Morning Folks 11 15 06

About 3 weeks ago Ed and I said good-bye to my wonderful friends and family as we prepared to embark on our journey of married life in Tennessee.

Saturday night before we left, Kitty and Rick invited us into their home for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, knowing we wouldn't be in the area for the holidays. We also celebrated birthdays for the 4 folks who are turning 55 this year. Guess who that included! Although we were told not to bring gifts, I did bring enough of my previously used ice scrapers to go around. After all, I won't be needing them!





As we visited and waited for the others to arrive, Melinda, Kitty, Ed and George chatted with Sam, who lounged casually on the couch. George is either yawning or reacting to something Kitty said about the White House. (If you click on the pix, they should enlarge a bit.)



Frank and Linda arrived, and so did the wine. Just outside of the frame of the picture, Frank shows Rick his fancy corkscrew.

Lots of laughs and good conversation.
George and Melinda coordinated their outfits, I think.

Elizabeth and Ed have a moment.


Pumpkin soup, courtesy of Linda is the first course.

Pass the gravy, please.


In addition to Linder's soup, Melinda provided the appetizers, Elizabeth the dessert, and Kitty and Rick everything else. We brought the rolls, but just like every Thanksgiving dinner, we forgot all about them! After dinner conversation only briefly turned to politics. I was grateful for that. This was pre-elections. Believe me, it would have been a very difficult conversation if it was post elections! At least for two of us. George and I always appreciate the great restraint these Democrats show at these gatherings.

Frank and Linda from behind empty wine bottles. I think that is a fitting angle for our wine experts!

While we chatted around the dinner table, Sam enjoys a beer in the living room.

I am so glad we wer able to get together that last Saturday we had in town. Although we missed the Wortmans, the other couple who usually joins us at these gatherings. They have such a tough time getting off the Vineyard. Maybe next time everyone can come to our trailer on the Cape! If y'all get together again before we get back for a visit, make sure someone takes some pictures for me. And when we get settled in TN, maybe we will host a gathering there! Hope everyone likes biscuits and gravy!
It was a lovely night as it always is. I will miss these regular gatherings, but it will only make those reunions we have in the future more special.


A few days later, I had the sad task of saying goodbye to my kids and Becky. We had a wonderful dinner at the Naked Fish in Waltham and it was special to have them with us on our last night in town.

All three of them had been so helpful with the move and I don't know how I would have done it without them. Thanks you guys.

She isn't really one of my kids, but there have been times when Becky seemed that way to me. I hope she and the boys see a lot of each other now that I am so far away.

My two handsome boys, Doug and Bill.
They promised me they would take care of each other for me.

And Bill's girlfriend Kim, who I think of as one of my kids now, promised me she'd watch out for both of them. I know she will.
We had a wonderful time but it was difficult to leave them that night. I know they will visit TN as often as they can. I love you all and miss you very much. And I leave you with one piece of advice:

CALL YOUR MOTHER!


I am so lucky to have these precious friends and family in my life as well as others not pictured here. I am really blessed and being apart from them only makes that fact clearer to me. Whether or not we are miles apart, you are always in my thoughts and in my heart. Love to you all. Keep in touch always!

Have a great day.
Love,
Suz

Morning Folks 11 04 06

I thought I would post a little photo-log of moving day. It was a beautiful October day and although it was just a mere ten days ago, it seems like a year has passed since then.




The crew showed up at about 8:30 and Ed and I were ready for them.




We had worked like crazy to get things ready and had gotten rid of so much unneeded stuff. I think we still could have managed to get rid of more if it hadn't been so stressful. It's hard to give and/or throw away your perfectly good stuff just because you don't need it! But I had way too much and it eventually felt good to be simplifying that part of things.










The crew from Sebastian Moving Company headed by Wayne, included Don, our driver Mike and Allie, who did a lot of the packing along with Wayne.




It was a pretty big truck, but not completely empty when they arrived. They had some other things on it already from another move. I just wasn't convinced they left enough room for my stuff.



Wayne explained that he was a professional and to trust him. He promised to get everything into that truck, but I just couldn't believe it would all fit.


Wayne spends a lot of time on the phone from what I understand. But he took very good care of us and if you have to make a long distance move along the eastern part of the US, I will give you his number. He was really great to work with. He was salesman, packer and supervisor. He was right there on the job and that made me feel so much less stressed.


They emptied my house quickly and professionally.









And they fit every last thing in there. I don't know how they did it, but they did! They used every last cubic inch of space in that truck. It was right up to the roof and flush with the door. Amazing how they did it. Doug says they Tetris things in when they fit things in like that. A reference you video gamers would understand.



