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a lot going on with the travel to the Midwest

ImageWhew! Sorry about the blog break –  dievca needed three teeth repaired, saw two sets of Family, drove 12+ hours  throughout the weekend, played with kids and a puppy and worked virtually.  Jam packed doesn’t work with blogging unless you plan ahead.

Which dievca didn’t do~

So, dievca finally has a moment in a hotel lobby, killing time before her flight. (All caused by Family who had to meet a certain day and time – but that’s ok because it was a lot of fun! Plus the Fish Fry after the activities was excellent.)

BTW- a funny. After the dental work. dievca stopped for a Malt at a local custard shop.  she couldn’t create suction with the straw unless she pinched her lips together to create a seal.  The Dentist said it would take about an hour for the numbing to wear off – umm, more like 4 hours.

BTW- a 2nd funny.  dievca hasn’t driven a car in awhile.  she was a bit of a loose cannon, add that the roads have been upgraded and changed signage, she was a wild wahoo…  And, if you are driving in Wisconsin with a rental car holding Illinois plates – all bets are off.  You will get cut-off, honked at, sworn at, not allowed to merge, etc.  Let’s say dievca got aggressive fast. (FIB = F*cking Illinois Bastard)


Humored!

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Master will be visiting LegoLand with young family this year.  dievca is completely humored by this development.  It tickles her funny bone.  Maybe she can talk her Master into a bit of Pirate Play when he comes back.

Arghhhh!


How ya feeling, right about now?

Imagedievca runs apolitical. 

Yet, her head is spinning.

What is the tipping point after 100 days?

Coming from a family of immigrants who’s multiple members served in a number of service branches, through various wars/actions, awarded purple hearts, know that dievca is a former military spouse…

When’s Veteran’s Day?

Not really proud to be an American at the moment.


family communication – a learning experience

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dievca’s oldest cousin passed (mid-80’s).  Their partner (late 60’s) sent a text to dievca to let her know and asked if she could let the cousins know.  Why dievca?  she’s the youngest by a number of years (10+), she’s the last cousin to call the oldest cousin and chat (non-traditional spouses). As the baby, she is Switzerland – too young to be involved in any of the normal family spats.

dievca’s list was about 10 cousin’s long (dievca is missing 5 other cousins phone numbers), plus the last standing Uncle.

dievca texted.

It was an eye opening experience.  dievca thought she was bad at texting – yeah, no. Her cousins are much worse.

Actually, the ones in their 60’s were ok.  It was the ones in their 70’s.

Let’s just say communication became hilarious. dievca broke down and called the older cousins who needed it.   she helped them text the partner of the cousin who passed. she asked the sisters to connect with their brothers and the other female cousins she missed. she learned who uses Facebook the most.

She also realized that she is the only GenX cousin in the Family.

As for her Uncle? He was lost on the telephone with dievca – dievca speaks too quickly and has experienced a Life her Uncle can’t envision.  she kept it simple with an “I love you and I am thinking of you” at the end of the conversation.

What has dievca learned through this experience?

Try to stay on top of technology until you die.


Breaklight – Lucille Clifton

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dievca and the kids played with this Kugel Fountain at the Milwaukee Zoo – a piece of poetry from Lucille Clifton was attached to the bottom:

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dievca was hearing the sounds of Milwaukee, she’d like to share some pieces before she moves on:


Wiped out for a good reason~

Afterparty

  • Six kids (4-14)
  • 6 adults
  • torrential rain
  • a good Zoo to wander (Milwaukee Zoo)
  • Irish Pub Food (closest and everyone was up for something warm)
  • a Birthday celebration with hot cookies and ice cream (dievca’s birthday)
  • Swimming at dievca’s hotel (always makes kids happy)

Yesterday was an amazing day and wiped dievca out completely. Lots of good energy!

she has a really great family.


