Post of the Day--I Do Know How to Read!

Happy Halloween!!


I can't get enough of this picture!  It is from Halloween of 2008, when Jen, Wil, and I went as South Park characters.  Good times, good times!!!  This year I believe we will be having a little party at our new best "happy" friends' (Sammy and Johnny) house.  I'll be baking a cake for the occasion.  I assume some drinking and game playing will be involved, but me thinks no costume, unless I think of something funny, easy, and cool (temperature)...

I wanted to alleviate some fears of the last two posts.  I do actually know how to read; I'm not just watching TV.  This week I have read

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

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and Uglies by Scott Westerfield...

simonandschuster.com

I am nearly halfway through Pound for Pound by F. X. Toole

 amazon.com

I'm not a total couch potato slacker!  Plus I have my studies and my students!!

Post of the Day--A Forgotten Favorite

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So sorry Gleeks, my omission yesterday was completely unintentional.  I do still love Glee and need to watch this week's episode to get 'into the groove' again.  I need to start at the beginning with Wil...I hope he likes it as much as America's Next Top Model!  We have been enjoying that and each other a lot since he is in Santo Domingo more this week.

Post of the Day--Quality Programming

Some of you ask, "what do you do with your time when you are there?"  I have various answers of course, depending on the day.  Recently, I have been able to catch up on some of the shows that I enjoy the most...

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I am completely up on the suspense filled Dexter.

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I'm ready for more dramatic love on Brothers & Sisters.

And, I want even more funny from Modern Family.

Wil and I have begun our America's Next Top Model catch-up.  We watched two episodes last night.  Very fun to enjoy Tyra and her craziness together.

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Now, I just need to watch the latest episodes of   The Amazing Race,

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True Blood,

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and The Vampire Diaries, and I will be good to go!

Post of the Day--A Weekend Wrap-up

I arrived in Santo Domingo at around 11 a.m. on Saturday.  Wil was waiting inside the airport to greet me.  Outside, Sammy (Wil's friend) was waiting with his car.  He drove us back to the apartment.  I showered, then we all visited.  Then Sammy drove us to his favorite Chinese restaurant.  I immediately liked Sammy.

When we were in the restaurant, Wil wanted to play a game that he and I play.  We call it "What's Their Story."  I'm sure some of you have played it or thought about playing it.  Basically, we look around and one of us says to the other, "What's their story?" about a certain table or group.  Then, the person asked creates a story.  It is just a fun way to pass time when waiting for food or when people watching.  I know you know how to do that!!!

Though I was tired, I was determined to try to speak in Spanish so that Sammy could understand.  He understands some English and also tries very diligently.  So, Wil and I started playing the game.  Within minutes, Sammy was playing.  And, his stories were very creative and hilarious.  We laughed a lot during our game.  The food was good, though I hardly remember that part of the evening.  At some point in the conversation that day, Sammy invited us to go to the beach on Sunday with him and his boyfriend, Johnny.

Sunday morning, Johnny and Sammy came to pick us up.  We went to the grocery store for some supplies, and then a pica pollo shop and then a fried fish stand before we got to the beach.  The beach area is called Palenque Beach.  The beach was nice, though there were more people than at my favorite beach, Playa Bonita.  The vendors were less pesky than at Boca Chica, and the company was the best part.  We spent a lot of time in the water drinking and visiting.  Johnny speaks quite a lot of English, though he would say he does not.  I did not take any pictures of the beach...oops.  But here are a few of us.

 I wasn't quite ready!

 Sammy wasn't quite ready for this one, but he was enjoying his chicken leg!!

 Sammy with the gleam in his eyes--he is mischievous!

 Johnny and me.

 Los tres amigos Dominicanos...

Wil and me.  I'm the unshaven, tired looking one!!!  But, it was still a great day!

Post of the Day--Propaganda

I have had this picture sitting on a memory card since sometime in July.  I don't believe that I have posted it before...

I love developing democracies and their propaganda.  I'd like to see all the freak-out in The United States if the government paid to have billboards like this with President Obama's photo and the word "Destiny" on them...hahahahahaha!!!  By the way, the election is less than a week away, make sure you vote...and make sure you vote for the right (I mean left) candidate!!!!!!!!

