Relaxing compression.

So, life has been such a rush and so much crammed into such a short time period that Bill decided we would do a relaxing getaway weekend.  Ha ha! there is no such thing as a relaxing getaway weekend.
The proposal was to leave early Friday afternoon - around 2.30pm and go to Buckeye (West Valley on Phoenix) Pick up David, take him to dinner, be at the Temple site for the evening concert at 7pm, and to see the lights at the Mesa Temple (type Mesa Temple Lights in the search box and you will see the spectacular lights they have displayed there), take David back to Buckeye from Mesa, then drive back to Mesa to stay the night and attend the temple early the next Morning (Saturday) and on the way home visit Kohls Store to look at suits for him and then get to the Dentist and then on home.  The time factor alone was mind boggling.  Travel two hours from Prescott to Buckeye, one hour travel to Mesa, one hour at least for dinner, 30 minutes for the concert, one hour to just walk the Temple grounds viewing the lights, one hour to drive him back to Buckeye, then turn around and drive one hour back to Mesa to our motel - and that was just Friday!   Do the math - 7 1/2 hours if all went as planned and a total of almost 300 miles driving give or take before we could go to bed at the motel.  Not too inviting, not too relaxing.  What really happened was this - We left Prescott around 3.30pm+  and drove a little over 2 hours to Buckeye from Prescott, David decided he did not want to go to Mesa to see the lights but gave us a detailed tour of his new housing; so we drove about 5 miles to the nearest restaurant, ate, took him back home and then drove to Mesa to see the lights; missed the concert entirely, and then back to mid Mesa to the motel.
When we got to  the motel, found that there was lots of road construction so that took a lot of time to navigate and then we found the motel parking lot deserted.  Looked suspiciously like a Norman Bates type motel (anyone see Psycho with Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh)?  Needless to say, I was looking forward to a very quiet night in the motel but they seem to have rented the room above us to a herd of Elephants who spent a lot of the night moving furniture around.  Maybe Norman Bates was upstairs - who knows?
The next morning we went to breakfast at the motel dining room with the usual waffle batter,boiled eggs, yogurt, milk, coffee, sweet breads, toast, jam, bagels and cream cheese.  The only thing I could eat in this spread was the boiled eggs.  Bill on the other hand had a feast.
We drove to the temple and attended a session there.  When we came out there were loads of people on the steps having a wedding picture taken.  Often we have thought (as a joke) to join the crowd and get our picture taken as well, but that did not happen.  They would wonder, afterwards, who are those people? where do they fit in the family?
Bill did not believe me when I told him that it would take an hour at least to get to the dentist in North West Phoenix  from Mesa.  He only allowed about 15 to 20 minutes - it really did take a little more than an hour because there was a traffic slowdown on I-17 due to a crash at Indian School road, so we were late to the dentist.  When we were finished there we found Kohl's store but he did not find the exact suit he wanted so we looked for a restaurant for lunch.  Saw a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant but my husband is not adventurous when it comes to food so we found a place that served stuff more to his Connecticut Yankee palate.  We also found D & I Beads - I have been there before - but when you have your husband with you, there is no such thing as taking one's time to look - so I had to go through the store at the "speed of light" and we left for Prescott.  All in all we traveled around 300+ miles in the space of 24 hours - oh yes, it was a change of pace I suppose, but certainly not relaxing.  I had envisioned driving to Mesa, eating dinner, seeing the concert and the lights and then going to the motel around 8.30pm and relaxing.  Life still is in a blender even when we do a "Getaway weekend".

Baby visit - the second day.

