Some Girl Time On Sunday

And it was fun! Did my usual Sunday stuff--crossword was tricky and absorbing--until Ellen came about 10:30. Off we went to her classroom in Santa Paula nd we were there about three hours. I helped by 1. removing student artwork from the windows and closet door; 2. sticking fresh artwork up; 3. moving laptops from student desks to a kind of charging closet to prepare for next week; 4. checking some written work in various modes; 5. and generally making myself useful. Ellen had been out on Friday, as Greg had had outpatient surgery in Santa Barbara, so she needed to prepare. She was very appreciative for my help, but as I assured her, I loved doing it. 

Also loved being back in her classroom. Took a picture of this on her wall:

After, we drove back on the gorgeous valley roads around Olivelands School and went to lunch at a little sort of honky-tonk restaurant near Smart 'n' Final. The Dodgers were on the five large T.V. screens (luckily, the sound was barely audible) and I could choose from a multitude of different beers. I had a Chief Peak (happily, on draft) and a huge meat ball sub, of which I couldn't eat all. Anyway, it was yum.

Back at my place, El showed me how to get on Instagram and checked out my new CCleaner Premium. We sat and chatted for a bit, laughing over this and that. We talked to Greg, who's still in recovery, and I told him I had become a follower of his on Instagram. Walked El out to her car and we said goodbye with love.

As for Instagram: Thanks to the address Owen had given me, I was able to got on Ben's site and follow. He's now in Alabama, having walked to Texas and on from there. He has posted some wonderful pictures, including one of himself walking through a desert in the early morning hours--pitch black, but the sky ablaze with stars.

More Family Info

I think Frank looks very much like grandfather Figenshu when both were in their twenties. I don't have any of Frank at that age, but I think this still shows the resemblance:

It's so annoying I don't know how to put pictures side by side!

Saturday With Jim And Pavarotti

Cleaned up a bit (not that Jim would notice) and deciding on what to serve. It turned out to be a shepherd's pie bought frozen at Trader Joe's, shepherd's pie, which I cooked in the oven. At the same time, I roasted the baked apples I had made earlier. Added a bowl of pickled beets and one of carrots prepared with tangerines in the slow cooker. A colorful meal and, as usual, Jim ate three-quarters of it.

He was early and as soon as he came in, mentioned that a particular opera was on the radio, so could we listen. I don't have a separate radio, but found it on my phone and we listened to the last act. It was recorded at the Met in 1978 and included Pavarotti and other well-known singers; I think they're all dead.  After that and while the meal was getting done, I casually asked him about those friends he had mentioned--Judy and the other one--he's going to see next Saturday. To my surprise, he became very angry. His fury--and fear, I think--at what he considers personal questions, is alarming. He calmed down a bit when I backed off and we sat down and ate.

After, he asked about the Hitler documentary that I had mentioned was so riveting and I got it on Netflix. He sat and watch most of it and I surreptitiously took a picture:

After, he had to nerve to say the rocker is uncomfortable and I should get some kind of padding. Yes, I've noticed that myself, but I sit there only when I watch T.V. from 8 to 9 pm and I always have my thick flannel robe on. That's just indicative of Jim's ignorance of social niceties--but oh, well...

He left at 4:30 and Ellen called. She'll be coming over about 10:00, then we'll go to her school and prepare for class on Monday--yay!

Note: I decided to make the information about my father a separate entry; see the following. 

My Dad

Family Lore

Well, here it is from my Dad's 1918 Roman Catholic High School yearbook. See quotes below. 

And after the article is a picture of the track team, the original of which I have on my wall:

From the article, page 53: "Hampered by the fact that no coach could be procured, a band of inexperienced boys composed the cross-country team representing R.C.H.S. this season....From this number "Heck"* Byrne, hitherto unknown, developed himself into one of the best cross-country runners Catholic High has seen in many years....(Others)...helped Byrne bear the bulk of the races....only two dual meets were held...The first...Taylor, the colored flyer, won the race, and Byrne finished a close second....Next came the All-American Scholastic Champs...Catholic High sent but one man to represent the institution, and, may it be said to his credit, he did all that was necessary to uphold the Purple and Gold. Byrne was the man sent; he finished tenth, and was the third Philadelphia runner to cross the line...two of Catholic High's best performers...did the entertaining that day at Franklin Field. Byrne, of cross-country fame, finished third in the mile...."

