Still Possible

(Many thanks to MaryAnn McKibben Dana for her great workbook that gave me an opportunity to review 2016 and to begin to set intentions for 2017. You can get yours here.)

In any case, here is my year-end post for 2016.

REVIEW

Major Highlights

This life-long Presbyterian got to attend General Assembly for the first time. I didn’t go as a commissioner, but I did go as a volunteer and got to meet many of my on-line friends in person for the first time. I also got to renew friendships with folks I met years ago. The open atmosphere, and loving acceptance of racial, sexual, and gender differences was healing to my jaundiced heart.

Co-Moderators of the General Assembly Jan Edmiston and Denise Anderson

Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

Also, this fall I was elected Vice-Moderator of Olympia Presbytery and installed in the November meeting to take office January 1, 2017

Major Lowlights

There were two deaths in my generation in my family and two deaths of women who were good friends of mine here at Franke Tobey Jones. There are big holes in my heart and in my life with these folks gone.

The outcome of the election was also a major lowlight. However, from that came a resolve for me to be kinder, and to resist all forms of persecution. I finally decided that I was tired of being “tolerant” of those people who spew hate. I am resolved to call out bigotry wherever I find it. That’s what my safety-pin says to the world.

Physical Health

I kept off part of the weight I lost in 2014. Two trips in the spring, and three trips in the fall found 15 additional pounds on me (I have no control over what is served to me on Amtrak and I have no willpower when everybody else is having desert). It’s also almost impossible to exercise when you’re traveling. I’m still able to completely control my diabetes with exercise and diet, and I no longer have to take statins for high cholesterol. I try to exercise regularly by walking, and sessions on the NuStep (although I need to put strength workouts back into my routine). Tai Chi has fallen by the wayside.

Mental Health

My faith in God remains strong, and I’m in a very supportive, loving, affirming church environment. I can’t begin to say how much those people mean to me.

I attend Bible Study at the church almost every week, and it has deepened my understanding and faith.

The affirmation of being elected to the office of Vice-Moderator of Presbytery was a major boost to my ego and mental health.

Social

I have burrowed further into the community where I live. I walk weekly with a group from the church (and then we drink coffee afterwards), so friendships are deepening there. We also have an informal group from Franke Tobey Jones who meet for Happy Hour once a week. During the warm weather we met at the Gazebo next to our house, but when it’s too cold to sit outside comfortably in the evenings, we meet in my living room.

Sadly, we lost more of our friends here this year. Two of my best friends (part of the Gazebo Group) died suddenly, but not unexpectedly. We have been able to welcome a couple of newcomers into our circle. It’s all part of the rhythm of life – folks leave and new people arrive.

My cousin, who is just a year older than I am, lost her husband suddenly this spring, and my brother-in-law died suddenly right before Thanksgiving. When death comes to my generation, it reminds me once again of the impermanence of life.

The good thing about funerals is that the family gets together. Here are all three of my siblings. We haven’t all been together since my son’s wedding in 2013.

Gardening

I had a vegetable garden again this year,

and I grew green beans, tomatoes, squash, and peppers. I also had an artichoke plant that made up for lost time this year. I got 25 artichokes of off the one plant. I had such a bumper crop of squash and tomatoes that I was able to donate over 100 lbs of food to the food bank. Al and I ate all the tomatoes, squash, and green beans we wanted.

Political Commentary

I have not been able to write anything about my reaction to the election. I was struck dumb for almost a month over the fact that hatred, misogyny, racism, jingoism, sexism, paternalism and hetero-normity won out. I have decided I will do what I can to resist this scourge of evil. I remind myself that rarely is a society changed from the top down, rather big change comes slowly and through small people doing kind things. Eventually, the selfishness will founder in the face of goodness. I’m checking my news sources and trying, in my small part, to keep to the truth, and to believe that goodness will prevail.

