We're Getting There

Our new GPS is a little too ambitious for my taste. We took her out on her first ride yesterday for a trip to Jim's Aunt Josie in Pennsylvania. "American Female" (we haven't named her yet) mapped the trip down and back pretty well for us but I have to admit I'm not ready to give up Google maps for travel advice. What I noticed especially was the very optimistic travel timeline she offered for this 180 mile trip. Her expected arrival at our destination predicted a very quick trip and apparently supposed we'd have the pedal to the medal for the full 180 miles not slowing down one bit for slower traffic, stop signs or police cars. It was kind of nice to see that ETA be a nice reasonable 3 hours on the nose.

Almost immediately, she began to add time to the trip, such as when we stopped at the base of the driveway to make the turn into the road. Plus 5 minutes. Since Colesville Road isn't flat as Kansas, plus another 5 minutes on the first ascent. And so on. Never mind getting gas, food or stuck behind someone going 60 in a 55.

Even as we got really close to Aunt Josie's house, American Female kept adding a minute here and a minute there. How does the math work that the closer you get, the further away the ETA becomes? It was like a never ending trip--we were never going to actually reach the ETA as it kept adding time to itself. We'd been watching too much Twilight Zone over the New Year's marathon. I was honestly wondering if we'd ever actually get there even though we drove pretty steadily and I was fairly certain Josie's house wasn't inching its way away from us. It was too weird watching the GPS instead of the road.

That ever-advancing goal or destination is another trick my doctor plays on me. Last fall, he decided he wasn't happy with the blood pressure reading taken at 3 PM the first Friday of school. I was joyous that it was low enough to keep me out of the hospital. He decided it was time to take further measures "for my benefit". Understand this was not a horrible reading--around 140/88. Not good but not all THAT bad.

Time for Pat to get some enforced exercise. Walk 3-4 times a week for 30 minutes. Yeah yeah yeah. So I did. Not happily. Not willingly. Not surprisingly, it made no real difference in my blood pressure, which under more normal circumstances is around 132/82 or so. I pretty much stopped when the weather turned and as I realized these walks that were supposed to be relaxing were mostly just pissing me off. Another chore on the list put there by someone else taking up time I should be doing something else. How good could that be for my blood pressure and overall health?

Back to this doctor this week. Blood pressure about 132/82 after almost 10 days of vacation. Go figure. But, guess what? Not good enough. He's moves the target again, just like American Female. Further away. If walks aren't working for me, I should find exercise that is relaxing and focuses on ME. I'm already laughing on the inside as he is carefully encouraging me to make a suggestion that fits this definition. Relaxing exercise just doesn't happen for me.

So he suggests YOGA. Now I can barely contain my guffaws. Me and YOGA! Relaxing exercise to get to an EBP (estimated blood pressure) that he's just going to keep moving out of my reach. I have accepted borderline hypertension. I consider it a legacy from Mom that I can almost live with and manage. Way too ambitious. Yes, I am fatalistic about my blood pressure given my genetics. YOGA. Honestly. Don't put that picture in your head because it won't go away, trust me.

But as I reflect on 2008 and look ahead to 2009 it reminds me of my family history research. Every time I find new stuff, such as I did with Aunt Josie yesterday and I think it puts the goals within reach--I find it only makes for more questions. Puts the goal just one more step further away. The information leads to more questions, more stuff to find. Which I love. I don't mind that ever advancing goal so I guess it's YOGA for the soul. That ETA to "finish" just keeps moving away from me a little at a time but we'll get to the destination anyhow. OMMMMMM. Happy New Year.

Pie anyone?

Jim brought home this lovely peach pie but I don't think I can face it even to this day after the great peach bumper crop circa maybe 1967. Anybody else feeling like they still can't really eat peach products? To this day I do not know where all those blasted peaches came from. I remember the bushels themselves and I remember the sugary remains that peach jam left behind anytime someone might accidentally be less-than-neat in a household of 6 kids!! But it's kind of fun thinking about something summery here in December.

