Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Five years? Not possible. . . .
This Friday Paul and I will have been married 5 years! I feel so fortunate. Now we have to find where to celebrate this happy occasion. We were married on a Friday and we'll be celebrating on a Friday. Where has the time gone?
Change of subjects:
Grandpa's watching cartoons.
Ha. He's actually trying out channels on our new HD 55" tv that arrived this morning when he was out. Just for a half hour.
The tv was "promised" (my words, as they never ever promise) to be delivered between June 12 - June 20th. Of course, it didn't. And then we were gone from June 21-June 25th. Paul called and had it set to be delivered between 11 - 1:00 today. He had an appointment this morning and was gone perhaps a half hour. Naturally it came then. I signed the papers and the guy left. While Paul was putting it together, my important job was to put the batteries in the remote. I also helped steady it when he put it on the tv base. It's amazing how little it weighs according to how it looks. And how easy it was for Paul to put it together. That's not amazing, of course.
So - we had a very nice long weekend in Chicago with Nancy and family. We left here on Thursday night and came back yesterday, Monday. The weather was fantastic. The days before we came had been very hot, humid, and even rainy. But we lucked out. We walked to a park around the corner every day, and on Sunday, Nancy and I walked the field track. While we walked, Vincent pretended he was the planet Mercury because he circled the track four times to our one time around. (We were the Earth. Slow.) Nancy had done this before with him. Besides the field track, where Vincent rode his bike, there was a soccer field, softball field, and a playground with swings, etc.
Now, I will act like a grandma. Have patience with me.
Evie is adorable - 21 months old. She watches and listens to everything going on and after evaluating it decides whether it's worth doing or not. It's cute to watch her think. We went to a "Splash Park" which gave her a great chance for decision making. She was hesitant at first, but there was a little fountain (2-3' high) that she could walk around, splash in. She took Nancy's hand, and after a while was having a grand time splashing, and even tried some of the others.
Vincent is an equally adorable child. 6 years old. He has taken piano lessons since he was four, and I am so very very proud of him. He's gotten to the point that he likes to play for people. He learned to play Deck the Halls - only the G cleff right-hand notes. His eyes got very wide when I joined in by playing the bass cleff notes. Left hand. And - Then I played some of his favorite nursery rhyme songs from kindergarten. "Wow. (He said to his mom.) "I had no idea Grandma Jeanne could play so well." Then she told him I was a piano teacher. My heart melted. I felt like I was nine feet tall.
His piano teacher said he was doing very well, and that perhaps they'd like to start him on another instrument also? Nancy and Dan had been thinking the same thing. Guitar lessons.
Vincent has at the moment three toy guitars: One that is a ukelele, another that is "electric" and a blue plastic one. Vincent liked the idea of taking lessons so on Saturday, he and Dan went to a music store, and Dan got him a half-size guitar, with a black cloth case and three picks. Vincent then spent time walking around strumming his new guitar.
His lesson was to be yesterday, the day we left, so I called him when we got home - He wasn't too happy at the time and said he only learned the bass string and the high string, but he brightened considerably when he said that next week he'd have a whole new lesson book.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Goodness Gracious
Goodness gracious - seems like a long time since I've blogged. I've had things going on every day lately.
We've had busy days and some evenings too. When I look at our calendar, which also includes our children's families happenings, so that we can plan our happenings, it gets astoundingly full! Luckily I like to use pencil, so when plans change, I can erase.
Good thing - for example: Sharon, Dave and kids were planning on going on a road trip during the time that Greg, Brenda and their families would be here. They had to change plans.
I can't even say unfortunately for them - because when you listen to the outcome of their changed plans, I think (me, myself and I) that they're going to have a wonderful summer. Sharon still needs to rest her leg from her operation this winter. That meant that she couldn't do a lot of walking, hiking, etc. So - instead of a two week car trip, they'll go for just a long weekend to a niece's wedding in South Carolina (?).
So. . . The kids were given two options to do instead of their road trip: Both options will mean Sharon can rest.
One - go on a cruise, or - Two - put in an above ground pool - 16' X 36'. They chose the pool. So, they'll have a nice summer. It'll be so nice to have them around. More than nice!
Brenda and Emma will be here July 5th - 15th, and Greg and his family will also. Their dates overlap somewhat, but that's the general time period. Now we have time to plan family picnics, outings, that will include the most families.
While July is when Paul's family visits, August is mine:
Then we have my two families - Nancy's and Bill's are coming in August.
Bill likes to celebrate his birthday with us, so he'll be here with Epril for that. August 7th. This will be Epril's first experience visiting the northeast. I'm glad it won't be during a snowstorm. . . at least I hope not. That's a joke, Epril. Really. But bring your warmest jacket - it can be cool. (or cold . . . by your Filipino standards.)
Nancy's family are planning to come later in the month. She's started a year's administrative position with North East Illinois University (NEIU), where she is presently a math professor. So her schedule is pretty tight.
I've had a lot of doctor appointments lately. I can honestly say, I'm feeling . . . So. Much. Better. My blood pressure has gone down significantly - so much so, my doctor wants to see me again in two weeks to check to see if I should have less medication. Also - I've lost ten pounds in two weeks. (No dairy products, low sodium, low carbs. My nutritionist will be happy to see that at my next visit in two weeks. Eye doctor - all okay. We're off to the dentist now. For a check-up. All okay there, too.
I feel very blessed.
