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Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Recent Travels

Well, not so recent now but in October I took a trip east and by my calculations I was in seven different airports in seven days - not counting four repeats!  In addition to seeing my lovely newest great-granddaughter in Virginia, I visited my Aunt in Escanaba and some cousins as well.  We had a great time even though I was only there two days thanks to Delta canceling my flight out of Oregon, the bastards.

Thanks to my cousin Mary Ann for (1) taking me to the gym with her
and (2) taking me for some blue moon ice cream

As usual when I visit Aunt Kathy, I make her let me go through her pictures, and I was able to score some pictures of family photos, such as:

My maternal grandmother's wedding portrait

My mom

My Aunt Kathy's wedding portrait

My mom wrestling with my Aunt Judy - can you tell
them apart?

Me, my Aunt Judy and my sister on a train
trip form Illinois to Michigan

And my beloved Aunt gave me one of my mother's paintings that had been a gift to her from my mom (sniff)


I also scored an evening with many of my cousins - well, actually my mom's cousins but I consider them mine too.  My thanks to each of them for making the time to visit with me, and to Tom and Chris for taking me out to lunch the next day!


My cousin Crash (if he has another name I've never heard it) brought a photo he had of my parents, grandmother and lots of other relatives sitting in a bar called the Denver back in the fifties.  I wish I had taken a photo of it, too, but alas, it was not to be.  A picture of my mother in a bar would be something unique (anyone else in the family, including myself, not so much).

I love my Aunt with all my heart, and will never forget how special she always made me feel as a little girl, even though I'm not the Catholic I'm sure she'd like me to be (she's my godmother, and says I'm a work in progress.  Seeing as how I'm atheist, it will continue to be a loooooong progress).

After two short days in Michigan, I was jetting off to Virginia Beach to visit my granddaughter, grandson-in-law and newest family member (read all about it here).  I went right from the airport to pick up my co-grandma, then to the hospital to see the baby for the first time.  What a doll!

Once everyone got a clean bill of health and was discharged, we headed over to their apartment.  By this time, it's dark and I'm a little tired, so co-grandma and I kissed everyone goodbye for the night and headed out to the parking lot, where….

…there was no rental car because the jerks at the apartment complex apparently require a visitors sticker despite the fact I had only been there two hours and had moved the car once already such jerks.

So poor Adam had to leave his wife and brand new baby to drive us to this lovely spot.




It was a chilly, long wait for the tow truck driver to show up and let me into the yard so I could fork over a lot of cash and get the rental car out of hock.  Not a good way to start the visit.

So I finally get to my hotel, wash my face and hit the hay, with dreams of Halloween candy dancing in my head.  Seriously, I dreamed someone kept yelling "Candy Corn!  Candy Corn!"  until I awoke, looked out my window and saw a race relief station just below my balcony where they were in fact handing out candy corn because "Your body needs the sugar!!"





If I had known about this race, I would have run it.  It turns out it was a 10K costume run, half of which ran right along the beach.  From my window at the breakfast joint I saw Ken and Barbie (in the boxes!), Shaggy, Scooby, Thelma, the other two AND the Mystery Machine, some trees, and some other really amazing costumes (amazing because some of those people were actually running in them).  I made a point of making a note in my phone of the fabulous costumes I saw, but now I'm damned if I can pull it up - grrr.

By the time I finished eating and got outside to take some pictures, I saw these:


This one was actually very clever - two people in a
roller coaster car - well done, crazy girls!

Awesome job on the baby strollers - and the dude
even managed to yell out "Yabba dabba doo!" as he trotted past.

Three blind mice
Again, the visit went by so quickly (unlike the time spent sitting around in airports).

Sunrise from my balcony

Big bag o'crochet


 All in all it was a great visit with all those I was able to see.

In other news, here's my new old lady car:



And my good old little green Prius, in which I had many fine adventures and which I sold the other day to a nice family from Portland.



It was a great car that never gave me a lick of trouble.  Let's hope the same will be true of the Avalon.

Finally, we had a great thanksgiving with turkey, pheasant, chukkar, lots of side dishes and wonderful family.  Unfortunately, I was so busy in the kitchen I didn't get to take any pictures.  Check out my Facebook page for pictures other people took, but here's one I already grabbed:

Schazi and Meg

In case I don't get back before Christmas, happy holidays, everyone!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Lullabies to Teddi Marie



Polka Dots and Moonbeams

A pug nose dream


…when you awake, we'll patty patty cake,
and ride the silver little pony.

Winkin, Blinkin and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe….

…when I am old enough,
I'll be a clown.

Way down in Killarney, many years ago,
My mother sang a song to me….

