July Balanced Life Goals - Update

It is time to update the monthly goals, again!

As I've explained before, when I do my monthly balanced life goals, I picture a wheel with several spokes, each spoke representing an aspect of my life that is important to me.  Taken together, I like to think that they make a well-balanced life.  Ideally, each spoke is of equal length and the arcs drawn between the spokes are equally rounded to make a perfectly circular rim around the wheel, without any bump-outs or indents.  A well-balanced wheel results in a smoother ride; a wonky wheel results in a bumpy ride.  This month, I included the ratings for each category.

These, then, are my goals and current ratings for July; the numbers in the brackets reflect my satisfaction ratings for each category, at the start of the month in black and at the end of the month in blue:

Spiritual (8)(8):  The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life.
- Continue with daily prayers and gratitude; focus on being positive - On-going; prayers are being said, daily; I've been listing 5 things I am grateful for, daily; and I made an effort to be positive, although I might have slipped up once or twice! 

- Take time for meditation - at some point during my day, pause long enough to consciously meditate for 5 minutes; 10 if possible - Still a bit hit and miss, unless I count the time I say my prayers.

- Cultivate non-attachment - focus on letting go of attachment to material possessions - well, I gave away some of my personal possessions I had at the office!

- Attend the monthly rosary prayer gathering - Attended the prayer gathering on 7/15 and gave a ride to my cousin P and friends R and F to the prayer gathering.

I am keeping the rating the same, because there were a couple of items I didn't accomplish.

Environment (5)(8):  The goal is a clean, tidy, uncluttered house and a well-maintained garden.
House: 

- Focus on decluttering and maintaining cleaned areas - get 20 bags of donations out of the house by the end of the month!  I've kept up with the regular cleaning - dusting, vacuuming, mopping, etc., although I wasn't very successful at keeping surfaces decluttered and clear!  I also didn't get any donations out of the house.

- Deep clean my bedroom - It is the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night; it should be a place of calm restoration! - Didn't deep clean the bedroom.

Garden:

- Maintain (water 2x per week; weed) - The garden segment got a BIG boost because I was able to get my eucalyptus tree trimmed!  One task that was on my to do list for years got accomplished!  Have been keeping up with the watering, etc. (as indicated by my water bill!)

- Scatter some seeds and see if they will grow! - Too hot!  Everything is scorched!

Although I didn't accomplish several things around the house, I increased my satisfaction rating because of the tree trimming that was accomplished!  Getting that tree trimmed had been on my list of things to do for years!  I might consider splitting this category into two, in August.

Daughter (10)(10):  The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her (without being over-protective!)
- Daily texts, phone calls, emails, and video chatting - On-going.

- Look forward to her visits (2) in July - over the 4th of July weekend and, again, towards the end of July - she was here for the Anime Expo convention at the beginning of the month and spent just over a week at home from 7/20 to 7/29.  Although she worked from home during that week, we had fun during her visit, attending two weddings, going shopping, and just spending time together.

- Be supportive of her enthusiasm for the upcoming Anime Exposition by sewing part of a costume, by giving her rides to the event and back, etc. - Sewed an apron and a tail for her costumes; dropped her off and picked her up, etc.

There isn't any other possible rating!  My daughter is definitely a 10 as far as I am concerned!  

Family & Friends (8)(9.5):  The goal is to keep in touch with various family members and friends.
- Wish friends A and R on their birthdays - called and wished them both

- Go out to lunch with friend R - did so on 7/14

- Attend cousin V's son's wedding - did so on 7/21; daughter and I rode to the wedding with my cousin and her daughter and we stayed the night at a hotel and had family bonding time!

- Attend another friend R's daughter's wedding - did so on 7/28, and helped my friend box up wedding cakes for her daughter's wedding, earlier in the month, after the prayer gathering.  Again, rode to the event with my cousin and her daughter.

- Regular phone calls and emails - There were many phone calls (sister, cousins, aunts, friends) and some emails and texts, throughout the month.

- Will be seeing several members of the family and friends at the various family gatherings this month - Did so; in addition, cousin V and her husband visited me to borrow the oil lamp and daughter and I visited Aunt C and took her some soup.

- Weekly calls with neighbor T/have coffee with her one day - spoke with her several times and she came over, one day, although we didn't have coffee together; besides, her willingness to have her tree trimmed spurred me to get my tree trimmed, too!

This was a very good month for family and friends.  I realize the rating can't be maintained, but that's OK, too.

Community (8)(8):  The goal is to become more involved in my community.
- Continue to participate in the blogging community - Have been reading and commenting on blogs; I am very appreciative of everyone taking time to comment on my posts and have done my best to reply to each comment.

Career (9)(10):  The goal is to continue to work while planning for retirement.
- Complete as many assignments as I can in the next 3 weeks and bring the others to a good pausing point - Did so!  
- Clean up my work space and files - Done
- Continue to work on retirement related stuff - put in my last day at the office on 7/20; will be on vacation for the next two months!