Saturday dawned early - babies have a habit of making things early.  I went in to see Sara and he was snuggling with his mother - and quite comfortable at that.
Bill went to the YMCA to do his exercise routine and while he was gone, Sara and I sat down for some serious family story and picture time.  We need to do everything we can to keep the family stories alive and passed along.  I wish I had been told more family stories than I was told.
At 10am we were all at the Prescott Public Library where we watched a performance of the Nutcracker by the girls who study at the YMCA school of Ballet.  August sat up and took note of all that was happening.  For a five month old baby, he was quite interested in the music - at times moving in time with the beat and the movement of the dancers held his gaze.  Bill and I had seen the performance at the Mall a week or so ago but a lady sitting behind us wanted me to take pictures of her grand daughter for her because we were in the front row - so I did and I missed a lot of the dance but got some great pictures for the lady.  This performance at the library was just for me to see and enjoy - no photography for other people.
After the performance, we wandered around the library - Sara was very interested in the library set up because that is what she does for a living.  While there Bill and I renewed our library cards - everything is so high tech these days - they even have a pin for access to their system.
Sara wanted to go to the library in Prescott Valley - it is the newest public library here in the area.  So we went there for an hour or two and then it was past lunch time.  We stopped at Golden Corral - a.k.a. Glutton's Garage - a smorgasbord of food selections and local hang out.
At last we were at home and the baby was able to rest a while.  We really ran his legs off this visit and he was not on any kind of a schedule.
At 6pm we were at the Church Christmas Social and we ate there.  By 7.30 we were at downtown Prescott trying to find the Safeway Christmas Dinner.  They were supposed to be eating at the Prescott Brewery Restaurant but when we got there they were nowhere to be found.  Just as we were leaving to return home, one of the hostesses from the Brewery came out to find us. She was Really glad that she found us and she proceeded to tell us that the Safeway crowd had been at PBR but there was not enough room for them all, so they left for Rosa's which is an Italian Pizzeria and Pub a few blocks away.  We walked down there in the cold but found the group, were welcomed warmly and found that they had already ordered food.  We had already eaten anyway but the wait staff offered appetizers.  I asked for the Shrimp plate and they were the most tasty things I have ever eaten.  Found out that the Pharmacy Boss is named John Cyr and that he is part of the Madawaska, Maine, Cyr clan.  We had a church member in Augusta, Maine, named Cyr from Madawaska.  I guess it is really a very small world after all.
We got home around 9.30pm and we all collapsed into bed.
On Sunday morning, we got up, ate breakfast and then off to church.  We had to leave right after the Sacrament meeting so that we could feed Sara her lunch, get the baby situated and then off to the bus to send them back to Nebraska.  This was a very sad parting to be sure, but it was really wonderful that Sara and baby could be with us for even this short time.

Sara and August visited us

It was supposed to be a surprise for me, and I do well with surprises - it is 'shock' that I do not do well with.  So Sara cooked it up with Bill that she would come to visit for Thanksgiving but we had a house full to say the least, so she came on Thursday 12th Dec and left today, Dec. 15.  I wanted to make it the most meaningful visit so we did wonderful things together.  One of the best things we did was go through the family pictures.  Many of them she has not seen and many of them she wants to have copies made for her collection. When I was growing up, we did not take many pictures - if we did, then they were few and far between and so my growing up years are not well documented and many pictures have been lost. That is what happens when a parent dies, a new spouse moves in, and all "meaningless things" get tossed.  So, on a trip home some years ago, my father gave me the salvaged photo's and they are treasures to be sure.  The stories that go with each picture have now been passed on and lives have been enriched.
On Friday, Bill had the morning off from work.  He and Sara went shopping. There are some things that always  need to be purchased for the baby.  One interesting thing is the baby formula.  The specific formula he has now comes in small packets that can be mixed with water and easily carried in the baby bag.  He seemed to go on a "food binge" when he was here and seemed to not be filled up.  So he went through two boxes of the formula.  For lunch we packed the baby up and off we went to the Olive Garden for lunch.  After that, Bill went to work and Sara and I went to the Family History Center Christmas Party.  We went home after that and rested.  We needed a rest.  At the Olive Garden, August found a friend in a little girl who is one year old and he was flirting with her.  He flirts with everyone but prefers older women.

Thanksgiving 2013 and 70th birthday

It is not every day one turns 70 years of age, but I did and it was a wonderful experience.

Well, I should back up a bit and say that I was very disappointed that David chose not to come home for Thanksgiving and also for Christmas and the New  Year.  All I could see was a gloomy holiday season without our son being home.  My hope was that he would be with us from Christmas to New Year at least with a couple of days for Thanksgiving. He told us that the people he lives with had decided to make Thanksgiving and Christmas a celebration connected with them moving into their brand new home.  At least that is the explanation that David gave.

So with such a gloomy prospect before me, I prepared to just sit at home and have no fun at all.

At this juncture, Roxana, Bill's sister called up and asked if it was still ok for them to come for Thanksgiving?  Of course it was ok.  Life looked a lot brighter in an instant.  She and her husband Gordon live in Seattle and they had their tickets bought for the trip.   A few days later I received a call from Elena, their daughter, telling me that she and her children would be here for the Thanksgiving celebration as well.  We only have a small house, but I thought that with enough floor space, we could accommodate the three of them.

In the meantime, my friend Mary from Maine called me to wish me a happy birthday.  We talked for a long time and it was very heartwarming to hear from her.  She has adopted a new Aussie Heeler to go with her Aussie Shepherd and both of these (herding) dogs, herd the 4 cats that she already has in the house.  She is also a foster parent to the stray kittens from the pound so she has a house full of critters.

