Memorable Trip

In 1994, I made an unforgettable trip and met unforgettable people. I made the trip with a friend, who would eventually become my lover. Flying to Europe, we began our trip in Athens, Greece, toured the area around Athens and then took a Mediterranean cruise of the Greek islands with a side trip to Istanbul. The islands were breathtakingly beautiful, especially Santorini. Istanbul was, at that time, the most unusual and different city I had ever visited. Two years later, I would visit St. Petersburg, Russia, when Istanbul would slip into second place. The awesomeness of Istanbul resided in its unique architecture which fascinated me. Learning of the cultural backgrounds connected with sites like the Blue Mosque and the incredible museum, Topkapi, I was even more fascinated with the influence which religion had forced upon this place. The only lasting remembrances of Istanbul reside now in my beautiful glass engraved bowl and the friends I made during that trip with Mike and Linda Scheible, marvelous friends who will always, with me, remember this trip of a lifetime.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and, on the bottom of the right hand corner, you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you can receive bobosbest automatically every time it is published. At present, I have 403 followers. If you’re not already a follower, click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.

The Swimming Pool

In 1989, I had my house built. I had recently been divorced and was excited about finding a lot on which I could build a home. I decided to put the house in the middle of the lot so as to have both a front and a back yard. In order to have a larger living room, I decided to make the area that would have been the garage as extension of the living room, thus doubling the size of that room. Since I had no garage, I opted for a carport in the back. For years, the home seemed adequate in every way. Then, I met Dimitris, and a romance began. I had wondered if I could share my house with anyone. One of the indications that this was the right man for me was that he moved in, and I moved over, never at all feeling that I ever gave up anything. I learned right away that Dimitris was a swimmer. Because I chose to place the house where I did, there was no room for a swimming pool. Therefore, Reader, you should know that we accept any and all invitations to come swim in the pool of others. Kevin, a friend in Sarasota, has been wonderfully generous with letting us spend an afternoon in and by his pool.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and, on the bottom of the right hand corner, you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you can receive bobosbest automatically every time it is published. At present, I have 402 followers. If you’re not already a follower, click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.

The Outline of my Life

Those of you who know me, know that I love to make lists. While Dimitris was visiting his mom and sis in Athens, Greece, last year, I made a list of all of my music CDs and put them in alphabetical order. The alphabetical was easy (the computer did that for me), but typing in the name of every disc and then putting them into containers that I could identify so that I can now find any CD was quite a challenge and took a lot of time, time that I had awaiting the return of my partner who was gone for three weeks. My latest project is to outline my life. As you may remember, I have been keeping a diary since 1954. My outline begins with my birth year of 1938. After that entry, I list the important events of each year. For instance, in 1961, I graduated from college, went into the Navy, went to yeoman school, worked at the National Rifle Matches, was assigned to an admiral’s staff at NAS Pensacola, and met Helen Simpson who became my wife. Already, I have made a listing for 2021: the storming of the Capitol. However, one of the most important years in this decade was 2013, the year I met my future husband.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and, on the bottom of the right hand corner, you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you can receive bobosbest automatically every time it is published. At present, I have 399 followers. If you’re not already a follower, click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.

The Birth of Bobobest

Bobosbest was born over ten years ago. I was inspired by a friend who was publishing a blog. It was by him that I was given direction, including the suggestion that I use Word Press.com. As I started writing and publishing every other day, I wondered what I would write about, knowing that I needed the publishing outlet as a retired English teacher. At the same time, my brother was also writing and eventually had several books published. I don’t know how many blogs I have written. The only times I have missed publishing  was when I was on vacation, usually on a cruise. The name “bobosbest” came from my middle name which is Bobo, my dad’s mother’s maiden name. “Bobosbest” reached a milestone today for which I’m very proud. I now have 401 followers. I will continue to write until I become disabled or lose interest. Thanks to those of you who have commented and encouraged me.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and, on the bottom of the right hand corner, you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you can receive bobosbest automatically every time it is published. At present, I have 400 followers. If you’re not already a follower, click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.

Home-Made Sin (repeat)

When I was growing up in South Carolina, “ugly as home-made sin” was a descriptor used for people who were totally physically unattractive. It was never said to someone’s face but was used to describe someone from afar. When I went to work at the Dixie Home Store, a retail supermarket, the lady put in charge of training me was Ms. Huckaby. I must say that, when I first met Ms. Huck, as she became known to me, she was about as unattractive any woman I had ever met. Nevertheless, I had been “raised right” and would never have hurt Ms. Huck’s feelings. In fact, as I worked with her, she became prettier and prettier. No, there was no magical transformation of her face and features; it was her warm and helpful personality. I came to love and respect her and to realize that, when you first see someone, you see only their outward physicality. As you get to know someone, you see the whole person and their aura. The transformation of Ms. Huck therefore occurred within me, not outside of her. What an important lesson to learn.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and, on the bottom of the right hand corner, you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you can receive bobosbest automatically every time it is published. At present, I have 397 followers. If you’re not already a follower, click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.

Mistaken Patriotism

As I write, I’m remembering the mob violence that occurred on Wednesday in the Capitol building in Washington. I was aghast, as I watched the desecration occur. I remembered the line in “Gone With The Wind” when Aunt Pittypat said, when she heard that Sherman was in Atlanta, “How in the world did they get in?” Today, one of the journalists who had mingled with the terrorists reported that they considered themselves patriots. My initial reaction was to condemn their unacceptable conduct. However, my mind went back to 1958 when I was arrested for taking the law into my own hands. I was in college then and had been told by friends that there was a convention in town, and members of that group were insulting ladies, shooting them with water pistols. After being encouraged by friends, I agreed to go downtown and to do whatever we needed to do in order to get vengeance. As a result, I stood before a judge who charged me $25 and told me he had no patience with my taking the law into my own hands. I understand better now that what I did was similar to actions those people took yesterday. I was wrong, and they were wrong.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and, on the bottom of the right hand corner, you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you can receive bobosbest automatically every time it is published. At present, I have 398 followers. If you’re not already a follower, click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.

