Day 1065: Strolling in Central Park

This vacation has been everything we hoped for: quality time with our family.  We have our best conversations while we're walking and today we covered 6.4 miles.  As we stroll, we pair up with different partners for long talks about lots of topics, then we gradually switch and visit with a new partner.  I just love it.  

Then we stopped at a tiny deli called Effie's, like in Hunger Games.  Their menu had a Mediterranean influence along with typical brunch items.  I had a toasted cheese with olives and sun dried tomatoes and an Israeli salad on the side.  Yum!  Steve had a bagel with cream cheese and salmon, one of his favorite NYC treats.

Tomorrow, we travel home.  Back to a rugged schedule for a few more weeks.  Five parent meetings. EMT classes, practical exams and finals.   Many meetings.  Finish break down for the MS musical.  A trip to UB to see John Oliver!  A trip to Columbus to see my sisters, nephews and niece.  Several Christmas parties.  New carpeting installed in the bedroom.  Shopping. Writing and editing.  Cleaning and baking.  Wrapping and decorating.  Before we retired, we did all of this plus teaching!  Plus the college class!  Yikes!

Then, during Christmas week, our sons and April will be home!  All six of us in our house for the first time in a year.  Hooray!

Posing by the Great Lake in Central Park.

A view of the Manhattan skyline, looking south from the Great Lake.  

Day 1064: Ice Skating in Prospect Park

Another wonderful, fun-filled day with our kids!  Evan stayed in Manhattan today so he could see some friends who were in town.  Steve and I successfully located a terrific little bakery on Broadway and 137th St. where we picked up a half dozen huge rolls and another half dozen round dark rolls.  Well, the small ones turned out to be closer to cakes, more like hush puppies. Delicious.  Then we made it all the way to Brooklyn on our own, making only one tiny error that we quickly corrected.

When we arrived, April and Colin had set out a spread comparable to Thanksgiving Day.  He made an extra batch of stuffing and a delightful onion relish dressed with fresh parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper.  I loved the garlic green olives and the goat cheese on crisp crackers.  Kaoru and Justin were already there and the four of them were laughing and telling stories.

Ivy joined us at the ice rink, even though shoulder surgery prevented her from skating.  Steve made one very slow circuit of the rink, gripping tightly to the rail.  He was terrified of falling on those fragile knees.  My years of skating experience seemed inconsequential.  It must be fifteen years since Colin and I used to skate at the college rink for hours at a time.

I was telling Kaoru that I first started skating in my uncle's grape vineyard on Chestnut Street.  Puddles between the rows would freeze over and my cousins and I would skate from patch to patch.  Later, my dad built a rink in the backyard with a border of snow.  At night, he would go out with the hose and spray the ice till it was glassy.  When I was in seventh and eighth grade, the village had public skating on Canadaway Creek on Forest Place in the afternoon and early evening.  It was such fun!

I never missed a figure skating program or competition on tv.  Olympic champion Peggy Fleming was my hero.   If there had been any way to get lessons, I would have gone on because I loved it.  It wasn't until the college build Steel Hall that I was able to teach my boys to skate.

Kaoru and Justin each have their own skates now and are spending hours at the outdoor rinks on the weekends.  It's so good to see them enjoying this activity together.

Day 1063: New Jersey Family Reunion

We took NJ Transit out to my Aunt Jane's to visit with all of our cousins, their spouses and significant others.  It was another meeting of the O'Donnell cousins.  My mother would have been so thrilled to be part of this event.

What a lovely gathering! Some family we haven't seen in a year, but others have been far longer.  The last time I saw Eileen's children was in 2000.  We met Danielle's new husband for the first time.  They were just married this past December.  She was still in middle school when I last saw her.

We've spent lots of time on trains these past few days.  It's an 80 minute trip each way to her home, plus the 30 minutes from Evan's apt. to Penn Station.   It's 70 minutes to get to Colin's apartment in Brooklyn.  We're going back there tomorrow for leftovers and ice skating in Prospect Park.

Seated in the center in blue is my mom's sister Jane and her brother Jerry (in brown).  Around them are many of their children, grandchildren and significant others, as well as some of my mom's children and grandchildren.  Fifteen of us here are direct descendants of Grandma Jane and Grandpa Eddie O'Donnell.

Day 1062: Thanksgiving 2014

Family on Thanksgiving, 2014

The best ever!  

All four are happy, healthy, employed and insured!  