Page 54: "...we met Trade School in the initial dual meet of the season...The mile was won by "Heck" Byrne*.... (At St. Joe's)...Byrne finished third in the 330 yards (race)...Byrne again showed himself worth while (sic) when he won the mile event, leaving the St. Joe's man a half lap behind...On May 28th, the following men received their 'C's' for faithful services during the season...Byrne...."

It's interesting how many of his descendants followed him, so to speak, into the sport of running: my own daughter and son, several nieces and nephews, and some of the great-and great-great grandchildren, too. 

When I was 13, he was killed in a tragic accident at 51--a man I never knew.

*I'm not sure why my father is referred to here as "Heck." Either the writer didn't know he was called "Seth" or else he had two nicknames.  

Friday And Fairly Quiet

I'm late with this, so it's going to be sketchy. Weight: Home, I gained 1.6 for a reading of 128.6; T.O.P.S., up 1.5 to 130.8; but I'm not going to obsess over. The meeting was so-so and I promised I'd do a program next week. Bobbi was back after her a-fib scare, but poor Sharon wasn't.Didn't finish breakfast until 10:30, then did a few chores, made my lunch, and bused to town. Stopped here and there and ate across for the mission. 

At The Coalition, I saw Owen, who more or less runs the place. I asked him what he heard from Ben Wilson, my fellow thespian at Fractured Actors, who appeared with me in Interstellar Galactic Management LLC, in August. He said Ben has completed his walk to Texas and will continue walking to the east coast.

Whoa--what?! Yes, Ben is walking for a cause: animal rights. A bit of background: I appeared with Ben in Welcome Home three years ago and Area 22 last year. He's a really good actor, in his early twenties, strictly vegan, and his parents moved to Mexico several years ago. Owen, who said his wife, who has had a lot of stage experience, is interested in FATC. I suggested she should get in touch with Jeff or Shannon. Owen gave me Ben's Instagram address and I'm going to follow him across the country. 

Here's Ben in August, after a rehearsal. He's with Emma Bangs, a beautiful young woman who was in another segment of Area 22.  

Got home from town about 4:00. Scrubbed and trimmed two pounds of carrots, put some in the slow cooker with quartered tangerines, the rest in the oven with olive oil and herbes de provance. Washed and halved the Brussel sprouts and popped them in the oven, also. I had both for dinner, along with half a turkey sandwich. 

I had asked Ellen to come over tomorrow, as I want to get a new office chair. I'd still like her to come, but I think I'd just as soon order one on line, anyway. Will talk to her later. 

Note: I got the scanned info from Roman Catholic High School about my Dad; still working on enhancing it and will post soon. 

Suzanne, Diane, And Jim On Thursday

All told, it was a good day. I went with Suzanne to WinCo at 9:30 and what I bought practically filled her back seat. Got lots of produce: Brussel Sprouts, spinach, spaghetti squash, tangerines, and grapefruit, as well as some canned goods and paper products. Home, I put the stuff away, made a sandwich for lunch, filled my insolated lunch holder with it, a beer, and a small bottle of wine, and took off to meet Diane. 

I took the sink insert I had ordered from Temu. I had offered it to Suzanne, but she has the same sink I do, which it doesn't fit. Diane thinks she could use it, so took it with thanks. (It's amazing to me that the company refunded the cost, but told me not to send it back, but I understand that isn't unusual.)

The weather had turned heavenly; unlike Wednesday, it was warm, sunny, and un-windy. I even wore my lighter short coat and left the gloves and scarf at home. Met Diane at about 12:15 outside the coffee shop on Victoria (near Jasmine Thai) and we sat happily eating--and drinking--our lunches. It's hard to believe, but we didn't say goodbye until 3:30; we talked and talked and talked. While we were there, Jim called to ask my advice on why one of his computers didn't have the Internet. I was sympathetic and after asking him a few questions, suggested he call Spectrum, his provider, to see if there was a problem on their end. Diane and I then resumed our marathon talk.

When we parted, I walked up to Wal-Mart--really just to use their restroom, but I bought tomatoes, too, which I had forgotten at WinCo. Trader Joe's is right next door, so I stopped there to get swordfish and a few other things. 