Looking back on my career - all 37 years of it - I feel very happy at what I was able to accomplish.  One of the steps in the Buddhist way of life, which we call the Middle Path, which is also known as the Noble Eight-fold Path, is "Right Livelihood".  It is the 5th of the 8 steps and is often defined as earning a living in a manner that doesn't hurt or harm other beings.  I know I engaged in a Right Livelihood by advocating for environmental considerations in the various projects I worked on.  

Finances (9)(8):  The goal is financial security.
- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose - On-going; this was a rather spendy month, with two weddings, my share of the hotel room payment, tree trimmers, car registration renewal, manicures, etc.  Some of it (like the car registration renewal) had been budgeted for; the rest wasn't, but the funds were there and I didn't spend anything that I couldn't afford, so it was all good. 

- Make an appointment with financial planner - Done (scheduled for 8/6)

- Make final decisions about pension options - Will be done after meeting with the financial planner

I chose to go with a lower month-end rating simply because I spent so much money this month!  It certainly wasn't my usual frugal month, although, as I mentioned earlier, it wasn't anything I couldn't afford and the funds were there.  But, I guess it is OK to splurge from time to time!    

Health & Well Being (6)(5):  The goal is good health.
- Attend the appointments with my various medical doctors - 2 scheduled for July, so far, with maybe 2 more to be scheduled upon authorization approval!  - Saw primary care physician assistant 7/13; blood pressure and sugar levels were OK, but weight had gone up and she wasn't happy about that.  She had me do some blood tests to check A1C (sugar) levels, kidney functions, and other stuff (calcium, iron, etc.)  Follow up appointment made for August 17; I had to reschedule the 2nd appointment for August 2, as there was a scheduling conflict with something at work.

- Call and make dental appointments! - Didn't accomplish

- Continue to monitor blood pressure, sugar levels, and weight - On-going

- Continue to focus on a healthier diet, drinking enough water (8x 8oz), exercising regularly (walk for 30 minutes during the work week), and getting sufficient sleep - Hah!

- Focus on accomplishments and staying positive - I did receive my mammogram results which said everything was normal, so that is something that is positive!  Other than that, I am positive that my accomplishments in this segment need improvement!

I am not very happy about this segment and I have reduced my satisfaction rating to reflect that.  It would have come down even more, except for the fact that I received a good mammogram report and I am trying to be positive!  So, I will simply say that there is much room for improvement!

Time Management (4)(5):  The goal is having enough time to do all what I want to do!
- Procrastinate less - I went ahead and scheduled my tree to be trimmed right away, when my neighbor had her tree trimmed!  (Never mind the fact that I had procrastinated on getting it done for at least 3 or 4 years!  We are focusing on staying positive, here!)

-  When I called for an appointment to have my car serviced and the person at the other end said she could schedule me for the next day, I asked if there was an appointment available for that afternoon and, when she said yes, opted for that!

- I was ready with a gift card and greeting card in good time for the 2nd wedding (never mind the last minute rushing around for the 1st wedding - stay focused on the positive, Bless!)  

- I submitted my mileage verification and renewed my car registration well before the due dates!

- Implement routines and schedules - Work in progress!  There should be more opportunity for this in August!

Once again, the tree trimming helped to bump this up!  

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time (7)(8):  The goal is to relax doing something I enjoy doing for the pleasure of it.
- Set aside 30 minutes a day to do something relaxing, such as reading books  blogs, or doing a craft - done; I've spent more than 30 minutes a day reading blogs, which I love doing; I've spent at least 15 additional minutes a day, reading, doing crossword puzzles, playing online games (Solitaire, Sudoku, etc.);  I've taken several afternoon naps, which have been very relaxing;  I spent a couple of hours sewing daughter's costumes at the beginning of the month; spent several days sewing a sari blouse towards the middle of the month (although I am not sure if I can consider that as "relaxing" because I was working without a pattern!); and had a manicure after several years (although it wasn't quite as relaxing as it could have been, because I was cutting it fine when it came to time on that particular day and that was stressful!)

So, there we have it!  The July balanced life goals in review!  Some segments went up, some went down:

Updated July Balanced Life Wheel

The thicker red line (it is supposed to be purple, but shows more red than purple in the picture) is the month-end review.  The environment spoke has improved a lot (due to the tree trimming), family and friends also improved, as did career, time management, and leisure.  But, financial and health went down.  So, the wheel is still a bit wonky!  Wonder what August will look like!

How was your July month in review?  Is anyone joining me in doing a balance wheel in August?

