Juneau

Tuesday in Juneau. I'm rushing right along here. This was the day of our Whale Watch. I fulfilled my dream right off the bat when Humpbacks were sighted not 10 minutes into our sail. This is a really lame picture, but it's my whale. We got to see a mother and her calf breaching. Apparently, this is extremely rare in Alaska because it is a mating signal and they don 't mate in Alaska. This mama was teaching her baby how to do it. No, she didn't give birth, breech, in front of us. They both jumped out of the water head first, like you see the pictures. One guy on the boat did get a picture of them: mama midair and calf all the way out of the water. Have to track that guy down and see if he will share it. It was amazing. Even though I'm not entirely sure I saw it happen. My picture is the tail of the humpback diving under. They only flip their tail when diving deep. They may not resurface for 6-30 minutes.



Also, I will show Betsy with a whole bunch of Steller Sea Lions. I say they were stellar!




Okay, this set up is not going to let me put a picture in. Damn computers.

Ketchikan

A big day of shopping in Ketchikan. Very touristy, very kitsch, but I guess that's what we want. Betsy is high fiving the bear in front of a shop that she and Mom made a big buy in, rings. They are Alaska Diamonds, something like Fool's Gold, I think. But pretty.

After shopping all morning Mom was pretty exhausted so she went back to the ship to rest before her 'Lumberjack show.' Bets and I soldiered on picking up more memorabilia and the rings which were sent to get sized. Did I mention my mom got shouted at by a Russian shop keeper? This occurred when she told him she should have bought more amber in Russia since it was so much cheaper. He then went on a tirade about how the prices have gone up and he is giving the best price in the world, and those vendors in Russia were ripping her off. It was very offensive (not the way to make a sale). The only reason we were still in his shop is because his very pretty and nice niece (Russian girls seem very dramatically made up and it just fascinates me) was engaging us in pleasant conversation.

Mom was about the last one back on the ship and we were anxiously awaiting her return (as we were warned, the ship will wave goodbye to you if you are late for departure). Turns out she got off the boat for her show and went with a girl who was holding a "Lumberjack Show" sign who directed her onto a Duck boat. The vehicle then took off on a tour of Ketchikan bordellos and zoomed into the water to see some wildlife (one bald eagle and supposedly a mother eagle sitting on her nest). Did you know eagles are monogamous for life? Isn't that interesting. Even humans don't do that anymore. No show, no lumberjack, no logs, no nothing. Mom was very disappointed in her complimentary ticket.

Day at Sea

A quick recap because 1) We are approaching a major glacier 2) I am fiendishly hungry and 3) again the internet is very slow

Sunday was a cruise day and my highlight was attending a presentation of shore excursions. After the speel, they asked questions from the lecture, and I ran to the front to answer the second question (correctly) and won a DVD of the Skagway train ride and a free Lumberjack show in Ketchikan. We all agreed mom should see the show since the trip was her treat and she is only booked for one excursion. The DVD I was thinking Uncle Cal, even though he doesn't have a DVD player at his assisted living.




Relaxing in one of the window seats along the Promenade deck. I decided I would walk the promenade 4 times/4 times a day at 1.4 miles each for a total of 5.something miles a day. Well, this only lasted two days before I gave it up. I also didn't see the inside of the gym as I intended.

We had a nice sit down dinner, one of the options of "Freestyle Cruising". I found out FC means you dine when you want. It has nothing to do with your underwear choice. One of our snobbish table mates explained that FC on NCL is "nickel and diming" you. Like they couldn't afford it! That means you pay extra for some restaurants (cover charge $10-25), Bingo ($35 a card), alcohol, even Pepsi. $50 for all you can drink pop. Ha. We'll just give it up. I did drink one can out of my in room refrigerator. This couple described the Market Cafe buffet as the "War Zone" which is actually pretty accurate and we have taken to calling it that, too.

We skipped the Frankie Valli tribute. Everyone said it was great, but we poked our heads in and thought it was pretty lame. Betsy and I attended the Newlywed and Not So Newlywed Show hosted by Candi. It was pretty funny and racey and now we know some of our cruise companions, intimately. In some cases, we know them too well. You remember the kind of questions on the old gameshow?



This is Endicott Glacier. I honestly don't remember what day this was, it seemed like further along in the journey. Betsy was most interested since Nephew11 has been fascinated with glaciers lately. The ship sent a small boat out in the inlet to pick up a piece of floating iceberg. I don't know if that is a good eco-practice, but I touched it the next day. It was just a piece of ice, which I have experienced in my own freezer before.

Seattle's Best

I am having some trouble figuring out how to add pictures so I will do that later when the internet manager is here.

We got to our cruise boat around 11:30 checked in and then Betsy and I went for walk around the Public Market area of Seattle. It was very crowded and full of Seattle grunge/hippies selling their tie dye shirt and leather bracelets. We didn't see the fish throwing show. I'm not sure exactly where that was. We did stop in for a tea tasting which was very nice. Betsy made a $30 guilt buy so we will hopefully be drinking Lychee Black on the boat.




