Perfect day in Catskill NY

On Saturday I drove up to Catskill, NY to meet my friend, Moira, who lives just as far in the other direction in upstate NY. We had tentatively planned to meet for years, now that we're both stateside, and finally the stars were aligned! Moira and I worked together at BCSI more than 20 years ago and each ran one of Canada's only two multi-tenant telecommunications systems at that time, which brought us together regularly on the job.

Once in Catskill, a first time visit for both of us, we ended up parking at the same time in back-to-back parking spots after our 1-1/2 hour drives! We strolled the main street of Catskill, visited a few shops, and talked and laughed. We had lunch on a deck overlooking the Hudson River.

It was so good to hear how great Moira is doing - busy as usual, and interested in all things as usual - and to reminisce about the job that got us started in telecommunications. We're now planning our next rendezvous, hopefully in the fall.  

Cheers! Salut! Santé! To your health!

A nice way to start the weekend ... cheers!

In my latest book, "Lunch in Paris - A Love Story with Recipes" by Elizabeth Bard and recommended to me by my sis-in-law, Vicki, there is a line that I related to (pg 39):

We toasted. "Dans les yeux," Gwendal said, meeting my eyes. "It's bad luck to toast if you're not looking directly at someone."

Don and I had never heard this until we met our Montreal friends, Claude and Louise, on a blind date in Baltimore. We had met over the phone, realized we were both Canadians, and arranged to meet for dinner. I remember Claude clinking glasses with me and waiting ... finally I looked up at him, rather than at our glasses, to see what the problem was and as soon as our eyes met he continued to the next person. You can't fully "cheers" without making eye contact.

Don and I have looked our fellow clinkers in the eye ever since. It is such a nice way to pause and really acknowledge your friends if only for an instant. Try it, you'll like it.

(A daughter of our friends, who is 10 years old, always does cheers with us with an exaggerated leer ever since Don "taught" her - its pretty funny.)

Insouciant

I turned to Frank, who was pressing more distinctly against by sweatshirt. "I think I'll head to bed, " I said with what I hoped was insouciant uncaring.
     - pg. 350, The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

This word is weird enough to stick with me forever, plus I like the sound of it. I first heard it, or became aware of it, when Anne Shaw presented it as 'The Word of the Week' at a Thornhill Toastmasters meeting at least 14 years ago.  Now every time I come across 'insouciant' in a book I think of Anne.  And I come upon the word more often than I would have thought!  But I have never come across it in a conversation with anyone.  

Insouciant - –adjective

free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant.
It comes from the French verb soucier to worry, so this is no worry.

I like it.  So when next we converse, try using it in a sentence to me.  I will be so impressed!

Learning to ride a bicycle

Anyone who has taught a child to ride a bike knows that it is a difficult process particularly because you feel helpless. There's only so much you can do and the rest is up to the child - including picking themselves up and getting back on the bike after several falls.  

A friend of mine who is an avid cyclist has written a book called Peter Learns to Ride a Bicycle.  Its a great book with tips that help the child to ride, and help the parent to help the child.  Some of the basic tips were new to me, and yet they make a big difference in getting the feel for a bike. The illustrations are great. If you are readying yourself to teach your child to ride a bike or you know someone who is in this position, consider downloading his book.  The details are on the author's blog: http://www.dailybicycle.com/.  

I highly recommend it!

Mother's Day laugh

My Mother's Day card from Carolyn cracked me up! We had a perfect day around here because everyone was home for dinner for once. I'm realizing that will be a rare treat going forward.

Bryan came home from PSU on Saturday but leaves next Monday for a summer internship in Pittsburgh.  Carolyn leaves a week after her high school graduation for summer at PSU.  Both are excited about their new ventures. At least Toby will be here doing the same old window scratching to let us know he wants out ... no in ... no out ... no in...  

Parents night at Phi Kappa Tau

A few weekends ago we went to Bryan's frat for an evening with the brothers. It started with a buffet dinner prepared by their cook, Gary, and was followed by activities.

First: a mother/son Newlywed-like game. The moms were asked questions about their sons while their son's were in another room, then they were brought in, asked the same questions, and answers were compared. Then the moms went elsewhere while the sons were asked questions about their moms. It was really hilarious and fun.

Second: a father/son pool tournament - pool being a big part of frat living (up there with studying, I'm sure). Bryan and Don won the tournament for about 2 seconds ... then the white ball dropped in behind the black. Drat!

So the Gills fared not too badly with a 2nd place in both activities. 

The boys did a great job putting on this event. We enjoyed seeing the boys we already knew from visits to our home, and meeting others. We also got to meet many of the parents, one who was kind enough to be the official photographer and followed up with us afterwards.

Bryan is finished school in just a few weeks - May 7th. Its hard to believe that his sophomore year is already coming to an end. 

Cat under foot

Whenever we return from a trip Toby stays glued to me for the first day or two. Yesterday I did a million things around the house, running upstairs, downstairs, into the laundry room, into the kitchen ... and he followed.

Today I did some garden clean-up and he sat within a few feet of me wherever I happened to be working. Here he is tucked under the Japanese maple. I guess the sun was too hot for him today. It's nice to be missed! 

 Soon he'll go back to ignoring me.