Holley on Film

Tonight we went to see a screening of the new documentary “Stitching Strength” about Dr. Richard Bedlack, the head of the ALS clinic at Duke. Dr. Bedlack was Holley’s fabulous doctor and there could have been no one better to care for her as they were quite a pair.

Dr. Bedlack is known for his colorful clothing, as was Holley. He is in the business of giving people hope who have gotten the most hopeless diagnosis. There was no one more positive or hopeful than Holley.

It was just perfect that Holley was able to be part of this documentary and we are just sad that these screenings came too late for us to see it with her. One of the last public things Holley did was go to be interviewed on UNC public radio with Dr. Bedlack for this documentary.

It was good to be with Laura, Nancy, Lee and Jan to see this. Nancy told us a story about how days before Holley was due to go to see Dr. Bedlack she would start worrying about what she was going to wear for her appointment. Holley has been notoriously bright and sparkly her whole life. Never one to pass by a chance to wear a boa. So having a doctor who also wore sequins on a weekday was a match made in heaven.

ALS is a terrible disease so having someone like Dr. Bedlack dedicated to studying it to find a cure is very important. This documentary is just in the beginning stages of being shown. I will post when and where you might be able to see it as it begins to get out in the world. Hopefully it will get picked up by a streaming service so everyone can have access to this important story.

Sadly Holley had already lost her voice when she was filmed, but her words are still hers and I am thankful we will have this record of her. I am certain that when I see a rainbow now Holley is close by. If it also sparkles that is her winking at us.

No Advantage for Cuteness in Mah Jongg

I had a special beyond beginner class at my house this week. Half of the class was made up of friends from church who all play together and the other half were women who had found me through my website and other previous students.

It was so wonderful to teach at home. I have to thank my students for being extra patient as I was dealing with the Google Fiber nightmares all during two days of classes.

The best part about teaching at home was having my teaching assistant with me. Shay demanded lots of attention during class, including asking for two dog biscuits right in the middle of working on a hand. Betty took this picture of the TA monitoring the students while I taught.

If Shay wasn’t so demanding I would teach at home more. It made it so nice not to have to pack the games up after class and carry them to the car. I am thankful Shay likes Mah Jongg so much that she pays rapt attention to all the lessons. I think she thinks she can beat everyone at the game. Little does she know, being cute does not get you anywhere in Mah Jongg.

50th Anniversary for Jim and Susan

When Russ and I first joined Westminster we met this family we loved. Jim and Susan Ketch and their daughter’s Katie and Megan. Katie was at NC State, but Megan was still in high school. When I was in a class at church with Susan I mentioned I was looking for a summer Nanny for Carter. Susan said Megan was looking for a job. It was a match made in heaven.

Megan became part of our family and we came to love all the Ketch family. To this day we sit in the same section of church as long as there are no interlopers. We jokingly call it the lector sector. It is slightly less full of lectors now that Jim sings in the choir, but that just means I get more time with Susan.

When we got the invitation for Jim and Susan’s 50th wedding anniversary we knew we had to be there. First it meant that Megan and her husband Max and darling boy Leon would be there. Second, it was going to be great fun with Katie and her husband Mark and kids, Lilly, Graham and Oliver. And of course it’s quite the accomplishment for Jim and Susan.

Our minister Chris came with his wife Carrie and it happens to be their 22 anniversary. So it was a celebration all around.

The Ketch offspring all gave speeches with each person choosing a word to describe Jim and Susan, Megan chose light, Katie chose faith and the son in laws and grand children all had words of their own. There were many tender moments especially when Lilly, now a college sophomore choked up with tears and then so did her Dad. Such a good son in law. Max, closed the family speeches by saying Jim and Susan’s only failing was their daughters had married down, which could not be farther from the truth, but it gave a moment of levity.

Megan said that at their 40th anniversary Megan asked them each for a word and they said independence and trust. Two excellent words to live by if you are looking for a long and happy marriage. Thanks to all the Ketch, Donoways and Ketch- Deacons for a lovely party for a favorite couple.

Bad Mah Jongg Advice is Everywhere

With the giant increase in Mah Jongg comes along a lot of people who claim to be Mah Jongg experts. For the record, there is no certification for mah Jongg teachers. There are no Mah Jongg teacher colleges and certainly no PhD’s in Mah Jongg.

There are lots of teachers who have been teaching for many years. Many years still don’t make them good or bad teachers. What we seem to have a lot of now are Mah Jongg tile manufacturers who have created “ambassadors” or “mentors” who sell tiles. Selling tiles is great, but just because who have played a little mah Jongg and have been deemed a “mentors” by a company whose product you are selling does not make you a teacher, or an expert.

Ambassadors or Mentors are more like Mary Kay sales girls who teach you how to do your make up and then sell you that make up. They aren’t make up artists, they are sales people.

Now I grew up selling stuff. I love sales people. I think it’s great for women to represent a product they love and am happy for them to sell it. What I don’t like is these sales people making videos as teachers giving advice that is just not correct.

In their defense, they might have learned this advice from a not very good teacher, but that does not mean anyone should listen to them. Right now the internet is flooded with these people. So many “experts” giving wrong advice.

I know that people want to learn as much as they can. It is an exciting and addictive game. But it is difficult to decipher the real experts from the Mary Kay girls. My advice is if the reel, intsa, tic toc, you tube you are watching is tagged with a tile company brand you are not watching a teacher who teaches for the love of the game, but a sales person and should take what they say with a grain of salt.

There are some online folks I consider true experts like Modern Mah Jongg. I don’t make videos despite the pleas from my students. The exception is my new card class which was recorded when I did the zoom session. I like to spend time with real people and that is what makes teaching fun for me. I get energy from being in the room with the students. So making videos would be boring for me.

I also don’t search out mah Jongg videos, but sometimes when I am scrolling they come up. This is how I see all the incorrect information and it makes me crazy.

My advice is find a real teacher who has been doing it a long time and for a lot of people. A bad Mah Jongg teacher can turn off more people than they excite because learning mah Jongg is hard at first. If someone does not have a very systematic way to teach you it will be so much harder to learn.

Ask around about teachers. Good teachers will have lots of students who will be happy to tell you what learning from them is like. Time is important. Don’t waste yours with a non-expert. It will take you five times as long to learn.

If you have questions I am happy to answer them. If you are unsure you got the right advice ask me. The one thing everyone who has taken from me knows is I will always have an answer and I will give you the reason behind the answer.

If you want to further your mah Jongg knowledge I have a Beyond beginner Class May 27-29 in Raleigh from 6-9 pm that still has room. I don’t represent any companies so I will not try and sell you any tiles.

Three Days, Three Strikes

I was hoping that yesterday would be a better day than the start of my week. After enduring the cutting of my cable line, the cutting of my gas line and the cutting of my water line in a 30 hour period I felt like I was due for a break.

Yesterday started great. I had a beyond beginners class class in the morning at home. Russ was away and Shay had stayed close by me the whole time he was gone. It was her 14 Birthday on Tuesday and we did not properly celebrate it.

I drove to Raleigh in the afternoon for my class at North Ridge Country Club. They are a delightful group and we had a great class yesterday. Russ was flying home while I was at class so as soon as it finished I called him during my drive home. Shay was happy to have him fawning all over her while we talked. Then, while still in Raleigh, I got a call waiting Interruption from my mother’s phone.

It was 9:15 PM and I told Russ I would call him back. My mother never calls at night. People die and she still doesn’t call.

Without giving out her personal info the call was to tell me she was going via Ambulance to the hospital. I told her I would meet her there. I told Russ.

We both met my mom at the Duke er. It was packed full of people in wheelchairs with blankets. What was wrong with my mother was not so bad that it qualified her to be seen anytime soon. After a bit she decided that she would do better to be home in her own bed.

I took her home and Russ went and got her some supplies and delivered them to me at my Mom’s. She was still alive this morning. Hopefully her regular doctor has figured out what is wrong and she will be recovered soon.

Needless to say it was not the end to the day I was hoping for. So much for a better day. I am writing this blog early before I go to Raleigh to teach tonight because when I get home I am going right to sleep. Fingers crossed there is nothing to report.

No ER

No time for real blog tonight. But here is the headline. Don’t go to the emergency room at 10:00 at night for any reason.

Google Fiber Nightmare Day TWO

In the “you can’t make this shit up” department my living nightmare with Google Fiber continues. Just to understand. I am not a Google Fiber customer. I am not having these problems because I ordered Google Fiber. This is Google Fiber running lines down the 300 ft. Frontage of my property so they can potentially sell Google Fiber to someone. We already have AT&T fiber. We have Spectrum Cable. Apparently there is another Fiber company wanting to come in and lay lines. We have T-Mobile 5G. All these companies are competing for the same customers. There are no new customers in our neighborhood.

Last night I sent my blog to some city officials, who it happened to be in a city council meeting at that time and they read my blog. At 7:45 I got an email from the city inspector in charge of these kind of infrastructure builds that he would be coming to my house this morning and would be dealing with the installers.

OK, to today’s saga. I looked out the window this morning at at 7:45 I saw guys digging up my yard again to try and run the fiber they couldn’t do yesterday because they ran out time waiting for my gas line to be fixed after they cut my gas line. They also cut my cable line and the AT&T fiber line.

About 45 minutes later I went to run the water in the kitchen sink and there was no water pressure. F@#$. It trickled down to nothing fairly quickly.

I went out to the street and told the same guys from yesterday that they had CUT MY WATER LINE! The crew chief, who is the only one who speaks English, was no where to be found. I asked these guys to call him. He eventually showed up as the water was overflowing in the hole and running down the street.

I asked him if he would like to cut off my water. He said they were trying to dig it up my water meter. I told him he was not even close to where it is and asked if he would like for me to show him where it is? NO. I told him anyway that the water cut off was on the other end of my property. He didn’t bother to pay attention to me.

He got on his phone to call and report to his boss the water line cut, but not the water department yet. All the while the water is running out of the ground. For the record the water kept running for 3 hours and forty five minutes. They could have stopped it, but would not listen to me.

At that time I had a large group of women arriving at my house to take a class. I went in and taught the class, but not without being Interrupted multiple times.

Eric the inspector from the city arrived. He came to the door and said he would take care of these guys. He is a prince. Then he got the water guy, who did listen to where the cut off was and he crawled under bushes to cut it off. He determined the cut they made was on my side of the meter so I was paying for all that water. That also meant the city would not fix the break.

As I talked more with Eric I came to learn that yesterday when they hit the gas line the first things they were supposed to do after stop digging, was alert ME AND ALL MY SURROUNDING NEIGHBORS so we could evacuate. That did not happen!

I eventually had to let my class go early (time I will have to make up with them later) so I could deal with getting the water line fixed. The nice man from the water department said they were not allowed to fix it, but he would make sure it got fixed correctly.

It took from 8:15 when I discovered the water line was broken, until 2:00 pm before I got my water back on.

In summary. Google Fiber Installers cut my cable line and did not tell me. They cut my gas line and didn’t tell me until I went out and asked why they stopped working 20 minutes earlier. They cut the AT &T line that goes to my neighbor’s house and didn’t tell me, or her, but when she came out and told me she lost AT &T I showed her where I knew it was buried and sure enough there were the cut lines in the hole they dug. No one from Google Fiber said they cut through lines when it happened, even though it was in plain sight. Google Fiber did not tell me they cut my water line, I had to tell them.

Yes, I could live without cable and I could live without gas, as long as it didn’t blow up, but I can’t live without water. We are not done yet. The fiber is not all laid and I still have giant holes in my front yard. What do you think Google Fiber owes me for 30 hours of hell?

If I Blow Up It’s Google Fiber Construction’s Fault

I thought the excitement for my day was over. I took my mother for a Tooth extraction that she had been dreading. That all went great. They gave her gas and she was as happy as she could be.

I got home at 11:30 to find google fiber construction people digging up my yard. I thought we had dodged that bullet when they installed on the other side of the street last week. I never thought they needed to run down both sides of the street.

One man was digging on the corner of my property near my mail box. Since we have cobble stones as the apron from our driveway to the street I asked him not to dig through the cobble stones, but to go through the gravel. He had to call the supervisor who spoke English and he pulled up in his truck with his dog. I asked him to not dig through the cobble stones.

He had his dander up and told me that everything would be fine that they never made mistakes. I told him everyone makes mistakes and I am just trying to prevent this one. I told him I was not accusing them of making a mistake, but he already was thinking I was a pushy white lady. Well, I am loud and bossy, but I just didn’t want my apron ruined.

He eventually got out of the truck and saw what I was talking about and he instructed his guy to dig exactly where I asked. That was all I wanted. I went inside as half a dozen men dug two foot trenches all along the frontage of my house.

I was working inside my internet went out. I checked my cable. It was out. I called Spectrum. Yes my line was dead. I went outside and sure enough they had dug right through my cable and it was sticking out in the dirt.

All six guys, none of them the supervisor, came and looked at it. Sure enough they had cut the line. It was obvious, it stuck out on both sides of the hole, but not one person thought they should come knock on my door and ask me if my cable was out.

I asked for the supervisor to come back. I might have asked for the supervisor to come back to my fucking house. They called him and said, “she wants the fucking supervisor.” In Spanish. Not exactly what I said, but then the supervisor asked to be put on speaker phone and demanded an apology and respect. (Just you wait.)

So he didn’t come back. I did call the google complaint line and they started a trouble ticket for me and 45 minutes later a nice guy named Mike showed up and agreed that this whole thing was handled badly.

Dave from Spectrum (my cable and internet company) showed up and I was showing him around the various places that the cable runs to and around and in my house. In the meantime the machine that shoots the cable underground stops running. It makes that loud “bam, bam, bam” sound so you notice when it stops.” I also have a giant hole in the middle of my driveway preventing me from driving out of my driveway.

Dave and I come around my house. They have not been running the cable shooting machine for at least ten minutes. So I ask them. “When are you going to be done burying the cable under my driveway?” None of the people there spoke English. They were waiting for the one who demanded respect to show back. Then I smelled it. They had now hit my gas line.

The respect demander arrived and called the fire department and the gas company. No one had thought to knock on my door or find me and get me out of my house when they hit the gas line.

“We hit your gas line. We can’t do anything.”

“Why didn’t anyone come tell me?” THIS WAS THE WORST OFFENSE. If you cut a gas line tell the homeowner right away!

So Dave moved his truck from in front of my house to the side road, but I was stuck. Eventually the fire truck came. They did check inside my house to make sure no gas was in there.

It took the gas company another bit to get here and then an army of them came. They dug up my yard and my across the street neighbors. It took an hour but they fixed the leak. The gas guys said the google fiber contractors had hit at least four gas lines this month.

I still had the giant hole in my driveway and I went to see when they would finish. That is when I came upon New supervisor talking to neighbor because they had cut her electric fence that was well inside the easement line.

Then my neighbor Amy came out as they had just cut her AT&T line. They tried to talk their way out of that but I showed them where that line came from on my property and sure enough, a giant hole right there.

So one crew took out four services and they still had not run the fiber on my property. Oh Joy, they come back in the morning.

To top it all off I had to miss my own needlepoint birthday celebration. Michelle brought by cake for me and said it smelled like gas outside. The gasman was still there and said that would disappear. But if I blow up, you know who to blame.

I’m Stayin’ At Your House

Summer is coming…and you know what that means…I’m drivin’ all over and staying with friends. I realized yesterday when I was writing about my Dad that I got that trait from him. Not because he ever stayed with anyone. No. Because he and my Mom left me in America alone when they moved to London and I was 18.

Now to be fair I was in school, but I did not go to London for every vacation. I only went to London for Christmas and Summer. So any other time I was not in school I had to find a place to stay.

Now my parents raised us to be very self sufficient. They did not worry that I wouldn’t have a place I could go. They never even asked particulars about where I would be going. No. I had a car and they knew I would figure it out. My father did give me one bit of advice. “Go and buy a case of Robert Mondavi Chardonnay and keep it in your car so you always have a gift when you go stay with people.”

Now when I was 18 the drinking age in Connecticut was 18, but I went to school in Pennsylvania where it was 21. And let’s not talk about driving liquor across state lines, as well as how bad it was for the wine to live in my car changing temperatures.

Anyway. I did follow his instructions and always brought wine wherever I went.

So now that summer is coming I am thinking about all the places I am going to be going, Atlantic Beach four times, Figure Eight, and up and back to Maine and all the times I am going to need to find someone to visit.

I realized yesterday that I was trained early to just impose on people and stay with them when I am in their town. I am brazen. I tell people I am looking for a place to stay. I have friends I come right out and ask, “Can I stay with you?” They all know they can say no, and they do if it is inconvenient. But here is the thing I promise if I come stay with you I am not bringing you a bottle of American wine that has sat in my hot car for three months.

Happy Heavenly Birthday to my Dad

If my Dad were still walking the earth he would be 87 today. He made it to 83 which I consider quite a feat for him. See, as a child he often started a story or lesson with this sentence, “I have to tell you this before I die.”

To a young child that is a terrible way to start a story. It just made me think, “Are you about to die?” And not hear another word after that.

Ed was a man of big gestures. When I went to summer camp he sent a care package to the whole camp of “sweet honesty” tee shirts and merchandise. “Sweet Honesty” was a teen fragrance that my Dad invented at Avon where he worked. I have no remembrance of the fragrance but the shirts were really cute in pinks, greens and baby blues. I was very popular giving out the loot my Dad sent to every camper and counselor alike.

When my Dad worked at Avon in NYC he would take me into his office a couple of times a year. I loved going on the train with him, even if he did make me stand in the bar car on the morning trip in where he would spread his paperwork out on the bar and work, since the bar was closed in the morning. He also made me stand in the bar car on the ride home as it was open.

He had a corner office on the 27th floor of 9 W. 57th st. over looking the Plaza and Central Park south. It was so glamourous. When Avon moved to the building they let each executive decorate their own offices and my Dad hired their Wilton Decorator, Warren Fett who was mainly an antique dealer.

My Dad knew that the antiques he would buy for his office would be depreciated as office furniture and when he left Avon he bought them for cents on the dollar. My breakfast room English Yew chairs still have the Avon inventory tag on the underside of them and the leaf green leather that Warren of Wilton, as my father called him, had put on the seats.

Even though my Dad started a lot of lessons with the “before I die” line, I did learn so much from him. I know that my data and analytical skills come from those lessons. Also, my interest in other people.

My father spoke to everyone wherever he went and usually started out the conversation with them the same way, “Where are you from and how long have you been doing this?” CEO’s to Taxi drivers all got the same treatment. Consequently I remember people by where they are from.

I was lucky to have so many good years with my Dad, although not all of them were good. I try and not think about when he was difficult, but he could be. One thing that was very hard was he usually was smarter than everyone else and sometimes that would frustrate him. But when he wanted something he could really turn on the charm and usually win people over, as long as he had not already called them a dope to their face.

I hope he is in heaven having a grand old time in the smart section and the dopes are in a different section. I would hate for him to be considered difficult in heaven, but chances are…

Dear Friends are Important

Jan and I went to lunch today to celebrate my birthday, quick before her birthday gets here next week. We tried Common Market up by East Campus since neither of us had been there. We had an enjoyable lunch mostly talking about our dear friend Holley.

Holley was just such a one-of-a-kind and we know we will never meet another like her. We also talked about how sad we are for Holley’s family and her very close friends. The thing about having a known illness is you have a lot of time to say everything you ever wants to say. Holley made it easy for us to do that. It was just such a long goodbye.

After lunch we had to go back to my house for the HVAC guy to come and do some maintenance. Since he parked Jan in we played many hands of Siamese mah Jongg. It was great fun and a wonderful way to celebrate my birthday with my dear friend.

I am just thankful that her knee replacement is healing well and her hair from her cancer treatment is growing back. After what we went through with Holley I need to keep my old friends around.

In the last couple of years I lost three dear long term friends. I know that I can’t live long enough to make new thirty-year friends so I have to keep the ones I have alive. Stay well dear friends. I need you. .

Farewell Holley B.

If I had to cast a person to play the roll of Sunshine my number one candidate would have been Holley Broughton. Sadly, I am too late to create a production with her as the star personifying brightness and light in the world because she lost her battle with ALS on Tuesday. But a battle she put up. Who she was had nothing to do with ALS and she never let us forget that.

I met Holley very soon after Russ and I moved to Durham. My first memory of her was at a party when she came up to me and said, “We are moving to your neighborhood.” Since I was not sure we had met previously I just went along with it. Turns out we had met a lobster night and I am so thankful that she made the connection with me because I quickly recognized her as one of the most fun and positive people I have ever met.

Holley was sparkle and substance. She loved fun, but was also tender. She was spiritual and a good time. Everything about Holley was creative. Holley absolutely had more friends than any human because she was genuinely interested in all people and she met each one with kindness and generosity.

Many years ago she had a girls party at her house. The theme was “high school prom.” That was funny since it was just girls. Some people came in their actual prom dresses. I thought, one – who still has their prom dress and two – who can still fit in it. Well, a couple of people, who took Holley’s theme very seriously. I came in my Lanz nightgown since I went to an all girls boarding school and Prom what not exactly a thing there. Holley embraced my choice as “fabulous.” Because Holley always was affirming everyone else.

Holley and I shared many parallels as we are exactly the same age. When she was in her early twenties she lived in Washington DC at the same time I did. We know our paths must have crossed many times because we haunted the same places in Georgetown at exactly the same time.

She and her husband Paul and four children, George, Penn, Julia and Weezie vacationed many many years at Pawleys Island as my family also lived there and spent many times there.

We have lived in the same neighborhood, belonged to the same clubs and been friends for thirty years. We have played games, cooked and eaten good food, planned and gone to many parties, fundraisers and meetings together. We have handed out ribbons at swim meets together, made flower arrangements, chaired garden club meetings, celebrated birthdays, done arts and crafts and up-cycled all kinds of stuff Holley dragged home.

Holley was a constant in my world. She was best friends with others, but she always made you feel like she adored you just as much. She always greeted me with a “Hi Honey.” I can still hear her saying it even though I have not heard her speak an actual word is almost a year.

When Holley first let us all know she was diagnosed with ALS, she could still speak and eat and walk, but her voice was affected. Holley was a professional talker so this was hard. She didn’t let any grass grow under her feet as she met this diagnosis with same “I can do anything,” attitude. Her positive spirit and generosity helped lead us through dealing with her ultimate demise.

Her will to live was greater than anything I have ever seen. And her gratitude for each day was hard to argue with. If there was a master class for how to exit the world, Holley could teach it.

So even though she prepared us well, the light in the world dimmed when her tiny ravaged body finally gave in and she crossed over into the heaven she believed in.

Holley leaves behind more loved ones and friends than can fill a stadium. My heart is broken for all who knew her, because if you met her you loved her.

Holley instructed us to clap when she left. Just like a star exiting the stage, I clap for her lifelong performance as sunshine embodied. Holley B was a true original and there will never be another. I am so thankful I was lucky enough to have my life touched by her.

Voice Threatening Device

I was gone from 7:45 this morning to 9:45 tonight, teaching in Cary. By the time I got home it was pitch black out. I pulled in the driveway and opened my car door to the worst crying sounds of coyotes. The sound was right at the end of my driveway.

My neighbor had told me she had heard them a couple of weeks ago, then another friend had posted that one came after her while walking her dog early in the morning. She had screamed at it and it did not deter the animal. The sound this animal or animals were making was awful.

So I did what I do best. I screamed. No, I did what Carter calls, “voice threatened them away like the operator on the ADT commercial.” I screamed so loudly and so low it almost scared me.

The crying stopped immediately. I hope I scared the shit of it. I screamed again and again so I could get in the house without it thinking about crossing my path.

You know, with the government we have right now I feel like we have enough to worry about out. Wild animals do not need to become a thing. We will not be letting Shay go outside alone. Not without her “voice threatening companion.”

Sad Day

It’s a sad day. I can’t go into the particulars as it is not my story to tell today, but will be more transparent soon. I just want to say Bye, Bye Miss American Pie. We are all clapping and sending love. I promise to write more tomorrow.

Birthday Month Continues

My friend Shelayne is always good about celebrating my birthday. Today she took me to lunch and gave me a gift. Traveling and teaching keeps me from getting to spend enough time with friends so I appreciate how hard Shelayne works to find a day that both of us are free.

Since she had five grown kids and ten grandchildren 7 and under she is crazy busy too. Thank goodness she retired or I would never see her.

When Russ got home tonight I told him Shelayne gave me an Apron with boobies on it. He was quite excited.

Points For Mother’s Day

Russ and I took my Mom out to a new restaurant for Mother’s Day lunch today. Thankfully Gradutions were taking place during lunch time so we were able to snag a reservation at a new place, TeTaco in downtown Durham.

My Mom is always happy to be taken out to lunch, especially on Sundays so she can eat half her lunch and take the other half home for dinner. When I was away a couple of weeks ago Russ took my Mom to some hole in the wall Mexican place and he thought she liked it. So he suggested this New Mexican place.

It’s not that she likes Mexican so much. She just wants to go anywhere. She made more than one comment that this place was so much nicer than the last place. Russ needs to read the cues, just because she is happy to go out does not mean she liked the place. Thankfully she did like TeTaco.

My favorite thing she said was, “Mother’s Day must be a new thing. I don’t remember ever doing anything for Mother’s Day before.”

She might be right. I don’t think we ever made a big deal about Mother’s Day when I was a kid. I remember other women coming to church with orchid corsages, but none for my my mother.

My Dad always cooked breakfast on weekends so Mother’s Day was no different than any other Sunday. We always brought my mother coffee in bed on everyday, so Mother’s Day was no different. She had us well trained to wait on her on regular days. No wonder she didn’t think it was celebrated. She was smart, get us to do things for her all the time.

Well, now we have messed it up and taken her out on Mother’s Day. Guess I know what we are doing next year.

Graduation Chaos

It’s graduation weekend here in Durham and Chapel Hill. Both UNC and Duke hold graduations this weekend. Why these two schools can’t come together and negotiate holding graduations on different weekends I do not know. To top it all off they are always on Mother’s Day weekend.

This means we have to stay at home and hunker down because the roads, restaurants, hotels, stores, sidewalks, parks and every other inch of our two towns are packed with joyous celebrants.

Thankfully it was a rain free beautiful cool day here today. This helps so much. Sadly the forecast for tomorrow is rain all day so I am unsure if they can even have the big stadium graduations. That is sad, but by the time they get to Sunday morning everyone is partied out and just exhausted. Time to pack it up and go home and celebrate the mothers who made these graduates.

We stayed home all day, gardening and cleaning the furniture on the terrace. I also got in a huge amount of needlepointing.

I am looking forward to the student and parent departures and having Durham quiet for a bit. Congratulations to all the graduates. I hope you all have jobs soon. Welcome to the real world. It’s not half as much fun as college.

Pink Throne

I was cleaning our Pink bath room today. It’s all original to our almost 80 year old house. The grout is original and in perfect condition, the tiles are all perfect. They may not be in style, but it is so well built I hate to change it. When we redid our primary bathroom our contractor told me that he had never seen such a well built bathroom and hated tearing out our old tub because it had an eight inch cement base that he said could hold a tank.

So as I was looking at our pink, low toilet I noticed that the seat could use replacing. I have not begun the search for a new matching one. I just remember our good old plumbers telling me once that we might want to replace the toilet just to get a higher one.

I have never understood why in the world anyone needs to replace the porcelain part of a toilet unless is is cracked or has a hole. How can the porcelain go bad. Yes, the workings inside the tank can need to be replaced or the wax ring, but why the throne?

Now styles change. Like higher and longer toilets now. And then there are the fancy toilets with heated seats and built in washing contraptions. Those are just things that can break. But the basics of a regular toilet should not change.

I am not in the market to change out my pink toilet, only the seat. As far as flushing goes it works great. It is basically over a hundred year old technology and I don’t anticipate getting what goes in it out of the house in a new and different way in my lifetime. If it ain’t broke…

Pope Leo

While I was in the middle of my last day of teaching the fabulous ladies in Wilmington my wrist started buzzing and my phone was blowing up. A new Pope had been elected…An American!

My Dickinson Book club group was weighing in. Rose, the catholic among us reported that newly renamed Pope Leo had gone to Villanova in Philly, where her boy friend is a professor. I was getting insights from one’s who know.

It is quite exciting to be alive when the first American Pope was elected. Especially since it happened fairly quickly in terms of Vatican voting. The reports that I got from the insiders is he is a social justice guy. Feels good to me to help right some of the social disorder coming from this part of the world.

I feel like perhaps it is a divine hand of God saying, “Hold on now.” This gives this old Presbyterian great hope. God bless Pope Leo.

Wilmington is Tops

I love coming to a new club and blowing a whole new group of women’s minds by showing them new ways to think about Mah Jongg. These women in Wilmington are just a really fun group and I have been having a blast with them. Thanks to Margaret Robinson for keeping after me to come here.

This afternoon after class I returned to Jon and Lane’s house and met Jon’s friend from college, Tim and his husband Daryl who are visiting from Hawaii. I got to hear all about Jon in College. We went to a great seafood restaurant and then to Jon’s favorite ice cream spot. Where is Lane when ice cream is on the agenda?

My time in Wilmington has been jammed packed. Classes tomorrow and then I drive home to be with Russ and Shay. Need to rest up for one more big day tomorrow.

Wilmington Mah Jongg

For months and months I would get a regular message, “don’t forget about coming to Wilmington to teach Mah Jongg.” Nice Margaret wanted me to teach at Cape Fear Country Club and was determined to find a date. Finally last fall I suggest this week in May and it worked for them. So at last I am here at Cape Fear.

I had two giant classes today and then came up to my friend’s Lane and Jon’s house on the water to stay. Sadly Lane is home in Raleigh, but Jon is here taking his wooden boat building class.

Jon and I went out to dinner and now I am ensconced in the room upstairs that Russ and I always stay in with the best view of the Intercoastal. Day one is always the longest day since I drove down early this morning to set up for the 9am class. I am ready to crash so I can get up and do it all again tomorrow. I am just so happy that I have finally worked Wilmington into my rotation.

Some Friends Know You

Birthdays are a good excuse to be with friends. Aging with friends makes it so much better. My friend Michelle gave me a card that says it perfectly.

Thanks friends !

Young at Heart

Shay is going to be fourteen in two weeks. Her eyesight is not great. Her hearing is not as good as it used to be. She has never been much of blood hound in the sniffing arena.

I was standing in the dining room and saw a mother bunny jump out of our secret garden which is surrounded by three walls of our house. I didn’t think anything of it. Moments later Shay asked to go outside. She ran from the front door around the house, jumped up on the patio and ran into the tiny secret garden. I didn’t think anything about it.

I looked out the dining room window a few minutes later and saw Shay rooting round the corner of the graden by the down spout. A few seconds later I saw some small brown furry animal run away from Shay. I screamed as I saw her with another small furry animal in her mouth.

Russ ran outside and threatened Shay to drop what ever she was holding. I watched the first escapee run to another corner. It was a tiny baby bunny. Then I saw Shay drop her newly acquired friend and it ran the opposite direction.

How in the world did Shay find this buried nest of baby bunnies? They were no bigger than her small toys and every bit as squeaky. Since that incident she has continuously returned to the secret garden looking for her live toys. Thankfully those babies have not returned to the secret garden.

Yesterday Hannah gave me a tea towel from London with a bunny on it. Now Shay wants that. She is bunny obsessed, but we have our eye on her.

Thanks for the Great Birthday

“Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?”

Apparently, the answer is yes. I had a lovely day. Russ helped we with some gardening. And I am hoping it is going to rain tonight to help me even further with the seeds I planted today.

I got so many nice messages and calls from so many friends. I played games. Russ vacuumed and did five loads of laundry. The only bad things is he took the sheets off the guest room bed and they were still in the washer when we left to go to Michelle and Richard’s for a Debby Day party. Shay was not happy we left her home and she went in the guest room and ripped up the foam topper on the bed.

While she was doing that we were having a great time at the party. Richard baked me a coconut cake for my birthday! That was above and beyond.

Russ took me out for my annual hamburger at Bin 54. I ate a couple of bites and brought it home. It will still be my annual hamburger tomorrow.

Thanks for making it a wonderful birthday.

33 and Still Going Strong

Thirty-three years ago today Russ defied his mother’s advice and married me. Thankfully he says it was the right decision. Thankfully I did not know she told him he could change his mind. She had terrible cancer at the time so I don’t hold it against her. I am sorry she did not live long enough to see what a good match we are to each other.

I count my lucky stars that he kept after me even when I did not pay any attention to him. How did I miss that six foot five guy who kept hanging around me at trade shows? Once I did talk to him I quickly discerned he was the smartest person at our company and funny too. Turns out he is smarter and kinder than almost anyone else I know. What a perfect combination.

It’s been the most wonderful 33 years, which seems like three, except for that 26 year old daughter we have. I am looking forward to the next 33 years. If the trajectory continues they will be pretty great.

What Happens When Daddy Is In Charge

When it comes to Shay’s grooming I am usually the one in charge. Not of the grooming itself. The pandemic grooming already proved that is not easy.

I am in charge of finding a groomer, arranging the appointments, taking Shay, instructing on how we want her to look, picking up and paying. This week Russ volunteered to take Shay and pick her up from the groomer. Since I had class I was thrilled he could do this.

Shay has been going to see Rae at Bull City Groomers since December. The first time I brought her she was long over due for a cut and so she had to get trimmed way down. Last time her cut was not as short.

I did not discuss exactly what I wanted this time either with Rae or Russ. So when Russ dropped her off he had no idea how to the answer the question, “how do you want her?”

“Regular?”

So Shay came home very clean and very short. It’s probably a good cut for warm weather, but she looks very French. Russ loves all things French. He would love it if we just up and moved to Paris, even though he does not speak a word of French. He does like bread and cheese and small French dogs. Too bad ours is Australian.

A Day Off

What a glorious day it was not to have to go anywhere. I got up early, despite telling Russ I was going to sleep in. I was glad I did. I went out in the garden and planted the four tomato plants, four zucchini and three basil plants I bought yesterday. Then a sprinkled a bunch of arugula seeds in the arugula bed. I am trying to space out the planting of arugula a week at a time so I can have baby leaves whenever I want them.

After watering I went to planting the flowers I bought yesterday. I put annuals in pots and perennials in the ground, but I eventually ran out of steam and left some annuals to do tomorrow.

The air conditioning repair man came to do the check up on our units. So glad he did because apparently one of our units was not running. Everything in life is upkeep.

When he finished I got the car washed and ran over the Chapel Hill Needlepoint and saw friends and stitched. I just don’t get to do that enough. Nancy mentioned she was making Chicken piccata for dinner and that sounded like a great idea. I stopped at Trader Joe’s on the way home. I also have not been in a grocery store in weeks and I thought Russ would appreciate it I picked up somethings for a change.

Michelle came over and we harvested four gallons of mint for the Kentucky Derby. I do have way too much mint right now, so if you need some let me know.

I didn’t clean anything other than the car, I didn’t teach anyone, I didn’t look at the news. It was a nice easy day that I really needed.

And then I got a nice surprise early gift for my birthday from Carter. Nothing could be better. Well the chicken piccata on a bed of arugula was the icing on the cake. Thanks for the inspiration Nancy.

Last New Card Class

Today I went to Greenville to teach my last new card class for 2025. (Don’t worry if you missed it, the zoom version of the class is recorded and is still available for sale.)

Thanks to Martha for setting up this class. It was great to see old friends and meet a whole bunch of new players. I was happy to see Lee up and walking. She even brought me a beautiful bouquet of Peony’s from Vann’s own farm. And thanks to Lynn for taking me and Martha to lunch.

Since I was in Greenville I decided to stop at Plant and See to get some plants as a treat for finishing 15 new card classes. What a great idea this was. Four inch geraniums were $4.99 and a four pack of tomato plants was $1.50. If my car wasn’t so full of Mah Jongg I would have bought more, but then that would just make more work for myself.

Thankfully tomorrow will be my first day off in eight days so I can plant all that I bought.

I’ll post tomorrow what I create.

Criss Crossing the State

Woke up in Cashiers. Had breakfast with new friends Suzanne and Brandi from Tallahassee. I am going to miss those chef’s at High Hampton, but boy it’s a good thing to be away from all that deliciousness.

It was a beautiful day to drive home. I had thought I was going to stop on the way home, but I drove straight through so I could get home to Russ and Shay. I am thankful to be home for a few hours. I have to get back on the road at the crack of dawn to go to Greenville. Almost crossing the whole state in 24 hours.

Working the weekend really messes up my orientation as to what day it is. I am thankful that I did not miss my peony’s blooming. The season is short but so beautiful. I did come home to my new business cards Carter designed. I adore them.

Tomorrow is my last new card orientation class and then my Super Bowl month is over. I love April, but it’s a lot of work.

Four Days, Seventy New Friends, Five Thousand Laughs

Today was the final day of High Hampton Mah Jongg. As always the new people arrived a little fearful that it would be hard, but all excited. The returning friends arrived knowing it was all about fun. By today everyone knew more than they ever thought they would learn and having had way more fun than they excepted.

For me, my voice is tired, but my spirit is revved up. High Hampton drew people from all over the south who were just as lovely as they could be. The hardest part is that there were 70 of them and I just did not have enough time to get to know each one.

Tonight after the classes were all over a few special students came to the farewell dinner in the wine cellar with me. It was so great to get a chance to get to know them personally. In the small world connection one my students, Kelly, grew up in New Canaan and Wilton when I did. We laughed about having to climb the rope in middle school. And then she told me she went to Duke and was just at her good friend’s house in Durham, Mark and Mary Eileen. I told her they were my across the street neighbors and friends.

I am ever thankful for the wonderful staff of High Hampton. They did everything they could to make sure everyone had fun. One manager thanked ME today for bringing the fun. How could it not be fun?

I wish my college Professor Bob Cavanaugh was alive so I could show him that it was good to make sure everyone is always having fun. He once told me that not everything was about fun. I have created a business based on fun and everyone is laughing.

Mah Jongg Student Love

I know I am the luckiest person on earth. Not just because I have a loving family and cutest dog, (who by the way does not have cancer), but because at this late stage in life I get to do the most fun job and meet the nicest people.

I can honestly say in the tens and tens of thousands of people I have taught there are very few I just didn’t like. There was that one girl who arrived at class drunk and drank all the way through class who heckled me like I was doing stand up and not teaching her a game, but outside of her I can’t really say I don’t care for all my students.

It is a pretty good bet if you end up in one of my classes I am going to like you. So when High Hampton called me to ask if there was something I could do for two students who signed up for this class before we changed the dates and because of the change they were missing one day of class, I offered to have dinner with them and then play a little if they wanted that as a consolation.

I was fairly certain I would like them even though I didn’t know them. They were not so certain and they did some research on me. Well thankfully after finding my blog they didn’t cancel coming to class all together.

After class today I met Paula and Layla for dinner. They were delightful. Since they were in the class of 50 I had not really gotten to know them and it was so fun to learn all about them. It was a most fun evening ending with playing a little mahj. They promised to return next year, which I look forward to.

As they left two sweet girls, Kate and Kerry who had come in January and returned to this class came in to play mah Jongg followed by their husbands. One husband said, “If you want to know who your biggest grouppes are they are right there.” I adore them because they challenged me in class in January and then came back this weekend and told me that they did what I taught them and have been winning so much more. I had to get a picture with them since they promise to come back again when I come back.

Then there is Mary who came in January and is back. She is a major student of Mah Jongg and she follows all the major Mah Jongg influencers and teachers. This afternoon after class she read me a text from one of those mah Jongg big wigs she is friends with. Mary had told her something I had taught Mary. This teacher had never done it that way and she told Mary she would think about it. She recently texted Mary and said she had thought about it and said, “I think that teacher you had at High Hampton must be very smart.” Wasn’t that nice of Mary to tell me that? I think it was also great that as an expert herself, she even thought about it and considered learning something new.

I know that I am just so lucky and am so grateful to meet these nice people and to have them come back and spend time with me more than once.

High Hampton Day 1

Well, I thought we did well here in January with great classes, but today broke the record. Full class of beginners, which is perfect, but break the bank class of 50 in Beyond beginners.

It was wonderful to have so many repeat students. I love having them tell me, “I was dead set against organizing my tiles the way you told me in January, but now that I Win all the time the way you taught me I can never go back.”

Convincing people to change the way they play is the most fun part of my job. It’s like they know there might be a better way, why else would you take a class, but when I tell what that way is, they fight it sometime…and then.

The saddest thing to me is the number of students who show up having been taught to NOT do the Charleston. Any teacher who tells you, “no reason to ever continue the Charleston you are not going to get anything,” should not be allowed to teach.

Of course I can’t do anything about those teachers, except keep spreading the truth, the way and the light.

We had a lovely cocktail party after class tonight and then I went and had a quiet dinner. I was invited to eat with students, but I just needed to not talk for a bit. Imagine me not talking!

I was just enjoying my cucumber smash, being happy that the first day went swimmingly.

Good Timing

Today was my driving day. I had to drive from Durham to Cashiers, in the North Carolina Mountains to High Hampton for Mah Jongg Weekend. Thanks to this over sharing blog I had two wonderful invitations from four of my favorite people I don’t get to see enough.

First on my way through Ashville I stopped to have lunch with my cousins Mary and Ward. They have a place there, but never seem to be there when I am nearby. So I was thrilled was when Mary contacted me last week to say she was free and to see if we could get together.

The timing could not have been better. I pulled up to their place at 11:30 and I met her newest dog Teddy and then we went to lunch. It is always good to catch up with Ward and Mary even if it was a short visit.

I got back on the road and made it to High Hampton in time to get at the bugs worked out in a Two TV system for my classes that start tomorrow. I checked out my room for the weekend and it is as lovely as the last room I stayed in. The inn left me a fabulous gift bag of sweatshirt, tote and yummy smelling candle.

I couldn’t dawdle because I was off to Margaret and Jeff Jones’ house for dinner. They moved away from Durham years go and have been missed by so many. They now live in Kansas City and Highlands. Seeing them felt like I had just been with them. Margaret made a delicious dinner and I could have sat at their table all night, but I had to get back to the Inn to sleep before classes begin tomorrow.

It was such great timing that both Mary and Margaret were here when I was too. I just forgot to take pictures of everyone, but trust me they all look great.

Play the Hard Ones

I know I teach a game for a living. If I had known when I was younger that this was a possibility I would have started sooner. Teaching a game is the most fun job. Today in class I had a student who said, “This was so fun because you are so funny.”

“It’s a game. It should be fun and if your teacher isn’t funny you get bored.”

So I have to keep my skills up as a mah Jongg teacher. This means I am always challenging myself to try the hardest things to see, How hard are they?

Today I played online and won two hands that are in the hardest singles and pairs section. I want players to feel encouraged to try those harder hands. If you don’t try them you will never win them. I tried two and I won two. It is possible. You can do it.

I’m winding down my Super Bowl month of new card classes. Last night was Smithfield, tonight was Greensboro. Tomorrow I am off to Caishers for mah Jongg weekend at High Hampton and then next Tuesday I have Greenville New card classes. Then I’m done with new card.

Anyone who wants a the zoom video of the new card class it is still available for purchase. I’ m not as funny on zoom as I am in real life, but you will learn a ton. And maybe you can play and win harder hands.

Dog Smart

When I am at home Shay does not jump up on my bed. No, she walks in and looks at me until she gets my attention. Then, while holding my gaze, she backs up into my bathroom like a truck backing up with a “beep, beep, beep” sound to alert others, “hey a big ass truck is backing up and you better get out of the way because he is big and is not responsible if he drives over you.” So as Shay backs up into the bathroom, once she hits the bath mat outside the shower she sits her ass down and looks up at me.

This is my cue to get up and pick her 23 pound body up and lift her onto my bed, where she stretches all 23 pounds out diagonally in the middle of the bed, legs pointing out as if she is flying through the air, thus rendering the rest of the bed unavailable to any grown human.

She acts like there is no way she can jump on that bed. “Carry Me is her motto.” She was stand her ground next to the bed, no matter how enthralled I am in a TV show, or needlepoint or playing mah Jongg online. She gives me the evil eye until I look at her. Then the beep beep beep back up dance.

When I leave the house and she is standing on the landing at the top of the steps giving me that look, “you aren’t really going to leave me here all alone.” And I do. And before the garage door is even down I can hear the crying as if she just watched Old Yeller and found out the dog died. That’s when I wonder how long is she going to cry or is it just a guilt trip until the car is out of the driveway?

I eventually come home. The house is silent. No crying. I call out to her, “Shay?” She does not come running. I come up to my bed room and there she is. On the bed and she is giving me this look. “I’m stuck up here and need you to come and pick me up and put me on the floor.”

I look at her and say, “If you can get up on the bed without me when I’m not home then you can get off the bed without me when I am.” And she just looks up at me and gives me that look, “But I thought I would snuggle with you when you pick me up.” That is when I know she has me exactly where she wants me.

Poor Baby Shay

Getting old sucks. Shay had two night time accidents that involved me doing a lot of laundry Today. She slept through both of them. Probably because she heard me talking about her dental cleaning this morning.

Russ took her to the vet very early for her to have her annual cleaning. Doodles have terrible teeth. She has to be put under for this cleaning and coming out of anesthesia is not great for her. Today beside the teeth cleaning the vet found s suspicious node on her tongue. They removed it and sent it off for a biopsy. Please pray it is benign. We won’t know for 10 days.

I had to leave a lovely birthday lunch for Michelle earlier than I wanted to go get Shay. She was happy for me to free her from her holding cell. She came home and is so stinky, I think from her night time accidents. So Russ is going to take her in the shower. She has no idea. This is going to be her least favorite day ever. Teeth cleaning, node removal and a bath all on the same day. Horrific.

God’s Creation

Easter is late this year, but the Lady Banks Rose over our garage made a great Easter Show. The rose over the front door was spectacular this year, but it blooms before the white one on the garage. The front door one is yellow and the garage has a little yellow on the right side, but majority of white on the left and center.

The yellow always arrives first. On the front door it is because it gets warmer faster thanks to more sun, but even on the north sided garage the yellow comes first. The white smells of the most beautiful fragrance which is not too over powering.

I am glad they come in succession and not all at the same time. It would be such a waste to have them come and go together. The flowers and fragrances don’t last long, but are so worth it. The greenery is lovely on its own, but I live for the spring Flowers.

I noticed hundreds of buds on the peonies. They should show up in time for my birthday after the lady banks have had their final bow. I love how nature daisy chains the blossoming of spring flowers.

I learned in Chris’ sermon at church today that Sunflowers soak up radiation that leaked from nuclear disasters and takes the radiation out of the ground. The sunflowers clean the earth of the toxin. Beautiful and miraculous. Isn’t that amazing?

Happy Easter to all who believe. I hope you enjoyed God’s creation today, believer or not.

A New Sport For Us

When Russ asked Carter and Claire what they wanted to do when they came to visit they nixed the same ‘ole Durham Bulls game for a new sport… the NC Carolina Courage. The professional women’s soccer team in Cary was a sport we had never gone to see.

So Carter purchased tickets and Russ planned the outing. We went first to our new favorite hole in the wall Chinese in Cary, Chengdu 7. We had an early dinner of so many random things spun on the lazy susan, making it easy to taste each dish.

Then it was off to the Wake Med soccer park five minutes away. It was dog night and that made it fun to see so many cute dogs, but we were glad our little brown dog stayed home because she would not like sitting in the stands.

Claire explained all things soccer to me. I was still confused about why the refs made certain calls and not others, but Claire said my instincts were right, there were some bad calls. The San Francisco team scored one in the first half and that was enough to beat the courage. I felt like they didn’t make enough attempts at goal, proving the old adage, “you miss 100% of the goals you don’t attempt.”

It was still a fun night out doing something new. It was certainly a popular night with kids as they were plentiful and boisterous. The two kids behind us who were probably both under 8 were the most informative commentators. I learned almost everything I needed to know from them. If I ever go back I hope I sit in front of them again.

Thanks to Carter and Claire for a great suggestion.

The Perfect Spring Day

What a glorious day it was. With the sun shining Carter, Claire and I drove out to Creedmoor to Lyon’s farms to pick strawberries. Since it has not rained this week the strawberries were fantastic. It took us barley twenty minutes to almost fill three baskets that we brought with us. It was less than half the cost to pick them ourselves as it is to buy them at the farmers market and way more fun.

This afternoon Carter and Claire surprised me with a visit to the WaDu for high tea to celebrate my birthday early. Russ had arranged this excellent celebration which was very sweet of him. It turns out Claire had never gone to high tea before. I was happy to be there when she learned why Carter and I love this as our favorite meal.

What a happy afternoon we had leisurely sipping our tea and nibbling on scones while we talked for hours. This perfect afternoon was made all the better because we came home to play Mah Jongg.

I am one happy Mama. Love having my girls here for a visit.

So Many Fun People

I started the day delightfully with my friend Jane Brothers. We had tea and yak’d away. She told me she was a Colonial Dame, and I surprised her with the fact that my cousin Mary was the “president” (don’t know if that is what she is called. I call her the Dame of Dames) of Colonial Dames. Jane was very excited to tell me all the people I have taught Mah Jongg to who are Dames. I guess I am just the teacher of Dames.

As we were shooting the s%#$ I got a text that my car was ready. So I had to hurry to get ready to go. I jumped in the borrowed black land cruiser they had lent me which was parked right next to my original black Land Cruiser which the Brother’s now own.

I pulled in and my car was just coming out of the car wash. They had changed the oil. Rotated the tires, fixed my tailgate and it was all free. They unloaded my stuff from the Land Cruiser and put it in my car and I was off to Rocky Mount. THE BEST SERVICE!

Had lunch at Benvenue with Catherine Combs who brought me to Rocky Mount the first time years ago. Then we had new card class. Such nice people. I was sorry I had to leave quickly but I had to get home.

Carter and Claire flew in this morning for the long Easter weekend. Russ took my mother with him to pick the girls up at the airport so they could have a little visit.

It was so great to have C & C in the house. Russ picked up dinner from Thai Cafe which was nice so I didn’t have to do anything. Carter and Claire challenged me to stay up with them. We snuggled on the big sofa and had the best time talking. I started the day yaking and ended it the same way.

It’s been a Big talking week. Hell, it’s been a big talking month. I pray I can get some sleep. So many fun people tends to keep me awake. Not like Russ. He passed out long ago. So many fun people.

Kinston All Day and Night

I purposely plan my tour around Kinston so I can spend as much time with my friends here as possible. See I have already taught the whole town how to play mah Jongg. I have taught most of them many classes. Without new students the only class these friends need is new card class once a year. I am thankful that they all come out for a morning class and pay rapt attention. Thanks to Kristi for organizing the class.

The other reason it’s great to be here is I get my car serviced at Massey Toyota. I bought my car there because they are the best car dealer in the state. It was the easiest buying experience I ever had. Mike Martin delivered the car to my house and spent hours in my driveway teaching me how to use all the gadgets.

I Called Mike up last week and said I needed service and I didn’t know what number to call. He said I did, his number. So he came and picked my car up from class. Turns out I needed a part that was not on hand, but I needed a car. So they gave me the owners land cruiser. If my car is not ready tomorrow when I have to leave to go to Rocky Mount, I am driving the Land Cruiser back to Durham and they will drive my car back to me. Now that’s service. That’s the way it is in Kinston.

After class we had lunch played some Mah Jongg and then went back to Jane’s for a rest. We needed the rest because we had a Mexican dinner at a great new restaurant in Downtown K-town called Plaza del Mariachi. Oh my the portions were so much to big, but practically the best Mexican food I have had outside Mexico.

After dinner Jane, Becky and I met up with Warren at their church for a Tenebrae service for Holy Week. It was a kind of service I have never heard of but great,y enjoyed. Warren introduced me to their priest when we came in and before Warren could tell him my name, or relation to them the priest said, “Are you the mah Jongg teacher?” I guess my arrival into to town was well announced before I got here. Even clergy know about Mah Jongg.

Eastern NC Tour Week

It came as a surprise to Russ that I was leaving this morning for my Eastern NC Tour. He said, “You don’t have a class today on your website.” I asked him if he was only using my website as the way to keep track of me?

I told him that the class I was teaching today was at a club that did not allow non-club members to join so I didn’t put it on the website. Not every class I teach is made public since they are private. Always consider only about half my classes are public. I easily have at least twice as many classes as you can see.

I drove down to this private class in New Bern. I taught it and then got in my car to drive to my friends Jane and Warren Brother’s house in La Grange, my eastern North Carolina Home away from home.

As I was driving the deserted stretch of 70 between New Bern and Kinston I noticed that there were emergency vehicles on every over pass with their lights on and big American flags. It went on forever. Since it was the middle of no where, the over passes were many miles apart, yet on each one there were the trucks with lights.

I asked Warren if he had ever seen that and he said yes, but neither of us knew why. I looked it up online and it turns out to be the custom when a first responder passes away and their body is being driven on that road to go to their final resting place.

It was a lot of vehicles. A nice tribute, but I hope no emergencies were happening at that time since so many first responders were out on the over passes.

I am always grateful to Jane and Warren for having me. It makes life easier that I don’t go home and turn around and have to drive back out here. Tomorrow will be my big Kinston Day. It’s more like a celebration for me than a class. I need to rest up for all the fun we will have.

Zoom Class Day

Three years ago my Lyford Students asked me to do a new card class on Zoom. I didn’t do it that first year, but did it last year and it worked out great thanks to Russ.

I scheduled one this year and had a record number of people sign up for it. They didn’t have to be on the zoom if it didn’t work in their schedule because it was recorded and then they got access to the recording.

Now I have a new card class all recorded if anyone can’t get to a live in person class and just wants to watch the video. Doing. Zoom class is not as satisfying because I don’t have big audience interaction. My friend Carson texted after class to say she loved it. I told it it is much funnier in person. She said it was still funny. So I told her I don’t get to hear her laughing alone at home. She suggested I ask the audience to unmute for two minutes and they could just laugh.

I am back to on the road for real live in person classes, just the way I like them.

Message me if you want to buy the recording version, or better come to a live class.

Master’s Sunday Just Got Longer

When you have been watching the last round of the Master all day, following Rory, go up and down and then at the last minute Justin Rose ties on 18 what do you do?

I did not watch Justin all day. He’s great, but now I am totally invested in Rory winning and he has to go to Sudden death with Justin.

Who knows how long this will take. They are both great players, but I would like Rory to win quickly.

Back to watching. By the time you read this it might all be over, but you will have to find out who won yourself.

Doing Nothing

In April I try and not plan anything on the weekend. Except this year Carter and Claire are coming to visit next weekend. That means this weekend I have to get the house ready for their visit.

I should be working on my garden, but it’s just too cold. So I cleaned the house. Russ did a bunch too. I didn’t do it all because by the late afternoon I finally hit the wall from my class week.

So instead of planting or cleaning I just watched TV. I feel so bad that Russ has held down the first all week and is going to do it again this weekend and I just laid around. But I have to recover. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Six Hours Driving for Three Hours Talking

Class seven in four days was at the Beach today. I drove down to Dunes club three hours. They always are so welcoming. Jordyn had set the room up great and laid out a big spread for the students.

Thanks to Maria for getting this class going. There were a number of people who were “Dana Mah Jongg” virgins. Not all of them made it all the way through class. I wish I knew what they were expecting and if they learned what they needed to know. .

One of my favorite things is when I find out that my students also know my friends. What I like even more is when my students are my friends.

Sue made sure we took a photo together to send to our friend Lane to show we were together.

I listened to a great book on my drive and made a two mile detour off my route home to stop at the new Wawa in Goldsboro and bring Russ home Wawa soft pretzels. It seemed like the least I could do for him since he has been doing all the chores at home this month and will continue until new card month is over.

Week one of classes is done and it was the big week. Next week I’ll be back on the road.

From Senior Living to College Campus

Two more new card classes today. The first one was at Hayes Barton Place in Raleigh. The dear sweet Ann Janvier organized the class there. We met early to have lunch with Margie, Jill and Bit and we got to go see Bit’s fabulous new Apartment before class.

If I lived in Raleigh I would be putting my deposit in on a place at Hayes Barton Place. It is so beautiful. Every person I met who worked these could not have been nicer and the lunch was delicious. They hired the chef from the Umstead . No sysco food there.

The class was attentive, smart and inquisitive. I think I will go back and teach some more classes there as it was a most wonderful group to teach.

From there I had to just go down the road a bit to Meredith college. I adore the whole Alumae office women and they run a great show. We had a hiccup as someone double booked our auditorium, even though my ladies had booked it months ago, but like all smart woman they pivoted quickly and we moved to a different space which was even better. Thanks to Hillary for redirecting all the students from the original space to the new space.

This class was also a fun filled group. I should be exhausted from six classes in 52 hours, but I really am just energized. Tomorrow a quick to to the beach and back. One last class this week.

Nine Hours, Talking

That does not sound unusual for me…nine hours of talking. Except this was nine hours of me lecturing hundreds and hundreds of women on the new Mah Jongg card. I don’t use a microphone because I am the loudest woman on earth, but even for me nine hours is a lot of talking.

This is my hardest day..it is my biggest day in terms of numbers of people, but it is also a day filled with so many wonderful students who are friends. I loved seeing so many smiling faces. There were new people who had never taken any classes from me and I hope they weren’t too shocked. I am a lot.

I had some extra fun today. Lunch with Mary Jo and Holly between the morning and afternoon class. Then after the afternoon class I played mah Jongg with three students and it was so fun. One beat us all three times! I won one game quickly, which I hate to do with students my, but they all did a great job holding their own!

I appreciate what great attention everyone pays when they are having to sit in chairs for three hours. I hope everyone learned a lot!

Thanks to the Carolina Country club for always treating me so well. I tried to take a picture of one of my big classes, but apparently I was too exhausted and this is how it turned out.

Tomorrow only two classes. Practically a vacation.

One Down, 14 to Go

It was opening night on New Card classes. It’s always good to play to a home town crowd at my own church even. He had a big turn out. Thanks to my friend Jan for making the door and taking notes on mistakes on a couple slides so I could fix them.

My friend Jeanne did the yeoman’s work of bringing my Mom and helping her read the card. I think her eyes are at the point that I need to get her a giant card. She hung in there as long as she could.

There were very attentive learners and good questions. One of my favorite comments came from a text after the class. “I always feel smarter when I leave your class.”

That is exactly what I want for all my students. I don’t want to show you things, I want you to learn how to see things for yourself. Teaching you how to think is my goal.

My favorite thing is to tell everyone something and watch the lightbulbs go off as they are just getting a new concept. There are a few of those ah ha moments in this class this year.

The best part about Mah Jongg, expanding and using your brain in new and different ways. You should do it for your whole life.

Big Birthday Celebration

No matter how busy I am I am never too busy to celebrate two dear friend’s big birthdays. Needlepoint Nancy hosted the most lovely dinner in honor of Kate and Deanna. I volunteered to bring a nibble so I made pimento Jalapeño cheese stuffed tomatoes with candy bacon on top. I should have taken a photo, but they were gone too fast.

Friends from near and far came to sit around Nancy’s table. It was especially wonderful that Ann Hannon came all the way from St. Louis and drove her famous homemade rolls to the party. Elizabeth drove back from Orlando today for the party and we were thankful she did not crash getting back.

Nancy made the best Shrimp salad with an orange twist, farrow and arugula with Parmesan which was my favorite and a massaged Kale with blueberries. The show stopper was an ice cream cake with three dog toppers. Kate was very happy.

Kate and Deanna said some heartfelt words about how much this group of needlepointing friends mean to them. It was a warm fuzzy moment.

True to form, Nancy had a party favor for us all, the cutest bags. I was lucky to get a lobster roll one, which was very fitting.

I don’t get to sit around the stitching table as much as I would like to, but I love these women and am happy to celebrate with them. Happy 60th to Kate and Deanna.