Birthday Weekend in Asheville

It's me and Our Lady of Guadelupe at the Basillica of St. Lawrence in Asheville. Mikey and I spend the weekend of my birthday in the mountains. It was great. I LOVE Asheville. What a town! Incredible food, music, art, architecture, scenery. I could live there...if someone would buy me a house in the city and provide food. We left Friday and went to a baseball game in Winston-Salem (the Dash, single A). Spent Saturday and Sunday morning in Asheville and stopped in Black Mountain on the way home. A quick trip, but we had to get back...the cats missed us terribly. So, it's life as per usual now.

Jon

I don't see Jon much these days. He lives and works in Cary. He dropped in long enough for me to snap a couple of pictures. He finally got a haircut, so now he looks like an upstanding citizen instead of a homeless bum. It's weird for me to even have to say it...being that I'm such an old hippie myself and really appreciate that anti-establishment stuff...but the fact is, he looks a million times better. It's been a CRAZY week. The celebrities have been dropping like flies and since we are in a culture that worships the rich and famous, that's all anyone talks about. It's kind of ridiculous, when you consider the other really substantive things that people NEED to be dealing with. I've been on a news blackout for months...no TV news, no radio, no newspapers...and I still can't avoid getting sucked into all this silly stuff. I can't wait for school to start so I can bury myself in textbooks and have conversations with smart people.

Mi familia

It's difficult these days to get the whole crew together at the same place at the same time, but we lured the kids out with the promise of food. My brother was in town and we had a lovely Father's Day lunch at Mint in Chapel Hill. Excellent Indian food. I think Dad decided to stay home and watch his newly restored TV. Taumi hooked up his digital converter box, so he has reception once again.

Malcolm's Birthday

It was a another hot, muggy night about 23 years ago when Malcolm made his appearance into the world...and the world hasn't been the same since. At his request, we had dinner at Lime & Basil, a Vietnamese place in Chapel Hill. His sister was able to join us. I had an excellent curry tofu. My brother is in town this weekend, so I'll probably meet him and Dad for lunch tomorrow. Busy weekend. I haven't heard from my other job (at the nursing home) so I may have tomorrow night off. I've got my fingers crossed...or I would cross my fingers if my arthritis would let me. Oh yeah, it's really not all about me, is it?? Happy Birthday to my sweet little baby boy.

Fortress of Solitude

* * * * * * * * * * I finally have my own personal space. My own room! I'm so excited. After little Bert declared her independence and moved into a house with a friend in Durham (to be nearer to work) I immediately imposed squatter's rights and took over her old bedroom. She had made a mess of it, in the usually teenager kind of way, so I repainted and moved my stuff in. And brother, let me tell you, I've got a lot of stuff. But that's okay. I love my stuff and it doesn't matter how much junk you've got as long as you've got a place to put it. NOW, all my stuff has a home. I so enjoy sitting in my hidey hole surrounded by my books and nick-nack and bags of yarn and half finished craft projects. I even bought a portable DVD player so I can watch episodes of Starsky & Hutch or Midsomer Murders. I'm in heaven. I painted the room pink, mainly as a deterent to male family members, but also because I wanted something extra girly. I've never had a pink room. Dad always painted everything white. I got some gauzy beige curtains with embroidered roses on them. The entire re-do cost less than $50. It was a lot of work, but completely worth the effort. On a sad note, David Carradine died. I was so into Kung Fu back in the day. He also was in one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen...Sonny Boy.

Happy Mother's Day

I thought I should mark the occasion. I tend not to get too excited about these made up holidays, but I don't want to be a stick in the mud, so...Happy Mother's Day to me and Happy Mother's Day to Mom. I also can't get excited about this "holiday" in particular since it is just a reminder of what I have lost. Alzheimer's gives us a chance to grieve for someone's death before they die. It's exhausting to be in mourning year after year. BUT, since I don't know how long my mom will actually be among us, I take whatever joys I can get, whenever I can get them. I love you, Mom.

Stratocruiser rocks the Cradle

The boys were rocking in Chapel Hill tonight at Cats Cradle. It was a good gig. A fairly decent audience (for a change) opening for Lez Zeppelin--an all girl Zeppelin cover band. I saw that girl band a couple of years ago, so I decided to pass this time. We have here Jeremy (bass), Matt (drums), Mikey (lead guitar) and Clay (vocals, guitar). Good music, great guys.