Stargazer

Tall Ships

Today I decided to emulate her and make my own fun. I have several friends who are struggling with serious issues; I don't want to be shallow and turn my minor frustrations into  reasons for ennui and depression.Thus, I e-mailed a couple of my favorite people to see if they wanted to visit Tall Ships, which is something that I've wanted to do since the last time they came to town. My husband, who spent four years seasick in the Coast Guard, has little interest in reviving his seagoing memories. Thank you to my friends E and D for the two delightful hours walking, admiring the ships, and in my case, TRYING to take photos with the Nikon D-80. (but I refuse to be angry that I screwed up...long story)
Do you see how my friends are dressed? It was a lovely 75 degrees, perfect weather. I'm thankful for the sun after all my whining on that subject.
The really tall Tall Ships were at the end and included a Coast Guard training ship and the Bounty. You know, Marlon Brando? Pirates of the Caribbean? There is something so romantic about those tall masts. Indeed, there were many "pirates" around; one of them even looked like a young Johnny Depp!

The D-80 takes scrumptious photos of far away scenery like Mount Rainier. It's too bad that I had the camera on fine setting so the files are enormous large. I really wanted prints, but none of our photo software seems to be working to resize the photos. (GRRRRR!)After deciding to reinstall Picture Perfect, I now can't locate the disk that belongs to the Nikon; I admit that the search has been very annoying. However, I refuse to let it ruin my beautiful day.

As the saying goes, it's not really about the quantity of time, it's the quality. And I love being with my Ram ladies! As a perfectionist, I'm working hard not to fuss about not being able to edit this dark photo. It's not perfect, but I'm just going to take a deep breath and post it anyway...

Dull-drums

I love this "word," as coined by a friend; I know it's actually doldrums, but it describes this time of July for me. I'm so lethargic that I'm resorting to random thoughts.

• 4th of July was full of fun, friends and fireworks. (pretty cool F-theme, eh?) However, it was on FRIDAY, so I've been a day ahead ever since.
• My parents went to a barbeque at my brother's house where my 77 year old diabetic mother was regaled by my sister-in-law about all the terrifying dangers of nutrasweet/aspartame, on which most diabetics are dependent. It's probably not very PC to say that I'd like to throttle her, is it? My SIL is very into all the internet scare health e-mails and believes every forward she gets, aka my Aunt who used to send me loads of BS crap about lethal shampoo, dangerous phone numbers, syringes in parking lots and political smears. (easily disproved by snopes and other fact or fiction sites) However, I would cause a family fracas if I dared to tell my SIL to quit scaring my mom; she is so "sensitive." Except to other people.
• Mr.Stargazer has instituted a moratorium on house organizing since we're out of garbage space at the moment. Thus, I have to just make lists about what I'd like to do, while feeling my energy drain away.
• And I'm not going to lie; I already really miss this. I've been waiting for it for months, and now it's over. Too quickly.
• The Big Storm never came; it ended up in Western Montana instead of Western Washington. Our weather is gray and uninviting, which is most certainly affecting my mood. I need SUN, like our pitiful tomato plants!
• Older Daughter came down yesterday from Seattle; we visited, shopped a little and talked about our various angst(s)--can that word be made plural?
• Looming over us right now is Alison's impending departure for Europe on Wednesday. I'm trying to let her keep track of the thousands hundreds of details related to packing, preparation, money, etc...Right now she is heading off for her second day of music camp where they're learning their music and having seminars about the places they're visiting. Part of me wishes that I were going like her friend's mother, but the other part knows that she wants to do this by herself without my "helpful" advice. *sigh*

