| Barbara 的个人资料Barb's Blog照片日志列表 |  工具  帮助 |
|
|
2008/12/5 I'm homeNorthwest outdid themselves for the trip back to Michigan. After their inability to deliver me to LA three weeks ago, I had actually considered changing my ticket for another airline. Finances made that a silly idea, so I stuck with NW, but really, with almost no hope of a good trip. So what a lovely surprise it was to fly from LA to Detroit with no hitches, and then...and this is the big one...actually get on a small puddle-jumper flight to S. Bend on time, leave on time, arrive early! Wow! When NW gets it right, this is the perfect flight for me. When they don't, well, you've heard that story already. So now I have to decide if I'll fly with them in February when I go back for a five week visit.
This was such a nice visit to LA. We've gotten into a nice rhythm for spending so much time together. It's been a process, but well worth the effort. They, after all, are used to a household of three; I, of one. Blending that into a foursome takes some doing. Aurelia and I, both morning people who awaken instantly, really enjoyed our early mornings together. I think that is what I'll be missing most this next week or so. That 6:00 a.m. knock on the door, a smiling face peering in; well, just a lovely way to start my morning.
The day before I left, my friend Elin and I went to see the movie "Rachel Gets Married." We had both thought this was a romantic comedy. It is so not. Instead we discovered a hard-hitting movie about a young woman just out of rehab. All other disfunctional families suddenly look like Ozzie and Harriet. Anne Hathaway should get an Oscar for her performance.
Any way, I am home. There is snow on the ground, but if it doesn't get too bad, I'm going to a concert with my friend Pat tonight; probably out to dinner first. Tomorrow is Noel's birthday, so i'll be having dinner over there with them and another family. So it's shaping up to be a lovely weekend. Oh yeah, gotta sort through that pile of mail and pay some billls, grocery shop, all that stuff, too. But it's good to be back on terra firma in the beautiful state of Michigan.
2008/11/16 Here at lastWow; what a day. Noel picked me up at 5:30 a.m. for the 7:10 flight out of S. Bend. The plan was to change planes in Minneapolis and arrive in LA just before noon. The reality was significantly different. At noon I was still in South Bend; nine hours after I left the house, I had made it to Chicago--90 miles from my home.
So now I remember why I had stopped flying out of S. Bend. Small airports just don't have the flexibility, let alone the extra planes, that the big ones do. All I'll say about the problems is that I started out with Northwest boarding passes, but ended up flying on United. Trust me, you don't want to know all the tedious details, but just in general, yikes!
The important thing, of course, is that I am now in LA; have been having a wonderful time with Aurelia; enjoyed a lovely dinner with Di; and now to bed. Tomorrow is the birthday party, and that will be a hoot.
2007/12/16 The miracle of flight..what would my life be without it?Here I am, back in Michigan. We had one of those rarities yesterday: visibility over the Rockies. They are breathtaking, all that grandeur covered in shimmering white snow. Once we hit the flats of the plains, however, it was the usual cloud cover. I can never help thinking when I fly cross-country of those pioneers and their little covered wagons. And they didn't even ride much of the way, they walked! Can you even imagine that? I can barely stand to fly the distance. Without air travel, I'd never see the LA contingent of the family. Detroit was, predictably, also snow-covered. We arrived on time, but taking off was not so simple because we had to queue up for the de-icing machine first. Not a good step to skip, so none of us complained, but it did put us rather late into South Bend. Bob, my son-in-law, picked me up (what a nice man!!) and navigated those snowy roads back up to Michigan.
When I left LA, all three of the Californians were sick...and me, too. It's "just" a cold, but what a nasty one. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what flying does to a person with a head cold. So, ok, I'm not feeling tip-top today. And there is a driveway of snow to deal with, and I really should try to grocery shop. But, uh oh, no car! It had a little accident while I was gone (don't even ask) and is now in the body shop. Won't be ready until Tuesday. But there is enough food in the house for a couple of days (thank you, Noel) and it sounds lovely to just stay indoors and baby this cold, or more aptly, baby myself.
So picture this day: hot baths, endless coffee (a.m.), endless hot tea (p.m.), a book to finish (The Devil Wears Prada), maybe a little laundry, a chance to do some blog reading, play a few games, possibly even catch an old movie on t.v.
I have pictures from the trip to post, and when I get that organized, I'll tell you all about my charming two-year-old Aurelia. Her mastery of language is now so good that, upon leaving a room the other day, she called over her shoulder, "I'll be right back!" She sounded just like her mommy. Very cute.
