Good Showing Heels

Lynn and Logan invited us for a big time at the UNC football game versus #1Miami. I did not have high hopes for the Tar Heels, but it turned out to be a very exciting game.

The Pottengers and the Hannahs joined us for the fun. We started off at the quad for the neon trees concert. I of course did not recognize a single song. We ventured back to the parking deck for our tailgate. Logan is the consummate tailgate host making sure everyone had their perfect drink.

The highlight of the food for me was Sara’s ham rolls. Worth every calorie. The girls were getting to sit in. The Tom’s blue zone seats and the guys sat in the fifty yard line seats. Lynn provided electric hand warmers, which I am buying everyone for Christmas.

At one point we went inside and saw this great Halloween costume across the room. An old woman dressed in her curlers and house coat. I snapped a photo a]only to then realize it was our friend Kristin. No Surprise she was handing out candy from a kitty litter tray as a cat woman.

The UMiami folks came out in force. The spread was something like 14 and a half points. So when they scored an immediate touch down I was not surprised. But Carolina answered and the back and forth went on. Twice Carolina was up. Then in the fourth quarter when we were ahead the girls made the executive deck to leave before the crowd and Miami scored twice being up by ten while we were in the car.

They guys came a few minutes after us and Carolina recovered another touchdown, but still ended the game down by three. It was a respectable showing given the spread. It was a fun game to watch as the crowd in the blue zone was particularly celebratory.

As usual the Toms were perfect hosts and the very best of friends.

Don’t Tell Shay

Shay is not celebrating Halloween. We are going to the UNC football game and she is not. No dressing up for her. So since she is not trick or treating I might let her have a different seasonal treat.

The Trader Joe’s dog advent calendar is out. I have no idea if it is the same treats as last year, but she loved last years. And that is saying something since she is not a food motivated dog. In fact, at this very moment there is a huge bowl of of Costco rotisserie chicken sitting on her bed and she is meh about it.

Such a waste of chicken, Shay!

But some freeze dried chicken treats from TJ’s, that is another story. I may let her start the holiday season on Nov. 1 because advent for dogs is any month they want. Since DOG is God spelled backwards.

25% off at Youzey

For years my sister Janet ran a big business making gift boxes for various retailers. When she sold the business and had an earn out period of a couple of years I thought she would give up working when that time was over. Well, why in the world would think that? Janet is still young and industrious. So it is no surprise that she has thrown herself full throttle into her online business Youzey. She sells all kinds of travel goods, accessories and Home goods.

https://www.youzey.com/

Since she is in retail October through December are her big months. She has great items for gifts and she is offering a discount to my friends. So if you want to go to her website and buy something you can enter the word DANA in the promo code and get 25% off. Then Janet made the deal even sweeter. If you drop her an email at the time you order and say you are a friend of mine and just placed an order she will add a special gift to your order. What the gift? I have no idea. It will be a surprise.

Janet’s email is J.carter@Youzey.com

Some of her popular items are :

There are so many great scarves and sunglasses and travel perfume sets. Go look at the site and see for yourself. It’s a easy promo code to remember. DANA

One Dumpster is Not Enough

My most excellent mover Torryn came today and brought Lee with him. I met Torryn last year when I hired him to help move Christmas both out and back into the attic. HE is a great young man who is punctual, very hard working and strong.

Today he and Lee took about 80% of what needs to come out of the attic themselves. Torryn packed the dumpster in the most Tetris like efficient way. He certainly got more in that dumpster than I expected. Sadly I did not estimate how much stuff I had and did not get a big enough dumpster.

Torryn also took all metal stuff and books in his truck so that saves me a huge amount of dumpster space.

The speed at which they worked was remarkable. I had placed colored sticky notes on everything and it made life easier because they knew exactly what needed to go.

I had already planned on scheduling Torryn to come back to carry Christmas down, so now I have to order a second dumpster and he will finish the attic emptying at the same time we take Christmas out of the attic.

Having Torryn and Lee today made the most physical part of cleaning out the attic so much easier. Now that I am getting a second dumpster Russ is inspired to work on the garage.

I am a little sad that the attic is not done yet, but the end is in sight. I still need to vacuum the attic with the shop vac and reorganize what was kept. But the worst part of the job is done and it’s really only three weeks away from having the last remaining bits taken down.

