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Tuesday Reading Kaffeeklatsch 8/24/21
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The Friedman family is T -2 for dropping our eldest off at college Friday. Turns out this is a super big deal. Trying really hard to appreciate these days and make the most of them, while packing and getting important things taken care of. Thank you all for being there for me during this journey.
@Amy - it occurs to me that for all sending first borns...or any-borns....off to college, this past year of pandemic lockdown gave you all so much more time together as families than any would have had previously, when all would have been out and about all the time.
@Theresa, I saw that you added those K9 sexy romances to your tbr 😂 I was curious what those were about. The weather here totally sucks! It is so freakin humid and the sun is burning hot!
@Amy, congrats to getting another off to college! That's exciting.
Amy wrote: "The Friedman family is T -2 for dropping our eldest off at college Friday. Turns out this is a super big deal. Trying really hard to appreciate these days and make the most of them, while packing a..."It's a big deal when your baby birds fly the nest - especially the first one!
@Theresea - Sounds like you did - and are still doing - your birthday right! Belated Happy Birthday!I have never been much for contemporary romantic suspense novels - unless there is a light supernatural element (light as in ghosts or ESP - not vampires or werewolves). Then for some reason I'm all over it LOL.
I'm returned Sunday from my first trip involving air travel since before the pandemic started! Flew to Salt Lake City, UT for a 4-day retreat at a rental house with eight stitching friends. We have been Zooming together twice a week since last summer. This is the first time that many of us have met in person. We are all vaxed - and most tried to isolate before the trip - so it was wonderful to hug them all! Didn't get to see much of SLC or Utah (but the view of the mountains was cool) - but we did go to a few shops well known in the stitching world - http://renselstudio.blogspot.com/ & https://www.shepherdsbush.net/). Lots of chatting, stitching, good food and laughter was had :-).
The plane was PACKED - every seat was full. And even though the airlines insist on masks - for which I am grateful - passengers are allowed to take them off while eating or drinking.
Amy wrote: "The Friedman family is T -2 for dropping our eldest off at college Friday. Turns out this is a super big deal. Trying really hard to appreciate these days and make the most of them, while packing a..."But what a victory after all the struggles and uncertainty you had with the admissions process!
I felt this most with my son, the younger one. When my daughter started kindergarten, it was fine, but when my son did 3 years later, and nobody was at home, I went out and got a job! When my daughter went to college, I knew she would be ok, as she was outgoing and self-motivated. But the night before taking my son, I found myself crying, while my husband said, "this is the way it's supposed to be, you and he are a success." Both my kids enjoyed their college experience in different ways, and I'm so glad they could have that.
Doughgirl5562 wrote: "@Theresea - Sounds like you did - and are still doing - your birthday right! Belated Happy Birthday!I have never been much for contemporary romantic suspense novels - unless there is a light supe..."
Wow! Congrats on that great trip! I have read that the air exchange on airplanes is very good (though it doesn't seem like it when you are on there.) I am sure I have caught colds from airplanes in the past, and I think I will always use a mask for them after this.
@ Amy ... cherish these moments. It IS a big deal, but mamas do need to push those fledglings out of the nest and into the world. You and Scott have equipped Jaden well for this (kinda) solo flight.@ Theresa ... so glad you had a fun birthday week, and were able to top it off with some escapist "literature."
@ Doughgirl ... sounds like a heavenly retreat. Glad you were able to pull it off and enjoy some time with your friends.
Meli wrote: "@Theresa, I saw that you added those K9 sexy romances to your tbr 😂 I was curious what those were about. The weather here totally sucks! It is so freakin humid and the sun is burning hot!
@Amy,..."
@Tien - I love spec ops suspense romances and especially K-9 ones...the more action the better. They are fun reads like my regencies and christmas romances. It there is mystery, suspense, or espionage plot as well..I am in heaven.
I mean I can't read serious all the time!
Doughgirl5562 wrote: "@Theresea - Sounds like you did - and are still doing - your birthday right! Belated Happy Birthday!I have never been much for contemporary romantic suspense novels - unless there is a light supe..."
Proud of you doing tbe retreat and glad you enjoyed. I hear Shepherd's Bush is a must visit when a stitcher visits Utah. They used to do retreats that were sold out years in advance. I stitched their piece St. Peter's Fair and enjoyed it.