Post of the Day—A Terrific Tuesday

In my post yesterday, I mentioned Sammy and Johnny.  Well, these guys are really great.  Last night, Sammy invited me to spend the day with him today.  He explained that his usual routine in the day is to cook, clean, do laundry, read, spend time on the computer, etc.  It sounded like fun to hang out with someone with similar interests.  Sammy doesn’t speak a lot of English, by the way.  But our communication works out.  I fill in the blanks in his English and he fills in the blanks in my Spanish, which is the language we speak primarily.

Today, Sammy called to confirm and then came over to escort me to their apartment.  It is probably almost a ½ hour walk, but in the heat, Sammy wanted to take a car.  We arrived at a beautiful 3 bedroom apartment.  It definitely has all of the creature comforts of home, plus!  In their bedroom, they have a huge big screen TV.  Apparently, Johnny’s sister owns the apartment and he and Sammy help pay the mortgage.  Sammy keeps a separate bedroom there as well.  When he showed it to me, he put air quotes around the words “my bedroom.”  Very funny!

For most of the morning we visited while Sammy cooked lunch.  Then a friend of his came over who needed help ironing his shirt.  And then Johnny came home for lunch.  He is very friendly as well and speaks quite a bit of English.  He again reminded me that their home was my home too. 

Sammy and I did get another game of cards in today; I won this one!  Then we watched The Golden Compass.  The scenery is gorgeous in that movie, so is Nicole Kidman in all her craziness.  I walked back to the apartment.  It really was a great way to spend a day.  And, my Spanish is finally breaking through for some reason; Wil said that it was the best it has ever been on Sunday.  Maybe I can relax more with Sammy and Johnny; we have a lot of the same ideas about life and likes. Maybe it is that they just say the correct form of the word that I say right when I say it, without actually correcting me. Whatever the reason, I hope it continues to improve!

Post of the Day

Hello My Good People!

I have decided to try to post a new entry on the blog every day while I'm here in The D.R. this time.  I am already warning you that I may prepare some in advance to publish on the days when Wil is here and we are having too much fun for me to take the time to post.  No offense, that's just the way it is :)

I have been here two days.  It is amazing to me how quickly one can get back into routines.  We had a good weekend, which I will describe in a different post...

But today, Wil left for Miches around noon.  He had some medical testing done this a.m.  We did not have power or water at that point, so I decided I should get out of the apartment.  It was not quite as hot today as it is sometimes.  I loaded up my little store bags of garbage in my backpack (it's a little gross, but they are double wrapped) and headed out to find garbage containers on the street just waiting to accept my rubbish.  I walked along the street that has the egg rolls and my favorite fruit vendor. 

Eventually I hopped back over to the main street to get to Mail Boxes Etc., where we have our mailbox.  It did feel a little bit longer today (I'm out of shape), but I had nothing else to do so I took my sweet time.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the packages that I knew had arrived about the time I left were still there!  I received birthday greetings from both of my sisters!  It was wonderful!

If anyone is so inclined, the addresses remain the same:

For letters, cards, large envelopes:

One of our names
SDQ 1632
PO BOX 025725
MIAMI, FL 33102-5725

For parcels:

One of our names
SDQ 1632
2250 NW 114th AVE UNIT 1A
MIAMI, FL 33172-3652

(One thing that I didn't bring any more of this time that I realized yesterday Wil really likes is decorative paper napkins.  Just an FYI, if you are trying to find something that you could send in an envelope.)

I walked back toward home and stopped at the superstore Plaza Lama.  I meandered through the grocery aisles and found a few things.  Our refrigerator is not working now, so I was looking for things that I could prepare and use immediately.  I'm just going to need to buy milk more frequently at one of the corner colmados.  You may be wondering about the refrigerator...it is not that the electricity is out more, it's that even when the power is on and the fridge is plugged in, there are many small surges that cause the fridge to continually be clicking as well.

On my route home, I bought two egg rolls.  I then had a lovely lunch of egg rolls, half of a small pineapple and half of a small cantaloupe.  Delicious!

