FAMILY LUNCH

 

          On Sunday there was a family lunch of nine women. The oldest was ninety-four and the youngest almost eighteen. These women are known by various appellations, i.e., mom, daughter, daughter-in-law, auntie, great-auntie, nana, grandma, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin.

With the exception of three, all could be called mom and one of those three will become an official mom in October. Seven could be identified as cousins; five as daughters; four as grandma/nana; four as sisters; two as granddaughters; and one daughter-in-law. Whew, it was difficult to figure that out, but I think I got it right.

Missing was our great-aunt and sister to our other great-aunt. She’s almost ninety-seven and now unable to leave her home without serious assistance. None of us nine were able to provide the kind of assistance she requires. After lunch, however, a number of us went up the street to visit her at her home. There’s a great photo of the two ninety-something sisters from that meeting.

Among the ten of us there is a wealth of memories, but we know that the potential for more memories that include all of us at the same time is waning. That’s why we decided a number of years ago to try to do these family lunches on a semi-regular basis because we knew the ladies in or approaching their nineth decade might be leaving us sooner rather than later. Already, there’s the one who can no longer attend, but she’s still with us.

As the third-eldest (unbelievable, right?), I can think back to my childhood and have memories of the two eldest. They were young then, with small children…my cousins. There were picnics, family gatherings, overnights, surprises, showers, weddings, funerals, and included so many other relatives that are no longer present. I treasure those memories as I treasure these lunches…one more memory to add to those from before.

This was my granddaughter’s first family lady lunch. It is my hope she will return for future lunches. I’d like her to have some memory of these wonderful women who have inhabited my life for all of my life in one way or another. It always makes me wonder how I can be so happy when also feeling sad.

SPRING

 

          Growing up, my Great Aunt Lola and Great Uncle Ike (and they were, indeed GREAT), had a tulip tree (magnolia) growing in their front yard. I loved that tree and asked Auntie if she would make sure to leave it to me in her will. Well, as you can imagine, that didn’t happen, but thanks to my children, I now have a tulip tree of my own, gifted in memory of my mother.

          Also in memory of my mother is a pink dogwood tree gifted by John’s sister. It’s located in the front yard, so I have a favorite in the back and one in the front. I love these trees and always look forward to them blooming each spring. The tulip tree is pretty much done blooming for this year, but the dogwood is a cloud of pink right now. And it’s the first time this tree has bloomed much at all. I may put a chair in the driveway and contemplate its beauty for a while today.

          Do you have favorite trees? These two are my own personal favorites, but I also like many others. There’s a lime green tree a couple blocks away that is some kind of maple. It’s beautiful spring, summer and fall. Of course, there’s my old Karlberg Memorial apple tree which actually had a number of blossoms this spring. Hopefully, it will produce more than just the one apple it yielded last year.

          What were lilac bushes are now lilac trees in both the front and back gardens. I love those too, especially the way they smell, but I’m doubtful about being able to harvest a bouquet since they are now so tall.

          And I cannot forget those huge bright pink clouds of blossoms on what I think maybe cherry trees of some kind. Or, the white dogwoods of all different sizes and types. Also cannot forget all the different rhododendrons, large and small in such a wide variety of colors.

          Can you tell Spring with its blooming trees, bushes and flowers is my most favorite time of the year.

WEEDS OR FLOWERS???

 

          “A weed is just a flower growing in the wrong place.” This saying is attributed to a woman named Cecelia Ahern and I’ve decided it is one of my favorite sayings. This is because I look out the window and see weeds growing with great abandon in what is usually my weed-free and carefully upkept garden.

          As I’ve blogged, my back is bad and my ability to remove those flowers growing in the wrong place is limited. Rather than be upset and depressed about this fact, I’ve decided to love those damned weeds as I do my dahlias and lilies.

          There, a new favorite thing that’s never been on my want, need or desire list in the past. Oh, I feel so much better now…well, not really.

LATTES

 

Back in the early nineties I came into a bit of money. E-trade was just beginning about then and I wanted to invest the funds rather than spend them. I took a couple of investing classes and asked the second instructor if he would take care of my money. Alas, I didn’t have enough because he had a $5,000 limit and I only had about half that. The one thing this man did stress when talking about investments was how he could put every single penny he had in Starbucks stock and sleep like a baby.

I did my research and ended up buying three Northwest stocks, one of which was Starbucks. That man’s faith in this company paid off and I watched my piddly funds grow and grow and grow. They almost reached $100,000 before the stock market took a big dive a few years ago. But that was okay because I didn’t plan to sell. These funds are my “emergency” funds.

What made me think of all this was my favorite coffee EVER!!! When I was employed, I stopped at Starbucks every single morning on my way to work. There were times I even went on weekends or John went and brought lattes back. I always felt good about spending that money because I owned a teeny, tiny piece of Starbucks.

          As a retirement gift to myself, I bought a Nespresso machine. Since then, I have two lattes every single morning and even a decaf one in the afternoon if I feel the need for an iced latte. My trips to Starbucks have become very few and very far between. I think I’ve lost my Gold Card status, but that’s okay.

          Nespresso is amazing, at least in my opinion and that of Danny DeVito and George Clooney. I buy capsules, kind of like Keurig, but from the Nespresso company. In the beginning, I think the cost was sixty-five cents each. Now they are eighty cents each. I order one-hundred at a time and the shipping is free.