Master comes home, dievca flies away

dievca is heading to family for about 5 days.  Master got home two weeks late due to work issues.  Yesterday, they caught up quickly for conversation, lunch and a bit of play. 

dievca leaves this morning from LaGuardia Airport, early…

She’ll get back to you with photos from the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball game tonight. They are not her team, but its always nice to catch a baseball game. Plus, they have the sausage mascots that run the bases! Here’s an example of the stupidity:


You get what you pay for~ Nails

dievca tried a new “spa” salon in Hudson Yards (Plaza M Spa). There are locations in DUMBO, Tribeca, and Brookfield Mall. The mani/pedi cost+tip ($100) was twice the cost of her normal experience. But the experience was twice as nice!

Why? The selection of colors and types of nail colors was numerous and higher quality (Chanel, Nailberry, etc.), the chair was very comfortable, the surroundings were clean and spacious, the nail tech spoke English and she took her time on problem areas. dievca was just planning on a pedicure (cost-wise) then opted to add a manicure because of the professionalism.

One sweet item was the owner of the spa (Female, Millennial, Korean) had her family visiting from Korea. Her daughter (6) and one halmoni (할머니) shared a pedicure together. The two hal-abeoji (할아버지) got massages and checked on her son (4), the other halmoni helped with the backend stuff. The Mother seemed proud to share her new Spa space with her family.

20240824_120106Nail polish should be disposed as hazardous waste (paint), so it is suggested that one uses as much as possible before throwing away the bottle. Though the salon offered amazing high-end colors, dievca brought her own polish because she is trying to be responsible. Maybe she’ll be irresponsible on her Birthday.

dievca choose the OPI “Here Today…Aragon Tomorrow” for her toes and nothing on her fingernails. she wanted two coats for the green to be lighter – but the polish was streaky, so it took three coats to cover.  The polish looks almost black unless its in the sun.  Ah, well – Goth is always “in”. she’ll do Creative Nail Design “Cuppa Joe” another time.

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Photos: Top Five photos – Nails Colors 2024 Autumn/Winter, Bottom Two photos – dievca’s nail polishes and her toes 08/2024

 


With Sadness

“The only way to survive is to have a sense of humor.”

Bob Newhart

As a kid, dievca was allowed to watch television on Saturdays.  she watched her cartoons in the morning, went outside to play and made it back around 4 pm for the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the Muppet Show, the News, and the Bob Newhart Show. Hopefully, dievca is remembering the CBS line-up correctly.

  • Mary Tyler Moore was for dievca’s Mother – the fashion!
  • The Muppet Show was for dievca – Hello, Gonzo and Animal!
  • The News meant it was time to eat dinner
  • The Bob Newhart show was for dievca’s Dad Gentle Everyman Dry Humor

Bob Newhart passed away, yesterday.

“I think that what comes through in Chicago humor is the affection. Even though you’re poking fun at someone or something, there’s still an affection for it.”

Bob Newhart


Makin’ Pennies

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dievca’s Aunt (and Godmother) worked at PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) in the 1960’s-1980’s.  She would bring “key cards” home for dievca to play with when she visited.  dievca’s Aunt called her work “makin’ pennies”.

computer tape

dievca reset the computer she bought without the touchscreen (it took awhile), returned it and bought the touchscreen version.  It’s charged and she need to set it up plus transfer her data.  No key cards or computer tapes involved, but still a bit of a “pain-in-the-neck.” 

What an exciting thing to do on a weekend! Yippie!

May your weekend be more exciting – XO


“You Are My Sunshine” (Zoe Lev Jewelry) ~Sadness within the Joy~

[Verse 1]
The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
And I hung my head and cried

[Chorus]
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away

[Verse 2]
I’ll always love you and make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me to love another
You’ll regret it all some day

[Chorus]
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away

[Verse 3]
You told me once, dear, you really loved me
And no one else could come between
But now you’ve left me and love another
You have shattered all my dreams

The song “You are My Sunshine” has no clear cut ownership, nor date that it was written. Jimmie Davis recorded it in 1939. It became the State Song of Louisiana and in 1944 Jimmie Davis became the Governor of Louisiana.

The Chorus is lovely and kind, but all of the Verses are dark – look closely: “shattered dreams”, “you’ll regret it if you leave me”, “I hung my head and cried” — Ouch!

dievca’s Aunt who passed from breast cancer at 55 years old, used to sing this song to dievca.  Then dievca’s Aunt who was her God Mother would sing the song to dievca. She passed from endometrial cancer.  Finally, dievca’s mother would sing “You are My Sunshine” to dievca. Mom died of age.

dievca hopes that they were leaning toward the Chorus in their singing….