Roxana and Gordon were slated to be at our home on Monday Nov 25, but Elena called and said that she was going to pick them up at the airport and take them to see some friends in South Scottsdale .  I thought it was a little strange that Elena should travel from Durango, Colorado, to Phoenix, to pick up her parents to help them not have to pay the shuttle fare up to Prescott.  It was only later that I found out that Elena and her daughter Tania had been in Phoenix for the week.  On the way up to Prescott, they stopped in Cave Creek and the four of them took a hot air balloon ride.  (a few days later a hot air balloon crashed in south Phoenix - I am glad that the family had a safe ride).  They arrived on Tuesday 26 November at about 2.30pm and then the fun began.  Elena told me that Daudi, her ex husband, was flying in to Prescott on Wednesday and would be bringing their son Reuben to stay for Thanksgiving.  Elena and the two children would be staying with a friend out in Williamson Valley, Daudi was to sleep at our home as well as Roxana and Gordon.  It got to be very confusing.  Roxana had a goal of baking the pies for Thanksgiving - 2 pumpkin, 1 Pecan and I made a custard pie.

Roxana is a big football fan so while the Turkey was cooking on Thursday morning, she watched the Greenbay Packers get sent packing by the opposing team.  What a disappointment that was for her.  Daudi left about mid morning to fly back to Durango to be with his mother for Thanksgiving dinner.  So when all the fixin's were finished, all 7 of us sat down to a Thanksgiving meal.

At 8pm on Thanksgiving night, Elena took Roxy and Tania and Reuben up to the mall to shop.  I would liked to have gone but was not invited so I stayed home and cleaned up the kitchen - it really was a mess.

Friday November 29th, Elena and the children left for Durango and Roxy watched more football or did Sudoku.  I sat and sewed more hexagons together, Gordon occupied himself on the computer and Bill was at work. 

Saturday Nov 30 was my 70th birthday celebration.  At 10am I went to Sharlot Hall Museum to pick up my Slot Canyon Quilt.  It has been wandering through a number of venues being shown with other quilts that were part of the 100 Quilts for 100 years celebration for the Arizona Centennial.  The kick off for the Centennial was in Prescott, the weekend we left for Salt Lake to enter the missionary training center in Provo in preparation for our mission in Maine.  For the year 2012 the quilt hung in the art museum in Tucson and we went down to see it hanging there when we got back to Prescott from our mission.  It then hung in the Sharlot Hall Museum here in Prescott for 4 or 5 months then journeyed over to Sedona to hang there till November this year (2013) and now it has come home from its travels and hangs in my home.  So I picked up my quilt and now it has an acid free box to sleep in should I take it down from the wall. 

We went to the bus station and picked up David.  Jim was supposed to put him on the 8.15am bus but he put him on the 7.15am bus so David came home earlier than expected.  He occupied his time talking to Gordon about computers and managed to talk Gordon into giving him the tablet that Gordon had been using for reading books.  Gordon had already given an Acer computer to Tania so that she now has her own computer and does not have to use her mother's computer.

In the early evening we went to Red Lobster where Roxana treated us all to dinner - which was my birthday gift from her and Gordon.  We left there and went to Prescott Fine Arts theater to watch a concert being given there.  It was a real tree hugger concert but rather good just the same.

On Sunday, 1 Dec. we all went to church.  Gordon and Roxy seemed to have enjoyed the services and I heard that David contributed a lot in the classes he attended.  We came home to Turkey leftovers and other stuff.  Gordon had been asking about genealogy and so he and I began a search of the Familysearch.org website and found his family there.  He was delighted and so I continued to work on it finding more people for him while Roxy made grilled cheese etc. sandwiches for everyone.  I did not get to eat because I was busy finding people for Gordon and I printed off all the stuff I found for him.  He  was so impressed with what I had done that he agreed that he would like to have a copy of Roots Magic genealogy program for himself, so I ordered one from Roots Magic to be sent to him for his Christmas Present.  Roxy became enamored with the flat griddle that I have and asked if I could get one sent to her for Christmas.  Found one on Amazon.com  and they delivered it by drone.  She found it early in the morning, two days after I ordered it and we know that it was not from the post man or the UPS man - it was delivered by drone. 

