Our Life in Reflection

Laura and I tried some thing different this morning: Baby Goat Yoga.

Not the most relaxing yoga I’ve ever done, but it sure was fun. We seemed to be well liked by these little ones! The brown/black/white baby goat is named Emma, so of course she was our favorite…. even though she bit me! ❤️

We had lots of laughs, actually did get some yoga done, and got pretty filthy in the process (as promised)! Shower felt wonderful when I got home, for sure.

Not sure what we’ll find to do next, but don’t think we’ll top this experience. 🤣😅😂

Dear Diary,

This morning I went in to have some dental work done and they found a mass under my tongue. Though I was still under sedation, I felt their pain as Paul, Nana, and Papa said their very tearful goodbyes to this very good boy. I hope they know how very much I loved them and enjoyed sharing my life with them.

Love,

Samson

Dear Diary,

I am crying as I type this… heartbroken. We had to say goodbye to Samson this morning. That he will be missed is quite the understatement. He brought so much love, joy, and laughter into our lives over these past almost 10 years. He was Paul’s dog, but he was ours also. He lived with us whenever Paul was out to sea and spent 3+ years living with us (and Audrey!) in the camper. We have spent almost every weekend over these past almost 3 1/2 years hanging out with Samson while Paul worked his 12 hour shifts. I hope he knew how very much he was loved and how very much we all enjoyed sharing this life with him. (I’m quite certain he did.)

Love,

Kathi

Hah – did you think I was going to write about relationship issues that needed ironing out? NOPE! Though some may have things to iron out, life here is pretty darn good these days!

Does anyone iron anymore besides me? Well, that actually was a topic of conversation amongst some of the moms and myself before one of Emma’s basketball games this summer. Apparently, some do and some (quite adamantly, both of my children amongst them) do not. I am amongst those that do. Since I don’t use the dryer (preferring to hang our laundry on a clothesline and a clothes rack) I find there are some things that look better without wrinkles, and I also just find ironing rather relaxing.

As I often do while ironing, today I thought back to when my mother first taught me HOW to iron. We started off with pillow cases and my fathers handkerchiefs. Dave says his mother also ironed sheets and his fathers boxer shorts! (Although recently I have come to understand some people feeling the need to iron sheets – the edges just don’t seem to lay right, no matter how I try to smooth them out while hanging on the line! And from what I recall, the dryer is no better.) But I hold myself back from that craziness. LOL

Today I ironed several cotton blouses and lots of handkerchiefs. Using tissues to blow my nose started making me cough a few years ago – must be something with the fibers that started bothering me? But whatever, hankies are in use daily these days. And while they don’t NEED to be ironed, why not? Doing so brings back happy childhood memories and again, I find ironing relaxing.

I also bought some iron-on patches while we were shopping today. I have a pair of (oh so very old and worn so much they are so very soft and comfortable) jeans that I don’t want to throw away! They are in danger of literally falling apart at the seams, so I ironed on a few more patches to make them last a bit longer. They don’t make jeans like they used to!!

But all this got me thinking that while ironing seems to relax the fibers and remove the wrinkles from the cloth beneath the iron, it also relaxes me enough to remove the wrinkles in my thoughts… iron out my thoughts, and keeps me calm.

Hope you find your calm today.

Sending peace and love,

Kathi

💭 I kind of like this format, so thought I’d run with it once again.

💭 Ha – run! Not doing any of that these days! Lately, I’m lucky if I can walk and breath at the same time thanks to COPD flare-up after having the flu. Finally had such a difficult time breathing that I went to the doctor yesterday and got some Prednisone, which seems to be helping quite a bit. This was the first time I’ve experienced a COPD flare-up and I hope to avoid another if at all possible – very scary, to say the least.

💭 Our trip to Seattle and the Alaskan cruise last month were fantastic! We enjoyed traveling with my sister and brother-in-law. Enjoyed the view from the Space Needle, enjoyed walking around the city and ate some good food. Also enjoyed spending some time with our cousin in Juneau. Highly recommend the Amalga Distillery in Juneau – had some good gin there! Also enjoyed some craft beer and delicious food at Forbidden Peak Brewery in Auke Bay.

💭 Was interesting to see I had better cell phone reception in Juneau than I do at home in Rhode Island!

💭 Was kind of sad to see how much the cruise ship industry has changed things in Sitka, where we lived in the early 1980s. Tons of big buses toting people from the cruise ships to the visitor center downtown. All the touristy stores. Hopefully all the changes are helping the local economy and providing jobs without making life too unbearable for the locals!

