My Sister Went to the Ball

My sister Amy, the youngest of my siblings, spent a lot of time over the summer and into the fall promoting Barack Obama.  I thought it was only fitting when she told us that she would be participating in the Big O's celebration and attend the inaugural.  With a close friend living in DC, she had a place to stay.  Her friend Ed came up with a mother lode of miles so they could fly for free.  She had her ball gown - a dress from our parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration a few years ago.  A big splurge was a pair of fancy shoes from Nordstrom's that were both ball-worthy and comfortable.

A few days before her departure, she stopped by and together we went through my closet looking for other things she might need.  She ended up with my suede evening bag; a long, black coat to wear over her gown - but probably wasn't warm enough as the temperature in DC was pretty cold.  She also used my husband's suit carrier for the long dress and coat.

Then, off she went with the good wishes and love of her entire family.

As Inauguration Day dawned, the frantic texting back and forth began. Just as I was about to leave my car after parking it in the train station before heading off to work, Amy excitedly called on my cell phone to tell me she and Ed had been interviewed by MSNBC as they rode on the subway.  I told her I would spread the word to the rest of the family and we would look for the interview on tv.  "Have a great time," I told her, "but be careful." The big sister stuff never goes away.

From the CNN live feed on my computer at work, I could see the mall in DC was rapidly filling up with thousands and thousands of people.  I texted her again:  "It looks so crowded!  Watch your purse and be safe!"

I decided to watch the inauguration ceremony in the Student Center, taking my camera to get some candid shots of students as they watched on the many flat screens.  It took a while for the Center to fill up, but well ahead of the actual swearing in, the place was filled to overflowing.  We watched as past presidents and dignitaries filed in and took their seats; then, finally, the new First Family came through the door.  We listened to Aretha sing, to the beautiful quartet play in the cold wind, listened as the preachers blessed everyone and our soon-to-be new President, and we watched with not a little nervousness, tearful eyes and smiles all around as he and the Chief Justice stumbled through the oath.  

But as the words, "So help me God," were uttered, the Center exploded in applause.  "You did it!" someone yelled to the screen.  Yes, he did.

We listened to the speeches, celebrated with some cake, (actually in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.,) and little by little the students found their ways to their next classes. It was a great way to watch the ceremony - with so many students who took in every word and left the Center with a definite happiness at what they had just observed. And I got some pretty good pictures for the College's website, too.

By the time I got back to my office, there was another text message on my phone from Amy:  "Safe and thrilled!"

 I guess that pretty much said it all.  Our baby sister had witnessed a high point in our nation's history.  The ball that evening was just the icing on the cake.

Amy sent text messages to just about everyone in our family who then passed them on to one another.  My sister Sue did some sleuthing and managed to find the MSNBC interview in an article in Newsweek that was posted on their website, and sent that around to family and friends.  Now Amy was famous, too!

Before she left, I had told Amy that while our dad's participation as a soldier in Roosevelt's funeral after he returned from the Philippines was a historic event for our family, her attendance at the inauguration hit a new high.  Happily, it's a high she is still savoring.

 

Friday night warmth

Dealing with the 16 degree temperatures last week turned out to be a walk in the park - or maybe a walk in the Loop - compared to the last few days.  I dealt with yesterday's -17 degree early morning temperature by only venturing out of the house once:  to retrieve the papers at the end of the driveway, and then spent the rest of the day cooking, baking and getting ready for dinner guests.  

The house has been pretty warm, with the exception of some cold spots around the front door.  From the inside, a thick layer of frost has developed around the metal of the deadlock bolt.  We had an easy remedy for this...a strip of duct tape, and then pulled a rug up against the bottom of the door. Not too attractive, but it works.

There is something comforting about fending off the brutal cold by spending time in the kitchen. As Martha Stewart yammered away about Persian cats in the background,  I started by making a killer Bolognese sauce (no thanks to Martha) that ended up simmering on the stove for six hours.  And it is so true that the longer it simmers, the better it tastes.  I also used one of the last frozen containers of pureed tomatoes from my garden.  Combined with some porcini mushrooms - a hint from my mother who makes the best Bolognese in the world - the sugo was outstanding.  We had it with farfalle pasta, a salad, garlic bread, wine and the company of best friends.  Some brownies and hot apple crisp for dessert rounded out a great meal.

