Happy Thanksgiving

This is what sixty years of happy marriage look like. This is a picture of my folks just days before their sixtieth wedding anniversary.

Since I arrived only one day before Thanksgiving, I didn't try to put on a whole Thanksgiving dinner. We went to a potluck at church instead. What with cool Hispanic music and a turkey named Steve, we had a wonderful time. I took ten pounds of mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. We even got to take home leftovers. I spent all day yesterday decorating. It's just the two of us but discipline must be maintained. The tree is up and we have a bay window to put it in and for the first time ever, I have a banister to decorate. It looks nice, I think. We spent a cozy evening last night. Michael set up his train around the tree and then we watched one of our old favorites, Bachelor Mother, with David Niven and Ginger Rogers. Pretty nice. Both Christmas movies we have watched so far were set in New York City. We keep looking at ourselves saying, "We could go there and see Radio City Music Hall, Gimbel's, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, etc." I hope we get the chance. If not this year, then maybe next. It's totally weird living so close to those mythic places.

Back home

I'm back home arriving one week and a day later than planned. I spent most of my birthday yesterday in planes and airports. The couple we invited over for Thanksgiving dinner has had to punt and we will be joining them at a Thanksgiving dinner at church. I'll be making ten pounds of mashed potatoes. Not exactly what I had planned but that's okay. My mom is back at home and doing well and that's the most important thing.

Thanksgiving is a great time to send out a few thank yous. I must say thank you to Michael, my parents and my children for knowing me so well that they all gave me perfect presents this year. And to my brothers, I also say thank you for all the support, love and laughs this week. I can't imagine being an only child after this experience. We needed each other and our parents needed each of us.

An amazing surprise was all the birthday wishes from my students and friends on Facebook. I appreciate all those thoughts as well.

Michael and I both knew that this move would mean that I would need to return to Shreveport often and so it has worked out. As I'm watching snow fly past my window, it's hard to believe that I was where the camellias are blooming just yesterday. But as lovely as all those 70 degree sunshiny days and gorgeous flowers were, this is now home and I'm glad to be back.

My mom

The whole purpose of this blog (in my mind, at least) is to record for future generations (haha) my life-changing move to Pennsylvania. One of the hardest wrenches was leaving mom and dad behind as they are 89 and 87. My brothers and I planned a surprise for their sixtieth wedding anniversary this coming week. The parents were going on a cruise so we surprised them a week early. It was going to be a cool surprise with all three of us showing up together until mom went into the hospital. One brother had to come early, the other brother came a little early and I finally got picked up at the airport. My arrival and the second brother's arrival were good surprises. But not as cool as the original plan. But then the morning of my flight back to PA, mom got sick again and I'm still here. I didn't want to blog about it until I had good news but I think she's finally around the bend. I don't know when she's coming home but the extensive surgery that was threatened hasn't happened and looks like it's not going to happen at this point. It's been a long week for the whole family.

What I feared when I moved up to PA was that my parents would need me and I would have trouble getting back home. In fact, I've just happened to be here when first dad then mom had a problem and I stayed to help. I have told mom and dad that I won't be flying down any more because every time I do, one of them goes into the hospital. Maybe I'll drive but flying to S'port seems to be bad karma. Just kidding of course. I'm very glad that I'm here but I have fretted some about the things left undone in PA. This will be a test of my faith that all will work out for the best.

So many things about the move that I dreaded have turned out really well in spite of my worries. But my parents' need for me to be close has turned out to be a real problem. On the literally bright side, the weather has been so beautiful here with temps in the 70s and 80s and lots and lots of sunshine, that it's been hard to be too depressed about the situation. The camellias are blooming at the hospital garden and I've soaked up as many rays as I could. I wish I could take it home in a bottle the way Hermione Granger carries around her bluebell flames.

New grandbaby

I just got word that I have a new grandbaby girl born in the Czech Republic today. Mom and baby are fine. How exciting!

