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April 15th, 2008
09:26 am - Ultimate Doo-wop
Nostalgia is great! Bob and I have been watching music retrospectives on PBS for years and every time we saw one with all the old songs we liked we promised ourselves we'd go to a performance some day. Well, about 6 months ago the show we were watching advertised the next performance in Seattle. After looking at each other for awhile we decided 'what the heck' and went ahead and called in for the tickets. 6 months later was last Saturday night and we went to our first (and hopefully not last) ultimate doo-wop show.
There were 12 different groups and many of our old favorites - the Fleetwoods (I'm Mr Blue, Come Softly to me, etc)were our favorites but the Contours ('Do you love ME - now that I can dance'); Temptations, Cathy Young and lots of others we loved also sang. Of course the audience was predominantly composed of 60 somethings and the performers were of the same generation but I was astonished at how wonderful the sound was. Only one group really had lost some of the timbre and force of their early voices. All in all - 3 1/2 hours of wonderful memory and music. What a treat!!
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April 12th, 2008
07:52 am - Quilting Retreat
Four wonderful days of quilting, laughing, eating, drinking and just having fun with 10 good friends. What could be more wonderful? This week was the annual retreat for 'The Material Girls'. The last two years we have gone to a B&B near Wenatchee that is just perfect. 10 bedrooms, lots of cutting, ironing, sewing space and -- best of all, all meals provided. I think that is my favorite part! It is such a treat to not have to cook, clean, or even think about the next meal. I love to give Bob a bad time when I get back about how wonderful it must be to just sit every night and wait for someone to say 'dinner is ready'.
We actually did get some sewing done along with all the drinking, eating and talking (can you say 20 bottles of wine?!) We all finished this year's mystery quilt along with sewing some of our own projects. A mystery quilt is presented by one of the members. Each person is told to bring a specified amount of fabric in certain values (e.g. 2 yds large patterned dark, 1 yd coordinating light, 2 yards each of 2 coordinating medium value) Everyone picks their own fabric with NO IDEA of what the pattern or finished quilt looks like. Over the space of 3 days the instructions are passed out one at a time, starting with the basic units like two squares together and building to the final quilt top. It is really fun to do and always amazes me how different everyone's quilt looks even though the pattern is the same. We took pictures of them all hanging over the deck and I'd put one in but someone needs to show me how to place a photo in a post!
Anyway, it was a great time.
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April 2nd, 2008
06:13 pm - 'beth'-isms
Ok, I know it is highly unusual for me to post more than once every 6 months or so but I got to thinking about a funny thing Beth said today and that reminded me of some more and that I wanted to remember them. I have been taking Beth to gymnastics, which entails a 15 min ride across town and every time I seem to hear some new cute thing from the backseat. I always thought I would remember all the cute things Greg and Eric said and did but of course most of them have totally gone from the grey cells cause I DIDN'T (!) write them down soooo....... here are a few of the latest gems from Beth:
Passing CWU:
Beth - This is my school
Grandma - Are you coming here with Mama? (thinking preschool with Hollie's classes)
Beth - No, this isn't MaMa's school, this is my school
Grandma - When do you go to school?
Beth - (with big sigh) Not Yet! Grandma
Grandma - Oh? When will this be your school?
Beth - When I'm 11 (where did she come up with 11 as the magic number??)
Seeing horses in the field:
Beth - Grandma, there's a brown horse. Can I feed that horse? Can I ride that horse?
Grandma - No, you can't ride that horse but in a few weeks, when it is warm you can ride one of my friend's horses.
Beth - Then I'll be a cowboy!
Grandma - No, you'll be a cowgirl. Miles would be a cowboy
Beth - Oh, Miles is a cowboy, I'm a cowboy-girl. (then much repetition of cowboy, cowboy- girl)
Beth - Oh, Miles is a cowboy, I'm a cowgirl and you're a .............Cow-grandma!
