Saturday

It's a beautiful day in Provo today. Glorious spring weather even though C wants it to be summer since she's out of school. Her mommy finally conceded that it was summer for her since her classes were over.

On the home front, I don't think things have been going very well and that Michael has had a really rough work week. I feel like I deserted him. My son also had a need this week and it was frustrating how little I could do to help him. But it's nice to be needed in several places. Being a schoolteacher means that someone always needs you for something. But now I have days when no one is in desperate need of my services. It's really lucky for me how amazingly self-sufficient all my children and my husband are.

It's at this time in my life that I best understand the phrase "Feast or famine." As I watch my daughter with her four little ones, I remember those days when just eating an uninterrupted peanut butter sandwich by myself would have been a great and glorious event. Now my challenge is to find an appropriate use for all the available free time I have. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I adore the luxury of choosing when I eat, do laundry, clean or sit down at the computer to write. But I need to remind myself more often what a fantastic privilege it is.

Haven't opened a box in days

When I mentioned to my daughter that I haven't opened a moving box in days, she offered me one of hers to open. I know how that goes. There were a few boxes at Ridgecrest Circle that hadn't been opened since moving from our previous address. One would think that if we hadn't used the stuff in the boxes in twelve years, that we could just pitch the boxes unopened at the dump. But no, I opened them, sealed them shut again and transported them up to PA. I wish I understood this pathological need to keep souvenirs, letters, postcards, concert programs, etc. I can justify family wedding and birth announcements. I put them in the genealogy box. And I think everyone understands love letters too. They are really hard to get rid of. I found a card from Michael the other day that judging from the artwork on the card, came from the 70s. It was very much worth saving.

Having fun

We're having lots of fun. Baby girl, J, is feeling much better and is a delightful companion. The oldest, C, had her last day of school today so we will play dolls tomorrow and generally have a good time. The weather is gorgeous and my son-in-law cooked hamburgers outside tonight. The kids really enjoyed the s'mores.

We were watching a movie called "The Great Debaters" I think. Anyway it's about the Wiley College debate team from Marshall, Texas of all places. As the four-year-old was going to bed, he begged to stay up and watch the movie. My daughter questioned his interest in this film. He said, "I like boring!"

Last night, G had a meeting so her husband and I stayed home and he taught me how to play Guitar Hero on their Wii. Pretty much fun! I had tried it when my son's friends had brought one over, but I hadn't done very well. Last night D borrowed another guitar from a neighbor and we played as a team. Who knew that deep inside all of us was the desire to become a rock star? He was a good teacher and I did pretty well. The violin training really paid off and of course, since they had legends of rock, I recognized some of the songs. It was hard to explain to G and D just how long ago I dropped out of the rock music scene. I think I stopped listening to rock music on the radio in 1972.

I'm trying to imagine playing Guitar Hero in my living room in Shavertown. It just doesn't seem to fit somehow.

Grandbaby girl doing well

I arrived in really good time. I decided to go to Utah to help out on Sunday afternoon and my son-in-law T helped me look for flights. I actually managed to arrive in SLC at 10:20 on Monday morning. Somewhat miraculous. J is doing much better. She came home yesterday afternoon and is breathing much better. I've had a grand time so far with the kids. They are delightful and we are also enjoying beautiful weather. I have to admit that I got some grocery store envy. The first thing I did was to go to the grocery store to stock up since my daughter and son-in-law had spent several days in the hospital. The grocery store closest to her house is Smith's which is owned by Kroger. All my favorite Kroger store brand stuff was there and the grocery store was even laid out like my Kroger at home. Plus, they had a whole aisle of really good Hispanic foods. The grocery stores in PA are so different and there are so many items I'm missing. Ah well! At least my daughter G has it good.

I was introduced to the Wii by my four year old grandson yesterday. He's really good at it. I'm not. Typical. It's pretty cool to take instruction from a toddler. Humility is good for the soul.

Blogging out

I'll be flying to Utah tomorrow to help out my daughter who has a sick one. It's a last minute deal and I'm pretty sure I won't have time to blog. So keep checking. I'll be back on June 2nd and will have lots of good grandbaby stories to share.

