Hi my sweets-- I decided I had better catch up with you all--I started to do this yesterday morning, had a brain fart and got distracted by something else--remembered on my dog walk last night.
As you may have heard, much of Wisconsin is under water--we are not threatened here, but the major highways near Madison are closed this morning, about 14 dams are threatening to give way--and more rain on the way. What a mess--but not nearly as bad as Iowa. Poor folks there are REALLY drowning-- if you haven't looked, take a look at Cedar Rapids Iowa, which is now one big river!!
I am writing with one hand and packing with the other. I have one more writing deadline Sunday. Meantime, Anna G and I are going on a little outing this weekend-- what we had promised each other to do when I was moving here but never got around to. Nothing like a deadline to clarify things! (As you ALL know!!)
We are going to Door County-(the thumb of Wisconsin, which sticks up into Lake Michigan-- it is literally the Cape Cod of the Midwest--money, art, gorgeous scenery--no Provincetown, though!!) ( which ones of you were along when Babbo and I and--was it Anna and Miriam??--went to Door County with Barbie and Dave when they were still mobile? We went to a drive-in theater, remember??) Anna g and I are going to look at the yellow lady slippers, which bloom in profusion there-- and lots of art galleries and antique shops, I am sure. Lily will stay next door.
I am going to have a moving sale next weekend--I go to Rochester, NY for one day of work- Thursday to Friday-fortunately, I got a flight in and out of Wausau with a terrific schedule so I will only be gone one night--then work like a fiend to get my sale going. It will be clothes and extra kitchen stuff, etc. Miriam-- are you interested in cobalt blue ceramic kitchen jars--the kind that clamp shut and have a wooden scoop on the side? I have a set of 5--the big one holds a full bag of ground coffee--the littlest one is about 1/4 cup--tiny--for spice or salt or something. I got them in Columbus to bring to this house, but did not use them much. They would be good for storing tea or raisins or small amounts of rice etc. (I am assuming that Jules, you don't want more stuff, and Anna ditto.--no family items or other interesting stuff--just excess)
My move will be complicated==no news there, huh? I rented ANOTHER storage unit-- I am guessing about the 15th?? since Fanny's stuff in 1993?? I will store about 2/3 of my stuff here and go to DC with a smallish truck and my houseplants. I don't have a place to live yet, so am thinking I might find an English basement or something month to month while I look for something more substantial for my stuff. The Robinsons are moving to Easton MD and have a HUGE house in a retirement community sitting empty. They told me I could put my stuff in their garage because FIRST I am going to help Moomie settle into her apartment and THEN I am going to MAINE for July 4 to early August. I start work on the 11th of August. On my way north, I will be able to kiss Miriam for HER 25th and hug Anna for HER 30th!! YAY!!!!
I will have to travel twice while in ME, but oh well-- I fly out of Bangor, just under 1 hour from my house----much less hassle than most of my trips from here, where I travel to Milwaukee (3 + hours), Minneapolis (same) or Appleton (1 h.5 hrs)-- it is actually rare that I can fly out of Wausau-- so expensive.
As usual, moving has its poignancies-- my gardens which I labored over last summer are lovely--daisies and iris, ferns and hostas--and the house's advantages, which are many, are barking at me. But DC calls. And INCOME. Hoo boy-- I will be glad for regular income.
The good news is that NY state is expanding my consulting there, and I made arrangements with the school to be able to take a day or two every now and then to go up and do that. I can take the train!!--Or even drive== the new gig is in southern Westchester County--about 4 hours from DC. That extra $$ will help me pay down my huge tax bill and pay what I hope is my last year of school!! (did I tell you all I have a doctoral writing coach all lined up in DC?? A lady who works at the school where I will be-- we will meet bi-weekly as I did with Mary to keep my writing on track.)
Needless to say I am cringeing at the price of gas and what it will cost to drive a truck that gets 8 miles/gallon....I was going to ask Mike Gresch to help me move again, but decided that towing my car would save a LOT on gas!! (yes it will increase consumption on the truck, but not as much as filling the car would be--it now costs me $55 to fill my car-where I used to be able to fill it for $20 or under. Sigh.)
