Exciting Saturday

Hello,

We woke up to snow on the ground, only about two inches, more or less. Because I did not leave for my 12 mile drive to Ely until 8:30 I got ready before Leroy went out to shovel. With the snow still coming he wanted to be as close to leaving time as possible when shoveling by the garage. I had no trouble getting out of the unplowed alley; however traversing the uphill ramp to the interstate was another story. There was no way to get any momentum as the start of this ascent is a 90 degree curve. It had not been plowed as was also true of the street. Previous cars made a small path. The dash slipping light came on several times on the way up. I am not sure what that light means when it comes on, but it seems to make the wheels stop spinning. Once on top, I was disappointed to see that the interstate had not yet been plowed. I stayed in the right lane getting my bearings for the feel of the road when I heard a loud bang. A car that was going faster than I in the far left lane had slammed into the guardrail, coming to an immediate stop. I took that as a warning that it was very slippery. I and most others just crept, speeding up a little when there were some clear spots.

Quite a lot of traffic was in the inbound lanes and I could see paths, but on the outbound it was mostly snow covered with just the middle lane having a path. Even though I was not going as fast as some others, I moved over there as I needed to be there in a bit anyway.

The ramp to the exit had not been plowed. It was a bit scary as almost no one had been on it and more snow was piled up. The Ely road was also not plowed. I just kept my speed slow and hung on. Again I met a lot of cars and they had a path that made the pavement visible. I sometimes guessed as to where the side of the road was. A car was following me and I noted that they never got close. I was so happy to get to work and out of the car. I had worn boots and I was grateful for them. With the snow still coming I put a cover on the front windshield.

To be continued.

Paula

Leroy's I-Touch Watch

Hello,

I found the watch a bit reduced than we had previously looked at so I got it. Leroy was quite surprised at this Christmas gift as he had not expected it after he declared he was not sure that it was worth it.

Then it was time to get it out of the box, no problem, set it up, problem. The first problem was that the language on the watch was Italian. “Are you sure it is Italian?” I wanted to know.

“Yes, I have had enough Latin to make the connection,” Leroy said with exasperation, “I cannot get it to sync with my phone.”

He tried different things, looked on line and finally declared, “I will take it to church. There are some people there who can help me.”

The watch and phone a synced and the language is English. Now however, Leroy has to figure out what are the best settings for his life and activities. He is also not very happy with how quickly his phone battery goes down. He is pleased that he can make calls, answer calls send texts, etc. with this watch. Amazing what this lowly version can do.

Some days he wears it and some days not, depending on his mood.

What will I get him next year? I cannot imagine.

Paula

Oh no, his birthday is on the horizon. He will be 70. Seems like there should be something special, but I have no clue what that might be.

Photos

Hello,

We had a family picture taken while in DC. Now comes the hard task of deciding which ones to print. Part of me wants to print them all, especially because all contain pictures of people I love.

There is some glasses glare that she said altered the face when she tried to take it out. Because I have had that happen in the past, I tilted my head slightly down so I did not have any this time. Sometimes the tilt of my head looked a bit odd. Those glasses that help us sometimes or almost all the time can be a problem in other situations.

I would also like to put the pictures in a frame that I already have with an 8x10 surrounded by eight smaller pictures. This time the problem is that I need two portrait pictures and none of them seem to be in the style. But then Leroy wonders about just tossing the idea of this arrangement and starting over with another style and frame. This is not my talent in life. I do not know what to do.

I am pleased at how the gray and black clothing looks in the pictures. I have to confess that I did wonder about it when it was first suggested, especially because I do not generally wear those colors next to my neck or chin. All of the kids thought it was a good plan and it was. Nice to be wrong when it turns out to being wrong is the best thing.

Paula

Great Weekend

Hello,

Last night some people in the congregation invited us for a meal with them. We had a nice visit that included playing a game. In the course of the visiting Leroy told them about his bike being stolen. After a bit the man offered him a bike that he could no longer ride. He invited Leroy to come out to the garage to see what he thought. Today we went back for Leroy to try it out and if he liked to ride it home.

He rode home just as nicely as he could in the cold windy weather over some hills that were daunting. He is pleased to get this bike. He had gone to a used bike shop yesterday and not found anything that just caught his fancy.

