lifelong knitter

My City by the BAY

Just a quick post to send you to Rachael's house...if you want to see pictures...cruise on over there! I haven't a reliable internet connection so no email checking, if you've sent me something, don't panic. Today I took daughter bird to see my old High School and visit my Dad and see the house where I grew up. We were the only family ever to live there and after my Dad passed the property was sold and our house bulldozed. I was so afraid there would be a tacky minimacmansion, but I LOVE what the new owners are building. It was a lovely feeling to tell my daughter "There it is, my old bedroom, but someone else lives there now."
CLOSURE. Sweet relief. The Memorial park where my Dad (and his mother) live now is SO beautiful...a real paradise. I'm oh so glad I've made this trip.
NAMASTE.

I'll Be There...

So, when it became apparent that Amtrak train 14 was gona be WAAAAY late getting into Oakland..I formulated a plan B. Perhaps instead of imposing on Rachael in the middle of the night I should get off a stop earlier in San Jose and get a room and see her bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning...then I checked my cell phone messages. I'll be there, she said, I've checked with Amtrak and I know you are going to be late....so I called her and the most amazing thing, the perfect thing to say really, came floating through the cell phone connection..."I'll BE There" she repeated, "No matter what time you get in, Ill be there on the platform waiting for you!"
Under a lamplight, wearing the Orange alert sweater, looking expectantly up and down the platform, this moment was a painting waiting to happen. We dropped our stuff and ran to hug. Daughter proclaimed "RACHAEL, you are a Life Saver!" Yes, indeedy.
After doing the Chinese fire drill version(oh for a camera at that moment!) of trying to get too much luggage into a too small trunk, we finally gave up and at 2AM we drove top down with the luggage piled up on top of us inside the car...giggling all the way to Rachael's fabulous neighborhood.
Her house is so RACHAEL, so perfect, that it was like stepping onto Prince Edward Island and seeing Anne emerge from a hedgerow, puffed sleeves and all.
Rachael is, I am happy to declare, much more beautiful in person. Not because the pictures on the blogs don't do her justice, but because she absolutely radiates Rachaelness. Okay, whatever. She is gorgeous and smart and the cats are just who I expected but really what makes a person truly beautiful is this:
She said she'd be there.
No matter what.
She was.

Magic Carpet Ride

We're having a marvellous time...sat in seat 111 (really!) front row center, orchestra seating for the Aladdin show...fabulous. Soaring over California is awesome, too. Mostly though, we're revisiting all the old favorites which daughter remembers from when she was FOUR. It's a small World, the teacups, and Pirates of the Carribean....sigh. She wants to live here all the time, and I can't say I blame her. Tomorrow morning bright and early we are back on the train...twelve hours of scenic CAlifornia Coast and then we'll get to meet RACHAEL....wheee! No post until we get there...I really miss reading all the blogs and once we are in the Area of Bay I know we'll have real Internet access and PEET's coffee and giggles with my sibs....can't WAIT! Been a long time gone, as they say......

Training

Travelling with Daughter has been the most amazing adventure. She is a JOY to travel with, a delightful companion! Because of her disability, we opted for sleeper travel, knowng that we could retreat to our own little cocoon if things got too anxious....what a treat! Perfect for knitting and reading and watching the scenery go by! One of the pronouncements I made at the beginning of the journey was *no timetables* on the train. We did not wear our watches, and knew that we would arrive *whenever* the train pulled into the station. Quite a difference from our usual tightly scheduled, have to be everywhere early lifestyle! WE have been relaxed and happy and enjoying each other's company, and seeing the middle of the country for the first time (from the GROUND, instead of the patchwork quilt effect you get from the plane window...) was SPECTACULAR!
We're off to the see Aladdin musical review...more updates tomorrow! Oh, and just because I cannot resist...we are wearing tee shirts and it is in the high 70's today...absolute Paradise!

