| Thankful for these chances to reconnect to dear folks while it's still possible to do so... |
[26 Nov 2009|08:12am] |
I go back East every Thanksgiving, because my mother's birthday is the same week. It's typically a frenetic but fun week, trying to see as many people from 3 decades worth of living on this coast as I can reasonably see in a week. There are always people who I don't manage to see and am sad to miss, because there are only so many hours in that week.
I'm not going to name everyone I have seen this week - you know who you are and you know how much I cherished my time with you - but I wanted to mention three.
This year I made my visit a week and a half long, taking some extra time to spend in Ontario with my sweetie DEC, who has liver cancer and pancreas troubles, and whose test results are edging back into the "need to worry about" category. A number of surgeries have kept him alive so far, but we're always worried that this time it will be the one that the doctors can't fix. We had a sweet time together, sampling yummy veg cuisine all over town, and spending leisurely hours snuggled close, and I got to see his wife and her daughter and their comically adorable puppy as well.
I also asked my mother to bring me to see my aging great-aunt Chippie, who lives in an assisted living facility in Long Island, and who has Alzheimer's. She recognizes my mother by face; I'm not sure if she recognizes me, and she definitely didn't know my name. Sadder, she didn't make an immediate connection with her dearly loved and many-years-departed husband's name, when my mother mentioned him. (Later, she had a glimmer - "Oh! That's a man... from the beginning." Yeah, kinda.)
For all that her memory is fading, her spirit is still very much present - she is as loving, affectionate, and full of good humor as ever. And she *loves* where she is living - thankfully there is enough money to afford an assisted living facility that is literally hotel quality - so she is in a fancier place than she ever got to live while independent, with excellent food. We are at least grateful that she is happy.
I knew that DEC and my aunt were in precarious health, but there was someone else whose health is in dire straits and I didn't even know about it. I nearly skipped visiting her, because of that constant choice about whether to spend lengthier time with fewer people or less time with more people. But by chance Jay happened to ask what route I was taking back to NYC from Boston, and I realized (after all these years, blush) that the mid-Connecticut I-84 route was just as viable as I-95, if not moreso (thanks, love!) And the Mass Pike to 84 ran right by Patty's family's house in Worcester, where she was spending the holidays.
Patty... I met her when I was 16, at the RPI high school summer program. She was our adopted hall counselor, given that our own hall counselor was always off at his frat. We bonded instantly, and she called me her li'l sis, because we are so much alike. We have kept in steady touch throughout the years.
I've known of her health problems in general - she's had lupus and kidney troubles - but I somehow missed the blog post where she talked about her remaining kidney being in decline. She gave her other kidney to her mother. So, if she doesn't get a kidney transplant, she has somewhere between a couple of months and a couple of years left. Dialysis isn't an option, for some reason. I was floored to find this out. Like many of her other friends, I immediately offered to see if I was a match, though she has an unusual type so the likelihood of that is low. But I'll get the test done.
She's doing well spiritually - she has that outlook that a lot of potentially terminally ill people have, of really focusing on what is important and cutting out the trivialities that people get fussed up about when we think we have all the time left in the world. She is working, and thinking of travel, and choosing very carefully who she wants to have around her in her life and what she wants to do with her time.
We had a good connecting time together as we always do. I think I'll be making more frequent trips East in the coming year or so... I want to have what time with DEC and Patty I can. I often get so fretful about the money and time and income loss involved in going traveling... but moments with these loved ones are more precious than gold. And I'm thankful for those moments together that we had this week.
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| Confirming Boston Munch |
[22 Nov 2009|09:25pm] |
Hi all,
I've now made a reservation, so the munch is on for 7pm on Tues 11/24 at Taam China, a glatt kosher Chinese restaurant at 423 Harvard Street in Brookline, MA.
Yes rsvp's so far include: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) cyan_blue, ri_whittlesey, enegim, points, chhotii, tigerbright, teddywolf, Seth T & Cynthia. There are also maybe replies from ceciliatan and thespian. (If I've forgotten to list anyone, it's cause I have seventeen things competing in my brain for airtime at the moment - no offense meant).
Looking forward to seeing folks! My cel is four oh eight 338 five six three eight.
