Yanek was a survivor. Of World War II, and the upheaval following the war, and he was the reason Irka chose to remain in Poland, altlhough her sisters, Jean and Vilma, and her mother,Anyella (phonetic spelling) chose to come to the United States. He was also a great gardener. He would disappear (when I was there) and come back with a pail of wild mushrooms he had gathered from somewhere. Yurek is his grandson. I thought the pictures were great, but I am confused about the baby. Is that Yurek's daughter? It seems the daughter should be older than that.
Today was my exercise class, and a lecture afterwards about stretching. It makes me want to go out an teach the things I learned in class. It is just a passing thought because my friends and children are much younger than me and probably know more about it than I do. Next week is balance.
A plumber is coming to the house tomorrow to fix something that leaks in the upstairs bathroom. He 'fixed' it last January. It means I will have to be here when he comes at 9 a.m. so I won't be able to work at the Gleaners the full day. I don't need to show up until l0 a.m. so maybe I can stilll make it.
I haven't written to Yurek yet. I just can't find the words to express myself. Love, Bopcha
Wow, Janek lived to be 96 years old without having all of the luxuries we have here in the U.S. What a great guy. I'm glad he got to be a part of his great grandchildren's lives. The photos of Jurek and Janek with the baby girl are priceless.
I just got back from my mid-day stairs up the hill climb. Sweat is running down my back. That would be fine but I am at work and I'm pretty sure sweating is strictly forbidden. I have to keep up my training so that I will be able to run around the farm loop with Sandra!
Bill comes back from Mississippi this evening. He called from the Gulfport and Biloxi area yesterday. He said the damage from Katrina is still evident, but the hotels seem to be open for business now (although he commented that he cannot imagine who would vacation there in the summer!).
Jess is training with her friend Amy today. They begin their 60 mile charity walk for breast cancer research in a week. I'm pretty sure only youth will get them through the experience. I don't think they devoted much time to training.
Noah took off for Madison, Wisc. and Michigan this morning. His afro is now larger than he is. Sigh!
It's nice to be back on the blog writing. There is so much news on the blog since I last wrote I don't know what to respond to
It is great to see KC writing in and catching up with life. The birthday celebration and thoughtfulness sounds just wonderful. You are truly luckly to have such a romantic
By the way Kay has every right to be angry. It is so frustrating to have thugs steal things. You feel so invaded.
Sid made sure I did not miss the eclipse and indeed I did not. We started watching it around 5am. It was really neat and believe or not I have never seen an eclipse.
I am back in my routine. It took a while to settle into the time change again. I was really tired when we returned to Philadelphia. Then of course it rained the entire week we were back and that was not much fun. Thankfully, this week it is sunny. We really enjoyed our trip to Oregon. It is really wonderful to have a restful period in Oregon. Philadelphia is so hectic and it is always such a welcome change.
We are all (my sister and family) very grateful for our opportunity to visit such a beautiful place. Thanks Bopcha for your kindness and also many thanks to Judy as well. We also appreciate Diana and Bill taking us to dinner. That was really fun.
I watched the eclipse last night. Thank you Sid for waking me up. I had listened to the railroad man bring in the engine at midnight, and fell asleep again. Thank you, thank you Sid for being so thoughtful to wake me up again. As it turned out the total eclipse lasted through the one and one-half hours, I mean from the time it started, truly a remarkable event. I sat on the front steps of my house and had a perfect view of it.
I called Cousin George yesterday. He is still in Tillamook and out of a job. He said he was interested in Lebanon as a place to work. He said he was feeling OK.
I would sure have been mad at myself if I had missed the the eclipse. The weather was perfect.
Well, I slept through the eclipse, but saw some gorgeous pictures of it on the morning news.
I blame my sleepiness on going to see the movie "Invasion" last night. It is a remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," I believe. Not a good movie to see if you are all alone in the house, as I have been since Bill left for Mississippi!
Today will be another gorgeous day. We are having all the great weather during the week. This weekend will be cloudy and wet. Typical NW weather.
For those of you who did not hear, Kay's catalytic converter was stolen from her Toyota van a few days or a week ago. Kay's mechanic says it is a common focus for petty theft. It only takes a couple of minutes to remove and can be sold for about $30. Kay was hopping mad! It cost her $200 to replace.
If you try earthfiles.com you will see there is going to be a TOTAL MOON ECLIPSE this coming Tuesday. The times are shown. The time on the Pacific Coast is almost 2 a.m. Also if you scroll down you will see another event on September 1.
A total eclipse is going to be visible in North and South America. So my Eastern friends will be able to see it from 5 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.
There is a grocery store here called HyVee's that's really different and nice. I always thought that the Safeway designs were the best but HyVee has upped the quality even more. The veggies are stacked vertically and the fruits are magnificent. There's a huge salad bar and also deli section, plus there's hot food cooking (Chinese, pizza, chicken)--all stylish and none are a fast food franchise (at least I don't think so). Starbuck's has a coffee bar that's in the center of all this excitement, not off to the side. There are also tables from which one can eat their selections. I wish the store was on my way from work because then I wouldn't have the challenge of what to make each night. I'd only have the challenge of what delicious looking food should I try. On the other hand, maybe it's good HyVee's isn't on my way to the litte house!!! I saw the movie "Jane" yesterday. It's about Jane Austen. It's well done and pretty good. Of course, since it's about a real person the action's not like the Die Hard movies.
