There Will Be Blood...uh...a Letter

The 95th birthday party has been declared a success, though it was touch and go for awhile and a letter has been written to the General Manager of Atria about it.  However, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Knowing I wanted to do this party, I arranged a week ago to use the private dining room.  I checked twice during the week with the front desk about it, keeping them up to date with how many we would probably have.   The room has a long table that seats probably 14 people, and then chairs around the edges so you can sit and chat.  It would be perfect.  I had invited 8 people from Atria and then there were 5 family plus my friend Peg, who used to live at Atria and has now moved across town to be closer to her daughter and, of course, my mother, for 14 total.

The adventure started yesterday with Making The Cake.   I always use cake mix cakes, but I decided that I wanted to make a from-scratch cake this time, so I did.  I was super careful measuring ingredients and mixing times, etc.  I even buttered the cake pan, put parchment on it and buttered it again, to make sure the cake came out easily -- all those things that "real" bakers do, that I usually skip beause I'm lazy.  But I wanted this cake to be perfect.

The first problem was that as I was getting ready to put it in the oven, I glanced at the recipe and realized that I had used 1-1/2 cups of milk instead of 1-1/4.  Well...maybe it would be OK, I thought.  But then as I put the pan in the oven I relaized that instead of the pan being the 9x13 called for in the recipe, it was 7x11.  I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

In time I began to smell burning cake and the smoke detector went off and I discovered the batter had overflowed the pan and was burning on the bottom of the oven.  Ultimately it came out with batter cooked onto the sides and the middle sunken in.

This would not do, so I heaved a sigh and started making a second cake, which, thank goodness, turned out just fine.  Amazing what a difference it makes when you measure correctly and use the right size pan!

This morning I got up at 6 to make stabilized whipping cream and decorate the cake.  I've decided stabilized whipping cream is my favorite frosting...so much softer, less sweet than buttercream, and by adding gelatin to the cream, you can actually pipe with it and it holdes its shape.

At 11, we headed to Atria, by way of the supermarket so I could get a flower arrangement.  I had hoped for a balloon, but they didn't have any that I liked (and none blown up).  We got to Atria and I checked in with the front desk again and then took the cake and flowers to the private dining room.  It was 11:30.   

The server told me that I would have to move to the hospitality table because they weren’t opened yet. I explained I just wanted to drop off the cake and that we would not be arriving until noon. She said that would be fine.  

At noon, we returned to find several of the Atria guests already in the dining room and we began to settle ourselves around the table, though I thought it odd that the table was not set, as it has been when I have used that room for other purposes.

I was pleased that almost everyone I had invited was there already and happy to see my mother greet each person like a friend.  Things were going well.   Soon the server came in and informed me that we would have to move to the hospitality table because the private dining room was not available for use. I explained that we had reserved it a week before but she said that we would have to move. The hospitality table seats 10 comfortably. At that point we were 12 and she wanted to give us that table and a separate table for 4 somewhere else in the dining room. At no time did I see any sign of any reason why the private dining room I had reserved was suddenly unavailable.

 We managed to squeeze the 12 of us around the hospitality table, but the server never brought extra silverware, so I was stealing it from empty tables. We also found our own chairs because the server said she would get chairs and never did. One of the invited guests who had not yet arrived was spotted elsewhere in the dining room, and I know she had forgotten about the party. I would ordinarily have brought her to join us, but given that the table was already too full, I did not and I feel bad about that, because she is one of my mother’s best friends at Atria. 

We went through the buffet line and were halfway through our meal before anyone asked if we wanted drinks (everyone did...we wanted to toast my mother with mimosas) and we were nearly finished with the meal before the drinks arrived.

When it was time to have the cake I had decorated, we had to clear the table ourselves and I could not find any server to get plates to serve the cake on or a knife to cut it. I finally went into the kitchen and some person working there said she would bring the plates out. She did, eventually, and said “the chef will cut the cake.” We waited and waited and finally I used a knife from our table and cut it with that.