Today I got the most miraculous deal. Instead of paying almost six hundred dollars to fly tomorrow to Utah from Philadelphia (it wasn't even in the realms of affordability to fly from Wilkes-Barre) and take pretty lousy flights, I got a screamin' deal on Priceline of all places. They offered me a plane flight and rent car for only 500 dollars if I was willing to take whatever flight the mystery airline offered and whatever rent car company came up. The website promised direct flights which was really weird as there are so few from Philly to SLC tomorrow (two, in fact.) My son-in-law, T, is the family flight guru, and he was as intrigued as I was. So with a leap of faith, I pushed the button and was offered two direct flights on Delta and an Avis rent car for a week. What a blessing!

Rhododendrons and wildlife

Our house really doesn't have diagonal lines on it. That just shows up because I reduced the size of the file to make it easier to download. But I had to show how huge the rhododendron bush is on the side of the house.

I thought rhododendrons didn't grow in Texas but actually azaleas are considered a subgroup and they grow really well there. But true rhododendrons (the ones with multiple flowers on a stalk and huge leaves) don't. So this will be great because they're really showy. I read randomly on Wikipedia that rhododendron and azalea honey can be hallucinogenic. We weren't planning to rob the hive in our yard anyway!

We have lots of things in our yard that won't grow in Texas. And the flowers keep on coming. The lilies of the valley and the daffodils are fading but the rhododendrons and the irises are just beginning. And we have several rose bushes that will keep us in flowers during the summer.

We also had a woodchuck (or groundhog) the other day. They're really big! It's weird that all the squirrels are gray. They look elderly! We're told that we might even see deer in our yard. (It's evidently the last thing you want. They eat your trees and shrubs.) They've also promised chipmunks but I haven't seen one yet. But at Michael's work and in Mountaintop, a town which is on the other side of the valley, they have bears. No thanks! We almost decided to live in Mountaintop. I'm glad we chose the Back Mountain area. As a co-worker of Michael's pointed out, "I've never been part of the food chain before."

Domino efffect

Finding the cookbook was great. This sloppy page has the perfect piecrust recipe and the much-tweaked recipe for pumpkin pie that I use. (The pie is made from rhubarb from our garden.) I got so excited about finding the missing book that I cleaned it up, re-organized it and put all the recipes in plastic page protectors. It certainly wasn't a top priority project (or one that required higher level thinking skills) and I had lots of other things to do. But as I was doing it, I realized with excitement that I was taking a step forward in organizing my life instead of just trying to undo the giant backward steps we'd taken in the last six months or so. It felt good.

This little project of putting pages in plastic covers created a domino effect. Suddenly, making progress in other areas seemed possible as well. I had lost all momentum in my writing career due to some serious setbacks but I've started the ball rolling again. I sent out two query letters via email yesterday. It only took a few minutes and then I was back to unpacking boxes. Today I've heard back from one of the editors and I have an article assignment. Small steps for sure, but in the right direction. Excelsior!

Grandbaby blues

Since C was born six years ago, this is the longest I've been without a grandbaby hug. I'm hoping to see the Utah contingent in July. This move has disrupted many parts of my life. One of the most difficult has been going so long without seeing one of my six beautiful grandchildren. And missing C's sixth birthday was particularly hard. So here's a message to C, S, M, J, V, and J:

I love you. You are the best. Hugs and kisses, Grammie

Lost Book

Gentle Reader,
If you had to pick the most valuable book in your home, which one would it be? I'm not talking about monetary value or sentimental value, I'm talking about the one whose loss would most disrupt your life, the one that you would go to great pains to replace?

I've been looking for a book for several weeks now. I've not been too worried as I figured it was somewhere. But today I made a conscious effort to seek it out and checked out all the book boxes I could find. I even looked in the garage to see if there were one book box lurking there. Alas and alack, no book. So after having given up, I passed by the bookshelf in the office and saw what might be this book. How funny if it had been right there to the left of my desk all this time.

Sure enough, it was my book. Which one was it? The recipe book that my oldest daughter made for me many years ago. It's really a binder rather than a book and has printouts of all the recipes I typed up years ago plus other recipes I've printed out or clipped. It's disgustingly dirty, covered with chocolate drips and gravy stains, and has little notes written all around the recipes as I've tweaked them over the years. And if I had lost it, it would have been irreplaceable. It was easy to overlook because from the side it looks like all the other white binders in the house.

I'm glad it's back. And I have a new rhubarb pie recipe to add in. I'm curious. What book would you have chosen?

