My Dear Neighbours:
It’s time for me to take a short holiday from blogging. I want to spend a few weeks catching up with everyone in my neighbourhood whose blogs I haven’t had time to read in the past few months, as I’ve been so busy with writing. I feel as though I’ve lost touch with many of my friends,and am missing very important things in their lives, not only here on VOX, but at home, too. Also, my garden is full of weeds and needs tending. I will be back in August. Before I go I want to thank all my neighbours who tagged me for the “Eight Things You Don’t Know About Me” game. I didn’t want to respond to only one person, so I decided this would be a good way to leave off, by responding here. Thanks for the tag, everyone, and… here we go:
Eight Things You Don’t Know About Me:
• When I was twenty, I took classes to learn how to assemble car transmissions just to impress a boy I was in love with, who was an auto mechanic. I put a C-6 transmission together, all by myself. Now I probably couldn’t remember what it looks like.
• I sold my first engagement ring and went on a tour of the European continent with the proceeds. I’m serious- Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, England, Belgium, Amsterdam and more, all for the price of one sparkler, which the man who gave it to me told me he didn’t want back.
• I come from a family of amazingly talented musicians. I, on the other hand, am tone deaf. But God made up for that deficiency by blessing me with the biggest feet you’ve ever seen on a 5’ 2” woman. (Size American 8 Wide – real grape stompers from my Sicilian ancestors.)
• My former business partner and I once took an overnight train from the northern border of Greece back to Athens carrying a satchel stuffed with approximately 4000 USD in cash. (Long story.) The train was filled with derelicts and poor refugees. We were very uncomfortable, to say the least, two women alone, carrying all that money. To top off our discomfort, my business partner got hit on by the station manager. She turned him down, but kept his phone number to show to her husband when we got back home. Bless his heart, I don’t know what upset him more – the fact that we could have gotten mugged, or that a strange man had approached his wife. Once we were home safely, the whole experience seemed a big adventure.
• Several of my pupils at a NYC junior high school were gang members, unfortunately. I truly cared about them all, and worked very hard with them, not only on reading and writing, but on their lives. One of them astounded my colleagues when he got up and read an A.E. Housman poem aloud in our classroom. The next day he was arrested on suspicion of murder. I’ve always wondered what he could have become were his circumstances different.
• I love to read to children. Bernard Evslin or Roald Dahl are my first joys, but I’ll read Eric Carle and Dr Seuss gladly, too.
• In my middle-age I have become a ‘gym rat.’ I work out with heavy weights four times a week. Some of my friends are the male body builders I work out with. I never knew men with muscles so big would have hearts to match. I learned a lot about how men really think from working out with them. They are not at all as I’d imagined when I was young. Apart from the body builders, I am lucky to count as my friends people of both sexes, all careers, sexual persuasions, nationalities, and age ranges from 20’s – 80’s. The world is full of intriguing people wherever one looks.
• I can cook pretty darn well, especially Italian and Greek food. My baklava and tiramisu are legendary. I hope I can prove it to you all some day. And when I divorced my Greek husband, he asked me to leave him my shrimp scampi recipe before I left. I did leave it for him, (and didn’t even leave out any of the ingredients for spite.)
I’ll be seeing you on your blogs. Enjoy July!
*drools* Tiramisu is a favorite of mine. I worked as a packing manager for a French bakery (that also made Italian pastries) for a while and got to eat all I wanted free of charge. Much tiramisu and many eclaires were being consumed daily by me.Enjoy your blogging sabbatical. 🙂
Lol @ the size 8 feet. Yummm…the talk about Italian food is making me hungry. Hope you enjoy your short break from blogging! 😀
Enjoy the time off! We'll be waiting for your return. 🙂
Take care and enjoy your break!
Thank you darling. Hopefully July will be a nice month all round for both of us. I have to say, someone who feeds me really good tiramisu can get virtually anything out of me ;o)Now for finding a way for me to fund a tour of Europe…
We'll miss you! But enjoy your time away….catching up with friends, & even quiet time for self reflection & discovery. *hugs*
You really have had a full life, Patricia. May it continue to be so full for a long, long time. Now, I'd better scurry back to my blog and try to write something interesting. I'm getting a visitor, it seems. Enjoy your break, and best wishes for your "Harlot's Sauce" launch.
Hi Patricia, your 8 things are really unusual,especially the feet thing. You don't look like a woman who'd have big feet! Have a lovely break and good luck with the weeds, take care, Love Vicola x
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Enjoy your holiday! I hope I shall barely have time to miss your posts before you're back.Oh, and my Tiramisu is also legendary. ;)PS – Ashley would like some baklava in the post…
Oh, tiramisu is my absolute favorite dessert. Part of my wedding cake will be tiramisu 😉
I'll miss you, but I know you'll be back. I haven't been blogging much either–too many wonderful things to enjoy outside right now. Enjoy your summer!
