Bopcha Blog

Sid's family members are the most photogenic people I ever ever seen in my life. You Blakeneys looks stunning in EVERY photo, even when KC isn't shooting the camera, you look wonderful.



The photo of Judy, Kay, Diana and Jessica is outstanding also. I have developed an anti-camera portrait, not even KC can make me look okay in photos Hee hee - it's okay - there are more serious problems in life.



Sandra

Wow, so much excitement. Everyone has so much going on, and it is all wonderful positive and exciting. I mean weddings, engagements, career moves, on and on.



The pictures of the engagement party are wonderful. Everyone looks great. There was mention of Noah looking like Diana. I can't help but notice Jessica's resemblance to Diana; mother and daughter similarities all over their beautiful faces.

And the new "bride to be" looks radiant. I think it is true that love does create a glow - that certainly seems to be the case with Tory. Her joy is showing through.



I bet Noah is enjoying Portland - it would be interesting to hear how he views the city in comparison to Seattle. What do you think everyone, will Noah become an Oregonian and settle in Portland?? It is all possible I guess. No matter how long he ends up staying, it sounds like a great growth opportunity with Nike.



Meanwhile, I don't know if I mentioned this but my friends Nancy and Rob moved to Greece, on the island of San Torini. I know that Judy and Diana met them. They came over to visit Bopcha. Nancy, being a certified massage therapist, gave Bopcha a massage which I know she really enjoyed and cherished. Rob and Nancy are close friends from Philadelphia. However, Philly is the last place on earth where they will ever spend more than a week. They settled in Oregon for many years and assumed they had finally found a place they could call "home." But I guess a certain restlessness or the never-ending search for "something"lead them to glide away and settle - at least temporarily - toward the Mediterranean. We still e-mail each other regularly and I get to hear about their lives in Greece. Nancy actually said that some of the coast line in Greece is beautiful but yet not as exquisite as Oregon. She still finds Oregon prettier in many ways. That was lovely to hear.



So Diana, you sound like you are going to be very busy over the next week at the Farm. It doesn't sound like it will be much of a rest. Hope you find some time to relax and slow down the pace a bit. I am sure you have been on accelerated speed with your daughter's wedding coming up. Try to rest up, even with everything going on.



I personally am not very good at slowing down and getting the needed rest etc.... So for the past four days, I have been home bound with the flu. We'll my immune system showed me that it is not going to allow me to just go and go. I am feeling much better than I was several days ago, in which all I could do is sleep. Sid got me quite the supply and variety of cough drops. It is so funny. He must think I am going to have this cough forever.



Hope everyone is well.



Sending everyone love,



Sandra

Wow, what amazing news about Tory. All I know is that occasionally I heard about a man named Robert in Tory's life. But I had not idea that marriage was around the corner. So exciting indeed. KC, you must be over the moon. What a wonderful announcement. The ring looks beautiful and the picture of you is adorable. Well obviously Robert is a lucky guy



Sounds like things are moving along nicely with Jessica and her wedding plans. Noah's assignment sounds like a real winner for him. I have a feeling this is going to lead him in a promising direction. It just sounds like it will.



What an exciting family, there is so much stuff going on and of course it is all really positive - who could ask for anything more.



Oh by the way Kay, what are sisters for if not for whining to. You should hear my sister and I. We always "cry on each other's shoulders." We can whine to each other constantly. The way we vent and complain is something we would never do with anyone else. But we take complete liberty to do that with each other. No one else I know would be willing to listen to my whining the way my sister does. What are sisters for. We are a little nuts though. Not sure too many sisters carry on the way we do.



Anyway, I wish everyone well in all this excitement. I can't wait to hear more about Murray's adventures.



Love and my best,



Sandra

Hello Everyone,



I just wrote a really long message talking about Murray's adventures and Noah etc,.... and I accidently went off the site and looked at something in my e-mail. I lost the whole entire message. I am so upset. It is has been so long since I have written and I forgot how touchy this is and how you have to constantly save it.



Oh no, I think I am too tired to write another message right now. It is always hard for me to find down time in the evening - in which I actually have the energy to write.



Just remember though I really enjoy reading about everyone's adventures and I hope to find more time to write. I love hearing from everyone on the blog.



