Other pix

Here's 2 of the people we saw today! Nastya (Anastasia) and her mom! Oh, she's a doll-baby! Walking and chattering now! (A post worthy of exclamation points, apparently!)

;)

Ok- what I did was throw out the bait (pic of a drunk in Ukr) to see what fish would bite... that's all. And the catch of the day was my there-are-no-drunks-in-Ukr-friend; just seeing if he was swimming in these waters, that's all! Giggle. Ok- not nice.

Trude and I have this thing where we see what we have to do to make someone twitch... You know- how much can they take before they break? Well, really, it started out with T liking to make me twitch- and she's very good at it- knows where all my buttons are. But I can sometimes get her. But I accidentally discovered a few years ago that it's much easier for me to make this other person twitch (T is basically unflappable; well, all I have to do to her, though, to see some action is wait to water the plants till it's time to leave to catch a bus/train...) You know- like a pesky kid sister. It's irresistible. And you'll notice there was only one person who actually knew what that was a pic of. (The grave error committed hasn't been identified yet, though and just happened again; any English majors?)

Going fishing

I'll let you know what I caught later.

What is this picture of? (And tell me what kind of grave error I just committed.)

Really fishing.

Sort of. This kid was casting over and over. Every now and again he ''caught" a leaf from the tree. Saw him on a walk recently in a town with a river running through it. So we can assume he was practicing.

Let's Just Say...

not everyone who snores is an overweight slightly inebriated Ukrn male-type. Let's also just say it was a BIG day for some of us are really tired and that can lead to symphonic sleep. And let's say I'm glad for earplugs.

Now let's say Good Night! ;)

#6 tram

Had to make an emergency run up to Lviv the other day to meet a bus with another packet of mail and misc stuff. So, I got to ride my all-time favorite #6 tram. Now, that's just a euphemism. Or an oxymoron. 'Favorite' and 'tram' don't really belong in the same neighborhood. Trams tend to be the cheapest form of transportation and as such, are jam-packed usually- and they tend to be full of...how shall we say it? 'low-end' types? hmmm? Well something like that. One of my very first life lessons in Lviv (which is the first Ukr'n city I ever lived in) took place on the tram. Trude was teaching and she didn't have time to shepherd me all over the place. Plus, I was, after all, 30 years old- like, Grow up and get a life- you can do this. Helllppppppppppp. I can't. Yes you can and you HAVE to. There are no options...unless you're going to hire a neighbor kid to be your escort or something (she didn't say that- I just thought of it). She showed me the route. My teacher came to our apt and took me back to her place so that I'd know the route. I bravely launch myself off of the high dive and into the pool of Ukrn humanity...and try hard not to sink. So, I have to take a tram up the hill to my bus stop. The #6 tram, in fact. The very first time I took it, I found out a horror of #6 trams: there are uniformed terrors called 'controllers' who are allowed to rove among the hapless passengers and demand to see their tickets. So, I just manage to squeeze myself onto the tram and I'm on the bottom step and am jammed in there like a sardine. One of thousands of sardines. Two stops later, here comes a controller-animal. Well, I haven't seen hide nor hair of a conductor and I sure don't have a ticket. I had to ride that awful tram clear to the end of the line trapped between 2 controller animals who were trying to make me understand that I had to pay a fine (then I felt like I was being assaulted- now I know that's just their manner). I finally did pay (and even got a receipt- T told me that meant I was really lucky since they had to turn that in and obviously it was official. That made a lot of sense to me, I can tell you). I never did manage to convey to them that I'd have been more than happy to buy a ticket had I had a chance. So, I learned to track that conductor like a bloodhound and demand a ticket. And I did. And I don't think I have yet to ride the #6 tram when I didn't have to show my ticket to a controller.

Which brings me to the present. That was 2000. Now it's 2008. On the tram. Buy my ticket. See several people pop their tickets into a funny little apparatus and punch their tickets. This is new. Idly, since I'm standing right by one of the gadgets, I do the same thing. Punch. Tap tap. Controller. Ticket? Yes, Sir, here it is. Fine. Moves on.