Car Service on Monday

Today, I woke up a little after 10:00 a.m. (after going to sleep at 4:30 a.m.).  After I replied to blog comments and commented on a couple of other blogs, I reviewed my up coming appointments for August.  So far, I have four medical appointments, on 8/2, 8/15, 8/17, and 8/22 (for endoscopy/colonoscopy) and one appointment with my financial planner, on 8/6, and I need to make a dental appointment and an appointment to hand in my retirement papers before the end of the month!

Then, I called and made an appointment to take my car in for a service at 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon.  After that, I rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher and washed a few other items by hand, swept the bathroom, and took a shower. 

The car service took 1 1/4 hours.  I waited in the waiting room.  It was nicely air conditioned there, with a TV, free bottled water, and coffee; I helped myself to a bottle of water and did some crossword puzzles and watched a little TV while I waited.  They said that everything was fine with the car, which was good to hear.

On the way back, I stopped at the smaller Armenian store (near my dentist's office) and bought a loaf of bread ($1.50).  I debated going in to the dentist's office to book an appointment to have my teeth cleaned, but I was getting hungry by then (it was around 4:30 p.m. and I hadn't eaten anything other than some almonds I had taken with me to snack on at the waiting room) and I just wanted to go home.  I decided I will call the dental clinic and book an appointment over the phone, instead.

Came home, ate some of the bread for a late lunch, and had a cup of tea.  Daughter called to tell me she really enjoyed today's statistics workshop.  She had the opportunity to network with another participant who is from the US Dept. of Agriculture and went out to lunch with some of the others.  There are just 7 participants, she said, so plenty of individualized attention.  She mentioned that she might like to pursue a PhD in Bio-Statistics; we'll see if she still feels that way at the end of the week and take it from there.   

Then, I ran the dishwasher and did 2 loads of laundry.  I also took the trash cans to the curb. I stepped outside with the trash just in time to see my nextdoor neighbor park his huge truck in a manner that blocked my driveway by a good couple of feet and two of their dogs (the two white chihuahuas, not the bigger German shepherd) in my front yard!  I just stood there and watched.  As he got out and saw me watching him, he greeted me, made a big show of checking out if he was blocking the drive way, yelled at his dogs, pulled out, and drove off to find another parking spot, down the block!  A woman came out of the house next door (not the lady of the house), called the dogs, and then, proceeded to sit on my other neighbor's half wall in the front and have a phone conversation with someone while I brought out my trash cans and put them, one (trash bin) on one side of my driveway and the other two (yard waste and recycling bins) on the other side, vacated by the too-big truck.   I didn't say anything to the woman sitting on the wall.  

Later, daughter and I video chatted for a bit and I brushed Dancer.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Getting the car serviced and being told that everything was fine

- An air conditioned room in which to wait while the car was being worked on

- My neighbor moved his truck without any problem

- Appliances like dishwashers and washing machines

- Freshly baked bread

Monday's To Do List:
- Do the dishes/run dishwasher - DONE
- Call to schedule a maintenance service for the car (maintenance required light has come one) - DONE
- Do a load or two of laundry - DONE
- Do some paperwork (pay bills, etc.)
- Take the trash cans to the curb - DONE
- Cook the ground beef
- Grocery shop for bread - DONE

Oops!  I completely forgot to cook the ground beef!  And I didn't do the paperwork.

Tuesday's To Do List:
- Put away the laundry
- Empty the dishwasher
- Paperwork/pay bills
- Cook the ground beef
- Bring in the trash cans
- Water the house plants
- Renew the car registration

How was your Monday?  What have you planned for Tuesday?

Sunday: Daughter Goes Back

I woke up at 9:00 a.m., this morning, when the alarm went off, fed the cats, refilled the outside cats' water bowl, turned off the porch lights, etc.  I had planned to get up and cook the salmon steaks so daughter could take some back with her.  But I felt very tired, after yesterday's wedding, so, I went back to sleep and slept until 10:30 a.m., when daughter came for a cuddle.  By the time I had coffee, got dressed, and had my Sunday morning chat with my neighbor T who called, it was already past 11:00 a.m. and too late to cook the fish.

Daughter finished packing the last bits, which included the food I gave her to take back - the last of the rotisserie chicken, half of the fruits and vegetable I bought on Friday, the rest of the mung beans I had cooked, etc.  I put the cooked food in containers and put the containers in gallon sized zippered bags.  She is able to take food like that, in her carry on luggage, without any problems.

I dropped daughter off at the airport at noon and came home.  She called to let me know when she boarded the plane, when she landed at Oakland airport, and, again, when she reached her apartment (she has an hour-long subway ride from the airport to Berkeley, and then, she walks the mile or so from the subway station to her apartment).  She said she planned to unpack and do a load of laundry and get ready for next week.  She has a course of Statistics seminars and work shops to attend, at UC-Berkeley, next week, 8:30 to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.  She says she's excited about it and is looking forward to it!