2007/11/30 Ready, set, go!My boarding passes are printed and I'm good to go tomorrow. I fly out of South Bend; change in Cincinnati, and then on to LA. Diana tells me it is "cold" there, by which she means 50s at night, 70s daytime. Compared to Michigan right now, sounds like paradise to me.
She has acquired a guest pass to the local "Y" for me, so I can join her in gym and swim a couple of times a week. I'm glad we are taking time for that, as I know how much we'll be eating with all those Hanukkah dinners, and I'd rather not come home looking like a blimp. This will be a very busy two-week visit, every minute of which sounds like fun. Even our cleaning days will be enjoyable. It's fun to work with someone instead of alone. My own home has been thoroughly cleaned this week. I hate to come home to a messy house, so I flung myself into all the chores. Almost looks too nice to leave. HA!
I can't wait to see how much Aurelia has grown since I saw her in September. Her language skills are growing so fast now; perhaps we'll be able to have a real conversation. Children are such a delight!
Well, you all take care while I am gone. Be back in a couple of weeks.
2007/11/21 Northwest deliversThose of you who have read this blog for a while know that last summer I gave up on Northwest Airlines as my preferred carrier. I had been through several trips worth of delayed flights (weather, mechanical problems, pilot contract disputes). Not only was I always late, one time I couldn't even fly until the next day! NW never seemed to have a backup plan in mind, so I just figured, heck I'll fly another airline. So for my August trip to NYC, I switched to Delta...and got stuck in Cincinnati for six hours!
Hmmm, what's a weary grandma to do? I went back to Northwest for my NC flight last week with great trepidation because my connecting time in Detroit was a mere 37 minutes. That is a tight connection even when flights are on time, so I packed only a carry-on. No way was my luggage going to make that connection; and it was unlikely I was. BUT, and here is where the "Northwest delivers" comes from, my flights to Charlotte and then, coming home were not only on time, they were early. I easily made the connection in Detroit. So HOORAY for Northwest Airlines!
Do you collect frequent flyer miles? I do, and I use them fairly quickly on the theory that one never knows when an airline will be bought/bankrupted/whatever, and all miles will just disappear. The miles I collect are with NW, although I earn many of them flying Delta, sometimes even Continental. This miles-sharing thing the airlines do is a great idea. Anyway, I knew I could collect miles from partner airlines, but wasn't sure if I could spend them. A quick call to Delta confirmed that I could, but the booking had to be done through the company that held my miles...in this case, Northwest. So for my trip to LA in December, I found the perfect flight date and time on Delta, called NW to find out how to book on another airline, and met a perfect on-line person...she not only knew how to do it, but she was able to find me a flight home on NW, as Delta had nothing useable for me for the return trip. Now that's service! She worked out a great schedule for me, and the fee was only $15. Well worth it. Add on the airline's $10 fee for something or other, and I have a ticket to LA for 25,000 miles and $25. Helps my budget, which at this time of year is needing all the help it can get.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the trip to LA in a few weeks will go as smoothly as this last one. I have to bring luggage this time. Two weeks is a bit long to live out of a carry-on, plus I have presents for Aurelia to tote.
But I am optimistic! 2007/10/10 Whew, what a busy three months It has been very nice, this leave of absence from blogville, but now I'm ready to pop in and write the occasional entry. It's been busy around here, and most of it the good kind of busy, so hooray for that.
As you may have noticed from the photos I posted a couple of days ago, I have been to Santiago, Chile. Daughter Diana and her family were going and invited me to join them, so down I went. Mental note: next time I travel to Chile, take time to learn Spanish first! Other than some language problems, the trip went swimmingly well. Dave had work, so Di, Aurelia, and I set out to explore the city. Mostly we did this using their wonderful Metro system. For $1.50, a person can go all over the city via subway, and these are clean efficient trains. Because we had a two-year-old to entertain, these trips always included a playground or park of some sort. We also visited an awesome children's museum, the Interactivo. This is a science museum, mostly physics, and it was just bustling with hundreds of children, all of whom were gleefully interacting with the exhibits. Some of the buildings we saw were huge, grand old things. Sadly, they all needed much restorative work, but we could get an idea of how magnificent this city must once have been. The shocker for us was the number of dogs everywhere, large, untended, hungry dogs. They were in the streets and the parks and seemed menacing, although none attacked us. Overall, this was a wonderful trip, though, my first to South America, but I think not my last.
Before Chile, I had made my annual trip to New York City to visit youngest daughter, Christina. She is thriving, and that is so lovely to see. Her 30th birthday is rapidly approaching, and as parents always say, I can hardly believe she is that old. On this NY trip, I finally got to go to Brooklyn. Manhattan, up till then, had been the only borough I had visited, so I was especially interested in our walking tour of a section of Brooklyn. It's like an entirely different city, poorer of course, but most surprisingly, with some vacant land here and there!
