Foor for Thought #5: Travel

Today Lee asks us about our travel adventures. Or lack of them.

Appetizer: Have you ever travelled outside your native country?

Why, yes, I have. I have been to Canada (barely), Mexico (twice), Ireland (lots of times), England, Wales, and Switzerland (one day, with jet lag). I have also been to the US Virgin Islands, which technically is the US, but also is sorta not.

Soup: What's the farthest from home you have ever ventured?

I guess that would be Switzerland. It was on a work trip for my ex, and we tacked a visit to his family in Ireland onto that. I had a baby and a toddler at the time, so rousing their jet lagged selves to do anything at all in Switzerland was hard. The promise of seeing a train got Tuba Boy motivated, so we got to enjoy the famed Swiss punctuality with a little train ride, followed by a mandatory Toblerone purchase. The next morning, I had to fly to Ireland alone. The worst part was getting them on and off the plane, and through customs, since both were asleep (Tuba Boy kept falling asleep standing up, and Beccano was at his Michelin Man portliest) and I had to part with my stroller. Thank goodness for total strangers who helped. The ex joined us after his work conference and that became the infamous trip where we left Beccano in the middle of downtown Dublin, asleep in his stroller. Ha, good memories, since we got him back, and he never even knew he'd been abandoned. Henceforth, we developed a very strict "who has each child" checklist.

Salad: Do you plan to travel abroad any time in the future, however long it may be? If so, where?

Well, I guess some day I won't be a contractor living in the middle of the Even Greater Depression, so I guess I'll go. It appears I will need to go to New Zealand or Australia, which are OK, I guess, since they lack people who will attack me and killer parasites (see below). If it were up to me, I'd like to visit pretty much everywhere in Scandinavia, Iceland, everwhere in Europe, every single inhabited island off the coast of Europe, all of the Virgin Islands, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and perhaps Argentina.

However, I have no immediate plans to go to any of these places.

Entré: What would deter you most, fear of being targeted as an American, the security considerations of your on nation, or something else?

The following things would deter me:

• The fact that I am a woman will keep me out of any country that is predominately Islamic until I have a lot of proof that the country is moderate and doesn't plan to kill me if my ankle accidentally shows. It will also keep me away from some Asian countries
  


• I've already learned to deal with anti-Americanism by not talking whenever possible and dressing like the people who live where I am going, not like an American. I'd wear Obama buttons right now if I went to Europe, since I hear that helps. But there are many places I just would not go. Right now, Russia is one place. I am fine with not going where I am not welcome.
  


• Then there are diseases and parasites. Sorry, but I have had enough friends get horrible things that live in them then pop out, contract malaria, or get some really awful, long-lasting illness after travel. I am just gonna skip the Amazon, thanks. And most of Africa (seems like every country there has a disease/parasite issue, a crazed government issue, or fundamentalist Islam issue).


• I am not overly worried about US security. I think I am boring enough that they won't throw me in jail when I come back, and since I don't have too much money, I think I'll be OK on the customs form.

Dessert: If you could go anywhere in the world for free, where would you most want to go?

Right now, honestly, I'd either go to my dad in North Carolina and help him move or go home and hang out in Gainesville, Florida for a while. I'll go all those other places in my head, I guess.

Good to Get Away; Great to Be Back

Like they always say, a change of pace often makes you appreciate the status quo, and that is certainly the case with this weekend. I had a smashing time in Fredericksburg with my two friends, but I was still very happy to get home and see my dear family once I got home.

Absence really does make the heart grow fonder. I enjoyed the teen sounds, Lee's stories, and even the lovingness of the dogs. Heck, this morning I even realized I'd missed the cheerful presence of the parakeet!

A Little (More Like a Lot) about My Trip

Suzanne is really good at planning getaways, and she reserved a cute, nicely furnished little house in Fredericksburg, called Abigail's Cottage. (I love the Internets--you can just SHOW people the house rather than go on about it.) She and I drove over there Friday evening, after a stop at the Burnet Dairy Queen for a decadent "dinner" of a Blizzard shake thing. Deana joined us later in the evening, since she'd been in San Antonio. Her husband deposited her and sped off, which was fine with us! It was great to be in a house, and no more expensive than a hotel! We knitted and chatted until late Friday night, then lazed around the next morning. More decadence. The house has a nice front porch for chatting and swinging.

Saturday during the day, after showering in the amazingly strong footed tub shower, we found the local yarn shop. Of course. We each got some stuff--selection was mostly Rowan, but it was nice, and I enjoyed the rug hooking and spinning stuff in the back, too. What pleased me most was that they had a good amount of naturally colored fibers, local fiber, and organic yarns. I was looking for that for a potential project, so I got good samples to try (there is more on this in the knitting blog). After that wonderful time, we had to eat, so a great lunch was had by us in a place called the Indian Nickel. I had a chicken sandwich with goat cheese and raspberry chipotle sauce.

All fortified up, we then sallied forth to all the girlie shops in Fredericksburg, unburdened by male partners who get sick of beads, jewelry, furniture, clothing and doo-dads. We could dawdle and dream about things we wished we owned to our hearts' content! I was more pleased at the content of the shops on this visit than I had been in the past. There was a lot more locally made stuff, and a greater variety of things than I have been in years prior. There were two really good, inexpensive jewelry stores (both of which got some of my newly available money). Some of the Mexican silver was really nice and really NOT expensive, though it seems to have been made just for the store I was in. In the other place, a guy made most of the things himself. Makes you proud to see a crafter who can make a living at it. His stuff was nice in a Texas-y way. There were also some amazing alabaster plates, bowls and goblets I wanted sooo bad, but managed to resist…at least for a while. Deana did get some.

After we were sufficiently tired, we headed back to the house for more knitting, an attempt to teach me to crochet with beads (I failed, but I did get going on peyote stitch), and watching the other two do beading. Suzanne got my carnelian Buddha bead strung onto a necklace, as you can see, and I like its rusticity. She is going to do more with my other large beads, once I get to her the accessory beads I bought on Sunday. Late in the evening, after dining on snacks, we watched a girly movie, Under the Tuscan Sun. It's something Lee and Beccano would never go for.

Sunday we lazed a bit more, enjoying the house's high-speed Internet, then packed up and headed back for more shopping. When our feet got to hurting too much, we ate at another local store, where I had the German plate (hey, I was in Fredericksburg, land of Germanic Heritage!). They had BOTH the peach cobbler AND chocolate bread pudding. I had eaten so much on the weekendthat I just had a bite of each.

What is sorta amazing is that we went on a holiday in the center of Texas in August and did not get overheated. We had the extreme good fortune of going out there on the first rainy weekend in months. Only we just got a few sprinkles. It was mostly cloudy and relatively cool. We really lucked out. So, all in all, it was a fine trip with some fun companions. We talked a lot about our families and issues, and really were just relaxed and mellow as we could be. Everyone has job stress (well, I don't, but I have an unemployed family member), so it was good to wind down.

