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The end of a year which brought both wonderfu...
December 30, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
The end of a year which brought both wonderful times, and for Bob, some life changing experiences. I'm thinking that he will probably need to move to my house in the next few months. He believes that he can take care of things just fine and dandy, but he can just about manage a day's immediate tasks. He dreads giving up his house; he told me that it feels like a defeat not to keep a home for his kids. So I'm thinking that this move may be difficult for him; lots of family antiques to put into storage, tons of books, blue prints, etc. from his various projects - mostly non-profit housing projects.
Bob and I took Sam to see River Horse on Friday morning, then to lunch, and I took Dez and Jordan to dinner and Alvin and the Chipmunks on Friday evening. It actually was fun!
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What a nice Christmas! This was a busy month,...
December 28, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
What a nice Christmas! This was a busy month, with lots of
hard work by Servando, painting the interior of the house,
resulting in a place which would make Martha Stewart green
(a tasteful sage, I'm sure) with envy. I still have to have a new floor in the kitchen and get the new dishwasher in, and have the painting in the upstairs bed room finished.
But for now, I'm content.
I took Jenny to the doctor yesterday, who told her she had the flu. When I saw her today, she still felt miserable, but at least a little less miserable. We certainly all have passed this flu bug around.
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I figured out how to turn on my whirlpool tub...
December 05, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
I figured out how to turn on my whirlpool tub, and it's pretty nifty. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to turn it off. Those things are tricky.
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College Hill is recovering from yesterday's w...
December 04, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
College Hill is recovering from yesterday's windstorm. I came home from dinner at Mazzi's with Bob to find the street in front of the house completely blocked by one of the downed limbs from Stan and Linda's big old maple. Seraph, I took a piece of your Amish Friendship bread out to each of a crew of cold wet EWEB guys scurrying around trying to get it cleared up. Lots more downed trees and limbs in the neighborhood. My trees are unscathed, but my Weber BarBQ blew off to some other part of the neighborhood, and hasn't returned. I have an awful cold. I'm going in to see Scott tomorrow.
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I had so much fun having Isa come visit, and ...
November 29, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
I had so much fun having Isa come visit, and going with her to Jordan's school, Brushfire, having play dates with Emma, Sam and Jordan, and a nice birthday dinner for Sam at Bob's with all the kids on Wednesday night. Thanksgiving was fun this year, and I appreciate Adam's posting a picture of the dinner table. No matter how vain I am about my matching china, etc., you'll notice there's always a carton of milk sitting on the table.
I'm kind of struggling with the analysis stuff, going through difficult times in the past. Nonetheless, I strongly recommend the experience if you can afford it. I feel more and more able to withstand the buffeting of events the future always at some times brings. I am working hard on not being self-denigrating. Would you please stop me and remind me that next time I make fun of myself. Thanks, and one of the best things in my life is the love of my family. As the ad says, "Priceless".
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A quick Bon Voyage to Adam, Jamie and the kids
November 07, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
A quick Bon Voyage to Adam, Jamie and the kids. Jamie, Emma and I had a nice lunch at Barry's yesterday, as we worked on
holiday plans.
I'm going to be working on an oral history project with the
Bar Assn., asking for volunteers to do histories of some of the older members of the Bar and Bench. (that's how we
refer to lawyers and judges.)
Bob and I went to see Into the Wild - a bit overlong and a little self-indulgent, but otherwise very well done. People
either don't remember the inexorable power of Mom Nature, or
suffer from McDonald Hubris (humankind is so powerful there will always be a McDonald's just over the rise.) It would be
funnier if Oregon rescue teams didn't have to find lost climbers, hikers, or folks who were just out for a Sunday drive (on snowy logging roads.)
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Ha, censorship
November 06, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Ha, censorship. Well, that's okay, I respect Sadie's modesty. I hope you kids all know how proud I am of you.
I'm struggling on through this psychological analysis stuff.
It's challenging; none of that Wings Seminars easy fix. It's certainly resulting in vivid, meaningful dreams.
Makes me realize how much being a little kid during World War II, and afterwards when my Uncle Al came home, affected me. As I'm sure I've said, he was with Patton's army and was at Dachau, one of the Nazi death camps, immediately after the war. They apparently weren't allowed to bring pictures back, but he smuggled out photos in his boot. As part of last night's dream I was a prisoner of war. Aggg.
War is not a good idea.
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Sadie took her GRE's today, and I pried her s...
October 30, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Sadie took her GRE's today, and I pried her scores out of her,(it's on the internet, so it's an immediate grade) after her usual explanations about she should have done
better, etc, etc. The ave. math score for people applying to
Social Work programs is 548, and hers was xxx. Her verbal was xxx, or the 97th percentile of all people taking the test. I asked her if she were going to pursue her childhood goal of being the Messiah, and she said she could do it if it didn't involve a lot of fractions ("Jesus had one fish and John had two loaves of bread...") Ah, Sadie...I keep waiting for the bolt of lightning. But like Sir Thomas Moore said, He would not refuse one who goes to him with so blithe a spirit. Of course, Sir Thomas was about to have his
head cut off. That's what I call keeping one's chin up!
(Note: I replaced Sadie's scores with X's by her request. - Adam)
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I forgot to say that I took Destin, Jordan an...
October 29, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
I forgot to say that I took Destin, Jordan and one of Destin's friends to the Science Factory on Friday evening for
the annual Hallowe'en party. What a hoot - no pun intended.
I spent yesterday cleaning out the tool shed. A great afternoon - sunny and warm. Tried to palm off plumbing tools on Adam. Not much sucess.