This late afternoon I did some reading, some napping and some putting awaying (nice word, huh?).  Then I had a friend, Sammy, come over to play a game.  Sanmmy drove his car to the airport to pick me up the other day.  Sammy is a really sweet guy.  He and his boyfriend, Johnny, took us to the beach yesterday.  More about that in a different post :)

Sanmmy and I were part way through our game of cards when the electricity went off.  Wah, wah!  But, we lit some candles and continued our play.  Johnny arrived after work and a work-out to visit and take Sammy home.  They don't live too far away.  They were both very kind and offered to help me.  Even saying, "our home is your home" and "call if you need anything!"  It was very sweet.

Wil made it back to Miches safely.  I'm excited because he has a meeting here on Thursday, so he will be coming home on Wednesday evening!  Yay!

A HUGE Success!

I started this post a few days ago, but this week has been pretty hectic getting ready to go to the D.R.  I'm sitting in the Salt Lake City Airport finishing this post.  So, yes, I'm on my way!!!

Mom has been a Board Member at Safe Harbor for the last 7 or 8 years.  It has been a very rewarding experience for her and by extension, us.  For the last 6 years the Safe Harbor Board has hosted a benefit art auction.  They have grown from a few thousand dollars raised in the display room of a small art gallery to tens of thousands of dollars in a community center bulging with more than 200 people!

Mom has been the event decorator from the start.  And, as the auction grew, so did the decor!  Mom thinks, plans, and purchases decorating items throughout the year.  This year's theme was 'Under the Sea'.  Mom gave a presentation about what Safe Harbor is and does to Allison's Upward Bound group this summer at camp.  The campers then took on the project of making large decorative fish for the event.  Mom's vision for the night went on from there.  

Here is Dana putting up some of the fish made by the Upward Bound group. Allison fashioned the wall out of fabric that Mom dyed and sheets.

Dawn created this aquarium look for the bar area.  By the time of the event, lights were added in the plants and live goldfish were in vases on the bar as well.

Guests were welcomed to the event by two seahorses (two of the many cut out by Dad and painted by Mom).

Mom made an underwater seascape for guests to walk through on their way in.  I put my bubble machine inside the old chair.  This looked really cool for a while since the bubbles were trying to make their way through the net.  However, it became a bit of a slippery issue, so we had to turn it off.  Wah, wah!

The hors d'oeuvres table before it was popular.  I like to get a photo of it when it is pristine.

A couple photos of the whole room.  The tables are missing something...hmmm?  Oh yes, the centerpieces were added just before the guests arrived.

Allison and I came up with the idea of having aquarium like panels as people entered the room.  I am especially proud of the way the whales turned out.  We used a projector and Allison traced the designs.  Then Dawn (yes, she flew up for the weekend) and I painted them.

Allison drew all of the fish for these panels before we had the projector.  He just looked at the print out!  Mom and I painted the fish.

Ahh, the centerpieces.  Mom knew she wanted a live goldfish in a vase on the table for most of the year.  She also had a dream of having light shine up through.  We couldn't figure out how to make it work.  She even purchased some solar activated 'glass rocks' to test.  On a trip to the Dollar Tree in Port Orchard, we found these awesome little bases.  They shine LED lights up!  And, yes, they were ONE DOLLAR!!  You really can't beat that.  With the vase (also from Dollar Tree), rocks (yes, Dollar Tree), a goldfish ($.28) and the batteries, each centerpiece cost less than $3.00.  Awesome finds, Mom.

More of the seahorses.  And, you may have noticed the concrete pieces holding up the stands.  A friend of ours created them for her daughter's wedding.  She put small fresh cut trees in them (there are around 30 of them).  I'm sure that made quite an impact.  She now lets community members use them for their decorating.  We picked them up at a lady's house who had used them in her wedding a few weeks ago.  I thought they ended up looking like piers for our event, which was perfect!

Mom really wanted to include the Piranha that Joao (John, our Brazilian brother) brought us from Brazil.  Kind of an ugly little fish, isn't it?  And you can't even see the face!

Ariel, Ariel, is that you? No, it's our own Little Mermaid, created by Mom.