As always you seemed to have lead and still lead and wonderful fulfilling life – enjoy more….live, laugh, love. Good luck.
I've been on break myself, back soon, I think. Shepherding the last one through the end of hs (graduated, thank God), and working too many hours. Checking up on my neighborhood, tho'. Happy vacation! Grow some flowers, and cucumbers, why are they so expensive lately?????
I am truly impressed with your good-heartedness in giving your ex your shrimp scampi recipe. As a man who married a woman from South Philly, I know how sacred recipes can be. My ex's (Sicilian) best older friend gave her her Jewish apple cake and pizzelle recipes before she passed away. But even more importantly, she gave her the spoon she used (not a tablespoon or a teaspoon) to measure her ingredients. Without that spoon, the recipes are a shade off.
I make a pretty decent baklava myself. Especially for a northern European mutt. When I was a kid, my parents used to take us to a Greek festival every year (I think it was in the East Bay; Marin didn't have one then). I loved baklava so much that I insisted on learning how to make it. My mom had a Greek friend who was kind enough to give me her recipe.
I love to read to kids, too. Unfortunately, my son isn't that much into it. Which is disappointing, as I am actually quite good at it. I once read the entire Fellowship of the Ring to a girlfriend.
I'm off to Ocean City, NJ next week with my son, where we will meet up with my sister from NYC, and my brother from Oakland. First vacation in a couple of years. So I'll be on a bit of a hiatus myself. I look forward to seeing you on the blogs.
Have a relaxing / busy / useful break 🙂
[isto é bom]
I love eclairs, the ones that have the chocolate frosting and the cream filling. (Sigh) you got me thinking about them now. Thank you for your good wishes. Have a great 4th. Can't wait to mosey over and see whatcha been up to. ; )
Hey, there, pretty Sue- think the feet are funny, do ya? Don't go shoe shopping with me, then- you'd really split a gut laughing, Have a great weekend. P.
Thanks Brown Suga'! See ya soon! : )
Thank you, Marie! Have a great fourth!
Have a great holiday, Ancora. We''ll 'see' each other soon,maybe in a baklava contest?
I once read the entire Fellowship of the Ring to a girlfriend.
Now that is really cool….
A good tiramisu recipe is easier to find than someone who's willling to buy you a diamond just so's you can use it to pay for a trip to the continent. But I have a feeling you'll find a way to get there on your own funds. ; )
Aww, I wasn't making fun of your feet. I have really skinny feet, it's hard getting shoes that fit! I even wear kids size. :-/ If both of us went shoe shopping, we'd both spill our guts laughing. 😀
Ah, no- I wasn't offended. I enjoyed the comment. I've learned to live comfortably with my feet. Hence my announcment about them. They are usable, at least. I know thin feet can be a problem getting shoes, too, but they do look so nice. My son once asked me, (when he was seven ) "Mom , how does it feel to have feet like Cinderella's stepsisters?" LOL Have a great weekend
Have a great month. I just wanted to thank you for all the interesting posts. (I think you were one of the first people I "met" here on vox.) I also wanted to recommend Sarah Addison Allen's new book, Sugar Queen. I think you will like is well as her first Garden Spells. See you when you return! Be well.
Oh my goodness! I loved Garden Spells! Is her new book out already? Thanks for the tip!
Your posts are interesting , too, which is why I'm taking a break. I want to have time to come over and read a bit more of them. : )
If we ever meet, I will be sure to prepare you my tiramisu. Can't help with the tour of Europe, unfortunately. ; )
Thank you MC. I'm actually thinking I might sit outside today and a have a coffee in my garden. The weather hasn't been as nice as we're used to for this time of year here, but today iit looks stellar. We've had smoke in the air from all the fires, but today it looks clear. I think I will enjoy it. : )
Hi, Snowy. Yes, I'll be visiting, In fact, I made a quick drop in and you didn't disappoint me. I loved this latest Friday Night's Philosophy. It was beautifully expressed.
I'm still reeling from your Dimitri the Stud post. Did you see the reenactment and the fake Olga response vids posted adjacent? Brilliant! You hit a nerve in me with that one, for sure. As for the feet- ever notice how none of my photos have my feet in them? (hee hee) ; )
Who needs bling when you can have culture and adventure instead?
