What Happened This Summer?

I cannot believe that I have not blogged since May. I guess it was because my summer started off so strange, and then with my dear son home from school, the evenings were filled with watching movies, and playing games, and some how now it is past labor day. So, as my New Years Resolution I am back to blogging (faithfully I hope). There is so much to write about, but I will start with one major event at a time and hopefully also post some pictures.

Well, right after college got out, we headed up to Maine for the burial of my father in law. Yes, he passed away during the winter, but in Maine they don't bury until the ground has thawed out. We coincided the date of his burial with his birthday. The best part of the trip was seeing all of my husband's family, whom I hadn't seen for quite a few years. We rented a big van, drove around the coast of Maine, ate and drank, and talked and reminisced.

What was really hard for us, is that my father in law and husband used to talk every Sunday evening at about the same time. So, for months I planned our eating and so forth not to coincide with the normal phone call time, even though we knew no call would come. Force of habit.

So, here are a few photos from the trip

Yes, this is a 1500 pound chocolate moose! What a tourist attraction -- in the back of a really nice candy shop.

My brother in law - walking around ruins of an old building on the coast.

Pizza had to come from Pat's. We worked at the original one during our first year of marriage while going to school full time. What memories. There are definitely better pizzas out there, but none that evoke the feelings of seeing a Pats Pizza Box (and we still knew the old prices from way back when!)

Two brothers and a sister.

My favorite picture from the trip. Lighthouse in South Portland, ME

In Memory.

The Aches and Pains of Getting Old

Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk at work and I got a shooting pain in my leg. Turns out it was a shin splint but I don't know why or how I got it. I usually know (too much walking on pavement at Disney), or whatever. But, the only thing I can figure is something I did at Pilates Thursday night. Argh! Very frustrating, I ended up not doing my Zumba class, iced it quite a few times throughout the day and night and today it is mostly better.

This morning, my husband woke up with an excruciating painful back problem. He has been seeing both his chiropractor and massage therapist regarding this problem, but for some reason it took a turn for the worse. So, here I am at work on a Saturday working with my nephew who is also our IT person as he does computer upgrades, maintenance, and stuff I don't full understand. So, by the end of the day I will have a really clean desk (or at least part of it) because I don't have any work work I really need to do today. Now, if only I could train my dogs to do the loads of laundry that are waiting for me at home.

What is so frustrating, is that we will be leaving on a vacation soon to go out to Bryce and Zion parks to do some hiking, and then to Las Vegas (where we will also walk a lot) and to see some shows. And we will need to keep up with our 21 year old son who doesn't have all the aches and pains of getting old. I am glad we waited til we were a bit older to have a child, but as we get older it is harder to keep up with him.

My mom is almost 90 and still living alone at her home. I see things that lead me to believe that she too is getting old (I guess at her age she has the right to be getting old). She has trouble with her manual dexterity due to arthritis in her fingers (if this is hereditary I too will probably get like that as my grandmother also had arthritis problems). She is still active, and she is still driving, and she is planning a big birthday bash for this summer.

So, I see more and more the importance of keeping up with my Yoga, strength training, and so forth. And my diet has become much healthier in the past few years. I hope it all pays off and although I have aches and pains, I want to be living in our own place when we are 90.

Obama in Asheville

President Obama is in Asheville. So how does this affect me? Well for Admin Professional Week I took the two women from my office in to downtown Asheville to paint pottery and for lunch. Well, we literally could NOT get out of town after lunch. All the expressways were blocked because of Obama. We figured out, OK, we would take the river road home. Nope. Obama and his wife decided to eat at 12 Bones (Ribs) where they had gotten food from during the campaign stop here 2 years ago. That was my root down to the river. So, decided to go through Biltmore village, nope, bridge construction. Finally headed south, hit the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway and made the 12 minute drive from Asheville to Weaverville in about 50 minutes! Thank goodness I didn't run out of gas, as I started out with a quarter tank.

People are taking the long routes home to get home from work, and parents are having trouble picking up their kids from school. What a mess!

Anyways, the pottery painting was fun! The lunch (brick oven fired pizzas) was delicious. Can't wait to go back and pick up the pottery after it has been fired. Should be ready in about a week.

Computer Updates

I hate computer updates. I have two computers I use at home. An older one that I mostly use for keeping track of my finances, and doing my email because I have been too lazy to move it over, and a newer laptop. And, they both demanded updates tonight that needed to reboot my computer. They are running on different windows operating systems. I understand we want things better, faster, brighter, and so forth, but it just burns me up. I am all ready to do something or other on my computer... and it says update me, update me, you didn't really want to do anything else!!

Oh well, now I am tired, but they are both updated. Maybe tomorrow they won't need anything from me and we will get along better. Oh, and of course, laptops always decide on needing updates when you are in the airport, with only a limited amount of time and or battery life. But, I have learned to check for as many updates as possible before a trip (if I have time in between packing, paying bills, watering plants, and leaving instructions for the dog sitter).

Tailgate Market / Weaverville

The Weaverville Tailgate market opens today. Hooray!! I have pre-ordered my fish, because otherwise at 5;30 they are almost all sold out. Hoping for some baked goods, and some spring lettuce for a salad. Starting in May I will be getting a half share from a local farm. Can't wait to see what all he brings this year, and his produce was by and far the best that I had from the vendors last year. If you'd like to see more information about the local market in Weaverville check out their web site: http://weavervilletailgate.org/ . What is nice, is that it gives me something to look forward to in mid-week. And I need some more "Rainbow Jam" as we just ran out of our last jar (I bought extra at the last fall tailgate to last me through the winter). The matzoh at passover finished it off.

No More Broken Bones

About 2 1/2 years ago, I twisted my foot at work, and then high excruciating pain only to find out the next day that I had broken my foot. After having it in a walking cast and so forth I asked the bone doctor, well, based on my age (young 50's) and a history in my family (mom and grandmother) of osteoporosis, could you test me for it? His answer, no.He was only a doctor to fix a problem, not prevent future ones. So, went to my regular doctor, got bone density screening found out I did indeed have osteoporosis and went on a regimen to turn it back for the past 2 years. Since you can only have the test every two years I had to wait to see if all of this would do any good.

GOOD NEWS. I got my second bone density screening a few weeks ago and the osteoporosis is gone! Between weight bearing exercise, medicine, increased calcium, and change of diet (less sodas) I was able to regain my bone density. Yeah!! I still need to keep it up -- so I don't go back to where I was. Doesn't mean I won't break another bone, but if I do, it shouldn't be so easy to do. I am proud of myself for sticking to the regimen and making new habits for myself. And good news is always worth sharing.

Toothache

This past few weeks I have been feeling kind of drug out and wore out. Went to the dentist for a cleaning, and mentioned that I'd been having a bit of a toothache. Well, he sent me to a specialist (since it was in an area where I had a root canal done) and she did all of her tests. Problem was, that she couldn't pin point it to one tooth, each test came up with a different tooth. So, she concluded it was a sinus infection! Turns out that the roots go into the sinus cavity. So, now I am on an antibiotic and feeling quite a bit better all around. Did a Zumba class last night, and still had a little energy left over. I am so glad that I mentioned this to my dentist. It makes sense, we have everything blooming here and budding out. Daffodils, forsythia and more. Yeah!! We finally have spring which also makes me very happy.