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”!

 

May 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 May, really.)

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.

May was a disaster for my diet. Two weeks spent eating out with family and eating on the train spelled a gain of about 5 pounds. I tried to get it off once I got home, but not much luck.The farmer’s market is open, and I’m visiting it every week.

I INTENDED to keep on losing in June. We’ll see how that went.

(I ought to just leave this paragraph out, because I never get around to it, but I’ll keep the intention.) I still haven’t done any strength training yet this year, but again, I INTEND to.

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

I did really well, considering that I spent six days in a train and four days in a car. I did walk a little every time we stopped, and was able to still average 8000 steps a day.

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

My garden is coming along nicely.

The artichokes and the cilantro really got away from me while we were gone.

• Travel to see Bill and his family.

We managed this nicely traveling on the Empire Builder to Chicago.

We had dinner with Ray and Kathy, and then rented a car to drive to Birmingham.

We stopped to visit my cousin just west of Nashville, and got to meet her grandson.

Then we had several days to tour around in Birmingham, including a “walking tour” of downtown where we saw lots of markers to the Freedom Trail.

On the way back to Homewood, we went across Red Mountain and stopped to look at Vulcan.

On Sunday we rode up to Lookout Mountain, and I got to “See Rock City” and “See Ruby Falls”! Spectacular!

We got Ian graduated from High School, and drove back to Chicago and then rode 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’m not very faithful with Tai Chi but I usually make it to class at least once a week.

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

 

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.

 

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.

Slow Week

This has been a pretty slow week here in the Pacific Northwest. Yesterday and today have been cool, cloudy, and rainy. It looks like our typical PNW weather has turned to fall already.

Since the week was short with Labor Day on Monday, and since my Tai Chi instructor is taking a four-week hiatus to go back to school for more in-depth training, I have been kind of rattling around. The only thing really interesting this week has been our trip to see The Butler.

I did go to my knitting club this morning, and Big Al and I ventured to an Indian restaurant for lunch today.

Underlying everything I’ve been doing this week has been the drumbeat of possible approaching military action against Syria. It seems like there is no good action available, and inaction is just as bad. The only thing left was said best by Rachel Held Evans in her blog on Wednesday. And by the Pope in his call for prayer and fasting tomorrow.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Busy

I’ve been pretty busy today. Thursday is my regular wash day, so I’ve had the washer and dryer running basically since I got out of bed.

I had Tai Chi right after lunch.

I really enjoy that class and I hope I’m getting stronger, more limber, and have better balance. I think it’s working.

Following Tai Chi I went to the Book Club. We read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley.

It was a fun read with an 11-year-old protagonist who thinks she knows everything (and often does). I liked it so much I’ve gotten all four of the other books about Flavia de Luce, and I’m better than half-way through the third one. There’s nothing particularly enlightening or spectacular about these books, but they’re fun to read. Some of the other people in the group had a hard time with Flavia knowing so much, but it’s one of those things that you need to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story.

I don’t think I ever said what I thought of “The Hobbit”. I was disappointed that it was only the first half of the story, and drawn-out and padded, at that. It could have been done in an hour and a half (instead of almost three hours), and would have been much more true to the book. This one suffered by my familiarity with the book, unlike the Lord of the Rings, that was true to what Tolkien wrote.

We got “Jack Reacher” from Netflix today, and we’ll see how that holds up.

Maybe Tom Cruise can pull it off, but that one I will definitely have to suspend disbelief for. The thing is – in the novels, Jack Reacher is 6’5″, and weighs 235 lbs, all muscle. It I had been casting it on looks I would have cast The Rock rather than Cruise, but then, what do I know. Anyway, I’m excited to see it, and I’ll let you know tomorrow what I thought.

My Life Right Now

I promised I’d give you a peek at what my life is like here at Franke Tobey Jones.

EVERY MORNING

I take a shower, get dressed, fix my tea, load any leftover dishes or glasses into the dishwasher, eat a breakfast bar, feed the birds, water the flowers, check my email, read all the blogs I’ve received in my RSS reader, check the bank account, do a Curvy puzzle, work a jigsaw puzzle on-line, check Ancestry.com to see if anybody has posted anything interesting about any of the ancestors, check Facebook to see what’s happening, read the New York Times headlines, the Huffington Post shorts, updates from Knitting Paradise (and read the whole article if it interests me). By that time, it’s probably 11:00 or 11:30 and time to think about lunch.

We eat our dinner at noon and each fix our own snack-type suppers – soup, sandwich, fruit and cheese, nachos, etc.

EVERY EVENING

About 5:30 or 6:00, Big Al and I meet in the living room to watch the news and Rachel Maddow. If there’s anything on network or cable that we want to see, we watch that (not often); otherwise, we watch something on Netflix.com. Right now we’re watching the British series, “M-I 5“, and “All Creatures Great and Small.” We usually get one or two episodes a night of each. Followed by the local news, and Jay Leno’s monologue, and finally – to bed.

SUNDAY

Bethany Presbyterian Church worships at 10:30 and Sunday School is out for the summer. During most of the rest of the year, Sunday School is at 9:00.