RELEASE

I’m bidding a farewell to 2016. It was a rough year in some respects. Unfortunately many of the good things were overshadowed by death, and loss. The major thing I’m taking with me into 2017 is a new confidence in myself and a new resolve to not let hatred win.

Happy New Year to all of you, gentle readers. Tomorrow I’ll bring you my “intentions”!

 

March Review

Here were my intentions at the beginning of the year. Let me review how I’ve done, so far. (I know, I know, it’s the 4th of April already, but this is for 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 stuck pretty closely to my diet in March, but still no movement on the scale. I’m really discouraged, but I’ll keep on with it. I really have no other choice. Even if I’m not losing anything, I’m definitely not gaining, so that ain’t nothing.

I INTEND to keep on eating decently in April.

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.

My FitBit keeps me on the straight and narrow. I managed to log over 280 miles in March (about half of it outside) because the weather is finally improving.

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

I got my onions planted in my garden, and I’m doing a decent job of keeping the weeds at bay. I put in another row of onion sets that should be ready about a month after the first ones. I planted seeds for two kinds of squash (yellow zucchini and yellow crooked-neck). Only about a month before I can put in tomatoes, and peppers. I’m going to start some green beans seed in the greenhouse sometime this week. My artichoke plant seems to have survived the winter very well.

• Travel to see Bill and his family. We have the trip to Birmingham all booked. We’ll take the Empire Builder to Chicago and rent a car, then drive 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.) We’ll also visit my cousin just west of Nashville on the way down. Then Ian will graduate from High School (if he turns in his project that is finished, but still sitting at home). 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 will volunteer at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Portland in June. I will go down for the whole week. I’ve got the hotel all booked, and I’m ready to go. 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 done a decent job keeping up with Headspace. I finished up the pack on Happiness and have been doing “Advanced Headspace”. I still do it regularly every morning. I credit it with helping me keep my sanity.

I haven’t been as regular with Tai Chi, unfortunately. I still make it to class at least once a week, but my church meetings seem to fall on Thursdays and that’s when one of my classes is. I am trying to schedule around it, though.

• The other big news around here is that Al finally decided to have his cataracts attended to. He had the left eye done the 22nd of March, and the right eye is scheduled for the 19th of April. He’s really happy with the first eye, but it’s keeping me busy putting in drops 4 times a day.

• We both attended the Democratic precinct convention, and Al was selected as a delegate to the Congressional District (I’m an alternate). We are both Hillary supporters, but Bernie Sanders seems to have stolen the hearts of the Democrats in Washington.

That’s where I am and what I’ve been doing for the past month. I hope I keep up with you better in April.

 

February Review

Here were my intentions at the beginning of the year. Let me review how I’ve done, so far. (I know, I know, it’s the 5th of March already, but this is for February.)

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 did much better with my diet in February. I had one major splurge when we went to Portland for Valentine’s Day and I ate my weight in goodies at Fogo de Chao.

I INTEND to keep on eating decently in March.

I did manage to give up 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.

Still not much movement on the weight front, but I am holding steady, even with the occasional splurge.

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

As far as exercise goes, my FitBit was again the saving of me. I managed to log over 220 miles in February (most of it on the NuStep) because the rain kept coming.

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

I got my onions planted in my garden, and I’m doing a decent job of keeping the weeds at bay. Only about six weeks before I can put in tomatoes, squash, green beans and peppers.

• Travel to see Bill and his family (for Ian’s graduation from High School), but don’t focus solely on that. Take several short trips as well.
  • To Pacific Beach
  • To Portland – DONE – As I said above, we went to Portland for Valentine’s Day weekend. We rode the train down, spent the night in the Residence Inn – Pearl District, rode the streetcars around town, met my cousins for a drink before dinner, and splurged for dinner at Fogo de Chao. An excellent time was had by all!
  • 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 also have another trip planned to Portland in the middle of June for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). I will be volunteering and will go down for the whole week. 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 done a decent job keeping up with Headspace. I finished up the pack on Relationships, and I’m almost finished with the set on Creativity. I will start Happiness in March.

