Problem Solved

Hello,

While waiting for my flight in the Chicago airport, I sat so I could see the activity outside the window. From the place we were boarding one was required to go downstairs, walk across a bit of tarmac, and then climb stairs into the plane. As I watched a woman was brought out in a wheelchair. She got out of the chair, walked over, grabbed the hand rail at the bottom of the stairs, and could not get her foot to rise up to the step height. She tried unsuccessfully with both feet. The guy who was with her did not push her as I might have done, but indicated she should get back in the wheelchair. He then wheeled her out of the way. Another guy who had been working with the baggage came over, brought up a ramp, unfolded the many pieces of this contraption, and lined it up perfectly over the stairs. The lady was then wheeled over to the end of the ramp, got up, again gripped the hand rails and proceeded to walk slowly up and into the plane. Oh so that is how it is done. I suppose this has happened before.

It took some time to get the ramp folded and packed out of the way once again. From the discussion I could hear at the desk behind me, they like to know about this need ahead of time and this time it was a surprise. I suppose they could be faster about it then. Luckily they could find this portable ramp when it was needed.

I am feeling better. I even took a mile walk today, but I feel tired because of it.

Leroy is working this Saturday, today. He will work again next Saturday. That has made my time long since I am not really doing much. I did do two loads of laundry and hung them out. Leroy helped with the first load since he had not yet left.

I am hoping we can go to a park this evening or perhaps tomorrow afternoon. It is so beautiful in our neighborhood with all of the trees turning color. It would be wonderful to walk the trails.
Paula

Still At Home

Hello,

I felt fairly well even if still dragging until I went to give the rent check to my landlady. When talking to her I coughed more than I have all the rest of the day. Maybe I am allergic to paying rent. But at least that is done for another month.

I also hung out a load of clothes so that got me outside twice today. Once to hang and once to take down. That walnut tree in the back yard has a bumper crop. The squirrel is busy, but I would think he would invite friends to share the largess instead he seems to be quite territorial and to be modeling his lifestyle after the humans around him. In other words, take care of yourself and store more than you can use.

Supposedly the temperatures out at the airport were below freezing. Here, however, we are still slowly growing tomatoes. There are also three bell peppers on the plant. With luck they will come closer to maturity before we pick them. I figure it will not hurt us to eat them even if they have not developed completely.

Our garage door opener is temperamental to say the least. It seemed to be off track because it would not close. The last time I used it, it closed when I left. I had gotten so used to it not working that I left the side garage door open, consequently I still had to stop, get out and shut that door. It also closed when I came home from work. Could it have fixed itself? I do not count on it because some other times it has worked only to stop when I least expect it.

Paula

Feeling Unwell

Hello,

I was so tired when I got to Cedar Rapids on Friday and then we drove off to MN. Leroy could have just picked me up at the airport and gone on from there. I, however, wanted to rest a little, change the clothes I had on as I was cold, put warmer clothes in my suitcase, and eat some lunch. It was good to have that time, but I now wonder if I should have stayed home.

I do not feel well now even though I went to work Monday and Tuesday. Again I should have stayed home. Hopefully I I did not spread germs around. I was thinking I had a sinus condition with post nasal drainage and a slight cough. I think sinus would not be contagious. Now I have a slight fever so I will not be going to work tomorrow. That will give me some time to heal. I spent quite a lot of time in bed today. I miss a couch when I am sick. Usually that is where I tend to lounge around when unwell.

Leroy is at church choir tonight, but not me. I am home writing to you. I will feel like a new member when I go to choir again because it has been a long time.

I am going to go sit and read before I go to bed. I do get tired rather quickly.

Paula

Trip Home

Hello,

I again got up early to get on a plane that was leaving at 6:00 am. Not really a bad time, but I woke up at 3:00 EST when the alarm was set for four. Somehow I could not get back to a deep sleep. The taxi came right on time at about 4:30 to whisk me off to the airport. The cost turned out to be ten dollars higher than expected, but I had enough money so it was not a problem. Does the cost of gas cause it to rise? Although I did wonder; did he know I was a greenhorn on taxi riding, or a greenhorn on the layout of the city? He did take a little different route than Sarah did, but I think it was parallel so it should not have been that different.

Unlike the smaller Cedar Rapids airport this place was already quite busy and I had to wait in the security line for at least ten or maybe fifteen minutes. But I was there more than an hour ahead of time. I had plenty of time to find my gate and get settled in with some reading material as well as puzzles.