The only bad thing was running out of yarn just shy of finishing my latest shawl. Ugh. The best thing was talking about a friend who has passed away with the lady at the store that sells all the cool rocks that my "happy stone" and our favorite candle holder are made of. I knew that friend was involved in this business, but it is so fun to make connections. That reminds me of what was good in that parenting organization. (Of course, it's the conferences I loved the best (the friend who has passed away was a great conference organizer in addition to being incredibly positive and funny no matter how sick she got), and getting out of town with my friends this weekend was the next best thing to going to one of those.)

I have some nice photos of where we stayed on my Flickr pages (scroll quickly through the shots of brown yarn and you will be fine), and will have more after I upload some later pictures.

Good to Be Home

I was so happy to see Lee and the boys, though. I enjoyed a nice dinner with Lee and Beccano, and had a nice time just watching Olympics and chatting. I even enjoyed listening to Tuba Boy's pals wailing away at Rock Band. I was glad that Lee liked the gift I gave him. I liked all the yardwork he did and hope we get tomatoes off his new plants! I must say the roses he planted are looking wonderful.

I know I rambled a bit. Writing in short bursts between Urgent Things to Do is not very conducive to concise, cogent writing. But hey, those of you who read this are my friends and used to me by now, huh! Thanks to Deana and Suzanne for taking the weekend off and letting me come along! It was great.

Life and Goings On

Heron-like Bird
Originally uploaded by sunasak

A lot has been going on, but nothing earth shattering. I am catching up by posting three things today instead of going to church. Hmm, what priorities.

Today's photo is a really lovely shore bird we saw while driving around Lake Buchanan yesterday, looking for a cheap house that did not exist (the GPS kept saying to turn right into a muddy field), for a project of Lee's. But we did see some neat wetland areas teeming with all kinds of lovely birds, some of which you don't see so often around here. The lake also has bald eagles, but we didn't see any. This is a place I would love to retire to or have a second home in, if I could be so lucky. It's near my favorite red granite, surrounded by hills and water, and quiet. Where we were had a mix of old-fashioned "lake houses" that are really old mobile homes, and some nicer ones, but none of the immense monstrosity mansions that are all you can get around Lake Travis any more. This lake is farther up the highland lake chain and not really a feasible commute to Austin, but even so, a small house we saw was for sale for over $400,000. Not our price range.

By the way, the lake's name is pronounced with a short u. Yet another of those weird local Texas pronunciations. Note the pretty cactus blooms behind the bird. It's prickly pear season!

In other stuff, we had intended to go see a group I like, the Greencards, on Friday, because I had won tickets in a magical way.Last week Beccano and I went to Barnes and Noble, so I could get a book I wanted to read and he could get a CD. We were chatting about music, and I had said how bluegrass was interesting, due to a lot of young people getting into it, and mentioned the Greencards, a group who had lived in Austin for a few years, being imported from Australia and England. The mandolin player, Kym Warner, is an amazing talent, having been the national champion down there. When we got to B&N, I saw their most recent CD, which I hadn't bought yet due to my financial constraints of late. I got it. When we got into the car, I thought the CD was already in, because the radio was playing the Greencards (it was the local NPR station's "Folkways" program). The song ended, and the DJ said they were going to play another song, but not until they gave away some tickets to their upcoming concert. He said the third caller who could identify the name of an instrumental song on their latest CD that was named for a Houston musical venue would win. Well, I said, "Dude, hand me that CD!" to Beccano. There I saw "Mucky the Duck" listed. I knew there is a place in Houston called "The Mucky Duck," so I started dialing, and won! What a coincidence to have just bought the CD!

But, it turned out the concert was the same night as the kids' final band concert of the year, which was lovely but went on a long time. By the time Beccano had turned in his tuxedo jacket, it was 15 minutes before show-time and rain was threatening (the concert was outdoors). So we missed it. On the other hand, the concert was lovely. Tuba Boy had a brief solo and got to stand up and bow, and there was a beautiful trombone concerto played by a very, very talented boy who is going on to be a trombone performance major. So, all was not lost.

Let's see...work is better. I have been very busy with lots of new assignments, since my favorite coworker suddenly got a chance to do a different job. I am happy for her, but will be sad to see her go, since she is so helpful. I am doing well getting folks more friendly, though.

And yesterday, as the bird photo indicates, Lee and I went on a nice drive into the Hill Country, and I enjoyed the scenery very much. I even saw a place I'd love to live later. Who knows what will happen if Lee suddenly has money to put into another house, but there are certainly possibilities out there. He is quite handy and can really fix things up when he has the time and tools!

Last night we sorta made up for not going to see the Greencards by seeing Jeff the Former Roommate at a local place. We sat with a friend and had a pretty good time. Beccano looked bored but I think he just looks that way these days. He seemed pleased when his name was mentioned and a song dedicated to him. Jeff seems to be settling into this new house better than the previous one, so our fingers are crossed that things are looking up for him at last!

Uh-Oh, Cute Dog Photo

Rose in Repose
Originally uploaded by sunasak

OK, I like this photo Beccano took so much that I am posting it on my blog, even though it will make those of you who read my rant about cute pet photos laugh.

This is one of the faces I was glad to see when I got home from visiting Lee's dad this weekend. I was also glad to see the other dogs, and especially glad to see the kids, because they had tales of hilarity and fun from their band trip. Beccano especially liked playing Scoobie Doo detectives as they searched for an item missing from their room. Cracks me up what they each deemed as highlights. Probably not what the trip planners intended. They were at a resort in San Antonio, where apparently the most fun thing was tether ball, but they had a blast, other than when a disc golf frisbee hit Beccano on the lip and made him bleed. A lot. That was his "battle scar."

It appeared that Tuba Boy mainly wanted to get home to his "cool" friends. Or friend. He immediately left to "hang with" Singing Girl, as I will call her now. At least she lives closer than the other one did.

Lee and I had a pretty good time on our trip, though I did not feel well a lot of the time. I thought maybe it was allergies, so I took allergy medicine and it knocked me out. Oops. We did help Lee's dad look at trucks, a painful experience for him, I think. And we ate at Furr's again. I got sorta sick to my stomach watching the dude in front of me pile on 7 main courses and every starch available. At first I thought maybe he was getting food for two people, but nope. All for him. I had a small square of frozen fish, canned beets and canned green beans. I think I am not fond of that place. At least Luby's stuff has been doctored up and appears more home cooked. Later we had a much more successful trip to Dairy Queen, though we kept Lee's dad up a bit too late, I think.

We did get to wander the fields a bit and look at flowers and such, and were awed by the new "Christmas Tree" across the way--a big oil derrick (or natural gas). We want one of those!! The drive home was especially nice--so many beautiful spring wildflowers to enjoy, and lovely farms.