I haven’t been as regular with Tai Chi, unfortunately. I still make it to class at least once a week, but my church meetings seem to fall on Thursdays and that’s when one of my classes is. I am trying to schedule around it, though.

That’s where I am and what I’ve been doing for the past month. I hope I keep up with you better in March.

 

January Review

Here were my intentions at the beginning of the year. Let me review how I’ve done, so far.

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.

My diet this month has been a DISASTER. It started with snacks, etc., during the football games, followed closely by Big Al’s birthday (and his request for a Birthday Cake that I bought and then ate too much of).

Then, my wonderful daughter-in-law made a King Cake that I shared with the Monday evening social group, but lots was left over, and I felt like I had to devour it.

Finally, to top it all off, yesterday was our Annual Congregational Meeting and Potluck at church. I don’t know about anyone else, but I have NO WILLPOWER when I’m confronted with a potluck.

So I INTEND to crawl back on my lo-cal, lo-carb diet starting today. (I hope February will be better – as long as nobody invites me to a Mardi Gras Pancake dinner.)

I haven’t done any strength training yet this year, but again, I INTEND to. I HAVE added a weekly stretching class to my routine, so that’s something. It’s a shame that I don’t take advantage of the equipment that’s here at Franke Tobey Jones and available for me to use for free (or at least it’s included in my rent).

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

As far as exercise goes, my FitBit was the saving of me. I managed to log 200 miles in January (most of it on the NuStep) because we have had an inordinate amount of rain, even for the Pacific Northwest. I did manage to get down the hill to the park once and I hope the weather will improve enough for me to make that less of an occasional thing.

 

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

It’s January, so all I can do is lust over the pictures from last year, and dream of the day the soil will be warm enough to put in some tomatoes and squash and green beans.

I’ve also picked up Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, again, and I’m drooling over the thought that the Farmer’s Market may open in March, or for sure by April.

• Travel to see Bill and his family (for Ian’s graduation from High School), but don’t focus solely on that. Take several short trips as well.
  • To Pacific Beach
  • To Portland
  • 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

No travel is planned at this time, except vaguely to enjoy our trip to see the grandchildren in May. We are traveling more around Western Washington, though (no new places, unfortunately) because of some of my responsibilities with Presbytery. We almost got to Pacific Beach after a Presbytery meeting, but we both had commitments for the next day, so we nixed that at the last minute.

• Keep up with Headspace and Tai Chi.

I’ve done a decent job keeping up with Headspace. In fact, if you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I spent all of January on The Search for Mindfulness. I hope you enjoyed some of my posts and pictures, and, maybe, were inspired to give meditation a try.

I haven’t been as regular with Tai Chi, unfortunately. I still make it to class at least once a week, but my church meetings seem to fall on Thursdays and that’s when one of my classes is. I am trying to schedule around it, though.

That’s where I am and what I’ve been doing for the past month. I hope I keep up with you better in February.

 

At the Gate of the Year

(Many thanks to MaryAnn McKibben Dana for her great workbook that gave me an opportunity to review 2015 and to begin to set intentions for 2016. You can get yours here.)

Everybody seems to be getting into the act of encouraging you to review, release, and resolve. Even The Container Store added their two cents worth.*

Pastor Sarah handed out Star Words in church on Sunday. I got “Listening” and I’m still not sure what to do with it. It found me, so I guess I need to pay attention to it.

In any case, here is my year-end/new year post for 2015/2016.

REVIEW

Major Highlights

Our family came to see us and help celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary. It was wonderful to get to know Ray’s wife and her kid better, and to reconnect with Bill, his wife, and the grandkids.

We had a wonderful trip across Canada on Via Rail,

Then cruised from Quebec to New York City on board the Queen Mary II,

And rode Amtrak back home through the central Rockies in the snow (in October!).

Physical Health

I (for the most part) kept off the weight I lost in 2014. I didn’t pay any attention to my diet while we were travelling and while the kids were here, so I guess I can count it as a win that I am entering 2016 about the same weight as I entered 2015. I’m still able to completely control my diabetes with exercise and diet, and I no longer have to take statins for high cholesterol, so that’s a big win for the year. I am exercising regularly by walking, and sessions on the NuStep (although I need to put strength workouts back into my routine). I have also kept up with Tai Chi a couple of times a week.

A group of us from FTJ walked along the sound at Owen Beach every week on a Friday. It made a nice outing for many of those who wouldn’t otherwise get away from our hilltop.

Mental Health

My faith in God remains strong, and I’m in a very supportive, loving, affirming church environment. I can’t begin to say how much those people mean to me.

I have had a mindfulness practice (I call it Centering Prayer) for quite a while, and this fall I was introduced to Headspace. It is a guided meditation that is helping me be more accepting, generous, loving, and calm. I can highly recommend it.

Social

I have burrowed further into the community where I live. I walk weekly with a group from the church (and then we drink coffee afterwards), so friendships are deepening there. We also have an informal group from Franke Tobey Jones who meet for Happy Hour once a week. During the summer we met at the Gazebo next to our house, but since it got too cold to sit outside comfortably in the evenings, they are coming to my living room.

Big Al and I gave each other a fire pit for Christmas, and have installed it in the Gazebo. We are trying to get the powers that be here at FTJ to enclose the Gazebo with removable Plexiglas panels or something so it is usable year round.

Sadly, several of our friends here passed away this fall. Other people moved on in the community, leaving their duplexes for an easier life in one of the apartments. One of our particular friends also became so disoriented her husband had to relocate her to the memory care unit. All of this is only to be expected in a retirement community, but that doesn’t mean the holes in our hearts are any smaller.

Gardening

I had a vegetable garden this year,

and I grew green beans, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and peppers. I tried to grow black-eyed peas, but didn’t have any luck there. I also had two artichoke plants that didn’t get around to bearing artichokes until late in the fall. I hope they will be a little earlier this year, as several never matured because the weather got too cold and wet. I had such a bumper crop that I was able to donate over 100 lbs of food to the food bank. Al and I ate all the tomatoes, squash, and green beans we wanted.

Political Commentary

The horrible evidence of continued racism weighed on my heart this year. I took an on-line discussion class for 6 weeks this summer called Hard Conversations: Racism. It was convicting, and difficult. Another woman from Bethany and I also facilitated an in-person group from the church who read really current blogs about racism, and then discussed them. We also read and discussed “Between the World and Me” by Ta’Nehisi Coates. The problem is really big, and I often despair of finding a solution, particularly with Trump spewing his awful rhetoric nightly on the news.

I rejoice in the legal acceptance of those in the LGBTQ community. Both in the PC(USA) and in the country, they are finally being given the same rights to happiness (and difficulties) in marriage as any one else. I fear for some of the rights and freedoms we have all been given if the election in 2016 goes the wrong way.

RELEASE

I’m bidding a fond farewell to 2015. It was a wonderful year for the most part. I had the joy of anticipation of travel and hosting our family. I saw new things, got to know the people in our lives better, lost some friends to death or illness, and grew in appreciation of this wonderful area of the country between the mountains and the sea. I grew in confidence in leadership in church, increased my exercise, and enjoyed myself immensely.

RESOLVE (or better yet – INTENTIONS)

1. 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.
2. Walk regularly, either alone or with a group, at least 4 days a week for at least 5 miles.
3. Grow enough vegetables to enjoy and to help supply the food bank.
4. Travel to see Bill and his family (for Ian’s graduation from High School), but don’t focus solely on that. Take several short trips as well.
   1. To Pacific Beach
   2. To Portland
   3. To Spokane to look for genealogical information
   4. To the San Juan Islands (because we’ve wanted to return and keep saying “We can do that anytime”, but we never do.)
   5. To Victoria, BC
5. Keep up with Headspace and Tai Chi.

