I have the memory of a goldfish.

( Addition Update with photos )

Savagefuzzball's oral surgery went very well. She was able to eat some soft stuff last night and is, apparently, feeling well enough to go to a party this evening. And to think I was worried. :oP

Her name was Anna (Anne) Colona and although she's gone, she won't be forgotten. The church was packed with those whose lives she touched. She never married or had children but she had a huge and varied family.

I knew her all my life. She was the girls' phys ed teacher then the guidance counselor at Krebs school where my father was principal and my step-mother taught. My father, who believes praise should be doled out sparingly, couldn't say enough good about her. I know he was incredibly upset that he wasn't here for her when she became ill (lung cancer) or able to pay his final respects so I went to the service in his stead.

Part of the service entailed people giving testimony to her life. Retired teachers spoke about her dedication and humility. Friends spoke about her generosity. She was an active member of Delta Kappa Gamma International Honor Society for Women Educators for years and a past president. She was very involved in the scholarship fund and the encouragement of young people to enter the teaching field. Many members of that society stood and spoke about her unflagging enthusiasm. Even the mothers of adult children attended and spoke, citing how Miss Colona changed the course of their children's lives. I could write paragraph after paragraph about the stories people told but you get the idea - She certainly packed a lot of life into her 78 years.

What I remember about her? Optimism, no-nonsense affability and large doses of enthusiastic encouragement toward whatever goal one expressed. When she spoke to you, you felt as if you were the most important person in her world....and you were. She genuinely cared.
I'll use one of her catch phrases - The bottom line is, Miss Colona was an incredible woman who will live on in the influence she had on the people around her. I hope you all had or have a Miss Colona in your life.

My Sunday was spent working on the powder room addition's roof. MrBug had already ripped off the old roof and we'd disposed of the debris. On Sunday morning, MrBug ran the plumbing vent up and out through what was left of the roof. Then, I helped him measure and cut the insulation (I won't touch it, though, because I hate that itchy feeling) and handed him things as he placed the insulation.

We measured, cut and screwed down the plywood base for the roof then stapled down the tar paper. MrBug put the roof collar around the vent, we put up the flashing, drip guard and that is what you see, below.



Hopefully, we'll be able to put the shingles on this coming weekend so we can get back to working on the inside.


To Rubberband: Turns out that Savagefuzzball's overnight field trip got changed, last minute (now, they're going on 10/3 & 4) When MrBug heard we weren't going out to dinner (just the two of us), he accepted the Ducks Unlimited dinner invite that Mark and the rest of the "gang" had mentioned. So, I probably could have gone with you to the wine tasting/Nerds opening! :( I hope you had fun!

To yankeedownunder: Haven't heard from you lately. Everything okay?

Okay, I started a community, at antof9's urging, called "IconAdmiration". Feel free to join if you'd like to share, admire or just giggle/sigh over someone's icon.

I probably should have known how to run a community before doing this, Ant... :oP

I've been working, working, working.

The Showbill is at the proofing stage, now. If it doesn't go to the printer, soon, it's not going to be ready for the first show (Oct. 12th). This is really starting to stress me out!

On top of the volunteer work, I'm working my part-time job, now. It's repetitive and mindless - just the sort of thing I like! I sat down with a black garbage bag full of Declaration of Independences, yesterday, and put in A&E's "Pride and Prejudice". I watched the whole of it in one sitting - folding, folding, folding.

I'm off to exercise, shower, and watch "Emma" while I finish up that bag, top them with their tags, slide them into bags and use the electric impulse sealer to finish them off. Once I'm done that, it's on to The Constitution. :)

*Cha-ching* - Hear that, SimoDownUnder? That's money going into the "Australia Fund". xoxoxox

I'm on here a lot, today.

A question for those of you more familiar with LJ than I --

What does it mean when some friends in a person's list are in bold script? Mine are all "regular" and uniform but I've seen lists where a third of them are bold and the rest "regular".

A recent study shows that those who smoke are a milliondybillion* times more likely to go blind due to macular degeneration in their later years. Another reason (as if we needed another) to quit smoking - especially we who like to read.

*Okay, that wasn't the exact number but I've forgotten what it was and needed to make the point that the percentage rate was very high.

( Pictures of the Addition Sewer tie-in )

Savagefuzzball went to a friend's house for most of the evening. After all the sweaty, dirty work you see above, MrBug and I showered, went out to eat and then picked her up. From there we went to Coldstone Creamery for ice cream. When we got home, we went down in the basement to clean up a few things that were still lying about (a garden hose we'd used to flush the system, etc.) and watched a mouse run across the basement floor and into the block wall up to where we'd jackhammered. For years, I've watched our cat, Boots, sit in front of that wall and stare at a corn-kernel sized hole where the block wall and basement floor met. I thought she was just trying to freak me out. Obviously, she knew something I didn't. MrBug has stuffed a towel into the space for the evening. Tomorrow we'll replace the dirt and pour concrete and the mouse worries will be no more. Of course I'll set traps in the basement tomorrow, too, because goodness knows how many mice came out once we'd broken open their thoroughfare. One made itself known...others may be lurking. The only thing making me rest easy? - Boots is in for the night and she's already shown interest in the basement "renovation".

My dear friend gave me The Little Black Book of Martinis for my birthday and I thought I'd share some wisdom from its pages:

Some say "Professor" Jerry Thomas mid-wived the first martini - in San Franciso, circa 1850, for a miner on his way to Martinez, California. When his customer slapped a gold nugget onto the bar along with a request for something special, he got a "Martinez," prototype for the "Martini." This recipe was published, along with 23 other recipes, in Professor Thomas's 1887 edition of The Bartender's Guide - the first bartender's manual.

The martini has also been known by these names: The Silver Bullet, The Cold War, White Lightning, Olive Soup, and See-Through.

I think I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to sound like a dry martini. - Paul Desmond of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, when asked about the sound of his sax

who lives in Australia and who is one of the few of my siblings I really feel connected to.
I love talking to her and catching up but, afterward, I'm always left feeling a bit melancholy.

I miss her. I miss my niece and nephew and my lovely BIL, too. When you love someone a lot the miles that part you seem longer.