12/31 New Thread

[Teresa]

So I set the background to this to see if I like it and then the server went down and I cant change it. I hope we can handle it until I can get it changed. Sorry.

[Teresa]

Server is still down this morning.That has never happened on this forum before. When I clicked on this one, it had flowers but I am not seeing flowers now that it is set.

[Teresa]

I was able to change it back to the patchwork but on my computer it looks off. Is it my computer only or can the rest of you tell its different?

[judy]

Teresa, I've got the quilted hearts in my design.

I am so glad you were able to talk to Ginny and that she is doing well.    

Kathy, if you hit the reply button on the upper right you will get a whole line of options.  Font Face and Font Size have drop down choices. I found that you have to hit that reply button to get the options, otherwise you don't have choices for font size, etc.

I hope you continue to get back to normal.  Are you sure you didn't lose 15, because since Teresa's got the 10, I have the 5!  Working hard to get back on track before I weigh in a week from today.  

I probably will be in bed before the new year begins.  I have a date with a book!  Because I often take a book to bed, I sometimes have made it to midnight.

Hope the new year is excellent for all of us!  Take care, Judy

   

[Teresa]

I had my new years drinks tonight, then I made tater tot nachos. I didnt way over indulge on them. I cleaned my house all day so I am not feeling to guilty about a few tequila drinks (no sugar) and some tater tots with low fat sour cream and low fat cheddar and an avocado.

Happy New Year everyone

[judy]

This is a really beautiful thread.  Thanks, Teresa.

New Year's Eve was pretty much like any other day for me.  I did hear some booms at what I think must have been midnight.  I am gradually getting back on my eating plan.  Not sure if I will be at my goal weight when I weigh in on Saturday, but I'm going to try.

Hope everyone has a good first week of the New Year!  Take care, Judy

[kathy]

Happy New Years!
My #2 son will be 34 on Friday! Where has the time gone!

I am feeling better but some how I lost or misplaced my get up and go! If you find it, please return it fast!
I had to go to the Doctor's and get a letter saying I was okay to return to work. I've been back since 27 Dec.
I left a message with Sunlife and they haven't returned my call, so I guess that's on my list.
Dayoff and I had to be at the Dr.'s at 9am. So I went for coffee afterwards and bought myself a breakfast sandwich too.

Didn't get to see the grandson, issues with Dad and texting. So now I have to figure out how to get a wooden puzzle shipped along with some other stuff! Postage is too expensive! Any suggestions?

Washed a top and when it dried it still had the grease spots so hopefully after I rubbed some Dawn dish soap into them they will disappear.

New TV comes on Sunday. Have dusted and tried to make the room tidier. Am really looking forward to having a new one. It supposedly a smart TV and I can get Net Flicks and other goodies to my TV.
Hopefully, they take the old TV away or at least put it in my car so I take it to a recycler. There is one supposedly not too far away. I also need to find the address for clothes that are worn out, don't want to give to people but one doesn't want to put in the garbage. I had it but I didn't print off the info or write it down. I have all these socks that have holes in them and I'm too lazy to mend them. Plus clothes, and shoes that are worn-out.

The weather is 32F or 0C. warm but not really.

I went to a dance around Dec 4. I felt like I was getting the flu the following weeks. Anyways, I went last night and 9 people caught COVID there. I guess I'm probably number 10.

I stayed up and was listening to the radio and went to bed around 2am. Got a Text around 5:45 a asking if I would like to work. Thought about it and decided yes. Went in at 7a and worked 8 hours. I believe it's a Stat Holiday Double Time but the Stat Pay. If it is it definitely pay for my TV and hopefully the installation!

Nothing exciting here. Just trying to get motivated to do the stuff on the list!
How is everyone else!

Hugs
Kathy

[judy]

So many gray days.  It's always a good time to get inside things done, but I spent last week getting and recovering from a cold, so I have no energy right now.  Of course, I have a list of things to do, but I keep procrastinating.  Jim and I did enjoy an evening outing, the first in a very long time.  My daughter, Bryn, and her friend, Roy, took us out for a delicious dinner last night.  Jim and sometimes go out to lunch, but it's been ages since we went out to dinner.  It was fun.