Happy New Year to all of you, gentle readers. I’m will try to keep up better with this blog, because I love all of you!

*NOTE: NOT a paid advertisement, although I do like a lot of the products from The Container Store.

Honesty

My one word for 2015 is “Honesty.”

Let’s see how I did with Honesty in July and August. (I was recently reminded that I haven’t done much posting AT ALL this summer.)

My garden is still taking up a fair amount of my time. I’ve donated almost 40 pounds of cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes to the Fish Food Bank. That’s in addition to everything Al and I could eat. We’re eating a couple of tomatoes a day, and plenty of squash. I also supplied us with several weeks of green beans. The second round of beans that I planted around the middle of July are just about ready to be picked, so we’ll have those to enjoy. I got enough Serrano peppers to make pepper sauce, and a few small jalapenos to make pico de gallo.

It has turned cool this week (after temperatures consistently in the upper 70s to mid-80s). It’s also started to rain some (we had NONE – ZERO -ZIPPO since early June). The woods and fields were on fire all over Washington but the rains since the middle of August have helped. Folks here welcomed the early warm, sunny weather, but now they realize that we really need the rain that usually falls.

I’m still walking every Thursday morning with the group from the church, and I’m keeping up with my 12,000 steps a day as counted by my trusty Fitbit. I also continue to faithfully log my food on MyFitnessPal, although the scale isn’t moving. (sigh)

The racial unrest, typified by Ferguson, Baltimore, Sandra Bland, McKinney, and Charleston, finally got under my skin enough that I began to be more pro-active about seeking change. Another woman and I from the church curated and led a discussion on race for four Sundays in July and August. We talked about systemic racism, white privilege, white fragility, and racial appropriation. Then in August, I “attended” an online course entitled “Hard Conversations on Race.” I feel like I sharpened my antenna for veiled racial slurs, and I’m becoming more vocal about challenging them when I hear them. It probably isn’t endearing me to my associates, but I really don’t care if racists don’t “like” me. At least, I finally feel like I’m being HONEST!

In August, my team at Bethany hosted a neighborhood night out and the annual Church Picnic. At the picnic we packed school bags for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, and Church World Service. (Sorry, I was busy enough that I didn’t get any pictures taken, but you can see photos from the last couple of years here, and here and here.)

Big Al and I are getting excited for our big 50th Anniversary trip. We leave Tacoma on Sunday, September 27th and return on Saturday, October 24th. We’ll take Amtrak from here to Vancouver, BC, where we’ll board VIA (Canada Rail) and ride to Toronto. We’ll spend the night in Toronto, and then take the train to Montreal where we will spend two nights before training to Quebec City and boarding the Queen Mary II for a cruise up the St. Lawrence, around Newfoundland and down to Boston, Newport, RI, and New York City, looking at the autumn leaves (hopefully). We’ll spend a couple of days in New York, sightseeing and visiting Harriet and Robert, before we board the Jersey Central RR for Philadelphia and a quick visit with Marianne. We’ll take the train from there to Washington DC where we’ll spend three nights sightseeing (we’ve both been to DC as teenagers, but we haven’t been back). Then we board Amtrak on the Capital Limited for Chicago where we’ll have a one-night layover before catching the California Zephyr, bound for Sacramento. We’ve traveled the Empire Builder so many times we know the route by heart, so we decided to see the central Rockies this time. In Sacrament we’ll catch the Coast Starlight and home to Tacoma.

I’ll be posting pictures from the trip on Facebook, and, possibly Stellar, but I’ll be sure to put a link here to those posts.

Don’t be surprised if I don’t do an HONESTY update the first part of October, but I’ll promise to do one in November. See you then.

 

Honesty

My one word for 2015 is “Honesty.”