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Where did October go? In fact, I wonder somet...
October 29, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Where did October go? In fact, I wonder sometime about 2007!
I've been trying to spend quite a lot of time in the office, finishing up a last few cases and going through old will files.
I've had an interesting experience. As I've said, I see the psychiatrist once a year to make sure my medication is okay,but I've never had traditional "psychotheraphy". But
with Medicare, it's really cheap, so I asked the psychiatrist if we could do therapy, and he said yes. Our first two sessions have been really interesting. It's
fun to see why I do things the way I do...
One other reasuring was taking one of those internet iq
tests someone sent on my trashy jokes list and coming up with same score as whenever I last took a real i.q. test.
Sadie takes her GRE tests tomorrow; send good thoughts.
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Hi, all, we Grandmas three had a nice lunch y...
October 17, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, all, we Grandmas three had a nice lunch yesterday at Marche. Yayoe suggested that she and Hanni take me to lunch
at my birthday, and it was now Hanni's turn. Hanni brought pix from their trip to Germany, and a darling picture for each of us of Isa. A good time was had by all!
I've been cleaning up from the summer's dirt for the last week. The kitchen is really the worst. I wonder if a mud room/laundry outside the back door would be a sensible idea.
Have to recommend "Knocked Up". Other than my disgust that everyone says the F word when they can't think of any other
noun (I don't give a f...!), verb (F... you!), adverb (I don't f...... know) Interjection (Oh, f...!), or adjective (the f...... tire), it was a charming movie. Someday, English teachers will rule, and the F word will be banished other than its usage as a verb. Love, the ex English teacher in the fam.
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I just went back and read Seraph and Robbie's...
October 05, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
I just went back and read Seraph and Robbie's website from
January, 2001. It was fun to see Isa's baby picture!
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Ooo, Seraph, this is a walk down Memory Lane ...
October 04, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Ooo, Seraph, this is a walk down Memory Lane for all of us.
I remember that you wore a black top and a gold satin skirt to the Opera and afterwards to the party at Tony and Ilona's on New Years Eve. You two made a handsome couple!
You've done a good job being married!
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Well, winter arrived within an eight hour period
September 29, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Well, winter arrived within an eight hour period. It rained last night, and this afternoon we had a real hail storm. An
hour after the storm there was still a pile in my front windshield well. Went to watch Sam's soccer game after work; it was chilly.
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Well, Servando is off to Washington picking a...
September 26, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Well, Servando is off to Washington picking apples, so I've taken a break from hauling brush, etc. and am doing an entire summer's worth of paperwork. As you kids used to say,
"Boorr-ing". The high light of my day yesterday was going to a department store to buy a featherbed cover for the double bed. Bleh... so this is retirement. Much love from
Housewife Ms. Susie Tidy Bowl.
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The wee pirates and I fought space aliens thi...
September 20, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
The wee pirates and I fought space aliens this afternoon, with Emma apparently in better spirits. Adam had a nice dinner, gardenburgers, homemade burger buns, corn and mashed potatoes. He actually seemed to be coping just fine..
Hugs to all, Mom
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Hi guys, here's something to look forward to ...
September 17, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi guys, here's something to look forward to over the winter holidays. I want about four hours of all together no distraction kids' time to go through photos, Memory Box stuff, etc. No, I don't have a terminal illness. I'm thinking about the look of anguish on Adam's face when he realized that he was named as first pick for Personal Representative on both his dad's and my will. I'm trying hard to cut down on the junk I own, and organize what's left. Lohring, this includes you, so consider it a command performance. I promise I'll have lots of junk food and I'll get Yayoe to ignore the trans-fats I'm using as a bribe. It'll do you good, and you probably remember the names of those people from the 60's better than I do.
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It's Sunday evening, and I'm at Bob's, watchi...
September 10, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
It's Sunday evening, and I'm at Bob's, watching 60 Minutes.
I had a lovely visit with Seraph, Robbie and Isa, driving up yesterday morning and coming back late this afternoon.
We had fun yesterday afternoon, going for lunch and then puttering around one of the many fun little shopping areas in Portland. Then Isa and I hung out while we sent Seraph and Robbie to the movies. Today, Seraph and I went to Ikea, where I'd never been before. Extreme retailing!
Seraph said Mischa had been sick, and that the vet said that
if the anti-biotics didn't help, Mischa probably has cancer.
Mischa is very thin, so I'm sure it's cancer, and I can't imagine many more days left - but the little kitty loves to
snuggle up with Mischa, so maybe he will hang on as long as
he can. Isa is wonderful to him, and I can't imagine a better place for Mischa to be; bringing him back to Eugene
might make me feel better, but Mischa seemed very settled
at Seraph and Robbie's. Jenny gave him to Sadie at Christmas, 1989, when he was a couple months old, so he's had a long life. He's always reminded me of one of T.S. Eliot's Jellicoe cats; sort of quietly keeping the household in order...
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I had a long travel recovery time, but have f...
September 06, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
I had a long travel recovery time, but have finally stopped bumping into things. We actually had a busy weekend, with a nice ending BBQ. Then on Tuesday afternoon, Emma and I went down to Brushfire. She made a ladybug magnet and I made a little flower magnet. A delightful couple of hours, for only $6.00. I had a long call with Isa last night; she explained that Mischa is mentoring their little new kitty, a stray who apparently was dropped off in their neighborhood. I picked up Dez after school today; he really likes his new school.
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Okay, okay, Sandie lives far east of Mexico, ...
