Fresh Bread!

I love making bread. I didn't always. The parts I didn't like were the mess it made on the cupboard (flour going everywhere when I kneaded the dough) and my uncertainty about whether I'd kneaded it enough, too much, used too much flour, too little. That's why I made sweetrolls more often than bread. Then I used the recipe that came with my first Cuisinart. Perfect. No mess, no fuss, no kneading, no guesswork. Loved it.

Friday I used my new Cuisinart for the first time and made the recipe for Classic Wheat Bread that's in the booklet that came with the processor. Lovely loaves. Lovely! And even though I think the water was a little too hot and almost killed the yeast. I was patient enough to let the dough rise properly and was graciously rewarded for that. We're already in need of more loaves so I have dough rising right now. This is another experiment because the only yeast I had in the house was the rapid-rise type. The dough was stickier. We shall see how it turns out. And I'll put a photo with this as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Then I'll invite you all over for fresh bread and butter. (NOT butter substitute. Never. Not on homemade bread.) Coffee? Well, I think tea goes better but I'll allow coffee. Better give me a call to let me know you're on your way so that I turn on the heater in the porch; it's so nice to sit out there.

See you soon?

Politics as Usual ... or Worse

I'm so tired of hearing analyses, predictions, poll results, statistics, negative ads. For the first time since I turned 21 I actually don't feel like voting. I will, but my heart isn't in it.

Our country has become meaner. Too many are unwilling to see nuances, shades, possibilities; too many want everything to be in high contrast, black & white, yes or no. It makes for much easier decision-making when you don't have to take any mitigating circumstances into consideration. Shoot the bastard. He done wrong.

When Air America, the liberal talk-radio station, began a few years ago I heard or read why there had never been (and no longer is) a such a thing. The commentator said that liberals feel it's their duty to listen to all viewpoints and that kills the anger that listeners and callers are looking for. And then I heard Al Franken on Air America and he was doing exactly that: presenting three viewpoints on a topic. How can you have a good heated argument with THREE people? You need only two, and it's best if they hate each other. Needless to say, Air America folded ... last year? Anyway, it's gone.

I want the media to leave me alone in a political season. I want our political season to mimic Canada's: candidates campaign for 6 weeks. No more. I'm sure there's fundraising going on before that period but the actual campaign is 6 weeks. I don't want to move to Canada (partly because I haven't paid attention to their political system and don't have much of a clue as to how it works). But I don't want to be here either.

I'm tired. But I'll vote.

Walking

My daughter runs. My other daughter does the elliptical. I walk. (I would be the oldest one here.) But I walk pretty doggoned fast, if I do say so myself--2.5 miles in about 42 minutes. I've walked for exercise for years and years and have decided that I simply love to walk. People say that runners become addicted to running and maybe I have the same affliction. If I don't walk, I don't feel out of sorts, but I definitely don't feel "in sorts." Walking makes me feel good. I know, I know, it's the endorphins. But I prefer to say that it makes me feel good.

These days I'm walking in "Adirondack fall foliage."


Saranac Lake, about 45 minutes into the mountains from me, was reporting that this past weekend was peak colors for leaf peepers. It's still fun to think that I'm living in a "destination" for downstaters who come up here just to drive around! And I'm sure that many of my readers (I believe I've added a few occasional peepers of my own--up from my 2 original readers, my daughters who read it occasionally out of obligation [But hey, that's what offspring are for, right? To be there for their addled elders.])--who live in equally beautiful parts of the world. But out here, New Yorkers, and even more so, New Englanders, make such a big deal out of it! So I try to appreciate the bejeezus out of it.

So go for a walk. It makes you feel good.

Top Ten

Starla's top 10 reasons not to surround your house and yard with 50-100-year-old oak trees:

10. Acorns


9. The size of the mulch pile that never seems to decrease because it's made up almost entirely of oak leaves, which take about 30 years to biodegrade, and acorns, which apparently never do.

8. Big acorns

7. The bunker mentality one enters when the sound of acorns pelting down from on high and hitting the metal roof on the house creates the sounds of an artillery target zone

6. Little pointy acorns

5. The tiny caterpillars that rappel down by the hundreds from the oaks in the summer--even the county extension people don't know what they are--and that probably feed on acorns

4. Chenilles, which is what my husband calls the lame-o "flowers" oak trees produce, precursors of acorns, which, if not raked (like one is some serious OCD patient) will mat in the rain and create a walking surface much like that of a greased cake pan.

