Celeste's Blog

January GA Mountains Walk

2012-01-31T12:00:00.002-05:00

Walked for over 3 miles yesterday near our country home in the Georgia mountains. It was a beautiful day and I had a great time.

Let 2012 Travels Begin!

2012-01-26T15:06:00.005-05:00

Getting excited about a trip we've just booked for the Spring, to Hawaii. We'll start on the Big Island, somewhere we have never been, and then move over to O'ahu (Waikiki beach), our favorite.

On the Big Island we will stay at the Volcano Village Lodge, only a couple miles from the gates of Volcano National Park. The photos below are from a traveler review of the accomodation and are of the same room we will have.

This picture is looking at our room from the walkway.

This photo of Volcano Village Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

It's a small cottage (out of 6 cottages), called the Kilauea Lodge. And reviewers say our room is the closest to the hot tub. Here's the room and breakfast nook, surrounded by jungle plants.

This photo of Volcano Village Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This photo of Volcano Village Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

We've also booked a private tour of the Volcano National Park with Warren Costa, who runs a tour company called Native Guide Hawaii. He is a Hawaiian born and raised in Hilo, has worked as a ranger on Mauna Kea, been a public school teacher, and has a background as a naturalist and in archeology. He has great reviews on Trip Advisor and I am really looking forward to his tour. (photos from Native Guide Hawaii website.)

2011 Travels, Mitch & Celeste

2012-01-01T23:19:00.000-05:00

Tonight I used my calendar to review 2011 and discovered all over again what a fantastic year we had. So I made a 5 minute video of our year of travel. Looking forward to more adventures in 2012.

New Orleans Holiday Scenes

2011-12-28T23:06:00.004-05:00

Living room in the cottage we had at the New Orleans Jazz Quarters B&B.

Our bedroom...

Common garden area at the B&B.

Shop window on Royal St. in the French Quarter.

Decorated homes in the French Quarter.

Yo Mama! In the French Quarter.

Christmas in New Orleans

2011-12-27T21:14:00.004-05:00

Some photos from our trip to New Orleans for Christmas.

In Armstrong Park on Rampart Street...

Mitch on Decatur Street in the French Quarter, between Cafe' du Monde and the French Market.

That seafood muffaletta is as big as my head! In a restaurant on Decatur St. in the French Quarter.

Walking around the Quarter.

At the French Market. He startled me so bad even though I was waiting for him to move from his complete stillness, I had to give him a dollar and he insisted on a photo. He really was stock still like a mannequin.

My sister, Sarah, wearing the mohair and silk scarf I knitted for her.

We all met up with a college friend of mine who I had not seen in 11 years, and her husband. L to R: my sister Sarah, my mom Lee, Mitch, me, my friend Ruth, her husband Eli, and my stepDad Don.

Mitch in Armstrong Park with the band.

My Favorite Christmases

2011-12-17T13:23:00.003-05:00

My favorite Christmases ever were when I was a girl and we lived in Canada, without much money. I remember handmade gifts and handmade decorations; they meant so much because of the time put into them. I still have this doll that my mom made me in 1975, and I'm pretty sure she made the nightgown I'm wearing in this photo too.

One of my highlight memories of this house was the night we heard a wildcat screaming outside in the winter snow. It was real "Little House on the Prairie" stuff!

Happy Anniversary!

2011-12-16T09:06:00.002-05:00

Celebrating eleven years of marriage today with Mitch, who showed off his Brigadoon moves during our wedding. It's been a wonderful eleven years of happiness.

En plein air Florence

2011-12-13T00:11:00.003-05:00

I envied all the painters out and about Florence, painting en plein air.

Uffizi ceiling fresco

2011-12-07T13:12:00.003-05:00

Frescoed ceiling in the Uffizi art gallery in Florence, Italy. Really look at it...there's scenes within scenes.

Italian Men Have Confidence

2011-12-04T22:47:00.004-05:00

Italian men have confidence. That is why they can stand around in tights.

From our trip to Florence, Italy in October.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-01T22:34:00.008-05:00

The Sunday BEFORE Thanksgiving, Mitch and I ran the local 5K, which is something I have done for the past 3 years.

Then we went to Knoxville to meet up with the rest of the family. Here's my nephew eating cheesecake with a butter knife on turkey day.

My sister Sarah.

Thanksgiving afternoon we staged our own 5K, it was my fabulous sister-in-law Alayna's idea and here we are together before our "race". Mitch, Mom and Don went too.

Mom & me.

Here we are waiting in line for Isaac's turn to see Santa Claus. It's my sister Sarah, me, Alayna, Mitch, Isaac and my brother Elie.

The rest of the family drove 2 hrs round trip to hike in the mountains. Mitch and I stayed behind since we had a 6 hr. drive the next day. That didn't deter the others, who had 12 hr. drives the next day! Maybe I'm a wimp?

Waiting for Santa with Isaac and Alayna. I have the best sister-in-law ever.

Thanksgiving day with Mitch.

North Georgia Leaf Looking

2011-11-01T15:08:00.004-04:00

This weekend, Mitch and I were working on the Rabun county house. Sunday afternoon, Mitch suggested that we stop working on the house, drive into the mountains and have dinner at a restaurant! I was showered and ready in 15 minutes. Our favorite restaurant in Franklin, NC was closed, so we drove up to Highlands and had dinner at an excellent B&B restaurant.

This was the view from our entrance porch of our mountain house.

Here's the view from an overlook driving up Hwy 106 from Dillard, GA to Highlands, NC.

The B&B where we had dinner.

Florence Food...

2011-10-21T21:27:00.004-04:00

I lost weight in Italy while eating like this. There was a lot of walking.

Gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce.

The menu called this ravioli, and other restaurants called this shape tagliatelle (which seems to be flat like linguine if you look it up). This was "ravioli with butter and sage".

Pizza with zucchini flowers.

Gelato, the mass market kind. I didn't eat this, I ate the small batch "artignale" style. La-te-dah!

Grilled swordfish and veggies.

Pasta. There was lots of pasta, perfectly al dente every time.

Ooooh. My favorite. Vin santo and cantucci (biscotti). Vin santo is a delicious dessert wine that tastes a lot like brandy.

Mitch's truffle risotto...

Mushroom pasta.

Some Street Scenes in Florence, Italy

2011-10-20T10:38:00.005-04:00

In Florence, Everyone is in the Street

2011-10-19T09:58:00.003-04:00

In Florence, the streets are so narrow, you have no choice but to walk in the street. EVERYONE is in the street. The sidewalks are very uneven, only one person wide, and the buildings often have stone adornments sticking out at head level waiting to give you a good whack.

You walk in the street. With cars, buses, Vespas and cyclists. You take your life in your hands and pray. More incentive to be Catholic! And the bicyclists go in ANY direction, so you can get creamed on a one way street by a cyclist going the other direction.

A lot of the cyclists have bells on their bikes and are ringing them constantly. I'm surprised they have not invented one that rings by itself, powered by the pedaling.

These photos are rather tame. I couldn't get any in the exciting traffic, I was too busy saving my own life.

My Favorite Museum: The Bargello

2011-10-18T10:47:00.007-04:00

My favorite museum in Florence is the Bargello (the jail). The building used to be a jail, and they would paint the portraits of the inmates on the outside wall. Rivals of the Medici were hung to death out the windows. Pretty gruesome.

But today, it is an amazing sculpture museum and sculpture is my absolute favorite. I don't have many photos of it, because photography is not allowed inside.

This is the courtyard. The terracotta plaques are the crests of judicial bigwigs and other important people.

I was impressed by this giant metalwork oil lamp on the wall. Can you imagine that lit in medieval times, in the darkness?