Just in case you all didn't get pictures from Jurek's vacation with Meg, Michael, and Magdalena, you can find a few that I uploaded in the media library. It's beyond me to figure out how to put them into the blog itself. Sorry. Love, KC
It's so amazing. I don't understand it at all. My computer decided to let me connect to the internet, just like that!! Maybe it's the fact the day is clear. I don't know, but I decided the first thing to do was to read the blog and then send a note. Yesterday was a very fun day--all those phone messages made me feel so special!! My cell reception here is so awful that sometimes I can hear but not speak. That's really hard to do. I have a new book to read and lots of roses that have scented the air. Delicious. Also, Tom says I have packages waiting at home. Makes me shiver with anticipation!!! I have such a great family. I brag to my colleagues at work. Some are quick to say their families are also close and friendly. Others are quiet--they aren't as fortunate.
Tom told my new boss Rick that Friday was my birthday. You can only imagine my surprise when I went to the conference room for a meeting, just to find everyone's eyes on me. Yeow!!!! That was one GIANT surprise. The women told me that Tom must be a romantic. I said he was. Cake, ice cream (French vanilla no less), and a birthday song. I also had two dozen red roses waiting for me on my porch. Sigh. Such happiness--
I can't imagine what happened to Bop's desk phone. I think it must be like my laptop--sometimes it likes to play games, sometimes it does it's job, sometimes it's just plain onery and won't do anything!!!
Today I'll wash clothes and see a movie. Tomorrow, I'll see a movie and read my new book, maybe go to the gym on base. Next week I'll fly home again. Love, Love, Love. KC
The phone by my desk doesn't work anymore, so if someone calls me, they will have to wait until I run into my bedroom to answer the phone.
At repack I got some crayolas. I gave them to my acquaintance who will see that some child gets them.
Today the temperature was a little over 80°. I worked at the Gleaners this morning. There were sacks and sacks of corn that had just been picked, and squash of many varieties, plus leeks, onions, baby melons, and more.
KC said she got eight HAPPY BIRTHDAY messages on her voice mail.
The King County Youth Authority children had the times of their lives Aug. 15.
Over 75 children were shown the fundamentals of basketball by the Seattle University men's basketball team. Seattle University has provided the camp for the past two years.
SU head men's basketball coach Joe Callero was able to count on the participation of Seattle assistant coaches, Keith Brown and Mitch Freeman, and basketball team members Noah Blakney, Taylor Olson, and Chris Gweth who held six groupings which focused on different aspects of basketball.
Drills for offense, defense, rebounding, passing and overall teamwork were emphasized to the children.
Callero held the camp for free to all participants and said he plans to continue the camp annually each summer. Children from ages three to 13 were provided with snacks, gatorade and prizes.
The families living in the King County Housing Authority consist of immigrants from Russia, India, Iraq, Africa and Asia.
The camp was also supported by efforts by the King County United Way. Seattle University President Father Stephen V. Sundborg, S.J. is an executive committee member of the King County United Way.
Today I am going to pick Cheryl up and we will drive to Tangent to the Repack Center. As you know that is when we get to choose some prizes after work!
KC called last night. She had picked up three dogs by the side of the road and returned them to their owner. While they were in the back of her Element, the new car, they ate up her take home dinner from the Mongolian Restaurant.
I sure miss my visitors. I will pick up the pictures I took and see what the results are. Some of Alex and some of George (I wish I could capture the hilarity of seeing George on the Pogo stick). Until then, I wish you all
Not much happening on the Island. Bill and I made it home from Corvallis in time to take Jess, Gavin, Noah and Haley out to dinner. They are all so darn cute it was hard not to just pinch their little rosy cheeks.
Gavin talked his dad into giving him his old car to replace Gavins aged Toyota Land Cruiser. Gavin's dad is then taking Gavin's mom's car (a Land Rover, I believe), and Gavin's mom got a new car (don't know what kind). Gavin said his parents were mad at him for losing the boat key, but he got revenge when the parents lost the new kitten they just imported from Arkansas (later found in a cupboard).
Haley got a new car to replace the one that got crunched on Mercer Island. It is really cute, and sort of looks like KC's new box-on-wheels (sorry, KC - I mean that in the nicest way). I think Haley's is Korean made, but I can't recall the brand name. Haley heads to California for a volleyball tournament that starts on the 24th.
Noah said he is scheduled to work the next 8 out of 10 days, and then he is off to visit a high school friend who is attending the Univ. of Wisc. in Madison, and on to visit another high school friend who is attending the U. of Michigan (and is a major track star there). Of course Noah is not going alone. He will be with the O'Bara twins and Alex.
Jessica did not divulge any of her plans. She could be headed for the Artic as far as anyone knows. I guess she might call from the airport if that were her destination. Actually, now that I think about it, she is doing a three day walk to raise funds for breast cancer at the beginning of October. Boy, will her feet hurt! She and her friend Amy from OSU are doing it together. The only reason I know about that event is because she wanted us to donate to the cause (which we did).
Judi discovered a hen that is setting in the woodshed. We don't know yet how many eggs she had in the nest. Judy developed a way of protecting the hen from the predators so maybe in due time we will have some baby chickens. So twenty one days from now, who knows what will develop.
This morning at 8 a.m. we left the farm for the Portland airport.
Sid got a final sendoff by an encounter with a yellow jacket. Bees, hornets, yellow jackets just love Sidney so he got stung by a yellow jacket through his socks. He says it is his black stockings, but I know somehow he just can always make contact with them. Anyway, wasn't that an appropriate good-by?
It has been raining, but the air is so warm. On the drive back, there were very low clouds, misting rain and fog, and of course, showers from the big trucks driving by. When I got to Albany the balance of the drive down I-5 was dry. I will be going to the farm soon, but to those who don 't know my cell phone number, here it is:
