violetismycolor

coast sunshine and snow...

My dad having gone home, Ross, my sister Marita (in town from Spokane) and I headed to Cannon Beach. My cousin, Mary Ann, has a house there and invited us to come on over. Snow was falling on the drive over but there was no accumulation.

When we got to Cannon Beach, the sun was out and tempted us out onto the beach for a windy walk. Heaven!

Our evening was spent eating and chatting...especially telling family stories, which seemed to amuse Ross, who hadn't heard some of them before. Ross was a particularly charming conversationalist, sharing his views on religion, politics, and history. I was so proud to be his mom.

The drive home on Friday was not as uneventful as the one of the day before. It was cold and snowing and the snow was sticking on the road. Luckily, there weren't alot of folks going my direction and I could go 34 - 45 when the road got scary.

We have had the weirdest week...the Spring Break Snowstorm will long be remembered by all.

suprising homecoming...

Everyone was shocked to hear that they would send my dad home from the hospital yesterday, after lunch. My sister, Marita, came to town from Spokane and she and I were out having coffee with my friend when mom called to say they needed a ride home. We drove down to the hospital, and my brother Brian was there with 3 of his boys (he has 7 kids). We all had a merry lunch in the cafeteria, while my dad had his in his room. Then, we drove my folks home.

My dad had not slept at all during the day in his hospital room, but dropped off to sleep as soon as he hit the easy chair in his home. I'm not sure that if it was because of feeling relaxed, or being off the oxygen and feeling so tired again. I think we should talk to his doctors about putting him on oxygen for a while.

My dad is on blood thinners (coumadin)...in fact, he has to inject himself daily. My mom went to pick up his week's supply of it at the drug store and was SHOCKED to find that her co-pay was $70. He has to be on injectable coumadin for a month.

more face-time with doctors...

My dad has been very short of breath for the past week, and on Easter Sunday evening, we finally talked him into going to the emergency room. Good thing, too, because it seems he has a bunches of blood clots in each of the four quadrants of his lungs.

Once they gave him oxygen, he started to feel alot better...not suprising, given his body must have been starved of oxygen for many days. He is in intensive care, but doing well. Of course, it's still dangerous till all the clots are absorbed back into his body and that could take weeks. And then, he is still at risk of developing more clots. BUT. He is doing very well right now, and we are very grateful.

We pretty much took over the family waiting room in the ER on Sunday night. Our dear friends, Carol and Jerome, drove my parents to the hospital. I met them there and called all my brothers and sisters. Bill, Brian, Karen, Ann-Marie, and several members of each of their families all crowded into the little waiting room with us. Then we took turns going into the room to be with my mom and dad. They only allowed 3 visitors in the cubicle at a time.

We got there at 5:30 pm and it wasn't till 10:30 that they took him to the ICU, and so it was a long night. I hear that they are transferring him to a regular room tomorrow morning, and that is a good sign.

IF...heavy...

A quick scribble is in order.  Since it is almost Easter, I thought a cute bunny in my blog would be fun.  The Illustration Friday prompt for this week is 'heavy'.  I'm thinking that my baby here is looking a little heavy, and so is that Easter Egg.

great book...

I read this book last week and it was fabulous. Somebody Knows My Name is the name of the U.S. version; apparently it is called The Book of Negroes in Canada. The year is 1745. It's the story of Aminata Diallo, who attends births with her mother, is spoiled rotten by her father, and then loses both of them and her freedom when she is snatched by black slavers. It follows her through the long march to the sea, her nightmarish voyage to the Carolinas, and her hard landing at an indigo plantation.

The story proceeds through the American Revolution (where Aminata is in the service of the British), to Nova Scotia where supporters of the British are settled, on to Sierra Leone where a new free colony is established, and finally to London where the Abolitionists have enlisted our heroine in their cause. I learned so much history from this book, and the writing was so wonderful.

Saturday night is alright...

John and I went out to a political event. Jeff Merkley is running for U.S. Senate, hoping to unseat the Republican incumbent, Gordon Smith. It was in Chinatown and the delicious margaritas were coming by the pitcher. I had a lot of fun, chatting with folks. Then, a couple of new folks joined the group...one of whom said he had graduated from Willamette University, where Adam had spent his first two years. And, OF COURSE, the young man (Cole) was a good friend of Adam's. What a small world...not only that in Portland, but...this young man lives in Washington, DC, currently, working for Congresswoman Darlene Hooley. He was in town visiting his identical twin brother, who works for Jeff Merkley.

We went out afterward and had some delicious Chinese food...it WAS Chinatown, after all. We called Adam and told him that we had just met one of his friends; had a good laugh about it.

Then arrived home the same time as Bonnie did (she had just arrived in town for spring break the night before), who had just gone out with a friend to see "Miss Pettigrew".

Great evening, overall.

movie delight...

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, the delightful new film that just came out this weekend, was enchanting...much the way Amy Adams last movie (Enchanted) was. The characters are fun to watch, extremely well-played by the wonderful cast, and a visual delight. Oh, yes...and we get to hear Amy Adams sing again.