I spent the afternoon writing the wedding blog post.  One of my cousins sent me some pictures she had taken at the wedding, and we texted back and forth about it.  Later, after trying the tea cousin P had given me, I called her to thank her, again, for the ride, to ask after her daughter's feet (she said they were OK), and to tell her that I tried the tea and it was good.  She brought up the subject of the wedding and we discussed it a bit more!

By the way, daughter says she is unable to upload the videos she took of the wedding dancers without uploading them to YouTube, first, and we don't want to do that.  Does anyone know of another way to upload videos from a cell phone to a blog post?

Later in the evening, once it had cooled off a bit, I watered the front garden with the garden hose and the back yard with the sprinklers.  I might need to cut back a bit on my watering, though!  I received my water and electric (and other municipal services, such as sewer and trash collection) bill, earlier in the week, and it showed that I had gone over my Tier 1 limit of 16 hundred cubic feet (hcf) of water during the billing period (two months: 5/17/18 - 7/18/18) and used another 2 hcf of Tier 2 water.  Tier 1 water is billed at the rate of $6.23/hcf; Tier 2 water is billed at the rate of $8.35/hcf.  My water bill is $116.43.  The electricity portion was $52.64 and I had used 283 kiloWatt-hours of the 1,000 kWh of the Tier 1 electricity that I am allowed; I have never gone over my Tier 1 electricity.  Sewer charges came to another $26.55 and the solid waste removal fees came to $74.03.  The combined total of my bill for water, electricity, sewer and solid waste amounted to $269.65; I allocate $150/month in my budget for this combined bill (or $300 for the 2-months billing period), so I am under budget.  However, I had gone over the Tier 1 water allocation.

About a day after I received my water/electric bill, I received a call from someone, claiming to call on behalf of the Department of Water and Power, doing an energy audit, stating they showed me in the Tier 2 category and asking about my electricity usage.  I knew the call was not from the Department of Water and Power, itself, but one of the many companies looking to sell various products designed to help with energy conservation.  Their first question was, "Do you use over 1,000 kWh of electricity?" and my answer to that would be a "No, I used a little more than one quarter of that amount".  Because my Tier 2 usage was in water and not electricity, I declined to participate, said, "No, thank you", and hung up.

I already do many of the things we are urged to do to conserve water.  The only way I could conserve additional water usage is by watering my garden even less than I currently do.  As it is, I have no lawn in the front and I've planted succulents and other drought tolerant plants.  This is the middle of summer and I live in one of the hotter areas of the city; we've had no rain since the end of May and we are not likely to get any rain until the rainy season starts again in October.  I expect my water usage to go up a bit in the summer, and, as long as we are not in a drought and under mandatory water restrictions, I think it is OK to do so.  However, I shall try to keep below my 16 hcf for the rest of the summer (in winter, my allocation is reduced to 13 hcf, or is it 11?  I can't remember, without looking it up.)

After I watered the garden, I called friend R and chatted with her for a bit.  Then, I finally cooked the fish!  I had some of it for dinner, but I will freeze the rest.

Still later, I video chatted with daughter. 

Monday's To Do List:
- Do the dishes/run dishwasher
- Call to schedule a maintenance service for the car (maintenance required light has come one)
- Do a load or two of laundry
- Do some paperwork (pay bills, etc.)
- Take the trash cans to the curb
- Cook the ground beef
- Grocery shop for bread

How was your Sunday?  What are some of the ways in which you conserve water?

Wedding on Saturday

Saturday morning, we decided not to run any of the errands we had planned (go to the auto club and DMV) and just relax.  We didn't want a repeat of the previous Saturday and running late!  I will go to the auto club during the week and daughter will go to the DMV, on her own, next Saturday.

I also didn't cook the salmon steaks, either!  I will cook them later, and probably freeze them.

Instead, daughter and I relaxed and took it easy in the morning.  Cousin P called and came over with some tea bags she wanted me to try; a different brand of tea than what I have been buying, but Sri Lankan tea, nevertheless.  She said her daughter (who was driving us to the wedding and back) wanted to leave by 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon, to go to the wedding, and I said that was fine with us.  She called back, a little later, to give me some news about a family friend's health (his wife and his mother-in-law had both informed me about it, a couple of weeks ago, so I had known about it) and I confirmed that we were leaving at 3:30 p.m. 

After lunch, I ironed the sari blouses and daughter and I started to get dressed.  This time, I dressed in my sari, first, and then, dressed daughter in hers.  We chose to wear the same saris we wore to last week's wedding.  They are our newest saris and both daughter and I agreed that we hadn't paid $150 per sari to wear them just once!  It couldn't be helped that the weddings were held, practically, back to back!  If any of the other wedding guests (there were family and friends who were at both weddings) recognized the fact that we wore the same saris to both events, they didn't say anything about it to our faces, other than comment on the fact that we wore saris, again (the majority of them had worn dresses to this wedding). 