At McDonalds:
Beth: (Pointing at a male server) He has a really pretty necklace.
Grandma: Yes it is a pretty white one
Beth: Is he a girl?
Grandma: No, he's a boy
Beth: Oh! He still has a pretty necklace!! (of course, this was all totally overheard by the now-embarassed young man)
Standing in line at the movie:
Beth: I have to go potty
Grandma: Ok, let's get the tickets first, then we can go to the bathroom
Beth: Grandma, I don't have a P---- (not sure if they allow these words on posts!)
Grandma: Oh?
Beth: No I don't have a P----. Miles has a P----, I have a v-----.
My question -- great that she has all the detail down, but why do kids always say this in front of 30 or 40 strangers?
By the way, my favorite all time quote from Miles is when I asked him early last summer how old he was and he responded: "I'm 4 but I'm TRYING to be 5". Does that work? If I try hard enough to be 40 will it erase the last 20 years??
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April 1st, 2008
01:05 pm - Palm Desert
Guess it is time for my bi-yearly post. In case you haven't noticed, I am not much of a diarist so seems like every 6 months or so is my usual posting frequency! I have a problem commenting on just the day-to-day stuff (although that is what I enjoy reading in others' posts) so it seems like I only have the urge to post right after we've come back from a trip.
We spent last week staying with friends in Palm Desert and it was a wonderful, relaxing time. THese friends rent a 2 bedroom place for 4-6 weeks a year and were kind enough to invite us to join them for a week. Lynn is an avid golfer so it was an opportunity for Bob to play for the first time since about October. He played 4 times and only got to the 'throwing clubs and pouting' stage on one of the games. He actually was very pleased with the last game so he finished on an up note. I keep telling him he should be happy with just getting to play but that competitive nature just can't seem to be that zen about golf.
Lynn and Karen's unit was about 20 feet from the pool and it was high 80's the whole time we were there so I spent a lot of time just swimming and laying around reading. Karen and I also did a walk in Palm Canyon, did the Living Desert Park and spent a day wondering around El Paseo. El Paseo is like the Rodeo Drive of Palm Springs so everything was WAYYY out of my price range but it was fun to look anyway. The four of us also spent one full day in Joshua Tree National Park. I had never heard of this park but it was wonderful. It is right on 3 fault lines and the rock formations are amazing.
The best thing about the trip was that I was actually able to hike and swim and walk!! I finally saw the Dr. about my hip pain the week before we left and she prescribed this amazing little green pill. I hadn't realized how much pain I actually was having until it went away! The good news is that the xrays show moderate arthritis but no joint narrowing so at least surgery isn't in the near future. Hopefully that wonderful anti-inflammatory will enable me to get back to my previous level of exercise, gardening and walking. It certainly was a godsend last week!
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October 9th, 2007
08:33 am - Spokane trip
Just got back from our fall biking-golfing trip and had a wonderful time despite the weather. Obviously we are not going to have our usual beuatiful month of October this year. Usually we can count on weather into the 70's all the way to November, which is why we planned this trip for the first weekend in Oct. However this year it was high's of 52 and cloudy the whole time. I hope that isn't an omen for the winter!
In any case, Bob still got in two golf games and we went biking twice on the Spokane Riverfront trail. Both rides were fairly short (only about 10 miles) and Karen and I agreed next time we are leaving the guys in the dust and going at least another 5 miles or so. Despite the cloudiness the rides were beautiful. The trail parallels the Spokane river all the way from downtown to the Idaho border. Actually it then connectw up with the Idaho centenial trail to go another 20 miles or so if you are a real die-hard. Bob was frustrated with his golf game as usual and is actually threatening to take lessons next sping. I hope he will so I cna stop hearing him complain :)
The best part of the trip is always the enjoyment of doing things with friends. We seem to have a lot in common with this couple and really enjoy their company. The last year or so is the first time we've really had 'couple friends' since doing things with the Carsons so it is really fun. I think we are going to try to plan another biking trip for next spring but this time we really need to do some local rides in advance to get in shape first!