I received a phone call from Uncle Ivan wishing me a happy birthday.  I told him we were going to be in Australia next March and he said we could not stay with him due to Aunty Jean being so ill.  They are in their mid 80's.  Pam also called me.  I asked her if we could stay with her and she was not too happy about that, but said we could stay there.  It will only be for 2 or 3 nights, then we are off to Perth for a holiday for 5 days then come back to the States.

Bill went to work on Monday morning and I put Roxy and Gordon on the shuttle to Phoenix to catch their plane back to Seattle.  David wanted to eat Chinese so we went out for lunch, did the rest of his Christmas Shopping and then I put him on the shuttle back to Phoenix.

All in all we had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday but the best part was a couple of days later when I received an email from a person I knew in Japan - have not heard from or about him for 41 years but I was directed to Find a Grave website by a genealogist friend, where a memorial note was left for his mother who passed recently  and there was an email address there so I wrote to it, and now I have been able to make contact with my friend of a long time ago because his brother left a memorial for their mother.  I had looked all over the California Birth, Death and Marriage website, checked the Social Security Death index to see if he was still alive but no luck.  No wonder, he now lives in Australia, of all places.  No wonder we could not find him.

They have disappeared

I had not heard from Sara or Jacob and family so I called and Oliver answered the phone.  I am always very happy  to talk to Oliver - most of the time he does not talk but runs away when we are on facetime or skype.  This time he started out by saying "I can't find mom or dad or Ethan - they have disappeared.  I ate my dinner and came to watch tv and now I cannot find anyone.  They have all disappeared"  I talked to him for a while and then told him that I was stuck on one level of Angry Birds and needed his help.  I asked if he could come over and fix this problem for me and he said "I am not old enough to drive and my feet cannot reach the pedals."
This morning my phone rang and it was Oliver.  He told me he was trying to call the Baggerley's but he did the speed dial thing and got me instead.  I told him that he was the best and that I love him and his reply was "Well, you told me that every day you were here and you tell me that each time you are on the phone."  I cannot tell my children or grand children too many times that I love them.  When I die, I hope that they remember that I loved them in mortality and forever.  I asked him if he was going to school today and he said yes, he was waiting for his ride to come.  He told me that Ethan had to go to school early because he was playing his 'tromboney'.  Ethan is playing a Trombone in the School music program.  Jacob also played Trombone in his school band.
For the past three months I have not been able to walk very well.  I have had cortisone shots for inflamed muscles/tendons and am starting to feel better.  So well in fact that yesterday I went to Zumba class and stayed the whole course....I am proud of my efforts.
Last night we went to see a one man show entitled "Jerusalem Jones, and the mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls."  Mr. Ken Hanson, PhD presented the whole story of the Dead Sea Scrolls and it was a wonderful presentation. He is a scholar of Hebrew language and literature, the history of biblical lands and Jewish and early Christian culture.  The whole audience was spellbound as he channeled Indiana Jones as Jerusalem Jones and it was the best performance I have seen in a long time.

