Sunday, December 20, 2009

Procrastinator or Catching Up?

LL 25

One could say that I'm just trying to get some of the back news delivered or, if one wanted to be  mean (honest) one could say that I'm procrastinating.  I do wonder how to face yet another set of poorly written papers!  Have I been teaching in Sumerian all semester?  But my frustration with my students is rooted in a strong sense that perhaps I have failed them.  Perhaps I really did not state clearly or effectively what it was I expected.  Then, along comes a paper (or rather a digital e-paper) that is beautifully written and satisfies all the expectations I have.  How did they do that when their professor is such a master of obfuscation?

On to the real topic: A concert practice that is driving me crazy!  Alexander Paley, a concert pianist, now from the States, gave a wonderful, all-Chopin two-and-a-half hour concert last night to an almost sold-out house.  He was brilliant, conducting both piano concertos from the piano, separated by a dazzling 45 non-stop minutes of Waltzes.  The Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra (Strings) accompanied the concerti.  They were not as brilliant having both intonation and balance issues from time to time.  But even that is not as crazy-making as the 5-10 minute lecture we receive from the house Artistic Director before every section of every concert.  As this concert had three sections, 2 intermissions, there were 3 lectures.

The topics vary widely and can be about the composer or the artist(s) but the lecture is obligatory.  It is true that they do not spend much on programs, flimsy photocopied programs with scant notes and perhaps this is a little-known, hardly-recognized nod to an ecological saving of paper but expats are not used to it and, in a second language it take a great deal of concentration to get much out of it at all. The program notes, despite being written in Lithuanian, are much easier to understand as with a little time, I can understand the most important facts.  The audience is completely happy with this verbal harangue and expects it, whereas North American artists would be a bit insulted with the apparent necessity of a lengthy preamble before they take the stage. 

I am sad to say, however, that one practice, what I have come to call "The Standard Ovation" is international.  It has become such a meaningless gesture.

Back to marking my friends!

Geri

Friday, December 18, 2009

The Crucible and Other Tests

LL 24



The week I returned was tech week for The Crucible. I checked out the school van for every evening through the final performance so I could get all the students and myself home after buses stopped running for the night.  It had been over two weeks since I'd seen any part of the play and I was very pleasantly surprised.  The night of dress rehearsal was almost frightening because it went so well.  By then we knew that the first performance on Friday evening had already sold out. I was in awe of Dr. Becky Briley's direction--she was always focused, attentive, and handled each actor and their problems with an amazing sensitivity to their personality and needs.  Michele Hershberger, here this year on sabbatical was an experienced, organized and detail-oriented crew/stage manager.  She and her assistant, a freshmen from Moldova, were an incredible team. Ticket sales covered our costs and all three nights attendance was very good being another almost sold-out house on Saturday and fairly full at Sunday's matinee.

As the Barbadian slave, Tituba, a powerful but small part, I could see most of the performance from our front row seats in front of the stage, there being no backstage. Of course, onstage there was little time to think about what other people were doing.  Miller's direction is that poor Tituba must weep as she begs for her life.  This was my first dramatic role so I wasn't at all sure I could turn on the waterworks at will but I needn't have worried.  It was more difficult stopping than starting!

Neufeld Hall, where we performed, is a lecture hall, not a theater, so lighting included two powerful desk lamps pointed onstage to take away shadows for actors upstage.  I have some pictures to share, scrolling along the side of the blog here.  There were two floor trees and then the usual onstage overhead floods.

I guess the thing that impressed me most was the way young people from such varied places, backgrounds, histories and accents managed to make a very credible performance, one that evoked great audience response and emotion.  Of course, there were times that the Eastern European English accent made it difficult to understand individual words but that had little importance overall and certainly did nothing much to disturb the powerful effect.  Issues of "witchunting" or demonizing groups of people are no different here than they are anywhere else and, at times, seem more volatile here than in other places.  Long histories of domination, subjugation and totalitarian governments have created a level of suspicion that is still noticeable among even our young people now and no wonder.

I have had more than one student report getting beaten up by one group or another.  Two weeks ago one of my students returned from a Karate competition in Vilnius with a very black eye.  My assumption, that he'd taken a hit during the competition wasn't even close to correct.  The poor guy had been shoved to the ground and beaten up by several guys who were ethnically different.  There is no love lost between Russian Lithuanians and Lithuanians and though our on-campus discussions about multi-culturalism, tolerance, and so on seem to have a lasting impact on our students we have little influence on what goes on off campus.