Wayward Weather Part Deux

I had myself convinced that it was finally summer--a spate of gorgeous 80 degree days made me overconfident. Because last night we had the mother (no, the grandmother!) of all storms. I've been around for almost 52 years and I can NEVER recall over 12 hours of huge lightning, crashing thunder and torrential rain. If we get thunderstorms, they are wimpy one hour affairs in August, about once every 5 years. So, it was unsettling to be startled awake by the booms,with the whole room lighting up. Then the power went off for quite a while; when it came back on Alison's paused I-Home started blasting a tune. By that time my nerves were thoroughly jangled! I ran around turning off computers...too late. Our oldest computer booted up this morning with one side of the screen way darker than the other. As Ashley said to me on the phone, "Mom, it's like it had a stroke!" The laptop started up with a shrill whine. Both symptoms went away eventually and were probably related to low power. However, by that time I was a nervous wreck pretty upset. (and very mad at myself) I guess the wayward weather will continue, according to this unbelievable forecast:

A few strong to severe thunderstorms continue to develop across western Washington, with additional storms likely early this evening. The greatest threat with any storms will be large hail, although strong winds to 70 mph and even a few tornadoes are possible.

Maybe if I click my heels together three times, I'll end up back "home" in Kansas. Because right now, I feel like I'm in the Land of Oz.

Whew

My parents would say that I'm on a tear, while my husband would mutter (and has) that I appear to have a "wild hair up my a**." My students would claim that my OCD is to blame...and my own children would probably hide because I could and would "turn on" them next. It all started with one shelf I was dissatisfied with in the pantry, then changed to an all out war on every cupboard in the kitchen. It moved to the video/DVD area(s), and I even made some initial forays into the upstairs. This involves mess, sorting, organizing, throwing out and giving away. And I'm finding all sorts of "goodies."

• Does anyone need any 9 volt batteries? We evidently couldn't find the ones we had, so we kept buying more.
• The winning cereal was from 2006, although there were many others that were close. My excuse is that I'm not a cold cereal person, so I didn't pay any attention to all those half eaten dusty boxes in there!
• Every time I've made tacos (rarely these days) I must have opened  a new package of seasoning mix, then left half of it in the cupboard. I found about 10 partial packets which I viciously threw out, since they felt as hard as bricks.
• I have enough Ranch dressing packets to serve salad to my whole town.
• Some kid videos I just cannot get rid of, like Winnie the Pooh, or most Disney films, whereas others are a no brainer. Adieu to any box with Mary Kate and Ashley on it, The Babysitters Club, anything that's a II, or III, etc...
• Fondue, anyone? Every blogger I've ever corresponded  with could come over with a pot because we have a plethora of sterno. Is there any other use for it that you know of? (too bad my car won't run on it)
• My husband and I realized that neither one of us likes ketchup, after finding two bottles of a suspicious brown color. Mustard doesn't last long around here though.
• I spotted a Book Collection drop up at a local drugstore; it taunted me enough to get me started going through my thousands hundreds of books, many of which I'll never read again. And it's for a good cause, so I'm feeling very virtuous!

Am I finished yet? (ha ha) Heavens NO, whipping cupboards into shape is addictive! However, I have made time to go out to coffee with my friend E. (thanks for the decaf mocha and shopping excursion); I've also read several books,and spent fair amount of time in the yard. As my parents would advise(they love those platitudes), "Strike when the iron is hot." Unfortunately, I'm sure I'll soon lose interest in all this furious activity and turn into a Summer Slug. They (and I) know that pattern all too well.

Here and there and here

I always feel this way after a blog vacation; where do I start? I did take my laptop to Wisconsin, but subconsciously made the decision not to miss a moment by being on the computer. I did check my e-mail a couple of times and even, heaven forbid, looked at my school e-mail once.But I really didn't want to spend this last gymnastics experience thinking about stories to tell instead of just living them. It feels weird to be the mom of a former competitive gymnast. I watched her last routines the past few days with (as usual) my heart pounding and my nerves on edge--but in an exhilirating way. It's impossible to describe how I felt and how I feel right now. During this week, I've been stoic although I feel weepy now. (could that be partly because of all the laundry and the heat/lack of air conditioning?)

