Showering Kayla

On Sunday, my sister-in-law Sally and I gave our nephew Andrew's fiancée a shower. Hosted at my house at three pm, we invited family and friends to eat, celebrate, and shower Kayla.

 

Bringing out the silver and the good manners, I know we made Hazel, currently residing in Heaven,  proud.

 

"Making Hazel proud" is a phrase my lifelong friend Gloria use to quip whenever I behaved ladylike, which apparently isn't that often. LOL

 

FTR: Hazel is my mother.
 

 

We prepared the table.

 

 

Talented Sally created these "perfect" favors.

Aren't they fabulous?

 

 

I ordered the petit fours.

*tee hee*

I'm talented too.

 

 

The guests gathered, and

 

 

the beautiful Kayla, resplendent in red, opened her gifts like a pro.

  

 

Sister Emily carried the haul for the bride-to-be.

 

 

The family posed.

 

 

Kayla and Margaret, mother of the groom

 

 

Kayla with Sally and me

 

AND

 

 

Andrew and Kayla.

 

32 days and countin'.

 

Wedding blog coming up.

Ashes by Now

In a large, roughly made wooden box in my closet [formerly the toy box of my childhood}, I had stored calendars, correspondence, and pictures from three decades ago --  mostly the 1980s. I had always intended to "some day" go through all of it, and that day arrived --- so I've been doing some reminiscing. I've also done some tossing -- as in most of it.

Stuck in the pages of the month of July, 1981, and carefully written in my handwriting on a small slip of paper are the following lyrics from "Ashes by Now" by Rodney Crowell.

The only way to get lyrics then -- was by listening to a song over and over.

Just sayin'.

This morning is Monday where are you now
Teasin' my memory teaching me how to lay low
When I don't want to
Well love is elusive this I know now
It's making me crazy leaving me out
In the open when I don't want to

The moments of pleasures Never do last
Are gone like a suitcase full of your past
Long gone and in a hurry

Baby, I can't go through this again
I don't need to go down more then I've already been
Just like a wild fire you're running all over town
As much as you burn me baby I should be ashes by now

The second street beggars alone in their life
Drunk on a sidewalk to hide from the night
Like I am They're just like I am

Baby, I can't go through this again
I don't need to go down more then I've already been
Just like a wild fire you're running all over town
As much as you burn me baby I should be ashes by now

Just like a wild fire You're running all over town
As much as you burn me, baby I should be ashes by now
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah I should be ashes by now.

Aww. Rodney Crowell.


And 1981. I wonder what heartbreak I had then --- cuz, well, it's gone now.

:-)

Turn of Mind

Alice LaPlante's Turn of Mind tells the story of a once successful orthopedic surgeon who has entered the early stages of dementia.

The strength of this novel lies in LaPlante's staccato sentences and her abrupt changes in chronology; presenting only the viewpoint of the main character helps this approach give the novel a realistic feel.

Dr. Jennifer White, widowed and living with a full time caretaker, vacillates between the memory of the present and that of the past. Thoughtfully, someone encourages her to journal when she has “good” days, and then she can go back and read about herself, what she does, what she did, and who she is. These journal entries help lay the foundation of Jennifer's past.

LaPlante gives this story a much needed suspense by opening the narrative with the news that Jennifer's best friend of over thirty years and near neighbor Amanda has been murdered and Jennifer among the suspects because four of Amanda's fingers had been surgically removed. If that wasn't enough to fuel suspicion for Jennifer, then the added details of her an Amanda's conflicted past will do it.

Added to Jennifer's woes are her two children with their own set of problems as one of them sees Jennifer's hefty estate as a way to fix his problems and the other's problems – not even money can correct.

Even though I finished the novel, I didn't find it necessarily compelling --- perhaps because none of the characters were particularly sympathetic, not even Jennifer, whom I should have managed to care a little about.... don't you think?