My e-Christmas Card

Best wishes for a happy, healthy holiday and a successful and satisfying New Year.

Zac is driving down to Georgia in a couple of days to help me do a couple of small house repairs. Penny (my friend from China) will be flying in from Texas the 12th and then Nicole with join us right before Christmas. I will have a full house and a full heart for the holidays- hope you do too.
Love Katie

Saturday Morning Garage Sale

From perusing my blog it seems that all I do lately is go to Vermont. But I really do other stuff like working at Frederica Academy 2 days a week and participating in the normal girlfriend and neighborhood activities. They just don’t seem very photo or blog worthy. One out of the ordinary event was our bi-annual “Garage Sale” that I have with Leslie M. It was drizzling that morning, but we were ok in that we had a real garage to have our “garage sale” in. I made about $350 selling stuff I no longer needed or wanted. I still have major weeding out to do in the attic – I may have to talk to Leslie and see if she wants to have another one in the spring.

Thanksgiving 09

Thanksgiving- I got absorbed into the Wilson Thanksgiving day festivities across the street. It was a beautiful day so our crowd was able to eat outside. Normal southern feast: Deep fried turkey, smoked ham, squash casserole, rolls, mash potatoes, mac and cheese, green beans and butter beans along with my minor contribution of a cranberry cheesecake. Photo above: Dylan and Cooper- turkey leg eat off.

Zac's Solo Erie Canal Bike Trip - The Beginning

This fall Zac went on a solo bike ride along the Erie canal http://www.nycanal.com/recreation/hikebikemain.html He rode all the way from the Glen Falls area to Lockport and then took a train back. From the pictures he took it looked like he had a good time.

Zac's Solo Erie Canal Bike Trip - The End

A little dirty - but he looks happy!

Wells, Vermont Hike

Every time I visit Zac he has me do some sort of physical activity – I figure it is his method of gauging how long it will be before he has to take care of me. This visit we climbed some mountain that over looked Lake St. Catherines. Living and walking on flat St Simons Island definitely does not prepare you for a mountain hike. I did make it but with lots of huffing and puffing. View was beautiful. Surprisingly, no sore muscles the next day.

Vermont Again - November 09

This year Zac’s Birthday fell on Turkey day- but the plane fare was so expensive that I traveled to Vermont the week before to celebrate his 37^th (Boy does that make me feel old). No big party but we did have a couple of nice dinners out, some great garlic fries and best part - a boat ride! The weather was unseasonably warm for late November so took a friends boat out on Lake Bomoseen.

Not Willie's Weenee Wagon Dogs But.......

When you are in Troy NY try the “Famous Lunch” restaurant. They have tiny little hotdogs with tiny soft buns with their version of Chili ontop. They are really good but they aren’t Willies.

Zac's New Sculptures

Zac's New Sculptures

He has a couple of new art installations up. One is installed in Salem NY and one in Bennington VT. He is working part time at Salem Art Works – SAW- www.salemartworks.com and spends the rest of his time working on their house and garden.

Blueberry Picking, Horseshoes, Canoeing, and Reconnecting

I did my “every 3 months” trip to Vermont to see Zac and Nicole. Weather was beautiful: sunny and COOL. Leaves were JUST starting to change. (But Nicole was refusing to acknowledge the orange and yellow colors sneaking up in hopes that she could hold off Winter for a few more weeks.)

They are still making progress on their house: new front door, windows and siding. Looks like they are saving the big job of the kitchen for next year. It is amazing what they have accomplished in just a few years with their 1870’s home.

Side Note: I put both the June and July Vermont Photos is the same album

Penny in Abilene Texas

ACU Campus is beautiful – but sorry it is not a place I would want to live. I am too attached to the wet, humid weather along with the plants, trees and moss that seem to hug and shelter me. I felt very vulnerable in the wide open spaces of Texas. We flew into DFW airport and rented a car for the 3 hour boring drive to Abilene. After just 2 days she was set up in her new room she is renting from Roberta and already riding her new WalMart Huffy bike around campus.