💭 Sitka also now has several traffic lights and a rotary! More than 1 grocery store also. The bank I worked for 40 years ago is still in business, but has moved to a new building across the street. Oh! McDonald’s was not successful in Sitka – it closed

💭 I would really like to return to Ketchikan, AK and be able to drive beyond the cruise ship related waterfront area. Everything we saw was spotless in the touristy area, but as we approached and as we departed I saw areas where the locals are and it really looked so nice! I would love to explore those areas.

💭 Hearing aids have been interesting this year! It was time to replace my 6 year old hearing aids. I was absolutely wowed by the Oticon hearing aids when I got them. I wrote on Facebook: “Finally got new hearing aids today!! I feel just like I did years ago when I first got hearing aids – amazed at what I can hear now. It was so nice riding in the car being able to listen to music (and actually hear it!) as well as being able to carry on a conversation with Dave at the same time. Also really nice to be able to listen to music, books, and tv through these hearing aids at whatever level works for ME! I’m not sure who is happier: Me or Dave. LOL”. Those hearing aids had a tiny tip that fit into my ear which was the key. Unfortunately, I was apparently allergic to whatever materials where used to make the tubing that connects the hearing aid and the tip so I had to return those. The new ones I have are ok, better than the 6 year old ones, but not nearly as good as the Oticon. I really think it comes down to that tip that went into my ear – that made all the difference. These new ones have a bigger tip and kind of just sit at the opening. (BIG SIGH) But better than the old ones and it is nice to listen to music and books through my hearing aids. I still sometimes consider whether it might be worth it to stock up on the cream that got rid of the eczema I developed and go back to the hearing aids that caused it. LOL

💭 We got up this morning (bright and early) planning to head to the beach! But an air quality alert cancelled those plans, sadly. Need to stay inside on days like this so I can breathe.

💭 Celebrated Dave’s birthday last Sunday with a evening at Foxwood’s. Dinner at Guy Fieri’s Kitchen + Bar, then a bit of gambling. Some of us won, some of us didn’t. But we all had a fun time! So nice to spend time with family 🥰

💭 I love other peoples dogs! And I thoroughly enjoy the time spent taking care of our grand-dogs… and then I love that we go home. Guess the same could be said for the time spent hanging out with our adult children! 🤩 🤭🥰 And I think that’s pretty normal – it’s definitely nice to spend time together, but it’s nice that we all get to go back to our own homes. It sure is nice to be close to both our adult children again though!!

💭 I’m heading back to Seattle (and the surrounding area) next week for a wedding. I am so excited and so looking forward to spending time with one of my sisters, my brother-in-law, and many cousins!!!! Oh, and my uncle and aunts too. It has been a long time!

💭 Friendship. It’s a wonderful thing. Last week we had lunch with friends we made in Sitka, AK over 40 years ago. We haven’t seen them in 10 years or more, but it felt like yesterday. Next month we’ve made plans to take a drive down to Virginia to visit folks we’ve been friends with for even longer, but we haven’t visited since we moved to Rhode Island. It will be the same – like it was yesterday. That’s how you know good friends!! So looking forward to spending time at the lake with good friends!

💭 A trip to Maryland to visit my sisters and family is also in the plans next month! Looking forward to that AND to meeting the new puppy, Jenny. Hopefully Storm and Samson will peacefully coexist.

💭 Fun and games: Mexican Train dominoes is still our game of choice most days, but Phase 10 is the game of choice when Laura plays with us. Oh boy, does that get lively!

Guess we’re not the only ones that happens to either. When Ellen, Dave and I were playing on the cruise ship a man commented that it was the calmest game of Phase 10 he’d ever seen. 😂

Ok, that’s it for now. Wishing you all peace, love and much joy in your lives.

Kathi

💭 Dave has taken back the driving duties! I was surprised he let me be the driver as long as he did after his knee replacement surgery, but I’m really glad he’s feeling well enough to drive again. (I’d rather be the passenger!)

💭 Raynaud’s syndrome has really hit me hard this winter. My fingers get so cold they feel numb/tingly. The muff a friend made me a few years ago has been very helpful – WHEN I remember to bring it with me. (Thanks again, Pat!) Sometimes my toes/feet get quite chilly and my nose has been affected for the first time this winter also. Weird to see bluish purplish colors in the affected areas! Looking forward to warmer weather.

💭 I recently read that some people want the entire country to stick with daylight savings time year round. This would mean that sunrise here in RI wouldn’t be until 8am or later during most of December/January, but sunset would be after 5pm. I think I’d rather have the extra daylight in the mornings! How about you?