A Safe Harbor Board Member took this family photo for us. I think she did a good job, especially since it was taken after the event, during the clean-up!  It was the culmination of a lot of hard work for a really deserving cause!

It has been amazing to watch this auction develop.  And, this year, it was incredible to see the generosity even in difficult economic times (between the event sponsorships and the auction, about $39,000).  As long as the silent epidemic of domestic violence continues, there will be a safe harbor for the victims in our area.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  Did you know that 1 in 4 women will suffer domestic abuse by the time they are 24-years-old in this country?  There is probably a shelter or group in your area that could use your help or donations, think about it!

Dang that Dengue!

Well, folks, the news is in...I did test positive for the Dengue virus antibodies.  In fact, my body is still working against the virus.  Thankfully, I am feeling fine and not much affected by it.  The other day I did notice that I was a little weaker than I thought I was a year ago when I completed the same task...oh well!  I'll regain my strength soon, I'm sure.

I am using Dembarah200 as a prophylactic for dengue.  I started it earlier in the week.  It was interesting since I used it in amounts at first to get a symptomatic reaction.  I experienced some of the symptoms of dengue, but in a much milder way and for a very brief time.  Homeopathic under the tongue sprays are good times!!

I leave for the D.R. this Friday!!  I'm so excited to get to Wil!!!!!

Fabulous Fall Flowers

My general opinion of Fall is that it sucks.  To me, everything dies in the Fall.  Now, logically, I understand that we need that death to give plants rebirth in the Spring.  But in my heart, I still don't like it.  It gets darker earlier...ugh!  And, usually there is a lot more rain and drear.  If only it could go from sunny heat to sunny snow, I would love it!

I have to say this Fall has been particularly nice.  We had a little rain at the beginning of September, but most of it was lovely.  It hasn't even frosted much at night yet.  So, with all of this slightly strange weather (plus the funky weather last Spring into Summer),  we still have some incredibly beautiful flowers.  Mom has had flowers blooming all Summer, but we still have many of them now, in October!  Definitely not normal.  I am loving it!

Mom's newest plantings this year were in a huge hill where the swimming pool used to be.  It turned out to be a magnificent display.  Above is kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate, cosmos, pansies, and allysum.

Another view of kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate.  This is almost like a tree!  It has stalks that are somewhat like rhubarb, except 6 feet tall.

This is the flower.  It looks quite nice hanging down as the backdrop of the hill.  Allegedly this plant was first grown the U.S. by Thomas Jefferson.

 I enjoyed getting up close and personal with the bees!

 The bees are a little slower now, so I liked following them from flower to flower to flower!

After the weird weather in the Spring, our clematis didn't start blooming until September.  But here they are now!

We used to have two varieties of clematis growing together, but this year the one seems to have taken over.  The survivor is what I consider the classic purple clematis.

This is a begonia that we planted three years ago.  It spends the Winter at our friend's greenhouse.  We probably need to accept that Winter will be coming to Montana soon and deliver it to its Winter home, but living in denial and watching its lovely coral blooms is more fun!

This has been the Fall of sweet peas.  They have been blooming much more than they did this Summer...

 They smell so good!

 Mom placed these yellow daisies in the bathroom.  I thought they looked sweet!

 A mixed bouquet!

Finally, an Autumnal arrangement of zinnias.  The Fall colors are pretty.  Did you notice that I wrote something nice about Fall?  I'm trying....I'm really trying...

A Few Weeks Until I See My Baby!!!

I booked my ticket!  I will be returning to the D.R. on October 22--only a little more than two weeks from now!  I'm going to be staying there until December 6.  I do have some things to get ready before then...

I have been out of the blog world for the last few weeks.  Sometime in that time, Mom and I celebrated Dawn and Ro's new house in Missoula while Dad received an iron infusion.

Dana, Alli and I also had a fabulous day with Alli's high school classmate and one of his best friends, Kristal Glass (yes, her name is Kristal Glass, how cool is that?).  Kristal is a determined and loyal person.  She is not afraid to stand up for who or what she believes in--because of that she has earned the nickname, "Kick-Ass Kristal Glass." She wears it well!