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October 4th, 2007
08:11 am - wrist woes
Yet one more warning about the dangers of glass iced tea jars..................
Well I finally got into the doctor and discovered that I had in fact severed the tendon in my wrist this summer when I had the little iced tea incident. Interesting that I had specifically gone into the emergency room because I was concerned about all the vulnerable structures in the wrist and the ER doc either didn't notice or didn't think to repair it. In any case it is too late to fix now. The good thing is that the human body has built in redundancies. The Ortho doc said that tendon is only used to flex the wrist and there is one on the other side of the wrist that does the same thing. They often even harvest the tendon I cut to repair ones in other parts of the body. He said the only problem i might have is some decrease in wrist strength if I am doing lots of curls with heavy weights (not a very funny joke for an 'older' lady!). Sounds like I was actually lucky though cause he said the main nerve to the hand runs right next to that tendon and if I'd cut that instead it would have been a major problem. Guess this has been my year to accumulate assorted long term damage to various parts of my body!
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August 22nd, 2007
01:36 pm - We have actual fruit!
We are eating peaches off our own tree - what a milestone is that?! Sure they are small and not very abundant but they are our own tree-grown fruit and we are savoring every bite. We planted 8 fruit trees the year we moved into this house, about 5 years ago now, and I've been waiting impatiently for them to begin to look like actual trees and not just little sticks. This is the first year we have some actual fruit - although the trees still look pretty small. Both the peach trees have a couple dozen fruit, one of the pears has about the same. We got 3 whole apples and 2 plums. All of this has me hoping that maybe next year will be the year they all actually start to bear. It is great to have some gardening satisfaction since the rest of the place is a mess. The vegetable garden never got planted, the pathways are now filled with weeds and I am only staying ahead of the largest weeds in all the flower beds (at least most of them). I never realized before how critical the months of April and May are for getting things under control at the start of the season. Since I couldn't really do much until mid-June it was a lost cause from the start. I just decided to ignore it all as much as I can and let winter kill all the weeds, then I can get a fresh start next spring. It is going to be a very busy fall and spring since just about everything needs to be divided!
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August 19th, 2007
09:18 am - Boating on Lake Roosevelt
I just got back from 4 days 'camping' at Fort Spokane with my sister and her husband. It isn't really camping in my mind since they have a 60 foot motor home and various other goodies like a 30 foot boat, loungers, BBQ grill etc. Still, it was roughing it a little for me having to sleep on the couch and shower in the communal shower (oh, poor baby!). We spent most of the time boating since Gus was unable to swim. They are avid fisher people so trolled up and down the river while I laid on the bow and read and looked at the scenery. We'd stop every hour or so to swim. What a tough life! One day we went all the way down the Spokane river to the Little Falls dam and the next day we went all the way down the Columbia to Grand Coulee dam. Beautiful scenery both ways! We kept passing all these big houseboats that people can rent. They have up to 5-6 bedrooms, water slides off the stern, covered decks with BBQs and some even have hot tubs. I guess you can also rent toys like skiboats,canoes, jetskis etc to tow behind. People just cruise the rivers in them or pull up to any little sandy bay and stay for a week. I've always thought it would be great fun to do a big family vacation on one. Kathy and I figured She and Gus, Bob and I, Brian and Diana, Eric and Jona, Hollie and Greg and Kids would all fit on the biggest one (sleeps 16). Maybe some day!
I didn't ride on the tube behind the boat this year because I was afraid of further hurting my hip but I did lots of swimming. I also took my bike and Kathy and I rode all around Fort Spokane one day. Bob stayed home with his nose to the grindstone (I think he was just as glad - 'camping' is not his thing).
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August 12th, 2007
09:51 am - New cabinets - finally!!