Now I'm a full-fledged Pennsylvanian

Well, I met my first rude person today in PA and you might guess it was a "public servant." Why do public servants so often forget who they are? Someone who is supposed to help the public, i.e., moi?

The guy today at the driver's license bureau first crabbed at me for "almost" missing my number. The amount of time they give you to get up to the desk before calling the next number is shorter than a New York minute.(You have to take a number in order to be served.) Then he asked me if my middle name was really "Jones" in a mocking way. I explained that I used my maiden name as my middle. He said, "People have started doing that recently and it's wrong." I replied that I had been doing it for thirty-seven years. Seems that he thinks it's illegal to use my maiden name as my middle without going to court. Funny, but the IRS likes my maiden name just fine (it's on my Social Security card) and so does the Passport Agency. And of course, he had both my social security card and my passport in front of him because you have to present umpteen jillion pieces of ID in order to get a license. Then he mumbled that it would eventually catch up with me. At this point, I could die before that happens. (I didn't explain that I can't use my real middle name because my initials would be SAD and that's just sad.) If I hesitated for an instant in all the instructions he was giving me, he acted like I had the IQ of a kumquat. Altogether a nice fellow. The other guy who took my picture was the soul of affability. A couple of nice surprises though. You don't have to take a written test! Just a one-line eye test. And when I was getting my picture made I was able to register to vote and to register as an organ donor instantly. How cool is that?

The temporary license looks and feels just like a real one down to the holographic plastic laminating material. I asked the photo guy about that. He said, "Oh, your real license will be just like that except that it won't have the word 'temporary' on it." In the thirty minute wait in between the rude guy and the photo guy they could have checked my Texas records online. (And probably did.) Why not give me the real one right then?

Sisyphus

Sisyphus was the dude who had to roll a huge rock to the top of a hill, watch it roll down the hill, then walk down and push it up again. And according to the Greeks, he's still doing it since the punishment was eternal. The punishment is so terrifying that he has become a symbol of the thankless or repetitive task but he was a pretty terrifying guy. His crimes were many. The settling into the house has reached the Sisyphean stage. Every time I open a box, I move other stuff around to put away the new stuff and I end up with the same amount of clutter I had before. But I expect a breakthrough tomorrow. We get rid of a large item tomorrow when they deliver our split box springs and haul off our old box springs. Plus, we get the storage area under our queen size bed which we have always utilized to the max. And I'll be able to get into the garage and open up all those boxes. Oh joy! Just like Christmas!

Liberty Bell

Very much like Venus de Milo, it's hard to appreciate the Liberty Bell when you are being bumped by other tourists and while you are waiting your turn for a crummy picture with a lot of people in the background. The difference is that almost all the tourists in front of the Liberty Bell are American whereas you get bumped by people from all around the world in front of Venus. But even so, you do get a special feeling just being there in its presence. They have cast a replica of the wonderful inscription from Leviticus about proclaiming liberty throughout the land and you can run your hand over it. That was very cool.

It's exciting to be here in Pennsylvania with all this wonderful stuff so close to us. It only took us two hours to get from our door to the Liberty Bell. And there are cool things to see within easy driving distance all around us.

It wasn't exactly thrilling to be living on a mountain today however. It's not gotten over 55 degrees all day and we've only had brief moments of sunshine. Brr-r-r. That's pretty cold for the second half of May in my opinion. We've had the heat on every day this week. And the chorister didn't show up for sacrament meeting today. I didn't know quite what to do so just started the hymn after the introduction and that was the WRONG thing to do. This congregation actually follows a conductor. Nothing like being embarrassed in front of hundreds of people. Michael said that everyone figured it was someone else's fault, but I still felt and probably looked stupid.

Philly

We went to Philadelphia today. The weather was supposed to be pretty bad here in Shavertown, but very nice in Philly so it seemed like a good outing. We had promised ourselves one weekend trip a month since there's so much to see up here.

We had a very successful day. We managed to get in among other things the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, Carpenter's Hall, and the Second National Bank which has a huge collection of portraits by Charles Willson Peale. We ate lunch at the same tavern where John Adams and George Washington used to hang out. (I talked to my son later in the day. He wondered if they used to tell each other, "I could use a warm one!") They serve some colonial dishes while others are quite modern. I had Martha Washington turkey pot pie and it was delicious. We were lucky to be visiting in May. It seems that in June and July you have to reserve your tickets to see Independence Hall weeks in advance or show up early at the Visitor's Center and wait in line for a ticket. I had no problems booking a time the night before.