Robin P wrote: "I am sure I have caught colds from airplanes in the past, and I think I will always use a mask for them after this. ..."That's a good idea!
Amy... virtual [[[HUGS]]] to you. I'm not a hugger, but easy to do virtually. I hope all goes well.
Amy wrote: "The Friedman family is T -2 for dropping our eldest off at college Friday. Turns out this is a super big deal. Trying really hard to appreciate these days and make the most of them, while packing a..."Well Amy, I'm sure you prepared him well, and he knows he can call home if he needs to. This is a really exciting time of life for him and maybe for you too!
I remember that day with my first born. I tried so hard not to get emotional. It felt a little like the first day of kindergarten, but he was fine. He was ready to meet the guys on his floor, and there was a presentation for the parents, to get us out of the way. I thought I would be worried with him away, but I actually slept better when he was gone, because I wasn't constantly listening/waiting for him to come home at night. I could lock the door and go to sleep.
My husband and I were reminiscing about our own college moves, and we both did it solo. I was really independent and I didn't think I needed the help. Though when I got there, it was hard to move those big carts on my own. Fortunately a cute boy helped me with the heavy lifting, and he ended up becoming my first college boyfriend.
My parents did both take me to college, since it was halfway across the country. But once I was there, I didn't call home all the time like young people do now. You needed change for a pay phone and I didn't really want to tell my parents everything I was doing! I actually wrote letters every week. I doubt most people even did that. Now friends of mine who have college-age (or adult) children talk or text multiple times a day.
My parents drove me down to Barnard after Dad finished milking the cows in the morning. The stationwagon was packed and there weren't even the electronics etc. Kids take today! They unloaded me with help of laundry carts and Columbia students. We had a quick lunch somewhere on Broadway, then Mom, Dad, and my youngest sister, who was only about 7, piled in the car for the 4 hour drive home in time for Dad to milk the cows in the evening. That routine was repeated every year.@Robin - that first year or two there were hall phones fed from an old-fashioned switchboard and no long distance except a pay phone. At some point we all got phones in our room but long distance was still a pay phone. I absolutely wrote letters and got letters. I still have some of those. My mother's sound just like her/she is in the room when I read one of them, as she died only 5 years later, they are treasured.. My youngest sister's are a hoot - I pull them out to tease her now and then. My middle sister was a moody resentful teen so no letters from her. My brother sent postcards from Germany where he was stationed in Army during Vietnam War (we were lucky). Dad only ever wrote me one letter...that was in law school and on back of a bank deposit slip. It was so him.
And there were notes from friends at other schools.
I wonder if today's kids will in 40+ years have any similar stashes of saved texts? I doubt it somehow.
And like you, Robin, my letters home were carefully edited!
@Robin and Theresa, your comments about the hall phone in the dorm and writing letters home, are so familiar to me. Long distance phone rates were tough on my parents, so we too, only talked once a week. This was the norm for every one I knew. My mother used to say, that if one of her three kids was upset sounding on the phone during the weekly conversation, then she would think about it anxiously all week long - And usually, we (her children) had forgotten whatever was bothering us by the next conversation.
We also had 1 or 2 phones per dorm floor. One of my scholarship jobs was manning the switchboard where I used the old-time plug-in method to connect calls. If the person wasn't available, we would note in a book - FNM for Female No Message, MWCB, for male will call back, etc. Of course, it was an all women's dorm so it was a big deal if a guy called you. (All this changed halfway through my college years, with all the protests and political activity, most of the dorms became coed and all the rules about how late women could stay out were dropped.)About letters - I met my husband in college because he was going out with my best friend. He was drafted in the era of the draft lottery (his number was 7, I think). They broke up pretty much mutually. As a friend, I wrote to him, sent cookies, etc. He was lucky not to be sent to Vietnam, but to Germany. Still he was lonely and most of his friends didn't write. So he and I basically had a courtship by letters. I got to know him so much better. We also sent cassettes, he even wrote and recorded a song for me. Unfortunately, we don't have them because at one time we had things stored with a friend and some were damaged or stolen (not that anyone would want letters and tapes!) Telephoning to him at the base in Germany was pretty much impossible. We got together when he got out of the army and got engaged within a year. One good thing was that I knew all his friends from being in the same circle. (My friend, his ex, had already got together with the guy she would marry, so no issues there.)