Ironically the man who gave that diamond ring said just the opposite," why do I need to travel? For example, to Italy? If I want Italian food, I can get it right here.I can get any kind of food I want, from any country, right here." (sigh) It's pretty obvious now, we weren't meant to be married. Lucky escape for both of us probably…. ; )
"Ashley would like some baklava in the post…"
Are you saying you can make tiramisu but not baklava? I am going to wager that means someone in your immediate family was/is a great baker of Greek sweets. Why bother to make it when someone else can do it and so well, eh? In my family, it was my uncle who was the baker. he started Little Italy down in San Diego, (southern California) more than forty years ago. He made the best bread, sweets, Italian cookies you can imagine. He gave my tiramisu a grade of 'B.' From him, that was high praise, indeed!. It's too bad he is no longer with us. We could have had abake-off and let him judge! : )
I wanted a tiramisu wedding cake this time around. I looked up a recipe and it seemed too complicated. I was afraid it would turn out lopsided or something. So I ordered one from this woman who designs cakes. Ours looked like a gift box, with a bow on it and everything. It was beautiful and it tasted good, but it really only had a slight flavour of tiramisu. Oh, well, it made a lovely photograph. BTW- did I send you a reply to this comment already? You know, I think I'm losing my mind, I mean it. I could almost swear I typed this yesterday. And I see here that I answered LC's comment twice. (Sigh) Losing it. Seriously. ; )
Thank you. You enjoy yours, too. It's true that the outdoors beckons at this time of the year!
Live, love, laugh is such a good motto, isn't it? Sometimes it takes practice, though. It's easier many, many times to cry, sigh and sleep. But- I will take your advice. Thanks. ; )
Thank you. And I have a feeling it will be all of those things! : )
Ah! Mrs. Peel… You always say the nicest things! How lucky for all of us to have you in our neighbourhood. When I see your name and your comments, I cant be in a bad mood. Thank you.
Good luck with your leave of absence! I think everyone needs a little time now and then to just catch up with their lives! Enjoy the rest of July and catching up with blogs and your friends and family. 🙂
Everyone needs to unplug now and then, right? I think it helps us reassess and get back in touch with the tangible: dinner dates with family and friends, running fingers through the dirt in our backyard, listening to a good song while sipping a glass of wine…I hope you enjoy those very things in your time off, and come back soon 🙂
Thank you, trish. I hope you have great July, too. I'll be catching up with you also, on your blog. : )
(sigh) I have to do more of those things, but mostly I feel as though I have missed communicating with the people here I've learned to care about. For example, I haven't been to your place in ages and I don't know how you are feeling with all that's going on in your life. I plan to remedy that ths month. ; )
What a beautiful writer you are, Patricia. Thank you for your generosity of spirit, it is much appreciated!
This is a very lovely compliment, Renee. Thank you very much.
Thanks for sharing your 8. I never would have guessed any of them. That must have been one heck of a ring,im so glad you had that experience. And teaching gang members,I instantly thought of you as Michelle Pheiffer,teaching in her movie about problem kids. And to think of your readers as well as your neighbors,your a stunningly nice person. I hope you take as much time off as you want,we will always be here to read your writings,im sure everybody just wants whats best for you,have fun!
Well…it was at a time wen diamonds were worth more than they are now and European holidays were cheaper, too. LOL- yes, I saw that film with Michelle Pheiffer, totally different experience than she had in the movie, believe me! Thank you for your very kind thoughts, they are really appreciated….You have fun, too and we all hope to hear your news about the ranger's job….
Hope you are enjoying your break and it gives me some time to catch up on your blog! Enjoy!!!!
Catching up on blogs is exactly what I'm trying o do, too! I just paid a visit to yours and your dragonfly essay and photos made my day! : )
Why Thank You – they made my evening last night! I am doing the same slowly plus getting myself back into the habit of daily blogging (or as close as possible) – plus, now that I am working from home only, it is good socialization :)…
We're in a similar situation there.(working from home, I mean) I hope you're enjoying the freedom of it. I find it takes a lot of self-discipline, though!
Yes, when I started blogging, I had no idea how much it would add to my world. For one thing, it's restored my faith in humanity. There are lots of fantastic people out there.
You are going to be busy making enough baklava and tiramisu for everyone! I got married with a $17 ring from Hecht's (no engagement ring) – it would not have taken me very far!!! 🙂 This is a gorgeous photo – but we can't see your feet… 🙂 My poor daughter has size 10 feet! Incredibly difficult to buy shoes that size in Australia.
You can't know how much I enjoyed this comment. It made me laugh a lot. Yes, it's true, I have no photos of my feet! But I have two adorable nieces who wear size eleven (Of course, they are very tall, both) What they do is get the product number of any shoe they like, company name, etc, and order online in their sizes directly from the manufacturer, wherever they are permitted to do so. Your girl might try that. I 'm sure it can be done in Australia, too.Why not?
