A Storm Pushes Through

Today a storm pushed through town. Big deal, you might say, especially if you are in the Seattle area. We reacted the way we did in Bellevue when we heard a storm was coming. We rushed to Costco to get any supplies we might need. It seemed liked Tucsonans don't react the same way since Costco was not especially busy. It was fun watching the storm coming in. We are near the Catalina Mountains and could see white at the top and clouds gradually hiding them. At Costco a native said the storm would hit where we were in an hour, based on how visible the mountains were. She was right! Tomorrow we are supposed to get even more cold, wet weather and possibly snow. I'm not used to the darkness here that the cloud cover gives. I'm a tough Seattleite, so I can handle it. We are well provisioned and I've got a couple of good books to read. Let it snow!

Happy 100th Birthday, Dad!

Today my father, Paul, would have turned 100. He lived to be 89 and had a full, mostly happy life as far as I could tell. If he were alive, I'm sure we'd celebrate by getting the whole extended family together for a duck or salmon dinner with pie for dessert and play the old Edison record player that his parents got in the early 1900's. His favorite song was "Mrs. Murphy's Chowder". I always liked "Over There" from the record collection and would also play that. We would give him Blue Nun wine to drink and he probably would start talking about the old days, meaning his youth before I was born. He often mentioned the Spanish Influenza flu epidemic of 1918 and how many of his friends at Garfield Elementary School died from it. He sometimes talked about Nov. 11 and how he got out of school early to celebrate Armistice Day, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month--the end of the War to End All Wars. He sometimes would look at his old photo album of his trip up Glacier Peak with his friends after he graduated from Everett High School. Before heading for the wilderness, the group of buddies stopped at Birch Bay. It was there that he met his first love, Josephine, who lived in Bellingham. She died a few years later of rheumatic fever. Dad was proud of his scaling Glacier Peak and referred to it often as we were growing up. He kept his ice pick and some hiking sticks from that trip until he died. He came back from that trip to face life in the Great Depression. He talked about some of the struggles of making mortgage payments on the family business. He took a job for Mr. Metzger, a business man, and chauffered him around the area. Later, when he married my mother, they spent time in Los Angeles while he worked for Metzger. Dad also liked to talk about his time at the shipyard in Everett during WWII. He gave me a "thousand dollar" bracelet that he made there. Apparently, they weren't always busy and he made it to have something to do. It always seemed to me that those war years were happy ones for my parents. They lived with my mother's parents and all seemed to get along. I don't remember Dad talking about being scared during the war or losing friend in battle. I'm sure that he must have experienced those things. He just never talked about them. Family gatherings were always the highpoints of his life. He would have enjoyed the party we would have given him!

One down, one to go

My friend, Mike, inspired me to start blogging as a way to stay in touch with friends and family while gone from home. Mike is away from home again and blogging, so I want to keep up my blog more regularly to keep in touch.

We took Cliff to the airport early this morning. He always leaves early so he can still get in most of a day's work when he gets back. Vacation time is precious for him. I remember and do not miss those years when I carefully planned out each vacation day! Phil will also fly back to Seattle today, but later on. He should be getting back just in time before snow hits Seattle. Snow is also a possibility for Tucson on Friday. We have been having unseasonably warm, sunny weather for a few weeks. It's supposed to turn cold all of a sudden on Thursday and Friday as a storm system from Seattle comes our way. The difference here is that the moisture rarely sticks around for long. I can't complain about the weather here.

Getting Ready

Cliff is coming tomorrow and called this afternoon to discuss meals and movies. It's good that he is a planner. Cliff wanted some input on the menu for Christmas so that he could help with the cooking. I gave him the choice of steaks or turkey, figuring that a vegan meal wouldn't cut it. He settled on steaks. We will have waffles for Christmas brunch. I shouldn't have been so surprised by his request for plans because he managed an eating club at Stanford for 2 or 3 years. He is also lining up some social activities. He wants to see a few movies while here and sent us a list of possibilities. His planning made me wonder what has happened to my own scheduling. I know I used to plan menus and meals, get us all through our daily activities, and plan some sort of social life. When did it end? I used to be more like Cliff. When did I switch to planning meals 15 minutes before dinner time?

Phil Arrives

Early this morning I viewed the lunar eclipse. I was able to see it when it was almost total and looked orange. It was memorable, but only was visible a little while because clouds rolled in. It lasted longer than my glimpses of meteors, though. Larry missed out because he waited a little too long and saw the moon only filtered through the clouds. A little luck, and a little sacrifice (of sleep) made the difference in our experiences. We won't have another opportunity for an eclipse like this for 80 years. I'm glad I seized the day (or night!).

Phil arrived this afternoon. I'm not sure how we'll spend the week with him. One chore will be trying to fill his prescription at the least expensive pharmacy. He doesn't have health insurance for this month due to a quirk in the new law about coverage. We can pay Cobra for him if something big happened, but we'd rather not. If times were a little different, we could hop across the border in Mexico and have the prescription filled at a greatly reduced cost. There are lists of reputable pharmacies to go to, so I wouldn't hesitate. However, I am apprehensive about traveling in Mexico right now with the drug wars going on. I listen to the long-time residents advice to not go right now.

Waiting for the Lunar Eclipse

Once again I'm waiting for a spectacular event in the sky. This time it's a lunar eclipse. Larry and I dashed out to see it start. I'm determined to stay up to see the moon when it is totally eclipsed. After all, it's the first day of winter and a full moon. The timing seems auspicious.

Meteors!

Larry and I watched a meteor shower Monday night. It was beautiful! The sky around our house perhaps wasn't dark enough for the best viewing, but we still managed to see several meteors. They don't look like fireworks displays. Instead the light is a brief streak in the sky that lasts only a second or less. I couldn't help thinking that my life is like a falling star that appears suddenly in the middle of the sky and vanishes so quickly that you hardly know it's been there. The more love I give and feel, the brighter the streak I make.

Waiting for the Meteor Shower

It's been over a month since I last posted an entry to my blog. I don't have any good excuses. I just got out of the habit of writing. Tonight Larry and I are waiting until midnight to go outside to watch the meteor shower, so I figured I'd summarize what I have been doing. My purpose in writing this blog is to let family and friends know what Larry and I have been doing and what challenges we face. I'm thinking that there is an outside chance that my grandchildren and future descendents may want to know something about my life even if no one else does now. I hear of books written about pioneer journals. Why not my blog in the twenty-second century? Maybe some of my mundane observations will eventually interest a future scholar or novelist.

I enjoy thinking up titles for my days. In trying to catch up, I'll start with titles for my paragraphs.

Gordon was right! My cousin Gordon is father of two. When he saw me holding baby Clifford, he remarked that parents never stop worrying about there children even when they are grown up. How true that is! Cliff had been fretting about finding a new job, both because he had been tired of his current job and also because it was going to end in March. He finally found another job which sounds great. The worry is that he told us he needed a car. We had already had preliminary discussions with him and had decided to give him one of our Priuses. However, the problem has been how to get the Prius in Wallingford down to him in SF. It was obvious that he did not want to fly up and drive it down. He also got pretty sick with tonsillitis and needed to rest. We finally decided to find an auto transport company to move it for us. The only problem with that is deciding on a reputable one. We soon found that there are hundreds of companies and that the decision was not so easy. We finally decided to go with a broker in Tucson so that I could have face-to-face contact if things didn't go smoothly. Penny is helping with the loading in Seattle. Things are still in process, but we aren't worried yet. Phil has been struggling to finish college. It looks like he can make it, but needed to take a couple of incompletes in his final classes. He is busy moving out of his apartment in Bellingham and into our townhouse in Wallingford, as planned.