2007/5/16 Boarding passes--the new fiction The travel portion of my recent trip can best be described as "interesting." Translation: the next time the word Detroit appears on my travel agenda will be the day after hell has frozen over. For one leg of the flight I actually had three different boarding passes! That was on the way to Albany. My plan had been to have lunch with Ann. We had dinner. On the way home, I had four instead of two boarding passes, and actually wasn't able to come home until today, a day late. Why do they even issue boarding passes if what's written on them is only possibly true? Geez.
The good news is that the visit itself was wonderful in every way. I'll write about all of the fun things we did after I've calmed down a bit. Right now I'm heading for a hot bath. 2007/5/8 On the road again It's been much too long since I've been able to say that, but at last I am packing for another trip. I'm really looking forward to my visit back home; family, friends, historic sites, some household chores......whew! It'll be busy, fun, and productive.
To take this trip, I'm having to take three days off of work. Hooray for that. We don't have very many students now, about 10 average per day. They are each in different places in their studies, so Noel and I are doing a lot of one-on-one work. I still begin each day with 1 1/2 hours of math. If I don't do that when I'm fresh, forget it. Today we were back to fractions. Why do people have so much trouble with them???? Tomorrow we'll tackle percents; Noel can teach decimals on Thursday.
When I first taught adult education, I used to ask my students when math went bad for them. To my utter shock, every single student could name the time almost to the day. Their stories were something like this: "We moved three times when I was in third grade. Every class was in a different place in math (and usually a different book), and I never caught up." or "I was out sick for three weeks, and when I came back, the class was studying something else and I never understood math after that." This is so sad to think about. WHY don't schools hire tutors to catch people up when they've moved often or been out sick a lot? I know, I know...money! But wouldn't it be more cost effective to prevent a student from dropping out by delivering a timely intervention than to pay for that same student to come back to school at age 21???
I am now leaving school at 2:00 p.m. instead of 3:00. This is a result of nearly dying of boredom last Thursday when we had only three students by 2:00. Our ten who show up do not all stay, and once we have less than five students, it seems pretty silly to have two professionals in the room, especially when one of them hears her garden calling.
Well, I haven't blogged much lately, so can't really say hope you don't miss me while I'm gone. I'm not really here all that much anyway. That will change after May 31, our last day of school.
2007/1/31 One week in paradiseSo, you wonder, what did we find to amuse ourselves for an entire week in a place as tiny as Key West? Lots, that's what.
First, there were the touristy things...Hemingway home, Audubon tour, seeing the southern-most point in the USA, climbing the lighthouse, seeing Harry Truman's "White House," catching a sunset at Mallory Square, and drinking pina coladas on the infamous Duval Street.
The restaurants were amazing in their number and variety. At one, I enjoyed an appetizer of garlic stuffed dates wrapped in bacon, followed by a beet and goat cheese salad. That was my favorite meal of the week, but there were some other notables featuring conk chowder, sauteed shrimp, pasta with clams. For those who like fish and shellfish, this is an eaters' paradise.
The bed and breakfast was just beautiful. Every room opened onto the porch and we'd sit out there and read during our quiet time in the afternoons. We met some interesting people during the b'fast and cocktail hours, and that added to the pleasure of the visit. Our location was amazing...1/2 block from Duval Street; five blocks from the ocean. We walked everywhere. (And thus, to my delight, did not gain weight despite all the good food.)
As I think of some of our other activities, I'll write about them. In the meantime, this is enough for today. I have a pile of bills to pay, a little more snow to scrape out of the driveway, and laundry to catch up. 2007/1/18 Packing....again!Yes, indeed, I am packing my suitcase again. This time I'm headed to Key West with my friend Pat. We leave Tuesday and stay an entire week in that glorious 80 degree weather. I was in Key West once for about two hours, fell in love with it and promised myself to return. This is the first opportunity I've had, so off I go. We'll do the touristy things, like visit the Hemingway museum. Mostly, though, I think we'll just poke around this cute place, catch the sunsets on the beach, relax, read. Doesn't it sound like heaven?
A week after returning from Key West, I'll be off to LA for ten days. Good friends of the family are expecting a baby in March, and the shower is in February. Didn't want to miss that. And speaking of missing, you know how I feel about Aurelia being so far away. She turned fourteen months yesterday. Hardly a baby at all anymore; really, a toddler. She still isn't talking much, although she says "Wuz that" constantly. (Probably because we say that to her all the time, trying to get her to say the name of an object.) But she knows where her toes are...apparently whenever anyone asks, she holds up her foot and points to them.