By the way, I am completely intrigued by Murray's climb. The most recent description is breath taking. I don't know where people find the courage to do climbing. It is so intense. I have always been really fascinated by climbing. But don't worry not curious enough to find out for myself how it may be. I look forward to hearing more of Murray's adventure.



Diana, I never had the chance to tell you but I was really impressed by Noah's actions on picking up a woman on the street who was covered in blood. That is quite a courageous act. See you and Bill really instilled good character.



I will have to sign off for now. I really wish I had not lost everything I wrote earlier, but I will try to stay more in touch.





Be well everyone. I think a lot about all of you wonderful sisters.



Love,





Sandra

There is rumor of a hurricane coming through but Sid and I barely noticed. Actually, I should qualify that from where Sid and I observed, it resembled more of a dramatic rain storm. On a more serious note, there are folks who suffered a lot of damage. George's mother has a house on the New Jersey shore and they suspect the house is flooded. Well I guess that is one way to get a house renovated that badly needs it. New York looked completely disastrous and flooded. And of course the coastal towns (shore) look like they are - for the most part - under water. I sympathize with those people who have houses by the beach or worse for those who live at the NJ shore all year round. I can't imagine loosing my house. It would be a daunting thing.



The one good thing that Sid was especially excited about was the University being closed for two days. In essence, we go two extra days off this year. I planned and many ambitions of "catching up" on so many things, but I am so unrealistic about what I can really accomplish in one day. Actually the more I plan, the less I get done. Interesting how that works.



This past weekend the clouds were heavy and dark and I thought what an impossible contrast to the weekend of the dog races. Racing weekend had to be one of the most splendid weekends I can remember. It was absolutely perfect weather. It may even lead an "outsider" to believe that we have wonderful weather in this area. By the way, it was sort of comical to receive all the reactions I did from the race participants pertaining to the dog bite. People approached me as if I may still be impacted by it, although I have to admit I was minimally traumatized by it. it is definitely not something I think about much - it just did not have that much of a lasting impact on me. I guess "bad" events are just relative. There is so much worse and I think that if that particular dog bite is the worst thing that happens to you in life, well you are pretty lucky person. Of course I also got all kinds of updates on what happened to that dog - which is that it went back to his breeder. It apparently had demonstrated some previous behavioral problems. Now that was useful information; I did not want to believe that I, and I alone, instigated that kind of aggression.



But with all the dog bite comments said, I really enjoyed that weekend and to be outside the ENTIRE weekend was the best!!. It is not something we get to do very often. Sid and I had a lot of fun. The park was quite lovely. It was a state park with trails and historical landmarks, and definitely a viable place to visit sometime. Hopefully, we will get a chance to walk the trails there sometime. We would have never discovered it if it were not for the dog race.



All in all October was a great month because we had events that gave us the chance to connect with family on the "West side." I mean twice in one month: Diana's visit and then Tom and the dogs. It was a very special month for me. I had such a great time with both visits. And I am not just saying it to be polite. I really enjoyed it.



Diana, by the way, my mother was so happy to see you again and she thought the world of you. She kept saying how friendly you were. To state it in Italian for anyone that is interested - she said you were very "simpatica" I think that word is sometimes used in English "simpatico" but I am not 100% certain and I feel too lazy to look it up in the dictionary right now.



Well I guess I should sign off for now before you all fall asleep reading this. See as soon as I have an unplanned day off from work, I write on the blog. Most of the time, I am so consumed by work that I really don't have much time to break away for writing or doing much outside of the routine. It's amazing what a few extra hours a week can do.



By the way Diana, best wishes to Jessica. And blessings to you and Bill as well. Don't forget if you can't find a dress there is always my mother. Don't let the several thousand miles stop you from flying to Philadelphia to be fitted for a dress. I am just kidding of course. I know it would be impossible. But my mother would love to make your dress. She loves making special dresses for people that she knows personally and really likes. Creating something for someone is probably very satisfying.





Much Love to everyone. Hope to write again soon. I will try to not wait until we have a snow day.



Sandra





Sandra

Hello Family,



KC, I just wanted to mention that the good photos are ones that I took and the average ones are taken by others. Of course I am just kidding. We both tried to get the best shots and Sid and I sort of shared the success of some of the photos.