A dozen TV's! Larry and I started out with a simple plan to replace our older technology televisions with hi-def ones as a little luxury to celebrate retirement. We had a general shopping strategy to first check out Costco, which always has a great return policy. We found TV's number 1-3 in our first round. We got a 46" Samsung for the great room plus two 32" Westinghouses for the bedrooms. We didn't like the Westinghouse ones, so brought them back. We discovered a special on a 46" Visio, so returned the Samsung to save a considerable amount of money. We ended up hating the Visio and started looking for another 46" TV. We were impressed by the 3D Samsung at Best Buy, but thought it was too pricey until we found the same TV on Amazon for a great price. We ordered it in a bundle. That TV appeared too dark, which made us think that something was wrong with it. Amazon graciously agreed to send another one. In the mean time, the 3D kit came. We discovered that we got headaches from using the 3D glasses and decided we couldn't keep the bundle or the TV and returned them all. We kept looking for a great picture and decided the Sharp was worth a try. We bought one for a good price in an open box at Ultimate Electronics. When we got the TV home, we discovered that it didn't have a remote control or power cord and a few other things. We took it back and was given a brand new one. In case you've lost count--that is TV number six for the great room. Fortunately, Number Six is the charm. It seems to be working well and has a nice picture. Now the bedroom TV story--Costco took back the 2 Westinghouses. We ordered Hannspree's from Costco.com instead because of their stellar ratings and inexpensive prices. However, I had a problem ordering with my new credit card. I got frustrated after multiple attempts and finally had Larry order the 2 TV's. It turns out that both my order for 2 TV's and Larry's order for 2 TV's went through. 4 televisions arrived for us on the same truck. We took 2 back to the warehouse, of course. The total count for the bedroom TV's is 6. Out of the 12 that we purchased, we did keep 3, so only sent back 9. We really were not trying to be difficult customers. We just had a hard time evaluating the TV's in the stores. The pictures really do look different at home with various sources for pictures and stores seem to compete with each other to have favorable return policies to make it easy to try out the sets at home.

Heat Wave in December! Larry has reminded me several times not to gloat about our weather here. Today hit 84 degrees. It feels great. I heard about the snow storms in different parts of the country and am thankful for our beautiful weather. I just love walking around without a jacket.

Lists! I've been in the making lists and finishing up projects mode for the past few days. It always makes me feel like I've accomplished something when I go down a list and check things off. Today I finished incomplete sewing projects, wrote Christmas cards, and worked on our calendar.

I'm getting sleepy now as the hour approaches for star gazing. I think I will sign off. Tomorrow I'll report on what we see.

A Day Off from Retirement

We have been so busy this week that Larry declared that tomorrow would be his day off from retirement. I may follow his lead. We both have been trying to forge connections in the community here. Larry has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, has started going to a bridge club, and has joined me in shopping for new televisions. I have attended ASG meetings, started taking line dancing lessons and yoga at the recreation center, have attended volunteer tutor training, and have done some serious sewing. I just checked out a novel from the library and think I'll join Larry and sit and read most of the day.

I have read about the Technology Sabbath movement, where people go off line, turn off cell phones, and televisions for one day a week. I know that could be good for me, but I'm not quite there yet. I have lived far more days without computers and cell phones than with them and remember what it was like. I played music, cooked, and read books more. Maybe I'll try TS next week.

What Were They Thinking of!!

Our house in Tucson has a romantic sounding street address: Placita de la Intriga, or "place of intrigue." When it was likely that we would want to buy our house, I was thankful that we didn't have young children who would have to learn how to spell the address, but didn't think much more of it. Now I am ready to petition for a change of street name! Here's the trouble. It turns out that not only Kindergarteners and first graders have trouble with the spelling. I often have to spell out the street when giving out my address. It's spelled like it sounds, except the Spanish worries people. It's not as easy as 3433 119th to spell out, by any means.

The real problem with our street name has just become obvious to us. Our street address is about 25 characters long in a text field in a computer program. We just tried to order something from Costco.com and couldn't because their program would not accept such a long address. Our credit card company was worried that we were victims of fraud when they noticed our attempt to place our order to our AZ address. It took multiple phone calls and a couple of hours to get the business straightened out. At the end, a Costco.com employee told me just to place my orders over the phone because nothing could be done to correct the problem with our long address!

Tucson vs. Vitamix?

I've been filling up my psychic space with trivial decisions. I've been missing certain things from Seattle, and have been trying to obtain the equivalencies here. I have missed having a good blender for making sauces and smoothies. Smoothies taste great when it's hot out. Our old blender here in Tucson just doesn't perform like our Vita-mix in Seattle. I started my shopping for a new blender with the energy I used to put into writing a research paper for school. Now the difference is that I have the internet available with many, many resources. There is quite a thread on-line on Vita-mix vs. Blendtec, with no clear winner that I could see. My favorite place to buy appliances and most non consumables is Costco. So, naturally, I started looking at what Costco had. The first day I looked at our local warehouse, they did not have a super blender, meaning a Vita-mix or Blendtec. I went home and did some research about road shows for both brands and found that Blendtec was going to be at the Tucson Costco starting Nov. 5. I went there expecting to watch a demonstration and found that they had both blenders for the same price. I decided to try the Blendtec and have been happily making smoothies and soup ever since. Time will tell which blender I'll prefer.

This experience of Vita-mix vs. Blendtec makes me think of Tucson vs. Seattle. We are slowly trying to evaluate whether we want to live in one place or the other or continue as snowbirds. We won't make such a decision for at least a couple of years, but are doing our research. We have nice, but modest homes in both places. In fact, the square footage is equivalent. Both neighborhoods are walkable, although Wallingford is a little more urban. Shopping is easy. There are good recreational opportunities in both places. Seattle has Greenlake to walk around. Tucson has Sabino Canyon. Seattle has more restaurants that interest me, but Tucson has some that make us happy. Seattle's opera house is much nicer than Tucson's venue for opera,but Tucson does have a respectable opera season. Both places have good opportunities for volunteer work. Both have ASG and bridge clubs. One has lots of sunshine, the other has 4 seasons with fairly moderate temperatures. Seattle has our old friends and family. Tucson has potential for new friends and our family members and friends often come to visit. I'm glad that Larry and I are in agreement that we don't have to make any decisions about living arrangements any time soon!

Something Old, Something New

Today I was busy, but satisfying. I attended an ASG Neighborhood Group sit-and-sew session, where I enjoyed the company of 4 women I met last year. They made me feel welcome and reminded me of my sewing friends in Seattle. I worked on a shrug and managed to complete it. The group liked it enough to suggest that I teach a session on it. I may be on the program for April! I will get together with the group again in less than 2 weeks when we have a more traditional NG meeting.

Tonight I went to a yoga class at Udall Regional Park. I was pleasantly surprised. I suppose I was expecting more of an exercise class like I took there a couple of years ago. This teacher, Cheryl, was a more classic yoga teacher in the Hatha tradition. Her focus was on body awareness, not exercise. I can practice Iyengar style at home, then participate in her class for a new experience and to meet some new people.

Double Day

Life's little pleasures come along now and then. I'm still learning about shopping here and discovered Sunshine Market. I went there to replenish our old spices and bulk foods as well as to try their produce. Their specials overlap on Wednesdays, so I did pretty well cost wise. The quality seems to be pretty good. It isn't PCC, which now has beautiful stores, but it will do in Tucson. I found another double pleasure. I had a massage at Cortiva Institute. They asked for volunteers for a second session. I stayed and had two hours of massage therapy--I felt loose the rest of the day!

Pinging

Larry and I have been in Tucson for a week now and are feeling more settled. We are sticking to our plan to check out volunteer opportunities early on. Larry went to an orientation for Habitat for Humanity this afternoon. I'm going to an orientation session for a tutoring program for schools next week. I also have a sit-and-sew session to attend this week, along with a yoga class at the recreation center that I signed up for. We want to make some connections here and hope that these things will help.

I've been trying to take care of some little things around the house and find that my mind is pinging away. I keep thinking of one more thing to do while I'm working on something else. I wonder if modern technology has made it more likely for this to happen. I keep looking up one thing, then another on the internet. I think once I'm settled in more and down to a routine that I'll become more focused.

We are trying to sell our big TV that we are replacing in the living room. A potential buyer came today and left a deposit. I hope he'll come back. We are going to have our faithful handyman reconstruct our entertainment center to accommodate our new equipment. It should be nice when it's finished.

Our big news, though, is that we discovered a new resident on our property, a snake! It apparently lives in holes in the ground in front of the house. We've seen it a few times. It is small and does not have rattles. I would like to know for sure if it is poisonous but figure it probably isn't. In the mean time, we watch our step as we walk on the path out front.

Settling in Again

Larry and I arrived in Tucson on Tuesday afternoon. We received a warm greeting from our neighbor Bud as soon as we pulled in our driveway. That felt good. The only reluctance I have had in wintering in Tucson is being away from our friends in WA. Having neighbors that care about us here in AZ helps. We have been bustling around ever since we arrived here. We were relieved to find the house in great shape and set about locating where we left things. I thought I was being careful when making shopping lists to check for what we had on hand. We ended up buying Costco sized duplicates of a few things that we ended up returning. We both have found some volunteer opportunities to explore and are planning on how to coordinate use of the car. Yesterday our big excursion was to go to the Marana Costco to buy a new TV for the great room. We wanted newer technology and found a LED TV that we liked. Our handyman, Josh, came over and will remodel the entertainment center a little for it.

