Category Archives: family

Survived another one

Posted on by October 2, 2017 2

Well, considering this past year I am more than pleased to report that I have made it to another birthday.

I planned nothing fancy today, just “doing stuff” on the theory that how you start the year is how you will continue. Considering that we are barely past Yom Kippur (but at least not having to fast today is good) I am not one for any kind of resolutions.

So – I dropped off Dani and Gwen at her job just after 0500 this morning and took a bit of a nap upon return. Then I cleaned up my side of the bedroom putting away clean clothes that have been languishing and figuring out what I am taking on the NCL Sun (departure on the 5th). The studio also received a bit of organization both before and after a grocery run.

The spaghetti sauce is simmering on the stove, the bread and bread sticks are baked, the salad came out of a bag and the noodles are about to go in the pot.

Shana baked the cake. As soon as one the four other people currently residing in this house figures out that someone (read – not me) needs to set the table we might even be able to eat!

Freaking hot

Posted on by September 13, 2017  

and a day of no guilt.

Upfront – I am at the ballpark. George is in Germany. Today marks our 39th anniversary.

There were many years in our marriage where deployments and/or jobs interfered with celebration of our anniversary or either of our birthdays. Seven years in fact where we missed all three and not a broken mirror to blame. This year I was a bit concerned.  His birthday, which falls in July was hampered a bit by the house construction. I haven’t yet come up with an excuse to duck out on my birthday in October. Which leaves our anniversary today; a day which just happens to have an A’s home game.

It isn’t that I don’t want to be in the same place with my husband. It is rather that a good friend of ours, perhaps George’s closest friend in Germany died unexpectedly last week. It is why he rerouted to Heidelberg while I came home. Anniversaries roll around every year; not so with funerals.

Meanwhile, the As managed to win the fourth of four games in the series with 41 runs scored over the four games.

 

 

Citi Field

Posted on by July 24, 2017  

What would a weekend be without a baseball game?

In this case, it was take the 7 from Manhattan almost all the way to Flushing.

I actually don’t mind some of the design of Citi Field. Certainly it is a lot newer than either the Coliseum or A T&T park. Some of the design features I do find issue with. The stairways are hard to find and ADA access? Absolutely no signage – you have to know where to go and how to find it. And we will not bother with discussing subway lack of easy accessibility…. not worth going there. The do have the sense of just wanding everyone which eliminated all the metal detectors. Actually quicker and easier!

The design of the stadium, however, does lead to decent right and left field bleacher ares.

FYI – the Mets – like too many other teams outlaws noise makers. The fans today lacked what I would call ongoing team spirit, perhaps fueled by what is now the Mets Sunday 2-7 record at home. According to Angel (Pratt grad along with the Maus) there is a solid bleacher group which primarily comes to home evening games and does a lot of supporting cheering.

But still? No banners? No flags? No drums or cow bells? It is part of the experience at home for the As.

Daniel Gossett managed to pull off five good innings before starting to lose it in the sixth. The relief pitchers held it together. Casilla after pulling his usual idiocy managed to get the three outs in the bottom of the 9th thanks in no small part do to excellent fielding on the part of Brugman in the outfield. A win is good, especially after pitchers gave away more than comfortable leads to lose the last two games.

We are off to Connecticut in the morning. My chance to see where Noah is working for the summer and ride the trains on the East Coast…

(photos not yet downloaded….

Absolutely nothing

Posted on by July 23, 2017

Seriously, this is one of those dry spells where days run into each other separated only by the presence or absence of an Athletic’s home game. The dogs are doing well and adore taking turns being a warehouse dog at Dani’s job. Gwen (the Golden Retriever)

Dog, reporting for duty

and helping with orders

and exactly why can’t I do the orders?

while the other pup (different day), just needed a nap after her hike to work (only 7 km…)

just give me a minute…

She has a lot more energy and it didn’t take her all that long to recover. A solid game of ball fetch over lunch let her keep it together for the rest of the day.

House construction is proceeding apace. The new foundation will be poured sometime next week.

And we head to NYC in the morning.

Thread

Posted on by July 23, 2017 2

Isacord – 40w poly. 423 colors

Let me take you back in history: a long, long time ago when I lived in Germany I bought a Pffaf sewing machine and brought it back with me the first time I lived in the DC area circa 1984. Carmen and her husband picked us up at the airport (me, Shana, a ton of luggage which included the sewing machine) and dropped us off at our new but empty house in Kensington. There was a small embroidery attachment and I had great dreams about “doing stuff.”

