A little of this, a little of that

Marty takes excellent care of me.  He comes home with all kinds of stuff to keep me comfortable, to look better, or just to perk me up.

My hair has fallen out to an ugly state.   I guess I will have my head shaved when this round of chemo is over.  I need to be perky to make the ride to my hairdresser's.  Marty has been all over head coverings.  He googled chemo hats, wigs, head coverings for chemo patients.  I am happy with my baseball hat and the knit hats a friend made me.  Marty seems to want lots of scarves that look as if I tied them, but really are sewn together. He bought two great sparkly hats that I like a lot.  He  wants bright colors, design, fashion statements.   I just want  my hair back.

I went with him yesterday to look at head coverings.  I was tired and cranky, Marty was sweet and ignoring my bitchiness.  We went into a store that advertised they sold things for chemo/cancer patients.  First they didn't have chairs for patients, folks we poop out really quickly.  AND you can't try on any of the head coverings.  We left and I went home and took a nap.

Every day he asks what do I want for lunch, supper, for a snack.  And I always shrug my shoulders and go I don't know.  Even when food doesn't nauseate me, nothing seems interesting.   I am a hard one to help.

Warning Kirsten, gross stuff.

My mouth is full of sores and that makes it nearly impossible to eat.  These sores bleed, hurt, they make it hard to even open my mouth.  My teeth hurt and the gums bleed.  I am a mess.  The doctor had a mouth wash made up that you "swish and swallow".  It numbs my mouth for several hours.  So I can eat a little bit of soft food.  This morning I had bacon, scrambled eggs, English muffins: except I could only eat the eggs.  Everything else was too crispy, and hurt my poor mouth.

The "doughnut" is a huge help.  Pain levels have dropped.  Still not a nice thing to deal with, but we are handling it.

Back to sort of normal stuff.

We are getting excited about Thanksgiving.  My brother, Henry, and his wife, Ann are arriving on Saturday.  They know they are spending a ton of money to mostly watch me sleep and not eat.  But we will have fun.  We will laugh, Henry and I will as usual drive Ann and Marty crazy with stories from our weird childhood.  Some stories we tell over and over just to annoy our spouses.

If I am well enough we will go to friends for Thanksgiving dinner.   They have promised good food for all.  And for me, a warm bed with two adorable doggies to snuggle with. 

Keep you finger crossed that the chemo side effects don't go too crazy Tuesday-Saturday.  I would love to feel half way decent while Henry and Ann are here.

MORE ON THANKSGIVING WEEK

Tuesday night we drove into the City to have dinner.  Ann and Hank took us to one of our favorite restaurants, Hyde Street Seafood House and Raw Bar.  Yes that is a mouthful.  The food is great, service incredible, parking a bitch.  The drive into the City was spectacular.

I told you the drive was spectacular.  We are on the new span and on the left is the old bridge they will be tearing down.

Again, reading menus.  Through the years Marty and I have had nearly everything they have.  You can't go wrong.  

I am now the official designated driver.  Stupid medicine really limits my alcohol intake.  I got off the bridge at Treasure Island and we took pictures of the lights of the bridge and of San Francisco. 

Marty took over driving and went to the backside of Treasure Island.  We were below the new span.  It was incredible to see the bridge at this angle. 



Thanksgiving Day lots of cooking went on.  We had dishes that we always have and dishes that Hank and Ann have.  Lots of good eats.

Making country ham puffs for an appetizers.  So good and awful to make.  Very sticky dough. 



We have no dining room, but our bedroom is huge.  It became the dining room.

Shrimp salad

Marty taking up his home made rolls.

Serving table 

Let the eating begin

Hank having cherry pie with lots of whipped cream.



After a busy day cooking and cleaning up, time to watch a movie.

This morning we took Ann and Hank to the airport at 4:30!  Thank goodness we are only 10 minutes away from the Oakland Airport.  We were back in bed before 5:00.  It has been a wonderful fun week.  When they come to visit we do have fun.  Hank and I drive Ann and Marty bonkers talking about our strange childhood.  We then talk about their grandchildren, our pretend grandchildren.  We eat great food, and some people got to drink lots of great wines.  I did have some champagne and a couple of glasses of wine through out the week.  

