Holidays and such

First of all, thank you to Frances for reminding me that people are reading my blog, and that it was time for another post. The biggest reason I haven't been writing is that not much has been happening, at least not daily. But let's see what comes up ...

For about 3 weeks before Christmas, I played carols and Christmas songs at The Starfish Cafe completely gratis. It's that kind of place. They ask donations for their meals (which are superb, by the way), and they only pay a couple of members of their staff. It was fun. I think I would have missed Christmas had I not made Christmas music happen someplace. In exchange, I ate for free each day I played and Di, the proprietor, gave me a ticket to their New Years Eve fundraising event. Tickets were going for $50, so I felt really treated -- and I figured I should spend at least $50 on raffle tickets and bids on auction items while I was there.

I think I mentioned "Second Saturday" back in November. I missed it because I took off to go to LA and GR, but Rick went with some neighbors and said it was quite fun. I decided to check it out. It was kind of funny how it worked out. The three of us (me, Rick, and Remy) were planning to walk downtown -- maybe a mile to a mile and a half -- but just as we were starting out a train stopped on the tracks that separate us from the coast and the downtown, and it wasn't moving at all. I was halfway to the train, and Rick was yelling something to me from back at the house. I thought he was coming and we'd walk along the tracks till we found the end of the train and a way across. Apparently not. Remy and I walked downtown, and when we did find Rick it seems he had decided to drive.

Remy and I wandered about, checked out a couple of music offerings, had our picture taken with Santa, and walked back. It was chilly, but a lovely evening.

Snowflake decorations in a large tree by the Baptist church on Main Street.

More of the same along Nicholson Avenue, which runs from Hwy 90 to the Beach Road.

One comes up over the railroad tracks, and there is this bower of light.

Some of you may have seen some of these photos on FB, but let me elaborate. You know all those movies and TV shows you've seen where the southern ladies sit on the front porch and perspire and fan themselves, and the ones where the zombies or other scary things appear out of the mist. Well, that's the feel of the area, totally. It's definitely not hot right now, but it's humid enough that, at 27 degrees this morning, I couldn't see my breath when I took Remy out. The only explanation I have for this is that there's enough humidity in the air that the moisture from my breath doesn't condense into a cloud. Here are some local photos from a couple of weeks ago when it was a little warmer out.

Looking out into our backyard from the carport.

The neighborhood.

Christmas lights in the mist look just as cool as in the snow.

Brilliant daughter #2, Abby, upon hearing about my level of daily boredom, suggested that I knit her a hat. For those of you who know me, it will come as no surprise that I knitted about 11 hats, total. Each of my kids (I'm including the guys in that) got one, as did Di at the Cafe, and friend Sue in GR (Well, she hasn't received hers yet. It just went out in the mail on Saturday.) 

These are four of the hats I produced, with Murder, She Wrote in the background. I was really disappointed when Netflix took that show down on January 1. It was perfect to knit by because I didn't really have to watch much.

This is one I made for myself, along with a lovely scarf/wrap that Abby and Adam sent me for Christmas.

As Christmas grew closer, I realized that I really didn't want to stay here all by myself while Rick went to see his family  near Dallas. I contacted my brother Bill's family in Cary, NC, and they were happy to welcome me. Seems that my other brother, Jim, and his wife, son, and son's fiancee were all heading for Durham to see his daughter and her partner, and planning to have an evening at Bill's. It would have been nice to have my parents there, too, and my kids, but even just having this many together was a real treat.

I left in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. Earlier in the day, I had driven over to Jack & Diane's in Gulfport to get my first tattoo.

It's based on an original design that Chuck (Peterson) did before I met him. The dancing figures are his. The colors are added by me because, well, you know -- color! I call it joy leaping out of diversity. The tattoo is healing nicely, and I'll be going back for a bit of touch-up work next Tuesday. I really liked the tattoo place, and when I go back I'm going to ask whether they ever have need of simple counter help by someone who doesn't actually do tattoos. I could use some part time work.

When I left BSL, I thought I might make it to Atlanta in time for an 11:00 service at a big, Atlanta, Catholic church. But as I got closer and closer to Atlanta, I realized that I wouldn't get to the church till about 11:20, so I bagged it. Just before midnight, I stopped at a Waffle House in Suwannee, GA. The people working were great! I looked on my phone for a hotel for the night, but I discovered that, once midnight had passed, I couldn't make a reservation on line because I couldn't check in and out the same day. I could have just gone over to the front desk, but I decided to sleep in the van in the Waffle House parking lot. The staff at Waffle House said they'd "keep an eye on [me]". It got a bit chilly toward morning, but all in all it wasn't too bad. 

Charlotte, NC, was right on my way to Cary, so I contacted friend Patrick Hamrick to see if I would be welcome to stop at his house. He, his wife, son, and mother-in-law welcomed me to brunch about 10 a.m. I had brought grapefruit, freshly picked on Saturday by a neighbor in BSL, and I was glad to be able to leave a few of those with them. I had a nice visit. 

Google maps basically took me cross country to Cary from there. Patrick and family live southeast of Charlotte proper, so I just followed 2-lane roads over to Cary. It was a nice drive, not too busy, and it didn't take overly long. When I came back on I-85 through Charlotte a few days later, I was grateful for having not had to deal with that mess on Christmas Day. 