Over the years I added machines which included increased machine embroidery capability but never quite got the hang of it. I did accumulate a bit of thread (Sulky, Isacord, Maderia, plus a couple of other brands) which meant that I never quite had the colors or combinations that I needed and continued to add thread one spool at a time.

This past Dec I had to change sewing machine manufactures. Pfaff is no longer made in Germany but China and all the attachments weren’t going to fit anymore. I bought a Viking (which is European made) and went for the relatively high end. It can do all sorts of things including embroider. I had a variety of stabilizers, I had the software. What I didn’t have was a thread set. When I did this for Alex

On the back of a jacket

I had to pull from five different thread lines to come up with the colors. It is not that it wasn’t appreciated –

the kids, the dog, the jacket

But I really wanted to avoid the hunt and color substitution agony that was involved.

Poly is not quite as shiny as rayon, but it is very washable and color fast which is why I bought what I did. I sorted through and found I already had about 20 colors. Even so, buying the set saved a chunk over individual spools, especially since the storage boxes were included.

FYI – Casilla managed to lose a winning game in the 9th by giving up two runs to Tampa Bay

Maybe gray hair

Posted on by July 11, 2017 1

But what would you expect of a handsome man turning 69 today?

George

He certainly isn’t the shaggy haired guy that I married in 1978

10 Sept 1978

But then, I don’t exactly look the same either!

Last year we spent a weekend white water rafting and wine tasting. This year things are a bit tamer. Lunch with those in the family who are local (minus the dogs) and dinner for the two of us on Thurs. He is someone who actually appreciates both big bashes and birthday acknowledgements. But with the house under construction, a large shindig is going to have to be next year (and besides, 70 is something more fun to celebrate).

I’ll be happy to pass along greetings or you can contact him directly (georgeDOTRehmATicloud.com)

 

Dinner with Daughters

Posted on by June 16, 2017

Two of my three are relatively local to me. Well, one is really local, living across the hall. The other lives just down the road in Richmond. Last week we got together for dinner. No fool, I buy the groceries and let them cook.

Dani picked the menu this week with an Asian flavor – there was spicy Thai beef salad –

on a bed of romaine

 

a lovely mushroom soup with Udon noodles

sprouts and a bit of tofu for protein

 

and quick grilled peppers because I thought they looked pretty in the bag and brought them along –

which turned out to be mild and nice

we made it an early evening. The As had already managed to loose to the Marlins..

Defeat from

Posted on by June 8, 2017  

the jaws of potential victory.

It seems like the As pitchers just can’t stand to have a winning streak. After the previous two good games, the As pitching left a bit to be desired. Of course, the starting pitcher didn’t get hung with the loss because he was not the idiot who proceeded to deliver balls that turned into Blue Jay home runs.

I didn’t see the end of the game. For Oakland it was cold and the wind was blowing. For once common sense applied and I left after 8 innings when the score was tied. I didn’t have to watch the As lose and I didn’t spend money on another sweatshirt or jacket since I had stupidly left mine at home.

Had a lovely evening spent with The Eldest and Ms Runner where they tried out three recipes from a new cookbook and I had a chance to haul the Spiral Fractal from where it was languishing and add a few stitches.

Not fit for civiliazation

Posted on by June 8, 2017  

It is not that I have fallen off the face of the earth exactly. It is more that the bounce after steroids this time was slightly beyond belief. I won’t tell you that I am ever the most even tempered individual, but but being totally and completely evil is not what I want to think of as my normal mode.

Especially once the temper gets out of control and doesn’t easily want to be reined in.

What really doesn’t help (ok, lets just be honest here and say that it makes things even that much worse) is if the individual with whom I started a discussion starts to argue with me.

Hello? I am the mom. Even if I could be wrong (which of course never comes into consideration), I am still the MOM and therefore right.

I think it is time to go and hole up once more…

27 May 2017

The House – part 1

Posted on by May 4, 2017

Ok, this is the last time I am going to be answering the question of what we are doing with the house, It is not like I haven’t explained before (yes really, but I don’t expect anyone to remember what doesn’t personally involve them.

To backtrack – we bought the house here in Berkeley in 2009. Well, actually George bought the house and I just went along with it. Thought he knew what he was doing. Claimed it was just what we always wanted. Husband’s don’t exactly lie, but they are really capable of deceiving themselves when they find what they really want.  My criteria were access to public transport, near a synagogue and accessible.

