H1N1 Vaccine

Today I discovered that the Health Services Department in Miami-Dade County gives out H1N1 (and other) vaccinations for free! Just show your driver’s license or other ID. Additionally, they had doses actually in stock, so I drove downtown and got a nose-full of H1N1 vaccine.

Possibly your county also offers free vaccines at its Health Services Department. It’s worth checking out.

To CA x 2

Just in case there is a chance you can intercept us in our travels, this is to let you know that Paul and I will be in California November 16th to 21st. We’ll be staying in Santa Rosa at night and spending most of our days in Sebastopol visiting primarily Mom but also Joanna and family. With luck we’ll get up to the redwoods, the coast, Caz, or some wineries, too. Saturday is THE Game (OSU v Michigan football) so we’ll be somewhere near a TV for that (sports bar?), then spend that night near the airport before leaving SFO early on the 22nd. If you can see us in one of those three cities that would be wonderful!

Why the trip? Well, I try to see Mom about once a year, and usually Paul can’t go, but this time he has this one good opportunity to travel to CA so we’re taking it, especially since airfare is really good then. Fortunately, reward points programs help to make travel more affordable, too.

Additionally, December 29 to January 1 I’ll be again flying to SFO, this time alone due to Paul’s work schedule, to attend my sister’s 50th birthday party to be held at the Sebastopol Community Church some time on the 30th. Sheesh, first my brother turns 50, now my sister. Next will be my other brother and then my turn. Oh well, as they say, the more birthdays you have the longer you live!

Being a Model and Getting A Makeover (pictures)

It seems whenever I visit Pat and Sherry lately something beyond my expectations happens. Last time I found myself getting messy and having fun mixing cement with Pat for an afternoon. This time, soon after I arrived, following two days visiting Paul’s parents, Laura asked me if I’d like to participate in (paraphrased) a fashion show-type thing by students in which we might be able to get perhaps haircuts and maybe coloring or a facial. She had just heard of it herself and didn’t know much about it. Sure, why not? It seemed like a fun way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday morning.

Well, it lasted all day, from about 7:30 to 5:00 or so. Professional stylists in a rare visit from all over the US (not students) gave several other women and me a free total makeover including temporary hair color, makeup (even false eyelashes), hair cut, hair straightening (stylists love doing that to me for some reason even though it takes at least 30 minutes), “modern” style, and a bit of free hair product and tiny bit of lunch. Oh, and a photographer took our pictures for, perhaps, advertising purposes. Moreover, from watching and asking loads of questions, I learned tons about the professional hair care and makeup industries (the event was for a line of hair care products and everything associated with it, “Design Essentials”).

The color will quickly wash out, the hairstyle will revert to my natural curls, and the hair will grow soon, but the terrific memories will linger long afterward. It’s still hard for me to believe that no-makeup, natural-hair me, that I was actually a model in a hair care products fashion show!!

Happy 50th Anniversary, Pat and Sherry!!

For Pat and Sherry –

A toast to their half-century of happily married life, and may they have many, many more years of joyful companionship ahead!

And by the way …


Here’s how to say Cheers! in 50 languages.