💭 Last month I celebrated 1 year of healthier for me eating, which meant excluding animal products from my diet. I did make a few exceptions during that year, but overall I can honestly say I can’t think of anything much that I really miss. And I’m still having lots of fun trying new recipes. Most importantly, I just feel so much better!!

💭 I am hoping the airlines stop messing around with the flights we are scheduled to take to Seattle in June. Flight cancellations already meant we missed a visit from my sister, Ellen. Enough already!

💭 Beware the ads on social media! I see lots of them on Facebook lately claiming their clothing is made in USA – in South Carolina, to be exact. BUT all those websites seem to use the same graphics as the website I fell for… and when the clothing arrived, the labels all said “Made in China.” The items I bought were very much smaller than the sizing chart on the website stated, so I am very thankful I was able to get a refund.

💭 “Come From Away” was the best show I’ve seen at PPAC so far this season.

💭 I’m trying really hard to adjust to this shorter hair, but so far it’s just annoying because it seems to always be in my face! I’m thinking maybe a little bit shorter might work, but I’m still just thinking about it. 🤔

💭 My St. Patrick’s Day tree makes me 😊 Next up will be the Easter theme.

💭 I am very thankful to have a good statewide library system to support my reading habit. The DOD MWR library system online is wonderful too!

💭 Did you know you can make crispy potato chips in the microwave? Slice them really thin, season with whatever you like, put on some parchment paper and microwave for about 3 minutes 30 seconds (up to about 5 minutes, if the potatoes are large.) YUM!

💭 There is a saying about how you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family. I disagree! I think we carefully chose all those who we come in contact with in our lives, and for different reasons. Recently we experienced a tragedy and the resulting shock and sadness within our extended family, but we also experienced family coming together with so much love and emotional support. For that I am so very grateful.

💭 I so enjoy the moments when I look up and spot something that reminds me of a special person sharing this lifetime with me. The rainbows on the wall remind me of a friend in Jacksonville. Hope you are well, Candace.

💭 It also makes me smile when friends/family post pictures of hearts and tag me on Facebook.

💭 And when friends/family share recipes or books or movies they think I’ll enjoy.

💭 Some years we receive so many calendars – pocket calendars and wall calendars – so many that we don’t know what to do with them all. This year we received exactly the number of wall calendars we needed, plus one to share with Paul (who got none!) But we didn’t receive a single pocket/purse sized calendar! Maybe you all just use the calendar on your phone? I still like the paper ones best.

💭 Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we came up with exactly the words someone experiencing sadness/grief needed to hear? I never know what to say and what I do say seems so inadequate. I want words that make the person feel like they have been embraced by a hug full of compassion and empathy.

💭 I realized today that we play so many games where the directions state scores should be kept, but we’ve never kept score. We’ve always just counted how many hands/rounds each person won. Racko is one of those games and I’m thinking we’ll give scoring a try. It’s certainly made Mexican Train dominoes much more interesting!

💭 It’s been a windy winter! And that has made walking outside a no go for me most of the time because my cheeks get so windburned/chapped. Ouch!

💭 We saw a sign reminding us to purchase our beach parking pass. While I am very much looking forward to Spring with its milder temperatures, this sign reminded me of how nice it is to spend the day at the beach – reading a good book after taking a walk.

Well, that’s it for now. My deepest thoughts right here in black and white. Now that Dave is feeling better, perhaps we’ll get out and about more. 🤣😂😅

Wishing you all peace, love and much joy in your lives.

Kathi

As we get ready to celebrate the arrival of the new year, I’m reflecting on experiences.

Healthy.

If you’ve read my previous blog posts, you know that just a bit over 10 months ago I decided to try something new. I gave up eating animal products\byproducts – no meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, eggs, etc. Wow – could not believe how much better I felt! I am not living a vegan lifestyle – and that’s what it is, a lifestyle. Pretty hardcore too. I understand and I do my best, but it’s just not really me. Oh, I am all for the absolute best treatment of animals. I detest the factory farming system in place in this country and I just do not understand how people can be so very cruel. And I LOVE vegetables, fruits, and grains! But sometimes I give in. And I’m okay with that.

10 months. Recently I have started trying some foods again. If I remember correctly, I had a few tastes of the Mississippi Pot Roast I made for Dave and Paul, I had a few spareribs Paul smoked, as well as a smoked chicken drumstick. I had lobster ravioli in a restaurant, and another time there was goat cheese on my salad. There was probably butter on a few vegetable dishes I ordered in restaurants (though not noted on the menu) and I’ve downed a few peanut M&M’s. I also made Christmas cookies that include Reese’s dark chocolate peanut butter cup mini’s. All were delicious and I have no regrets, just reminders after digesting some of those foods that I haven’t experienced feeling that uncomfortable since the last time I ate those food items. Lessons learned.