Ta-da! Bravo for the crew!











While the crew packed the truck, Ed packed my car before they loaded it onto a flatbed trailer. He packed it right to the roof with items that we needed right away in Chattanooga.









The plan was that Mike would drive the truck, towing the car to Chattanooga, dropping off the car and my clothes and some other essentials, like my computer, my jewelry and some files and then put everything else in storage until we get a new house in TN.



Ed watches as they finish up and get ready to hit the road. Ed was my strength during this whole process. My siblings and their families were a big help, too. Doug and Bill helped with moving things around before moving day. Bill was nice enough to lend the use of his truck in getting things to the church for their White Elephant sale and helped moving things to various locales. And Doug was just as helpful lending his brawn and getting rid of various larger items I couldn't get rid of. Not to mention the moral support my kids always give me.

So there you go, folks. That's what happened on moving day! More about my good-byes to Sudbury and friends and family on later blogs.


Until then, have a great Sunday and GO PATS!

Morning Folks Halloween 2006

It was a gorgeous day last Saturday in TN when Ed and I went to Zeppelin's football game. The team is the Patriots, for 7 and 8 year olds.

Arabella tries on the helmet for size.


Zeppelin takes a break from the game.


Arabella with painted fingernails and black football stuff on her face enjoys the game with Indigo.

Indigo routed for her big brother from the sidelines.


The family heads home.


I am about to get on a plane for Naples so I don't have a lot of time to do my blog and the laptop is a little slow. But, here are some football pictures from Tennessee. John and Robin had a costume party for the kids following Zeppelin's football game. Have a great day! Love, Suz


Zeppelin was a Storm Trooper from Star Wars.


Arabella was Super Girl


John was a biker covered with tattoos.

Indigo was Elmo...the tickle me one, I think!


Robin joined the group as Wonderwoman making a very special Halloween family portrait.

Morning Folks 10 21 06

Later today Ed arrives to help pack me up and whisk me away to TN to continue our journey together. And I find myself leaving at one of the most beautiful times of the year here in New England. If time permits, I will take one last tour through the streets of my childhood before I go and stop for one last look of three homes in which I lived, the homes of my friends whom I visited often and the two room school house to which we walked through woods and worn paths between yards. I will stop by the the cemetery where generations lie and say my goodbyes.

But today I'll share a Robert Frost poem that I think is particularly beautiful for a particularly beautiful October day.

O HUSHED October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

To-morrow’s wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

To-morrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild,


Begin the hours of this day slow,

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know;

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away;

Retard the sun with gentle mist;

Enchant the land with amethyst.

Slow, slow!

For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,

Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—

For the grapes’ sake along the wall.




Have a wonderful day.


Love, Suz

Morning Folks 10 13 06

So, it's Friday the 13th everyone. Did you ever wonder why that is supposed to be such a bad luck day? Over the years I know I have heard various explanations, but I thought I would look into it again. And this is what I found on the web.

Fridays in general have been considered bad luck by Christians throughout history, I always thought it was probably because Jesus was crucified on a Friday. But I found out there were other things connected to Friday that gave Friday in general a bad name.



I read that supposedly Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit on Friday. I find that interesting because how did they know it was Friday in the Garden of Eden? And where did they hang their calendar?

And, they say that the Great Flood began on a Friday.

But also, the bad rap that Fridays got in the early Catholic Church goes back to trying to get rid of Pagan rituals that devoted Fridays to Venus, the godess of love, sex and all that bad stuff. And the Norsemen devoted Friday to Frigg, another goddess of sex and love who was married to Odin.
Frigg

So, anything associated with Friday seemed to be about love, sex and so forth. I guess they decided to do a smear campaign and Fridays became a bad thing. And here I always thought it was just date night.

Frigg and Odin, the happy couple.

There are lots of possibilities for reasons why the number 13 has been so badly maligned. The Pagan calendar has 13 months. The last supper's number of dinner guests. Norse legend was that 12 witches would gather and invite Frigg into their coven, making it 13. Frigg and Odin had a son named Balder, a hero. And in Norse mythology, Loki crashed a party of 12 making the group 13 and killed poor Balder. I don't know if that was a Friday, though.



All kinds of bad things in history have been reported to have happened on the 13th and on Fridays. Fridays were the day for hangings in British tradition. And there were 13 steps leading up to the noose. And it goes on and on.

So, there you have it: The Frigg 'n Friday the 13th story. You may not give a feather or a Frigg why Friday the 13th is supposed to be unlucky. In fact, I never really thought of it that way myself. But just in case, be careful out there and try to avoid black cats and ladders and goddesses named Frigg!

Have a great day!
Love,
Suz