Ned had brought his video camera and is in the process of making a video.  He enlisted my mother's step son Ed as camera man.

The party started to break up and the Atria residents began to leave.

  

This was one of my favorite pictures of the party.  I knew Peg from our writing group years ago and was pleased to find her living at Atria when we moved my mother in.

She kind of took my mother under her wing and watched out for her in her first months there.   When we were on vacation last year, she would have my mother come to her apartment so she could read my journal entries on Peg's computer.

They have the same kind of humor and enjoy teasing each other.

When they built a new facility on the other side of town, I was sad to hear Peggy was moving there, but it is closer to her daughter, so I understand it and her apartment is gorgeous.  Looks just like a hotel suite (I stuck that in there for Peggy, who will "get it").

When I was planning this party, she was the first person I invited and I was so pleased that she was able to come.  Everyone at Atria loves her too, so lots of people stopped by to see her.

We finally moved the family part of the party back to the apartment where my mother got a surprise gift ... she watched the 49ers win their game against the Cowboys.

She also got some phone calls from family wishing her a happy birthday.

I told Walt there are perks to having a parent with dementia.   My mother must have asked at least half a dozen times who made the birthday cake and each time she received the news that I did as if she hadn't heard it before, so she thanked me effusively each time.  She also unwrapped one of the gifts we gave her twice, the second time not remembering she had seen it before, so there was more effusive thanks for the gift. 

So the day was a success, despite the mix-up with Atria.  I felt much better after I came home and wrote a letter to the General Manager of the facility.

Day 70:  All things considered, it was a fun 95th birthday

The Party Planner

My mother is going to turn 95 on Sunday.  After her 90th birthday party, she made no bones about wanting to have another big party for her 95th as well.  I never encouraged that because I decided to pay for her 90th out of my savings account, and it depleted it.  I couldn't afford to give her another big party.

Fortunately especially over this past year she has stopped talking about a big party for her 95th.  In fact, she doesn't mention living to "hunnert" as much as she used to.  And when I mentioned her upcoming birthday, she had forgotten she had a birthday coming up and isn't interested in any hoopla.

Well, I can't let that pass, entirely.  She is going to be 95, after all. Ned is going to come to brunch on Sunday, Walt and I will be there, and today Ed, her stepson, called and I spoke with him and he will be there for brunch too.  I also invited Peg, who used to live at Atria and has now moved to a new facility.  Peg is the youngest of her Atria friends and the one who knows everyone.   She and my mother always had great fun together at mealtime.  I think my mother still remembers her.

She has very few friends at Atria, but she does have friends, whether she knows their names or not.  She sees them only at mealtime, but these are the people she seems to relate to most.  I decided to try to keep this secret, in case nobody comes.  I snuck into Atria earlier this week, before my mother went to lunch, and gave an invitation to Margaret, who usually sits with Robert.  I also gave her an invitation for Robert when he arrived, but I saw him go into the dining room and sit with someone else.  I don't know if he ever got his invitation.  

I sat in the hallway outside the dining room in a chair that faced away from the hall from where my mother (if she went to lunch) would be coming and managed to waylay Jane that way. She and Jane used to sit together when we went to the weekly sing-alongs.  Jane has family in Santa Barbara and some day we will drive her down when we are going that way.

In all, I have given invitations to five people and since I haven't seen the sixth person, I will call her.  All of these people have some degree of memory problems so it is going to be interesting to see who (if anybody) actually shows up.  I told the front desk we could be expecting anywhere from 5 to 10 or 11 people.

I'll make a cake tomorrow and get out early in Sunday to buy flowers and a balloon and decorate the private dining room where we have parties like this and then we'll just see who shows up.

I also wrote to one of my mother's friends from Hospice of Marin.  Every year, four of them, who have birthdays around the same time, have gotten together to go out to lunch.  I decided to let Marian know that if they wanted to invite her, I would be happy to drive her to Marin county for lunch.  I think it would be good for her and I hope that they decide to invite her.