Just a comment that all my planes were fairly full, guess there are still a lot of people flying around. The woman sitting next to me mentioned that she used to do business flying three days a week. Sounded excessive to me.

As we were approaching the airport in Chicago, I looked out the window and saw another plane off to the left, ahead, and below us. There was still a lot of city flowing past under us. As I watched we seemed to be catching up with this plane next door. Then we were parallel with them. I could see this plane more and more clearly. We both were going down at about the same time, but as near as I could tell we had ceased to come closer together. Then just before we touched down there were buildings between us. The woman next to me commented that she had never seen another plane land at almost the same time like that. I got the impression that many people were watching and wondering about this. Were we heading for the same spot and if so who would win? That O’Hare airport has many options so two or maybe more planes can land at once.

Paula

Walking Together

Hello,

Yesterday when I picked up Lexi after school I was wearing my elephant hat from Cambodia. I got many compliments on it. So much so that even Lexi commented on it. If I were an astute business person I would certainly try to sell some. I still might given the comments that I get on it. But then would anyone else really want to wear it or are they just admiring it from a distance?

Sarah, who is reading my blog in Tanzania, tells me that she did indeed give the school my name, both at the front desk and to the teacher. I suspect the teacher still had it since I had no trouble going to the morning meeting, but I did not see the teacher after school. Once when Sarah was in kindergarten, I had sent a note for her to go to a friend’s house after school. Somehow the note did not get passed on to the bus driver and he dropped her off at the house. I could hear her cries a long ways away. Luckily I was home so no real harm was done. It seems there is always a chance for a slip up.

When I picked up Natalie she cried a little and indicated she wanted to stay at daycare by clinging to the care taker. That is a good sign that things are well there, but I was sorry that she cried about me. It did not last once we were out the door so that is good.

I must comment on the traffic the day of the power outage. We cross the street at a point where three streets come together. The cars were doing quite well at this intersection figuring out who would take the next turn. I did not know what to do without the light to help me out. A guy noticed my hesitation while he was standing there talking to someone else. He said, “You just have to step out in the street.” He proceeded to walk with me closest to the traffic. I thought that was a good deed. There are good people everywhere even in those big cities. Just have to remember that.

My parents always seemed reluctant to navigate in the city. I guess being on a farm miles from the city does that to you. Mom always thought there was danger there, but my cousins who lived in the city had parents who thought the farm was dangerous. I guess they were both right and both wrong.

Paula

Coming Together

Coming Together

September 19, 2012

Hello,

It always takes some time when I reconnect with my grandchildren. Lexi, at five, remembers me, but I do not think that Natalie had any idea who I might be. She warmed up to me fairly easily, but certainly she did not jump at the chance to see me.

It was a different story when I dropped her off at day care. She was jiggling, wiggling, and grinning as we went in the door. It reminded me of our also nonverbal dog when we would come home from a time away. There is something to be said for body language.

Lexi and I have walked the two blocks to day care, come home, dropped off the stroller then headed off the seven or eight blocks to her kindergarten class. It is in the same building that she was in last year for preschool. Yesterday I went to school as parents had been invited to attend the morning meeting getting a feel for how school works. It was fun to see it. Certainly it has many of the same characteristics that I have seen in other schools. Even though September is not over they are already working on number recognition, patterns, letter recognition, weather, and dealing with feelings. There is certainly a lot to learn from how to sit to how to think.

In the afternoon I pick up Lexi first and then get Natalie. Yesterday we had a torrential downpour that thankfully stopped before the last minute before I had to pick up the girls. When I got to Lexi’s school I started to sign her out only to realize that someone else had signed in the same place indicating that she had already been picked up. I mentioned that to the person at the desk. She noted that that parent had signed on the wrong line. Then she asked for my ID. I had had it the day before when no one asked so I had not brought it as I am always interested in traveling light. They then looked for my name on the list of acceptable people to pick up Lexi. My name was not there. The person at the desk did know that I/someone else was to pick up Lexi this week. This woman also thought she recognized me from last year, but she called the principal anyway. They were going to call Sarah, but I informed them that she was in Tanzania, however they could call Stephen which they did and he verified that I was pick up Lexi. At least we know that not just anyone can waltz in and select a child to gather in and take away.