I'll have to ask my parents if I visited any of these places when I was nine. I remember everything we did when I was sixteen and know that we didn't do the historical sites. I seem to remember being driven by Betsy Ross's house. In any case, it seemed like the first time for me to visit all of them.

We were so impressed by the care Philadelphia has taken with the heritage of our nation. Michael commented on what a heavy responsibility the city has had, especially since they have had to take it upon themselves, the federal government only taking over these sites in the twentieth century. There are whole areas which feel very much like it must have when the framers were living there. It is actually easy to ignore the huge skyscrapers behind Independence Hall.

All the pictures I have included are of Independence Hall. All taken with my little Olympus since Michael was taking pictures with the Nikon. I was particularly impressed by that handrailing with the ivory button in the middle. I thought how many famous and heroic hands had touched that banister.

There was one unhappy moment for me. A lady was going around in the Second National Bank taking flash pictures of all the famous portraits while the park rangers weren't looking. I felt like telling her to stop. When I'm in Europe I'm always afraid of hurting something that "belongs" to them. But when this woman started harming these American portraits, I felt like she was damaging "my" stuff. Those protective feelings made me feel very American.

It was a glorious day with lots of sunshine. As usual in Pennsylvania, everyone including the park rangers were kind and helpful. There's lots we didn't see so we will be ready to go again.

The wise man probably had a leaky basement

In the children's song, the wise man built his house upon a rock. I'm guessing he had a leaky basement. One of the things Michael was most intrigued with about our house was the outcropping of slate in the side yard and the fact that the house is built on solid stone. One half of the basement slants and has a slate floor, the other half has concrete on it and is mostly flat. There are some weird step-like things in one corner that accommodate the stone floor underneath. I'm such a klutz, I've marked them all with blue tape. Otherwise I would trip over them constantly. I want to get some of that yellow and black hazard tape to mark it permanently. It also has a drain that takes some of the water seepage outside. We run a dehumidifier all the time. A neighbor told us last week that the previous owner ran two of them. So I think we'll invest.

Today it has rained all day and there are puddles in the slate part of the basement that don't lead to the drain. Michael says he came here on the heaviest rain day in the winter and wasn't worried by what he saw so I'm not panicking yet. I'll wait till he gets home. It's not like it pours here either. It just sort of drizzles. Michael says that they announce on the news if they expect thunder. I'm hoping that they did something to the waterproofing when they treated the house for termites and that we can get it a little drier.

Other than that, I've just changed out the ugliest shelf paper I have ever had the misfortune to see. Suffice it to say that it had moose on it. I've changed to some really cool shelf paper that grips without adhesive and which can be washed in the washing machine. And it grips the stuff in the drawer (I only have one--although I grant that it's a large one) so that it doesn't move around when I open it.

Haircut appointment

Evidently there's a stylist here named Derrick who can make your hair look better than it has ever looked. So Michael got me his number from someone at work and I called to make an appointment. The young lady said a little dampingly, "I believe we're into June." I said that was okay so I have an appointment for June 11th. I was lucky to get it. Michael said that sometimes the appointment desk will tell you that he's not taking any new clients and so Michael gave me the name of his co-worker's wife so that she could refer me! My hair is a mess and so a few more weeks will only let the last disaster haircut grow out a little more. I expect really great things from this haircut.

I got to talk to Morgan in Prague today. It's always a miracle to me that I can see her as well as talk to her. And that computer to computer via Skype it doesn't cost anything. I also got to see Martin who kept popping out of bed (he was supposed to be asleep.) It really doesn't matter where you live any more. Communication is so easy and instantaneous. Since the move my webcam isn't working on Skype though. My printer wasn't working for a while after moving up here but I reloaded the driver and it seems to be okay now. It shouldn't have to be this hard to move a computer from one town to another.

The Sunshine Market

Michael and I love grocery stores when we're traveling. In a foreign country they are an absolute window into the soul of the people but even in America, you have a lot of fun looking at all the different products and inexplicable differences. In Utah, for example, margarine boxes are the same size but the sticks are a different shape. (Think fat quarters if you're a quilter.) Why?