We finally got out of port and the ride is very smooth. Very beautiful. I don't think we ever get out of land view. It is strange that the water is deep enough for the gigantic boat so close to shore. We explored the ship and got something to eat. I didn't get too distressed when a Haz Mat dude walked through the dining room in full garb including respirator. A few minutes later a whole team came back through carrying a red bag. Somebody probably threw up or spilled blood. I wonder why they had to carry it through the dining room, though.


**Norwegian Star**

Went to a show last night. It was a little taste of the performances coming up this week. You would not believe how big and nice the theater is. The host, our cruise director, Candi, looks like Ellen Burstyn, no, not her, Ellen Barkin, with a South African accent. The show was part Cirque, part cheesy theme park show. There was a contortionist girl who was wearing a very distracting body suit. In front, you know where, looked liked a tear drop, and in the back it looked like a poop stain. The sound volume was way too loud for Mom and she forgot earplugs, so she just held her hands over her ears the whole time. Betsy spotted a JFK/RFK/Rod Blagovich look alike in the balcony who obviously had a bit to drink and was singing the words to "tonight's gonna be a good night" and dancing in his seat. After the show he got up and boogie danced with his wife. I was picturing Boy17 playing his trumpet in one of these shows someday. Just for fun.

Airports and Such

Just so you know, I am blogging at the unseemly rate of .55 per minute. And the internet is working exceedingly slowly, I assume so you eat your minutes faster. Cruises rake you on the 'incidentals.' So, if I don't correct my spelling, grammar, and left out words, forgive me.

Back to the airports. Everything went smooth until I realized at O'Hare that I had a rat tail comb in my purse. For those who don't know a rat tail comb is a very pointy, in this case plastic, hair utensil. Since I didn't have anything else to groom hair with, I decided to keep it in my purse since I had already passed security. Imagine my discomfort when they announced there would be random security checks before boarding, and since I was so close to the gate, I couldn't really remove it from my purse discreetly and either throw it away or break the tail off (making it possibly more dangerous item), I decided to take my chances. I made it on the plane without being checked and started eating the leftovers of my candy apple (carmel, white chocolate cheesecake rolled in graham cracker crumbs). I suddenly realized I was now on the plane with not only a pointy comb, but a very sharp wooden stick surrounded by delicious apple. Needless to say, since I am now on the Norwegian Cruise Line (heretofore known as NCL) headed to Alaska, I didn't get caught with that contraband either.

I was real excited that movie showing was "Invictus" since I've been wanting to see it. It started with Ashton Kutcher in a flower shop and that didn't seem right. Eventually I figured out I was watching "Valentine's Day," light barfola fare. It was actually somewhat entertaining, except there were 4 or 5 guys I think go by the names McDreamy, McSteamy and McCreamy and I couldn't tell them apart so that was a little confusing.

We slept in an airport Seattle hotel quite peacefully except for the famous noises of my mother in her disturbing sleep. Betsy and I both awoke at 4 a.m. and the sleep talking, mumbling, snoring, snorting, grinding, etc. was in full force. We had a hard time stopping laughing enough to relax and go back to sleep because more and more emanations were coming all the time. My dad and children know what I'm talking about.

Into the Wild

So my sister calls me tonight and I am out for a long, leisurely bike ride, and gets me all hyped up about travel plans for Alaska. Boarding passes, luggage size, etc. When I say what time we're leaving for the airport, she gives me one of those, Oh's, with the dead air afterwards. Like that's not nearly early enough. I was way too unconcerned for her. I asked her earlier this week how we are going to resolve our inevitable quarrels while spending 10 days and nights together with our mother. There was no answer, of course, but to laugh about the time I was visiting her in Colorado in college and we got into a fight and I called up this goof ball who rode with me, and told him there was a change of plan and we would be leaving the next day instead of 3 days hence. Betsy was stuck lying in bed unable to move because she twisted her neck skiing and couldn't lift her head out of bed. I think she started crying and we made up and I had to call the guy back again and pretend like that was my evil twin who made the earlier phone call. We will have to use our fabulous Vick communication skills and it should make for a laugh later on in life.

I'm sure my dad will have plenty of panic attacks tomorrow when they come to pick me up. I will try to keep the blog up to date, since travelblogging is my favorite kind of blogging. There's always so much more to write about when you are on a grand adventure.

Spiffy

Here is Uncle Cal looking resplendent (2nd time I've used that word today) in his new suit. He stopped by to show off the new threads today. He told me he hasn't bought new clothes since his wife Alva died. I'm not sure but I think that was sometime in the 90's. 1990's. He's a sweetheart and is trying to impart all the family history he can to the next generation (or anyone who will listen). His Parkinson's is making his speech very labored at times and hard to follow. Some of his favorite phrases are "he went to work and ..." and "a woman should raise all her husband's children." That last one comes from 'shocking' family history that was revealed about 15 years ago.

Uncle Cal's 1967 International Harvester pickup is in our driveway straight off the Farm in North Dakota. It took my parents 4 days to drive it here from ND. Wow, that was dedication to get that thing down here.

Four days till we leave for the Alaskan cruise. My mom, sister and I are departing from Seattle and will be back June 7. Can't wait.