Home, I called Jim to ask after his computers were. No, he hadn't called Spectrum, but one was on-line, the other wasn't. (Why he has two is just too complicated to record here.) We talked for a bit, I invited him for lunch tomorrow, he accepted and then said he wasn't available on the next Saturday. Here's the following conversation, almost verbatim:

Me: Why aren't you available?

Jim: I'm going somewhere.

Me: Where?

Jim: To eat.

Me: Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner?

Jim: Dinner.

Me: Who with?

Jim: A friend.

At that point, I told Jim how many or most people would respond when I asked why he wasn't available: "I'm having dinner with a friend." Jim then said, "I'm going with Alicia (?) to see Judy." Me: Who are Alicia and Judy? Jim: Some friends. 

It was funny in a gruesome sort of way.

Wishy-Washy Wednesday

Kind of a tame day. Julie picked me up for the BCNN meeting and off we went to the harbor in a fierce wind and cold, cold temp. As it turned out, the speaker, from the DA's office whose topic was scams on seniors, was late, so one of the BCNN officers spoke about the same thing. She cautioned us that scammers are out there in droves, all from other countries, all trying to get our money and I guess you're supposed to hide under the bed or something. It was intensely boring. 

What wasn't was the spectacular snow show on the mountains: 

When the "victim advocate" from the D.A.'s office finally arrived, it got more interesting. She told some hair-raising stories about scams, including one about a woman who met a scammer in the Wal-Mart parking lot and gave him a bag of cash. One wonders how anybody could be that...uh, never mind.  One of the members stood up and said she was scammed out of $20,000--ouch!

Margarita had asked me to save her a seat, which I did, but she came over before the program to say she had brought a friend and was at another table. Julie asked if I wanted to join them and thanks, but no thanks, and I think Margarita may be off my I-want-to-know-her-better list. Neither Julie nor I wanted to go to the lunch after and Julie isn't going to the next meeting. It's about wigs and I'm not sure I want to go either. She isn't gong to T.O.P.S. tomorrow, as she said she gained a lot on her three-week cruise, which was followed by a week in Arizona. 

Had a quick lunch, then went over to Von's for a few small things. I'm going to WinCo this morning with Suzanne and still have a fair amount on my list. Talked to Ellen and we made a date for Sunday; I want to get a new desk chair and will search some possibilies on-line, but hope I can pick it up locally.  

The exciting news is that I got a voice mail message from the admissions director at Villanova, who asked for my email address and said he'd found some info on my father in the 1918 yearbook and would send it to  me. Also, the mystery about the track and debating teams may be partly solved, as he alluded to a pic of the track team. Can't wait to get the results and share them with kin!

Wednesday With My Parents

Chilly, chilly, chilly, but at least, it was sunny. As for my day, I spent it with Mom and Dad. 

How so? For one, nephew Wes had messaged other kin and me a recording of my mother reminiscing about her childhood and later life. I had heard it before, years ago, but had forgotten about it. It's quite absorbing, half an hour long and includes a lot of early Byrne family lore. It aroused complicated  emotions in me, I'm not going to relate here. The past is past and it needs to stay there. 

I've also started--or continued--pursuing my father's past. The question has arisen as to whether the two pictures of him on the debating and track teams are from college (as we always believed) or high school. I emailed the admissions officer at Roman Catholic High School to see if they had his yearbook (1918), but haven't heard back. 

I did hear back from the librarian at Villanova. She said if I lived nearby, I was welcome to come in and look at their yearbook archives. I wrote back I couldn't very well, but then something occurred to me. I looked up the student employment office, and wrote saying I may want to hire a student to research my Dad's info at Villanova. I sent a detailed email (with pictures) late in the day, so they were probably gone, but I hope to hear back today. I also sent these, to provide more information:

Naughty girl that I am, it always struck me funny that he's listed as an "unpinning engineer"--risque!  

About noon, I packed a lunch, bundled up, and bused to town. Enjoyed lunching in my usual relatively out-of-the-wind spot across from the mission. Browsed in the shops, but didn't stay long. 

Called Carolyn to fill her in on my visit to Betty on Monday. Texted Margarita to see if she was picking me up for BCNN today; I mentioned that Julie had offered. I got back a peculiar response, asking which of them lived closer. I know I'm oversensitive, but that made me uncomfortable. I immediately texted Julie (who had offered before) and she'll pick me up. Margarita asked me to save her a seat. Okay.