We could not be more thankful!

The "kids" and their friends in Colin and April's living room.

Amy, Evan, Sam, Barrett, April, Sarah, Colin, Justin, Kaoru

Day 1061: Beautiful, the musical

April, Steve, Justin, Colin, Evan and Kaoru

Our family at the Stephen Sondheim Theater after seeing Beautiful,

the Carole King musical.

The new Fulton Street subway station.

After walking in the rain for a half hour, we warmed up over lunch in Soho, and enjoyed a

BLT and sangria.

Day 1060: NYC reunion

Finally, the family is reunited!  Well, we got two out of four tonight.  April had a work event, and Colin got stuck on the train.  Trains were crazy today, probably because of the holiday.  We met Justin, Evan and Mary for dinner at Szechuan Palace and tried some wild and intense new dishes that were heavily peppered.  The only mild dish was baby bok choy so Steve ate mostly rice.  We got a super spicy tofu dish and one made of chopped  green beans with pork.  For the first time, we left a lot and Justin took it home.

I am exhausted because of the long trip, but also because I was too upset to sleep last night after that awful decision was announced in Ferguson.  Social media was obnoxious today as people were spouting their intolerant views without thought or respect for one another.  When I can wrap my head around this injustice,  I will write more thoughtfully about it.

Sunset over the Hudson

Szechuan spicy chicken

Day 1059: Ferguson decision

No probable cause for an indictment for Officer Wilson.   The streets of Ferguson are already erupting.  The evidence indicates Brown and Wilson struggled for the weapon within the car.  Witnesses gave conflicting testimony.  He stole some cigars and that was wrong.  He was wrong to reach for the weapon.  Did the officer have to shoot him six or seven times when he was over 100 feet away?  Wasn't once enough?  Why use extreme force? How many more young Black men will die because the police are terrified of them?  A twelve year old boy was just killed in Cleveland by police and he was holding a toy gun.

What now? How will this play out?  Will the violence continue?  Will anyone learn from this tragedy?  Will police change their tactics at all?  So many questions.

The next front approaches.

All the snow is gone.

Day 1058: Snovember Melt

The massive amounts of snow that fell last week are now melting rapidly.  It was 50 degrees today and will be near 60 tomorrow.   Add heavy rain and there is a true disaster brewing.  Fredonia only got 22 inches of snow, so our conditions are not nearly as serious as Hamburg or East Aurora or Blasdell.  Creeks are rising, and roofs are collapsing.  Schools continue to be closed.  Frontier schools are closed indefinitely because of structural concerns.  Lots of other buildings are in the same position.  Finally, all the driving bans were lifted so people can get out for groceries, medicines and maybe go to work!  They've got to be prepared for the next onslaught.

 Despite all that, it was wonderful to walk outside again today.  We did 4.3 miles, mostly through the college where the all the sidewalk are plowed and cleared.  It's the only safe place.   Then we went to see Mockingjay Part 1.  It was a little slow, but still gripping.

We're ready to go to NYC! Can't wait to see our family!  Hugs, talking, laughing, eating, a musical, ice skating, family gatherings, more eating, walking, riding trains and lots of love.  Cody will drive us in to the train station since the parking lot is closed till Dec.  It's inconvenient, but certainly understandable considering the  area got tons of snow.  I don't care, I just want to go and be with them!

Nearly all the snow is already gone, but in its place, the return of Cobb Lake

Canadaway Creek raging with snow melt

Day 1057: Seussical Closing Night

Adorable.  Seussical was so sweet, colorful and energetic.  The story had a strong message of harmful bullying, tolerance, and faithfulness.  I hope the kids understood its meaning.  Several performers are so talented,  it's hard to believe they are only in middle school.  The future is very bright.  It's exciting to think what they'll do when they are in the cast of the high school musicals.  Marcus, who played Horton, gave a touching performance.  He'll be the leading man for years to come!  And the girls, wow!

Today, I tackled the food chapter.  It's a bit dull and repetitious, so there's lots to do.  I cut over two hundred words and again did a sweep of "that" and "the".   More work on it tomorrow.

We're very tired because we were startled awake by alarms and phones at 3:30 am.  Steve was called out to a house fire in Silver Creek and was out for a couple hours.  Fortunately, the residents had a smoke alarm that warned them so they were able to get out in time.   The phone was so loud and jarring that my heart leaps into my throat.  I may not go out with him, but I rarely sleep until he's home again.

