stairs, scaring the little ones, big ones carrying the little ones, girls throwing things at boys, you know, the whole house full of children thing. Crazy Cousin was, in a word, overwhelmed.

She was amazed at the three of us, astonished that we could "do it." We looked at each other, blank. "Do what?"

Oh, you know. We had full time jobs and still somehow we found the time each week to do laundry! And go grocery shopping! And most amazing of all, raise children!!!

Uh .... none of the three of us knew how to reply. We were not superwomen. This is what you do, you know. Well, it turned out that she herself only worked part-time, maybe ten hours a week, because how could you possibly work full-time and get that other stuff done? Uh ...

My mother told us later that this made perfect sense to her, because it took the cousin hours and hours every morning just to get ready to leave the house. It might take her an hour to finish a half a piece of toast and a cup of tea. Whatever she did, she did it so slowly that it made everyone around her want to scream.

What was her job, you might wonder? Hold on. When she worked, she worked as a nurse in an AIDS ward. Now, this was the late 80's, so an AIDS ward was essentially a hospice, because there were no real treatments for AIDS then. On the job, she was sharp and quick (although she did once prick herself with a used needle), but she was so compassionate, that she was perfect for this job. It was, of course, incredibly draining emotionally, which she said was another reason she could only work for ten hours a week.

How did she live? No idea, although we've always assumed that her parents subsidized her. They would have had to, I think.

Her trip came to an end. She had a late afternoon flight out of Newark, but was more than happy to be dropped off at the airport hours earlier, even in those pre-security days, because then she wouldn't have to rush to get to the gate. (!) My father dropped her off around noon and then came home. Within an hour, there were sudden hurricane warnings all over the New York-New Jersey area, and all flights out of Newark were canceled.

What to do? My father had to be restrained from driving back in the hurricane to get her. "But her parents entrusted her care to us!" he said. "SHE'S FORTY YEARS OLD!" we told him. "She'll figure it out!"

Did she or didn't she? More tomorrow.




waiting for FRIENDS :: ENTRY #2026
READING: --- by ---

I'm Free, I'm Free!

Oh heavens, it will be so good not to have to wake up at six for the next ... counting on fingers ... TEN DAYS!!!! YAY!!!!!

Yes, btw, Passover is a very happy holiday, and Happy Passover! is the appropriate greeting. You know, I am free with the Yiddish, but Yiddish is not universal among Jewish people. It's the language of the Jews of Eastern Europe, certainly the largest group of Jews there were (and probably still are), but not the only. It's my heritage, but a friend whose parents were refugees from Nazi Germany, and who is of German Jewish stock going back centuries, does not have Yiddish in her background, and their foods and traditions are a little different. Most different for me, though, is another teacher at school who was a refugee from Iran (along with her family) after the revolution there. The history of the Persian Jews goes back to Biblical times, and their customs, foods, etc. are very distinctive.

Okay, finished with that holiday. I look forward to a week of sleeping, reading, getting tasks done, one medical test, more sleeping, and so on. Especially the sleeping.




waiting for FAMILY GUY :: ENTRY #2022
READING: --- by ---

Decisions

I've been a little sporadic lately with my updates, and I don't think I wrote that my second aunt did indeed pass away last week, on Wednesday. She was really a very sweet lady; she was clear of mind to the end, but tortured by arthritis and osteoporosis, and the emphysema that can accompany that. (She was a non-smoker; the emphysema came from her ribs closing in on her lungs.)

There was no actual funeral, only a graveside service in California, which my cousins held privately. My aunt had said some time ago that our tribute to her should be a trip taken together by my sister and me, and her two daughters, our first cousins. I've said before that the Sibs and I are super close to one of these cousins and not so much with the other, but she too is very sweet, although flaky, and the loss of her mother will be hardest on her.

So guess who gets to plan the trip?

We've narrowed it down to a spa trip, you know, a resort we can all go to and relax and get massages and do yoga and stuff. We will be coming from New Jersey (the Sibs and I) and Colorado and Oregon (the other two), so I'm looking for a reasonable destination that isn't Kansas or Nebraska, or something else that is specifically in the middle. I'm thinking Arizona, which my sister says sounds good; she also would like to go in August. Something about that doesn't sound right to me.

I did find a beautiful place online; it has locations in Arizona, Miami, and Massachusetts (in the Berkshires.) It was looking better and better until I finally got to what it costs: a four day package is about $3000.

WTF? And, it bears repeating, WTF?

