Hi Ho

Hey, cuties! I will be in Alexandria VA for a couple of weeks instead of Alexandria MN. How about that! I look forward to trying to take a trip on the buses and the metro now that I supposedly know how to use them. Wahoo.

Hope our trip goes smooth (smoothly?). We are planning on getting in to Reagan Air Port tonight, which is just five minutes from John and Beth's house. The big deal, of course, is getting to hug Matt, and then pretend to scare him. We have a good time!

We had book club yesterday. Read a good book: Waiting for White Horses by Nathan Jorgenson. We are meeting for lunch, now, and as usual had super tasty food. Then a great discussion about this book which is set near Walker, Minnesota. We found it compelling reading.

Now we are gearing up for the big discussion of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand In December. Hopefully our poor weary eyes will manage to make it to the end of this small print LARGE book. I am getting interested in it, now, and even managing to read the small print without the magnifying deal.

Take care.

Oofta

I realize I have been most remiss in writing this blog. I told Karen W I didn't have anything to say, and she just laughed! So I will try.

Today is a sunny, cold and windy day. The trees are dancing as are the bird feeders. We have had a marauding couple of squirrels who have discovered how to crawl the pole and jump onto the bird feeder. They manage to hang on for quite a long time, and then lose their balance and fall to the ground... always landing on their feet, of course. I complained to George, and he said, well, the squirrels need to eat, too. Now they have begun to eat the seeds that have fallen to the ground. One little chipmunk joins them there, too. Cute.

We have pileated woodpeckers as well as downys (downies?) and several othe types of woodpeckers... then TONs of sparrows and several chickadees and nut hatches. A pair of blue jays have visited off and on, as well. They are so much fun to watch.

I am starting out on a long path, reading "Atlas Shrugged." It is an enormous book in extremely small print. I cut my paperback edition in two, and opened it in the way we learned in grade school to open a new book. Remember? Starting from the outside, slowly press down equal pages from the outside in. If you can't remember that, ask me to show you the next time we get together.

I have a reading board with an elastic band that holds the pages open, and a Barnes and Noble magnifying page to help. The print is very tiny. Hmm. I will let you know how it goes. We are going to discuss this book on December 17.

I will try to be more consistent with my blogs, but I find it more and more difficult to figure out some of these new requirements. I will continue to try!

Take care!

What were your aspirations when you were 8 or 9?

When we were flying home for furlough in the U. S. John was 8 or 9 years old. We were flying Varig which is one of the Brazilian airlines. We were served our dinner with real china, linen napkins, and lots of attention from the steward. George asked him if John could possibly visit the cabin. The people in the cabin said, "sure" so he proceeded to go there and stay for TWO hours. When he returned to his seat he told us he had decided to be a pilot.

Now, all those years later, he is a pilot. And his son Matthew just had an opportunity to fly in a glider. I will soon be visiting him again, so I will have to ask him what his plans are.

Someone once told me that whatever you are when you are 9 is what is the true you. Does that seem right to you? I was a feisty character who wouldn't let anyone pick on me without a fight.
How about you?

Back Home

We had a wonderful time in Alexandria, Virginia. Learned how to take the dash bus to the Metro at the Pentagon and the yellow line to the Art museums. And then back again.

I couldn't make the computer cooperate with me to do a blog, though I managed to sneak through the first one. Go figure.

We got detailed directions to go to Barnes and Noble (heaven) from John, but I wasn't so great at following the directions back. So we wandered a bit until I was able to get the GPS to working! I love the voice of the GPS system. "Make an immediate U turn as soon as possible"... and then when you have gone a bit trying to find a suitable place to make a U turn, she says"I am recalculating your directions." Soon she gave us new directions. We finally got home. Thank you dominatrix voice!

We were driving John's Pick up truck which everyone else is careful not to tangle with.

I actually painted a picture! First one in 1 1/2 years. It is hanging on the wall next to Matthew's bedroom. The next time we go out I will take the fixative, since it is watercolor on canvas and needs Durland's Wax. I am definitely feeling like my old self! Whoopee!

take care.

Wow

We're here. We have gone on the metro. We have driven. (Thank God that John and Beth have a GPS.) I visited a museum! I visited Barnes and Noble and racked up a respectable bill. I have been painting.

Also, because of the many different levels of John and Beth's house I have become a much better stair climber and going downer. My legs are stronger by the day!

Both John and Beth are good chefs, although Beth seems to be doing the most chef-ing this time. We are eating magnificent meals. It was Matt's 8th birthday and he got his requested cake: a brownie filled with chocolate chips. Cut it in half so as to make a two layer brownie cake like structure filled and covered with chocolate frosting filled with chocolate chips. Wow! A cake to die for (really).

I have been feeling much more myself and I'm having a wonderful time. I didn't get to watch much tennis as they don't have the tennis channel here. Oh, well, there is always HGTV.

Take care.

We made it!

Going through security is always upsetting. Taking off your shoes, jacket, scarf, cell phone, etc., tends to be somewhat discombobulating.

We made it through relatively unscathed, and the flights were fine. Turns out our cell phones do not work here in John's house, but will work when we are out and about.

We're trying to learn how to use the buses and the metro to get around. We went to the Smithsonian yesterday and I went to the hirshorn art museum. Fabulous.

Perhaps I will have more news soon... until then, Take care.

Preparations

It's so much fun to make preparations... not. We are busy making plans for a trip. We try to get by with a carryaboard. Now that takes planning. So far things are looking possible. I'll let you know later how good my plans are!

Everyone has been making plans for the start of school. Oofta. I can remember the days when we would have a few days of school before the Laborday break. All the 4H kids were down at the State Fair with their projects, so we would have everyone for about two days, and then just a few of those who didn't go to the fair. And then after a few days, everyone was back and had already forgotten what we talked about the first couple of days. It was the most ridiculous unrealistic plan ever. AAAAAAAAAAAGH. I did have fun playing games with those few who had remained in my class during the fair. I taught Spanish, so we played games in Spanish.

I will write more after our trip to let you know of any misadventures -- or just adventures that we might have. Always a good time.

Take care.