Our new cabinets have finally been delivered and installed and my craft room looks beautiful! All of the counters and drawer units on the south and East sides of the room are in but the cutting island hasn't been delivered yet because they are waiting for the wire baskets that go in the base of it. Even without the cutting island the increase in couter top and storage space is amazing! I hardly know where to start in organizing the drawers.
We didn't know they were delivering this week until 3 days before and of course I had been putting off painting so it was a rush to finally decide on a color and get it done. It took me a long time (almost 6 hours for just the one room) because there was so much detail work around all the closets, doors and windows but I am really pleased with thr result. Yellows are really hard to tell and I agonized over color chips that were too brown, or too bright, or too something else. The color I ended up with is still a little more 'lemony' than I had originally envisioned but goes well with the cabinets and is really warm and sunny. It makes me happy to just be in the room!
Thank you Jona, for talking me out of doing blue counters! The next week we went back in and picked out one that is basically cream with darker yellow/beige texture running through and it works perfectly. I can see now how dark the blue would have been now that the counters are actually in. It is so much nicer to have the neutral - it keeps the room light and open. I can hardly wait to get the cutting cabinet but in the meantime I am trying to figure out which scrapbooking supplies need to go in drawers and what kind of wall mounted units to get. (Jona, what size are the individual drawers that you put your letter sets into and what do you use for ribbon storage??)
The new cabinet in the living room also looks fantastic! I guess we had just gotten used to the makeshift setup we put in place when we bought the TV. We knew it didn't look good but it worked. Now the difference is wonderful. The cabinet maker matched the upper cupboards with 4 drawers on the bottom and a back wall surface to mount the Tv on. It was a trick to get the TV mounted on the wall (took Bob almost 2 hours to get it all assembled and up) but it sure looks nice.
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August 11th, 2007
04:27 pm - Harry Potter
Bob and I just got back from seeing the new Harry Potter movie, plus I just finished the last book, so I guess a few comments are in order. I really enjoyed both the book and the movie but I must admit that they don't have the charm of the first few books. I guess it is because the magic, talking pictures, moving staircases, etc. were new and very imaginative in the first few volumes but were no longer new as the series progressed. Also, I liked the characters better as new wizards, expecially the first book when Harry didn't know anything about the wizarding world. They are not quite so compelling as 17 year olds.
That said, both the book and the movie are well worth the time. The special effects are still really fun. It also was nice to have the series actually come to a real conclusion rather than just kind of trailing off as some do. I also appreciated a relatively happy ending. Nothing is more of a bummer than hanging in through multiple volumes and then hating the ending!
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July 17th, 2007
11:13 am - physical therapy
Don't you just hate it when you go to a medical professional and they tell you all kinds of things about your body that you'd just as soon not know, like:
1) I am off center - my right scapula is 1.5 inches lower than my left
2) I walk with my right foot pronated, which puts more pressure on my left side
3) My whole body is slightly tilted to the left, which should be causing back pain (but thank heavens doesn't seem to be)
4) My cervical vertebra are sitting off-set forward instead of in alignment, which would ordinarily cause headaches (again, ditto, guess I'm just lucky to have a high pain tolerance and have never had headaches unless I'm really sick)
All this great information as a result of finally diagnosing the hip/groin/leg pain I've had for the last year. The on again-off again sharp pains that I get when standing up kept getting worse and also settled into a constant ache so I decided it was time to see someone again. This time I went to a VM Dr. in Issaquah. I was convinced it was some weird thing but she said muscle/joint, gave me anti-inflammatories and sent me to a physical therapist. Thank heavens she finally sent me to someone who can help!
