Showing posts with label Stacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stacy. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

9 July 2014: Wednesday ... Mom's cut & styling (Skeesha observes) ... Delcastle Golf, Softball, Mill Creek walk of 3+ miles ... 3 interactions ...

Displaying photo.JPG
Mom called Stacy and set up the time for our wonderful neighbor to come over and cut/style mom's hair. She did well getting downstairs and put up a little fuss when I encouraged her to walk outside with the oxygenator closeby. She objected but went through with it when Stacy and Skeesha both told her she could do it. "You never liked being outside," commented Stacy. Mom concurred. She was never fond of the beach but she put up with it. Maybe I can change her (NOT likely) in her early 80s. 

"Very impressive moniker trio, Monsieur Isle de l'Homme. If you added an "e" to Graham, you'd have three names of seven-letter length. Now that's notable, not that you're not notable enoughe. :-)" ... my Facebook comment after seeing Graham Michael Skinner's new three-word name on his Facebook account. 

Displaying photo.JPG
Dancer in the field at the end of our over three-mile walk that began
at the Girls' Softball Field and golf center (I circled the field and actually
came upon Fred's home in the rear) and then walked across the roadway
and traveled down the quiet path, Dancer off leash, to the Mill Creek and
a dip for my girl. This was the conclusion of the walk and the sunset
was beautiful but I could not align pet and sky/sun together for a photo. 


Friday, May 23, 2014

22 May 2014: Thursday ... early workout w/Cheri (Cardio, Core & More) ... Kristin conversation ... Stacy comin' over ... overcast "Yucky" day ... lunch next week w/Stacy & Mom

An early workout today -- 6 a.m. -- with Cheri and Cardio, Core & More  (tough workout with a half-dozen women ... did a lot of balance work and jumping on the bosu ... I found it difficult but sweaty work, definitely raised my heart rate for an hour) allowed me to talk a bit with Kristin, manning the entrance desk alone this morning, the day after her graduation with an RN degree from Del Tech. She is working and studying to pass her boards in about 6 weeks and will be off to Zambia to be with her husband, Kabaya (a Zambian native), who is a white water instructor on the Zambezi River. There are over 70 native languages in the country where she will be working in a health clinic that serves thousands. She will be gone for two months, leaving the second week of August. She will be missed, terribly. Such an engaging and lovely presence at the entrance to the Western Y. 

Up the Zambezi without a paddle
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/activityandadventure/9929393/Comic-Relief-up-the-Zambezi-without-a-paddle.htmlDisplaying photo.JPG

Another wonderful session with Stacy washing and cutting mom's hair. WE  really do not see
enough of her. She's working odd 12-hour shifts and she is busy with the house and Joe and just life. We did bring up the possibility of doing lunch, together, mom included, at Cafe Valentina's, next to Happy Harry's as Stacy put it, next week. Mom was enthusiastic but wary ... could it mean her being removed from hospice. I said no way, they want you to demonstrate wellness and initiative, they're not just in the palliative medical business.

While ordering my usual veggie omelette, rye toast, and home fries at Mary's Kountry Kitchen this early afternoon, I got a FB message from Patricia Childs. Erika, Joe's girlfriend, passed away last night due to complications following surgery. She was home with Joe and I have no other details. A tracheotomy had been performed the day earlier in the hospital and he felt as though she came home too soon. I have sent a card and I just composed (don't know how appropriate to send a digital condolence via Facebook) these words to my gentle, gifted musician:
Dear Joe, Patricia informed me of Erika's passing last night and I don't know whether it's appropriate to FB message my sincere condolences (a card is in the mail), but I am heartstruck at your loss and wanted you to know that my thoughts and yes prayers (concentrated beams of caring) reach out to you at your time of grief. Please know that if there is anything I can do for you, I will without hesitation, even hundreds of miles away. I am with you my friend and wish only the best for you ... please take care and accept the ministrations of all who love and feel your pain. In loving and everlasting humankindness, rudy Just watched, thanks to the FB post of Loyd Dillon, a fascinating video of an interview with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle talking about the origin of Sherlock Holmes (modeled after a medical school professor with uncanny diagnostic powers) and his dedication and study and belief of spiritualism to contact the dead, which he affirmed with absolute certitude as true. As a result of watching this and reading the astute commentary on Loyd's post, I FB friended an individual, who I think is a freelance writer married to a medical professor of surgery in Terra Haute, Indiana by the name Leah Cummins Guinn (). She wrote a startlingly vivid and well composed piece on the spiritualism of Sir Arthur. She accepted my friend request immediately and we shared a few FB messages. Amazing connectivity and enlightenment through social media. 

