Does that sound more impressive than 40 years? Not sure but that is how long I have been married. The advantage to using the above tag on the post is that the software doesn’t seem to be able to handle a number as the first word in the title.

Go figure, I can’t. And spelling out forty is just dumb. Especially since I can’t spell and depend on word correct for the presence/absence of “u.”

We were married 10 Sept 1978 on a lovely Sunday afternoon that was unseasonably hot. I think I have shared pictures in the past. I had long hair, George’s was auburn and to his shoulders with a seriously matching beard. Since I changed computers, I don’t have the pictures at hand.

Looking back over the years just since I have had this blog – it is rare that we have both been in the same city on our anniversary. For example, ten years ago I was in York (UK), he was in Tel Aviv.

Looking back, I figure I was lucky. Found someone who could make a commitment, had a kind heart, and could put up with me even when there were really bad days.

Married for better, worse, house renovations and even a return to the education system!

It has been a long time since I learned to drive. Shall we just leave it at having had a license for well over a half century? Or learning to drive on a tractor which means that I grew up assuming that driving and standard transmissions were the norm.

This is obviously not the case for either those who grow up in US inner cities where both cars and driving are out of reach. The same goes, but for different reasons for those who grow up in Europe. Germany, where my offspring spent most of their years increased the driving age from 16 to 18 more than two decades ago. Not that this was an issue for the average German teenager since the price of mandatory drivers education, much less the ownership of a car was out of economic reach for just about all of them. The secondary affect was that DoDDs schools stopped offering Driver’s Ed as part of the school curriculum  since Status of Forces Agreement would prohibit the testing and licensure of any US family members below the age of 18. A compromise, which enabled those who already had a US Stateside license to continue driving as long as they could pass the mandatory written test enabled a few drivers at age 16. Not seeing any need for any of mine to drive, I didn’t see the need to send kids to the US over a summer just so that they could learn to drive.

The end result of all of this is that the Eldest got her license (stateside) at age 26 but really didn’t do any significant driving till around age 30. None of the younger three have ever gotten a license.

All of which goes to explain why, at 0600 on a Sunday morning I was at the North Berkeley BART Station as a passenger to Daughter #2 while we did the Bunny Hop around the parking lot. The two choices for early on a weekend morning fall into public lots and mall lots. Since the BART station was closer, that is where we went.

I did mention that our small VW hatch back has a standard transmission?

It makes for a much steeper learning curve than I remembered. But then, a tractor which creeps along towing the hay flatbed for days on end is not exactly a high pressure environment and one can stay in first gear for a long long time.  A parking lot which turns out, as much of the land here does, to have a slight slant means using clutch, break and gas peddle from the beginning. A parking lot also doesn’t require extensive use of turn signals, a real advantage.

I am still trying to identify why particular colors of embroidery floss seem to vanish just as I really would like to add that particular number to the canvas. I suppose I could accuse Shana’s two cats of stealing skeins, but that wouldn’t be the truth. Although they love string and would pounce in a heart beat I don’t see them as going on the offensive. I have some DMC floss-holders, I have a few baggies-on-a-ring and then there are the bits and bobs hiding in the bottom of whatever box, envelope or container I could swear I just emptied. In between being frustrated by the cross-stitch I did a bit of ironing for Shana as quilts go together much more easily when the blocks get ironed.

Yes, there was cat help for that as well

snopervision

In between I listened to the NYY vs As game. Or watched the box on my iPad when it finally got underway over 2.5 hours late. Something about rain. Not an issue for the East Bay…

Not managing to crawl out of bed for the first “family taxi” run of the day I picked up the slack from there on out.

I will just give you the summary:
George to BART, San Pablo Ave (personal trip), Acme Bakery, Berkeley lighting for the last fixture, pick up Dani & Gwen, drop off Alex, pick up & drop off George, pick up Dani & go to Costco, drop off stuff to Shana, drop off rest at home, stop at Sprouts, drive back to Shana’s, drive home.

By this time it was close to 2030 and the last load was ready to toss in the laundry.

So that only left packing.

Believe it or not, there still was fuel in the car!

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!