These three girls avoided the drama that dogged some of the other gymnasts, not to mention an unfortunate number of their parents. We heard criticism  from other Ys because our girls are so fabulous good(a "powerhouse" "professionals" etc) while we suffered through other Y teams scoring 5s and 6s by doing scary routines that they had no business performing because they weren't advanced enough. One of our own parents gave unwanted advice on parenting to my friend Peggy, annoyed me by analysing Alison's routines and talking constantly about gymnastics, start values, gossip and then irritated all of us by whining incessantly about scores when her daughter dropped out of first place. Until...are you ready for this? I TOLD HER THAT SHE REALLY NEEDED TO SHUT UP.

Wisconsin is a gorgeous state, although I know I could never stand it in the winter. We had a little bit of time away from the gymnastics so we visited my very first Great Lake; it was blue sky and blue water as far as the horizon. What a relief to get our rear ends briefly off the bleachers and onto the sandy beach! Milwaukee has lovely churches (from the freeway anyway), and on our way to Sheboygan we saw green grass, trees, farms, and cows which I found very scenic. Speaking of cows, Spotted Cow beer is the best!

As for the gymnastics, it was amazing and incredible. My now former gymnast did two days of wonderful clean routines(8 for 8) to end up in 2nd place all-around. One day she shocked us with a 9.7 on Download y_nationals_08_beam.wmv , the next day of competition she scored a 9.7 on Download y_nationals_floor_08.wmv . Going into finals on the third day she was first on beam, first on Download y_nationals_bars_08.wmv  and third on floor...then she did something that made her "play it safe" mother terrified, but proud. For the past two years she's been working on a really impossible difficult move on bars with limited success.(a Jaeger)She has always wanted to compete it, but never has--up until yesterday. Since finals was the last meet of her career, she warmed it up (caught three, like Download y_nationals_jaeger.wmv ) then went for it in competition, even though she knew a fall on it would probably cost her first place. And it did. However, she has no regrets about her second place on bars, nor do I.

I do regret saying goodbye to this gymnastics team of ours though, which has become like our extended family. xxoo

Getting ready

It's official--home improvement/repair is not for me, even when it's just replacing an above the stove microwave. Oh, I tried to help by handing screws to Mr.Stargazer; I admired his lovely (BUT VERY MESSY) Makita drill--with a light on it! Did everyone know that drills can have lights? I pored over the instruction manual and got all the way up to "Preparing the vent" when he called me over because he was ready to actually put the microwave in. He just laughed at me when I insisted that there couldn't be any left-over parts, his specialty. Of course none of the bolt(?) holes were in the right place, so that necessitated lots of sawdust all over the counters and stovetop. Since all of this was rather time-consuming (and at times, stressful for ME) I was glad that we waited until Ashley had gone back up to Seattle; we had a great lunch at a vegan restaurant, a nice visit and a walk in the sunshine. She opened her birthday gifts early, since we're leaving for YMCA Nationals tomorrow, the day before her actual birthday. The weather report is looking fine for flying, but not pretty for part of the week due to thunderstorms. As my friend Sandi remarked, it must be a prerequisite to host Y Nationals--thunderstorms, floods, tornadoes in June. However, it's mainly because the competition has been held in the Midwest or back East 4 out of the past 5 years! When we hosted here in the PacNW last year, not as many teams came because guess what, it's expensive to fly that far. They don't think about the fact that our team has to do so EVERY YEAR. No, I'm not bitter really--just a little resentful. As I pack up a variety of short sleeved, long sleeved, sandals, umbrella, raincoat, etc...I'm thinking that this is our last Y Nationals and that we'll make it the best time we can, adventures and all. I'm sad that we don't have a team though--our Little Team who could from last summer is down to two. (broken ankle and pneumonia) I guess we'll just have to have fun, and ignore the gymnastics!