Saturday, March 1, 2014

1 March 2014: Norma (Virginia) Nyhoff's 24th birthday (also the bday of Frederic Chopin) ... mom getting hair done by Stacy at this typing (9:39 am) ...

I called this morning at 8 a.m. and got "Norma Nyhoff's" voicemail and then got mom to sing, rather off key but with passion, Happy Birthday to her granddaughter and wish her a happy birthday. I joined in and tried to harmonize with little success.
Norma is 24 today.....surrounded by family...... — with BrittJergenNorma Nyhoff and Seyla.

Displaying photo.JPG
Another masterpiece from our multi-talented neighbor. 

I'm happy as FedEx and the extraordinary service of Delaware Hospice continues with the delivery of meds to renew or supply. We have the necessary pain pills and also the heart medication, which I just called in yesterday, so the pill dispenser is filled for the next week. A good feeling. 


French WOTD and sentence (retirerto withdraw):

Je suis passé à la banque pour retirer de l'argent.
I went to the bank to withdraw some money.

Dutch WOTD and sentence (
belachelijkridiculous)Wat heb jij nu voor een belachelijke hoed op?Oh my, what a ridiculous hat you are wearing!

Italian WOTD and sentence (economico ~ cheap)Faccio sempre la spesa in questo negozio, è tutto molto economico.I always shop in this store; everything is very cheap.







28 February 2014: Friday ... Gail will be by this AM and with Stacy, we will do lunch ... Core Challenge at 8 a.m., a first ... 10 degrees this early AM ... Dancer outside ...

Displaying photo.JPG  Displaying photo.JPG
    Stacy works with her chopsticks   I put Teddy up on Mom's bed and she delighted in his presence
at the Bonhouse prior to eating her    as Stacy looked on with Gail on the last day of February, a chill
lunch. I had the shrimp with garlic      one, in the late morning. Afterward, I drove Stacy in the Honda
sauce in the foreground.                     and Gail took her big Ford 250 truck to the Bonhouse for lunch.

Displaying photo.JPG
At the Bonhouse Restaurant after our food arrived, taking pics with our Smartphones.

It is the simple, daily activities of life that reveal spiritual and personal enrichment. My morning exercise always affords me the opportunity to meet people who are dedicated to their own physical well being and today, the class, populated mostly by women, as they all are, I found some doing activities of great strength and agility that were, and this is where it gets dangerous, older than me. Probably in their 60s but doing leg raises and pull-ups that had me gasping. Pamela led the class and she is superb and encouraging. I feel with the classroom full that she is watching me (my self-centeredness, I guess) and giving me instruction, even though I was in the back and could not see her most of the time. That is a true ability of an effective teacher and a revelation and an enrichment.

Friday, February 14, 2014

14 February 2014: Friday (Valentine's Day) ... Skeesha made it today as the temp warm and the snow melted (shoveled the walk again and by midday it was clear) ... Y workout ... meet young, friendly girl Madison who hugged me ...

An appropriate Facebook post for this Heart Day ... I googled "I Love You in many languages and came up with this website":
From "Ti amo" (Italian) to "nenu ninnu premisthunnanu" (Telugu, of course -- a Dravidian language predominantly spoken in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, where it's the official language), this is a neat web page with the written words anglicized for 35 tongues. 


A Facebook post regarding shoveling snow from yesterday's huge storm:

WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND:

I watched, yesterday afternoon, with some concern but with some inward laughs, too, as a pickup with a plow marauded around our neighborhood pummeling curbs and recently shoveled sidewalks with a cascade of wettish snow. My neighbor a few houses up, who I do not know, had a few choice words for the plower, which I will not share with my FB friends, complaining that the extra snow deposited on his pristine sidewalk had clogged his snow blower.

I was smug and untouched by the indiscriminate plow, until, I returned to shoveling my walk and did not see the return of the marauder. My driveway, moments earlier cleared of slushy snow, was covered again. *&^*%# ...

Sometimes a simple "Hi" can make your day. As I prepared my coffee after my workout -- styrofoam cup, creamer and sugar -- a young girl (about 8 years of age) came up to get a cup and said, without compunction, "Hi", to me, and I responded in kind. Later, when I took a plum from a bin at the front desk (absolutely delicious by the way), she wished me a "Happy Valentine's Day".