Big Al and I go out to lunch after church, often on the waterfront.

Many Sundays we take a ride after lunch, sometimes through Point Defiance Park, sometime exploring.

Because I probably didn’t get anything from my daily routine done except the shower and the tea and breakfast bar, I spend a couple of hours in the afternoon catching up on my on-line reading. By that time, it’s 4:00 or so, and I go over to the Wellness Center to spend 50 minutes on the recumbent cross trainer (my personal preference for exercise torture). I try to get in three sessions a week of exercise, so Sunday is my make-up day if I’ve been a slug otherwise. If I don’t have to exercise, I spend an hour or so enjoying the porch and reading in my rocking chair.

MONDAY AFTERNOON

Every other week I get together with other residents and a genealogist who gives us tips about how to get past the roadblocks in our research and where to find more information. She also helps us with presentation of our research and encourages us to include stories rather than just facts.

Every week, Big Al and I go to the Gamers Club and play bridge or some other game over in the Tobey Jones building. We only stay for an hour, but we enjoy the folks who make up the foursome – a retired federal judge, and a retired school teacher.

Once a month, the chef has a program on nutrition, or some other interesting topic. He also brings goodies to sample. Recently he has talked about protein, the difference between shrimp and prawns, diabetic diets, etc.

I try to fit in my 50 minutes of torture at the Wellness Center on Monday afternoons as well, sometimes before Gamers Club, sometimes, after.

Once a month I have a meeting of the Pierce County Hunger Advocates – part of the Ministerial Alliance.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Big Al and I eat lunch in the Bistro (think Starbucks or local coffee shop) here on campus. They have sandwiches, soup, and salads, and we usually each have a chef salad.

Then, I scurry off to my Tai Chi lesson, while Al finishes his lunch and reads the newspaper.

After Tai Chi, we go over to the Garden Apartments where we play bridge with a foursome we have been playing with ever since we lived there.

Then, it’s back to the Wellness Center for an hour or so of Brain Games. We play word games (like Scattergories) as teams, have paper games to work on, and have some social time. It’s fun, and a way to stretch my mind, and hopefully fend off the on-set of Alzheimer’s a little longer.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

Wednesdays are the least structured of my week.

Wednesdays are often the day for trips. So far (since the weather has turned decent this summer), we’ve been to a winery, and the Wildlife Park. There’s a lunch cruise scheduled for next week.

Big Al volunteers at the FISH Food Bank once every six weeks. He also has a luncheon meeting of the state Safety Association in Tukwilla once a month.

I try to get in my 50-minute work out on Wednesday afternoons.

Wednesday is also the day we go to the commissary, about once every 6 weeks.

If you have a birthday or anniversary during the month, you are invited (with your significant other) to a lunch either in the Tobey Jones dining room, or the Lillian Pratt dining room on the last Wednesday of the month.

Often there are interesting programs on Wednesday afternoons, from the Tacoma Historical Society, a gardening expert, or on some other topic. Once a month, we have a program on wines.

Once a quarter, all the independent residents are invited to a dinner, usually on a Wednesday evening. There’s one coming up in a week.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON

Once a month, the CEO hosts Coffee with the CEO on Thursday mornings. Anyone who wants to can come and ask questions and air grievances. Generally everyone is pretty happy with how everything is going.

On Thursdays at 12:30 I have my second Tai Chi lesson of the week.

There’s also often a program from Senior University on Thursday afternoons.

At 4:00 is the All-Campus Wine and Cheese, where we are invited to lift our glasses and socialize with other residents and the board.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Friday morning at 11:00 I scurry over to Lillian Pratt for the Knitter’s Club. There are 5 or 6 of us who get together and chat while we do some kind of handwork. There’s a retired college president who is learning how to knit to keep his hands and brain busy, as well, and we can ask the others for help if we run into a problem. They always provide us with coffee, tea, and a goodie to stave off starvation until lunch time.

Friday is one of our lunches out. Once a month, the community takes the bus to a local eatery with whoever wants to go. We’ve been to a Japanese place, a Mexican place, an Indian place, an Italian place and a seafood place. If the Lunch Bunch isn’t going, Big Al and I find our own place for a nice lunch out.

The community has Ice Cream on the front porch at Lillian Pratt every Friday afternoon in the summer.

The Garden Apartments have Happy Hour on Friday afternoons. Everybody brings a little snackie-poo, and they provide wine and hard liquor (and soft drinks). We like going because it gives us an opportunity to catch up with the folks from the Garden Apartments.

Once a month, they have “Chef’s Table” that you have to sign up for. Chef Tim plans a specially nice menu and prepares it table-side, while he talks about the ingredients and preparation. It’s limited to 12 people, so it’s a nice opportunity to visit with other residents over a wonderful meal (with unbelievable desserts).

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

For the most part, Saturday is a day of catch-up. This is my day to work out (so I won’t have to on Sunday afternoon). We also go to the grocery store, hit the garden shop, buy more bird feed, etc.

So that’s what I do all the time. I’m just as busy as if I weren’t retired, but I really love it.