Now that I see how the picture looks, it reminds me of the New Year's Eve ball in NYC. Happy 2009. Let's let the ball drop :)

Happy Birthday Kathy!

Rice-a-Roni, Pizza Hut, Huckleberry Hound, Alaska, Hula Hoops and Kathy. All now 50 years old. You are in good company. Let's all watch Vertigo today to celebrate Kathy's birthday (another classic celebrating its 50th).

I miss your company and wish we could be together today and for the holiday.

Lights, Camera, Action! Fine Moments in Stage and Cinematic History

Just a little sample of Paula's fine work shown here. Brings to mind those glorious past performances: Scarecrow Dick, Peter Pan, Scheherazade. For Scheherazade, I remember Mom making me (yes, Mom) harem style pants out of an old pink prom gown of hers. Kinda wish I had a picture of that somewhere. I can remember that Main Street school stage pretty clearly for that particular performance. That had to be a good 15 years after Mom's prom (if indeed my memory is correct) and she still had the dress--or Nanny did. So if Delany needs a stage costume when she's in 6th grade, Jessica could check with us because Amy's will probably still be in the closet. It's a very pretty blue so if it's a Blue Man show, you're in good shape, Jess.

This little rug rat stole the show last night at Paula's show! I was just waiting for him to make himself so dizzy he would pitch off the front of the stage. Anyhow he managed to stay on his feet so no $100,000 Funniest Video prize for me this year. Paula got some chuckles out of the audience too!! Just kidding--Paula did a great job and I have most of one whole scene taped. I just have to figure out how to get it broken down into a small enough clip to post to the blog. Judy--I could use your help here!! Stay tuned.

We got most of the outdoor lights up and going today. Yes, I think we once again did this on the coldest windiest day so far. But it's nice seeing the lights out there so I guess cold fingers and toes pay off. We were at Paula's yesterday and she's got her tree all up and the whole place looks great. We probably will do our tree next weekend when Amy is home.

18 days to Christmas! My favorite Christmas movie: Muppet Christmas Carol (light the lamp, not the rat). What's yours?

It's Not Easy Being Green

A small firestorm erupted recently at work. Now if you spend any time at all in places with more than, say--three unrelated people you realize such firestorms occasionally flare up and normally extinguish themselves when no more fuel is available to feed it. This one, ironically enough, started with the pending annual fire inspection. We were asked to remove all personal electronic appliances such as refigerators, space heaters etc not only to assist with the inspection but also as an economic measure. Less draw on the energy = saving the district $$. Of course, this announcement also coincided with the Governor's threat and warning that school districts should prepare to lose state budget funds.

The firestorm spread because some staff members took this request to unplug as a request to make an unreasonable personal sacrifice to help save jobs. A leap, I know, but that's how it was interpreted by some. I'm just sitting there thinking that my personal little refrigerator is probably almost 20 years old and not too energy efficient. OK, I will remove it and use the window ledges about 6 months out of the year as my lunch and drink coolant. We'll be safer and it does make sense. It's much more environmentally friendly. Green. Like the green $25 the district will save to put toward a new teacher (?). Economically sensible.

I think we are all highly aware of the financial climate and making efforts to scale back, cut down and tuck money away. Judy's recent Christmas greeting is a prime example. She's probably a little ahead of the curve (in many ways) in conserving resources by email! Saves the expense of cards, stamps, gas, and photo printing for her. Saves the recipients the tape used to hang up the cards as well as the sort of tsk-tsk-tsk "what a waste" regret you feel as you recycyle your cards sometime in January. Not to mention all the time saved at both ends! Very efficient. Green and economical.

BUT this is going to take some getting used to. As much as I enjoy email, I admit I enjoy retrieving those extra envelopes from the mailbox, opening them and displaying them. I suspect there will be alot less of that this year. And, I of all people, could probably transfer that enjoyment to the "Check mail" button on my desktop.

