July doings

Another month of whirlwind activites. Grace and Jan had a 4th of July party with fireworks watching at their house. Grace has such talent putting together a beautiful dinner party. The food was wonderful and the presentation was sublime! The woman should have been a stager of events! Of course the company was wonderful as well and it was great to see Jan on his feet and healthy again. Went to Sandy and Hanks for the day at LBI during a cooler day this month and the shore was gorgeous. We really lucked out on the weather. Empty nesters were over for a swim and picnic and that was a nice evening and we saw Barbara and Gene in NJ at the Spanish Tavern. I love those two and will never forget our bonding at our ill fated Ukranian adventure. I'd only opt to be with them in a ship wreck!
I went to one of the writer's group meetings and that was a bust. No one but the organizer and me knew anything about writing. I told her that I did not need to be in English comp 101 where people could not move an argument forward in a linear way. And I quit.
Alina was over for 3 days and then a weekend this month. What a chatterbox! Now she is beginning to chatter in Polish as well as English.
We also attended her 2nd birthday party. Must have been the hottest day of the year in Philly that day. I melted -- and so did she. After 2 hours, she asked to go home and when we took her there, she actually asked for a nap. I know how she felt.
Went to see Second City at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. Very funny show. Sephen Colbert is a graduate of Second City. It looks as though the PTC has an interesting season scheduled and I think we may go for season tickets as all of the shows sound good.
We went to the Constantine Tapestries collection tour at the museum and found it to be surprisingly intersting. I had not been enthusiastic about that one, but goes to show you that you should never pre-judge. It turns out to be one of the more interesting tours we've taken and both of us learned a lot. Afterward we stopped to visit an old friend that we hadn't seen for a while in Philly and we remembered why we distanced ourselves. Lordy, life is way too short to be with negative people. Plus, I remember that relationship -- it was one of those 90% us and 10% her, consistently. I felt lucky to get outta there without a cloud over my head!
Motameds and Rohovskys came to dinner. I FINALLY managed to get the 4 if them and us together after trying for two years. Had a great time and it was super to see that they were such a good match considering that we all live so close.
Bill and Ken came over for a swim and cheese/wine. It's been a while since we've gotten together with them. Will have to have them over when Shannon and the twins are here in August/Sept.
We went to Carlow Cookery and took a class on grilling fish. That was our first cookery class and we had SO much fun. We definitely will do that again. There were about 20 students and it was a really congenial class. Sampling all that food (all 5 dishes) was the highlight. The only one I didn't like that well was salmon, but I only like wild salmon for the most part. Actually, that was the first time in 6 months that I went back on my resolution to not eat seafood. I am really concerned about the overfishing and the fact that we are gobbling tuna AND that it has become an endangered species. Besides, when I think about what is being dumped into the ocean, I cringe.
We took a road trip to Bushkill falls, where I hadn't been since I was a little girl. It was a great hike, but the falls were a lot less impressive than they were from what I remember as a child. Things do seem smaller when one grow up. Funny thing about that.
Last week we went to NYC to the Met's Costume Institute and to see The Adam's Family with Nathan Lane. The Met exhibit was the best that I've seen there over the years -- and we've seen many exhibits there. The Adam's Family was really cute. Nathan Lane was good -- as always. And the actress that played Morticia was spectacular.
My facebook is yeilding some surprising results. I am connecting with some old friends and think now that we actually might have a reunion for the 50th. I also have been connecting with folks who have the same interests as I do and this has been the best part of this social networking site. I have become good buddies with a woman who has the same background as I do. Her father was deported to Siberia and he lived in the same town as my father. We are meeting face to face in October. I'm glad that I didn't let the drivel that some people post turn me off -- turning off is the purpose of unfriending!
So, this looks forward to another great month. Shannon and the twins will be here into September. I look forward to my time teaching Polish to the twins.
The only downer is that September -- and hence the beginning of the semester -- is upon us. Oh well, just another year of UMDNJ left.