One of the people I invited to Sunday's party was Robert, the only guy in the bunch.  He and I have chatted a lot at lunch, though he's quite deaf, so it's not always easy to know if he hears me or not.  But when he told me that he had published some stories for his grandchildren, I went to Amazon and found one book, which was only $3.  It was dog stories and I figured it might be a good book to give to Brianna and Lacie. It came today.

It's a terrible book!!!  And it desperately needed an editor.  Here is the second paragraph of the first story.

There were six  children in the household--evenly divided into three boys and three girls.  The youngest girl was named Barbara and early in her life she was found to be totally deaf.  Not being able to hear makes it difficult to talk and there is no way to call her.  The youngest girl was born deaf.

There are only 3 more paragraphs in this "story," Barbara seeing the puppy and liking him and his becoming her dog and the two of them having their picture taken at a 4H fair.

That's it.  

Robert is a retired veteranarian and an interesting guy to talk with, but it seems that these "stories" are just descriptions of dogs that he had as patients and if there is anything that the dogs do, their actions are so dull, I wouldn't try to give the book to anyone.

But he was thrilled when I told him I ordered his book and I guess that's the important thing.

One last note.  When I was at Atria earlier in the week, I was going through all of her printed material--they pass out endless lists and ntes  and calendars and menus and my mother never looks at them, so periodically I go an discard the outdated ones (this time notes dating back to May).  I found a note from the dining room that they were running low on plates and asking if people could check and see if they had any plates from the dining room in their apartments.

Today I was looking for a glass to get myself some water and I opened one cupboard and there were twelve plates from the dining room.   My mother doesn't know how they got there, but I got them all stacked up and put outside her door, and then called the front desk to let them know they were there.   When we went to lunch, my mother saw the dishes outside and wanted to move them in front of someone else's apartment so nobody would know she had kept them.

I didn't.

Day 68: This made me so happy!
Comstock Magazine did a feature article on our Mexican daughter, Marie Mertz and her restaurant
Is this the young girl I had to practically kick out of the house to get her to go out and practice her English?

Today at Logos

The shop was bustling today when I arrived.  I entered right after "Eliza," who was, for once, without the quilted parka she always wears, so her tangled hair was hanging down her back.  Her bare feet were filthy and there was dirt on her face and hands.  Again, I just wanted to bring her home, give her a bath and a good meal.  She wanted a book from outside and asked Sandy if she could hold it for her until the end of the day, by which time she would have $1.  She gave her name as "Rain," but I think I'll still call her Eliza because that's how I think of her.

There were two other customers waiting for service, so Sandy didn't hang around and I settled in, turned the fan on, and started ringing up orders.

A pock marked young man asked if we had a book about the history of Alcoholics Anonymous, which I was pretty sure we did not.  He didn't buy anything, nor did his girlfriend, who was wearing an apron from the Sizzler, which is odd because there is no Sizzler in Davis.

A picked up a Ruth Rendell book to read and was taken immediately by the second paragraph.  I wish I could write like that.

A tall man wearing black and carrying the now familiar reusable bag under his arm (his was from Trader Joe's) entered.  You see people all over town with bags under their arms ever since the city enacted the "no bag" law for businesses.  He chose a very thick book about Mythology from the Fantasy section and took it to the table to read, which he did for a long time, eventually putting it back and leaving without buying anything.

A young man who was either in high school, or lower grades at UCD came in to ask if we had "The Idiot" "...by Dos-something."   I directed him to Dostoyevsky, but apparently we didn't have that particular book and he left without making a purchase.

As he left, the "tan girl" walked in.   Seriously  She had tan hair, a tan complexion, tan boots, a tan skirt and a tan sweater.  She didn't buy a tan book, but just left.

A women bought two travel books, including "Gutsy Women Traveling, II," which was the sequel to a book I read a year or so ago.  I told her she would enjoy it.

A guy came in with a bag of donations.  He and his wife together bought a bargain book, a book of contempoarary fiction, and a history book.   The bargain book was "Seabiscuit," which I told her I loved and shared that Seabiscuit's owner lived across the street from us in San Francisco when I was growing up.