Well the picture you see is of Jenny and she is super friendly. She was really adorable and your boyz definitely took a romantic interest. The other possible romance is "Bounce." Encore was trying to flirt with her. Not sure how Bounce felt but she might have taken some interest.



Don't know if Tom told you but the weather was impossibly perfect. Sid and I really enjoyed ourselves; and not to mention that I was in my element since we got to be outside all weekend. It is so preferable to sitting in an office. I was so thankful to be outside in perfect weather and so was Sid. Tom was great to work with. He was so easy going with us and it was quite a relaxed event.



I am so glad we were invited and it was good to be able to help Tom out.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Okay so .............to the Goddess Mother of the Bride........



For those of us who are akin to your majesty, will we actually be able to attend this important event. But seriously, congratulations to you and to Jessica. We were thrilled to hear the news. I am sure you and Bill are ecstatic. What an

exciting time in life. Also thanks for your really really fun visit. I hope you also had a really good time. It was really nice to

KC, that is so heart breaking about Jazz. I am so sorry to hear that. Did you ever actually find his body. Wow, that seems like such a devastating way to go. I am sure you provided a rich and full life for the little guy. I am truly sorry about your loss.



And yes speaking of blood and guts, Nina did say there was blood all over the floor when she watched the surgery. It did not freak her out she said. She was really okay with it and says she could handle it.



Nina and Alex spent New Year's Eve with us. We watched the New Years Eve program on TV and you could see little Alex was getting really tired. But he wanted to be a trooper and kept saying that he did not want to go to bed yet and he wanted to "stay up for New Years Eve" while his little eyes struggled to stay open. When midnight came we cheered him on for staying up. He had this really cute little smile on his face like he was so proud of himself.

He is adorable in my unbiased opinion.



Thanks to all of you for the many wonderful gifts, we really appreciate them. Judy, I have to say that your delicious jam is dangerous, I could go into a sugar coma with the way I eat it.. I have been eating it right out of the jar to satisfy my sweeth tooth. I have opened the strawberry jam and have pretty much devoured it. It is heavenly. I shared a little with Sid, but he definitely let me have the lion's share of it. Your fruit jam is the best.



Oh KC by the way, Sid and I are not the only ones who love the "throws' you sent. Our little cat Zuki has taken quite a liking to them. He spends lots of time on them just reclining and curling up as he enjoys their softeness.



That's it for now. Sid and I are back at work today after a nice break. Yukkie! So hard to be back to responsibility



I wish you all a wonderful New Year - full of wonderful surprises.



With much love,



Sandra

Hello Everyone,



Although Nina is only 13 years old, she has moved on to being an equine surgeon

So the story goes like this. I am sure you are wondering at this point what in the world I am talking about. Nina has been absolutely intrigued and impressed with one of the best equine surgeons around who happens to be at Penn Vet. He is the Vet who tenderly cared for the famous Barbaro. Since the days of Barbaro, Nina has always been impressed by Dr. Richardson.



Nina is also continuing to be interested in Vet Medicine - and it appears that it is not just a passing phase. So at her ripe age she is doing everything possible to learn about it. She choose to work on a project for school that explores the world of horse racing. So she asked me if she could possibly interview Dean Richardson. Well finally my job and position is serving a purpose (and it isn't resolving employee issues). I contacted Dean Richardson and asked if he could spend some time talking to my niece. He is a tough guy and very no-nonsense. But he has a tender place in his heart and I guess is honored to be part of this little girl's learning experience.



So finally I tried to set up a specific time for them to meet and he replied to me by sayng that instead of "interviewing" for 30 minutes - he let me know that he doesn't even spend that much time talking to residents - she could perhaps come in and observe a real live equine surgery.



Imagine that a 13 year observing a surgery at Penn Vet. What a memorable experience. So her Dad took her, he had to wait outside because they try to limit the number of people in the surgery. So she had to scrub in and wear orange scrubs that they gave her and she got to watch the whole thing. She said she can see the passion that Dean Richardson has for the horses and for his work. She said he is impressive and works very quickly. He was even kind enough to answer all her questions about horse racing and the health issues of race horses. She said he was absolutely awesome. After the surgery, he came out and met her Dad.