At the end, I'm glad that ring got me to Europe. It was a heartbreaking relationship and to have kept the diamond or just sold it for cash would have cheapened the whole learning experience. I thought it showed class on his part to let me keep the ring and I was glad I took away Europe, at least from that first heartbreak..Having said that, when I married this husband,I asked for an ankle bracelet. It's only 14K, probably not worth much more than 100 USD, but it has a nameplate with his name on front and the initails of all five of our combined children on back. Hubs wears a medallion around his neck, under his clothing with my name on front and kids name on back. Neither one of us wears wedding rings, nor spent much on this wedding jewelry. Yet, this marriage is working quite well, so far. It just goes to show, doesn't it, how unimportant expensive jewelry is?
I love working from home! I have been doing it for the past few years and it makes it difficult to think about going back into an office – I like attending virtual meetings in my Hello Kitty jammies – LOL!
Do you really have 'Hello Kitty pj's ? What colour? ; )
LOL! I do! My Hello Kitty are black and hot pink! Since I started working from home, I have amassed a collection of comfy jammy pants with funky designs soooo I also have Tinkerbell, hot lips, Happy Bunny and more. I always check at the store to see what the new ones out are. My deep secret!
This is adorable. It's fun to feed our inner 'little girl.' I have one pair of pjs with Betty Boop on them. My 'work outfit,' though is usually gym clothes, because they'e just as comfy as pjs, but I don't have to change when I run out for errands, etc.
haha I agree and I really am a big kid! I use feng shui to organize my house and rooms and in the area of Imagination – I put all my "toys", dolls or animals or little figures plus I have some on my desk to remind me to smile!and since I wear a regular t-shirt usually, if it is late at night, I sometimes wear them to the grocery store LOL
Good for you on all counts – the pajamas and the toys! You know how the song goes – we… "just want to have fun!"
[das ist gut]
Thank you,very much, Snowwhite. I enjoyed my month reading posts and working in my garden, etc. I will be back tomorrow. I'm looking forward to writing on VOX again…
Hey P, I'm just a bit late stumbling onto this post. Hope you had a great July with batteries fully re-charged!
It's nice to hear you're back. We baby boomers are not in that great shape, either. Despite what happened or how, we're poorer and more stressed than ever. Yes, we're idealistic and entrepreneurial, but the environment around us has changed. How many of us can say we're better off than we were 10 or 15 years ago? I'd say it's time for all of us to stand up and demand – yes, demand – the human rights this country is supposed to stand for. We should have access to affordable health care, to wages that cover spiraling expenses, to a genuine say in how our government (and corporations!) are run and to overall sustainability in all ways. I never had a portfolio to worry about, but I definitely have less than the livable middling amount I once had. And I'm getting old.Yes, we need to be up there with the banners and the protests. But – we also need a political administration that's actually going to listen to us. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that might happen this November. Anyway, enough of this ranting. It's wonderful to hear from you again and keep it coming!
Same here, Margie. I agree with all you say and I hear this from my husband over and over again. Donlt let those hot flashes get you down. It doesn't mean we're getting old, it means we're becoming a more powerful energy source! ; D
Thanks, Ninja. I spent a lot of time in the neighbourhood. It's so neat to read everyone's blogs. : )
Hi girlfriend… been a while. Been really busy.. hands full.
There you are! I was thinking of you last week and meant to sent Lindsey an email because I lost several emails, inlcuding the one with your new blog URL. When you get a moment, can you send it to me again? I miss your blog and want to add that address to the podcast page of you at HS, which is still getting hits, by the way!
I'm glad you're busy, and I hope everyone is as well as can be. Once I get your new URL, I'll be coming by to see your blog, too and get more details.
As for the photos- my publicists told me to get professional shots done after we found an agent for my book. He took dozens of photos, all in one day last year, so every shot you've seen of me he has to get credit for. He was a very pleasant person to work with, very professional. His name is Ross Pelton, but once again, I'm having a brain freeze on his URL, I list his name and his website on my personal website, http://www.patriciavdavis.com Go to links and you will see his site. He has taken fabulous photos of amazing people. I was humbled to be in their company. I know he could travel up to see you, as he is local here. Apart from that, can't wait to read your new stuff!
Hi Sweetie… its been an……..interesting time. Anyway. Im glad to hear from you. Im glad my little interview is still getting hits. The new blog is ambermoon.wordpress.com
I'll bet it's been "interesting." I have the URL now, dear and will make sure not to lose it again.
I'm going to try hard to have a life as interesting as yours. I can't wait!
Thanks, Meru. I've been looking over your blog and it sounds as though you've already made a great start on leading an interesting life!