I am so blessed Hank (always Henry Hall to me) and Ann like to come visit us. Love you both. 



THANKSGIVING WEEK

In about two hours my brother and his wife arrive from Kentucky.  They will be here all week, so normal posts, whatever that means, won't happen.  We have one plan set in stone and the rest of the week will be what feels like fun or is most relaxing.

Tomorrow Little Brother is treating us to lunch on the Wine Train.  Tuesday we may visit a Japanese Garden and have supper at the food trucks in San Leandro.  We hope to go to San Francisco once, also to stop at Treasure Island and watch the light show on the new Bay Bridge.  Some days we may just sit, read, and sip good wine. ( I received permission from the Anti-coagulant Clinic to have one glass of wine a day this week!) And of course one night we will cook some Dungeness Crab.

As I have time I will post what we are doing, and probably bore you with lots of pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  I truly feel thankful.  I lived, I am doing really well, and I have excellent health insurance. 

I CONFESS !

Yes, I have to confess to my terrible addiction, lists.  I love to make lists and then cross out or check off items as they are completed.  I feel almost saintly when my list is marked out.  I also confess if it is a short list, I will add things I have already done.  That way the list looks more important.

I keep a grocery list that is added to daily.  Parties always have their own grocery list and a menu list with alternative foods.  Then you have the getting ready list for parties: clean silver, wash wine glasses, etc. 

Holiday dinners bring out the worst in me in list making. First on the list which china to use.  Or will we use stoneware,  rectangle glass plates, or not fancy dancy china.  Then we have which flatware, stainless, my silver or  mother's silver.  From there we move on to glasses, and that will just bore you I have so many choices.  When all of this is decided, we set the table, and every bowl and platter is labeled with what goes in or on it.  

Now all of the above is just a smidgen of my list making.  Right now I am in full control yourself mode.  My brother and his wife are coming Thanksgiving Week.  I sooo want to make a list now.  I am the travel guide and need to send them lists of links to fun things to do or see.  I have to plan  meals and one is the biggest holiday meal in our family. I have to make room for two house guests in our smallish apartment. They will not arrive for over month, but my mind is going bonkers thinking of all that needs to be done.

They came in July for a week and we know the blow up bed works well.  That is checked off in my head.  But there was not enough drawer space for them.  According to Little Brother if wife Ann would just bring 2 pairs of shoes, one pair of jeans, one pair of dress slacks, and 7 tops she would have had room.  He said it not me.  Bless his heart he just doesn't understand women must be ready for any event.  I am working on a plan for more drawer space and closet space.

There are lots of things to do before they get here.  But as I said I will control myself.   But in  a couple of weeks let the lists begin!

Old Town and other stuff with Hank and Ann

The four of us like learning about the history of places.  In fact the History Channel is one of my favorite TV channels. (Granted some of the shows have little to do with history, still like those too.) Old Town gave us a close up view of the settling of San Diego.

Old Town is a small village.  One of the homes of original settlers is now a museum.  One of the homes is a hotel.  Other buildings such as the courthouse are now small shops.  Others are wonderful restaurants.

This is the square the little town is built around.

One of the stores.

This is what was the Estudillo home.  It is a typical Spanish home built around a courtyard.  Nearly all rooms open onto the courtyard.  They were very successful farmers.  The home reflected that success.

                                                    

To truly learn about a culture you need to experience the food and drink. So we had lunch at Casa de Reyes in Fiesta de Reyes.  Ann is enjoying a Margarita and chips with guacamole.

Ann took a picture of Marty, me, and Hank.  We should have asked the waitress to take a photo of the four of us.  Oh, well.

Isn’t this pretty and yummy looking?  My lunch was a wet shrimp burrito.  It had a red sauce and sour cream across it.  See that little yellow pepper top right?  That nearly took the top of my head off.  I have eaten these before and they are hot, but not like this one was.  One bite and I put it down.  I think it’s a Cascabella  pepper.

  

After lunch we walked through the shops around this courtyard. 