Carter is going to be so happy.

I highly recommend Torryn’s moving. I know he does a lot of staging for houses that are for sales, but he also assembles furniture and hangs TV’s. You can reach him at 984-444-1087. He has helpers if you have a really big job. I am not ever doing Christmas without him.

New Durham Food Bank Branch

I finally had the pleasure of going to visit the new Durham Branch of the Food Bank of central and eastern NC. The president and CEO Amy Beros invited me to come have coffee and catch up and see the new branch. I sadly missed the grand opening due to another commitment, but this private tour was even better.

I have been very involved in the three previous branches of the Durham food bank. When we moved to Gilbert St. which was not an ideal building in an even less desirable location I sometimes would mop the floor in the partner shopping area to no avail as the linoleum was permanently stained. During council meetings in our tiny conference room Carter, who was no more than five or six, would sit on a ratty sofa by the front door and sometimes hand out papers about food pantries to people who came to the door looking for food.

It was a big step up when the Durham Branch moved from downtown to east Durham, not because of location, but because of the sheer size of the building. It was cleaner, but not a lot safer. It was in that building on Angier Ave that the volunteer center was named in my honor when I retired as the board Chair of the Food Bank. Many a friend would send me a photo of themselves at the food bank standing in front of my photo. I loved that people let me know when they would go volunteer to sort food.

So with safety, cleanliness and more space in mind the Food Bank moved again to north Durham to a fabulous warehouse space with lovely offices and a HUGE volunteer center. It is called the Food Lion Hunger Solutions center thanks to a very generous million dollar donation from Food Lion. The Dana Lange Volunteer center is closed to make way for the new Publix volunteer center for which they donated $350,000 for the naming rights. I gladly step aside for that fabulous donation, especially since we don’t even have a Publix in Durham yet. Does that mean we might get one? One can only wait and see.

As for now, I am very proud of all the good work the Food Bank continues to do in our 34 county area. The past two years have added many new challenges for so many and no one should go hungry.

Congratulations to Amy and her team for doing the great work and looking out for those who just need a little help today. You never know when it might be you tomorrow.

The Dumpster Arrived

I ordered a dumpster last week. It arrived today. Now I am worried it is not going to be big enough. It’s very tall. Too tall for me to throw stuff over the side without standing on something.

I can open the back so you can walk in it. That is going to be hard based on where the guy dropped it. I will have to trim a tree, but think that is the way to go. I want to pack it tightly like Tetris and not just throw stuff in higldy pigldly, because then I won’t be able to fit as much into it.

Tomorrow I am going to buy a battery powered box cutter so I can cut down empty boxes for recycling so I can put those out with my regular recycling.

Russ had wanted us to also clean out the garage, but that might involve another dumpster. The guys don’t come until Wednesday to carry stuff out of the attic. I will know then if I need a second dumpster. So exciting.

No Tapping

I had a request from a friend to address tapping in Mah Jongg. Before I got around to posting a blog about it I had a different student today who told me that she had a teacher out of Charlotte teach her group to tap when they drew a tile. This second student eventually learned that was incorrect, but brought it to my attention.

I am only going to say this once…well, no I am not. I am going to say it now and will continue saying it until all tapping stops. If you are reading this and have no idea what I am talking about you might not play mah Jongg, or you might play with a limited circle who all learned correctly.

I am not exactly sure when or where tapping started, but I have a fairly good idea. And it needs to stop now. Here is the official rule. When a player draws a tile from the wall they must place it in their rack with the bottom of the tile touching the bottom shelf on the slanted side of the rack to make the previously discarded tile dead. That is called “racking” it.

If you draw a tile from the wall and just tap or worst, tap, tap it on the top of your rack that is not the same as “racking” it. So if you tap and another player wants to call the previously discarded tile then they still have that option.

Players need to stop tapping. It is not only giving opponents an advantage of more time to call a discard, it is just plain annoying adding unneeded noise to the game.

Please stop recognizing tapping as legitimate racking. Nothing will make it stop happening faster than making a player put a tile back in the wall because you call a tile that was discarded and they thought they were entitled to keeping the drawn tile because they tapped and did not rack.

I have two tournaments I am directing in the next couple of weeks. Tapping will not be recognized and it is on the rules. Get out of the tapping habit and learn to properly rack your tiles.

If you teach people to play mah Jongg, please stop teaching them to tap. You are just showing yourselves as amateurs.

Russ Went to the Attic

Last day of sorting. Russ came up and went through his boxes. He had fewer boxes, but he wanted to keep a higher percentage of things. I was happy for him to make his own decisions on what is a treasure to him.

I went through the last stuff that had been moved decades ago. I found my first license plate. I found college art work. I found the lid to a pot I still use every week.

I found gift cards that I had made when Russ and I first got married. I can still use them now that Carter is grown and gifts are coming from just me and Russ again.

There are a couple of things that never should be packed and stored. One is candles. The other are jolly ranchers. They don’t do well in heat. I don’t know why seven jolly ranchers got moved, but I will never move them again.

More Attic Time

My days are really repetitive, therefore so is my blog. Four hours in the attic is about all I can take a day. I got through another quarter. The boxes that are unopened usually have some description written on it.

Why we moved old paid bills I will never know. One of the boxes had listed books, photos, gloves, dust. Hat was my sister being cheeky when she helped us pack. It was accurate. Most boxes were marked moving van. That meant they were less important.

I found more awards. Why in then world did I keep those? I got the money when I won them, who needs a plaque.

My favorite box was one that was marked “car.” That meant it was too important to go in the moving van. Yet despite being so important that it had to come in a car it was out in the attic unopened for 34 years. So I opened it today. It was a set of beautiful Wine, champagne and coupe glasses. I washed them and looked at my china wall to figure out where they will fit.

Russ made a cheeky mark that we could take some plate out and put them in the attic to make room for the glasses. I didn’t tell him I found a case of low balls.

The Treasures

This first two days I worked in the attic I was very disciplined. When I came upon something I wanted to keep like old letters and photos I put them in a box to look at later. I did not get sucked into living through every item. My pile of toss was six times bigger than my pile to keep.

Today I worked in a new area in the attic. One that had boxes that I had not open when we moved here. I found old year books and I did not flip through them. I found boxes of photos I have not seen since I took them and I did not flip through them. I just set them aside for a future job. As for now, they are in the keep pile.

Then I found a piece of art work my friend Hugh had made for me. It was badly faded, but I remembered it so I could imagine it in all it’s vibrancy. I turned it over and taped to the pack was a note from him. Hugh and I started writing a book in college called, “Excuses, excuses.” We had many excuses why we never got it done. I found a paper that I had written with a bunch of excuses for the book. Sadly, Hugh passed away a couple of years ago and I so wish he were here to laugh about these things.

In the next box I found lots of letters written to me in the first few years after college from all kinds of friends. I made the mistake of reading one, and then another and another. It was certainly a fun walk down memory lane. The best part is I am still great friends with many of the people who wrote those letters. I will eventually be sharing them with the writers.

I did find some letters from people I have no idea where they are. Some from my good friends old girl friends, or ex wives, some from old boy friends. I also found letters I wrote to old boys friends and did not send, or may be they were rough drafts and I did send them. Does not matter now. They are all thrown away.

I found pay stubs from my first job and many sales person of the month plaques. I was amazed that I got sales person of the month my fourth month on the job. I did not remember that at all. I found old calendars and randomly flipped through some pages seeing what I did in 1985. I still threw those away.

I found boxes and boxes of old Gourmet magazines and barley opened the boxes and put them in the trash heep. If anyone wants them call me as I am getting worried that the dumpster is not going to be big enough to hold all I am getting rid of.

I have no idea why so many stuffed animals made it to the attic, but at this point I know they have to be bio hazards. I am keeping Carter’s childhood rocking chair and some good wooden toys.

One of my favorite boxes had a map to my friend’s John’s house, as back in the day we needed maps.

My two college id’s, the best one being of me talking, which was the most perfect ID for me ever.

The invitation to my 30th birthday, a change of address card for me and my dog Beau, and 2 boxes -which had to be 1,000 business cards, from my catering business.

I also found a letter from my grandmother admitting I was her favorite grandchild, asking me not to tell the others.

I found a card from Suzanne telling me that if I had a penis she would marry me. Certainly evidence that we were destined to be life long friends. I found a photo from my friend Lauren’s wedding – another friend who left this world much too young. And I read a letter from my friend Stori asking me if she could come and live with me after the break up of her first engagement. Stori is gone too. All this in one box.

I was in the attic for hours and barley made a dent in one corner, although I think it was the densest corner of things I have not looked at in the longest time. I will be back at it first thing in the morning and am going to desperately try and not read so much. Honestly, it was so much fun, except for the old boy friend letters, it is going to be hard not too look so closely at what I find.

End of Check Ups

The last month I have had all my check-ups. Yesterday was my eye exam and today I had my first bone density test. I think this is the end of all my annual check-ups.

I went to the facility for my bone dentistry test. They told me I would get the report in a week. They also said that depending on that report, will determine when I need to have a follow up. The one thing they told me was I needed to only do my follow up at the same facility on the same bed so we are comparing apples to apples.

I am wondering if this is a new tactic to make sure they keep my business. I know that keeping those machines busy is what helps keep medical systems above water.

Hopefully my years of carrying around extra weight made my bones very strong. So the report I want is I don’t need another test for five years. I took a photo of the facility and will attach it to my calendar on the date they tell me when it’s time to come back. How else am I going to remember which bed to revisit?

Happy Birthday Sweet Grace

Happy Birthday to the sweet Grace Farley. It feels like yesterday that you came into the world. The first child of my best friend. You made Suzanne and Steve parents. And I know you were a lucky girl to get such wonderful parents.

You brought sunshine into the world. And I am so happy to have been a witness to the fabulous person you are. I hope that you are having a big birthday and that your dear Paul is spoiling you.

Happy Happy Birthday.

The Clean Out The Attic Plan

I purposely did not schedule classes for the next three weeks because I wanted a block of time when it was not too hot or not too cold so I could actually clean out the attic.

Not scheduling classes is something I have to do many months in advance. So even though I put a block on these weeks I was talked into a class. That’s OK. IT’s one class, of three sessions that will be at my house. So no excuse not to do the attic.

I did allow a couple of private lessons to get put on the calendar. That’s Ok, they are on Zoom, from my house. Today I had to take Shay to the vet and I had a haircut. On the way to the haircut I stopped at Office Depot to get extra sticky post it notes to put on the things that need to mark as going from the attic to the dumpster. Those things didn’t take up too much time.

Then my mother’s car had the check engine light come on and was flashing. So I had to go sit in the parking lot of her retirement community and wait for AAA to come pick up her car. That was only three hours.

While I was there I decided I could stop at Costco and buy trash bags I needed for the attic.

I did schedule the arrival of the dumpster today and paid for it. It’s coming next Monday. I also scheduled the task rabbit guys who helped carry the Christmas out of the attic to come and carry the stuff out of the attic I want to get rid of.

So all that stuff left me with 30 minutes when I actually went to the attic and started opening boxes and looking at what I want to get rid of. The dust was extraordinary. I told Russ I needed the shop vac to go up the attic tomorrow.

I tagged about 20 things so far. I found a giant box of Christmas ornaments that I ordered after Christmas some time years ago and never opened before. So far that’s the only treasure I have found. Some boxes I have had since college, like my B & W speaker boxes that my father told me to always keep for when I moved. I have not moved those speakers in 35 years. I think the boxes can go.

Also I found three VCR and DVD boxes. No idea if we still have the machines, but I don’t need the boxes. I started looking at the pile of suit cases. I know that we have not used most of them in years. I think that they might be a good donation to shelters where unhoused people have to come and go from. I need to research that. Any friends involved in those who know the answer, let me know.

I did find the tread mill we stupidly put in the attic 20 years ago. That is going in the dumpster and that is why I need the men.

So I may be off to a slow start, but I did actually go in the attic today. Tomorrow I have a zoom and an eye doctor appointment in the morning, but then, I promise, all afternoon in the attic.

Promising

Every election year Russ and I vote early. We don’t want to miss the responsibility of voting. We don’t want to leave anything up to chance in case we have to go out of town or possibly get sick.

We went today to our regular early voting sight at the Unitarian church. In a normal year we drive up, maybe wait in a line of a couple of people and vote. We are out of there in five minutes.

Today, the fourth day of early voting in North Carolina, we went to the Unitarian church an hour after the poll opened. There was a very long line out side the building. Could have been about 40 people in line. It moved steadily. And as it moved, an equal number of people added to the line.

The poll workers were happy and efficient. They loved that so many people have been voting. The worker at the door said it has been like that since the doors opened on Thursday. It was a promising sign that so many people are voting. Our democracy depends on sending an overwhelming message about what the people want.

If anyone needs help getting to the polls I am happy to provide or coordinate a ride for you. You just need to vote. Just plan on it taking a little longer, but it will be worth it.

Quick Surprise Visit

Yesterday, while sitting in Hobby airport in Houston I got a text from my Florida friend Suzanne. She was in North Carolina and just realized she was actually close to me. Well, she was close to where I live, not where I was at that moment. Suzanne is a self reported by poor geographer. It had not dawned on her that when she made reservations at the Fearington Inn, she would be practically in my back yard.

Well, as a southerner, I had to see her while she was in the old North State. I texted back that I free for breakfast this morning and thankfully that worked for her. So in spite of getting home late last night thanks to a delayed flight, I got up early and went down to see her.

She was here for a wedding and because of some child care issues she was alone as her sweet husband Chris stayed home with their boys. When I arrived at her room I chastised her for not staying with me, but understood the draw of the Fearington Inn. It was quite a treat to get to eat breakfast there since you can’t do that usually unless you are an overnight guest. We had one little dining room all to ourselves which was perfect so we could gab over our splendid cappuccinos and yummy eggs.

It was much too short a visit because I had a zoom lesson with a pair of students in London at noon, but Suzanne understands that as we first met at mah Jongg lessons I was teaching in Cashiers. Since then we have met up at the Tides Inn twice and I have been to visit her at her home in Tallahassee. So now we have added Pittsboro to our meet up places. It was just this time no Mah Jongg playing was involved.

Sadly we forgot to take a photo, but this one was from the last time we were together in Virginia. I told her next time to come stay with me, if I am home or not, she is always welcome at my house.

My Generous Cousin Meredith

Finally my cousin Meredith was in Houston, where she lives, when I was there. The last few times I have gone to Houston she has been out of town. Usually she is at Roundtop which is one of her shopping meccas and that takes priority. As a non-shopper, I don’t understand shopping taking priority.

So not only was Meredith in town, she also came and took mah Jongg class and brought her friend Amy. They were superior students and can now play mah Jongg.

Not only did a Meredith pay to come to take class, but she brought me a very cute gift. It was this darlin’ Texas bag, with a boot charm and tassel, a smaller pink bandanna bag, a Texas shaped clip, a pink twilly, and a Texas wood cut out tag. It was like the “welcome to Texas” gift bag extraordinaire.

That was the gift the first day. Then the second day she showed up with two gifts for Kari and Nancy, who organized the classes and host me. They were lucite trays for hostess towels with mah Jongg towels and mah Jongg cocktail napkins. So cute.

Gift giving is definitely Meredith’s love language. I wish she could just be my personal shopper because she is by far the most superior gift giver I have ever known.

Then let’s gild the lily. Meredith took me to the airport after the farewell lunch. How else could she be the best cousin?

Fun, Fun, Fun

Nothing but fun today. My Houston crew makes me so happy. I am ever thankful for Nancy and Kari who organize my classes and takes care of me. Last night after class we went to dinner with Lisa and Anne and everyone’s husbands. Poor husbands are good sports to come have dinner with the mah Jongg teacher.

Today we started classes with a fabulous lunch and then we went right into class. The second day of Beyond is so much fun because the students are used to me. Most of them have taken a few classes from me before so it is wonderful for me.

After the first class we had beginners. They are not as used to me. But today they had a lot of joy because they played two real games and some people even won.

I had a great surprise because my cousin Harry came to see me at the end of class as his darling wife Meredith was taking the class. She even won a game!

I got to wear beautiful jewels today thanks to Kari and she made me model them with Nancy. I wore them out to dinner with them, but I forgot to take off the necklace and give it back. If I want to leave the state of Texas alive I need to return that necklace tomorrow.

Teaching here is always joy and I hope the classes have had as much fun as I have. One more class tomorrow.

Mah Jongg Houston Style

When I come to Houston everything is fancier, except for me. I am still just me. That does not stop Houston from trying to fancy me up. So today Kari, who is the queen of all jewelry, brought a bunch of things to “frost me” for class.

They were quite spectacular. My favorite was the Chanticler necklace with the rooster bell. He cocktail ring went quite well with my blouse. I had to trade out the Cartier earrings for a different pair because I was worried I would lose one.

It’s great to get to wear all this beautiful jewelry, but it would be bad to lose it.

Tomorrow I will get a new suite of jewels to go with that outfit. So much fun to play dress up and teach mah Jongg.

The Glamorous Life of a Mah Jongg Teacher

I will never complain about being a Mah Jongg teacher because it really is the most fun job. I love meeting new people and sharing the game with them. What I don’t love is delayed travel.

I am on my way to Houston. I have to say Houston, especially Nancy and Kari are very kind and generous to me. I have a big group coming to learn and am looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. Even my darling Cousin Meredith is coming to class.

I try and fly into Hobby because it is so much closer to Nancy’s house, where I am staying. That being said, I have to fly Southwest. Not my favorite, but not usually terrible.

No matter how many times I check the app it always shows my flight on time… until the second I get through security and then it changes to delayed. To be expected as I am taking an afternoon flight. I usually try and take the first flight in the morning to avoid this, but that is not the way this trip worked out. So on both ends I am taking a later flight.

No matter how delayed it is I have to get to Houston as classes start tomorrow. By the time the students show up all this travel stuff will be behind me and I can fall into the joy of teaching.

When Daddy Leaves

Daddy left for a meeting today and Shay was not up for that. Since aruss has been working from home for the last few months Shay has gotten very used to supervising him at all times. She will sleep on her bed in his office. She will sleep on her bed in the breakfast room when he takes calls from there. She will heard him into the sunroom and sleep on the sofa while he works next to her. She will sit in his lap at his desk while he is on zoom. She is the chairman after all.

The bottom line when Daddy is in the house she is with him. So when Daddy is not here she is adrift. I don’t have as many sitting down jobs as Daddy. At her age Shay does not like to go up and down the stairs as often as I do so she is often left stranded on a floor or on a bed by herself.

Eventually she got me to stay in one place and she snuggled up as close to me as she could. Every inch of her bodying touching mine at all times.

At least I am accepted as the second fiddle.

Evidence of Childhood Kindness

This week an envelope came in the mail from my friend Andy. She always is the first Christmas card we get of the season and I thought this was too early even for her. I opened it and it was a child’s drawing and a note from Andy.

She had been cleaning out things from her kids school years and happened upon this school assignment by her daughter Madi. Madi and Carter were classmates and friends all through their school years. Madi was a great kid, but not Carter’s best friend.

I looked at the drawing, which strongly resembled Carter from the eye and hand of a third grader, then read the words. It was a description of Carter. It was sweet and kind and generous, written in the best third grade script I had seen.

I sent Carter a photo of it and asked her if she had ever seen it or remembered the assignment. She had no clue about it, but also thought it was so nice.

You never know how people see you. Just like you never know what affect you have upon other people. Both kind and hurtful words stick. It is nice to learn later the good things, but it is best to try and be kind in the first place.

Madi was always a nice person and has grown up to be as thoughtful and kind as she was in third grade. She is in medical school now and I venture to say she has better than average handwriting for a doctor.

I appreciate Andy sending me this. It is nice even all these years later to see evidence of kindness in children. It’s not a surprise coming from Madi.

It’s Eleven Weeks Until Christmas.

I know it’s October and there are people who are decorated for Halloween. Down the street a neighbor put up a 16 foot scary statue and around the corner there is a 12 foot skeleton. I have not seen many pumpkins yet, but it was a dry summer so they might be in scare supply.

I don’t care a thing about Halloween. My house will probably be dark. I can’t have the candy in the house. I don’t have a child who needs a costume. I don’t have to go to a parade. I am just waiting for Halloween to be over so I can work on Christmas.

I am in my full blown dreaming of Christmas stage. Today I worked on my new decoration of the year. I ordered some gifts. Planned some menus. Worked on my Christmas calendar. I scrolled through some websites to get ideas.

Last year since I was not getting Carter and Claire for Christmas I had both Thanksgiving and Christmas together on Thanksgiving and then continued the celebration all through December.

This year I get them for Christmas, but once I discovered Decorating for Christmas in the middle of December I am never going back. I used to have Thanksgiving and then begin decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. This made the Thanksgiving weekend all about work.

Well I never decorated the house for Thanksgiving and ai love the Christmas Decorating so much the answer is to decorate in the beginning of November and enjoy it all the way though New Years.

Turkey eaten under the mistletoe is more yummy than with a cornucopia. So hurry up Halloween. I am already for Christmas. It’s only eleven weeks until Christmas.

Rug Cleaning Miracle

Almost 30 years ago I hired Lane Blank to decorate our house when we put an addition on it. She became a great friend in the process and has remained so.

She always recommended products of the highest quality and they have all held up all these years. When we decorated the guest room and the nursery she picked out a wool carpet for each room.

The guest room was a light colored back ground, but since it was the guest room we thought it would get the least use. The nursery got a blue rug. Over the years the nursery went from having Carter get sick on the rug to having that room turn into Russ’ home office and get things spilled on it. The guest room got more use than we thought as that became the room Russ would go to when he woke up in the middle of the night as he does every night.

For 30 years we only ever vacuumed the carpets. They had gotten stained and discolored. I had no idea if they would ever be presentable again. Three weeks ago I called Mike at Fargo Hanna. I asked him if they might try and clean these rugs. A couple of days later two men showed up at my house and rolled them up and took them away. Not an easy job with all the furniture on them.

Today they returned them. I also ordered new pads for them which they cut and rolled onto the rugs so that when they placed them back in the rooms and unrolled them the pads was in the perfect position.

I could not believe my eyes. They were like new rugs, especially the blue one that had the stains from lots of baby and childhood events. I could not find where the stains had been.

It’s a great lesson to buy good quality to start. The second lesson is don’t wait 30 years to have a rug cleaned, especially if it can be picked up and taken away by Fargo Hanna and have them clean it.

Thanks North Ridge

I had a great last three days at North Ridge Country Club teaching both beginners and Beyond beginners. The staff at North ridge is always so good to me and many of them have been helping me there for years and always remember me.

Today was my last day of this series. I have a two hour break between my afternoon and evening classes so two of my favorite students who I now consider friends, Diane and Sue came to play with me.

It is so great when I get a chance just to play mah Jongg and not teach mah Jongg. Diane had organized her group of friends to learn from me two years ago and they are all still together as a group playing weekly.

Sue brought me a gift of Mah Jongg pasta! And Diane beat me two games. Nothing is better than beating the teacher. For me nothing is better than becoming friends with my students.

Who The Hell is That?

I have hardly watched any news. I can hardly watch live TV. The political commercials make me crazy. The news is all bad. So for a few seconds I turned on the TV. It was the current occupant of the White House sitting in the Oval Office. Sitting at the desk with other people standing around him while he talked.

I had no idea what he was talking about because all I wanted to know is, “Who the hell is the person in the red dress?”

I think this is a new tactic and it’s working. No one will care what he is saying if there is someone else more bizarre standing near him. Perfect distraction for when he babbles on and makes no sense. No one is following or trying to follow what he is saying.

I can’t wait to see what kind of freaks and geeks the staff roll out over the next month. It’s working. I’m not enraged at all about what he said. I didn’t even hear one word. I couldn’t stop staring at the distractor.

Tournament for Good

I am directing another wonderful tournament in Raleigh on November 2. This is a day tournament with lunch and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association of NC.

Send a check to Hayes Barton Place to register. If you have e questionnaire call Ann Janvier at 919-270-4842.

Come join me for a fun day a play and a chance to win a prize.

Lazy Sunday with the Dogs and Friends

The best thing about old friends is you are happy just to hang together. No pretense. Just fun. We played lots of games today. Enjoyed yummy French Toast cooked by Lane.

Russ had lots of dog snuggle time as well as a big walk with Shay. The boys were supposed to go to a car show, but it was canceled. Not due to the rainy weather, but some logistical issue.

Lane and I did go to visit a new store that must remain a secret because I got some Christmas presents there. It was nice to go to a real store run by the owner who gave excellent customer service. We stopped for iced tea on the way home as Lane and I are known to do.

