AAM Monday: Project Life Week 35

Week 35 included more traveling than usual. We both went over to VA to see Dick's cousin and then later in the week I went to the Eastern Shore to see birthday girl. Her birthday is a week before mine so despite the rain, she got the visit. My son in NC shares his birthday with her but that's a much longer drive. Even though it was a holiday weekend, it was one of the quickest drives to and from the beach. I'll take that any time!

AAM Monday: Time to Do This Again

Put the stuff in, take it out, put it in, take it out....oh the little pains of travel. In winter, it's the bigger suitcase and the heavier shoes. But then there are those beautiful cities dressed up and all sparkly for Christmas. And if it's raining? then there's the bokeh of nature.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

AAM Monday: Project Life Continues - Week 36

AAM Monday: Oh Those Shoulds

I read this on one of my favorite blogs, in the comments re the author's recent travel.

"I love seeing your yummy pages! In a future post, would you please talk about how you can spend three weeks in a place and not feel the need to go to museums and all the must-see sites? I know you don't like crowds, but do you ever feel like you're missing an important part of your trip? Thanks for sharing the ride!"

Oh those shoulds!  I think if I were to answer the dear commentor, I'd say that there comes a time in your life where you just go where you want to go. Period. Do you miss many things? Oh of course you do. But so what? For one thing, I know the original blogger is choosing to spend her time, and her money, on this kind of free form travel. She probably isn't buying many things that others feel are necessary to their lives...cable tv, good wine, a newer car, children. Along the way, our choices do tend to determine our other choices. Years at a steady job usually lead to a good number of vacation weeks and/or the ability to take a leave of absence. Does everyone have these options? probably not but I suspect they have other options that the original blogger does not have.

When my dh and I travel, we both enjoy taking public transportation. We could afford taxis but we get our bus passes or tube passes etc and enjoy the journey not just the destination. I'm one who would choose a bus rather than an underground but there are times I want it faster and so I'll go below.  I love art but not enough to spend what a lot of galleries charge. I'm spoiled. I live near Washington DC where the museums are free! A decade ago, we became members of the two museums in Baltimore which gave us reciprocal passes to many museums around the country. Now that the museums in Baltimore are also free, we feel we've seen the nationwide collections we wanted to see and are pretty much done with museums.

We both like to eat and that tends to be a big part of our travel. However, eating at the top name restaurants in cities hither and yon has had less an less appeal as the years have gone by. Himself in particular wants a full plate of food. He doesn't do well with artful smidgens. For me, I want good fresh food simply cooked and served. It isn't reverse snobbism that makes me avoid the 'restaurant du jour' and choose the eateries that seem to have a lot of local people. I read the lists of those top places but do I feel I need to hit them for some check off list created by someone who feels I should go there? Naw...

If you love museums, then go to them! If you can't visit Paris without going up the Eiffel Tower, then, sure, get yourself there! But after some point in life, and yes with some experience to know your own travel style, you can look at the list of must-see, must-do, must eat, and know which ones are for you and which aren't. My quiet introverted engineer loves Baroque frou frou and over the top opera (yes, that's a bit of my bias showing) while extroverted me likes clean design and instrumental music and hard rock. Often we split up and each make our own choice and are happier for it. Neither of us burdens the other with a 'you should like what I like' - anymore. 

When you travel and of course all of life is a journey, make the most of what you really like to do. Concentrating on someone else's shoulds is the best way I know of causing yourself stress and guilt.  Life is too short to live someone else's dream.

AAM Monday Westward Bound

Not now but just me on a trip I've wanted to do since before my knee was replaced. Yay! It's in the works! The layout was for a challenge which was a nice thing to do, inside, in the air conditioning yesterday when it was so hot and humid that we never ventured outside. We're neither mad dogs nor Englishmen!

Yes, I do know I'm going where it is SERIOUSLY hot but it's dry. I can mostly take that as long as I remember not to touch metal and be sure to get myself a windshield guard. Plus...drink lots and lots of water.

AAM Monday: A Journey of 1000 Steps

A Journey of 1000 Steps always has an end. Eventually.

Sometimes that end can be a long time in the coming though. Last year, we spotted bargain prices of $800. RT from New York to Milan. The Emirates flight also left at 10pm which is a civilized time to cross the pond. Great we thought, and booked a trip. Ha! Just as there are no free lunches, and time is money, we learned that our bargain in $s ended up costing us a lot in time and exhaustion.