August 30, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Okay, okay, Sandie lives far east of Mexico, and even east of Gibraltar. I had a delightful time, and will try to post pictures and a little travel summary. I'm still kind of fuzzy after the long trip home, but am getting back on schedule.
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Sandie lives in a Mexican city on the coast o...
August 25, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Sandie lives in a Mexican city on the coast of the Mediterranean, which is a fabulous place. I¨ll post more later. Much love, Mom
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Happy birthday, Jordan! I'm in Providence wit...
August 16, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Happy birthday, Jordan! I'm in Providence with Sadie, baffled at how she manages to live on an income which has to be below the poverty line. Nonetheless, her roommate is very nice, and their apartment cute. Maybe Sadie should be doing a Martha Stewart show for the impovrished. Still, I think socks, underwear and money would be good gifts...Love, Mom
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Ah, back to Pennsylvania and Meg and Dick's
August 13, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Ah, back to Pennsylvania and Meg and Dick's. They are back from a weekend in Maine with their girls, and Meggie has just put my laundry in. The night is alive with locusts and crickets, and I am remembering what summer in Pennsylvania is like. I usually feel most homesick for Normalville early in the spring, but the chorus of summer singers has reminded me of sleeping out on the backporch when I was a kid.
Anna and I had a busy two days in New York, spending yesterday at the Museum of Natural History until they nearly threw us out bodily on the sidewalk, followed by a stroll in Central Park. Today, we were one of three cars that found parking places in the city, and we took the ferry out to Ellis Island. Anna found the records of her mom's family, and I found the Steane family. I couldn't find Dick's family, but they have a website, and I'll try again later. Love to all, Mom
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I'm trying to think of this trip as the appro...
August 10, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
I'm trying to think of this trip as the appropriate time to lose the ten pounds I gained after stress eating my way through Bob's convalesence. Anna and I did Penn, and Philadelphia, then forged on to William and Mary, in Williamsburg, on Wednesday. Anna met with the History Department person late Wednesday afternoon. We had dinner
at a nice little Eugene style (ie. funky but with good food; we had barbeque shrimp with cheese on grits, a dish we picked because we knew we'd never again see it on any other menu) and after dinner we walked around Williamsburg
Historical Village. We saw a firefly, much to Anna's delight. This morning we went to the Jamestown archeological dig, and toured the museum. It gave a really good idea about what the colony was like, particularly because about 25 men of the
colony died during the first August. I got the autograph
of the professor who supervises the dig. I suspect he must
not have a lot of groupies asking for autographs because
he was very nice and chatted with me.
Then it was off to Washington DC, where Anna and I had a three hour whirlwind tour of the city. We then came to Baltimore, where we got a room in a Bed and Breakfast in
a slightly shabby but still grand old home. It's nearly mid-night. John Hopkins tomorrow, then in to New York for the weekend. I don't need no stinkin' Death March. It's time for
those Senior tours...Love, the mom
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Hi, I'm sitting here in Meg and Dick's living...
August 08, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, I'm sitting here in Meg and Dick's living room while Anna sets up interviews and meetings at other schools. She and I slept in late this morning, but then headed to Penn.
At first we couldn't find anyone in the History Department, but after a bracing frappacino, I went off to the fabled University of Pennsylvania Anthropology Museum and Anna went back for another try. She found one of the professors,
who was able to give her some good suggestions about who to
contact in the department. We then went to see the Liberty
Bell and some of the famous buildings in the Old Towne section of Philadelphia. We leave early tomorrow to head for William and Mary, near Williamsburg, Virginia. It has been very fun to see Meg, Dick, and Kayla and they have been
great hosts.
Adam, since you work for a hospital, do you think you could
find a doctor to talk to. Your fussy old mother would feel so much better.
And Seraph and Robbie, when we came in late on Sunday, we saw the kitty, which we couldn't see very well in the dark, and wondered if it were a guinea pig.
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Friday evening before vacation at the office
August 04, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Friday evening before vacation at the office. Mr. Lopez, this summer's smart reliable Mexican contribution to my life and the US economy, is out painting the fence as I get the last loose ends finished up. My office is down to this room and 40 boxes of files stored in the basement. My client list after twenty nine years of practice was in excess of 6,000 clients. That doesn't count doing more than
one case for many of them.
Sam and I went to Brush Fire for Friday Fun Day. He painted
his tank bank and I made a personalized kitchen magnet (mom, mom and new baby) for friends of Sadie's. Always a bit drifty about science, I was musing about whether to make the glaze on the baby a mix between their skin tones, when Sam pointed out that it didn't work that way. Ah, youth. Pass the bottle. (And why don't you just read
Joseph Conrad's "Youth"? It has Harry Potter beat all hollow.)Love from the old mom
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Hi, all
July 30, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, all. This summer has been crazy busy, with getting the upstairs bedroom and the bathroom remodeled, getting the outside of the house ready to paint, and getting the back yard ready for the new house planning to begin. At the same time, it's been fun, with having time with Dez, Emma and Sam.
Here's my schedule. Anna and I leave from Portland on themorning of August 6th, and get into Newark that afternoon. Meggie, I have been hoping that we could stay with you on the night of the 6th and 7th, and then try to
make arrangements to stay with the Lewis family in Bethesda.
Anna and I will be back in Newark on the afternoon of the 13th, and she'll leave for Portland the next morning. I'll take the train up to Providence and spend a week getting acquainted with Providence and spending time with Sadie. I go back to Newark, and leave on August 21st for Madrid. From Madrid I go to Gibralter to spend time with Sandy, returning on the 28th. More later, love, mom
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If I had been born thirty years later, would ...
