Sad news from Asheville

I have been on my own for a few days while hubby has been to a conference. He is coming back today and I have to tell him the sad news that my stepmother, Mary, has passed away. She was 93 years old living in a nursing home in Asheville, and on her last day she did the crossword as usual, had lunch, then laid down for her afternoon nap, and when the personal came to get her she didn't respond and was taken to ER and then passed away in the night. I guess it is a merciful way to go.

Mary was my father's second wife and they never had any children so she considered me to be her daughter. I will miss her and our telephone conversations very much. She was always so interested in our life and what we and the children were doing.

Mary and my father in 2006

On a completely different note, today I read and article, in The Guardian I think, about the word mansplain, (or, better, the urban-dictionary definition) which is when a man in his superior way explains something to a mere woman. I will try to remember this great word together with all the other new words popping up all over the place. Don't know if I can use it in Scrabble though. I am sure that, if you are a women reading here, you have had a man doing some mansplaining to you once or twice in your life, right?

Taken from the Manly ferry - two icons in one!

Must go now and get some stuff for the pool since it has gone all greenish while hubby has been away. We are having a bbq on Sunday so it needs to look inviting in case it is hot and people want to have a dip.

Have a great weekend!

White Christmas.....not....

Hubby had a little end-of-the-year party for work with a dinner cruise on the Port Hacking river Friday night. I really didn't want to go at first. The combination of dining and being on the river on a boat that you couldn't get off,  was very unappealing. I agreed to go eventually, but I had taken my precautions. I had cash, and if it looked like it was going to be windy when we set off, I would just go to the Yacht Club and party with whoever was there and meet up with hubby afterwards. As it happened it was dead calm and great, very beautiful in fact and not at all windy. I was in great company at my table and made new friends.

So tomorrow it is going to be Christmas with no snow, but there will be white wine.... and a barbecue either on the beach or on the terrace, and then we are off on another trip. I'll tell you more about it later on.

I have been a bit slack in writing lately but it has been mainly because of the horrible shootings in the US, and other horrible things happening. There are still so many people out there, mainly in the US, who are very positive to the right of every citizen to carry guns. Some even say that teachers should be allowed to have guns.  When I play Scrabble on line, mainly with US players, I can follow the discussions going on, and many people would never give up their right to own a gun to "protect" their families. So what about the over 30,000 people who die from gunshot wounds in the US  every year! Something has to change!

Have you seen the little cute Oreo cookies that seem to tell us that it is ok, it is not the end of the world,  keep dunking!!!