I Remember Mama

I am home for a couple of days before I head off to the maelstrom of freak geological/weather events that is the East Coast...

I had a nice week in Seattle, although most of my entertainment plans didn't pan out (the zoo parking lot was completely full, and other miscalculations).  Mom and I drove up to The Cabin to visit with B-Z, Bob and the kids/babies, and that was a lot of fun.  The babies are getting SO big!  Carsie is scooting around everywhere and pulling himself up on anything handy.  Hadley is a 4 year old dynamo, Maddie was super cute in her braids and flouncy skirt (I didn't check to see if she had on underpants, but probably not), and Allie -- cutest thing EVER.  The parents are a delight as well.  Mom was put to work placing stickers on campaign flyers, which she did well.

Whenever I spend a week helping care for Mom, I'm awed at the love and devotion of my sibs who take care of her on a daily basis.  While she is (thankfully) still able to dress, bathe and feed herself, it's an exhausting task to keep her occupied, to answer the same questions over and over, and to make sure she has her meals when she wants them, etc.  You guys are the BEST.

Anyway, I was thinking about all the good things I remember about Mom:

1. Lois was an only child, with two parents who thought she was the greatest thing ever.  When she'd enter a room, her dad would proclaim "THERE SHE IS!" and she owned the room.  She was always the person who was the center of the action.
2. Super artist, craftster, florist.  Mom could take a stick, 2 rocks and some moss and create a beautiful arrangement.  She sewed beautifully, I remember her knitting complex Aran and color projects, her Christmas decorations were always fab.  And she painted in both oils and watercolors, drew and sketched beautifully and sold many paintings.
3. Great cook.  Her potato salad, mac & cheese, scalloped potatoes: Legend.  And no one could bake a pie as good as Mom's.  Her apple pie is still my idea of the perfect breakfast.
4. Amazing storyteller.  This lady could tell a joke like a Vegas entertainer, including accents if needed.  As someone who is completely incapable of telling a joke, this talent awed me.  
5. Hostess with the mostest.  I remember my folks giving fabulous cocktail parties, the kind you see on "Mad Men" with pitchers of martinis, cigarettes galore, broadway show tunes on the stereo and people all dressed up.  So cool.
6. Snazzy dresser.  Back in the 60s, I used to LOVE going through Mom's closet, with her boxes of matching shoes and purses, hats, dresses etc.  Her glove drawer!  Her hanky drawer!  Her jewelry box!  All scented with her signature "Hope" perfume.
7. Voracious reader of hard-boiled detective novels.  You couldn't convince her to read anything "Literary" but she did love her Robert Parker, Elmore Leonard, Tony Hillerman crime novels.  

Those are just a few things I remember about Mom.  While she is unable to do most of these things now, she's still our Mom.  And every day I was there, she told me how happy she was that I was there.  And I made sure to tell her how much I love her.

Seattle Update

I've seen quite a lot of Mt. Rainier as I cruise the freeways here in Seattle, the weather has been lovely and you can see mountains in all 4 directions.

So far, my trip has been nice, though not super-exciting :-)  Mimi is fine and feisty as usual, we took a trip over to Mill Creek the other day to eat lunch with Susna, stopping at a couple of thrift stores on the way, and at Ostroms Drug & Gift in Kenmore to visit with The B and buy Cara a cute birthday present.  Seriously, readers, if you live anywhere near the north end of Lake Washington, Ostroms has the BEST gifts.  I'm not lyin' or just saying that bc The B is my little sister.  She is probably the world's greatest gift dept. buyer.

For some insane reason, I decided to stop at the Bothell Safeway on that trip to pick up a few items.  Now I know why this store is being torn down.  The sooner the better, because they have obvs. given up on restocking it.  Like sometime in 1973 they quit restocking.  They didn't even have a loaf of FRENCH BREAD for the love of mike.  Or anything else I wanted.  I'm pretty sure they would have had any product from the 1960s I might have wanted though...

Yesterday, I met up with Sue and we went to her weekly Knitter's Night Out at "Serial Knitters" in Rose Hill. Awesome store btw.  Her knitting buddies are great, and it was fun to get together with fellow needle-nuts for an evening.  And The B joined us so that was even more fun!

I'm trying to decide if today Mom and I should:

1. go to the zoo.  My favorite place in town.  and they rent wheelchairs so I can puch mom around when she gets tired.
2. take the ferry to Whidbey Island.  Beautiful day to be on Puget Sound.  And I love Langley. 
3. Go to the "Shoreline Days" parade over on 15th Ave (just a few blocks away)  Who doesn't love a parade?
4. Find a farmer's market and wander around

All good ideas.  Will run them by Mimi and see what appeals to her.  And we're off!