July 18, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
If I had been born thirty years later, would making air reservations be so neurosis producing? I just realized that I gave myself only two hours to get off an international flight and onto a domestic flight. Bob's Anna and I leave Portland on August 6 and fly into Newark. We tour grad schools, and she flies back on the 14th. I have the next five or six days to travel to Providence and visit with Sadie, then head to Madrid on the 21st. Back to PDX on the 28th. What a treat! Love to all, mom
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Happy Fourth
July 04, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Happy Fourth. I hope that our country will sometime live up to the ethical expections and hopes of the Founding Fathers.
Then again, maybe if they'd had some Founding Mothers and didn't think that slavery was okay...
I now have a sort of Mud Flat where the deck used to be, and
with the help of Cervando Lopez, a fifty year old guy who spends from December through May with his wife, children and
grandchildren in Chiuahua (that spelling is not even close) things are gradually being readied to start construction on the little house. There will probably be a long delay in getting building permits, but I wanted to get all the front house repair, and the excavation, done. Then I can see what
the location will look like. I want to arrange for a cistern, too.
It's been helpful to have him stay at the house He's been staying in Eric's room, which has a bathroom, while I
stay at Bob's. I learned yesterday that the beautiful toilet
that I bought in Portland can't be installed because it needs a modifier package, apparently not available on this planet.
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In much better spirits! The tile in the bathr...
June 13, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
In much better spirits! The tile in the bathroom is coming along really well; the whole project is more expensive than I thought it would be, but then, I'm used to do-it-yourself remodel projects, and I couldn't possibly have done the extensive changes to these two rooms with me and worker guys. Stop by soon for a bath!
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Seraph's hair straightening iron, Dudley's ha...
June 11, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Seraph's hair straightening iron, Dudley's hat, and a lone
Dalmatian mouse....two nice pitchers, a cocktail shaker and four cocktail glasses, and a blue towel...
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Came home after moping around Bob's all day y...
June 11, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Came home after moping around Bob's all day yesterday, unable to face my empty house, to try the Sadie Jones cure-all, namely, cleaning house. Like Eugene after the wave of Country Fair hippies recedes after the event is over, my house produced a certain amount of detrius - Margot Tanenbaum's fur coat, Sam's soccer trophies, a light stick of uncertain ownership, Jenny's black leather jacket, etc..
But Seraph and Sadie had both washed sheets and generally cleaned up, so I've sort of had to manufacture tasks. I'm
headed off to see Dez' play in a few minutes...should be fun!
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Here I am on Sunday afternoon, watching the P...
June 10, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Here I am on Sunday afternoon, watching the Prefontaine Track meet on the TV with one eye, while trying to catch up with e-mails, posting, etc. Bob and I drove Sadie up to the airport yesterday morning, stopping briefly to see Anna before heading back. I have done nothing useful yet today, and really think I'll putter around for the rest of the day
as well. Many hugs to all, mom
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Hi, everyone
June 06, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, everyone. I'm at Bob', having loaned my laptop to Anna for a week while Adam downloads stuff from her Mac, which is
expiring from old age. It is a treat to have Sadie, who flew in on Sunday. Her housemate Janet came out to Portland to visit a friend, and then came down with Sadie and me on
Monday morning. We've had fun, and they've been wined and dined by various family members; right now they're at Adam
and Jamie's, making strawberry jam. I'm going to drive Janet up to Portland this afternoon so she can take a plane out tonight, and bring Seraph back down. The girls will help put together the birthday dinner on Friday. On Monday afternoon we went with Jenny to get pedicures. I'd never had one before, but now I have bright red toenails! Jenny bbqued steak for us.
I took my first bath in my new bath tub! Love to all, om
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Hi, I'm really okay, looking forward to Sadie...
May 26, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, I'm really okay, looking forward to Sadie's arrival. You kids might want to look up, on ancestry.com, free until 6/6, all the members of your family who fought in the
Civil War. Only one Stahlschmidt family (Dad, maybe mom, and two or three sons,) came to the US, in 1750, and the family quickly changed the spelling to Stallsmith, so you're related to all those people who were in the Civil
War. Look up Joseph Stallsmith; he was the one killed at the Battle of South Mountain. Let's not do any more wars, though...
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I've been at sixes and sevens the last couple...
May 06, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
I've been at sixes and sevens the last couple of weeks. This is a sad time of year, of course, but somehow all the
usual things which need to get done seem more burdensome as well. I go in to the shrink for my annual mental health check up next week, and maybe I should get him to goose up my meds. So if you see me grinning foolishly, you'll know.
On a bright note, welcome to the new baby. This is supposed to be a really good year for babies, I think The Year of the Golden Pig. Golden Dragon? Help me out here, folks....
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A very quick hi to everyone
April 19, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
A very quick hi to everyone. Easter was fun this year, with
much of the work done by Seraph, Jamie and Jenny. Lots of people brought food, which was really nice. I've been lucky to have Darren freed up for a while; he and his faithful sidekick worked in the attic room. Anticipating the effects of global warming, I had skylights and extra insulation put in, and they're going to put in double paned windows, as well as new registers in the Martha Stewart room. I went over to Adam and Jamie's for a quick Play, Play, Play with
Emma while Jamie had a few minutes to get her laundry done.
