Professor Sharon

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Partings and Home

February 4th, 2008 · Uncategorized

This weekend we had our daughter and grand-baby staying with us. We had hoped for Friday as well, but a winter sleet and ice storm did that idea in! We had a lovely Saturday and Sunday together – eating meals, playing, climbing stairs (lots of them – put any toddler in a space with stairs and it’s entertaining for a minimum of two hours!), and planning.

We had to do some business as our daughter is back-up for our banks, and business and other practical matters that you have to make plans to cover when away even on a short vacation. Mostly we enjoyed their company knowing that it would be at least a two month stretch before we saw them. This, of course, has happened in the past — my children have gone to college, to study abroad and to live in other US states (actually we’re lucky when we get to see our son more than twice a year some years).

But we have to admit missing the baby for that long is surely going to be missing some amazing growth spurts. After a few tries with calling me “gamma;” she lighted upon “da-ba!” this weekend! And she knew she’d invented it – we’re sure! Ask her to point to Gramma Shannie – she points to me. Ask her to point to Da-ba – she points to me. Each time with a smile that tells you somewhere in the brain is evolving a very funny sense of humor!

And, my best girlfriend – our daughter – will be sorely missed. She is the most amazingly capable and strong woman I know; and she’ll be okay without my physical presence – but I shall miss our almost daily phone calls dearly.

We also held a salon. For two or three years now, we’ve hopefully been brightening up two or three Saturday evenings during the New England winter by having friends, acquaintances, and their acquaintances stop by for a few hours of appetizers, drinks and great conversation. We had about a dozen folks and a great evening.

A few folks had brought travel quotes for us. My favorite: “Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion.” Leigh Hunt

My home will be with me on this trip: it is a funny coincidence that my hubby of 36 years and I leave on Valentine’s day. He and I have sailed many a metaphoric and real storm together – not to mention the glorious sunsets.

But I shall miss, and think daily, of the girl, the grand-girl, the boy and the other girl, and all those who stay behind. I shall bring you all in my heart.

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Travel Central

February 1st, 2008 · Itinerary

It’s February 1st!   The trip that has been over a year in our brains, over 6 months in the planning, and starts in just 14 days!   Today’s snow and ice storm is one of the unpredictables in the list of what can’t be planned ahead; we sure hope we don’t have to battle the weather in order to leave.  Although we laughed at the news that the Middle East had a freak snow storm this week (it snowed almost 1/2 inch in Malibu last January when we were at the Getty!).

I debated whether I should start to count down by days or by tasks. The picture is  what we’ve been calling Travel Central.  The map has pins of places we first wished to go, then as the plans evolved, places we’re definitely going.  The calendar is double layered – the top part of January and February and tasks to get done; the under-layer the weeks ahead while we plotted out when to be where.   The book shelf and piles next to it have also evolved from piles over a year as we found related books and articles, into an organized system of folders for each destination, travel books, and fiction and non-fiction which we’ve read in preparation.   It’ll have at least one more sorting as we decide what papers are must brings and what will have to be left behind. travelctr.jpg

So the short itinerary as it stands now:

2/14 to 24, on a tour with the local temple of Israel;

2/24 – 3/2 Sevilla, Spain;

3/2 to 3/22 Spanish language school in Granada;

3/23ish to 3/30ish Marakeesh and the sands of Morocco with son and daughter-in-law (I & A) (is there a camel ride in my future?);

3/30 to 4/6 Madrid; 4/7 – 4/21 back in language school in Salamanca;

4/21-5/3 Barcelona; the next week we’ll meander up to Nice;

5/12 – 22 river cruise on the Rhone to Paris; a few days in Paris; train and chunnel to London for about a week (we hope our daughter & grand-baby might join us in Barcelona or London);

6/2 – 8  Queen Mary 2 transatlantic cruise home to a car ride home to Greenfield.

It really is going to be an amazing adventure!

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The flu

January 28th, 2008 · Uncategorized

If you live in New England, I probably don’t need to say anymore about the weekend that’s just occurred in my house!  Hubby didn’t feel well Thursday, by Friday a headache, by  5 pm on Friday a full blown flu event.   Saturday saw 103 temperature, juice, recharge liquids and soup (thank goodness for those soups I put up in the freezer in the fall!).  Today a cough, but on the mend.  soup.jpg

Through it all, however, the refrain: better now than on our trip. Yes!  Keep your fingers crossed for me!  I’ve gone through two small bottles of that hand sanitizer stuff and all surfaces get a bleaching every two hours — maybe overkill – it is in my book anyways, but I don’t want it.  I have had a sinus thing for the same amount of time, which unfortunately has gone to my bad ear (a whole other story about me, ears and planes); but I’ve got a lot of tools such as homeopathic remedies that have helped in the past, so I’m thinking positively that the ear will be better in 18 days!