It's amazing how the cold outside simply melts away, at least from our thoughts, when there is so much warmth within - and not just the warmth generated by the furnace.  Our table conversations covered our kids, work, the upcoming inauguration, some politics (although not too much - we still want to remain friends) and a few disagreements on American history (was Gerald Ford ever Speaker of the House?) that were settled with a quick Google search.  

At gatherings like these we always, gratefully, toast our friendships that have lasted decades. And as the candles on the dinner table dimmed, the warmth remained. 

Scrabblemania

Most Chicago boomers remember a time when there were only four channels to choose from on tv:  2, 5, 7 and 9.  Channel 11 (in pre-Sesame Street days) was selected on the odd chance there was something other than Julia Child or a war documentary and you were desperate to watch anything.  Sure, we watched a lot of tv - but there were many times when there was nothing that caught our interest and we simply found other ways to entertain ourselves.

Aside from playing outside or making up games (that is worth a post unto itself) we enjoyed cards and board games like Candyland, Clue and Monopoly. We also really got into Landslide! - a game on the election of the president and fighting over electoral votes.  But for some reason, we didn't get into Scrabble.  We had the game somewhere in the house but no doubt half the tiles  would be missing whenever someone suggested we play - something we always blamed on younger siblings.  Even as I grew older and had children of my own, Scrabble was always outvoted in favor of Pictionary, Bogle or Trivial Pursuit.

I've had an iPhone for almost a year and as soon as I found out I could play Scrabble on it, I bought the application.  I have to admit, I thought I knew all the nuances of the game, but quickly found (after losing five straight games to this mini-computer) that you should look for opportunities for triple count words, finding two or even three word combinations and chances to exchange letters.

Little by little, my scores were getting larger, so I knew I was getting better - even if I continued to lose.  But I've had a few instances of my words being turned down by the Scrabble Dictionary and it has really ticked me off.  Words like 'swinger,' 'peonie' (one of my favorite flowers; it has to be spelled as 'peony') and 'ying' (when they do accept 'yang') were all disallowed.  'Ying' really got me mad - it would have been worth 43 points!

Playing a quick game helps pass the time while waiting for the train to arrive as I stand in the station in the morning, while waiting for the oven to preheat before putting in the meatloaf or sitting in the doctor's office.  However, the addictive quality of Scrabble on the iPhone and your circumstances should definitely be considered before starting a new game.  Riding home on the train, I could easily end up near the Wisconsin border before realizing I've missed my stop.  The onions sauteing on the stove could turn black before the smell brings me to my senses.  I could spend a whole lunch hour playing without eating a bite.

Also consider your surroundings. There are the comments you might make, not realizing you've said them aloud, when your computer opponent uses that "j" in a triple count word, just before you got the last tile to spell out 'justify.'  It's not pretty.

I read somewhere that doing word games helps keep the mind sharp and fends off dementia as we get older.  Scrabble, along with my affinity for crossword puzzles, might also help me lose weight - that is, if I spend anymore lunch hours without eating or nuke anymore dinners.

Hiding from the cold

BRRRRRR...

It's damn cold today; only 16 degrees.

When you live in Chicago and have to walk any distance to get to work, you learn how to dress appropriately.  Fashion definitely takes a back seat to warmth, so I have different levels of dress, depending upon how low the temperature goes.

When we start talking wind chill factors, the woolen coat goes back in the closet and the LL Bean insulated coat with a hood comes out.  I've often told the story of how, one day last winter, I was ridiculed by a complete stranger for my appearance.  First of all, each day I walk from Union Station to State and Congress - about a mile.  On this particularly cold day, I was wearing my LL Bean coat, which almost reaches my ankles.  I had on a hat under the hood, gloves and sunglasses (no matter the cloudiness, they help prevent my eyes from tearing up in the wind) and of course, my Uggs.

