Getting ready to go to the beach for a week with 14 other like-minded and insane people.  It WILL be fun.  but first we have to complete the organization.  Today, two days before we leave, someone finally opened the file from last time to find the list of what we're supposed to bring.  There are many things on the list that we don't have.  Now we ( Read more... )

Found another one:  a bumper sticker that had been stuck to the bathroom mirror:  248

S and I really really really wanted to play with GL's hedgehog collection but we're grown-ups (at least chronologically).  So we said we'd "clean them".  GL said OK, so we lined them all up in a parade around the living room floor, two by two, or sometimes 3 or 4.  Then we arranged them in conversation groups so they could chatter amongst ( Read more... )

Posts about London coming up, starting tomorrow.

So sad, S left for home today (from London).  But on the positive side, she's coming back April 1 until June 10.  I guess she had such a good time that she wants to spend another 10 weeks here. 

Yesterday I hung the frame with 15 snapshots of my extended family.  It looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.  But note that the photos were taken in July 2008 while we were all at the beach enjoying sun, sand, ocean and eating out.   Only 20 months from snap to display.  Hmm ... must work on subverting my evident skill at procrastination!

So, like, a while ago, K is all, "I have a day off in January.  Let's go some place."  So I'm like, all, "OK, I'm all over that," and went, "What's up with Ryanair and Deutsche Bahn, for like, cheap travel, you know?"

Ugh.  Who can talk/write like that?  The bottom line is that Ryanair had a special (which they do almost all the time to almost all ( Read more... )

D1 has politely requested that I stop bombarding her with all the good things about the German medical system, as it just makes her feel bad, being stuck with US health care costs and insurance ( Read more... )

The Hideaway: a neighborhood bar (non-smoking in accordance with state regulations) that is so firmly tucked away inside a standard residential subdivision that only people in the know can visit. Bro and SIL took us for karaoke ( Read more... )

Went to church this morning with GL. There were almost more choir members than worshippers, although a few more did trickle in during the service. The excellent music program warrants a much larger audience, too bad! The church administration replaced the volunteer receptionist with a paid staffer, welcoming the new hire during the service while ( Read more... )

After only 2 days in Seattle, I'm in a weird mood, muttering, "find the joy, must find the joy" to myself as I wait for my breakfast meeting at Macrina Bakery. Another patron did it for me. "I just love your sweater!" she gushed to me about the black knitted sweater I purchased in 1997. "It's so elegant!" I felt better. At the next table, a man ( Read more... )