Busy Weekend!

This will be what they call an "image intensive" post, because I saw some interesting things that I wanted to share! There are even more on my Flickr pages, if you are into rural Texas historical sites or something.

First, best wishes to Tina and Jared, who had a fun wedding on Saturday evening, even after they didn't come to our house Friday and have a rehearsal like they said they would. Of course, any excuse to clean up the accumulated clutter is good, and I am still enjoying the way the downstairs of our house looks.

Saturday morning I taught a mother/daughter pair crochet, which was a fun change from knitting. None of my knitting pals showed up, so I headed home fairly soon after answering the rest of the people's questions who needed help--it was a sale day, so I helped with the question-answering so the workers could help people buy yarn!

After getting duded up, it was off to LOUU for the Chemical Pink wedding extravaganza. We took some pictures at the wedding, but used those disposable cameras, and need to get them developed (and share them with the couple), but here's one the minister's husband took. We enjoyed spending some time with our tarot buddies Shannon and Royce, who brought the spousal unit I had yet to meet along with them. Bill did sound at the wedding, plus Rev. Kathleen's husband, Jon M. was there, so we had people to talk to other than the wedding party's relatives. The most fun part of the wedding was the wedding march, which was the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars. Only in this setting was that not unexpected. Both kids did clean up well, though, and they put together a really nice ceremony. It just took a while for it to happen. More time for me and Shannon to catch up, though! Our kids were really good, and Beccano blended right in with his Western jacket on. I wore my extra-organge dress with big purple pansies on it, along with the classy orange-ish dress shoes Pilar got for me last year, so I was Ms. Classy, I am so sure. Anyway, that was the beginning of our busy time.

We woke up long before the kids and headed to the rural breadbasket of Texas to give Lee's dad his Christmas gifts. Oh, did he love his socks! I was so happy to see his eyes light up, and to see the joy on his face when he tried them on and they fit! He is looking a lot healthier, too, and that was another good thing to see.

Once we got all presented up, we went to lunch in Yorktown. The top picture depicts where we ate, Aunt Di's Kountry Kitchen (apparently rural people all spell that way, ha ha). It's got a big dance floor and stage, too--I wish I could be there to listen to music some night. Lots of people are there on Sundays, and they all seem to know each other, naturally. What impresses me is the food is pretty good. I had turkey and dressing, and the dressing came out better than mine did this year, plus the mashed potatoes were divine. The turkey was REAL.

After lunch, I asked if we could drive around and see some of the things I hadn't seen in the area yet. This also made Lee's dad happy. We went to see the area where he grew up, and all the little towns that are still there, sorta, or used to be there. That's what the next bunch of pictures are of. The little white house looking building above was the general store/bar/restaurant or whatever in "Cottonpatch" (which used to be called something else) and was right across from the school Ernest Lee Sr. used to attend as a child. That's where they got penny candy after school. The school is no longer standing, though we did get a picture of the site where it was. He went there until high school, in a 3-room school, one room of which was reserved for the "Mexicans," who were segregated. There weren't any black people. Still aren't. Just Germans, Czechs, Poles and Mexicans.
The building that is larger and white says "Garfield" on it, and is the rural hall, where dances and such used to be held. They still have events there today, like turkey shoots and barbecues and all that. It's where the rural people went for fun when they didn't go into the big towns. At left is one of the "big towns," which is where the family used to hang out in the 20s and 30s, Nordheim. Now there is not much there at all, and few if any of the storefronts are used (there is a bank down the street, though, and it appears they are restoring the old bank building, that says "911" on it, because its 1 got lost). I like how they still have a Christmas decoration. The school (newer one) is still going, so there are still families around. Yorktown, on the other side of Lee's dad's farm, kept going and is more of a viable community still. It's rundown, but things are open, there are places to eat, gas stations. churches and such.

We came back to Lee's dad's place and watched football for a while, then I asked if we could go for a walk. That was the most fun part! We walked way to the back of the farm property, to parts I had not seen yet. At the back, there are trees, a pond and some old buildings, and a really nice view of a valley and some lovely woods that I didn't know was there.

Here you see Lee as a man outstanding in his field. Yes, that is his field. The sun was setting, so the light on all these pictures is interesting. The field has been mown for hay. We enjoyed listening to all sorts of sounds as we walked, and also ran into some neighbors who were sitting in their deer blind, pretending to hunt, but mostly looking at cool things, like the family of wild hogs that was walking around, and the five huge bucks in the next farm, way out of shooting range (whew). The man was mostly entertaining his disabled son. That was nice.
On our way back to the house, both Lee and I kept looking at a telephone pole, not wanting to ask the other if we saw what we thought we saw. We were right, it was not a transformer--it was an owl! You could see its pointy "ear" feathers when we got closer, and it bobbled its head up and down a few times for us. Pretty cool. I have to admit I had never seen an owl sitting still before--just the ones that have flown in front of me three times in the neighborhood at home.

One more picture of the farm to share, and I like this one a lot. It's the pond, which Lee's dad says he'd like to make into a 14-acre lake by building a dam. I don't think that will happen any day soon. It would be so beautiful to build a house on the hill next to the pond, where there are some big old trees, which are next to that beautiful view of the less intensively farmed parts of people's properties. Of course, getting utilities and the road back there would be "fun." But, it's a nice dream. We have lots of dreams of what we would do if the oil company found a bunch of natural gas on the property in February, ha ha. But, that is a slight hope, at best (better than none--they wouldn't look for stuff if there weren't a chance, I guess!).

The scary part of the evening came right after the sun set, when I looked out and saw something orange on the horizon. It turned out to be a HUGE fire off in the distance, and it grew and grew as we watched. A secondary one started, then they merged. We were a little concerned, but decided it would not make it to the farm. On our way home, we drove the long way, to be sure that the fire was as far away as we thought it was. It really was scary and big, though. I hope no one was hurt and that it got under control. There's a burn ban, and it is the traditional time for fireworks, which is worrisome.

Anyway, since we went home the long way, we drove through Cuero. There, Lee surprised me with a trip through their lovely Christmas light display. This is just one teeny photo from the display (hard to photograph at night from a truck). Many, many people and groups donated money and time to make a really fun display that you drive through. I guess it's a smaller version of the Austin Trail of Lights. Very well done, though, and a good ending to our tour of rural Texas at Christmastime.

Which reminds me, we did see a couple of cute rural holiday displays. One was three tires, big, medium and small, stacked on top of each other and spray painted gold, covered with lights. It made a really quirky "Christmas Tree." The other was 5 round hay bales stacked 3, 2, 1, spray-painted green, with lights and ornaments. Another great "tree"! I am glad we got to go on this trip, and wish the kids could have come. Beccano would have loved the owl and to hear the coyotes barking at night. But, they needed a rest, and Lee and I enjoyed our time together.