2 min later, Big... HUUUGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEE commotion right behind me. 2 teeny-bopper girls. Fighting with the controller. 2 more controllers (all male) join the fray. After 5 mins of escalating altercation, I move to the front of the tram. And then it nearly broke out into a fist fight. The whole tram joined in. Shouting, yelling, screaming, bad words and stuff... and then the controllers took them chickens off that tram. Peace.

Get my pkg. Back on the #6 tram. Same story. Again. Yelling at passenger. Only 1 difference- this time the controller is a woman. She looks (come to think of it) like Hillary Clinton with black hair. And she's all business. And you know what, she handled that all by herself. And that puny wimpy little punk of a man who was trying to mess with her- never had a chance. Haha.

The un-funny part of this? It was nearly me. See, all these people had tickets! They just hadn't popped them into the puncher-thingy. I need to go now and try to get my blood pressure down again. I just hate it when they throw a curveball... and they do, they do... and you'd think they'd post a sign... something like "Dear #6 Tram Passengers. You now have to punch your ticket right here [arrow to puncher] or our thugs- umm, controllers- will relieve you of 15hr."



Here it is. Looks innocent, eh?
Here's the inside of it. You can even see the puncher-thingy by the window at the front left, just above that one grandpa's head.

A really dreadful thing just happened...I dropped down in this chair for a break and thought: I'll see what's new in the (ie: MY) world. And what's new is that somebody has more April posts than me... really, I thought I was the manic poster this month. And here somebody has even more than me. OK, now that's not really why, but I did just happen to notice that she has bopped around on here more than me this month...not that THAT matters.

It has been awhile, though, and I'm sure you're dying to know the most recent what, where, and all about life here in my little corner.

Sharon A and I met up yest am in Odessa. We had breakfast at McDonald's. This is significant because McD's b'fast here means stuff like fries, fish sandwiches and cherry pie...and coffee. You actually get used to eating stuff like fish sandwiches for breakfast. Esp if it's at McD's. See, over here, for me, it's still sort of a treat to eat at McD's. It's so Ohhhhhhhhh- it's so normal. So "You-want-another-sugar-with-that?-Ok-Here-you-go.-You-don't-have-anything-but-that-10,000-hr-bill?-No big-deal-here's-your-change." (Those hyphens are for you, Duane.)

So, while at McD's, I saw this:

2 people mopping, You say. Well, not quite. 1 person mopping... and 1 person drying! Yup, drying. When I first got here, there was a whole passle of bro wrkrs up in the capitol and they did their best to look after me until Trude got there. One of the things they dutifully did for the little newbie was take me to McD's for the 'taste of home' thing. And that day, for the very 1st time in my life, I saw the mopping-drying thing. Bill was there and he said- It's a new Olympic event- synchronized mopping. It's one of those little things that's indelibly stamped on my memory. Now you know it, too...

Then we headed over to the bus station to wait for (of all things)- the bus. (Tricked you there, right?) The bus station is at the top of a High Hill. This hill:

When we lived in Odessa, we saw this hill a lot. We caught the bus to our apt on the other side of that street. It looks innocuous from here- but it was a gamble with death each time getting there. First, there's no curb or sidewalk to stand on, so after you've gone down the 110 steps you stand right at the edge of the road and wait for a break in the madly speeding traffic then dash across 2 lanes to the center. Once again, not much space there...but there are 2 tram tracks. So, look to the left- no tram- jump that track. Look to the right, no tram, jump that track. Now, look to the right again. 2 more lanes of madly rushing traffic- only there is a light not so far down the way which gives you regular breaks so it's a bit easier here. Then, you wait for your bus. That spot was never designed for picking up and dropping off passengers but has become a major stop because of the bus station and the way public transportation has evolved.

So, onward- get on bus, bus leaves. Approx 2 hours later we stop in a funky little place called Tatarbunariy. I like it because it's got such a cool name. I mean Ta-tar-bu-na-riy... it just sounds exotic or something. I also like it because it's the only stop along the whole route, so it's an ideal place to race for the bathroom.

It's also always got a row of ladies sitting on a bench selling popcorn (see pic to left) and peanuts, sunflower seeds. Not to mention a slew of kiosks/store-lets where you can buy Snickers and Pepsi (or whatever). (Can you find SA in this pic?)

And there's always a bunch of stray dogs hanging around to add spice to your life. Like these little dudes. (The barn looking thing way in the back is where the bathrooms are, if you ever need that info- well, I told you.)