When I returned from the locker with my wallet, keys and iPhone, I asked an older man, sitting with her, whether he was her grandfather. He said, "Yes", and I commented how friendly his granddaughter was and how her gestures made my day. She proceeded to walk up to me and give me a hug. She gave me a hug. Extraordinary. Her name was Madison. What a delight to encounter such an open and loving girl in our litigious, predator-conscious world. 


It's a full moon tonight. The walk was lovely, a little over a mile but that black ice can be tricky and disastrous. A few times, inadvertently, I hit a spot and the Nike would slip in the opposing direction and I envisioned a plummet to the asphalt with leash in one hand and dog potty plastic in the other. Not pretty, but the night sky was. I forgot what star was partnering with the moon tonight but it was to last most the evening. Wish I knew more about the stars and our universe. (Pondered a question tonight as I walked ... do a lot of thinking when I walk, thank goodness no music or radio station to detract like the many at the "Y" ... Just how did they figure out the speed of light? ... and then the debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham, all thirteen letters of them, and how reality staring you in the face can be obstructed by suffocating dogma and myth). 



My JibJab videos went to their digital addresses today. One to Katia in Florida, another to Lindsay in Nashville, one here of mom & me doing a Brazilian dance, and the same Silent Film skit held the faces of Doug and Norma Virginia, which I sent to Johns Creek. He had not received it when I spoke to him by phone shortly after. Hopefully, he got it. There a lot of fun and so easy to do. The people who write the code for these websites are absolute wizards. They make it child's play. 

In remarkable serendipity on the radio station WHYY, which continues to fundraise due to all the catastrophic weather events in the Philly area, Terri Gross, 63Dave Davies, 61; and Marty Moss-Coane, 65; all were born on Valentine's Day. They got together to, you guessed it, fundraise this evening during a rebroadcast of Fresh Air interview with Robert Redford


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

25 December 2013: Christmas Day ... clear and cold, ice in Dancer's water bowl ... the luminaria bags are collected; sand trashed, bags recycled, candles kept ...



Kind of a cool image, I wrote: Thought it was frozen solid but just a layer had formed 
on Dancer's water bowl this frosty Christmas morn.

It's difficult to come to this digital page and compose at the end of the day for you forget the memorable moments of a day, even a Christmas day, when it's just the two of you and phone calls from Lindsay and Liz and Gail and Nick and sharing with Susan about a book by Elizabeth Gilbert, who you friend on FB because she loves the social media (you heard her interview on WHYY with Marty Moss-Coane (had no idea how to spell it), who is the author of mega-best seller Eat, Pray, Love and who has written a book, I thought she would be interested in and which I sent her a New York Times review by Janet Maslin called The Signature of All Things, which I offered to get for her but have not heard
back. I friended her on FB and wrote a wry comment about a photo she posted of her in 1976 at age 7, yes, she was born in 1969 on a tree farm and her sister is a well-known author, too. Splendid, creative childhood with parents who nurtured their true artistic selves.


Yes, I an enamored. She is lovely and so talented and intellectual. 


Went to Snapfish and uploaded pics of the Finn Family to give back to them what they gave to us, two lovely printed photos. Still have to figure out how to get a assemblage of maybe 4 photos in one display to send to them. I will do it. 



On Christmas Eve, when I found a Nintendo Wii, thanks to Muhammad at Best Buy, the handsome close-cropped bearded young man, and I ate my usual veggie omelet at Mary's Kountry Kitchen and go to share dad's passing with Mary, at the cash register, and Shelley, serving but not me on this day, I did not find something for Stacy. I had wanted to. 

Well, this evening, it hit me. Get her something personal. A photograph. One that we have displayed for years in its frame ... dad and mom laughing and enjoying a moment at a meal at Cindy's wedding reception from some 30 years ago, now that's personal and meaningful. So, I wrapped it and combined it with a Christmas card that I'd written earlier, left a message on her home phone (she was at work tonight, doing the holiday as it was her turn) and placed the present and card in her mailbox. Afterward, when I'd finished my 2 miles plus walk with Dancer, I phoned her cell and she answered at the hospital. She did seem put out but anxious that I called. She thought something might be up with mom. I told her about mom being placed on Hospice and then about looking in her mailbox ... she closed by calling me "Ru". Nobody but my mother has ever called me by that shortened version of my name. Got a curious pang in me about Stacy. No, it will never be but I have a strong feeling of like/love for her and what she's done for my mother, specifically, and my father, too. She has been an extraordinary neighbor and she is an extraordinarily beautiful person. 