It does mean that I’m opting (with encouragement from the daughter!) to stay home tomorrow and rest more instead of driving 2 hours each way to see my 16 month old granddaughter have a swimming lesson — that’s disappointing.  I shall miss them terribly while on this trip.

This is one of those days I promised: not exciting reading for sure, just another moment on the journey.   Even with the flu (even the cook- me – is getting tired of chicken soup), I’m quite aware of the blessings (or whatever word works here) that it’s only a little pothole.   The station lies ahead waiting for us to begin our trip!

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Time and space for my brain

January 25th, 2008 · Uncategorized

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately – well, actually, if you were to ask some friends and colleagues, they might tell you I think about it most of the time. In my workplace, perhaps in every workplace, one gets a “reputation” for certain ways of being. I’ve not asked anyone, but I think that one of the ways I must come off – I guess I really hope I do! – is someone who champions the need for time and space to be, to think, and maybe most importantly to me, to reflect, not just to do the task at hand, but to do it mindfully.

I know that a good deal of this desire of mine comes from a childhood where living in my thoughts kept me from getting underfoot and in the way – which generally caused more attention than I wanted (the attention one got was not, the majority of the time, pleasant). I also lived through and beyond those years with a semblance of good mental health because I did think alot about the people and behaviors. To be a survivor for me meant getting really good at observing and thinking about what I observed. To this day, quick meetings, quick thinking, quick statements are not my cup of tea — I need slower explanations and time to think about what has happened, not to understand it, but to come to an understanding of and with it.

I was going to call this post something like Mindfulness – because I am wont to use that word when I ask others for that slowing of thinking, for that time to reflect. I wish to be mindful. I wish to do it mindfully. Pay attention to your work totally as you complete it.

I’ve been thinking of this in an interesting new way this week as I do the many daily tasks of living, and the many fascinating chores of preparing for my long trip. I think most of us busy adults have had those moments when we are trying to complete more than one – probably six, more like it – tasks at once. One of the tasks just flies out of our brain, and we’re so mad! I do it frequently, like to blame it on advancing years and crowded brain cells; and I’m fond of my daughter’s label for it: “brain fart”!

However, this week I’ve noticed that when it happens to me, because I am in no rush to get to work, to get anything accomplished in the next 10 minutes, I stop and notice in a different way. My life has a lot of time in it at the moment – besides getting my list of stuff done by the leaving date; I still have close to three weeks to accomplish that task, so I don’t get all frustrated about it. When those moments have happened, I’ve taken the time to retrace my actions, actually look at the objects I have on hand, make a mental note of the actions I have achieved, and lo and behold the “forgotten” task or object reveals itself!

I even stood at the top of the stairs yesterday – one of those moments when I’d dashed up two flights of stairs only to get to the top, stop and have no idea why I was there, nor why I rushed there — and with probably no more than 30 seconds of retracing, and rethinking, I retrieved the task to be completed.

Time and space for my brain over these next months will mean many things. I know that mindfulness has many meanings, some important to religions; to me it is that I have the time for a bit to take the time: to enjoy each moment for what it is, to not fill each moment with more things than the brain can take in, to appreciate each moment for the experience.

I think it will be challenging to go back to a full life of full-time work in September – but for this moment I will enjoy this moment!

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No vegetables please!

January 23rd, 2008 · eating

Yesterday I went grocery shopping – no great news to anyone! But, this trip is having a very fascinating effect on our daily lives.

For most of my adult life, and most importantly when raising two children, grocery shopping is usually done every two weeks. I’m systematic about it: thinking about what’s in fridge and freezer already, the season, sales in the stores, and what the family is interested in eating at the moment. I make a menu for those two weeks, leaving days for catching up with leftovers, planning meals that will leave leftovers for lunch, and being flexible with the menu knowing that certain ingredients may need to change at the store. I go to the store, buy exactly what is on the list (unless a family member comes along, and then I end up with a few interesting additions!).

In the last month, we have been focusing our eating on what is in our large basement and kitchen freezers. We actually knew last fall that this trip was likely so I had to choose not to buy in quanity from the farmers’ markets and make tomato sauce, apple sauce, freeze vegies, etc. But we still had lots of stuff put up – stews, soups, lasagna and such.

And, to complicate it more, I almost always make half more than I need for dinner and freeze part of the leftovers for lunches.

Well, that was a longwinded way of saying how challenging grocery shopping really was yesterday. Buying only a few fresh things was doable; but not buying bargains was really frustrating! And, I spent more money than I would usually spend as well. I know my prices enough to look for larger containers of cereal and crackers for example. Well, I don’t really want that food to sit for 4 months, so I had to buy the lesser size at the greater price.

I think besides the fresh stuff such as lettuce and apples, I’ve done my last large shopping until June. I think for a few days before we leave, meals will be the dream of every four year old: half a bag of chips (and who cares if they are stale), leftover pizza from the freezer, and no vegies!

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