The PT was wonderful! She spent almost 90 min with me and she had clear explanations for all the weird symptoms (including why the pain just disappears some times and why pushing on a certain spot in my groin makes it feel better). The thing that really frosts me is that the arthritis and cartilege chips in the joint space causing the problem were clearly mentioned in both the x-ray and the CT that Dr. Heppler did over a year ago and that he told me were both 'fine'! In any case I will be doing physical therapy a couple times a week for the next month or so and then be given exercises etc to (hopefully!) keep me pain free. One of the 'prescriptions' was some form of low impact exercise EVERY day. I guess 3 days a week Jazzercise isn't enough to keep the joint moving freely and I need to start swimming or biking on the off days. Lucky I'm retired now - I can't believe how full my days are already and now I'll need to add another 4-6 hours a week of excercise. Anyway, it is such a relief to finally know what is wrong and how to manage it!
On another note - ----
We finally got back the drawings and estimate on the built-ins for my studio and the TV cabinet and went ahead with the order. I picked out the countertop etc but haven't gotten a date for completion and installation yet. I wanted to paint that room first so I guess I better get busy!!
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July 2nd, 2007
07:06 am - Ellensburg quirks - Indian dinner
One of the interesting things we found when we moved to Eburg was the tradition of couples/groups donating their time and cooking expertise to provide meals for auctions at various fund raising dinners. It seemed like such a 'small town" quirky thing - after all, in how many big cities would someone offer to make dinner for 6-20 strangers?
There are tons of community organizations, all serving very good causes, and all needing to raise money. Almost every one has a dinner/auction sometime during the year. We've attended a good share of them although we've learned that the cost of the dinner ticket is minor - where you need to beware is the silent and live auctions that go along with the dinner. It is awfully hard to not spend any money when people you know have donated items and are pushing the cause! The most popular auction items are always the dinner or donated 'experiences' provided by local people. I have seen everything from 2 day guided hunting or fishing trips or ski boat and driver for the day to wine and BBQ dinner for 20 offered by individuals for auction. The fun part is that everyone seems to know the expertise of the people offering the 'experience', talks about what it was like the previous year, and bids up some of these items amazingly high.
In any case, we have been the recipients of of these auction items 3 times and each was a unique experience. The first year we lived here we bid on a guided hike/lunch for 6, shared with 2 other couples we had just met. The hike was beautiful, the meal backpacked by our hosts included tons of gourmet food and wine, and we make several new friends. The second time was last year when a friend of ours purchased dinner for 6 every month for a year (I have no idea what that must have cost him or how dedicated the donor needed to be to provide 12 meals for 6!) In any case, we just got invited over to enjoy one of the meals. Turns out the people providing it were members of a local men's gourmet cooking group and the meal was amazing!
Sat night we had our third experience with donated Ebug fundraising meals. This time we didn't even attend the auction to get roped in. Ruth Harrington was just trying to get together a group willing to bid up to $50 per person for a fundraiser for the free clinic. We didn't even know what we agreed to bid on but it is impossible to say no to Ruth! The dinner was an Indian meal provided by a local couple apparently known for their eastern cooking (I guess last year they provided a chinese banquet for 12). Of the attendees we only knew Ruth but it was an eclectic and interesting group and the conversation was great fun. It always amazes me what a diverse group of people live in the valley. Our hosts were a child psychiatrist and a geology professor who are quakers, members of the ecobuilders assoc, are in the process of rebuilding/restoring an old farm house, and have traveled extensively in the far east. The other guests included: a retired high school english teacher and her husband, who was a retired microsoft employee; a women who worked 10 years in the youth correction center and her husband who owned and worked an Alaska fish cannery for 20 years; and a couple whose family has lived in the valley since 1890 and are working the family farm. See what I mean about an eclectic group!
The food was wonderful, although Bob is not a curry fan so it wasn't as much fun for him as for me. Here is the menu:
Mullagatanni soup (basically a cream based soup with cardomum and curry)
Royal vegetables in nut sauce and rice casserole (shahi sabz biriyani)
Moghul brased chicken (mughalai korma)
Basmati Rice
Carrots with cashew nut (Gajjar bhajji)
Cucumber in cream with saffron (Gajjar biriyani)
Spinach and yoghurt salad (Palak raita)
Mango and shredded ginger pickle - very hot! (aamka achar)
Mango fool with Indian 'ice cream'
Spiced tea (masala chah)
Quite a spread and quite a fun evening!