Mitch is standing next to a fountain piece. At some point in time (I knew but now can't remember) the statues in this piece were separated and went in different directions. I'm betting during WWII. Now they have been reunited.

Neptune.

Snuck this photo. Supposedly it's Jesus giving a blessing.

One of the windows in the Bargello, looking out onto the street. Most of the museums there are not really climate controlled. While we were there, it was very hot. And the museum workers would be in there in full suits with scarves around their necks, in the heat! Looking chilled. Meanwhile the rest of us were sweating like dogs. When I saw this open window, I stood in front of it for a long time enjoying a breeze. Down below was a long, long line of Vespas in the street.

I envied an art class I saw (this is another snuck pic). This appeared to be the teacher. The students were spread out in the room, drawing statues with charcoal sticks. Some used real bird feathers to smudge their marks. I sat and watched them for awhile. I envied them because they got to sit there with the sculpture for long periods of time and that is what I wanted to do. I wanted to just sit there and absorb it all. There wasn't enough time! There is so much art in Florence...I could have just sat in this one room all day long.

Here I am with "Il Pescatore" by Vincenzo Gemito, 1877. Looking good before I got sick later in the trip!

Beer Outside the Walls

2011-10-17T10:16:00.006-04:00

One night we walked outside the San Frediano Gate and the remnant of the medieval city walls, to Florence's sole microbrewery. The gate was built between 1332 and 1334 and led to Pisa. The gate used to be higher, but was later cropped in order to make it less vulnerable to artillery attacks. You can see big metal rings along it, which were for tethering horses.

We sat outside the cafe', right at the gate, and sampled the beer. Later in our trip we told a local about it, who pretty rightly said that the beer there "tastes like piss".

Pretty much all the beer in Italy tastes like that. Stick to the wine.

But the walk in the dark along medieval streets and the river was fantastic.

Sidewalk Art

2011-10-16T09:36:00.005-04:00

Near the Mercato Nuovo in Florence, chalk artists reproduce masterpieces. Each night, the street cleaning trucks erase them.

Mitch Looking European in Firenze

2011-10-15T11:16:00.003-04:00

Don't Offend Your Sommelier!

2011-10-14T08:46:00.007-04:00

On our second day, we went to a wine tasting on this street in front of the Pitti Palace, at Gola Pitti e Cantina.

Our sommelier, and one of the enoteca owners, was Zeno. He is passionate about wine! I had read online a complaint about this place...some Americans had gone in there and only wanted food, no wine. Said they don't drink wine. They got kicked out and told not to go to a wine bar if they don't like wine! Zeno said he's the one who kicked them out.

Luckily, we do like wine. And Zeno knows his stuff. The shop carries only Tuscan wines, and only ones the owners drink themselves. I think our wine tasting was $30USD each, and it lasted 4.5 hrs and included 12 wines and cheese. We had a great time. Zeno showed us on a map where the wines came from, and showed a slide show of the vintners.

Our tasting was down in one of the cellars and a nice couple from San Diego was there too. We met a LOT of Californians in Florence.

We went back another day just to have a glass of wine. On that day, a couple came in and wanted wine in plastic glasses to drink in the square across the street. One of the other owners just looked at them dead-pan and said, "We don't serve wine over there." After they left, Zeno told us that wine in a plastic glass is a big offense.

So just don't do it! And NEVER mention box wine! I shudder. One of the wines we tried was hand numbered by the vintner. We had a great time at the wine tasting. All the wines were delicious and Zeno was informative and friendly. I would recommend it to anyone. But...respect the wine! Or else. :)

Some of It Feels Like a Dream

2011-10-13T08:58:00.003-04:00

At night the streets took on an eerie, dream-like quality. The streets are so narrow and dimly lit, the buildings towering with no space between. The crowds thin. Scowling statues look down on you from above with disapproval. You can really get a feel for the medieval quality of the city.

One of the traditions in Florence is to go to the Mercato Nuovo and rub the nose of this brass pig...either for luck, or to ensure a return trip to Florence. That's what we did one night...

While we were there we were accosted by a man...Mitch's Spanish is good enough that he was able to decipher that the fellow wanted to debate the existence of God in Italian.

The Mercato Nuovo looked and felt a lot different in the bright light of day the following morning.

Stupid Americans!

2011-10-12T10:44:00.006-04:00

Our first full day in Florence, we went to a locals' restaurant across the river in the locals' neighborhood, called the Oltrarno. We were the only non-Italians in the place. Right away, Mitch spilled water in a big flood all over our table and the floor, and then I went into the bathroom and set off a restaurant-wide emergency alarm that sounds like a fire alarm while trying to figure out how to flush the toilet. Toilet flushing in other countries is not as easy as you might think it is. They were all really gracious about it though. And nice.

Here we are eating fried zucchini flowers after "The Incident". Because you might as well laugh about it and carry on.

We even went back a second day. This time we stuck with wine and everything went smoothly.

More fried zucchini flowers...those things are GOOD!

Their pappa alla pomodoro was sooo good. The waiter shared the recipe with me, including their "secret". I tried this dish at two other restaurants and it was not nearly as good. It's got to be I'Brindellone's secret ingredient that makes the difference, and I know what it is! Uhhh...I ate it all. Sorry.

Here are the Italian workers at lunch who got blasted by the emergency alarm.

Mitch outside the restaurant.

I Was Escorted To Europe by President Carter and the Secret Service

2011-10-11T16:16:00.004-04:00

There we were, sitting in the plane in Atlanta waiting to pull off from the gate to fly to Amsterdam. Suddenly I heard a splattering of applause. Then others joined in. I wondered what was going on. I didn't have my glasses on but I could see a white haired man at the front of the plane, making his way along. I looked and squinted, and suddenly I saw who it was! I could not BELIEVE it! President Jimmy Carter and Secret Service! President Carter shook the hands of every single person on that plane. He made his way down one aisle and up the other. Didn't take very long, either.

I told him he is my hero, and Mitch had tears in his eyes and said, "Thanks for everything, Mr. President." Jimmy patted my shoulder and I wished my grandmother Dee had been there too to meet him.

A flight attendant told us we would not believe the number of Secret Service on that plane. And they brought a defibrillator on board with them.

After President Carter had moved on, Mitch remembered that Carter is the one who signed the bill legalizing home brewing!

Time Shifting

2011-09-30T06:07:00.002-04:00

The thing about time shifting (switching your sleep schedule to your destination time before departing) is, you can't just sit around and wait until everyone else wakes up to start doing things. If you did, you'd never get everything done that needs doing. Especially with a 6 hour time difference.

That means loading the dishwasher and making a pitcher of iced tea in the middle of the night while your husband is sleeping. It means shop vacuuming the basement before dawn. It also means the very real possibility of needing a second breakfast and a second pot of coffee.

At bedtime (while the sun is still shining), it means earplugs, an eyemask and gratefulness for blackout curtains.

Here's the song that was on my mind as I went to sleep yesterday and arose in the darkness.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarf

2011-09-27T07:51:00.004-04:00

I took this photo yesterday to text to my friend Beth Rene'. She gave me this scarf purchased this summer during her trip to Europe. She wore it in Paris, Strasbourg and Stuttgart. I look forward to wearing it in Florence and Siena!

I Don't Like Shopping

2011-09-26T08:53:00.003-04:00

This dog was feeling exactly the same way I was about a trip to the mall. At least he got to stay outside under a shade tree, sitting in a nice convertible! I had to laugh when I pulled up beside him and this is the look I got.

Fighting Jetlag in Advance

2011-09-20T07:08:00.004-04:00

At our house we are night owls. I already had a natural proclivity towards being a night owl, but Mitch is even worse and in recent times we have wound up staying awake until 2 and even 3 am! That's really not good for me, because when night falls, so does my energy and I don't get as much done in a day.

