Moving Day

So I spent about 3 hours yesterday doing nothing but lugging boxes up to the THIRD floor of the new apartment that my daughter and son-in-law are moving into this weekend and so why am I putting this under the category of Summer Fun?

Well, because in spite of all the work, it actually WAS fun! I was exhausted, tired and the back of my calves are SORE from walking up and down the stairs, but it was such a good feeling when we were done! Valerie was able to carry about three boxes for every two that I carried, but seeing as how I'm 35 years older than she is, I didn't think that was too bad.

The entire day was nice! We met for breakfast at Panera Bread. Valerie, Hans, Myron (Valerie's father), Sherry (his new girlfriend) and me. Sherry does a lot of volunteer work for Sgt Santa so she was able to provide Valerie & Hans with a Sgt Santa truck for the move. It was so cute! It felt as though Santa was bringing all of those things to us. Hans had to leave to go to work, but his moving job was today when he and 2 of his co-workers had to move all of the heavy furniture. They got everything moved except for the piano, and the decision was made for some professional movers to deal with it.


And speaking of Sherry, today was the first time that I had met her and I really liked her. I already was liking how nice she was being to Valerie, but now I like her for herself. She was actually someone Myron had dated in high school and they met again just a few months ago. The prior girlfriend that Myron had was always jealous of Valerie, which I had always thought was rather stupid of her, but I chalked part of it up to the fact that she had never had children.


Anyway, when Valerie and I finished unloading the boxes, I had to rush to my appointment with her friend, Jessica, who is a massage student and I was one of her practice clients. Poor me, to have to suffer through a massage after working hard all morning. :) Jessica did a wonderful job and she was so very professional too. Before I left for the massage, Valerie was teasing me and saying, "Are you sure you don't want to give your massage appointment to me?" And I replied, as any loving mother would, "Not a chance!"


Afterwards, I stopped off at Ukrops for their wonderful salad bar and then I drove to the storage unit that Valerie and Hans had and helped Valerie load a large mirror into the van. And then, I met Valerie and Hans for dinner at Arbys. So all in all it was a VERY nice day! Which is why I put it under the label of "Summer Fun!"

Knoxville, TN

Here is the place where I will be living later this year. I've put it under the label "Memories" because while it does have some recent past memories, it will also be where I will be making future memories.

The picture showing the mountains in the distance is what I like best about Knoxville. I LOVE the mountains and I have always, always wanted to live in a place where I can see them.

Now I can not see the mountains from Kevin's house, BUT when I drive just a very short distance to a nearby mall or to a local post office, I get a wonderful view of them. And that just makes me so happy.

The history of Knoxville is different from the history of Richmond. For example, Richmond was the capital of the confederacy. Knoxville, on the other hand, was about equally divided between the North and the South.

The people who settled Knoxville were poorer than the people who settled Richmond and the people of Knoxville were very much tied to the mountains, whereas there are no mountains around Richmond.

Knoxville is about the same size as Richmond and the people in both cities are very, very nice.

Probably the friendliest city I've ever lived in was Washington DC and I think it's because unlike Richmond and Knoxville, the people in DC came from all over the world, and therefore did not have the extended families such as one finds in the other cities. So they HAD to be more open and more friendly. In DC, it was very unusual to find someone like me who was actually a native. At least that's the way it was back in the 50's, 60's & 70's. It might be different now.

I remember laughing with my sister.......we were at a party in Las Vegas in 1971, and there were EIGHT of us there who were native Washingtonians. Usually in DC, one didn't find that many natives in one room. Everyone was from somewhere else. Many of my best friends in DC were from not only other cities, but from other countries. The friend whom I probably loved the most was Sylvia from Argentina. Her Dad was a diplomat and it just broke my heart when his tour of duty ended and he had to take his family back to Argentina.

There's an old saying from Will Rogers that I always like to remember. "A man is about as happy as he makes his mind up to be." Partly because of that saying, I figure that I can pretty much be happy anywhere.

Ashland, VA

Ashland, Virginia....who would have ever thought that the only other place to really feel like home to me besides Washington, DC would be the little town of Ashland, VA....population of about 5,000 and the polar opposite of Washington.

Ashland is where I owned my first (and so far only) house......Ashland is where I lived when my daughter was born and where she was raised.....Ashland is just the neatest little town, or as the locals call it, "The Center of the Universe." I actually didn't live in the Town of Ashland, but in a nearby suburb of it called Elmont. But my address was Ashland and it only took about 5 minutes to reach the actual town.