Today my next door neighbor, T., took me to a huge market that had an infinite variety of items I'd never seen before. Michael and I will have to go on a date there just for the amusement value. Here are two items I had to buy. The soup mix is an incredible bargain. I just cut up the vegetables, added a can of seasoned tomatoes, a potato and a piece of bacon and voila, soup! The soda had the cheesiest label I've seen in a long time. Looks like something from the fifties. Come to find out, the cream soda comes from the Crystal Soda Water Company in Scranton. We'll see if Michael likes it. I'm not a cream soda fan myself and far too many cream sodas today have caffeine. But this one advertises its caffeine-freeness. I also bought Pennsylvania (not Idaho!) potatoes, bread from local bakeries and lots of really cheap produce. According to T., they have the best meat because they do all their own meat-cutting and have all sorts of interesting cuts of pork and lots of deli meats. You have to take a number at the huge meat counter. She gave me the full tour and explained things like "porketta" which is a hunk of pork rolled in seasoning. It was impossible to see everything so I'll definitely go back to scout out new and interesting things.

Not only did I get to find a new supermarket, I got to spend time listening to T's stories. Michael got to meet her last night and we agree. Like Peppermint Patty, she's a rare gem.

Grammie and Me

Here is part of my Mother's Day present from my daughter and granddaughter. The title of the artwork is "Grammie and Me." C's artwork reminds me of her mommy's artwork with its vibrant color and exuberant style. There are two things I especially love about this picture. One is how tall I am and the other is how much I look like my beautiful granddaughter.

I have more hope today about getting things organized, I'm not sure why. And I got a great email from a Denton friend who told me about all the changes there. I was going to say back home but the lines will eventually blur between home in Texas and home here.

And how did it get to be May? My career as a writer has been on hold for months now and the excuses must stop soon. I have a computer and printer now and have found the stapler, envelopes and printer paper. My goal for today is to write just one page of my romance novel.

I just noted in my AARP bulletin that the newest genre is geezer lit. Seems that the market for mysteries where the protagonist is over 70 is growing. Omigosh, I'm actually too young for something! Too old for chick lit, too young for geezer lit. Where is the boomer lit?

Not too productive

I've realized that every closet, bin, drawer and shelf in the house is full. So at this point opening boxes seems kind of fruitless. There are still empty shelves in the basement but it's pretty damp down there. We're running one dehumidifier in the basement all the time and will probably have to buy another. Michael says it will be cheaper in the winter because the heat from the boiler will dry things out. So there are lots of things you can't store in a semi-damp place. The attic will probably get pretty warm in the summer so it won't be good for certain things either.

In a favorite old P.G.Wodehouse book, one of the characters states that they have reached an "imparse." The downsizing Michael and I have promised ourselves is now going to have to become a reality. So who is going to start first?

Happy Mother's Day

Michael took my picture as we were leaving for church. And I took his as he is sitting in our not quite organized office. We had both been assigned talks in sacrament meeting today. I love public speaking so though other moms might not have enjoyed the experience on Mother's Day, I loved it. I talked about how to prepare a son for a mission and Michael talked about what mothers do, using his mom as an example. His remarks were very touching and sweet. We got invited to a Costa Rican family's home for dinner (the food was incredible) and then all four children contacted me. It was grand to hear from all four of them on the same day. It seems I'm famous. G turned her favorite saying of mine into her local newspaper and they published it. When her kids ask what's for dinner she says what my mom always said, "rabbit tracks and wind pudding." When I talked to my mom today she said it was something her mother had said. So that makes four generations of that silly remark.

I could get really sappy here but I won't. I didn't know how it would be on Mother's Day with all my children and my mom so far away. In fact, it was one of the best Mother's Days ever.

Lost day

I lost most of today due to a headache. It wasn't bad, but the meds knock me out sometimes. I did get to talk to my own mom which was wonderful and got a lovely card from one of my daughters.

More exciting than my blog today is my daughter's blog, Puking Pastilles. Check it out. There's a link to it here on my blog. In her entry today there's a link to an e-card provided by a bookstore. My grandchildren, Catherine and Seth, were in their commercial and I think it's way cute. Beyond cute even. There are three different commercials you can look at. All of them end with my grandson.

