It's been too long
Nov. 6th, 2017 04:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ymjoostenI'm not good at updating, that's for sure!
What's happened over the last month? We went on a trip while not forty miles away, Sonoma was on fire. We had planned to see my brother-in-law and sister-in-law in their new home in Massachusetts for several months. I wasn't thrilled about leaving Danny and Scruffles here alone, but he knew what to do in case of any emergencies.
We had lots of fun in search of fall color in Northern MA and even drove into New Hampshire. The fall color was absent this time around--I think we might have timed it wrong, but Kathy also said it was a bad year because it had been too warm. We stopped at the White Mountain Resort Hotel and had drinks in the lounge while looking at the beautiful mountain view. We went to Lowell another day to see the textile manufacturing museum. We went to Newburyport another day to look at the shops and hang out. My sister-in-law made lots of good food--dinners and breakfast. We watched baseball and my brother-in-law introduced us to his favorite tv shows, which seem to feature lots of explosions.
We left there and flew to Richmond to see my father-in-law, who lives in Williamsburg. He picked us up and we went to his house and got ready for a fancy birthday celebration at the Inn. He was taking his neighbor out to dinner. We hadn't met her yet and we liked her. They're not a couple, but good friends.
The next day we took the ferry to Surry and looked around Smithfield. We went into a historic building, which had been the courthouse back in the day. The docent was a woman who had lived in Plano before moving to Virginia where her family originated.
We left for the airport the next morning to bring Rick's dad back to California with us, landing here at about 7:00. We had a lay-over in DFW and had the first Tex Mex we had eaten in three months. Yum! We had to face the long trek home in what was still rush-hour traffic. He stayed with us for six days. He had been stationed in the area when we was in the Navy during WWII. We took him to Vallejo to the museum, which he enjoyed. We were able to see where he had been on a boat at the end of the war. We hopped on the ferry to San Francisco after exploring Vallejo, to do some touristy shopping and eating at Pier 39. It was actually quite chilly, but the ferry was nice and warm and had a snack bar with hot chocolate! Every other day we had planned activities with a day of rest so we wouldn't wear him out. We went back into town to see Beach Blanket Babylon, a musical review that every tourist should see. We ate at Joe's. It couldn't have been more cornball tourist and more fun. Even the parking garage was a historic building and the attendant told us all about the history.
We decided to do something fun this past weekend. Rick and I participated in a "race" called the Lardbutt 1K for the non-athlete. It was basically a short walk between three donut stations. It started with a mimosa/beer/cider tent and ended with a fizzy flavored water stand. People dressed in costume and we met a nice couple from Richmond.
Afterward, we went to the DeYoung to see the Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire exhibit. It was pretty amazing. I can't believe so many fine carvings survived all this time, but I guess they were inside of pyramids, so they were protected. We had been to Mexico City in 1982 and had seen the pyramids, although we didn't climb them. I think a lot of what we saw in this exhibit hadn't even been discovered in 1982.
Tonight I have my writing class and I'm submitting five pages of something I'm working on for critique. I'm planning to expand it to a short story or even further. That's my goal. I want to write two versions of it, one with a normal contemporary setting and the other with a sci-fi twist. I'll be working on that to give the teacher.
This coming weekend a friend and her husband are visiting from Texas. I'm so anxious to see them. She gave me some very sad news. One of my former colleagues lost her husband this weekend. He was killed in a car accident. I was talking to another friend and we both commented that the sadness of her loss was compounded this weekend with that horrific shooting at the church.
Even with all this sadness, I can feel the rush to the holidays already. After we clean house this week, I'll get the rest of my fall/Thanksgiving decorations out and start planning for Christmas decorating. This isn't a house that lends itself to a lot of outdoor decoration. I may decorate the back deck, but not many people will see it.
I've made friends with a nice woman in my writing class who is also a yoga instructor. I'm going to join her class next week because my current class is about to end. I'm also in Pilates, which I tried and really liked. I take walks with Rick and the dog and I use my elliptical with the fly-wheel of doom. (35 lbs. That means it's really hard!)
We saw Thor and loved it. I'm looking forward to Star Wars and the Star Trek Cruise in January.
That's about it for life in the wilds of Lafayette. There's so much sadness for our country. I'm so hurt every day and so is Rick. I keep thinking about the British and how they endured WWII while their country was being bombed. Obviously, it's not that dire here, but I feel like we're in almost that bad of a place. God help us--no really God, please help us.
