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Update
It’s almost 9am Alaska time on Wednesday, and they just took my mom in for an angiogram. If they find blockage in one area only, they’ll likely perform an angioplasty and place a stint. If there’s more blockage, or if other complications mean angioplasty isn’t the best option, they’ll schedule her for a bypass surgery. Now is the waiting part.
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I’m in Anchorage
Hi All, Haven’t been in Alaska in 10 years, and this is my first time in Anchorage. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be sightseeing or visiting much, as I’m here because my mom has been transferred here from Juneau, and is in the hospital. Looks like heart problems, which may result in angioplasty, serious meds, or a bypass, depending on tests that they will be doing on Wednesday. So for now, we wait in the hospital. Fun. To my local friends, esp Cherry and Dot, I feel crummy for not calling you and telling you that I was leaving town, hopefully to be back on Saturday, but not sure…but I…
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TGIF
Not only is it Friday, it’s a three day weekend! Yay! I’m kinda thinking I could use a long weekend right about now. Seems like I’ve been busy busy busy lately. Last weekend, Maya and I attended a girls seminar held by Soroptomist International. Maya took classes in Self Defense, Yoga, and Etiquette, and I took classes in Talking to your teen-aged daughter, and helping your teen to succeed. Maya liked her classes, except the one on etiquette, which she didn’t like at all. But the classes that she might have been more interested in were full, so that’s what she got. But she did learn a few self defense…
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Happy Valentime’s* Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone, but especially most of all to my beloved Py. Can you believe this is our 20th V-Day together? I remember the first one…roses, chocolate covered strawberries, and champagne. It was a good day, and every one since that has been better than the last, because it means it’s longer that we’ve been together. I love you so very much. *Inside joke. Kinda like, ‘Can you borrow me a pencil?”
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Beowulf
I intended to read a different version of this graphic novel, but neither my local comic book store nor my local library had it in stock, so I went along with what they had, paying careful attention to NOT get the version based on the recent film, but instead, this version based on the historic novel. If you somehow escaped High School English without reading Beowulf, I’ll get you up to speed. Beowulf is the longest surviving Anglo-Saxon poem in existence, and what a poem it is. It tells of events, both real and imagined, dated to the time of Scandinavian King Hygelac, around 450 – 600 AD. The poem…
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Kindness
“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profundity. Kindness in giving creates love.” Lao-Tsu Maya recently graduated from a 15-week class that she’s been taking at ARF, the Animal Rescue Foundation, which is a local organization that takes the most adoptable animals in the county shelters, and brings them to a no-kill environment, and works to socialize them and treat them, so that they will be adoptable. They work to find the animals good homes. They spend a lot of time with the animals, getting to know them, socializing them, giving them exercise, so that the crushing reality of a county shelter doesn’t take an adoptable animal and…
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Curtis Broke My Heart…
Ted and I have watched a couple of episodes of the new season of Take Home Chef, and I’m kinda falling out of love. Sigh. Curtis Stone, the chef, used to surprise people in the grocery store, then go home with them and cook a meal to surprise their family/friend/whatever. I really enjoyed the show, and part of it was the challenge of them looking around in the store and putting together a meal…part of it was seeing the people’s houses, as some were pretty rich and fancy, and some were kind of poor and dumpy…and part was watching the flirty interaction between Curtis and the women he picked up…
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The Secret Family of Jesus
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55u9RcO7SxE[/youtube] (I couldn’t find a video of the right program, but this is very similar, and the same host.) We ended up watching part of this show on PBS the other night, The Secret Family of Jesus. We came in late and left early, so I will not pretend that anything I write here is correct or true. It’s all about the family of Jesus, and what information about his family made it into the Bible, and what did not. Discussions about how at that famous wedding where he turned water into wine, he was probably at a family wedding, that kind of thing. Then the idea was floated that…
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My Fairbanks Life
I recently found a new bloggy friend, Theresa from My Fairbanks Life. I found her through Michelle at Scribbit. They’re both Alaskan bloggers. Michelle lives in Anchorage, and Theresa lives in Fairbanks, which is where I spent 5 years as a child. Hearing about the cold snap they’re having right now (I just checked yahoo weather, and they’re saying it’s -43 F right now) put me in mind of some of my own memories of Fairbanks, and the time that I spent there. I had intended to do this as a Thursday 13, but didn’t get to it until late. So it’s a Friday 13 I guess. Anyway, without further…
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Wraggle Taggle Gypsies O!
(artwork by Tracy Butler, found here) We were talking the other day about music in schools, remembering when Maya used to sing every day in class, and how much she liked it, and then how that…ended…when she got to 1st grade. They still had music, but it was a music teacher who came once or twice a week, rather than the class singing songs together. I was reminded of the 4th grade, back in 1976 (I remember because it was an election year, very controversial among the 4th graders), when we had Mrs. Katz, the music teacher, who would come to our class once or twice a week with her…
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Team in Training
Guess who’s doing a 100-mile bike ride on June 1st, to raise much needed funds to research a cure for blood cancers? That’s right, my own beloved Ted, aka Py Korry. If you can spare a buck or 5, and are interested in sponsoring him in his endeavors, hop on over to his Team in Training page, where you can click to donate. And if you think he’s all take take take, not giving back to you, you’re wrong. Check out the mix of songs he’s put together for your listening pleasure this week, posted at Popdose. Thanks, kids!
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Wordless Wednesday
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I Voted
We just got back from voting…It felt ridiculously good to see the names of a woman and a minority on that ballot. No matter which way it goes, today was a good day. I can honestly say that I have never, NEVER felt this way about voting before. We took Maya into the ballot with us, so she could watch history being made. A good day. Updated to add, I have not forgotten that Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton ran last time. He’s a bit of a freak, and neither of them had much of a chance. This is the first time things have gotten so far as to…
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The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards
Last week, The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards catered lunch for the staff at Ted’s work. He came home talking about how delicious everything was, which pretty much made me want some of that for myself. I know, greedy, huh? Well, Ted tends to spoil me and my tendencies, so on Saturday, while Maya was enjoying herself at her BFF’s birthday party/sleepover, he took me there for dinner. Since the birthday party started at 4:00, we had really early reservations, so we were the first folks there. I don’t think they were technically open yet, actually, because they had us wait in the bar area for a few minutes while they…
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Home Alone
There was a time, years ago, when I was practically never home alone. Ted was working on his dissertation, Maya was in pre-school, and I was working across the street from her school. I would get up and go to work in the morning, leaving Ted with Maya. He would get her up and ready for school, and I would pick her up in the afternoon. If I were home, either Ted or Maya were also here, usually both of them. I remember once in awhile, envying Ted his quiet time at home, time alone to spend however he chose, though of course that wasn’t the reality of it…he was…