Since we have visited this house of the Blanks many times we knew the drill and washed and changed out sheets as we always hope to be invited back. We are trying to get them to come to Maine so we can repay the favor.

After lunch and a few last hands of Monopoly Deal it was time to head home. Sad, sad. But I didn’t have to drive and played Pitch all the way home, the new game John taught me this weekend. So many games, so little time. Back to regular life. Sad, sad.

Dog Island

The best thing about visiting the Blanks is the boat trips to Dog Island. dog Island is aptly named by Lane and Jon because it is a place where dogs can roam free. Not a real island, but an island created from years of dredging. It is a sandy spot where Jon pulls the boat up and Lane jumps out and anchors us.

The Blank dogs willing jump from the boat to the water and swim to shore. Princess Shay on the other hand, in her life jacket, must be carried from the boat, never to have her feet get wet.

The others run wild on the beach. Shay, who immediately got a burr, must sit in Russ’ lap where thankfully the burr attaches itself to his shorts.

It was sunny for a while and Jon regaled us with the story of changing out the clothes dryer on the second floor for one of the many other dryer on the first floor…all alone. Too bad the whole incident was not filmed because it would have made an excellent full length feature, with a number of cautionary tales. You would have to have history walking up and down the step stairs from the ground to the second floor to fully appreciate a story where Jon wrestles a dryer by himself in the middle of the night up the stairs.

Needless to say, we are happy he is still alive to share the story with us. Thankfully the house is also still standing after the retiring that came along with the job.

The dogs had their fill of Dog island and we thought it was time to return home to beat the black thunder clouds that were gathering. We almost made it home before the rain…almost.

Happy Birthday Sweet Russ

The day that Russ Lange was born was the best day of my young life. I didn’t know it at the time. I was probably going down the slide at my pre-school in Dayton, Ohio. Eventually, 26 years later I would discover the fabulous Russ Lange and decide I definitely should spend the rest of my life with him.

So it’s a great day to celebrate all things Russ. He did mostly what he always does, work! Thankfully he ended a little early so we could drive to the beach to spend the weekend with our very dear friends Lane and Jon. For Russ the best thing is that Shay gets to come with us as the Blanks house is a dog party 100% of the time.

We went out to dinner for a big time and the dogs stayed home. Thankfully Shay fell right in with the Blank Pack and all the dogs came running out of Lane and Jon’s room when we got home.

We played Monopoly Deal after dinner, sans Russ because it’s his birthday and he never wants to play games. Instead he passed out with a YouTube of a violin repair man while Shay snuggled with him.

Oh the exciting life of Russ Lange. We did have his favorite apple pie for his birthday. I am so thankful he came into the world. I will celebrate him everyday.

Yay for Jack Smith

It’s been a very full week of classes and many medical checkups. I have not watched any news this week. Hardly had time to read much, but there is one story that I have heard a bunch about because it is everywhere. The incident of the Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt questioning Jack Smith in a hearing and thinking he was going to trap Jack Smith to perjure himself.

If you don’t have any idea what I am talking about look it up. Anyway, I get such a big laugh out of how quickly Schmitt is proven wrong for the error of mixing up the Atlanta Hawks with the Iowa Hawkeyes and there trap he so excitedly thought he was creating blows back on him.

So the news I did see was an interview with Jack Smith afterward and his calm steady demeanor was such a contrast to the Senator from Missouri. His honesty and thoughtfulness and dedication to the rule of law made my heart happy that there are still good honest people who want to follow the constitution. He was not at all political, but legal. What a difference to the political guy trying to do a gotcha and falling on his face.

I had never heard of Eric Schmitt before this week and I will never forget him now. Talk about ruining your prospects for higher office. Made me a little happy. We need more Jack Smiths.

Three Classes, One Day

I taught three classes yesterday. When I got home at 9:40 from my final class I totally forgot that I also write a daily blog. I woke up this morning thinking about my annual physical I have before I go teach two more classes. And all the other things I needed to do today and then it dawned on me, no blog yesterday.

So this notice serves as my make up posting for yesterday and let’s see if at 9:40 tonight, or whenever I get home from my classes, I remember to write today’s blog.