The going is never the biggest issue, it's the return even if it is a duplicate of the beginning. However this going itself involved a lot of hassle. Much to our consternation we learned that there were no convenient flights from BWI to JFK that did not include a 7hr layover til our Emirates flight left for Milan. Ok, then we'd take the train as we often did when we flew out of Newark. Hmmm...the train took us to Penn Station where we then took the Long Island Railway to the Jamaica stop and then took the AirTrain to the Emirates terminal for our 10pm flight to Milan.  Leave our home just before noon, and fly out at 10 - that layover didn't sound so bad by the time we got to the Emirates terminal.

Surprise surprise...there are no seats inside or outside the Emirates area. Ok, there were 6 on each side of the area just before you went through security. I snagged one (thank you God!) and my dh went on through to the security side. Did I mention that we'd had a laugh thinking we were flying to Italy on St. Patrick's Day? Did we both forget that New Yorkers like to celebrate the day in a truly liquid way? and that it snowed/rained on St. Patrick's Day this year on the east coast? Oh well.

Milan was a breeze in it's own Italian way upon arrival. As soon as you clear the things you need to clear, there is an escalator to the train into Milan and a ticket machine as well as a ticket booth. Done. The train takes you to the main train station in Milan and there you are. Up an escalator and you have arrived.

Coming home? The Economist has an article about what they call America's Awful Airports. It had been a while since I flew in or out of JFK. Now I know why that was. Even back in 1976, my xh and I chose to fly into Boston rather than JFK when we were arriving with our two sons and adopted daughter. Boston welcomed us and made the immigration paperwork for our Thai daughter a breeze.

I won't go into details of our return other than to say it took even longer, and it's the repeated little things that wear down your soul. e.g. at Malpensa, the Milan airport, the luggage carts are free. At JFK they cost $5. etc etc.  Oh did I mention there are seats outside the security area at Malpensa? Lots of seats? and that at JFK we waited in a line to scan our US passports at a terminal ourselves, have our photo taken at that terminal, got a printed 'receipt' with that photo and then waited in another line to have our passport and that receipt/photograph inspected? Eventually, the customs people took that receipt/photo so I can't show you how stunned I looked. We escaped from JFK around 8pm and eventually arrived at our own door at 02:45 the following morning.

$800. was not the bargain we thought it was. Live and learn.

AAM Monday: On My Own

My car is a real joy to me and I love driving it. It's good solid German steel, drives well in snow even if I don't and it fits my body very well. I like changing gears, I like my sun/moon roof and there is just enough space to carry some things without giving me lots of space which might be encouragement to buy big stuff I don't have room for.

I also like going places in my car and it gets good mileage - it's a Golf diesel. Last month, I took myself to an oyster festival on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay, our Eastern Shore. It's a totally different world, mostly flat land that is farmed. It used to seem so boring to me as I was growing up because it was the last stretch of drive before we arrived at the beach and by the time we crossed the bay, I knew we were getting there but Not There yet.

Today I see it differently. I do my hospice volunteer work on the Shore and as I meet the people I am introduced to a life I've never lived. A life where a lot of families still are connected to the land or the water. Life can be a bit more real on the Shore and it's a good balance to the kind of life so many of us live 'over here'. We don't farm, we aren't watermen, and while many of us have jobs in ordinary fields like education or health, more of our focus is on government and its many branches. Many of us weren't born or raised here. It's where we came for the job and it may or may not become 'home'. Attitudes are different.

Last month, after a wonderful day eating those oysters and meeting some fun women to talk with, I stopped and talked with a few of my hospice folk. They seemed surprised that I drove all the way from my home in Annapolis over to Snow Hill ...by myself. I went out for a day by myself. Almost to a woman, my peers and friends in Annapolis wouldn't give this a 2nd thought. You want to go somewhere, your spouse or partner isn't interested or you're single, so you go! Yes, just you, you go. But the women I spoke to at hospice said they never did this. They couldn't quite imagine 1. going some where on your own and 2. enjoying it. I thought if you wait for someone, especially a special someone, to go places or do things, you might wait a long time, and miss some great experiences.

I've driven to Canada with only a map challenged young teen and to Baton Rouge alone. I know I can eat alone, sleep in motel alone, and call AAA alone.  I can talk to strangers as I did yesterday and enjoy making new friends. Company is great but it's not always necessary nor is it right for some trips.

Do you go places on your own when your spouse isn't interested, doesn't exist, or don't have a tag along friend?  If so, why not? Really, why not?

Five on Friday: January 17, 2014

I really like doing the Five on Friday and while I'm not a serious list maker, I do like lists. Things to do, things to buy, things to cross of a list, etc etc   I wonder why I don't do more of them? Commitment phobia?