Hush little Teddi, don't say a word,
Grandma's going to buy you a mockingbird….


Sleep in my arms while you still can,
Childhood is but a day….

There were many more, songs I grew up with, songs I remember hearing just before I drifted off to sleep as a little girl.  Because both of Teddi's parents are sailors, and because this was one of my favorite lullabies, here are all the words to this one:

Teddi's boat the silver moon,
Sailing in the sky.
Sailing o'er the sea of sleep
As the clouds roll by.

Sail, Teddi, sail
Out upon that sea.
Only don't forget to sail
Back again to me.

Welcome to the world, dear little one.




<3

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Some Awesome Stuff (But This Isn't It)

I have been traveling like crazy, and I have some really amazing stories to tell  but they deserve more thought than this post is going to get (and will be written when I can do my newest great-granddaughter justice).  This post is about my last half marathon of the year, The Happy Dirty Girls Trail Half in Sisters, Oregon earlier today.



First - I had near crippling self doubt yesterday, and nightmares all night long.  That nasty little idiot voice saying things like "I can't believe you're going to do a 13.1 trail run in the rain [actually snow was predicted] when you can barely keep your footing on a road."  And "If you get lost up on that trail, you can die."  And other such negative self talk.  I hate that nasty little idiot, and if anyone has tips on how to kill it, please do let me know.

Then, nightmares.  All.  Night.  Long.  If I got four hours of sleep, it was a miracle.  I forgot my Garmin (yeah, a big deal).  I got lost (and died on the trail).  I slipped on the wet rocks and broke my neck (good thing I bought that air lift helicopter coverage).

And this wasn't even my first half!!

So I got up at pitch black darkness, and drove the 30 minutes in the rain to Sisters.  I parked about 3/4 a mile away from the shuttle to the top (and the finish line) in a hazy drizzle, and forced myself onto the first shuttle to the top to keep myself from going back to my car and driving back to my warm, sweet home.




The walk to the shuttle bus - wet feet before I even started, wah.

On the shuttle with 40 of my dearest friends.


Waiting around at the top for an HOUR
just because I didn't trust myself to wait for a later shuttle.

The other 300 arrive at the starting line.

Only two Handsome Pacers this race, for
the fast ones.



It was rocky.  I didn't dare run over some patches of slippery rocks (but I only face planted once -yay! - although I kicked two dozen rocks and thought I was going down), and I took foreeeeeeever to finish, but finish I did (and got a dumb belt buckle for my trouble) and who was there at the finish hanging around?  Members of my training group from Footzone!  Whudathunk?


Don't let them fool you - both these ladies finished
way ahead of me!
Things I learned:
(1)  Bring dry clothes to change into at the end of the race on a rainy day (thanks, Angela Shatting).
(2)  My legs can get tired even running downhill.  When it's raining and cold and windy.
(3)  Just because I take my rain jacket off at mile two doesn't mean I won't need it at mile ten when the rain picks up and the wind blows.  Thank goodness I didn't check it in my gear bag and just tied it around my waist.
(4)  UGG slippers are worth every penny.
(5)  Maybe my distance isn't the half marathon, but the 10K.



Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Wallowa Lake and Chief Joseph

Sitting here in the Delta Sky Club at PDX, knowing I still have a full day of flying before me, I thought it would do my spirit good to post about our recent camping trip to Wallowa Lake in Joseph, Oregon (where I could actually go outside whenever I felt like it and walk around).

Nigel is a seasoned traveler,

but this was Schazi's first road trip of any duration.
She was a real trouper.

Gorgeous mountains around the lake.






A little baby crochet to pass the afternoon.

For a pup who has been raised with a doggy door
and the freedom to go in and out as she pleased,
Schazi did really well in the fifth wheel.
Not one accident, woo!

It didn't take her long to get into our afternoon routine.

Imnaha is where Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce band would
spend the winter.

Looks kind of like Jarbidge or the Rubies in Nevada, right?




We drove past this barn half a dozen times - I had to have a
picture.  Look at that sky!

We were almost too late for the fall color.

Here's what I don't get.  All he wanted was to lead his band
into Canada, so as not to be forced onto a reservation
far from Wallowa, his home.  But, nooooo, the
U.S. Army had to chase them to within 30 miles
of the Canadian border before forcing a surrender.


Deer, deer, everywhere.  Small but big racks.




Wake up cuddle
Snooze
Chief Joseph's father is buried near Wallowa Lake

Here's his monument.  Meanwhile, Chief Joseph is buried
in Washington state, far from home.

Read up on the Nez Perce "war" of the late 1800's - I plan to learn more myself.