Mother’s Day – 2016

(Here’s a repeat of my Mother’s Day post from last year…)

Mother’s Day. Here’s a retrospective of pictures of Mama that’s I’ve published through the years.

Here she is with HER grandmother, in 1921.

Here is her portrait from Junior High School (about 1932)

This is her college portrait (about 1940).

Here she is with ME when I was about 3 months old (Fall of 1944)

Here she is with all the kids (Harriet, standing, Abbie on the arm of her chair, Betty on the little stool, and Billy on her lap). (Summer of 1956)Here she is with my father in 1974.

Here they are again in 1980.

And here they are in 1982 after she lost a bunch of weight (I’m trying to do as well).

This is Mama and Papa in 1992 right after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

This is the last picture I have of her at Mama and Papa’s 50th wedding anniversary party, in June of 1994.

I still miss her, particularly on days like today, Mother’s Day, February 19th, (her birthday), and June 24th (Papa’s and her wedding anniversary).

April Review

Here were my intentions at the beginning of the year. Let me review how I’ve done, so far. (I know, I know, I get later and later. This is for April not May or March.)

RESOLVE (or better yet – INTENTIONS)

• Finish losing the weight I need to by eating right (lo-cal, lo-carb, wine only on special occasions) and strength training 3 days a week.

I had a decent month with my diet in April, but I had a bit of a set-back when I fell on one knee a couple of weeks ago. I wasn’t able to walk or ride the cross-trainer for about a week, and I managed to gain a couple of pounds. But I got rid of them the last week of April, so that’s good.

The farmer’s market is open, and, although it’s a little early for anything except asparagus, the lure of fresh vegetables is strong.

I INTEND to keep on losing (even a little bit) this month, although it will be hard since we’re traveling the last two weeks of May and I won’t really be in control of the food. I will do my best to eat right even though we’re eating in restaurants and on the train.

I’m still avoiding wine, except for the occasional glass when I’m eating out with a group, or at a party.

I still haven’t done any strength training yet this year, but again, I INTEND to. (Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of these months you are going to see this post and find out I’m lifting weights and doing lots of core exercises. Just not last month.)

• Walk regularly, either alone or with a group, at least 4 days a week for at least 5 miles.

Except for the week I had to take off to baby my knee, I did pretty well. Even so, I managed to get 200 miles in April (but barely.) I’m afraid I may be short of mileage in May because of time spent on the train and in a car, but I’ll try to get some exercise at stops.

I walked down the hill to the Ruston Way Water Walk a couple of times. A vendor has added a velocipede rental service and folks seem to be enjoying their rides.

I also walked down the other side of the hill to Owen Beach. The kayakers were out in force.

•  Grow enough vegetables to enjoy and to help supply the food bank.

My garden is coming along nicely.

I think I showed you a picture of the artichoke plant earlier. It’s having artichokes!

• Travel to see Bill and his family.

We’re leaving shortly on the Empire Builder to Chicago. Then we’ll rent a car, and visit my cousin just west of Nashville, and get  to Birmingham in time for Kate’s graduation from 8th grade. Then we have several days to tour around (possibly go to Shelbyville, TN to check on genealogy stuff or to Atlanta or Tallahassee to visit friends.) Then Ian will graduate from High School, and we’ll drive back to Chicago to see Ray and Co., and then ride the Builder back to Seattle.

• Take several short trips as well.
• • To Pacific Beach
  • To Portland – DONE
  • To Spokane to look for genealogical information
  • To the San Juan Islands (because we’ve wanted to return and keep saying “We can do that anytime”, but we never do.)
  • To Victoria, BC

I’m looking forward to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Portland in June. What a gift that it will be held on the West Coast. It probably won’t be out here again in my lifetime.

• Keep up with Headspace and Tai Chi.

I’ve fallen off with my practice of Headspace, but I still meditate regularly every morning. I credit it with helping me keep my sanity.

I hope to get back to Tai Chi with more regularity. I usually make it to class at least once a week, but life has seemed to get in the way recently.

• Al’s cataract surgery went very well and we only have two more weeks of drops. He’ll go back to have a refit on his glasses after we get back from our trip. I’m going to have my cataracts done this summer after GA.
• We were both delegates to our county Democratic Convention, but, unfortunately, it was a real mess. It started at 1:00 pm on a Sunday, and we left without doing anything except signing in at 4:30 pm. I understand it was still going on at midnight or later when the janitor threw them out of the school so the staff could clean up for the next day. Apparently they adjourned to the parking lot and were there until 1:30 or later. The problem was there were brand new precinct chairs elected at the precinct meetings who didn’t know what they were doing, and they handed out way too many credentials. Consequently they spent all that time figuring out who was a legitimate delegate. I appreciate new voters participating, but they really need to be trained, and understand the rules before they get as far as the County Convention.

That’s where I am and what I’ve been doing for the past month. I hope I keep up with you better in May, but don’t count on it.