I'd been getting up with Mitch at 9 or 10 am. That's 4 in the afternoon in Florence, and I want to be in the museums EARLY to beat crowds.

The past few weeks I started adjusting my sleep times. The first week I bumped it by 2 hours, from 10 am to 8 am. I found that a 2 hour jump is really hard. One hour change is much easier (and this is borne out by a NASA study I read about).

Sunday I made it to 6 am. Still only noon in Florence, but I'm not done yet. Next week I'll be at 5 am. Later, I am going to try advice I read online and bump it one hour a night for the 3 days before leaving.

Mitch? He's still sleeping until 9 or 10!

Here's what it looked like in my yard at 6 am this morning.

I try to be quiet so I won't disturb Mitch's sleep (even though he woke me up twice crashing into things during the night last night). I've been journaling or drawing in the morning. I already used up a third of my travel journal with pre-trip journaling activities so I figured I'd better switch to a different journal before I have no room in my trip journal! I dug out my old leather journal and luckily there was a brand new blank book in it, thank you past-Me.

I photocopied some of the journaling exercises from the book, "Globejotting: How To Write Extraordinary Travel Journals" by Dave Fox and pasted them in. It's a VERY useful book, and funny too! I'm also really enjoying "Writing Away: A Creative Guide to Awakening the Journal-Writing Traveler" by Lavinia Spalding. Not only will trip journaling help me remember everything more vividly and bring lots of enjoyment, it will be a great souvenir.

Time for more coffee! It's only 7:30 and Mitch is still snoring.

Maps, Beautiful Maps!

2011-09-18T09:24:00.003-04:00

Last night I read a travel journal idea and put it into action this morning. Paste a map of where you are going into the front of your journal, and as you travel, mark where you have been. Oooh! I think I'll go paste a map of Siena, where we will have a day trip, into the back cover of my journal. I'm going to look for a small self-inking stamp in the shape of a star outline to mark on my maps.

Learning From Memories

2011-09-17T11:02:00.007-04:00

I'm drawing this well-known statue that is in the Boboli Gardens in Florence, for my first try at watercolor. As I was drawing, I remembered my maternal grandfather, Bud Cowart, drawing right on top of faces in magazines. I tried it with the statue photo and it really helps. It gets the shape into your hand, and increases understanding of proportion. I'm so glad I saw him doing that. He's been gone for many years, but I still remember.

Here's a portrait that he drew of a younger me. He was an awesome self-taught artist, and did a lot of portraits.

Here's a photo of Bud when he was younger. His eyes were blue. Looks like a good photo for me to do a portrait of him!

Finding Your Neighborhood Bar

2011-09-17T08:28:00.003-04:00

This morning I read a travel blog about a woman's solo trip to Italy. During the "pausa" or rest time in the afternoon, she would hang out in Italian bars to pass the time. In Italy, bars are not like bars in the States. They also have coffee and food, and are hangout places for everyone. People go to the bar for breakfast, and any other time of the day.

The travel blogger wrote about how someone advised her to find her "neighborhood bar" while she was on her trip. What a great idea! I hope to do that in Florence.

And I immediately knew where my neighborhood cafes are in San Francisco, after only one trip (in 2009). The first one is Boulangerie du Polk on Russian Hill, where I spent a wonderful morning with a cappuchino in a bowl and a croissant, people-watching. People even brought their dogs inside. I overheard a man behind me tell someone who had called his cell phone that he could not talk, he was eating breakfast! He quickly made arrangements to call back and HUNG UP! You don't see that very often...people enjoying their food and putting down the phone.

The stream of people into this Boulangerie testifies how good it is. It's at 2300 Polk on Russian Hill.

After I left Boulangerie du Polk, I spotted some of the wild parrots having their own breakfast.

I walked a lot of hills (naturally! It's San Francisco!) until I found my next cafe' in North Beach.

Caffe' Trieste. I LOVE THIS PLACE! It has coffee, sandwiches, pastries and who knows what-all. They play opera. Supposedly Coppola wrote part of The Godfather in here. Sitting down in close quarters, people on both sides of me talked to me! It was very convivial.

I didn't write a masterpiece in here, but I did knit part of a sock. On another day when I brought Mitch here, we didn't go in because of the long line to get in. North Beach was definitely my favorite neighborhood.

One of the photos I took near Caffe' Trieste.

Porch Sketch

2011-09-16T12:21:00.003-04:00

Short Phone Video of Where We Walked Last Weekend

2011-09-13T13:00:00.004-04:00

Last weekend Mitch and I went for a 3 mile stroll at the Rails to Trails walkway in Tallulah Falls, north Georgia. Here we are, and a short cell phone video of what we saw walking there along the Tallulah River.

I Know What I Am Doing The Rest Of This Week

2011-09-13T12:38:00.003-04:00

Today I went to a nearby park where I did my running training this past winter. It's finally cooled off enough that I will run outside again. Today I realized, it's cool enough to run, but still hot enough to swim! And all the kiddies are in school so it was pretty empty at the park's swimming beach.

I ran down the road next to the swimming beach...completely empty.

Over the dam and up the hill! I saw Bambi cross the road while I was running, wish I could have gotten a photo.

When I came back, a mom and daughter the same age as my mom and me had arrived. Daughter went running or walking with a bikini on under her exercise clothes and mom journaled. I'm bringing my bathing suit next time!

I went down to the lake to soak my feet. A guy about my dad's age appeared and started swimming laps with a Garmin. He had timed rest breaks. Just like me and running! I bet swim floats are on sale right now...I'm going to spend the rest of the week at the lake, running and then jumping in. It's finally time for *my* summer.

Fun With Travel Journaling

2011-09-11T11:24:00.007-04:00

Looking forward to my trip to Florence, Italy by starting to sketch in my travel journal. I plan to hike up both this Duomo and the Campanile (Giotto's Tower). The dome is 330 feet high and the tower is 270 feet high. According to an online converter I found, that means the dome is 30 stories high and the tower is 24 stories! There are NO elevators. YES, I have been exercising in advance. I wonder if there are t-shirts that say, "I survived Brunelleschi's Dome"?

Starting to Sketch in My Travel Journal

2011-09-10T12:04:00.012-04:00

Today I started my first sketch inside my travel journal. I'm thinking I may have to work a lot from my own photographs during the trip, because I'm not fast enough yet to sketch on the go. Hopefully with practice, I will be. This sketch is working from a photo I found online.

I remember when I first started knitting. There was a lot to remember, and a lot I didn't understand. It took a lot of time and concentration at first. Learning to sketch feels like that, and just like when I was learning to knit, I have to do it in small doses. Thank goodness, I did learn how to knit (and crochet), so I am resisting the impulse to give up on drawing. Learning to knit is one of the best things I ever learned. I'm hoping drawing will be, too. And after that, watercolor!

Still Practicing

2011-09-06T22:19:00.003-04:00

I'm still working on the exercises from the book, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". My mom creates watercolor postcards sometimes when she travels, and I hope to follow suit.

Pistachio Gelato Shawl

2011-09-06T19:34:00.004-04:00

Finished knitting my shawl that I plan on wearing during our trip to Florence, Italy. I'm calling it the Pistachio Gelato Shawl, and I plan on eating a scoop while I am there!

Jet Lagging Myself In Advance & Travel Journaling

2011-09-05T09:34:00.004-04:00

Ugh! Not feeling my best because I am adjusting my sleep schedule prior to our Italy trip. We are already night people, so just switching to morning is hard enough without a 6 hour time difference to Europe. I've gotten up when I planned to for the past 3 days, but last night I was still up late. Mitch isn't trying to switch his sleep schedule so that makes it harder. Usually we are up until around 2 AM and sleep until 10 AM. I'm now getting up at 7:45 and I plan on bumping it to 7 next week, then 6 and so on. I'd rather feel tired and grumpy at home than on my trip.