Afrikaans : Gesondheid! : (Ge-sund-hide)
Albanian : Gëzuar! : (Géschuar)
Arabic (Egyptian) : في صجتكم! : (Fee-sa-ha-tak)
Armenian : Armenia : (Gen-ots-it)
Azerbaijani : Afiyët oslun! : (Afeeyet Ohs-lun)
Basque : On egin! : (On egìn)
Bosnian : Živjeli! : (Zhee-vi-lee)
Bulgarian : НаЕдраве! : (NAZ-dra-vey)
Chinese (Mandarin) : 乾杯! [干杯!] : (Gan BAY)
Chinese : (Cantonese) : (Gom bui)
Czech : Na zdravi : (NAZ-drah vi)
Croatian : Živjeli! : (ZHEE-vi-lee)
Danish : Skål! : (Skol)
Dutch : Proost : (Prowst)
English : Cheers! Bottoms up! Down the hatch!
Esperanto : Je via sano! Toston! (YEHVEE-ah SAH-no/Tóston)
Estonian : Terviseks! : (Ter-vi-seks)
Ethiopian (Amharic) : Letenachin : (L’-TAY-nah-chin)
Farsi : (Ba-sal-a-ma-TEE)
Finnish : Kippis! : (KEEP-us)
French : A Votre Sante! : (Ah Vot-ruh Sahn-tay)
Gaelic (Irish) : Sláinte! : (Slawn-che)
German : Prost! : (Prohst)
Greek : στΕν υγειά σας! : (Stin Eyiassou/Stin Eye-ee-yass-ooh)
Hawaiian : Okole Maluna! : (Ã…’kÃ¥lè ma’luna)
Hebrew : לְח֕יִּים!/L’Chaim! : (Le Chy-em)
Hungarian : Egeszsegere! : (Egg-esh Ay-ged-reh)
Italian : Salute! : Cin cin! (Salu-tay/Chin Chin)
Japanese : /Kampai! : (Kam-pie)
Korean : 위하여 (Chukbae) : (Sheet seki yah)
Latvian : Prieka! : (Pree-eh-ka)
Lithuanian i : sveikata! : (Ee sweh-kata)
Luxembourgish : Prost! : (Prohst)
Maltese : Evviva! : (A-vee-va)
Mongolian : Ьрүүл мэндийн төлөө! : (Erüül mehdiin tölöö)
Norwegian : Skål! : (Skoal)
Persian : به سلامتی! : (beh salamati)
Polish Na : zdrowie! : (Naz-droh-vee-ay)
Portuguese : Saúde! : (Sow-ooh-jee)
Romanian : Noroc! : (No-roak)
Russian : Будем Едоровы! : (Boo-dem Zdo-ro-vee-eh)
Serbian : Ziveli! : (ZHEE-vi-lee)
Slovak : Na zdravie! : (Naz-drah-vee-ay)
Spanish : ¡Salud!/Salut! : (Sah-lud/Sah-lute)
Swedish : Skål! : (Skol)
Thai : ไชโย! : (Chuc-dee)
Turkish : Åžerefe! : (Sher-i-feh)
Vietnamese : Chúc sức khoẻ! : (chook-sa-koi-ah)
Yiddish : ×’×¢×–×•× ×˜×¢×¨×”×™×™×˜! Zei Gazunt! : (Zye GAH-zoont)
Zulu : Oogy wawa! : (oogee-wawa)

source
http://www.djmick.co.uk/travel/how-to-say-cheers-in-50-languages/

Lud’s Letters – A Heart-felt Request

My first goal is to get a legible, accessible, and searchable version of Dad’s writings, his life. Second is to fulfill his and my desire to organize and edit a copy of all of that into a reasonably coherent, somewhat abridged, “auto” biography for his family.

A dozen years ago I started to type letters that Dad had written to me that contained “important” biography. He’d handwrite letters to me (that Mom proofread to reduce many errors), which I’d type and print and mail back to him to review for accuracy. I had “strongly encouraged” him to write out the stories of his childhood and beyond so they wouldn’t be lost. Life interruptions intervened, however, and the project stopped. Now of course I see all of his letters as important biography so I’m gradually typing all remaining letters. (If you’ve ever seen his chaotic version of handwriting, you’ll know one main reason why this is a slow process, aside from the emotions and memories the letters evoke and my slow typing.)

Here’s my request. Would you please copy and send to me letters, or portions thereof, that Lud has written to you to help me fill in his biography? I won’t share anything without your permission, nor will I include anything that I feel should not be made “public” in this family biographical issue. I’d be thrilled to get via email or postal mail any scanned, photocopied, typed, or photographed versions of letters, descriptions of wood pieces he made, jokes and stories, introspection, philosophy, or “just rambling.” If you have information you can add – pictures, text, recordings, memories or stories you can jot down – that would be fantastic, too.