Paula

Touring

Hello,

Sarah left for the airport and Tanzania just a few hours after I arrived. Stephen and the girls and I managed the end of the day and we even got to church on time Sunday morning. In the afternoon it was off for some touring. I certainly learned some new things. The first stop was the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. The first learned fact was that Washington and the thirteen presidents so listed had been masons. Many of the presidents were earlier in our history, but the last was certainly within my memory. Gerald Ford was the last, but the staunchest was Harry Truman. There were other names listed such as Ben Franklin and some military people in the revolution as well as the Civil War.

I did not take the guided tour, but only the self-attended walk through. I did not see two of the floors and did not go in all of the rooms, but it was plenty for me. There were certainly a number of boards and information in the brochure if I had read everything I would have been there much longer.

Stephen and the girls stayed outside as it was deemed they would not be so very interested. I feel a little guilty as Stephen did not get in, but he will go again another time.

Then it was on to the memorial at the Pentagon for the people who died there in the Sept. 11 attack. I thought it was tastefully done and worth the time to go see it. At least it was outside so we could all easily see it together. So if you are in town and search for something to see it is a possibility.

Things have gone fairly smoothly with the two girls. Lexi feels sad that her mom is gone and she calls for her some, especially when she fell on the sidewalk and banged her knees and hands painfully. Natalie who does not yet talk also has had some moments, but she was quite excited to go to daycare. Perhaps that is such a familiar place that she felt all was right with the world. She comes to me, but really prefers Stephen sometimes.

Paula

Flying

Hello,

Because my plane was leaving at six in the morning, it seemed wise, but maybe not so necessary at this small airport to be there an hour ahead of time. Leroy tried in vain to set the alarm on the clock in the bedroom. After listening to much grumbling, I thought about the travel alarm, but I had packed that as Sarah had requested it for her trip to Tanzania. I then suggested he get the clock from the other bed room. That was easily accomplished by unplugging it, plugging it in, resetting the time, and then resetting the alarm. I got up at about 12:00 to go to the bathroom, noted the time and woke just a little before the alarm was to go off at 4:00. Because this clock numbers are smaller I could not read it without my glasses on so I checked my watch. It stated that it was just a bit before three o’clock. I then put my glasses on to learn that the other clock did not agree with that time, so out of bed walk, to the kitchen, check the stove clock and the microwave clock, and both agreed with my watch. I did not know how to cancel the alarm on the bedroom clock without turning on the light so I just lay back down and waited for it to go off an hour early. Such enough it went off at three so I could tell Leroy to reset it for an hour later. He did that chore, settled back down and drifted promptly off to sleep again. I was not so lucky. Needless to say I was quite tired for this trip.

My flights were uneventful and both of them were early making my connection in Chicago a breeze. Both flights took off in the westward direction and had to circle round to go East. Going out of Cedar Rapids we banked sharply in a tight circle giving me a good view of the lights of the city as we sailed away. I was glad that none of my motion sensitive family was sitting next to me as it could have been interesting.

I had not been picked up in DC before so I was a little concerned about that, but since I got there early, Sarah and the girls had not gotten there yet. Thank God that someone invented cell phones as it makes these situations fairly seamless and easy compared to the old days. Who wants those old days to come back anyway? Everything may not be perfect now, but everything was not perfect then.

Paula

Traveling

Hello,

I have half of my bag packed, checked the DC ten day forecast, put in more warm weather clothes, washed clothes, made a pot of soup for Leroy, made a list, printed my boarding pass, checked about my photo ID, and twitched. It has been more than a year since I have flown and I feel a bit nervous about being in the right place at the right time. Leroy always annoys me because he is so careful about checking for flight gates, but when we fly together he does the job so I do not have to. Now I have to pretend to be the one who knows what they are doing. It is also great to have Leroy with me so I can leave my suitcase, etc with him when I take a walk or go to the restroom. Why on earth is it called a restroom? Who is resting there?

I have quite a bit of room in my bag because I am not staying for so long, although shoes are always an issue. Can I get by with just taking my sandals? Wear one and pack one? I am seriously considering it. I once read that you should wear shoes on the flight that would be good for making a fast exit and protecting you no matter what happens. Well, sandals do not fit the category, but I would wear my good water proof hiking pair so that should help, especially if there is an unexpected water landing.

It was 43F degrees this morning. Leroy rode to work with his bike tights on. Now this afternoon it has warmed up quite a bit so he can wear shorts. He has also taken some sweaters to work. He tells me that soon he will have half of his wardrobe there. Yesterday it was raining in the morning so he drove the car. It was the first time that he has done so in more than a month. He is going to bike as long as he can tolerate the temperatures. It seems to me that he could then ride the bus as it comes fairly close to his destination on both ends.