Emma and I played veternarian, skillfully removing a garbage can from Mr. Gorilla's stomach and stitching him up again after a scolding about improving his diet. Love to all, mom
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A quick update on Jenny's house plans
March 27, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
A quick update on Jenny's house plans. She, Jordan and I went to the broker's office yesterday morning to get more information about financing. After checking her incredibly high credit rating, he got busy, and called her back yesterday afternoon to tell her she'd been pre-approved for a loan. Lots more things to do, but it looks like it could happen. Had a fun dinner with Adam. I did not serve Cat, regardless of the implication of Adam's posting.
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Fun in Redmond! The weather was lovely, the c...
March 26, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Fun in Redmond! The weather was lovely, the conference was interesting, and we had a delightful evening watching the
Duck game at the town's favorite watering hole. It was particularly fun because we got to sit and talk politics, women's issues, and gardening with a mom, her daughter, and daughter's friend. Smart funny people abound in this state.
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Bob and I are driving to Redmond to a housing...
March 22, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Bob and I are driving to Redmond to a housing conference this afternoon, and we'll be back Saturday morning. He's been released to drive, but hasn't been doing much driving.
The weather is supposed to be good. I'll have my cell. Love to all, mom
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Hi, all
March 20, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, all. I had fun doing a short baby-sit with Emma, followed later with a lunch with the director of Unity School, for which I serve on the Board of Directors. Then Jenny, Jordan and I got together to go see a house Lohring learned about for sale in Thurston. It is a beautiful house,
about 100 yards from the elementary school, and walking distance from the middle school and high school. If Jenny can put together the financing, I know she'd buy it. Many hugs, ole mom
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Well, it's been ten days and I haven't heard ...
March 15, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Well, it's been ten days and I haven't heard from you, Seraph and Robbie, about how Mischa is doing. Sadie and I are pretty sure that he ran out into the street and was killed, and the two of you are just too nice to tell me. Please reassure me; post a picture tomorrow of Mischa holding the March 14th "Oregonian". Thank you, Mom
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What can I say? They were hostess presents fo...
March 08, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
What can I say? They were hostess presents for the Pioneer
Dinner which I forgot to give them Sunday!
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What a nice birthday lunch for Lohring! Yayoe...
March 04, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
What a nice birthday lunch for Lohring! Yayoe made a wonderful lunch, and the whole gang was there, except Sadie, and Bob, who's still pretty happy to sit quietly most of the time in his own chair. Afterward, Seraph, Robbie and Isa came to pick up Mischa. I would have felt really sad, as well as just feeling guilty, but they drove off with Mischa snuggled on Isa's lap while she stroked his head. I think he gave me the kitty finger with his little furry paw as they drove off.
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Mischa gets his teeth cleaned tomorrow, but a...
February 27, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Mischa gets his teeth cleaned tomorrow, but all his tests
show he is a very healthy cat. So sorry, Seraph and Robbie.
But I'll send lots of cat food. Love, mom. PS. Sadie is going to try to rope us into putting on (yes, as in "acting
out the parts") of The Royal Tennebaums the next time she's home. Just a Heads Up....
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Great time at the Coast! Even enough sunshine...
February 26, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Great time at the Coast! Even enough sunshine for a brisk walk on the beach. It rained hard coming and going, and we even had a little snow on the way from Ptland to Seaside. Jamie, thanks for taking care of Mischa, and chasing out That Bad Pumpkin, the cat from next door. Mischa and I are headed for the vet, and his 100,000 mile check up before he goes to Seraph and Robbie's. Love, and sorry I sounded so morose.
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A little Friday night book review
February 24, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
A little Friday night book review. A writer named Joan Didion wrote a book called, I think, The Year of Magical Thinking, about the year after her husband died, and all the
pretenses she allowed herself, pretending her husband really was alive. I never let myself to do that, except one time, when I was with a date (not Bob) at a restaurant Dick and I liked. The date got up and left for the bathroom, and just that once, I let myself pretend it was Dick and he'd just be right back. Just that once.
But I have to admit that sometimes I go back to the postings
before Dick got sick, just to remember how good it felt back then. Much love from the old mom.
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A quick note - Bob's sister and brother in la...
February 24, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
A quick note - Bob's sister and brother in law rented a place at the coast, and we're taking Anna and Aric and going over tomorrow. We'll come back Sunday afternoon or evening.
Remember that the Egyptian exhibit at the Portland Art Museum runs only through Sunday March 4th.
Angie's brother Olin and his sweet baboo are going to rent the Polk Street house. He does contracting work, and is going to do some major internal refurbishing before he moves in. There's a little reserve built up in the rental account, and it's a good time to clean-up, paint-up and fix-up. He wants to put in a sky-light. He would have to hire someone to do the roof work at +/- $100, and the kit would be a couple hundred; he'd do that work for free. I think you all, except maybe Sadie, have lived there at one time or another, so do you have any opinion about the skyligt?
The prior tenant painted the living room and one bedroom (including walls) gray, and started to paint the woodwork black. And she went to law school? love from om
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Yesterday at noon I met up with Lohring and Y...
February 20, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Yesterday at noon I met up with Lohring and Yayoe at the Remembrance Day dedication of the sculpture and memorial garden next to the Hult Center.(I didn't realize that Remembrance Day marks the anniversary of the date that then President Franklin Roosevelt issued the order to round up about 120,000 Japanese-Americans and put them in prison camps). The location of the garden is where Japanese-Americans in Eugene/Lane County had to assemble to be shipped off to a location unknown to them (I think, but I'm not sure, that it was the Tuley Lake camp.)