Side Note she has called a couple of times and is doing well. There are about 70 other Chinese students on this campus but most of them are undergraduates and male. She is still practicing her swimming and doing lots of reading for her assignments. Here is the link for the "Penny in America" photos.

Penny in South Georgia

She wanted to learn how to swim so we practiced many hot afternoons at our local SSI public pool. Our new “Casino Pool” is great. It is located right next to the lighthouse with a spectacular beachfront view. We also took lots of walks on the beach and played in the waves. One day we visited a very uncrowded Okefenokee Swamp Park and had a close up encounter with a momma gator. We were the only tourists on the boat so we got to spend a lot of quality time with our guide’s favorite gators.

As for food –as expected- I took her to MY favorite places like Willies Weenee Wagon and Crab Trap to eat. We also went shopping for real Chinese ingredients (which are hard to impossible to find in Brunswick GA) and Penny taught me how to make pretty good fried rice. Not as good as in Hangzhou –but passable.

Penny in North Georgia

When she first arrived in the US she visited some other American ZUFE teachers (Rachel & JP in IL Jim & Kris in Dalton Georgia) before I got custody of her.

Even though the drive to Dalton is a very long one – it was well worth getting to see Kris and Jim again as well as Penny. We toured Chattanooga and had a great time.

Side Note: We took this picture in Kris and Jim pretty garden. They are the couple that made my one of my last semesters in China GREAT!
Another Side Note: Penny says that only restaurant hostesses and waitresses wear this type of Chinese Dress - maybe so - but she looked so cute it in. We are glad she brought it.

Penny Comes to America

Penny was one of the many of my China helpers and friends. Penny’s position was rather unique in that she was a student at ZUFE but NOT one of my English Major students. I met her at a Hangzhou West Lake English corner and after that meeting we frequently met at the bus station early Sunday mornings for the hour long bus ride and the 20 minute walk to West Lake. She frequently helped me travel, shop and order food. During those 2 years we got to be rather good friends. Last year I was really excited to hear that she got a full tuition scholarship and visa to attend Abilene Christian University in Abilene Texas. Now it is time for me to repay favors…

New Dog on Marigold Ct

"Goldie", short for Marigold (Larry's great idea) is my new dog. I got her from the Human Society. She and her new born puppies were dumped there and when I went in this Saturday she had just weened her pups. I asked if they had any female, short hair, 40 lbs or less dogs and was shown this one. We seemed to click - so I paid my 85 $ donation and then proceeded to spend 200 $ more at our local Pet Store. She seems really sweet and smart - so far.... They guess she is about 2 years old and she appears to have a little Jack Russell in her blood along with something else. The something else probably has helped calm her down a little. She has let me sleep thru the last 2 nights and seemed to do ok being alone for the day when I went to work. Larry and Davis helped escape proof the 2 front gates so she will spend her days outside and sleeping on the back screened in porch (she already figured out how to use the doggy door). I really like having a dog here.

Cruising on the Nile

While watching the scenery pass you by, you notice that the Egyptians make the most from the Nile. It is green with agriculture for a certain distance from the Nile, (2 blocks to 2 miles) then nothing. Dry, tan, devoid of all obvious life and a little foreboding.

Beggar Nile Style

This boy using a thrown away door and pieces of wood for paddles was begging from us as we were on our felucca boat ride. Aladdin talked most of us into not giving him anything by reminding us that he should have been in school. The kid was probably making a really good living.

Whirling Dervish

We saw these dancers a couple of times on boats and at restaurants.
The below link is a pretty good example of what we saw. I felt like throwing up just watching them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbAaQCULBYo

Disembarking

We are disembarking to see one of the many temples that had been moved to higher ground on Aswan Lake. Did you notice that the sailors are holding a pole as handrails for the passengers. You need to be surefooted in Egypt.