Let’s see how I did with Honesty in June.

Lunch Bunch was a trip to the Clubhouse at McCormick Woods Golf Club, in Port Orchard. Good food, and a lovely setting overlooking the 9th tee.

The main thing that happened in June was our 50th Wedding Anniversary. Both of the boys and their families came and we really enjoyed having them here.

Ray and his wife (and step-daughter who is being camera-shy).

There she is after all – Katie Meers.

Bill

Erika

Ian

and Kate Watters.

While they were here they went to Seattle and saw the sights. Big Al and I stayed home (why get on I-5 if you don’t have to?)

We also had a picnic at Owen Beach on Puget Sound and Bill and Kate tried their hand at kayaking.

We went up Mt Rainier to Paradise…

…rode around the Olympic Peninsula where Bill spent most of his time looking for Big Foot. We stopped in Port Angeles for lunch and looked across the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Canada…

…saw Crescent Lake…

…drove through Forks (no vampires visible). Then we stopped at Ruby Beach on the Pacific Ocean.

They all left on the 13th and 15th, and Big Al and I have had a fairly quiet rest of the month.

My garden is still taking up a fair amount of my time. The squash are taking over the joint. I had green beans for lunch today that I grew, the peppers are making nice little peppers, and the onions are getting pretty big. I’m pretty sure I have some cucumbers under the big tepee, but I can’t get to them for the tomato plants. I have more little green tomatoes than I can count.

The spring onions were great!

I’m still walking every Thursday morning with the group from the church. (Actually, I’m still walking every day – although the weather is pretty hot – even for someone from Dallas – over 90 deg. today.)

We went to see a baseball game at the local AAA ballpark – the Tacoma Rainiers played the Reno Aces. We lost unfortunately, but it was a good game.

I’m going to see the Seattle Mariners next week!

I won the virtual race to the border by several days (remember, several of us were counting steps to see who could walk 150 miles first – the distance from Tacoma to the Peace Arch on the Canadian Border.)

I’ve gotten a FitBit for Big Al, and he is still walking a little. Maybe he will reach his goal of walking a mile. He could do it if he would try. His physical therapist released him today, so we’ll see if he will keep it up.

Until next month’s report on HONESTY you can follow along with my daily pictures.

 

 

 

Honesty

My one word for 2015 is “Honesty.”

Let’s see how I did with Honesty in May.

Lunch Bunch was a trip to the Tanglewood Grill in Gig Harbor.

I think I told you last month couple of months that the church is doing a capital campaign to raise money to bring the facilities up to ADA standards and to do some needed repairs on our 80-year-old building. We have commitments for just shy of $300,000 to meet our goal. That’s a pretty big goal for a little church of less than 100 members, but we are very healthy, if aging, and are committed to living out our faith with our pocketbooks.

The new activities director at FTJ took us to Watson’s Nursery and I was able to get some lovely red and white columbine that are going a long way to minimizing the dying daffodils (you have to let them die down if you expect to get blooms next year).

I also got two more foxglove, since the ones I got last year look so pretty (and the deer really don’t eat them).

They finally had a Joe Pye Weed (it doesn’t look like much now, but it will spread and cover the whole corner by the steps to the porch.) It smells divine when it’s in bloom.

Finally, I started dividing the ground cover that is in the bed at the base of the porch. I had the yard men dig out the old stuff that was in half of the bed, and I’m getting this to “expand”. The runners I transplanted have taken root beautifully and are beginning to put out new runners of their own.

I’ve started walking every Thursday morning with a group of folks from Bethany. We walk on the waterfront for about half an hour and then we drink coffee at a new coffee shop in the new construction.

Two Town is mostly a bar, but they have decent coffee, tea, and pastries in the morning and we are the only ones there.

FTJ has begun taking the bus down to Owen Beach a couple of Friday afternoons a month so a group of us can walk on the paved path and look at the sound.

