AOL is shutting down their blogging function at the end of October...so Annette's Rambles and Curious Mind has moved over to blogspot...check me out at http://www.annettedaytoday.blogspot.com/
UPDATEL Well...I didn't move as far as I thought...AOL figured out a deal with blogger and I was able to moved my blog with a similar URL to blogspot...yea!!!
Ah...the makings of a fine afternoon. Although it looked like the nor'easter spinning up the coast was about ready to make landfall in Montgomery county, Marda, Mariadela and I met at the Cheesecake factory expressly to EAT THE CHEESECAKE...I never manage to after one of their huge salads. So, yes, a deliberate, non-diet, pig out! it was great. Followed with a stroll through the aisles of the nicest DSW in Pennsylvania which of course culminated in not 1 not 2 but 3 pairs of shoes being bought! The only thing better? if Em and Peg had been with us.
Today is Jerry and my 23rd anniversary. Hard to believe! I love you Sweetie...for so many reasons:
1. Your integrity
2. Your intelligence and analytical mind.
3. You are always interested in new ideas, new places, new experiences
4. You always treat me with respect and as an equal.
5. Your sense of humor
6. You are willing to go to concerts with me even if you can't always hear what they are singing...or even like their music.
7. You are still handsome...yes after all these years.
8. You love the cats and dogs as much as I do.
9. You support me in anything I want to do.
10. You encourage me to spend lots of girl times with myh girlfriends...even if it means going all the way to London for Rolling Stones Concerts.
11. You are great to shop with.
12. You want to see as much of the world as I do!
13. You love to play dominoes and don't mind when i win (which I do a lot :-)
14. You love Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, and Sugarland!
15. You love books and the world of reading.
16. You cook really well...better than me!
17. You love to watch Dancing with the Stars with me.
18. You've learned the right end of binoculars and come bird watching with me.
19. You're a good Dad and love your son.
20. And, you still love me after all these years
this friday is international "talk like a pirate" day...really.
see the official website: http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html
I missed it by a day..chalk it up to traveling! But Happy Anniversary Peg! 5 years ago yesterday:
There is a reason that September is not considered “in season” for Florida…it’s called the 3 H Factor (actually I just made that up…but it should be called the 3 H Factor): Heat, Humidity, and Hurricanes. That pretty much sums up things here. We’re here because we have to be (working on house permitting “issues”) but assume that in the future that September will definitely be a month in which we travel to cooler climes.
However despite the 3H factor and having to deal with frustratingly insipid permit issues we still had a good time (ONLY because of Air Conditioning…frankly I think whoever developed AC should be given the Nobel Peace Prize…I’m thinking its not surprising that the parts of the world most embroiled in violence and warfare are amongst the hottest and the poorest (hence no AC).
We got to go to our favorite tortilleria/carnitas hole-in-the-wall: La Cabana del Tio (which is our favorite not just in Florida..which frankly wouldn’t say all that much…but in the entire US). Stuffed ourselves with tacos and gorditos…yummy…and really good orange soda made in mexico (which means real sugar not corn syrup…so it tastes like the sodas from childhood).
We had a wonderful afternoon with Geri Willingham, a stained glass artist, who is designing a series of windows and transoms for the our “soon-to-be-permitted-we-hope” house in St. Pete. I can’t tell you how excited I am about the designs…when I get the photos of the sketches I’ll post a few. They are filled with images native or commonto Florida…bird of paradise, sea grapes, gardenias, orange blossoms, egrets, herons, osprey, and turtles (you know we have to turtles for Jerry) even a roseate spoonbill. Those of you who know my love of birding can just imagine how “happy as a clam at high tide” I am.
We drove over to Orlando for the weekend to visit with Jason and Yaric. Jason and I worked in their garage, sorting, repacking, discovering stuff he forgot he had, purging, AND nearly getting heat stroke. In retrospect I’m pretty sure it was 110 inside that garage. So needless to say we didn’t last the afternoon and Jason has Phase2 of the garage cleanup planned so some other time NOT in a 3H month.
As a reward and therapy for heat stroke we all went to the movies and saw Burn After Reading (the new Coen Brothers movie)…as always for the Coen Brothers, a dark comedy with odd twists and odd characters. We loved it. We loved the AC. Matt (jason’s other roommate) met us at PFChangs afterwards and we ate copious amounts of food in…you guessed it Air conditioned comfort.
Jason and Yaric seem to be loving classes right now. We’re doing a little happy dance about that. AND they are doing well in classes…more happy footwork. Jason likes the advertising aspects of what is in learning. Yaric right now is fascinated with his audio class where they learn to create music and sound effects on the computer. Music for our happy dance.
I'm slogging my way through "Snow"...no there hasn't been a giant climatic shift so that there is a Blizzard in September in Orlando. I'm slogging my way through the depressing drifts of Orhan Pamuk's novel "Snow" for book group. I WILL finish it! I WILL finish it!
But I did LOVE Sacred Willow. one of my favorite books of the last 5 years...it IS long..but its worth it. A fascinating portrait of 4 generations of a Vietnamese family that stretches from the traditional "mandarin" culture of northern Vietnam, thourgh French occupation, the Vietnamese war, the aftermath and to life in the US. It deals with Vietnam War from many sides (as her family was divided physically and ideologically by the war. Mai Elliott writes well, lived much of the story, and conducted extensive interviews in later years to flesh out the stories of all her relatives who were separated by time, distance, and sometime ideology over the years. It is one of the clearest explanation of what happened in Vietnam to the people (north and south) during the years leading up to and during the war. Told on a personal level it illuminates the experiences of the country as a whole. I highly recommend this book. Although it is a BIG book...I read it in less than a week because I couldn't put it down. I was a teenager during the last stages of the war and remember only the "headlines" and photographic portraits...this book has greatly helped illuminate what was really going on.
Last Sunday after a great brunch at The Filling Station in Orange, CA with family...my niece Caitlin and I spent a bit of time shopping around the Orange "circle" . She wanted to take me to the "The Heavenly Hostess". What a great store! Filled with all sorts of cool stuff...great retro aprons, good smelly stuff, cute chinaware, rubber duckies (yes, i got 3 new ones) just clever clever things...too many to list. We both got a few items...who wouldn't? It was a nice time just the two of us...
Interior of the Heavenly Hostess, Glassell St, Orange, CA (just south of the circle)
Last weekend Jerry and I attended the marriage of one of my long time friends David and his partner TIm. It was a magical and touching evening as we watched David and Tim pledge their lives together in a ceremony that less than a year ago couldn't have occurred. It was an lovely warm california evening lit by candles and filled with happiness and memories. We wish David and Tim a long and happy marriage that will bring them adventure and contentment.