We've had busy days and some evenings too. When I look at our calendar, which also includes our children's families happenings, so that we can plan our happenings, it gets astoundingly full! Luckily I like to use pencil, so when plans change, I can erase.
Good thing - for example: Sharon, Dave and kids were planning on going on a road trip during the time that Greg, Brenda and their families would be here. They had to change plans.
I can't even say unfortunately for them - because when you listen to the outcome of their changed plans, I think (me, myself and I) that they're going to have a wonderful summer. Sharon still needs to rest her leg from her operation this winter. That meant that she couldn't do a lot of walking, hiking, etc. So - instead of a two week car trip, they'll go for just a long weekend to a niece's wedding in South Carolina (?).
So. . . The kids were given two options to do instead of their road trip: Both options will mean Sharon can rest.
One - go on a cruise, or - Two - put in an above ground pool - 16' X 36'. They chose the pool. So, they'll have a nice summer. It'll be so nice to have them around. More than nice!
Brenda and Emma will be here July 5th - 15th, and Greg and his family will also. Their dates overlap somewhat, but that's the general time period. Now we have time to plan family picnics, outings, that will include the most families.
While July is when Paul's family visits, August is mine:
Then we have my two families - Nancy's and Bill's are coming in August.
Bill likes to celebrate his birthday with us, so he'll be here with Epril for that. August 7th. This will be Epril's first experience visiting the northeast. I'm glad it won't be during a snowstorm. . . at least I hope not. That's a joke, Epril. Really. But bring your warmest jacket - it can be cool. (or cold . . . by your Filipino standards.)
Nancy's family are planning to come later in the month. She's started a year's administrative position with North East Illinois University (NEIU), where she is presently a math professor. So her schedule is pretty tight.
I've had a lot of doctor appointments lately. I can honestly say, I'm feeling . . . So. Much. Better. My blood pressure has gone down significantly - so much so, my doctor wants to see me again in two weeks to check to see if I should have less medication. Also - I've lost ten pounds in two weeks. (No dairy products, low sodium, low carbs. My nutritionist will be happy to see that at my next visit in two weeks. Eye doctor - all okay. We're off to the dentist now. For a check-up. All okay there, too.
I feel very blessed.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
This and That
I have my jeans on. Paul has his shorts on. It's supposed to go up to 90 today. Guess who's changing..
Right now, it's beautiful out and we have the front door and the back door open wide. Paul put a screen door on the front door before we went to Florida last Fall. This past week he did the same with the back door. Front and back are retractable. So no storm doors, just these, so there can be a breeze through the house. Only one problem - you can't see them, and I'm concerned that people will "walk into" them. Paul wants to get some decals, but won't they fly off when the screens are retracted? We haven't tried any yet, but seeing is believing.
It's nice to have air movement when you sit at the kitchen table. Last night we had cocktails on the deck. We left opened the screen door to the kitchen and the front and had supper with them open. - Made it very pleasant. Also - We used the off-set bendable umbrella to shade us. Makes sitting outdoors very pleasant.
We seem to be inundated with doctors' appointments. Well, they do make most of their money off us old folks.
I've had some medical problems. Nothing life-threatening and all seems to be taken care of. . .or on the way to being. Thank you, doctors. FYI I feel almost guilty writing about these things when some of you have so much more pressing health problems. For those of you having such difficult times, please accept my thoughts. I realize my problems are little compared with yours.
Lactose intolerant: yup. I must have had it for years. My doctor took me off all milk products for 5 days and then I was to try lactose-free milk. How can I say it?. . . . everything's coming out great? (Oh. Groan. ) I didn't really want to try lactose-free, fat free milk, but I liked it. I was a little dubious to try it at first. I had it with rice krispies and 1/2 banana this morning. Great! BUT Does this mean goodby to ice cream? Anyone knowing me knows that is a complete tragedy.
High blood pressure: We noticed it the beginning of May, and tried two medications, one that gave me a horrible cough and dry throat. The cough kept me awake at night. The next medication did the same, but I'm using that one. We began at 25mg, then went to to 50mg, but my BP was still high. We ended up at 100mg plus a diuretic. I was quite tired. That's putting it mildly. But now it looks like we've hit upon the right amounts of medication. I'm pleased. I'm still a bit tired, but the diuretic has made me lose some pounds, (water) and my cough is going away. All I have to do is say "stop it" to myself, drink some water, and it disappears. I just coughed as I re-read this paragraph.
Thrush: I'm battling this too. Going away pretty well, then comes back, then goes away. I have losenges to help.
Weight gain: This is something I planned to tackle when I came back to upstate NY. I am going to Guthrie Clinic's wellness clinic. The nutrtionist put me on a low carb, low sodium,1200 calories diet. It's nice to start off with a weight loss. . . even due to the diuretic. . .My doctor will not allow me to exercise until my blood pressure is under control.
CPAP machine. . I've been using a CPAP machine for several years but now they've been updated and I have a new machine. Been having trouble sleeping again and I'm due for a titration study tonight. I go to the sleep lab and get hooked up to wires and they study my sleep patterns. Tomorrow morning early, I'm unhooked, and they examine all the info they compiled, send it to the pulmonologist, and my general physician. My GP said my high blood pressure could be caused by faulty settings on my machine.
I had a sleep study done in Florida several years ago before I was married,. I remember it well.