Kids are cute...

When they're yours. (Or if they're related to me...)
Case in point: Little Mr adorable lisping 3 year old? It's 1 am. He's awake. Whining. Crying. Talking. Mom has the light on. Really- he's not so cute anymore. I've ended up in compartments with small children before... often enough that I nearly started to cry when I saw this one tonight. It's nearly always a worse than usual night. They can't help it, of course. Neither can the parents. But I wish there were special SEPARATE places for them. A separate train for them... Or better yet- a private plane for me... he can have the train. Bah Humbug.

The next morning: It was an awful night. He never did really sleep again. They finally disappeared sometime around 5. Yawn. I'm looking for coffee.

Let's not forget!

Trude's words Tues am (to me): You've lost weight!
Oh, I said. I guess my skirts are all baggy all right.
Back at the apt- got on the scales. In fact... 10 pounds since last time I weighed! That would be several months ago. Let's party!

Note about all this- I mostly don't pay a lot of attention to my weight. It's there and I'm happy - so this was a bit of a surprise.. I can't say I've had much appetite for a good while already (except for chocolate cake... Ha ha) but I feel good. Have also been taking walks again- long ones- so it shouldn't have been a surprise, really.

Training

We're 4 adults and one child in this compartment. A mom and her lisping adorable (but spoiled) 3 year old son are across from me on the other bottom bunk. On the top bunks we have 2 barely-out- of-their-teens girls. First they talked about Jesus and his death and then they got out a deck of cards and told each other's fortunes. It was all very serious and somehow connected. Much of the Orthodox Church belief is very much superstition.

Having a ball, as always, on the train.

More from Sun evening

Statue is of the Kozak war-lord Bohdan Khmelnytskiy- a national hero. Just outside the train station; the city is named for him.

Other is the front of the apartment building where the girls used to live. Theirs was the balcony 2nd from the top (4th Floor). Note: when I first got to Ukr and saw the apt buildings, it felt like we all lived in the projects. Now it just looks normal.

Happy Birthday!

To Trude! And we celebrated it with her! She landed back in Ukr Mon and early Tues, I met her bus and hauled her home. That just happened to be her birthday, too. So we had pizza out at noon add then dirt pudding with worms in lieu of a cake for dessert with A's family that eve. (They were all intrigued with that concept as had never had oreos before and gummy worms in it-whoa!) Everybody was happy to see her again.

T and Ala went North this afternoon. I'm on a train heading for Odessa. This is Orthodox Easter weekend so most folks are free for a few days. We have weekend specials, then a few days in the boys' field before Sharon A and I head over to her field. Have a good weekend all! Xo

Random pix

These are some of my favorite things from the room I just moved out of! Pix on the wall, cool towel and the balcony door.

Last one

Battery of my iPAQ is dying, so this is likely the last from me for awhile. Ala is sick to her stomach- has been all day & we don't know why :( - so I'm eating supper alone, which is a real shame. That's it in the pic and it's one fantastic pizza. Plus really good O.J. Plus espresso- Lavazza, in fact. Right outside the train station. (Now don't you really feel sorry for me?!) And, see that cover-looking thing on the left edge of the pie? That's the book I just got. It's a Paulo Coelho in Russian. Don't know if I should even admit to reading him. He is downright weird sometimes but also fascinating sometimes. I do try to get a decent look at what it's about before diving in since I once rather regretted not doing that. So, So Long for now!

P.s. Lani- you're right, this would be even better with a couple of screaming kids. No wonder I just realized that the sun is shining!

Addendum

to the things I've seen recently list.
(did I already mention this?): Gypsy Mom, begging, with toddler in her arms. Baby eating chunk of sausage. Baby drops sausage at my feet (we were on a bus). GM goes all way to back of bus and comes back to front. As she is getting off bus, she sees sausage, stoops, picks it up and eats it. Gypsies are an interesting breed. It's like a free trip to the zoo. Only not quite. They are, after all, people. But they often behave like animals. There is something weirdly fascinating about them. Sometimes, though, they're too much for delicate digestive systems. We won't talk about what happened to Sharon A and her sisters. This time, we really won't... But it was nasty. I have no idea where the notion that Gypsies are romantic comes from. It didn't start here, for sure.