This is waaaaaaaay beyond the means of any of us, not surprisingly. I was thinking that, including airfare, I could eke out about $1000 as a tribute to my aunt. Now I have no idea where to look.

I may drift back to one of my original thoughts and see if there's a hotel in Chicago with a spa facility and we can go to museums there and stuff. When this was first mentioned a few years ago, I thought of a pilgrimage to the Mall of America, but that's just more money spent. Of course, we considered Disney World, which I thought would be expensive, but I already know I can do Disney for a thousand, so it's not looking so bad anymore.

Of course, there's always Wildwood on the Jersey shore, although that is a schlep for the other two.

I'm reaching for ideas. I've heard that Arkansas is beautiful, actually, but I don't know anything about it or where to go. Maybe there's something in central Canada that would be nice in the summer. (Ooh, maybe Quebec. I'll check that next.)

I'm open. Here's what's out: anything on either coast, since it would be too long a flight and too expensive for at least someone. Colorado, since one of us already lives there. Utah, because I don't want to go to Utah.

Go.


THE GOLDEN GIRLS :: ENTRY #2013
READING: Fool by Christopher Moore

Check. Check.

I had a list of things to do today and I did all of them. You know how happy that makes me.

Even better, I forgot to write down some of the things I needed at Staples, so when I got there and picked up the one thing I was looking for, I went on a little Supermarket Sweep type excursion and just kept filling up my little basket. Even better than that, it's all stuff for school, which means I'll get reimbursed for all of it when I get into school on Monday.

Don't you just love shopping with other people's money?

I had a nice lunch visit with the Chum. I got there early so I killed some time in Bed Bath and Beyond next door and got myself a new pillow. I even tested it out when I got home, but never did fall asleep, just watched and/or listened to two L/O episodes.

Tuesday night's bad news was that the Hubs' car died on the Turnpike on his way back from teaching. He had to get it towed off the Turnpike and then towed by Triple A to our mechanic. Remember, this is my father's 1991 Oldsmobile Ciera, which only just turned a hundred thousand miles last week. The good news is that it's all fixed up, and for only a few hundred dollars. If this had been the make-or-break repair, I have no idea what we would have done, although with the Hubs working from home, sharing my car would have worked out pretty well for the short term.

Speaking of Jack, today is his yahrzeit, which means the anniversary of his death. (The true yahrzeit would be according to the Hebrew calendar, but I don't go there.) Six years. Still hard to get a grip on all the way.

I go for a mini-physical tomorrow, but the doctor's office sent me the results of my bloodwork already and it says that my liver is normal, so now I'm going to worry about that whole business even less that I already was, which is not at all. I'll get the results of the CAT scan when I see The Resnick on Monday, at which point I will tell him that barium is now on my list of things I do not ingest. My cholesterol is pretty good, too, 152. I don't know what any of the other stuff means.

I'm still awake -- my eyes have been much better -- so maybe I'll watch Heroes tonight. Or not.


FRIENDS :: ENTRY #1992
READING: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

VaCa Day 1

An ordinary start to a vacation, I suppose, nothing bad, nothing much. Oh, it is Valentine's Day, so the Hubs gave me yet another plant-thing, since he now takes it as a personal challenge to give me a plant every Valentine's Day and keep it alive as long as he can despite my occasional presence near it. This year, a dish garden of herbs, which he will plant outside in the spring. I gave him an argyle sweater vest. It's not a big deal to me, Valentine's Day, and not really to him, either.

I slept until 9:40 and took a nap from 1:00 to 2:30 and I'm still exhausted. Not bummed or anything, just dragging. And I had a wonderful breakfast of bagel and lox, which I have not had in some time, and ooh yum, lox. On cream cheese, of course. Ooh yum.

R and the GF are away for a few days, so K and I went over to feed the grandcat a little while ago, and will go tomorrow as part of our normal Sunday Target run. Monday morning I'm having that CAT scan of my liver, and then I'll go feed the little on myself, and then her mommy will be home.

The best news of my day is that my eyes are much, much better today, which means whatever I'm doing to them is right. (What I'm doing is a warm compress at night, followed by eyelid scrubbing, and anti-biotic drops twice a day, plus lubricant drops or gel whenever I need them. But I haven't needed them today.) This is not the inflammatory thing acting up (which is episcleritis), but just your routine blepharitis, which my father had too and which is very common. I didn't realize that what I've been calling allergies for years was probably allergy-triggered blepharitis, so knowing what to do for it now is very good. It means I'll be able to get back to some reading soon, I hope.