While I was there, sleeping, my cellphone rang at about 3 AM. The technician had to unhook me because my phone wouldn't work inside the concrete building. I had to go outside to answer it. It was my brother, who lives next door, wondering where I was. (I'd told him, but he forgot.) He was concerned because the lights were on. My bed was stripped. My sheets were in the dryer. I'd left the light on for the cat. .) The crowning glory was: The technician said he'd never had someone call in the middle of a sleep study. Sorry, Bob. I loved you for your worrying, and hope you aren't annoyed with me writing about it. Your concern was duly appreciated.
Update: This was written on Sunday, Monday and today is Tuesday. I had my sleep study last night and everything went fine. My machine is set correctly and it's just a matter of me adjusting to it.
Right now, it's beautiful out and we have the front door and the back door open wide. Paul put a screen door on the front door before we went to Florida last Fall. This past week he did the same with the back door. Front and back are retractable. So no storm doors, just these, so there can be a breeze through the house. Only one problem - you can't see them, and I'm concerned that people will "walk into" them. Paul wants to get some decals, but won't they fly off when the screens are retracted? We haven't tried any yet, but seeing is believing.
It's nice to have air movement when you sit at the kitchen table. Last night we had cocktails on the deck. We left opened the screen door to the kitchen and the front and had supper with them open. - Made it very pleasant. Also - We used the off-set bendable umbrella to shade us. Makes sitting outdoors very pleasant.
We seem to be inundated with doctors' appointments. Well, they do make most of their money off us old folks.
I've had some medical problems. Nothing life-threatening and all seems to be taken care of. . .or on the way to being. Thank you, doctors. FYI I feel almost guilty writing about these things when some of you have so much more pressing health problems. For those of you having such difficult times, please accept my thoughts. I realize my problems are little compared with yours.
Lactose intolerant: yup. I must have had it for years. My doctor took me off all milk products for 5 days and then I was to try lactose-free milk. How can I say it?. . . . everything's coming out great? (Oh. Groan. ) I didn't really want to try lactose-free, fat free milk, but I liked it. I was a little dubious to try it at first. I had it with rice krispies and 1/2 banana this morning. Great! BUT Does this mean goodby to ice cream? Anyone knowing me knows that is a complete tragedy.
High blood pressure: We noticed it the beginning of May, and tried two medications, one that gave me a horrible cough and dry throat. The cough kept me awake at night. The next medication did the same, but I'm using that one. We began at 25mg, then went to to 50mg, but my BP was still high. We ended up at 100mg plus a diuretic. I was quite tired. That's putting it mildly. But now it looks like we've hit upon the right amounts of medication. I'm pleased. I'm still a bit tired, but the diuretic has made me lose some pounds, (water) and my cough is going away. All I have to do is say "stop it" to myself, drink some water, and it disappears. I just coughed as I re-read this paragraph.
Thrush: I'm battling this too. Going away pretty well, then comes back, then goes away. I have losenges to help.
Weight gain: This is something I planned to tackle when I came back to upstate NY. I am going to Guthrie Clinic's wellness clinic. The nutrtionist put me on a low carb, low sodium,1200 calories diet. It's nice to start off with a weight loss. . . even due to the diuretic. . .My doctor will not allow me to exercise until my blood pressure is under control.
CPAP machine. . I've been using a CPAP machine for several years but now they've been updated and I have a new machine. Been having trouble sleeping again and I'm due for a titration study tonight. I go to the sleep lab and get hooked up to wires and they study my sleep patterns. Tomorrow morning early, I'm unhooked, and they examine all the info they compiled, send it to the pulmonologist, and my general physician. My GP said my high blood pressure could be caused by faulty settings on my machine.
I had a sleep study done in Florida several years ago before I was married,. I remember it well.
While I was there, sleeping, my cellphone rang at about 3 AM. The technician had to unhook me because my phone wouldn't work inside the concrete building. I had to go outside to answer it. It was my brother, who lives next door, wondering where I was. (I'd told him, but he forgot.) He was concerned because the lights were on. My bed was stripped. My sheets were in the dryer. I'd left the light on for the cat. .) The crowning glory was: The technician said he'd never had someone call in the middle of a sleep study. Sorry, Bob. I loved you for your worrying, and hope you aren't annoyed with me writing about it. Your concern was duly appreciated.
Update: This was written on Sunday, Monday and today is Tuesday. I had my sleep study last night and everything went fine. My machine is set correctly and it's just a matter of me adjusting to it.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Being Grandparents
This is the weekend for grandkid events.
Last night we went Ida's "moving up" ceremony for American Heritage Girls. American Heritage Girls is similar to Girl Scouts. Ida and two other girls walked under a trellis decorated with flowers . So now they're with the older girls. Now Ida will add badges to a navy blue vest, and her red one will be retired. The annual event took place at the Catharine Park pavillion in Odessa where it's always been held . For the third year, Sharon has been their Leader. She's done a wonderful job and has four ladies that help out. They did a great job when Sharon was recovering, at home for five weeks, from her leg surgery.
Lue was there before we got there. (It's always good to see Lue.) Plus the other set of grandparents. Dave, senior, and Sandy. Everyone brought a dish to pass. Sharon's Dave cooked hamburgers and hotdogs too. Paul and I took the easy way out - and brought cheese fritos, chips and dips that were very popular. They ended up on many plates. . . easy to see . . . Especially the orange fritos! We gave them to Sharon to take home.