All of the above was on Tuesday.  Wednesday we relaxed, and made some of the food for Thanksgiving‘

Thursday Ann and Hank set the Thanksgiving table with our hosts’ good china.  Hank has poured our Champagne and some of the food is on the table.  On the table we had ham, hard dressing, giblet gravy, turkey, fruit salad with a Grand Marnier sauce.

                                    

Marty has carved the turkey and is ready to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner.

Front row left to right:  Soft dressing, mashed potatoes , corn pudding in the front.  Top back row left to right:  hot home made rolls and brussel sprouts.

We also had acorn squash stuffed with apple sauce.  No one went hungry.  We had Chess pie and cheesecake for dessert.  Except we were so full we couldn’t eat it until 11:00 that night.

We had such a great time with my brother and his wife.  Today we took them to the airport to fly home to Kentucky.  That is the downside to having a great visit with those you love so much.  They leave and you miss them before you’re even get a block away.

 

More Thoughts From The Pool

Last night the temperature dipped down to 37, but by sunup it was climbing fast to a warm day.  By 9:30 it was 72. For the first time in several days there was no wind and the sun felt hot.  I figured the warm air would make the water feel refreshing.  I sprayed my sunblock all over, got my sunhat and got in the water.

COLD!  COLD!  IT IS FREAKING FREEZING!  I AM DUMBER THAN A RED BRICK!

Sorry about the screaming.  Warm air did not help. After an hour in the cold water, my joints hurt.  I did have some other thoughts.

Thanksgiving:  My brother and his wife arrive Saturday for a week's stay.  I am really looking forward to their visit.  I thought about our Thanksgiving meal.  With only four of us, just how much food should we fix?  I have been known to have three kinds of cranberries, two types of hot rolls, two types of dressing, five side dishes, giblet gravy, and three desserts.  Plus turkey and ham.  Maybe we should think about this some more. Tomorrow in the pool.

Our dog sitting: When Richard and Luis would be out for the day, both dogs usually went upstairs and ignored us.   Now the dogs follow Marty everywhere.  If he gets up for another glass of iced tea, they walk with him to the kitchen.  He goes to take a shower, dogs are right behind him.  He sits down on the couch, both in his lap.  They stay downstairs with us, (sometimes they even sit in my lap).  Marty is running errands and the dogs just came in and asked me where I hid him. 

They have elected Marty as the Alpha dog.  I think he rubbed bacon all over his body to make them like him best.

Thanksgiving 2011

Last night I made a great pumpkin pie.  Marty and I both worked on a cranberry salad that my family has been making since the 1920's. Marty roasted the giblets to be ready to go into the gravy. Marty got up at 6:00 this morning and put the turkey out to come up to room temperature. Back to bed.  At 7:00 he got back up to  preheat the oven. Then back to bed. I got up at 7:00 and got dressed.  At 8:00 Marty put the turkey in the oven.  Todays' good smells began.

I made the dressing, hard and soft.  I made corn pudding and the mashed potatoes and plated the country ham.  I also boiled eggs for the giblet gravy.  Later I plated the salad. Marty made the rolls and the gravy. The house smells like heaven.

Our friends, Nancy and Lew, arrived with their appetizer, a deconstructed Cesar salad on endive, and a bottle of J sparkling wine.  She also cooked peas and pearl onions, an apple crisp for dessert and brought two other wines.  We contributed a Proseco wine.  Lots of good eats.

This is my pumpkin pie.  I don't really like pumpkin pie, but this was really good.  You couldn't taste the pumpkin.

Putting the oranges and the cranberries through the meat grinder for the cranberry salad.  There also are pecans in this, all held together by lemon jello.

This is the oranges and cranberries after going through the meat grinder.  Pecans and sugar under this.  I love, love this salad.  My son and his wife don't like it.  We have friends who don't like it.  We tell them that's OK we love it, serve it, and tell them it does not hurt our feeling if they don't eat it.

Top shelf of the fridge has boiled eggs, hard dressing, soft dressing.  Next shelf down giblets, neck meat, turkey broth and cranberry salad that you can barely see.  It is the white peeping out in the middle. Third shelf down large measuring cup and beaters chilling for the heavy cream to be whipped.  Corning ware holds the corn pudding.  On the left side second shelf, turkey broth.  Crisper drawer on right holds butter lettuce for salad.  Meat drawer on the bottom right holds the country ham.