A group from FTJ went to see the Georgia O’Keefe exhibition at the Tacoma Art Museum.

We also had a talk by a biologist who studied the wild life and repopulation of Mt. Saint Helen’s after the eruption in 1981. You can see pictures here.

I have a little raised garden plot in the FTJ garden that has been taking up a fair amount of my time. I am growing green beans, crowder peas, tomatoes, yellow squash, cucumbers, Serrano and jalapeno peppers, and onions (if they ever do anything). I gave up on the purple hulls, and put Walla-Walla onions in their place. I also got two artichoke plants to try out.

The squash and cucumbers are blooming and setting fruit, and this weekend, I spotted a couple of blooms on the tomatoes. The green bean plants are getting enormous, and the black-eyed peas have started trying to climb. Sorry I don’t have any pictures of the whole garden recently.

The Wellness Center had a “healthy” potluck lunch on Senior Fitness Day, Wednesday, May 27. My team won first place in the Fitness Jeopardy game.

I remembered my one word, HONESTY, when we were eating lunch in one of the dining rooms here. (It was Memorial Day and they were having barbecued ribs.) Anyway, one of the old men at the table was blathering on and on about how awful Obama Care was, and how awful Obama was, and I finally stopped him and “tactfully” told him that he didn’t know what he was talking about. He tried to keep on, but I finally said, “I just don’t want to talk about it.” He kept on, and kept on, and I finally said “I said, I don’t want to talk about it with you. I’m obviously not going to change your mind, and you FOR SURE aren’t going to change mine,” and we got up and walked out on him, sputtering.

A group here at FTJ are doing a virtual walk to the Canadian border (almost exactly 150 miles). We’re keeping track with FitBits or other GPS devices. I’m in the lead with about 60 miles since the 27th of May. I’ve gotten a FitBit for Big Al, and his physical therapist is making him walk. His goal is to be able to walk a mile. I told him he would have to be able to do that if he expected to have a good time on our trip/cruise this fall.

Until next month’s report on HONESTY you can follow along with my daily pictures.

 

 

 

Honesty

My one word for 2015 is “Honesty.”

Let’s see how I did with Honesty in April.

April started off with a bang in Holy Week – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter. Very inspirational and spiritually uplifting. We had a Maundy Thursday Communion service in the evening, Friday we joined with the Episcopalians for a Tenebrae service, Saturday we held a prayer vigil at Bethany, and then Easter Sunday started with a Sunrise Service, a potluck brunch and then Worship. By that time I was ready to give church a rest for a while.

Lunch Bunch was a trip to Marzano, an Italian restaurant in Parkland, just a little southeast of Tacoma.

Very tasty, and a little more out of the way, so we hadn’t ever been there before.

The week after Easter, Franke Tobey Jones took a bunch of us to the Tulip Festival in Skagit County, WA. You can read all about it here.

I’m in a better place emotionally and mentally than I was when I wrote this post. Time and prayer are doing their work, both on me and on the situations that brought me to my knees last Tuesday.

FTJ hosted a dinner party for all the independent residents in the middle of the month. It happened to be on Barbershop Quartet Day (who knew there even was such a thing), and we had a really good Barbershop Quartet to entertain us.

I have a little raised garden plot in the FTJ garden that has been taking up a fair amount of my time. I am growing green beans, crowder peas, tomatoes, yellow squash, cucumbers, Serrano and jalapeno peppers, and onions (if they ever do anything). I also planted purple hull peas but they don’t seem to be sprouting.

This picture is before I moved the plants out of the greenhouse. The black-eyed peas think they are climbing on the tepee, and the beans are at the back of the plot.

These are the beans just beginning to leaf out.

And here is what the garden looks like today with the plants from the greenhouse in the ground. The cucumbers will run on the big tepee with the peas and the squash should run on the little tepee.

I’ve got flowers in baskets on the back porch and in planters. The daffodils are finished and I’m trying to decide what to put in that bed. There’s a trip to the greenhouse in my future, I think.