I was also complimented on my hair being worn in a bun.  I used to often wear my hair in a bun when I had long hair.  It's still not quite long enough for anything other than a tiny little knob on top, but I had bought a doughnut shaped sponge form to help with putting my hair up in a bun (from the dollar store).   You put your hair in a pony tail, then, pull the pony tail through the middle of the doughnut shaped sponge, and roll it down while distributing the hair around it and pin it in place.  I am not able to do it, myself, but my daughter was able to make the bun for me.  As I told me daughter, I felt more like my usual self, on Saturday, with my hair up in a bun, for the first time since my treatments started and I lost my hair.

Then, I did daughter's hair for her, with half of her hair in a bun, with the rest of her hair cascading down in ringlet curls.  Well, at least, that was the idea - in reality, her hair is very thick and unruly, with waves and curls of its own, and my curling iron is old and not powerful enough, so the ringlet curls didn't come out as intended!   It didn't help that we were just a bit rushed at that point.  It was 3 o'clock, by then, and cousin had called to say they were leaving their house!  When my cousin said her daughter wanted to leave by 3:30 p.m., I had understood it to mean that we were leaving at 3:30 p.m.  So, in my mind, I still had 30 minutes more to do daughter's hair, etc.  But, when cousin called at 3:00 p.m. to say they were leaving the house, I realized I had misunderstood her!  I was still curling daughter's hair when cousin and her daughter pulled up in front of my house!  But, we didn't keep them waiting, this time!  I unplugged the curling iron and we were out of the house in less than two minutes!  Daughter was pleased with what I had been able to achieve with her hair, so all was good. 

We arrived at the wedding venue in good time, just as the cocktail hour started.  Unfortunately, what this meant was one hour of standing, as there were only a couple of chairs in the whole room and they were occupied!  I had worn flats since I can't wear any high heels, but, even so, standing for one hour is a bit much for me!  My daughter had worn high heels, but she claimed she was OK in them.  At 5:00 p.m., the room where the ceremony was being held opened and we were able to sit down.  My cousin's daughter said we should have left at 3:30 p.m. and got there at 4:30 p.m., instead, so we didn't have to stand for so long; I didn't say anything, but thought to myself that, yes, that would have been better as that was when I thought we were going to leave!  LOL.

They had what amounted to two wedding ceremonies as they tried to incorporate both Sri Lankan (bride) and Jewish (groom) customs.  At one end of the room, there was a dais known as a "poruwa" in Sri Lanka, where traditional Sri Lankan marriage ceremonies take place.  In Sri Lanka, the poruwa ceremony is traditionally performed at Buddhist weddings, with Christians/Catholics preferring to have a traditional Church wedding.  However, over here, more and more ex-pats are considering the poruwa ceremony to be more of a cultural thing, with adaptations being made, as necessary.  In a Sri Lankan Buddhist wedding, for example, part of the poruwa ceremony would include the singing of what are known as "jaya mangala gatha" which invoke the special qualities of the Buddha to bring blessings on the newly married couple.  But, since the bride is Catholic, they omitted that step of the poruwa ceremony.  However, the music they played when the bride was led to the poruwa, preceded by dancers, was a Buddhist hymn, known as "Dhanno Budunge", which I found to be amusing.  Daughter and I looked at each other, as it was a song she learned at Sunday school at the temple and used to sing at various temple celebrations! 

My daughter took videos of the traditional drummers and dancers that led the bride and groom to the poruwa; she will upload them to the blog for me, she said, when she has a chance to do so. 

The poruwa ceremony was conducted by the bride's maternal uncle.  The groom's parents stood by his side of the structure and her bride's parents stood by her side of the structure.  As part of the ceremony, the groom was handed seven betel leaves, one by one, and he handed them to the bride, who then, placed  them on the ground - betel leaves represent blessings, and later, the bride and groom will offer more betel leaves to their parents and bow low to them to be blessed by their parents.  The groom was also  handed a gold necklace to be placed around the bride's neck (a symbolic gesture of providing for her; in a traditional marriage, the bride's family would have provided the bride with a dowry).   Then, the bride's maternal uncle, who was officiating this part of the ceremony, tied the fingers of the bride and groom with a gold thread to symbolize unity and poured water over the tied hands, using a brass water pot known as a "kendiya". 

These two brass kendi are what I have at home and, as my daughter was quick to point out, are similar to the one that was used in the ceremony:

Kendi

Later, the groom handed a white cloth to the bride's mother in gratitude for raising her.  Traditionally, it is a bolt of white cloth (which, according to my mother, at least, was originally supposed to have been used on the marriage bed as proof of the bride's virginity, but I only have my mother's word for it!)  At this particular wedding, however, the white cloth the groom handed his new mother-in-law was the tallit, or Jewish prayer shawl, that had been given to him at his Bar Mitzvah.  I loved how they found ways to personalize the customs. 