Needless to say Nina is overjoyed at such an experience. I am also really happy to have contributed to this amazing experience. I don't think it's every day that a 13 year old gets invited to the operating room to observe an equine surgery.



I guess this is a good Christmas present huh? I just wanted to brag about this. Nina will always remember this experience.



Anyway, I hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season so far. It can be a sort of stressful time but it can be lots of fun too, right?



Take good care everyone. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas.



With Love,



Sandra

Hello Family,



I have intended to write a variety of times - really I have It just seems like time escapes so quickly between work and trying to babysit Sid (just kidding). Work is absolutely crazy - there is always so much drama. Who could ever imagine that Penn Vet School could be such an exciting place to work. I wish I could go into more detail about the excitement but I guess since this is a fairly public forum I will refrain and keep myself out of trouble. How boring to have to refrain from such fun gossip. I guess we will have to have a family gathering so I can talk about it. Sid gets to hear all the stories. He is always amazed.



Thanks Diana for keeping us posted on how the farm looks. You are so diligent about sharing photos. That is really nice of you.

And what about the wickles - is that some kind of pickle, that is being eaten with peanut butter. I am trying to figure out if that sounds good. The peanut butter part sounds good. I can go through half a jar of PB which is why I hate having it around.



So anyway, I am doing better than I was in the summer. I had a really rough four months. Sometimes I could not believe how bad I felt and how rough things got. Things seem to improve in October, thank God. So I am now getting in to to the Christmas spirit, even though I can find our Christmas decorations! So I had to go out and buy a few things, so that our home would not be bare.

The cats clawing at everything is definitely a consideration in what decorations we put up. We have a tiny little Christmas tree with little lights and decorations. It is really adorable and small. The cats have done some exploring but they are leaving it alone for now.



Are all of you putting up a Christmas tree and decorations? I actually think I am going to make the biscotti again this year. I just have to figure a day that I dedicate to it, preferably before Christmas. I hope to make a variety of biscotti, I just really have to get organized.



Hope all of you are well. Diana thanks so much for the Christmas card, what a strikingly good looking family. It's a delight to look at it.



I think of you all, and I wish you a happy holiday season, and of course surviving the inevitable stress that can also come with Christmas.



Love you all,



Sandra

Hello everyone,



We just got word from Diana - who so kindly called this morning - to say hello. Diana told us that Murray's bagel place won the taste test. What a nice thing to hear on a Sunday morning. Now all we need is some bagels to eat; it sure would be a fine thing on a Sunday morning.



KC, I told Sid about your book recommendation. He said the concepts in your book sound similar to the book "Murderer Next Door." In fact I think he will be sending that to you, he thinks you would like it.



I love all the photos on the blog. Although I have to admit that the picture of Bopcha and of the Zoiboyz is beautiful but also very sad. The fields at the farm look great. Kay, I am glad your eye surgery went well and it seems that you have recovered nicely.



Anyway, I will try to write a little later about happenings here in Philadelphia. Right now I have to wonder off and go meet with my running partner. I look forward to my Sunday runs with my friend Brunella.



Love to all of you,



I hope everyone is well.



Sandra

Hello all,



Well when I run 5 miles I jog through ghetto etc... well not really but you are lucky to have such beautiful trails to run through. Perhaps we have interesting landscape but it seems to take a lot more effort to find it. Anyway, good luck on your trail. It sounds like it will be interesting.



Diana, I think you are absolutely reasonable to look for the best running clothes you can find. Your running wardrobe is very important - everyone knows that. Plus, think about Noah - surely his mother has to be the perfect Nike model. I mean really you are doing it all for him right?



Anyway, yesterday I was running and not jogging. Since I was doing more speed than is comfortable I was feeling all the lactic acid building up and it made me feel yukkie. I hate that feeling. I was looking for any excuse to stop and start up again. You know all those good reasons that you come up with like fixing your shoelaces, drinking water, stopping to look at the horses that are on the trail and talking to the police officers that saddling up the horses. (By the way they are police horses that roam around Fairmount City Park). They are beautiful.



Tomorrow, of all things, I will be doing an "team building" seminar which the Dean invited me to. We will be doing this seminar on a Horse Farm. Yes you read that correctly, we will be using horses for the exercises rather than sitting in a dark conference room listening to others pontificate, isn't that great. I am really looking forward to this.