Extreme laziness

Could someone come over and exclaim loudly that I really should paint my house or organize my cupboards or steam clean my carpet OR do anything productive? I know that it's the usual let down from getting out of school, but I'm feeling horribly lazy. And I'm just sitting on my rear end reading,when I'm not mixing up some Crystal light individual packets(my new obsession), baking a few cookies, making some Suddenly Salads and obsessing over...

this effing microwave. It's been "sick" for a long time and been pulled apart, worked on and fussed over by Mr. Stargazer. He knows it's a switch that's sticking, but the thing is 12 years old. So, after months of hit and miss performance(mostly miss--but sometimes it will work with this lovely stick and shim), I bought a cheap new one that's been riding around in the back of my car. My husband is at his passive/aggressive best as he tells me he has no TIME to install the new one, but he can spend an hour or more tinkering around with the old one. As the kids would say, WTF??

Click to make this newspaper photo bigger and you may see someone you recognize. I was SHOCKED! Here's a better view.

A friend brought over peonies for me on Graduation night; they are extremely beautiful and fragrant. They came from her yard and from her heart as well. I prefer them to...

Alison's flashy roses, which are lovely but cost some relatives (I won't name them) money they could ill afford. And she has basically ignored them while I've been stuck with their upkeep. They suck up water like you wouldn't believe. I think I'll pretend they're mine!

The weather has been nicer and the dogwood and rhody are blooming, BUT the weeds are growing also. I mowed both lawns today, and may have to actually get my hands dirty tomorrow. Or I could just stay on the deck with a book, too far away to see the weeds...

Pondering

People are amazed that I appear calm about my graduating daughters, and not distraught weepy. But it hasn't really hit me yet. I'm still bemused by it all. When Alison leaves for Europe,  and especially when we drop her off at college, that's when I'll be a possible "basket case." But I'm hoping not. I've gotten a couple of congratulatory e-mails today (thanks Sandy and Tonya) about THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL TODAY-RAH. Yet I'm not particularly relieved because I'm still in my school mode. Again it just doesn't seem real to me that I won't have to get up at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning. At first, I will feel at loose ends and not too sure what to do with myself. To help with closure, I attended our end of the year "Last Supper", as I always do. It was with a sense of unreality that I watched teachers, counselors and administrators talk about two very dear men who are retiring, and other colleagues said their adieux as they move to our new junior high school. Afterwards, my close friend D. had a departmental  party(retired and active) at her gorgeous lake house where I tried to back over her new landscaping rocks(can't back up very well--sorry, D!) Then I gave myself a bad case of nerves by "forgetting" that I'm apparently susceptible to ALL caffeine. Three diet sodas made me quite jumpy and so hyper that I felt I had to leave. It is rather depressing to have this issue after 40+ years of happy caffeine drinking! So, maybe I'm a bit in denial about that too...Here's an excellent way to end the school year though : today a couple of students came in specifically to tell me that they had decided that I'm one of the best teachers in the school. Why? Because according to them, I actually teach. I work hard every day, am organized, mostly fun(when the kids behave) and they get immediate feedback on their quizzes and tests. They also added that I appear to care about them and whether they learn. A compliment on the last day of school is very special! Next year will bring many changes in my life and I do worry about adjusting to them, as Sandi mentioned on her blog. She also reminisced about all the wonderful(and some not so wonderful) adventures that we've shared. *sniff* My school family is changing, my home life will be different, and my gymnastics family will move on without me. I hope we can stay close too, Bubba because I love you all.