Horton

Taylor, the set designer and Graciela, the choreographer. 

One of the beneficial things about the MS musical is the opportunity it gives high school students to become leaders and gain experience in their chosen fields.  

Two birdies, Gertrude McFuzz and Mayzie LaBird

Fabulous eighth graders who have brilliant careers ahead of them!

Day 1056: Seussical

Seussical Cast

Seussical stage crew

Day 1055: Another snow day!

I reviewed two more chapters for "that" and "the."  Tedious, but beneficial, work.

Still haven't been outside.  Maybe tomorrow.

Dinner with a frozen hurricane to add a little brightness to our snowy day.

Still using up stuff in the freezer.  The sauce is homemade and delicious, but the ravioli was awful. 

Twice today, Steve was blowing out the driveway.

Another 18 inches of heavy, wet snow fell over night and throughout the day.

Even if there hadn't been mechanical problems, I doubt there would have been school. 

Day 1054: Snovember!

Today provided a brief reprieve to dig out from mountains of snow.  Lancaster got 65 inches so far!  We have maybe sixteen.  More is coming, though.  Two more feet.  School will be closed again tomorrow, the third day in a row, because of electrical and boiler problems.  It's not too surprising considering the demands on the system.  My brother is still stuck in Las Vegas.  It doesn't really matter, though, because he couldn't get to Fredonia from the airport anyway.  I hope he can get home on Thursday.

Ben squeezed in a rehearsal this afternoon.  Almost all the kids made it, on their snow day.  It's a good thing because now the programs and rehearsal scheduled for tomorrow will also be missed.  Crazy.

Steve finished making all the copies of the DVD, so now we can distribute them.  Maybe on Monday.  I'm sure the kids have forgotten that we promised them a movie, so they'll be surprised.

I worked most of the day on eliminating "the" and "that" from two more chapters.  It's quite stunning that it makes such a difference in the narrative.  It's much cleaner and more fluid.  The house is vacuumed, laundry done.  The second headboard is done.  Now, I must paint the legs and attach them.  Perhaps I will actually go out tomorrow.

This is the first anniversary of my brother-in-law Glenn's death.  It's so hard to believe that he's gone.  My sister remains devastated.  Unbelieving, going through the motions of life.  Moving forward, but not.  Much like suspended animation.  Life goes on, but it doesn't.  Her hands are always busy, trying to urge her heart to mend, but it's in pieces.  In every way and every day, she has honored him and their life together.   She tends his father, sister and brother, their son and daughter, grandchildren, offering comfort and love.

Day 1053: Historic storm!

Over fifty inches of snow fell in the south towns today.  About eighteen fell here and more is on the way.  An extraordinary lake effect storm blew in over warm, ice free Lake Erie and dumped tons of snow in a sharp line across Western NY.   The sky, split black and ominous on the south and west, while sunny and snow-free on the north, was so eerie.  Hundreds of cars and people are still stuck on the thruway.  Travel bans are in effect all over the area, including Dunkirk and Fredonia.  Steve was out snow blowing the driveway and said the street had not been plowed at all.  60 inches fell in Lancaster, 56 in West Seneca, 42 in Depew, 36 inches in East Aurora.  Crazy.  And another front is heading in over the lake tomorrow night.

Schools all over the area were closed and will be again tomorrow.  Fredonia, Dunkirk and Forestville are closed tomorrow.  It's so early to use two snow days up!

I can hardly believe that Steve was not called out today.  Having the schools and businesses closed helped since folks weren't out doing crazy things.  He did have a conference call at 1:30 to catch up on events in the county.  The National Guard is on the way to help dig out communities to the north.

The first headboard is complete and the second is nearly done.  I had to take a break from recruiting and enrolling.  It's in much better shape today.  Tomorrow, I'll move on to the equipment chapter and the student leader application form needs updating and printing.  

All day, Steve has been running up and down the stairs to make copies of the video.  100 are done!  Hooray!

First headboard

View from the front door

Day 1052: This and that

Fifty-four "that."  Sixty-seven "parent."  Thirty "equipment."  Ridiculous.  I spent the day revising the recruiting chapter, AGAIN, yet now I've discovered all these overused words.  It took an hour to revise and eliminate all but three "that."  The text is much better without them so it was time well spent.  It will be much harder to reduce the other two and all the others that will show up.   Plus, what horrors await me in the other chapters I thought were complete?  I'm sure "that" is a problem in those sections, also.

