First Dance

I know, blog readers must think that I arrived in Port Townsend & then disappeared somewhere into this rarefied atmosphere. But no, that’s not it.

My son & his wife (!) have been planning a terrific wedding for a year or so now, and that’s one of the reasons I’m back in the PNW. Groom’s moms don’t have a huge role to play, and I can’t take any credit for how well it worked out. (The bride’s family… they are probably still recovering!)

But there were a LOT of people coming from the ends of the earth to celebrate, so I was doing a bit of work on that end, and playing limo driver. It was really terrific to see everyone. And that’s a huge part of a wedding- having the families and friends all together to “witness” the union really is different than just sending out a change of address card.

The wedding was incredible- even the weather cooperated. How often do you get a sunburn in Seattle? I’m sure the out of town guests are spreading rumors even now that Seattle is actually beautiful and blue and warm (ha!)

Here are some of the other photos. Best wishes to Mr & Mrs Voss, who are recuperating in Mexico, far far away, with no cell phones. And I’m settling down with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Hasta luego!

Now, it’s still top secret, so don’t tell your friends & family about this blog. It’s just between us, right? I don’t want any scenes like Julie & Julia, where I come home to find myself inundated w/interview requests. You know that would send me running for a panic room.

But I’ve cleaned up the sidebar a little, deleted a few categories, etc. So it doesn’t look so messy. And, at the suggestion of Brad O, my faithful commenter, I added an “About Me” at the bottom, with a picture (not a close-up!) and an email contact.

BTW, for all of you who aren’t commenting, here’s how it works. I’m getting a LOT of spam comments from Russians selling Viagra. At the bottom, under each message is a Comment link, click that.  The FIRST time you leave a comment,  the message will go to me to be approved before it shows. It asks for your email to prove that you’re real; that won’t show on your comment.  After that, you’re free to comment to your little heart’s content.

Because I”m making so many changes, it may look a little goofy for a while. If you see dead links, or I’ve forgotten something that you enjoyed, just let me know.

I know there are positive aspects to these retrogrades. Risa D’Angelis, of Night Light News, who is one smart cookie, calls it a chance to reassess & review what’s happened since the last retrograde. (She also says not to make big expenditures, or start new ventures!)

Also, tomorrow, has a bunch of wild stuff. Yes, it’s the last day of the year. It’s also a blue moon (second full moon in a calendar month) AND a lunar eclipse so get out there & watch it!

Astrogrrl has a pretty comprehensive take on all this. Astrocenter seems to think that b/c the lunar eclipse (letting go) is in Cancer (home & family) it will be about divesting in those areas, cleaning up physical & mental clutter.

There is also a little extra tension here in MX. I’ve heard several Mexican nationals say that b/c there were revolutions in 1810 (independence from Spain) and 1910 (kicking out dictator Porfirio Diaz), that they hope 2010 will be quiet.

Yes, astrology may be a bunch of hooey, and you may think I’m a nut. But… you can observe a lot just by watching, as Yogi Berra said.

After a quiet day @ the casita, I made up for it by going to:

1. Yoga @ Belles Artes (a former convent)
2. Lunch w/new chica/amiga Polly, from Orcas (I know, can you believe it?)
3. Hanging out @ Centro, reading Atencion & planning next week
4. Cine- Food, Inc w/Yoga friends from Ottawa Ty-phoo & Paul from Ottawa

Home again, to eat avocados, queso ranchero & several Cuba libres (doing my share for democracy)

1. Sorry, this is the state of my spiritual health @the moment.
2. For Vegan-boy
3. Another for Vegan-boy- my favorite L33+ H4XR
4. Coffee madness
5. OK this is too weird

Tomorrow, the plan is to go to Guanajuato.  I have my alarm set…

carlosshoes.com

Just heard from a friend that his teenage son has just discovered the coolest new musician- Carlos Santana…

I mean, what do you say? Sorry, sweetheart, Santana was cool and new in… 1970? They played him @ my jr high school dance? He designs shoes, already? (And admit that you want a pair- really badly?)

