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West Virginia
When I started my retirement travels in 2009, I wanted a way to share it with family and friends as it was happening. Hence, "My Travel Journal". However I realized I wouldn't always be on a trip and wondered what to do with the blog in between times. My daughter pointed out, wisely, that travels can also include trips to the kitchen to try a new recipe, trips to visit family, trips to my neighborhood Starbucks, or a fun day trip with a friend. You're welcome to join me on any of these journeys! I've set up individual pages for each of my major trips (see tabs above).

Also, I have an Etsy shop where my current needlework resides. The last pieces I posted here were in 2013! So if you'd like to see what I have accomplished recently, go to (and I apologize for having to copy and paste):

www.etsy.com/shop/thedollhouseneedle

I recently added an "Italian Word a Day" thingie which shows up at the bottom of every page. You see the word and can click to hear it pronounced. I've been enjoying it and I think my accent is improving as time goes by.

October 13, 2009

I've Been in Virginia One Week!!!

And I'm still waiting for my car repairs to be finished.  But, much as I wanted to get home to West Virginia the minute the plane landed (let alone waiting til after a family wedding this past Saturday which is what I had planned on), I have to say that it has been so nice to have such nice visits with my kids.  My youngest daughter, January, picked me up at the airport and it was so wonderful to see her standing in the waiting area after I got through customs.  It was probably going on 8:00 p.m. by the time we left the airport and we stopped for a hot dog on the way to her apartment.  Not as good as Hillbilly Hotdogs you understand, but a hot dog nevertheless.  Wednesday, she had to teach her two classes in the morning and got home around 1:30 and we tootled around here and there and talked and talked.  I'm sure she got a little tired of every one of my sentences starting with "In Florence...." but I was still so filled up with the whole experience.  Then that evening she and her partner and I went out to dinner at the Hard Times cafe, one of the places they love and I do too - they serve a mean Cincinnati chili!  Thursday, we called the car guy and found out that my car wasn't going to be done any time soon so then I called the insurance lady to say "gee!" and she got me a rental car so we went and picked that up and I made my way over to my son's apartment.

Chris got home Thursday evening from NYC and we had such a nice (at least for me) visit.  Saturday, of course, January and I went to the wedding and that took most of the day and all evening, but the rest of the time, Chris and I just sort of bummed around.  Oh, and Friday evening, January came over and Chris, she and I had our little Italian treats event with the bread, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and the parmesan.  I bought three different kinds of Italian cold cuts and some strawberries so we could try balsamic on them and it was all very, very tasty.  The strawberries with balsamic was my favorite.

So, Sunday afternoon, Chris went back to NYC and I sat here wishing I was in Huntington.  But then Monday, Heather - my older daughter, came down in the early evening, took me out for a wonderful dinner at a kind of upscale, gourmet-ish restaurant and then she spent the night here!  She had a meeting this morning (Tuesday)with a client who is just down the road a little from here and so staying here was really an advantage for her as far as early morning rush-hour traffic is concerned.  Before she got here Monday, I called the car repair guy to see if he was going to say "sure - come in tomorrow and get your car" but he didn't say that.  He said "well, hopefully Thursday" which somehow didn't fill me with a whole lot of hope, but we shall see.

Other than that, I've been watching way too much TV, taking a nice long walk up to the local strip mall for lunch each day and just waiting...And, actually, that's why I decided to post today - I got tickled because today I went to a bagel place for lunch and there was another "older" lady in line getting her lunch and we gave each other a friendly smile.  I went and sat down with mine and she came and sat at the table next to me and saw me mopping the grease off my bagel pizza and said something about that.  Then she searched and searched and searched through her handbag and I finally asked her if she was missing something and she said she always keeps tea bags in her purse and couldn't find one.  But she finally did and I retired to my book.  She said something else in a little bit, I responded and returned to my book.  But she had brought me some extra napkins when she went to get hers and I began to feel kind of bad cause I pretty much figured she wouldn't mind a visit, so I finally put my book aside and said something to her.  Boy, that opened the floodgates - she talked and talked - all about her feet problems, her egg white sandwiches (apparently Martha Stewart did a show about egg whites and she's loved them ever since!), and about her volunteering at the Humane Society's thrift shop which once she got started on that, she really couldn't stop.  And one had to wonder why she was volunteering since everything about the work there seemed to be a problem.  And, she gets paid for one of the days she "volunteers" which I didn't exactly understand.  And said how really, with the work she does there, she should be getting paid.  I had to bite my tongue not to point out "but you're volunteering".  But it was all pleasant enough and it really reminded me of how glad I was to talk with people while I was in Florence.  Us little old ladies have to look out for each other!

So, even though no one will be reading this post (well, maybe Chris - I think he set up something that alerts him when I post to the blog), I just decided to document this portion of my apparently never-ending trip.  Plus which, it probably occupied close to an hour. :)

And, if I ever do get home, once I'm all unpacked and resettled (which is going to take a little time), I plan to get out that "Cook's" magazine I bought that is all Italian recipes and start trying some of them and I think I'll probably go ahead and report on those here too...

2 comments:

Christopher said...

Hmmm... I didn't get a report on your dinner with Heather! What restaurant? Do I need to go??
So glad your car is finally ready, and you can get home... not cuz I want you gone, but because I can only imagine how "chomping at the bit" *I* would feel, being away from my actual home for so long---even a week in NYC for work has me eager to be back in my home! Safe travels, and I'll be watching for a report from "Cooks" :)

January said...

I read it Mama! And it has been really nice to be able to spend time with you after your trip rather than just waving to you as you pass on through.
xox

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