Disney Girls

Here's the big secret...
The reason for the five parts ABOUT ME is that Daughter Bird and I have been travelling across the country on a train. I have to say, this is the most incredibly civilized way to travel....linen table cloths, fabulous food, totally wonderful people eating "community style" at every meal! So now we're in Disney for a week and then on to meet Rachael and spend some much delayed time with my family of origin. I prefer this to the *nuclear* family term, as it sounds less confrontational, don't you think? We had our pictures taken with Mickey Mouse last night, and I'm not sure who was more excited....gosh, I really am eleven! I can't mention what I was knitting on the train, but it is a surprize for Rachael, so perhaps you'll hear about it on her blog next week. Meantime, internet access in the world of the MOUSE is exorbitantly expensive and there's a line of people waiting...Peace out....It's a SMALL WORLD, after all...

Things About ME, part FIVE

76. The Olympics. I LOVE the OLYMPICS. I am glued to the tv, and get TONS of knitting done during the OLYMPICS. I will often be heard saying *Wow! THAT looks like FUN!*
77. I cry during the up close and personal segments. (and sometimes during the commercials)
78. Although I am obsessed with everything having to do with the Wizard of OZ, I have to leave the room when the Flying Monkeys are on. Too scary. Nightmares. NOPE.
79. I always dreamed of living on an island. I've been there, done that, TWICE. Three times may be the charm. Who knows.
80. I have often been accused of being OVERLY EMOTIONAL. I like it this way.
81. I still dress up in elaborate, hand made Halloween costumes. I think once a year is just too restrictive. Dressing up in pantyhose(shudder) and makeup is an entirely different kettle of fish.
82. When I DO dress up, most of the people I see every day do not recognize me.
83. I love to tell stories.
84. I truly have three RULES for relationships of all kinds....show up, be present, and tell the truth as you know it. We'll be just fine.
85. If four people witness an event from the same intersection at the same time and they all tell their TRUTH, you will have four very different, equally valid, stories.
86. This number makes me think of trash. Recycle, 'k?
87. I love to take notes.
88. When I send someone a present, I like to *hear* them open it over the phone.
89. If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. Sins of omission are easier to deal with. Trust me on this one.
90. I try to practice what I preach, but I'm still working on taking my own advice.
91. I am a perfectionist. I have absolutely no interest in aiming for mediocrity...I might get there and I'd be miserable knowing I booked the trip myself.
92. I have always wanted to take a trip across the country on a train.
93. Most of my lifetime friendships were formed in an instant. Like Super Glue.
94. I am convinced that there is a neon sign, visible to creatures in need that points them in my direction for my benefit.
95. I still want to be a ballerina.
96. Everybody keeps telling me to write a book. I want to. I really do.
97. NAMASTE. It literally means my soul recognizes itself in you. Greetings. Live long and prosper.
98. I am not SURE. About anything. Convince me. I love to learn new things.
99. Agent with Maxwell Smart. We have shoe phones now. How weird is that?
100. I thought I'd run out of interesting things a long time ago. What? Oh, I did? Sorry. One more thing. I am early for everything.I live in fear of being Late. Which is why I wrote these 100 things...knowing that I would be unable to post for four or five days..and not wanting to shirk my responsibilities.
Peace out, peeps.

things About ME, part FOUR

51. I like this number. For lots of reasons.
52. Sometimes a little mystery is a good thing.
53. I don't understand (and have very little tolerance for) people who only eat things they've already had before and INSIST they don't like anything else. HOW can that BE?
54. I'll try almost anything twice before adamantly insisting I don't like it.
55. I don't like to generalize.
56. I like it even less when other people generalize.
57. My birth year. Lucky number. The number of my race car. A VERY good year to be born, if do say so myself.
58. Any sentence beginning with, or containing the words...Those People...is likely to make me mad.
59. I case you missed the earlier warning, let me repeat it, you don't want to make me mad.
60. I am a pacifist. (sarcasm is a defense mechanism, not a wmd)
61. I am extremely visual. I love to take pictures, to draw pictures, to paint pictures with words. To read evocative prose....lush poetry.
62. I love the idea of *accidently* getting locked in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and having to spend the night, or a weekend.
63. Ditto the Louvre.
64. I fall in LOVE, all the time, with all kinds of things, especially ideas.
65. I love technology, get impatient with the microwave, but often write with a fountain pen and find solace in hand sewing teeny tiny stitches.
66. I do not like this number. I will even avoid it on the programmable thermostat.
67. There, that's better. I completely understand the logic of not living at a certain address because the numerical significance make you nervous.
68. Although I LOVE to drive and have been doing it most of my life...not everybody should.
69. sigh. summer of.
70. Most people think I am much younger than I really am,and truthfully, when asked, I have to count. I know what year I was born, I just don't feel any different than I was at eleven, or nineteen.
71. I like my own company. I can spend lots of time by myself and be perfectly happy and find all kinds of things to amuse myself with...but at some point I always *need* to be around people.
72. I love to figure things out, solve the puzzle, get the right answer, invent a better moustrap. First.
73. I love it when someone else has a brilliant idea that I did not have time to think of.
74. I was a cheerleader in High School. Lettered in two Varsity Sports. National Merit Scholar. I was still bored, and couldn't WAIT to get out in the world and explore.
75. The Year I GRADUATED High School.