Oh! Listen to what I did last night: I had POPCORN! I have not had popcorn in many a year, but you know, the Resnick says I should eat whatever I want and see what happens, and I've been eating some walnuts and almonds in small amounts over the last few weeks with no ill effects. So last night, in my normal semi-awake state (I really am awake, I just don't want to be) and searching for food, I popped a little bag of K's popcorn and I ATE IT ALL and I am not in the Emergency Room yet, so thumbs up for me! Tomorrow, I may pick up a box of popcorn without butter, as I prefer to put on my own or have without, and then I can try it once or twice a week. Just like a grownup!

The Chinese food is on its way. I'm going to go juggle the cars so that when the Hubs gets back with it he can park my car for the night.


LOVE, ACTUALLY :: ENTRY #1988
READING: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Ready to Go

Let's see, I have my clothes laid out for tomorrow and a nice pasta and shrimp dish that I packed up for three days worth of lunch, and my lunch bags on the table, along with a mug with the dry oatmeal already in it for breakfast. (Add 1 cup of water, microwave for a minute or two.) The two huge shopping bags of stuff I have to bring in are in the living room. (Twilight books, coffee, a jug of water, some mugs, the tin of peanut butter cookies the ILs gave me for Christmas.) I am ready to go back to work tomorrow.

I'm not eager, but I'm not dreading it, which is better for me. The only thing I can't figure out is this: if I have slept until 9:30 nearly every day this vacation, plus taken a two hour nap most days, how am I going to get up at 5:45 tomorrow and work all day?

Hmm. Is a puzzlement.

I haven't eaten dinner, though, which I guess I should. I have some Chinese food left over from last night, so I guess I'll have that.

Things are quiet. I still haven't taken down the tree decorations, so I guess I'll try to do that when I get home from school tomorrow. K has two weeks before classes start, and then three weeks of that before student teaching, so she may or may not be substituting at the high school (if she gets called), which will make mornings more hectic. Otherwise, since the Hubs is working at home, the mornings are pretty much mine alone, which, y'know, is calming and pleasant. But of course, once student teaching starts, we'll both be competing for the bathroom and the kitchen. We'll see how that goes.

The kitchen smells so good now because of the lunch I made, but none of that for me now. I'd best go see if the crispy noodles are any good on day two.



WATCHING 60 MINUTES :: ENTRY #1954
READING: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke

Happy Day

Two smiley days in a row! Wow!

So I had a very nice day. Not only did I get a haircut this morning, but this afternoon, someone said "Hey, who cuts your hair?" so that was a nice thing to hear. (Ray, who cuts my hair, is awesome.) I also did some shopping with the Sibs and we had lunch.

My stomach behaved itself today, so I did not also have the headache and other stuff that go along with that. Plus, no snow or rain today (although I think something's coming tomorrow), so in general, a nice, happy vacation day. I LOVE those!


WATCHING FRIENDS :: ENTRY #1951
READING: ????? by ?????

Everything is Peaceful and Serene

Christmas is over, all is well. It went pretty smoothly and without stress this year, except for the few things I mentioned yesterday. I got some cute things, and all seemed happy with what I got them. I could go into paragraphs about the ILs, but I'm going to let it go because they're old, which is really the problem. (Oh, maybe a little.)

One of the things we do is that we call them as soon as we get home so they knew we've arrived safely. No problem there. Last night K and R left the ILs about twenty minutes before the Hubs and I did; K had to drop R off at her apartment and then drive the twenty minutes home from there. She pulled into our driveway about twelve seconds before we did. So we get inside, the Hubs calls his father, who says he's been very worried, because he heard from R twenty minutes ago and not K. Because even though he knows it's a twenty minute drive, he's not always thinking that way anymore. I don't think it's dementia of any kind, I just think his neurons don't fire as fast as they used to. But the MIL doesn't seem to get that, and whenever he doesn't get something, she gets very frustrated with him. Oy. They are not going gently, maybe because their own parents died before they got very old and they have no experience with it. Just guessing.

Today was a quiet, slow day. I slept until nine, and then took a three hour nap in the afternoon! In between, K and I went to look at KB Toys to see if there was anything in the closing sale we wanted -- there wasn't -- and I went to K-Mart to look for a video game I want, to get with a gift card I got -- they didn't have it. And that's it.

I'm looking forward to a nice week off. I have a haircut scheduled and one doctor's appointment, and on Sunday, the girls and I are having brunch with the Sibs and Wonderful Niece.