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June 28th, 2007
09:30 am - The hazards of iced tea
Do you love iced tea? Are you tempted to buy one of the cute, inexpensive glass jars for making sun tea? If so, beware, those things are hazardous to your health - as my trip to the emergency room last night can attest! I am actually fine, just a few stitches but I do need to warn that those cute little jars shatter easily and send glass shards flying.
Last summer I had one and dropped it (onto the front deck matt even). It shattered but I jumped fast and just sustained a small cut to my foot. You'd think that would have given me a clue. However, I made the mistake of buying another one a few days ago to make iced tea for the quilt group party at my house yesterday. After everyone left I was cleaning up and dropped it from all of about 6 inches into the sink. Now I have dropped plates from the counter top, cups and glasses from various locations, and even a crystal glass bowl. In many cases they just bounced; when they did break it was into several large managable pieces. However the sun tea container, when dropped just a short distance, shattered into about a hundred sharp pieces that flew up into the air. A particularly wicked curved piece sliced across the entire inside of my wrist. It was lucky that the piece was curved though, cause once I got the courage to take pressure off to assess the damage it appeared that the majority of the cut was just a scratch, only a small section was deep, and it didn't appear that I had severed anything major. So, a few stitches and a tetanus shot later I am fine, other than being unable to flex my wrist for a few days.
So if you are tempted to make sun tea - just say NO!
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June 18th, 2007
12:00 pm - "New" computer
Well, Bob finally got all my stuff moved from my old laptop to my new computer - which is his old computer (after he bought his new one). It was a very frustrating experience for him cause he just couldn't get the two systems to 'talk' to each other. I don't kmow what he finally did last night but whatever it was it worked. I can understand how he copied over all my files but how did the e-mail address book, all my old e-mails, and even my 'favorites' list on the internet get onto the new computer??? It is a mystery to me - which is why I keep him around to do those kinds of things! Now I just have to get him to give me a tutorial on this new one. It has all kinds of bells and whistles that my old one didn't have, like being able to watch TV on the computer. Now I can watch Oprah while I sew (as if!! Well, maybe Judge Judy). Our next step it to try to get rid of all the assorted computer junk we have taking up space. So far we've found 3 portables and 2 desk top systems that all still work but are just holding down the floor in the closet. Bob is in the process of cleaning the drives off them all so they can be disposed of. I have a few friends that want a couple of the laptops but don't know what to do with the rest. I suppose we could try to get rid of them in the garage sale Hollie is going to have but most are pretty old. Any one out there know what to do with old monitors, keyboards, and hard drives???
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June 13th, 2007
11:26 am - Retirement
Now that I am officially retired one of my goals was to actually try to post here on a somewhat regular basis. I see that I've managed to post about 3 or 4 time is 6 months so surely I can do better than that. It is amazing to me that I've been retired for almost 5 weeks now. I envisioned 2 hours a day in my garden, lots of sewing, and even keeping a picture puzzle out to work on at all times. So far, none of that has happened. However, when I looked at my schedule for the last 5 weeks it was easy to see why I haven't yet experienced the 'nothing to do in retirement' syndrome.
Summary:
Retirement date 5/4
5/7 Fiber arts luncheon and sewing afternoon
5/8 Garden club
5/9-5/15 Babysitting grandkids
5/16-5/17 Portland NWPPA conference
5/18 Scholarship brunch
5/19-5/24 NWPPA conference in Spokane
5/30-6/3 Sunriver biking / golfing trip
6/4 Quilting group picnic and sewing
6/6 Book club luncheon
6/7 Drs appts in Seattle
6/8 Friday Club luncheon followed by trip to Yakima Quilt Show
6/9 Quilt show in Quincy
6/10 Shopping in Yakima for Bobs Fathers day present (garage storage units)
6/11 Babysitting grandkids, also first day back at Jazzercise
6/12 Garden Club
Hmmmm - I wonder why I am not getting any gardening done???