I've already started my travel journal. I'm using ideas from Dave Fox's book, "Globejotting". I also have seen Italian art shows here in the States. Earlier in the year I saw a fantastic exhibition of Venetian paintings by Titian and others at the High museum in Atlanta. I saw a Vatican exhibit in Ft. Lauderdale. But best of all was an exhibit of watercolor block prints by Salvadore Dali, who illustrated Dante's "Divine Comedy". Mitch and I saw that one with our friends Beth Rene' and Hajro, right here in Athens! FOR FREE at the Georgia Museum! Mitch and I went back a second time too.

Beth Rene', Hajro and Mitch checking out the levels of Dante's Hell.

One of the journaling exercises from Globejotting is to come up with daily themes for your writing, rather than just a blow-by-blow account of what you are doing. I think it's a good idea, and will help with photography too. So far I have brainstormed 67 theme ideas. More than I need!

Here's a sample:

Relics (we're going to see St. Catherine's actual shrunken head in Siena, and Galileo's middle finger in his Florence museum...pointing towards Rome)

Counting the Davids (there's a lot of David reproductions and kitsch

Climbing towers and domes

Food and Drink

Riding a bus through Tuscany

Martyrs and Legends

Things Seen Above (there's statues, family crests and more up high on the walls)

La passeggiata (custom of evening walks to see and be seen

Famous Artists and Sidewalk Artists

Nuns

People in Uniform

Sunrises and Sunsets

Lovers

Bridges

Even with this sample list, I have more themes than trip days! Here's a photo of that famous bridge, the Ponte Vecchio. I can't wait to see it in person.

Learning to Draw

2011-09-03T11:23:00.002-04:00

When my mom travels, sometimes she will paint watercolor postcards of where she is and send them to us. I love receiving a mini painting and it seems like a really fun way to experience where you are while traveling...I'd like to be able to do it too.

To that end, I have been working with the exercises in "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". I used this book 20 years or so ago and got good results, but did not keep up with it.

In more recent years, I have taught myself to knit and crochet. Previously knitting seemed completely mysterious and out of reach. But I learned through practice how to do it and now I can knit and read a book at the same time! (Book held in a cookbook holder.)

Hopefully practice will allow me to create travel sketches. I sure hope so!

Here is a "Before" drawing of my hand that I did recently, followed by one that I did after only a few exercises from the book (and only 5 exercise drawings between the two). I have a long way to go but I am thrilled with the obvious progress in only a short time.

I Like My Town

2011-08-31T20:34:00.002-04:00

I like my town. Here's where I get my hair cut, on the third floor with no elevator. And before I went in today, a man with no arms and one hook used my cell phone to call his ride. He paints UGA Dawg portraits while standing on the corner. It's almost like being home in New Orleans.

Where I Was Tonight

2011-08-30T21:02:00.002-04:00

Went with a knitter friend to hang out at the local yarn shop tonight. Ran into a crochet friend there too. It was a lot of fun. Here's what our yarn shop looks like.

I was excited to hear that our crochet friend won a shawl design contest held by a yarn supplier. Her prize? FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH OF YARN! That's a lot of yarn!

2 minute video from my birthday trip in March

2011-08-21T21:07:00.002-04:00

Museum Passes

2011-08-18T12:04:00.003-04:00

I always research our vacations way ahead of time, and it has resulted in better trips.

For Italy, I found out that the Uffizi museum has a Friends of the Uffizi membership that gives entry to many of the museums there. Best of all, it allows you to jump the line and walk past all the tourists who just show up with no ticket or reservation. WOOT! And, it gives multiple re-entry! I love that because there is only so much museum I can take at one time. This way, we can take a lunch break and then go back in if we want to.

The museum mailed the passes to me, and the envelope was plastered with beautiful stamps. Here's a photo:

My Nephew's 2nd Birthday!

2011-08-11T15:35:00.006-04:00

Went to Knoxville last weekend for my nephew Isaac's second birthday. Before the trip, I got a new haircut:

Mitch and I drove the truck, so we could bring Isaac a sandbox and 150 lbs of sand...

His maternal grandfather gave him this awesome motorbike and a Spiderman helmet...

Don and Elie...they sure look alike!

Mitch, Don and Mom having a great time in Knoxville!

Isaac's maternal grandmother, his mom Alayna and my bro Elie.

Isaac laughing with his mom.

Isaac with his maternal grandparents.

Family Reunion in Oklahoma

2011-07-28T11:47:00.006-04:00

We attended Mitch's family reunion in Oklahoma this week. It was centered on his cousins' houseboat on a lake, and except for sleeping we were outside the whole time. In 110 degree weather! Thankfully we were under shade and it was very dry, so the mister and fan really helped, and of course we spent a lot of time in the lake.

John, Jimmy, Rhonda, me and Mitch:

Our captain, Phil, taking us out on a sunset cruise on his double decker houseboat:

Rhonda, me and Mitch sitting in front of the mister and fan:

Tucker Tower, built by the WPA as a governor's retreat:

Riding along on our sunset cruise:

Cousin Linda, boat's first mate!

In-laws in the lake!

Mitch cartwheeling off the boat:

Cousin Gloria enjoying the cruise:

Goodbye, Oklahoma! We had a fantastic time.

Sea Kayaking 2010

2011-06-23T20:36:00.005-04:00

Finally got film developed from when we went sea kayaking for my birthday last year, March 2010. These were taken with one of those disposable cameras in the plastic case (so they aren't that great in quality, but the scenery is amazing).

Here is what we were swimming in, a saltwater pool next to open ocean.

Windy!

Paddle, Mitch!

We paddled to these islands off O'ahu.

That's O'ahu, where we started from.

World Wide Knit In Public Day plus Roller Derby!

2011-06-13T14:46:00.006-04:00

Saturday was World Wide Knit In Public Day, so we did! We met at Trappeze in downtown Athens and had a great time.

Textilis, Lindsey and Anita...

Lindsey, Anita and Trisha...

Me, Textilis, Lindsey, Anita and Trisha...(Mitch is taking the picture)

Joan and Textilis...

After knitting it was on to roller derby! Mitch and I sweltering in the heat. It was VERY hot in there.

Skaters are a blur...

Derby girl Moral D. Lemma and derby sponsor and friend, Janet.

Chris declares his derby allegiance with a Crescent City Rollergirls tank.

Mitch got us these coozies at the derby. :)

In My Garden Today

2011-05-25T17:32:00.003-04:00

On my zucchini plant!

Half Marathon Re-Cap

2011-05-21T18:28:00.009-04:00

Just realized I forgot to blog pictures from my half marathon race in New Orleans! A half marathon is 13.1 miles.

My online Weight Watchers friend, Trecia, and I met for the very first time in person for the race. We've been online friends for 5-6 years and it was great to finally meet in person.

At the Expo, she was thrilled to meet Dan from The Biggest Loser television show.

And I was thrilled to meet John "The Penguin" Bingham, one of my heroes. He writes running books and inspirational articles, mostly for those of us at the back of the pack.

My husband and I showed Trecia around the French Quarter...

We had a carriage ride....

That's Mitch wearing a pirate skull hat I knitted for him...

I also got to meet another online fitness friend, Mary Ellen for the first time. She runs A LOT of races. I believe she was working on running 6 half marathons in 6 months.

We were freezing our TAILS off at the start. Would have liked to have coats on, but we knew we'd get hot once we started running.