Dave started 2022 recovering from ankle surgery and ends the year awaiting a cortisone shot to ease the pain of arthritis in one knee and surgery to replace the other knee. So, another winter of recovery is upon us. Dave is doing his absolute best to stay healthy otherwise. 😉

Wealthy.

Not in the monetary sense, but there is a wealth of love and laughter in our lives these days. 2022 has seen a return to much more family time, more group activities, etc.

We enjoyed spending time with our extended families this year. Dave’s sister and her son came to visit for a day or two, just in time to help celebrate Dave’s 70th birthday!

Dave and I drove down to Maryland to visit with my sisters, brother in law, and nephews twice. The second visit also included the funeral of my godmother. It was nice that so many of us were able to gather to celebrate her life and spend some time reminiscing.

We continue to spend most weekends hanging out with our grand-dog, Samson, while Paul works. It’s nice to have a few hours with Paul those couple of nights also. We often enjoy afternoons playing card games with Laura. Emma keeps us hopping too! She is on several basketball teams and we are having fun watching most of those games each week. Gets us out of the apartment to socialize a bit, let’s us explore different areas of Rhode Island, and it’s just so much fun to cheer those girls on!

Dave and I celebrated our 42nd anniversary in Newport, RI. We had dinner in the White Horse Tavern, the oldest tavern in Rhode Island.

We got together to bake and decorate cookies before Christmas. And we all (both the Wischnowsky and Champagne families) gathered at Matt and Laura’s for Christmas brunch. Matt cooked up a storm, everyone else contributed goodies also. A good time was had by all!

I also enjoyed visiting with some of my cousins just yesterday. Too bad Southwest Airlines cancelled my sisters flights, she would have enjoyed that visit also!

Wise.

2022 brought us the wisdom to understand and accept our place in peoples lives. We have many people who love us and want to spend time with us, so we are quite comfortable with no longer actively pursuing relationships with those who don’t seem to share those feelings. . . we do extend our love and best wishes, of course.

We look forward to a happy, healthy 2023 for ourselves, our family, and our friends. May we all enjoy a peaceful year with the blessings of love, laughter and kindness.

Much love,

Kathi and Dave

If we were still living in our camper we’d be very busy packing up getting ready to head South. There was always a bit of excitement preceding the travels. Instead, we are trying to figure out how it’s possible that on this date two years ago we had College Hunks help us move all our possessions into this apartment. I think there is some truth to that idea that time seems to pass more quickly the older one gets.

I still miss the camping life somewhat. Mostly it’s the people I miss. Camping folks are, for the most part, very friendly, welcoming, and like to chat. And folks we live amongst in this apartment complex are pretty much the opposite. I’ve written about this before, I know.

I think there are 154 apartments here. Dave and I came up with about 4 people who actually say hello to us – and we don’t know their names, with the exception of one person. For the most part, we just know them because of their friendly dogs… we DO know some of the dogs names though! 😊

It’s almost eerie how people move in and out of here but we hardly ever see the moves in progress. I check the website every once in a while to see which apartments are coming up as available, just to see if we’ll have new neighbors. We ran into one of our new next door neighbors in the hallway recently and I said, “Welcome to the neighborhood. I’m Kathi and this is my husband, Dave.” The guy quickly said hi and went on his merry way – no idea what the heck his name is.

We did happen to meet a couple of folks while we were grilling recently – they were talking to another resident and I mentioned how nice it was to see that some people actually do have conversations with their neighbors. They asked if we were new here and were shocked to learn we’ve lived here for almost 2 years. They laughed and just said, “Yeah, there are some pretty pretentious people living here.” We haven’t seen them again! LOL

But life is still good. We enjoy weekends at Paul’s house, game times with Laura (and sometimes Emma and/or Matt), watching some of Emma’s basketball games. We have friends here we gather with at times. COVID, assorted medical issues amongst us all, etc. have made those gatherings few and far between. But I think we’ve all been vaccinated/boosted and most of those health issues have been taken care of for now, so hopeful we can get together more often.