Another Amazing Feat

Abu Simbel - It is amazing that they were able to move such a large structure from the rising waters of Aswan Lake in just 4 years. I think that moving the structure in the 1960's sort of impressed me more than the original structure would have. We had already started to become jaded from all the other 4000 yr old sites- This was only 3000 yrs old. I think that is what strikes you most when visiting Egypt - how old everything is. It is sort of hard to comprehend. It made me feel rather insignificant.

Fancy Hotel Cooks

Even though the hotel was a 4 star they still hired 2 women to sit outside and cook pita bread in an outdoor oven. I am sure it was a very hot job but the bread and the different humus spreads were delicious. We ended up substituting the pita bread appetizers for a meal twice while we were in Cairo.

Shopping and Smoking

We had to try a Hooka. It had apple flavored tobacco in it. It was a lot smoother than an American cigarette. Shopping was mostly looking in this area. Aladdin had tipped us off that there would be cheaper places in Luxor & Aswan.

Egypt Photos

Gail, pictured above, was a little nervous on top of that really tall camel. Notice her white knuckles and grimace.... One of my favorite photos.

If you want to just look at the photos and not wait for me to write my blogs - here are the links for our Egypt Trip we took in April 2009. Margie, Paula, Gail and I went with a tour group called Vantage. Even though we visited during the spring -- it was HOT. One day it hit 113. Here they are

Cairo
http://picasaweb.google.com/katiea48/CairoEgypt#

Aswan and Lake Nasser Cruise
http://picasaweb.google.com/katiea48/AswanLakeNassar#

Luxor
http://picasaweb.google.com/katiea48/Luxor#

Warning -- I sort of got carried away and took a lot of photos -

The Citadel

This was the only place that required covered arms and legs (but they provided cover-ups if you were too exposed). The Citadel has a long history. Check out the Wikipedia page for more info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_Citadel

Inside the interesting lit mosque, our guide Aladdin gave a great lecture on religions in Egypt. (And he has a very informative web page that shows you how cute he is and if you ever want to travel to Egypt make sure you read his travel tips.)
http://www.ask-aladdin.com/aladdin_khalifa.htm

Awesome & We Touched Them

With the size of the blocks and the impressive heights - it is no wonder that some people think that aliens helped construct these awesome structures.

Beautiful Vegtables and Fruit

Not many shorts or short sleeves here. The majority of the women dressed very warmly by our standards. It appeared that more than 80% of the adult women wore hair coverings outside their homes.

We Rode a Camel

All of us decided to ride a camel. It is a little scary. When the camel gets up you are pitched forward quite a bit. The camel's keeper took a great picture - made me look like I was touching the top of a pyramid.

The Men Wear a Lot of Layers too!

Paula took this picture of a local gentleman infront of one of the earliest pyramids. Temperature was in the 90's.

Kids

They are all the same everywhere- just different outfits

Our Guard

We had to leave the front 2 seats free on the bus (one for our guide and one for the quard) because we ALWAYS had an armed guard with us. They always wore some type of jacket to hide the gun but every once in while it would poke out.... Many guards and many guns but no trouble except for a couple of guys short changing me.

Daybreak Picture of Nile From Our Cairo Hotel

Our Sofitel Hotel was a 5 star but location sort of left you isolated since you would have had to cross a couple a really busy streets or a bridge to get anywhere. Security was tight everywhere in Egypt with metal detectors, scanners and guards at every hotel and museum entrance. This hotel even had our bus sniffed by a bomb dog every time we entered the compound.

Atlanta Trip

Guess it is time for a little update. I have been keeping busy with my Frederica Academy part time teaching job and more short travels. Gail and I went to Atlanta to see the King Tut exhibit. We wanted to have a little “appetizer” before our upcoming April Egypt trip. It was a good exhibit but the amount of history sort of overwhelmed me. Gail was lucky enough to teach the middle school condensed version of Egypt’s history for a few years so at least she has a clue as to time periods – but I was totally lost. We listened to Wilbur Smith’s book “The River God” on the drive up and back to add a little more spice to the history. We leave on Sunday!

http://www.thevarsity.com/
Since we were in Atlanta – we had to have a hotdog and onion rings at The Varsity. It is amazing how many people they must serve a day. The place was packed. Onion rings were great but I still love the “Bull Dog” at my local Willies Weenee Wagon better and it doesn’t take 5 hours to drive there.