Lee was in charge of pictures. Sharon wanted a "nice picture" of each child and her, as she gave out the awards. Plus other group pictures. Ten girls came with their families. Lots of cute little toddlers roaming around. Plus a baby or two.
This afternoon, we went to Dunn Field, in Elmira. Dunn Field is the place the Pioneers baseball minor league team plays. Everyone cheers for the Pioneers around here. They're our team to root for.
We went to see our Corning grandson, who is quite a baseball player, play there. He belongs to a travel team that had a scrimmage with another team from what he called the Chill League. Then after they finished, another two teams from the league scrimmaged. And so on. Until 4:00. Then there was to be a chicken BBQ. His dad invited us to go see the scrimmage, but they couldn't stay because he had to get home so he could study for exams. So we just stayed from noon til 1:00 and left when they did.
We've gone to games at regular parks that had bleachers. This was the big time! It had regular seats with backings under a roof! Just like a real ballpark! Well. . .It was a real ballpark. It was really really nice. When we see him play, we usually bring our own chairs.
I'd never been to a scrimmage before. I don't know if this is the way it is every time, but it wasn't like a real game: There weren't any umpires. Each team's player got a chance to be at bat before the other team got up. They didn't keep score. Although, our guy did get a run in..
Facebook: While Nancy had Evie on the changing table, she saw Vincent (47 lbs.) grab Ivan, their siberian husky (50 lbs.) and drag him past Evie's door, to the bathroom. Because? Ivan tried to eat the leftovers from the dining room table. ( You can't trust huskies.) This is what Vincent had seen his parents do if Ivan misbehaved. Nancy said it was something to see Vincent copy it.
FYI Dan has been away this week at a conference, and Nana was there to help out. Nana's a reading teacher/coordinator from St. Louis now on summer vacation. It seems so many states start their school vacations earlier and begin school in early or mid-August.
There is a little chipmunk outside that taunts Gracie like crazy. It sits on the porch and Gracie sits on the back of the sofa and watches it from inside. Gracie has a very soft growl like she's talking to herself - as if to say - watch out, Chippie, I'm gonna get you someday and then you'll be sorry. Each time she chases it, it ends up in a nearby drainspout. It's like the lizards and birds she chases in Florida. No chance of catching them, but she never gives up trying.
Last night we went Ida's "moving up" ceremony for American Heritage Girls. American Heritage Girls is similar to Girl Scouts. Ida and two other girls walked under a trellis decorated with flowers . So now they're with the older girls. Now Ida will add badges to a navy blue vest, and her red one will be retired. The annual event took place at the Catharine Park pavillion in Odessa where it's always been held . For the third year, Sharon has been their Leader. She's done a wonderful job and has four ladies that help out. They did a great job when Sharon was recovering, at home for five weeks, from her leg surgery.
Lue was there before we got there. (It's always good to see Lue.) Plus the other set of grandparents. Dave, senior, and Sandy. Everyone brought a dish to pass. Sharon's Dave cooked hamburgers and hotdogs too. Paul and I took the easy way out - and brought cheese fritos, chips and dips that were very popular. They ended up on many plates. . . easy to see . . . Especially the orange fritos! We gave them to Sharon to take home.
Lee was in charge of pictures. Sharon wanted a "nice picture" of each child and her, as she gave out the awards. Plus other group pictures. Ten girls came with their families. Lots of cute little toddlers roaming around. Plus a baby or two.
This afternoon, we went to Dunn Field, in Elmira. Dunn Field is the place the Pioneers baseball minor league team plays. Everyone cheers for the Pioneers around here. They're our team to root for.
We went to see our Corning grandson, who is quite a baseball player, play there. He belongs to a travel team that had a scrimmage with another team from what he called the Chill League. Then after they finished, another two teams from the league scrimmaged. And so on. Until 4:00. Then there was to be a chicken BBQ. His dad invited us to go see the scrimmage, but they couldn't stay because he had to get home so he could study for exams. So we just stayed from noon til 1:00 and left when they did.
We've gone to games at regular parks that had bleachers. This was the big time! It had regular seats with backings under a roof! Just like a real ballpark! Well. . .It was a real ballpark. It was really really nice. When we see him play, we usually bring our own chairs.
I'd never been to a scrimmage before. I don't know if this is the way it is every time, but it wasn't like a real game: There weren't any umpires. Each team's player got a chance to be at bat before the other team got up. They didn't keep score. Although, our guy did get a run in..
Facebook: While Nancy had Evie on the changing table, she saw Vincent (47 lbs.) grab Ivan, their siberian husky (50 lbs.) and drag him past Evie's door, to the bathroom. Because? Ivan tried to eat the leftovers from the dining room table. ( You can't trust huskies.) This is what Vincent had seen his parents do if Ivan misbehaved. Nancy said it was something to see Vincent copy it.
FYI Dan has been away this week at a conference, and Nana was there to help out. Nana's a reading teacher/coordinator from St. Louis now on summer vacation. It seems so many states start their school vacations earlier and begin school in early or mid-August.
There is a little chipmunk outside that taunts Gracie like crazy. It sits on the porch and Gracie sits on the back of the sofa and watches it from inside. Gracie has a very soft growl like she's talking to herself - as if to say - watch out, Chippie, I'm gonna get you someday and then you'll be sorry. Each time she chases it, it ends up in a nearby drainspout. It's like the lizards and birds she chases in Florida. No chance of catching them, but she never gives up trying.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Through the Roof
It hasn't been a boring week. It's gone by rather quickly. It'd be nice to be young again and have the weeks go by slowly (but happily). Where does the time go? All I know is that each day just flies. And I want it to slow down.