The house is on a freaking hill and there are stairs all over the place. The other two factors are satisfied. Provided you only want the bus before 2000 at night and don’t mind hiking up the aforementioned hill from the shul.

We took the house back from tenants in fall of 2014 when Shana came out here to go to grad school and Noah decided to make a serious stab at University. They oversaw the third floor and bathroom renovations. George and I moved in Dec 2015.

Since the beginning, I have maintained this house is not mobility or age friendly. Trust me, this past six months have more than proved both of the above to me. In concession, a couple of years ago we started the process to finish the lower floor into a one level accessible unit. The permit process wound up being insane and took us almost two years from start to finish.

We are trading in dirt floor crawl space, totally disorganized utilities with vents going everywhere and a laundry room that doesn’t connect to the rest of the house. What we will gain is a self contained 1 bedroom unit with bath, great room and pullman kitchen. Did I mention the sunroom?

When I am old and grey I will move downstairs, sit in the sun and have meals delivered…

(Ok, I am already older and have a fair amount of grey…

actual construction pictures tomorrow…20

No parades for me

Posted on by May 2, 2017  

Yes, it is the first of May. A day for worker celebration. A day with a significant number of demonstrations.

To tell you the truth, even if I wasn’t immune compromised at this point, I would not be out there marching, protesting or demonstrating. I don’t like crowds, I don’t like stressing police and I don’t see what any of it accomplishes (other than feed the press who seem to be able to manage frenzies without much assistance).

So instead I ran a few errands, appreciated that Saul’s was closed again today in order for its people (huge number immigrants) to be out and involved.

More importantly, we sprung my SIL from UCSF and got him home. Not sure if Gwen (one each Golden Retriever) was more relieved or Alex was. He didn’t have a huge fun time in the hospital. Duh

Back in the Lounge Chair

Posted on by April 27, 2017  

Since I had essentially been up all night, I was more than glad to see that the coffee stand at the VA had both coffee and muffins. Driving over from UCSF wasn’t all that challenging. Not even given the stupid directions that Google Maps was trying to give me. It was just easier to back track to Stanyan, cross the panhandle of the park and drive up Geary to 42nd. Would have been much, much easier if the fog had not decided to be a cold, wet blanket over everything.

As soon as the infusion center opened, I crawled into a chair with a pillow and two blankets. I stayed awake long enough to get blood drawn; then had to be woken to see my doc. After a nice discussion, two of my chemo meds are being reduced, my echo is ok. My anemia is a huge pain and I can get a scan next week if I really want one.

I crawled back in my chair and dozed off and on for the next couple of hours. That turned out to be good because the dipping Google/Siri voice wanted to send me through downtown on the way home. Or to the Golden Gate Bridge. Me? Geary to 36th to Fulton to Stanyan to Oak and away we go. Only took 20 minutes to get those last couple of blocks to the freeway and forever after that. I gave up and bailed @ Ashby. Meanwhile – there is a faster route available… you can save two minutes….

Right. Not.

Saturday, at the park

Posted on by April 23, 2017  

and it was most than lovely.

The food was good, the friends fine and the As managed to win their game by getting three runs in the first inning and managing not to blow either the fielding or pitching too badly after that. The final score was OAK 4 – SEA 3. Please note, the Mariners actually had 9 hits to the As 4. Go figure.

The RF149 section count today was four flags, three drums, three cowbells, triangles, jingles and a lot of yelling. Oh, yes, and banners across the entire front. Several of the fans are die hards, planning to drive to Stockton after the game for the evening game there (Asparagus Day with Sonny Gray pitching). Seems to me a long drive.

I caught the first BART out, then waited at Lake Merritt. As I was standing there, a guy came running past with a backpack. Behind him an elderly gentleman was screaming “stop thief.” Me? I can’t run right now without going on my face and I was too slow to stick out a foot. But another fan, complete with yellow jersey took off after him and captured the dude by 2/3 of the way down the platform. The train, which had been about to leave, waited. The dude, having tossed the pack right as he was caught was arguing to leave. The security guy who apparently saw the whole thing on camera came down to hold him till the police came. Meanwhile, the rest of us picked up all the scattered belongings. The older guy just wanted his stuff and headed back to the train (he also had a suitcase…).

We all congratulated the Good Samaritan; mentioning that he was a whole lot faster than Billy Butler (well on second thought, I am faster than Billy Butler with zero cardiac reserve at the moment). Probably faster than Khris Davis who can hit but doesn’t seem to throw or run. In any case, a good citizen was much appreciated by all.