3. The need, aside from one's normal OCD needs, to rake acorns because it becomes impossible to walk across the acorn-studded grass, which is akin to walking on marbles--even in shoes it's not fun.



2. Injuries caused by acorns rocketing down from 60-80 foot trees any time a breeze stronger than 2 mph blows

And the number one reason not to surround your house and yard with 50-100-year-old oak trees:

1. The insult of being hit by an acorn while raking said objects



I'm thinking maples.....

A Night

This is a night when we did something. Many of my nights are do-nothing nights spent in front of the TV, but never just watching. I have to be doing something else, too. Tonight, I'm just vegging, though.

We went to a lovely concert tonight on the old base. Around here, "old base" and "new base" meant a left turn or a right off US Avenue. The old base (left turn) has beautiful Victorian-era side-by-side duplexes. Each is three full storeys, apparently with butler's stairways and rooms for "the help" on the 3rd floor. They've all become townhouses and if I hadn't been married, I'd have bought one and worked however long that required! They are the 3-chimney, front veranda beautiful tall brick houses (slate roofs, of course, in this area). I believe they have hardwood floors, etc. Oh, to die for.

The old base "oval" also includes the lovely little Plattsburgh Memorial Chapel, where the concert was held--this was a fundraiser and I'd put together the brochure a couple of years before but never been (or even seen) the building. So I was happy to buy the ticket and then Bruce, who loves classical music, said he'd join me. How nice!

And the concert was good. The students at Meadowmount compete for spots there and I'm guessing are Julliard and Berkshire music students. They don't do light stuff for concerts, either. It was string quartets with 3-4 movements by Mozart, Shostakovich and Barber. Not easy going for these kids, either, I'd bet. But they were rehearsed and as a result made crisp, together entrances and only messed up the timing once or twice. String quartets have the same problems I've met in "foursome" vocal groups: Who's the boss? As I said, they did well most of the time. It was a delightful evening.

So I'm sitting here "after hours" with my martini and barefooted, as I love to be in the summer. It's August, and I'm just waiting to get older (the 23d for me). Meanwhile this is a lovely, warm (too humid) summer night. I hope yours is, too.

The Wonders of Technology!

I just have to post about the cool thing I just did.

I'm editing my audio tapes--I think I've mentioned that I read novels for the vision-impaired--and this time it's Gone with the Wind. The way this is done is to make 30-minute digital "tapes" at a recording studio at the local PBS station, bring them home on a flash-drive and edit them here. The 30-minute tapes are edited for errors, stumbles, too-long pauses, mispronunciations, etc. You get the picture. They usually wind up being about 24-25 minutes long. Then I "mix them down" into 55-minute episodes (with a 45-second break in the middle) and return them to the station, where the program's coordinator adds music, an intro that includes a synopsis of the previous episode (which I've provided typed out), and a closing w/music. (This is all done with Adobe's Audition program.)

So I was editing along and got to a sentence with the word daguerreotype in it, and when I had read that sentence, I couldn't remember how I had pronounced it when I'd read it earlier in the book. (It has 2 acceptable pronunciations.) Being a topnotch reference librarian (still!), I went to amazon.com, and found the version of the book, GWTW, that you can look inside. I searched for the word daguerreotype, found the page on which it had occurred, opened my edited tape containing that page, found the spot where I'd read it before and heard the way I had pronounced it then so I could do it the same way for this occurrence. I'd read it both ways this time around just so I could do this while editing, so I just deleted the other one and my reading will be consistent.

Ya just gotta love the power of technology!

Being a Mom

In the last 18 months I've seen several faces of motherhood: my niece being a stepmom; my daughter being a mom, and mom again; me being a stepmom/stand-in mom; a LOT of me being a mom of an adult child- or stepchild-in-need. It's amazing how similar all the situations are at heart. In the last couple of years I've coped with, in my children, stepchildren and nieces/nephews generation: serious mental health issues, geographic moves, near-death experiences ... and their aftermaths, hormones (I'd mistakenly thought that was over after middle/high school, silly me), and maturation in all of the above-mentioned children. Or so I hope.