And, truth be told, Dave and I are really quite okay spending most days just us. We enjoy each other’s company. We enjoy playing games – Mexican Train, Gin, Backgammon, Phase 10, SkipBo, etc. We enjoy reading, short walks, and sightseeing drives. We are really quite content. Good thing since we’ll celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary on October 24th! Here’s to the next however many years the Universe decides to bless us with 🥂

Oops, I missed it! April 2nd was the 2 year anniversary of this blog. I don’t have a lot of readers, but I sure have enjoyed writing. One of the reasons I started this blog was to help me get over the intense fear I have of other people reading the thoughts I put down “on paper.” My school years, with all those essays and speeches and reports, were full of anxiety! And OMG – having to get up in front of the class??!! Glad that’s all behind me now. Even though I’m so much better at handling those situations these days. I got to that “I don’t give a darn what others think” stage (for the most part) sometime around my 50th birthday, but only recently could I apply that feeling to my writing. So freeing!

Another reason I started this blog (besides the fact that my friend, Betty, made it look so darned easy!) is that it was a way for me to share our adventures. Back then we were living in our camper full time and traveling between Florida and Rhode Island every year. We had some great adventures, met a lot of wonderful people – many of whom became good friends. Now, we live in an apartment not too far from either of our adult children and we enjoy a very quiet life. But I’m hoping to start expanding our horizons a bit as the weather improves, and as long as COVID doesn’t go crazy again. I look forward to sharing our adventures once again!

Last month I shared how I had given up eating meat, poultry, seafood, eggs and dairy. I suppose vegan is a label often attached to that, but I’m not so sure I can claim to be vegan – it’s a lot of work trying to figure out if ALL the products we use were made by companies that don’t do horrible tests on animals, though I’d sure like to find out and avoid those. And the vegetarian label doesn’t quite fit either: A vegan diet excludes all meat and animal products (meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy and eggs), whereas a vegetarian diet excludes just meat, poultry, fish and seafood. So, I’d say I’m somewhere between vegan and the very popular Whole Foods/plant based category.

Whatever the label, let me just say that I’m really having a lot of fun reading cookbooks, recipes that show up in my inbox, and blogs… LOTS of blogs! And I’m having even more fun trying many of those recipes! Although, quite honestly, I’m still happy with the simpler meals: oatmeal or granola with fruit for breakfast, salad of some sort for lunch, potato or quinoa or some variety of pasta or grain with roasted veggies for supper.

As I shared last month, I’ve tried some of the faux meats, though for the most part I would gladly do without those. I did like Gardein’s meatballs, and Trader Joe’s Beefless Ground Beef worked really well in the taco meat recipe we’ve used for years. I found a recipe for bacon bits that is quite good also. Other than that, I’m quite happy to stick with beans, veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.

Tofu is my latest experiment. It’s interesting, a blank slate of sorts, and used as a substitute for so many different types of foods. So far I’ve only attempted 2 of the many tofu recipes I’ve collected: I drained and pressed some firm tofu last week, then marinated it and air fried. It was delicious – even Dave enjoyed it, saying it reminded him of fried popcorn chicken (Although, to be honest it’s all about the visual and the texture for Dave. He lost his sense of smell, and therefore taste, decades ago); This morning I attempted a frittata made from silken tofu (in place of eggs) and veggies. It tasted good, but definitely didn’t come out as the recipe indicated it should. I think the leftover veggies I used were just a bit too soggy and/or I just didn’t drain the tofu enough, so it caused the frittata to not firm up as much as expected. I’ll eat the leftovers and will try again – but with a better selection of vegetables and better draining.

With the temperatures warming a bit, I’ve returned to walking outside. Perfect for spending time with the grand-dogs! On weekends, Samson walks with me… not too fast and not too far though. His limit seems to be about 1.5 miles these days, but there are lots of different routes we can explore within that distance. And he loves to go for walks! Last week we took Penny for a walk on the bike path near the library. She did quite well, so tomorrow I’m going to take her to another section of that bike path and spend some time alternating walking/running with her. Expend of some of that 7 month old puppy energy! 🤪

Shows on Netflix have provided some entertainment lately: “Queen’s Gambit” and “Tender Bar” are two that come to mind. And we both continue to enjoy books from our local library (which provides a receipt letting us know how much money we save by borrowing vs purchasing each book!) And then there is Wordle, Quordle, and canucklegame! LOL Those have become a daily challenge. Lately I’ve told Paul that I must be part Canadian, since canucklegame is the one I seem to consistently solve rather quickly. 😉

This evening we’re enjoying the Ken Burns documentary about Ben Franklin. So much we didn’t know! Looking forward to the rest of the series.

And I look forward to hearing from you… Make a comment, like the post – let me know you’re out there!

Wishing you all health, happiness, and peace!

With love –

Kathi