A while back, I had mentioned to Paul that it'd be nice to have a sun tube in our living room. For those of you who don't know what a sun tunnel is: It's composed of a deep, long, metal mirrored tube that goes from the roof down to lighten a dark room. Voila! - light without electricity! Usually the room is windowless. I was gone this morning and when I came back around noontime, he was working on it.
When we bought this lot, we didn't give much thought that the front of the house would be facing north, where it's shaded. Great for impatiens and other colorful variety of shade plants. It was just the most beautiful lot in the whole world . . . . and we wanted it.
One problem we didn't foresee: With the front facing north, . .the living room hardly gets any direct sun. Plus we have a front porch across it too. A double whammy. And it's a two-story home.
Of course, the living room is on the first floor. How do you put a sun tube in to bring sunlight into our living room without destroying our beautiful library on the second floor(which is where it would have to go through.)? My amazing husband could. And did.
We prayed for no rain. It didn't. Paul sawed through the roof, behind the walls and into the ceiling of the living room over the couch and in front of the triple window. Does that describe it sufficiently? He ran into a little difficulty, but quickly overcame it. He said he had a problem with it, and tried to solve it, but it wasn't working, so he was going to try another way. I was gone this morning and when I came back around noontime, he was working on it.
I was a little leery of him going on the roof. I suggested he wait til Greg got here to help him. He's coming the first part of next month. (Family members know that's a joke. Greg was on his roof in Florida a while back, slipped, fell and broke his leg.)
The job worked, of course. It's obvious he can do anything he sets his mind to. Our living room is now bathed in soft sunlight.
A while back, I had mentioned to Paul that it'd be nice to have a sun tube in our living room. For those of you who don't know what a sun tunnel is: It's composed of a deep, long, metal mirrored tube that goes from the roof down to lighten a dark room. Voila! - light without electricity! Usually the room is windowless. I was gone this morning and when I came back around noontime, he was working on it.
When we bought this lot, we didn't give much thought that the front of the house would be facing north, where it's shaded. Great for impatiens and other colorful variety of shade plants. It was just the most beautiful lot in the whole world . . . . and we wanted it.
One problem we didn't foresee: With the front facing north, . .the living room hardly gets any direct sun. Plus we have a front porch across it too. A double whammy. And it's a two-story home.
Of course, the living room is on the first floor. How do you put a sun tube in to bring sunlight into our living room without destroying our beautiful library on the second floor(which is where it would have to go through.)? My amazing husband could. And did.
We prayed for no rain. It didn't. Paul sawed through the roof, behind the walls and into the ceiling of the living room over the couch and in front of the triple window. Does that describe it sufficiently? He ran into a little difficulty, but quickly overcame it. He said he had a problem with it, and tried to solve it, but it wasn't working, so he was going to try another way. I was gone this morning and when I came back around noontime, he was working on it.
I was a little leery of him going on the roof. I suggested he wait til Greg got here to help him. He's coming the first part of next month. (Family members know that's a joke. Greg was on his roof in Florida a while back, slipped, fell and broke his leg.)
The job worked, of course. It's obvious he can do anything he sets his mind to. Our living room is now bathed in soft sunlight.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Varying Experiences
This is my last posting about our California trip.
Hotels
We had the pleasure of staying in two hotels. One twice. . . coming and the night before going home. We stayed in the other the next night after our stay at the Grosvenor. We were at Brenda's the rest of the time
Both hotels were Best Western.
I'll go in order and talk about the one we stayed at twice . . . first. Brenda and Eric recommended it to us a couple of years ago. Best Western Grosvenor. Brenda and Eric always used it when they needed to stay overnight in San Francisco. We always liked it and have used it also during several trips. The rooms are large, incuding usually two chairs plus a computer chair, or a sofa. Lots of towels which to me is very important.
They have a wonderful morning hot breakfast buffet in the full-service dining room. You order from a dinner menu in the evening. The breakfast buffet includes scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits, bakery items, juices, cold cereals, hot cereals, fresh fruit. They fulfill anyone's breakfast needs. I may have forgotten some foods, but you can bet they were there. All tables had linen tablecloths, napkins, china dishes, silverware. ( I managed to take pre-wrapped two muffins with me for the car. Which we didn't use. Till later. Not the best manners on my part. Oh, well.)
We got there at the Grosvenor just at suppertime, but 9:30 EST. Tired after a day of flying. We'd gotten our luggage, found the hotel shuttle area, and waited around 20 minutes, inside the weather-proof enclosed outside area. It was windy out. Wow. Was it ever.
BTW: My new wine-colored Samsonite luggage is wonderful. I love it. Easy to locate. The four wheels make me feel like I'm driving a cadillac. Nice, smooth ride. Easy to maneuver.
Our room was on the eighth of nine floors. We walked into the room and were surprised to see it was a suite - with a living room and a separate bedroom. (FYI - I mentioned that in my first post.)