I hope everybody had a good holiday or day off or whatever it was for you --

WATCHING WIFE SWAP :: ENTRY #1948
READING: ????? by ?????

It's "The No School Show!"

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!

(Say it in your head, and if it sounds like "It's the Muppet Show! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!" then I got it right.)

Ahem. Okay, so no school until January 5, which is maybe the longest vacation ever. Very excellent.

I have soooo much work to do in the house tomorrow, which is okay, too. We still haven't decided whether to eat at the kitchen table or to put up the folding table in the living room, which would mean a quick trip somewhere to get a tablecloth. There's an outside chance I could just go to where the spare linens are in the basement and find one, but I really don't think so.

K is baking, has been baking for a couple of hours. So there will be dessert. Nice. And now she's lighting the Chanukah candles, also nice. The house smells really good, too.

Well, I know I had something else to say, but damned if I know what it is. If I think of it later, I'll let you know.

WATCHING WIFE SWAP :: ENTRY #1946
READING: ????? by ?????

Still Here

Yes, I am still here. I don't know why that surprises me; it's not as if I'm going anyplace else. What I need is a couple of days of solid sleep, which is not happening in this life, so I guess I'm saying I'm still here -- upright, typing -- as opposed to sleeping my life away. Would that t'were.

Okay, I finished the slide show, and it's long, and it's mountains and stuff, y' know. The music sounds a little dramatic, but it was really the only choice. The first song is called "Fanfare for the Common Man," the second one, which you know from the beef commercials, is called "Appalachian Spring." (I'm pushing the video down farther on the page because I'm having a spacing problem, but it's there somewhere.)

I think part of my blahs is the whole time-change thing, which, as I've said before, you'd think I'd be used to by now. I don't think it's the light that I miss as much as it's the dark I don't like. In other words, it's not physical Season Affective Disorder as it is that emotionally, I don't like the dark. Now that's clear.

I don't want to do anything constructive (although I did make the video.) My desk is cluttered, I have things to put away in the living room and the kitchen, and I don't care. All I want to do is climb under the covers and read. I haven't even been playing games much on the iPhone recently, just reading.

Ooh, I just remembered, I bought some cheesecake before. At last, something I want to do.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

WATCHING TWO AND A HALF MEN :: ENTRY #1906
READING: The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin

Home

Tired. Don't wanna unpack. Finally got my Obama/Biden car magnet in the mail while I was gone. More pictures tomorrow.

WATCHING TWO AND A HALF MEN :: ENTRY #1904
READING: The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin

Slight Change of Plans

We left Charlottesville this morning and drove to Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park, which was lovely, but you know? Trees and mountains, mountains and trees. (I'll be posting some pictures.) We got to our hotel in Luray a few hours too early to check in, and by the time it was time, we realized there was absolutely nothing to do there (and nowhere to eat), and we were booked for two nights. Hmm. So we canceled that reservation and drove on.

Tonight we find ourselves in Hagerstown, Maryland, just up the road apiece from the Antietam Battlefield, which we'll tour tomorrow and then head home. What can I say, we are Civil War dorks.

----------------------

Yesterday's picture that wouldn't send from the iPhone sent itself the minute we got away from the hotel network -- no idea what that was about -- and here it is:


This is what we bought from a street vendor Wednesday night, a red one for me and a white one for Hubs. Here's what we've been seeing in our travels:

Despite several large signs proclaiming that "Virginia is McCain country!", we have seen slightly more Obama signs than McCain, which has been interesting. Also after we came down off Skyline Drive and were in the real boonies, we saw virtually no political signs of either kind, but once we hit Maryland, we started seeing them again, again, a pretty fair balance. It's Friday, and they're still up there in the front yards, on fenceposts, and so on. It's a fascinating thing.

Oh, and the other sign I saw today that I never expected to see in my life?


Take me home country roads! We passed through West Virginia for twenty minutes between Virginia and Maryland. Thank god the Hubs has a gifted sense of direction, because if I were here on my own, the only way I'd ever get home would be to call him and have him come and get me.

Our lovely offspring, for whom I have been collecting dork history swag at every stop, is a little irritated that we're coming home early. Aw, poor thing. I realize that she has dull parents who never go anywhere and leave the house to her all alone, but you know, it's our house and we live there. And we're bringing her presents. And I miss my own bathroom. (You know how it is.)

Okay, I'm posting and then diving back into the Supreme Court, as it were; it's the book I'm reading. I hope I sleep even remotely like a human being tonight.