My family met us several times along the route. That's my sister in costume with a sign she made specially for me, for the race. (Costume...Mardi Gras Half Marathon.)

There's my (step)Dad meeting me at the finish line.

Coming in to the finish line...

This is one of the cheer squads along the route. They were all dressed like the rock band KISS. It really cheered me up!

Crossed the finish line!

Trecia and I after the race, with our medals.

My finisher's medal.

It was great to have family support out there. There's my mom, my sister, me and Mitch.

With Don...

On the drive home the next day (Valentine's Day!), Mitch and I took a detour and drove along the Gulf Coast beaches for awhile, with the sunroof open and Jimmy Buffett on the stereo. It was a perfect ending to a fun adventure.

Peruvian Music

2011-05-21T01:09:00.008-04:00

Spent a wonderful evening listening to Peruvian music with Mitch and our friend Janet. It was in a restaurant, and there weren't very many people there. Everyone else was Peruvian and it had a real house party vibe. Lots of audience participation...people sang out loudly, clapped, yelled comments and encouragement, and danced. The owner came over and took our photo for his website so I asked him to take a picture with my camera phone. We had a great time!

In 2007 at this same restaurant, a Peruvian strolled by with this hairless Peruvian dog. The owner told us that this breed dates back to the Incas. Yes, it's an ugly dog. But it's personality was beautiful! It was so friendly, a wonderful dog.

Here's the band we saw, Apu Inka. Click for their website to hear some really nice samples of their music.

The Garden

2011-04-26T19:56:00.003-04:00

My 4x4 "Square Foot Garden" at the city house is coming along really well! No one has ever been as excited about a baby bell pepper as me.

The collards are going gangbusters too.

And there are strawberries developing!

The other plants so far are tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, brussels sprouts, arugula, mesclun salad greens and okra. Gotta have okra. This is the South.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T19:34:00.006-04:00

Easter weekend we worked on the renovation of our mountain house.

We drove up in the dark...one time a bear walked right up this ramp to our house.

Our first job was clearing out the screened porch where we had stashed a lot of stuff. Mitch power washed the outside table and chairs.

Taking stuff out and sorting what is to keep and what is to go to the dump. There's no trash pickup in this neck of the woods!

Got an industrial wring mop bucket and large janitor-style string mop for me to mop this large porch.

Truck loaded for the dump. Mitch said he felt like the Beverly Hillbillies. We threw away a lot of stuff from inside the house, too.

Our "front yard" at the mountain house.

What I've Been Up To This Week

2011-04-22T11:16:00.011-04:00

I've been making out-of-this-world-good bread from Peter Reinhart's book, "Artisan Breads Every Day."

Ciabatta bread dough...

Ciabatta...

More ciabatta...

BAGELS!

That's right, homemade bagels. And they are awesome.

Struan bread.

Mitch gave the Struan bread accolades. He said it makes "really, really good garlic bread." "Really" times TWO!

We created a raised garden bed and last night assembled a frame to make a trellis for the climbing plants to climb on. Zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers...

I have been having loads of fun watching the birds at the feeder.

And the gorgeous flowers in the yard...

I have been having fun making fresh sprouts myself. This is a sprouted lentil salad with fresh mango slices.

Self-portrait.

2011-04-20T15:51:00.000-04:00

Ft. Lauderdale Vacation!

2011-04-10T00:07:00.011-04:00

Finally! Posting these photos for Aunt Marty! Hope you enjoy them.

Mitch brought me to Ft. Lauderdale for my birthday. He is the best husband EVER! :)

At breakfast on the beach...

Fish sculpture on top of Bonnet House, a fascinating 35 acre parcel of land with house and gardens at Ft. Lauderdale beach, that retains it's original landscape. It's surrounded by concrete and high rises. But here on the grounds, monkeys live loose!

View from our hotel at night. Hotel was surrounded on three sides by water and boat moorings.

Below is Hollywood Beach. I took this photo while walking there with some friends after lunch.

We took a boat tour on the Carrie B and saw some millionaire-billionaire homes...here are some of them.

Mitch driving along A1A in the convertible!

This is as close as I'll ever get to Jimmy Buffett...

As soon as we got off the plane I took Mitch to this restaurant where he was getting some last minute work done on his computer. He said this is the best office ever and he's never going back. :)

On the beach!

Half Marathon Race Course Preview

2011-02-08T14:43:00.003-05:00

The race company put up a vido of the half marathon course I'll be running on Sunday. Really UGLY start along Tchoupitoulas, UGH. But then we tour the Garden District (I swear, it seems like we circle my mom's house a few times), then down St. Charles to the Quarter, and down Esplanade to City Park.

I wish someone would hand me a cup of coffee outside of Cafe du Monde and then again outside of CC's on Esplanade! Or that I could get a go cup Monsoon from Port O Call and dump it in my waist Camelbak. :)

IF THE EMBEDDED CODE WON'T WORK, go to THIS LINK:
http://bcove.me/l49unrpd

I AM BACK! One half marathon coming up.

2011-02-01T00:03:00.002-05:00

When my health problems got bad, I thought my relationship with this bracelet was over. I buy charms for the races I run. Since I did a 14 miler on Saturday in preparation for an upcoming half marathon, I am calling it! I AM BACK and I am wearing my bracelet!

Charms L to R:
Oil derrick, 10K in Bakersfield, California where there's a ton of oil drilling. I was last. The race director came out looking for me. :)

Pelican: 2 miler in Kenner, La with my sister.

"No More Excuses": Crescent City Classic 10K in New Orleans with my mom and a friend.

Santa: my new Christmas tradition, an Athens 5K.

Mardi Gras mask symbolizing NOLA races.

Turkey: my now annual turkey trot 5K in Athens.

26.2 self explanatory. New Orleans marathon.

Penguin: For John "The Penguin" Bingham, because I am SLOW.

Georgia peach: my first Georgia race, 5K along Lake Rabun.

13.1 New Orleans half marathon.

Weekend Update

2011-01-28T10:47:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, we went to Charlottesville, VA for a yoga class with Canadian teacher Eoin Finn.

The first thing we did was buy these Sesame Street hats! Mitch is Bert and I am Ernie. LOTS of people talked to us because of these hats. It was fun. One lady even stopped us and took our picture. Who knows where that will wind up. She said she had just been talking with her friend about how in every relationship, there has to be a Bert and there has to be an Ernie, and then there we were, strolling along. Ha!

Class was wonderful. We are in the back row on the right.

My mom texted me this photo from New Orleans, she says these signs are everywhere. Almost time to run the half-marathon! I am looking forward to it. I have a 14 mile run/walk scheduled for this weekend, 5 miles the following weekend, then the race (with short midweek runs).

12.5 miles on Sunday

2011-01-19T00:10:00.004-05:00

I ran/walked 12.5 miles on Sunday, here is some of what I saw. Even though there was snow on the ground, the weather cooperated with me. Temps were in the 50s the entire time, warm enough to wear a tank top.

I should add this song to my running playlist..."come from the land of the ice and snow".

Running, running, running...

2011-01-04T21:32:00.016-05:00

Half marathon training continues!

I have developed a new winter running regimen. Every 3 miles, I stop and have a steaming hot cup of cafe' au lait and a snack. It's only civilized!

I also decided that now that the miles are longer, I'll take a page out of backpacker lore. While I'm having my cafe au lait, I also put on a fresh, dry pair of socks. This past Sunday I did eleven miles and did not get any blisters.

I may be a lot slower than most, but I finish strong with a smile.

After 11 miles, a final cafe' au lait break...

My favorite song when the miles get hard is by the Black Eyed Peas:

Between miles 10 and 11, all I could think of was this cartoon...

My new running partner, Frosty...

Mitch and I at a 5k Thanksgiving race.