Morning of an 82-year old

Every morning, when I awake, I head for my computer room, eager to start the day with my usual routine. That routine starts with me plugging in the coffee pot and setting my timer for 30 minutes. It is a drip coffee maker, and I leave the coffee in the coffee pot so I can enjoy a very hot cup of coffee. While I wait for the coffee, I start reading old journals and responding to my blogs. When I hear the timer calling me to pick up my coffee, I head there immediately. I have a coffee warmer on my desk, which helps keep the coffee hot for a while. My next goal is to pull out the eight pills that I take every morning. These include vitamins, 4 prescription pills, one laxative and one stool softener. These pills sit on a napkin until I have completed whatever projects I had for that particular morning. When I’m ready to take the pills, I get my glass of apple juice which I measured out earlier so that I wouldn’t have to drink a glass of ice cold juice. I take the pills, knowing that they act better on a full stomach, after which I proceed to eat a bowl of cereal. Now, I’m ready to brush my teeth, shave, take a shower and face my day with a smile.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and, on the bottom of the right hand corner, you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you can receive bobosbest automatically every time it is published. At present, I have 397 followers. If you’re not already a follower, click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.

My Blue Recliner

When you walk into my house, if you look to the left, you will see my blue chair. Some smart aleck might say “What if you come in another door?” Well, Smarty, there is no other door. My back door is a sliding glass door which is never opened. During the early afternoon, I am prone to head for the blue chair where I always have the book I’m reading on the stand next to the chair. After I read a chapter or two, I rear back, turn off the lamp, and doze. The sleep that I get in this chair that I bought from a friend is the best sleep in the world.

On New Year’s day, I got up as usual and did my computer stuff, starting to get ready for the day. Dimitris looked at me and said, “Why don’t you go to your blue chair?” I was confused. I didn’t need to take a nap during the morning. I ignored him and went outside to pull up some weeds. When I finished, I came back inside and checked the computer for e-mails after which I began working on a blog. Dimitris then looked in the door to the room and said, “Why don’t you go to your blue chair?” I replied, “Are you kidding? I’m not sleepy” and I continued work on my blog. After lunch, without any encouragement from my husband, I felt a sleep pang and headed for the chair. In the chair were a bottle of hair conditioner, a pack of mints, and a Happy New Year’s card.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and, on the bottom of the right hand corner, you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you can receive bobosbest automatically every time it is published. At present, I have 392 followers. If you’re not already a follower, click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.

He’s Hot, and I’m cold

If you live with someone, as I do, you know that the temperature in the house can be a matter for debate. Dimitris is a cold weather person while I am very much a hot weather one. I feel that I can get cool in the summer more than I can get warm in the winter. In summer, I set the in-house temperature at 80 degrees. I’m sure Dimitris would prefer it to be at least 15 degrees less. However, he lets me have my way. After having my way in the summer, I acquiesce to his need for cold and set the in-house temperature for 73 degrees, knowing that the thermostat is in the hall where the temperature is always several degrees warmer than the temperature in my computer room. Usually, when I wake up in the winter and come to the computer in the early morning, the temperature in the office is 70 or 71 degrees. That, to me, is chilly. It is especially chilly after I have drunk my bottle of water. That’s when I switch from T-shirt to long-sleeve sweatshirt. In the summer, we use the ceiling fans to keep the air moving. In the winter, we both have blankets (and each other) to warm us up if we get cold.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and, on the bottom of the right hand corner, you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you can receive bobosbest automatically every time it is published. At present, I have 389 followers. If you’re not already a follower, click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.

Weighing In (Updated)

I am trying once again to lose weight. Dieting was not a word in my vocabulary until I was well into adulthood. As a teenager and young adult, I had the opposite problem—gaining weight. During the time I was in high school in the 50s, I was told that I looked like “war-torn Europe.” My cheeks were sunken in, and my chest was most un “Charles Atlas” like. I was indeed the picture of a wimp. My mother attributed it to my not eating vegetables, an insult to my southern heritage. During my college years, I began smoking. When I quit, after the birth of our first child, I began to suffer from what might be called “girth defects.” In fact, my weight “improved” to the point that I had a problem with my blood pressure and was told to lose weight or take blood pressure pills for the rest of my life. I chose to lose weight and did so proudly without “going on a diet.” I began to exercise regularly, cut out all food between meals plus all chips and salty snacks, and started a dietary supplement regimen. I lost five pounds a month for six months and again looked like war-torn Europe. While many friends told me they thought I had cancer, I celebrated my slimness. Years later, I did have cancer (caused probably by vegetable-less-ness as a child) and lost thirty pounds during the chemotherapy and radiation. I looked emaciated plus I had lost my hair. The cancer treatments, however, were successful, and I remember my oncologist saying during one of my post-treatment weigh-ins, “You can stop traying to gain weight now.” That statement was made after I had reached 210 pounds. As a result of that comment, I guess I am again on a “diet.” I am drinking Slim Fast for lunch and will not allow myself to consume any food after I eat dinner. The first few days of this regimen were surprisingly easy, but it has become tougher with time. When I told a friend about the Slim Fast, I was told that perhaps I should try Slim Faster. With all the news about obesity, I want to be classically trim. I would almost settle with having my war-torn Europe image back.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and, on the bottom of the right hand corner, you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you can receive bobosbest automatically every time it is published. At present, I have 383 followers. If you’re not already a follower, click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.