Why is this song on dievca’s mind?

she ran into this Zoe Lev Jewelry “You Are My Sunshine” 14K gold + 2 diamond chips necklace and dievca was able to buy the $810 necklace for $305 on auction. The necklace reminds dievca of her Mom and two Aunts which has brought her Joy with a hint of sadness.

dievca really misses the three sisters.

(Mom’s statement of “It’s hell to get old.” comes to mind. XO)


Distraction

dis·trac·tion
/dəˈstrakSH(ə)n/
noun
  1. 1.
    a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.
    “the company found passenger travel a distraction from the main business of moving freight”
     
     
     
     
  2. 2.
    extreme agitation of the mind or emotions.
    “he knew she was nervous by her uncharacteristic air of distraction”
     

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dievca has a family member who had a health scare.  All has ended up well, but she needed to disappear from the blog to focus.  Master’s dievca will be glad for His return this weekend so she can talk it through. Should help eliminate the emotion agitation~ 


Master and dievca had a discussion

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Years ago, Master and dievca had a discussion because dievca would ask Master to text her when He arrived home.  He was generous enough to do it, yet, He would tease dievca about it. “I don’t even ask my kids to let me know they got home ok.”  dievca stated that was sad because her Parents asked her to call every single time and her oldest brother does it to her, too.

dievca has noticed that Master is now asking his kids to let him know when they are done with a flight or when they get home.

It makes her heart happy.

A simple show of love~


Lighten up, Francis~

Greeting Card

dievca is running into a conundrum…she grew up as a Generation X baby with two significantly older brothers, had mostly guy friends or girl friends who had brothers.  The “love language” she heard/dealt with was one of teasing and “getting hell”.  If there weren’t loud voices in the household or the teasing stopped – then dievca would worry.  she always felt loved and was able to give as good as she got.

So when people are talking about the Greeting Card industry being too “mean” to people who are aging (birthday card ageism – Boston Globe) she wants to have sympathy, but she doesn’t really understand the issue.  Someone sends you a birthday card, ok maybe its poking at you – but they care enough to think of you.  

(And this is inappropriate – but funny…)

dievca considers ageism being “ignored” or “not seen” because of her age, rather than being twitted about it.

If you cannot laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?


Views of Midwestern-ness: the rest of the Trip

Odds and Ends:

  • Quote on the sidewalk in Green Bay, WI
  • View from dinner at a supper club with Family
  • Christmas shopping starting early at a Wal-Mart (Hello! its only September – we haven’t hit Halloween!?!?!?)

dievca brought back baking pumpkins for decoration and will attempt a pumpkin pie.  Apples from the yard, caramel apples, small decorative squash from her Sister-in-Law’s garden, bratwurst, cheese, etc.

The weather has been amazing, they told dievca it has been raining in NYC the past 3 days.


Milwaukee in the Fog

Milwaukee Fog

dievca’s flight left LGA late, which made the drive through Milwaukee easier.  The fog gave a “hushed” and surreal feeling to the ride North.  she’s visiting friends and checking on her parents. Mom and Dad’s ashes are in a storage unit – ask dievca about how she lost her Father’s ashes for awhile and, yes, dievca’s brothers were wondering what she decided to do with their ashes….Look, she needs to take her parents to Mass, 1st. Mom and Dad aren’t going anywhere~

The weather is going to be gorgeous (partly sunny and 72F (22 C)) plus having the freedom of driving a car is a treat. Road Trip! This is one of the first trips to the Midwest in years where dievca is not stressed nor in a hurry.

dievca will make her way back down Lake Michigan to spend time with her oldest brother and a nephew/niece-in-law + their kidlets before flying out. Yes, she brought the 12 pairs of shoes…


From the shore to a shower~

A packable outfit which doesn’t take too much room in an overnight bag:

Silk Dress, Sandals and Underwear – Done!


Lucky – Tony Hoagland

ButterPecanIceCreamIf you are lucky in this life,
you will get to help your enemy
the way I got to help my mother
when she was weakened past the point of saying no.