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March 1st, 2007
03:29 pm - I'm walking!
Well, it is an awkward, slow, kind of twisted weird-looking walking but at least I am on two feet for the first time in a month.
We had to brave the snows over the pass to get to my Drs. appt today. It was a mess but we made it only 15 minutes late It is amazing how it changed from snowing hard and packed snow on the roads going over to sunny and almost bare roads on the way back only a few hours later.
In any case, after taking x-rays to confirm that healing is well advanced the doc took the pin out of my toe. That part had me a little freaked - just the idea of pulling a 2-3 inch metal object out of my bone was not something I wanted to visualize. However it didn't hurt at all and it is amazing how good it feels to not have any foreign objects sticking out of my foot (although 3 screws are permenantly implanted). The Doctor then blessed me not only with being able to bear weight but actually to be able to put my foot in water (bliss). I am still only supposed to walk for very short distances and then only with the orthopedic boot on but, hey, it's tons better than the wheelchair and crutches!
It amazes me how fast the muscles slacken - there is a perceivable difference betwen my right and left leg after only 4 weeks (which is another reason I will be walking very slowly for awhile). I am able to ride the exercise bike though,as long as I am wearing the boot,so at least I can start getting a little bit of exercise.
Yayy!! Here's to progress................
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/energetic.gif) bouncy
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November 12th, 2006
11:12 am - Everyone else is sick too?? - also LA trip
I just finished reading Hollie's and Jona's blogs and it sounds like there is certainly a gremlin that hit everyone in the family this week. I would suppose, like Jona that we all got exposed at dinner on Friday but that is not a long enough incubation period so it must be just coincidence(?)
Whatever the cause, I have been sick too. I hacked and wheezed most of the time in LA and ended up hitting the emergency room immediately upon our return to Ellensburg on Saturday. After a diagnosis of acute bronchitis complicated by asthma and several breathing treatments containing steroids and bronchodilators I was sent home to spend the next several days on meds and in bed. It sounds like Bob is the only one to avoid whatever virus got to us all (at least so far!).
Despite the crud I still managed to do most of what I had planned to in LA (that is probably why I ended up in such bad shape by the end!). I guess I have always been the kind of person that just figures I can bull it out and goes ahead and tries to do what I want in spite of how I feel. I actually didn't have the upper respiratory symptoms that everyone else seems to have but instead had it all centered in my chest. When you don't have a runny nose or headache it is amazing how you can just ignore the fact that you can't breathe!
Monday Bob played golf all day so I took the metro to Hollywood and Vine and spent the day walking around and seeing all the tacky sights - one of those 'must-dos' that leave you wondering why people really want to do things like see movie star homes. I followed the path of stars names, saw Graumans Chinese and Egyption theaters, and even went to the Hollywood wax museum (something that any 10 year old would love). The best part of the whole thing is people watching. I spent a lot of the time just sitting with a Mocha or lunch and watching all the LA weirdos - very interesting indeed.
Tuesday I took a tour to the Getty Museum. The shortness of breath was starting to hit then so I didn't get to more than about a third of the galleries but I am still glad I made the effort. It is an amazing facility, sitting up on a hill with a 360 degree view overlooking LA, the Sierra mountains, and all the way to the ocean. It is surrounded by amazing gardens and I spent a lot of time just sitting and looking. There are 5 buildings of galleries housing everything from Roman antiquities, grand masters from Italy and France, and modern paintings and sculptures. Wish I could have seen it all, but that would require more than one trip.
Wednesday, I finally gave in and just slept most of the day since I wanted to rest up for our trip to Universal studios on Thursday.