Because the words "Key West" and "Ernest Hemingway" are inseparable, I leave you with this wonderful quotation:
"There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are simple things, and because it takes a man's life to know them, the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave."
Ernest Hemingway Simple things, like watching a sunset, enjoying a wonderful dinner, spending time with a good friend; these are the things this vacation will bring.
2007/1/9 Are the stars out tonight?Yes, indeed. The stars in the night sky in Hawaii are so much bigger and brighter than the ones we see here in Michigan. Guess that tells me all I need to know about light pollution. We were away from town in our lovely house, and the town we were away from was Paia, the tiniest town imagineable. So the opportunity for light pollution was close to nil, and what a difference it makes.
Paia is tiny, but gosh, was it ever chocked full of interesting restaurants and shops. Who would ever have guessed we would have access to a variety of cuisine like curried shrimp; breakfast fajitas; and fab pork barbecue? It was wonderful, even more so because it was unexpected.
Another nice surprise about Paia was that Willie Nelson lives nearby. There is a local place where he frequently eats...and even pops in on odd nights to entertain. We didn't catch him singing, but we did see him at b'fast; in fact, we passed his table so closely that I was able to exchange a lovely smile with him. Of course, not a camera in any of our pockets that morning! And maybe we wouldn't have disturbed his meal anyway. Sitting at the table with him were several other people, one of whom was Bonnie Raitt. I didn't recognize the others, but they may have been "someone," too.
Anyway, back to the "stars" of mother nature. A lovely thing about Hawaii is the constant rainbows.
So picture me: sitting on the lanai, sipping a glass of wine, watching rainbows moving in to say hello. Sigh. Just thinking about it is better than ten minutes of Tai Chi.
2007/1/7 Mulling it all overToday I slept until 9:00 a.m. (!!) Guess I'm still on Maui time, and why not? It's not like I actually have to get up. :)
Anyway, I've been mulling over the details of the trip, winnowing out my favorite memories, trying to decide what, exacly, made this trip so totally wonderful.
Diana asked me just before I left what my favorite thing had been on the vacation. My response was, first, the house; second, being able to walk to the beach; third, just hanging out together.
Now, after much thought, I realize what my favorite thing really was: being part of a family again.
Christmas with a baby is, of course, truly special. It's all so new to a baby. Aurelia had no idea what gift-giving was about, and as you already will have guessed, she liked the wrappings equally as well as the gifts. In fact, the thing she played most with was a small gift bag...just the right size to put things in and carry around. The photo at the left is Dave, Aurelia, and Diana. Aren't they just a lovely family? Spending so much time with them was such a pleasure. I feel quite spoiled by it. After all, these are very busy people in "real" life, but they are also folks who know how to relax and enjoy the moment----just the kind of people to vacation with.
So now I'm rethinking my life, my post-Oscar life. His birthday would have been in December, so we had that to salute as well as the actual holidays. I am starting to realize he is not coming back. Starting to realize that I am still here; that I need to plan my life so there aren't such long periods of being alone. Other people manage to do this; I can, too.
How nice to have it be 2007, a time for a nice fresh start. I'm just writing 2006 off. Those difficult years will crop up now and then, but they don't have to define our lives. Hope we all will find joy in 2007!
2006/12/3 Home...and so happy to be hereYesterday was apparently not a great day for traveling. We left Albany with the announcement ringing in our ears: "There are 100 mile an hour headwinds we'll be fighting all the way to Detroit." We made it ok anyway... and then left Detroit for a city I had no intention of seeing...Kalamazoo. I had hung around the airport for 2 1/2 hours, then just when we were ready to board the plane to S. Bend, the announcement came on that all flights to SB were cancelled as they had no running lights, and maybe they could fly us out in the morning. YIKES. After some waiting, I was reticketed for Kalamazoo, with just 5 minutes to race to that gate. You've probably already guessed that that plane, too, was delayed. Eventually I did reach K'zoo...and luckily, Noel was able to rearrange her evening and pick me up.
In the meantime, Bertie flew to Baltimore and fought horrendous traffic getting home...and her daughter Susan may still be up there flying around trying to get to Colorado. She was supposed to go through Chicago O'Hare (always risky), and that airport was entirely closed down because of an oil spill.
So today I'm just being quiet...laundry, bill-paying, etc. I've already done a pounding 30 minutes on the treadmill. One hop on the scales convinced me this wouldn't be a good day to miss that. Why is it that when we gather for an event, even a sad one, we just eat ourselves stupid??
