FB shut me down…

I still don’t understand why, but “suspicious activity” had been detected, so they said.  Okay.  They wanted me to send them a picture of myself, so they could determine if, indeed, the me that was sending them the picture was the Real me.  The Actual Person me was immediately offended, then concerned, so I took the problem to google and discovered that this is not an uncommon situation and it was safe to send them the picture.  But what’s up with sending them a picture?  Don’t they already have all my pictures?  Couldn’t I just pick one of me even if I weren’t me?   How does that verify that I’m really me?  I look at recent pictures and hardly recognize myself, so where does Mr. Bigshot Facebook get off thinking he knows me so well.  Shouldn’t they ask me piercing questions:  What is the name of your first elementary school?  What was your grandmother’s maiden name?   What is the most surprising thing you can tell us about yourself?   How could I surprise them?  They — who the hell is They? — track everything I do on the internet.  How, or why, would they suspect that I am not me?  Who else could I be?  I am decidedly me.  And that old woman in the picture is not the proof you are looking for.

I checked my driver’s license.  There is a picture of me, taken 12 years ago, wearing my nurse scrubs and dark red lipstick, long hair, few wrinkles.  That’s not me, though it was me.  I turned to my brand-spankin-new Medicare card.  No picture, but the name:  Christina J Casey.  I was so bummed when I got my card and saw that I was now going to be, until I fly away from this terrestrial globe, Christina J.   (I was named after my mother (Ruby Christina), a default measure after Dad wanted to name me Ruby.  I don’t know why they never called me Christy, or Tina, or just Christina, but they didn’t.  I was The Bug to my Dad and Jo to everyone else.)  Perhaps that’s suspicious?

This all happened 4 days after I had started my hiatus from blogging, determined to retreat and reset.  I got to thinking it must be a sign that I needed to verify for myself that I am still me.

I began a a spell of study with teachers from the Sounds True Meditation and Mindfulness Reatreat:  Alice Walker, Eckhart Tolle, Pema Chodron, and Thich Nhat Hanh.  I listened to some of Oprah’s Sunday interviews with Maya Angelou.  I reviewed my Ayurveda lessons and did some Dosha and Chakra Work.   When the snow and ice came, I watched the birds at the feeders and soaked up the warm cozy.  I started 2 book challenges, one fiction, the other non and read 2 from each list so far.  I dragged out my book of 40’s standards and played Misty and Cry Me a River.

I got back on the treadmill–but only once!!!  Now That proves that I’m really me.

I did eventually send the folks at fb a picture of me, and a week after that, I was bombarded with a barrage of “come back and see what you’ve missed” emails and notifications.  I really hadn’t missed a thing.

I am returning to blogging, though, refreshed! ready!  But I still wonder who I am…

Peace

 

 

Happy Week-end!!

The camper makeover continues, but we’re not ready for The Big Reveal yet…  I would have gotten farther, but we’re taking a short trip to North Carolina to celebrate my Aunt Shirley’s 80th birthday.  All of my favorite cousins will be there, plus a few I haven’t seen in decades…scores, even.  Aunt Shirley is my mom’s youngest sister, the only one still living,  Clarence and Flo Eaton’s baby #9.    She lives in Florida, but she’s driving up to her grand-daughter’s home near Asheville for the soiree’.  The Eatons are seriously funny folks and I’m hoping to laugh until I pee my pants at least once.

In the meantime, here’s what I’ve been up to…

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I’ve been away from the computer a lot for this project, sitting in front of my new sewing maching.  It self-threads, what not to love?   I’ve got 2 of 4 curtain panels finished, a little behind due to last-minute changes in the design.  We’re going to finish up early next week.

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I’m taking along some tomatoes to share with the fam in NC….there’s a glut around here…

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For more pictures of the garden click  here

Hope you have a great week-end, full of laughter (the snort-your-drink-out-your-nose kind) and fresh veggies…

 

Surprise Week-end in NYC

Our daughter, Melissa, turns 40 on December 20.  Her husband, Eric, and I started planning a surprise party for her several months ago.  He did all the work, really, but I had to keep the secret…   It was a complete success, I’m here to tell ya, and her first remark to me after everybody yelled “surprise” was:  You usually can’t keep a secret.

But I did!!!   Let me show you…

surprise!!!

 

Melissa has always made the very nicest friends, and her NYC family is the best.  The treat of the evening was the presence of two of our Evansville peeps, the Carnahan Sisters, who flew in for the occasion. It was a great party…

It was a quick trip, but we packed it full.  Any time I’m with the grandkids, there is always Love.  Just hanging out with Emma and Eliza fills my heart.

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But, hey, it’s New York City…   It’s been a tradition to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular since Emma was a sprout, and the City is such a nice backdrop for Festive Pictures…

As if all of that weren’t enough, we had breakfast with Santa after Sunday Mass.

The breakfast was given by the school that the girls attend and they had lots of baskets to raffle.  Casey got lucky and won one that will supply the kids with books for a while—the cherry on the sundae.

We flew back home without incident, collapsed and returned to work today.  I meant to post this much, much earlier, but back to work involved actual work and I had to have my nap….

We’re going to Nashville, TN this week-end to see the Rockettes with our Eville grand-daughter.  Till then…

Camp Sonnystone Yearbook

 

Camp Sonnystone, 2014 was a rousing success!!  We started each morning with our Theme Song…

Welcome!  I say welcome!  Welcome to Camp Sonnystone!  PawPaw is our leader.  His assistant’s JoJo.  Step right up and see the show!  Let’s Go!

We painted birdhouses, canvases, plaster monkeys;  made suncatchers and planted zinnias.  We went to the zoo, rode in PawPaw’s tractor, swam in the pool, played musical instruments, marched, and had several spontaneous dance parties.  Camp wrapped up on Friday night with a campout-sleepover…

I apologize for the quality of these pictures;  Me and my Nikon have been broken up for a while and we’re just now coming to an agreement about our relationship, so I won’t blame the camera completely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

in-line, on-line…

The crowds were quite crowd-y at Disney…the days between Christmas and New Year are the busiest with estimated attendance 130,000 at all four parks, about 1/3 of that number at Magic Kingdom.  Humanity can be kinda crushing at times and the lines get long.  True to form, Disney makes standing on queue an adventure:

On line to meet Buzz and Woody

It wasn’t a super-long line, but there was enough time to do a lot of posing…

and even some running around…

We all love people-watching when we’re at TheWorld.  People-listening is nearly as fun.  Who can forget the snotty little brat that stood behind us?

And in this line for

Toy Story Mania

there was a toddler-type (not ours) intermittently screaming like a banshee:

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The guy standing out in front of the Small World line was barking like Billy Bigelow, “worst line in the park, don’t stop here” or words to that effect;  in reality, it is Always a very quick line. That’s the kind of stuff we professional disney-e(a)rs know;  and we know where the characters are, too.  More later.

magic

I couldn’t chronicle the magic act as well as I would like—one child would put the blanket over the other, say the magic words, and oila! when she’d pull it off the child was no longer under the blanket (but could be seen running into the next room giggling).

 

I was pretty pouty, what with having to work the week-end at Ellis and all, but Grandpa Saved the Day and the kids had a magical time at the zoo on Saturday and building a fort on Sunday.  There was a big thunderstorm last night and we all stood out on the porch to fully experience it.  We watched “Summer Magic”  before bedtime (appreciated mostly by Melissa and me);  Free sweet corn and watermelons from the track have kept us well-fed… I think they’re having fun…