We finally went to Wolf Trap, and tried to see the Mikado. The best part was the wonderful picnic on the "lawn" hill before the performance. They wouldn't let us use our camp chairs during the performance ("too high") and we left at intermission. But we've been!
Marilyn (copy to "Trip East" list):
Tuesday I was up by 4:30 am to take Marilyn to Reagan Airport. We left at 5, I dropped her off at 5:15, and was home by 5:32 or so. Finished putting together the lunches, woke the girls, fed them waffles for breakfast, took them to school, and was at the Metro by 7:50 and in my office by 8:30.
I liked hearing from Elizebeth on my voice mail when Marilyn forced her to call me when she and Susie had made it home on the bus safely. I got home at 6:00 pm and the girls almost had the entire tuna noodle salad made. I showed them how to make mustard vinagarette (our recipe differs from the curette, so they'll need more lessons) and I toasted the pecans, and then we settled in for a TV dinner. In lieu of anything else, we watched Grey's Anatomy Season 2 Episode 1 as Cris slowly begins his catching up. After finished dishes, I made brownies for lunch food, and then E and I watched the finale of "24". What a let down. Reminded me of why I stopped watching after being such a fan of season 1 until it concluded.
Wednesday I got E up at 6 and Susie at 6:15 so we could go to Starbuck's on the way to school. E had helped me make sandwiches the night before and packed the veggie-fruits, and I put them together. We did yogurt and fruit - I had the blackberry yogurt which was especially yummy. We enjoyed our old tradition of Starbuck's - I tried a Orange Mocha but won't order it again. Again the girls did fine at school, and they were all fed and ready to go when I got home at 4:45. We left at 5:05 for dance, and were there at dance at 5:45, listening to the Francesca story on the way (with me trying to keep up with all the growing number of boyfriends).
I had quickly done a washingtonian.com search of Cheap Eats in Alexandria/Springfield before I left. But Washingtonian.com finally failed me! They recommended a Phillipines place in Springfield, but it was buffet night and quite dreadful. I'll put a black star on Manila. To recover I made my way to The Dairy Godmother on Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria, quite a drive. But the custard was worth it, as good as in Rochester. I had a small and should have really splurged for a sundae. Then back towards Franconia a different way, where I typed this at the Starbuck's next to Marilyn's mall she shops at on Wednesdays. I found my Lakoff book on "Metaphors We Live By" and am reading that while waiting for the girls at dance. I'm low on power on this BabyMac and there is no power or free WiFi here so may have to quit soon.
...
Power almost gone - Love you, hope M'ie will show it to you!
Later -- got home at 9:30 (I independently discovered the back "Fairfax Parkway" route home to I-95). Girls did homework, I helped and made lunches, I'm doing mail, and now off to bed.
Love,
---Cris
I got up Wed. AM to 38*, overcast, with a strong W. wind. So went down immediately to build a fire in the furnace for my guest from DC, & used to 90* weather. She was already up making her breakfast when I got home from Mass. I expected her to sleep in longer, after being up 22 hrs. on Tues. She had her run & shower, & we looked at her old picture books & visited. We shortened our walk because of the strong wind & drizzle. And she had an evening with Nyla, Debbie, Dorothy, & Billie. They all enjoyed her old picture books & laughed & laughed.
I had the best time with Annie. We had a 2 hour walk and Gar made us some magnificent salmon and talked to us despite the headache. Both Mom and Annie were wonderful about getting me enough veggies. They are both excited for Matt's wedding so I'm so glad about that. Annie got a Mother's Day card from Matt and Wendy and I think that really pleased her. We also enjoyed our singing around the piano although I owe Annie a couple of songs that we didn't get to.
Thurs. Marilyn was up & at 'em before I went to Mass, & the wind had subsided, & we even got some sun breaks. She again had her run & shower, & went to get Dave as Julie was having some work done on her car, & needed his. We didn't know where the afternoon went, as it was soon time for Marilyn to meet Annie for their hike on the dike. And Gar barbecued salmon for them, despite another migraine. Dave took the red Ford pick-up home, in the hopes they would have Mary's front porch banisters ready for him to pick up on Fri, but now they say maybe next Thurs.. And I found my first strawberries.
I had a lovely time at Annie's. ... Gar made us a gorgeous barb-qued salmon and then we had more fresh asparagus and a really good salad with browned fresh garlic in it. We talked on the levee for nearly 2 hours and then I took the tour of Annie's lovely yard (wish I could do that for Dad) and saw the new camper and the scrapbook of DC. WOW! the whole book is wildly impressive but some of the pages should be entered in a contest --they are works of art! Very fun evening!
Fri. Marilyn was again up before I left for Mass. Cris sent her a list of all the performances they have attended back there to share with Forrest Sears at lunch at the Best Western. Susan & Jeff Billin also joined them & Marilyn insisted I go along, & we all had a grand time. She again got in her run. And that evening her class reunion met at Ray & Cathy Morscheck's for a barbecue & to decorate their float. Dean Kinzer & his wife live in Pullman, & she raises draft horses, & they had purchased & refurbished a carriage. They all had matching blue & gold T-shirts, so caught the eye of all at the parade on Sat., including the Trib. reporter.