Today we attended the Tucson Rally to Preserve Sanity that Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert were hosting in WA DC. It was held at the Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson. The old hotel is lovely and made a pleasant setting for the event held on an outside patio. There was a big screen TV set up with speakers that we sat around. The event was well attended with probably 200 or so there.

I sat down at my computer to investigate hiking groups around town. There are at least a couple that sound promising. I got a little concerned, though. I browsed through articles written by club members to get an idea of what they were about. I found a few articles about mountain lion encounters at Sabino Canyon. In previous years, I have hiked up and down the tram road at Sabino Canyon thinking that it was a safe, well-peopled road that would be free from scarey wildlife encounters. Apparently, it isn't this year. A family of 4 mountain lions has been reported as being in the area. One hiker wrote that he was on the road last week and saw a lion just 10 feet away. The lion and he just stared at each other for a couple of minutes. When the lion started to growl, the hiker started blowing a whistle, which eventually scared the lion away. I'm going to buy a whistle before I go hiking again. I also think I will stick to hiking in a group.

I'm Back!

After a long hiatus, I decided that I better start blogging again so family and friends can see what we're up to. We are making our way back to Tucson much the same way as last year. Two important changes are that Larry is now retired and that we have sold our house in Bellevue. I'll give a summary of some of the highlights of our trip. I'm giving some mundane details about our route, where we stayed, and where we ate so that we can use this information for future travels. Sorry if it's boring!

On day 1 of our return journey we managed to pack up our Prius and head off to Ashland at 9:20. I was really hoping to travel lightly, but we kept thinking of things that would come in handy, such as Christmas ornaments, music,extra clothes, and ice cream maker. Plus, we are taking a half dozen paintings made by Larry's aunt and mother for his nephew in Tucson. Our Prius is full! The drive to Ashland was uneventful and beautiful. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather. We arrived at the Windmill Inn by 5:00, checked in, then headed for downtown to get in a little walk before dinner We discovered that the Lithia Park had a pleasant walking trail, so were able to walk by the river at dusk before having a great dinner at Sesame restaurant. We were told that there were no plays on Mondays. However, as we were walking along the street toward our car, we saw a group of people waiting in front of the Black Swan Theater. I asked a man what they were waiting for and he explained that there was a free performance open to the public in a few minutes. Larry and I decided to go for it. It turned out to be a play with music in a modern mode. The acting and music were memorable. It was called The (Un)fortunates. I tried to look up more about it on line afterward, but couldn't find any notes.

The next morning we headed out for San Francisco. Once again we had a beautiful, uneventful drive. We left around 9:00 and made it to The City around 3:30. We stayed in the same house in NOPA as in January. This time instead of renting the whole house, we did it B&B style. The owners were pleasant to talk to and we learned more about the neighborhood. The beds were comfortable, we had off-street parking, and they let us unload our stuff in their garage. Highlights of our 3 night stay were playing trivia with Cliff and his friends at a local bar, going out for a celebratory dinner hosted by Cliff at a wonderful restaurant called The Plant Cafe, having lunch with friend Anita at a Thai restaurant called Osha, having dinner with friends Richard and Gloria at NOPA, and having lunch with cousin Lee in Berkeley. Larry, unfortunately, came down with a cold and needed to take it easy at the end of our stay in SF, but we still managed to walk a lot. We went on a walking tour of Victorian houses around Alamo Square and were amazed at the variety and complexity. We had a real treat when the owner of one, Richard Reutlinger, led our group on a tour of his house which was restored inside and out. The furnishings, woodwork, and wallpaper were amazing, with every detail appropriate for the time. In his lower level, he had a collection of mechanical pianos and music machines from the early 1900's, including a violana, a combination player violin and piano. Richard played a few instruments for us--remarkable!

We left SF for Palo Alto on Friday afternoon. We stayed at the Super 8 Motel in PA, which actually is a nice place. We had a one bedroom suite with a little kitchen and found the accommodations clean and comfortable. Originally Cliff was going to stay with us, but changed his plans when he found out that his girlfriend wanted to come to Homecoming activities with him, plus Larry came down with a bad cold. I was happy that Larry could relax in a separate room as he was sniffling and coughing. We picked up Cliff and Tracy at the Millbrae BART station, then all went to the Stanford Stadium for the Homecoming football game against WSU. We made it in time to tailgate with a couple of friends from our Stanford in Germany group. I enjoyed catching up with Alan M., who has moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon and with Lance L. and his wife, who was just a contestant on Millionare. She was sworn to secrecy about how she did, but told us her segment would air the day after Christmas. Her story was inspiring to Larry. I know he would love to get on the show, and now he has a better idea of what is involved. We bought tickets to the game from a scalper and ended up sitting in the heart of WSU territory. Although I really didn't know what was going on in the game, I did appreciate the energy and am glad that Stanford won. I had dinner with Cliff, Tracy, her brother, and some of their other friends at a restaurant called Baklava. It was excellent. Tracy is a good conversationalist and talked more about her life and how much she enjoyed talking to Cliff.

Sunday we had a pleasant drive down to Anaheim. We have to remember that highway 152 just N of Hollister is the one we want to take to get to I-5. We had to ignore our nav system at times. It pays to look at a map to get a general sense of where to go instead of blindly trusting the nav system. We stayed at the Alpine Inn, which is within walking distance of Disneyland. We stayed there last year and liked it. This year the odor of some disinfectant spray bothered Larry, but we managed to air out our room OK. The room has been updated, was spacious, clean and comfortable. It had a little refrigerator and microwave also. It's my favorite place to stay near Disneyland. We had a pleasant surprice in restaurants. We walked over to Downtown Disneyland to look around and decided to eat at the Mexican restaurant there. It was surprisingly good. We made it back to the hotel just as light rain started to fall.

We spent a full day at Disneyland and California Adventure on Monday. Disneyland opened at 8:00 and we were there. We had planned out in advance the rides we most wanted to do and found that they were not crowded a bit for the first couple of hours. Closer to noon the park started filling up, so we had to wait some in line. We then went to CA around 2:30. I love California Soaring, so went on it a couple of times. We went on the river rafting ride and got splashed. Fortunately, it was warm enough to dry us out in short time. Larry rode CA Screaming, the roller coaster, while I sat it out. Other highlights of CA included the Aladin broadway type show, A Bugs Life, and the Wonderful World of Color light and water show after dark. We had a total of 12 hours at the parks--which was plenty!

Too Much Stuff

This past week has been a busy one for me. I came back ready for action after staying with my cousins after the third spraying for mites. I moved up my sewing stash again. This time it is smaller since I gave even more away. I also moved up my clothes, again finding more room than the first time around because I thinned things down. We went to IKEA and got an underbed chest so I could get my shoes out of the way. We also got Phil a chest of drawers so he won't have to put his clothes on the floor when he visits. We also hung some art. As Phil said when he visited, "It looks like you down-sized. You have art everywhere I turn my head. It's a little too much for my taste." On the other hand, friends Mike and Florence came over, helped hang a few things, and said that they liked the art because it reminded them of our house in Bellevue and the many good times we had together there. We then emptied out the self-storage unit, which took about 7 carloads to accomplish. That stuff had to go into our garage. Then, of course, I had to sort through things and stack up boxes. My goal was to have our remaining things stored in the garage with enough room for one car to park. It took awhile, but I managed. Neither Larry nor I had enough motivation to try to thin down our possessions even more right now, but we both know that will have to happen in the future. What is in the dozens of boxes stacked in our garage? Photo albums, books, school papers, things that we made, Cliff and Phil's stuff, the Villeroy and Boch dishes I like so well, but don't manage to use very often, the crystal, a few vases, bedding, and many framed photos and paintings that we don't have room to display. When I look at it, I think that we still have too much stuff. But I also give myself permission to take time to continue the down-sizing process--and I also tell myself that I have done a good job so far.

I read somewhere that someone is putting on a one-man show about the things that people save and what they throw away. There is definitely a psychology to this. I think that it is OK to hold onto some items from your past, but not to the extent that they keep you from enjoying the present.