My first class was yesterday.  I have a nice size class, only 12, so it is very relaxed, giving everyone the opportunity to not feel rushed when they read their stories and there's time for a little discussion.  

I sent off another set of my dad's World War II letters.  This time it was the letters from May through July of 1945, and there were 27 letters and 150 pages.  I try to scan the letters not read them or I would never get them organized.  A few are addressed to me (I would have been five.) and I do read those.  

I'm going to participate in the Round Robin quilt group again and I need to get my project ready.  I have an idea about what I'd like to do, but it's going to take some planning.  Sometimes I have great ideas and then decide to go with something easy.  I hope this time I don't talk myself out of the one I'm thinking of.

Hope you are doing well.  It seems impossible that we are now in 2023 and the first month is half over already.

Take care, Judy

[Teresa]

Hi all
I have been having a heck of a time with late night eating of popcorn with real butter. Every night I cut up veggies, hard boil eggs and have stuff to eat but I turn to the popcorn maker and real butter. Last night I didnt do it, I actually stopped myself but it was a battle because around 10 Chibs went over and started knocking the popcorn maker with his nose. He was so insistent that we needed popcorn (yes I share with him) he almost talked me into it.

I am so ready for warmer weather, I hate winter.

I have nothing to new going on. I am a dull bug

[judy]

It's already the 22nd and I'm trying to figure out where the days have gone.  It doesn't seems as if I have accomplished much.  On a positive note my class is going well.  I'm working on my handouts trying to a get a few weeks ahead.  The handouts are always a challenge because this class has been offered for probably 50 years and some of my students have been taking the class for years, so coming up with new material is a challenge.  I have discovered that they really like writing prompts, so I continue to search for prompts on a theme such as friendship, courage, etc.  The prompts have resulted in some good stories.

Teresa, it's difficult to realize that Chibs has been with you for nearly two years.  I'm so glad you have him, and I loved his birthday cake.

Kathy, how is you new TV?  I'll bet you are enjoying it.

Hope everyone has a good week, take care, Judy

[judy]

I am breathing a sigh of relief and also feeling very thankful because Jim's surgery on Thursday was successful.  He is feeling pretty good, and we hope his recovery will go smoothly.  Kylee came from Arizona and it was great to have her here.  She has been very helpful, and Bryn has helped, too.  I think I got the most restful night of sleep last night that I have had for a while.  

It looks as if there is trip in my future.  I have been to the Grand Canyon many, many years ago, but I have always wanted to go to Brice and Zion Canyons.  A few years ago I planned a trip to the Grand Canyon with my friend who had never been, but for a variety of reasons it never happened.  Now a tour company that I have taken trips with is planning that trip and the added trips to Brice and Zion.  Jim and I talked it over and I am planning to go.  Still have to work out the details, but I am excited that it looks as if it's going to happen.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Take care, Judy

[judy]

Jim continues to improve.  We see the surgeon on the 14th for a check up. 

This has been a crazy week so far.  Last week I did such a good job keeping everything together.  This week I forgot to attend one meeting that I had been looking forward to and then showed up for a meeting a couple of days later that is not until next week.  Then, of course, there was the moment in my Zoom class that I nodded off and got caught!  How embarrassing!  I will say, that the last couple of nights I've slept well which I am happy about.  I just have to work on not falling asleep during class!

Hope every one is doing well.  Take care, Judy

[judy]

I keep checking to see if anyone has posted.  Even though we weren't posting as often as we had in the past, were were posting, now it seems as if we aren't posting at all.  So here's a post to get things going again...I hope!

The only really interesting thing that happened to me this month was a field trip I made to visit the Salem Pioneer Cemetery. It is a beautiful cemetery that started out as rural cemetery in the 1840s, but now is surrounded by the city. Since Salem is the capital of Oregon the cemetery has many early “pioneers” who often played a role in Oregon’s history. For example, Samuel Thurston who was Oregon’s first delegate to U.S. 1850 Congress when Oregon was still a Territory is buried in the cemetery. Sadly, he died in 1851 and did not live to see Oregon achieve statehood on February 14, 1859. Oregon is called the Valentine state, and I’m not sure if that is the reason, but this cemetery also has road shaped as a heart.