Things About ME, part THREE

34. I KNOW things. Not if I TRY to know them necessarily, but you can ask my siblings how eerie this is and why it matters.
35. My children make me look like a rank amateur in this respect. I love it that way.
36. When I was a child I was reminded over and over that my parents had really been expecting a BOY, first. I was NOT what they expected. Boy, and howdy.
37. When my autistic daughter graduated from high school (the experts predicted she would never go to school, never have functional language, never ASK A QUESTION. O.M.G. How I would love to drop her off in that neurologist's office and say "ask away, dearest!") she stood up in front of the entire school and said simply and clearly, "I owe everything I am today to the unconditional LOVE of my Mother.( pause for dramatic effect) . oh and GOD."
The entire auditorium cried with me.
38. Do you really want to know all this stuff? Are you still reading? Alrighty then, the house I am nearly finished restoring was built in 1912. I fell in love with it without ever seeing the inside. I drew pictures of it in my journal years before I ever lived within a thousand miles of it. It reminds me vaguely of my paternal grandparent's home. It was empty for three years and overrun with weeds and operating off a single panel of 10 amp fuses when I found it.
39. Where there is currently a deck with French doors and a fish pond, there used to be cement steps and a wall. I knew those French doors belonged there from Day One. Eleven years later, I was right.
40. When I was forty I went back to school and got a degree in ART.
41. I can see the finished product, in three dimensions (sometimes 4) and in color when I *envision* an idea.
42. For most of my life I thought everybody could do this.
43. I learn things the hard way, sometimes.
44. According to my Father, I am not merely stubborn, I was *born with my mind made up*. TRUE.
45. Starting sentences with "If Train A is travelling at 45 miles an hour and Train B is....." makes me gigle uncontrollably and causes me to start writing notes on napkins with a mechanical pencil. I can't help it. It is genetic.
46. My neighbors know that the sight of ME with a reciprocating saw is cause for alarm. They will be called in to help with my latest brainstorm.
47. I can do the *curl my tongue into a cylinder* thing.
48. I can scan a piece of paper and any word misspelled stands out like a WARNING. I don't always know the right way to spell it, but I know when it is WRONG. What is that called?
49. My least favorite words are NEVER and ALWAYS. ick.
50. Halfway there....tune in tomorrow for the further adventures of
DANGER GIRL!

Things About ME, part TWO

20. My birthday is on the 20th. The number holds significance for me.
21. I'm a Leo. Yes, We want to be Queen. Thanks for asking.
22. I can do anything I set my mind to. My mind has come up with some really amazing adventures. I love a good adventure. I can be packed and ready to go in under 10 minutes.
23. My biggest fear is Being Bored.
24. I love the Ocean. The Pacific Ocean is my favorite, but pretty much any ocean makes me REALLY, REALLY HAPPY. Ditto for aquariums.
25. I once overheard my daughter tell someone (in a rather ominous stage whisper) that I have a very,VERY long fuse, but you don't want to be in the tri-state area when I get to the end of it..and you really do NOT want to be the reason for the trip. It took me a good ten minutes to recover from laughing so hard. True, but funny.
26. I can't stay mad for very long, it seems like such a waste of energy.
27. I worry. I know I shouldn't, and I counsel other people not to, but still. When was the last time you had your brakes checked?
28. I read insanely fast.
29. It's all in the details. I have to force myself to think about the big picture.
30. Once I start the list making mode I have a tendency to really overdo it.
31. CHOCOLATE. Where shall I begin? To tell the story of how great a love it's been? Oh, and by the way, I love literary and musical references....also any and all games involving words.
32. I hate to lose. I can be gracious, but I hate it.
33. A third of the way there. I love equations and numerical challenges.