Or do you say- yes, Santana is God; he totally rocks. He kicks Clapton’s a$$ every which way. And start playing “Black Magic Woman” from your iPod’s Golden Oldies playlist?

At any rate, thanks sweetie for reminding me- Carlos rawks, and we’re not dead yet.

Gracias a Dios, todo esta bien.

And I can hardly wait until your kids discover… Sheryl Crow?

But as one of those falling thru the cracks, I guess I’d better put on my big girl panties, and say HEY! Let’s get busy & get this fixed.

Because I’m not impoverished, elderly, employed by the government or a major corporation, I can either choose to insure myself or go uninsured & cross my fingers. If I developed a chronic illness while my fingers are crossed (carpal tunnel?), I would NEVER qualify for anything but a (expensive) high-risk pool (which are also often closed to new subscribers.) Because I don’t own a business, I can’t even write off the premiums that I pay- the ones that go up astronomically every year.

Maybe you’re in a better situation. But is your entire family & everyone you love? What happens in the case of job loss (and no, COBRA certainly doesn’t cover everyone.) Or say you want to retire before 65. Or what if you are retired, and your company decides-”Whoops, I guess we can’t afford those premiums after all”? Or you divorce the spouse with the health insurance policy? Or s/he dies? Those are some rotten things to happen- but they happen every day.

I just spent the better part of 3 wks trying to figure out how to get myself insured in Virginia (VA), without losing the coverage I’d had in WA in the meantime. You see, to apply for coverage in VA, you have to be a VA resident. But VA residents are not eligible for plans in WA. So I became a VA resident & then was declined. (except for 2 really expensive policies that don’t cover much. My crime- high blood pressure.)  And they’d notified my WA carrier, who sent me a contract requiring me to state whether I was a WA resident, or be dropped.

So if I had gotten appendicitis yesterday, I probably wouldn’t have been covered by anyone, despite the fact that I have paid my premiums monthly for many years, and have tried my best to follow all the rules.

Today, I found that b/c I have a Blue Cross policy & it’s national, there’s a process for transferring to another Blue Cross provider, without (probably) any pre-existing condition clauses. And I’m covered while they’re sorting it out (which will take a month.)

But this is after contacting a health insurance specialist in VA, the Blue Cross in VA, their “customer help” division,  SHIBA in WA state (it’s a government/volunteer force to help people sort out health insurance issues.) I finally got help from Kristin Manwaring’s office in PT. Thank you Susan, who actually took the time to figure this out. Then another call to Regence, to get them working on it.

So while my situation is stabilized, I keep thinking about those other ppl out there who aren’t quite so smart or so pushy (or hysterical), who took NO for an answer. What happens to somebody who  wants to move to a different state & isn’t fortunate enough to have a Blue Cross plan?

If you’re thinking about them, too, please write to your senators and check out the healthreform.gov site. On the home page is a map so you can see your own state’s issues. There’s an article on women’s issues as well.

Yes, your taxes may go up. But you or your loved ones shouldn’t lose coverage (or your house, or everything you’ve worked for)  if you retire early, start a business, lose your job, get divorced or move.  And you’ll actually be getting something for the money.

Thx for listening to my rant. Stay healthy.

So I woke up this am & found that she’d twittered me that I’d ended up on her blog post for yesterday. Hmmm… This is starting to get weird. It’s almost like the old chestnut wherein women made extra money by taking in each other’s laundry.

Now that nearly everyone has a blog, do we need to start our conversations with  “Off the record” or “Deep background only”? At any rate, most bloggers are pretty careful to preserve their source’s anonymity. After all, you may end up on their blog tomorrow.

Love you, DB!

Though a woman may look scattered when she has lost touch with the life she values most and is running about trying to recapture it, she is most often gathering information, taking a taste of this, grabbing up a paw of that. At the very most one might briefly explain to her what it is that she is doing. Then, let her be. As soon as she processes all the information from the clues she’s gathered, she’ll be moving in an intentional manner again. Then the desire for membership in the uncombed cat and cross-eyed hen club will diminish to nothing.

From Women Who Run with the Wolves