What all the situations have asked of me is the wisdom of the sage. Like I knew what the hell I was talking about. I use common sense and love and common sense. I never took one Psychology course in college. But having taught and having been a research resourse for so many developing adults, I learned from what I looked up for them and from the questions they asked me outside of class.

Mostly people under 50 want to know: Is this a good idea? Am I looking at this thoroughly? Which path should I choose? And I REALLY try to say: Do YOU think this is a good idea? Have you thought of .....? What are all the paths? Answering a question with a question in my life has nothing to do with being Jewish (I'm not) and all to do with being a research librarian. All I could ever do was set someone on the path to finding the answer and hope like hell I'd helped them see where the signposts are.

Bruce says I should hang out my shingle as a therapist. I'm not sure he's wrong. I get off the phone after talking through a problem with any one of my "clients" and I'm exhausted. How do all you social workers/counselors/psychotherapists do it? All I am is a mom. Do you think you could talk to someone about creating a payscale for moms?

(The funny thing about this post is that there are relatively few crises now; last year was my damn-near-died year as counselor. I just decided to post this after the fact.)

The Fair

People are either fair people or fair ignore-rs. I'm the former. I love fairs. I especially love state fairs, but I only want to go to a particular state's fair once. Our little Clinton County Fair I've gone to every one of my 29 chances, almost. I think I've missed no more than four. And now that I think about it, I may even have blogged about the fair once before--since I never tag my blogs, it will be up to you, dear reader, to tell me. And then to ignore this post. And its pretty pictures from a few years ago.


This year we went with friends who live in Montreal. I say it this way because they're both Americans from MA, older than I am, younger than Bruce, and they've lived in Montreal for 35+ years. Walt just retired from the geology faculty at Universite de Montreal and Anne retired a few years ago after many years teaching ... was it French to English-speakers or vice versa?, at the elementary school level. We four get along great and it was a lot of fun to have someone to go to the fair with.


Bruce & I always go to look at everything at the fair. We visit the commercial exhibits: Tupperware, gourmet dog treats, woodstoves, tie-dye t-shirts, RVs. You get the picture. We examine the crafts: painting, photography, crocheting, knitting, wood carving, quilting. Some entries are really very good and others are county-fair quality.

We watch the chainsaw "art" carvers. We go into the little museum that has old homely items set up in a house-from-back-when kind of exhibit. I see so many things that my grandma in Brillion, WI, had: crank telephone, hand pump at the kitchen sink, woodstove with bread oven. And since the horse barns are close to that, we walk through them and talk to the horses and their kid riders/caretakers.

The 4-H barn is one of my favorites. The displays of the projects made by kids, from 2-L Coke bottles made into penguins to dioramas of the stable and corral at someone's farm, are just too sweet for words.






With the small animals display--this year that category included Silkie chickens, a breed I think might be the Paris Hilton of chickenhood--the 4-H barn is the best.

The kids who take care of animals, from lop-eared rabbits to warmblood horses (I think there might have been one there) are so earnest it almost brings tears.

Walt voiced it nicely: "You see city kids. And their attitudes. Then you come here and see these kids. Their dedication and genuine care for their animals. It makes you think we just might have a chance after all." He and Anne hadn't been to our little fair and I think they enjoyed themselves. I know we were glad to have them along.

But in a purely venal vein (I can say that, right? I mean, venal doesn't come from vein, does it? Rats. Now I have to look it up! [cue Jeopardy music here] I knew it didn't!) I won about $9 in the quarter-push machines plus 2 little plush turtles I can send to K&C. And I didn't even mention the food!

No corndog this year. I went for the Southern heart-attack special, BBQ!! I dove into my "loaded fries" with gusto: lightly seasoned fries topped with your choice of pulled pork or chicken or beef--pork for me--topped with cheese and two kinds of BBQ sauce. I can feel my heart trying to _ _ _-dial (what's an internal organ equivalent of butt-dial?) a cardiologist right now. But the message will probably be slurred by the remnants of the maple-walnut ice cream cone I got from those adorable 4-H-ers, and the cotton candy I just finished, sharing heavily with a most appreciative large dog.

