valeriesbookofme

It's been over three weeks since I returned from Ireland. And my body is still adjusting. I finally got an average of almost 7 hours of sleep last week but today I am back to feeling tired. Being 66 is very different from being 65 bodywise. Last year at this time I accomplished moving back from Ireland after our 10-month adventure, being homeless for over a month, with not as much fatigue and angst as I feel now. Can one tiny year make that much of a difference? I have actually traveled quite a bit this year though. We went to Bermuda at the beginning of April, were back a week and then went to Alberta for mother-in-law's funeral (4 days there and back courtesy of Allegiant Air). In the middle of June I took eldest granddaughter to Vancouver to inspire her to think about going to university at UBC. I had already taken her to Washington DC and to Montreal/Ottawa in years past. But, when I think back to June, I did feel much more tired on that trip than I had before. Hmmm. 

It’s 9:30 pm and I am relaxing on the bed after a third busy day. I rate Bealkelly House close to the top of the b & bs I have stayed at. It wasn’t that easy to get to—unmarked turn off the road, up a long one-way almost cattle track—but it is so relaxing and comfortable. Anita, my hostess, couldn’t be kinder. When I was having trouble getting my U.S. internet service here, she hovered by me, suggesting things, trying to look things up on her laptop and allowing me to call the U.S. from her landline (not looking forward to hearing about THAT bill, I was on for close to an hour!) The family part of the house and the guest part of the house are quite separate and I am the only guest so it is like having a small house to myself. The one small quibble is that the shower is VERY small. Richard would barely fit into it. But the water is hot, the rest of the room is large, WiFi is good (and free), bed is comfy, breakfast is wonderful (eggs any way I want them, bacon, mushrooms.

Another airport. Another upcoming flight. Get up in what seems to be the middle of the night. Walk a mile from hotel (which doesn’t offer early morning shuttle service for an early morning flight.... Delta rep says “Thanks for choosing Delta.” And I beg, “Just please don’t lose my luggage.” She replies, “Well, can’t guarantee that.” Umm, not reassuring. I didn’t pack a lot into the checked baggage but after figuring out the clothes I would need for slightly chilly, slightly damp (who am I kidding?) Ireland, I knew that I couldn’t manage with just a carry-on. But so far so good. I somehow got “TSA Pre approved” so I didn’t have to take my shoes and jacket off, I didn’t have to unpack my liquids or iPad. And I didn’t set the detector off and subject myself to a pat down. It’s all good. Especially as I reflect on past travels.... My first flight as a “grown up” was with a friend to Freeport Bahamas. It was through Sun Tours, Air Canada’s shoestring vacation company. And it WAS a shoes

1. What do you share? It's funny that should be the question I read tonight because I was just talking to my husband about a book I am reading, "Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead." In the chapter entitled "Debunking the Vulnerability Myths," she describes Myth #3: Vulnerability is letting it all hang out. She says that there should always be boundaries around vulnerability; we need to trust someone, know that they will not betray us, before we share tender, intimate stuff. That's a lesson I have been slow to learn. I tend to be that person who lets it all hang out with people. For the very reason that the author (Brene Brown) denotes: it's a kind of attention-seeking. It probably comes from a childhood that was fairly lonely, where I felt "different" and different not in a good way. Anyway, those pages were a wake-up reminder to me that sharing too much is just not good. It doe

Now that I am back from Ireland and no longer actually photographing cemeteries, I am still trying to add to genealogical research by transferring information on families and individuals from Irish headstones http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/headstones.htm#gsc.tab=0 to familysearch.org. In the interest of maybe encouraging others to do this, here is an outline of the process: I pick a cemetery to work on. Currently I am working on Cavan Ballintemple, http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/cavan/photos/tombstones/1headstones/ballintemple.htm. I use the text part of the file, easier to read than the actual stone :) I call that screen up on my iPad.  I look for information that can be best researched. A good example would be text for Headstone No. 5: In | loving memory of | ALEXANDER ACHESON, Dillagh. | Called home 6th Feb. 1916, age 69. | Also his wife JANE, | Who entered into rest 25th Dec. 1942, age 87. | Also their son JAMES, | Who died 2nd Sep. 1948, age 56. | And THOMAS

"If I have freedom in my love,  And in my soul am free,   Angels alone that soar above,  Enjoy such liberty."  - Richard Lovelace I memorized this poem in high school. I remember our teacher emphasizing the idea of being free in our minds even when we aren't free in reality. That really touched me and I have often brought that poem to mind in the ensuing years, decades, whenever I was in a situation and wished to be in another. Yesterday some friends and I were talking about whether we ought to forget the past--as is often advised in Buddhist tradition--or whether we should remember it to learn from it. And, I would add this morning, to savor it. Not that I am currently in any kind of "prison." It's just that this morning I have been remembering, thanks to posts of photos of Dunmore East by my friend Erica. Ireland and the U.K. have been hit with two wild winter storms over the past two days. With the result that Dunmore is currently blanketed in sn

Just when I thought my great adventures were over--well regular adventures, we do have a one-week trip planned for Bermuda in April--a new one has appeared. After looking at several houses in Winterhaven, we have decided to build a house on an empty lot in the community. A big undertaking! While we have bought (and sold) many houses in our 20-year marriage, we have never actually custom built a house from the ground up. We have owned land a couple of times, once in Klamath Falls and once in Sechelt, British Columbia, but each time circumstances changed and we sold the land without building. This time, though, it looks very much like we will actually build. The houses we saw in Winterhaven needed a lot of remodeling. They were built between 1994 and 2004 and, apart from granite countertops here and there, have mainly remained untouched since then. And it is a seller's market here in Winterhaven right now so house prices are high. We figured that, for the price of buying an old ho

I was sick during the Christmas holidays with a chest cold. Having finally recovered, this Friday, as I was subbing in second grade, I suddenly felt a cold breeze go up my spine that sent me shivering, and funny tingling begin in my nose. Oh great, a head cold. I looked at all the little red noses sitting around my desk and thought, "Oh great...." By Friday night it was full flow.  Thank goodness for weekends though. I love weekends when I have subbed a lot during the week—Saturday to catch up on chores and Sunday to relax. And, with this cold, to recover because I am also subbing the next two days. I did finish a book yesterday. At least I think I did—I was walking around in a Dayquil-inspired haze. "Sweet Life in Paris," a culture-and-recipes journal written by a California pastry chef who has been living (at least at the time this book was written) in Paris for the past five years. I really enjoyed it because so much of what he wrote about Paris—the people, th

When I first began my "valeriesbookofme" blog a few years ago it was in response to a journalizing group I belong to on Facebook. The group leader issues a prompt for us--in the past it was weekly, this year it is monthly--and we write away in whatever format we want. I chose to start a blog. I let the blog go after a few months but resurrected it last year when I had my Irish adventure. Now the adventure is over but the urge to blog is still there. So I was very happy when our Bookofme leader on Facebook posted some new prompts. This week's prompt is: "Who Am I? List 20 things that describe you." 1. I am a grandmother. It is this part of me that drove me to leave Ireland and return to the United States. I missed my grandchildren way too much. If they had been more interested in Skyping or Facetiming I might have continued the Irish Adventure but they weren't. So here I am back in the United States pondering what is next. And hugging my grandchildren, hav