Classes are over now and I must mark papers--or lose all of my Christmas holiday in guilt.  I will share more pictures and stories.

Love and blessings to all,

Geri


Saturday, November 07, 2009

Hemispheric Travel

Travel Troubles

I know many people write about the miseries of travel these days but really, my cross-Atlantic travel this time had some particularly ugly elements and I can't help blaming Baltic Air for most of it.  I must admit, however, that living here in Klaipėda, the coastal and inaccessible, by air, city of Lithuania does not help.  Palanga, a smaller resort community 20 km up the coast from Klaipėda boasts a small, and expensive airport.  Otherwise, it is a 4-hour bus trip to Riga, Latvia or Vilnius, Lithuania.  That is the route most of us use to save money but it does require some very extended travel time as available buses will drop you at the Riga airport some 5 hours before your flight leaves.  On my way home, that meant packing and leaving without sleep the night/early morning of my 12:30 pm flight the next day.  Then, I discovered that Baltic Air has no agreements with any of the larger carriers so I would have to claim my luggage in Amsterdam, re-check it there, clear security and run to my gate and all within the hour and half allowed.  What a colossal hassle,  and I consider it nothing short of a miracle that I made my flight and got a boarding pass when the plane was seriously overbooked.  Of course, by the time I made it to my seat there was no carry-on space left for me and the airline staff were particularly out of patience with me, which didn't help. 

On the return trip, and again, because of Baltic Air, I picked up my luggage a full 8 hours before my flight and sat in the ticketing hall with it for hours, too exhausted for quite awhile to go in search of luggage storage.  Finally, after laying all over the luggage cart for a few hours, dozing in and out of consciousness, I was able to look for the luggage storage and paid the 8 € for the 2 hours it would buy so I could get something to eat knowing that Baltic Air's menu is both limited and expensive including charges for even a drink of water.  I am sure you must wonder why I didn't just check my luggage and go toward my gate on my arrival.  Baltic Air does not open it's ticket desk until 2 hours before the flight.

Arriving in Riga with a bit of time to spare, I had time to get to the airport pharmacy for some antacids for the dreadful heartburn I'd experienced since somewhere over the Atlantic.  As I stood in the doorway of the airport awaiting  the time the bus would arrive one of the English faculty dashed by, said, "Hi Geri, sorry I need to catch the bus."  I thought, "So do I" and headed across the parking lot with my luggage cart.  The bus was already waiting across the street so, abandoning my cart I attempted to grab everything for the crosswalk.  I was returning with so much more than I had taken!  Toni and CharlAnn had sent me back with lots of great reading material and I was and am grateful but I really wondered how I was going to make it to the bus when the wife of another English faculty member offered to help me across the street.  As it turned out, half the department was on the bus, returning from Rome and Paris, where they'd spent their fall breaks.  I offered to hold a departmental meeting but collapsed in a quiet heap in the corner shortly after that.

It has taken me days to feel better.  I am not sure if I caught a bug of some sort or just do not have the elasticity I used to for these quick overseas trips.

Now, I am in the final week before The Crucible performance so the schedule is very busy now, balancing meetings, classes, final rehearsals, and upcoming performances.  Marking, of course, will ever be with me.

Love and hugs,

Geri

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

There and back in Lithuania

A Quick Visit with Many People and a Funeral


I have had so many wonderful visits with so many friends and family this time home.  It is hard to believe that it's time to return to Lithuania already.   For one thing, a funeral provides an opportunity to reconnect with all the family in a short space of time.  However, the intensity of the occasion makes for interactions that are sometimes bumpy and communications fraught with misunderstanding by people who are under stress and exhausted.  Our family was no exception.  It did not help, of course, that I arrived, after 3 days of non-stop planning, packing, and travel with  final decisions on the music still to be made.  But Jeanette, a close family friend sang "The Lord's Prayer" and "The Holy City" so powerfully and expressively, not to mention musically, that there was the sound of applause as she finished.  My sisters and their husbands exhibited all grace and willingness to let me have a voice in what was going to happen despite their own exhaustion and the pre-planning they had already done.  I have an amazing family in so many ways.