The rain held off until we were almost ready to go. We actually had great fair weather (pun intended) because it was cloudy and somewhat cool. It might be fun in the sun, but it can get hot, sweaty and very aromatic really quickly at a fairgrounds. Unfortunately, the rain put a damper on the truck pull, something Bruce wanted to see a bit more of. You notice I specified Bruce in that sentence. Me? I like walking through the cow barns better. And now I'll just let everything digest. If it can.

God, I love the fair!

The Gunns in the North Country!

What perfect weather for a visit from little girls (oh, and their parents, too)! We went to the Cadyville Beach, a well-maintained and lifeguarded (!) strip of beach along the Saranac River. (The Saranac is world-renowned among fisherpeople as a Trophy Class trout stream.) As you can see, the girls had a bit of fun, and so did their parents, I think.

It's so much fun to watch those girls! Their behavior really takes me back to the years when my daughters were "two little girls." In this generation, Kaitlyn, the older, is the perfect first child, parent-pleasing, cautious but exuberant at the same time. That was Emily when I was still chasing after them. And Courtney, this time around, is the sword-swallowing, fire-walking, trapeze-artist daredevil personality, fearless and way too quick! Jenny was my death-waiting-to-happen second child back when. The saying that children are payback to their parents holds true, at least for now. :) Courtney loved running in the water, apparently the deeper, the better. Katie, once she discovered that she wouldn't go under water if she went all the way out to the floats on the marker rope, liked to be in the "deep end." We all had a blast. The cutest part was on Saturday, when there was a stiff wind that chilled any wet part of a body--Courtney discovered that she wasn't cold if she stayed under water so proceeded to sit in water that came right up to her chin. When moved to water just a bit more shallow, she protested loudly. And her shivers were absolutely heart-breaking. And they made her mad!

Having lived with a backyard pool for 15 years--my theory is that some whiz-bang salesman convinced the previous owners of our house to put in the first in-ground pool in town, and then all of Plattsburgh was his oyster; there are too too many pools for a place that has about a 60-day season--I'm so glad to have the beach about a mile away now. There is nothing like cool water to sit in when the temp is 85+.

Away from the beach, I'm trying to build a little toybox that the girls can use whenever they visit. My two still remember the Lincoln Logs at GrandmaMarie's, and I'd like to get something like that embedded in Katie's & Courtney's memories. Right now it's a stuffed sheep (that we got with our Serta mattress!) and ... my bear footstool. Stickers were a hit:

as were some of my small collection of bright blue New Beetle toys:

The porch swing that I made that hangs inside our "porch"--really a 3-season room--was pretty interesting too. A swing inside!!

Obviously, a good time was had by all. We're already looking forward to next summer!

Toe Flowers and Ring Tans

While the toes aren't exactly beautiful, the artwork on my big toes is pretty cute. The man who did my pedicure gave me the most relaxing leg & foot massage, and then convinced me that I needed toe flowers! You have to know that anyone who massages your feet can talk you into anything ... um, almost.

I was with my slightly broken, but on the mend niece, Kate. She treated me and her stepdaughter, Abby, to our pedicures. Abby's was just what every 11-year-old girl should have for her first toe-painting: turquoise nail polish with white polka dots and 3 different-colored flowers on each big toe. It was awesome. Kate got toe flowers too, which I think helped her mood if not her bumps, bruises and healing road-rash. The flowers make me remember how lucky we are to still have her in our world; she could so easily have been sent to another. Her accident was a bad one.

As for the ring tan, I've been working on that since the weather got nice enough for me to walk outside without gloves. Amazingly, around here this year, that was about May 1! I've worn my father's wedding ring on my left index finger for years and this is the year I got a really good ring tan. It's not worth a photo but is my little secret trophy. Oh, I have a pretty good watch tan too. :)

My trip to Utah to help Kate was a good one. I think I helped, maybe mostly just by being there. I put a lot into the blender--baked pasta, yogurt smoothies, pea soup, fruit salad, etc. Kate is an incredibly good sport about eating everything in a liquid state. Her injuries were/are serious and I was kind of sorry to leave because she still needs someone there. But her sweetheart of a husband, Ryan, is a rock for her, and his kids, Nathan and Abby, are doing all they can to help and to let her know she's loved. It was heartwarming to witness the power of love, how it's support at its best.