A plate of milk rice (or "kiri bath") had been prepared, before hand, and this plate was offered to bride by her mother and the new couple fed each other a piece.  Then, the groom's brother broke a coconut, in front of the poruwa, as a symbol of prosperity and plenty.  At the conclusion of the poruwa ceremony, the couple lit the brass oil lamp.

Then, they walked down the length of the room to the other end, where a Chuppah had been set up.  Midway, between the two structures (poruwa and Chuppah), a unity candle had been set up.  The groom's mother and the bride's mother each lit a candle and the bridal couple took those candles to light their unity candle.  Then, they proceeded to the Chuppah, where a rabbi conducted the Jewish wedding ceremony, which, at Saturday's ceremony, consisted of the Ketubah, which is a marriage contract, written in Hebrew, the Kiddushin or blessings of the betrothal  where blessings were said over the cup of wine that was shared and a second blessing over the marriage.  This was followed by the Nisuin, which consisted of the Sheva Brachet or Seven Blessings.  The couple's friends wrote blessings centered around the theme of each traditional blessing and read them during this part of the ceremony.  A second glass of wine was shared at this time and the couple exchanged wedding rings.  At the conclusion of the Jewish wedding ceremony, the groom broke a glass by stepping on it and all present cheered, "Mazel Tov!"  After that, the couple withdrew to a private room for Yichud or seclusion, to spend their first moments together as a couple.

Obviously, I am not as familiar with Jewish wedding ceremonies as I am with Sri Lankan wedding ceremonies, but the guests were provided with programs that explained the steps of each ceremony, which was very helpful. 

The rest of us, walked downstairs to the lobby area of the hotel where the wedding took place, for refreshments, which consisted of Sri Lankan "short eats" such as vegetable sandwiches (fillings of carrots and beets between three slices of bread and cut into small triangles), fish "cutlets" (fish and mashed potatoes made into small balls, dipped in beaten egg, breaded, and deep fried); chicken patties (were made of pastry dough rounds, filled with a spicy mixture of ground chicken, folded over and baked), and "Chinese Rolls" (small pancakes, with a ground beef filling, breaded and deep fried).  The bar was also set up in this lobby area (daughter and I had sodas, since we don't drink alcohol).   The refreshments were very welcome (it was around 6:00 p.m., by then), but it meant standing, once more, for another hour before the banquet hall was opened! 

I love how these weddings are planned and organized, etc., but, I don't like all this standing around in between proceedings!  Yes, I know it is supposed to give us time to mingle and "meet and greet", etc., but, my goodness, our feet were hurting!  In fact, my cousin's daughter's heels were hurting her so much, that she left the reception to go home to change her shoes!  She was gone for a little over an hour and a half.  By the time she came back, we were already seated in the banquet room, but still waiting for our table number to be called to go up to the buffet.

There was a live band at the reception and dancing.  My favorite dance was when they danced the Horah.  It seemed like such a joyous dance, to me. 

We didn't stay too long at the reception.  Unlike at my cousin's son's wedding, when we waited until the end and helped to clean up!  We left shortly after dinner, just as they were serving the wedding cake (the one that was cut by the bride and groom, not the love cake that we helped to wrap and box!  Those boxes were placed at the tables, at each guest's place setting.  I brought my box home with me.  Stamped on one side of the box, is a posy of flowers, with the couple's names underneath, and a saying, "A sweet ending to a new beginning" in a circle around it. 

The boxed wedding cake

Inside the box, there was a piece of love cake and a bag of candy coated almonds.

We got home around 11:15 p.m.  I had worn comfortable shoes, but my feet were swollen, from all that standing around, I suppose.  I sat with them elevated on some cushions and daughter and I talked for a bit and then, she packed her suitcase.  She was sad about having to leave, again.  We stayed up till after 2:00 a.m., just talking and cuddling. 

Saturday's To Do List:
- Go to the auto club and DMV in the morning, to see about daughter's driver's license renewal, my car registration renewal, and to hand in the mileage verification prior to my auto insurance renewal - POSTPONED
- Cook the salmon steaks - POSTPONED
- Write out the wedding card - DONE
- Iron the sari blouses - DONE
- Do daughter's hair for her - DONE
- Get dressed and go to my friend's daughter's wedding (we will ride with cousin P and her daughter) - DONE

On Saturday, I was grateful for:
- Being able to attend my friend's older daughter's wedding (I was unable to attend her younger daughter's wedding as I was having my chemo treatments at the time and my doctors didn't want me to go to any large gathering, because of my compromised immune system).
- My cousin and her daughter giving my daughter and me a ride to the event and back, again.
- Cousin's daughter was able to go home and change her shoes for a more comfortable pair!
- My daughter isn't fussy and was pleased with what I was able to do with her hair, even if I wasn't quite satisfied with my efforts.
- Meeting some old friends I haven't seen in awhile at the wedding.

