Almost like summer!

23.IV.07 - MoM

My quickie dinner (chicken pie and ice cream. yet again) is done and now I can have my drinks. This morning I had just finished my cookies and tea when Sandy popped in and out leaving me a big bunch of Red Lobster biscuits. There was an authentic recipe in the Star Trib, along with some other things from various restaurants. They were fresh out of the oven and she was on her way to a school in Hudson. They arrived at a perfect time -- I was trying to decide what to have as I wasn't in the mood right then for the tomato juice. (I am almost out of my "Cheese Chex" packets that I eat with it.) The cut fruit from the health food store was still good so I ate some more of it. I also had my noon time Boost and my Orange Juice/Meta mix.

I needed to get going on the forsythia notes -- the ones Sandy picked on Saturday were waiting in water. I managed to put together a design with a little blue flower that I need to find out its name. Somehow, when I tried to change a margin on the scanner I must I ended up getting it enlarged so that a ½ of the design took up a whle page. I had the manual out and eventually got it back to normal, but it messed up my time line. I am a little disappointed with it but I am getting used to it. Perhaps it would be better with very fresh blooms.

The sprinkler system is turned on and should start tomorrow morning at 4 a.m. It has seldom been as dry as it is this year. I am really enjoying the new things from Ted's major planting last fall. Also, I saw the first violet today. I had a lot last year but they are still buried under the leaves.

My other accomplishment today was to take my oldest, rattiest pair of slacks to experiment trying to partially take them apart at the crotch, try to redo them and put new elastic at the waist. I will hand baste them before I try the sewing machine just yet. They well could end up in the rag pile.

By the way, DoD died two years ago last January. Of course, I miss him a lot. I still have occasional little sad spells, but they only last a few minutes. We knew for a year that his kidneys were so shot and there was nothing they could do and he lived longer than the doctors thought he could. I remember how well Dan handled Pa's death. I could not have imagined that we would have so many years together and such a interesting life.

Didn't have time for naps today so bed it going to feel great. It was 71° high today but seems to be good sleeping temp tonight.

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And now for the rest of Suzy's letter of March 2, 1986. I loved the details of your culinary prowess! Love your letters and so sorry that you didn't write more of them.

I'd bought myself a turkey to roast that day [Christmas] so stuck it back in the freezer. On New Years Day, I had Lee and Bonny over for a huge feast. This was the first time I'd ever cooked and entertained for dinner on my own, and I must say, it was a spectacular success. I slaved for days doing nouvelle cuisine things out of a cookbook called The Silver Palate, even doing the turkey their complicated way, and it all turned out to be well worth it. With that success under my belt, I felt brave enough to invite Nan and Ralph over two weeks ago. That one was a four course Italian spectacular, out of the "bible of Italian cooking" by Marcella Hazan. I'd sent away to specialty shops in New York for various authentic delicacies. I managed to make a reasonable facsimile of that wonderful "fruit di mari" seafood appetizer (my first dealings with preparing fresh octopus and squid) as well as duplicating that pickled carrot thing we loved so much in Como. The main course was a delicious Spaghetti al Carbonara (Nan providing freshly made pasta). You can see what an influence European travel has had on me. Broadening, indeed; the bad part is, I have gained quite a bit of weight! I can no longer wear any of my jeans or skirts. After 46 years of eating whatever and how much I wanted, I've got horrible eating habits, and it's a drag to have to start thinking about exercise and light beer!

Sales of the program seem to have topped out at about 70. The second version is still not out; documentation lost in the maze of typesetting. There turned out be a second bug in it, a very serious one. In the course of gathering evidence to present to a programmer, I isolated it and fixed it myself -- which made me very proud of myself, I can tell you. Terry called me last week, after six months of silence. He says he wants to work on it again and asked for a system disc, but I feel sure he won't really do it. I had a long letter from a systems librarian at U. of N. Carolina, who told me it was "a landmark in library training" and "its excellence will set a standard for those that come after it." That's nice.

Planning on visiting Chris in April, going to orioles opening day. Enough for now -- I'm coming down with a cold, and am worn outl.

Love, Suzy

22.IV.07 - MoM

All the stuff in your yesterday's letter, Suzy, was new to me. I also don't mind hearing things over and over. Besides, I know I am guilty of repeating stuff a lot.