The service was moving. It was also lovely to see Misa Smith, Mari, and hear Mari's daughter, now 9, read a poem. It seems only yesterday that Mari and Jenny were budds.
The imprisonment of Japanese-Americans seems incomprehensible today, until I realize that I received at least one pass-on my Trashy Jokes list berating the US Postal System for issuing a stamp commerating the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr.
I wonder if the world's population will stop fighting with each other in time to deal with global warming. Like Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and they are us."
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Seraph, can't you use that pink rug in Isa'...
February 19, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Seraph, can't you use that pink rug in Isa's room? No pressure though....
If we're invited, I'd kind of like to make a trip to Portland the first weekend in March; it's St. David's Day and the Portland Welsh Society meeting. Let us know, love, mom
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Okay, Sadie said she'd take picture frames
February 19, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Okay, Sadie said she'd take picture frames. Let's see a little more stepping up to the plate...
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The near brush with death has prompted both B...
February 17, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
The near brush with death has prompted both Bob and me to do some redding up (for the non-Pennsyvania Dutch out there, that means tidying up and in this case, trying to get rid of stuff.) I keep thinking that you kids would kill me if I died and you had to go through all the junk I've accumulated. I did throw out ten years of old holiday/
Christmas cards last year. I'd like to get rid of the following(meaning, "Do any of you want....?"):
1. The rose colored rug which used to be in Seraph's bedroom.
2. The Millenium stuff I collected, (magazines, t-shirt, Millenium countdown watch, napkins, candles, etc.) which, in another 993 years, will probably sell on e-Bay for big bucks.
3. Some perfectly nice Christmas tree balls in pink, maroon, silver, and peach - perfect for someone doing a Martha Stewart tree.
4. A little fewer than four dozen antique Christmas tree balls.
6. Dick's Smith-Corona manual typewriter, which seems to be in good working order.
8. A square and a couple of straight edges for drawing/drafting.
Sadie, if you want any of this stuff, I'm glad to save it for you. And Seraph and Robbie, I'll deliver anything you want, since your Papa-San chair is here and needs to go to Portland anyhow. I still have lots of clothing to mend and refurbish, going back to the late 1800's, but I'll try to get that stuff all fixed up and then try to find one of you who wants it, or some of it.
I'd like to try to sell some old medicine bottles on e-bay
and maybe those Pennsylvania liscense plates. How much longer will it be before I can sell my CPT (complete with
disks which actually flop!) as a collectible?
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Well, Bob had his doctor's appointment on Friday
February 13, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Well, Bob had his doctor's appointment on Friday. The word is that he is recovering from his surgery with flying colors. There is a little cloud on the horizon in that there was some damage to the lower part of his aorta which
they didn't try to repair, and there may need to be additional surgery in the future. But that's a bridge for crossing later. So many hugs to all, and thanks for those cards and letters!
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Hi, Betsy, I'll send those addresses on; I'm ...
February 07, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, Betsy, I'll send those addresses on; I'm not sure I have an address for Eric Stohl, but I'll check.
Life is returning to what passes for normal. Bob and I got out last weekend, Saturday night to dinner with his sister, down from Seattle, at the home of a long time friend of hers, and Sunday at friends' for Superbowl. Bear down, Chicago Bears! I guess it's "Bears Down". Cousin Sandy Lenton, late of London and now in the Phillipines, is in Portland with her boyfriend, who has a manufacturing plant there. The tentative plan is to go up for dinner tomorrow night.
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Well, the cable guy came and I now have a TV ...
February 06, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Well, the cable guy came and I now have a TV with cable which will pick up Channel 34, University of Oregon sports. I explained to the cable salesman why I was upgrading and he said, somewhat incredulously, "You like this guy enough to spend $240 a year so he can watch sports?" I do feel a little defensive. The problem is that after bitching at Bob halfway around the world that all he needed to do was take his Cipro, I feel really, really guilty.
PS Lumpy is going to stay for a trial run with Chuck and Joann, Bob's ex-wife's (very sweet) brother and his wife in
Portland.
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Oh, your birthday, Dez! That's what I what I ...
February 02, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Oh, your birthday, Dez! That's what I what I was trying to
remember as the event which made this an important day. Disregard my phone message, Dez, it wasn't the full moon or Groundhog Day at all!
Bob is sort of settling in, but still not doing much except
sitting or lying down. We're trying to find a good home for Lumpy. Aric has been great about feeding her, and running her, but neither Aric nor Anna can have a dog where they live, and it's going to be a long time before Bob jogs again.
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Meggie, Bob thinks you're just letting me off...
February 01, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Meggie, Bob thinks you're just letting me off the hook, and he can't understand why I didn't have that diagnosed better. His perverse sense of humor is returning, so I'm confident all will be well. We did actually hear some negative things about foreign hospitals. Probably all the lawyers here keeping the medical profession in line. Heh, heh. (C'mon guys, do you know how many lawyer jokes I've suffered through?)
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When I talked to Bob about an hour ago, he an...
January 30, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
When I talked to Bob about an hour ago, he and Cousin Ron were making a beeline for the exit of the VA Hospital, keeping a low profile and not making any unnecessary noise!
He had a bit of an infection, but it is apparently improving and they decided to cut him loose.
It will be awhile before he's good to go - for example, no driving for six weeks - but there's nothing that has to be done tomorrow. Anna will come down for a little while, unless she gets a job in place right away. Many hugs, and
thanks, Sadie and Yayoe, for your cards, which Bob appreciated. Love to all, om
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Seraph, Robbie, Isa and I went for a quick co...