Hi:
I think Mie wrote an excellent Mom letter. I'll just add that 2 different sessions Mie told me stories about her life while I recorded them on my I-Pod. She was not in the least scared or shy so I think it will be an excellent CD. She thought we might like to get all of the sibs around some afternoon and do the same thing. Could be fun.
Also, great to see Dave. We did one of those sit around the table for 2 1/2 hours for lunch so got a lot of conversation in. Their siding is fabulous on the house. [The picture above right is a good image of The Farm behind Lucy.]
Rhonda's quilts were amazing! Joni had a lot of hers hung too. Also Nancy and Emma Lou so it was many generations of Rhonda's families artistic work. There was a darling one for Sarah with pictures of her all over the quilt. I really enjoyed hearing Rhonda teaching a small class --she was definitely in her element. Jim had a table top that was all inlaid wood in a quilt pattern. It was just beautiful. I had wanted to have family get-togethers that were not quite so huge so it was delightful to have part ofJim's family gather for dinner and a visit. They thought Aaron and Meredith would really enjoy it if we look them up and take them out to dinner over Xmas when we are there, so we are planning to do that.
It was great to see all my old classmates. Lots of bad divorces and sadness but also lots of children and grandchildren bringing joy. I feel very blessed with the life I am living. We stayed up until 2 am on Friday night or Saturday morning and I was really dragging on Saturday. They kept offering to get me a beer on Saturday and I firmly remained with my water. At 50, I am up for one night but not two.
It was a perfect day: light overcast, so not too hot, & didn't start to drizzle till evening. There were LOTs of class reunions from 10 to 60! And Annie felt bad Gar missed the old time classic cars & trucks & tractors. We enjoyed the quilt show with Rhonda the featured quilter. Annie brought me home for soup, & got in her swim suit, but when she got in knee deep, decided maybe she would wait till it warmed up a bit more. And Marilyn came & had her soup, & we gathered around the piano, & had a great sing-along. Jon & Jerry & Joni & Sarah, & Melody helped Jim & Rhonda take down the quilt show, & came out to have supper with us. We had a grand visit. Marilyn's classmates had mostly drifted away, so Nyla invited us to join her on her deck for the fireworks. Marilyn had time to pack, & Dave picked us up, & they were spectacular! We were really impressed with the whole day. Little Genesee did themselves proud.
So this AM we had 1/2" in the gage, & went to Mass, & took Harold Communion & his paper, & went home to get Marilyn's luggage, & headed for the airport. We visited as long as they would let us, & I watched her board & take off. I visited Madelyn, & then Annie & I had our parsnips & more of Gar's barbecued salmon. It was showery so we didn't get out to trim shrubbery, So she did laundry & got the recycling ready till time to go to Wendy's shower. It was very nice, but home feels really good, & I am already in my nightie.
So everyone, have a grand week, God Bless & heaps of love, "M"
Love, Mar
Diane and Megan Barnes on the John's Hopkins campus at the Grand Ceremony for the "Center for Talented Youth", which identifies the 1 in 10,000 kids who in middle school can score essentially over 700 on the verbal or math SATs, or both. Congratulations, Megan!
My family did very well without me but we are all happy to be back together. They got the house cleaned up for Rich, Diana and Megan and had a fun time at the Aquarium in Baltimore. Megan's honor was because she had scored an incredible number on her verbal on the SAT's so she is another smart little Barnes! Julie, Lisa's daughter just graduated from U of OR. After a roast beef dinner in the crock pot (courtesy of Mie and Dave bringing it on the plane), Cris took them down to Franklin D Roosevelt and they made the big tour of the monuments. Then they picked me up. We tried to get to bed but it was only 8:30 for us Westerners.
Monday, Cris roared down once again and got tickets for the WA monument at 7 in the morning. I got the girls to school and then we headed down to the White House and the exhibit, walked over to Cris' and got the tickets and popped into the Freer Gallery to see the Peacock room. Also saw many other Whistler's. Megan didn't know anything about him, they only study European artists in middle school art. Did the WA monument -- ate our lunch while waiting for our turn to go up. Then I hurled them into a taxi -- it came so quick -- and they were off to their senator to see the Capitol. Also, they got to Air and Space but alas no gelato. [Cris did get them to Dairy Godmother the night before as they waited to pick me up at the airport.] Since Mary's trip, we have added that to our list of must dos.
Elizebeth's friends want to sing a song at graduation. They were all here practicing when I got home with Susie. They had no music and they haven't sung it yet with Anna, the guitarist. Elizebeth wanted notes so I was transcribing for the next hour and trying to help the 2 other singers. They can't sing it an octave low and they can't sing it where Elizebeth is. It needs work but I think we made a dent on the problem.
I decided against scollops from AsiaNora and went with so simple salmon. the dinner was simple but yummy. Then Diana, Megan and I ran over to Trader Joe's and then to Whole Foods (oops, Diana really liked Whole Foods or Whole Paycheck as some of our friends call it). Cris then had all of the pictures fixed for a slide show so we ended up with all the pics of the weekend. Rich and Diana will laugh when they play that CD and there are all of Mar's 35th reunion pictures on it. They got up at 3:30 am and we saw them off and went right back to sleep.
Today I am cleaning and doing e-mail etc. We plan to meet Paul Weber for dinner tonight after Susie's flute lesson so that should be fun.
Love Marilyn