Five years gone

My sister took this photo of our dad when they took a trip to South Dakota, I think. They were on a train. I just love his happy expression, the candid look at his happiness. He was pretty famous for not really smiling in photos so this is a rare capture. It’s been a pretty…

anniversary of an ending

It’s been five years since I sat next to my dad’s hospital bed, the one that was in a weird dark corner in the ICU, and held his hand as he told me and my mom about the decision he’d made. I remember his skin – papery, delicate. He bruised easily, like a peach. He…

Shorter, fatter,* happier + holiday days off

When last I left you, I was recovering from the twisted ankle I suffered on Saturday. On Monday, I worked then I took Mom’s car to get air in her tires then picked up some sandwiches for Jersey Mike’s. The rest of the day I took care of the financials and rested. On Tuesday, I…

~ 51 ~ and more

Let’s rewind to Thursday. I took the day off so Mom & I could have a SoCal adventure day. We headed out around 10 am and drove down to San Juan Capistrano and went to the restaurant where we had reservations for 11:30 am, L’Hirondelle, which is right across the street from the mission. The…

A taste of Greece

Friday nights these days for me are made for sleeping. I swear I get the best sleep on Friday nights. I woke up this morning with eight hours of real sleep meaning I still had an hour and four minutes awake (according to my FitBit and my CPAP) but eight whole hours of actual sleep!…

Friday – first of nine left

That’s a weird way to look at it, but that’s what came to me for this title. There are nine Fridays left in the year, and this one’s already done for. How did you spend yours? As for me, I worked, read, then I took Mom to her podiatrist. He’s a very nice man, and…

Germany to US (Munich > LAX) – day 12 (traveling home)

A day after the fact, but I was TIRED when I got home yesterday! We got up early to get our bags all packed and get ourselves ready to go. We left the hotel a little after 7 am and wheeled our luggage back through the streets of Munich to the bus stop. It was…

Greece (Chania, Crete) – day 4 (Lighthouse walk & creativity retreat)

Finally slept longer than five hours last night! In fact, I slept eight hours! Boy, I needed that! Sandy & I had talked last night about taking it easy this morning, and I think we’re both happy with that decision. We got ourselves together and went to breakfast here at the hotel. It was a…

Greece (Athens) – day 2 (Ancient Athens walking tour & evening food tour)

I didn’t sleep great last night, but at least I slept longer than three hours which is how long I slept on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. We had a 10 am walking tour scheduled, and we had to meet the guide, Alex, at a certain place. We left the hotel pretty early just in case. On…

August Break #s 10-18 in reverse order

Five years ago (#18) I just posted a photo to IG of a plane coming in to land in San Diego. I was walking around downtown San Diego as I did nearly every weekend. It’s funny because I didn’t consider myself a “walker” or “hiker” then. Hell, I don’t think I even wore a sports…