<p>Ah, but who knows what kind of hijinx I could cause your alter-egos to be up to in the shadowy real world 
We might be collectively too nice for the kind of potboiler I have in mind :)</p>
<p>I do not want to carry on about my Aunt’s death as mainly I am doing OK. It has been important to me to understand her meaning in my life. And this is what I now understand and gives me peace.</p>
<p>“Anything we did for her small or large was always appreciated. We took her to see Pearl Harbor which was the highlight! of her life and yet not really any bigger than one of her daycare kids making her a card.” </p>
<p>My email to D and friends</p>
<p>Again, doing OK and this thought has given me clarity. Yes, we took her to Pearl Harbor because we could. Dear H always treated her as the mother I should have had (while putting up with my real one). D was here last week and Aunt Dot had sent a card with us for her (meant for her Dec B-Day). $20 and wrote, “Have a good life!”.
Aunt was living on$9,000 a year. She sent all of us our $20’s so we sent her $100’s </p>
<p>Lovely Lady. </p>
<p>well kmc–just have to say that I do not think that I am too nice for what you are thinking. After all! I live in Oregon!</p>
<p>Oregon- your aunt sounds like a treasure. And so nice that you and c_q were able to meet.</p>
<p>kmc- feel free to make my life more interesting!</p>
<p>Sounds like a fun and interesting time for cq and oregon! Wow! So many connections in your lives! I love to hear about these stories!</p>
<p>kmc…I love the premise of your book! How fun would that be!?</p>
<p>D1 is now leaning toward school rather than buying a home. She has gone back and forth so many times! I am trying to stay out of it until she really wants my input. Of course I think she should get her MBA first as it is way easier now than waiting. No financial housing or maintenance responsibilities, we can take care of her dog and she can eat here for free! Seems like a no brainer to me! ;)</p>
<p>Posted a couple of picts on Facebook of the quilt for those who asked.</p>
<p>There is sun today! The dog is is so happy again!
We should help kmc with a title for her book. Maybe she will visit each of us as part of her research. Then all of together to see if we can really behave…</p>
<p>RM–am sure the quilt is lovely. I had tried to get on facebook back when it was started with this group but something went wrong. Maybe I will try again as I am missing out on the pictures.</p>
<p>Love the oregon-cq stories! I left work early today (pre-cleared in advance) and drove up to see younger D. The last 40 minutes or so of the 5 plus hour drive is beautiful. Great autumn colors. Perhaps not great by New England standards but way better than Texas autumn. D wanted to eat barbecue of all things. Last time I saw her no meat. This time, a pulled pork sandwich AND ribs. Lol. After dinner I took D to Walmart then she wanted to go back to the dorm. I was in the hotel in my jammies by 9. I am treasuring the relaxation time. The week took an emotional toll on me. I just don’t adjust well to change. Tomorrow we are going to Crystal Bridges museum and getting massages. And cupcakes. Did I mention that Sunday is D’s birthday?</p>
<p>I’d like to visit Crystal Bridges. It opened a couple of months after the time I was out there, MP, but the preliminary pictures looked amazing. Will you visit the ur-Wal-Mart? </p>
<p>Oregon, your aunt sounds like she was a real treasure, and memories like the ones you have of her are a gift.</p>
<p>RM - I am in awe. That is all. (My 7th grade home ec project from hell was trying to sew a jumper in some nasty, slithery tricot fabric my mother insisted I use. Everyone else had kettle cloth, and I put in and took out that zipper so many times that the fabric looked like it had been through the wars. I’ve stayed far away from stitching ever since!)</p>
<p>Oregon & c<em>q – that sounds like a fun time out. Maybe with c</em>q’s new roaming we’ll all get the chance to host her. It could be the Fellowship of the Traveling Consultant. </p>
<p>Great idea, arabrab!</p>
<p>Missy, i want a massage and a cupcake too I think that might have served me better than the margaritas last night at a work function.
Been a crazy week.</p>
<p>Oregon, I had a great Aunt who sounds very much like your dear departed Dot – and who shared her nick name She was like our “real” grandmother, much moreso than our grandmother. My mom had run away from home and lived with her during her teens.
She had no children of her own after a stillbirth that broke her heart, but i like to think she had many of us who loved her as fiercely as that child would have had he survived.
She is someone who I feel is always near me still. I’m betting your Dot is near you too, keeping an eye on you and beaming you love ;)</p>
<p>Arabrab, I am pretty certain you and I would have been fast friends in home ec. I was such a dismal sewer they finally gave up on me and sent me over to the shop with the guys. I did much better with a lathe than a sewing machine. But my leftandedness always seemed to confound both my teachers and myself when operating any kind of machine, or even playing an instrument. It particularly makes people nervous when you’re wielding tools. I notice the same look on McH’s face even now…That look of imminent horror…</p>
<p>I can sew but am terrible at any kind of machine. I also blame my left handiness. I worked a couple of summers at a hospital kitchen and was banned from the meat slicer. I did manage to cut myself badly enough to need stitches using a regular knife. (I laugh when I think about it. They sent me to the ER to be stitched up - no charts, no insurance info, no bill or payment - and sent ne back to work.)</p>
<p>That’s funny, MP. I always thought my left-handedness was what made really pretty good at all things manual and automative.
