May 22, 2008 at 2:25 pm (Family, Good-byes, Peace Corps, Travel, invitee)
Tags: Bella, Bette, Jack, Sevison, Utah
I have really been treated like a princess by my family as I visit them. Their love and support were evident from the moment I arrived. Jack is the traditional male breadwinner of the family but also loves his wife enough to help with breakfast or go out for a meal quite often. He’s very protective of Bette and of me when I am there. I feel safe and secure with Jack.
Bette is a home maker. Her house is lovely. She’s a great cook. She sews, quilts, puts up canned goods and has a large pantry in the basement. Bette volunteers in the community and with her church. She and Jack are working at the Mormon employment center in Brigham City two days a week. Bette’s creativity encourages me to use my creative talents.
Bella is a bouncing barking minature snauzer who is full of joy and energy. I will miss her three short are you awake barks outside my door.
We visited all over Utah. The photos on this blog are from our trip to the Eden Valley. We also visited the Church charity distribution center in Salt Lake City and a lovely restaurant. We also visited my four nieces and nephews, who are very close to my age or older and insist on calling me Aunt Vicky! I will write more about those visits in another post.
Saying good-bye to my family is hard. “I do not cry in public.”
-vc
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May 20, 2008 at 9:38 am (Texas, Travel, friends)
Tags: Galvaston, motorcycles, Texas
My Beth asked her neighbor Mike to give me a motorcycle ride when I came to Texas. It’s been on my wish list for about 3 years now, at least. Mike was a great tour guide. We traveled 130 miles to Galvaston and back yesterday. It felt just like I remembered it, like I was flying. The difference between riding a motorcycle at 20 and at 50 is that a couple of times I did think about an accident, at twenty those thoughts never entered my mind! Mike was a careful and safe driver it had nothing to do with his driving. But those thoughts were fleeting and I enjoyed the ride so much. We drove the length of the seawall at Galvaston, ate seafood and walked around the strand but by far the highlight of the day was the ride!
-vc
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May 14, 2008 at 9:09 am (Travel)
Tags: United States, Utah
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May 12, 2008 at 5:38 pm (Family, Good-byes, Peace Corps)
Tags: Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh
My brother Dennis and my sister-in-law Mel made me feel like a Princess.
The royal treatment started in the morning when they turned on NPR’s Morning Edition for me and ended with caring phone call when I arrived in Utah at my brother Jack’s.
We visited two Carnegie libraries in Pittsburgh. Mel and I had Ethiopian food. Den joined us for a visit to the science museum and lunch on Mount Washington. During lunch we saw people sky diving into PNC baseball stadium. The view of Pittsburgh was beautiful. Three rivers meet in downtown Pittsburgh. Please don’t ask me the names of the two besides the Ohio. Pittsburgh rivers are segmented with many bridges and quite a few of them are bright yellow! I think that will be one of my lasting impressions of Pittsburgh.
My last day Mel and I went to a play and to the Cathedral of learning. The Cathedral of Learning has 25+ classrooms built by different nationalities that immigrated to Pittsburgh. I loved the African room. The French room was ornate and beautiful but the Dutch room was all wood and very homelike and cozy. It would be very fun to have classes about a specific nation in that nation’s room. The great hall was filled with oak chairs and tables of all shapes and sizes.
Den and Mel made me feel so at home. I was well loved, entertained and cared for – just like a princess. Being made to fell welcome and a part of the family does not depend on the size of the house but the size of the hearts in the house.
-vc
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May 5, 2008 at 3:37 am (Peace Corps)
Tags: shoes, Tevas
At last the bugs are out of the image management part of WordPress. Since WordPress upgraded in the past month i have not been able to consistently insert images into my posts. So today images for a long ago post about my new Tevas!
-vc
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May 4, 2008 at 4:37 pm (Family, Peace Corps)
Tags: childhood, grandmother, Safiya
Chapter 1: 3:55 am – Grandma can I sleep wiith you?
Chapter 2: 5:32 am – Grandma wake up your snoring
Chapter 3: 6:48 am – Don’t cry over spilt Elmer’s Glue, twice
Chapter 4: 7: 40 am – Nachos for breakfast, really, grandpa let’s me
Chapter 5: 9:33 am – Copacabana singalong
Chapter 6: 10; 16 am – Saltine, bologna and cheese sandwiches
Chapter 9: 12:01 pm – Skyping with grandpa
Chapter 10: 1:20 pm – Lunch at Peaberries to visit Aunt Liz
Chapter 11: 2:29 – Glitter glitter every where
Chapter 12: 3:21 pm – Crying on the stairs outdoors
Chaoter 13: 3: 44 pm – Cleaning grandma’s car
Chapter 14: 5:11 – Grandma collapses
-vc
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May 2, 2008 at 1:47 pm (Family, Good-byes, Travel, friends)
May 7 – Pittsburgh – Brother Dennis and Stewart O’Nan’s hometown
May 11 – Salt Lake City – Brother Jack
May 17 – Houston – Beth
May 30 – Madison, ME – Mom
June 4 – Granby – Fiya, Liz
June 5 – Lunch at Newington – You guys!
June 7 – Philadelphia – New PC friends to be.
June 10 – Accra, Ghana
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May 2, 2008 at 4:11 am (Good-byes, friends, invitee, work)
I do not cry in public.
I do not cry in public.
I do not cry in public.
I do not cry in public.
The favorite parts of my job were taken away from me over the past four years and many of my daily tasks were routine and boring but as my investment in the daily grind of the job lessened my connection with my co-workers deepened. This is a truth that I think will be reinforced over and over in my journey with the Peace Corps. More than the food, more than the movies, more than the easy access to book, EVEN MORE THAN INDOOR PLUMBING when I am in Ghana I will miss the people I love. To misquote a campaign slogan of an earlier Clinton Presidential candidate “It’s the PEOPLE, stupid!”.
I do not cry in public.
I do not cry in public.
I do not cry in public
I do not cry in public.
-vc
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May 1, 2008 at 11:52 am (Internet, Librarianship, librarians, meme, work)
Tags: Inspiration, librarians, Passion Quilt Meme
I haven’t been tagged yet for this meme but I wanted to share my thoughts. This meme is to inspire new librarians but I think all the images in the Passion Quilt could apply to any one in any walk of life or any age.
Thanks to by Lynn (WHAAAAT?) for this great image so I could add my square to the passion quilt meme. My passion is that we become like children in our work. We should gain new skills they way children do by enjoying, exploring and experimenting.
Check out other Passion Quilt Squareson flickr. I hope someone makes a virtual quilt of these.
-vc
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