Big dog that barked

at me while I was meandering. Hey Pup- I ain't scareda you! I'm not scared of most dogs...and especially not of you. I made friends with the pooch in L. that hangs out by our apt. He sleeps on the door mat now and tries to open the door when he hears we're inside. His name is "Bim" and he's a pushover...especially if there's chicken involved.

Question

Is it bad to walk down the sidewalk stomping on and smashing box elder bugs? Is this like stomping on ladybugs or is it like stomping on cockroaches?

I Love Spring

Tree near our apartment.
View from kitchen window in west bache.

Once more, taken with the cell phone, so not so sure how they turned out.

Killing Time

Well, Friends and Neighbors, we are camped in the 2nd floor waiting room of a train station- I wonder how many hours of my life I have spent in this train station- hundreds, maybe thousands...lots, for sure. Had hoped to catch the 15:11 train back to our other bache; they don't sell tickets ahead for that train (this used to be a very common practice but it's the first time in several years that I had to wait till the day of the train before tickets went on sale)- anyway, left the apt in L early, got here shortly after noon- huge long lines all over (aside: this station is a main transfer point for heaps and heaps of trains, but very few originate here; and today, as always- there were 2 cash registers open to serve hundreds of passengers- I used to hate- I'm not kidding, sorry- this station-then I spent less time here and my feelings sort of mellowed- today, they're right back to where they were)- anyway, long lines, long wait, people jumping lines, crabby customers, crabby ticket agents.
Which came first- the crabby ticket agent or the crabby passenger? Answer at the bottom.
After a LONNNGGGG wait- no tickets at all left on our train. None. Zero. Not for love or money, as they say (not that I tried both). There are, however, tickets on the 23:43 train (that's nearly midnight, in case military time isn't your thing). So, we have tickets for nearly midnight. We're upstairs waiting with the gypsies and obnoxious music streaming cell phones of 10,000 teens...bet you can't tell how much I love this. Only 9 hours left to wait. I think I'll go check my bag and take a foot tour of this un-beautiful city.

Answer to Q: the crabby ticket agent came first. If you've ever been in Eastern Eur, you'll know that's true. It's in their job description. Yell. It intimidates people. If you make a mistake, fix it by bawling out the person who saw your mistake.

misc

Things I've seen recently:
-a man who spit...and it flew back and landed on him. I've been nearly spit on so many times (and actually spit on once)- so I found this gut-bustingly funny.
-a person with absolutely the purse that I want- way cool, nice long strap, just the right size and color, not to mention practical, etc, etc...person was also wearing a cool (dress-type) scarf- looked a lot like one Trude used to have. Only problem- this was a boy-person with the cool purse and scarf.
-all the beautiful blossoms on the shrubs and trees bombed off by yesterday's rain.
-an adult male, proly about 40 yrs old, chewing and sucking on a huge bone- like possibly the foreleg of a beef- raw as can be; still pink. At a local market. People were gasping, spinning their heads around for 2nd looks and then veering way off course to avoid him. (This is NOT normal behavior- at least not here.) Aside: another example of the vast difference of culture or whatever- Ala's reaction was: A child might start to stutter if he saw it. I was like- Oh, yeah. Stutter??? Ok. I guess stuttering just hadn't occurred to me. Is it really caused by stuff like that? I somehow don't think so, but there's a whole lot I don't know, of course.

Re Linda's list of 3 sounds you like and 3 you dislike (I can deal with this one):
Like: spring birds chattering outside the window; piano music; flute music.
Dislike: the sound of your alarm clock going and going and going- shut it off, already, and next time put it under your pillow so you don't wake the rest of us; tinny cell phone music; cell phones ringing at loud volumes (jarring, repetitive noises in general- there are an awful lot of cell phone noises that I just plain don't like- for instance, just disable that beep beep for the keypad- you don't need that; shut off the crazy sound effects of your game, you don't need that, either; in fact, you really don't need most of the extra sound effects on your mobile phone. Nor do you need the Windows sound for booting up or shutting down/ sleeping your computer- it's pretty obvious what's going on. Thanks for listening).

smell the sweet smell?

That's me... ahhahahahaha

Since the water came on and all... and if you have any questions, read the post below this one.