A Taste of Adventure

I have been feeling guilty about not blogging recently, so decided to do something about it. We are still dealing with the mite problem and most of my stuff is bagged up in the garage. Friday, hopefully, will be the last spraying for mites. I'm really looking forward to becoming more settled here at the townhouse, but there always seems to be something that comes up to derail my plans to unpack. The lastest unsettling event was having our refrigerator go out on Friday. The management company didn't deem it enough of an emergency to have the repair person come on the weekend. He came late in the afternoon on Tuesday, didn't have the component he needed for the repair, and promised to come today (Wednesday). We lost most of our food. Our good neighbor Phil graciously agreed to let us use one of his refrigerator shelves. We couldn't save everything, though. The appliances in these townhouses are low-end builder basics and are notoriously unreliable. A number of neighbors have already had their refrigerators go out, so it's not just bad luck on our part. The appliances are only 5 years old, which makes it sad that a company like GE doesn't make dependable products anymore. At least we don't have to pay for the repairs--being renters has advantages.

Now back to the topic of my title--our 18-year-old cat Tally got a taste of freedom on Saturday night. Larry and I went out for a little walk and didn't close our front door tightly. Tally went outside when it blew open. Back in Bellevue in recent years he never would go out the door, even when he had the chance. We thought he wouldn't go out here in Wallingford either. We are happy that Phil was at the house, discovered the open door, and started looking for him. We wouldn't have noticed for hours otherwise since Tally sleeps a lot in odd places. At any rate, after Larry and I joined him in a half-hour of frantic searching, Phil found Tally in our neighbor's yard, where he was looking around. Tally has been pawing at the front door every day since his adventure. He sits in our window, looking at the backyard, commenting now and then about how much fun it is to be there. We are wondering if he'll ever forget his adventure and are now very careful to close the door. Is Wallingford that much more exciting than Bellevue? Is Tally showing us that in our older years we can always find adventure if we enter doors that are open to us? Perhaps our old cat can teach us a thing or two about how to live.

A Lazy August Day

Actually, it hasn't been such a lazy August day. I've been spending a few days with my cousins, Joanne and Gordon, in LaConner while we wait for the insecticide to dissipate. The exterminators came to our townhouse on Friday to do a second spraying to eliminate the bird mites. We all left for 3 nights to minimize exposure to it. The first time around we seemed to do OK returning after 3 nights away, so we are repeating that. I am grateful to my cousins for taking me in again. It is beautiful here in LaConner. We are right on the water, the Swinomish Channel, and can watch the boats go by. The weather turned sunny--it probably has reached 90 degrees in this afternoon. There is a pleasant breeze here, so the heat isn't too bad.

I can always count on getting enough exercise when I visit my cousins. Joanne swims almost every day with her friend, Aleta, at Shelter Bay. I joined them last night, then again this morning. The three of us do a series of water exercises for an hour. We do both aerobic and strength training. Tomorrow we'll swim in the morning to avoid the crowds when the sun heats up. Joanne and I also went to visit Cousin Charlie where he works at a bookstore in Mt. Vernon. He seems very happily employed there. We toured the Mt. Vernon farmers' market as well as the rest of the downtown area. We went on to visit Joanne's friend Betsy, then the Burlington Mall, and finally Costco. Joanne says she hasn't had time to sit down and read for a long time. I believe her. Tonight we'll relax by watching a video.

Son Phil successfully finished his quarter at WWU and got moved out of his apartment. He's going to be renting another, smaller apartment while he attends fall quarter there. Tally will be able to join him. Phil is getting oriented to Seattle. His questions about getting around the city remind me that we never did spend much time there as a family as he was growing up. He avoided going over the bridge from Bellevue to Seattle. I understand. I often would not go into Seattle for weeks when we were living in Bellevue. It feels more like home for us because we lived there before.

Lunch with Renate

Today I got together with an old friend, Renate. She and I worked together for 11 years as psychologists in the preschool program at Lake WA Schools. We faced many challenges together and had fun together working with a dynamic team of specialists. She is going to work just one more year before retiring. We talked over old times, our friends and family. For a little while I missed working, but not for long. She talked about how hard it has been to keep up with the work load. That reminded me of why I retired.

Update on Project 60. Yesterday I found 7 pieces of fabric totaling 12yds. to donate to the ASG yardage sale. When I finally can put away my fabric stash in my loft, I am likely to find more. I did go through some sewing books today and found 13 books to get rid of. Instead of giving them to the ASG sale, I may see if son Phil wants to sell them on ebay. I checked and saw some of the titles listed. Next I'm ready to start in with my clothing in bags in the garage.

Project 60 Day 2

Alas! I thought I was going to have to struggle a bit to find 60 things to donate. Here I'm into Day 2 of my project and I've pretty much reached my goal. I went to work on the fabric in the garage, all clean and transformed. In just 2 hours I found 38 things from my stash to donate to the ASG yardage sale: 17 patterns and 21 pieces of fabric. The total yardage for today is 51 yards. Just like our other possessions that I gave away to family, I find it easy to donate fabric that will go to friends and people who will appreciate it. As friend Helen G. pointed out, I can always visit it again at the sale and can even buy it back if I miss it. I have decided to take a lesson from a marathon runner I met on Diamond Head a day before the Honolulu Marathon. He had run marathons in every state and had even started to run marathons on every continent, including Antarctica. I asked him what he was going to do once he met his goals. He said with no hesitation that he would just start all over again. That is what I'll do. Now that I've reached 60 things after only going through about 1/5th of my possessions, I will just keep going and see how many times I reach 60. There are 3 possessions that I do plan to take great care in donating--my mother's wedding dress, my wedding dress, and my great aunt's china cabinet. I will work with the Snohomish County Museum on those items.

I spent last night in the loft upstairs that had the only visible mite infestation. We have not seen any mites there at all, but they are hard to spot. I wanted to see if I would get bitten during the night. I did get 1 bite, which isn't too bad. I was hoping for none, though. I'm thinking that the second spraying of insecticide in 10 days is probably necessary, although I have reservations about using such products. I'm going to sleep on the lower level until after the second treatment. If there are still mites after that, then we need to consult again with the pest control expert. By the end of this month, I hope that our lives will be back to normal and that the loft will be useable. It should, in fact, be better than the first time I moved my things in. I am thinning down enough things to make it less cluttered.

Project 60

I am working on my Project 60. I'm going to donate 60 things in honor of my turning 60. I've gotten off to a good start. Today I took about 30 things to the Goodwill. I think I might go over my goal. Here is a photo of what I took in. My donations include hangers (about 20 padded), a small set of silverplate flatware, 3 salt and pepper shakers, 3 lamps, 1 picture frame, 2 extension cords, a laundry basket, 3 sheets, a set of towels, a plastic storage bin, 2 mixing bowls, 1 casserole dish, 1 pizza stone, 3 clock radios, a reading lamp, a cooking pot, and a mattress pad. I appear to be half-way to my goal now, and that isn't even counting the hangers or silverware individually. I will get going on my clothes and fabric to complete my special project.

Back at Home

I said good-bye to my cousins at noon, then headed back to Seattle. I had a great weekend with them and felt refreshed. Highlights of the weekend included going swimming with Joanne and her friend at Shelter Bay, attending my little cousin Josie's 5th birthday party, watching a bicycle rider attempt to go 1,000 K in 24 hours, waffles for breakfast, movies at night, and a few long walks. Sunday we went to Bellingham, parked at Fairhaven, then walked on a trail to the downtown area. We had beautiful views all along the way. Afterward, we had dinner at Busara, a Thai restaurant near Phil's that has never disappointed me. This morning Joanne took me on a walk with Rita and Louise, her two old friends while Gordon went off to the gym. We went to Padilla Bay, then to the Farmhouse for coffee. The weather was beautiful and the company charming.

Now that I'm back at the townhouse, I'm busy trying to get our lives back in order. We still have to leave our bags of clean clothes in the garage until after the second spraying in a couple of weeks. I'm trying to pull out only what we need in the short-term. So far the smell inside is tolerable and I haven't seen any live mites. I'm eager to put this behind me!

More on the Edison Apartments

I just checked on the story about the killing of the landlady at the Edison Apartments. There was a candle light vigil for the landlady there that was attended by 100 people or so. She must have been a remarkable person to have had so many people care about her. I didn't read about any calls for vengence for the poor demented man who killed her. I hope he is getting the help he needs and that the system he slipped through is being reviewed.

