Welcome!

Our tax preparer lives in San Francisco, on a hill in Bernal Heights. I have known Gretchen for about 18 years. We met, online, back in the day of Compuserve Forums. When my tax man of over 30 years was hauled off to prison for fraud, I was at a loss as to what to do about my taxes. Gretchen said, “send them me,” and for years that’s what I did. Then we went to live in San Francisco and I took her the papers, to her third floor walkup in Bernal Heights. She gives fair warning. If you cannot walk three flights of stairs, and if you are allergic to cat hair, then she will meet you elsewhere. I can and I’m not, so I go to her apartment.

She tells me she has not been to India, a favorite place, for awhile because she cannot find a housesitter. She goes for months at a time and needs someone to live with her cats while she’s away. It occurs to me, I could do this. Our kitties have all passed on. There is nothing keeping me in Fresno. And I love San Francisco. A three month stint as a housesitter would be a great way to get back to San Francisco. Gretchen’s apartment sits beside a main thoroughfare so I could sit by the window and watch the world go by. Or walk across the street and catch Muni and go anywhere in the city. I think it would be grand. We’ll see if she decides to make the trip. I’m hoping she does and that she takes me up on my offer to housesit.

My husband likes this brand of ice cream:

I usually buy the ice cream at a local grocer, but the last two cartons have been so bad, I am not buying this, or any other frozen food, from this store, again.

I don’t know if their freezer is bad, or if they leave the food sitting out too long before getting it in the freezer. So, the ice cream thawed, refroze, thawed, refroze. Blah. When I brought it up with the grocer this morning, he blamed the particular brand as it has no preservatives in it. That’s one of the reasons I buy it. In other words, it doesn’t hold up well when poorly handled.

Terry and I were by ourselves the other evening, after being with our granddaughter for four days. Four days of being responsible for this small, active life. We had kept a schedule of meals, baths, naps, bedtimes, and fun for four intense days, and we were tired. Then, I read a quote: “At age 50, everyone has the face he deserves.” George Orwell

We are both way past 50, but I had to wonder, did our faces reflect the life we have lived? Sitting there, in the hotel room, I opened up my computer, clicked on PhotoBooth, and took this picture:

I posted it to Facebook, along with the quote, and got some nice feedback. Life has been good to us, we are richly blessed, and I would like to think that is reflected in our faces.

If you are close to 50, then I recommend you snap a picture and see what you think. Was Mr. Orwell correct?

Don’t know what happened, but for a brief period, WordPress turned off my blog saying that I had violated their terms of use. There was never any email to me explaining why they were doing this, nor have I had a response to my emails except that my blog is back. I hope you are all still here.

We are in the Bay Area, having brought our granddaughter back to her parents after a few days in Fresno with us. Today we are seeing our tax preparer in San Francisco. Tomorrow I must return to the history project or else it WILL BE history!

Today I threw away a very old pair of tennis shoes so I could buy these:

Have I mentioned that I like purple? Especially shoes? It helped that I worked at a school whose colors are purple and gold. Now, I have no excuse, except that I like purple.

Going through boxes of pictures, clippings, files, and all sorts of historical pieces for the church history project, I have found a photo of one of my Sunday School classes from years ago. For almost 20 years, I taught second, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade Sunday School classes. Not all at the same time, but different ages, scattered over the years.

One time I quit teaching second grade because two little boys, who were too energetic for my style, were going to be in the class. I could have handled one but not two. I was very young at that time, and now with years of teaching experience, I could easily handle them, but back then they terrified me.

A few years passed and I was asked to take on fourth grade. We had lots of fun putting on plays of Bible stories and doing the big project of the year–building Jerusalem. I would take the kids to the church library to look at books with pictures and maps of Jerusalem during Bible times. We talked about all the things that went into a city–the buildings, the people, the animals, the temple, and the wall. Different students were interested in different things, some wanting to make the people, others wanting to build houses. We would collect cardboard boxes, paper tubes, popsicle sticks, and plastic plants and animals. For a few weeks, each Sunday, the class would work on the various parts of Jerusalem until we thought it was good enough. Then we would invite parents in to see the finished product. Here is one class’s interpretation:

I think I did this for four years. My friends could probably tell me for sure because I always bugged them for boxes and other such supplies. Then I went on to teach fifth and sixth grade, and many of those students had already done the Jerusalem project so I let it lapse. No one else picked up the idea. It was just easier to do the lesson in the book.

Almost five months ago, way back in September, I wrote about a project Terry & I  were working on for our church’s 130 year anniversary. We’ve been very busy with this during the past few months, and we are almost finished. Well, we have to be because the church’s anniversary is March 18! I am still scanning photos and placing copy in the final format, and have many more pages to do. We are starting, though, to talk of a cut-off date for articles and photos to be submitted to me. I cannot work right up to the day of the party!

Today, the committee met in the library, after church, for a group photo. I wanted to share it with you, dear Readers, as you are so good to stick with me through these times, and I thought you might like to see the people with whom I work.

Third in a series

Place a fraud alert on your credit reports, and review the reports carefully. The alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures before they open new accounts in your name or make changes to your existing accounts. In placing an initial 90-day fraud alert, a call to one company is sufficient:

• Equifax 800 525 6285
• Experian 888 397 3742
• TransUnion 800 680 7289

Look for enquiries from companies you haven’t contacted, accounts you didn’t open, and debts on your accounts that you can’t explain.

Close any account that has been tampered with or established fraudulently.  Call the security or fraud division of each company where an account was opened or changed. Use the ID Theft Affidavit at ftc.gov/idtheft to support your statement. Ask for verification that the disputed account has been closed and fraudulent debts removed. Keep all copies and document all phone conversations.

If you know who opened the fraudulent account, file a police report.

In the last two days I have had three people tell me that they see me as this  woman with a busy agenda. Really? For those of you who have been with me since my teaching days, you know what busy looked like. Those days were insanely busy, with n’er a moment to breath. That was one reason I knew I had to get out of education, I couldn’t keep living like that, and keep living.

I was like a cartoon character who just kept going and going. Now, I have time to do things, like relax.

I can choose my tasks, like the history project for our church. I can take off, at a moment’s notice, and take care of my grandchildren. I have lunch with my girlfriends. Terry and I can get away for our anniversary. Yesterday I spent three hours on the phone with my sister. Wore out three phones! Life is just not so zany, to me, anyway. Maybe others see me still busy. And, perhaps still zany.