How was your Saturday?  Have you attended any weddings where cultures and religions are mixed and new traditions are created?

Friday: July Grocery Shopping Week 4, Part 2 and a Family Visit

Enjoyed sleeping in, this morning!  Woke up at 9:00 a.m., but went back to sleep and slept till 10:00 a.m.!

I emptied the dishwasher while I was waiting for the water and milk for my coffee to heat up.  Daughter had conference calls, so I tried not to make any noise while doing a few small tasks - putting away laundry,tidying the dining table, sorting through the box containing my sewing supplies, etc.  My daughter had bought me a small plastic crafts supplies organizer box; it's meant for beads and things, I believe.  I tried to use it for my reels of thread, but the bigger reels are too big for it.  I was able to fit in some of the smaller reels of thread, however, so now, it is easier to see what colors of thread I have, etc.

I inherited a large plastic shoe box of assorted reels of thread when my mother died.  She used to buy different colors of thread when they used to go on sale, often for just $.10 or $.20 each.  I have been using that thread for various sewing projects where the thread color didn't really matter, including my various scrap quilts - I'd just put in one reel of any color thread and sew with it until the thread finished!  In the 12 years since her death, I've only bought white and black thread, and daughter bought one reel of red thread for one of her costumes, I believe.  I still have a few reels of thread from my mother's thread collection!

I have been missing my mother a lot, this week.  I don't know why, though, as it isn't her birth or death anniversary.  Last Friday was my father's death anniversary, but it has been 55 years since his death and I don't really grieve for him anymore.  I did choose the anniversary of his death as my last day at work, though, and that's how I picked that particular date.

I had put mung beans to soak, last night, and I boiled them for brunch, today.

Today, I didn't take an afternoon nap.  Instead, I went grocery shopping in the afternoon.  I went to the Armenian store:

July 27 Groceries

I purchased:
1+ lb. ground beef (15% fat) @$2.99/lb. = $3.35
1 1/2 lb. salmon steaks (3 steaks) @$4.99/lb = $7.46
1 packet cashews @$8.99/lb = $3.82
Broccoli crown @$.49/lb = $.66
Tomatoes @ $.99/lb = $1.26
Serrano chilies @ $.69/lb = $.10
Onions @$.20/lb = $.43
Green beans @ $.99/lb = $.86
Zucchini @$.39/lb = $.57
Mediterranean Cucumber @$.99/lb = $1.45
Red Grapes @ $.99/lb = $2.02
6 oz. raspberries = $.99
Peaches @$.59/lb = $1.33
Total = $24.30

7/27 Receipt

July Grocery Budget = $100 - $3.78 over-spent in June = $96.22

Spent to date = $27.21 + $6.49 + $3.42  + $43.22 + $24.30 = $104.64

Balance left in July grocery budget = $96.22 - $104.64 = - $8.42

I went over budget by $8.42, but that is OK.  Some of what I bought will be given to daughter to take back with her.  I will carry over the amount overspent to August. 

After I came home and put away the groceries, I had a cup of tea and scrubbed the bath tub.  Then, it was time for friend M to attend to the garden.  He trimmed the curry leaf tree a bit (one branch was going over the wall to the neighbor's back yard) and cut the grass at the back.

I also called the doctor's office and made an appointment for the endoscopy/colonoscopy.  That will take place later in August.  Daughter was able to book a flight home, so she'll be with me when I undergo the procedures.

Then, I called my cousin N, and her mother, Aunt C called me back to say cousin had not been feeling well, earlier in the week.  So, I decided to make some chicken and vegetable soup to take over to them, and I made some egg salad, too, since Aunt C likes my egg salad.  I used the carcass from the rotisserie chicken to make the chicken broth and I added carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, tomatoes, and green beans to the soup.  Daughter and I included the loaf of bread we bought yesterday, to the soup and egg salad and took them over to aunt and cousin.  Cousin was feeling better,   We visited with them for an hour or so and came home.  Aunt had already called and left a message to say that the soup was delicious! 

Today, I am grateful for:
- I was able to visit aunt C and cousin N
- Cousin was feeling better
- I was able to make soup and egg salad to take to them
- I was able to get the grocery shopping done
- I was able to organize the sewing box

Today was a somewhat busy and productive day.  It was a little cooler, too, with the highs of only 99F.

Saturday's To Do List:
- Go to the auto club and DMV in the morning, to see about daughter's driver's license renewal, my car registration renewal, and to hand in the mileage verification prior to my auto insurance renewal
- Cook the salmon steaks
- Write out the wedding card
- Iron the sari blouses
- Do daughter's hair for her
- Get dressed and go to my friend's daughter's wedding (we will ride with cousin P and her daughter)

How was your Friday?  Have you finished grocery shopping for July?  Were you able to keep to your budget?  What have you planned for Saturday?