May 15, 2010

Hello to all my blogger friends. All 5 of you. I have been distracted with the evil empire, Facebook. It has caused me to spend countless hours doing absolutely nothing productive, when I could have been blogging about important issues of the day and at least preserving my memories for posterity (or as long as blogger wants to archive them).

Here is what I have been up to today. Graduation with my Master of Social Work from the University of Illinois. I am totally bragging when I say that I graduated with a 4.0 grade point, though social work is not the most rigorous course of study out there. Oh hell, it's my blog I'll say whatever I want.



After what was supposed to be a one hour ceremony, everyone was on edge. This bag of wind "student respondent" took the stage and thought she was the keynote speaker and blathered on and on about who knows what. No one could pay attention because she was giving a blow by blow of every class and every walk down the hallway she took. It was ridiculous, embarrassing, who picked her?? I would have done a terrible job in my own right, but it would have lasted less than 3 minutes and everyone would have been a lot happier. But who asked me?

Here I am with parents who supported me throughout this journey, and with Pat who has been there every step of the way, encouraging and casting humor on many a situation.

Easter Pics

Who was it that said married couples grow to look like each other? I think it is true and you can see for yourself with these photos taken today.

Animal Cruelty?

Is it cruel to eat little lambs? Well, I just pretended it was filet mignon. I made lamb chops for the first time for Easter dinner today, and it was fabulous. Isn't Easter about sacrificing a lamb or something like that? I made a lot of side dishes since I could only afford 12 little rib chops for 8 people. Turned out everyone was so conscientious that there were two left at the end of dinner. I had to beg someone to eat them.

Here is some Easter artwork I did:

16,099

A. Number of calories consumed today

B. Number of words in portfolio project I finished yesterday

C. Record number of steps I walked today

D. Number of strokes I stirred the Red Velvet birthday cake for Pat's birthday


I am really exhausted this evening which could be from doing any of the above. This has been a nice long weekend and Boy21 came home today to share Easter with us, although I don't think he has a religious bone in his body. We had a nice steak dinner grilled out tonight.




Boy15 is becoming annoyingly prickly. I guess he is doing his teenage hormonal thing, but I think we are going to have to have a talk about the need to be respectful to his parents (me in particular). He is barely ever home and when asked a question gets all offended and acts like I am the stupidest person on earth.

Olympic Curling

We had a huge (for us) snowstorm yesterday and last night. Maybe 8-10 inches. So the boys got busy last night and spent two hours building this tribute to the Olympics. This is Boy15 with Team USA. Pat thinks Boy16 could have been an Olympic Curler if he had grown up in Canada. Indeed, he is fascinated with it. I think it's pretty dumb.

All the snow means, of course, another SNOW DAY. I can really appreciate these now, since it's not just for the kids anymore. I am on the school schedule, and snow days are a gift. It keeps running through my mind, "This is the day that the Lord has made." I have already trudged to the bank, taken the picture below, sent it to Weather.com, and made a blog entry. Not bad.

For Betsy

Everyone is home, and I am so happy. I feel content and complete. We're actually all in the same room, watching WVU and Pitt, whoever that is. I forgot to put lotion on my hands, but that's okay.

The luge death was tragic. That is going to put a damper on the Winter Games. I haven't paid much attention, but maybe I will find some interest in it as it goes along.

I am trying to think of something to write, and coming up dry. Looking forward to the movie "The Lovely Bones" for Valentine's Day. Other than that, my big test for certification is tomorrow. I have to pass in order to work in the schools as a social worker. Luckily, I don't have test anxiety. Well, maybe a little, more about whether I will be on time, or have the right documents, not over actually taking the test.

A Day in Chicago

When Pat mentioned wanting to take the boys to a "Show" in Chicago over Christmas, I was shocked, then a little scared. Pat has not been that crazy about theater or musical productions. He usually hates everything. Now, he has come a long way in the last few years, having a musical and theatrical son. He has truly come to appreciate the events and plays the boys have been invovled in. That's about as far it goes,though. For example, he agreed to accompany me to a university production of Miss Saigon this fall. We didn't have to leave early, but came close.

So, it was now up to me to find something we might all enjoy. A friend tipped me off that a new Cirque du Soleil production was coming to Chicago and the dates would coincide with our schedule. I found a discount ticket source that also has member reviews. As I started reading more about it, "Banana Shpeel" was being panned by almost everyone. I was really nervous because I read that it wasn't a typical Cirque show with all the razzle dazzle. Most people were complaining that the jokes were corny and the schtick went on way too long.

I waited and waited, for our date (Dec. 28) to open up with the cheap tickets. Instead of $55-90 I could get ours for $35-$65. I went back and forth about whether this show would be worth it. Since I didn't really have any alternatives lined up, I finally took the plunge and picked the middle range seats (first balcony) and clicked my credit card information into cyberspace. The tickets were kept at the will call window, so I really hoped this website was legitimate. I printed my confirmation, etc. just in case. Next I checked on train tickets for the four of us, and they wanted over $400. We would have to drive, in that case.

The morning of our show, it was snowing heavily and the roads were not yet plowed. Pat, being the Buffalo trained driver he is, was confident as the snow was to clear up later in the day. We left early and it took about an hour longer than usual.