1. Man oh man did I eat my share of avocados in California! Now I'll have to go back to having to remember what a luscious ripe one is like. A ripe one that is 5 for a $1. Just imagine...

2. I take my own teabags (Typhoo decaf) with me on trips so my dh can make me my pot of tea each morning. However, there is nothing like getting back to your own water (for good or for bad) for the specific taste I'm used to. Anyone else notice things like that?

3. It was wonderful to see my 2nd born on that trip but all the harder in feeling how much I miss having him around. T'aint nuthin' Mama can do about that when there's a whole country between us. He's definitely a left coaster and as much as I love visiting the West, I know my heart lies in the East.

4. Do you 'decorate' your suitcases? I presume you don't have ultra expensive luggage when I ask that. I use craft puff paint to make designs on our suitcases. People smile at them but they are easy to spot!

My dh and I stick to the standard black carry on size...what is that, 21 inches?... but my most recent one is just a bit less roomy than his of the same size. wtf?  It's kind of like this one but it isn't a spinner. Those outer pockets just don't expand as much as his do, nor do they zip all the way down. I'm sure as soon as I decorate it, I'll see a better model.

5. I didn't do that well without my computer on this recent trip. I found that I just wasn't satisfied with my iPad which also was losing its charge and needed a trip to the Apple hospital. Clean it out and download all my stuff from the Cloud worked but with a slower net connection, the download didn't go very fast. I am one spoiled woman, aren't I!

Happy Weekend to you!! Have a hot chocolate for me or an iced frappuchino - depending on your climate.

Let's Tidy Up

Back Friday night from our CA trip and right away it was a cup of Tazo Rest tea that my dil gave me over Christmas. It didn't agree with her so I was trying it. I wasn't sure I liked the rose flavor - I think I had more than my share of that taste in the Middle East - but it was warm and soothing. Went to bed close to midnight and I had a good night's sleep for a rainy Saturday. I did a lot of putting away, and throwing away (junk mail) and much puttering. I also did some thinking about what I need to do before I start on the Christmas decorations.

I just didn't have it in me to start that cleanup before we left last month as it was only December 29th!  I was certainly still in the Christmas mood. But now...it's that feeling of "I want it all gone." January is a month that makes me seriously want clean and simple. Orderly, minimal, spare.  Sadly he has no such desire for this kind of surrounding and I am far from the that kind of person myself. But it's a feeling I want. Truly. 2014 seems a good time to get back into a purging routine. We have a periodic cleaner, but one thing I certainly have learned from FlyLady is that 'you can't clean clutter.' Clutter I've got! and without some gentle encouragement I find I putter from clutter to clutter, a habit my husband calls 'shifting the dust'.  I do move my clutter often enough so I don't have much dust but he is the king of dust bunnies - which I do not touch nor do I even look in his office if I can help it.

Last year my One Little Word was less, and it didn't work into my life the way I had hoped. I did lose some weight and gained a lot more fitness, but I swear it all went to hell in a handbasket from Thanksgiving to now. Of course two trips didn't help when it's a balance of restaurant food and the difficulty of cooking in resort accommodations. I know I really miss my home and the routine of home but compromise is part of the marriage game.

These are just some of my random thoughts as I mentally and physically shift from Left Coast to Right Coast. Truthfully, as nice as it can be on the left side, and oh the food is oh so gooood, the right coast really fits me a lot better. It's good to be home!

AAM Monday - Home Again and It Feels Good

I almost always am ready to throw the towel in before a trip because the to-ing and fro-ing of getting ready AND living a normal life are increasingly a pain for me. The night before I keep saying that I'm not going, and you...my dh ... can have a great trip without me.  99% of the time I do go but since he is a lot more blasé  about his clothing, I stress...will it be too warm for this? or too cold for that? and while I can get things easily at Target or even WalMart, I don't want to worry about finding something I like, that fits, and isn't too expensive. I suspect many women know what I mean unless you love shopping. I don't.

Well, once home I find that the packing up and unpacking at home gets done in a snap. No decisions there. If it's clean (and I usually do one load of laundry during a week away) it goes neatly into the suitcase - otherwise into a suitcase pocket to go right into the laundry bins at home. We took less food to cook on this trip and so there were virtually no leftovers to pack up for home.

Once home, I am the one to sort through the pile of mail and pitch the rubbish. I can go through the my nearly 1k emails in a snap since I've already read them while on a trip. The few to save are easily found and kept. Swish....empty that trash can!

