Barb's Blog

    We, my  friends and I, are at that age where we worry about osteoporosis.   So it was with great interest that I read an article in this morning's NY TImes on the subject.   I've lifted the interesting paragraph from it for you:

 

"In the meantime, the current state-of-the-science message about exercise and bone building may be that, silly as it sounds, the best exercise is to simply jump up and down, for as long as the downstairs neighbor will tolerate. “Jumping is great, if your bones are strong enough to begin with,” Dr. Barry says. “You probably don’t need to do a lot either.” (If you have any history of fractures or a family history of osteoporosis, check with a physician before jumping.) In studies in Japan, having mice jump up and land 40 times during a week increased their bone density significantly after 24 weeks, a gain they maintained by hopping up and down only about 20 or 30 times each week after that."

 

So, let's get hopping!

     I am still working on the process of helping Christina document her lineage back to my grandfather.  It is slow going, as I have to send away for everything, and let me tell you, some Town/City clerks are easier to work with than others.   And of course it costs money for each certificate.   And time to compose letters, get copies of my i.d., have my request letters notarized.   What we do for our children!

     Some fun:   Aurelia has Skyped me twice in last week;   I love the video  phone calls, and we do have some lovely conversations.   Yesterday, she played her CD of "Harry and The Lady Next Door" over the computer, or at least part of it.   We talked about how loud that lady sings, and then we sang....LOUD!!  What a hoot.  The hard part about those calls was that during both of them Aurelia said she wanted me to be there in her house with her.  Of course, I had to say I can't come right now.  And we reviewed again the list I had made for her of all the things that will happen in her life before I am again in LA.   She has crossed off 'Halloween,'....can't learn the joy of lists too soon!

     Today the sprinkler guys are FINALLY coming to winterize the system.  We had a heavy frost this morning, so this isn't a minute too soon.   I've raked some more, and some more, and some more.   The yard waste guys emptied the can yesterday, and it's full again already.   Most of the leaves are down from the trees now, so there is an end in sight for that chore.

     Jane is coming here for lunch today, as I need to stay home for the sprinkler guys.  Other than that, it's life as usual, and what a good life it is.  I am so grateful.

    

     Can we still say that?   The folklore surrounding the story of Indian summer....all those campfires making it warm again....is charming, even if the term itself is no longer politically correct.   Whatever you call it, these unusually warm days so late in the season are lovely.  And yesterday was one of them,  seventy-degrees and sunny!

     You probably think I was ouside most of the day to enjoy it....?  HA   Instead Joyce and I went to not just one, but two craft fairs, grabbing lunch at one of them.  We ran into various people we know, so it turned out to be quite a social day.  Fun in its way.  I did not buy anything except cookies from the cookie walk at one church.  Voila!  My holiday baking is done.   Hopefully, I won't eat all those cookies and then have to go find some more.  You know me and cookies.

     I am spending a lot of time each day looking for documents Christina needs, like my father's birth certificate.  I know i had it, but have no idea where it is.  I've been going through files one paper at a time, and that is taking soooo much time.   When I have accumulated a bunch of really out-of-date papers,  I shred them.   Ultimately, whether or not I find it, my files will be in much better shape.  In the meantime, the floor of my home office is covered in piles of papers:  sorted/ready to shredded; ready to be sorted;  sorted and ok to just put in a wastepaper basket.  You see how that's going.   It's slow; it's tedious; I don't like it much; but I keep reminding myself what a favor I'm doing for my future heirs.   Won't they be happy not to have this chore??

     My wonderful neighbor Ray swept my lawn two days ago.   It was covered with leaves from his trees, as I don't have any big trees out front.   Nevertheless, I usually deal with them myself, so it was very nice to look out and see it was done.   I brought him a box of candy as a thank-you, as Ray has a sweet tooth as bad as mine.