Parking in Chicago caused a small panic attack. We found the theater and began looking for a garage, but there was not one apparent. Finally after driving around a few one way streets, we saw a big sign for theater parking. It was one of those new fangled pay in a machine on your way out places. Luckily, I had used one before and knew to check all the orifices of the machine for tickets or receipts I might need to exit the garage, but I was worried the garage would be full. We pulled into the first space we saw which was designed for compact car but Pat nimbly pulled the LeSabre and we squeezed out the doors without scratching the two cars inches from ours.

We were only one block from the theater. We crowded into the packed lobby, approached the will call window, and voila`, our tickets were waiting. Into our seats 20 minutes early. Incredible. The theater was beautiful, but not as lavish as the Palace in Louisville, but the same style. The balcony was full, but we were sardined in with an annoying Chicago lady behind Pat who wouldn't stop yapping about everything and nothing.

Eventually the show started with two clowns miming the two sides of the audience to applaud and cheer loudest. That was stale...but finally they got on with the show. The jokes were corny, slapstick and physical humor, but Pat and the boys laughed noisily, which made me laugh, too. They brought out these fake contestants from the audience (ringers) that generated uproarious laughter from my crew. One was a tiny, skin and bones male (Weasel Boy to Eli) who stripped to his colored briefs and striped crew socks, did modern dance and ran around making funny noises. Another was an old man who came onstage with his walker and was kind of raunchy.

Interspred with the Shpeel were big dance acts, a lot of tapping (see below) which I thought was cool and three or four Cique-type acts. One was a lady who could twirl rugs on her hands and feet at the same time; another was a male pole dancer with impossible musculature that allowed for unbelievable pole gymnastics; a third was a female contortionist and her male counterpart who could have easily broken her neck if he dropped her incorrectly.

The criticims turned out to be of no concern to us, since the vaudeville act was the part the boys enjoyed the most. They could care less about dancing and circus acts. We shopped in Macy's but that wasn't a favorable experience; shopping is a female thing, and I am not even good at it. We found a quick restaurant for dinner and headed home. A successful day in the big city.


Note to self: Either get a GPS, or make sure to print out a Mapquest reversing your trip BEFORE you leave.

Dear Betsy

I'm sorry I was preoccupied when you called last night. We were talking about racism and the discussion that was going on at school after a fight had taken place. So, to make up for my rudeness I am posting a bad picture of myself.

Lala

I am liking this Lala thing. When you google a song, often pops up a link to Lala in which you can play an entire song! Not just 30 seconds like on Itunes. I found an old song for my great uncle in its entirety and New World Man by Rush.

No Resolutions

I usually write down some crap for New Year Resolutions that will be forgotten by the next week, but not this year! Ha, I won't even pretend.

Yesterday, New Year's Eve I spent most of the day recovering from a blood donation. Seems that if I donate in the morning, I am a little woozy the rest of the day. It didn't help that my blood pressure was only 90/58, which is not typical for me and I've been fighting a cold. Anyway, I invited Miss M over to help me with my dollhouse. She was supposed to be here at 5:30-6:00 p.m. for an hour or two. Her mom got here about 7:00, and stayed for an hour and a half kicking back with Pat and me. She (Helen, Miss M's mom) then went to another friend's house at 8:30. Miss M stayed and here is how the kitchen started:



Here is the finished product:



Here is the Divine Miss M in front of the dollhouse:



Besides the dollhouse, Miss M made a picture with stickers and markers. I was amused when she drew a mother and six daughters, one of which was "goth." We also read some books. She did very well with "Green Eggs and Ham" and I read the others to her. It was a fun evening that ended about 11 p.m.

Confessions

I think I am coming down with MS or something. Tonight at a basketball game, I knocked over my pop,causing it erupt 10 oz. of Diet Coke all over the floor. Luckily, I am a Diet Pepsi person, but you know how you have to take what you can get in public concession stands. I went to get some napkins to sop it up and carefully placed them over the puddle since there weren't quite enough, even though I took most of the stack they had. Then my phone rang and I needed to meet my friend Helen in the lobby. Somehow my phone fell out of my purse, breaking apart on the floor. At this point I have the feeling all the people in the stands above me are watching. As I take my coat (so I can move to the other side of gym) it catches on a seat, yanking me backwards. I wave to another mom I know and she looks right at me and doesn't return the wave. Hopefully she doesn't recognize me with my new, dark hair, because here's the confession: I left the wet mess of napkins right there on the floor and never came back.

I made Helen go to the other side of gym where we sat behind a high school boy whose girlfriend is a cheerleader, and felt weirdly like I was intuding on a private romance as they made googly eyes at each other across the room. But I didn't drop anything else.

I got a new end table today for my dollhouse to sit on. Tomorrow I am going to do something with the kitchen. I got the furnishings for the dollhouse kitchen for Christmas from my sister. This table is really cool and I'm really thrilled about it. It seems like real wood! Painted yellow. I will take some pictures tomorrow. I invited Helen's daughter over who is soon to be 7 years old. I hope I am able to entertain her for a few hours. That will be my New Year's celebration. Oh, the serial killer in the book I am reading makes dollhouses. How creepy is that?

