Another Rainy Day in Cville

My biggest problem is staying focused. I don't do as much as most people but I still have trouble staying focused. That is the big reason for my blog. I am trying to write myself notes every day and also look at the calendar to know what day it is. I read the newspapers but always seem to be behind. I always have a pile in a basket.

My favorite kind of reading is to read about art especially drawing. It is more understandable then math but you still have to pay attention to details. I think I also like the color and looking at the colors in painting. I am just learning the names of some colors. I have also been reading about how to write essays. I think if I write often enough I'll improve and this will improve my thinking.

Rick and I went to the Jimmy Buffet concert Tuesday night at the John Paul Jones Arena. There were lots of older people there; everyone wears Caribbean costumes. Rich wore one of his Hawaiian shirts. I wore a colorful pants suit that I wear to play tennis with a pink necklace. We took potato skins and Shrimp that we bought at Sam's on Sunday. I am glad I have Rick to help me with some of this kind of thing. I was one of the crowd that got into a lot of the singing and dancing. It was a pretty sany crowd.
The big family news is that Walker will get his article about financial education published in the Richmond Times Dispatch. I am very excited for him.

The big national news today is Ophrah Winfrey is going to retire. I'll probably plan my day around this event. But that is okey. It is popular culture.
It poured most of the day. I really didn't want to go out but I played majhongg with my friends and really had to. I won twice.

My Problem

My goal right now is to finish two scrapbooks. I am having a very difficult time. I spread everything out on the dinning table and look at pictures but I cannot decide what to say or how to place the pictures. I have been reading Scrapbook journaling which helps, in fact it gave me the initial push to start the whole process but for some reason I find it very difficult to move forward. I look at the pictures but am never sure what to write as the caption or how to tell a short story about the picture. Years ago I read a book Write it down Make it Happen. That is why I am writing this entry. I am going to tell my self: My Goal is to Finish My Scrapbooks and Move On; Like the political group.

Yesterday I went to a seminar at the Piedmont Community College on Free Speech. It was moderated by Coy Barefoot who is our neighbor. He had a very impressive panel including Bob O'Neil and Bob Gibson and the head of the Rutherford Institute, John Whitehead. They were all individuals who were well versed in the subject. Coy ask good Questions but the most insightful questions were from the audience because they always premised their questions with stories and experiences that peppered what they asked. I wrote a letter to Coy today commenting on the program which is a first. I need to comment in the news more about what I think.

Today I watch the interview of Sarah Palin by Oprah Winfrey. I admire both women who are very self assured and confident and want to get their view point across to the world.

Fixing the dishwasher on a rainy Friday

Robert Sconnover's son Johns, is here. He is looking at the panel and figuring out how to paint it so it fits in with the rest of the appliances. He has to put a krylon primer on it first. He is going to take the panel that is on there off and then put on the one that he will paint. We actually have two other panels in our house right now which were sent from the Sears's warehouse. The panel was discontinued in white and bisque. It has been a long drawn out process to return this dishwasher to a working machine. We use it constantly.

We have the remnants of Ida in Cville. It rained all day yesterday and is raining right now. The workmen cannot work outside because of the rain.

Yesterday I worked on picture albums. I am having a terrible time finishing them. I keep procrastinating.I don't want to do anything else until I finish them.

I also played Majhonn with my friends. I play this game both to keep my brain alert and to socialize with women my own age. One of the women is a gossip and likes to talk. Yesterday, she spent a long time talking about her step mother. It is distracting and you don't focus on the game. It is a game that takes lots of concentration. After Robert and his son finish I want to go to the grocery store.

a gorgeous fall day

I took Roko and Jorvanna to the airport this morning so they could rent a car and follow some of their friends to Knoxville Tenn to attend and play in the next tournament. They have slept late every morning so I was worried they would not wake up in time but they did. They had to be there at nine o'clock. I went shopping afterward mostly for Christmas stuff but the most important item was paint for our dishwasher panel. We have worked on this problem for weeks and I wanted to get it finished. So I stopped by Loews and picked up the paint. It is absolutely gorgeous outside. Rick has been raking leaves and now I see him out the window spreading mulch around the trees at the top of the hill by charlie's I cleaned up Bradley's room some but still have lots to do. The washer just stopped.
Rick and I watched two of the tennis matches at the Boar's Head last eventing. We saw Singh vs Kim. Sing was the Cville favorite because he is still a student at UVA. It was an exciting match that was finally settled with a tie breaker and Kim won to the disappointment of the crowd.
I am tyring to make Tucker's room look presentable in case Tucker and Liz want to stay there at Christmas. So I have been organizing books and papers and have come across some interesting letter and pictures.