I think I told you last month that the church is doing a capital campaign to raise money to bring the facilities up to ADA standards and to do some needed repairs on our 80-year-old building. Today we have a party for anyone who is ready to make a commitment now, instead of waiting for Commitment Sunday in two weeks. (oops, today is actually May…) Anyway, I hope to be able to report next month that we have raised our $280,000-$300,000 to meet out goal. That’s a pretty big goal for a little church of less than 100 members, but we are very healthy, if aging, and are committed to living out our faith with our pocketbooks.

Unfortunately, HONESTY may have gotten me in trouble, as my “honest” tongue can tend to run away with me. I’m afraid I was a little too honest with a friend, and may have offended her (not that I didn’t mean it because she is a gossip and a chatterbox.) I may not have been as tactful as I could have been when I told her to quit telling me what someone else did wrong and tell them instead, if she felt so strongly about it. I have a very low threshold for triangularization.

I press on with my walking and my diet. Slowly, slowly, slowly now, the pounds are coming off, but at least they aren’t going back on.

Until next month’s report on HONESTY you can follow along with my daily pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honesty

My one word for 2015 is “Honesty.”

Let’s see how I did with Honesty in March.

March was very busy with Lent and activities at the church. It started off with a group of us from Bethany feeding the college students dinner at The Lighthouse, an open and affirming Christian college fellowship at the University of Puget Sound here in Tacoma. We fixed Mexican food, and they seemed to love it. The best part was, we got to stay and eat supper with them, and then participate in their discussion after dinner. We talked about money and finances and how they relate to the church. They are thoughtful, kind, and interesting young people, and I am more hopeful for the future when they grow up.

We’ve also had a weekly Vesper Service every Wednesday night for about half an hour. Very similar to a Taize service.

In Sunday School we’ve spent the month reading Marcus Borg and Dominic Crosson’s The Last Week, What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem.

You can read reviews on Goodreads by following the link. So much of what has been things that I’ve struggled with is explained. You may or may not agree with their conclusions, but it will definitely make you think.

Lunch Bunch was a trip to Pomodoro, an Italian restaurant in the Proctor District here in Tacoma.

It was good, but nothing special as Al and I frequent it often by ourselves.

Al and I continued our foray into creative writing with a formal fiction-writing class. It was fun, although I didn’t write much of anything until I was suddenly inspired for the last class to write the semi-genealogical, semi-fictional account of the Christening Robe and the people who were baptized in it. It was made by my great-grandmother in 1875 to baptize my father’s mother, and now five generations of the family have worn it for their baptism.

This is my granddaughter, Kate, at her baptism in 2002.

I’ve been very busy with meetings for Olympia Presbytery and for my work with the Commission on Ministry, although not as busy as in February. I guess all the preachers are feeling a little overwhelmed with Lenten activities, too.

Pierce County Hunger Advocates held a workshop to teach churches how to conduct an offering of letters, sponsored by Bread for the World.

We had a small turnout, which was really sad, because we had a couple of great speakers. One was a principal here in Tacoma whose school has over 90% of the students on free or reduced price lunches. That’s major poverty. This fall, congress is going to be taking up the school lunch program, and we really need the citizens in this country to write letters to ensure they don’t cut it to the bone as they have threatened to do with so many “safety net” programs. Help if you can.

I struggle on with my diet. I DO have a new picture of me that shows some of the weight I’ve lost.

I credit my FitBit and MyFitnessPal with whatever success I’ve had. The weight is coming off very slowly, but at least I’m not gaining anything back.

The church is doing a capital campaign to raise money to bring the facilities up to ADA standards and to do some needed repairs on our 80-year-old building. THAT, of course is taking up a lot of my time. Since I’m being honest, I only hope we haven’t bitten off more than we can chew.

Not too much about HONESTY in this report, but I’m remembering my word, and trying to live my life in HONEST relationships.