Sundays always get off to a slow start with so much paper to read and the TV section x-word. It was after noon when I tried to get active. I had my crutch and was set to go out to see the bulbs in the side yard. However, before I got out the door I began to feel a little strange. I decided I was going to wait and since I was also very sleepy I was going to take a few 15 minute timed naps. I also decided I was going to change out of the raggedy brown slacks and a favorite sweatshirt with raggedy cuffs. I would hate to have anyone see the comfortable ratty clothes I wear around the house. Until I can make up the material I have from my "Stretch and Sew" fabric, I don't want to wear out the few remaining slacks I have left. In a few weeks I will be wearing dresses again. My 3 back-to-back naps took care of my problem and all has been good the rest of the day. It goes with the territory when one gets old. I'm just happy that I am able to feel as well as I do and be active. I am back to normal tonight. I enjoyed the rest of the veal chop, shoestrings and some salad greens.

As I frequently say, I am going to bed early for a change, and I think this time I am really going to do it. Sunday night has nothing on TV to tempt me.

Thanks for posting my picts. Yesterday, Sandy had picked me some jonquils in front of the house that I didn't realize were there. I had put the pussy willows in a tall lavender vase but decided that I could tuck the short stemmed jonquils around the base for color. I thought it was a spring "statement" so I took some pictures.

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This is anther of the rare letters from Suzy, dated March 2, l986.

Dear Dad and Mom,

I want to get this stuff off to you tomorrow, so will dash off a hurry-up letter. I gotta tell you, Dad, it's amazing (and very impressive, I think) that a Documents Librarian and I were able to turn this stuff up, given the information you and SuDocs supplied us! You said you'd been sent the "idiot treaty" already, so what was it you wanted? I finally decided you meant you'd been given the "idiot treatment." Do you realize how many government agencies have publications they call "Cumulative Bulletin"??? We spent about an hour going through various indexes, before stumbling on "The Internal Revenue Bulletin" sometimes called "Cumulative Bulletin." This may have seemed obvious to you, but not to us. We couldn't imagine what all those crazy number were, but with that date, I tracked down what turned out be one of two citations you gave, ie, there are two treaties, the second in 1958. At any rate, there they are, and I hope they give the information you want,.

I'm glad you got the second package, and how nice it was on D.O.D.'s birthday. What a shame that date has to be blackened hence forth by the explosion of the Challenger. It was clearly visible in Gainesville, and I'd intended to try to see it, but luckily, the delays means I was in a meeting when it happened. (Our only TV was in the living room and we frequently had dinner there for special occasions. It was quite a shock to see it there on TV.)

I turned out to have a rather nice Christmas, after all. One of my old boyfriends, Lee Shiflett, was back in Florida visiting his family. We went to the FBR Solstice party together, and he helped me build some neat shelves for my beer can collection. Between that, the new bookcases, and newly framed pictures on the wall, my place is much improved. Anyway, on Christmas Eve he called to invite me to spend Christmas with his extended family in a nearby small town, so I wasn't alone after all. Chris had sent me some beautiful Austrian crystal champagne glasses, so I was forced to keep up that particular family tradition.

Really felt like summer!

21.IV.07 - MoM

I don't think I am going to want to sleep in one of my flannel nightgowns tonight. My new outdoor thermometer is in place and I love it. It is mostly a transparent square with large black numbers. The slightest breeze changes the 10th of a degree. I asked Charlie to mount it in one of the north windows in the "expanded living room." It was mostly 75-ish°. It also has a high and low that resets twice during the 24 hours. I have an outdoor thermom with the rain gauge on the deck on my bedside table but I have to get close to read it.

While they were here, Sandy cut me some forsythia. I have been waiting for it for a year as I want to develop a note using it in the design. There are so many little bulbs popping up (many with obscure names) that I can keep busy for a while for the same purpose.

I hadn't realized that Ted had planted a lot of jonquils in the front yard on the bank near the street. I am on the wrong side in the car when we return home. Sandy picked them and brought them up today. They had very short stems (due to the strange temps this spring) so I added them close to the rim of the vase I had the pussy willows In for some color. I don't know if you got the pictures twice that I e-mailed today as they ended up in the trash instead of sent mail, so I rescued them and tried again.

We finally cut off all of the herbs, today, as they were so overgrown and scraggly looking. I am now in the process of cleaning out that planter and tomorrow I will replant it with a salad greens mixture. The tomatoes are something else. They are "cherry-type with the strongest, thick stalks I have ever seen. Soon, it will be time to trim the top of them to stunt their height and keep a thick stalk to support the "fruit." The company has certainly put a lot of time and development effort into doing this growing system. No wonder they aren't "inexpensive."

The expensive veal chop from Kowalskis was okay, but I have lost my touch when cooking. I breaded it with flour, egg and seasoned crumbs. Part of the problem is my fading taste buds. Also, lack of practice figures into it. But what the heck, it's food and there is plenty left for a day or two.