I'm staying with cousins Joanne and Gordon for a few days. We, of course, talked about the events at the Edison. She located an old Everett News newspaper saved by our grandparents dated October 2, 1928. The first page headlines were, Edison Apartments are Sold." Here is what the text says. I'm copying it in case we lose the copy of the paper again.

Colby Avenue Apartment is Purchased by J.A. Mathews (misspelled)
New Brick Building Erected by Rudolph Hartmann in 1926.
Property Changes Hands for Figure Between $55,000 and $60,000

Negotiations for the purchase of the Edison apartment house at Colby and 24th Street by J.A. Matthews, who already owned an apartment at 2606 Rockefeller, have been completed, according to announcement made yesterday. Mr. Mathews will take possession of the property on November 1.

The Edison was sold by Rudolph Hartmann who built it in 1926. It is a three story and basement brick veneer structure and contains 18 apartments. Everything modern was put into the Edison by Mr. Hartmann and it has been tenanted to the limit ever since it was completed.

The purchase price was between $55,000 and $60,000.

Mr. Hartmann also is the owner of the Windsor apartments on Hoyt, adjoining which at 2620 is his home.

In the same block he is now razing a frame structure at 2614 Hoyt, which is one of the old landmarks of Everett.


My grandparents had such high hopes going into the business! Imagine the trouble that followed just one year later with the great crash of October, 1929. Joanne, who is 11 years older, remembers my grandmother talking about the heartache of trying to keep the business afloat. She said the teachers who stayed there really helped them because of their steady income. Apparently my grandfather had lost his pension from the railroad and became a dedicated Republican over that experience. Somehow the family made it through the Great Depression and kept the Edison. My grandparents sold it to my parents, who owned and operated it until they retired. My family members owned the Edison for close to 50 years.

Joanne and I are going to look at wedding dresses next. Barb from the Museum of History said that she is interested in a mother/daughter exhibit of wedding dresses. We want to put together documents and photos to go along with the dresses.

Transformation-Surprise

This has been a week for me to think about how to handle stress. Larry and I have had to get ready for the pest control folks to come spray our townhouse for the mite invasion. We were instructed to wash all of our clothes and textiles and seal them up in bags in the garage. They also suggested that we keep them there until after the second pesticide application in 10-14 days. It helped a little that I already had thinned down my clothes before we moved. Larry did the same. I also donated old towels and bedding. However, I sew and have a fabric stash that has been stored one wall over from "ground zero"--the site of the most obvious infestation of mites. That meant that I needed to wash all of it along with our clothes. I needed a good laundromat to make a success of it. To my surprise, I found the perfect place! Just a couple of miles away from us is a very special laundromat called Transformation-Surprise,. It is run by followers of Sri Chinmoy, who blessed it himself during a visit a few years ago. It is full of positive energy. The woman who works there helped me unload my car, figure out which washers to use for what, how much laundry powder was needed, and which dryers were best. The place is very clean, which I appreciated when I dropped clean clothes on the floor. It has free vegan cookies and filtered water and pleasant, soft music playing in the background. I couldn't have imagined a nicer laundry. I left there with a feeling of gratitude.

This experience of 2 solid days of doing laundry led me to think through successful ways to handle stress. I found that it helped to break the job down into smaller parts, instead of focusing on the whole job. In other words, I tried to focus on the "now" instead of what I had to do for the rest of the day. At the laundromat, I got to know some of the fellow customers in addition to the lovely attendant. We helped each other pass the time and make light of the work. I had an enjoyable conversation with a women doing a month's worth of clothing for her family. She had just moved to town and finally got around to finding a laundromat. She told me about her challenges and dreams. In most situations, you can find something positive if you look for it.

In addition to "living in the now" as a good way to cope, I also asked family for help. We couldn't stay in our house after spraying for at least one night, maybe two. Both sister Penny and cousin Joanne were happy to issue invitations to us. Larry decided to stay in Seattle with Penny, while I left town for a stay with cousins Joanne, Gordon, and their grandson Charlie. On the drive up to LaConner, I had time to decompress and think about all the textiles I handled. I decided that I should give myself a special birthday gift--I will give away 60 more things to celebrate turning 60. It should be easy. I don't need all my fabric stash and clothing. Instead of moving it upstairs again from the garage, I will donate 60 pieces from it. It is nice and clean now. I want to keep living with less.

Still Itchin'

Suzy said she wanted pictures, so here you go! It's my upper back after 3 days of treatment with anti-inflamatory medication. Actually, today (day 4 of medication) my back looks better. Today another pest control specialist came to look at our situation. He agreed with me right away that we have mites. They are tiny spiders about the size of the dot of this "i". They bite people and crawl all over the place. These critters probably came in along with the birds that were nesting in a vent before we moved in. I didn't think about it until I started getting bit. At any rate, now we know for sure what the problem is. Our property manager seems willing and ready to help. The owner is obligated to pay for the treatment and related expenses and hasn't given us any grief over it. Tomorrow another company is coming to size up the situation and make recommendations. They can possibly start treatment on Wednesday. I will probably go stay with sister Penny for a few days until the fogger or whatever they use settles. I'll be glad when the situation is resolved. It's become the major thing in my life right now and there are so many other fun things I could be thinking about, such as cleaning out our self-storage unit or sewing a new outfit for Larry's Special Invention Award Banquet in Sept. In spite of the infestation, I still like our townhouse and love the neighborhood. I woke up early this morning and went for a brisk walk to the vegan doughnut store. What a way to start the day!

Itchy Worries

Now that we are all moved into our beautiful townhouse in an exciting neighborhood, wouldn't you know it that an unexpected problem would come up. I either have a skin rash or have been feeding insects. Perhaps both! I have had red bumps like insect bites over much of my body since about the time we moved in. I had an exterminator come to look at a couple of insect samples I caught and to check for bed bugs, but he didn't find anything. He said to consult with my doctor as a next step. I really do have at least 100 of the red bumps and they itch like crazy. I saw my doctor, as the exterminator recommended. She prescribed prednasone to reduce the inflamation. I also switched detergents to a mild perfume free one and double rinse my clothes. That seems to be helping a little. I was all set to let my mind rest about insects being the cause of my trouble. Then this morning, while wearing my glasses, I noticed a few tiny dot-like creatures crawling on my skin. One was engorged with blood. When I was troubled by fleas many years ago, the fleas were larger and seemed to jump. I have saved a couple of samples by sticking them with tape. I think I'll call another exterminator on Monday. I know that my problem might have multiple causes, but I hope we figure out what is going on pretty soon. I miss having a good night's sleep!

Wells Fargo vs BECU and Fainting Goat vs Molly Moon

Yesterday my cousins Joanne and Gordon came to visit. We showed them how much progress we have made in unpacking and setting up our house. They acted impressed. We sat down for a visit. Joanne and I, of course, had to talk about the murder at the Edison Apartments. The Edison was part of her life, too, since our grandmother and great aunt lived there. I have some compassion for the murderer. He obviously was mentally ill--a paranoid schizophrenic. I'm guessing he really did not have control over his actions and needs to be institutionalized again. He did attack another landlady many years ago and attacked a man after that. He was on medications and appeared stable according to recent evaluations. It's hard to say if anybody is to blame in this tragedy. Sometimes the system just doesn't work. With the loss of such a good person, the urge is to blame someone. I don't know if there will be any actions taken against social services in this case. I'll be looking for follow-up, though. The landlady herself sounded like a person I would like to know. She was devoted to her family and friends and was kind and helpful to many people. She will be missed for a long time.

As a side note, this poor, troubled soul who murdered his landlady was not the only paranoid schizophrenic who lived at the Edison. My aunt Eva also lived there, where my mother patiently looked after her as best as she could. Eva wasn't diagnosed until I was in high school. We all knew that she wasn't playing with a full deck for most of her life. She married a man who ended up sexually abusing her daughter and she was not able to care for her two sons when they reached adolescence. They both ended up living in foster care on farms in the area. At any rate, she started thinking that the Russians were after her and would be afraid to stay in her apartment at times. She was mugged when she went to Clark Park to get away. She then went to a nursing home, where she died not too long afterward.

My parents also helped care for another schizophrenic--a next door neighbor who became ill after childbirth. She lived with her mother and would become violent at times. My father would restrain her to prevent her from harming her mother until the police came. He did that several times, as I recall. Maybe seeing my parents care for the mentally ill with kindness, but also with confusion, led me to study psychology.