We hope to have a nice New Year at Janet's house (trying to get back into old traditions, but with better habits) followed by yummy food. Lee already made ham salad, so the yummy has begun!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Suna and Lee Go Out of Town

Suna among Her Friends
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Who would have thought that a week with no job would be more busy than a week working? Well if you had my old job you'd know why. LOTS of time to blog sitting there waiting for work to do. At home, there is always something else to do, plus there are all those jobs to look for or interview for.

I had the second interview at the place I phone interviewed with yesterday already. They have a really nice workplace, good colors and stuff. The people seemed pretty nice, too, and weren't quite so overly young as the Monday place. We will see what happens. I am keeping my mind open. Tomorrow, it's back to ALE to try again there!

This post is about that nice weekend Lee and I had, already three days ago. We spent Saturday between Fredericksburg, Texas and Kerrville. We shopped in all the quaint and touristy shops in Fredericksburg, including Suna/Lee Nirvana, a candle factory. We also found a place on the shopping strip that sold these lovely cores from yellow quartz or something like that, from Utah. They were SO interesting that we had to get ourselves one for Yule, even if we are not rich! That place had a resident golden retriever who was in love with bubble wrap, and kept chomping it then carrying it around like his beloved. Very cute. Lee also got us a really pretty silver star, very large, with little palettes on it. He hung it on the front door, and it catches the light from the Christmas lights and shines at night. I'll have to take a picture.

At the end of our Fredericksburg jaunt we stopped in the wine shop where we met the vintner referred to yesterday. He seemed like a sweet fellow who'd rather be out making wine than selling it. Glad we happened in there at the right time. We will go back to that shop!

I'd never really seen the city of Kerrville, just the folk festival site and one hotel. So, Lee drove me out there I am glad he did. It has some nice spots, hiding among the creeping blandness of all US stores being the same. Lee then took me to the next down down the road, the name of which escapes me, and it was way nicer. A long stretch along a beautiful river, and some neat houses were there. Then, he turned into a drive with really nice hand-made lawn furniture, which turned out to be made by a guy he knew from high school. We dropped in on them and had a very nice visit in their incredibly charming little cottage. It had the original door with a rounded top, hand forged hinges and old-fashioned lock. And lovely wood paneling, The people seemed very friendly and I hope they liked me OK. I really have not met many of Lee's old friends, and I just hope they haven't been told icky stuff by his ex or something.

We spent the night at a nice hotel, the new Best Western, which had nice views and was quiet. We ate cheese and crackers and drank a bottle of the lovely wine. What a nice evening!

I woke up in bad shape Sunday--one side of my head was all sinused out. My ear had sharp pains all day (finally got better yesterday). But, I was resolved to enjoy the day anyway, and we sure did! It was a gorgeous day--if you have time, please take a look at some of the pictures we took of Enchanted Rock. You know I love the pink granite around this area and Marble Falls, and Enchanted Rock is one HUGE hunk of it. No wonder the Native Americans revered it. There are very interesting plants around it, and microclimates. We hiked all around the perimeter of the rock, which wasn't too bad except for one bit that was very rocky. We were trying to take care of Lee's knees. I ended up more sore than him. The weather was great, too. It had been very cold in the night, but warmed up pleasantly during the day--cool but not unbearable (and the huge winds of Saturday had died down). What fun we had!

We came home and were happy to learn that XH had taught Tuba Boy to drive the car, though I let him have it yesterday to go to school and he stalled a lot and hit something. But it was just one gash in my bumper. Not horrible. He got a school parking permit and I am sure feels quite old now.

Yesterday, other than interviewing, I hung out at the yarn shop for quite a while, then I did wrap what presents we have, and put them on a table so Rose won't eat them. We will have a pleasant Christmas--everyone has at least a couple of things. I even have two so far! We rehearsed with Trey Bone in the evening, after a dinner that I loved of lima beans and rice. What touched me was how Beccano chowed down on those beans. He loves my home cooking--he also loved the gingerbread I made, too. Awww. Lee wasn't feeling well, but made it through the rehearsal.

Tonight at choir we have a little baby shower for two of the members, so that will be nice.

All is well. I am thinking of my far-flung friends and family!

Cowboy Suna, Gratitude

Cowboy Suna
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

Readers asked for a better photo of me in the red cowboy hat, so here's one, taken over the weekend when Lee and I made another trip to his dad's farm. Not the best light, but you get the idea. There are a couple of other photos on Flickr (click link below photo to go to the site) if you want to see very ripe corn, a big spider and some sunflowers.

Everything worked out great this weekend. XH stayed at our house with the kids, so Lee and I went to his dad's without having to worry about who'd feed the dogs or anything. And the kids didn't have to pack up and go to a hotel room. They had helped Lee set up the guest room so it would be usable (after wrestling the jelly-like guest mattress upstairs, they then had to bring up the very substantial bed). So, we had a nice space for XH to sleep. They could make dinner at home, too, which was convenient and fun for them. Seems like a good deal--he saves $ and we have dog-sitting. And he washed the bedding when he left, and had the kids fold up the clothes that were in the dryer. That worked out great! I hope we can do it again on weekends when Lee and I don't have to be in town for some reason.

Lee and I enjoyed our first long trip in the Limo Truck. It sure rides nicely. His dad was very impressed with it, too. Since my own dad told me he'd printed out the truck's photo, I say we did a good job in pleasing the parents with the purchase! Lee's thinking of getting the rear windows tinted "limo" dark, since we call it the limo anyway.

It was good to see how Lee's dad is recovering from his skin cancer removals (big ole incisions--I think he waited a bit long on them). We took him to Victoria and fed him a steak dinner at one of those noisy roadhouse places. The steak was so delicious that it made up for the noise. Lee's dad also loved the mushrooms he had with his. I liked that you could get a small 6-oz. sirloin. (Still gained a pound over the weekend, sigh.) Lee's dad had stomach pain on Sunday morning, which worried Lee, but it is something he has been getting for years and no one knows why. Hmm.

It was interesting to see Victoria. It is about the size of Chambanaland where I used to live. Not a lot of character for the biggest city in south Texas, but they told me it all got over-built by strip malls and car dealerships. Lots of those. And hospitals. Oh, and if you are interested to know where the heck Lee's dad lives, here is a link to the website of Yorktown. The history section is actually pretty interesting, and mentions Lee's ancestors who settle the area (that would be the German settlers).

We took a nice scenic trip home that was only marred by traffic when we approached Austin. Then had adventures in paint and accessory buying for the guest room redecoration. We choose a periwinkle and a pale grass green combo and found a quilt with exactly those colors in it. Unfortunately, the only matching curtains we could find had just ONE panel. It was a challenge getting the Linens-n-Things people to order us another pair, but we managed. That took so long that by the time we got back to Lowe's to get the paint, they were closed. Sigh.