WATCHING L/O :: ENTRY #1903
READING: The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin

Howdy, Y'All

Sorry for the title, just engaging in a mindless stereotype. Nobody said Howdy to us today, and only one person said Y'all, which I find to be a perfectly useful expression and use myself from time to time. There.

A long, full day, as my aching bones and muscles will prove. We saw Monticello, Ashland (James Monroe's home, they were neighbors), and went on a sort of winery tour. There's a winery in between the two presidents' homes, and we got there at 12:30. They offer tours on the hour, but it must be a quiet time of year for them, so one of the women gave us a personal tour. Brief, but very interesting, followed by a wine tasting as performed by the Hubs (as I am not currently imbibing), and it was very amusing to watch him as well as the process. He has been to wineries before, and selected a case-worth of Virginia wines when he was done, some for himself, some to give as gifts. There's some Christmas shopping done.

We actually made our first purchase of the trip last night, from a street vendor, but it's taking forever for the picture to send itself from the iPhone to the laptop (so to speak; it's coming over in email), so I may have to show you that tomorrow, unless it gets here before I post. Our hotel is adjacent to what is called Charlottesville's historic district, a pedestrian mall with mostly cute trendy shops and restaurants in what appear to be very old buildings. It's quite charming. This afternoon, I bought two little trays from a potter, also a street vendor; I could have bought one of each thing she had, but I just couldn't come up with people to give them to. We've also had our various meals at this mall so far, all of which have been good.

I'm resending the picture.

In the meantime, I haven't totally gone through all the other pictures I took today while we were out, but I have put them on the laptop -- I should have taken the other picture with the camera and copied it off the memory card, but no, I thought the other way would be faster -- so I can show you a couple. It is quite lovely here, although I don't know that any one part of the country is any more beautiful than any other part; each has something to offer. That may sound strange, coming as I do from a state which is generally reviled as ugly and smelly, but seriously, that's just one section of the New Jersey Turnpike that everybody passes through on the way into New York City; it's not statewide. Anyway, Virginia.

My pictures are not so much touristy (sorry, Art!) as they are nature-y, but here are a few:


This is the pedestrian mall/historic district.


This is one view of Monticello. It wasn't nearly as big as I expected it to be, although a lot of it -- the kitchen, the stables, the storerooms -- are actually underneath the house. And yes, much about the house is very ingenious, as we would expect from Jefferson.


The view, of course, is magnificent, which is why he built the house here.

More pictures when I get home, I think, and get them re-named, and some others turned sideways. And I'll have more by then, too, not to mention I'll retake the other one I wanted to show you, along with the commentary that goes with that.

One of the things I did indeed expect at Monticello was that the issue of slavery would come up. My friend Ray, who cuts my hair, was born and raised in Mississippi, and has very definite views on slavery and on growing up in the black/white society of the south. A few years ago, he was traveling in South Carolina, and took a tour of a restored plantation, somewhat against his will. Part of the tour was the slave quarters. I asked Ray what that was like, and he drew a breath and answered "Like touring Auschwitz." So I had that in mind.

The tour guide this morning raised the issue of the Jefferson's paradoxical relationship to slavery, a topic that would be hard to avoid there. Even touring the house, one cannot be unaware that it was built primarily by slave labor and maintained by slave labor. One the people in the tour group commented that she saw a TV show or a movie on Jefferson and that he "treated his slaves well." I silently gave thanks that K wasn't there with us, because I know she would have gone right up to the woman and said something like "THEY WERE SLAVES." Even the tour guide replied in kind, although not rudely, saying something about the lack of personal freedom, and so on. She also said that Jefferson himself was surprised that the slaves didn't sleep more, that at night in their own homes, they would sing and tell stories, and so on. As if he couldn't imagine that they would want a life beyond him.

Okay, now it's a long entry, and I have not read any news or anything, so I need to catch up a bit. California, I assume, has not fallen into the ocean since last I heard anything, which is good because my nephew and other fine folk live right there in San Diego, but seriously, what is up with that proposition 8 thing? Nephew tells me that San Diego is actually a very conservative area, what with the naval base there and all, but I would guess that he lives in the heart of wherever the hippie-type folk are living. Not enough of them to make a difference, sadly.

I sign off. Last night, the Hubs and I both fell asleep before nine. I think we may make it to ten tonight. (Crap, it's only eight now? I may have to reconsider that.)



WATCHING L/O :: ENTRY #1902
READING: The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin