Now What?

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Coming East

This past weekend I attended the 4th annual Hampton Roads Writers writers’ conference held here in Virginia Beach.  It was fabulous!  In fact, I talked to several writers who have attended many writing conferences, and they agreed that ours was one of the very best they’ve ever been to.  Our writers were Rick Mofina, Alma Katsu, Patricia Hermes, John DeDakis, C.L. Bevill, as well as several local writers. We also had agents in attendance.

I think one of the signs of a great conference is when you can’t make up your mind which break-out sessions you want to attend because they all sound so good, and this was the case this past weekend.  If you’ve never been to a writing conference, I urge you to think about attending.  Why not come to ours next year? It’s the third weekend in September.

The point of this post, though, is to write about the “Now what?” that inevitably comes out of experiences like this.  I’m always so pumped right after a writing conference.  They make me want to work harder.  They make me want to sit my butt in this chair and get busy on my dream.  They renew my writing passion.  Last year’s conference led me to take the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge, and I wrote 50,000 words of my novel in November.  I never touched it after that.  So the “Now what?” for this conference is that I feel emboldened to pick up that very rough draft and complete it and then work on rewriting it.  Will I stick with it long enough to finally finish it?  One can hope.

The thing that stands out for me about this conference is the image of Rick Mofina, giving his keynote address, and telling all of us that he was shocked when he got the call that we wanted him for our keynote speaker.  He is an award-winning novelist with fourteen published books, and he said, “Why would you want me?  Who am I?”  This humble, well-spoken man from Canada, expressed the insecurities of so many of us writers.  Who are we that we would think anybody would want to listen to us?  It was refreshing to hear this from such a prolific and well-respected novelist.  It made us feel like he was one of us, that he understood how we felt.  It gave us hope that we, too, could be successful writers one day, if we are willing to put in the effort and not give up.

This applies to you, too, who are reading this.  When someone asks you what you do, be bold and tell them, “I am a writer.”  Do not apologize and mumble, “Oh, I write a little blog.  I’m not a real writer.”  If you blog, you are a writer.  A writer is someone who writes.  No, not end of story.  Just the beginning.

Posted in Favorite posts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

What a Difference a Few Hours Makes

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Coming East

Since we moved to Virginia Beach four years ago, I have been going to our neighborhood YMCA during the day.  I work out with young stay-at-home moms who want to work off those extra baby pounds, other retirees like me, and the infirm who come for physical therapy, pushing their walkers or hobbling with their canes.  When I use the weight machines, seldom do I need to lower the poundage.  Indeed, sometimes I have to boost the weights because the previous person was pressing ten pounds and I’m up to a whopping twenty-five.

Recently I made a change in order to get my husband back into exercising. He used to belong to a gym downtown in Norfolk a block away from his office. He would work out after work and get home about 7 p.m. Then he went less and less, using my broken foot as an excuse. “I need to come home and take care of you,” he’d insist when I told him I was worried about his lack of exercise. But even when I no longer needed his help, he didn’t go back to his gym. He said he just missed me and wanted to get home from work as soon as he could. So I added him to my YMCA membership and told him (yes, TOLD him) we were going to work out together at least three days a week. He couldn’t use me as an excuse anymore, and since we were going to work out together, he wouldn’t miss me.

I have news for you, People. Life at the Y is a whole different ball game in the evening. I used to have my pick of any of the machines without waiting. Now they are nearly all full and people wait in line to use the treadmills. I now share the gym with the fittest of the fit: bodybuilders lifting 150 pounds and more, greased bodies glistening, muscles bulging. And those are just the women. Talk about intimidation! And while I’m wearing my discount sneakers and faded sweats from Target, they sport the neon name-brand athletic shoes and latest work-out clothes from Jack LaLanne (okay, Jack isn’t the best person to make my point, but I don’t know any younger jocks. By the way, is Jack even still alive?).

I was on an elliptical a couple of evenings ago, and after thirty minutes, gasping for breath and knees wobbling, I read my stats on the machine. I had managed to burn 75 calories. Woo-hoo! Maybe I could celebrate with an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen? Then I looked over at the Amazon next to me and read her stats. After working out for twenty minutes, she had burned 300 calories. I wonder if I can convince my husband to start coming home for lunch so we can work out together in the middle of the day.

Posted in Favorite posts, Just Blogging | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 49 Comments

Celebrating Our Constitution’s 225th Birthday

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Coming East

Yesterday was the 225th birthday of our Constitution, and what better place to celebrate it than in Philadelphia, the city where it was written and signed.  Last week we stayed in the historic district, and I walked across the street from the hotel and into Independence Hall. I was in awe of the place.  Imagine sitting in the same room as George Washington and the other delegates sat as they argued, debated, philosophized and compromised about this document that would determine the success of this new nation. It made me think about our leaders now who can’t agree on anything, and yet these men 225 years ago were able to put their differences aside (and there were many) to do what was best for our nation. Their final product was nothing short of a miracle. Now, just having the Democrats and Republicans listen to each other long enough to compromise and get something accomplished would be a miracle. We need more miracles in government.

Here are some pictures from our wonderful Philadelphia trip.

Historic district at sunrise, a few blocks from Penn’s Landing

 

Carpenters’ Hall where the First Continental Congress met in 1774

 

Independence Hall where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written and adopted
Room in which the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written
Washington’s “Rising Sun” chair. James Madison reported Benjamin Franklin saying, “I have often looked at that behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now I… know that it is a rising…sun.” I wonder if Franklin would still think our sun is rising? I still believe it will continue to rise, as long as we, the people, stay involved and hold our leaders accountable.
Posted in Just Blogging | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

If You’re Taking a Trip Down Memory Lane, Don’t Forget Your GPS

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Coming East

When my husband had a conference in Philadelphia last week, I jumped at the chance to accompany him because we used to live in the area a few years ago.  Thirty two, to be exact.  In fact, our youngest son was born in Bryn Mawr, a suburb of Penn’s fair city.  We had many fond memories of our two years there and couldn’t wait to visit our old homestead and have lunch with old friends.

We flew into Philadelphia a day before the conference registration took place, and met our friends in our hotel lobby.  I recognized them immediately, and they recognized George but weren’t too sure about me.  That’s understandable because I actually look younger than I did all those years ago. (I was raising three children then.  Need I say more?)  They and my husband, however, look exactly like they did when we moved there in 1978.  I swear.

Their faces have been obscured to protect the innocent: Me! I hate being upstaged by people who refuse to age. Plus, I didn’t ask permission to publish their photo.

On Sunday we rented a car so we could drive out to a few places that held good memories for us: Valley Forge, the college where my husband used to work, and our old apartment on Goshen Road in West Chester. Valley Forge looked pretty much the same, except it seemed to have more bike trails, and it had a new visitor’s center. We had trouble finding Washington’s Headquarters, though, as it wasn’t where we thought it would be. No, I don’t think they moved it. I think our memories moved it. We used to take our children on picnics there.

Valley Forge 1978. Pregnant with our third child.

We left Valley Forge and headed to the college. Nothing looked familiar on the way over, and even the entrance to the school had changed. Many new buildings had been built since we left in 1980, and not much was recognizable. My husband’s little college had grown by leaps and bounds and had tripled in size in the thirty-two years we had been gone. We then plugged in our old address and drove out to West Chester to find our apartment. Without our GPS, we never would have found it at all. My husband had made the trip between the college and our apartment twice a day for two years, and he couldn’t find any landmark to guide him along the route. Would our old apartment even be there?

And then, we saw the sign and knew we had found the right place. But, as Thomas Wolfe wrote, “You can’t go home again.” Time had not been kind to our old abode. The grass was in need to cutting and everything needed painting. In general, it just looked run down. When we lived there, the apartments were filled with young families like us. Now they seemed populated by college kids from the nearby university. We found the address that had been ours, but it was hard to believe it was the same place we had once occupied with our three little ones.

We then drove into town, hoping it wasn’t as run down as our old home. We were pleasantly surprised to see that West Chester was actually even better than when we lived there. That sleepy little town we knew has become quite upscale with lots of shops and fine restaurants.

West Chester, Pennsylvania

All in all, our day of nostalgia was a mixed bag, but we returned to Philadelphia satisfied that we had accomplished what we set out to do. Memory Lane didn’t need to be visited again.

Posted in Favorite posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Getting There Was Half the Fun

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Coming East

Liberty Bell

Last week we went to Philadelphia.  On Saturday morning, while we were sitting at the airport in Norfolk, I noticed an odd-looking plane pull up to our gate.  It had wings at the top of the plane, not in the middle where they are supposed to be, and it had propellers.  What was it doing at our gate, blocking the way for our little jet that should be arriving soon?  When I pointed it out to my husband, he looked up from reading the paper and said, “That’s our plane.”

Flying is not my favorite thing to do under the best of conditions, but taking my jet engines away and giving me those propellers instead had me clutching my seat.  And I mean the seat in the airport.  Before we even got onto the plane.  But I was excited about our trip, so I managed to get myself aboard.  George really didn’t have to push that hard.  It was the first time in years that I had to walk onto the tarmac to board a plane.

Our seats were right under the wing, a prime spot to hear the noise and watch the landing gear retract the wheels when we became airborne.  I commented on how loud the engines were, and my husband said, “They should get quieter once we reach cruising altitude.”  I actually liked the sound of the loud engines.  At least I knew the propellers were still turning.

When we arrived at the Philadelphia airport, we again deplaned onto the tarmac and were told we had to take one of the buses that were lined up to take us to the main terminal.  We didn’t know which bus we needed to get on and had to ask several people before we found the right one.  Once we were on, I casually asked my husband if this bus was supposed to take us to baggage claim so we could get our suitcase we had checked in.  My husband looked concerned and told me to hold on while he got off the bus to ask.  I worried that the bus would leave with me and all our belongings, headed to the main terminal, separated from my husband, and I would never find him again.  I watched as he asked an attendant, then saw him motion to me to grab our things and get off the bus.  Apparently, the only people who needed to be on that bus were people who had to catch a connecting flight.  Our luggage was at the little terminal where we were already.

My husband said he had no clue where we were supposed to go to find the baggage claim.  I looked around at the signs and said, “I think it’s this way because the sign has an arrow pointing to ‘baggage claim.'”  I am brilliant sometimes.  I read signs.  We retrieved our suitcase, and the next task was to find a taxi to the airport.  Again, my husband was confused about where we were supposed to find a taxi.  I looked at the signs and pointed to one that had an arrow pointing to a picture of buses and taxis and read “Ground Transportation.”  My husband said it was a good thing he had me with him because he’d be wandering around the airport for hours looking for a way out.  I don’t know why we waste so much time teaching boys how to read.  They clearly don’t use that skill to the best of their advantage.  Oh, yes.  They need it to read the football schedule.

Posted in Favorite posts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Preparing for Full Retirement

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Coming East

When my husband was offered a job here four years ago, we decided to take the leap to move from San Antonio to Virginia Beach.  It meant I had to give up my well-paying job as an academic dean.  Since I had enough years in at the school district, I was able to retire and receive my teacher retirement pension.  Yes, I could have looked for work here, but one of the things we were looking forward to was for us to be able to see our children more and for me to go on business trips with my husband. Getting another job would have meant I could do neither.

Giving up my paycheck, though, has meant we have had to be a little more creative with our cash flow since there isn’t as much flowing. My husband takes care of most of the bills and the mortgage, and I buy all our groceries, presents for all the children and grandchildren, the quarterly bug spraying service, my piano tuning, our membership to the YMCA, and other miscellaneous items. Many miscellaneous items. In fact, my little teacher retirement deposit gets stretched more and more, but, thankfully, it always seems to make it until the next one gets deposited.

The other day my husband asked if I could pick up the payment for something this month, and I said I should be able to afford it. Then, on Saturday we went to lunch at a little gourmet food market and sandwich shop, one where you place your order at the counter and they buzz you when your order is ready. We were sitting outside, enjoying our iced tea, when the pager went off. As my husband got up to get our food, I handed him my credit card and said, “Lunch is on me, since I’m the only one who ever seems to have any money. In fact, I think you stay with me because of my money.” He leaned over and whispered in my ear. I laughed. “Yes, there’s that, too.”

Looking forward to the day when we’re both retired

Posted in Favorite posts, Just Blogging | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 60 Comments

I Don’t Understand Pinterest

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Coming East

It’s my own fault.  I said I would never do Pinterest, and then I did. It was really quite innocent. I was researching potting benches or how to organize a linen closet or some other equally vanilla-pudding-like topic, and one of the articles I wanted to save said to pin it. I didn’t know where it was going to pin it, but I clicked on the button anyway. It wanted me to log in, which required me to register before I could log in, so, of course, I did as I was told. Then it asked me to click on pictures of things I like. That’s when the problems began. I couldn’t quite tell which part of the picture was the important part or what it represented. Let me just say that somehow I have a ton of pictures on my Pinterest site that depict people with tattoos all over their bodies. Yes, they are lovely tattoos, if you like that sort of thing (which I don’t), but how they showed up on my Pinterest site is a mystery to me.

The other thing that is a mystery to me is how I allegedly agreed to follow all these sites that Pinterest says I am following. Every time I open my Pinterest app on my iPad, I find I am following a ton more people. Who are these people? Why do they say I’m following them? What’s even more important, how can I get rid of them? I ignored an email from Pinterest asking me to verify my email address, hoping they would leave me alone, but no such luck. I wish my daughter (My Pajama Days) was here because I’m sure she could explain it to me. Until I visit her at Thanksgiving, I think I’ll just ignore my Pinterest app. Except…how do you think I’d look with just one tiny heart tattoo on my

Posted in Just Blogging | Tagged , , , , , , | 65 Comments

How Convenient!

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Coming East

Friday I had my car washed, only it was a new experience for me.  The man who washed my car came to my house and even brought his own water supply.  By the time he was through, my car was spotless, inside and out.  He even did the windows and polished the tires.  My five-year-old car looked nearly brand new, and I didn’t have to leave my house.   Next time he comes, he’s going to wax my car, and I might even have him detail it.  How great is that!

I’ve seen grocery stores that have websites where you can order the items you want, and a personal shopper will do your grocery shopping for you and deliver it to your house.  Some dry cleaners will pick up your dirty laundry and bring you your clean clothes.  There are services that allow you to order food from the menus of many different restaurants, and they will pick up the food and bring it to your door.  Ain’t life wonderful?

Well, yes, life is terrific, but it could be improved even more if the following services would be offered, too:

  • Someone who will come to your house and dust your blinds.  I can take care of everything else, but those blinds are a pain in the butt. On second thought, I’d like them to do the baseboards, too. Baseboards and Blinds, nothing else. Great new business idea, and I gave you the idea right here on Coming East.
  • Someone who will address, sign, and mail cards to everyone on your Christmas card list.  Actually writing the Christmas letter is understood.
  • A body double who will go try on bathing suits and bring back the one that looks the best on her body, which would be sort of like your body.
  •  Someone who shows up immediately after dinner and cleans up the mess in the kitchen.  Oh, wait.  I already have that person.  Thanks, Hubby.

What other services would make your life easier?

 

 

Posted in Just Blogging | Tagged , , , , , | 28 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Free Spirit

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Coming East

This was taken at the Oceanfront, Virginia Beach

 

Posted in pictures | Tagged , , , , , | 25 Comments

Train Travel

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Coming East

When we were growing up in Connecticut, my brother and sister and I distinguished our grandmothers from each other by referring to one by “Grandma in Ohio,” and the other one as “Grandma on the train.” When my grandfather was alive, he and my grandmother would drive from Manhattan to the country, as they referred to Connecticut, every other weekend.  My grandfather kept his treasured 1949 maroon-colored Chrysler New Yorker, with it’s plush velour seats, in a garage in the city all week and took it out for weekend excursions.  It was his pride and joy.

But when Grandpa died, my grandmother, who had never learned to drive, took the hour and a half train ride to visit us.  We would go to our little station in Fairfield, stand out on the platform,  and watch the New Haven Railroad commuter train roll in on a Saturday morning.

After college, when I was an editor for a small publishing house in Westport, Connecticut, I would take the train into New York to oversee projects at the printing company on Varick Street.  I looked forward to the ride into the city, just a little over an hour, the clickety-clack of the wheels along the track, the rocking and jiggling of the cars, the pop of the hole-punch as the conductor punched the tickets, the hiss of the breaks as we pulled into Grand Central.  Some years ago I had the pleasure of taking my granddaughters on their first train ride as we all met in Connecticut and took that same ride into Manhattan, now on the Metro-North.  I loved watching my oldest granddaughter sit on the edge of her seat, nose pressed against the window, watching the world go by.

First Train Ride

The reason I’m writing this today is because I just read in our newspaper this morning that tickets for seats on the first Amtrak trains out of Norfolk go on sale today.  The trains don’t start rolling until December, but advance tickets are already available.  Service from Norfolk to Washington, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston will soon be a reality.

I’m going to wait and see how reliable the train travel is before I hop on a train myself.  My sons took the train from D.C. to Newport News a few years ago to visit us one Christmas, and what should have been a four-hour train trip took nine hours because of numerous problems.  Not very reassuring.  Wish we had good train service like they do in Europe.  But the thought of once again hopping onto a train, listening to the clickety-clack of the wheels along the track, being lulled by the side-to-side rocking of the cars, watching the world go by, seems like a ride I’d like to take again.  Do conductors still punch tickets, or do they now scan them with some high-tech modern device?  Hope they still carry their hole punch.

Posted in Favorite posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 50 Comments