I try and be sure to have a quick supper ready for our return - frozen if it's summer and just in the fridge if winter. This time it was a small amount of posole and also a container of lasagna soup.  That gives me a day or two of grace before I have to start cooking again.  He also brought up from Hilton Head, a good portion of jambalaya which so far has fed him twice. Me? I've been very happy to have my tea with water I'm used too as it took both of us about 3 days to get used to the taste of the water in our tea and coffee. Just funny stuff when you travel.

But...as good as it was to come home...BOY IS IT COLD!!!  These temps in the 20s and 30s is super cold for Maryland and after leaving in an almost 70 day, it was a shock to the system. There was a beautiful sky out last night with stars galore but I wasn't in the mood to bundle up enough to see them.  And yes, I'm missing that beautiful view especially in this one he took on our last morning. It's always a trade off when traveling, isn't it...

And Then I Went Here

Continuing the saga of the Southwest trip, we left New Mexico and headed west to Tucson. There at Bookmans I sold some Somerset magazines that had weighted down my luggage!  Of course my $23 went very quickly with new purchases of used books. That's the way it's supposed to be!

From Tucson, we headed up to the Phoenix area where we have family - including a new granddaughter.  It's been a while since either of us held a baby!  I'm certainly reminded of how much energy it takes to raise little ones. I'm glad I did that back in my 20s!

Then we flew home to take a few days before we headed west again! We joked that it might have been easier just to stay and drive on to California. Seriously.

Places I Go

September has so far included a lot of family related travel. Great to do but I do need a home breather right now.  I like my routine and I love my home. After a lifetime of travel, moving hither and yon, I'm quite happy to be a homebody most of the time. Going is fun but home is oh so comfortable.

The month started out with a trip to New Mexico to buy chiles. That was a birthday trip for me! We both like the Big Jim chiles and usually buy enough to last us a year or two.  Take a little cooler and they come home with us as luggage. Yes, it's always hot at that time of year in the SW but at least it doesn't have Maryland's humidity.

It was a lot of fun scrapping this trip because I have had these papers around for a while and use them most of the time we head out to this part of the country.  Lively and colorful like the local culture.

Travel West, then Westward Some More

These have been two hectic weeks, going from Maryland to New Mexico to Arizona, then back to Maryland. Just enough I like to say to read a few newspapers and do about 3 or 4 batches of laundry. Try to connect with a bit of our regular life and then get back on an airplane.

This time to Los Angeles with a flying trip down to San Diego and back. It could have been an easier trip to San Diego but the freeways were pretty jammed and this lead to a lot of herky jerky driving. The driver got cranky and the two passengers were not so amused either. However, on this short trip our grandson saw the colleges he wanted to see, and having seen them is pretty sure he is not a SoCal man. It's good to see and feel the vibe of an area and know that while it's nice for a visit, it's not what you want for four years or a lifetime.

My one friend said that the East Coast has a lot of granite in it's makeup. In the soil, and in the makeup of people. CA's land is shifting constantly and that is reflected in the easier way of life. Sometimes you just need to know what fits you.

We two grandparents and one grandson agreed....it's a beautiful place to visit (despite the record breaking temperatures we had over the weekend) but in reality, it's not really us. East Coasters? yep that's us. But we did have some fun in the California sun!

Not the greatest of photos with my iPhone but definitely some great memories for me.

Sunday Serenday: Goodbye California

Me Too

I'm comin' home. (Yes, this is the background music for a recent iPhone ad.)

Home again, Home again...jiggitey jig

Ah home...



and home is where

• I can sleep as long as I like with no bus to catch or sight to see
• there is a hot pot of tea waiting for me when I wake up
• my daily rhythms fall back into place
• I have my dear iMac with its big screen and all my art things about
• I can hang laundry in the breeze
• my meals are on my hunger time frame not when a restaurant is open
• there are clothes for each vagary of weather
• and finally home is where the cat and his barfing still feel comforting for a while

Home is a good place to come back to every time.

One Word Wednesday

Bye!

Goodbeye 2009, Hello London

Doing some catch up with a bit of erratic net connections. London has been chilly and rainy but then that made it feel 'right'. A trip to Covent Garden to see The Nutcracker and today a return visit to see The Tales of Beatrix Potter. Yes, we're a bit old for the latter but it was a nice afternoon treat.

Lots of walking as usual on this trip and tonight a walk along the Thames in Pimlico as we're in a flat nearby for a change. South Kensington is wonderful but this area is closer to our coach pickup Monday...that's for the 2nd half of our trip.It's very nice to have a whole flat ..kitchen etal and space enough not to get in each other's hair. Now we must see what's open and available tomorrow.

See you in 2010!