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July 20, 2015
Lazy Morning
I am sitting in the big lounge chair drinking a cup of tea and eating a one day old chocolate croissant that is slightly stale but still tastes good when you hit the chocolate! It has been quite a week and this is the first time I've had more than a few minutes to simply be.
Lots of fun times and company last week beginning with the arrival of Katy Caliendo from Texas. Katy is a horn player who just left the Houston Symphony and had a three week gig at the Festival of Music here in Bellingham. My neighbor was housing the musicians and asked me to help. During Katy's final few days, my friend, Hope Newcomer, came from England to visit. She arrived on Monday, just in time for my dinner group here. I overcooked and had lots of taco makings so we put together another taco spread on Wednesday night for some friends who wanted to see Hope. Both women left on Thursday. Katy was headed to Texas to pack up her earthly goods and move home to New Jersey while she goes around the country for auditions for her next symphony job. Hope is traveling to Idaho and Montana for family reunions. She'll be back the end of the month for another few days in Bellingham.
Just as they walked out the door, Martin and Lionel came for a very fruitful visit. I have been going through hundreds of slides that have taken up five shelves in my basement -- slides from my father, from Don's parents, and from our own archives. I've thrown away many hundreds of slides from trips, zoos, and flowers! If there was no significance to a picture without people, it was tossed. I gave away dozens of slide carousels and other paraphernalia. I kept Larry Green's projector so long that I thought he might send a collection agency around to seize it. I winnowed the pile of slides down to a mere few hundred or so. Then I put them in order of year.
A few weeks ago, my nieces visited from California and Texas. Thanks again to Larry's generosity, we had a slide show from my dad's collection when those nieces were little children. It was so much fun. So, this weekend my lovely son, Martin, came up with grandson, Lionel, and we spent the entire weekend finishing (mostly) the BIG MCCLELLAN SLIDE PROJECT! While I sorted for him, Martin put all the slides on his computer and then we began tagging the people. That project needs to be finished, but what Martin can't figure out, he assures me that we can finish between us by talking on our computers. Once the project is completely done and there are names to the photos, we'll make the slides available to our whole family including the nieces, nephews, and anyone featured in the pictures.
It is one more of those burdensome projects off of my list, and I am delighted. There are just so many things around that need to be distributed and/or tossed in order to simplify my life. Along those lines, I put out an old barbecue and a stationary bike on my curb and they were both gone within a few hours. I had called You Got Junk but they lost their franchise in my zip code.
Next on my list is a continuation of the painting we (or mostly Jeni) has done. The entry hall is next! And then one of the bedrooms upstairs. And, the garden, and, and, and, and! But, I'm not going to let what hasn't done dampen my spirits because I am so impressed by what HAS been done in this past month. And, I am very grateful to my children for helping me keep the momentum. They are awesome!
Posted by Marilyn at July 20, 2015 11:57 AM