colors in the wind

Our maple tree in front of the house is a blaze of color - bright orange to bright red.  Many trees in the Prescott Area are light to deep yellow, very little green left to see and even some trees have dropped their leaves.
It is always remarkable to me how the controversy in Washington (0ver the shutdown this time) just swirled in its own microcosm, and life just went on as usual here.  Oh yes, they had professionally produced placards up the day of the shutdown (wonder if it was a pre arranged activity) that prevented people from going into the park system areas - but public activity at the Grand Canyon forced that attraction to open anyway.
The major activity we have engaged in recently,was when the carpet cleaners came.  Talk about upheaval!  Well we had to clean up the stuff around the house and the end result was that Goodwill and Catholic Charities won big - we just left our stuff off at the drop-off site and drove away.  How freeing is this?  It has spurred me on to go through the house and get rid of all kinds of stuff.  Pretty soon we may just be looking at bare walls and shelves - but I seriously doubt if I can just throw it all to Goodwill.  After all I do like to look at the various things I have made and that are loaded with lots of emotional content.
For one, there is the little Moose given to me by Sue in Maine - he looks so at home on my fireplace.  There is the paper sculptured Swan given to me by the office receptionist in the Archives office - it is beautiful to behold and to just admire.  I do know that one day I shall leave mortality and all this stuff, but at least I hope to have reduced the bulk of it by that time, and in the meantime I shall enjoy having them in my home.
I just found out that my Slot Canyon quilt, that has been touring around the state in celebration of the 100 quilts 100 years for Arizona centennial, will be coming home on November 30.  That will be a very nice birthday gift for me.  I have missed not having the quilt in the house.  It has been gone since September 2011.  If it could talk, I wonder what adventures it has had?  I must add that I was very impressed at the way it was displayed in both the Museum of Art in Tucson and in Sharlot Hall Museum here in Prescott.  I hope that it was appropriately displayed at the other locations.  Someone asked me how I could bare to part with the quilt for so long, but I am heart happy that it has been on display for many people to see it - not just people who come to our house and see it on my wall.
The American Quilt Society is having a BIG quilt show in Phoenix in February and our guild is going to rent a bus to take us all down to it.  I will be meeting my friend Desiree there.  She lives in Bullhead City on the Colorado River.  We have been friends for 14 years - I met her when I came to Prescott in 1999.  She is a marvelous quilter and staunch friend.
On October 26, the Northern Arizona Genealogical Society is holding a Genealogical Conference at the church.  I have been asked to teach a class in Roots Magic genealogy software.  It will have to just be an introductory class because I only have on hour to talk about it.  I have done this class before.  Some weeks ago I gave a presentation to my beading group on Genealogy and as a result two of the ladies will be in attendance at the conference. 
Today I dropped off 8 quilts to the CASA program at the court house.  They are gearing up for the National Adoption Day November 23.  They are expecting close to 70 adoptions to take place this day.  It would have been wonderful when we adopted David and Sara if someone had given the children a quilt to remember the special day in their young lives.  Instead, they handed me a baby in a diaper and that was that.  The sleepers that they were wearing when we went to pick them up were not that expensive, and removed,  but to be handed a baby just wearing a diaper was somewhat of a let down to introduce us to parenthood.  Luckily, I had taken clothes with me to dress the little ones in otherwise they would have had to drive back to Johnstown clad only in a diaper.  So I am glad that I head the compassionate service arm of the Quilt Guild and that I get to take the finished quilts to the various agencies to help alleviate the heartache or give joy to the recipients.  There does not seem to be a middle ground.
I have sent my 3600 hexagon quilt to the quilter to have it quilted for me.  It is king sized and it is beautiful and spectacular.  It is also a mourning quilt - made while I dealt with the emotions that descended upon me when Sara told me of the limited prognosis for Jacob's life with his disease.

Landscapes

This Monsoon Season we had very heavy rains and they lasted a long time.  I thought it might be time to invest in web feet or something.  Now, today, we are back to high desert sunny weather and the landscape needs looking at.
There are many species of plants that have bloomed that have not bloomed for quite a while.  One of them is a fragile looking white flower with hundreds of petals on it.  It has a remarkable purple center surrounded by these little petals.  The whole plant is so spindly that one would think that one puff of wind would lay the whole thing flat but it doesn't - they just wave gracefully in the wind and cheer my heart to see them.  I have no idea what they are called, but who cares?  They are wonderful to see blooming in the fields around here.  these fluffy looking white flowers are less than 1/2 inch across.
In many areas there are carpets of yellow flowers.  These are also spindly plants with these 1/2 inch diameter bright yellow flowers.  There is a house nearby that has a spectacular stand of these yellow flowers.  In one area there is a vast field of them but they will not be there next year because I see the heavy earth equipment grading the soil and digging for roadways etc. so with houses planted there, we can expect to have to live without this glorious yellow sight.
As I was coming along the highway yesterday, I noticed a bright pink haze on the ground.  As I got closer I could see that it was a wild plant that is just pink leaves and they are all over the hills now and look quite showy and pretty.
I have noticed the Indian Paintbrush plant is now in full bloom and that is a sign that winter is coming.  The maple tree in front of our house has changed a lot since the last cold snap we had so I guess soon it will be ablaze with color.
My neighbor has an Agave plant in her front yard and although it is quite small, it has sent up its central frond into the up-most branches of her ornamental Cherry.  Most Agave don't send up the frond until they are quite old and mature.  This plant in her front yard was just a baby sucker from her larger plant that died and we have watched it grow these past 14+ years.  Some people call this plant the Century Plant - once it has sent up its central frond and bloomed, it dies.
I love the wild flowers that have bloomed here in Prescott this year.  On one road we take, there have been many sunflowers.  These are the wild variety and measure about 4inches across.  In the past week I have watched them fade and leave their seed filled centers for the tiny birds to feed from and they flock to these sunflower plants.
The government has shut down and the nearby camping site at Lynx Lake is now off limits to everyone.  I am glad that we went two weeks ago for a breakfast cookout because we would not be able to go there now.  Lynx lake is part of the federal system.
Well, things are going along as usual even though the government has shut down!  Cannot figure out how or why things are still functioning.  Perhaps we do not need the politicians running the country after all!