Double graduation

This post is all about yesterday, today and tomorrow.  Yesterday, our two daughters graduated--Alison from high school (complete with ceremony) and Ashley from college. I've decided that I don't like graduations at all; the spectators were rude/noisy/annoying, the sound system was lousy, the musical group sucked, and the speeches were rather dumb. However, Alison says that it was fun for her, so that's the important thing. It surprised me that I didn't cry or anything; I expected to. Maybe that's because I had just rushed around getting the vegan cupcakes; my order got "misplaced" thus they had to be made later than I would have liked. (as in about an hour before I wanted to be at the ceremony) Then our various family parties all arrived at different times at the graduation locale (the grandstand of our local fairgrounds) and we couldn't find each other, even with many triangulations with our cell phones.To top it off, Mr. Stargazer ended up being pulled over after the ceremony because some other idiot driver made him furious, so he HONKED. And in case you don't know it, honking is against the law! However, through all of this, I stayed relatively calm, and actually had a wonderful time at our Cupcake reception--complete with Alison's Funfetti cupcakes, Ashley's chocolate and banana vegan cupcakes and many drink options. We're all about the drinks in this family! To see photos, even a few goofy ones, go here. As I told everyone afterward, I'm extremely glad that I kept the after graduation get together so simple and casual; that meant that I could enjoy myself too. And the somewhat stressful vegan cupcakes were delicious, especially the chocolate ones! Because of our very busy Saturday, Father's Day today has been pretty low key; we just visited with all the family yesterday. Mr. Stargazer went golfing and was or WILL BE acknowledged by his daughters. (Alison? Come home from all those grad parties please...) Actually, he doesn't find this "big day" very important because he's not that kind of guy; he knows his kids love him, and that's all he cares about. Since I wasn't tied up around here, my brother and I took my parents out to Mexican lunch, where my dad tried to "steal" the check away--on Father's Day yet. Since he is almost 80, my reflexes are much quicker, thus I got to it first. And tomorrow? Officially our last day is Tuesday, but we sign the students out tomorrow. Right now I'm obsessing thinking that my room needs a ton of work, and that babysitting students when they aren't busy can be horrendous. And I owe all of you a positive weather forecast: 70+ degrees, sun and blue sky. After all my whining about the cold and rain, it feels SO good!

Proud Mama

I don't normally take the day off this close to the end of the school year. However, when older daughter (aka Ashley) sent me an e-mail that she had won a prestigious award in the UW geography department, and mentioned that there would be an awards ceremony today, I begged asked if I could attend. Thus, I found myself walking down the hallway to her apartment, while already hearing the sounds of a probable meltdown from the corridor. (OK, the day started out rocky) Ashley had two major projects to finish by 5 today, had been up all night, her computer wasn't working, the formatting on her maps was all wrong... she was crying, and very upset. Kudos to me for NOT enquiring why these hadn't been finished days before the due date (my style) or demanding why she would trust electronics in the first place. (my advanced age) Her boyfriend and I worked with her on solutions, and I mostly kept my lips zipped, which is quite unusual. *sigh* So, off we went to the University of Washington where we snagged a pre-ceremony coffee, and I paid $11 for parking! The awards ceremony, which I envisioned as a couple of people in a room, was actually hundreds of students, parents and faculty in a lecture hall. Now, not to brag (HA!) but out of 5 undergrad geography awards, Ashley won THREE: the National Council for Geographic Education : Award for Excellence, the Community Service Award and Phi Beta Kappa. And lest you think that she was only competing against 10 other undergrads, there were at least 100. (the program is here)And the reception afterwards was crowded, but fabulous. I love those tortilla wraps, plus the variety of cheeses and fruits, even though I accidentally threw one of the little sandwiches on the floor! Then Boyfriend D. and I left her in the undergrad library to finish her final tasks for college; it was hard not to fuss. "But you haven't had any sleep." "Can I fetch your external hard drive for you?" "IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO?" As the adult she is, Ashley sent me on my way, and managed (barely) to complete everything she needed to do. Whew. She is now an official graduate of the University of Washington, a place where she assured me she would NEVER want to go, doing a major that she would never have dreamed of--but one that truly suits her perfectly.

Here she is with the head of the UW Geography department and the other Phi Beta Kappas.

Ashley enjoyed her class with this professor, who had nothing but raves about her. I'm wondering who invents these ridiculous outfits for profs though; what's up with the HAT? I giggled quietly for many minutes. And does my daughter look like Hillary Swank, because several people at her new job think she does? Strangely, Alison has also been told that, but the two girls don't really look that much alike. Or do they?