I will let you know how it goes.



Sandra

Hello,



I thought you may all appreciate this. I have been serving on a committee regarding service excellence etc....very lofty sounding I know.



But of course I would never bore you with details on the work we are doing. But I did think you would all appreciate a suggestion that was made by one of our Vets/Clinicians. We were trying to identify standards/Philosophy etc... and he thought we should use the following for our employees:



"Be the person your dog thinks you are."



Isn't that funny. It is debatable whether that works for cats. Believe the committee debated it. We all know how our cats feel about us......let's just say it is a little different than how our dogs see us.



Anyway, I am grateful to be working in a place that can even have these kinds of conversations.



Bye for now,



Sandra

Hello Everyone,



As in the recent past, I have wanted to write in but it always seems that there are too many things going and something always seems to stand in the way of relaxing and writing quick notes on the blog. But today I was determined to say hello and write.



I really liked the photos of Murray’s graduation. That looked like such fun. What a great adventure. How is he enjoying the new restaurant? Seems like it would be ideal to start your career at a new place where the road is not already set in stone, and you can be part of the image that is created.



It was great to see Kay and Judy out here and it was funny to be at the same celebration on the East Coast. It was a very short visit. Poor Judy was in our house for a short time but had some type of reaction to something. Judy, do you think it was our cats, I hope not. We felt awful that our house was the culprit. I mean who wants to see their guests affected like that by your very own environment.

It was a beautiful wedding and quite elaborate.



This weekend Nina and Alex visited and spent Saturday into Sunday at our house. As you may remember we have the pool which we rarely use -isn't that amazing? If we

did not have a pool we would like pay membership to one right? Anyway, maybe not because I actually hate to swim.



And I think that may be evidenced by the fact that the Parsons (especially George) don’t want Nina and Alex going to the pool without Sid. I am not sufficient enough protection for them. Hmm should I be insulted??? Well I can’t blame them for wanting to make sure their children are safe, and safety is not the image that is conjured up when it comes to me and swimming. 

So I had strict orders to make sure Sid was around if we were going to go swimming. In the end, that works out just fine because they have more fun playing with Sid anyway.



Both of them are a riot and they of course say very funny things. Nina did really well with her track team this year and this summer she will actually be doing a soccer camp at Penn and staying with us for one week in order to do so. Should be a busy week.



Alex – when he is not meticulously building something with his lego sets, he is following Nina around – taking orders from her and saying really funny things. He is a tiny boy and these funny comments come out of his mouth that remind you of something an old fastidious man might say. It really is very funny. Anytime you ask him what he would like to eat for lunch, dinner, etc… he responds with “well what do we have available?” You list things and then he contemplates each one very carefully. I told his mother she should just start printing out menus for him. He is actually really well behaved but he is just so fastidious about the strangest things. One day, he asked his mother why she put so much cheese on his pasta. He hesitantly started eating it and said, “okay well I will eat it this time but next time please don’t put so much cheese on it.” Well take that for an order from a little eight year old munchkin. But again, I know it doesn’t sound like it but he is really well-mannered, and basically a good little boy. He just needs to correct adults sometimes on various things. Yesterday I gave him a spoon instead of a fork for his noodles and he told me that he thinks a fork should be used. OMG! I won’t bore you with anymore Alex comments but there are numerous and they are rather entertaining.



Sid had to work most of the weekend to finish up on a heavy case load but still got to be life guard for Nina and Alex when he came home



As strange as you may all find it, Alex and Nina are still Begging to go to Oregon. We figured they would grow out of it. Not a chance. They might come out for a short visit if we come for a visit. It would probably be around August 19 for about a week. Neither of us can get much time from work anymore.



Anyway, I hope you are all well. Would love to hear more on how everyone is doing. Take good care and I hope it will be an enjoyable summer – where you can fit in lots of R&R.



With Love,



Sandra

Hello Mothers and Sisters,



I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day. The weather here was picture perfrect. It was really sunny, breezy, not hot but warm from the sun. My sister and I took my mother to a restaurant for a really nice relaxing lunch. The kids were not around - they went to their grandmother's beach house with George to clean up the shore house and get it ready for the summer. My sister was not complaining about the hiatus from the kids and actually welcomed the "adult outing." Not that Alex and Nina are not completely entertaining.