Enjoyed your letter, Suzy. I remember the culture shock when we first moved here. My first thought in Europe each morning was to wonder what kind of language problems I was going to have that day. Actually, I missed it when we moved here. I really could have used what I learned here during the 3 years of German when we moved there. The 4 years of French did help some during the 5 years we rented houses each fall in France. And to think I wasn't very enthusiastic when DoD first mentioned going to Europe and perhaps spending some time there. I was really enjoying our life in Shannondale too much. Al and Marian Fleigner had put their 2 teen daughters in school in Switzerland while they lived and traveled there.

* * * * *

A continuation of a letter from Suzy to us in Saalfelden, dated 11.Nov 1985.

I've been pretty euphoric since I got back. The glasses is part of it, but also, it's so easy to do everything, like shopping -- store clerks understand me (I find I chatter with them much more, just because I can) and I can tell just what something costs. My apartment seemed spacious seems spacious and luxurious. I can hear music anytime. All these things you take for granted become special when you go without them. Also, being completely removed from work and its problems was helpful -- being faced with a completely different set of problems puts things in perspective.

It was good to get back to work. My people gave me a great welcome -- they'd re-done my desk area, giving me an additional work surface and bulletin board, which they'd decorated with "Happy Birthday" things. They'd sorted my mail logically. And they kept a day-by-day log of what went on while I was gone (two typed pages) that was very helpful in reorienting myself. Also, sales of the program were at 33 when I got back but shot up to 40 in several days. Our original break-even was 41, but we never placed any advertising, so we are actually in the black now. I should have some or all of the bonus money sometime after the first of the year. Money will then start to accumulate to buy equipment and help to do more. I hope. The bad news is, our network, who was supposed to help us promote it, wants to wait until version 2.0 is out; they think those enhancements are critical. There is one serious glitch in version 2.0. Terry visited while I was gone and told Sally he'd work on it, but I've not been able to contact him.

When we got back to Chris' (around dusk -- right on time) it was cold enough to have a fire (the cats were both very pissed off at him, though, and refused to join us). It went down to 28° that night. I got off the plane in Gainesville the next day, wearing a turtleneck, blouse, two sweatshirts, down jacket, scarf, wool socks (which I love -- thanks, Ma) -- and it was 82°!! You never saw such a quick strip tease act. It seems I missed a horribly hot and humid October, and got in on the rain from yet another hurricane. Since then, it's been beautiful, mostly clear and warm, though today is a little hot.

Newsbriefs: Billy & his wife Alice (they live in Texas) had a baby boy Oct. 14. I had a letter from Andy Cassatt, written before I'd mailed my card from Paris. He may be in Florida later this month to visit his daughter and ex- so I will maybe see him.

Take care. Continue to enjoy life there and forget about
Crackerbarrel cheese!

Love, Suzy

20.IV.07 - MoM

After writing Suzy's letter stuff, I am having my own problems with my eyes. So, will just send this and do a better blog, tomorrow.

* * * * *

Hey! A letter from Suzy, dated 11 Nov 1985

Dear MoM & Dad,

Just a quick note to let you know we made it home okay. Now that I've rested up and gotten more or less caught up, I can reflect on the trip and think about how much I enjoyed it. The pace was hectic, but I really learned a lot, and now have pictures in my mind of places I'd like to revisit and a general sense of how train travel works. The highpoints for me were Giverny, Barcelona, the car trip in the Arles area, walking around Saalfelden, and of course, Roma. It's especially nice to know what your place looks like and how you live.

I've been buying souvenirs retrospectively: Michelin green guides, maps, picture books of Paris and the food of Italy. Found that after a month, I missed espresso so much I had to buy cheap espresso/cappuccino machine. I even bought a beginning tape course Italian -- I'd vowed to learn Italian the last time I was there, but this time I'm determined to actually DO it.

I must admit, though, the most life-altering aspect of the trip was discovering these glasses! I hadn't realized how bad my sight had gotten and how it was crippling me in a number of ways. Especially at work -- it is astonishing the difference it makes; I'd been feeling stupid and unconfident because I couldn't see to understand things. It was that I couldn't read things well enough or fast enough to understand them! It seems so EASY to read things now I just breeze through memos, procedures, newsletters, etc. Makes a difference at home too things like cooking -- not only can I easily read the recipes, I can measure things better and see how done things are getting. I can put polish on my nails. See how dusty things are getting. And I can read what I write … I've also discovered that these glasses correct my long distance vision in my bad eye -- that's kind of a revelation. Really, I do plan to go get my own prescription soon (these are so good, I'm convinced dime store ones will not do) and I will send these back to Dad as soon as I replace them. Thanks so much for letting me use them and bring them home.