          If that wasn’t enough to sell me on this company, besides the fact I really love the coffee, Nespresso has a recycling program. I save up two-hundred capsules in the freezer (so they don’t mold), put them into a pre-addressed bag Nespresso provides, and drop the bag off at UPS. Nespresso pays to have those used capsules returned so the grounds and the aluminum can be recycled.

          I still have my lattes every single morning, my favorite way to begin my day.

BOOKS

 

          Friends and family share their reviews about a wide variety of television programs. Were I to make a list of all these broadcasts, and I have on occasion made lists, I’d be hunkered down in front of the television 24/7. It’s not that I don’t watch TV because I do, it’s just that I have a different and far more favorite way to utilize my time…BOOKS.

          According to my mother, I taught myself to read before I began school. When we moved to Seattle, I was eight years old and was introduced to my local library via a school field trip. I’d found my home away from home. It was the kind of home that allowed me to travel the world, nay, the universe, and even places that might not have actually resided in the world or universe. Long before I was grown up and was able to travel independently, I had already traveled more than I believed any other person could have.

          Year by year as I grew up, I chose different paths for my life, depending on the books I was reading. I became the first woman race-car driver, first woman jockey, first woman in space, first successful woman in a wide array of careers. Unfortunately, my growing-up dreams didn’t come to fruition once I reached adult-hood although I had also read a lot of romance novels.

          Another pleasure that results from reading is the ability to share my books with other readers. It’s always such a gift to find another reader who knows my author(s) and my book(s), but it’s even more enjoyable when I can share the names of authors and book titles with someone who hasn’t yet discovered these favorites of mine. Just as fun is being given the gift of a new author or book I haven’t yet found.

          These days, I’m sincerely grateful for my I-Pad because I can visit the King County Library without even leaving my house. And, it’s so easy. I look up a book, make my request and the library notifies me when the book is available or allows me to borrow it right then. Downloaded to my I-Pad it’s ready for me to read in a print-size that doesn’t leave me with fried eyes.

Seriously, I never thought I’d want to replace a hand-held book with an electronic one, but reading books on my I-Pad has become my absolute favorite way spend time visiting other times and places.

PERCOCET

 

          John was addicted to Percocet. I now understand why and am so thankful he had just renewed his prescription before he passed. I was somehow smart enough to keep that big bottle of medication when I went through and eliminated the other hundred bottles of stuff…and, okay, I exaggerated there just a bit.

          Some mornings my back hurts so badly, it’s difficult to move and just sitting up and getting out of bed HURTS. But move I do and make my way to letting the dog out, fixing myself a latte and leaning against my heating pad set to HIGH. Most mornings, depending on what I did the day before, the heating pad is enough to make the pain bearable. I get up and continue with my day, beginning with my home exercise program which seems to help.

          I do not want to become a Percocet addict, so I’m extremely careful about how often I resort to those wonderful pills. Very rarely, I’ve taken three in one day, but it’s usually just one and that just one not even every day. On some days, though, Percocet becomes my absolute favorite medication. I pop one of those babies before or after my latte or even after my home exercise program because the pain hasn’t improved even a little bit. Then, it’s back to my favorite place…bed…until the Percocet does its job.

          It’s my hope the MRI shows something in my lower back that is fixable. As I said, I do not want to become an addict were that even possible the way they administer pain medications these days. Meanwhile, I’m most grateful for this inheritance, but also find myself wishing the bottle was magic and could refill itself. Of course, then it would undoubtedly become my absolute favorite medication Multiple. Times. Every. Single. Day.

GLASS

 

          There is something absolutely fascinating about glass. I’ve read about how people built homes with shutters instead of glass. I’ve read about how expensive it was to have glass windows back in the day. My home had single-pane windows when it was purchased. Now it has double-pane, should probably be upgraded to triple-pane, and three garden windows.

          Those garden windows don’t contain gardens, but displays of glass I’ve collected and been gifted over the years. I love glass and things made of glass. If you asked me to point out my favorite piece, it would be very difficult because there are so many I just love, love, love.

          Just sitting here typing, I can look to my right and see the large face candle-holder. It’s clear glass with an orange center and the face is rather abstract. There’s the red and orange rooster I found at Goodwill, the green bird with the long tail I bought cheap in some little antique store and several hand-blown glass bowls I picked up here and there.

          The kitchen garden window doesn’t contain much in the way of glass, but does have a few plants and fake orchids. I gave up trying to grow the live orchids after I was told to STAY OFF LADDERS!!!!

          It doesn’t really matter where you go in my house, you’re going to find glass. There are birds, fish, vases, bowls, pumpkins, fruit, rabbits, snails and apples. I lament giving Haley most of my apples when I was downsizing because I thought I’d be moving. I had quite the collection. I kept my favorites though. There’s the octopus AJ gifted me when I finished cancer treatment. There’s one of the pumpkins Angie gave me for my birthday. Thor worked at a florist for a while and I have several glass vases and watering balls he brought me.

          Glass is indeed my favorite decorating item even though I absolutely hate having to dust and/or wash the damn stuff. I have my windows cleaned once a year in the spring. That’s when I haul all the glass into the kitchen/dining room and run it through the dishwasher twice on the rinse cycle. It sure beats having to wash and dry each piece by hand although there are some pieces that have to be handled that way.

          Next month will be window washing time, and while the glass still looks okay because I’ve dusted now and then, it will sparkle and glow during these longer light-filled days in front of the freshly cleaned windows. I’m grateful for my fun collection of glass, especially when I look at the various pieces and remember the person who made the gift or the little shop where I found another treasure.