I used to call Elmont a little rural enclave. It was PERFECT!
It was truly country-living with a horse farm within walking distance and just 1/2 mile from the railroad tracks. And yet,
Interstate 95 lay only about 4 miles to the East, so I could zip into downtown Richmond in about 20 minutes. I LOVED it there. I didn't miss city life at all. I remember the first
nights at my house, I finally understood what books were
talking about when they would speak about seeing things by

the light of the full moon. I had always seen things by the light of the street lamps in the city. And the stars! I couldn't get over how many more stars I could see.

And I used to love going into Ashland and walking along the railroad tracks. I loved the little local shops and the fact that a very nice college was also located in Ashland. It made the town more progressive.

And I think that the most favorite time of my life was from the time my daughter was born and through the early years of her Elementary school. I was a Brownie leader, a Girl Scout leader and a Cloverbud leader. I had SO MUCH FUN with the kids! We made our own homemade butter and we went on field trips to such places as llama farms and fire stations. We also went camping.....which one time was fun and the other time was "the camping trip from hell." It was too cold! But I wouldn't trade those memories for anything! Those years just went by too fast!

But at least I savored every minute of them while they lasted. And it really, really was hard to find the time. In 1988, I began my own tax/bookkeeping business. I had to work many long hours to help it grow. But I still took the time out to do things with Valerie, even though it meant that I had to stay up very, very late at night to finish up things. Ironically, technology and software have come so far over the past 10 years, that if I were doing now what I was doing then, it would only take me about half the time.

Just as DC has changed, Ashland is also in the midst of changing. When I moved there, the last stoplight coming from Richmond was at US 1 & Parham Rd, which was 5 miles down the road. The next stoplight was in Ashland. It was big news when Ashland got it's second stoplight. Now, however, there have to be at least 10 stoplights from US 1 & Parham and Ashland. Maybe more, I haven't counted. When I moved to Ashland, Virginia Center Commons did not exist, nor did many of the shops and stores that now dot Route 1.

The place where I boarded my horses which was just about a mile from my house is now a huge housing development and I think that the horse farm that was only 1/3 mile from my house has shut down. Elmont and Ashland are quickly being swallowed up by Richmond. Especially Elmont. Once water and sewer come all the way up to where my house sat, Elmont as I knew it, will be forever changed. Ashland, since it is a railroad town, will probably maintain it's air of separateness for a while, but if history holds true, it will be just a little pocket surrounded by city. At least that's what happened to the little towns in the DC area. I used to tell my daughter that SHE would still have pretty much the same Elmont when she graduated from high school as she did when she was born, but her children wouldn't.

But I shall always treasure my years there and I glad that they lie safe and secure in my treasure house of memories.

Richmond, VA

I'll never forget the first time that I ever saw the skyline of Richmond, VA. It was in July of 1971. My friend Pam and I were on our way to Virginia Beach. It was at night and I remember thinking, "Oh that really looks pretty!" I had no thoughts of moving there and it never ended my mind that within two months I would be living there. To me it was just a temporary place to stay while visiting a friend.

But one thing led to another which led to another. First I got a nice job at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) and then I got an even nicer job at St. Mary's Hospital. I loved working at St. Mary's.

So after I had worked there for two years, my Mom moved from DC down to Richmond to be closer to me.

But I still always planned to move from Richmond. It's not that it's not a nice place....it is....but it has just never felt like home to me. Now Ashland felt like home for many years, but that's another story. And I do love where Richmond is located. It's in the center of practically everything nice. It's only a 1 1/2 drive to the ocean, and a 1 1/2 hour drive from DC, (unless traffic is bad), and most importantly, only a one hour drive to the mountains near Charlottesville. And I LOVE Charlottesville! Always have and don't know why. For many years I had hoped to move there.

Now I have a confession to make.......People who are born and bred in either New York City or Washington DC are snobs. As a native Washingtonian, the only other city that even came close to DC in my opinion was New York. And I had a friend from New York who lived in Richmond who agreed that the only city that even came close to New York was DC. So we're snobs! And when I first came to Richmond, I considered it to be a hick town. I now consider Richmond to be a very nice town.....and I love how familiar I am with it now.....but it's still not home. Isn't that weird? I don't know if I'll ever consider any city to ever be home ever again. DC was certainly home.....Ashland was certainly home....but those memories are in the past. In the present, Richmond is just a very nice city that I happen to live in at the moment.

I do have some very nice memories of Richmond.....working at St. Mary's is certainly one of them. And of course, the night that my daughter was born in Henrico Doctors Hospital on Forest Ave is the major highlight of my Richmond memories. And then there are some nightmare memories as well. Working in the Federal Building was a nightmare. I HATED my job. And my last job working for a rental management company was also a nightmare. I liked the job, but my boss was very difficult to work with.

I plan to move from Richmond in late October and I have conflicting emotions. Part of me can hardly wait....a new beginning....a new city (Knoxville)....and even a new state (Tennessee). But the other part of me finds that the closer I get to that date, the more I feel sad and yes, guilty. Sad because I really do love being so familiar with this city.....but mainly sad because I will no longer be living in the same city as my daughter. Now I will be visiting Richmond regularly to see her and I know that I'm less than a day's drive away, but it's not the same. I feel guilty because I don't want her to feel sad at the thought of me moving. In other words, yes, I know that moving from Richmond is the best thing for ME, but is it going to be all right with her? I do know that when she lived in Minnesota for four years while in college that things worked out ok. I saw her regularly during the summer and during Christmas and I made an annual trip out there every Fall and with modern communication the way that it is, it sometimes seemed as though we were still in the same town. And also, since the lease on this house is up in October, I would be leaving Richmond for a while anyway, to mainly travel around the country. So there you go. But I still feel conflicted.

I do think that once Kevin's children are through with college that we will travel the country together. And we'll probably end up settling down somewhere in between his children and mine. But who knows? His daughter, Jenna, might just end up in Arizona, where her boyfriend is from. But Sean will probably always remain in Knoxville and Valerie will probably always remain in Richmond. I guess that my "home" will always be where Kevin is. He is the first man in my life whom I have EVER fully committed myself to. Ever. I think that it's because when we first met, we were both going through so much pain (the loss of our spouses)....and have continued to travel through pain together (the unexpected death of his little sister and upheavals with some of my family members)....and still have more pain to face together in the future since his beloved mother-in-law was just diagnosed with Stage Two cancer. And when two people go through that much pain together just in the first year and a half of knowing each other....and go through it with getting closer each and every day.....then a true and lasting emotional commitment is made. I can not imagine a life without Kevin. No.matter.what. And part of that is because I KNOW that he loves and accepts my daughter (and my dogs) and that he always will. (Same as I will always love and accept the people and things that are important to him). I've never had that feeling from a man before.....that no.matter.what.he will always love me ....I know that he'll always be on my side....I've learned that he will never intentionally hurt me. And what a gift that is!

So anyway, there you go. Since my days of living in Richmond are numbered, I am making as many memories as I can, so that when I come back here for visits, all the good memories will always come with me.

Washington DC

There's a song that goes...."Memories...like the corners of my mind....misty watercolor memories...of the way we were." Barbra Streisand sang it. Whenever I hear it, I think of the city of my birth and the city that I grew up in......Washington DC.

It's funny, it's sad, and it's true. You don't fully appreciate something until you don't have it anymore. And as much as I loved growing up in DC.....and I really loved it.....I didn't truly know just how special it was until I didn't live there anymore. As a child, I knew that every Spring that DC would get a lot of tourists, but it didn't really register that people came from all over the world just to see the place that I called home. The White House, the Washington Monument, and Georgetown were just part of my backyard. I saw them at least once a week, sometimes more, and they were just a part of the scenery.

As a teen-ager, at least once a month, my friends and I would head on down to Georgetown to shop and eat ice cream in Georgetown. For some reason we loved a store called Papagallo's. We loved walking the sidewalks of Georgetown. I remember laughing hysterically with my friend Sherry about different things that seemed funny to us, but were probably pretty silly.

I remember every Saturday going with my parents across the Key Bridge into Virginia so that my Dad could see his doctor and get shots for his heart condition. I'd always bring along a book and I would sit and wait while Dad went in. I always enjoyed those times because we'd always stop somewhere nice to eat on the way back. I didn't realize just how sick my Dad was then. I just accepted weekly doctor trips as being normal.

I remember accepting it as normal that one always heard stories about the famous people of the day. Stories that were never published in the newspapers. I guess that's what one calls "living inside the Beltway".......only there wasn't a Beltway when I was a child. Hard to believe that when the beltway first opened (when I was 15), my Mom and I drove on it for fun.

I loved going horseback-riding in Rock Creek Park and visiting the zoo. I loved it when friends and family members came into town and we would take them sightseeing. I loved the 4th of July fireworks celebrations at the Washington Monument and the way my Mom took me to either the Smithsonian or the National Arboretum or the Capitol every Sunday after church.

I remember standing on the street watching the funeral procession for John F. Kennedy and how solemn the clop clop of the horses hooves sounded as they pulled the cassion. I remember how everyone around me began to cry as the procession went by. I remember the shock of returning home and hearing my Dad tell us that he had watched Jack Ruby shoot and kill Lee Harvey Oswald on national TV.