A woman who looked too old for the tailored Levi shorts she was wearing had dyed red hair and her sneakers looked much too big for her feet, at the end of her skinny bare legs. She looked around for a long time, but than left without buying anything.

Six people entered at the same time.  I think there were 3 together, 2 together, and a singleton.  The two were a mother and daughter.   The daughter appeared to be in a dance practice outfit, with full, short skirt and white top.

She sat on the floor and went through all the books we had in French and finally bought a short novel.

At 3:45 there was another rush of customers and from where I sat at the desk, I could see five customers with more hidden behind the shelves.  It was the most customers I had at one time in two weeks.

My friend finally came in, after 2 weeks, at 4:09.  He had been in Ashland, he told me, and told me about the plays he had seen, most of which he liked very much.  He bought a book of "Dr. Who" and a bargain book that I forgot to look at.

A very tall bald guy with a Southern accent asked if we kept our bibles in the same section, but then on his way to the shelves, he got a cell phone call and ultimately left without buying anything.  His wife had decided she was going to "try" a Jodi Picoult, but ultimately she didn't buy anything either.

My favorite part of the day was when a mom and two little blonde girls came in.  I pointed them to the kids' room and there were squeals of delight as they discovered they had their own special room.  The older girl (who told me she was 4, but I suspect she was closer to 5) asked if we had a bathroom, which we really don't for the public, but I knew I would lose them if I said so, so I let them use the bathroom.   Then they went back to the kids' room and there were occasional giggles and jabbering.  The 4 year old (who reminded me so much of Bri), not only in appearance but in the questions she asked, chose a Nancy Drew mystery. The mom said the girls could each buy 4 books and the older one carefully chose "chapter books" that her Mom could read to her.  The little one loved running around the store, laughing.  The Dad joined them, a very tall man who helped them choose the four they wanted from the pile they had collected.  When they left (after a nearly $25 purchase), I felt all warm inside. I just love it when little kids love books.

Two girls came in to buy a bargain book. One was almost wearing a skirt (it was very, very short) and abig "Amazing Spiderman" shirt

Another girl asked me which came first, "Tom Sawyer" or "Huckleberry Finn," and I told her Tom was first, so she bought a copy of that.

My last customer bought the Mythology book that the guy had looked at earlier in the day.

Susan came in early and we spent some time deciding when and where to meet Char for lunch (it's SO much easier to coordinate with text messaging) and decided to get together next week at a restaurant called "Dead Fish" in Crockett, sorta halfway between here and where Char lives.  I later checked the menu on line and see that they have lots of crab options!

Walt came in and we told Susan goodbye and headed home.

So Incredibly Disappointed

I am so incredibly disappointed.  In fact, somewhere in the back of my brain, which I have been repressing for a few days now, there is this big ol' bag o'sadness that wants to spill over and cry.

When Peach and Bob moved to Iowa, I was very sad, but realized that it was the best decision she could make.  Bob had had a major stroke and at first we didn't think he would make it.  But he slowly began to regain some of the faculties he lost.  He re-learned to walk, though ultimately with a walker.   He learned to speak again, but his short-term memory was gone.  He would never be the "old Bob" again, but he would live and he could come close to what he once was.

But this put all the pressure on Peach to make the decisions and do everything that Bob used to do, and deal with Bob's limitations too.   Her son (my godson) lived nearby, but he's a guy and you know how guys are about emotional support, especially to their mothers.  Their two daughters both lived in Iowa and Peach began to realize that if she moved Bob to Iowa, he could continue his rehabilitation and she would have her girls around to help.

It was the best decision she could have made.  They have done well there and now they live in an Atria-like facility where she has been able to make new friends, where Bob has things he can do and where she can get help when she needs it.

Our last Cousins Day was memorable.  It was the night the three of us drank much too much.  My mother still denies that she could possibly have been drunk.  We did a lot of what Cousins Day was always about -- we talked, laughed, cried, and played cards.