When I arrived, we had one main goal--getting the visitation and the service properly organized.  It seemed that the biggest job would be the ordering and selection of pictures for a slide show.  Thank goodness the family had decided ahead of time not to deal with the thousands of slides Papa had taken over the course of his life and work.  I cannot decide whether it was a love of photography or a desire for documentation and historical record.  Still, there were plenty of pictures and my brother-in-law and his daughter Shannon made a slide show after we had spent two separate times selecting pictures for scanning.  It seemed to me to be a good combination of serious, funny, and personal combined with the background of a song called "Thank You." 

The funeral was well-attended despite the fact that Mum and Papa had moved a number of years ago from their family homes in Oregon and Washington state where they had returned before moving to Nebraska to be with their daughters and grandchildren.  The flowers were beautiful.  Mother, my sisters, Shannon and I had gone to the florist's shop to order the flowers for the casket, a basket from the great-grandchildren, and a corsage for Mum.  I think it turned out fairly well, in fall colors, despite the fact that the wheat cross we had included was not clearly evident.  My nephew, Kelly, read scripture and the obituary.  My sisters and I each told of a few memories and the eldest grandchildren from both sisters' families included stories of their own. There was also a video sent by the head of Jamaican churches.  The last speaker was Greg, my minister-brother-in-law.  To say that Papa was a complex character is probably some kind of understatement.  Greg's words were filled with grace, integrity and honor.  When you have a complicated man, a man with so many sides to his personality and character, the challenge of putting a service together that will meet the expectations of all present is a big one.  As much as it is possible to do, this funeral tried to do that, with contributions from people who knew him personally and in very specific ways.

We returned from the graveside for the traditional dinner at the church with family and friends.  As is usually the case at these events, the food was delicious and plentiful.  Then we all moved to my sister and brother-in-law's house, Kathleen and Greg's, where we continued to visit until it was time to leave.  A cousin I had not seen in a very long time, the only Henderson family representative, took me to  dinner in Grand Island on his way back to the Omaha airport.  We had a wonderful visit as we'd attended the same university in our undergraduate days.  It was a great close to a good day.

Hugs, 

Geri 

Friday, October 16, 2009

Papa's Gone, I'm on my way

On the West Side of the Pond, Two Weeks
 
Dear Family and Friends:

Modern Technology is a wonderful thing. My father's last hours were spent with his family, all his family because, while I packed to leave, I was connected by webcam to his room and the family who visited. I heard my sisters and mum singing, I head my nephew and brothers-in-law reading the Bible, I head his grandchildren's voices, the sweet baby voice of one of his great grans, nurses, hospice workers and even Raul, his roommate who has dentures that keep falling down so that you're never quite sure what he's saying.  It also helps, in his case, to know Spanish because these days, he can't seem to stay consistently in one language.

My family tells me that 15 minutes after I told him good-bye to close the computer and leave for the bus to Riga, about 2:50 am, my father passed. It was very peaceful, according to my sister.  I found this out upon arrival in Minneapolis, where I am right now.  A nice layover before I see Joy and Brant is a very good thing.  It might allow me to catch up with myself.  I have not been to bed since Wednesday night, Lithuanian time, 10 pm CST so sitting quietly in the cafe, catching up on emails, and generally taking care of things that would otherwise keep me up when I finally get to Nebraska.

FYI: I will be at Mitchell's, (308) 384-1024, though I expect to be in Kearney some of the time over the next 2 weeks.


Thank you all for your concern and prayers. I have really appreciated hearing from all of you.

Love, hugs,

Geri

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Papa is leaving; I am coming

Flying to Nebraska

Dear Family and Friends:

In a few hours I will be on the 3:20 am bus that goes directly to the Riga airport in Latvia where I will begin the second part of the trip home.  I will arrive in Lincoln on Friday night 11:30 pm but, as things stand now, I do not think I will get home before Papa makes his last trip.  The important thing is that I will be with my family and friends during this difficult time.

As always, trips of this kind are very rushed and there is so much to do and to think about.  Fortunately, my classes are all very well trained to pick up announcements, assignments and participate in discussions online.   There will be little break in their work though they may not be too excited by that news.  The week after next is fall break and I will stay in the States most of that week as well.  I suppose, when one thinks about it, this even has happened at one of the best possible times, if it had to be before Christmas.