Isaac's First Snow!

2010-12-13T10:57:00.001-05:00

I Love You Mommy

2010-12-06T16:14:00.003-05:00

This is what you get when you have your camera set to continuous shoot and nephew gives Mama a kiss! Thanksgiving 2010.

Who is this man? MOMMY!

2010-12-05T11:23:00.004-05:00

This is my nephew Isaac, in Knoxville over Thanksgiving. You can almost hear him, can't you?

Costa Rica

2010-11-13T07:53:00.004-05:00

Last week we were in Costa Rica for a continuing education conference for Mitch.

I have a travel tradition of seeking out new foods to try. The stranger, the better. This time it was two fruits.

This one is a lychee and despite what you think of its appearance, it's DELICIOUS. The inside white flesh is like a big grape with a large seed inside.

This one is good too, a type of passionfruit. But it's a lot of work for little return. Like eating a pomengranate. Both these fruits were sweet.

We went on a riverboat ride (Oh, Kate Hepburn!) and I was able to get some pictures of white faced monkeys.

Capuchin monkey (a.k.a. "white faced" monkey).

At the resort... I'll post more photos of the trip later.

Half Marathon Training

2010-10-31T21:10:00.005-04:00

I was out trail running today as part of my half-marathon training. Today's goal was 5 miles. I had a great time. Beautiful weather and scenery, and felt strong.

Then I got to my car and found that my phone had slipped out of my waist pack! I went home and got Mitch so we could use his phone to look for it. After an additional 1.25 miles (total of 6.25 for today) I gave up. There was no way I was going to do 10 miles today to find it.

The phone was 5 years old, ancient in cell phone land. Mitch suggested that we get it deactivated immediately so no one could rack up bills on it. We did that and got a new one. Of course, by the time we got home from doing that and having dinner, the park called and someone had turned it in. And now I'm trying to figure out this fancy new phone. It would cost more to return it and pay their restocking fee than to keep it! Stupid AT&T.

The new phone has features like apps...GPS navigation and finding things like restaurants. I wonder if that feature incurs more charges? They don't even tell you! It's just on there.

Here I am at 4 miles, feeling good and not knowing that my phone is gone.

Beautiful scenery.

Ruin of a stone house in the woods along the trail.

Winter is coming...

2010-10-17T22:18:00.005-04:00

and I'm getting ready for colder temperatures!

Just finished my first fingerless mitt. My first cables, and my first thumb. I'm pleased. Now to make the second one! I started these quite awhile ago to go with a headband I knitted, but I put the first one aside, not liking it. After a long period of time, I pulled it out again and suddenly loved it.

Free pattern, "Dashing".

This is the headband to go with... Free pattern, "Calorimetry".

Falling in Love with Cables

2010-10-12T11:22:00.004-04:00

I started these cabled fingerless mitts last year. For some reason, I didn't like the cables. I thought they were all wrong (it was my first attempt at cabling). I wanted to rip them out and start over. Instead, I stuffed them in a bag and let them sit for a year. :) Just took them out and started working on them again, and I am in love!

Free pattern, "Dashing" from knitty.

Mitch's Birthday Hike and Highlands lunch

2010-10-09T23:37:00.006-04:00

Went on a nice hike today to celebrate Mitch's birthday (which was Thursday).

At the overlook driving from Dillard, GA up towards Highlands, NC.

Still at the overlook...

Mitch at the coffee shop in Highlands...

We had a very nice lunch in Highlands at an Inn, and the owner's dog used Jedi mind tricks on us in an attempt to get food.

We hiked up Rabun Bald...a 2 mile steep ascent. At the top, we were HOT!

Feeling happy because the next 2 miles will be downhill!

Small waterfall we saw on a different trail.

O Happy Day!

2010-10-07T11:37:00.003-04:00

Today is Mitch's birthday! Happy, happy, happy!

And last night I finally finished this shawlette from yarn I purchased in San Francisco. It's nice to buy souvenir yarn and make something that reminds you of the trip.

And, I won a drawing for a free Namaste knitting bag, and this is the one I chose. It's huge. More of a satchel.

Trip to Deer Isle, Maine

2010-09-28T11:04:00.008-04:00

Just returned from visiting Marty and Grace in Maine. We had a great time and Marty and Grace were wonderful hostesses! We had many wonderful conversations, worked on crosswords, had great seafood and Mitch played the ukelele.

Marty gave me the incredible gift of this afghan, knitted by her aunt Ned. My great, great aunt.

I bought this hand dyed yarn in nearby Blue Hill, and plan on designing a shawl using the afghan as inspiration.

Grace and Marty.

View from breakfast table at the Pilgrim's Inn where we stayed.

Twilight outside our room.

Morning lighthouse view on the island.

Evening view outside the Inn.

The girls!

Stonington is a working lobster village.

The town of Stonington.

Clam digger in the morning outside our room...

Mitch in the wilds of Maine.

Savannah Craft Brew Festival

2010-09-07T11:39:00.004-04:00

Spent Labor Day weekend in Savannah for the Savannah Craft Brew Festival. Fun!

Riding the free water taxi from Savannah's River St. across the river to the convention center where the event was held...here's the view of Savannah from the boat. See the gold domed building?

Mitch and another home brewer need a refill...

View of Tybee Island from the pier...

Had lunch with Darrell on Tybee...

What Do You Do All Day?

2010-08-18T11:10:00.004-04:00

For 18 years I worked as a therapist/social worker, with some of the most difficult populations. Family therapy with Child Protection and Juvenile Justice cases. Inpatient treatment for kids with mental and behavior disorders. Inpatient drug rehab. Domestic violence shelters.

Now I am in the terrific position of no longer needing paid employment. This brings up a lot of ideas in people's heads.

The main idea that people have is that I either do nothing all day, or that I must be bored.

The second idea is that I did a good job snaring a man, because my husband pays the bills. This one is pretty offensive since it implies that I must be some kind of gold digging schemer with no real instrinsic worth other than pleasing a man. And we all know how THAT is done. Not to dog on myself or anything, but I doubt I'm that good. And arm candy I am not.

This weekend at a family gathering, the tired question came up again. "What do you do all day?" One relative thought that I spend all day exercising. Uh, no. I exercise 45 min to an hour, 5-6 days a week. That's it. I saw that another relative blogged about me (seriously, do you have nothing better to do than blog about what you think my life is like?)...he thinks that I knit all day and dream of vacationing in Hawaii.

Now it's true, I do knit and I do plan vacations. But it doesn't take all day. BTW I taught myself to knit and crochet all by myself, from books. Learning new things IS one of the things I do all day.

At parties, people love to ask "What do you do?". I have been struck by how people judge me now that I don't have a job...I get treated very differently now than when I had that nice job title that I gained from getting multiple college degrees.

