8/27/2023

Weekly Update 8/27/2023

My new phone seems to be working well. I’m surprised that I’ve adjusted so well, and easily. I only took me a few days to adapt. One of the biggest things to get used to is that there’s no thumb button at the bottom of the phone; it opens and changes programs just by swiping. I miss that, and it’s hard to get used to. Another thing is my google account. I had purchased additional storage because I was constantly being reminded that the google gallery, where all the photos of Adrian and Annie are saved, was running out of memory. Even after making the update, I would get those messages, but since I was traveling, I didn’t have time to think about it. When I finally took it to my go-to computer people, I was told that I have two google accounts. Who knew? So he combined them so that the photos are saved to the account that has the extra memory. Problem solved. Now I just have to get the Bluetooth hooked up to my hearing aids again so I can do the adjustments to the volume on the phone. I have an appointment for next week to have that done. Because I was quite confident that this new phone is going to work for me, I turned the old phone in for the refund. And I still have my iPad. Every so s-l-o-w-l-y moving forward to the 21^st century.

I had my first training at Green-Meldrim House. The training has been going on weekly for the month of August, but I’ve either been away or I’ve had someone visiting. I read through the manual, and I’m deciding what information I feel would be best to incorporate in a tour for visitors. I remember when I started at DH, and how my tours evolved as questions were asked. It gives the guide a feel for what people are interested in learning. It’ll be a while before I’ve answered enough questions at the new house before I can fine tune that tour. I’m enthusiastic about it, and I’m delighted to be working with, and learning from, Jamie again. I also gave tours at DH on Thursday. I’m reluctant to just give that up. I can almost feel Sarah and Isiah in the house, and I want to tell their stories. Plus, I don’t want to give up the parking pass I have that enables me to park at DH when I’m downtown.

I didn’t get to the pool as much as I’d hoped to because I was downtown for training or volunteering most days. I did get there a couple of times. I generally like to go in the morning, before the other residents come out to sunbathe, but I did go to swim on Friday afternoon. Only one other person was there, so I didn’t have a lot of competition while I did my laps.  It is good to get back into that routine. 

I had hoped the thruway tolls for the drive back from The Wedding would be around $20, but feared they might be as high as $100 if fines were included. I received the notification on Friday. $4.81! What a relief. I paid that, and now I’m done.

Also, driving back a week ago, I saw this billboard, and I really thought it was funny. I think it was in South Carolina. But, I’ve since seen it a few more times closer to home. I read somewhere that Morgan and Morgan did the graffiti themselves as advertisement. I don’t know if I’d think this a good way to increase clientele, but they didn’t ask me.

Saturday, I went to a baby shower for the daughter of a friend from the Wednesday happy hour group. It was really nice, and she got a lot of nice things for the new baby girl. I was glad to be included. Except with the knitting group that I belong to, I don’t have many opportunities to do any knitting for babies any more, so it was a good chance for me to make something for someone.

Kay and I got together on Sunday evening to book flights to UK for next month. We’re all set to travel to visit Dave and Lisa from Septum 17 to October 2. Then, I’m just gonna hafta stay home for a while!

Sarah sent a cute video of Adrian. Sarah and Jack were watching old photos in a slideshow on their tv. One picture was when they visited in Savannah just after they were married. They asked Adrian who those people were, and he pointed and said Mama, Dada and Grannie! He remembers! My heart just melted.  Annie is just as cute as can be, too.  

8/20/2023

 

Weekly Update 8/20/2023

Roberta and her daughter Michelle were still with me at the beginning of the week. It was still very hot, and no one wanted to walk around much. We drove out to Bonaventure, and I was able to get them to the important parts and tell them the stories without getting out of the car except to see Johnny Mercer and Conrad Aiken. We continued driving out to Tybee, but the ocean breezes weren’t helping to cool us off much. We did walk out on the pier, and went to the lighthouse. We weren’t going to go up the 178 steps to the top, but we went inside the lighthouse keeper’s cottage and saw the displays. We ate at a restaurant out the, too.

Roberta had mentioned that she’d like to see Charleston on the trip, too, so on Tuesday, we drove to South Carolina. We got there early in the afternoon, and immediately got tickets for an air conditioned tour in a van. It lasted about 90 minutes, but there’s so much to see in Charleston, they really couldn't tell us everything. We ate at Hyman’s Seafood, and then started back to Savannah. I thought it might be nice to go through Beaufort, because that is a lovely little town, but I got lost. The GPS will direct you to the newer part of the city, and we wanted to go to the historic area and the marina. As we were driving home, we got caught in a very heavy rain storm, but we got home safely.