It will be good to know that Papa will be finally comfortable and at peace at last.  I am not sure he's had much of that in his life.

Love and hugs to all,

Geri

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Papa

LL 23

Hospice for Papa

On Monday of this week, my sisters, mum, and brother-in-law ran Skype from my father's nursing home in Kearney, Nebraska so we could listen to the presentations of two hospice providers.  The long and short of it is that these are Papa's last days.  Various physical functions are shutting down, more and more frequently and in greater degree.  I was impressed by the presentations of the providers and am feeling assured that these providers will improve the quality of Papa's life, making his final days easier and more comfortable.  Naturally, I wish I could be with my family during this period but I am also impressed by the skills my family is demonstrating in the ways they are dealing with  this tough situation as calmly and rationally as they are at this time.  

Currently, my plan is to return for Papa's funeral.


Geri



Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Turning on the Heat

LL 22.5


The City and The Heat
 
I keep hearing rumors that the heat has been turned on in one place or another around Klaipėda but there is absolutely no evidence of that in my apartment.  This morning it was 62 F and with the two little space heaters I have running almost constantly while I'm home, the temperature sometimes gets as high as 68.  The school has been cold too and my office, terribly, horribly hot in the summer, feels now like an icebox with all the windows exposed to the cold.  Nevertheless, I have more than the usual traffic because the little space heater can make it feel quite cozy and I have to be very quiet about such things because, in an unguarded moment, a space heater can just simply disappear without a word or a trace.  Community living, sharing is one thing BUT I must draw the line when it comes to my space heater!  I am careful too about how I acknowledge people's compliments on the comfort of my office--I do so quietly, with more reserve than you might think I can exercise.

To give the city its due, I heard that yesterday, in the hospitals and kindergartens the heat was turned on.  It's coming.....

In the meantime, this Pillsbury Dough Girl is layered until she is twice her size, which is saying something and while folks poke fun, I'm never cold, really cold, like they are.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Wedding Bridge

LL 22

Wedding Bridge

There is definitely a chill in the air and when I crossed the bridge over the Danė river on Tiltu gatvė, I was reminded of all the summer Saturdays when crossing the bridge on any afternoon meant trying to sneak through several wedding parties, brides, grooms, bridesmaids, groomsmen having their pictures taken on the bridge.  It is nearly impossible to be inconspicuous on a bridge.  You're either on the bridge or in the river.  I looked around and no one else was "sneaking."  Everyone else was "strolling" as if it was the most natural thing in the world to walk through the middle of someone's wedding pictures--someone you didn't even know!  By this time of year there is hardly one iron post or section of grill work without a wedding lock, part of the wedding tradition here.  Another tradition is that a groom must carry his bride over the bridge and together, they place a padlock, inscribed with their names and the date, on the bridge.  No one's ever told me what good this does.  Does it ensure good luck?  Long-lasting unions?  Happiness?  Long life? Lots of children?  Wealth?  or all of it?  At the end of the year all the padlocks disappear,  taken down by the couples or by the city.

What I found really odd at first about the way they are attired was that bridesmaids choose whatever they want to wear.  Some of the outfits are really outlandish, bright colors--red's a favorite, for example.  And the styles are often very revealing or, at best, unflattering but outlandish styles, crazy colors and unflattering styles describe lots of bridesmaid's dresses in my experience.  As wild as some of the wedding fashions seem to be, it makes sense that if they're paying for their own dresses they could choose something they might wear again...maybe.

Financial Status of Moms, Elderly (and Professors, some of whom are also elderly!)

Up until now and until June, when the government may change their minds about this, Lithuania's had very generous maternity leaves.  The first year the mother is on the salary she made the final 6 mos of her employment and the second year she is given 80% of that.  The result is that we have to keep positions open for the moms, filling them with temporary people in the meantime.  The mom's receive their salaries from the government so employers can afford to hire the temporary help but in the English department, we've had moms who've married Americans, received their green cards, and taken all or part of their maternity leaves in the States.  The chance that they'll return is slim, to none, but no one can legally be hired full-time to replace them.  The whole idea was that Lithuania was experiencing a declining birthrate and this would help.  From all the prams, pregnant moms, and young children I see and from all the missing moms in our university it must be helping.  The new regulations, if they are changed, will come about because of the dreadful downturn.  Now Lithuania is ranked among the bottom in financial health in the EU.