One of my friends in the Association for Gravestone Studies is a professor at a university in Pennsylvania and she is working on a book about Rural Cemeteries. She included Salem Pioneer Cemetery and needed photos. It wasn’t possible for her to make a “field trip” from Pennsylvania to take them, so she asked if I would do it. I’m always up for a trip to a historic cemetery as long as it for photos and research. 😊


While we were at the cemetery, I discovered there was a Chinese section. The Chinese were early immigrants to Oregon, they came to work on the railroad and also searched for gold. Most of the immigrants were men I would call sojourners, they hoped to make money and eventually return to China. Most of them did not accept Western style dress and because they were different, they faced much prejudice. Those who died were buried in cemeteries all over the state. In the late 19th and up to the 1950s the Oregon Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) organized the disinterment of remains from numerous Oregon cemeteries to return their bones to their homes in China.


Disinterment, the exhumation of a person’s remains from the grave, is a part of the cycle of Chinese funerary customs. After a person’s death, it is common practice to have elaborate funeral ceremonies before the body is removed to the burial place. The first burial, however, is not meant to be permanent. At a later date, the remains are disinterred and placed in an urn to then be reburied after the erection of a permanent tomb.


…In Chinese belief a person has two souls and in death, one ascends to heaven and the other remains on earth. In order for the deceased’s relatives and future descendants to attain good fortune, they need to properly care for their ancestor’s spirit. There are numerous funeral customs practiced to appease both good and evil spirits. The Qingming festival, held annually in the spring, is a time to venerate the dead by visiting burial sites, cleaning graves, and offering items to appease the spirits.

Although Chinese death rituals are complex and vary based on region and class, the majority of Chinese who immigrated to the United States brought their funerary practices and beliefs with them. They especially brought with them the belief in the continuity between this life and the afterlife and the need for their remains to be cared for by their family. Therefore, the need to be disinterred and shipped back China to be reunited with family was important.


However, in recent years it was discovered that while the remains of men were returned to China, the remains of wives and children were not. So many people were left in graves that were often unmarked. In Salem Pioneer Cemetery the Chinese were in one section of the cemetery. Relatively good records apparently exist for this section and the cemetery staff decided to put up signage that tells about this section and the practice of exhumation. The sign also said there were the remnants of an altar that was used in ceremonies, but we couldn’t find it.


Well, I guess when nobody posts you end up with a history lesson (whether you are interested or not) which is definitely more interesting that what I did so far this month. I am being treated to a trip this weekend to the Coast, one of my favorite places. I would love to have a place with a picture window that looked out over the ocean. Then no matter what the weather I could sit and watch the waves and at night look for the lights on the boats at sea.


Hope everyone is doing well and keeping warm.  Take care, Judy

[kathy]

I am getting ready to leave for Mexico. I leave Sunday early. I have a direct flight there but on the return I go thru Vancouver which could be scary. I have misplaced stuff and it's taken me weeks to find it.

I haven't been doing much. It's turned cold and I just don't leave the house.
The weather was as cold as -38C with lots of snow. It's warmed up and my computer is saying it's -4F.
The ladies in the Condo complex have started a puzzle and I have gone to the Villa and worked on it for a couple of hours. I finished 1 and started another one but haven't gone back to work on it again. I am packing and cleaning house. so far I have 5 boxes of papers to take out before I leave and one huge garbage bag. At least my place will be welcoming when I get back.
A lady who I worked with at WW died. She was 95. She worked til she was in her mid 80's and was let go by management when the Alberta locations were sold. Just about everyone that worked in the office was let go. Didn't matter if you did meets too. They got rid of everyone. Haven't set foot in a WW meeting since I left in 2014. Not missing it either.
|Judy what kind of surgery did Jim have. I looked in the past posts and couldn't find anything. I wish him a speedy recovery!

Had better get back to my packing and tidying up!

Hugs
Kathy