Go See This!

Katie, Pia and I went to "The Help" last night.  With trepidation, as we loved the book on DVD SO much, we were afraid the film actresses wouldn't measure up.  Not to mention how Hollywood generally ruins any good book they turn into a movie.

Not to fear.  LOVED IT!  The actresses are amazing, the storyline is pretty faithful to the book and it was wonderful.

The only bad thing was the totally craptastic series of previews we had to sit through.  1. the films being advertised were so not aimed at "The Help" audience (which at this show was mostly women, mostly over 50) and 2. they just looked like really really terrible movies.  So if you're planning to see this movie in Spokane, feel free to come about 45 minutes late, and you'll miss all the ads and the terrible previews.

WW Update

amazingly enough, following the Weight Watchers "Healthy Choice Guidelines" resulted in a good weight loss last week, 2.2 pounds.  Which brings me up to almost 10 lbs. lost, so I'm happy about that.  Long way to go, but that's okay.

I'm packing to head to Seattle for a week of mom-sitting.  Hope to see some of you while I'm there, and to have some blog-worthy adventures.

Memories

I've been having so much fun this week on Facebook.  Yes, uber-shy Lavs has shown herself to former classmates on FB, in the "You Know You're From Bothell" group and reliving some great memories from my childhood.

And here's a priceless memory: our Senior Class (of '72) Homecoming Float in flames during the parade.  For some insane reason, our advisor permitted us to have A LIVE TORCH ON A FLOAT MADE ENTIRELY OF TISSUE PAPER FLOWERS.  With the inevitable result at left.

Needless to say, our class ended up in last place in the Homecoming Spirit competition.  Although I think we should have won based on our sheer entertainment value.

A Cool Garage Sale Find!

Well, cool to me :-)  I got a plastic bag of "old stuff" at a garage sale this morning, for a quarter.

Inside, there was:

• This catalog advertising B. Altman's (I think this was a fancy NYC dept. store) January 1918 White Sale.  I heart these dresses so much.  Pretty sure my last life was as an Edwardian Lady (or more likely, the poor shlub who had to iron that Edwardian Lady's lovely white linen dresses)
• "Home Needlework Magazine" from April, 1914.  With an amazing wedding gown (sadly, you had to send away for the pattern), lots of wonderful crochet and embroidery patterns, and a lace bag that I might actually knit bc it's cool
• a 1914 Royal Society pattern for a "Fancy Apron" transfer pattern, which is unused and in amazing condition.  You iron the transfer pattern onto fabric and embroider the design.  Too fancy for me, as I spill all food on myself, but pretty neat nonetheless
• Another transfer set from the same era, "Progress Transfer Initials" with 354 letters to stamp with an iron.  Again in like-new condition.  Everyone's getting monogrammed linens from me for Xmas :-)
• A "Ladies' Blouse" pattern envelope, again from the early 1900s, very cool but only has one of the pattern pieces so won't be sewing that.
• Another transfer pattern for a "Wild-Rose Scalloped Border" to embroider on a "petticoat, chemise or drawers, and on a nightgown".  Love.
• And a pattern for "A Ladies' Bungalow Apron" which I'm totally enamored with:

THIS is the garment I have been looking for, but didn't know it existed until now!  FULL BODY COVERAGE, people!  Those who have eaten with me will know that this should be my daily uniform.

I love finding these needlework treasures.  I always feel like I'm saving something precious that some woman carefully preserved for many years.  

A Little Weight Loss Update

The pounds are not exactly flying off, but I've lost 7.5 lbs this summer (4.8 lbs since I started going back to meetings).  So that's at least heading in the right direction.  Katie and I have been attending Weight Watchers meetings faithfully, and I'm sure Pia will join us as soon as she wraps up her camp job.  And I'm getting out walking at least a couple of times a week.  So improvements are being made, a bit at a time.

I am going to see if I can REALLY do a good job this week in keeping track of everything (like a good WW is supposed to do).  Keeping my food and activity journals accurately every day, taking a vitamin daily, drinking liquids (esp water, although WW lets you count everything except pop and booze as a liquid now), and getting in 5 fruit and veg servings every day.  Will report results next Wednesday after my weekly meeting.

And I'm thinking if I actually follow the program like I'm supposed to, I'll see a pretty significant weight loss :-)  Imagine that!