What has already happened is terrible!  Pensioners, retirees have taken a huge cut in their government retirement checks.  I really don't know how they will live.  No one could pay rent, utilities and buy food on what they were given before the cuts.  What now?  It doesn't bear thinking about, it's so sad.  Of course, the drop in the dollar is squeezing expats too.  It's like taking a huge cut in pay/stipend or whatever you call our allowance here.  I can always tell dollar strength by the amount I'm allowed to withdraw from the ATMs to pay my bills.  I hit the daily limit with fewer and fewer litas.  Ouch!

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

LL 21.5

The Sun
It is so rare to see the sun once winter comes here.  Some folks even keep track--so many days without the sun, and so on--but I find that depressing.  In the thick of it, the winter seems endless but never so endless as when someone reminds you.  Plodding through the grey days is easier I think.  It's the one-day-at-a-time AA philosophy, that actually works!


But today, glorious day, the sun is out, making clear, distinct shadows across the buildings in Senamiestas (Old Town) and streaming into windows as if it could make up for the endless cloudy days behind us and before us.  And the rolling thunder that was the background noise of so many days has ceased and so has the wind, come to think of it.  Mother Nature is allowing her children respite from her roars today and we are grateful.  As a matter of fact, you don't realize how noisy it's been 'til you rediscover the quiet.  I'll bet even the Baltic is smooth right now.  If I had the time, I'd run down there and check.  But I don't. 

Today, a no-class, no-meeting day at home, is meant for getting things done that cannot be done in my office at school, which sometimes feels as though it's open house, all day, all the time.  So, I will plan a little excursion to the grocery store a little later and hope the weather holds.  In the meantime, I'll sit and work, editing a dissertation for a German student, "marking" electronic submissions, answering email, writing references and looking out the window sometimes.  Sigh.

Saturday, October 03, 2009

LL 21

October 4, 2009, LL 21

Winter in Lithuania
Distant thunder, cloudy skies, Baltic Sea wind, rainbows, Sun and rain--winter has arrived in Klaipėda, Lithuania! No one was ready, everyone dreaded it, and now, it's here. At first, it feels like a reason to hibernate, stay home, stay warm and dry. After several days I realize I simply cannot live this way! There's a real sense of unreality in hours and hours of solitude, no human contact. I and the voices in my head become a chorus of negativity and doom. Enough!

Drama in the English Department
Dr. Rebecca Briley, a wonderfully experienced professor of literature and drama, is directing Miller's The Crucible. From what I've seen rehearsals are going quite well. Some folks are already off book and her production team is strong and resourceful. They have to be resourceful and creative with our limited budget. Is it any surprise to anyone that I've been asked to do the role of Tituba, the Barbadian slave? I will probably the first white Barbadian slave anyone's seen around here. I know there were "white" slaves in Jamaica with the vagaries of recessive genes, the genetic roulette that creates multi-coloured families in Jamaica to this day! Of course, I'm using Jamaican dialect and accent. For the life of me, I cannot remember the specifics of the Barbadian version and no one around here will know the difference. It sounds authentic...something! Because I'm only in 2 scenes this is not a difficult or time-consuming role to take on and this semester is an easier one, overall than the past 2 last year or even the coming Spring semester promises to be. I am learning my lines but with only 58 total lines and only 2 speeches of any length, even this is not taking time. Becky and I made a recording I can listen to on my IPod and computer.

Since I've arrived the English department has managed to have professors who'll take this on in addition to their teaching loads. Dr. Ervin Beck directed The Tempest and Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Skin of Our Teeth last fall. In between, I did a reader's theater version of The Importance of Being Earnest. We have been very fortunate because students really enjoy these opportunities, both to perform and to attend. The house is packed and this year will run for 3 performances to accommodate the high interest these productions generate.