Holiday Cheer

Christmas Eve at my mom's house.




Christmas Day at my house.





Tonight was man's night out and my plan for having the house to myself was to do 30 minutes of 'work' followed by 30 minutes of reading (pleasure). Work was defined as cleaning something, organizing something, throwing stuff away or finding a new place for it, ordering photo prints, and believe it or not, writing in blog. I am reading "The Lovely Bones" which is a disturbing but compelling novel that will soon be made into a movie I'm told. Well, it's hard to put down, so my schedule for the evening is not holding up too well. I'm not sure where "talking on the phone" falls in, but I did that, too.

Today I helped my mom out by taking my great uncle to the doctor. At one point, I thought I would have to leave the room when things got personal, but then it was okay. The stubborn old man is 84, with Parkinson's and is depressed but won't take Zoloft. I have been trying to help with figuring out his Medicare and prescription drug coverage to see if we can get his bills down, but the darn government is not covering everything as most seniors would like. He has too much money to be poor and not enough to be rich. Sure hope he hasn't learned to use the internet or that my dad doesn't print this in the family news.

Now my mom is seeing a surgeon about her gall bladder. As I told my sister I guess my new job is accompanying my elders to doctor appointments. That is what I'm here for, I reckon.

Oh yeah, and the big news, we went to Chicago yesterday to see a Cirque du Soleil show; it was a good time. We travelled snow packed roads to get there (on time) and only got lost once on the way home. "Banana Shpeel," as the show was called, was an old fashioned hoot. It was a vaudeville act with circus and dancing performances interspersed, and a few weird characters "from the audience" that were hysterical.

New hair color and cut:



Oh, and thank you to Madz for the very cool homemade Christmas card! You are the best. I have all your cards in a little pile for making them into a scrapbook page one day.

Thanksgiving

I promised my dear friend Grace I would not post pictures of her or her beautiful new baby on the internet. I don't think the Chinese even want pictures sent via email or Skype. But her baby girl born September 2009 was the hit of Thanksgiving even if they only stayed an hour or so. There are definitely some cultural differences in child rearing. Well, she is so loved and protected, it's sweet.

Here is Great Uncle Cal who came over and when told Pat and Boy15 were playing ping pong said he would take on the winner (at age 84).



I ate like an absolute animal over the long weekend. We had a couple of nice long walks. On Saturday the weather was epic (as the young folk say), 60 degrees and sunshine. We also played a lot of games, our usual past time. Mancala (my new obsession), Taradiddle (really stupid but funny), Cranium, and Sporcle (the addictive internet quiz game).



"Gathering around the computer for another round of Sporcle"

On Wednesday I went to "New Moon" by myself since I couldn't find any suckers to go with me. It was awful in case you are wondering. I am through with the whole Twilight thing. I am trying to keep abreast of what the students are into, but this has gone far enough. On Friday night most everyone went to "Fantastic Mr. Fox" a cute animated farce based on a Roald Dahl story. Can't go wrong there. It was enjoyed by all ages. Whistle, cluck cluck...

The photos: Tartuffe

Boy 16 is in the tan knickers, purple vest, somewhat in the center. See below, Tartuffe with dear Elmire.



Thanks to my parents for the pictures. We didn't get any and I definitely wanted to have some for the scrapbook.

Sunday

What an icky, wet day. I will say that we took in a lot of theater this weekend. Saw a college production of Miss Saigon. It was hard to buy into when the Vietnamese and Americans all looked the same. There was the cutest 3 year old boy who played the child of the American G.I. in Vietnam and Kim, the local girl. Pat had some difficulty sitting through it, but he has really gotten better. No sighing, head rolling, or loud criticizing.

That was Friday night. Saturday we went to Tartuffe at the high school in which Boy16 played the lead, Tarfuffe, a pious scoundrel. I will tell you, this 17th Century French play in rhymed translation did not draw a crowd. It was disappointing because they worked very hard to memorize and act out this ancient material. Why the director chose this play, no one can figure out. He was obviously amused by it, and I do think the kids who were in it thought it was funny and learned a good bit of culture from putting it on. Wish I had a picture because the costumes were top notch. Boy15 and Nephew10 went to their 'happy place' and rejoiced when it was over. Nephew10 said in his best french accent, "and after a million years, it was finally over."

Today was only good for laundry, nappy and a bit of weightlifting. I have to get back on track after a mild but lingering flu and accompanying binge eating.

For those who asked, Uncle Cal seems to be adjusting to Macomb. The aides at Bickford seem to think he is a real hoot. He does have a unique sense of humor. Someone he managed to pass his driver's test in IL (drivers beware) and signed out of the building Friday for "nonsense reasons." He drove his van around for two hours looking at crops and finding his way around town. I found out he is not on morphine anymore, so at least he's not driving heavily drugged. The Parkinson's is bad sometimes, and we prefer to drive him ourselves when he is going with us.

BTW- menopause blows.

I love quotes

You may be only one person in the world,
but to one person you may be the world.