So, back to more serious things. I'm soon leaving this field- can't believe it. T gets back next Tues (don't tell anyone, but it's her bday that day... and she'll be... teehee- she won't be 38, that's for sure...); I'll head off to the south for specials and then have a day or so of running in Bill's field (one of my favorite places, for sure), help move; then Sharon A and I head north and east to her field- back where I was in Dec. It'll be nice to see those folks again. It's a busy busy area- but that's a good thing. Tomorrow am, we catch a train (w00t w00t), see the students in T and hopefully go on right away to L for the night. Fri we have plans (real honest-to-goodness-it's-all-arranged plans) to see Teresa! Should be back here by Mon.

Something I keep forgetting. Coming back on the train this past Mon, I saw a funky looking locomotive a few tracks over- it's obviously used for some special purpose, not for hauling passenger and/or freight cars around. On the side was stencilled: Defectoscope No kidding. I blinked, looked again. Defectoscope. I need one of those. I wonder if they come in purse-size? (Trude wants me to leave her my sneakoscope when I leave; well I hate to break it to ya, Little T, but my sneakoscope done had a nervous breakdown- I was too much for it.)

tata and have a good weekend Y'all

water water everywhere

but not in our house... we've had a pour outside all day but no water here in the apartment at all. This is why we have buckets of it sitting around- it happens about Oh, once a month or so. When I was out, this is what I saw at the corner about 20 seconds from my window:

I suspect this is why we have no water. There were some huge old pipes visible in that even huger hole. Let us sincerely hope that they get it put back together and whatever else they have to do before night... one of us wants to take a shower... as opposed to a spit-bath. (You wanted to know all that, didn't you...)

madalena hadalena

I saw her today. Really, I did. Once upon a time back in Indy Mary A the Younger (or Little Mary, as she was called- she was, by the way, 1 of the first 2 Moms I had after starting in the work- and she was Oh So Special)- Well, Mary taught us this crazy children's song about Madalena Hadalena Hootensteina Wootensteina Hogan Mogan Logan- MHHWHML had 2 teeth in her mouth, one pointing north and the other pointing south. Well, I was walking down the sidewalk just now (ok, an hour ago)- here she comes. And she stops and asks me some obscure question that I totally didn't get- but I do see that, indeed, there are only a few very lonely teeth in her mouth- 1 here and 1 there. What? I say. She smiles- Mumble jumble hummm hooo how does your umbrella open? Uhhh... uhhh...

excuse me, I have to take a giggle break.

ok, snerk merk snort- onward. Ummm, I said *giggle* you push a button here. Bigger smile. She showed me the button on her own umbrella handle and happily explained how you could push it and the umbrella would just *pop* open *POP* just like *that*. I had to leave fast- I couldn't say another word without busting out laughing. Really, she made my day. (it's raining you know; doesn't take much.)

secret passageways in the mud

Good Morning! It really is time for a new post- but my well of creativity (or whatever that murky hole is) has sort of dried up. It's raining- just a steady pour- not a downpour, just a pour... do you understand? I need to go out and find some sort of water filter (again)- and it's raining. So, I'll head out the door, go around the corner and wade through the first mud puddle. A hearty thanks to the neighbor who has fenced and cordoned off the only semi-dry path through that muck. Maybe I'll stop by and wipe my feet on his mat on the way home... or maybe not. It was just a fly-by thought, a drive-by shot in the cranial dark. Cut through more puddles, but with concrete underfoot this time. And then, teehee, through the secret passage. Really, this is one of the reasons it's such a trip to be here. There are all sorts of little nooks, hidey holes and tunnels you can go through- and many of them are unofficial- just narrow spaces between buildings or fences or whatever. When the bulk of the people get around on foot, then they will automatically seek out the shortest way everytime. A lot of times sidewalks are a waste- they don't go where you need to go- this explains all the well-worn paths through the grass... now covered in mud. Here's my secret passage for today:

the approach (this was taken on another muddy wet day a few weeks ago)

almost there in we go...

This is nothing like the one up north at Valya's- that one is wild. It give's me claustrophobia. It is between 2 apartment buildings that don't touch at the bottom...but they sure do further up. I'm not sure what that means exactly. All I know is it's the shortest way to the bus stop; you dive into a very narrow space- and look up and see nothing but building over your head. I just hope they never sort of lean over and tumble when I'm in that crack...