I ran out of steam by the end of the afternoon and an early supper at the Eldest turned into me crashing for the evening. Since she was home, the cats pretty much let me sleep….

And in NYC

Posted on by March 7, 2017 1

the birthday box arrived in plenty of time with clear instructions not to open till today

special for the 6th

 

Miriam actually waited until her birthday to open it.

#24

I figured the birthday girl needed a tiara, and every young woman needs a unicorn headband. Both together?  She is living & working in NYC and having a good time. According to her note, I think a few of the items wound up at work providing entertainment all around.

unicorn horn taking a break

 

Otherwise, the eldest provided these for memory time –

~ 10 years ago + Dec

My day at sea was relaxing as always. Tomorrow, since all the family birthdays are past till July, it will be back to the regular cruising natter….

Quiet at Sea

Posted on by March 6, 2017 2

and busy in California.

I can happily report that not much of anything going on here. It was sunny and humid, then it rained. and rained and rained some more complete with thunder and lightening. It cooled off a bit and I spent a wonderful afternoon sitting with Jill in my cabin with both of us working on Cross stitch.

Meanwhile in California – College Guy celebrated his birthday (#26) prior to heading off to work closing shift at CVS. So much for giving him a birthday off.  Two of the girls contributed some pictures –

Maus and Noah a couple of years ago

Shana & Noah – Vampire Ball Heidelberg ~ 6 years ago

along with him opening presents this year –

I’d left a sack ‘o stuff for Dani & Shana to bomb his bedroom (lights, glitter, streamers) so far I don’t have know if it actually happened. Given that there are currently a couple of dogs in the house, I’m thinking that they probably limited the mess to inside his room……

 

Ok, I think I am ready

Posted on by February 27, 2017 5

Well. Almost. I have all but one scarf sewn. I’ve repacked the suitcase. Took a few things out, added a few scarves.  Repacked the craft supplies, taking a few things out and making sure that I had actually packed the paper charts that I will need.  While I was at it, I checked in with the airlines, printed all my reservations, and charged up at least some of the electronics.

Decided to swap out the small camera backpack for a regular travel backpack. Since I’m not planning on spending any significant time out and about, I’m limiting myself to one camera body and two lenses. So all that remains to pack are those cords, connectors, backups and duck heads so that I can face just about any type of outlet with equanimity.  I’ve printed everything and even got around to making a plane reservation home (imagine that!). That flight will take me through Munich as it leaves an hour later than the other options (United direct or Lufthansa with a plane change in Frankfurt. Pushing the envelope on flights is so not me.) George located my credit card case that I had put in a “safe place.” That place was just fine, never mind that I had forgotten it as long as I was carrying the camera backpack…..

The only things remaining are to finish up the PJs. Yes those ones that I have been commenting about for the last several days. I have four pairs to go. All that needs to be done is waistbands sewn and elastic threaded. I might even consider hemming them if everyone talks nice to me…

I finished knitting another hat and tossed it in the suitcase just in case.

——————>-8 ————-

Just ran the elastic through 4 of the remaining five pjs. The fifth is for the Eldest who isn’t currently in town. I’ve put Dani in charge of hemming her’s and Alex’s. Noah’s are done and his birthday isn’t till next week (note, the others have had birthdays long past but sometimes my bright ideas strike me rather late.)

Tired, off to bed. If I catch the 5:40 or 5:55 BART from Berkeley I can find a place to sit and not change till San Bruno. If I go later? Too many people, too much crowding plus I really hate hurrying to get through immigration. Who knows what they are up to at this point? I am leaving and look rather suspicious don’t you think? White woman over 65 with a fat passport. Obviously, I am a problem……

 

Packed

Posted on by March 9, 2017 10

Ok, so I don’t leave till Tues. So what? I decided that one burden off my to do list would be good. That and I had to replace my beloved Rimowa suitcase that the airlines finally managed to break. I would have just gone and bought the replacement in a heart beat but….wait for it…. they don’t make that model anymore. In stead, since it was a decent suitcase and not terribly heavy, I bought a black with bright lime green accents when at the Mountainhardware/Columbia store the other day.