Best surprise ever

We had planned to surprise my parents with a visit from all of us (me and my twin brothers) with all of us just showing up on their doorstep at the same time this past Friday. This was to be an early surprise for their 60th wedding anniversary since they were going to be on a cruise for the actual day. But then Momma got sick and went into the hospital for a few days. So change of plans. K1 went early with his son and arrived on Wednesday, K2 and S arrived on Friday and surprised them. Then I arrived on Friday afternoon late and surprised them again. Momma said it was better this way because if we had all arrived together she would have cried. This way she was just really, really happy. We all went out to dinner on Friday night. Really cool. The amazing thing is that no one blew the surprise even though half of America knew we were doing it. Maybe a hundred people knew about the secret and yet no one let it slip. It was great fun. But the twins had such a good time telling "Dad" stories at the restaurant that he finally asked, "Is this a roast?" A good time was had by all.

What are the chances?

I called one of my doctor's offices in Denton for some medical records two days ago and the nice lady I talked to was from Wilkes-Barre. She wanted to be here since her sister was due any day. I wanted to be there since my mom has been in the hospital. What were the chances of talking to her that day?

Aren't human beings always like this? Wanting to be somewhere else, wishing they had more of this or less of that, worrying about things they can't do anything about? Unsatisfied would just about describe most people on most days.

But not being satisfied with the status quo is responsible for who knows how many scientific discoveries, social improvements and great works of art. Wishin' and hopin', thinkin' and prayin', plannin' and dreamin' are all important parts of life. But Dionne Warwick is right, you gotta go ahead and live in the present. If this move taught me anything, it's that the more you appreciate the "now" the happier you'll be.

Reminder of why I write

The picture is just to remind me what blue sky looks like. Ha, ha. This is Lubbock and it was hot as you know what that day with a dry wind. But there was plenty of sky and sun.

I waffle back and forth about being a writer and whether it's worth it. I'm not making any money and I feel like I'm not contributing at a time when our retirement fund is wallowing in the slough of despond. And I'm having huge motivation issues since I don't have a writers' group to give me support and encouragement. (Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.)

But then I receive a message which makes writing a no-brainer. On Sunday, one of the Primary girls along with her mom and sister came up to me and with awe in her voice asked if I was the author of "Jake's Miracle" which was published in our church's children's magazine last October. When I said yes, her mom said that it was her daughter's favorite story ever from the magazine. That was a pretty impressive moment. I was so happy to be able to share the story of a great kid who lived in my daughter's ward in Texas. The church hasn't published any recent circulation numbers and my story wasn't included in the international version of the magazine (the circulation of The Friend was about 250,000 in 1996), but there's no doubt that thousands and thousands of children read that story. The story is now archived on the church's website in text form and in glorious full-color PDF and is available to anyone in the world who wants to read it now or in the future. Hm-m-m. Back to work.

Pas de Panique

This is what French people say. Pas de panique. No panic. But when your dad calls and says your mom has been taken to the hospital, you do panic. It's just natural. According to my brother Kevin, she is doing well now and evidently it was a case of medication interaction. Even though Dad made a special point to remind the doctor of all the meds Momma is taking, she still ended up with a med for a pain problem that made her really wonky and she fell. But no broken bones and they're keeping her in the hospital until the new meds have worn off. It's at times like this that I really hate being so far away. In Texas I could just jump into the happy car and be where my parents were in a few hours.

Sidenote: As I typed the word "it's" it reminded me that I am finding terrible errors all of a sudden in websites, newspapers and even magazines as eminent as Time. I found a whose/who's error in the local rag just this morning. Is it just me or is grammar completely out of control? Maybe somebody needs my services as a copy editor.

Lack O'Sun counties

The county next to mine is called Lackawanna. Scranton (of election fame) is in Lackawanna county and I am in Luzerne. Right now both counties could be called Lack O'Sun. I'm having a little problem with depression right now. It's mild and I hope it's temporary. Even though I am not feeling totally blue, I am incapacitated in many ways. Just can't seem to make myself do anything. Laundry and kitchen chores I seem to be able to manage but forget anything really creative or demanding at the moment. The lack of sunshine could have something to do with it. I almost saw the sun this morning. It was behind a cloud. I knew the cloudiness up here might present a problem for me but I didn't expect it this soon.