Yesterday and this morning, I worked in the attic bedroom. The more I work up there, the more I like it. It was made for the former owners' son, Kevin. Everyone who knows the house calls it Kevin's room. It's full of built-in chest of drawers and bookshelves. And it's got a great indestructible linoleum floor. I think it's an exact match of the linoleum in my own brothers' room at my childhood home. What a sewing room/playroom it will make if I can get it organized.

The Eternal Tourist

Michael just got back from a quick trip to Fort Worth for business. He got to see our son and cat Winston. On his return he made the most interesting remark last night. He said he was surprised how little the D/FW area seemed like home. I was shocked and wondered if I would feel the same way when I had been here a few more months. He arrived in early January but I didn't get here until March.

I posted one of my favorite pictures that shows how much the Dallas area is part of my heart. The photo of Michael's sister Katie reminds me how much joy and excitement she can find in life whether she's dodging a cyclone in Myanmar/Burma or watching a bunch of tuba players oompah their way through Christmas carols. TubaChristmas at Thanksgiving Square is a tradition that I will really miss.

In a way, I hope I never get the feeling that this is home. The reason is that I am an eternal tourist here. It's like being on vacation all the time. How exciting is that? Last night we just drove around a neighborhood in Dallas (PA!) to look at the beautiful yards. The architecture, the trees, the flowers, all remind me how different it is here from any place I've ever lived. And I got online to look at some church historical sites in New York and realized that Niagara Falls is only five hours away. Niagara Falls for goodness' sake! How exotic and faraway is that for a girl who grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana?

I'm hoping that Texas will always be home just like Louisiana has always been home. I'm willing to add Shavertown and Wilkes Barre to the list of places that mean home to me if I'm allowed to never feel quite at home in a part of the country where the names of towns have such amazing cultural associations: Niagara Falls, Watkins Glen, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Annapolis, Brooklyn, Atlantic City, Palmyra, Manhattan, Hershey, Rochester, Bethlehem and I could go on and on.

Why downsizing is hard or why I need fourteen pairs of black shoes

When we looked at this house, I noted that the master bedroom closet wouldn't even hold my shoes. Michael laughed. Unfortunately, this is no laughing matter. Here are my fourteen pairs of black shoes. Why do I need all fourteen? From 12 o'clock:
Crocs
Garden or painting crocs so I don't ruin my good Crocs
New casual flats that are in style (Michael said buy them because they are cute)
Vinyl dress shoes for the rain
The only pair of shoes I ever bought in Paris (you can't expect me to give them away)
Stylish dressy suede flats (cannot wear in the rain because they bleed)
Oxfords to wear with pants--these are shoes I can bear to wear all day to teach school in
Clogs
Organ shoes with leather soles
Old worn-out dress flats that I can't throw away because they are comfortable enough for European cobblestones
Sandals
Pumps
Boots
Satin evening shoes

Now I obviously have lots of other shoes that are not black. But you can see the problem. There is a need for each of these fourteen pairs of black shoes. Which pair could I sacrifice? Today alone I've worn five different pair. (Crocs, painting crocs to take out the garbage in the rain, vinyl dress shoes to go to church, organ shoes to play for a funeral and dress flats to go out to lunch after it had stopped raining. And it's only 2:40 PM.) And since I have a 5 1/2 not quite medium foot, any shoe that I gave or threw away, I might not ever be able to replace.

What makes this so sad is that I'm not the only acquisitive one in our marriage. I might feature brass instruments next.

Walk by our lilac tree

I hope everyone doesn't mind that I'll be changing my template from time to time. That pink was annoying if eye-catching.

In our church we have a gratitude song the children learn that goes, "Whenever I hear the song of a bird or look at the blue, blue sky..." There's a line in it about walking by our lilac tree. Well, I finally have one! And it does smell lovely as you're walking by. It's funny that lilac scented stuff is gross but the real tree is very nice. (I think it's like watermelon and watermelon candy.) The end line is "I'm glad that I live in this wonderful world Heavenly Father created for me."

The picture of our back yard shows a peace and calm that doesn't exist inside the house. The third picture is more indicative of what it's like inside. I feel like the cable guy. How could we end up with so many cables and do we need them all? And what do we do with the ones we don't want or need? There's not a room in the house that's organized properly and I'm not sure how long it will take before that happens. For a while, things were improving dramatically. Now the improvements have really slowed down. So one day at a time and one box at a time at this point.