When we open the door, we were greeted with the sheer window curtains blowing. Remember, I said it was windy. We checked the windows and they were closed up tight. The outdoor siding was moaning from the wind. I recognized this because my house (in my previous life) had the same problem and I knew the sound. I can describe it as sounding like a choir of ghosts moaning. Also. . . The water in the toilet looked like we were in our cabin on our cruise. It was slopping around the bowl. We couldn't feel the motion, but we certainly could see it. Fortunately, the room wasn't too cold.
We were too tired to change rooms. Obviously the Good Lord was thinking of Paul as he spent a much more comfortable night on the sofa due to my snoring- than in bed with me . (also mentioned previously.)
The next day we traveled on to Sonoma Valley. The roses were in full bloom. What a gorgeous time of year! I do think it is even prettier than Napa Valley, which was really pretty too when we were there two years ago. That was in November, though. Sonoma Valley has the picturesque Russian River flowing through it. As last time when we were in Napa, we wanted to buy some wine.
Coming from NYS Fingerlakes wine-country, we've been to many wine tastings, and felt we kinda knew something about wine tasting. Roll the liquid in the glass and check out the "horse's tail" found on the glass, sniff the bouquet, sip and let it roll over your tongue, check out the taste, the aftertaste. Afficionados we are not. But we can "play the game."The California wine didn't taste at all like the boxed wines we usually got at home. LOL. And the prices were much more expensive than our Finger Lakes wineries. We felt we'd found a bargain when we got a $25. bottle of wine. The next day we traveled to Napa Valley and Sutter Home - a gorgeous winery we remembered and got some less expensive wines there to take to Brenda's. Brenda's allergic to wine, so it was mostly for Eric and us. We weren't trying to be cheap.
That paragraph above sets the mood and scene for our Sonoma Valley hotel. Paul did very well, picking this next one. And of course the first one, too. This next one was simply the most gorgeous one I've ever stayed at. I wish we could have stayed two nights.
It was Best Western Dry Creek Inn in Healdsburg. Look it up.
It was a series of golden color-schemed Italian/tuscan style buildings with covered outside areas containing fountains, carved cement seating. Plus outdoor gas-fire-pits, fire places. Roses everywhere. Nice swimming pool area contained behind walled fence.
All guest rooms were on the second floor and reached by elevator. Covered walkways with outdoor entrances to rooms.
Our room had a king-size bed, corner fireplace, a lounge chair and an ottoman, a jacuzzi in the bath room area - which was hidden from the bedroom by wooden-shutters that could be opened up. So. . . If you wanted to watch the tv over the fireplace, while you jacuzzed, you could. Piped in music. Then beyond that there was a regular little shower with a sparkling clean glass door. But, of course! (I meant to see what the maids did to keep the glass so clean. I could use the info for our glass shower door here, which we dutifully clean each time used.) There was a covered veranda with a little ceramic/style round table and two chairs. The bed was very high - seems to be popular now adays. But I couldn't get into it easily. It was nice to have the ottoman. I pushed it up to the bed and used it as a foot stool.
Our last stay was at our first hotel, The Grosvenor. (and this time no wind!) We had a perfectly good regular room - Plenty of room. We ate the two pre-wrapped muffins which were still fresh! Remember - I'd taken them from there the week before. So they'd made a full circle in good condition.
I had trouble getting into bed that night, so I moved the arm chair over to get in. I wrote on the suggestions sheet: "Bed too high. A stepping stool would have been nice."
We had to leave there at 5 AM, too early for their breakfast buffet that opened at 7. They gave us a paper bag with all sorts of breakfast goodies.
So that turned out nicely.
Hotels
We had the pleasure of staying in two hotels. One twice. . . coming and the night before going home. We stayed in the other the next night after our stay at the Grosvenor. We were at Brenda's the rest of the time
Both hotels were Best Western.
I'll go in order and talk about the one we stayed at twice . . . first. Brenda and Eric recommended it to us a couple of years ago. Best Western Grosvenor. Brenda and Eric always used it when they needed to stay overnight in San Francisco. We always liked it and have used it also during several trips. The rooms are large, incuding usually two chairs plus a computer chair, or a sofa. Lots of towels which to me is very important.
They have a wonderful morning hot breakfast buffet in the full-service dining room. You order from a dinner menu in the evening. The breakfast buffet includes scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits, bakery items, juices, cold cereals, hot cereals, fresh fruit. They fulfill anyone's breakfast needs. I may have forgotten some foods, but you can bet they were there. All tables had linen tablecloths, napkins, china dishes, silverware. ( I managed to take pre-wrapped two muffins with me for the car. Which we didn't use. Till later. Not the best manners on my part. Oh, well.)
We got there at the Grosvenor just at suppertime, but 9:30 EST. Tired after a day of flying. We'd gotten our luggage, found the hotel shuttle area, and waited around 20 minutes, inside the weather-proof enclosed outside area. It was windy out. Wow. Was it ever.
BTW: My new wine-colored Samsonite luggage is wonderful. I love it. Easy to locate. The four wheels make me feel like I'm driving a cadillac. Nice, smooth ride. Easy to maneuver.
Our room was on the eighth of nine floors. We walked into the room and were surprised to see it was a suite - with a living room and a separate bedroom. (FYI - I mentioned that in my first post.)
When we open the door, we were greeted with the sheer window curtains blowing. Remember, I said it was windy. We checked the windows and they were closed up tight. The outdoor siding was moaning from the wind. I recognized this because my house (in my previous life) had the same problem and I knew the sound. I can describe it as sounding like a choir of ghosts moaning. Also. . . The water in the toilet looked like we were in our cabin on our cruise. It was slopping around the bowl. We couldn't feel the motion, but we certainly could see it. Fortunately, the room wasn't too cold.
