![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So it is saturday morning and I am staying with my adopted jewish-pagan mom who I met in art class lo these many years ago, and her family (she calls me her senior associate daughter). Unfortunately her family has expanded in the last few years to include 3 dogs: 1 very sweet, calm, old basset hound, one relatively well trained schnauzer, and one evil, yappy, jumpy, pee on the carpet, lick me in the morning to wake me up, mutt dog from hell. Plus in recent years I have developed a fairly significant dog allergy. Pagan mom gave me prescription allegra so at least I can sleep at night, which is good, but the drugs wore off and I am awake now with noone else in the house really moving.
So I got here on thursday afternoon and spent most of it with my former neighbor who is quite possibly the most amazing woman I know. She's 88, and this past year joined the communist party, saying to me that she just can't stand how weak the democrats are anymore. She's politically and socially active still, goes to every single concert at Peabody (my alma mater), which is how I met her 7 years ago. I am amazed at how well she looks, though she is definitely a little old lady. She cleared off my spot on her couch where I have been sitting for years, with a view of the steeples, and took me to City Cafe for lunch - that place hasn't changed a bit, even after the tragic murder of one of the owners a couple of years ago. Maybe its all the television I've been watching, which inevitably includes star wars commercials, but seeing jean burrowed into her chair, legs askew off the edge because even her knees don't hang off the chair anymore, I began to think of her as my personal yoda. She really has been such a good teacher and sounding board for me for so many years. I'll see her again this morning before coffee with 2 of my former profs. I've used this trip to visit all the professors who've written me recommendations since I left Peabody, it is good to stay in touch and I hope they will help me when I'm search for a job in a few years.
Last night pagan mom and family and I went to belly dancing class which is taught by one of her friends and was wonderful. This woman really knows how to teach a dance class for people who don't want to turn into professional dancers - it was very flexible, and she was very positive and emphasized that this was for each individual and everyone would do things a little different and even I felt comfortable walking in in the middle of the series of classes, with pittling little dance experience, and joining in. Then we went to a yule celebration at this great little Irish cafe out in the middle of nowhere in Carroll County. It was lovely to meet some more of the maryland pagan cohort and celebrate with pagan mom and her family. There is a little shop next door full of majick stuff and I was very naughty - I found a purple dress with intricate celtic knot patterns all over it and I bought it for myself. It was $35 which is incredibly reasonable (the jewish part of jewish-pagan mom raised its head and she haggled him down to that price), but its still money that I don't really have (I burned plastic), and I feel guilty buying myself a present at this time of year. But it is lovely and fits (!!!!) and I will wear it lots when I get back to warmer climes. I also expereince a great party game called apples to apples - eseentially there is a stack fo cards that is all nouns and a stack that is all adjectives. The one person who is the judge for the round (it rotates) picks an adjective card and turns it up. Then the rest of the people pick a noun from their hand that describes it. The judge picks the winning noun and the person who put that one in gets the adjective card. The first one to 7 adjectives wins and the adjectives that you win are supposed to say something about your personality - the 2 I got were boisterous and demanding....hmmmmm. Anyway, I'm not sure I described it well, but the game is seriously addictive - I only played one game and I MUST buy this for my parents for Christmas.
Well her husband is up and moving and should probably get in the shower.
So I got here on thursday afternoon and spent most of it with my former neighbor who is quite possibly the most amazing woman I know. She's 88, and this past year joined the communist party, saying to me that she just can't stand how weak the democrats are anymore. She's politically and socially active still, goes to every single concert at Peabody (my alma mater), which is how I met her 7 years ago. I am amazed at how well she looks, though she is definitely a little old lady. She cleared off my spot on her couch where I have been sitting for years, with a view of the steeples, and took me to City Cafe for lunch - that place hasn't changed a bit, even after the tragic murder of one of the owners a couple of years ago. Maybe its all the television I've been watching, which inevitably includes star wars commercials, but seeing jean burrowed into her chair, legs askew off the edge because even her knees don't hang off the chair anymore, I began to think of her as my personal yoda. She really has been such a good teacher and sounding board for me for so many years. I'll see her again this morning before coffee with 2 of my former profs. I've used this trip to visit all the professors who've written me recommendations since I left Peabody, it is good to stay in touch and I hope they will help me when I'm search for a job in a few years.
Last night pagan mom and family and I went to belly dancing class which is taught by one of her friends and was wonderful. This woman really knows how to teach a dance class for people who don't want to turn into professional dancers - it was very flexible, and she was very positive and emphasized that this was for each individual and everyone would do things a little different and even I felt comfortable walking in in the middle of the series of classes, with pittling little dance experience, and joining in. Then we went to a yule celebration at this great little Irish cafe out in the middle of nowhere in Carroll County. It was lovely to meet some more of the maryland pagan cohort and celebrate with pagan mom and her family. There is a little shop next door full of majick stuff and I was very naughty - I found a purple dress with intricate celtic knot patterns all over it and I bought it for myself. It was $35 which is incredibly reasonable (the jewish part of jewish-pagan mom raised its head and she haggled him down to that price), but its still money that I don't really have (I burned plastic), and I feel guilty buying myself a present at this time of year. But it is lovely and fits (!!!!) and I will wear it lots when I get back to warmer climes. I also expereince a great party game called apples to apples - eseentially there is a stack fo cards that is all nouns and a stack that is all adjectives. The one person who is the judge for the round (it rotates) picks an adjective card and turns it up. Then the rest of the people pick a noun from their hand that describes it. The judge picks the winning noun and the person who put that one in gets the adjective card. The first one to 7 adjectives wins and the adjectives that you win are supposed to say something about your personality - the 2 I got were boisterous and demanding....hmmmmm. Anyway, I'm not sure I described it well, but the game is seriously addictive - I only played one game and I MUST buy this for my parents for Christmas.
Well her husband is up and moving and should probably get in the shower.
