Monday, March 18, 2024

SOL 18/31: Celebrating

I slept fitfully as one does when one knows the alarm will go off at 2:50 am and your ride will arrive at 3:50 am for a 6 am flight. About an hour before my alarm was set to go off, my phone was making those clicking noises indicating arriving text messages. I wondered which friend was texting in the middle of the night! I was surprised to see that American Airlines was the culprit and not a sleep-deprived friend. They were notifying me of a delay in my flight that would make it impossible for me to make my scheduled connection. My husband phoned and we scheduled a later connection. I texted and called my driver, and waited for him to respond.  Once he got back to me, I settled in for a few more hours sleep before our planned departure at 11 am.

But things were not to go as planned once again. My flight was delayed again until later in the afternoon resulting in . . . you guessed it! Another missed connection with an overnight stay before I could get home. After some back and forth with husband and daughter (I was supposed to watch the grand boys tomorrow), we decided I should just wait and leave tomorrow. Daughter scrambled to arrange child care and I showered while son sorted out a lingering confirmation that should have been cancelled. Some people say it takes a village, but for us, it takes the whole family and a friend willing to let you extend your stay for ONE MORE DAY!

Given all the changes that had to be made, you may wonder why I titled this post Celebrating!

In Spite of the Bad, I Will Count the Good

1. I was not at the airport when I learned of the delay.

2. Family members helped me with the needed changes.

3. My daughter was able to find child care for tomorrow.

4. It is another beautiful, sunny day in Seattle.

5. My friend and I packed a lunch and headed to the park.

6. I am taking my accommodating friend out to dinner this evening.

7. I will get a full night's sleep before tomorrow's mid-morning flight.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

SOL 17/31: 7 Good Things About This Week

I love reading blog posts because I can always find an idea for the days when I'm in search of a topic. I borrowed from Elisabeth's post (who borrowed from Beth) and probably a few others who have used this format. I did tweak it a bit. 7 Good Things +3 Photos. Enjoy!

Yesterday, I was unable to post on Word Press blogs which also meant that I couldn't leave my link on TWT. The problem persists, but I'll write my post and try my best to add my link to Day 17.

 7 Good Things About This Week

  1. Time in Leavenworth's independent bookstore with my book-loving friends
  2. Mountains
  3. Blossoms
  4. Sunshine
  5. Leta's homemade rolls
  6. Becca's Brownie Cookies
  7. Our annual book club retreat in Leavenworth

3 Photos From This Week 



Choosing books for another year is serious business!

Saturday, March 16, 2024

SOL 16: Tricube Poem for a Book Club Retreat

Fellow blogger, Lisa, inspired me to use a tribcube* to capture our yearly book club retreat. Some of us have been in this book club for twenty-six years. We meet at a member's family cabin in Leavenworth each March. It's a pleasure being together and choosing our books for the upcoming year.


Friends gather

Hugs abound

Laughter rules

 

Luscious food

Books chosen

Friendly vibes

 

Midnight snacks

Late night chats

Friends for keeps 

 

- Ramona Behnke

*Rules for a tricube:

  • Each line contains three syllables.
  • Each stanza contains three lines.
  • Each poem contains three stanzas.

Friday, March 15, 2024

SOL 15/31: A Stroll through Slices on March 15th

I rarely write a slice ahead of time, but my book club retreat on Friday calls for me to plan ahead. I chose to glance back at my writing on March 15th through the years with an accounting of the main topics of my slices:

2012  Hope Springs Eternal - cockeyed optimist embraces new day (haiku)

2013  A Frenetic Slice - work first, then the reward

2014  Surrendering to Joy - a white flag slice or when a teacher surrenders

2015  Telling Our Story in Pics - book club retreat

2016  Cut from the Same Cloth as Uncle Frank - I don't even have an Uncle Frank!

2017  Parking Garage Blues (verse two) - Nightmare Parking at Bellevue Place

2018  Read by Numbers - How many books did I interact with in one day?

2019  A Call to Action - climate change on Poetry Friday

2020  Padlet Power - a post about being "padlet happy"

2021  I Went to Island Books - first in-person visit in over a year

2022  My RSVP - responding to Leigh Anne's invitation 

2023  Kitchen Memories - remembering the kitchen of my youth

 

# of Slices by Topic

Reading/ book love - 3 (no surprises there)

Poetry - 2 

Book club retreats - 2 

Memories of childhood - 1 

Adventure with a friend - 1

Classroom whistlers - 1

Padlet creations - 1

RSVP to a fellow slicer - 1 

If you'd like to read one of my more humorous slices about teaching, check out "A white flag slice" from ten years ago in Surrendering to Joy. It's just a paragraph long, but captures a joyful interlude from my classroom.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

SOL 14/31: She took me in!