The negatives or challenges about this bike are that it is from 1974, but it has been well taken care of. It has the drop handle bars with the shifter on the staff so quite a lot of bending is required. It is just a slight bit large for Leroy as this man is about three inches taller than Leroy is. Leroy will have to buy a rack so he can take his lunch and other things to work and not have them on his back.

A good thing is that it was a very good bike when new. Its age will probably keep it from being seen as wonderful bike to steal. The cost is just about right. Leroy is going to give them something for it, but not a lot as selling it has been unsuccessful for them. It has new tires and has just had a “tune up”.

Paula

The History Center

Hello,

This afternoon we toured the History Center. It is located in a beautiful old home. It just opened this fall. Both Leroy and I were hoping for a bit more of the attractions there. I suppose it is like anything that is trying to get going, it must be small in the beginning. It is inexpensive but we were the only visitors there. I hope it is able to expand its offerings and keep going strong. I do not usually read each plaque in a museum, but I came close to doing that here. I did learn some things about the demographics of this area through history.

Last night was the church staff Christmas party. There is a white elephant gift exchange. Leroy was pleased that the item that he contributed was valued by the person who chose the wrapped gift. Mine was not so appreciated, but at least we have gotten a couple things out of the house. I got three theological books that I will not really look at, but I know where to pass them on. Leroy got a thing that is like a waterfall that can be in his office He is certainly going to try setting it up there. Hopefully he can figure it out successfully.

Today we took down the Christmas decorations with only a few disagreements as to how it should all go. At least we got things in the boxes more or less as they had come out of them about a month ago. Our living room seems larger now. I like that as I do not like to be so very crowded.

Paula

Washington DC Time

Hello,

Even though I talk about the tourist things we did the things most important to me are the family time, visiting, playing games, eating, and putting things back in their places with group help. The monuments could not draw me so many times to the same place. Without those kids and grandkids, it would be a dull place after a while.

Some of us went to the Holocaust Museum. It had been years since I had seen it and I did not remember most of it, but knew the over all feeling. Again it was a bit hard for some of the younger members of our group. Actually it is hard for some of the older members too, as we grapple with the ability of human beings to feel superior to other human beings. Where does the idea come from that another life is not worth much, allowing for unspeakable cruelty and even death?

                                                                      

On a brighter note, Leroy took all the grandchildren to a cemetery that is a nice walk away from the house. When I got home I walked up and met them. Many old tombstones are in this place of history.

On the last day we went to a holiday exhibit at the Arboretum. It was of historic train stations in the USA. They were made entirely out of 70 various plant products. It was spectacular, worth waiting in line for an hour to see it.

In the evening we saw the zoo lights which were also quite the display of color. I have to confess that we have not gone in our home area to look at lights. We probably are missing some nice views. Being away from home must pull one out and about.

Paula

Family Picture

Hello,

Happy New Year! I even managed to get the 9 up there instead of the 8.

Saturday morning Sarah got an appointment for us to have a family picture taken. It is so much easier when the kids are at this moveable age. It all went quite smoothly. It took less time then was expected so we just kept asking for more shots of different groupings because we were paying by the hour. It was fun. Leroy and I had a picture taken of just the two of us. As we were waiting, Leroy kissed me on the forehead. The photographer suggested that he do that for one of the shots. Then in another he kissed me full on the mouth. The grandchildren whooped and hollered. Guess they had not really seen much of that before. In our immediate family, I am the oldest person. Somehow it hit me this time that no one will pass me, until I die I will be the oldest person. The youngest can always expect others to come into that position, but not the oldest.

After spending time in the natural history museum, where I saw a new exhibit, we had lunch before splitting up. Leroy, Sarah, Stephen, and Natalie went back to the house, Leroy to nap and I am not sure what the others did. The rest of us spent time on the national mall. I was pleased to see one thing that I had not seen before and that is the monument to Einstein. I had seen all of the other things several times except for the monument to Martin Luther King Jr. I had seen it once before. Again I was impressed with the quotes that were on the walls.

All in all I walked over 13,000 steps. Glad to have that tracker checking on that.

Paula