Judy will probably get some reaction similar to those I've endured over my refusal to accept plastic bags. Maybe 12-15 years ago or so, I realized that pile of unruly plastic bags in my pantry was causing more aggravation than assistance. So I started refusing them. In the ensuing years this has caused more than a fair share of stunned looks from clerks ("Are you sure?"); rolled eyes from my family ("There she goes again") and ribbing from friends (an entire birthday celebration designed around plastic bags--yes, really).

BUT, there are no bags piled up in my pantry. No waste. It's all about the waste as various cities are taxing plastic bags as a means to discourage their use. And waste. I still get the occasional odd look from a clerk as I choose to lug out to the car the bottle of aspirin I just bought (whew). But not as often and most of my family members have adjusted. Their eyes roll at other quirks now. Maybe I'm just ahead of my time, the way I was with the plastic bag issue.

We may have learned some of this from Dad, who's carbon footprint must have been the size of his appetite. Did that man ever buy anything or throw anything away??? Ever?? So, of course, this brings me to the very symbol of the Green Reduce Reuse Recycle movement: those blasted swim trunks. And look what happened there.

So, Judy, it may take til Matthew graduates--from college--before such green efforts you make become part of a national movement, but hang in there. I'm here for you. It isn't easy being green.

Embracing the Quirkiness

First of all, another Happy Birthday shoutout to Chris. This has nothing to do with the "quirkiness" theme today!

My lunch group likes to try and fit a dozen or so of us around a table meant for maybe 6 or 8. This drives me crazy. There are two tables in the room adjacent to each other with adequate chairs at each table. I do not feel it necessary to be squeezed in around a table for the sake of having everyone eat at the same table. I am usually one of the first ones to arrive and find myself shifting and rearranging 2 or 3 times to accommodate everyone at the same table.

I think the others feel that everyone should feel welcome to sit together and all should be included in each conversation. Not a bad theory ... until I am not comfortable at my seat for my lunch with 3 different conversations running across a 6 foot diagonal. We've tried pushing tables together. Two circle tables do not fit all that well together and it still means moving and shuffling. It's not the break from the day that I look forward to.

On days when I arrive late and set myself up at the other table, I cannot make them understand that I'm OK with that. I will sit with my own little group holding our own discussions to save the world. It's OK, really. But not for them.

Which brings me to yesterday when I arrived late at a meeting and tried to sit at a separate table and not squeezed in at the table with the rest of the group. I want to shout: "It's OK! I feel no discomfort sitting over here. In fact, I prefer some space." More fuss was created by them trying to get me to change my mind interrupting the meeting.

I had been thinking that people feel they need to group together to fulfill some kind of need to belong. Kind of like those people that feel they need to seat themselves in the movie theater right in front of you when the theater is all but empty and you are no where near front and center. Or park next to your car in an empty parking lot. Well you get the idea.

But, it occured to me yesterday when the whole lunchtime scene replayed at this other meeting with completely different people that it must be ME that's the problem here. I know, hard to believe. Upon some reflection I think this is just one of my little quirks. I would rather sacrifice some sociability for physical comfort. Most people apparently would rather be social than comfortable. It might surprise you to learn I have just a few other little low level quirks as well.

Which got me remembering (see how my mind works?) how Dad would just stand in the kitchen eating instead of sitting at the table. I hated that. I felt like he just wanted to draw attention to himself and be different for no purpose. I wonder if that's how my behavior appears to others? I am sure Dad had his own reasons just as I do. Now you have the benefit of my sharing it with you all when he never did.

It's a quirk. I have others! I don't really like sand on the beach. I love the sun and sound but not the sand. Hate the sand. I don't like large cups for drinks. Almost can't drink from a large cup. All that liquid --too overwhelming. Quirkiness. Hate the skin on pudding. Don't really like getting my feet wet in the grass going outside with sandals on.

But somehow I could put myself in one of those harnesses and hook myself to the back of a speedboat for parasailing. Walking across the high bridge along the beams underneath. The other side of negative quirks are quirks like these. Or do they call these something else--like reckless? No, reckless is trying to sit at the other table in lunch.

Care to share your quirks or thoughts? C'mon--I've put myself out there. Your turn!