If you were wondering, alas and alack, we did not see Eleanor on Mon... nor did we see Fred and Sally- who are only here for a short while and whom I haven't seen for a couple years anyway. The best laid plans of mice and men (and schemers such as me) often go awry. I hear the Dew arrived anyway- awfully good of you, EL.

On a happier note- I have a skype-date with my mom after lunch (just before she heads off to work)! Yay!

What happens to unruly cupboard doors?

This is in the kitchen. See the cups, glasses plates (and other junk)? Well, the goofy thing got stuck open... yup. It has these supposedly cool hinges with a catch in them- open and lift alllll the way to the top- magically stays open while you jump around on your tiptoes shoving cups and glasses into the cupboard. Then, launch yourself into the air again, gently lifting the door up a tiny bit and *magic* it comes down and the door is closed. Only this time, no amount of cajoling, threatening, urging, whispering or other words ending in "ing" would convince it to close. I guess it got tired of its up and down life and decided to stay up... This is what happens:

We just remove it. Looks ultra cool, I know... but it no longer sticks out and annoys me. And if someone doesn't like it, well, my feelings sure won't get hurt if they sort of decide to fix it... I kind of like it this way, though. The whole cupboard is mounted so high up on the wall that I never could close it very easily. (Note: when Pat and Trude moved in here a year ago, they reportedly said to each other: Anita might live here someday, so let's mount this cupboard and this mirror somewhere low enough so that she can use them, too... ah hahahaha- a very sweet noble thought. I guess you actually have to be short to know how low is 'low enough'- all that shows in that mirror when I stand in front of it is just above the bottom of my nose and up...)

In closing- the tree outside the apt with all the wood-burning stoves. It's lovely!!!! (Yes, Laura, you can borrow this shot.... HA!)

Really cool

Those last 2 posted twice each. Whoops... I'll fix it Mon, likely. Have a good weekend! Happy WI specials!
Aleigh- I saw your post. I'm walking in my heart. Hugs.

Change of pace

Hello there! Guess where we are? (I love this blogging stuff- you're always within reach- closer than tomorrow, tomorrow- which is always a day away- but not you, Oh No. There you are and here I am and I'm in the mood to run my keyboard mouth, so here goes.)
Yes, so where are we? Well, if you guessed the train, you win the cookie! It's been a wonderfully uneventful and quiet trip. We had 2 teenaged university students 'in our space' with us for awhile- boys proly about 18 or 19. I love that age- remember what it was like? These kids were totally full of themselves, totally happy with themselves, completely in charge of their world and happy to talk about it at high volume so that all of us could enter in to their UberCool world with them. And, Oh the THINGS they can talk about- the adventures, the highs of life- and their moms and grandmas! (And Folks, they love their moms and grandmas.) Really, they were cute. They talked themselves out after a few hours; a dead cell phone battery mercifully spared us from also sharing their tinny music with them; they both laid down and had a nap- just like the good kids they are. Don't ya love 'em? Really, I enjoyed them. (There must be something wrong with me today...lol- no, it was the lack of bad music. I can endure just about anything if there's no annoying music and no overly offensive odors around. I grew up on a dairy farm; that does not count as an offensive odor...just wanted to clarify that.)
So, we're about 2 hours from our destination. Have the weekend here and then hopefully go over to the boys' area Sun pm or Mon to see Eleanor L! She promised to bring someone (I hope not Ala- not that I have anything against it in theory, of course... of course)- yes, she's bringing someone a can of Mountain Dew...if that someone is there to see her. This seems a minor thing to do for a can of Dew... Ahhhh.... I'm getting 4 day's anticipation out of the deal, too.