The week was stressful, as you can imagine. The support for our whole family has been wonderful...and the healing is well underway.
And we are, after all, safely home.
There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. ~Jane Austen
Peace - that was the other name for home. ~Kathleen Norris 2006/8/8 New York City, part IIThere are so many restaurants in NYC it would be impossible to choose a place to eat...at least for me it would be. Christina had some ideas, however, so I just followed her lead. We had lunch on Saturday at a little cafe in Chelsea, The Empire Diner on 10th Avenue. I had a beet and goat cheese salad to die for, and we were able to sit outside at a corner table -- great for people watching.
Saturday night found us at a funny little restaurant called Trailer Trash. It's on 23rd street and is stuffed with memoribilia from the 1960s. The food was not at all what I had expected to be eating in a big city: BLTs, sloppy Joes, macaroni and cheese, hamburgers! Eight of us had dinner for $150---and that included a pitcher of mango margaritas!
On Sunday Christina took us to a restaurant that has been shown on "Sex in the City" several times. This is Pastis, in the meatpacking district. A girlfriend of mine had come in from CT to join us, so this is a place she would have seen on the show. I had a great breakfast of scrambled eggs with salmon.
My plan to walk around Central Park never materialized. We got caught up in shopping instead. I mean, come on, you all know what mothers and daughters like to do together! We poked in and out of more cute shops than you can imagine, and then did some serious shopping for a few things for Christina's apartment. The apartment itself is typical NYC size: miniscule! But it's very cute. She has a studio, and having that one largish room gives a feeling of spaciousness that her previous place with it's four teeny little rooms did not. This one has a recessed kitchen which I especially likes as it doesn't dominate the room. There is a lot of street noise, which the natives don't even hear, but it kept me tossing the first night. By the second, I was too tired to hear anything.
Anyway, I had explained about the blisters in yesterday's entry, and now you understand the "broke."
2006/8/7 Blistered and broke!Yup, that's what I am after only two days in New York City. How do the city folk survive??? The trip was actually a great deal of fun, and I am so glad I went. There are too few opportunities to spend time alone with my youngest daughter, so when we find time, we make the most of those precious hours.
I've only been home about an hour and am too tired to write much tonight, but here is a photo taken from the
What courage immigrants have. And it truly boggles the mind to think about the conditons that make them want to leave the only home they have ever known and sail in uncomfortable conditions to a strange land. My grandparents did not stay in NYC, but traveled upstate where grandpa found work at a brickyard and grandmother raised nine children. Most of the family is still there, and how we have multiplied! Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and now great grandchildren of cousins. This great family, and it started with just those two brave souls, my dad's parents.
The Statue, that beautiful Statue of Liberty, was the first American thing they saw. It takes my breath right away.
Christina and I took the water taxi from 23rd Street (I think) down to the port on the south side of Manhattan. We hopped off the boat there and walked....and walked...and walked, under the Brooklyn Bridge, clear through China town, Soho and Chelsea. By the time we got that far my feet were done, so we took a taxi the rest of the way home. (But now you know why I'm thinking about blisters!)
The light was fading as you can see, and I had hoped to get a nice sunset photo. Not to be however, and unlike my experience capturing a Lake MI sunset, I 'll not be able to go back every night until I succeed. Oh, well, you'll just have to mentally add a sunset behind Lady Liberty!
More about this wonderful trip tomorrow.
2005/6/1 ChicagoJune 1, and I'm headed to Chicago to see the touring company perform "Wicked." Living just 90 miles from a large city is such a wonderful thing. Although Oscar is not too interested in going to Chicago, I have a couple of girlfriends who are. (Whew!) We see plays, attend museum exhibits, try interesting restaurants (how else would I know what a tapas bar is???), or just walk in the park. Chicago's new Millenium Park is fabulous. "Cloud Gate," affectionately known as "the bean," is an enormous shiny jelly bean-looking sculpture. It reflects a block of Michigan Avenue and is stunning. At Christmas time, we go in to see the windows at Marshall Field's Department store. MF is one of the few big city department stores left, I think. It has everything. I like to look at the $80,000 furniture pieces at the top of the store and work my way down to the candy section in the basement. I'm a big fan of Joseph Schmidt chocolates. His mosaics are adorable. We have both Amtrak and electric train service into the city; in a pinch, we drive, but the train is the preferred transpo. Today it will be the electric out of Michigan City, IN. We'll arrive in Chicago at 10:30 a.m., take a quick walk through Millenium Park, have lunch someplace interesting, hit the bookstore next to the theater, and have plenty of time to make the 2:00 matinee at the Oriental on Randolph Street. A perfect day!
|
|
|