We were too tired to change rooms. Obviously the Good Lord was thinking of Paul as he spent a much more comfortable night on the sofa due to my snoring- than in bed with me . (also mentioned previously.)
The next day we traveled on to Sonoma Valley. The roses were in full bloom. What a gorgeous time of year! I do think it is even prettier than Napa Valley, which was really pretty too when we were there two years ago. That was in November, though. Sonoma Valley has the picturesque Russian River flowing through it. As last time when we were in Napa, we wanted to buy some wine.
Coming from NYS Fingerlakes wine-country, we've been to many wine tastings, and felt we kinda knew something about wine tasting. Roll the liquid in the glass and check out the "horse's tail" found on the glass, sniff the bouquet, sip and let it roll over your tongue, check out the taste, the aftertaste. Afficionados we are not. But we can "play the game."The California wine didn't taste at all like the boxed wines we usually got at home. LOL. And the prices were much more expensive than our Finger Lakes wineries. We felt we'd found a bargain when we got a $25. bottle of wine. The next day we traveled to Napa Valley and Sutter Home - a gorgeous winery we remembered and got some less expensive wines there to take to Brenda's. Brenda's allergic to wine, so it was mostly for Eric and us. We weren't trying to be cheap.
That paragraph above sets the mood and scene for our Sonoma Valley hotel. Paul did very well, picking this next one. And of course the first one, too. This next one was simply the most gorgeous one I've ever stayed at. I wish we could have stayed two nights.
It was Best Western Dry Creek Inn in Healdsburg. Look it up.
It was a series of golden color-schemed Italian/tuscan style buildings with covered outside areas containing fountains, carved cement seating. Plus outdoor gas-fire-pits, fire places. Roses everywhere. Nice swimming pool area contained behind walled fence.
All guest rooms were on the second floor and reached by elevator. Covered walkways with outdoor entrances to rooms.
Our room had a king-size bed, corner fireplace, a lounge chair and an ottoman, a jacuzzi in the bath room area - which was hidden from the bedroom by wooden-shutters that could be opened up. So. . . If you wanted to watch the tv over the fireplace, while you jacuzzed, you could. Piped in music. Then beyond that there was a regular little shower with a sparkling clean glass door. But, of course! (I meant to see what the maids did to keep the glass so clean. I could use the info for our glass shower door here, which we dutifully clean each time used.) There was a covered veranda with a little ceramic/style round table and two chairs. The bed was very high - seems to be popular now adays. But I couldn't get into it easily. It was nice to have the ottoman. I pushed it up to the bed and used it as a foot stool.
Our last stay was at our first hotel, The Grosvenor. (and this time no wind!) We had a perfectly good regular room - Plenty of room. We ate the two pre-wrapped muffins which were still fresh! Remember - I'd taken them from there the week before. So they'd made a full circle in good condition.
I had trouble getting into bed that night, so I moved the arm chair over to get in. I wrote on the suggestions sheet: "Bed too high. A stepping stool would have been nice."
We had to leave there at 5 AM, too early for their breakfast buffet that opened at 7. They gave us a paper bag with all sorts of breakfast goodies.
So that turned out nicely.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Emma's Graduation Day
We're home after a great visit with Emma and her family for her high school graduation in Tracy, CA.
Lina, their German Exchange Student "graduated" so the celebration was for the two of them. There were one hundred graduates. Lina was chosen to sing the National Anthem, a capella. You'd never know she was nervous - she did a marvelous job. That took a lot of courage. But we know she couldn't eat her supper beforehand.
Emma had 14 people attend, including her other grandparents from Santa Barbara. I met Brenda's sister in law, Erin. What a nice lady.
Emma's Uncle Jeff, decided to make the jaunt from NY State on his new motorcycle. It had heated handle bars and cruise control. Good thing. He traveled for nine days - going 500 miles a day - traveling through as many states as he could. His goal was to get to as many states as possible, traveling from ocean to ocean. He took the northern route going. And the southern route coming back. He stayed two nights with Brenda, and left early on the third day, Saturday. His goal was to leave each day by seven am and travel til five pm. He's due home tomorrow. No need to say this, but . . .
Paul and I were happy we flew. Not that we'd drive. Or motorcycle.
An interesting aside: The graduates were to find a noteworthy quote.
Emma's got printed on the back of the program. It said "Dont cry because it's over, smile because it happened." credited rightly to Dr. Seuss. Unfortunately, Emma's name was not included which tee'd her off. And also rightly so. I thought that was such a good quote. Something we all need to remember at times.
Emma and Lina's graduation party was held Sunday from 12-4 at a park in Tracy. It was a beautiful day. Sunny and not too hot. A little windy - which kept the flies at bay. They expected about 60 people and I think the number attending was close. It was a pretty little park located near two schools. Brenda had reserved the covered pavillion, and was she glad she did! Other people had taken it over, were cooking on their own grill. The park "officer" told them they had to leave, but knew of a park they could go and would show them where. They grudgingly left, with their grill, but didn't seem too out of sorts. They didn't have a leg to stand on.
