Catch Up Part 3

OK, so I'm browsing through my saved photos and I found a set that I had taken back in January when my brother was visiting. This was one of those rare occasions when everyone went out to eat together. We ate at a meditaranean place in Durham. Excellent felafel.

Catch Up Part 2.5

A couple more pictures of Bill's carved pieces. I find all this absolutely incredible. You have to see it in person to appreciate the work involved. I could wax philosophical on the creative spirit and the drive within each human to make something beautiful with his own hands. But I won't.

Catch Up Part 2

I made a trip to Eastern NC with Dad. He wanted to go see a few of his family. It was a quick trip to little Washington...we left on Friday morning and came back Saturday afternoon. We dropped in on Dad's cousin Bill. Bill is a fascinating character. He probably has less than a 3rd grade education, but he has an incredible artistic gift for wood carving. He wittles tractors, farm equipment, old trucks and such from blocks of wood. And I mean he literally wittles the pieces out and assembles them into realistic, scale models of the things he sees and has worked with all his life. The tractors and trucks have working gears. Now keep in mind, he doesn't measure anything. He simply looks at things and then carves out the pieces purely on a trial and error basis. It's amazing.

Catch Up Part 1

Wow. Time really got away from me. I decided it was time to post a few odds and ends here to catch up on the year so far. Bert has a new boyfriend, a fellow comic book enthusiast...and he has a sweet dog, Daisy. Poor Daisy apparently used to be a "bait" dog. Vets say you can tell because she has very short cut ears and a lot of scars on her head and neck. Somehow she ended up wandering the streets and was rescued. It's hard to imagine such cruelty. People suck. But Daisy is a real trooper. She not only survived, she is just the best natured dog in the world. She loves people. She even loves the cats, although they aren't crazy about her.

Retirement Party

************Patsy retired after 28 years on the job. After her last day, her kids rented a limo to pick her up after work. We rode in style to the restaurant where they had her party. We made her dress up like her hero, "Maxine." It was a fun party. Very upbeat. We are certainly all really sad to see Patsy go. But, I'm glad she has been able to retire in good health and will be able to enjoy this next phase of life. It's very encouraging to me. I only have 12 years 236 days til I can retire!!

Last Day at Work

My coworker and cubicle neighbor, Patsy, retired from Blue Cross after 28 years. Wow. And what's more impressive, she drove about 50 miles to work each way, on I-40 which is a horrific mess. The crazy woman got up at 4:30 every morning. She always looked perfect when she got to work, always impeccably dressed and color coordinated. I just roll out of bed,put on my shoes and go to work. Kind of like I did when I was in college. I just can't be bothered with primping anymore. I probably should care more...but right now I can't muster up the mental energy. I got a shot of her in her cubicle. The standing joke around the office was about how jam-packed her cubicle was. She had EVERYTHING in there...it was a mini-Walmart...AND she knew exactly where everything was. Amazing.

Uncle Taumi comes to visit

My little brother dropped in for a visit for New Years. Dad was having trouble with the new TV so Taumi drove down for a couple days to take care of it. He's such a good boy. We had the traditional collards and hoppin john (black eye peas) for our New Years Day dinner. It's supposed to bring good luck, especially the financial kind. The greens represent bills and the peas represent coins. The next evening we went out to eat at a mediterranean place in Durham. They made the best felafel I have ever had. So...party time is over. Time to get serious about dieting and exercise. bummer.