I think a way better question than what I do all day is what I DON'T DO. That is much more interesting to me. More illustrative. So here goes:

WHAT I DON'T DO ALL DAY

1. I don't startle awake to a clock alarm
2. I don't have to rush to get ready in the morning, and I am never late
3. I don't eat in the car
4. I don't sit in traffic
5. I don't pay for parking
6. I don't have to kiss a boss' ass
7. I don't have to play office politics
8. I don't sit in staff meetings (and people think I'm bored AT HOME?! LOL)
9. I don't have to listen to office gossip
10. I don't skip lunch or eat at a desk
11. I don't eat fast food
12. I don't wear heels...ever
13. I don't wear pantyhose
14. I don't wear any business attire
15. Half the time I'm not wearing a bra either
16. I don't have to act nice to people I don't like
17. I don't do boring paperwork
18. I don't work overtime
19. I don't worry about being fired
20. I don't have to do some stupid procedure just because some clueless manager thinks I should
21. I don't have to cover for anyone else's shift
22. I don't have to request for time off and hope it gets approved
23. I don't have to miss important family events because of a job
24. I don't spend more time with coworkers than I do with loved ones
25. I don't work 12 hour days and rarely see my spouse
26. I don't work when I'm sick
27. Hell, I don't get sick as much as most people, because I don't go to an office with sick coworkers
28. I don't have performance reviews which are really popularity and kiss ass contests
29. I don't have to justify myself about anything
30. I don't drink caffeine all day...instead, I get enough sleep and rest
31. I don't know more about coworkers or clients' lives than I do about the person I live with
32. I never look at my husband and think I'm living with a stranger
33. I no longer drive down the highway thinking, "I could just keep driving and not return..."
34. I don't pick up fast food for my family's dinner
35. I don't have to come home and work a "second shift"
36. I don't get my identity from a job title
37. I don't have to try and get anyone to do anything
38. I don't get reprimanded
39. I don't reprimand anyone
40. I don't keep records of what I've done because I don't have to prove anything to anyone
41. I don't save emails from people to prove what conversations we've had
42. I don't have to pretend
43. I don't get sexually harrassed by coworkers or clients anymore
44. I don't get assaulted by clients anymore
45. I no longer have to actually run away from a client as fast as I can
46. I don't go to the homes of people who are threatening to murder someone anymore
48. I no longer have to have anyone involuntarily committed
49. I don't chart sessions anymore and that is GREAT
50. I don't have to listen to detailed stories of abuse and trauma anymore
51. I don't see people cry on a regular basis
52. I don't have to keep tissues at the ready
53. I don't get told by managers that 15 minutes is the maximum length of a therapy session
54. I don't have to chase down families who don't show up for their appointments, because of not getting paid if they don't show up; and they don't show up because they are court ordered and don't want to be there in the first place
55. I don't have to testify in court!
56. I don't have to have police protection to do certain parts of a job
57. I don't have to be careful of what jewelry and clothing I wear due to safety concerns (jewelry can be grabbed and pulled when you are assaulted, and certain outfits are not conducive to rolling around on the floor or running away, all of which I have done)
58. I no longer have to physically restrain anyone!
59. I don't have to go to in-service trainings on how to physically restrain someone
60. I don't work anywhere where co-workers work in pairs in order to prevent accusations of abuse
61. I don't live in a hotel room because of business travel
62. I don't spend the weekend doing laundry and chores
63. I don't wake up tired in the morning or wondering how I am going to do it all again
64. I don't rush to do anything
65. I don't get URLs blocked at work because people in jobs are surfing the Web instead of working...and you wonder what *I* do all day or if I'm bored?!

Definitely there are more things I don't do, but whew! 65 is enough for now. I have to get off of here and go make lunch, because one thing I do? I have lunch every single day with my best friend...my husband.

Happy First Birthday Isaac!

2010-08-17T20:39:00.004-04:00

Wonderful Lamp

2010-06-27T18:03:00.000-04:00

Totally awesome palm tree lamp that I found today at Agora.

Daddy's Helper

2010-06-14T21:09:00.001-04:00

My nephew, Isaac, is daddy's helper!

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T12:29:00.009-04:00

Today I am remembering some of the servicemen that were members of my family. I have sponsored USO care packages in all their names. For $25, the USO will send a package worth $75 to a deployed service member. Would you like to send one? Go here: USO GIFT PACKAGE

I am also thinking about our service members who are currently deployed. A moving news article that should give anyone insight and empathy into their situation is here: Battalion Among Hardest Hit In Afghanistan.

First, Second Lieutenant Donald Hoffman, Army. He's the tall man with the cowboy hat in the middle. He is my (step)Dad's father, and he died in 1944 during WWII helping to liberate Holland and was buried in Martgraten, the Netherlands. My Dad was only 6 weeks old when his father was killed. It was one of the coldest winters in memory, said to be like a Siberian winter. The town of Margraten has a wonderful tradition. ALL of the graves are adopted by locals, who stand in for the US families who are too far away to visit. They view the service members as heroes and honor them. This weekend I was able to find out who cares for Donald's grave...they even have the same last name but are no relation.

8,301 people are buried here. There are 40 sets of brothers lying side by side, and a set of twins. Four women, and six Medal of Honor recipients, among many others. A website about the cemetery says: "Most of them gave their lives in the airborne and ground operations to liberate eastern Holland, during advances into Germany over the Roer and across the Rhine and in air operations over these regions."

My maternal grandfather, Durward "Buddy" Cowart served in WWII in China with the Flying Tigers as a code breaker. One of the codes he worked on resulted in an entire ship of men being sunk. That bothered him greatly. He valued life. He was also dismayed by a visit to India where he encountered a society that shunned a group of people as "untouchables".

My (step)Dad's stepdad, James "J.D." Somers flew C-47s over The Hump. He was a Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. The story of The Hump is very interesting. Click to read about it. They flew transport aircraft over the Himalayas when the land route was taken away. It was extremely dangerous and they had no reliable charts, no radio navigation aids, or weather info.

My father-in-law, Randy Harris, flew with a bomber crew. On one mission, the bomb did not deploy and was hung up in the bay. Randy crawled out into the open door bay, way above the earth, and kicked it out with his feet. From what I understand, it would have been beyond dangerous for them to have tried to land with it.

A couple extras...

2010-04-19T13:05:00.003-04:00

Click on this photo to enlarge and see why I am coughing and hiding out indoors. POLLEN!

And here is a closeup I took of Isaac during our Easter visit. LOL! He has water coming out everywhere.

Easter with the Family

2010-04-19T12:40:00.005-04:00

We had a nice visit in Knoxville for Easter, although we missed Sarah, who had to stay home and work.

Proud grandparents, Lee and Don.

My sister-in-law Alayna, with Isaac and the Easter bunny.

With a different Easter bunny...

My brother and awesome dad, Elie, with Isaac.

Himself.

Horsing around.

Me at the river.

Lee at the river.

Grandpop and Isaac. They definitely look related!

Awww....

Mama Lee and Isaac.

It's fun being an aunt.

Scenes from Maui

2010-04-13T16:57:00.002-04:00

More photos from Maui!

We drove up Mt. Haleakala (a volcanic crater which is TEN THOUSAND FEET!) in this Jeep. Those clouds are there because that's just air on the side of the road...air, drop-off, and no guard rail. The road was narrow, winding and scary, with insane tourists zipping around on it at top speed. I wonder how many tourists die each year on Maui in car accidents. I Googled my question but all I got was a long list of Maui personal injury lawyers.

We didn't get to see much of the crater because it was socked in all day by the clouds. What we did see, looked like a moonscape.

Silversword plant on Haleakala.

These next photos are nowhere near Haleakala. These are from the road to Hana, the wet side of the island.

Flower in the Garden of Eden:

Saw some snails at Ke'anae Pennisula. They are HUGE. Plants that are small houseplants on the mainland are as big as trees in Hawaii, too.

More Maui photos

2010-04-08T22:35:00.004-04:00

A Jackson's Chameleon that we saw lounging about Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm.

Saw these gliders above the lavender farm.

Mitch enjoys the Garden of Eden on the road to Hana.

Rainbow seen from the water off Ma'alaea.

Mitch at Kapalua Beach. Guide book said to go there, but it was full of tourists and signs saying "Keep Out" for the adjoining resorts. Bah. We didn't stay long.

O'ahu

2010-04-07T12:34:00.005-04:00

This top photo is from our hotel room on Maui, but the rest are from Waikiki.

Mitch with his friend Chuck and Chuck's girlfriend, Sherry.

Me on our hotel balcony on Waikiki beach.

