Black Monday

To combat the darkness of the financial news I'm posting a picture from The Villages, a planned community about an hour north of Orlando where Bruce is building not only a Red Lobster, but an Olive Garden as well. When Sarah Palin visited Florida it was right near hear that thousands gathered in the sweltering heat to hear her. Of course, that was before her interviews when people were still cheering....

On Friday I went with Bruce to Vero Beach to check on a parking lot problem. Because he'd driven around 700 miles last week I drove him so he could at least only singletask rather than his usual multi. His Blackberry never seems to quit. This way during the hour and a half drive he could handle his calls and e-mails with me doing the motoring. If you've never been exposed to MINI lingo, that is what they call driving. As well, when you drive a MINI it is understood that you automatically wave at your fellow MINI drivers. The non-compliance of some drivers used to exasperate Jonathan to no end. He thought, where is their sense of unity???

Happily the Seminoles won on Saturday and the Gators lost--a perfect day; it probably won't happen again anytime soon, so I'm reveling in it while I can. Ironically while we were driving to the Villages on Saturday loads of people heading to the Gator game were sharing the highway. I'm sure their drive home was not nearly as cheerful as the drive up to Gainesville.

Rain again just as we were getting home from the market yesterday with the tent getting wet. Fortunately it waited until after we were packed up. The lovely weather from earlier in the week vanished by Sunday with the humidity getting serious in the afternoon. I was delighted when two folks who said they would come by to purchase showed up.

While looking for David's birth certificate late this afternoon I came across lots of memorabilia including the receipt for my original wedding ring. The total cost--$468 which in 1973 felt like a lot of money. I found something I'd written about the birth of the twins describing the experience as thrilling. I wrote that I was so happy to go home from the hospital and see my darling Mattie. Another funny thing was a letter signed-- your loving son, Bill. Sounds sweet huh? Unfortunately there was no date, but in it he apologized for disappointing me academically (that went on for a while I can tell you that!), explaining he would try harder in the new nine weeks. The real reason for the letter was asking me to type his report! He knew I was easily seduced by words. Once he got over his teenage years he was once again a model student thank goodness.

Yet another find found in the twins baby book. Fashions, fads, and crises of the day--patterned hose and skinny jeans, disco dancing to the BeeGees, roller skating, and the unheard of price of gasoline--$1/gallon.

Which leads me to the title..yes it is terrible right now. Will it stay this way forever? Of course not. How long it will last is anybodies guess, but here's hoping recovery starts sooner, rather than later. The bad news for my boys today--Wachovia was sold (Bill), what it means we don't know at this point. Then there is the 777 point plunge in the stock market. David tells me he is pretty well immune at this point. I'm doing my best not to worry about the twins although I have to admit it isn't easy.

Two Weeks Until School Starts

Today I was on my way to pick up some frames and was driving down Mills Ave. Because it is right there off Mills, I decided to take a little detour into the cemetery where my parents are buried. I've visited their graves only a few times as it just doesn't appeal to me. Nonetheless, I thought I would today. Because I've been there so seldom I thought I'd have trouble finding them, but actually, I drove right to the site. As you can see, my father died when I was 28. I'll never forget that phone call. The twins were two, and Matt was five. In those days getting dinner on the table was always a challenge but unnaturally so on that one. My sister called and I remember that I starting screaming. I don't recall, but I imagine it scared the boys. My parents were moving back to Orlando in one month to be near the grandchildren. My dad died of what I think was a heart attack. He was found by a neighbor with the cat curled up on his legs. If it happened today he might have lived, but maybe not; he was pretty stubborn. Apparently he told the neighbor he wasn't feeling well but wouldn't let him call for help. At any rate, he never lived to see our Jonathan.

Speaking of Jonathan, he and Alissa have a temp assignment today and tomorrow. It's a start. They sound blissfully happy except for the car situation. There are few parking places around the neighborhood, and often he's had to hunt for twenty minutes for one. The lease runs out in December (I got it after my mom died--yellow with a black top--I called it my baby car), but we may try to sell it, or turn it in early. If someone were to harm it the cost to repair it potentially could be higher than the rest of the lease.

Isn't it always the case that when you look your crummiest you run into someone you haven't seen in a long while? I used to always wear mascara at the very least, but more, and more, I just go out any old way. Oddly enough today after procuring the frames I tried to get a new watch battery. Maureen told me recently that they do it cheap in the Asian section of town which happens to be right next to the frame place. The battery did not make the watch work unfortunately. The nice jeweler apologized--he felt bad for me if you can imagine. On the way to the MINI I stopped into a little restaurant to bring home some lunch. Overwhelmed by the choices (you know I don't get out much), I turned to leave. Who should I see but one of the doctors I used to work with. He used to be a real pain in the neck until he finally got married at age 40 something. Wasting no time, his wife became pregnant with identical twin girls. They are now 2 1/2; he told me how hard it is! Ha, they have help 40 hours a week! And he calls that hard? Been there, done that!

Logarithms and Fossils

I've spent the better part of the day on the titled subjects. I confess, neither one interests me in the slightest but it is part of the game. I've decided I much prefer living things to dead ones, thus my lack of appreciation for geology. You already know what I think of algebra so I won't rant as to bore you.

I may not have forgotten my hair appointment but I did forget my checkbook. My British stylist, Peter O'Toole, takes only cash or checks. It had been so long--maybe four months-- since my last visit, it completely escaped me. I realized just as he was blowing my hair out; talk about embarrassed. He was super sweet--probably because he felt sorry for me as the dry heaves were problematic during the appointment. He was very clever acting like it was perfectly normal! He's right, it is perfectly normal for me. I am able to save the day a bit as I have to go back to Winter Park for class tonight so I'll drop it by on my way.

I was thinking on my drive there about the incredible variety of life. I keep wondering, what is it about certain things that interest one person so intently and the other is ambivalent? I was listening to some folk/gospel music on my way there and thinking that it would drive some people mad. It is an age old question and I suppose if we all liked the same stuff, the world might be far less interesting.

I forgot to mention that Bill passed all his licensing exams(three) last week, enabling him to become a financial specialist. He is working for Wachovia, and still in training, but it is way exciting news.

The twins turn 28 on Sunday; I can still remember like yesterday when my friend Connie was doing my ultrasound and said, Gail, I think I see two babies. Ultrasound was brand new and not nearly as sophisticated as today, but she saw enough. I wanted to die as we were shaky on having one baby, let alone two. Naturally, when I got home that day, I called our library and asked about all the books they had on twins. Guess what--four!!! That was long before the days of in-vitro and widespread use of fertility drugs. Identical twins are still rare and special, but you see fraternal twins all the time. Look how wonderfully it all turned out.

Our mouths are funny in this picture taken from my lap.