The table is set.  All ready for the food to fill the bowls and platters.  Glasses are ready for wine.

This is the perfect bird.  It is golden brown, tender, ready to be carved.  Marty does good work.

The food is filling up the dishes.  Almost ready to sit down.  Let the feast begin.

Pumpkin pie and apple crisp for dessert.  Really, really, really good.  We all but licked the plate clean.  We had a lovely Rose ( can't put the accent on the e) with dessert.

Clean up time.  Silver cooling after drying, then it can be put in its silver chest.  The glasses in the back were Marty's Mother. They are very thin and fragile.  There is a matching pitcher.  I do not use them very often.  I am so afraid they will break.  I love them.  And when I use them I think of Marty's wonderful Mother.  She was the best mother in law ever!

After the meal is over you have a turkey carcass to do something with.  Marty makes turkey stock by slowly simmering the carcass with vegetables and seasonings,.  This will be used for soup, curry, many different dishes.

We had a great Thanksgiving.  I hope your Thanksgiving was great. Happy Holidays!

Three sentences and you're married

Monday I was fairly busy doing marriage ceremonies.  Some made me feel good, one was just sad, so very sad.

The couple and her mother were the total wedding party.  When I asked if they had rings the bride answered shortly, with a big NO.  Do you have your own vows and she said, "We don't want any vows.  We just want you to sign the license so we can leave."  OK, can't do that.  I told them they had to go through the 3 legal sentences.  All through this the groom is sitting on a pew with his head in his hands.  He looked like he was going to cry.  I then asked if the mother was going to take pictures, bride again with a no.  They don't want pictures.  The mother then looked like she was going to cry.

I sat down beside the groom and asked him what he wanted for his wedding.  He tried to talk, but was over ridden by the bride. I talked the bride into letting her mother take pictures,  I told her she could always delete them, but Mother wanted pictures. 

I then did the do you . . .   do you . . .  and I now pronounce you . . .  Who knows why the bride has so much anger and why the groom is so whipped and so sad.  I may have no endings, but this one sure looks like failure in the making.

The next couple made up for all the sadness of the above wedding.  The bride is adorable.  She wore a short black strapless chiffon dress.  It had a tight bodice, a mocha sash, and a full skirt.  She wore black 4 in heels.  The guests were so fun.  There were three young men who were having the best time.  They were snapping pictures a mile a minute.  Teasing the bride, laughing, lots of love for the couple going on.  There is a point during the ceremony where the bride's bouquet ( she carried one of our silk flowers bouquets) is in the way.  I designated one of the young men to take the flowers at that point as the flower "boy".  He was thrilled and played his part.  He took the bouquet at the proper time and held it like a bridesmaid through out the ceremony.  He reluctantly gave the flowers back to the bride for pictures.  So much laughter and love in the room.

Later this week more weddings, some from Monday and hopefully some from today.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

School

Tuesday the children were just going to their group workshop tables when I arrived.  I worked with a group making Thanksgiving baskets.  They were to take the construction paper square, cut into the marked lines, and fold the cut areas to make the bottom of the square basket and then glue the corners.  Oh how my first graders love glue.  We could have earthquake retro fitted The Golden Gate Bridge with the glue they squeezed out.  Those baskets may never dry. 

They were to then make a handle from a pattern and cut it out.  I was to staple it to the basket for them.  They didn't trust those tiny staples, they glued before I got there with my stapler.  The students then wrote three sentences about what they are thankful for, read them to an adult, and placed them in the basket.

We are not finished with glue.  They now can decorate the baskets.  Did you know there is "Sticky Glue"? This is not a glue to put things together, it is to decorate.  It comes in many vivid colors.  The children drew designs with it and it doesn't run, it stays humped up. 

Tuesday was also an assembly day.  This is Native American month, and the school had two men from a Native Pride Dance team come to perform. One of the dances they did was the hoop dance, absolutely wonderful.  As they position the hoops, different animals are shown. Our dancer did an eagle from an egg to flight,  butterflies, riding a horse, and many others.