Are you all still psyched about Obama? It is just an incredible thought that in my lifetime a black person may be in the White House. I think I will move over the border to Canada if McCain is elected. Another old white man. I was disappointed, though, by Obama's choice of Jim Johnson to head up his VP committee- Johnson is deep in the doodoo of Washington politics and scheming and has been so for decades. WHY Obama did that I cannot understand. I wrote an outraged message to his campaign and said if he wanted votes of folks like me , he had better revisit his motto of change we can believe in...can't believe it if the Jim Johnsons of the world are part of his team. Happily Johnson saw the train wreck coming and resigned.
I survived the two weeks with Aunt Carolie-- barely. Fortunately for both of us, I was gone pretty much 5 days out of that time, and while I was gone, Anna G and her friend Jan looked after Aunt C--got her out, took her to yard sales and thrift shops etc. She had a good time in the end, but we literally nearly killed each other the first few days. She is SO negative it is unbelievable. When challenged on that or any of a dozen other things she just snarls and lashes out--says her family chews her up enough about it--I don't have a right to-- and actually PUT MONEY on the counter one day, saying now she was a cash paying customer and I could not be rude to her!!! This after she growled at me when I walked in the door from walking Lily, saying " Well YOU didn't go very far!!" Like it mattered!! I asked her why she couldn't just ask " Did you have a nice walk?" and then she said I was being rude!!!
Anyway-- a lecture from our Aunt Jeannie to her while I was out seemed to get her into a new place. Jeannie apparently told her to cherish this sister time together--it was rare and might never happen again-- and Carolie seems to have listened. After that it was easier-- though her passive aggression and moodiness did not change much. We did have a lovely day a week ago driving back to Minneapolis to George's-- we stopped at a dozen yard sales and junk shops and ate brats from a brat fry raising money for a local fire department, etc. Other than the occasional meltdown in the car over not being able to find something, it was good.
It was fun to see George and Lisa, who now live in a lovely house in a gorgeous subdivision north of Mpls. Mitchell is tall, gangly and adorable-- heading to the Marines at the end of the month if he passes his GED. He has a decommissioned police car for his wheels and he just loves it. It still has the safety screen divider behind the front seat, and looks like a police car. People give it a long second look when he parks in a parking lot!
We watched a movie at George's called Death at a Funeral--directed by Frank Oz--has any of you seen it?? It is without doubt one of the funniest movies I have EVER seen. The British struggling with stiff upper lip at a funeral gone completely mad. Came out in 2007. If you haven't seen it, do rent it-- Miriam--it would be a GREAT addition to your vacation on the Vineyard!!
I am listening to books on tape while I walk and pack-- the best so far is a Patrick O"Brian -- one of his long series about sailing ships in the early 19th century-- amazing historical fiction extremely well read. (The Mundies read their way through the O'Brian series as a family....!) I have Jhumpa Lahiri's latest group of short stories to listen to ==and then Milton Friedman-"The World is Flat"-- economics in the 20th century. I am now listening to a junky novel called the Venetian Betrayal about a mystery around the whereabouts of the remains of Alexander the Great-- the historical part is terrific. Unfortunately, the narrator feels it necessary to add extra melodrama to the reading.. yuck.
Well one more piece of good news-- the Gresches have a new grand daughter-- Kate Elise-- born last night at 8 45 PM and weighing in at 8 lbs and 20.25 inches-- nice healthy fat baby. It was another tough pregnancy for Kristi, who had to have bed rest for over 10 weeks--second time-- I think they won't have any more kids! Anna is euphoric to have a little girl to buy things for!!
Love to all MY baby girls-- all hitting milestones this year-- 35/30/25--wish we could all party together to celebrate. Remember those wonderful huge family celebrations in our backyard in DC in June? Grandpa's birthday(tomorrow) Father's Day, Moomie and Anna's birthday's, Mormor's Birthday-- sometimes even Jer's-- all thrown into one ginormous bash. Wonderful memories.
Congratulations to Moomie on sailing through the boards!! On to rotations and North Hampton.
Jules-- fill us in on wedding plans-- I am feeling outside of that loop!
'Na-- did you get to set up a bench in Drew's basement??
Well--back to my writing--I love you all, my dear daughters. Mama
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