What am I truly thankful for on this Christmas Day 2013:
  1. Being able to spend Christmas with my mother for perhaps the last time.
  2. Having friends like Marli and Gerrit Stam who really enjoy spending time with us and are just terrific.
  3. Family like Marissa Finn who can give gifts that touch the core of our being.
  4. Being able to share a part of your life with another in the form of a treasured photo that you feel is a proper way to say "Thank You" for all you do Stacy Casaletto.
  5. Understand that when mom calls to answer that call without anger and show only love because we only have one shot at this thing called life, as Gordon Roth, my bass compatriot in the UUSMC choir so eloquently put it last evening.
  6. The genius of David Attenborough and his animal films. Just finished watching the World of Mammals on Netflix tonight. Just extraordinary commentary and stunning photography. 

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

24 December 2013: Christmas Eve ... Tuesday, 16 days after dad's death ... will buy Nintendo Wii today for mom ... look for a Xmas gift to give Stacy (???) ...



In Arthur's recent words: "I had a good day today but I think I overdid it my shoulder hurts a little bit now
I'll be back I promise.   
December 21 at 5:51pm via mobile 

Dancer is anxious to go outside in the morning, I take her out the front to do her business

but then she wants to be in the back, checking things out, even if it's dark and chilly, like

was this morning before 6 a.m. when I let her out and took her photo from the diamond-

shaped door window in the addition. It made for a rather bereft look.

 


Plan to check out purchasing a Nintendo Wii today for mom, to hook up to the HD TV. It will need a special connector (about $35) to be able to be HD compatible but well worth it according to the YouTube video that I watched on installing the system.


At the Best Buy near the Christiana Hospital, thanks to salesman Muhammad, or "Mo", as his friends call him, a devilishly good looking young African-American with a great, close-cropped beard, sold me one of the last, HD-compatible, Wii U systems with Mario Brothers. It was not cheap at $299.99 but I got a $25 gift card with the purchase (made it all worth it), which I charged to my Amazon-Chase VISA credit card. I have already presented it to mom and awaits set-up tomorrow on Christmas day. In addition to games, we'll be able to access Netflix through the control monitor. 

Waking up at 4:30 and realizing that you have choir practice in an hour, you need to get dressed (have to have the Xmas tie and suspenders), put out the luminaria, get mom a cup of tea, and drive to UUSMC on Poly Drummond and Paper Mill Roads. It was hectic, especially when I needed to borrow a butane lighter (fantastic device) from C. J. across the way to light my luminaria. It was a challenge and in the end, only 2 of 12 candles in a bag rooted in sand were still lit with the wind and the chill. My walk with Dancer around the neighborhood saw better and lesser success than my efforts. But Twist Lane was particularly beautiful:


A windy and chill Christmas Eve extinguished 10 of my 12 luminaria on Pickwick and Nicholby Drives,
 but the lights fared better on Twist Lane, shielded from the wind.
The Limestone Gardens/Sheridan Square Civic Association organizes the display each year.

Friday, October 11, 2013

11 October 2013: Friday, Caruso, Donizetti, Una Furtiva Lagrima, cream of wheat finished ... YouTube videos galore, Stacy/Mom shine

In the morning of this rainy Friday, two absolute, make that three, joys. Dad got some rest last night as I awoke him at 7:30 a.m. and he expressed great surprise at the lateness. Brought up his breakfast -- I had already fed and "drugged" mom by 6 a.m. -- and transported Mom's serving table to hold the cream of wheat (came out well this morning), which he ate, with abandon, but not the bananas, and he did drink the tea as we listened to first Pavarotti and then a 1904 recording of Caruso singing, "Una Furtiva Lagrima" from Donizetti's opera "L'elisir d'amore", 2nd Scene, 3rd Act.

"Caruso, possessed of a magnificent, expressive, tenor voice, combined with classic technique,
was a leading operatic star, and he was the first singer to be heard by millions of people
through the newly invented gramophone."

There will be a performance of this opera by the DelawareOpera tonight and Sunday afternoon at the Grand Opera House in downtown Wilmington and I've e-mailed Gail Emerson to see if she'd like to go, dependent on how dad feels, on Sunday. It would be great if he could make it, but I could still go with Gail on my own, I guess, just came to me, if she's up for it. 


Dad asked for Toscanini so we spent 25 minutes listening to an act from Aida with those singers (Herva Nelli, Richard Tucker, et al.) and the choir under the direction of Robert Shaw and that he exultantly proclaimed, walking downstairs ... 