I saw this on a mirror in the beauty salon of a nursing home yesterday. There were all kinds of different inspirational messages in this small space. The colors were maroon and gray and I thought it was just very pretty and nice, especially for a nursing home. I thought the quote above was extremely meaningful for this setting as the beautician is probably one of the highlights of the resident's existence. It really touched me that someone had invested such thought and care in making this a pleasant environment for our elderly who are more than likely in their last resort, no pun intended.

My great uncle is soon to move to my town in Illinois from North Dakota to live in an assisted living facility. He will feel like he's moved to Florida after that climate. He's lived all his life on a farm (The Farm) in ND and recently had to move into a nursing home. My mom is his closest relative, he having no offspring nor did his siblings (except my grandmother who only had one child, my mother). Well, this will make it easier to conduct his business and manage his affairs, including trying to keep him off the road since he has no driver's license, and soothe his desire to hire Dr. Kevorkian to pay him a visit. It should be interesting...

Tuesday

I am back to work and it was kind of a boring day. I am sorry to say I didn't save the world. I hope I was understanding and supportive to the people I encountered; young children subjected to adult stupidity, adults living with unanswerable questions, my own family going in a hundred directions and managing nicely.

Next week I am looking forward to a reunion of sorts. At a statewide conference for school social work, I will get to see my former professors (at least two of them I like very much), my former classmates and work mate, Miss Perfect, and the new Miss Perfect (social work students I consider my rivals for teacher's pet/suck up/brown noser). We will be staying in a nice hotel in suburban Chicago (I will be rooming with my new co-workers, the real school social workers), eating too much food, soaking up the workshops, keynote speakers, and each other's company. Maybe running out for some early Christmas shopping. You know if you know me, I will be all about the free food. It will be fun to get out of Dodge for a few days.

I am experimenting (on doctor's advice) with Vitamin D to treat mild depression. So far, I don't think it is doing anything, but I'm not getting worse. Just something I go through each fall.

Cutest Thing

Okay, I got this from my friend Madz. I haven't been keeping up with my blogs lately, but since today is a school day off, and I'm in the school system now, yippee! I can read blogs all day. And wonder why Christopher Columbus is honored with a school holiday (here)? Didn't he really bump into South America or something?

Faith and Fear

I was thinking along the same lines as my blogger friend, Ginnie, this morning. I felt I should write something for my dad to use in his monthly Family News. He is always complaining that he doesn't have enough material. Then there is the problem of getting into a format that he can use on his computer without having to re-type the whole thing. His computer (and mine), "Hal", tries to foil him at every step.

Adventures seem a fitting topic for me today. I left my job of 13 years in July to pursue a new career in school social work. I am finishing my Master's with a year long internship with a special education cooperative (serving five counties). The decision to veer off from mental health into school social work was made last October when I had to select the specialization classes for my degree. I decided upon school social work, because with that certification, I could always return to mental health or another aspect of social work, but without that certification I could not work in the school system. I thought it would be best to have the option.

I knew I would be required to complete a fulltime internship for the full school year, and wouldn't be able to work my regular job along with it. As it turned out it was a good time to change careers because the funding for mental health has been cut significantly and the subsequent changes are not a system I was comfortable working in anymore. That is the PC version.

As I began my internship I saw the following statement on a wall hanging:

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase"

I wrote that in my notebook for work and look at it frequently. I also decided to audition for the play my dad was directing this fall and that was huge leap of faith. I decided the timing was right as I would not be required to work or be on call evenings and weekends for the first time in many years. The kids are also pretty self sufficient, with Boy16 driving now. This might be the only opportunity I would have to work with my dad, age 78, as director and actor. Never mind, I only acted once in my life in 8th grade, and I only had one speaking line.

So, far both scary propositions have been working out. The play is done and got great reviews, even my character. I can't believe it is already over and I didn't die or have a stroke on stage. It was fun, but I probably didn't have as much fun as I could have, as I was too nervous about the outcome. Nonetheless, I did my best, mentally and physically.

The internship is going well. In a way it is not that much different than my previous work (the problems are the same only the clients are younger). In many ways it is quite different. The education system is it's own ball game, with internal and external politics driving everything that happens. I am just trying to focus on what I can do each day to help someone, be a support and put in a good effort. I could always do more, and feel I should but that is just my personality. Acceptance goes a long way in new adventures.

The Odd Couple: Female Version

Top picture: cast of Macomb Community Theater Odd Couple (Female Version) 2009. The two giants are the stage manager and the director (my dad). The two short guys are the Spanish brothers who live upstairs.

Second photo: the girls playing their weekly game of Trivial Pursuit. They keep saying, "We should get together and just play it." But there never seems to be enough time.

Opening weekend went well, particularly Friday was a great audience. Laughed a lot. I was surprised at some of the things I think are really dumb, including my own lines.

My brother arrives from NH tomorrow and my sister arrives Friday for my debut performance. I have friends coming from my past work on Friday to the play. It is going to be another really busy weekend. Last two weeks I had rehearsal or performance every night, 3 plus hours. It was exhausting. This week has been nice to relax as we don't have practice until Thursday.

