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Showing posts from January, 2017
A year ago my dad turned 90.  He had just survived a long session in the hospital, and then two months in rehab, coming home right before Thanksgiving.  He was wheelchair bound, but other than that he was feeling pretty good.  We threw a big party for him and invited all his friends, it was quite a night. Since then, he's had a stroke that affected his ability to speak.  The man who made his living communicating and writing can't get more than two or three words out, on a good day.  Sometimes he can write on his whiteboard, more often he can't. We had a much smaller party for his birthday last night.  Only about half the family was there, but we had a good time.  I couldn't help looking back a year ago and feeling sad for the turn his life has taken. I was also so impressed with my daughter.  She and I were there for lunch a couple of weeks ago when the speech therapist came.  Emily watched what she did carefully, and now whenever she's there, she pulls out th

Nobody listens

Nobody in my family ever listens to me.  I give really good advice, and I almost always know what I'm talking about, but nobody listens. If I want them to listen to me, I have to get my brother to tell them. Here's an example.  A couple of years ago, my mom's oven started to go out.  It drove her crazy and ruined more than one meal.  I said, let's go get you a new one.  She fussed very hard because she only wanted white.  Black and stainless steel are ugly.  Grey would ruin everything.  It had to be white. White is not a color that's real popular right now.  The store I took her to only had one white oven, and it didn't have the little ridges on top to contain the mess if you spill.  She HAD to have white, and she HAD to have those ridges.  The very helpful salesman searched everything available anywhere, and what she wanted didn't exist. I took her home.  She continued to complain about the stove, but couldn't commit to the white stove without t

Nothing much

I don't really have much interesting to write about, but I said I was going to keep writing and I'm gonna do it. Work is going well.  I have already had five new to me clients call for an appointment.  Lots of people appear to be moving up from California again.  Not sure how I feel about that. It continues to be super cold (for us).  Today it got up to 40 and I almost didn't need a coat.  There have been days when it never got above freezing.  I know the midwestern contingent is laughing at me, but that's really cold here. Tomorrow is a federal holiday, but no one here gets it off except Emily, and she is making plans to spend it with friends. And that's about all I've got.  I will get more interesting, I'm sure, but right now it's just about doing the writing.

Missing Pat

When I was growing up, I had a best friend, her name was Monica.  We met in first grade, and have been close ever since.  Her brother, Mike, was my brother's best friend.  Our parents liked each other a lot.  Over the years growing up, they came on vacation with us sometimes.  I was invited to their big family gatherings and Monica was invited to ours.  I really considered her the sister I never had, and looked on her parents as my second parents. Eight years ago this week, her brother Mike had a massive heart attack, and he died eight years ago today.  I still think of him often, especially around this time of year.  And last night Monica and Mike's father passed away.  He has been in failing health for some time, and had recently been discharged from the hospital to the local rehab facility.  I visited him Wednesday and thought he looked awful, but he's rallied before. This is so sad.  It's a part of life, I know, and his passing was as peaceful as possible.  I wi

Moving again

I started a new journal at Wordpress, but it's too complicated.  I've forgotten everything I ever knew about html, and what I had there looked awful when I was done playing with it.  I did some searching on the googles for best place to blog, and this came up as one of the options.  It said a lot of people won't like it here because they can't customize.  Perfect!  I do not want to customize.  I want to write, and not have it look like a frustrated artist designed it.  So here I am. We have survived the first week of January.  It has been really freaking cold here.  Okay, cold for Seattle.  There have been days when it never got above freezing.  Often the "feels like" temps on my phone have been in the teens.  I've been very thankful for my heated car seats and my warm down jacket. I've also been very thankful that it's dry weather, and not snow and ice.  Michael drives 37 miles one way to and from work, and he works a swing shift, so he gets o
After two weeks, the holidays are over.  Joe goes back to work tomorrow.  Emily starts class.  I need to change the message on the voicemail that says we’re closed, and start showing up more often. We are having cold winter weather.  It is unlikely to get above freezing for the next few days, the weather folk say.  At least the sun is shining.  I can put up with a lot if the sun is shining. Besides writing here every few days, my other resolution is to read more.  I spend way too much time fooling around on Facebook.  I am going to cut back on that to free up at least 30 minutes of time to read (which you know will be more, once I start).  My aunt recommended Louise Penny as one of her favorite authors, so I am starting there.  I have read all the book club books up through February, so the March book will need to be next on my list. I have a friend who works for Princess Cruises.  Part of her compensation package is a free cruise every year.  She signed up for a ten day Caribbe
So I’m back.  I started writing at Diaryland in 2001.  When Emily graduated high school, I stopped writing, but I still have things to say.  So I’m moving here, and am going to try to write more often. Andrew at Diaryland never ever answers his emails, but I was hopeful he might this time.  Awhile ago, he advertised that you could make a book out of your entries there.  I thought I’d like that.  I have a lot of funny kid stories there I don’t want to lose.  But even with the promise of ordering three books, he didn’t respond.  So I’m going through, each day, copying and pasting a week or two worth of entries into a Word document.  It will take me all year, but I’m going to do it. A quick update on the kids.  When last heard from, Michael had gone back to school, gotten a certificate in composite manufacture, and found a job in quality control at a company that makes parts for Boeing.  He liked the work, but the pay was terrible, and the shop manager was a psychopath.  Michael woul