Steve was gone much of the day again, so I just kept at the writing while it was quiet and didn't tackle the headboards.  Although, I did take a break to make and eat chocolate chip cookies.  There was a report on the news that there will be a chocolate shortage by 2020 because of demand outstrips supply.  Well, we can't take any chances.  Eat chocolate today!

I'm determined to use up all the meat in the freezer and all the fresh vegetables in the refrigerator before we go to NYC, so we had chicken legs and a stir fry with too much cauliflower.  Yuck!  Thus, the cookies.  The rest of the freezer options are better, so I may make sauce and ravioli tomorrow.  During the blizzard.  Twenty to thirty inches of snow, 40 mile per hour winds.  Oy vey!

Day 1051: Project Day

I zipped off to Penelope this morning carrying my recruiting chapter and high hopes for assistance.   We spent two hours on it!  As always, they were incredibly helpful, encouraging and direct.  Because it is so full of procedure and doesn't include stories, I was afraid it was plodding and dull.  Carol B. said she found it very interesting and easy to follow.  If she wished, she could follow the directions.  Pat said, "You do all that and you're not paid?"

Tomorrow, I will continue to edit and correct all the errors they discovered and include their suggestions.  Plus, Steve needs to read the equipment chapter so I can conclude that one.

The best news of the day?  We're burning DVDs!  Ten so far tonight!  It took Evan only two minutes to finish the last step so it could start to render.   Hooray!

My headboard project.  The fabric and padding are cut and ready for assembling!  

A scene from the Quest 2014 movie!

Emma, Molly and Maddy

Friday night supper.

So glad the movie is done!

It's funny taking photos of a video.

Day 1050: Saturday surge

Steve was out the door by 7:45 to finish up the sets for musical.  His crew was in school by 8:05.  Impressive, isn't it?  Kids voluntarily going to school on Saturday by 8 am.  They worked till after one cause they ran the show twice.  The young lady operating the curtains finally admitted that she didn't know the cues.

The advantage for me was an entire morning of quiet and no interruptions.  I sat at the computer for four hours straight and finished up the equipment chapter.  It may seem that I am zooming through them, but it's because I worked so diligently on those chapters last winter.  Tomorrow, Steve can read through it to see if I missed anything and then it goes into the binder.  And I can proudly state at Penelope that I finished seven chapters in two weeks!

We walked for an hour through a silent village.  The sky was split between light and dark, blue sky to the south and deep grey clouds over the lake.  Only one other walker was out, even though it wasn't snowing.  The forecast for the week is mid winterish.  Two feet of lake effect snow from Monday to Wednesday.  I hope we can still get in to Buffalo to see John Oliver, but it doesn't look promising.

So, we hit 52 miles today!

Morning snow showers

Late afternoon clouds

Day 1049: Lake effect

All morning I watched the weather, postponing our walk till it improved.  About 11, snow pellets began pounding the house, then abruptly stopped.  Somehow, we picked the best one hour of the day to be out walking.  From 12:15 to 1:15, it was mild, snowy, and without wind.  Moments after our return, the wind and snow returned with a vengeance.

Sunny Tuesday

Snowy Friday

Steve went off to finish their work on the sets for the MS  musical, Seussical.  Taylor has led a group of four to finish painting whimsical designs, but that was not enough laborers.  Steve's right hand man is another Jake.  This one is in eighth grade and is incredibly dependable, helpful and sweet.  Just like big Jake.

I finished the chapter on organizing Quest personnel.  That's six chapters in two weeks, so I'm very pleased.

Day 1048: Snowy begonias

Fortunately, I captured the beauty of my remaining flowers on Tuesday, cause today they are covered in snow.  The polar vortex is back and another trough of cold air will dip deeper south next week.  Already, it feels like last winter.  I have got to find a pair of boots that keep my feet dry and comfortable soon!

The official student meeting for Quest was held today and about sixty kids attended.  They were respectful and very well behaved.  The first question that was asked?  How big can the knife be?  The boys love their knives!

We logged three miles in a gentle snow.  I reviewed the chapter on the twelve classes which I will probably start editing tomorrow.  I also edited the letter to the adult leaders and made copies of the recruiting chapter.