Lithuanian News
On August 23rd there was another major celebration around here, the 20th anniversary of the Hands Across the Baltic when the longest human chain was created across the Baltic States, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, to show solidarity for independence from the Soviet Union. The commemorative events were very moving and a good reminder to those of us who were not here what that meant to folks my age who were here. Approximately 2 million people joined hands from Talinn, Estonia through Riga, Latvia to Vilnius, Lithuania and stood in silence for 15 minutes at 7 pm. That event is credited with the beginning of movement toward independence in the Baltics.
It was specifically planned to mark a painful date in Baltic history. On the same day in 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was signed between Stalin's Soviet Union and Hitler's Germany, essentially agreeing to divide Eastern Europe into spheres of influence and clearing the way for the Soviet Union to annex the Baltic states in 1940. That memory adds yet another bittersweet tinge as the Baltic states organize numerous events - including exhibits, conferences and meetings of government officials - to mark the 20th anniversary of the Baltic Way. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/282253,the-day-the-balts-stood-still-20-years-of-the.html
One of my Lithuanian friends, Radvyda, told me this Post-Independence story: An information officer ran into the President's office yelling, "The Russians are coming! Help! Help!" The president replied, "Send the tanks to the border, immediately!.... Both of them!" :-)

Notes from my kitchen--yes, just notes.
This section is for my gourmet cooking friends, especially Toni, CharlAnn, Anita, and now Joy: I finally found cilantro, kalendra, and started growing it my kitchen. It has done well but in my efforts not to waste any of it, everything I cook or make tastes of cilantro--scrambled eggs, pizza, spaghetti, bruschetta, and every salad. I like it and fortunately it is not more than once a week that anyone else eats my cooking so, for everyone else, it's fairly exotic. I wonder if it makes my breath smell like cilantro? I guess there are worse things but I also use a lot of garlic. If old wives tales have any truth, I simply will not fall prey to the 'flu' like everyone else around me. Besides, my chicken soup is believed to have healing properties (yes Anita, your mom must have been right on this one) and also be some of the best soup these folks have ever tasted. So, I've been cooking it by the gallon. Oh my!

That reminds me, I organized a ladies' night out and 13 of us went to see Julie and Julia. What fun! Not only were the tickets 1/2 price that night but it was the premerija which means that each theatre seat had little gifts and samples. Before the movie began, an emcee called up every woman who had participated in the bake-off. They all came on stage wearing aprons and carrying pyragas, or cakes. 3 were awarded a top prize of some sort and every woman was given a lovely bag of cosmetics. All the cakes were displayed on a table so that as we left we could try them. The fact that the stories of Julie and Julia were true stories made the movie that much more charming.

I am a fan of Streep's in any case so the story didn't matter so much but, as you see, I've resurrected my ancient blog because I was reminded, while watching, how much easier this is than attaching a word document to each email. Furthermore, my plan is to make it more personal by posting notes more often. Every so often I will collect them and send them to all those who don't follow blogs or prefer to print them and read them over coffee.

LCC International University, The English Department

This week I was made aware of the need for nailing down our course offerings for Spring. That was depressing. We will lose Dr. Briley and be operating with a skeleton crew for Spring...again. We will only be offering core curriculum courses, the necessary courses the English department supplies to the university core curriculum and all students but for the English majors? Hardly anything at all.  Thank goodness for the cross-listed courses available in the other departments.  Furthermore, even to accomplish this much, I will have to teach another overload and an all-freshmen load again. I must say, I've enjoyed this semester very much, so far.

I've been teaching and creating "Children's and Adolescent Literature" to juniors and seniors. What a pleasure that has been! Our discussions about archetypal images, gendered stereotypes, the history of stories, the need for legends, and so on has been an education for me. My experience from last year's all-freshmen-all-the-time, brought home the fact that freshmen require a great deal of energy, especially this first semester. One class of them, "Rhetoric and Communication" is plenty. It is difficult for them to get in the groove and some never do. Concerned relatives have already been calling the registrar for information and, of course, operating on North American standards, we cannot release student information when they've requested that it not be released. The registrar doesn't even understand this and keeps telling me that we have to say something to the people who are paying the bills. Yes, well, one would think, when you put it that way.

Of course, we're still looking for a linguistics professor and so, I gather, are 50% of the other universities of the world. Some very necessary courses are not being offered and I want to run and hide--or remain in hibernation 'til someone else figures it out.

I will post again, soon.

Best to all of you! Thanks so much for your support, notes, prayers, all of it.   By the way--see the easy way you can drop me a comment here? Hearing from you would be wonderful!

Hugs and Love!
Geri