And then it was over.  That wonderful "thing" the four of us had created when Kathy was still alive and that Peach and I continued after her death was just....over.  And Peach, my best family friend for my entire life, was moving half a country away.

She learned that their house was situated near the famous "little brown church in the vale" and she decided that the year after they moved she and Bob would renew their wedding vows in that church.  She was thrilled when I said I would fly out there for it.  I had been the maid of honor at their wedding, and I couldn't miss their renewal. 

But the church said that because they wanted the service conducted by a Catholic priest, it couldn't be held there because they didn't allow other denominations to hold services inside the church.

So there was a disappointment.  I had looked forward to visiting them, seeing their house, putting her in her new environment, and being part of the renewal service.

But then a new great grandchild was born back in California.  Little Everly, whom we met at the birthday party on Saturday.   Peach made plans for them to fly them out here to see the new baby and I started counting the days until they arrived.  It would have been almost exactly a year since they left and I was so looking forward to seeing them again.

But then she made the decision to move them out of the house they were renting and into the new facility and an apartment came open about the time they would have flown out here and the trip had to be postponed.  But they would come out later, which ultimately was the best decision because Everly is old enough to have a personality and would be more fun to visit.

The plan was that they would stay at a facility which is part of the chain that the place in Iowa belongs to, so they could stay there for free.   They had the birthday party for Bob on Saturday and she wanted to come to Davis to visit my mother.  She doesn't drive on the freeway, so I was happy to volunteer to get them and take them home again after the visit.

After she got here, she called me and as the two of us talked, it was obviously we desperatey needed a face-to-face, one-to-one and I looked forward to having that chance.

There were so many people at the party and Peach was wonderful about making the rounds and talking to everyone.  I didn't try to spend much time with her because I knew I would have my chance later.  But as we were leaving she said that things were "complicated" and she didn't know if they could come to Davis at all.

That was the last I heard from her.  They are back in Iowa now and she didn't answer my e-mail (no wifi where they were staying) or call to   say goodbye.  I had about 5 minutes total visiting time with her during their visit here, though we were both in the same place, and I am so very, very, very sad.

I know it's not for lack of wanting, but for having so many close friends who, like me, had longed for their visit, and who lived closer than Davis....and for wanting to spend time with her son, her grandchildren and little Everly.   They couldn't afford to give a whole day to coming to Davis.

I don't know when or even if  I will see them again.  Not in the foreseeable future, anyway. I must plan a trip to Iowa, sometime.   But I am so very disappointed that we had no chance to really visit at all on this long-anticipated visit.

Dammit...that big ol' bag o'sadness just started leaking.....

The Rainbow Bridge

I am not a fan of sappy sentiment, especially things like this, which I want to say is just so sappily sentimental that it makes me roll my eyes, but yet if you are someone who has loved and lost a pet, it probably brings some comfort.

My friends Jim Brochu and Steve Schalchlin lost their beloved Steinbeck this week.

The cat was 15 years old, lived a long and happy life, and died in their arms, peeing on them as he left life.  The perfect ending.  

I have a bone to pick with God.  He really designed things wrong.  It is completely unfair that he gave us animals to bond with us and be our life partners and then saddle them with such a short life spans.

When a pet dies, we are disconsolate, and somewhat embarrassed that we let our tears flow freely. "It was just a cat" or "dog" or "whatever."  No.  It was not "just [an animal]."   

When you share your life with an animal they are there in good times and in bad.  You play with them, sleep with them, talk to them, feed them, take care of them.  They watch you and are clued into your every mood.  They try to comfort when you are sad, they are quick to forgive, and you may have a relationship closer to your pet than you have to most of your friends. Why wouldn't you cry at their death and feel deeply sad after they are gone.

When the end of life is near, we feel frantic because we are helpless to prolong their life.  We want to say "no! no!  Don't go! Not yet!"   But we love them and know that the kindest thing we can do often is to let them go.   They often tell us when it is their time.  I remember our dog Seymour, who was a ball chasing demon died of cancer.  I knew that day she spent her day with her head on a chair, and no interest in balls at all, that it was time.