"What a way to begin the day!", he said, after watching Toscanini on YouTube. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUxpLI5DA3M

Weber Euryanthe Overture & Brahms Symphony No. 1 - Toscanini
Here is a link to the video that I took of Dad while he listened 
to the first movement of the Brahms 1st Symphony, which I then uploaded to 

Thumbnail


Mom got downstairs for the second time in three days, she had a styling
appointment with Stacy this Friday morning. We made it to the kitchen
with the seated wheelchair and portable oxygen and Stacy washed (got a
video of it and posted to YouTube), cut, and then styled her hair 
wonderfully. She looked great as the FB post shows below:

Photo: Nothing like a wash, cut, and dry to brighten a spirit, even on a rainy, overcast day.
My  Facebook  post  read :
"
Nothing like a wash, cut, and dry to brighten a spirit, even on a rainy, overcast day."

I took an over 8-minute video of the washing process and posted it on 
YouTube  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES_eBrOhLKk). It was wonderful.

 
Finishing up with a blow dry. Mom is in 7th heaven.

Great walk with Dancer in the early afternoon. She'd been 
deprived this morning because of all the activity, so she and I 
deserved it. Did the Carousel Farm, off the leash, and walk to
my alma mater. On the way, I petted a horse who came to me 
in hopes that I had an apple or a carrot. I had neither but
the horse let me pet it. Went for a little more than 3 miles, 
which surprised me but I got a good comment from Stacy in 
response to my weight -- you look good, thinner. Think it's the
walking each day 4-5 miles, twice a day. It's not too aerobic
but it builds muscle mass slowly and methodically. And it makes
you feel good. The comment felt that way even though I said I 
still had my inner tube. While walking, texted Stacy a few times
telling her that she was "undeniably, and even indubitably da 
BEST!" and also sent her the photo above the above, which she
responded to with an Lol and then later told me that the milk and
the carrots that she'd picked up at the store were in the fridge
and freezer,respectfully. I'd told dad before I left that Stacy
might be by with the groceries. "Do you need anything from the
store," she'd asked, earlier and I thought, yes, we're low on
whole mile and ate the last of the carrots, a new fav of mom
and dad, last night. She truly is fantastic!

                 

New connection with Chris Senge. We are Facebook friends and he 
has offered to use his video editing skills to put together a 
package, using my photos and videos, to illustrate the lives
of my parents. It is intriguing but don't know exactly what it
entails. Will work with it, though. Chris is a nice kid even 
if a little kooky in his Christian beliefs. His company is
SMC Senge Media Concepts, LLC and I went to the page and "Liked"
it. He's fast on the keyboard and ok'd my friend request 
posthaste. Details to follow.

Dad has stayed in his pj's all day, a "lazy day" he calls it
(I said he'd earned one after 85 years) but it's been a better.


day and he did eat some of the Dutch cookies
 (speculaas) 


and a few slices of Boar's Head liverwurst
 
and some Tapioca
pudding.               

An interesting amalgam, but any calories will do.
I'm and
he's not particular. 

It's now, as I type this, pouring outside, where Dancer is --
there is protection and she does stay, mostly, dry -- the rain
pattering on the room and side of the house. A sound from the
past, reminiscent and familiar. We have had good rain and the
Mill Creek which I passed off and on Limestone Road was swollen,
full up to the banks but not spilling over. The walk was over
3 miles and I got a horse to come up to me -- they're so large --
and petted its head (always worry about biting but this one was
tame, looking for a carrot or apple).

They announced the Nobel Peace Prize today and this organization, 
OPCW,was named as the winner -- ORGANISATION FOR THE PROHIBITION
OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS
 (Elimination of chemical weapons stockpiles and chemical weapons production faciles subject to the verification measures provided for in the Convention.)                 

Linked onto e-mail from French language service, Yabla, and we 
watched and listened to vocabulary and some intriguing videos 
including this one detailing sites in Paris, starting with the
Eiffel Tower. He asked whether I remembered going up the Tower
when we traveled to Paris. I said I did and thought we went 
together but he said we brought the whole family.

http://french.yabla.com/player_cdn.php?id=1224&tlang_id=en


Time to say good night as Dad is resting and the rain is pounding
and Marli Stam-Schouten called to say she was bringing over 
some Dutch dish from her daughter's house. She said she had a
good umbrella. She will need it. 


-30-