We made it to the village of Bigfork.  It's a lovely little town on Flathead Lake.  Dana led us to a McMansion that is being divided into condos....ugh!

This is only about one half of the house...it's quite a place.  I don't know if the picture shows it well enough, but the roof is like something out of Harry Potter.  It has all of these amazing curves and waves!

After ogling the house from outside the fancy gates, we made our way to the Swan River Inn and Dinner House.  It is a magical place founded by a wonderful and sassy Swiss lady.  The atmosphere that she has created is divine and the food is delicious!

This is us before dinner, but after several bottles of wine and appetizers on the deck.

This is on our way out of the restaurant.  We spent about 7 hours there total!!!   It was really a nice time!

I have been spending quite a lot of time involved in my classes, both teaching and as a student.  I'm enjoying teaching for Clark College.  The courses that I have been taking from The University of Montana-Missoula and The University of Montana-Western have been quite challenging, not in content but in expectations and flexibility.  I did not receive much or in-depth advising.  I may have to take an incomplete in the one course since the instructor will not give me the assignments ahead of time for when I will be in the D.R.  They expect a lot of time to be spent in local school libraries even though the courses are online.  Apparently the program is designed more for people who are already working in libraries or schools, though I was not informed of that beforehand.   I have decided that I am just going to go with it and do the best that I can :)

I made a bulletin board for Banned Books Week!  Celebrate your freedom to read what you choose!!

For about a week, I was spending a lot of time at Alli's house getting it ready for renters; he is renting a three bedroom section of his house.  In that week we (I say we, but I mostly painted) put in carpeting in a bedroom, put up trim boards and a ceiling board, finished a wall between the two spaces, painted trim and ceiling and windows, installed a kitchen sink(the plumber did that), completed wiring of outlets and light switches and a stove (Dana), installed a bedroom door, renovated a coffee table, built a half-wall, changed out door locks, and emptied out the living room that was full of lumber!  At the end of that long sweaty week, we were all happy with the final product!  Alli's house is looking really good!

This is the wall that Allison built between the two spaces.  Please notice the trim work around the upper section of brick.  You cannot even see all of the trim pieces in this photo.

This is the lower part of that wall.  And, the hardwood floor that Alli put in by himself.






This is the wall to the entry way.  Allison built this to save on heating bills; he's so smart!

It is not a great picture, but I wanted to show the glass divider that Alli built between the living room and the new kitchen.

Allison is a little bit, I mean a lot addicted to trim boards.  And another view of the new hardwood flooring.

Some more of the trim boards.  I should point out that they are not all decorative.  Some of them do serve a function of covering seams or other issues; some of them just look really good!

Allison is all about recycling.  He purchased this old hardwood flooring at Home ReSource in Missoula.  He decided to make a small wall next to the stove between the kitchen and the living room.

 This is the finished product after I painted it.  I think it turned out well!

This is another recycling project that Allison created.  He took an old ratty coffee table and asked me to paint it.  Then Allison added some extra flooring from Mom's house as the new tabletop and sides of the storage box.

The table also turned out beautifully!

We are in the midst of getting ready for the Safe Harbor Benefit Art Auction.  Safe Harbor is the local domestic violence shelter where Mom is a board member, and, as of late, Dana is the Development Officer.  Mom is chairing the auction this year!  It is on October 16 at the Ronan Community Center.  The theme is 'Under the Sea'.  We have been designing aquarium windows, seahorses, and live goldfish centerpieces.  I'll post pictures after the event!

Mom and I had some fun today making jelly.  We made two batches of plum peach jam-jel.  Jam-jel is the word that we came up with since it was sort of plum jelly with pieces of peaches (jam) in it.  It turned out to be a tasty combination.  Tomorrow we are going to make huckleberry jam and cherry-currant jelly.  I wanted to juice the cherries and currants tonight, so Mom pulled out my Grandma Dorothy's antique sieve.  I love it!

I love the shape of it!  I love the pestle!  I love the way the legs come off for easier storage!  I pretty much love it all!!!

Here is another view of the juicer!  It really is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets!