Ice dancing! That's what the Olympics is really all about!

Ice dancing. That was the only thing that pulled my attention to the Olympics. I was a dyed in the wool Torvill and Dean fan, and really enjoyed the ice dancing this time around, though no couple ever approached T and D’s dynamism, elegance and style. The Italian couple did produce some historic histrionics that were amusing, if not Olympian.

Ah, the Italians. This Olympics was friendly, fun, and life affirming, like the Italians. I love the Italians. Ciao, bellos. Job well done. The passion did in fact live in Torino. I will miss “being in Italy” now that the Olympic games have ended.

I won’t miss the Olympics, however. How can I when there are Olympics of some sort every two years now? Too many sports on TV to begin with and then a two week saturation of sports every two years!!?? It bums me out. I just don’t get sports. I can see how some of them might be fun to do, but very few of them are much to watch. Where is the plot? Where is the character development? At least most of the Olympics involves short-attention-span sports- four minute programs, 2 minute slaloms, everybody trying to get done FASTER than everyone else, (which I appreciate, I must say), but there are SO DAMN MANY OF THEM. One event after another, six hundred preliminary runs, quarter-finals, semi-finals… They go on forever. I’m exhausted! I need some Masterpiece Theatre therapy and I need it now. And a mocha latte.

P.S. GO, APOLO! God bless Joey Cheek. And did the Flying Tomato get to meet Sasha Cohen?

I'm developing a starboard list... well, a list, anyway

My daughter Kelly has been in an organizing frenzy these past three weeks. She is eying the office right now with a lean and hungry look, just waiting for me to remove my messy self so that she can pounce on the chaos and beat it into submission. I must admit, my office is a mess, but in my defense, I am working on a scrapbook for my daughter-in-law Becca, and scrapbooking is messy. Not just when I do it, when anyone does it. Kelly has reorganized the guest room closet, my closet, the front closet, the guest bath, the entire kitchen, the living room and the porch. We are so organized here you wouldn’t believe it. If I am not careful, she will reorganize me into a corner and never let me out- file me under “Needs to be contained” or something. I am obviously out of control.

I think I am driving her crazy.

I know my driving is driving her crazy. I am having trouble with the vagaries of California driving. Today I went the wrong way on a one way lane. Don’t ask. We survived the experience, and I didn’t even get a ticket, but my reputation as one of the world’s lousiest drivers appears to be in no danger of immediate improvement. Fortunately, being a lousy driver means I fit right in out here. They breed them here.

Other than that, I think Kelly and I are enjoying each other's company. We have been shopping, more than once, and have been to the movies, and we have been the ladies who lunch at least a couple of times. We are accommodating ourselves to one another at home as well. We have developed a pretty good division of labor here. I do the laundry and the cooking, and she does everything else. I like it!

Both she and her brother have been updating their blogs, which is nice. It's nice to dip into their musings and to see what goes on in their heads as well as their lives. In their most recent blogs, my superlative children have been compiling lists- five places they have lived, five places they have visited, etc... (You really should read their blogs, they are very original thinkers). That said, I am not about to be outdone by the younger generation, so here are a few little lists of my own.

The five (or six) most obnoxious people in the world, in no particular order:
Oprah Winfrey
Dr. Phil
George Bush
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise

Five things that should never have been invented
Brassieres- protect your floppies, my ass. Instruments of torture.
Spike heels- they make your calves look good but they punish every other part of the leg.
Remote controls- there went the only exercise most Americans got.
Fast food restaurants
iPods- like big screen TVs, video games, and computers weren’t generating enough
hermits. Gee, I wonder why interpersonal relationships and communication skills are crumbling. I said, I wonder why… take those damn things out of your ears, I’m trying to talk to you.


Five things that need to be invented, exclusive of cures for diseases:

• Renewable fuels that will free us from the need for foreign oil.

We are the biggest market for oil, which means they have us over a barrel until we find a way to teach them not to bite the hand that feeds them… I know, let’s make fuel out the grain that feeds them. Let oil prices drop to 10 cents a barrel, and then how will certain people support terrorism? Huh? Huh?

• Comfortable, affordable air travel- or better yet, transporters. Yeah, that’s the ticket!


• Self-driving cars- for obvious reasons.


• Self-cleaning clothes- and then I will only have to do the cooking.


• Calorie free sweets that don’t give you the green apple quick-step. I want calorie free chocolate and I want it now!

Okay, that’s enough out of me for awhile. My children really don’t appreciate it when I appear to be parodying them, so I will stop.

We are some pretty good broads

I am a member of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC); I have been a member, past secretary, and past and present president for the GFWC Centennial Woman’s Club since I joined in 2000. In March, I am running for the District IV presidency and think I have a pretty good chance of winning, since I am the only nominee. I shall be elected unanimously! So there, G.W., THAT is a mandate. I love the GFWC. I love the ladies it has brought into my life, the good works I have been a part of, and the FUN! (We meet once a month in a members’ home, and run away from home to conventions and have really good times).

What I don’t really cherish is report writing. Once a year, each club must report its year’s activities to the state, which then compiles those reports into one for the nation, which then compiles those for an international report. The reporting process has been streamlined, but for a club that does a lot of small projects, the number of reports to be filed can be daunting. This year, I wrote narratives for 13 separate department chairs, and completed a club rating form. Our club is superior, by the way… in case you had any doubts.

The reporting does give you a feel for what your group has actually accomplished though. Here’s an overview of what 23 woman in a small Southern town did in 2005:
We supported 29 different community programs such as Meals On Wheels, Senior Citizens, Shepherd’s House, Haven of Hope, Karing for Kids, Toys for Tots, including arts and educational programs. Some of that support went to the Alzheimer’s Association, American Diabetes Association, American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the Multi-County Cancer Association. We volunteered 4,848 hours in 2005- that’s about 17 hours per month per member. We funneled $7,580 back into our community, and recycled over 3 tons of paper and metal.
We presented 8 educational/informational programs to our membership, and participated in one international program, Heifer International.
Not bad for 23 working (mostly) women who meet one night a month, and have a rip-roaring good time when we do. We have two “mottos”. The first is “Good Women, Good Works, Good Times”- to which our members have tacked on “good food”, because we always have good food at our meetings- we all know how to cook and we all like to eat. The second is “Doing great good in many small ways”, and I think we do that. We have figured out a way to have a positive impact on our community is a way that is undemanding and yet meaningful. We are some pretty good broads.
Now… vote for me for District Prez :)

This, that and the other

It’s been six years since my last herniated disc.  I have beaten the average, which, until now, has been a herniated disc every five years.  (Remember, that’s an average- they came hot and heavy in the 80’s but left me pretty much alone during the 90’s.)  I spent my 50th birthday in an ambulance en route to Centennial Hospital, suffering from the last, and most painful, of the herniations, a thoracic one.  Happy birthday to me… this was also the hospitalization where morphine sent me into a psychotic episode, but that’s another blog.

Why am I writing about this grisly medical history?  Well, first of all, because I think it makes me unique.  At least I don’t know anyone else who has had four herniated discs.  The second is that I fear a fifth one is eminent.  

My neck was aching for a couple of days before we left for San Diego, but I just figured it was stress.  It is stressful, tying up loose ends, providing for Mama in our absence, trying not to forget anything… and dealing with the week-long guilt trip Mama lays on me every time I travel.  If we had left Mama in Michigan- not an option, obviously- things would have continued as they had for years.  She would have seen us once or twice a year.  She lives with us now, and has our complete attention for two weeks a month, and provided care daily- but to hear her tell it...  Oh, never mind, it’s making my neck hurt to think of it.

Anyway, my neck was grouching on the way to the airport, and complaining louder than Mama by the time we got to Dallas.  Dave bought me a neck pillow which was very helpful, but my neck was as stiff as a board by the time we reached the apartment.  Two Lidocaine patches helped, as did Ibuprofen and the neck pillow, but I can feel the bones shifting when I move my head.  Not a good omen.

Other than that, it is good to be back.  Kelly has the apartment super-organized- I can’t find anything, but when she tells me where things are, it makes perfect sense.  She is preparing for her starring role in “Boy Meets Girl” and it is enlightening to see everything that goes into preparing for a role.  We will be doing some costume scouting soon.

I am working on the Club reports, which is always slow going and tedious.  I am being disciplined- I am doing no crafts until the reports are done and in the mail.

We had dinner at the Shakespeare Pub and Grille last night with Jeff Bromfield, a Cubite formerly from San Diego but now back in his home of origin, good ole Tennessee.  What a lovely man.  The Pub is almost authentic (the ceilings aren’t low enough), the food and drink and atmosphere are as Englandish as one might hope, and there is a British stores store for any ex-pats who are craving Marmite or Weetabix.  A little slice of London on the bay of San Diego.  You gotta love this place.