Paula

Visitors come and gone

Hello,

My sister and husband came yesterday afternoon and left this morning. It was a nice visit. They gave me some dried peppermint leaves from their yard and I gave them some library discarded magazines. We both felt good about that. I am happy to have one more person look at the magazines before they are recycled and they will grow more mint to replace what they gave us. Leroy was happy to show off his work place. So that is good.

Last night we drove to the lake and walked around. It was quite dark by the time we were finished so that was a new experience. We did not see many animals or birds as most must have bedded down for the night. Some people were still fishing when we started.

I washed some clothes this morning after they left and I am now trying to talk myself into ironing them. I did bring some cleaned DVD s home from the library and I could watch one of them while ironing and learn if it works. So that would accomplish two purposes.

I might just have to ignore the walnut stain on my jacket. It is to be treated lightly and no stain removal suggestions seem like light duty to me. Walnuts are really more like dye than not.

I will work tomorrow, home on Friday, and fly to DC early in the morning Sat, stay there until the next Friday then it is off to MN for Sophia’s birthday party. I feel busy. Will I have time to read the next book for book club? I have read it before, but certainly need to re-read it as my memory is not so clear. Because it is a library book I do not like to take it with me when I travel just in case I might lose it.

Paula

Walnuts falling

Hello,

The scrawny looking walnut tree in the back yard seems to have a bumper crop in spite of the dryness. Guess those tree roots go deep and tap unseen sources of moisture. So many nuts are falling that I keep stepping on them either in the grass or on the sidewalk where my foot rolls along a little before coming to rest on more sure footing. The other day as we were getting ready to go on the bike ride a walnut fell, hitting me on my “expensive” Nike jacket. Course the jacket was that bright light neon green so walnut stain does not blend in at all. In fact it is quite noticeable. So far I have not tried to treat it because I am not sure what to do. I suppose I could look it up on the internet, but have not taken the time to do that.

I keep thinking we should gather some of the walnuts, but then there is that perennial problem of how to get rid of that outer green/black oozing husk. It would be better to have a pet squirrel trained to take that off. I often hear one of them working on the walnuts. They must have the strongest teeth in the neighborhood as they can crack these nuts by using their teeth. They make quite a bit of noise when they do this.

I have uploaded my photos from when the girls were here. You can see in the pictures of the chicken experience how we used plastic bread bags for boots. The very last picture in that album is a squirrel eating a nut while sitting on the fence. It is not so clear because it was in the shadow. When I tried to get closer the squirrel got nervous and dashed up the tree.

I realize many of you will not want to look at all the pictures and I have not really edited any out because Leroy has not yet seen them. But here is the link anyway. https://picasaweb.google.com/111129304688608118094/201209112012MiriamSVisit?authkey=Gv1sRgCJDXwP2-8JHJqgE

Paula

Bike Ride

Hello,

Today I said, “I’m going to take a bike ride even if you do not want to.”

“I would go after lunch,” Leroy said, “I just want to do some work on this window from the attic that also has a hole.”

I washed three loads of clothes and hung them out even got most of them back in before we left on an exploratory bike ride.

We were looking for the Sac and Fox trail that goes through the Indian Creek Nature Center. We have been there before, but only by car. It seemed like a nice time to be out wandering around because there was an important football game that would be occupying many people and we might have the roads more to ourselves.

It took some serious map study to figure out the way to go. We decided on the south approach as the streets to the north look as if there might be a lot of traffic on them. We had a great ride to Otis road that had a trail connection on it. At the fishery we even rode around the lake for 1.8 miles on a nice paved trail.

Then it was back to the road where we seemed to ride and ride without seeing anything that looked like a trail entrance. Finally we stopped, dug out the map, and did more careful study before a car drove up. This generous woman driver stopped and was able to tell us that the road we were on would take us right to the Nature Center even though she did not know about the trail. So ten miles from home we finally reached the spot. Another couple was there with their bikes and their dog. They assured us that we would want to go back the way we came to get back to our house. They knew where the trail was and how to get on it. After we got back to the beginning I could see why we did not find it.

We were both quite tired after this little ride of about 19 miles. I still feel tired and we got home three hours ago. I can tell that I have not been on the bike for a few days and then to go this far and climb some more serious hills was something.

Paula