We had much more ambitous goals for Mother's day but because the traffic was so horrendous, traveling took 3X the normal time so we made major changes to our plans. We were going to take my mother to the Art Museum to see an exhibit of an artist named Carpaccio who does some sort of transformative art to fashion - I can't quite explain it but if I do end up seeing it perhaps I can say more about it, not likely but I can always try to babble something. With my mother being in the clothes making business, we thougth she would enjoy it. My mother said she had heard that the pieces in his show were not really "wearable" to which my sister responded, '..and how would that be different than other pieces that fashion designers create?" How true right? I will occassionally glance over "Vogue" magazines if they are in the gym and I am always amazed at how crazy and unwearable the clothes are, I guess they are designing with Lady Gaga in mind. By the way, I happen to catch her on TV one day and could tolerate about five minutes of her. She offends me. I know she has her talents???? so they tell me, but I actually find myself bored by her outrageousness.



Anyway, because of the chaos and traffic in Philadelphia we ended up resorting to a quiet lunch and then going to the "Aerosole" shoe store nearby to get some much needed shoes. You know when you reach that state that if you don't soon buy shoes you will be relegated to walking barefoot.



Sundays in Phila during the Spring or Summer are quite challenging as there is always a major outdoor event which creates lots of travelers spreading all over the roads. Speaking of events, last weekend I completed the Broad Street Run, which is apparently one of the most popular 10-miler runs in the country. There were 30,000 runners registered (no I did not add extra zeros). Amazing isn't it? The most inspiring part is that even with all those crowds, it all really works and is very organized with runners and on-lookers all supporting each other. It was the first year I did it, and I really loved it.



At the starting line you are just overwhelmed with a sea of people and that pretty much continues throughout the entire race. They start different groups at different times, but when you get to the starting line, there was the Mayor Nutter off to the side giving people "high fives" and the "Rocky" music starts. I guess that is the perfect tune to demonstrate Philly pride. Anyway, my friend and I finished the run doing about 10 minute miles. I don't think that is considered super athletic but it is okay. I am just happy we finished. It felt so good and it wasn't as painful as I thought it might be which I think is because it is all relatively flat road.



I am happy to hear about everyone's adventures and life on the farm. I hear that Murray is embarking on the art of bread making. I think bread is my favorite food in the universe. I would definitely be stopping by to sample if I lived nearby. Diana, you will have to give us a full report. And I guess you will know exactly when they open since you have been watching so closely.



Diana, by the way I guess one should follow you around in determining where to live. I mean here you are living between two highly rated places: Mercer Island and Corvallis. Does it get any better?

I don't think anyplace I ever lived rated high in any category. They say that Univ. of Penn is one of the best places to work in Philadelphia. Hmmmm.....let's see I haven't seen an increase in two years and have never worked so hard in my life...........Huh??? Seriously, UPenn is not such a bad place to work, it definitely has its perks.



I will write again soon- that is my goal. Good wishes to all of you. We will be seeing Kay and Judy very soon.



Love,



Sandra

Hello Everyone,



Great job on the marathon. You guys all look so great. I wish I could have joined you because it looks a lot of fun. And no I would not be doing a full marathon. My knees are not so great anymore, not that they ever were.



Just want to let you all know that anyone who wants to stay with us is more than welcome. Sid and I would love to have family visitors, truly. I will make sure Sid is on his best behavior, perhaps I should start training him now.



We have a sofa bed in the foyer, a living room with a sofa and an extra bedroom with two full bathrooms so please feel welcome. We were planning on going to the wedding - sounds like it will be lots of fun.

The biggest challenge with weddings as far as I am concerned is that you actually have to find a nice dress to wear that you can stand seeing yourself in. For being a seamstress' daughter I sure have a not very positive attitude about formal dressing right? It's really not so bad I am just really picky about these things. I always feel like nothing likes quite right, I think it is called a lack of patience for shopping.

No worries I will get over it. Men are lucky, they just get to wear suits, I mean how bad can one look in a suit.



Hope everyone is well. My thougths are with you.



Love



Sandra