This is turning in to a long post. Joanne told me that she read my blog recently, so I wanted to be sure to write about something. Today I had some thoughts on what is in the neighborhood. I have started really appreciating my new neighborhood bank, Wells Fargo. In Bellevue, Larry and I needed to deposit a large amount of cash and first tried doing that a BECU. The staff, who are very nice, said that they couldn't take the cash deposits themselves, but could help us use the cash machine on the premises. Larry had just had a bad experience with a cash machine eating a check he deposited and didn't relish feeding money to a machine. We rememebered that he had a joint account with his deceased aunt at Wells Fargo, which was close by. We went there, where a friendly manager was delighted to update accounts for us and took our cash, no funny business. It turns out that our nearest Wells Fargo branch in Wallingford is a block away. I don't bother using the cash machines there. I just walk in and have a friendly teller take my deposits. It's great. I have nothing against the people who work at BECU. I just don't like always having to use a machine. I'm becoming a Wells Fargo fan and am getting to know several of the tellers by sight.

Another comment on Wallingford institutions. There are two hot places to get cool ice cream/sorbet: Molly Moon's and Fainting Goat. Molly Moon's is more famous and almost always has a line of 20-30 people at the door on a summer evening. Fainting Goat also typically has lines, but not as long. Larry and I tried Fainting Goat the other night. I had sorbet and thought it was good. Larry had gelato and liked it also. Tonight we went to Molly Moon's at 5:45, thinking it would be too early for a lineup. I was right. At my age I can eat dessert first, or only, if I feel like it. Larry agreed to my plan. There was no line. He had chocolate ice cream and I had strawberry coconut milk ice cream, or is it sorbet? We thought it was pretty good, but may actually prefer Fainting Goat. Actually, I like the vice cream (vegan, made with cashews) that I make at home. It's easy and fast and no line. I'm sure we'll try both places again. Maybe my opinions will change. I should have mentioned that we had a very nice vegan coconut milk frozen dessert at Sutra, just across the street from MM. They don't do just desserts only. You have to get it with the whole meal. Still, Sutra does well!

I just found my camera and battery charger, so I will be able to take photos again.

Murder at the Edison Apartments

I have been remiss about blogging recently, ever since our house was sold for real this time. At first I didn't want write about the sale because I thought I might jinx the deal. Then when it was obvious that the deal would close, we were so busy organizing the move that I didn't sit down to write. I kept thinking up good titles for my blogs, though. They include Sunny and Hot, Mazes and Skeletons, Good-bye to Spiderman, He Was Playing Real Good for Free. Sunny and Hot was the week of the move. The weather was quite warm, and we felt sunny meeting the buyer who seem to care so much about our house. He walked through the landscape with us taking notes and even said he hoped that we'd leave the basketball hoop (which has been looking a little ratty). Mazes and Skeletons would have been the day that I packed up things I saved from Cliff and Phil. They both did a series of plastic plates and cups when they attended The Little School. Cliff liked to draw mazes. Phil loved skeletons. Those plates really brought back the memories. Good-bye to Spiderman would have been the blog for the day Larry sold his comic book collection to a buyer (Terry)from CA. Terry spent a couple of days with Larry in the self-storage room going over his collection and explaning his valuations. Larry ended up feeling fine about selling. He Was Playing Real Good for Free would have been my blog for the first Sunday we were at our new townhouse in Wallingford. I was unpacking and organizing the kitchen (a huge job). I had the windows open and started to hear a neighbor playing jazz on his trumpet. What a fine experience--I knew that I wasn't in Bellevue anymore. I really like my new neighborhood. Just walking around is a treat.

Now to the experience that made me sit down to write. Murder at the Edison Apartments!! That is the apartment building in Everett that my grandparents, then parents owned and operated. I grew up there. It was always full of tenants who seemed to get along and were like family. It came as a shock to hear that a tenant (my age) got in a fight with the landlady and stabbed her. I will follow up after I learn more.

Sunny Skies

It still appears that our house sale will happen. We are past the inspection process and the appraisal went fine. We also have the lease for the Wallingford townhouse, which is exciting. Now we are getting down to the more physical tasks of thinning down and packing up. We're renting a self-storage room nearby. That will make it easier to vacate by closing. We are selling a number of pieces of furniture at a consignment shop. The movers are coming tomorrow to take those pieces away. I'll make arrangments with a piano mover tomorrow. I figure that we are letting go of at least half of our possessions. It still feels like I'm packing up a lot!

Partly Sunny

Today my spirits are partly sunny. Things are rolling along with the house sale, so I am feeling more and more optimistic that it's really going to happen. We have taken care of most of the 5 conditions for sale the buyers are requesting after the inspection. They are easy fixes. We also submitted an application to rent the townhouse in Wallingford that I like so much. We apparently are first in line for it. Our realtor removed the display of brochures from our house, another good sign, although she hasn't yet put up the sold sign. Next week, after the results of the appraisal come in, we're going to spread the word among our friends and relatives--those people who don't read my blog.

Phil has started to help us pack. We've talked about strategies. We will designate a parking stall or two in our garage for staging areas. We'll do the thing with three piles--one for the dump, one for Goodwill, and one to keep. We'll work on the garage, then go room by room packing and labeling so we can find things again. I'm having a woman from a furniture consignment shop come to give an estimate on what our excess furniture can bring. I'm checking with relatives to see what they want. It feels good to get going with the packing and not just going over plans in my mind.

Persistent Cloudiness

I'm still in overcast mode. We've had a pending offer on our house and are waiting to hear the results of the inspection. We can't imagine that the inspector would have found anything major, but you never know. Inspectors have to find some things or they wouldn't be doing their jobs. Once we resolve inspection results, then we will really start to feel like the deal will go through. Our buyer is certainly acting like he expects it to. He set an appointment with me to walk through the property the day before closing and has asked me to see if he could park his cars on the driveway a couple of days before closing. Those are positive signs. The next big step would be the financing coming through on his part. They have sold their house already, so that shouldn't be a problem. In the mean time, I have been running through my mind on what we'll need to do to get ready for our move. We want to rent a storage room for a couple of months while we thin things down. There is a large complex of self-storage just a mile away. We want to dispose of some furniture we no longer want. I found a consignment shop that will take it. They told us we'd make more on Craigslist, but going through consignment would be easier. Finally, of course, we need to find a place to move to. I have found a townhouse for rent in Wallingford that Phil and I are excited about. Larry isn't totally on board yet. That place would be fun and should be OK for a year until we figure out the next step.

What I'm doing now is priming myself for action in my mind. I don't want to do anymore such as actually getting rid of furniture, arranging storage, committing to a lease until we find out about our deal. Fortunately, I have a few sewing activities with friends in the next few days to distract myself from my worries. That reminds me--I need to thin down my sewing stash a little more also!

Grey Times

In my last post, I said I was going to keep blogging along because it was therapeutic. After I said that, I found myself avoiding writing. I suppose it has been that so many things seem grey to me now. My fuzzy feelings make it harder to focus. The weather has been grey. It's hard to plan to do anything outside because of the rain. Phil is full of greyness as he tries to figure out what to do with his life now. He has been staying with us off and on until the summer quarter begins. We decided to lower our asking price for our house. There is greyness there, too, since we wonder if we are doing the right thing. We did get an offer just a few days after we lowered the price. I suppose that means we are in the right price range. We just found out that our counter offer has been accepted, so our house is sold pending inspection and money coming through. Since this is the third time around for us with a pending offer, it's hard to get our hopes up. Things should be moving along briskly, though. The buyers want to move in as quickly as possible--July 9. I will start thinking about packing up and thinning things down even more now. I'm also looking at ads for townhouses in Seattle. There are some nice ones available that make it exciting to think of moving. The weather is supposed to change this weekend. Maybe then the greyness will lift off my mind.

Wet Sewing

Today was fairly routine. I had Sew Lab and worked on a top in slinky that friend Sally helped me design with Pattern Master. It turned out well. I'm going to make a coordinating skirt. The group I sew with has been together so long that we remember what colors each person favors, what styles look good, preferred hemlines, and even what patterns each other has made. This group knowledge is helpful. If I want advice on something, I know who to turn to. That is true for more that sewing knowledge, too.

I have been watching the biomass explode here at the house. With our long, wet days the weeds have really taken off. I haven't been out weeding in the cold and rain. It will take lots of work to get on top of things again when the sun comes out. I'll enjoy my sewing in the mean time.