Side Note: Willie (really “Ernie” Chambers) passed away this week. I will miss seeing him sitting at the table talking to the customers.

Sunday Theater Group

For quite a few years a group of GC educators (but now some us are retired) have bought a group of season tickets to the Sunday Matinees in Jacksonville. We carpool and then eat a nice Italian lunch at Vito’s at the Jax Landing. This Sunday was “Fiddler on the Roof” with Topol. Left us humming and singing most of the way home. It was a great way to visit each other and get a little culture too.

Zac's Chickens

18 at the last count. They are laying lots of eggs. I was surprised at how pretty they were. The male one (except for his frost-bitten damaged comb) had the most luminescent hackles. They would sort of follow us around probably because they are used to Zac and Nicole taking out their compost tub to them.

Zac's New Sculpture

Not finished - but he is currently working out the glitches of having a top heavy shape.

Vermont in the SPRING?

Sure didn’t look like spring – no green at all – but there was just a few piles of left over snow and only one snow flurry during my 4 day visit. Locals call it mud season which is a very apt description. I got to see Zac’s new sculpture, see the progress on their house, eat some great garlic fries, play horseshoes, and visit with Zac and Nicole. I didn’t take enough warm clothes I was told by Zac that it was pretty warm up there. I forgot that what Vermonters’ consider warm is not warm for me. BRRR

Ruth's Redneck Bowling Birthday Party

I have lived in the south too long because Ruth’s “a little over 50” Bowling Birthday Party was a lot of fun and I think I want to have one of my birthday parties there too. Most of us thought Ruth was a little strange when she came up with this bowling party idea but the brave ones that actually showed up were all pleasantly surprised. More than 20 willing family and friends showed up to either cheer us on or participate in the really bad bowling. I hadn’t been bowling in years so when we started playing it was a pleasant surprise to discover that there was no complicated scoring to do. The new scoreboards do EVERYTHING for you and the new-fangled lanes actually allow you to put up “bumpers” for the kiddies (or really lame or blood-alcohol challenged bowlers) which prevent gutter balls. I spent a lot of time finding a light weight bowling ball that my fingers could fit into. Thank goodness most of them were color coded (pretty pink and light blue colors for the wimpy bowlers.) I ended up with a score of 92 (I have done a little better at the WII Bowling Game – so I guess that maybe the real bowling might be harder than virtual bowling).

Hilton Head – Shopping, Eating and Snuggleing

Last Friday my neighbor and great friend, Rosie and I drove to Hilton Head SC to visit her daughter, Lee, and grandson, Dylan. I used to babysit for Lee. It seems so odd that she is now married and has the cutest, best baby ever and needs her own babysitters. I got to help out with the feeding and the morning getting up chores but I left the diaper changes to Rosie – Mama Rose privileges – snicker.
On Saturday Lee Rosie and I went shopping at the famous Hilton Head outlet malls and left Dylan home with daddy. We ate at a great restaurant called the “Squat and Gobble” and helped the economy with a little spending.

Our YaYa Annual Conference (OYAC)

here are less than 10 members but every year we gather together for an annual “conference “. The location of the conference involves a little off road sliding and driving but the end destination is Margie’s quiet, relaxing, comfortable, perfect river front home. Registration fees include – preparing one of the weekend meals and bringing your drinks and snacks of choice. As with any conference there were many interesting sessions.

The 2009 sessions included:
Basics of Crocheting
Remedial Crocheting
Beginning Gardening (Except for Parsley)
Wine Tasting
Chinese Facial Masks & Their Application
Dressing for Success (at a slumber party)
Emotion Cleansing & Replenishing

Attendance at the sessions was very good with only a few drop-outs. We all left with a couple of new skills along with the realization that each of us will always have this great support group that will celebrate, console, and sustain us.