I am just watching an old movie (I didn't realize how bad a movie 'Never Been Kissed' was) and waiting for the 3 ibuprofens to kick in and cure my headache. I guess I am still a little down in the grumps. I am alone again on Saturday. Pat went to the soccer tournament again this weekend. Just so you don't think I'm totally evil - oh here comes that awful scene where Drew Barrymore and the guy ride on the ferris wheel, that I do remember being terribly sappy and stupid- I did go to soccer last Friday night out of town and the home game this week. We had rehearsals every night this week so it's been pretty busy.

This morning I went to a good workshop training on keeping lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender kids safe in school. Our society and schools are so totally heterocentric I don't know how anyone does manage to come out as GLBT.

After that there was a presentation by a mother and aunt of a boy who died playing the choking game. It was really heart wrenching.

A Whole Week

A whole week has gone by without a bloggy event. The weeks go so fast. I was so looking forward to the four day weekend (I know I am spoiled!), now that it's here I don't feel that happy. There's something definitely the matter with me. I go from one thing to the next, enduring each one and waiting for the next. All this stuff should be fun, but I ruin everything with my mental state.

We had dinner with my parents tonight. Then we played a very old game called Facts in Five. It's like Scattergories, only harder. It has categories like Living Statesmen/Politicians. You can choose male/female/American/foreign, depending on how hard you want to make it. Then you pick five letters and try to fill in the grid. We had Sports Managers/Coaches, male, and Classical Musicians, dead. Boy15 and Grandma were the only ones who really liked it, of course, she got by with Barry Botts for athlete, male, because we knew she meant Bonds. My dad absolutely hates it because when a timer is on, he can't think and goes blank. Oh, by the way, he fell while getting off his bicycle yesterday and sprained his wrist really bad, and got a bloody arm, because he is on Coumadin, he bleeds like a hemophliac.

Boy16 had his marching band debut today at he high school football game and Boy15 had a HS soccer tournament Friday-Saturday. I had lunch with friends and got my oil changed, so really, everything is good.

Boy15 got his driver's permit this week, and hasn't been behind the wheel yet. So, I took him out in the parking lot. He seriously didn't know about turning on the lights, putting the car in drive or reverse. I am the least patient person on the planet. It seems like the other two had some prior parking lot experience, or farm driving or something. I guess the baby never had need or desire of trying it out. I did get him to reluctantly drive around the block and park in the driveway. He had about five feet on one side and five inches on the other.

The play is coming along well, we have the holiday weekend off, and I got my tuition waiver application sent off. This semester's bill is over $5000 so, if I got it, and it paid all of it, it would be a huge blessing.

Nocturne

I'm pretty exhausted from a FULL week, but I don't want to go to bed because that will mean another day in the books. Anonymous stated that she had trouble sleeping after 4 a.m. and I, too, wake about 4:30 and while I don't dread what I have to do, there is some definite anxiety there. So, sometimes it's hard to fall asleep again, but I do get some rest. I had just been thinking today how grateful I am for the good sleep I get, and I have been falling asleep very easily.

My task for this weekend is to complete a 3-4 page essay on how I am committed to working with vulnerable, underrepresented populations and how I will expand on that commitment in my internship. Honestly, I don't know what they are looking for. I don't have the absolute neediest population in the entire state, but I certainly feel I have a demonstrated commitment to social work. They haven't given me any of their other scholarships, so I don't anticipate I will get this either, but I am compelled to keep trying since there is a lot to gain. Maybe they will think, "This poor woman puts in for everything, I think that shows commitment, let's give her this one."

Update on Me

I am four days into my internship and feeling a little ray of hope that I will be able to handle my new position. I know I am old for an intern, and that feels weird, but I'm starting to think the pieces will come together and school social work will be a good fit for me. So far, I have met a lot of people, assisted in counseling a student through a crisis, helped out with pre-school screening, and pulled IEP files for an audit.

I am presently trying to keep myself awake to pick up Boy15 around 10 p.m. You will remember I am used to having a nap and that isn't working for me now that I am employed again. So, I am sleeping well, until around 4 a.m. when I have to potty and start thinking about having to get up at 6 or 6:15. I'm pretty well exhausted by the end of the day.

I am memorizing my lines the play I am in, and getting more comfortable rehearsing it. I am a negativist in this, too, and figure the worst that can happen is that I will be the worst actor ever seen in community theater (or the bottom four).

I am armed with new cell phone. I picked a free one, although I had an urge for Blackberry, just so I could call it my Crackberry. I wouldn't even know how turn the thing on. This new phone doesn't even have a camera. Can you believe it? How vintage is that? It took me 20 minutes to find the hole to charge it, turned out I was trying to plug the computer cord into the cellphone.

Monday Morning Blog

A cup of coffee and a song in my heart, "Working can wait, this is paradise. Having no work to do..." I missed my 5:40 a.m. aerobics class. I heard the neighbors in the driveway getting ready to drive back to Chicago at 5:47 a.m. Bummer. I made it three times a week for six weeks this summer and only overslept once. Next, someone called my phone a few minutes later and hung up quickly, but not before it engaged that annoying "Missed call" beep every minute or so. Did I mention the volume on my phone is stuck on 7? One of my chores today is to see about a new phone, though I really don't like change.