The project I tackled was unique.  I cut most of the kale, celery, parsley, rosemary and dill in the garden and tried to preserve them.  The kale seems pretty tough and some of it was yellowed and infested with some tiny bug.  It had to be blanched, cooled and dried.  By the time I was done, there was only a handful to freeze.  The celery was better.  I washed, sliced and flash froze it to be used in soups over the winter.  Then the parsley.  I snipped it into an ice cube tray, added water and then froze it.  Tomorrow, I'll pop the cubes into a freezer bag.

Day 1047: Writing partners

My buddies, Molly and Paddy, joined me for the morning writing session and were a big help.  Paddy rested his head on the keyboard, hit return, and sent the cursor flying down the page.  I don't usually write with the computer in my lap, but the cats loved it.  It was a very productive day and I finished the recruiting and enrollment chapter enough that I can take it to Penelope for feedback on Sunday.   They haven't seen this chapter, so I know they'll have many helpful comments.  I've cut over 1200 words from the starting point a few days ago, but it could stand a bit more.

The temperature dropped thirty five degrees today, back to a normal November day.  Yesterday was so wonderful that we were spoiled.  I picked the last of the cherry tomatoes, but we'll have a long wait for them to ripen.

Day 1046: Glorious November

70 degrees in November!  After a fabulous long walk, I worked in the yard all day, just like summer.  Snow coming in the next few days as the polar vortex heads our way.

I salute all veterans for their sacrifices, but most especially all of our family members who served.
My dad, a marine, who served in the South Pacific at the end of WWII.
My soldier husband, who served as a combat medic in Vietnam in 1968.
My son Colin, who served in Korea in 2004.
My nephews, Rob, Jeremy and Adam, and my niece Jennifer who all served in the Navy throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

Our precious son, Colin, at age 21, while serving in Korea in 2004.  

Ten years ago already!  

Thank goodness they all came home safely.

Day 1045: Shimmering oaks

Book club and our class dinner on the same night!  What to choose?  I started with the class of '67.  My old friend, Sherry, is in town for a week to visit her sister so she was able to come tonight and see so many classmates.  It was wonderful to see her again.

Then I was off to book club at Nancy's and that was delightful, too.  She is such a gracious and welcoming hostess. Besides being a fantastic cook, she makes everyone feel right at home.  Five conversations were going on at the same time, lots of laughter.  Perfect!

I was able to export the video to the flash drive and copy it to the desktop computer successfully.  Very close to being able to burn the DVDs.   Then I moved on to the recruiting chapter and added a new introduction, edited more and standardized the format.  Looks better.

It hardly felt like November today.  Sixty degrees and sunny.  I was moved to mow again just so I could be outside.  We keep mulching the leaves instead of raking.  Huge bronzed leaves are clinging to the giant oaks on Matteson St.  In brilliant sunshine, they shook and shimmered in the breeze.  

Day 1044: Celebrate!

First reason to celebrate: The Quest movie is done!  I finished all the proofing, editing and volume control.  Tomorrow, I'll export it and hopefully, begin duplicating it.

I cut another 600 words from the recruiting chapter and we took a wonderful four mile walk on this cool, but sunny day.  With the sun low in the sky, two trees with brilliant red leaves on Barker Street looked like they were on fire.

Paddy curled up right beside me while I worked and Evan helped us navigate more computer issues.  Now Molly is stretched out beside me, enjoying the warmth from the wood stove and the NCIS Marathon.

More reasons to celebrate with a dish of ice cream!

Day 1043: Interstellar

Quest movie music, done!

Recruiting and enrolling chapter:  cut 200 words so far!

Three loads of laundry washed, dried and ironed.

Two mile walk

Interstellar: A brilliant, gripping movie!  Scary, emotional, thought-provoking with effects so dizzying that I felt the spaceship going through the black hole, spinning, jolting, zigging and zagging.

Trip home from Orchard Park: Raging wind and rain, slick roads, headlights glaring

Equals

Pounding headache!

Day 1042: Susannah

What a joy to see our former students performing on stage in college.  Michael had the male lead role in the Hillman Opera, Susannah, and Kyle played in the orchestra.  On the way out, we also ran into Michaela.  They are thriving in college and are sure to be super successful!

My work day started by adding music to the Quest video.  I browsed through iTunes and found one more song to add to the original set.  Of course, after the first song, the computer froze up.  NO!  But, I simply restarted it and there were no further problems.  It's like the computer has to show me who's boss every day.  After a couple hours, I had made good progress, but it requires more time.  The music makes all the difference in the quality of the video.

We walked only 3.3 miles since we both had lots to do.