I remember watching President Eisenhower give the commencement address at my sister's graduation from American University and not realizing that not every college had the President of the United States speaking at it. I remember hearing about President Johnson flirting with one of my sister's friends who looked great in a sweater. (I never have read about that one in the papers).

There's an old saying that "you can't go home again" and I think that sometimes that is true. The Washington DC of today is different from the one of my childhood. It is much bigger and more crowded and more security conscious. The DC Metro didn't exist during my childhood, but I do remember that when I first moved from DC it was just beginning to be built.

One of my big regrets is that I had wanted to take my daughter up to DC at least four times a year while she was growing up, but by the time she got old enough, I was always working at my business and there was just always something that needed to be done and so the time got away from me.

And I do enjoy the slower pace of life in Richmond. I am glad that it's not as crowded as DC and I love the rural areas of Virginia. But I'll always treasure that golden childhood growing up in one of the most vibrant, powerful, and exciting cities on Earth.

The Bird

Sometimes the most unusual things happen in places that are very familiar. That is what happened to Valerie and me the other day as we were leaving Panera Bread at Virginia Center Commons. We have been going to Virginia Center Commons ever since it was first built and we have never seen a sight such as this!

On the car parked next to mine, this bird was perched on top of the car's roof. Unfortunately he flew off before we could get a picture of him sitting on the car roof, but luckily he didn't fly far and so we were able to take the pictures that I am showing here. I'm not really sure what kind of bird that it is (is it an egret?), but I do know one thing....it is not a bird that is usually seen in the parking lot of a mall that is over 100 miles from an ocean.

The Guardians & The Puptini

These are some pictures that my daughter took with her camera before I left for Knoxville. Luckily, she had uploaded them to my computer, so I get to use them. I just LOVE the one of her dog, Cody, and my dog, Alex, sitting in the window waiting for us to return. They pretty much stay there the whole time that we are gone, just waiting for us. If that isn't a story of loyalty, then I don't know what is.

The other picture of the black dog sculpture with the martinis painted on him is a really fun memory. Valerie & Hans were in Minnesota so they asked me if I could go to a charity benefit that was auctioning off several of the sculptures. Their dog, Cody, was the model for one of the sculptures, so they asked me if I could bid on it. I agreed, and so I arrived at the Science Museum, where the benefit was being held, and had some great food, listened to nice music and really enjoyed looking at everything. At the last minute, I decided to enter a raffle where one could win one of the scuptured dogs, the Puptini!

To my surprise, the sculpture of Cody was not one of those auctioned off, but to my even greater surprise, when they announced the winner of the raffle, it was ME!!!! Woo-hoo!! It looks so cute sitting there in front of my window, but I plan to give it to Valerie because it will just look great in her dog business! And there is even a happier ending. Since the Cody sculpture wasn't auctioned off, Valerie checked with Theatre IV and they were keeping it....BUT they agreed to let Valerie have it as long as she brought it back to them whenever they requested it. So now, Valerie has not just one sculpture for her business, but TWO!! Pretty cool, I think!

The Bunny's Apartment

Yesterday Kevin and I went to Jenna & Laura's new apartment and after that we went to see Jenna in her role of the bunny in "The Magician's Nephew."

The story of Jenna & Laura getting their apt really brought back some memories of my daughter Valerie and her first apartment with her roommate Jackie. I told Jenna the story and she said, "I know just how she felt!"

Anyway, Jenna & Laura were living in an apt on campus with two other girls, and they just weren't happy, so Jenna began a campaign with her Dad to be able to get her own apt. He said to me, "Why does she want her own apt? She already has an apt!" He, like me with Valerie, was worried about her safety off campus. So I told Kevin about how I had really learned a lesson with Valerie. I told him that she had come to me with the exact same request, and at first I had said "No." The only reason I changed my mind was when Valerie & Jackie rescued a little kitten that was only one week old, and although their roommates agreed to let them keep her until she was weaned, they said that if Valerie & Jackie tried to keep it any longer than that, they would report them. Of course, in a dorm apt, one can not have pets. I knew that it would break Valerie's heart if she had to give up Stolte (the kitten) and so I agreed to look at apartments. Luckily we found a great one that allowed cats.

The lesson that I learned though was just HOW MUCH happier Valerie was in her own apt and she also studied more because she could not go back to a dorm between classes, so she just went to the library. I laughed to myself when Jenna used that exact same argument with Kevin.

So, Kevin agreed to let Jenna rent an apartment with Laura, and he too, is finding out how much happier they are. The only thing that Jenna wishes the apartment would let them have is pets, but she gets around that by telling her friends who have pets to bring them over when they visit.