May Storm

I have not had the chance to blog much recently. I was busy with the cooking school for two weeks, then had to get caught up with things around the house. I miss writing daily. It is a good way to make sense out of life. In school I learned the value of always summarizing at the end the points I tried to make in lessons and talks. That is what people are likely to think about when they leave. Blogging is like that for me, so I'm going to try to write more regularly.

I suppose the most significant thing that has happened since my last entry is that a friend of ours, Ken, died. He was just six years older than me and died of prostate cancer. He lived a good life, had a loving family, lots of children and grandkids, and many friends. He had a great sense of humor and always seemed to be available when friends needed a helping hand. He went out with style, accepting his fate, surrounded by people who cared for him. His memorial service was special, like his life. It was at the Ballard Elks lodge, right on Shilshole Bay--a gorgeous setting. Over 200 people attended. First, his family presented a slide show of Ken and family and friends. Then people told stories about him. Finally, we ate, drank, and were merry as he had requested. It reminded me of a wedding, but nobody danced. It was a special send-off for a special person!

I guess Ken's service made me imagine what my friends and family might say about me when I'm gone. I'm thinking that keeping this blog is a way for me to pass on some thoughts and a record of who I am. My sons and husband don't read my blog now, they say, but some day they might want to look back and think about what I have to say about these days.

Vegan Cooking School

I have started attending a two-week vegan cooking school sponsored by "Vegan Fusion". I found out about it after I signed up to be on the mailing list for Blossoming Lotus Restaurant in Kauai. This was my favorite restaurant and we went there four times the last time we were there. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed 1-1/2 years ago. The chef, Mark, has spent his time writing cookbooks and teaching. He has started traveling and teaching. This is his second 10-day comprehensive workshop. We are meeting in the kitchen at Fremont Abbey. It is a quaint facility compared to PCC Cooks--the cooking school where I volunteer. However, it works most of the time. There are 8 participants. Four of us are local, four have come from far away to attend class: Colorado, Eastern Canada, the Caribbean, and France via Vancouver, B.C. The three who have traveled the farthest are professional chefs. Two work on yachts. It's fun hearing their stories about life as a cook on a yacht. The other professional does catering in Colorado. My cooking partner, Marie, is originally from France and often speaks French with the other professionals. I could pretend I'm Julia Child at the Cordon Bleu.

Mark begins each session by having us prep the vegetables for the day, to clean and chop them according to the recipes. Then each of the 4 teams of 2 cooks a recipe from the class manual with Mark's help. He explains variations that can work. We have made some wonderful, creamy things. So far we have made soups, salads and dressings, and beans and grain dishes. My favorite things include Shitake Sea Vegetable Chowder, Coconut Vegetable Soup, Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing, Carob Mole Dressing, and Asparagus Risotto. Many of these recipes have used coconut milk and ground up nuts for thickening. Soy sauce, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast are also used liberally. Many more treats are to come!

Dueling Nice People

I have met many friendly, helpful people in Tucson. Most of the behavior that annoys me has been in traffic. Even that hasn't been as bad this last trip in May. There seems to be less congestion with fewer snowbirds. Last week in Tucson I went to Pier 1 Imports. I got in the check-out line with a couple of people in front of me and a couple behind. The lady being helped had a complicated return, so the checker asked for an additional checker to come open up another lane. When she arrived, I stepped aside so the person in front of me could go to the new lane. She said, "No, that's OK. I'm not in a hurry." I told her I didn't mind and that she was first. We went back and forth a few times, then finally I went first, saying that I appreciated her thoughtfulness. I remembered an old saying, "Never deny another person the opportunity to do a good deed."

I was in a grocery store in Kirkland the other day. Two new check-out lanes opened while I was standing in a long line. The people behind me rushed to be helped in the new lanes, ignoring me. I missed Tucson then and the slower pace that I have usually found!

What You Wish For

It all started with my great new low tech watch. I told everybody how wonderful it is and how much I liked the retro analog numbers and just one button to set the time. You get the idea--beauty in simplicity. I must have offended the technology gods, though. We are on vacation in Tucson now. I brought along my great new watch, of course, along with my Ipod I Touch and notebook computer. We got off the plane then picked up our rental car with Enterprise. They gave us an upgrade over the compact I had reserved--we were given a cute Mazda 3. I was happy. As we drove away, I tried to roll down the windows. I discovered the car had hand cranks. When we stopped at the store, I looked for the button to push to lock up. I discovered we had to lock each door separately. The car took me back 20 years! I began to worry that the technology gods were laughing at me.

When we got to our house in Tucson I discovered that my notebook computer screen would not light up. Apparently the inverter which provides power to the screen isn't working right. We had been planning on using it to stream Netflix with our fast internet connection. Instead of relying on a DVR, I was also planning on keeping up with my TV shows via Hulu. Fortunately, I have a service contract for my computer. Unfortunately, to get it serviced, I have to take it to the shop in Renton when we get back. When we discovered that my computer was sick, I thought I could easily make do with my I touch for internet browsing and e-mail. We discovered that my I touch was not working properly and would not stay logged on to our secure wifi. After numerous phone calls, I ended up taking it to the Apple store in Tucson. They very nicely helped me and reset my i touch. We couldn't test our Wifi until I got home, of course. We discovered that it still didn't work. I ended up going back to the Apple store. They very nicely traded my old I touch for a new one. This time the Wifi worked back at our house. The upside to this experience is that I got familiar with a fancy shopping mall I hadn't been to before, La Encantada. I also got to play with the I Pad in the Apple store, which was fun. I especially liked the astronomy app--being able to hold the screen up to the sky and see what constellations are visible. The people in the Apple store were very nice and made the frustrating technology experience as pleasant as possible. The down side was relatively minor. I just couldn't download any audio books to my I pod.

This whole experience made me feel like I'm hooked on modern technology more than I may want to admit to myself. I started chanting frequently, "technology is great, " with the hope that my luck with technology would change. It apparently did. Enterprise contacted me and asked to exchange our first rental with a newer model, a Kia compact that was loaded. I now have new appreciation for the automatic windows and the keyless entry. My I pod has been working well and helps me keep in touch, plus look up the movie times and other attractions here. I miss the ability to access media over a computer and to surf the web on a bigger screen. It's also hard to type--I have to hunt and peck with the I pod. At any rate, I am now careful what I wish for especially when it comes to technology!

Bellevue vs. Tucson, Part 2

A friend asked me the other day which place we liked better, Bellevue or Tucson. When I was in Tucson, the pluses there seemed to outweigh the minuses. The climate was lovely, the pace of life was easier, the neighbors very friendly, the opportunities for new adventure were numerous. Now that we're back in Bellevue, I'm remembering many pluses for being here. The big one is the history with and level of intimacy with friends and family here. Almost every day I go out and do things with friends that I've known at least for a few years. That makes a difference. I always have someone to talk to about anything. I work on volunteer projects and have status in those organizations (ASG and PCC Cooks). That feels good. I think that Larry and I are wise to seek out the best of both worlds--to spend part of the year in AZ and the rest in the Seattle area at least for the near future. We should be able to tell when we want to give up one home. I don't see a need right now to rush into that.

I don't mean to say that I don't want to sell our house in Bellevue. We still want to try to do that and rent nearby if we sell. Larry will be retiring before the year is up. That means we don't need to look for a rental just in downtown Bellevue. I've been looking in downtown Kirkland, which seems to have larger, less expensive units for rent. At any rate, the less-gray season is approaching, which is a wonderful time of year. I love the long days here.

Back in Class

I started Sew Lab again at Lake WA Tech. It's a great class led by master sewer, Jacque Goldsmith. About 12-18 students work on various sewing projects and have Jacque available to help and give advice. You might wonder why someone with 40 years of sewing experience needs help with sewing projects. In fact, most of us in class have at least that much sewing experience. That means there is at least 400 years of sewing experience in the room. We also are friends and freely give advice to one another. Jacque always seems to help us take our sewing up a notch. She gives us advice on fitting, style, and techniques that we wouldn't figure out without her.

Today I asked for her help in figuring out how to repurpose my cotton jacket from Thailand. It has some nice printed fabric and cross stitch trim on it, but is too big for me so I never wear it. I proposed making a Sandra Betzina shoulder bag from it, then using the lining for something else. She showed me the best way to take it apart, then use the pieces for the purse pattern I had. It would have taken me hours to figure out what she did in just a few minutes. When I'm done with the bag, I'll post a photo.