So we came home and worked together to make an interesting dinner, and were happy with the kids. Kids make us happy. But neither of them liked the cheese grits I made. Darn. They did love our weird nachos, smoked salmon and watermelon dinner from Friday, though!

Lee is off work this week doing home improvements. I wish I could be there to help! By tomorrow the old fridge and beds will be gone, plus all the old mattresses (yay Limo Truck). We will have a nice guest room AND space to park the car and motorcycle in the garage again! Woo!

Gratitude

No, I didn't forget it was grateful Monday. I guess I can't say I am grateful for Lee and the kids every week, can I? However, they are mostly where my gratitude lies. So, I'm picking them ANYWAY. It is just so wonderful to come home to three men, all smiling and wanting to tell me about their days. All willing to help me out, and to build me up. How lucky I am.

All Together Now

UNT Dorm
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

Woo hoo, Tuba Boy is home and our little family-like unit is reunited at last. The photo is of the dorm he stayed at, in Denton at the University of North Texas. Most of its buildings are this yellow brick stuff. It was a pretty nice looking campus, and bigger than I expected (I learned recently that is is NOT a small school, from my friend whose son is president of the junior class).

Apparently he had a great time, even when they had to go to all their classes in that horrible rain Texas had a few weeks ago. He made some friends and apparently is now the world's expert on Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucoult (will look up that spelling). He sounds like my high school boyfriend, and will lecture on schools of philosophy at the drop of a hat. Well, this makes me a happy human. It is wonderful to see him so excited about something that is not a video game. And something I also like!

Probably the most touching thing that happened when we went to get him on Saturday was that, the second we got in the car, he said, "OK, we have to go to this cool store, now!" And he led us in a meandering fashion (walking somwhere looks different from driving, he realized) to the head shop on the edge of campus. Mmm, incense. Apparently he and his friends had wonderful times going through those hilarious liberal bumper stickers and buttons they have in those places, and looking at all the statues of Indian deities, etc. It was just so sweet that he HAD to show us this place, because he KNEW we'd love it. We had a nice talk with the guy there, who said he knew these were debate kids the way they flocked to the slogans. And he said, "Your son was very well behaved," which was sweet. We got ourselves a few souveniers, which will be a nice way to remember the debate camp experience.

After all the fun in Denton, we took advantage of being in far north Texas to visit Lee's niece, the one whose wedding we went to on New Year's Eve. They live in a mobile home family compound outside of Ponder. And she has a lot of lovely peacocks wandering around. She said they just showed up, and now they stay there. The picture is of one of the daddy peacocks. We had a good visit, and the cigarette smell didn't kill us or anything. She has no kids of her own, but has four at her house this summer, two attached to her husband and two I think that are actually her cousin's children (Lee's family is hard to keep track of) whose parents are unable to care for them. We really enjoyed a couple of the boys, very cute. It was nice to watch Lee play with them. He reminded me of my dad, how he just thoroughly enjoyed playing with little kids. I was never good at "playing" (I talk to kids, but don't goof off much), so I enjoyed watching Lee.

My boys went outside with the oldest kid (very nice, articulate little fellow who's had a hard life but seems to have a good personality all in all) and picked up a bunch of peacock feathers. I know what I would like to do with them, but am worried the dogs will get into them, so alternative ideas are percolating up. They didn't get attacked by snakes or anything, so all was well.

I know Lee appreciated the chance to see his favorite relative, and since she is not feeling well, I know she enjoyed a chance to see him. It's good to get to know the family members, too.

The rest of the trip I knitted and knitted. I have really enjoyed all the car trips, because it's the only time I really get to knit a long time. I finished one pair of socks, and by the end of last night, was over halfway with another one!

Yesterday I just faded away. We made it to church, where there was a cool labyrinth laid out temporarily as part of a worldwide observance. Then I went home and spent the rest of the day napping or knitting and watching QVC (didn't buy anything, even though there was a lot of jewelry to chose from!). The men-folk went to the Harry Potter movie, but I stayed home. I needed a "me" day, and some recharging time. It was great.

I am just plain glad to have the boys both home and no pressing issues. That feels good. A real respite from issue after issue.

Chatting with Relatives

Barber Shop
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

Today I'll start off with some vacation stories. One thing I like about going to visit my dad is that I get to see the relatives who are in North Carolina. Here you see Beccano telling a story in Aunt Pug's barber shop, with Flo, my dad and Pug listening. This is the same spot where he got his first hair cut. His brother got his first hair cut from her, too, on Dad's back porch. Pug (whom I am named after--she is really Bettye Sue) is Dad's little sister. Of course, he says she talks too much, which he says about all the local relatives. I think he just doesn't like their conversation topics (their lives). She smokes like a chimney, but is in great shape otherwise, and is really sweet. She had a long marriage to an alcoholic, but she stuck with him and he did recovery. She's been a widow for many years, but still has the barber shop they opened together in Greensboro. I remember her loving dogs (can't believe she has none now) and ducks. This visit she told us how she used to always be carrying a chicken when she was a little girl, and the chickens loved her. Just like my grandmother. Beccano, of course, always liked her because he likes pugs. She, however, had mostly poodles and dachshunds in her later years (at one time raised pointers).

So, that is all about my aunt.

I also got to see my first cousin, Jan, and her daughter, Kendall. I have always gotten along well with Jan, so I am glad she's in town where Dad lives. Of course, he says she talks too much. I like how her daughter is so close to her (and they barely look related--Jan is teeny tiny and Kendall resembles her Clemson U football center dad). Jan also has a boyfriend named Lee. They seem to be bonded over the fact that they each have sons with "issues." Anyway, I like hearing about Jan's life and ups and downs!

Of course, when you go to NC you also get to talk to Flo's relatives, who are, I guess, step relatives. She has a very nice family, though her favorite aunt (who she was raised with like a sister) and her husband are both getting very frail as they get older. It is touching to see how Dad takes care of them. They have always been incredibly kind to me and the kids, so I hope they still have a few more years in them. As a bonus, we also got to see their daughter, who was in town.

Then there are the friends. It is cute to me how Dad and Flo always trot me out to all the neighbors' houses. Luckily, they have nice and interesting neighbors. Hilda who lives next door is 98. She still drives and volunteers at the hospital to "help the old people." She still has a lovely garden and is 100% all there mentally. I really admire her--a smart woman, and very generous. She spends little on herself, but gives a lot to worthy causes. Across the street are two other families, both very nice. I enjoy Ann, across the street, a lot.. I even taught her to knit. My parents are very lucky to have a caring community surrounding them.

They need the caring, because Flo is having a lot of health issues, and is a bit "off" right now. And her issues led Dad to feel pretty bad, really depressed. I don't blame him--I know he was remembering how hard it was caring for Mom when she was sicklier and sicklier. I think he'd hoped he'd found someone who'd outlast him. But he is loyal. He will stick with Flo, and has for 12 years as of last week!

That's about it for my family and their folks!

Garden Progress

Second Tomato
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

Things are just so happy these days. We are enjoying our new room ( and did NO heavy lifting yesterday--I made a huge pot of jambalaya, we ate it, then we relaxed, like "normal" people). It's so nice to see how happy Lee is lately, too. To think that being with me actually makes someone happy just warms my heart. And I feel so comfortable and happy with someone compatible sharing my life. Aah.

Things in the back yard are less perfect, thanks to a hailstorm a couple of weeks ago. And some bug. it ate ALL the marigolds and cilantro. I mean, to the NUBS. I didn't catch it, either! But, the bug didn't like tomatoes. We have a couple ripening right now, which is exciting. Figures, just when we are about to go on vacation, we get what little crops we are going to get! I hope Jeff will pick anything that ripens when we are gone. The tomatoes have a few hail holes, but are fine otherwise. And we have actually eaten two of our peppers.

Natually, there is still the evil vine issue. The grapevine has come back with a vengeance and even knocked over one of my gnomes. I will have a lot of hacking to do when I get home from vacation (can ya tell I look forward to leaving town?). It will be time to refocus on the outdoors!

Of course, to leave town I have to have a lot of training materials prepared. So this week, work is intense. The trip is disorganized (no agenda, no directions to the place), but now three of us are going, so we can be confused together.

Beccano Birthday Bonanza, New Roommate

Everyone Being Themselves
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

So, Tuesday is Beccano's 14th birthday, but last night was his final night here until some time in July, so we celebrated then. We had the generous offer of a family dinner from Jeff, to thank us all for being patient while he found new accomodations and to celebrate the smooth transition (we are all SO very proud of ourselves). Of course, um, we wish he actually had ALL of his stuff out...but that will come.

The photo is my favorite of the bunch we took (go to my Flickr pages under "holidays" for more). It's all the men who have been sharing my life this year, each doing what they do. Jeff is being funny with Beccano's bokken present (there's a photo of him mock attacking the boy, too), Beccano is doing his Stephen Colbert imitation that Tuba Boy is his Emo Friend. Lee is "hiding behind a tree" (from the first photo I ever showed the kids of Lee, one from work where all the team was there, but Lee was behind a tree). Tuba Boy is wearing that new iPod I got him and that green hat he now loves so much, with his band t-shirt. They are all adoring the amp Jeff got Beccano for his birthday (they'll all end up using it). That was nice, since Jeff took all the amps. Lee has guitars, but no amp.

I got Beccano a ninja costume, of all things, because he WANTED one. It's very high quality for the price, I have to say. One for taking ninjitsu classes. Lee got him a really nice flat-screen monitor that Jeff found on sale at Fry's for us. That will make the office cooler--we'll only have one CRT left! Tuba Boy got him a bunch of his fave candies and picked out great cards.

We had a nice dinner at Red Robin, where we met a waiter who is also a drum corp consultant, then had ice cream cake at home. It was a great evening, and the boy was happy.

Today, sniff, we sent them off to Ireland, where they'll see all their aunts, uncles and cousins as they celebrate EXH's mother's 80th birthday. I sent my wishes. We will both miss them. Lee and I have so much fun with the kids! In case you forget my life story, they usually spend all of July with their dad. This year it's early because of the special event. I'll meet up with Beccano in NC at the end of June (and Lee too!) to spend time with my dad at last. Tuba Boy, in the meantime, will spend three weeks at his expensive debate camp in Dallas.

But...we have New Roommate

So, it's like we have a kid, only an older one with a job and a boyfriend. And pink hair. Yes, Tina AKA Chemical Pink (I will NOT call her "RM2") is with us for a couple of weeks, though she will be out for many of those days at her anime convention. Seems she was asked to vacate her previous living quarters, where she was because she was asked to vacate the one before that when she started seeing a new guy. And hey, we didn't want to let the guest bed be empty more than a couple of days, now did we?

Really, she was not living in a very fun situation (living room full of noisy pets, on air mattress on the floor). At least she has a real bed and her own bath (mostly de-scummed and de-baby powdered). We'll probably hardly see her, since we work days and she works mostly evenings at the video store. I could not let anyone who calls me "motherly" have to live under an underpass with her pet cactuses and balls of yarn!

So, we aren't quite empty nesters yet!

A Boy and Cows

A Boy and Cows
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

Yesterday we took two very sick boys to visit Lee's dad. We didn't realize they were both suffering from what appear to be sinus infections until we were well on the way...but they got some medicine and were real troopers. The trip was just two hours, thankfully, and each direction one slept a lot.

Here's Tuba Boy (I am told Older Boy is too dull) in his Che Guevarra cap (still) bonding with Smart Cow and Baby Cow. Baby Cow almost went up and touched him (she let's Lee's dad do it). All three cows were VERY curious about the boys--heads up, nostrils flaring, coming as close as they dared.

The boys and I went on a walk around the fields and explored the clumps of trees and the freshly baled hay. Of course, Beccano the eagle eyed found a snake (cool!) and we also found excellent spiders and butterflies. They had way more fun than I thought they would, and they also enjoyed the hearty country lunch in the very authentic country diner. We all wished we could have stayed longer and that they felt better.

Both were very respectful and kind to Lee's dad. On the way home I surprised them with MP3 players for their trip to Ireland (and Beccano's upcoming 14th birthday). I told them that it was reasonable that they had them (they'd merely mentioned wanting them, not begged). Tuba Boy said something like, "Mom! How can I complain about you if you keep being so reasonable! Everybody else complains about their parents and I can't complain about you!" I think, at least right now, I am striking a good balance of being good to them yet setting reasonable limits. Yay me.

I got lots of knitting done (almost done with shawl!!), and Lee got a bit weary and sore from driving. Then the poor dear man made dinner for the kids and me AND diagnosed a bad problem with Tuba Boy's computer. He must be glad to have escaped and gone to work this morning.

I will be taking the boys to the walk-in clinic if they aren't better this afternoon.

Mothers' Day Weekend

It's been a nice weekend. First, I got the main part of my shawl done and started on the border (photos in knitting blog). That made me happy. I got cute little needles for doing the border and that's made it fun.

Then, when I was finished knitting and chatting with my friends and such, Lee and I joined my former contractor friends Greg, Chelsea and Phil, plus Lea (aka "My Wife" as Greg always calls her), and we went off to a hike in Inks Lake State Park (the same place where I went to the cabin last fall when Jeff played in the cave).