I got to see my stepdaughter, Leanne, and her husband, Ashley. They live on the east side of Salt Lake City and came all the way to Kate's house to see me. I was so happy. The two couples went out with me to a great Thai restaurant. The four 30-somethings hit it off really well and that evening was just a joy for me. Leanne & Ashley were more relaxed and funny than ever and I just enjoyed myself to the hilt. They have a really good life and it's really fun to watch them grow. (Once a parent, always a parent, even when the "kids" are adults!)

This weekend my older daughter, Emily, is coming to Plattsburgh (!!) with her family and I cannot wait to see my grandgirls. This is their first visit since moving to Cleveland and the amazing Gunns are driving through the night to get here--it's a straight 10 hrs. for a lone adult and probably anywhere from 10.5 to 12 hrs. with kids in tow. But the girls should sleep pretty much all the way so that should work out great. We'll have them out here for a few hours, I'd guess. And dinner either Thursday or Friday. I'm so excited.

All for now. I'll once again say I'll try to get back here more often. I just have to keep convincing myself that anyone finds anything I do, interesting...

I’m Inspired

Well, the workshop in DC went well. They usually do. Actually, thinking back, they always do. I get quite nervous beforehand, especially the last day or two before I actually give one. Workshops are a crapshoot in terms of time. Timelines vary greatly depending on the size of the group who attend. Because I don’t just lecture for six hours, I have to guesstimate how much time each component will take. And being a German-heritage librarian (see remarks about OCD that follow), I can’t estimate most things worth @#&. And while people—especially librarians (who became librarians because of varying degrees of OCD)—like structure, they also come to conferences to network, and often don’t have much time to do that outside the sessions they’ve signed up for. Add to that the fact that at the end of six hours of concentration, most in the group are pretty much brain-dead and just would like to sit and kibbitz, or go home, or go out for a drink. Or several.

So I try to plan and yet flex. This is the part that makes me nervous. I’m no longer terrified of being in front of groups of peers—who are usually the harshest critics of one of their own. But I don’t want my workshops to look haphazard or unplanned. At the same time, I can’t be a controlfreak and keep everything to the minute. See what I mean about being nervous? I'm not really scared. I just want it to go well.

And it did. My biggest mistake was my shoes. My feet hurt so much (the four blisters were not a laughable situation!) after a day of nothing but standing and walking around a “classroom” that I couldn’t go sightseeing at all. At all! My hotel--the Washington Hilton--was a good 4 blocks from the Metro and way too far from the Mall to walk there. And Washington is one of my favoritest places to be Tammi Tourist. RATS!

But I am inspired. The people at the workshop were all younger than I am (I’m pretty sure). And they all thought that graduate education for librarians should definitely include something like what I was giving them. So I’m in the process of revising my brochure and preparing to send it to every library school in the country to see if any is interested in having me for a day. We shall see!

Positive Strokes

It’s amazing what a compliment will do. I’m working on my workshop that I’ll conduct in Washington, DC, on May 22. I knew I had materials from a different workshop that I could rework for this one; I just had to remember which previous one it was! Okay, it was the one I did at Rosemont College in Philadelphia, and it had been hugely successful. So I had a little bitty high from remembering how positive the feedback was from that one and I got an e-mail labeled “Workshop.” When I opened it, it was a request from the program chair for the organization that had brought me to Rosemont! They’re interested in a “Part Deux.” Apparently the people who had attended my earlier workshop had reported as positively to their organization as they had to me, and they’re interested in having me again.

My frame of mind is now about 1000% more positive than it had been on Sunday. And it wasn’t that bad on Sunday! The fact that I’m working on a workshop feels really good. My sister will say that I need to get out there and beat the bushes again to get more business, but I’m really not interested in doing that. I kind of like this 1-2/year thing! If I were doing 1/month, like I did for awhile, I’d have to really stay on top of I.T. Then it would be too much like work. And I am, how you say, RETIRED. I actually contacted a woman I know who taught public speaking and had run her own company for “corporate training” to see if I could work occasionally/sporadically for her. Unfortunately she has just retired, herself! And she said it was too bad I hadn’t contacted her earlier because I would have been perfect. In my younger daughter’s perfect sing-song: Oh well.