Universal Studios hasn't really changed all that much from when we took G&E there at about age 8 and 10. The tram through the backlot is still the highlight and much of that is still the same. Jaws is still there, as is the special effects flood through the mexican town. I am sure E&G remember the tram driving into the sound stage where a mock BattleStar Gallactica battle was held. That part of the trip now takes you into an 'Earthquake' recreation. The effects were actually amazing, with a truck falling through the ceiling, broken mains gushing fire, and a subway car breaking up into pieces and almost crashing into the tram. The entire time the tram is tilting and shaking as if in a quake. The little boy sitting next to me was not at all happy with that part of the ride! G&E may remember the western gunfight that demonstrated stunts - well that part of the studios now is a huge lake where they demonstrate stunts from 'Waterworld', including waverunners that soak the first few rows, falls from 3 story heights, and a small airplane catapulted over the wall and into the lake. It was quite entertaining. The effects stages still demonstrate the use of green screen that Eric and ET starred in 20-some years ago but now they project a volunteer into scenes from the "Mummy'. All in all it was an enjoyable day but I must admit that having to stop every few minutes to catch my breath put a damper on it!
We flew back Friday intending to get back home by 8 pm but our plane was delayed and the pass was a mess so we ended up just staying in Seattle Friday night. After staying up with me all night coughing and wheezing and trying to breathe Bob insisted on going directly to the hospital when we got home. I always think I can just stick it out but I must admit I was happy to comply by that point......
All in all, a very busy week! Hopefully the next one will be quiet and EVERYONE will get well!!!
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October 22nd, 2006
09:44 am - Perfect day
I love these crisp, bright fall days! The sunshine and blue skys seem even more precious because the cold mornings and frost on the grass portend the coming of winter.
If I were to describe my perfect day, yesterday would come mighty close to matching it.
We were up with the sun (of course, sunrise is now about 7:15 - which is a perfect time to rise), then off to breakfast at the Palace Cafe. My favorite breakfast out is Eggs Benedict and I particularly like the Palace version since they use shaved ham rather than a slab of ham or canadian bacon. After breakfast we picked up a few things at Fred Meyer, including a double mocha. Next it was home to sit in the sunroom, look out at the hills, drink my mocha and read for an hour or so. I then spent a couple of hours quilting, finishing up the border quilting on a friends' quilt. By this time it had warmed up enough to enjoy being out in the garden so I spent the next few hours digging up dahlias and performing other fall garden chores. This tired me enough that it was time to read and doze in my lounge chair on the deck in the sunshine. Just as the sun's warmth declined I went for a walk along the irrigation canal. When I returned it was time for a G&T and then barbequed steaks for dinner. How could that day have been any better?? - all the things I love to do, and a gorgeous day besides. Days like that are a gift to savor!!
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October 20th, 2006
02:38 pm - E-Burg Culture
Yes, there really are cultural experiences available in this small town, mostly thanks to CWU. Every year the college sponsors a set of performances and speakers called the President's series. We've been meaning to go to some of these but the ones we've been interested in are usually sold out by the time I actually follow through on checking. This time a friend actually invited us early enough that there were still tickets available so last night we went to the Seattle Symphony. It has been years since we've been to a symphony and we really enjoyed it. The new concert hall has amazing acoutics and only seats about 650 so every seat is a good one. The first half of the program was traditional Handel and Mozart but the second half was more modern American composers. Bob and I agreed we definitely preferred the second half. There are two more upcoming speakers we would like to see but we aren't sure if we will be here then. John F. Kennedy Jr is speaking on Environmental issues in Nov andJean-Michel Cousteau will be here in April. Both would be great. It is wonderful that the university opens all these programs to the general public. So, see -- there are actually some up-town things in this 'cow-town"
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October 18th, 2006
06:53 pm
Kind of fun to try this from Hollie's blog. The thing that blew my mind is that there is something like 35,000 people with the last name of Titus in the country. Never would have guessed so many!
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