On my second day in Seattle, I was exposed to Covid. We visited in someone's home for approximately two hours and she tested positive that evening. Suddenly all my plans took a nose dive. I did not want to stay with my friend who had a sore throat and cough. I did not want to stay with my friend who is leaving for Italy and a cruise right after our retreat. I did not want to expose her to the possibility that I might test positive down the road. Planned get-togethers with friends were cancelled. I think I would have just thrown in the towel and headed back home except that I have an appointment with my audiologist tomorrow morning. Oh, the challenges of our post pandemic world and the challenges of navigating medical challenges after a move.

In the middle of this quandary, I decided to call my friend, Nancy, who had Covid in January. She opened her door to me with no hesitation whatsoever. I've been here for five nights and if all goes well, I'll test negative again (no symptoms whatsoever) tomorrow morning. I'll go to my 7 am audiologist appointment and then head for the mountains for our annual book club retreat (some of us have been together for twenty-six years).

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. I wanted to write about the fun Nancy and I have shared for the past few days. We've been friends for twenty-seven years. She worked with me at the middle school. We've served together in organizations at church. She's the "chocolate queen" who coordinated our mass group ordering of Ghiradelli chocolate each fall. She was part of our foursome group of friends who traveled to Italy in 2019. She's stayed in touch despite my move across the country last summer. 

We've talked, enjoyed meals together, talked, shopped, talked, watched the Academy Awards, talked, watched movies, talked, played games (Five Crowns and a new-to-me version of Rummikub with tiles played horizontally AND vertically), talked, taken walks, had late night heart-to-heart chats, and risen in the morning for more talking. She's waited patiently while I've written blog posts, commented on slices, and spent time reading the book we'll be discussing on Friday night.

I'll wind up this post with a gigantic thank you to my friend, Nancy, who took me in and made this visit unforgettable in spite of my Covid exposure. We all need friends and Nancy's one of the good ones, a definite keeper, a talker just like me!

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

SOL 13/31: Chasing Springtime!

 walking for spring blooms

pink, purple, yellow, blue skies

blissful blessedness




Tuesday, March 12, 2024

SOL 12/31: Have-To Stops in My Old Stomping Grounds

I asked my friend to pull into my old home's driveway, so I could see the house we lived in for twenty-five years before moving away the summer of 2022.  The driveway was filled with two large panel trucks, so we had to back out, past the rock wall that my friend scraped her new car on in the fall of 2020!

We drove past other homes that are no longer inhabited by friends we once knew who have also moved away.

We drove past the school where I taught for nine years. Still planning to pop by and say hello to a few friends who are still there from when I retired nine years ago.

We stopped by (or called) three friends' houses to drop off some of my pumpkin chocolate chip bread. No one was home or answered our calls. The bread's in the freezer. I'll take it to the book club retreat this weekend. The friend I'm staying with used to love this bread, but she's now gluten free.

I asked for a drive down Island Crest Way to see the daffodils.

We drove by the local library, but didn't stop in.  

I picked up bagels at my favorite bagel shop.

I did two loops around Mercerdale Park with another friend. It was very windy!

The best stop today was in a shop I frequented for 25 years. The current owner had students in our school system back in the day. While there were several employees on the premises, I was desirous of the services of one specific person. The checkout counter had chocolates crafted by the mom of a former student. Can you guess where I was? Au Courant for a haircut from my favorite hairdresser.  

We stopped by Home Goods where we perused almost every aisle, but bought nothing.

We made a stop at Trader Joe's.

We went to Bellevue Square and did a bit of shopping. I purchased several tops with the encouragement of a certain friend.

We visited Din Tai Fong for an early dinner. Since I was with my gluten free friend, I had to eat all ten of the beautifully crafted Xia Long Bao. They are rather small.

And now my friend is waiting for me to finish this post so we can play games. Last night she walloped me in a game of Five Crowns. Tonight, we're playing Rummikub. Cross your fingers I'm the lucky one tonight!

This is my thirteenth year to participate in the March Slice of Life. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.