I've seen a number of animals leave this life.  None of us knows what happens after death, but it was our dog Toby who convinced me that there is a thing called a "soul" and that animals have one.  I held him when he was leaving life.  As the doctor gave him the first shot, he relaxed completely.  As she gave him the lethal shot, his body didn't change but his "essence" changed.   I could almost feel his soul...or his "something" leave his body.   He went from being our beloved pet to being an empty shell and the thing that made him Toby was no longer there.

It reminds me of the death of Lad, A Dog.  The mistress and the master return find Lad lying by his beloved lake and the master says "the engine has stopped" and she corrects him.  "No.  The engineer has left it."

We give these guys our love and they give us their unconditional love and when they leave us, it hurts so much.

I hope there is an afterlife.  I hope we are reunited with our loved ones.  And I hope that all those dogs who have preceeded me are there to be with me again.  

In the meantime, my heart is with Jim and with Steve  because I know how much they are hurting tonight.

Day 65:  This tree near my mother's was so gorgeous, I had to drive around the block
so I could be in position to take a photo of it.

Wow--What a Day!

And you thought yesterday was just Labor Day.

It was also: National Cherry Popover Day … Emma M. Nutt Day … National Gyros Day … Chicken Boy’s Day … Calendar Adjustment Day … Building and Code Staff Appreciation Day … Great Bathtub Race Day … International Day of Awareness for the Dolphins of Taiji … National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day … Save Japan’s Dolphins Day … Toy Tips Executive Toy Test Day … and the first day of International Enthusiasm Week … National Nutrition Week … National Payroll Week … National Waffle Week … Self-University Week … Burning Man Week … National Bourbon Heritage Month … National Organic Harvest Month … AND … National Piano Month.

(I'm wondering how National Nutrition Week jibes with National Waffle Week and National Bourbon Heritage Month!)

September 1 is the 244th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar.  There are 121 days remaining until the end of the year, which means only 114 shopping days till Christmas.

On this day in 1799, the Bank of Manhattan Company opened in New York City, NY – the forerunner of Chase Manhattan.

On this day in 1810, the first plow with interchangeable parts was patented by John J. Wood.

On this day in 1859, the Pullman sleeping car was placed into service.

On this day in 1878, Emma M. Nutt became the first female telephone operator in the US, working for the Telephone Dispatch Company of Boston. (is that where "I'd have to be nuts to work at a job like that" came from?)

On this day in 1887, Emile Berliner filed for a patent for his invention of the lateral-cut, flat-disk gramophone – AKA the record player.

On this day in 1905, Saskatchewan and Alberta became the ninth and tenth provinces of Canada.

On this day in 1970, the last episode of I Dream of Jeannie aired on NBC-TV.

On this day in 1979, the U.S. Pioneer 11 became the first spacecraft to visit Saturn.

On this day in 1985, a joint U. S.-French expedition located the wreck of the Titanic 560 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.

On this day in 1995, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame opened in Cleveland Ohio.

On this day in 1997, the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon raised $50,475,055 — a record — to support Muscular Dystrophy Association research and services.  (I never could watch that show...I know there was a good cause, but it always seemed like Lewis was exploiting the kids and the whole thing creeped me out)

On this day in 1998, the movie “Titanic” went on sale across North America.

SAINT OF THE DAY: St. Giles

BIRTHDAYS:
James “Gentleman Jim” Corbett, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Richard Farnsworth, Rocky Marciano, George Maharis, Boxcar Willie, Conway Twitty, Lily Tomlin, Barry Gibb, Billy Blanks, Gloria Estefan, Kenny Mayne, Hardy Nickerson, Padma Lakshmi, Jhonen Vasquez, and Zendaya (Zendaya!  Whatever happened to him!), among many others, share this birthday, including Yvonne DeCarlo who went on to "star" with our friend Matt Buckner in Gypsy in an amphitheater in Oakland.

Hope everyone had a great holiday.  Now can we go back to delivering the mail, please?