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| Boston munch - I'll be in town - Tues 11/24 at 7pm - Taam China, Brookline |
[20 Nov 2009|09:05pm] |
Hi all,
So I'm going to be in Boston this coming week, and while I wish I had time to see all of you lovely local folks individually and at length, I'm only in town for a short while. So - I thought I would throw a munch, at the same place where we held one in 2006.
Tentatively, I'm choosing a time/place of 7pm on Tues 11/24 at Taam China, a glatt kosher Chinese restaurant at 423 Harvard Street in Brookline, MA. I need to actually call and make sure that they'll welcome a group reservation that day, once I have a sense of what size the gathering will be - so watch for a confirmatory post regarding time and place later on. But I think that will work.
Please drop me a line here to let me know if you're coming and how many in your party to expect! Thanks! (I'll also post this to Facebook and Suspects, so rsvps may be scattered between those media).
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[17 Nov 2009|01:31am] |
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Saw beautiful Leonids streaking against the backdrop of the Milky Way, high up on Skyline with brian1789and a bunch of other likeminded folks...
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| My Halloween Costume... |
[04 Nov 2009|05:58pm] |
Poll #1480974
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 40Am I a...
(thanks to patgreene for her ideas on what my assemblage of garments might collectively comprise, this past Saturday ;-)
(yeah, I know there's no bi option in the poll. After all, I was going as something different! ;-)
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| Then and now... |
[01 Nov 2009|10:06am] |
15yo: Have you ever played a video game?
Me: I've played lots of video games.
15yo: What's your favorite?
Me: (rattles off list of which ones I've enjoyed at different ages) At your age, I liked Castle Wolfenstein.
13yo: Oh, you mean like Wolfenstein 3D?
Me: (grinning) No, I mean like Wolfenstein in little green pixel graphics.
Jay: More like Wolfenstein 2D.
The kids and I compared screenshots:
Then:
Now:
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| For those who love quilting... the international quilting show is in town! |
[14 Oct 2009|08:35am] |
Pacific International Quilt Festival
At the Santa Clara Convention Center
Corner of Great America Parkway
and Tasman Drive in Santa Clara
Thursday, 10/15, Friday, 10/16, & Saturday, 10/17 -10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Sunday, 10/18 - 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
$14 Admission for All Four Days (with intact wristband)
$12 Admission Sunday Only
Under 16 yrs Free - Huge Free Parking Garage
This is the biggest quilt show on the West Coast, with over 800 incredible contemporary quilts and quilted garments (many are museum quality) from around the world on display, competing for thousands of dollars in cash awards, as well as incredible fabric and other fiber related items for sale in the 200 vendor Merchant's Mall. Fashion Show, Workshops, Lectures, & Special Exhibits. Flash photography is allowed. Bring a camera!
More Info: http://www.quiltfest.com/activities.asp?id=7
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[11 Oct 2009|09:14am] |
Yay, a picture of both cats! Finally got them close enough together and not in a blur of motion ;-)
'Course, they more often look like this:
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| My thought on the Nobel... |
[10 Oct 2009|02:45pm] |
Is it bad of me to wonder if the Nobel committee awarded Obama the peace prize this early because they only award it to living people and they're scared of him getting assassinated before they have the chance to award it if they wait 'til he's become more seasoned and accomplished?
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| DC Bi resources? |
[14 Sep 2009|07:57pm] |
Yo DC folks...
I got a message from some conservative parents of a bi college student... they are looking for local resources to help them to understand their daughter better. I recommended PFLAG DC to them, but is there anything bi-specific out there in DC that you locals would recommend? Thanks!
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| Another Pandora pic |
[08 Sep 2009|11:08am] |
This one shows a bit of her scamp-like personality...
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| Becoming besotted... |
[07 Sep 2009|09:39pm] |
brian1789 playing with our new little kitten, whom patgreene has named Pandora:
We've taken a number of folks' good advice and simply let the cats both have access to the common space, as Penwiper seemed more upset about being barred from some of her territory than about sharing it with a kitten. She still isn't thrilled about the kitten, and has been pretty reclusive, but she hasn't attacked the kitten, other than defending her boundary if the kitten bounds too close. That being said, we'll likely still keep them in different rooms for the first few nights.
Pandora, for her part, seems curious about Penwiper but unconcerned by the latter's lack of welcome. She is fearless and frolicsome and pouncy, and is very very cuddly once she tires herself out :-)
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16 (40.0%)
Even more steamed...
Steamed...