Robin P wrote: "We also had 1 or 2 phones per dorm floor. One of my scholarship jobs was manning the switchboard where I used the old-time plug-in method to connect calls. If the person wasn't available, we would ..."That is a great story, Robin!
@Robin - I also had a work/study job as a switchboard operator! Wonder if that program still calked work/study?
I also was a waitress in the dining hall but they looked at me and said I was too small to carry heavy trays full of plates (we had "family-style" dining then. So I just had to work at lunch which was cafeteria style. Now every college basically has a food court with many options. After I became a French major, I was able to work in the language lab for work/study. It was easy, mostly just sitting there or fetching the tape someone needed. I did learn how to mend the reel to reel tapes, which was what we used!
Robin P wrote: "I also was a waitress in the dining hall but they looked at me and said I was too small to carry heavy trays full of plates (we had "family-style" dining then. So I just had to work at lunch which ..."After freshman year I nailed one of the most desired work study jobs: in the library. But freshman year was switchboard and mail sort....also highly desired as was in dorm I was living in and you had no dress code.
That's such a sweet story, Robin! I love that :)
@ Robin what a great story of your courtship by letter!@ Theresa ... my Daddy drove to me to school, too. I jokingly say he drove to school every day because he started driving me when I was in kindergarten and drove me up to Marquette when it was time to go to college.
We had a switchboard, dress code for the dining room, chaperones in the "visitor's lounge", curfew hours (different for women than men), etc. Women had to wear skirts to the dining hall, and my dorm didn't have it's own so we had to go across the street to the newer dorm building. In the winter we'd pull off our pajama bottoms, put on our boots and overcoat and go across the street for breakfast on Sundays, keeping our coats on the whole time, then back to our own dorm and back to bed!
And letters .... my mother wrote me nearly every day, and I, her. I've saved all the letters she sent me and when we were cleaning out my parents' house I found several of the letters I had sent home. I used to address them simple "Home" with the address. I have a couple of letters my "baby" brother wrote me, including one printed on Big Chief tablet paper when he was about 8 or 9 (I was out of college ... just) ... The letter was wrapped around a paperback copy of Where the Red Fern Grows and read "Tessa, read this book and then we can discuss it."
So great, BC, you were already a book discussion person!
Nerdy (and long) article about tags on GR, specifically the tag classics, but some talk about how these help Amazon research and sell (sigh!)https://post45.org/2021/04/the-goodre...
Slight shift in conversation but by no means a complete diversion - love all the going to college stories! All thanks to NicoleR and Amy, in truth!NY has reinstated it's masks inside everywhere policy. That includes in common areas of apartment buildings. I think we had maybe 4 weeks where you did not have to if you were vaccinated....I will say that I did not wear when I'd head to check the mail usually beacuse I'd go when there was little likelihood I would run into anyone.
Gyms require proof of vaccination to use, even private ones like that in my building.
Those who live in my apartment building are very compliant. That's not the case in some of the coops and condos I represent.
I fear for theaters and music centers reopening as planned. We really do need them to reopen and able to make enought $ to pay the bills. Right now it is going to require masks and vaccination proof. I fear a number of musicals in particular are not going to make it.
We managed to have a really nice meaningful meal out. Now the three boys are playing wiffleball as the sun is setting. You really can’t make this stuff up. Just perfect!
Robin P wrote: "My parents did both take me to college, since it was halfway across the country. But once I was there, I didn't call home all the time like young people do now. You needed change for a pay phone an..."My mom or I phoned once/week. It was usually Sunday evenings.
BUT, for my first year at university, I lived with my aunt and uncle (and two cousins). That wasn't the original plan, though. That was because I didn't get into the dorms and I guess I didn't think about or didn't know how to go about looking for a place to live off-campus. It was easier to live with my aunt and uncle that first year.
ETA: Re: Letters - I never did write letters to my parents, but I did write letters to my friends for about 7ish years, probably a bit longer than that. My first year of university was 1990, and it was in 1997 that I went to grad school and got my first email address. There would have been some letter-writing after that, but not too long before it was emails.
Amy wrote: "The Friedman family is T -2 for dropping our eldest off at college Friday. Turns out this is a super big deal. Trying really hard to appreciate these days and make the most of them, while packing a..."I hope it goes well! It was a lot simpler when I went--my mother drove me in and helped me move in and that's it, but now it's a much bigger deal.