I can sew, stitch, and wield a knife just as well as I can use a compound miter saw. Just sayin’… ;-)</p>
<p>Moda - what part of Brooklyn are you staying? S lives in Brooklyn Heights… there are some very nice restaurants on Montague St. I haven’t been to the River Cafe in years but the view is spectacular.</p>
<p>NM - I’m waving to you as I change planes in Minneapolis!</p>
<p>Get to see my new home for the first time later today!</p>
<p>c_q – I’m excited to hear all about the new digs. Good luck!</p>
<p>Girls were strictly forbidden to take shop classes, which was entirely too bad since I helped my dad a lot with fixing cars and household repairs. Weirdly enough, I ended up in a summer job on campus in college working for a nutcase physicist who also refused to allow me or the only other woman working on the project to use the machine room. He actually made us work in an office with the window to the hallway covered over so that the boys wouldn’t be distracted. </p>
<p>We too were forbidden from taking shop… but I sure would have loved that. I am much more handy than I am either a cook or seamstress. My little nook is coming together!! Maybe I will post some before and afters. </p>
<p>Brooklyn - we rented a place in Park Slope. S called me this morning while getting his hair cut where he was told by the woman next to him that she, who lives just a block over and one up, has been robbed THREE times in the last month. However, she also said her neighbor has alzheimers and forgets to lock the door! So maybe just opportunity vs real violent crime? Im hoping. He also said we’re kinda close to the highway, but in all honesty, I think we will survive and the savings allowed me to get four seats to The Book of Mormon for Saturday night! Not the $400 seats, but bad enough. But if S is beyond psyched, I am glad to have done it.</p>
<p>Having dinner in an hour with friends who live in the city and hoping they might be around as I know they are close to where the parade route goes… </p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t know what all we should put on our agenda……</p>
<p>Good news today is that UCSF sent out a bunch of rejections and S didn’t get one! Woot! </p>
<p>What fun, moda! So great about the tickets… that alone would make a great weekend!
We have good friends who are raising a family in Park Slope. Never heard of any crime…just batallions of baby strollers on the sidewalks.</p>
<p>And congrats on the UCSF news. That would be something if two of your kids ended up there!</p>
<p>Good luck, c_q! </p>
<p>Good to hear about UCSF.</p>
<p>We’re having the next (and maybe last) of my birthday parties tonight. ShawD got selected to speak at her pinning ceremony. Not clear what that is, but we have tickets. ShawSon called me a couple in the morning his time – he had finished his programming assignment a day early. All previous once required multiple all-nighters. </p>
<p>I was in an extraordinary session that day: several professors had invited Henry Kissinger back to Harvard – his first time back in a Harvard classroom in 45 years – as part of a project to interview and gather wisdom from all of the living US Secretaries of State (I think they wisely decided to skip the dead ones). I was fortunate to be able to attend. The President of the University said that at Harvard we are used to having legends (John Adams, Henry David Thoreau, the Roosevelts) but it is rare that we have the opportunity to be in the same room as a legend. Kissinger was, at age 91, remarkably sharp and pretty extraordinary. Amazingly comprehensive worldview. He was asked one question and he said, “Well, to answer that, you need to go back to 1840.” It was remarkable how the initiative to open up China was related to China’s concerns about Russia, the resolution of the October War was designed to remove/loosen Russian influence in the Middle East, and the ABM/SALT treaties was influenced by the improved dealings in China. He had a very quick (and cogent) defense regarding the US invasion of Cambodia (for which he was vilified – I don’t have the capacity to judge the issue). We were in the presence of an extraordinary intellect. Not sure I agree with all of his decisions but the depth of his understanding and subtlety of reasoning were masterfully impressive. </p>
<p>It is, as often is the case, a busy time. I got back from London the night before the Kissinger event, shot a video the day after of me speaking to a teleprompter, and now today we have a party. </p>
<p>Tomorrow, we’re going to see a film called Jon Imber’s Left Hand at a film festival showing. It is about the last year (or maybe less) of life of a friend who was a talented and pretty well-known painter. The film starts after he was diagnosed with ALS and how he continued painting (and continued to be a wonderful. curmudeonly human being). The parts I’ve seen of it are very moving. Here’s the trailer: <a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube. Here’s a review: <a href=“In portrait of late artist Jon Imber, life and love endure - The Boston Globe”>In portrait of late artist Jon Imber, life and love endure - The Boston Globe. If you have the opportunity, I’d recommend it based upon what I’ve seen (and heard from ShawWife).</p>
<p>Of course, before the film, we are going to pick up ShawD, take her to Costco and then lunch. Then the festival and the next day, back on a plane to Europe and when I return, on to DC for a niece’s Bat Mitzvah. My assistant thinks my life is nuts. Not clear, but it is full. </p>
<p>In the booby prize category, I should have just hit an unpublished elite level on British Airways. We’ll see if that makes my life any better.</p>
<p>“Nuts” would be in the eye of the beholder, Shaw. So long as you’re enjoying it, I say rock on Some of the most “tired” people I know are those with nothing to do…</p>
<p>Kissinger must have been fascinating. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall. Its also good to hear that shawson is finding his stride programmatically – and kudos to Shaw D. I don’t know what a pinning ceremony is either, but enjoy.</p>
<p>In stark contrast to Shaw’s weekend, I’m having the more retiring, reflective kind. I seem to need a crash day where I just putter, catch up with my Canadian pals from afar, read a lot, nap, and perhaps putter on yard work. So that’s what I did I had to babysit the hottub while I was doing a leak-seal treatment anyway, so it was an apt time for a down day. The leak treatment appears to have been a success, provided it cures. That will make winter a lot nicer in terms of not having to top it up every week, which is quite a production in sub-zero temps, let me assure you.</p>
<p>The hot tub is quite old, hence the slow leaks…and I wouldn’t mind buying a new one, but I just redid the pump last year, so I’m inclined to just keep this one going strong. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it save the former slow leak, and it just seems that turfing it would be a waste.</p>
<p>OK, now I’ve got an image of slime (for bike tires) in quantities suitable for a hot tub. In bright green.</p>
<p>(H told me that tubes now come pre-Slimed. Maybe hot tubs should, too.)</p>