     Today I am going to dye some light curtains that hang in the guest room.   Everything in there is dark and peaceful except these white curtains.  I shopped for new ones, but they were all either too long or too expensive, so I figured I'd try a little Rit dye.  Nothing ventured....!  Other than that, it will be a quiet day;  some phone calls to make, some chores to do.   I'm looking out the window as I type and can hardly see the world through the fog.  So it's a perfect day to stay in.

 

 

    Gilda Radnor, in her alter-ego state of Rosanna-danna, so famously said, "It's always something!"   And she was so, so right.   Anyone with children and grandchildren knows just what I mean.  Is this the real reason we retire?  Nothing to do with age; nothing to do with being sick of working?   Our families need us.  It's a good feeing, but sometimes, well......hmmm; can't think of just the right word here, so I'll stick with 'interesting.'  

    Anyway, I am now on the search for materials to prove that my grandfather was born in Italy, never became a U.S. citizen, my father was born to him and my grandmother.  Because the grands remained citizens of Italy,  we all, the decendents,  qualify for Italian passports.   Wow!  Who knew?   In the normal course of life, this wouldn't really matter to me.  Suddenly it does, not for me personally, but for Christina, whose work Visa was denied in France.   If she can get an Italian passport, she can stay in Europe as long as she likes because of the EU agreements.   As it is, there are severe limitations on how long she can be in France, and those plane tickets back and forth to NYC are killing her.  Since she works in Paris, this is a royal pain.   So wish us luck!!

 

   Now about those Yankees:  HOORAY!    What an exciting series;  I loved watching it; loved the quality of play.   My only 'but' is for the spitting. Honestly, you'd think the team names were Camels and Cobras.  Do they not know how disgusting they look doing this?  Maybe they know but don't care?   Does it somehow relax them, all that chewing and spit, spit, spitting?   Yuck.  Putting that aside,  it was wonderful to see the Yankees win their 27th title.   Way to go, guys.

    

Trick or treat, smell my feet;

Give me something good to eat!

 

Thus ran our favorite ditty from childhood.  Not one of the goblins at my door last night uttered this rudeness....and every single one of them said "thank you"!  Ah, these polite mid-westerners.   And for a change, they were all in costume.   Usually I get at least one bunch of teens just dressed as themselves or, as they tell me if questioned, dressed like their best friend.  haha

 

My favorite was a little girl, probably four or five years old, wearing a bridal gown.  I said, "You're beautiful."  She replied, "I'm a wedding."   If wedding = joy, then yes she was.    In all, about sixty showed up; I had enough candy, and have just thrown out the leftovers.   No temptation in this house, thank you very much.

 

In other matters,  YANKEES!!!!    The first game was a heart-breaker;  2nd, a relief; but now, with number three successfully put away,  there is hope.  And what a game that was last night.   I am not big on watching sports, especially on t.v., but my heart has always belonged to the Yankees.   Back at the old Coeymans School, we were released from our classes to sit in the gym and watch the Yankees during the series.   There's just no team like them.  There wasn't in the 1950s, and there isn't now.

 

Yesterday Cheryl and her mom; Joyce and I went to see "Amelia."  Hilary Swank does a good job portraying the aviator, and in general, I liked the movie.   I hadn't known much about Earhart's personal life and am not sure how accurate the movie was, but it was interesting nontheless.  The 3-D Scrooge remake begins November 6 (?); well, early November anyway.   I am eager to see it, to my surprise.   How many variations of this story have we already seen??   But that 3-D preview in LA has whetted my appetite, so I'll be running out to the theater for this one.

 

In other non-news, I finally made it to the grocery store for a full shop.   Having nibbled my way through the week, not to mention having eaten way too many meals out,  I decided it was time to regain control of my intake.  I did laundry on Saturday, in keeping with my new policy of using electricity as little as possible during peak hours, which are weekdays 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.   It is less per kilowatt to use it before or after those hours and all weekend.   Since my washer and dryer are fifteen years old, you know how energy efficient they are...NOT.  I do this partly to keep my bill as low as possible; partly to be a good steward of resources.