Into the big enamel tub
half-filled with water
which I had made just right,
I lowered the childish skeleton
she had become.

Her eyelids fluttered as I soaped and rinsed
her belly and her chest,
the sorry ruin of her flanks
and the frayed gray cloud
between her legs.

Some nights, sitting by her bed
book open in my lap
while I listened to the air
move thickly in and out of her dark lungs,
my mind filled up with praise
as lush as music,

amazed at the symmetry and luck
that would offer me the chance to pay
my heavy debt of punishment and love
with love and punishment.

And once I held her dripping wet
in the uncomfortable air
between the wheelchair and the tub,
until she begged me like a child

to stop,
an act of cruelty which we both understood
was the ancient irresistible rejoicing
of power over weakness.

If you are lucky in this life,
you will get to raise the spoon
of pristine, frosty ice cream
to the trusting creature mouth
of your old enemy

because the tastebuds at least are not broken
because there is a bond between you
and sweet is sweet in any language.

This was dievca’s Mother at the end. she was always happy for a bath, lotion and a treat to share. dievca ran into this poem and started to cry.

The post caused dievca to find this: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-45416401

What would you like your last moment to be?


Happy Father’s Day!

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Know that you are loved!

Last year, dievca was still in a bubble and trying to function during Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. This year she has been hyperaware that her Dad is gone and her Mom has died. They had pretty good lives and dievca/her oldest brother did their best at the end. So, no shame or guilt. This year she is more aware of her surroundings and missing them a bit.

So, dievca is going to think of one good memory about her Father this Father’s Day:

dievca’s Mom had dievca paint a billboard size sign and put it up in the front yard to say, “Nifty, Nifty, (Dad’s Name) is Fifty”. Dad was not thrilled when he arrived home from a long business trip, then he got over himself and started laughing.

What is your good memory about your Father?


Master caught dievca muttering to herself~

talk to myself coffee cup

It’s a learned behavior, dievca’s Dad would talk to himself, too.
The good news is dievca is willing to look at both sides of the story and she always wins the argument.
Do you talk to yourself?
Have a good week!


Coffee at the Airport

cofffee airport

It was a “pound it out” type of weekend. dievca is shipping a box of photos back to NYC for sorting.  The three Aunt’s photos her parents never went through and her Parent’s photos/slides make for a nice pile.  dievca projects it will take 5 weekends to complete – so a 5 year project.  At least there is storage for the leftovers and a number of boxes were consolidated. 

Why is dievca doing this? Her middle brother had a fire or flood or something that destroyed their family photos.  The extras will go to their local portion of that family and be distributed to siblings. Yes, that brother did nothing for Mom/Dad and dievca’s sister-in-law is a “challenge” – but going through this stuff with this portion of the family is ALWAYS a treat! And one feels good after hanging out with kids and doing a good deed.

PS. Her oldest brother looks great after Stage 2 cancer – PET scan is clear.


It’s gone now~

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But it made for a GREAT snowball fight when needed.

Photo: dievca, Midwest Snow 03/2023


Heading back to Wet Snow

Wet snow

dievca’s flying back Midwest to watch and sort “slides!’ from her Parents.  Should be an interesting time as the slides are from before she was born.  Her oldest brother will be helping and she asked some cousins to be “on call” for identification help.  Doesn’t matter – there will be 6 “rugrats” running around and that, plus wet snow, will make for a good time.  dievca’s got her snow boots and snow pants at the ready.  Have a good weekend!


Back to the OG!

dievca had a large project to complete by 11:59 PST – she made it and slept in to 6:30 am this morning.  Watching the dawn break across the city is a cozy experience.  she’s wearing the fourth rendition of inexpensive Afghan Slipper Socks and thinking of her family.  

dievca bought three pairs from Pier One in college as gifts for her Mom, her Aunt and herself.  She wore out her pair, wore out her Aunt’s pair (taken when her Aunt died from Cancer) and wore out her Mom’s when Mom could no longer wear them because of slipping. 

A 30 year process.

Pier One stores have closed and the J. Crew rendition ripped in the heel after 3 years.  dievca didn’t know where to get her next pair of slippers…until she looked on Etsy!