The LL Bean had a faux fur trim on the hood.  Once I velcroed and zipped myself into the coat, there was a rather small opening so I could see where I was going. The sunglasses provided the last bit of disguise and only my Italian nose was really visible.  As I made my way east on Jackson, a man going west stopped dead in his tracks and pointed at me, from about ten feet away.  He was laughing as he pointed, saying very loudly, "I can still see you in there!"

Right in the middle of the busy sidewalk in the Loop at 8:30 in the morning.

How hysterical.

I quickened my pace past this moron and darted into a building on the southeast corner of Jackson and Wells, my only block-long cut-through on my way to work.  As I relished the temporary relief from the cold, I recovered from the insult, thinking, "At least I'm warm."  The other consolation I took was that in my cold weather get-up, no one could recognize me.

The older I get, the more frustrated I become about fashion.  At the risk of sounding like an old lady, I can't believe how so many professional women are foregoing pantyhose and working bare-legged in the middle of winter.  Granted, most of them are a lot younger than I am, but this style seems so uncomfortable to me, if only from the aspect of having bare feet in high heels.  To me, that equals blisters and your soles sticking to the inside of your shoes - yuck.

I have a number of friends from high school and college who now live in Arizona.  This mode of fashion is second nature to them, but then again, they don't have to worry about snow in their shoes or stepping in a five-inch deep puddle of icy slush at a street corner.  I have another friend who spent ten years living in Alaska.  She thinks those years were a breeze compared to the bone-chilling, damp cold in Chi-town.

Well, despite the near frostbite I experienced on my shnozz this morning, I think I'm ok with our annual deep freeze.  Not that I love the cold by any means, but it beats hot flashes in the middle of July and it also gives me something else to "wear" every day - my frosty badge of courage and strength for making it through another Chicago winter.

Back to Work

Working for an educational institution has definite benefits when it comes to the holidays.  Along with all our students, those of us on faculty and staff have come to love our Christmas break, giving us almost two weeks of respite from meetings, classes, projects and deadlines. 

This year, the return to normal was off to a slow start.  A number of people extended their breaks with a vacation day or two and I found myself almost totally alone in our office suite on my second day back.  It was conducive to getting a lot done, but the quiet was also a little disconcerting.  Still, as a new year starts, I am surrounded by lots of good intentions - on the parts of many - to grab 2009 with a fervent desire to do more, do better and fill up that clean slate of a calendar with wonderful accomplishments and successes.

Another example of this fervor can be found at our local community center where my husband and I try to work out three times a week.  We get up at the ungodly hour of 5:10 a.m. and after blindly pulling on sweatpants, socks, t-shirts and shoes, are on the treadmill or elliptical no later than 5:40.  It's a good thing my husband drives because I tend to nod off on our short trip to the center.  Actually, it's a good thing he even sets the alarm and gets out of bed so quickly - I'm sure that I wouldn't make half the sessions if we didn't exercise together.

On the first Monday after New Year's, all the treadmills were in use as we arrived:  the "resolutionists" had taken over.  So, instead of my usual run, I did my cardio on one of those machines that makes you look like you are riding a bike while standing up.  I then had to wait for a bench for free weights and also had to squeeze my floor mat into an area that put me in peril of being stepped on. As irritating as the newbie onslaught was, we knew it wouldn't last long.  Give it a month, I thought, and we would be back to the usual early morning gang with lots of machines to choose from.  

The change was already obvious this morning - Wednesday.  Maybe the inch or so of snow kept people from coming in, or they were still sore from Monday - who knows? But so much for resolutions, at least as far as working out goes.  On the other hand, we may see them back on Friday, or perhaps they came in later. 

I'm hoping that a renewed excitement for the work we do in education will last longer than the desire to exercise away all that holiday overeating - not that such a desire isn't admirable, but I do so enjoy the enthusiasm on most people's parts as we return to our jobs.  Even as people show up, bemoaning the fact that our break was over too quickly, many do seem to approach work with a reinvigorated spirit that gets us off on the right foot.  

It's a nice feeling to turn the page on the calendar (or click the arrow on any electronic version) for a new year. Dates start to fill in and we're back to our busy selves, but not without a little more energy and optimism.  Even many who didn't have much of a break and put in regular hours during the days between Christmas and New Year's know the feeling - here's to 2009!