Regatta sailing by in front of Waikiki beach, with surfers in the foreground. **IT'S WORTH IT to click on the regatta photos to enlarge if you are viewing this online.**

Road to Hana

2010-03-30T16:42:00.006-04:00

Scenes from the road to Hana on Maui. Weather: rainy and chill.

I took this photo from inside a lava tube at Black Sand Beach at Waianapanapa State Park.

Black Sand Beach at Waianapanapa State Park.

Falls right on the side of the road going to Hana.

Puohoakamoa Falls as seen from the Garden of Eden.

Ke'anae Pennisula...note house on the right.

Past Hana, the road on the backside travels through desolate and dry territory along the back of Mt. Haleakala.

Come Sail Away

2010-03-30T13:37:00.008-04:00

We went on a sunset reggae cruise with Maui singer Marty Dread, off Maui. He's one of my favorite reggae singers. We saw whales, and dolphins surrounded the boat and leaped into the air at the prow several times.

At boarding with Marty Dread (http://www.martydread.com/).

Under sail with a rainbow behind us...

Rainbow on the right...

Whale!

Closeup of whale tail...click to enlarge. You can see nicks in the tail, especially on the left.

Original view of tail's rise...

Close up view...

Slippah Luggage Tag

2010-03-15T23:07:00.001-04:00

Just finished making this slippah (flip flop) luggage tag for Mitch's suitcase, so we can find it on the luggage carousel when we travel.

Ravelympics/Knitting Olympics

2010-02-28T13:04:00.006-05:00

With each Olympics, knitters all over the globe set challenge projects for themselves and try to finish before the Olympic flame goes out. For this winter Olympics, I decided to finish a sweater that had been languishing. It only had 4.5 inches done and had been lying around in my knitting bag.

When the flame was lit, I got busy! And finished one day before the Games were over.

Here's what I started with:

Completed lace sweater!

During the Beijing Summer Olympics, I made this lace shawl from start to finish. All I did was knit all day, every day. Whew!

Valentine's Day in Athens, GA

2010-02-20T10:30:00.005-05:00

Woke up to snow on Valentine's Day. It melted off during the day though and was gone by the next day.

Winter Olympics

2010-02-13T01:53:00.001-05:00

This is what my yard looked like tonight during the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics. Except my yard is in Athens, GA, USA.

Super Bowl King Cake

2010-02-09T15:33:00.003-05:00

I made King Cake for the first time in honor of the Super Bowl. It was so extremely delicious, I plan on making it for Christmas from now on. Mitch's pastry chef cousin suggested decorating it like a holiday wreath...great idea!

Mitch tries his first King Cake and likes it!

King cakes in process...I made one filled with cream cheese and apricot...

And I made one plain and braided.

Super Bowl: WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

2010-02-09T15:15:00.006-05:00

Still thrilled by the Saints Super Bowl victory! WHO DAT! We had a Super Bowl gathering at our house in Georgia, but were in close contact with family in New Orleans.

Random guy my parents photographed during breakfast at Commander's Palace. I think he was still honoring Buddy D.

My Dad with a Black and Gold mustache, just like his dad used to do...

Aunt Kathy (Don's sister). She flew into NOLA from CO. I should have done that too.

Moi. I like Sir Saint.

Friend, at our house, Janet.

Mitch samples the game day holy water.

Friend Chris, known since childhood days at The Mountain.

My brother, Elie, in Knoxville, also painted Black and Gold.

New Orleans family on Don's side, he's sitting down in the middle with the black shirt and beard.

My sister, Sarah on the left with her cousins.

Sister Sarah and Dad Don. I got him that shirt for Christmas. It's a Saints Hawaiian shirt.

Mitch's Extended Family

2010-02-04T21:59:00.005-05:00

Photos I took of Mitch's family while we were in CA.

With Katie and Pam...

with sister Jill...

Jill insisted that this picture be taken...interpret amongst yourselves.

with cousin Gloria...

with cousins Jimmy and Angela...

sister Jill, uncle Bob and Bob's wife Gaye...

Niece Heather...

Nephew Andrew who is 6'7"...

cousin Andrea...

and niece Rebecca.

Mary Lou Harris

2010-02-04T21:53:00.003-05:00

Last week, my wonderful mother-in-law suddenly passed away. It was a total surprise to us all. She will be greatly missed. GREATLY. We were in California this past week for services and to take care of things. So sad.

Here is a photo that I took of her 3 years ago on her 80th birthday.

And here are photos that others took this past summer. She was 83 years old. That's her niece and nephew.

Holiday Knitting

2010-01-10T21:12:00.003-05:00

Hereare some of the gifts that I knitted this year...don't have pictures yet of the lace scarf I knitted for Mom or the hat I knitted Alayna. And I made Mitch a "Java Jacket" for using with to-go lattes.

Black and gold Saints theme golf cover for Don. 3 stripes, for a 3 wood.

Matching hats for my brother, Elie, and his son Isaac.

A fingerless glove set with matching headband for my sister, Sarah.

Athens Master Chorale

2009-12-28T22:45:00.001-05:00

Mitch sang with the Athens Master Chorale this holiday season. He is in the back row, fourth from right.

Isaac's First Christmas

2009-12-27T12:35:00.001-05:00

Jumping for Joy with Isaac!

Christmas in the Southwest Performance

2009-12-11T14:34:00.002-05:00

Last night Mitch had a duet during the Athens Choral Society's performance of their program, "Christmas in the Southwest". Here's a short clip.

Last of Thanksgiving Photos

2009-12-09T16:14:00.006-05:00

The proud parents on Thanksgiving Day....Elie...

and Alayna, with Isaac.

Isaac wrapped in the blanket I knitted him. Sweet! He liked seeing fireworks and Christmas lights.

Departure day, Alayna was so nice to come out to breakfast with Mitch and I, and brought Isaac. He'll be running around in no time.

Isaac has a tiki on his jacket!

Day and Night after Thanksgiving

2009-12-04T11:45:00.006-05:00

Uploaded the photos in the reverse order! Ooops.

Isaac meets Santa Claus in the Knoxville square.

Isaac, my bro Elie, my sis Sarah and me.

Mitch with Isaac. Mitch has that facial expression because Isaac is tremendously strong and wiggles A LOT. You have to hold on to that kid. Mitch is wearing an earflap hat I knitted him.

Me 'n my awesome hubby. 9 years this month!

Sarah, me and Mom.

Wearing hats I made...mine is a crochet replica of the hat Bella wore in Twilight (Free Pattern). Sarah's is knitted.

Thanksgiving, Day 2

2009-12-03T22:06:00.003-05:00

Photos from Thanksgiving day.

Don with grandson Isaac.

Ice sculpture...the others said it was a cornucopia but Sarah and I thought it looked like a shrimp tail.

Isaac smiled at me!

Auntie Sarah with Isaac.

Mmm...nice baby smell.

Auntie Me with Isaac, plus Mitch.

Proud parents Alayna and Elie.

Maternal grandparents.

Then everyone else of course went to sleep except for Mitch and me. We walked to a pub and stayed there. 8-)

My Nephew Isaac

2009-11-30T18:52:00.001-05:00

Short video I took of my sister, Sarah, interacting with our nephew, Isaac. Best part is at 1:13.

Thanksgiving in Knoxville: Day 1

2009-11-30T11:10:00.006-05:00

Drove through the Great Smokey National Park to get to Knoxville...

Met up with my family at the hotel and then went for a walk with my sister, her pug Baby and Mitch..

Went over to my brother's house to finally meet my nephew Isaac, who is amazing.... Elie cooked crab cakes and Court Bouillon for us with seafood that my parents brought from Louisiana.

Mitch with Isaac...

Mama Lee with Isaac...