January 28, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Seraph, Robbie, Isa and I went for a quick coffee at AJ's, the neighborhood coffee shop, then drove in to see Bob. The new aerial tram, which goes from the hospital complex on the hill to an additional complex on the riverbank, was
free to the public, but on a ticket basis, so we decided we'd have to save it for another time. Bob continues to mend, and we feel very lucky. I have to go back to Eugene today to catch up with my office. Love to all, and Jamie, I'm anticipating the minestrone soup.
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Big relief; I left Bob yesterday afternoon co...
January 26, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Big relief; I left Bob yesterday afternoon complaining about hospital food, so it appears that he's on the mend. Hospital staff people still are dropping by and saying things which usually include the word "miracle", and I am
in fact quite convinced. In the meantime, I am most grateful to Seraph, Robbie and Isa for sharing their household. Love to all, mom
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Hi, I'm in Eugene, and doing a quick posting ...
January 25, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, I'm in Eugene, and doing a quick posting before heading back to Portland with clean laundry. I left Bob looking quite good yesterday, and understand he had lots of company yesterday afternoon. Eric and Mollie had done a fine job of house sitting, and Mishca looked well fed and only mildly pissed off at being left behind. I got over to see Jenny and the boys, but missed Adam and Jamie. Adam, thank you for your posting help, and I hope you are feeling much better. In the meantime, I'll try to keep up with postings. Much love, and give a little thank-you prayer to your god and/or goddess of choice.
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Hi, Seraph, Robbie and Isa have all left for ...
January 24, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, Seraph, Robbie and Isa have all left for school and work, and Ripley and I are left to update everyone on Bob's condition. He was out of surgery about 4:00 a.m. on Monday morning. He was awake if not really alert by Monday evening.
Yesterday he was awake and sitting up, able to spend time with his sister and her husband, who drove down from Seattle, and his cousins Ron, Bill, and Bill's wife and daughter. His brain seems to work fine, and they didn't have to cut out all his sense of humor. Aric and I will meet this morning at the hospital and I'll take Aric down to Eugene. One of Bob's doctors made an off-hand remark about being released on the weekend, but I'm going to wait and see. Much love, and remember the fortune cookie. You are protected by the silent love around you.
At Sadie's suggestion, I did talk with one of the counselors at the hospital; I was having some strong memories of when Dick died, as well as a lot of guilt. (Since Bob and I both had some food poisoning, we took Cipro, but Bob stopped after a couple of pills. I thought he was sick because he stopped taking his Cipro, and chewed on his sorry little butt all the way from Prague.) Much love, and thank you for your good thoughts and phone calls.
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I'm sitting here with Seraph and Robbie, and ...
January 23, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
I'm sitting here with Seraph and Robbie, and we're about to go out to dinner to celebrate Isa's birthday. I haven't slept since yesterday morning at 7, so I'm here for a rest cure. I left Bob with Anna and Aric, being quite articulate
and amazingly cheerful. I don't have any explanation for why he lived through being very sick the night before we left Prague, four airports, and three plane changes.
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Adam, I agree with Seraph
January 18, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Adam, I agree with Seraph. Thanks for all your hard work in keeping up this site. We do take it for granted now. Apologies, Seraph, I completely forgot about your weekend at the cabin, and we appreciate being able to sleep before heading south. Would you give Isa 48 hugs and 48 kisses? We'll leave her presents at the house. And how could she possibly be six years old. It seems a moment ago that Robbie would bring her in to work and, bad grandma that I am, we'd made her crawl. Much love, mom
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Hi, we arrive 1/20 at 10:50 pm
January 18, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, we arrive 1/20 at 10:50 pm. American Airlines 2266 from Chicago. Seraph and Robbie, we may ask to stay over with you guys that night. Bob is being a brave soldier, but he definitely has some intestinal bug, and I'm not sure how he'll feel by Saturday. I ate the same stuff, but started to take my Cipro right away. (There was a brief moment of neurosis when I thought, Aha, a quick way to lose ten pounds, but it passed.) Bob is taking his Cipro too, so I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow. If you'd rather leave the car at the airport earlier, we'd still have to call when we got in, but at least you wouldn't have to be out late at night. Love you, and it's very strange to imagine you all getting up and getting going, when it's five p.m. here, except of course for Sadie, who's about ready for her 11's.
Love, mom
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Well, it's hog heaven for them of us who are ...
January 18, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
 Well, it's hog heaven for them of us who are interested in pre-history. We spent yesterday afternoon at the National Museum special mammoth hunters exhibit as well as their amazing permanent exhibit. The museum says that this was the original home of the Celts, who then expanded their territory about 400 BC. The Museum owns many of the artifacts you see in text-books, and on loan to other exhibits.
We haven't gone out today yet, as Bob seems pretty under the weather. Our goal for today was to go to the Communism Museum and the Sex Machine Museum (I kid you not, gentle readers, there is a Sex Machine Museum in Prague. Travel is so broadening!) Even weirder is that there are literally 500 TV channels, with only the BBC and a bunch of evangelism channels in English, and about 10% are soft core porn channels in Italian or Arabic.
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Bob's snoozing away gently; we walked around ...
January 16, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Bob's snoozing away gently; we walked around Prague Castle all afternoon in distinctly nippy weather, and he's still getting over a flu bug from Shimla. Prague Castle was once home to Good King Wenceslas, and you all remember
how "brightly shone the moonlit night, though the wind was cruel" and believe me when I say I could identify with that
"poor man, gath'ring winter fu-u-el". I had on three pair of socks and three jackets! The castle is amazing, apparently the largest continuously used castle complex in the world, and on the World Heritage list. Prague is hog heaven to an architect.