Wednesday, I took them first to the Cathedral of St John the Baptist. It’s a lovey tourist attraction that I hoped they would like to see. Then we went to Davenport House. Because Roberta has trouble walking, I only took her to the first floor; Michelle and I also went to the bedroom level. I gave a rather abbreviated tour, but I think that was all they needed. We drove up to Forsyth Park, and because I could find a parking space, we ate lunch at Collins Quarters. We drove out to Wormsloe, but didn’t go into the site. I really just wanted them to see the lane with the canopy of live oak trees which is really lovely. On the way back home, I asked if they had Crumbl cookies in Rochester. The answer was no, but Michelle had heard of them. We stopped and got a half dozen - $15. I still have two in my freezer.

They had an early flight to go to Rochester on Thursday. I dropped them at the airport and went to Verizon. I had dropped my old iphone 8 when I was away, and I was afraid I might cut myself on the cracked screen, and it made it difficult to read some texts and see some photos. It was time. I got a new iphone 14Pro. It took almost three hours to transfer all my stuff. And then I had such trouble trying to use it. I still don’t have my hearing aids hooked up to the bluetooth, but I have a regular check up scheduled for Tuesday this week, so I’ll wait until then. I spent a lot of time playing with new phone. Maybe I’ll like it better when I get more used to it. I also spent a lot of time getting Things Back To Where They Should Be. I have felt as if I haven’t been “home” in quite a long time. And then - I was almost back to normal – well, normal for me, anyway. I met Green Square friends on Friday. I met DH friends for breakfast on Saturday. I saw Kay on Saturday night. I still have not been to the pool, but I’ll go this week for sure! I made copies of photos for my shelves.  I read stories to Adrian and Annie on Sunday. I was amazed that Adrian remembered me and called me Grandma. That boy is brilliant! And they’re both just as adorable as can be!

8/13/2023

Weekly Update 8/13/2023

I got up very early on Wednesday morning. No coffee, no shower, no bra, no makeup, no hearing aids.  I got in the car and started off. I needed to stop a few times, for gas and find a rest room. I stopped at a welcome center in Virginia and asked how to get to western NY without continuing on 95 through Washington DC. They gave me directions to take route 81. I stopped at a hotel and tried to relax and figure out the best way to continue in the morning. 

On Thursday, I easily found 81, but that route was awful. There were lane closures nearly all the way through PA. However, I never saw any construction or maintenance - just slowly merging to a single land and traveling for mil in one lane. That was frustrating. I got to Geneva NY about 5 o’clock and met Allen at the hotel he’d reserved for us. We went out for supper and then watched the Hall of Fame game. 

Friday was The Wedding. It as about a 45 minute drive from our hotel, and it began in mid-afternoon. Emily was lovely. There was the service, lots of photographs, a buffet, dancing, and visiting with people I haven’t seen in a long time, and may never see again.  Adrian and Annie were adorable. They came down the aisle in a wagon before Emily and Brian, and they were perfect. 

Saturday, Allen and I checked out of the hotel. Since we were in Geneva, we wanted to explore a little of Seneca Lake. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, the annual Garlic Fest was just beginning. That made it difficult to park, and there were lots of people in the welcome center. We wandered around, took a few pictures, and stayed for about an hour. Then we drove to Skaneateles for lunch at Doug’s Fish Fry - lots of good memories there. We parted ways there - Allen went east to his home; I went west to check into the Hampton Inn in Webster. I had enough time to settle in and relax a bit. Then I drove to Marcia and Andy’s house. Their 50th wedding anniversary was the same day that Emily and Aaron got married. I wanted to do something a little special, so we went out to dinner at a wonderful Italian place nearby. This was a long day - one of many.

On Sunday, I wanted to take a tour at Mt Hope Cemetery. So, I made plans with Ishy to visit her later in the afternoon.  Brian and Sharon met us at her house. Emily and Aaron also stopped by briefly, but didn’t go to dinner with us. They’re going to Costa Rica for their honeymoon, but didn’t leave until Monday. Since I hardly had any time with them at The Wedding, it was really nice to have a little more time. After they left, Ishy, Brian and Sharon and I went out for supper. I’d been invited to Michelle’s house for supper, but since I’d already eaten, I stopped later for dessert.