Here I sit patiently waiting for the next aerobics class of interest, "Balance, Strength, Stretch" at 10. That doesn't sound very aerobic, but hopefully it will get me moving in the right direction.

It appears Boy21 has decided not to bother to go to work today either. Oh dear, he doesn't do anything the way I would like.



These are some of the kids getting a free jet ski ride in Lake Erie. Something we happened across by accident that was fun and a new experience for them. Boy15 and Neice12 got thrown off this one on a sharp curve. They had a blast.



Man, I love Niagara Falls. We stopped here briefly after visiting our old 'hood in Lockport, NY. It was a nice trip down memory lane. Unfortuneately, the city of Niagara Falls, USA, just can't seem to get it together. It looks pretty bad in the downtown area, a lot of closed up businesses and failed ventures, though we did notice a new office building that was really nice looking.

Assorted Pics

Did I mention Mom and Dad stayed at "Norman's Motel" in Old Orchard Beach? Despite the images of "Psycho," Mom felt she could take this Norman quite easily should he come at her with a knife. "More Santa Claus than Norman Bates," she stated. Chris had described making the reservation and that his voice was really quite Norman Bates-like. He imitated him so hilariously that I made him call up the motel and I was going to 'bait' him into saying something about how his mother was doing, but I couldn't stop laughing as soon as he handed it to me, and had to hang up the phone.

By the way, isn't it creepy how it has a real key and one of those plastic keytags??



Three boys, two pretty freckled. The cousins got along really well. On Friday night after camping, all the kids started a game of Stone (where you see who can go the longest without making a sound). Boy15 and 16 were into it 3.5 hours when Boy16 (who is ALWAYS champion of Stone) broke. The other kids were playing that Stealth thing on the IPod. It's the sound only kids can hear, not adults. For real. We set up experiments to test it and it's true! Anyway, for some reason Boy16 couldn't hear it, and he casually said, "It's too far away." He didn't even realized he spoke. I noticed it first, and Boy15 was ecstatic!




Betsy and Nephews11 and 10.

Ping Pong Tourney

My kids fell in love with Ping Pong while in New Hampshire. So, the last night Boy15 organized a double elimination ping pong tournament. Never mind that he didn't give me a second game after I lost my first. And, third place went to Chris (aka Mr. Competitive). Chris later beat me in a friendly game (with his left hand).



Nephew11, budding mr. competitive, received second place. Quite a victory to beat his stepdad Chris. But you also have to take into account he was sick with a very bad cough prompting numerous time outs. Not to mention TO's for sweaty hands. It was really sweet because his first game was against Grandma Vick and he was so kind not to beat her as badly as he could have.



And the winner was, drum roll, Boy15. He is smokin' hot. Maybe not in China, but pretty good considering he doesn't play on a regular basis, at all. Now, guess who wants us to buy a ping pong table for our play room?

Formerly the Nashua Pride

You know we love baseball, Little League, Major League, even Minor League. Well, the Nashua Pride (New Hampshire)field is a stone's throw from my brother's house, and so we decided to take in a game last Saturday night. Well, Chris informed us that the Pride was bought by some "famous" guy who engineered the Boston Red Sox World Series win in 2004 (?). He had the brilliant marketing idea to rename the team "The American Defenders of New Hampshire" and dress them in, get this, camoflauge uniforms. Ironically, as my dad pointed out, most of them are not even American. It has not gone over well, needless to say, and attendance is terrible. Pictured above is the goofy mascot of the Defenders. It was commented that they remind one of Fidel Castro's army.



We did have some motivation to attend a game. The lady who lives next door to Chris boards players during the season and they have been swimming over at Chris' house. We met Angel Molina who said he was on the Florida Marlins two season, his cute four year old son, and attorney wife who were visiting. Very nice guy. Another player came over to swim but didn't say much and I'm not sure he spoke English. Angel is pictured above in the one deck circle. He got to base on a hard hit grounder, and stole third on the next batter's grounder who nobody bothered to field. He then scored (I am pointing to him on third below) and the Defenders won 3-2.



The next door neighbor we were hoping to meet was Juan Padilla a former NY Yankee pitcher. He closed the game successfully.

Which beach is this?

A. Old Orchard, Betsy and Mom



B. That's not a beach, silly, that's Niagara Falls


C. Hamburg Beach, Lake Erie



D. Hamburg Beach, Hamburg, NY, Lake Erie, Beach Blast

Friday

Just back from 3 days at the beach. The kids are sitting in the dark watching Tivo'd episodes of "The Mentalist." Obviously, everyone is exhausted. We camped, ate and swam and had 3 hour stomachaches (Nephew10). Boy15 got a sunburn and then shivered for 15 minutes. Following that he was fine. 2" Mosquitos that will not be deterred by a little Deet. Wait, I'm giving the downside, aren't I?

The upside: Old Orchard Beach in Maine. Nice beach. The kids had a skim board and several body surfing boards. We had great weather until today when it rained all the way home. We had eye candy at the next campsite. A hot, young (French?) couple. Chris says Old Orchard Beach is Canada's Florida. Many French speaking people, the majority. We had lobster rolls and strawberry rhubarb pie.