Things About ME, part ONE

I realize that the *uber-bloggers* all have the 100 Things About Me links...and so, sigh, I feel compelled to follow suit. I'll split it up into smaller portions (mostly protein, for all of you on the South Beach/Atkins regime...) and try to have at least one active link to a really interesting blog in case you are nodding off.
1. I am the oldest, and the shortest, of four siblings. My parents were incredibly organized, so it goes Girl, Boy, Girl, Boy. Although it is a miracle we survived our combative, competitive childhoods, we now get along really well. I mean it when I say they'd be my really good friends even if we weren't related. My Daddy gave us each traditional Dutch names from the (Friesland) Family tree. Turns out that I was named after an acrobat in the Dutch Circus, born almost exactly 200 years before to the day of my birth. Daddy claims he just thought the name *suited* me.
2. Daddy was an Inventor,spoke seven languages fluently and Mother an English Major. They were both FABULOUS musicians who met on a blind date. The date involved a rowboat and a thunderstorm. My Mother does not swim and is terrified of water, Daddy was a sailor in the Navy. I had a Very Proper European upbringing (which I still know how to USE in the proper context) but you'd never suspect it from my adventures, or my wardrobe.
3. I love Myers-Briggs, and intelligence tests in general. ENFP, all the way, baby. Everytime.
4. I was identified as a prodigy in 2nd grade. Little did they know. Wish they'd bothered to tell ME.
5. I had fabulous Grandparents. They all had profound influences on me, each in their own way. I miss them, but feel their presence always.
6. I learned to knit the same year I learned to drive a race car, at age Four.
7. I have a photographic memory. Auditory and kinesthetic as well as visual. I have the tests to prove it. Despite this, I forget stuff. All. The .Time. Not enough bandwidth, prolly. I still however, remember most of the phone numbers I dialed in high school and who they belong to, and I am never unaware of my location in space.
8. My children are each one of the rarest types of autistic, and have the photographic memory thing, squared. My daughter knows the title, artist, production date, recording studio of nearly any song in any elevator in the world. If Name That Tune ever makes it back into syndication, we're In like Flint.
9. I live where I do now because it is the center of the Universe for autism research, and 12 years ago I moved here (3000 miles) as a single Mom without a job, a car, a place to live, nor knowing a soul. Mother was appalled. OK. She's still appalled. I knew it was the right thing to do. So I did it. As with every adventure, I wouldn't trade a moment of the experience. I have learned A LOT.
10. I believe the cure for sadness is to learn something new.
11. When in doubt, I look it up. I love research, and reading, and although my Mother made it her mantra...*Boys don't like girls who are smarter, dear....perhaps if you took your nose out of that book and put on a little makeup*.... SIGH. This is the first Christmas ever as a grownup that she hasn't sent me makeup samples.
12. I learned to rebuild an engine before I learned to cook. Watch my Mother wring her hands....oh dear, you'll never get a date. I was not allowed to have a car my freshman year of college because my Mother thought it would inhibit my ability to meet (and therefore marry) a Doctor.
13. I majored in Science. I wanted to BE a doctor, not marry one. ewwwwwwwww.
14. I write and bat and throw right handed, but I lead with the left side of my body in Dance and Gymnastics.
15. I had a Snoopy nightshirt that said "To live is to Dance, to Dance is to Live". I still think it is a pretty good motto. Why are all of my favorite sayings on pajamas for seven year olds?
16. If it is true that you are as young as you feel, I am ELEVEN.
17. I am famous for asking *really good questions*.
18. I am infamous for questioning everything. I'm curious, that's all...and I want to know WHY.
19. It drives me crazy to see the words...
TO BE CONTINUED....*hee* Now, go see MARCIA. We are probably related. Really. Just ask her.