Amazing skill. Some you might have to use your imagination as you watch the video.  I so wished I had taken my phone to record some of the show.  But alas it was back in the class room.  Very glad for You Tube.

Then it was back to work.  I finished testing students on the Dolch List.  They either fly through it with little or no errors, or it is painful watching them try to sound out words that are sight words.  It was very clear many of the children are not getting any help at home with the list.

 Several of the children have just turned six, and should not be in first  grade.Think about it, they started Kindergarten when they were only four.  They don't have the muscle skills to use scissors nor  pencils.  They are not ready to work all day at the level of the other children. Their lack of ability to follow directions is a handicap.  This is not to say they are not very smart children.  They just are not ready to learn at the level the rest of the class is learning.  They should have been held back.  This could be problem for them for the rest of their school years.

Next week is Thanksgiving break, so no school. 

We had a sub today

As I walked down the hall to Ms. H's class room, I met one of the first graders.  D was taking the attendance report to the office.  He was so excited to see me (I have missed for two weeks) and he had news.  "Ms. H is sick and we have a sub!"  I am thinking please please let it be Ms. C, she knows what she is doing.  It was.  But a sub day is always a hard day.  Children do not handle change well, and they will push a sub to her limit.  Yes, even first graders will act differently just because a substitute teacher is there.  We had our work cut out for us.

They were wild, pushing, talking, ignoring all rules.  Ms. C is earning her paycheck today.  Ms. H had lots and lots of projects to keep the children busy.  Books were read and projects done from the stories.  We worked, we got things done, but we worked.

Below I have some pictures I took of the classroom.  No children shown of course, just things in the classroom.

I wanted you all to see the flowers on the tables.  Only one was knocked over today.  Not bad for active first graders.  I am guessing Ms. H has the flowers as part of the study of harvest and Thanksgiving.

This another view of the classroom.  As you can see, everything is really close together.  We are in a portable which in many ways is good.  We have our own heating and AC.  Today we had heat, the main building didn't.  Since it was in the 40's outside, a little chilly in the other classrooms.

This is my little area where I work with the students.  Not a lot of cleared space, but we make it work.

A page from the famous Dolch List.  I made notes on words missed, if they struggled or  if they knew the words as sight words. Some flew through the list, others struggled with every word.  If the children can be believed, some are not getting any practice at home.

 This is a review chart that grows throughout the year.  And yes, first graders use the word Homophones.

This list is for writing projects on Thanksgiving.  They wrote riddles today about a food they have on Thanksgiving.  They had to give three clues, write What am I?  and then draw a picture of the food.
My favorite was:  You kill me.   I have feathers. I have white and brown meat.  What am I?  turkey  One little boy was horrified to find out his turkey was killed.  There was quite a discussion between two of them about where meat comes from.

Ms. C read the class the book Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs.  Then they were to write sentences about weird weather.

This is the chart with the sentences they wrote together.  Then they had to write some on their own.  The last sentence is a reference to a Dr. Seuss book I read to them a while back. We misspelled oobleck.

This is the book I read to them. It is written by a Native American Chief.  It is a beautifully written book and wonderfully illustrated.  After I read it, Ms. C discussed thanksgiving, the harvest, and cornucopias.  They then did an art project on cornucopias. 

It was a busy day.  Lots of fussin' at the little ones.  But we got lots done.

Thanksgiving from Hell

Below is an email from my sister in law.  She and my brother have had the Thanksgiving from Hell.  Their son Tres and his family flew to Louisville from Davis, CA for Thanksgiving and to have their baby christened.  Before they arrived their 6 year old son, Hall, had been ill with a "bug".  They arrived Monday and then the bug went through the family.  By Thanksgiving, when we talked to them, everyone seemed to be well.  Seemed to be.  The California group spent the day with Casey's family. The "bug" was stronger than thought. Hall and Bella are children, Tres and Casey the parents.  Ann and Henry, my sister in law and my brother.  The event Ann is talking about is the baptism and party at her home afterwards.

"Yuck!!!


Let's see, Tres and Casey arrived back home with both kids puking in the (er, MY) car at about 730P on Tgiving night. Hall finished the barfs about 9P and Bella's last episode was somewhere around 230A :) --shortly after, I began feeling like a sledgehammer has descended on me--aches, chills, headache, and a bit queasy  (never the barfs though)--then at 6A I began enjoying the rear end weight loss sessions which lasted till about 11A--took a bentyl--gutted through the rest of the food prep that the kids hadn't completed (bless their hearts) and the baptism. (Yes we DID miss you all!) I finally threw the towel in with about 40 in the house and went to bed with aches, etc. at 3P, followed by Bella (still gagging and fussy), and then joined by Henry around 430P--by 530P when I arose with Bella, Henry was driving the back toilet bus and continued off and on with chills and pukes till 930P. Until 3P or so today, he was totally wiped out--revived by lots of gingerale, gatorade, sprite, mashed potatoes, chicken soup and Zestas. Casey, Tres and Hall are fine as I am now and Henry and Bella recovering, although whenever she even hiccoughs, she thinks she will puke and immediate squeals and panics, bless her heart. This has been some week! Good thing I don't mind doing wash--dishes or linen--and cleaning bathrooms--and blessed be for four bathrooms!!!

Our dinner was pbj--good for me or I would never have gotten off the john with regular meal. Henry was not so lucky as he ate everything twice on the reception buffet we provided! LOL--I just drank tea and wine and had another pbj! I have actually lost 5 pounds.

The baptism was lovely and very sweet--Fr. Moran (Boston Irish) was very sweet but kept correcting himself--he called baby Anna Elizabeth ( my note the baby's name is AVA) 4 times!!! ALL the Duttons were there from 93 year old Grandmother Cordova to 5th generation gtgtgrandchild Molly May! Peggy, Sean, Amy, Mother and Jack and friends of ours made it--Later Frank and Linda (she and Tres took over the party clean up bless them), Jim, Nick, Laura and Tiffany were at the house."

So how did your Thanksgiving go?

THANKSGIVING

We began with setting the table. Our wedding china, wedding crystal, and silver that all Southern Belles must have and use at major meals. FYI pictures are taken by my Palm. And as we know they are not as good as with a real camera. More silver, china, and crystal A year after we married we found out the china pattern was discontinued. We have never broken a thing, knock wood. That is good since it can not be replaced. Crystal was made behind the Iron Curtain, some stores would sell it, but wouldn't display it. Marty made the ruby plate in the left corner.

Marty is making yeast rolls for dinner.

He is cutting out the rolls and they will rise one more time.

Food is finally on the table. Did you know when you brine a turkey it takes longer to cook? Neither did we. Hot rolls, cranberry salad, turkey, corn pudding, hard dressing and soft dressing, AWFUL green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, cranberry jelly. Not the huge feast we sometimes have, but a huge amount of food. Oh and a lovely wine.

Many calls from family and friends around the country.

Still talking.

SO MUCH TO DO, SO MUCH TO SHARE

I have lots to share and it's way too much for one blog. Plus this is a really busy weekend. I did 9 weddings yesterday afternoon, today lots of cooking going on. Tomorrow we put up the tree and decorate the house for Christmas. Saturday and Sunday we begin Open Studios, we are number one on the list and the map.

I will write about the weddings sometime soon. And I am taking pictures today of the great meal.

Open studios, maybe pictures of the demos.

Stayed tuned.

AND HE LOVES TO GROCERY SHOP

This is why our marriage has lasted 42 and counting years. I hate, hate to go to the grocery. Marty seems to really enjoy it. Doesn't that work out well?

Today we sat down and planned Thanksgiving dinner. We pulled out recipes and checked to see if we had all ingredients. And we made our list.

Marty was going to pick up the glass he made yesterday. He said he would hit the grocery on the way home, unless I wanted to go. Hell no I didn't want to go. He shopped, I napped. Seems like a perfect Sunday afternoon.

And why did I need a nap you ask? The last couple of nights I have had very little sleep and ended up spending the night in the recliner. Someone takes ALL the cover and my pillows, sleeps in 3/4 of the bed, and pushes me out of bed. I am just a little tired and cranky. Grocery shopping is a nice I am sorry.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Today is Thanksgiving, but it feels like Friday. There is no smell of turkey and dressing. I am not running around like a chicken with its head cut off getting 14 dishes to come out at the same time. We are not cooking this year. We have no guests arriving any minute. It feels really strange.

We are going to our friends and bringing mashed potatoes and home made rolls. I know we will have a wonderful time with them and eat great food. But we always host. It feels strange.

So what did we do today you ask. We did the Friday stuff. We drug out all the Christmas boxes, rearranged the living room so the tree will fit, put up the tree, and Marty is hanging outside lights. It feels strange.

We have a new tree this year. It is a smidgen smaller and came with LED lights on it. We always have white lights, this tree has colored lights. It feels strange.

I don't think I like doing differently on a holiday. Who knew I was so set in my ways?

MANY TOPICS, LOTS OF THOUGHTS

Today was my day to marry couples. Many types of couples got married. For one couple I was checking the license and saw the bride's name was the same as the groom's middle name. They were Hispanic so his middle name also could be his last name, since they combine the father's and the mother's last name for their last name. I asked for her ID to be sure the clerk had written it down correctly. After that was confirmed, I read over the license. From the license I deduced they had been married before. They both were divorced on the same day in May.

Today I remarried them. He seemed calm and dedicated to her. She was agitated and crying through out the ceremony. I could feel the connection between them. There was a strong love, but something awful went wrong in the past. I really hope they make it this time. Again, I have no ending.


Thanksgiving. November. I grew up in Kentucky. November and Thanksgiving meant it was cold, dreary, maybe with sleet and flurries. It is a nasty time of the year. Now I live in California, not southern CA. But still much better weather than Kentucky.

Our yard is blooming. We have cymbidium orchids blooming in the yard. Tomatoes are still on the vine. Gardenias are in bud, camellias are in bud, basil and dill are waiting to be picked. My roses are blooming. , At least the the ones the gophers haven't killed. They just took out a 40 year old bush. One day it was there, the next laying on its side, roots gone. I totally understand Bill Murray and Caddy Shack. I hate those little hair balls. Breathing deeply to continue. . . I have butterfly iris blooming and lots of other plants blooming. My magnolia tulip tree is blooming a couple of months early because it is so warm this winter. But at the same time we have trees dropping their leaves. California does fall and summer at the same time. But we are never severely cold in the Bay Area.

Things I am thankful for this year: Marty, Erik and Jennifer. An election result that there was no doubt.

BUSY, BUSY WEEKEND

Friday I continued being domestic. I ironed nine shirts and one blouse. I also went to the grocery that morning. I think those 2 things put me pretty close to saint hood. Lucky's the Friday before Thanksgiving is awful. The only thing worse than that is Costco the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Yeah, Marty and I did that today. I may hit Safeway on Wednesday just to really get that I hate crowds feeling.

Friday night we had play tickets. We met friends for dinner and visited with them. Then the four of us went to the play. It was a disappointment. Not well done, sound was poor, singing was off key, acting was not great. It just not up to what the Willows usually does.

Saturday we had the big A TEAM dinner in honor of the Gramms being in town for the week. We started with appetizers at one house and then the rest of the meal at another house. We had wonderful food and great fellowship. And we had party favors. Lovely Hank and Thom had pictures of each couple on a stand and the outline of us had been laser cut. Great party favors. We ate too much and drank too much. And we laughed and laughed and then we cried some too. Don't worry about us driving home liquored up. We slept on Nancy and Lew's couch for a while, and then slipped out about midnight and came home. We don't do the drinking and driving thing.
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Today we had plans to start getting ready for the holidays. Marty was going to put up the outside lights, and drag out all the boxes of decorations. That didn't happen. We slept real late, loved that. We just weren't in the mood to start the Christmas stuff. We will regret that since we have no free weekends between now and Christmas. Oh, well. It will happen some way. Marty worked in the yard some, while I did even more laundry. We checked our friends' house in San Leandro and then did Costco.