I did empty a box today that had all the letters, postcards and pictures of the Japanese fashion design students I taught back in the 90s. They came to our house and played baseball and basketball with my kids and made sugar cookies. They sent pictures of all four children with them at the mall. The paper and postcards they sent are amazing. Talk about cultural refinement! Those girls (women really but they seemed so young even compared to my young daughters) were so loving and kind and so easily pleased. I'll never forget that one of them kept yawning and falling asleep in my class. I finally found out why. She was going to the top floor of her dormitory (the only skyscraper in Denton) to watch the sun come up each morning. And since it was summertime, it was pretty early. In Japan, she had always been surrounded by tall buildings and had never seen a sunrise or a sunset. So much for the land of the rising sun. Speaking of which, we won't be seeing any spectacular sunrises or sunsets here either as they are hidden by the mountains. When you live in Texas, a glorious purple and orange sunset is something you shouldn't take for granted. But the spring flowers here in PA are just as spectacular in their way. So I guess that's the moral for the day. Be grateful for what you've got and enjoy the heck of out whatever new experiences you're given.

Tour of the yard

I got the tour of the yard today from the next to next door neighbor, Teresa. I had already been told what's planted in the yard by one of the daughters who grew up here but it was winter and hard to remember what was what since nothing was blooming. Teresa knows a lot about what was planted and when and she helped me sort out what were weeds and what were not. The "carnation" tree Michael likes is an ornamental cherry. In these pictures the red orange flowered bush is a Japanese quince. It will actually bear fruit. The ground cover is vinca or periwinkle. I didn't recognize it because I don't remember any blue varieties in Texas. (It's also weird that they don't seem to have red or white azales here, only purple.) The third picture is wild forget-me-nots that Teresa pointed out. I had already found the lemon verbena but she said we also have spearmint and something she calls chocolate mint. She showed me that we also have lilacs blooming in the back, a spirea bush and also clematis. She said to keep an eye out for pink lilies of the valley (I didn't know there was such a thing.) Teresa showed me foxgloves coming up which are not blooming yet and something she called a "penny" plant. I think my mom used to call it "money" plant. The strange bushes in the front of the yard are peonies. I remember those from Indiana when we lived there. I've never known a bush to attract more bees. And since we have a hive in our yard already, we may have to wear bee-keeping equipment to barbecue in the backyard. She showed me how to harvest the rhubarb we have coming up in multiple places.

After my yard tour, she went home but later brought back a bowl of rhubarb sauce which she had made. What a lovely person. She has really made me feel welcome.

Michael is gone for three days to finish up at Fort Worth. At last he will stop looking like a gunslinger. He's been toting two cell phones, one on each hip for months now. Once they close up the Fort Worth facility, he can hang up one of his guns! And he'll be working one job instead of two. So he'll be able to get out and enjoy working in our wonderful yard.

My hair hates Pennsylvania

Here's what's going on. The cookies are the first effort at baking in the new house. Even though the oven is really, really small, it bakes evenly. We priced wall ovens to replace it with something bigger. Forget that! I had no idea how expensive they were. Free-standing stoves are so much cheaper. I don't know what I'll do with my beautiful Calphalon cookie sheets that my son gave me. (Put them in storage for the next house I guess.) I realized that I had no vanilla to put in the cookies and it was Sunday so I couldn't go shopping. The cookies were nice and crispy but a little bland. I hope ZL is using the two (not one but two) big bottles of Mexican vanilla he inherited when I left Denton. I almost cried at what I had to spend for two ounces of vanilla today.

Michael is in front of our rigged up stereo. We haven't had a chance to connect it properly so we have wires coming out of the front of the tv and everything is sitting on cardboard boxes. How long do you think it will take for us to get it set up properly?

The next picture is the view out of my kitchen window. I know it's a bad picture but it's a cool view. You can see our rock garden, the hedge (they say it's burning bush which means it will be brilliant red in the fall), the neighbor's dogwood, the enormous hemlocks across the street and the mountains in the background. This is an amazingly beautiful place.

The last picture is evidence that my hair hates Pennsylvania. I have no idea what to do. It's not straight and it's not curly either. It just sticks out in all directions. In Denton, even if it looked awful after I blowdried it, a night's sleeping on it would solve most problems since it has always had body and a natural wave. (Hair with a permanent wave, ha ha!) But now it's more like broomstraw. And it's not just the shampoo or the way I'm doing it. It's been this way for weeks even when I was in the hotel and had plenty of time to work on it. Woe is me.