New suitcase. New method of packing. This one has one large compartment with a cover that zips back. The old one was a clamshell that opened in half. Breaking five years of frequent packing habits turned out to not be as easy as I had planned. The clothing part isn’t that hard, it is adjusting the rest of it and brining along enough cross-stitch and knitting supplies. After all, can’t run out of things to do for 23 days…

Back home for the day, I attempted to clean up my sewing room a bit, make a couple more scarves. Knock out some more PJ bottoms (I really need to pick up large safety pins, it makes threading elastic through waistbands so much easier.)

Sleeping (attempting) once more with the cats before College Guy takes over on Sunday eve for a couple of nights.

Oh, and finished my audio book and off to find another.

No Alarm

Posted on by February 24, 2017 7

It is quiet here, except for the purring cat. The occasional train rumbles by with the tracks within a couple of miles. I can hear the whistle in the distance as the freight trains roll across the various crossings.

And the cat purrs on. Only one of the two, Onyx is being both chatting and actually physically demonstrative. I am not sure what he thought when attempting to chew on a small bit of my hair and it all came out in his mouth. I wish I had a photo of his totally astonished look. He is wandering back and forth behind me looking for something I am sure to play with. An item that I would appreciate him appropriating. Yarn? Embroidery floss? Perhaps a nice rattling rolling object? No, not my pill bottle thank you very much!

George did the transportation services while I had the pleasure of a day of mostly rest. A bit of sewing, a bit of knitting, a decision not to cross-stitch on black without enough light. With a bit of over the phone help, I have completely conquered threading my new serger (well, ok Nov new) so will tackle the entire pile of p.j.s and head scarves tomorrow besides packing for Singapore.

It is later than I planned, but listening (I think I skimmed the book when it came out) to Bujold’s Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance which I am enjoying quite a bit although I think she overplays Ivan’s lack of ambition and excessive ignorance at times..

And the rain continues

Posted on by February 23, 2017 6

It was an extremely productive day. And that is in spite of the rain pounding us off and on all day.

I found mailing addresses for three packages outbound probably Thurs (this time Colorado rather than Texas) as well as Zimbabwe and Georgia. Go figure. I offered to send more yarn to Minnesota, but the young farmer I know there gracefully declined as planting season is just around the corner.

I’ve someone coming to pick up my remaining floor loom shortly after I leave for Singapore. I managed to find all the related items (bench, shuttles, raddle, reeds, bobbins etc) and even a couple of books. It is going to be so nice to have it in the hands of the woman who is getting it.  I’m looking forward to seeing what she does in going beyond four-harness & back-strap weaving.

But my most fun was taking my three in town (Dani, Alex, Noah) off to the Mountain Hardware Employee/Outlet store on Point Richmond. It is amazing how many shoes one needs to try on when looking for hiking shoes (the key being lousy muddy terrain and a German-Short Hair). In the same complex which is the old Ford Assembly Plant one can find the Rosie The Riveter Museum and the Assembly Restaurant.

Otherwise, I appreciate all the good thoughts about hair, the lack there of, how to deal etc. I think about 1/2 my hair decided to take leave of my scalp over the day so I am now figuring about 1-2 days more before head covering, wig or more than one of the above. I’ll spare you another photo of hair…..

Sewing with Cats

Posted on by February 18, 2017 1

You might have heard of the commentator and humorous writer David Sedaris. George thinks he is hysterically funny. I have tried reading him – the last attempt was Diabetes with Owls.   I guess I appreciated it just about as much as sewing with cats.

Let me demonstrate –

It has been years since I faced the pleasure of trying to cut out anything with helpers. The last time that it really was a challenge might have been – oh – about 22 or so years ago and the helper was a toddler, not a cat. Since then, I haven’t had to worry about pin or scissors safety. What I hadn’t counted on was the temptation of crinkling tissue paper of the pattern. I think I had a lucky escape when only the pattern was torn on the last piece I needed to cut out.

Back in Dec, I wound up making a lot of polar fleece pullovers for members of the family. I think it came to about 14 or 15 when all was said and done. Several made their way to NYC, the rest stayed local to the Bay Area. I think the only one who didn’t get one was George. Since I didn’t have any fabric that said “Cal” I didn’t think he was interested.

Piles of fabric turned into tops …

and otherwise as the Eldest is on her way to Germany, we are staying at her house for the duration. Which might just explain why I am arguing about pattern pieces, fabric and pins with two Benegal cats. It is not like either Ghost or Onyx are malicious. They are just cats.

Now I have to wonder what they are going to happen when I pull out the knitting and join George watching “Driving Miss Daisy.”