A Good Watch

I just got a new watch. For years I suffered with a digital watch that had a handy stopwatch built in, which I needed for giving psychological tests. The trouble with it was that I struggled resetting the time of day. There were buttons to push in a certain order whenever I changed time zones or to Daylight/Standard time. Even Larry had trouble setting it. The battery for that watch just ran out. I got to thinking that I no longer had the same needs. I longed for simplicity--for the days when there was only one button on a watch. I wanted a watch that I could read without my glasses but not one that was too big and wanted one that could light up in the movies. I also wanted a vegan one with a comfortable band (no leather). I searched and searched for a simple watch and almost gave up. Then I stumbled upon a pretty good solution--a child's watch. Here is a picture. It's even purple and pink. How cool is that!

Decisions, Decision once more

Today I took the family sterling silver flatware to a jewelry store that buys silver. They told me how much they'd pay for it. I was prepared for sticker shock because I had checked prices on e-bay. The prices were just high enough for me to have serious interest in selling. The jeweler said they'd polish it up, buff off the engravings, and sell it in Europe. Someone would buy it--it wouldn't just be melted down into metal like some patterns are. What is holding me back is the importance my mother put on passing the silver on to me. She paid a fair amount to have the plain steel knife blades changed to stainless steel and to add a couple of pieces to round out the set. It was important to her for me to have silver. Would she be disappointed if she knew that I didn't want the silver anymore? That is the question that is holding me back from selling. I actually especially like one of the two patterns I have, Gorham's Chantilly. As silver goes, it's beautiful. However, we never use it and I seriously doubt that our sons would care anymore about it than Larry and I do. I'm bound by memories from the past, not a desire to hold onto something beautiful. I have a creative out, though, if I can get past the guilt. There is a long tradition of "spoon rings" and jewelry. I have found one or two artisans who would do the custom jewelry for me. That way I could repurpose and appreciate the silver in a new form. I'll consult with more relative over the weekend, then make a final plan.

News

We sold our housefor over our asking price! I bought a Shun knife! Cliff got a new job at double his current salary! Larry retired!








Happy April Fools Day!

Sharp Knives

Today I was in the mood to get things done. It must be because I was away at the sewing retreat all weekend. Although I didn't actually write a list and check things off, I did go zipping around town. I had to leave the house in the morning while a realtor showed it. I went to Office Depot to get a folding plastic cart for transporting my serger. The serger is heavy and everytime I carry it, I seem to strain my arm. A sewing friend tipped me off about how well this kind of cart has worked for her, so I decided to get one. Trader Joe's is close by OD, so I went in afterward for supplies. Upon returning home, I remembered that tomorrow I am going to help out at a PCC Cooks class taught by the same chef who teaches knife skills. That made me think of the sorry state of my knives, which haven't been sharpened in ages. I zipped over to QFC and had them sharpen my 3 Henckels. I notice a big difference and warned Larry. The sharp knives reminded me of when I finally changed blades in my rotary cutters--I didn't know why I waited so long to do it. Since I was on a roll, I zipped over to Hancock Fabrics to look at patterns on sale. I found a few fun ones that I saw at Expo. My last errand was to go to a sewing machine store to ask them about the broken needle threader on my new serger. The lady who helped me was very nice and mentioned that she had once attended a PMB meeting at my house. We figured out what the problem was, I got a new needle threader, and then went home. The new serger cart worked great. I sat down to relax just as the rain started pouring. It was a good day.

Shoes

This post isn't in chronological order. I got distracted by other things, getting ready for the sewing retreat, etc. I figured I should write about shoes since I keep thinking about them. Last Tuesday friend Sally and I went to the exhibit of shoes by Beth Levine at the Bellevue Arts Museum. It was great fun. Beth was one of the first women to break into the field of shoe design. She and her husband were most influential for 40 years or so. Many famous people including first ladies were her clients. Here are a few pictures of her shoes.


These are paper shoes from the 60's. I remember when paper dresses and even paper underwear were the rage. It only makes sense that there were paper shoes then. I never bought any, though.


Beth made many fashion-forward shoe designs. She made one that consisted only of a sole and high heel. She designed adhesive to keep the foot in place. She also helped popularize go-go boots, making some for Nancy Sinatra. The shoes she made for first ladies were comfortable looking, but lovely. She didn't only make stilleto heels for fashionistas.

Sally and I wanted to see more fashionable shoe designs, so we headed for The Bravern, which has a Jimmy Choo shoe store. Here are a couple designs from there.



I would never wear these shoes, but I think the designs are interesting. The store had some attractive flats, which are more accessible. However, they lack arch support. I think of these shoes as jewelry for the feet. If I were so inclined, were 30 years younger, and wore flirty skirts, I would buy a pair, then design clothes to go with the shoes. Sally and I completed our shoe snoop shopping day by looking at Manolo Blahnik shoes at Neiman Marcus next door.




Even the flats are not especially comfortable looking, but they have some charm. Earth shoes, my favorite, don't have the same style. They make my feet sing, even if my eyes don't, so I'm likely to keep wearing them.


Sally and I, it goes without saying, also checked out the clothes at NM. We analyzed the designs and appreciated some of the details, which we could duplicate ourselves if only we could remember them. We had a great day! Thanks, Sally, for inviting me to accompany you.

Use it Up

I just got back home from a weekend sewing retreat with my ASG chapter. What fun! Around 30 of us went to the Dumas Bay retreat center in Federal Way. We started sewing on Friday morning and didn't stop until Sunday afternoon. The setting is memorable. The retreat center is right on the waterfront and the sewing rooms faced the bay. During low tide I went for a walk with a friend and met a marine biologist who told us about his project sampling water. We saw lots of shells and wildlife and appreciated the natural beauty. Friday night I even went to a play, Enchanted April, put on by the community theater housed at the retreat center.

Sewing, of course, was the main activity. I had just gone through my fabric stash, trying to thin things down. In addition to the boxes of things I have ready to go to a stash sale in a couple of weeks, I found some hidden treasures to sew up at the retreat. I "repurposed" a sweatshirt by cutting up the front, adding a batik band and making a cardigan out of it. I found left-over fabric that I put together into a fun, twirly skirt with a matching t-shirt and fabric rose, made a test shawl-collar shirt out of found pink knit, sewed some pillows for Cliff out of his left-over curtain material, coordinating silk from a gown for a Rainbow Girl, and batting left over from a sale at Fabric Land (defunct for 13 years). Finally, I did some charity sewing--"Support our Troops" bags out of old, but colorful table cloth fabric. It felt good to use things up in ways I hadn't imagined when I originally bought the fabric I used. I felt bold in cutting into things, since I didn't have expensive fabric at stake. It was fun to see things shape up so well.

The retreat was special not only because of the opportunity to sew without interruptions, but also because of the special fellowship with the people who were there. We all appreciated the opportunity to share with each other while sewing together. I had 30 helpers as I was figuring out what to do with my projects. I'm already looking forward to the next sewing retreat. I'm glad we have them twice a year.

Silver Spoons

I'm still on my downsizing kick. I decided to tackle our sterling silverware with the same resolve as our other possessions. We don't use it, we haven't looked at it for years, and it has some market value. I ran into a snag, though. I checked briefly and don't think it's worth quite as much as I thought. I still need to take it in to a jeweler for another appraisal to get more information. In my internet searches, though, I discovered that silverware jewelry is popular. People make "spoon rings" out of vintage silver spoons. I would love to have some jewelry made out of the sets that I have. Bracelets are also popular, as are necklaces made out of forks, with gemstones added. I'm getting excited about having a few pieces of jewelry made from the silverware.


I have a small set of King Edward, which belonged to my grandmother Bertha Womack--well, my grandfather, too, but I'm sure Bertha was the driving force behind the silver. Here is a ring in that pattern.


Here is a bracelet made out of the silverplate pattern my family used for everyday as I was growing up. I like the bracelet!


Here is another more arty fork bracelet.


My great aunt Dadie had the Chantilly pattern and I have a smaller set of it. It is my favorite pattern. I think I will have to have a ring made of this for sure.


I also like the bracelet made from the pattern.



Repurposing silverware has the same charm for me as repurposing garments, such as kimono and jeans. Although I don't wear much jewelry, I think I would wear some made out of our silverware.