And then she likes going home every week or so to get her "dog fix". She told her Dad that if she could have Polo in the apartment, she would be taking him.

Laura used to be an art major before she switched to nutrition, so she painted dinosaurs on one of the walls (with the landlord's permission) and she and Jenna painted colors other than white on some of the walls as well. I thought the dinosaur wall was so cute that I took a picture of it along with some of the other decorations that Laura & Jenna had put up.

I couldn't resist putting up a picture of Jenna in her bunny make-up along with one in her bunny costume when the cast was taking bows at the end of the play. It was a cute play that basically told the story of the beginning of Narnia.

More Everglades

Here are some more pictures of the Everglades! Paul and I just had a perfect day for this trip. And then, to my delight, we found an alligator farm and I was allowed to sit in a chair and make a new friend.I named him "Herman" and as long as he was a baby, he was really cute! I doubt if I would find him to be so cute today if I met him again as he would probably be able to bite off my arm or something. But it sure was fun holding him that memorable day in March!

The Everglades

It's a "blast from the past" again for this blog.
I wanted to share some more adventures from my Florida Trip, taken in March, 2008.

My friend Paul decided to take me on an Everglades excurision. Of course, I had heard of the Everglades (who hasn't), but I had never been in them. The picture here shows the type of watercraft that we went in. Thank goodness for Paul! He knew how noisy they were and so he also knew to bring along earplugs. What a blessing they were!

How FUN it was when the watercraft zoomed up to full speed and just went skimming along the water! The Everglades are so vast and there is so much wildlife! We saw all kinds of plants and birds....and yes, we did see some alligators!

Three Kids & Two Dogs

Actually it was three kids and three dogs! I can not believe that I didn't get a picture of Kevin's dog, Polo! Polo is a smooth-haired collie and he is so sweet! I'm sorry Polo....I shall get a picture of you on this trip and post just you.

Anyway, I thought that I'd get a photo of Sean, Jenna & Laura cuddling with the dogs. Sean is the guy with Kyla, the German Shepherd. Every day he would take her running on the beach and she just LOVED it! And she adores Sean. The feeling is definitely mutual. He just loves her to pieces!

The girl sitting in the chair with Alex, is Jenna. She loves ALL dogs. The only person that I've seen who loves dogs as much as Jenna is my daughter, Valerie. I think that if they each had their way they would bring home every stray that they come across. And last, but not least, the girl standing up with the sunglasses cuddling Alex, is Laura. They are truly a great group of kids! They have each just finished their sophomore year at the University of Tennessee and being with them brings back many happy memories of being with Valerie and her friends when she was in college.

Pictures of Reel Suite

I wanted this post to mainly show various pictures, both inside and outside, of the cottage. Since I didn't apply to rent it next year, this year will probably be the last time that I will stay there and I love this cottage so much that I want to always be able to go back and remember what it was like.

On our final day there, we went jeep-riding on Carova, which is at the end of the peninsula where Duck is located and only 4 wheel drive vehicles can go there since there are no paved roads. It was soooo much fun! I discovered that yes, I still do remember how to drive a stick shift and I was so excited to discover that since it had been over 25 years since I had driven one. But I had absolutely no problems!

So where have I been?

Ok, so today is June 16th! I last posted on May 24th! I have some catching up to do. On May 25th, I woke up feeling sick, sick, sick!!! My chest felt so tight and it was very difficult to breathe. I felt HORRIBLE!!! For the next week all I did was concentrate on feeling better. I got nothing done....just laid around the house. When I finally started feeling better, I still had an absolutely horrible cough. For at least the first two hours every morning I would cough and cough and cough. For the rest of the day I would be totally drained with no energy. And when I finally began improving from that....I was so far behind on projects that I was supposed to do, that I had to concentrate on them. Except for one day when I said, "Forget the projects....I'm going to Kings Dominion again with Kim!" I'm glad I did. The sun and the water did me good.

So anyway, where do I begin? I want to finish up sharing the Outer Banks trip and also post some more things about the Florida trip among other things. At the present moment, I am in Knoxville, TN, and will be returning to Virginia on Sunday, June 21st. When I am in Virginia, there are always so many things I have to do that it is much easier to get caught up when I am in Tennessee.

One thing that I had planned to do that I never did was to finally meet American Granny, but on the day that I was supposed to meet her, I was still coughing so much that I was afraid to go to the Masonic home because I didn't know if I was still contagious or not and I didn't want to take a chance on infecting others. So hopefully I'll be able to meet her when I return to Virginia.

So there you go....and now to begin "catch-up."