elections...

My spouse and I voted today.  Turns out our poling place is right across the street from the entrance to our subdivision.  This was my first chance to vote since I was married in January.  New name, new address, but they had everything correct on their computers. Credit to the BMV who, when I got my new driver's license, automatically registered me to vote.  An interesting new feature in the voting booth was the printed copy of my vote that was recorded as well as the electronic version.  I am happy to confess that I'm glad this primary election is over.  I will not miss the endless, often contradictory, commercials touting one candidate and / or disparaging another.  I fully realize that new adds for the November election will start showing up any day now but perhaps we'll have a little break. As I was thinking about this I had a flashback.  Do you remember when Democratic and Republican conventions were televised and the party's nominees for president and vice president were often not known until well into the convention?  I was never a delegate to a convention but it was exciting to watch.  I really really wish there would be some surprises in this coming election.

Woops...

 First an apology to my faithful readers.  While it did seem like a really long time ago, Expo 74 was held in 1974, not 1074.  But on to other things.  My youngest granddaughter (the one who likes my "vintage" clothes) is home from college for the summer.  We all went out to dinner this evening to celebrate her homecoming and her 20th birthday, which was two days ago.  We ate at Red Robin where I hadn't been for some time.  The food was just as good as I remember which is very good indeed.  We shared an onion ring appetizer and I had a bacon cheese burger and lots of sweet potato fries, yummmm.  Coincidentally my west coast brother had informed me earlier today that this is "International No Diet Day."  Boy, did I celebrate that. So please understand that I am too full and sleepy to write more.  Good night.

I remember it well.

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is the 50th anniversary of Expo 74.  It took place in Spokane WA from May to November of 1074 and was attended by about 5.6 million people. We were part of the crowd.  My west coast brother was in the Air Force then, stationed near Spokane, so my first husband and I loaded our two children, ages and one and three, and our two miniature dachshunds, into our VW camper conversion, and drove from Indiana to Spokane where we picked up my brother and visited Expo 74.  It was a bit crowded in the camper.  My husband and I slept in the fold out bed, my brother and our son (the three year old) slept in the bed in the pop top space, and our baby girl slept in a hammock like device made to be suspended over the steering wheel and front seats.  The dogs, as usual, slept on the floor.  My brother later bragged to his Air Force buddies that he slept with a cute blond that weekend.  It was true.  Our three year old was very cute.  My only very clear memory of that event was that we gave our daughter (the one year old) her first taste of Mexican food.  It was delicious and she ate quite a bit. Sadly, as we were walking across the parking lot from the restaurant, her little digestive system rebelled and the result overflowed her diaper by a copious amount.  My brother (not in uniform, thank goodness) was carrying her.  He was not amused.  It was an early and abrupt introduction to fatherhood.  Since then he has married, fathered five children and now has six grandchildren.  I'm guessing he has dealt with worse.  

the grand finale...

 First of all, May the 4th be with you.  You Star Wars fans will understand what I mean.  The Philharmonic performed their last program in the Masterworks series for this season this evening, and it was spectacular.  Coincidentally my spouse said that the first movement of the first piece reminded him of Star Wars. I didn't hear it that way, but that's what makes music fun.  The two pieces this evening were Walton's Symphony No. 1 in B-flat minor and Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 in C minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 18.  Both pieces were exciting and interesting because they really involved all of the orchestra - bass drum, cymbals, trumpets, trombones, violins, basses, oboe and so much more.  It was a delight.  What I especially loved about the Rachmaninoff piece was the way the piano music was integrated so completely into the whole piece.  The guest pianist, Fabio Bidini, was excellent but he wasn't the typical stand alone guest performer.  He played through the entire Concerto and was every bit as much of the music as all the other instruments.  I don't think I'm describing this very well, but it was just so beautifully done.  I guess you had to be there.  I hope you were. 

Game on...

 I told a friend today that my husband and I really like playing games.  We're very nice to each other most of the time, but, when it comes to games, we get quite competitive.  Maybe it's our chance to work out our aggressions.  Almost every evening after supper we play a game while watching TV.  Among our favorites are Gin Rummy, Scrabble and Dominoes.  Happily we're pretty evenly matched.  Interestingly, both of us come from game playing families.  When we are with my west coast brother, Mexican Train is the big favorite.  On our recent Florida trip, two of my husband's cousins introduced us to a game that was new to us.  It's called Five Crowns, and I highly recommend it, although, fair warning, it is addictive.  It's a rummy type game where you try to build sets or runs of three.  It starts with three cards dealt to each player and builds to the final hand of 13 cards per person.  Jokers are wild but there is also another wild card and it changes with each hand.  For example, if the hand dealt is six cards per person, jokers and sixes are wild.  The trick is remembering which cards are wild when.  I recommend this game as a really good lesson in dealing with frustration.  

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is Brothers and Sisters Day, aka Sibling Appreciation Day.  I think that's lovely.  I really do appreciate my sibling, and my sibling-in-law also.  But siblings don't always appreciate each other, at least until they grow up.  My first husband seemed so surprised when our two kids reached the age when they squabbled from time to time.  He would tell them "You are brother and sister, you must love each other and always be each other's best friends."  Can you tell he was an only child? Happily, they did grow up to be good friends, so good in fact, that they used to embarrass us in restaurants by laughing and carrying on but not doing anything wrong, just enjoying their own private humor.  Happily, my grandchildren have also grown to appreciate their siblings, although I remember my oldest granddaughter telling me once that she wished her parents would build a little house for her in the back yard where she could live by herself.  That was during the time when she and her younger sister were still sharing a room.  Happily at 20 and 22 they now seem to get along quite well.  Of course they are at different colleges.  Now that I think about it, when it comes to sibling appreciation there may be something to the old adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder.  I really do appreciate my west coast brother.  

my Florida

 I mentioned in an earlier blog that, while I liked the villages, I really didn't think I would want to live there.  I realized, as we got deeper into our trip that I wanted to be in a part of Florida where I could see water.  I got my wish when we took a couple of days off from visiting family and friends and drove down the Florida Keys.  I had never been there before.  We stayed in Marathon Key for two nights, and spent the day between in Key West.  I loved going over the Seven Mile bridge and seeing water on both sides of us for much of the drive.  It was everything I think Florida should be.  Later in the trip we visited my husband's cousin who lives in a condo on the water on the Gulf side of Florida.  I really liked that too.  Again it's the view of water that excites me.  

Here are our cheeseburgers in paradise, eaten at Margaritaville.  They really were delicious.  I don't usually take pictures of food but i made a exception here.

We also made it to the southernmost tip of the Keys, 90 miles from Cuba.  We did decide, after all that driving, that when we come back to Key West we will fly down.  All in all though, our Florida trip was a great adventure.