For the Beauty of the Earth

The fiddlehead ferns are the first photo. I wouldn't want to eat them! Also a photo of the tree Michael calls the "carnation tree." It's pretty lush. I included a photo of our sugar maple that dominates the back yard, then a photo of our back door. It is a pretty house if completely packed with stuff at the moment. We used to sing "White Coral Bells" as a family. I always thought they were talking about lilies of the valley but maybe not. We have a really nice bed of them and they are above the retaining wall which means that they're closer to eye level. Lilies of the Valley are so small it's hard to see them unless you bend over.

I'm beginning to not mind the bouts of rainy cold weather so much because of all the beautiful flowers that come as a result. It's so chilly that the flowers bloom longer. It's like keeping them in a floral refrigerator. And there are glorious hours and even days of perfect sunshiny weather sprinkled in the showers.

Stood up

We were trying to get rid of the fridge and thought we had a buyer but she stood us up today. And we even got stood up by the person who was going to pick up our box springs which we were giving away! It was my first experience with Craigslist and I hope it works out better soon.

We were listening to A Prairie Home Companion today and Garrison Keillor explained a mystery. He mentioned fiddleheads and something rang a bell in my head. We had this disgusting looking plant coming up by the back door. We kept waiting for it to do something nice like make flowers but it just kept getting taller and taller and it had these curled up leaves with an ugly brown covering. I thought it might be a fern but couldn't figure out why Mr. Chadwick would have planted such an ugly plant. We were going to apply a corollary of the "Tyler" rule which is "If you're mean, we eat you." We were going to change it to, "If you're ugly, we pull you up." Come to find out, they're something you can eat! They're fiddlehead ferns and after reading up on them on Wikipedia, I'm not willing to experiment on my own. Too scary like mushrooms. But in Maine and in other parts of New England they're a delicacy and quite expensive. Who knew? I think I'll stick to the rhubarb.

Movie store

Michael and I realized today that they don't call them video stores any more because...no one watches videos any more! So we went to a "movie" store where they had a very small selection and a very large confusing set of rental choices. In our area (it's called Back Mountain--I thought this was because it was on the other side of the mountain but no, it's because the mountain is actually named "Back") I guess everyone uses Netflix because there's no Blockbuster or anything like it. This store seemed to sell more popcorn and movie candy than movies. It also had the X-rated movies on the top shelf with the pictures covered up but not the titles. I don't think we'll be going there again.

We also discovered another grocery store which was called Bi-Lo. One would think that the prices would be low, but alas, no. The grocery prices here seem really high to me. And the money the cows are making is ridiculous. Milk is almost four dollars a gallon (about the same as gas, actually) and at Bi-Lo I saw a can of Crisco for $5.47. No kidding! How do they make fried chicken at that price? Oops, I forgot. They don't make fried chicken. There is an amazing grocery store in Wilkes-Barre (about fifteen minutes away) called Wegman's. It's like Whole Foods or Central Market. Really interesting food. So when we're in the mood for a splurge, there's great stuff available that I couldn't get in Texas unless I drove to Fort Worth or Dallas. Last night I went to Wegman's and got pain de campagne, Brie and olives for a very French informal dinner. Tres cool. I haven't hit the wall yet where there's something I really want that I can't get. It's inevitable. But there's so much cool new stuff here in the grocery stores that it should be a while before I'm pining for Bis-Kits.

Yesterday's post

This is yesterday's post. No whining but I had a killer headache--just like the bad old days and it took most of the day to get over it. But I did have some thoughts. I spent several hours late yesterday afternoon looking for bedding for my darling granddaughter who is turning one and who deserves something really chic to sleep on. But as I mentioned before, this is land of the geriatric. I found three pet stores before I found a store that might have stuff for babies. When I was directed to a Toys R Us, the parking lot was so empty, I thought it was closed. Then I also realized that if there are outlet malls around here, I don't know where they are. I found that I'm quite used to outlet malls where I can get a screamin' deal on quality goods. The DFW Metroplex is lousy with them.

Photo for today is our old fridge which we are trying to get rid of as it wouldn't fit in the garage. (I do love my new stainless steel fridge with the freezer on the bottom.) Four teenagers got all the fuel for their adult growth out of this old Kenmore. So farewell to an oldie but a goodie.