To the Sea...!
I'm off to the Atlantic Ocean today for a Family Reunion at New Castle. I shall be enchanted by being in the presence of all three granddaughters plus Ally! It is reported there may be some adults around too (something like 30 of them, ha!).
Have a good time, listener!
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, Howard is first!
ReplyDeleteTraveling mercies!
ReplyDeleteI'm still around; just busy as the dickens. Looking to buy the slide rules I have long wanted (and one of which I will use regularly) on eBay. They are really cheap compared to back in the day, once one adjusts for inflation. I am going to replace the one that was stolen from me nearly 40 years ago that I didn't have the money to replace; a couple of good bamboo ones such as I could not afford (one 12-inch, one 6-inch) and I have landed a brand new unused plastic pocket rocket from Germany. Besides reconnecting with my cultural roots, this is psychotherapy for me; when my good one was stolen I decided to protect myself by using a cheapo no one would steal, and have been nursing the resentment all these years. It's long past time to get rid of that poison. Off to the Bay Area soon.
ReplyDeleteCool and clammy. I left the windows open and the exhaust fan on last night. Now I can just swim through my living room, lol! Going to turn on the AC soon, just to dry things out a bit.
ReplyDeleteAlan, good on ya. Being stolen from, or betrayed, really does rock one's world. When I had my "I'm going to kill you" caller in the 70's, the thing that shook me was that some unknown person could change my life against my will. . . . Had to start locking doors, get the children keys, tell them never to tell anyone their mother wasn't home. . . . I had to become a fortress in my own life because some kid called the wrong number who decided that his line was cool. . . . Took me years to get rid of him/the feelings/the attitude.
ReplyDelete*hug* Puddle
ReplyDeleteI understand to a certain extent. All through my growing up years my mother threatened me with various things - "I'll break both your arms and tie them under your chin," throwing me down the stairs, putting me in the home for the retarded - if I talked back or failed to perform some task. She was so casual and cavalier about it, so forthright about her anger - shouting, throwing things - that I thought this was normal. Not till I met Phil did I realize that it isn't. He was appalled. It took him a long time to teach me that normal relationships between intelligent, loving human beings do not inevitably have to include verbal and emotional violence...and the fear of it. He was never angry with me, not even a couple of times when I richly deserved it. He was unfailingly gentle, understanding and loving. But then, my Phil was a saint.
Ah, Cat! That way outpaces my story. Kind of matches a friend of mine, who was born with spina bifida. Her mother used to lock her in the closet if she didn't perform. Ironically, what *her* mother wanted was for her to be the "perfect invalid" so she could be Florence Nightingale. . . She always fought it. She never even got a handicapped sticker for her car till she was in her sixties. But her mother hated it: it was easier to wheel her around than watch her struggle with crutches and canes.
ReplyDeleteMind you, I can count on the fingers of one hand the times throughout my life she has actually hit me, and at that she has never hurt me. She's all bluster. But that bluster could be pretty scary to a disabled kid.
ReplyDeleteMum's not like that...mostly. She has always been big on telling me how much harder my disabilities are on her than on me. After all, I just have to live it. *She* has to watch it. After Phil's last illness, and to be honest Fluffy's last illness, I have a much easier time seeing her point than I used to. It is Hell to see someone you love suffering or struggling and to be unable to help.
ReplyDeleteMum's always been a good sport and helpful to the extent she can. She never pushed me to reach the limits of my abilities, but I think now that was because she was afraid of something even worse happening to me. She certainly never locked me in a closet!!!
General Shalikashvili has died. It was on CNN:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/23/john.shalikashvili.dies/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Though I haven't seen him in many years, I have many very fond memories of him. Terribly upsetting!
First Pat, now Gen. Shali... The grim Reaper is cutting much to close to home for comfort. *shiver*
Just saw on FB, R&D's rat Dango died today. He had been very sick, so I suppose it's a blessing, but still.....
ReplyDeleteWhy do people nd animals we love have to die?
The 2011 Disability Pride Parade is history. As our Lead Facilitator observed, "God is disabled." Thunderstorms last night, but the day was near perfect. Temps in the mid-80s. A bit humid, but no sun until the late afternoon. About as good as you can expect for July.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get to actually see the parade because I was selling parade T-shirts where it ended, but people told me we had a lot more spectators than we've ever had before. Previously, lack of spectators has been one of our disappointments. And we sold all but two T-shirts. Those of us at the table were assuming people they could purchase the size they wanted on-line, but it turned out we were lying.
And after the parade and everything was over, all the volunteers went out to dinner at Ronnie's Steak House.
On a more personal note, I won a Blackberry smartphone in the raffle. The immediate question is whether it is smart enough that I can set the font to something I can use. If not, will Marc be willing to use it so his mom can use the phone he has now?
Oh -- and good thing I noticed the "Login" line. Otherwise I would have been Anon Y Mounse.
I never had anything but a cheap plastic slide rule. All I could afford as a freshman. And since I was in science rather than engineering, I always felt it was adequate for the purpose.
ReplyDeleteLol! See what happens when you stay away too long? The Parade sounds like a real soul-satisfying success, and congrats on the blackberry. I sure wouldn't know what to do with one, nor would it work here.
ReplyDeleteMade this, and it was delicious!
ReplyDeleteZucchini Bread with Lemon: 3 eggs, beaten; 2 cups white sugar; 1 cup oil; 2 cups grated, peeled zucchini; 1 grated lemon peel; 2 T lemon extract; 3 cups flour; pinch of salt; 1 t. soda; 1 t. baking powder; 1 t. nutmeg Pour into greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. Pour lemon glaze over top when cool. Make this with powdered sugar and the juice of a lemon until the desired consistency.
Home safely!
ReplyDeleteThe day was hot, the turnout the best ever, and the granddaughters were present in full force!
ReplyDeleteI got the most wonderful hugs from our littlest granddaughter, Caelyn, who turns two on Tuesday!
The day she was born there was a brilliant double rainbow.
"Who's having a birthday?!"
"Me!!"
"How old will you be?"
"TWO!!" (spoken while holding up a whole hand full. LOL!)
Glad to hear it!
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how much it brightens my heart and sweetens my life that little Caelyn adores me.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you've been in need of some truly beautiful news, sit down and read this attentively:
Our niece who had leukemia as a teenager and had to have lots of chemo and a bone marrow transplant, who was married some years ago (and is now age 29...the real one) ... is pregnant.
We have all long understood that after a bone marrow transplant this is impossible. But she went through a lot to be deemed okay for this and her older sister (who has four children) donated the egg. Baby is due in January (which is when Mommy turns 30). Talk about a deep sense of JOY!!
Oh, yes! Yes! Yes!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's wonderfully phenomenal and phenomenally wonderful! ♥♡
ReplyDeleteP.S.: All this and Ally was present too!!! :-)
Moved, seconded and carried!
ReplyDelete