Once I finish typing my “Lud Letters” I’ll type up portions of text that Dad’s sister Phillis wrote in her photo album that she wonderfully copied for me long, long ago, and anything else applicable that I can find. Ideally, in the “complete” “auto” biography I’ll include some pictures from various eras before printing the book. (Hmm … with the biography I can perhaps send a CD of a recital of Mom’s from the 1970s. Does anyone have recordings of Mom’s singing and/or piano playing that you could send me? I only have one scratchy version of one event. Perhaps event programs?)

This project has been on my mind for a very long time and especially since Dad’s death two years ago. For a variety of reasons, now is the best time for me to do this, and with luck I’ll complete it soon, as Dad and I hoped. Thanks for any assistance or encouragement you can provide.

Birthdays and E-cards

It has been a long time since I sent anyone an e-card, much as I truly enjoy strolling through the virtual aisles of BlueMountain.com looking for something appropriate and then personalizing it. A big reason is that a few idiots have sent viruses that look like greeting cards, so it’s sometimes hard for the recipient to tell what’s legit and what isn’t. (Oh, if you ever receive something from “Yvonne” that seems odd, like invitations to join sites, please let me know because sometimes spam does that, like my friend Frank discovered recently.) For a variety of reasons some people’s computer systems can’t open linked e-cards; plus, sometimes the extra minute or so for an e-card is simply too much time considering all the other stuff we have to do when on the internet. Trust me, I do understand.

So here’s my request: Would you please let me know if it’s okay for me to send you e-cards for birthdays and/or other occasions? Unless I hear from you my default will be “no.” If “yes” then when I send them I will try to include my full name (ex: two or three names) in the “From” section so you know it really is me sending it.

The trigger for this today is that today is my brother Walter’s 51st birthday and my cousin Ralph’s 50th. Happy Birthday to both of you, and especially to Ralph on your milestone big day! Isn’t it nice of my mom and my aunt to have arranged to have their sons born exactly one year apart?? :-)

Aunt Wilma Died Yesterday

Aunt Wilma was incredibly strong in her Christian faith, a devout evangelist. To my knowledge she didn’t yell at rallies or go on TV, but it is true that nearly every sentence she uttered during my whole life was heavy with religious references, severely limiting my sporadic conversations and correspondences with her. She was absolutely one-hundred percent confident in her faith. There are few people I’ve known so saturated in it, so everything-they-are-and-do in religious belief, not just walking the walk but constantly running in it.

I have only seen her on rare occasions, ever, and then only for short visits, so I didn’t know her well. (Then again, hmm, maybe I actually did – see above). Her narrow focus often irritated me, a lot, admittedly. Still, I respected and eventually grew from her strength in her faith, her lifelong learning, daily devotions, and daily ministering/calls to others. We certainly disagreed about religion, almost diametrically, but still got along well and loved each other.

She was my father’s eldest sister, ten years his senior, and oddly enough the one of four to live the longest – to ninety-one years, which still amazes me. I last saw her over a year ago and she was then nearly as energetic and agile in conversation and spirit as ever, although dramatically weaker in body. She shared a few anecdotes, providing further insights about my father’s side of the family.

Right now I feel somewhat somber, a calm sadness tinged with a bit of regret, but also there is relief because she’s no longer in physical suffering, plus her daughter is freed from decades of caring for her. Also, I would like to believe that her faith was justified for her and therefore I’m joyful for Wilma’s release into her reward (hopefully that makes sense coming from me).

I miss being around family even more than usual at times like this. Aunt Wilma always knew where her home was, physically and spiritually, and for her latter decades she was always close to or at home. With her death goes another tie to the region I’ve most considered “home” no matter where I resided. Possibly, much of my sadness is actually for my loss of connection, the feeling that there isn’t much “home” for me left.