Meanwhile, add those positive strokes to the endorphins I’m earning because I’m going to the gym more and working harder while I’m there and I’m in a good place right now! (And the fact that I’ll earn some $$ and get reimbursed for my travel for next week’s work is okay too! :D )

Catching Up

I really wanted to use this frequently but then along came Facebook and I get by on pithy sentences (and many, many not so pithy). So I’ll get a little caught up here before I wander away again.

My Mimi-sitting gig in Cleveland was terrific. (I did get some sort of stomach bug that made me SO sick that it almost overshadows the really good memories from that. No more about that!) Kaitlyn and Courtney are just beautiful. I’m as in awe of them as I was of Emily & Jenny at those ages. It surprises me how much I can love these little girls, again echoing how surprised I was about that capability with my own two beauties.

When I came in the house, Katie immediately gave me the “Vanna White tour.” I realize that 3-yr-olds talk constantly, but this was really amazing. The highlight was her tour of the guest lavatory, with its “toe-let” and accompanying “toe-let paper.” I was shown where the handle for flushing was and how to wash my hands. And in her and Courtney’s rooms, I had to see how the closet doors worked. And my camera was packed in my suitcase and not handy in my purse. Rats. A real opportunity missed.

But while Emily & Pete were away and I was the Mimi, the three of us went for walks and went to the park (I knew where it was because Emily & I had gone there before they left),

looked at flowers and threw stones off bridges into the creek that runs behind the house. Spring in Cleveland was all that I’d forgotten about spring in Iowa: so many things can flower simultaneously, it was truly beautiful.

The girls at the park were so much fun. Tiring but fun. Pushing on swings, climbing up and then sliding down slides. Playing in the big sandbox. And Katie’s propensity for finding 7-9-yr.-old kids and asking them, “Will you be my friend?” They then help push on swings and slide down slides. Those kids were so … wholesome, such good kids.

Meals were a challenge for me to follow the rules of the house. It was the timing more than anything that I tried to be conscious of. I was just really getting the hang of it, I think, when Emily & Pete came home … and I was really glad they were home. I was tired! I realized again why people my age don’t have babies!

The drive was easy, and good for me. I needed to get out into city traffic again to reassure myself that I could do that. Living in my isolated little part of the world, I lose my confidence in managing the big parts of the world. Busy cities are exciting for me, and I’m glad to know that I’m not that overwhelmed by them!

I’m probably willing to Mimi-sit again, but I’m not sure if I can do it with a baby again. Just carrying one of those infant carseats will kill me! But the joy from the kids? Priceless.

(BTW, here are my granddaughters sane and normal parents.)

Snowbirding

Well, I’d do it. To be out of the real cold and into a climate that gets “cold” at about 40 is a doable for me. But in my life, right now, it was a one-time thing. So the following thoughts are mine, in this case an imaginary me alone. It’s not that I don’t love my husband; it’s that he would not do this again, so we won’t. But I would.

I really can see why people do this, snowbirding, I mean. The cold in the North Country has definitely lost its appeal for me; I don’t need to prove to anyone that I can survive a winter where –25 is a high temp on some days. So I would do this. I would find a site I liked in Florida, or maybe Georgia, but probably not any farther north than that, and I would move there for 2-4 months per year. How long I’d be south would be determined on what involved me in the north. And since I’m kind of a loner anyway, I might actually split it 60-40, and I can’t say right now which end would get 40% of my year!

Of course, the best possible world would be to be able to afford to own a home on both ends of your line. It would address many of the “hardships” (and those quotation marks are significant here) that a renter experiences: kitchen utensils and the like. So that's the way I’d do it if I could.

If you're thinking about it, spend one year or more scoping out areas you think you might like. If you’re in the East, that’s usually Florida and above. But the Midwest has different options: the area around Bronson, Texas in the Corpus Christi and Padre Island area, the Southwest. You need to spend some time in the area—I’d recommend a minimum of two weeks at a time—to find out if it has what you’re used to. My original idea of a month to try out really living there was a good one; two weeks would still feel like a vacation and not a move, to me at least.

What I missed in Crystal River, FL? Internet access! THE most. And that surprised me. I hadn’t realized how much I’ve come to rely on the research capabilities of the Net (which is why I’ll never update my textbook ever again). So get a place in which you can have Internet access in whatever way you can get it. Since I have only a pay-as-you-go cell phone I didn’t have access through it and that wasn’t good.

