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Easter and All
Nobody has ever before asked the nuclear family to live all by itself in a box the way we do. With no relatives, no support, we've put it in an impossible situation.
-- Margaret Mead
Monday, April 5, 1999
One year ago: Spring Walk
I rousted myself out of bed and prepared to go to my sister's house for an informal brunch. It was fun wearing a long flowered dress, one that's too long for dancing so I rarely wear it now, and earrings that are too elaborate and dangly for dancing. I sent directions to Jack via email, but gave him the wrong house number! (The rest of the directions were clear enough, though, so he eventually did arrive.) Then I called him on the phone, to make sure he was awake. He was, so I asked him, "Did you remember to turn your clock ahead?" Nope, he hadn't, so he needed to get moving right away. As I was getting ready, I saw my convention badge, picked it up, and put it in my pocket. "If Jack should have forgotten his badge, he can use mine!" I thought.
Most everything was ready at my sister M----'s, so there wasn't much to do beyond helping to bring the table leaves up from the basement, for the large oak table that my mother bought so long ago. A cousin, her husband and daughter were also going to be joining us. The egg-cheese strata was baking in the oven, the hard-boiled eggs had been decorated the night before, and my visiting sister B--- had the fruit salad under control, so I stood at the side of the kitchen and kibitzed while my sisters worked.
The cousins showed up with flowers that we added to the bunch that Jack gave me a few days ago. I was relieved when he finally arrived, not more than fashionable late. He hadn't met my sister B---, her son, or the cousins before, so I introduced him and we sat around talking. When he realized that he had indeed forgotten his con badge, I was able to pull mine out of my pocket with an air of quiet efficiency! The name won't matter for anything he needed to accomplish that last day of the convention.
We had a good, family-style meal, and Jack got plenty of coffee, then he had to go on down to the convention site. I walked him to the car and gave him a big hug. The last few weeks have been a very tough, stressful time for him, but I was glad that I got to see him more often! Now things are settling down back to a normal pattern.
We visited with our cousin for several more hours, catching up on all the family news. We grew up with this family (my mother's sister's kids) and it's great to have connections that go that far back. My sisters and I sat around the dining room table, playing Set in a non-scoring way. I like this game! I don't think I've ever played it and kept score; it's more fun to just play in a free-form way, people drifting in and out. It's a logic game, where you look at cards with various little shapes on them and categorize them in different ways.
Sunday evening I worked on getting this site updated. I always have good intentions on having a new design but life intervenes and I don't get it done before the first. Darn it!
* * * * * * * *
We had lots of discussion yesterday about what we should do today. I was taking the day off to spend time with my visiting sister -- should she come over to my place and help me clean up, while my sister who lives here takes care of the boys? I decided that wasn't what I wanted to be doing, although we've done similar projects before. B--- is good at making such assistance non-humiliating. We finally decided on a three-part excursion.
First, we visited the Fremont Troll. B--- had never seen it! The boys clambered all over and had a blast. The VW beetle in the image on the linked page is a real car, by the way. Then we walked down the hill and saw some of the other Fremont sights, like the Rocket and the statue of Lenin.
Second stop: the new location of Archie McPhee. If they'd been in their old location we'd have walked there, but it's a bit further off now, in Ballard! So we drove. Each boy had a few bucks to spend. I think my nephew J--- got the most entertainment for his money; he bought a pack of bubble gum cards that were composed of tricks and pranks on each card. The gag on each card will just keep going for him, since he can try it out on each person he meets! Little things like a fake dentist appointment reminder, a fake learner's permit (he's eight!) and stickers of mold and bugs.
Our third stop was the Ballard Locks. We ate our lunch here, after a stop at a grocery store so my nephew T--- could have a baguette to gnaw on. This sort of bread is his latest obsession, and his mother indulges it since it's a healthy one. We had a packed lunch with us already, so we had a picnic before walking out to inspect the passing boats and looking at the fishless fish ladder.
We had an unsuccessful stop on the way home, at the Seattle Go Center. They were closed on Mondays, which disappointed my nephew. So my visiting sister and I went out by ourselves later in the afternoon, to Uwajimaya. I figured they were sure to have several Go games to choose from, and they did. We also grabbed a lot of frozen dim sum items for dinner! We steamed some and microwaved others. Easy and delicious.
I'm glad my sister made the trip from Delaware, and brought her younger son. They were supposed to come visit last summer, and that trip fell through too late for us to plan to go see them.
* * * * * * * *
I just got back from the new Monday night dance at the Century Ballroom. It was a good night! We had a bonus surprise number from "Swing This!", the dance group that is resident at the ballroom. I danced with a few new partners, and lots of familiar faces too. I think this will be a good addition to the Seattle dance scene.
So much for resting up on these days off! I'm really beat!
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