My shingles rash cleared up pretty quickly, without ever getting really disgusting , but the pain has lasted, which I guess is normal. I am taking some nerve blockers which help a bit but it is still hard to sleep. I happened to be listening to a couple of so-so audiobooks which I found were one way to fall asleep, at least for a short time. Usually I need quiet to fall asleep but this helps distract me and at least I know I must have been sleeping because suddenly I have no idea what the narrator is talking about!
Robin P wrote: "My shingles rash cleared up pretty quickly, without ever getting really disgusting , but the pain has lasted, which I guess is normal. I am taking some nerve blockers which help a bit but it is sti..."Oh no! I missed that you have shingles! Glad the rash has cleared up. Hopefully that means the pain won't last much longer. If you have Audible, they have some books specifically designed yo help you get to sleep. Wishing for a speedy recovery!
Robin P wrote: "My shingles rash cleared up pretty quickly, without ever getting really disgusting , but the pain has lasted, which I guess is normal. I am taking some nerve blockers which help a bit but it is sti..."Sounds like you are well on your way to recovery.
I am not much of a fan of audiobooks, but last year when pandemic sleep disruption syndrome (my name for it) was tormenting me with insomnia, I found listening to audiobooks of my favorite regencies would work to get me some sleep. The stories were known so I needed little attention to follow, but enough to calm my busy mind. I used sleep timer too so it would shut off.
Robin P wrote: "My shingles rash cleared up pretty quickly, without ever getting really disgusting , but the pain has lasted, which I guess is normal. I am taking some nerve blockers which help a bit but it is sti..."Hope you have a swift recovery. Had to look up shingles; the common Danish name directly translated is hell's fire. Seems apropriate.
Johanne wrote: "Robin P wrote: "My shingles rash cleared up pretty quickly, without ever getting really disgusting , but the pain has lasted, which I guess is normal. I am taking some nerve blockers which help a b..."Yikes, but you're right. Thanks, everyone!
Johanne wrote: "Had to look up shingles; the common Danish name directly translated is hell's fire. ..."Oh, I think we need to rename this as "hell's fire" !
Robin P wrote: "My shingles rash cleared up pretty quickly, without ever getting really disgusting , but the pain has lasted, which I guess is normal. I am taking some nerve blockers which help a bit but it is sti..."I missed that it was shingles--that really is painful--I had it at 27 (my sister at 14--not normal ages for it.) At 27 the pain doesn't usually last as long, but it was six weeks of PAIN and I hope yours is alleviated soon!!!
Yes, Hell's Fire is an apt name for the rash plus the pain!
I have no lasting marks, but what looked like scars for well over a year.
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
Where the Red Fern Grows (other topics)A Suitable Boy (other topics)
So, how's everyone doing in the weather department? Henri came and went in NYC - lots and lots of rain, some thunder and lightening early in the front. Far less problematic than even some earlier thunderstorms were. But it did give us more rain in a 2 day period than we have seen in months collectively. We had a decent day if overcast yesterday but today it's back ti brutal humidity and temps. Though nothing like the temps out west.
@JoAnne - is the weather cooperating on the camping trip? I have friends doing a road trip this week and I'm really hoping the were far enough west by the time Henri arrived to have missed it. Driving in pouring rain is awful.
In other news, I had a perfectly splendid birthday week last week, and have a couple more celebrations to go in a week or so. I do stretch it out.
What wasn't so good about last week was about zero time to read with work demands plus calls with family and friends. Let's not forget my drinks and dinner outing!
By Friday afternoon I was wiped out, mentally battered and practically shaking with need to read. There was no way that I could read what I had started early in the week, A Suitable Boy, though not particularly hard reading. No, I needed fluff and nonsense. I started off with the last of a cozy series set in the glass bead making world. I needed more. Checking out my ebook TBR, I saw I had a couple of romantic K-9 suspense thrillers by Fiona Quinn downloaded from Kindle Unlimited. Great covers with real hunks. Sexy male torsos too (the hunks are the K-9s). That was just what I was in the mood for. Ended up staying up really really late Friday night rading the first - so good. Needless to say, I just finished the 3rd in this particular trilogy and I'm ready for more. I'll be posting reviews shortly, but I highly recommend to those who love good action suspense thrillers with a side of sexy romance, and they are a must read if you love books with fabulous dogs in them. All the women are highly intelligent, cute rather than beautiful and curvy, even plus size curvy in one.
I still am in the mood for more like these so off to check the rest of Quinn's offerings.