On your trial trip, and I’m seriously recommending you do at least one of these, look at the area’s social networks. Are they easy to add into? Can you easily find a way into them? Is there a location where you can get the best info on them? I happened into a Tai Chi program at the local public library—where I had to go for free wi-fi—and I would have used that as a stepping stone into other groups. Or go to the local grocery store that fits your economic situation, at about the same time every week and get to know your fellow shoppers.

IF you can afford it, buy a place where you want to spend about 1/2 of your year. (Renting is okay, but having a place of your own would be so much nicerr in terms of knowing what you had and what you needed to bring.) The places we looked at in the Crystal River area were either a) tiny, or 2) pretty high-priced because they had waterfrontage—usually on one of the many canals in the area. There were huge trailer parks in the area that we didn’t see at first; and I think they were hidden for good reason. FL has some trailers that must have been made when Marshfield Homes was still in business! But most of the newer communities are not double-wides anymore; we found one that we both liked and the houses were stick-built and very appealing. Of course most had water frontage and that puts them into that 2d category above. Sigh. And here’s a picture of a home that’s for sale—one canal over from the one we were on and on the river end of it—that I wouldn’t be thinking of buying—unless my husband died and I discovered he’d had untold millions that were now mine! Hahahaha :) But it certainly is attractive….

The Web makes realty browsing so easy that once you have an idea of an area you’re interested in, you can see what prices are. So I’m going to do that for amusement right now. :) If you want me to write anymore about this, give me a comment or two.

Snow, the curse of winter

It’s still snowing. I’m not sure what our total is officially but looking at our metal roof, I’d say about 12” so far.



This was taken this morning, about 11, out the front window. (It’s Bruce’s “artistic” creation that shelters our fledgling birdsnest spruces.) So add about 3-4" to the stacks of snow here. The weatherman actually weighed a shovelful of snow on the news tonight: 15 lbs. Wet and not fun. It started snowing last night and as I write, at 11 p.m., it is still snowing. And another storm hits tomorrow.

Usually I would help shovel and just sigh. But this week we’re supposed to be leaving for Florida and our trip gets delayed by a day and then another. Initially we were going to leave on Thursday. Now I’m hoping for Saturday. Look at this weather forecast ! AAAARRRGGGHHH!

I’m telling myself that this is not a disaster. There are many people in far worse situations than I. (Can I unclench my jaw now?) I just had to vent.

I’m hoping the next time I write I’ll be sitting on our dock!

Ready to go

So we leave for Florida soon. This should be a true adventure. I’ve never driven it before and I probably won’t be doing any of the driving this time either. But we will be going by car. I’m really looking forward to it. But if there was any one time I’d love to be beamed there, Scotty, this is it. Traveling with the cat  … hmmm. I plan to give her a sedative and hope that she’ll sleep most of the way. Then once we’re there it’ll be a matter of not having her freak too much and try to run away. We’ll be on a canal, and I’m sure there will be cat-eating creatures not far away. And Susie just isn’t a kitten anymore—almost 15! (I’ve decided I want to be a cat in my next life; they don’t get wrinkles.)

Life around here is pretty boring right now so I’m doubly glad for the FL diversion. I need to find something to do … that won’t hurt me! I’m swimming and it seriously exacerbated my old tennis-elbow tendonitis so I even have to be careful doing needlework. Did you know that tennis elbow is affected by cross-stitch? It is. So I put on an elbow brace to do it! And that’s where I’m headed now.

Wish us safe travels. I’m sooo hopeful that Bruce will make it only a 3-day trip.

What Endorphins Can Do

I'm back in the exercising mode. And I really really really want to stay here. It's so very easy to put this at the bottom of priorities, which I've done for years. But this week I got some pretty clear indicators: miss exercising for two days and gain .5 lbs. I realize that my scale goes by 1/2 lbs. And I realize that my water retention affects my weight so much so that I'm not sure what I really do weigh. But just going by the scale clearly means that I MUST work out in some way six days out of seven. Do you know how much of a day that takes? I can't believe anyone who isn't retired has time for this! If I leave for the gym between 9 and 9:30,I'm home at about 10:30 - 10:50. Then I have to blow-dry my hair. Wipe out my morning up till 11:00--or even 11:30. Then I might as well have lunch (I'm usually hungry anyway) and my working day starts at about 12:30. I guess that's not bad for a retired person, but I have to break myself of the years-long habit of doing nothing productive in the evening and get some stuff done then. I'm sure I'll figure it out. Meanwhile, I'm grateful that my health is good and my body keeps moving ... at least so far.

