morrowlife

Here’s one of my most admired people: the lovable Mr. Toad. Joanne and I took his wild ride just the other day. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken during last week’s trip to Disneyland, and part of my famous Statue and Vacation series.

We’re back from our cruise! We had a great time visiting Catalina Island and Ensenada and generally spending time aboard the ship. The weather was great, the food was great, the service was great, the excursions were great, the entertainment was great, and the company was excellent! Princess continues to be my favorite cruise line. Plus, I have now achieved the exalted rewards program status of Ruby! That’s way better than gold, as everyone knows. Sadly, Joanne is a mere Gold member. I pity her.

We spent two days at Disneyland afterwards and thoroughly enjoyed that too. Friday was very good – lines were short and crowds were smallish by Disneyland standards. Saturday was much more crowded, but we had a great time that day too. We had a very late dinner Saturday night at the Blue Bayou, which was very nice. After dinner, we rode the Pirates of the Caribbean one more time (our fourth for the weekend) and went home.

The fireworks show happened not too long before our Blue Bayou reservation. We were making a quick trip on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad before dinner. Just before we got onto the ride, the fireworks started. The view from the ride platform was wonderful! And it was even better from the ride itself. It’s something that’s impossible to plan and amazing to see.

Anyway. My PhotoDocumentor seminar went very well indeed. John and I held it here in Las Vegas the two days before Joanne and I left for our cruise. Our attendees seemed to be positively impressed with the software and several of them purchased it. It’s very expensive, so I was gratified by how many people bought it. We’re thinking of holding another seminar but haven’t made a decision yet. In the meantime, I’m planning to be in Orlando for the AAFS conference in February.

Let’s see, what else has been going on? Oh, it looks like I’ll be going to Tucson the first weekend in November. Chris is going back to empty out his house and I think he could use the help. I’ll bring my Beloved Pickup again for hauling duties. He’ll be renting a U-Haul and taking all his stuff back with him, including his other car on a trailer. It’ll be good to see him again.

Paul’s coming to stay for two weeks starting on November 12. He will almost overlap Andy’s visit, which will be the 26th through the 30th. I’m looking forward to having so much company!

And that’s about it for today. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: pig-smuggling cricket fan! Seaman Hornsby would be proud.

See you tomorrow.

Here are my mother and me on June 27th of this year, during my visit to Michigan right before we found out she had liver cancer. She was already sick when this picture was taken, it’s just that nobody knew it. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken at Bronner’s Christmas shop – one of her very favorite stores – in Frankenmuth, Michigan – one of her favorite places – and part of my famous Vacation series.

I’m so glad I made that visit and that my mom and I took that drive to Frankenmuth that day and did the other things we did. It was a fun, relaxing trip and the last time my mother and I had together before the final traumatic events of her life.

It’s been a couple weeks again. I guess I’m too busy enjoying my life to chronicle it. That’s good and bad. So let’s briefly chronicle recent events.

Joanne and I, accompanied by her kids Desi (and family) and Kristina (and friend) and my kids Mark and Andy, went to Big Bear Lake for a long weekend at the beginning of the month. The weather was beautiful, the place we stayed was beautiful, and it was a very nice visit. We visited Katie’s old house there, as well as that of her former in-laws. We also saw the place where Katie worked – it was walking distance from our hotel. We visited their Oktoberfest and found it to be expensive but enjoyable. A one-time visit was all we needed to see everything. On a sad note, the lake is at a disturbingly low level. They need a lot of rain in California! Also snow in the Sierra Nevada. Please attend to this problem, Loyal Readers.

Saw my good friends Dan and Debbie Yeckley from Denver the other day. They were in town for a few days and contacted me. Joanne and I met them at their hotel (the Main Street Station, which was surprisingly very nice and also not part of the Station Casinos empire). They’re looking and sounding very good and we had a very nice visit.

Mark appears to be doing very well with school this semester. Unbelievably, the semester is already just about half over! He has a mid-term exam tomorrow, in fact. Keep it up, Mark!

I signed up for a Coursera class a few days ago but haven’t taken any time to get it started. I either need to get moving on it or drop out and do it later. The subject is Game Theory, which isn’t really one of my interests. That may explain why I’m having a bit of a hard time getting started.

And that’s enough for tonight. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: breaking and entering monkey!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s Mia at the wheel of a very important fire truck. She appears very excited to get to that particular fire. Or maybe that’s her look of steely determination. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken during our recent trip to Sonoma Valley, and part of my famous Machinery and Vacation series.