I arrived at Bill's about 2:30 or 3:00, I think, and the Derks were having a laid back Christmas afternoon. I got out the trinkets I had brought from the French Market for them, and Remy and I got settled. Colleen cooked up a nice meal, and everyone except Torri wore their Santa hats at dinner. (Torri put hers on for the photo, under duress.)

Remy fits right inside one of the circles on the rug. He was found in this spot more than once.

Rileigh (sp?) has his own comfy spot (which I don't think he's supposed to be in).

Monday, I had a bike ride, did some errands, and cooked dinner for all who were watching football. Tuesday, I had a bike ride, and then Jim and family came over. Colleen made chicken cordon bleu and was kind enough to make a couple without the puff pastry for me. It was delicious. I actually ended up eating some things with flour in them, and I didn't die; but I didn't especially feel good, either.

Keaton.

We were seated at two tables to accommodate everyone.

Here are a few more.

And Jim, who was on my right.

I think the brothers got together again after I left, but I decided to hit the road on Wednesday. I thought that my Voice Actors class MeetUp was going to do a make-up on Thursday evening in New Orleans and I wanted to get back for that. I decided to head for Montgomery the first day. I got an earlier start than I had on Christmas Eve, which was nice because I spent at least an hour in stop and go traffic around Charlotte. 

I found a decent place for supper before reaching Montgomery, and while I was there made an online reservation at the Alabama Hotel, which had 4 out of 5 stars in a couple of reviews I read. Guess I should have read more reviews. When I arrived, the desk did not have my reservation. This turned out not to be a problem, because there were plenty of empty rooms. (I should have taken this as a sign and moved on right then.) The desk clerk was very nice, but he didn't believe I'd made the reservation on their very own web page till I showed him the confirmation on my phone. Anyway, it was late -- about 11:30 -- so he found me a "non-smoking" room on the third floor, and Remy and I headed up. 

The room certainly didn't smell like a non-smoking room. It smelled as though the room itself smoked a pack a day. There were no ashtrays in the room, but smoke was getting in there from someplace. And the windows didn't open. I figured I'd get used to it, and I did. But yuck!

Next morning, I ousted some insect-like creature from the tub by washing it down the drain. It looked sort of like an earwig, but wasn't. Once in the shower, I noticed the bites on my right arm and immediately thought, "bedbugs!" I packed up and headed out, stopping at the desk to report the bedbug issue. The young Asian man at the desk seemed to have difficulty understanding me. He reported that the manager would not be in till noon or 1, so I said I'd call. As I drove back, I planned my afternoon.

I don't know. Maybe they're not bedbug bites. The manager said they "looked" and didn't see any bedbugs. But I looked the bites up on line, and they certainly looked like bedbug bites. 

Fortunately, the Voice Acting class had not been rescheduled, so I had a lot of open time. My plan was not to take anything into the house from the car until all had been washed and dried thoroughly. The washer and dryer at the house are right inside the back door, so I did take a couple pair of shoes in that couldn't be washed and put them directly into the dryer, where they bounced around on high heat for about 30 minutes. I took out everything that wasn't cloth and left it on the back patio and then drove to a place where a laundromat and car wash are right next to each other. 

I loaded the clothes in the washers and then washed the car and thoroughly vacuumed it out, running back and forth to feed quarters to the one dryer-load that was only drying, not washing -- pillows, a wool vest, etc. I felt pretty confident when I headed home, and (knock wood) I haven't had any problems since getting back. 

New Years Eve fundraiser at the Community Center.

I was glad to have someplace to go on NYE where I knew a few people. The band was good, although the acoustics weren't. The food was excellent. And I bid on, and won, 3 hours of training with a florist. We've scheduled for early March, not too long before I leave to go back north, and I'll have to keep practicing once I get back to Michigan so I'll be ready for Abby's wedding at the end of June.

I had a few days at home without Rick. He got back January 2, after a horrendous drive through torrential rain, which had been going on here for 4 or 5 days. 

This is a channel caused by runoff from the road heading toward the ocean. There are a number of places where the beach has completely changed from when we arrived back in October. 

I took a ride across the Bay Bridge over to Pass Christian and took a small detour off the trail.

This was a look back at the bridge from the neighborhood at its foot. 

Remy is doing his "Vanna" thing, showing you the work I've been doing on my quilt. This quilt is patchwork on the other side. This side is designated to show my cut up T-shirts. I've divided the shirt pieces into small, medium, and large. I'm starting with large and will work the other pieces into the gaps. I'm trying to do one large piece per night while watching/listening to Bones episodes, which have taken the place of Murder, She Wrote. 

New Years Eve, I took my first yoga class in probably at least 20 years. It was "Gentle Yoga," but not too easy. I enjoyed it very much and found that the meditation practice I've been doing enabled me to drop into that quiet space at the end of class very easily. I have had 3 more classes since, and I've signed up for a 6-week Yoga for Healthy Aging class that starts January 25. Besides the practice itself, I've really enjoyed being with lots of other women around my age. 

I've also started (with Kristi Szczepanek) The Artist's Way discipline, using the book by Julia Cameron. There are still a lot of open hours in the day, but I feel more focused and less at loose ends. Once the chilly weather goes (tomorrow or Tuesday), I'll be back to biking every morning and walking Remy near the beach every evening. I want to feel comfortable in the dress I got for Abby's wedding, and more comfortable in my own skin. I think I'm well on the way to doing that.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I found a masseur here and had a session on Friday. He seems very knowledgeable and really went to town on a few areas that had gotten very clogged up in the time since my last massage. Now to find a chiropractor. I'll be asking those women at yoga.