Sunday Stealing

What kind of blog do you have?
That's a difficult question to answer...or rather it's a lengthy answer.  There is Funny the World, which is hosted by Yahoo and then Airy Persiflage, a mirror blog for people who want to subscribe.  Both are just my daily journal, my life, comments on current events, and whatever is in my mind that day (including Sunday Stealing). Then there is Bitter Hack, which is where I post my theater reviews after they have appeared in the newspaper.  There is also My Compassion Kids, where I print letters I have received from the children I sponsor through Compassion, Int'l.  And I also have Journey Through Dementia, which records the ups and downs of my mother's dementia.  That's mostly excerpts from Funny the World, for family who don't want to read my journal but who want to know what's going on with my mother. I have had others through the years, like one for my 70th year, one when I was writing a haiku a day, a letter blog when I was recording everything I sent and received, and a bunch of others, but those five are the current active ones.

How many posts do you have?
Funny the World has been written almost daily since March of 2000 and this entry will be #5,270

How many blogs do you follow?
It depends.  I have a lot on Feedly that I check almost daily, and some that don't have a feed that I check when I remember to do so.  Probably several dozen that I check on a regular basis, more that I check intermittently. On Sunday, I try to check as many entries there as I can.

How many followers do you have?
Something like 35 on Blogspot and 300-400 on Funny the World, but I almost never check stats.  It could be much lower (or much higher) than that now.  Funny the World tends to go a lot higher when I am blogging a cruise and it went through the roof when I was blogging my dieting and exercise efforts.

How often do you change your theme?
I don't really have a "theme" per se.

How often do you change your icon?
I change the look of Funny the World on the first of every month, meaning there is a new background and a new masthead.  Once I design something on Blogger, I don't change it. 

Do you have any favorite blogs?
Several.  I have been following Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords, Rob Rummel-Hudson's story of his life with his now-13 year old wordless daughter, ever since his wife was pregnant with her. I've been reading Mary's Red Nose for years and we even met once. I love my friend Sian's Life on a Small Island, though I don't seem to be part of her blog roll. Mary's Z's World is very short, but it's nice to keep up with her life. Kari Peterson is a friend here in Davis and writes a great blog.  Can I Drink the Water? is a wonderful travel blog, but she only writes when she and her husband are traveling, so often there is nothing for long stretches of time, but her photos and descriptions are fabulous. 100+ year old Bill Baker, who lives in California and his friend Wilma, from Canada, are having difficulties finding a good new blogging platform, but when they publish, the blog is always full of fun anectdotes. And Because of Shamin is my now-favorite blog for things pertaining to sponsored children through Compassion, Int'l

Do you ever send anonymous messages to other people?
Never.  Anonymous posters (usually dive-bombers who are there to make trouble) are cowards.  Some anonymous posters are OK.

Do you ever get anon hate?
Rarely, and then only on something I've said in a theater review.

Have you made any friends through your blog?
Oh my word yes.  My friend Steve Schalchlin's Living in the Bonus Round is, historically, the fifth journal ever published on the internet.  It was because of him that I started my own journal and his friendship made me realize how rich internet friendships could be.  I am fortunate that I have made too many friends to count as a result of this blog.  Some have stuck around and remained friends, some have faded away, and some have died (I still miss Jim Lawrence of Jim's Journal, who died last year and who also was a blogging pioneer), but my internet blogging friendships are very valuable to me.

What’s your favorite thing about blogging?
I love the discipline of it.  I started this journal to see if I could produce an 850 word column on a daily basis, like my heroine, Erma Bombeck.  I discovered I'm no Erma, but since I blog daily, unless I can't get internet access, I think have have proven that I can write a daily column, if anybody ever wants to hire me!!  I think my writing has improved over the years, and I really do love borrowing small pieces of others' lives, through their own blogs.

What’s your least favorite thing about blogging?
The nights when I sit down to a blank screen an writers block.  It's always nice when those nights fall on nights when there is a Sunday Stealing to answer!

Day 63:  Laurel posted this to Facebook.  It makes me smile every time I look at it.