What's happened over the last month? We went on a trip while not forty miles away, Sonoma was on fire. We had planned to see my brother-in-law and sister-in-law in their new home in Massachusetts for several months. I wasn't thrilled about leaving Danny and Scruffles here alone, but he knew what to do in case of any emergencies.
We had lots of fun in search of fall color in Northern MA and even drove into New Hampshire. The fall color was absent this time around--I think we might have timed it wrong, but Kathy also said it was a bad year because it had been too warm. We stopped at the White Mountain Resort Hotel and had drinks in the lounge while looking at the beautiful mountain view. We went to Lowell another day to see the textile manufacturing museum. We went to Newburyport another day to look at the shops and hang out. My sister-in-law made lots of good food--dinners and breakfast. We watched baseball and my brother-in-law introduced us to his favorite tv shows, which seem to feature lots of explosions.
We left there and flew to Richmond to see my father-in-law, who lives in Williamsburg. He picked us up and we went to his house and got ready for a fancy birthday celebration at the Inn. He was taking his neighbor out to dinner. We hadn't met her yet and we liked her. They're not a couple, but good friends.
The next day we took the ferry to Surry and looked around Smithfield. We went into a historic building, which had been the courthouse back in the day. The docent was a woman who had lived in Plano before moving to Virginia where her family originated.
We left for the airport the next morning to bring Rick's dad back to California with us, landing here at about 7:00. We had a lay-over in DFW and had the first Tex Mex we had eaten in three months. Yum! We had to face the long trek home in what was still rush-hour traffic. He stayed with us for six days. He had been stationed in the area when we was in the Navy during WWII. We took him to Vallejo to the museum, which he enjoyed. We were able to see where he had been on a boat at the end of the war. We hopped on the ferry to San Francisco after exploring Vallejo, to do some touristy shopping and eating at Pier 39. It was actually quite chilly, but the ferry was nice and warm and had a snack bar with hot chocolate! Every other day we had planned activities with a day of rest so we wouldn't wear him out. We went back into town to see Beach Blanket Babylon, a musical review that every tourist should see. We ate at Joe's. It couldn't have been more cornball tourist and more fun. Even the parking garage was a historic building and the attendant told us all about the history.
We decided to do something fun this past weekend. Rick and I participated in a "race" called the Lardbutt 1K for the non-athlete. It was basically a short walk between three donut stations. It started with a mimosa/beer/cider tent and ended with a fizzy flavored water stand. People dressed in costume and we met a nice couple from Richmond.
Afterward, we went to the DeYoung to see the Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire exhibit. It was pretty amazing. I can't believe so many fine carvings survived all this time, but I guess they were inside of pyramids, so they were protected. We had been to Mexico City in 1982 and had seen the pyramids, although we didn't climb them. I think a lot of what we saw in this exhibit hadn't even been discovered in 1982.
Tonight I have my writing class and I'm submitting five pages of something I'm working on for critique. I'm planning to expand it to a short story or even further. That's my goal. I want to write two versions of it, one with a normal contemporary setting and the other with a sci-fi twist. I'll be working on that to give the teacher.
This coming weekend a friend and her husband are visiting from Texas. I'm so anxious to see them. She gave me some very sad news. One of my former colleagues lost her husband this weekend. He was killed in a car accident. I was talking to another friend and we both commented that the sadness of her loss was compounded this weekend with that horrific shooting at the church.
Even with all this sadness, I can feel the rush to the holidays already. After we clean house this week, I'll get the rest of my fall/Thanksgiving decorations out and start planning for Christmas decorating. This isn't a house that lends itself to a lot of outdoor decoration. I may decorate the back deck, but not many people will see it.
I've made friends with a nice woman in my writing class who is also a yoga instructor. I'm going to join her class next week because my current class is about to end. I'm also in Pilates, which I tried and really liked. I take walks with Rick and the dog and I use my elliptical with the fly-wheel of doom. (35 lbs. That means it's really hard!)
We saw Thor and loved it. I'm looking forward to Star Wars and the Star Trek Cruise in January.
That's about it for life in the wilds of Lafayette. There's so much sadness for our country. I'm so hurt every day and so is Rick. I keep thinking about the British and how they endured WWII while their country was being bombed. Obviously, it's not that dire here, but I feel like we're in almost that bad of a place. God help us--no really God, please help us.
