1/27/2013

WEEKLY UPDATE 1/27/2013

Well, the Australian Open 2013 is history now, with Azarenka & Djokovic crowned as champions. I'm hoping that I’ll be able to get back into the habit of sleeping at night and being awake during the day. No more tennis for a while, and only one football game left in the season. It's gonna be a l-o-n-g off season.

I did get out one time this week. There's a touring exhibit of select paintings & tapestries from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence Italy that's showing, and last Thursday evening, there was a lecture at the are center about the Medici family. Since Ishy & I had visited the Uffizi when we were in Italy, I wanted to see this exhibit, and Thursday seemed like a good day to do that. I went to the lecture a little early so I would have time to view the paintings - magnificent!   But, thinking back, I remember very little of the artwork I saw when I toured the museum in Florence. I remember the long lines waiting to get in, and the wonderful gift shop (I never met a gift shop I didn't like), but I don't remember much of the art. It's easier not to be overwhelmed when the exhibit is small, like the one now in Savannah. 

 

Sunday, I went to the cemetery to open and close the visitor center, and I was also scheduled to sit at the desk for a shift. Nothing new or exciting there, but how much new & exciting can you expect from a cemetery?

Just because I have nothing to write, I thought I'd add these few old photographers. A few years ago, my brother gave Ishy & Allen snugglies for Christmas. Ishy bought hers to Savannah on a visit, and then forgot to pack it back up when she left. The weather here is turning colder again - down to the 30's in the night but no frosts yet. I can tolerate the cool temps better than hot weather, so I like when it's not warm; I just don't like snow & ice which explains why I'm in Savannah, and not Rochester. I haven't turned my furnace on yet and I think I'm benefiting from having a unit above & below me heated, and also that my condo faces west and I get afternoon sunshine. That really heats it up in here in the summer, but helps keep the temps moderate in the winter. I remembered that snugglie, and I got it out for when I sit to watch tv or read. I like it! So, here's couple of photos - Ishy & Allen long ago, and me this week. (note: my tv remote and hand held freecell, two of my best friends).

1/20/2013

Weekly Update 1/20/2013

Well, looks like there will be a San Francisco / Baltimore Super Bowl.  That makes it complete - I did not get any of the winners for my picks.  Now, really who cares? 

Donna got me out two times this week. On Thursday there was a program at Massie School. Since I know a little about the school, I thought it would be interesting to learn more. Juliet Gordon Low's mother was there, dressed beautifully in an antebellum hoop skirted dress, to tell visitors a little about herself & her family. Really cool. And on Friday, we went to the Savannah Children's Theatre, which we love to do, for a fabulous performance of Willie Wonka. I had made -gasp! - homemade mac & cheese to eat before the play, & it was ok. My days in the kitchen are far behind me, but Donna was a trouper, and said it was good.

No wonder I'm so tired. I've been up all night (not really that unusual) watching the tennis. But last night, not only was I up, but I was on the edge of my seat for the 5-hour match between Djokovic & Wawrinka. Wonderful, marvelous tennis!

I've been sneezing & blowing my nose for a few days. Because the weather has cooled down again to more seasonable temps after some record highs a week ago, I'm not sure if I got a cold or if the spring-like air fooled the pollen into believing its time to get out there & do their damage & I'm in the grips of the allergies they cause. I had to close my bedroom windows last night - I'll see if that helps.

I still can't upload photos to this blog.  I'm about to give up.  Google doesn't fix it.  I haven't been able to recieve mail all day from my yahoo account.  Yahoo doesn't care.  I am really really sick and tired of things not working like they should, when i'm forced to watch tv ads about it's possible to do 2 things at once on your deivce, or you can just click your ipod with another and have things transfered, while i can't even get my photos or mail loaded.  one night last week, comcast "interupted service" while i was watching the tennis.  They were sorry, and promised it would be fixed soon (and it was).  But, whatever happened to things and people working as they're supposed, or at least trying? 

1/13/2013

WEEKLY UPDATE 1/13/2013

(I don't know what's going on with this blog - I can't upload photos.  I tried yesterday with my usual Sunday posting, and when it didn't happen, I waited to see if it might correct itself on Monday morning.  Nope.  I couldn't add any pix last week either.  so, I'll just post the text, and keep trying.  maybe next week I'll get it right.)

HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY SARAH

How did that happen? and so quickly. Sarah will soon be taking her drivers license permit exam, and then she will learn the ways of the road from behind the wheel.

Downton Abbey returns: I don't get it. Did Richard Carlisle never publish the scandalous story of Lady Mary, or of Bates? Where are the tabloid stories that were to bring ruin upon the Crawley family? Wasn't Lady Mary going to have to flee to America, on the advice of her father, to avoid the rumors that would destroy her once the story was known? Didn't seem like any of them were shunned at the wedding, or that the Earl's disaster had anything to do with all the moral lapse of his eldest daughter at all.

And the continuing soap opera of the NFL playoffs. Not to go on and on about the games, but this week end, of the four games that were played, I was only able to predict one winner. That makes me 2 for 6 so far, and I'm completely out of it for the Super Bowl as I picked Denver to beat Green Bay in the Big Game. A couple of very good and exciting games, a couple of ho hum ones. The most exercise I’ve had in weeks was pacing back & forth in front of the TV all during the OT of the Ravens game.

From the news reports from Rochester that I read almost daily, I can tell that there was a January thaw this week. Savannah, not to be outdone, recorded a record high temperature of 81 on Saturday.

 

Monday was Book club this week. At least I got once all week. The book that we all read was called Dream Variations, and it was written by a Chinese-born professor at SCAD who came to the US as a student, and never returned. She wrote of some of her experiences in adapting to the culture of a different country. Quite interesting. 

Sunday, I had to give a Second Sunday Tour at Bonaventure. I only could watch the first quarter of the early game before I had to go to the cemetery, so I missed a lot of that exciting game. I got back to the condo just at the 2 minute warning. For the late game, I went to Donna's and had lasagna and wine while the TV was on in the background. I thought that wouldn't be a very good game, so it was more fun to spend time with her and chat than to watch the football.

So another week of doing almost nothing. Perhaps next week I'll be able to report on even more tv shows that I've watched. Stay tuned.

1/6/2013

WEEKLY UPDATE 1/6/2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013

I wish every one of you a very happy new year.

Not much to write about, since I do so little. My New Year's eve was quiet. Of course I was up at midnight, but I'm ALWAYS up at midnight, so no change there. I didn't even have any champagne, since I'd been slowly sipping away the bottle I'd opened at Christmas all week, and just didn't feel like having more. As ever, holidays don't seem to be much if you're retired and every day is a holiday. There were a few more Bowl Games on tv, and I watched. I'm watching more college football than I ever have before, but I think that's a Southern thing.

On Wednesday, I drove out the airport to pick up Donna when she returned from her holidays in Maine. I'm glad she's back. She got out her pancake griddle and made the red velvet pancakes from the Southern Living Magazine, similar to the carrot ones I'd made a couple of weeks ago. She shared them with me, and they were delicious!

The play-offs aren't going exactly like I'd hoped they would. Of my picks so far I'm 1 for 4. But, then again, if they went the way I wanted them to, the Bills would defeat the Lions in a wonderful, (stupid) penalty- and turn over-free game with a close score in the Super Bowl. And it will be a lot, lot colder when that happens. I was sorry that RGIII's season ended so badly. But both he and Andrew Luck will have plenty of opportunities in the future.

And, now, onward to the season 3 premier of Downton Abbey. I've waited quite a while for this.