I'm considering buying a light box--the kind they invented for those poor people in the Northwest for their SAD disorder. Don't know if it would help or not, but it might be worth a try. If you've never suffered from a depression that comes on for no apparent reason (or for a reason so small it's ridiculous), I envy you.

What's wrong with the electoral college

I must blog twice today. As I was throwing out newspapers which piled up during my absence I found that the following people had visited Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during the week before the election: John and Cindy McCain, Caroline Kennedy, and Bill Clinton. Here's who visited before that: Everybody including Barack, Michelle, Sarah, Hillary and Joe (not the plumber). How many of those folks do you think came to visit Utah while I was there? Zip. Why? Because Utah doesn't count really. It was sure to vote Republican, so why would either candidate bother unless they could drum up some serious campaign funds? How many voters in states like Utah and Texas didn't vote because they already knew the outcome in their state? If we had a popular vote, then everybody's vote would be of equal importance and candidates would spend their time thinking about the needs of everyone and not just the needs of those who live in swing states. You gotta believe that even after the election, American presidents think more about the states and cities whose votes they might need for reelection than for those states in which they can't possibly succeed. With a popular vote, getting votes in Dallas, Texas would be just as important as getting votes in Dallas, PA. My vote shouldn't be more important than my daughter's in Prague or my daughter's in Austin but you wouldn't believe it from the amount of personal attention I got. So not fair.

Benefits of an economic downturn

Wow, traveling by airplane is a whole new experience with the economic downturn. I had empty seats by me on all the flights I took. I even had three seats to myself on the long flight from Phoenix to Philly. I stretched out and slept for hours. This won't last. Eventually the airlines will begin canceling flights. But if you've been avoiding flying because of overcrowding, now is the time to go.

Shopping is much easier now since the malls are empty. And everything is on sale. If you have money right now, you can definitely pick up bargains. Of course, there's always the specter of losing your job. So only those who are very secure would feel confident enough to go out and buy a lot of stuff.

Maybe we will go back to some old-fashioned thrift and saving. Perhaps women won't be judged on what kind of purse they're carrying. Plus, this desire to save may go along well with the green movement and a desire to reuse and recycle. The handmade Christmas gift might make a comeback!

I'm back

I'm back. And today I've had one of those whopper migraines so I will definitely post more later. As for the election, my state was divided, my family was divided and my feelings were divided. I couldn't fully support either candidate. I did feel for the first time in my life that either candidate would have made a good president. That says something good about our country, I think.

I was in three states yesterday and it was impressive to see how people were glued to televisions at all the airports. (Including airport personnel. I'm not sure how much work got done yesterday in airports, but they didn't lose my bag which is really something considering my past record.) I was also impressed by how many "I Voted" stickers I saw. So many people I talked to had voted absentee or voted early so that they wouldn't miss out on their chance to vote even though they were traveling on election day. It was an amazing experience to witness several different parts of the country and see how much Americans care, no matter where they come from.

Halloween costumes

Halloween costumes are regional, I am sure. My favorites from the trunk-or-treat at my daughter's family's church were the adult couple dressed as McCain and Palin. They looked pretty good actually. It was also very Star Wars-y last night. My grandson was Jango Fett, and I saw a really cute tiny Luke SkyWalker and Princess Leia brother sister duo. (Dad was Darth Vader). One tiny little thing dressed like a pig had a wolf for a Dad. He was way too scary for the little ones. My oldest granddaughter was Word Girl. The younger boy was a tiger which roared and the baby was cute in a pink tutu and skull leg warmers. The weather was amazingly beautiful. My grandkids are outside playing barefoot right now. Harry Potter came to the door as well as Princess Jasmine. Everybody had fun. The only sad thing was my younger grandson who picked up his bucket today and was ready to go out again. It's tough being three and not understanding how the world works.