I had no plans for Monday, and when I tried to find something interesting to visit, I was surprised that all museums and tourist places were closed on Mondays. I connected with Sarah, and asked if I could go to the Strong Museum of Play with them. That’s one place that’s open every day. Adrian and Annie were delightful, of course. Adrian is a wonder!  He knows what his favorite places to play are, and he headed right for them. March Box Cars and race tracks. Annie just loves watching Adrian play.  I just loved watching Annie and Adrian. By the end of the day, I was exhausted. I went back to the hotel for just a few minutes to recover and then went out to get a sandwich at DiBellas, an old time favorite sub shop. As I was going down the road, I met a police road block. I turned around to go the other way, and that was blocked off too. At the Walmart that was in the same area, someone report seeing a man with a rifle. Everything shut down - Walmart, DiBellas, even other restaurants I tried to get into. Never one to risk starvation, I went to ALDIs, got a loaf of bread and a block of cheddar cheese. I had some wine in the room. At least I didn’t go hungry. 

The plan for Tuesday was to meet friends from City Hall for lunch. Ishy joined us, because she knew them as well. We met at a lovely restaurant in Canandaigua. It was nice to learn what everyone is doing, and hear news of others that I used to work with  When we got back to the hotel, Ishy and I went shopping. She found a new pair of jeans, but I had no luck finding a Bills shirt. I’d seen a lot of Buffalo Bill merchandise in Wegmans, but it was pricey. Walmart had nothing, and Penney’s was nearly as expensive, and there was a limited selection. I was empty handed. After dropping Ishy back at her house, I went back out to visit Marcia and Andy one more time. 

The weather for Wednesday promised to be warm and sunny, so I met Sarah, Adrian and Annie at Genesee Country Museum. That’s a historic village outside of Rochester. Sarah had wanted to visit there again. She hasn’t been there since I took her when she was young. When she found out I was interested in seeing it, she suggested we all go. Of course, the babies weren’t that interested in the history, but Annie just liked watching Adrian. Adrian liked walking around, seeing the farm animals and picking up rocks.  He had a little disappointment at the farm house where the lady was baking cookies because he really didn’t understand that he couldn’t have one, but we got one at the gift shop when we exited, so it was ok. His absolute favorite thing to do there was to take the wagon ride. It was pulled by a big tractor and, although it’s meant for old people who need help getting around, he loved riding. He completely charmed the driver who even allowed him to sit in the tractor and pretend to drive. Both babies napped in the stroller after their picnic lunch, so Sarah had a chance to get in a few buildings and see some demonstrations. For myself, I rather felt that I can see historic houses anytime I want, so I just thoroughly enjoyed being with Sarah and the babies. We got there when it opened, and stayed until closing. It was a long day, and I was exhausted!  I know why young people have babies; you need that much energy!  

I drove to Camillus to see the Flynn’s. It was Robin’s birthday on Thursday, so that was a good opportunity to see them. Cousin Jimmy, Robin’s brother, went with me, which was nice because I would have had trouble finding it. Hannah has not gone back to university yet for the fall semester, so I could visit with her. Rachel was working, but we met her and her boyfriend when we all went out to dinner at a Tex Mex place that was very nice. I was wonderful to see them!

And then it was Friday, and time to check out of the hotel Webster, pick up Roberta and her daughter Michelle, and head back to Savannah. They wanted to visit Savannah and this was a chance for them to do that. They’ll be with me for about a week. It was a long two day drive, but I was behind the wheel only at the very beginning. They kindly picked up the driving chores. We rolled into Belmont Park about 6 pm – and I was glad to be home! Altogether, the trip was just over 2,700 miles and gas cost almost $250. I don’t want to do this again for a long, long time!

Sunday, we went downtown. It was terrifically hot and muggy, and we didn’t want to spend much time outside. There were no trolleys that were air conditioned, so after a visit inside at the history museum, I drove around. They were able to see most everything form the comfort of my car, and I’m as good a tour guide as any trolley driver. James was in Chippewa Square, so we visited with him for a while. WE had coffee at Gallery Express and an early dinner at Paula Deen’s The Lady and Sons. When we got back to the apartment, we watched the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil video, and we were able to recognize some of the places we visited earlier in the day.