One more for the odds and ends

Wrote letters for the first 5 hours of this trip. Now it's time to take a break. Went through the pix on my (soon-to-be-Trude's-again) cell phone and found some of the utmost interest and significance. I'm sure.
The house shot is from near our Western Ukr apt. It's a fairly typical style for that part- I love the bubble with the pic in it; have only seen that over in that part of the country.
Can you tell what that short green plant is? Some think it's the epitome of late spring/early summer happiness (I totally disagree, but it is pretty)- Yes, all you tastebud-ily handicapped people- that's the first rhubarb of the year. No, I didn't pick it. I happily shot it and walked on.
Two little boys playing on the train (the dark haired one is the son of a high-class gypsy- fairly unusual to see them this cleaned up and 'respectable').
The table in the last (or first or remaining- no idea how they'll show up) pic folds down and turns those 2 seats into 1 bed. That and the one above it are the 2 worst beds for an all night trip... Unless you count where Trude slept once- up on the shelf that's for luggage and extra bedding. I won't tell you how she fell off in the middle of the night...or how she landed on the heads of the people who were trying to sleep sitting up (they'd put their heads on the table- too many people, not enough beds). Nor will we talk about how she apologized to those poor souls and promised to 'try it again'- this was before the lingually-gifted T knew all her Ukrn verb tenses and other fine points. Oh my, those, I'm sure, were the days! Joan heard the commotion from afar and somehow knew who was involved...

Happy Birthday

(Officially that is the most-used title for my blog posts)

TO: Lana! Yay!!! I sort of remember your 16th- or rather, the lead-in, since we were on rounds when it actually happened, as I recall! Hope you're having a super day!! (late addition of pic- had to go find it...of course it's off of L's blog! This is my favorite way to get pix, of course- right click and save- can I be arrested for that? kidding)

But, the real star of this post is (sorry, L, but there's just no adult around who can compete with this Sweetheart!): Forrest will be 6 tomorrow! He loves school (kindergarten), cowboys and monster trucks... and too cool for school sand race cars. Love the hat, too!

In other news- Aleigh beat me to my own punch, so if you've seen her post today, you already know this. Do you know about feed readers and how wonderful they are? Did you ever wonder how in this wide world I manage to keep up with a zillion blogs (which I love!), plus the news, plus my funny-bone Mental Floss Blog and Neatorama, plus the 'Garfield without Garfield' strip as well as my other fav funnies... well, the secret is called Google Reader, which is my RSS feed reader- subscribe to anything you want that has an RSS feed and Google Reader collects it all for you (you thought I just sit at the comp all day, right?! Ah-hahahaha)? All you do is open up reader (there are various feed readers around) and read all your stuff there, boom, in very short order. It's a humongous time saver.

most of you won't get this

My mom sent me this last night. It's a link to a site of some guy who married an ex-Amish lady, learned the lingo and can now sing in it. I guess he sings other stuff, too; but his PA Dutch warms my tiny little heart. There's no way to learn it except to have someone to work with- no books (that I'm aware of)- in fact, it's only a German dialect and not a written language...but it's my very own native tongue. English came along hard on its heels and I don't use this much now except with my family... I miss it.

It's funny because I've had plenty of mixed feelings about my heritage, sometimes had a hard time with my feelings... but I love the language. Period.

Back to the songs. There are some from my childhood here! Unreal... I never EVER thought I'd hear them on the web! #'s 6, 8, 9(!!- Mom, I always loved this one!!! tune's a bit different, though), 11 (I'd forgotten this one!), 13, 14, 17- I used to know them by heart and they come back pretty fast and easy. And then there's the last track- the love song, sung at weddings, I believe- (first half done in the traditional way). I still love to hear this. You don't get the full effect here- there's not enough people singing... but it gives me goosebumps anyway.

So come on, if any of the rest of you know this stuff, leave a comment! haha- I want to know who you are!
edit: just talked to Mom- haha- this guy's wife is some sort of relative of ours- her maiden name is same as our last name. What a hoot. So does this matter? Nope- esp since we're proly all related if you dig deep enough... I mean us Amish! haha! Did I ever tell you what my brothers used to do for fun? Well I'm not going to right now... but it was funny... and it made reference to the mental abilities of kids like us whose parents are distant cousins ;')

I started this a few days ago, got derailed and left it as a draft... so now it's late, but anyway! To Erin! (I just love to do this! giggle) If you don't know this lady- well, I feel sorry for you! xo

[another pic shamelessly swiped (and then cropped) from someone else's page]

you were waiting for this

I'm on my way out the door to help Sashko with his English... he has a quiz tomorrow.

Did some cleaning; did laundry- not folded yet; checked into the water filter some more. Conclusion: they cannot do it here- missing too many parts (hiss and spit) so will have to try to return it. This thrills me no end. Yup.