I am a huge fan of Frances McDormand, who plays the title character, Guinivere Pettigrew. She does a fabulous English accent, too. She goes from frumpy Cinder-woman to sophisticated Fairy Godmother to her charge, Delysia LaFosse (Adams). She first won my heart as the sheriff in Fargo.

Ciaran Hinds plays the man that sees her for who she truly is, and likes that about her. He's been a favorite since he played Captain Frederick Wentworth in Persuasion.

And then, there's Lee Pace. I just love him in the TV series, Pushing Daisies, and he is just as charming here as the poor piano player who loves the girl who is trying to sleep her way to the top.

After seeing films like In Bruges (horribly violent and NOT funny, though that was the way it was advertised) and There Will Be Blood in recent weeks, this film was a breath of fresh air...a springlike breeze after a harsh winter...well, you get my meaning...

Go see it!

organization...

Why do I get such great delight in spending time organizing my iTunes Library? Every so often, mostly on a random Saturday morning, I will decide to do iTunes work. I go through my songs, filling in the information that is missing. This includes making sure I have identified which album it is from, finding the album art that goes with each song, putting it into the right music category (rock/pop/oldies/etc.), and just doing general clean-up. Do I have multiples of a song? (And how did that happen?)

I have all sorts of playlists. And these get manipulated at this time as well. I like to have several choices of types of music to listen to...is it time for 'love songs'/'oldies'/'walking music'/'dance to it'/etc.?

This sort of organization gives me an odd sense of satisfaction. I feel the same way when I re-organize my drawers or cupboards. Just an odd quirk of mine...

yummy...

I got to go out to lunch today with my friend, Maureen Gonzales.  We chose The Veritable Quandry, which I love, not only for it's name, but for the fact that it has been around since 1971 AND the food is always great.  There was a time there when the city threatened to condemn and shut down the VQ so that they could build a city building there, but thankfully that never happened. 

Maureen and I both had the Sweet Potato and Gruyere Quiche, that came with a salad with sliced pears and hazelnuts.  Absolute yum, I'll tell you.

Maureen and I always have such a lot of fun together.  She was Bonnie's physical therapist when she was still in middle school (back issues) and we just clicked and have been friends ever since. 

We both love the VQ but don't go often because our husbands have some weird anti-VQ prejudices.  I just don't get it... 

Las Vegas redux...

***click on the photos to see them in a larger view***

John and I actually DID go to Las Vegas the weekend before the deathly illness. We stayed at the Paris Hotel, which you can see in the street photo (in the background is the Eiffel Tower) and which you can see an interior view of (almost like walking down a Paris street at night) in another photo. Well, Paris streets do not have the incessant clanging of one-armed-bandits and it IS sometimes daylight, which it never is on this Paris street in Las Vegas.

The fountain photo is from the outside of Caesar's Palace. It WAS a lovely Trevi Fountain, though I assume it's more romantic to be in Rome at the real one.

We had a nice time, though. We saw the Cirque de Soleil 'O' show at the Bellagio, across the street...which was cleverly named to recall the French word 'eau' (pronounced 'o'), and yes, it was their water show. It was quite a spectacle and I really enjoyed it, except for the part where all the humidity in the room made my chest feel like a monkey was sitting there, crushing my chest and constricting my breathing.

On Day 2, we had dinner at the restaurant in the main level of the Eiffel Tower, 10 floors up. The food was amazing and it was quiet and romantic. Very nice.

Then, we went to a dueling pianos show at our own hotel, which was really so much fun. These guys were fabulous piano players and they took any and all requests, (mostly) without whining about the audience's choices. It WAS hilarious when they had to play and sing "I am woman, hear me roar".

This gorgeous set of Moonstruck chocolates were my gift to my friend, Heidi, who we honored with a birthday lunch today. My personal favorites are the Ladybug and the Bunny Rabbit, but I love the Chocolate Lab, too.

We went to the Cadillac Cafe on the east side and had delicious sandwiches and shared a pumpkin parfait for dessert. Unfortunately, Heidi was feeling a bit under the weather and went straight from lunch to a doctor's appointment. Drag.

better...

Now I know why Influenza, i.e. 'the flu', can kill people. I certainly felt like I could die.

But I'm getting better now. The nagging cough and bone-weariness is still around, but overall...I'm better. I even managed to do some laundry and a little housecleaning done today. Yay.

I made an outstanding-smelling Beef Bolognese (recipe from the NY Times Sunday Magazine) for dinner tonight. It took about 4.5 hours to make, so it better be good. I'm planning on freezing half of it for another meal in a couple of weeks.

I read a fabulous book while I was sick. When all you can do is sleep or sit in a recliner, you can do a fair bit of reading. Anyway, I read When Madeline Was Young, by Jane Hamilton. I have always been a BIG Jane Hamilton fan, so it didn't come as any surprise when I found myself unable to put this book down. Her characters are rich and interesting, and always a bit quirky. Her themes are always about families and how they work. Her prose is amazing. It was one of those books that you are so sorry is ended. This was the one upside to getting ill. THE ONE.