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As you can tell, we were both much taken with...
January 16, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
 As you can tell, we were both much taken with India. It's a place on the world with such extremes of weather that people have learned to survive only through cooperation and a hoarding and careful use of resources. There is also an artistic bent which is so old it must now be part of people's DNA. Having seen how things are made, by hand and not by machine, I will never again sneer that something is a cheap trinket.
We are in Prague, and for the first time have good wireless. Hopefully this will last, and I'll post more. I do want you to know about Bob and the Monkeys. Monkeys in much of northern India are everywhere, sort of the equivalent of squirrels in Eugene. Well, on our way back from Jaipur, we were stopped at the roadside for a photo op. Most of us took cute pix of the cute little critters. Bob, however, managed to offend one of them, obviously the Monkey King, and the two of them had a face-off, with perhaps a bit of posturing on both sides, and at least some hissing on the part of the monkey. Try to picture Bob in a face-off with a squirrel, and you have the idea. He grumbled around about Bad Ass Monkeys for the rest of the time in India. (He just wandered by and told me not to portray this as all his fault. "Everyone always takes the monkey's side in these things. I'm tired of it."} So, love from us both, winning friends for America in foreign climes.
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We are sitting in a wonderfully shabby hotel ...
January 13, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
 We are sitting in a wonderfully shabby hotel in Delhi, much better than the Imperial and the Sheraton. I walked out the door of the hotel onto a narrow street teeming with
the shops the ordinary people frequent, food stands, an occasional cow or pig(pigs, not being sacred, don't seem so plentiful, but they still are one of the primary garbage systems.) People are incredibly lovely, speaking, asking questions,"Tell us about yourself" one young man asked, practicing their English. This reminds me of Africa.
We leave for Prague tonight. We saw the Himalayas near Simla, and had lunch with our driver's sister's family in
Chandarigh. She has a son, eight, who, along with his friends, took me for a walk. I'll post more later. Love, Om
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This country is amazing! We saw the Taj Mahal...
January 07, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
 This country is amazing! We saw the Taj Mahal and various resplendent buildings today, the Agra Fort, with breathtaking marble and sandstone carving and marble inlay with malachite, turquoise, lapis lazuli and various semi-precious stones. Right now we are sitting in a hotel which
in the past was the palace of one of the governors, and in the background, we can hear the reverberations of a drum,
sounding a lot like the drums at the summer drumming festival, announcing a Moslem wedding.
The two lane road from Agra to Jaipur was crammed not just with buses, trucks, vans, three wheeled vehicles, tractors pulling all manner of wagons, vehicles constructed entirely
of parts from a variety of other vehicles, but cows, herds of sheep and goats, camels pulling wagons of logs and overfilled bags of fodder, bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, and an occasional monkey. We saw our first snake charmers yesterday. Dez, look these cities up on your map!
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After a lovely farewell dinner here in the ho...
January 05, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
After a lovely farewell dinner here in the hotel, we bid a very fond good-bye to DP and Rama, their younger daughter Swati, an art student in Paris, and her boyfriend Fredo. We leave tomorrow morning for Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Bob is muttering and swearing at his suitcases, in the apparent hope that his wrath will make all the remaining unpacked objects shrink and hop into his bags. He has brought to India, in addition to three pairs of shoes, three jackets, miscellaneous clothing, an additional two pillowcases, a towel, plastic knives, forks and spoons, 2 freeze dried meals for two, a glorified bunsen burner,beef jerky and many beef jerky products (one of which is
called something like Beef Steak Chunks)and innumerable bags of food. And you guys worried that no one could come close to Dick. Love to all, mom
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I'm sitting here in Indian dress, which broug...
January 05, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
 I'm sitting here in Indian dress, which brought smiles, compliments and nods of approval everywhere we went today.
When in Rome, wear a toga!
I can't even begin to describe the chaos of the streets of Delhi. There are no lanes, and the correct way to pass the vehicle in front is honk your horn and wait for them to signal if it's not safe. Given the volume of traffic, this method leads to a chorus of horn honking. There are rickshaw cabs, cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and in the old sections of the city, an occasional horse or donkey drawn cart.
We have enjoyed Deepti's family and friends so much. The reception last night, with all their family and friends, was a visual feast as well as a literal feast, as all the women came in their most sparkling sarees and gold jewelry.
I think I said earlier that Bob's ex-wife, Debbie, loaned me a couple of outfits, the one which I'm wearing and one,
more formal, which I wore last night.
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We are well, going to the third wedding event...
January 04, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
We are well, going to the third wedding event - first evening was the girls' henna party, the next day the wedding, and tonight the reception. Delhi is overwhelming in every single way - traffic, people, noise, smells, religion, beauty and ugliness, all crammed in to the same space. Bob is a wonderful travelling companion, and we are
having an amazing time. The Imperial is an oasis of colonial denial in the midst of chaos. We rent a car and driver for about $30 for eight hours. It's like Africa; people time costs nothing. I'll post more later. Love you all. Mom
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Wow, next year we're all coming to |Prague fo...
January 01, 2007 by Sue in Wielesek
Wow, next year we're all coming to |Prague for New Years Eve! Fireworks, music, and wall to wall people! We're in the Prague airport waiting for our flight. This city is crazy cool. We'll be in Delhi tonight, and will be at the Imperial Hotel. Love, from the imperialistas.
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