We went on a longer hike than I'd ever been on there, 5 miles-ish in 3.5 hours on the longer trails in the less developed part of the park. I really, really love this part of Texas, so I was pretty thrilled to get to walk on the rocks I have admired for so long from the road! There were also a lot of wildflowers still blooming, and we saw interesting wildlife, like Daddy Longlegs under rocks, a butterfly whose tail looked like a second head (I have a picture of that on Flickr under Travel), and some interesting little ecosystems in the pools formed by rain on the karst rock formations (one even had a tiny fish in it--I wonder if it was one of those who burrow in the mud when the water dries up?).

As you can see, the prickly pear cactus were blooming--Lee took lots of pictures of them, and you can see them in the Flickr links in the sidebar--go to the Travels collection.

The hike was lovely, and would have been nicer if there had been even a hint of a breeze, and perhaps a few more clouds. I thought I was being all wimpy for getting a bit overheated (I am prone to heat stroke, after all, and so is my Psychic Twin Lee), but I found out that even the young people were feeling the heat. Whew. We all began to look forward to the wooded areas, because there was shade. But, the flowers were so pretty, the vistas so vast, and the rocks so darned interesting; it was worth it! I'm only sorry Beccano couldn't join us because he was really not feeling well (is better today).


This picture is really cool. Lea took it and was all worried she'd mess it up. We realized that, oops, we were standing with the sun behind us, and were a bit worried that we'd not see our faces, but lo and behold, we can be seen, and there's this cool streaming sun effect beside us! We do look a bit hot, but otherwise, like the finest of former coworkers!

Today

Yes, it's Mothers' Day, so happy day to all you people who are mothers, may be mothers, have a mother or had a mother. I always miss my mom today, but am glad to have the boys to enjoy. They also fed us at church, so that made the day worthwhile.

Plus, Lee joined the church today, so we are a Pledge Unit, not just a solo. I just can't tell you how nice it is to have someone to go to church with who likes the people there, will do activities, loves me, admits it in public, and whom I can love back. (I doubt that sentence is parallel, but you get the idea). My dad made some joke today about needing a score card to keep track of my boyfriends, sigh. But it is my fondest hope that nothing happens with this one. It's working out so nicely. And I can tell my dad is relieved I have someone more responsible around the house.

In bad news, it looks like something is amiss with my air conditioner, the unit that didn't break a couple of years ago. Sigh. I will now just hope it doesn't require completely replacing the thing. At least I managed to save a little for an emergency, this time!

Little Entries Coming Up: Stray Dog

It was a busy weekend and a lot of interesting things happened, so I am going to post a bunch of short things today.

Here I am somewhere in southeast Texas bonding with Lee's dad's pet cows. More on them later.

First Story: Stray Dog

So, this weekend after church, Lee and I went to visit his dad. We were still in Austin, driving down 183 when we saw ahead of us some cars driving really strangely. One car had a guy with his arm hanging out, straddling the far left lane and the shoulder (there was a wall next to that). Then a taxi was straddling the far left and middle lanes, and behind them was a construction truck with a flashing light, also slowing and blocking traffic. They were all weaving. Then we saw the dog--a very large yellow dog was high-tailing it in next to the center wall. We felt so sorry for it--looked panicked. I was dreading the end of the scene, too, since it looked to me like that dog was going to get hit eventually. Then we realized the driver of the first car had his arm out because he was trying to catch the dog. While driving. Next to a concrete barrier. The taxi and truck were helping by keeping cars away. I watched in horror as the guy kept missing the dog. I was afraid he'd hit it, since he had to drive so close to it. But, amazingly he did catch the dog! Then he slowed down, stopped and somehow managed to shove the dog into his car! Lee and I were afraid the dog would be so scared it would bite the guy, but it didn't. The last we saw, the car guy and the taxi guy were pulled over and talking. Probably thanking each other and congratulating each other. They were SO brave to help that poor animal. It made me all weepy.

And we were thinking, would we be brave enough to risk our own lives to save a dog like that? I don't know if I could drive that well, nor if I could hold such a big dog. Wow, those were kind and brave people. They were very skillful at not causing traffic to back up or people to hit each other. Luckily, the road was not too crowded, too, so you could see something was odd up ahead in plenty of time to slow down. Whew.

What a start to a trip! Plenty of adrenaline!

Other fun trip things

Here's a nice farm image, with decorative hay and tree.

I am glad the visit to Lee's dad went well. He is a very sweet man, and was quite fun to talk to. It's especially good when he gets going on politics--his obvious delight that everything he said I agreed with was a bonus. Really, it was pretty funny to me that he came to many of my conclusions from a different direction. It was a bit scary to go into such an unknown situation in an unfamiliar setting, but I did pretty well. I am getting more used to coping with change, I guess. About time. That's all I've been doing for a while now.

So, what else was fun? We ate some good food in Cuero, at a Mexican place with gigantic portions for tiny prices. And no decor. And breakfast at Lee's dad's favorite local hangout in Yorktown. It was fun to see everyone saying hi to him. Nice to see he is looked out for.

We drove around Cuero, and I have to say it was a cool little town. So many beautiful old houses, beautifully restored--both large and small. What do those people do for a living? Good question. Can't all be oil riches. I think a lot must be vacation or retirement homes. They are so lovely. It was also fun to listen to Lee and his dad point out everywhere they ever lived, and all these old places they had done things. Nice to learn people's histories.

I guess that's about it for general stuff. I'll write about trees eventually.

Cow Stories

I don't usually have a lot of interactions with cows, nor cow stories to tell, but this weekend there were cow tales aplenty.

Here we see Lee's dad petting Smart Cow's heifer. Smart Cow is in the back, looking on warily. Brown Cow is lying even farther back. These three cows are something like family pets--the last of his herd, which he keeps around because he likes them. They get to shelter in the garage area when it is wet or cold, so there is cow poop everywhere. But they are nice cows, and as you can see, very tame. Smart Cow came right up to us to check us out! (Lee's dad thinks she is very smart, so that is what I call her--she is also a very pretty cow). The baby is 14 months old and looks like her white father. She is still nursing--for once, an appropriate use of cow's milk for a toddler, ha ha. She's so big that it's hard to get down their to get milk, but she manages. It was nice to hang around with such friendly cattle.

(The cattle were way friendlier than the kitty, a lovely black-and-white barn cat. It hid behind a cabinet for hours and hours, then went outside and looked perturbed at us from a great distance until we left. We are told it really loves Lee's dad, and is great company. So he really doesn't live alone, after all!)

However, these were NOT the friendliest cattle we saw. Nope. We were driving to dinner in scenic Cuero and passed a farm where the family were fishing in their pond (tank in Texan). The mother was sitting off to the side in a lawn chair, watching. Along with HER pet cow. This cow had her head in the lady's lap, and the lady was petting and rubbing her. Both looked really happy. She kept it up quite some time, because she was still rubbing the cow's neck when we turned the corner. That's one friendly cow! We all got a real kick out of that scene.

