Happy Days

Breakfast in a Tiny House

When my dad got into his sixties, he hated loud restaurants.  At the time, I didn't get it.  I get it now.

According to the audiologist I visited a few years ago, the trouble is not with hearing, per se, but with age-related difficulty in distinguishing ambient sounds in a room from intentional voices.  Having "perfect hearing" is not a protection against being unable to hear well in crowded spaces, she said. 

The eight other people at the table last night might as well have been speaking another language--it was all a jumble of sounds, along with music and other tables full of people. 

This morning at breakfast, we had a drummer drumming, someone looking for a lacrosse stick, someone playing a video, another putting whipped cream on his face for laughs, six people cooking together, along with the clatter of pots and pans--and I went mute and crazy for a minute, as noted by my two adult children.  

I'm accustomed to the sounds of silence, but I am going to miss this crowd so much tomorrow afternoon and wish for a few moments of noise insanity!  So I'm not complaining--just noting it for future reference and help if anyone else experiences this. 

Friday, June 28th

We've been all over the place today in this heat--Gruene for lunch and walking around, Mod Pizza for supper--and tomorrow is definitely swim day for these kiddos.

Today is Day and Tom's 22nd wedding anniversary--and they are just as happy 22 years later, probably more so now that they have these teenagers, as they were on their wedding day in Washington, D.C.

I asked them at dinner, "To what do you attribute your happy marriage?" Tom said, "Teamwork."

Jackson said, "This is how arguments happen with my parents: Person One starts it (pointing to his mom) then Person Two (pointing to his dad) gives a response, then Person One sums it up and it's all over."

We are ending this day watching Queer Eye--which we watched last year at the lake house they rented for my 70th birthday party.

June 10th

Elena laughing so hard at sea anemones--and her brother in the background posing as The Thinker!

LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER, San Antonio, 2019

On the day before Mother's Day, the Tobin Center presented 13 readers who had auditioned and been chosen to tell stories about motherhood--stories of being a mother, being "the worst mother ever", miscarriage, being a child of a mother who saved her life, losing a mother before the mother died--from dementia, and observing her 85-year-old mother become a Catholic.

I wasn't here to see the show in person, but Jan Schubert and Janet Oglethorpe (members of former writing groups and great friends of mine) were two stars of the show.  Jennie Badger, member of a current group, shared this nationwide venture with us and I encouraged everyone to write a piece and audition.  If you watch this video, get a box of tissue and prepare to laugh and cry!  You will see Jennie as one of the emcees of the program (she's the one who makes the Hamilton reference midway.)

These three women and the others on stage told stories for an hour and a half on the day before Mother's Day.  What a beautiful tribute to motherhood!

This link may take you to the middle or some other point in the show, so be sure to drag the arrow back and watch it from the beginning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvV065UMoqc&t=4257s

If you love it as much as I did, you might consider writing a story of your own and auditioning next year wherever you live!

Magic With Color

Alcohol ink--which I learned about at "You Tube University"--is really fun to play with.  I started on Yupo Paper, which is really a very thin plastic but quite expensive per square inch.

One of the You Tube teachers gave me this bit of advice: Instead of Yupo try the back side of glossy photo printer paper.  She named a certain brand--I'll look it up--but the package of Epson 4 x 6 pieces I got today from the thrift shop works very well.

One drop of one color, let it spread as it will, then drop another adjacent to it and the second color will move the first color as it wishes.  Keep adding colors until the design looks like you want it to do.  If you like, you can also drop  91% alcohol on top of the wet color and see what happens.

Just a touch of magic in case you have someone who might like to play colors with you.

Elena is on her way over after a birthday party, and we're going to make some magic happen and I'll post pictures when we're all done.