We covered the tables with black plastic tablecloths, and used gold plates, napkins. (school colors).Paul, Eric and I cooked the meats. Brenda made potato salad, baked beans. There was a graduation cake from Costco. Really good. Plus the day before, we all helped make little chocolate graduation caps made out of hershey bar squares, Reisses pieces peanutbutter cups, put together with chocolate frosting. Eric brought a lot of outdoor games, balls, frisbees. The kids enjoyed that. The graduates all wore Hawaiian leis, so you could tell them from the undergraduates.
Lina, their German Exchange Student "graduated" so the celebration was for the two of them. There were one hundred graduates. Lina was chosen to sing the National Anthem, a capella. You'd never know she was nervous - she did a marvelous job. That took a lot of courage. But we know she couldn't eat her supper beforehand.
Emma had 14 people attend, including her other grandparents from Santa Barbara. I met Brenda's sister in law, Erin. What a nice lady.
Emma's Uncle Jeff, decided to make the jaunt from NY State on his new motorcycle. It had heated handle bars and cruise control. Good thing. He traveled for nine days - going 500 miles a day - traveling through as many states as he could. His goal was to get to as many states as possible, traveling from ocean to ocean. He took the northern route going. And the southern route coming back. He stayed two nights with Brenda, and left early on the third day, Saturday. His goal was to leave each day by seven am and travel til five pm. He's due home tomorrow. No need to say this, but . . .
Paul and I were happy we flew. Not that we'd drive. Or motorcycle.
An interesting aside: The graduates were to find a noteworthy quote.
Emma's got printed on the back of the program. It said "Dont cry because it's over, smile because it happened." credited rightly to Dr. Seuss. Unfortunately, Emma's name was not included which tee'd her off. And also rightly so. I thought that was such a good quote. Something we all need to remember at times.
Emma and Lina's graduation party was held Sunday from 12-4 at a park in Tracy. It was a beautiful day. Sunny and not too hot. A little windy - which kept the flies at bay. They expected about 60 people and I think the number attending was close. It was a pretty little park located near two schools. Brenda had reserved the covered pavillion, and was she glad she did! Other people had taken it over, were cooking on their own grill. The park "officer" told them they had to leave, but knew of a park they could go and would show them where. They grudgingly left, with their grill, but didn't seem too out of sorts. They didn't have a leg to stand on.
We covered the tables with black plastic tablecloths, and used gold plates, napkins. (school colors).Paul, Eric and I cooked the meats. Brenda made potato salad, baked beans. There was a graduation cake from Costco. Really good. Plus the day before, we all helped make little chocolate graduation caps made out of hershey bar squares, Reisses pieces peanutbutter cups, put together with chocolate frosting. Eric brought a lot of outdoor games, balls, frisbees. The kids enjoyed that. The graduates all wore Hawaiian leis, so you could tell them from the undergraduates.
Forget-Me-Nots
Things not to forget when going anywhere note-worthy: such as to California for granddaughter, Emma's high school graduation:
CPAP plug.
That's right. We got to the hotel in San Francisco Wednesday night, after our flight from Elmira Airport, and realized I didn't pack the fourth cord to my brand new CPAP machine. Panic city. By luck, we were given a suite (on the 8th floor). We've never had a suite before at this hotel, so Paul got up in the middle of the night and slept on the couch. (I was very noisy.)
The next morning, Paul searched the net for possible Res Med stores that we'd pass on our way to Sonoma Valley. After four calls, we found one that had the cord in Santa Rosa. That'll be $25.00 please. It was worth every penny.
Camera charger.
Next - when packing, Paul said my camera was fully charged. He handed me the charger and said put it where you want. Since the camera was fully charged, and the battery charge on my camera seems to last forever, I misunderstood him and left the charger home.
But, wouldn't you know, the battery lost its charge after we got through graduation Friday night, and
But you'd never know that my husband wasn't a happy camper. . He is so patient, loving, and dear.
Brenda, he and I went out on Saturday morning to get party items for Sunday's graduation party. We stopped at a Best Buy and found a travel charger which actually works better than the charger I left at home. But that was no excuse for not bringing it. So that was $45.00 please. Good Heavens. It's a good thing I have my own pension. And Visa card. Don't leave home without it. The charger was also worth every penny too.
CPAP plug.
That's right. We got to the hotel in San Francisco Wednesday night, after our flight from Elmira Airport, and realized I didn't pack the fourth cord to my brand new CPAP machine. Panic city. By luck, we were given a suite (on the 8th floor). We've never had a suite before at this hotel, so Paul got up in the middle of the night and slept on the couch. (I was very noisy.)
The next morning, Paul searched the net for possible Res Med stores that we'd pass on our way to Sonoma Valley. After four calls, we found one that had the cord in Santa Rosa. That'll be $25.00 please. It was worth every penny.
Camera charger.
Next - when packing, Paul said my camera was fully charged. He handed me the charger and said put it where you want. Since the camera was fully charged, and the battery charge on my camera seems to last forever, I misunderstood him and left the charger home.
But, wouldn't you know, the battery lost its charge after we got through graduation Friday night, and
But you'd never know that my husband wasn't a happy camper. . He is so patient, loving, and dear.
Brenda, he and I went out on Saturday morning to get party items for Sunday's graduation party. We stopped at a Best Buy and found a travel charger which actually works better than the charger I left at home. But that was no excuse for not bringing it. So that was $45.00 please. Good Heavens. It's a good thing I have my own pension. And Visa card. Don't leave home without it. The charger was also worth every penny too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)