I am reading Active Voice which is about writing more abstract essays instead of just narrative which I seem to do. I think beginning with my next essay I will try to include more generalities. the author talks a lot about writing in present and past tense. I remember Joe Spekteck used to circle our verbs. I need to pay attention more to the tense I am writing in.

A chilly Friday Morning

Our guests from Croatia are still here even though Roko lost his match at the Boar's Head tournament on Wednesday. They have turned in their rental car and decided to drive with another player to Knoxville Tennessee for the next match. Yesterday I took them downtown to have lunch with Rick on the mall. Walker joined us. We ate at Bixby's. We sat outside. It was chilly but fun because the leaves from the trees kept falling on us and our food. I am going to have to clean the room downstairs for Christmas. Mary Robinson just walked around the lake. I like my computer vantage point because I can see who is out walking. I can also see the seasons changing. The yard is full of dry leaves. We will rake more leaves this weekend but in the other part of the yard by the Sycamore Tree. This weekend I read the Prayers of the People at church and then we go to the Mistletoe festival which is at the Omni. Hallie and made lots of baby things and it should be fun looking at them. I am working on albums for Christmas. I will probably go over and watch more tennis later today. I would like to add a link about the tennis matches but I am not sure how to do it. Later.

Roko looses in the Second Round

I am just back from the Boar's Head sports Club where I watched Roko Karanusic loose his match. He lost the first set 7-5 then came back to win the second match 6-4 but seemed to fall apart 6-0 in the third match. He had a communication thing going with Jorvanna his girl friend during the whole match. I was sitting beside her and they communicated with there eyes and body language. I brought him home in the car but we are not sure where she is. He told me that they will turn in the rental car. He said they on on their way next to Knoxville Tennessee and they to Chaplain, Illinois. It is quite good Tennis. The serving is hard and the rallies are long. Roko and Irvanna cook all their own food. They leave some for me. Today I had pasta with mushrooms and Asparagus for lunch. This morning I ate left over sweet potatoes.
I played tennis this morning with Helene, Mary Anne and Jeanne Carver. We are trying to organize some tennis for the winter since the league does not have enough interested players.

Duane Snow won the election for the County Board of supervisors yesterday. I was either at the poll at Meriwether School or watching tennis. I went to Rival's with April, duane's daughter and her husband and their kids. They drove their van. We stopped at Wendy's on the way home because there was no food at the party. I think they went because they thought that their would be food their.

I go to my last Abraham Lincoln Class tonight sop I can not write anything else.

Sunday; filled with fun

I had an eventful day yesterday. We went to the nine o'clock service at Christ Episcopal church and I stayed for Sunday School. The lesson was on "Judging Others" part of a Sermon on the Mount Series. The class is very biblical and usually led by Dave. Someone reads from the scripture and then Dave tell us his interpretation of what it means.
Judge not and you shall not be judged. Don't look for the speck in others eyes when there is a log in your own. I have a problem with judging people so it helped me to hear others thoughts. Dave also had a list of other passages that are also significant to the lesson taught.

We have guests in our house right now. The Boar's Head Sport's club is having a men's invitational tournament and the Ix's ask us to house of the players. We have Roko and his girl friend Jurivanna staying here. We think Roko is 155th in the world but I am not sure of his official number. they are from Croatia, although we learned she is Serbian. He is very focused and very particular about his food habits. Rick offered to cook him a steak Saturday night and we were told he does not eat any red meat and that he and Jurvanna wanted to cook the food. Rick did grill large shrimp which we bought at Food Of all Nations and he would not even eat these. We made a special trip to buy the steak and shrimp. Roko and Jurvianna have gone shopping and have lots of food stored in the refrigerator. Tonight he plays doubles.

Last night I went to an event at the club called "Hitting with the pros." About twenty five members got to hit with both some of the pros and some of the UVA players who are wild cards at the tournament. It was really fun. I hit better than I thought I would. After this we were treated to very nice food and got too talk to some of the other members especially the Ix's

In the afternoon I took Inge Van Hook my neighbor who lives across from me to the Harps of Gold concert which was held at the First Presbyterian Church. there were seven antique Harps lined up across the front of the church. The event was a fundraiser for the Wednesday Music Club. The Harps were played by students who have been given scholarships to learn to play. The playing was a bit sketchy at times but the choice of x songs was excellent.