Back to the OG!

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All Saints, All Souls

Communion_of_saints_baptistry_padua_2016-2The All Saints’ Day (November 1st) celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

It is celebrated on the first Sunday of the Pentecost by Eastern Orthodox Churches. It is an official public holiday in Catholic countries. It is not an official public holiday in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia. Other names for it are All Hallows’ Day, Feast of All Saints, Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas.

All Souls’ Day (Novermber 2nd) is a Catholic day of remembrance dedicated to those who have recently died.

dievca is not going to make it to Texas for coffee on her friend’s grave.

All Saints’ is a reach for dievca, but she has a list for All Souls’ Day – her parents, college roommate, college good friend, workmates, family members, etc. Maybe dievca will head up to Saint John’s the Divine in Manhattan Valley (112th and Amsterdam) to visit a lovely lady interred there and stay a moment for others.  Might be a good place to reflect on Life.

dievca is sending love and prayers for your Souls, too. 


Lindy Hop Dancer

So, during COVID dievca got sucked down the YouTube Rabbit Hole watching Phil Wright Choreography videos of families performing after learning a dance piece together.  The first video she saw was this and she absolutely loved the first group of a Mom and two daughters.

The beginning of another video has this Mother/Son duo and dievca thought the Mom was an amazing dancer – perhaps she was a professional Lindy Hop dancer:

Comparing the Jon Batiste Video (above) and the Rockin’ Robin – they are not the same dancer.
But, watching these videos, again, made dievca smile because she shared them with her Mom before she passed and they had a good time watching together. Mom keep saying she would have loved to get the lessons for the Great Grandkids and their Parents, but the Midwest is an awfully long way from Los Angeles…

Anyways, dievca’s Mom and Dad met at a Dance Hall – they were an amazing Jitterbug couple.

Here’s the Jitterbug:

Is jitterbug the same as Lindy Hop?
Lindy Hop, also known as the jitterbug, was developed in the 1920’s and is said to be the original form of swing dance. The term ‘jitterbug’ is however commonly used to describe any swing dancer and is derived from the visual display of the dancers on the floor who look like jitterbugs with the fast, bouncy movements.

Can you tell that dievca is getting desperate to dance again?


Need a Moment, Wednesday

Today wasn’t planned this way – but this is what/when you:

Need a Moment
Close Friend’s 20-Something has cancer and surgery within 24 hours.

When it’s your older brother who smoked cigars and Stage 2 – expected.
Young Adult, not expected.
Need a minute.


Still chewing on it~

dievca is pondering her Life:

“This Ponderous, Man. really Ponderous”

Seven and a half years later and she is still pondering her Life:

  • Does she look for a new job?
  • Does she get a 3rd graduate degree and change careers?
  • Does she write a Children’s Book? (an inside joke on dievca)
  • Does she move from NYC?
  • Does she stay put?
  • Will she get cancer? (Her brother is going through Chemo for a stage 2 form)
  • Shouldn’t she be connecting with her cousins more?

Master stated that when you lose both of your Parents, you lose an anchor to your family – you are now “truly” an adult. dievca sees it as the two people who loved her just because she existed and were behind her in any situation good or bad are gone. The guaranteed love safety net is gone.  

It’s taken 6 months for that to hit home….

Time to buy a new pair of shoes (note the survivalist theme and Midwestern moment):

ACNE Studios green-desert-boot-high-sneakers

ACNE Studios green desert boot high sneakers

Then dievca will sing this song:


whoa

Travel burnout

dievca doesn’t know if it was the international travel, the surgery or this second round of travel.
she hit a wall.
The good news is that there is no pressing schedule and there is enough time to get things done with healing.
Taking it slow this morning.
BTW: The great grand RugRats loved the NYC bagels their Grand Aunt brought


Traveling, again.

Yep, with the knee still wrapped, dievca is heading west to what Master calls “Flyover Country”.  she will be consolidating storage units (with good help), seeing family and friends, taking Mom and Dad’s ashes to Mass, etc.

The corn should be knee high by the 4th of July!

dievca might even get a chance to attend a Midwestern small town 4th of July Parade.

What are you up to for Independence Day? (USA located viewers 😘)

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