Later.

Retired Life

I’m sitting here on a night after a day in which I did pretty much what I want to: I got up at 7:50, went to the gym at about 9:00, swam about ½ mile, came home feeling pretty righteous, farted away the next 1½ hrs. Had a really saintly lunch of salad w/o carbs, read at the station for 2 hrs., gave blood, farted away another 1½ hrs., and had dinner at Friendly’s and went to a PSU Men’s Hockey game. (It was a bloodbath; we won 9-3 against Skidmore). Then a nice conversation w/Laura, who has a new man in her life and is sounding so positive and upbeat. Bruce & I are so hoping that he isn’t another user/heart-breaker. She seems to be such an easy target for that kind of man.

I’m  hoping I convinced Laura that we are NOT thinking of selling the house and moving … anywhere. I think maybe Leanne got that idea in her head and there is nothing further from the truth. We’ll spend a month in Florida and then … come HOME. I’ve said that if we ever vacate this house, it will be on Bruce’s volition. That realtor visit threw everyone. And *I* am laughing; Bruce would be too, if he knew what a tizzy it threw many into!! I’ll say it again: If we ever leave this house, it will be Bruce’s decision. I will NOT be saddled with the blame of “forcing Bruce out of his house.” He knows this. If anyone else needs to know this, they do now.

But I’m beginning to love being truly retired. I call the shots. My schedule is set by me. My only worry is that I’m limiting myself. Book myself not enough = boredom. Over-book myself = resentment (not true, I know, but it’s there nonetheless). That happy medium is there somewhere and I’ll find it.

Good night.

Help from afar

I called Dell Support today to help me take off the password I had put on my laptop when just opening it for the first time. There’s no real warning to a tech-semi-moron like me that you really don’t need one of these passwords; I need the sign in all caps that yells: DON’T CREATE PASSWORDS! THEY’RE NOT NECESSARY! YOU’LL REGRET IT! AND THEY’RE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO REMOVE!

So I went to Dell Support. I’d gone there last week and even though the tech somewhere in India/Bangladesh/Pakistan who answered the call after a 10-minute wait took my phone number, “in case we get disconnected,” he never called me back after I did get disconnected. So I called again today. Today’s tech had to transfer the ownership of my new laptop from Staples, where I’d bought it, to me. That took a bit, even though last week’s tech supposedly had done that too. Anyway, we finally started on my problem. I think I began the call at about 3:15 EST. I realized that my tech—I never did understand his name but it was probably Jeff … unh huh—didn’t have a clue about how MY laptop worked. After many unbelievably long waits while he “got some assistance,” we FINALLY removed the damned password. This was the one that I was required to type in every g-damned time I touched the computer. But we did get it removed. I think it was about 5:05 EST. At least that was free.

So now I’m watching “Men of a Certain Age,” a show that’s aimed at my age group … only about men rather than women. Will men watch this? I doubt it. Ray Romano, Andre Brauer, and Scott Bakula. Great guys all of a certain age. Of course, that’s now OMG younger than I am. But the things they obsess over are familiar. If not a problem I’ve had, it’s one a friend has had. Getting playlists from people 20 yrs younger, trying to communicate online with a stranger, pretending you’re as hot as you were 20-30 years ago. All familiar.

So I got my computer fixed. And I went for a walk. And I’m planning to swim tomorrow morning. I’m feeling like I’m back on track. While I like the job at Borders, it disrupts my life more than I want it to. Next year? I don’t know.

Eat healthy. EXERCISE!!! But be nice to yourself. If you don’t do either of the above, there is no lightning bolt from heaven that’s GPS’d to your location. So be nice to yourself.

(And it’s now clear to me that my next job with this laptop is to figure out how to download a clip art illustration into this blog. Stay tuned.)