Speaking of iPhone-cams, my new iPhone 6 Plus is here! It arrived last Tuesday. Joanne and I were in San Diego for a few days, so I actually opened the box on Friday evening. So I’ve had it for a few days already. It’s very nice. I’m still struggling just a bit with how big it is, but I’m getting used to that. My old phone was pretty much a one-hand thing most of the time, and the new one just isn’t. It has an amazing camera, which I’m just beginning to explore. It will be featured here many times. Today’s Great Art, though, is from my good old iPhone 4s.

Let’s see, what else is new? Joanne and I spent last week in San Diego, as mentioned previously. We stayed at a place just south of Balboa Park the first two nights and then moved up to Oceanside the last two. Both places were very nice and we had a wonderful time. I showed Joanne our two houses on Paseo Ajanta in Penasquitos. They didn’t look as bad as the last time I saw them. I guess the neighborhood is holding up well.

Joanne started her new job today. It went well, to hear her tell. She seems excited about it. Hopes are high for great success.

And that’s it for today. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this combination food violence news and exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: peanut butter jellyfish!

See you tomorrow.

Here are my mother and me on June 28th of this year, before anybody knew she was sick. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken at Meijer’s in Canton, Michigan, and part of my famous Vacation series.

Many things have happened since my last post. My mother has died. She passed away at home on Sunday, September 7, 2014. She had been in hospice care for a few days. The last few days were really rough for her. I’m grateful her suffering didn’t last too long.

Here’s what I wrote on Facebook this evening:

Well, the day’s just about over. We buried my mother today. There was a beautiful funeral and graveside service, followed by a large luncheon and reception at my sister Julie Pita’s house. There were many people in attendance, a testament to the many lives touched by my mother. There were tears and laughter. There were memories shared and friendships renewed.

I miss my mother. I know I’ll miss her more and more as the days go on. But tonight I’m filled with love for her and my family. She gave me a happy life, encouraged me when I was down, and made me feel safe and loved. Hers was a good life.

I love you, Mom. Farewell.

That’s all I have tonight. I’m in Michigan and will go home on Monday. More later.

Here’s Thomas Edison’s workbench.  Great Art taken during my June/July visit to Michigan, in Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory, which is currently located in Greenfield Village in lovely Dearborn, and part of my famous Vacation and Workbench series.

Once again, it’s been unconscionably long since my last post. Sorry about that, Loyal Readers. I don’t know how you’ve been getting along without me.

First, an update on my mom’s condition. She’s not doing well. In fact, she is at home in hospice care and very close to the end of her life. I expect to hear it’s over at any time. I have another ticket to Detroit on Thursday. I hope she’s still with us by then. I can change plans and travel sooner if necessary. I’m truly grateful to have spent last week with her and to have been able to say goodbye and express my love for her.

Sandy and Julie are taking care of our mother 24/7 at this point. I’m also truly grateful for their dedication to do that. I just don’t think I have the wherewithal to do it, although I’m tremendously conflicted about that because I really wish I could be with my mother right now. No matter what, though, she knows I love her and am grateful for the wonderful childhood she gave me and for the things she taught me. I’ll always love her.

I’ve been in Denver since mid-day Wednesday. Andy got his tonsils taken out that morning. I didn’t find out about it until Tuesday evening, so I bought a ticket right then and got here as soon as I could. He’s doing remarkably well, although he’s in quite a lot of pain. They told him to expect the third day to be the hardest, and they were right. He was taking half-doses of his pain-killer and he has upped that to two-thirds. But the discomfort is still there and he’s just having to ride it out. He’s been quite tough and will be fine. Other than the tonsillectomy, I’m delighted to report he’s doing quite well indeed. He’s been through some hard times lately, but he’s navigating life’s difficulties like a champ.

Mark’s back in school! He’s been going for a couple weeks now. Or maybe a week. No, it’s been a couple of weeks. They started the week before Labor Day. He’s doing well, although his math class is as difficult as it could possibly be. Keep your chin up, Mark! You can do it!

Joanne and I hosted fifty people at her house on the day before Labor Day. It was quite a crowd, but it was a fun party that I think everybody enjoyed, including us. We were both glad when it was in the record books, though.

We’re going to the Bay Area tomorrow for a few days. We’ll see Katie, Cliff, and Mia on Sunday and then have a couple more days to ourselves. We’ll be staying at the WorldMark Windsor resort. Joanne’s been there before and we have high hopes for a peaceful few days. Then I’m heading to Detroit, unless plans need to be moved up.

And that’s it for tonight. I need to be up at 5:00 tomorrow morning, so I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: motorcycle-attacking fugitive bull!

See you on Monday.