Since it is the time of year when livestock are born, we saw a lot of young ones. Many teeny-weeny very white goats, some beautiful foals (lots of pintos), and oh so many calves. We saw three of them frolicking in a field with a mother cow, and they looked so much like Rose running around--sort of awkward but full of pep and abandon. Makes you realize how seldom you see happy livestock. There was a lot down where we were (and some sad ones in feed lots). It was most enjoyable to see all the abundant new life, though. Everything was VERY green, too. A good time of year to visit Farm World.

Happy New Year

Hey, what did you do for New Year's Day? We played Scrabble. That's me, EM (aka Lee, forget these nicknames--he has commented enough) and Younger Boy playing, with Older Boy serving as Scrabble Consultant. It really was fun, even if RM did not like it when Lee used the word "aler." So, I guess you can see that things are already settling down fairly nicely. Our weird little family commune (including my sister) had a nice New Year's meal together and it all went fine.

Mundane Stuff from the Last Few Days

What's been going on other than that? I went to Lee's on Thursday after work and we ended up deciding to paint the kitchen cabinets. We did our first picking of colors together, and it was really fun and funny. We matched his china, which is roses. What cracked me up is that after careful matching, we ended up with the colors I would have picked off the top of my head--a color like a light butternut squash for the cabinet doors, a deep rose for contrast, a pale sage and for walls, a creamy yellowish white. Then I REALLY laughed when we got back and realized the creamy white is exactly the color already all over the kitchen. It looks FINE in small doses. We spent a lot of time Thursday night working on cabinets, then having some fun, then working some more. We knew we were overly in love when we were having fun and smiling while cleaning cabinets with a bleach solution. We got the second coat up on Friday morning. Now he's working on painting all the insides of the cabinets white. A huge improvement. The original plan was to replace all the cabinets, but since there is no long term plan to stay there, paint seems like a better idea now.

Next, we braved a really horrible rainstorm on Friday night to go help my sister install the printer we picked out for her. She fixed a delicious meal featuring mushrooms and shrimp on pasta. (We have been eating a LOT of mushrooms lately--the kids are reveling in the fact that Lee likes eggs and mushrooms). Anyway, the sister and the boyfriend got along just fine (they bonded over the fact that when they ended long marriages everyone said, "Oh we never liked your spouse," but had never told them before). So, that was one more item off the list of "potentially awkward things we have to do."

Saturday, while he painted and waited for his ex to come get some stuff, I went to the yarn store as usual and taught a nice lady some knitting, and worked on finishing my Silk Garden top-down sweater. I DID finish it, and will have a photo soon! I even washed it, which made it very soft, but a bit blocky. I love wearing it. Then I went home and knitted and knitted. I got a little peeved that what I thought would be a short time with the ex turned out really long, but got over it once I realized it was a misunderstanding. Sigh, if only SHE had gotten over it...we ended up having a perfectly nice evening.


Next on that list of potentially awkward things was meeting some of his relatives. This happened Sunday (New Year's Eve), when we eventually got in the car and drove to somewhere near Ponder, Texas for his niece's wedding (we just got a slow start--went to church and listened to live New Age music that went on and on and on, then came home and enjoyed mushroom omelets that the Younger Boy requested...eventually got to leave). It was a most interesting event, with many fun bikers and many more really heavy smokers. And lots of fun liquor, which I tried to not over enjoy, but the Everclear-soaked pineapple was GOOD. It was in the biggest manufactured home I ever was in--like two double-wides together. Lee's favorite niece was a very sweet woman, and her new husband seemed very nice. Their respective kids were all extremely cute boys, and dressed so cutely. They did great in the wedding. Everything was red and white, and there was a path of white fake snow and rose petals leading to the altar set-up. And the minister was a hoot--funny as our Chuck, and he had obviously known both of them a long time. I get a little weirded out at weddings (due to my ISSUES with patriarchal institutions and bad experiences with them), so Lee had to endure a post-wedding meltdown from me, but we still ended up having a good time at our scary little motel. Oddly, the honeymooners were at the SAME hotel but in the "fantasy suites." But, the good news was that I met at least a few relatives and was nice enough to them to pass muster. One more off the list.

Funny fact: we actually slept through our first New Year midnight, but woke up later and said "Happy New Year."

We drove back on New Year's Day, and it was a lovely day. We had a nice talk about hopes and dreams for the future, and I did a lot of knitting on the first hat for the twins. The pattern is great. Photo to come--I did finish it. I had brilliantly pre-c00ked the peas and greens, so it was easy to get the New Year's meal going when we got back to my house. My sister brought a ham for RM, and we were all set. I am so grateful that everyone is getting along well. The kids can see that no one is rejecting poor EM, and that he and Lee are respectful of each other. So they are pretty happy, too. We just had a ton of fun playing games and goofing off later!

The only thing that marred it all was that I got a really disturbing email from the STBX woman. Sent to their son, too. Mostly I was creeped out that she talked about reading all my blogs, referred to my children by their names, and wanted us all to have a bit ole email chat. I don't think so. After all those years in the Dysfunctional Nonprofit Organization, I know enough to not engage in THAT kind of email exchange. Anything you say can and will be twisted into meaning something else. I have to say that the email ruined my nice day. I do not want to let someone have the power to do that to me. So, this won't continue.

Back to work today. We spent a lot of time worrying that the son had not answered phone calls. But eventually, tonight, got through to him. He wanted to talk to me, so I did. One more potentially awkward moment off the list. I think it went fine and we liked each other fine. It's just awkward for him, I am sure. He does not need to be put in the middle of these things. I reassured him he did NOT have to take sides, and that of course he should be there for his mother. I did mention email ethics. But, he seemed real nice. And I figure it will all work out eventually.

When I realize the STBX had sent ANOTHER email cc-ing all the world (she seems obsessed with "proving" Lee told a lie about something), I went to the endless draft email to her I had written, cut most of it out (see, I DO learn lessons from myself, email pals), and said please don't continue. I am not participating in "he said, she said." If she keeps at it, I just won't respond. That has always worked well.

All right, this is too long. I'll post a nice happy picture or some knitting next time. Things are not bad, not bad at all. Just dealing with those consequences of our decisions that we knew we'd have to deal with.

California Hello

Hi from San Francisco. I am in a jaunty nautical themed hotel near Fisherman's Wharf with my friend BE. We are on vacation for a couple of days before work meetings that start tomorrow. It is, however, really hard to keep our conversations away from work, so I am perhaps not as rested as I could have been.But, we have eaten some wonderful food and seen some great knitting stores. My kind of holiday. Today we are going south and I will see my brother for dinner. Glad I have a third party there, as he is charming when there's someone else there. I did find the knitting book I had wanted to get, Elizabeth Zimmerman's old newsletter writings. She had a great quote I may add to my .sig: "Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises!"