But this particular post is all about this:

Sharon A may remember the time I lit a candle to help encourage me as I studied- my 2nd year here. And then forgot it was there. And bent right over it. And lost some hair. True story.

We're cleaning today- wheee... now that is ummmm well, yes. It needs doing badly.
So here's a link of a little blind girl on the piano that was on Google reader. Interesting.

Oh yes- and I'm packing, too. In 16 days I'm off to parts other... as in down south for a weekend of specials and then over east to be with Sharon A again. So, well- so long for now and wish me luck... please... uggghhhhhh

Dear Laura

Originally uploaded by viofemme

This one's for you! Just noticed it on my Yahoo home page checking my stuffs before going to bed. xo

stuff

See this piano? It's one of the most beautiful pianos in the whole world...and believe me, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the piano. The piano itself, when played, makes you sorry to be alive... but see it's owned by someone who is one of my favorite people... someone who is a prince- a real prince. I love to see this piano...because that means there's hope of spending some time with the owner, too. And yest, once again, no plans worked out so we had the whole afternoon with D- and his spirit is like balm to my own. If he were my dad, I'd hug him; he's not, so I just shake his hand and hope that he somehow knows how much he means to us.

Here's the entrance from D's living room to his (future dining room? At least I think that's what that room will eventually be).
And the staircase at D's. This cell phone does no justice whatsoever to his gorgeous house. He's a woodworker and a master at his trade. He's worked on it for about a hundred years... at least 8 anyway. Before this stairway appeared, it was just the metal frame with (sometimes) loose slabs of wood for steps and no railing. I hated hated going up and down them- my knees turned to jelly every time. I told him the most beautiful part of the house is the staircase. And that is no joke. I no longer fear for my life & have peace of mind. And peace of mind is a beautiful thing.

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This is the conductor on last night's train. She was one of the better ones. I really wanted a clear shot of her but didn't get it. She was cute to the max. Well, cute in a mack truck sort of way. Mack truck in a skirt way. she moved pretty fast, too (that blur is her carrying the dirty sheets back to her compartment this morning). She called us 'dear little one' and 'my children' (doesn't sound as endearing in Eng as in Rus'n- moyi detky) and said everything with a smile. Really, maybe she needs a place to live... I should have asked her. The very best thing about her? 2 things: she gave us our sheets for the beds right away when we got on the train (which was 11.30 pm- you don't like to wait a long time at that hour) and she didn't wake us up this am until 6...***************************************************
See this granny? She was waiting in the train station for hours with us. She was all bundled up- wearing a winter coat, scarf and hat... and totally completely fragile- tipsy, even. Hardly could keep upright on her own. And it wasn't because she was drunk or anything. She's just 'oldish'...

This is what she had tucked under her arm-
Can you tell what it is? It's a bad shot, I know. I was sort of casually pretending to just hold my phone out there and not look at the screen- so couldn't really tell what I was getting... didn't want to offend anyone you know.

(it's a skateboard)

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And wow, that station was full of an interesting assortment of people last night. A drunk old man listening to a sort of clunky fake iPOD who kept trying to talk religion with Ala; another drunk who was walking around touching random strangers- on their arms and faces- (He disappeared for about 10 min and veered back into sight holding his mouth- which had somehow morphed into a bloody pulp. I'm glad that part happened in the 10 min he was out of sight); various teenagers dressed in various comical, radical teenage ways; old grannies talking about all sorts of old granny things- like canning and the price of bread and how to can tomatoes; gypsies- always interesting, if only for the shock value (case in point: last week I watched a gypsy mom carrying a toddler- the baby was eating a fat piece of sausage and dropped it right by my feet while they were at the front of the bus. Mom missed that and they meandered all the way to the back asking for money and all the way back up again. On her way out the door, the mom looked down, saw the sausage, picked it up and ate it... I had decided I'd kick it out the door after she got off...never got the chance.)

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I like to chew on ice cubes/chips. Did you know that if you eat too many the insides of your cheeks get numb and you can then totally chew up your cheek without knowing anything about it until you taste blood? (this comic is esp for Little Trude! ha! Really, I might just legally change my name to Jon Arbuckle- it would be so fitting. I don't go on dates with lady vets, though... or any dates, for that matter... there are still some holes in this Anita=JA theory.)