Still Relaxing on Thursday

Today, I slept in a little longer and didn't get up until 9:30 a.m.  Daughter informed me that her 11:00 a.m. conference call had been moved forward to 10:00 a.m., so, I took my cup of coffee and laptop to the living room, and left her alone in the family room to do the conference call.  Her call lasted about one hour and, afterwards, I made us Indian-style cream of wheat (uppuma) for breakfast.

Lunch was a salad with some of the rotisserie chicken breast.  I had one of the walnut rolls for dessert. 

In the afternoon, I moved to the bedroom (the living room window faces west and gets hot in the afternoon; nice in the winter, but not so nice in the summer), read for a bit, and took a nap! 

I had a cup of tea afterwards and then, daughter and I went shopping!  First, we went back to the discount clothing store so she could exchange two items.  After that, we went to the dollar store and I bought a card and some bananas ($.49/lb = $.73).  Then, we went to the grocery store adjoining the dollar store and bought an Amazon gift card (to give as a wedding gift), a bottle of shampoo, and a loaf of sandwich bread ($1.29).

After we came home, we prepared dinner.  We tried the box of frozen sesame chicken for dinner and the consensus is, we preferred the General Tso's chicken to the sesame chicken.  After dinner, I ran the dishwasher and did a few items by hand.  I also tidied away the fabric leftover from sewing the sari blouse.   There's enough of the gold lame fabric to sew another blouse, so I might make one for daughter, at a later date.

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to sleep in
- Afternoon naps
- The convenience of gift cards
- The convenience of frozen foods
- Daughter's company

I am not making a to do list for tomorrow, but, I would like to go to the Armenian grocery store to buy some fresh produce.  They are having broccoli for $.49/lb., again, spinach for 3 bunches for $1.00, zucchini for $.39/lb, and peaches for $.59/lb.  I could then send some of it back with daughter when she leaves on Sunday.

How was your Thursday?  What are your plans for Friday?

Improvised Butter Dish and Step-Grandmother's Tea Sets

One of my friends asked, in her comment on yesterday's post, if I had bought a replacement butter dish (since I broke my previous butter dish a couple of weeks ago).  The answer is, no, not yet!  I looked in the dollar store when I was there, last, but didn't see any butter dishes, either glass or plastic.  My friend had sent me a link, earlier, to a break-resistant butter dish, but I hadn't purchased one, yet.  Instead, what I've done is improvised a butter dish, using a saucer and a glass dish I already had:

Improvised Butter Dish

The saucer is one from a tea set that had belonged to my step-father's mother, the glass dish is from a set of dessert bowls that was a gift from an aunt, one Christmas.

Butter Dish

The saucer has a Japanese scene, with Mount Fuji towards the upper center:

Painted Saucer

On the underside, there is a crown with "Hand Painted" written below:

I haven't been able to identify this mark

At one time, there used to be a set of six, but now, I am down to just two cups.  Both cups and their saucers sit on my kitchen counter, as I use them for my evening tea, along with cups from my Royal Albert Old Country Roses set.  The cups are eggshell thin and have gold rims, so I wash them by hand.  The saucers have gold rims, too, but they are mostly washed off! 

Cup and Saucer from the Set

The cups hold a secret, inside, as there is a raised design of a geisha in the bottom:

Raised Design of Geisha

But that is not the real secret!  The real secret is revealed when you hold the cup up to the light, for that is when the painting of the geisha is revealed!

Painting of Geisha

The remainder of the set is stored and displayed in the china cabinet - the tea pot, sugar bowl (minus its lid, which broke), creamer, six side plates (we used to refer to them as "cheese plates", but that's not a term I've heard used here) and three saucers since I am using the other three for my tea cups and butter dish!

The Rest of the Set

This tea set is one of two that I have which belonged to my step-father's mother.  The other set is a little more complete in that there are seven teacups (originally, it had been a set of 12):

The other tea set

I use the saucers and side plates from this set for my almsgivings, to serve the cut fruits and candies, etc.  They, too, are very delicate with gold trim and need to be washed by hand.

We kept these tea sets with relatives when we left Sri Lanka and brought them back with us on a later visit.  I carried them in my hand luggage, and I swear, that bag got heavier and heavier as I walked the corridors of Heathrow airport with them!  LOL.  And I got to do it twice, too, because we stayed overnight at a hotel, en route.   So, carried them once through the airport to the hotel and again, from the hotel back to the airport!  

I suppose I will eventually buy another butter dish.  In the meantime, I am quite happy with my improvised butter dish, mainly because I am using what I have, without spending money to buy something else.  I've plenty of extra saucers and glass bowls if these break.  The glass bowl is small enough for me to lift it without a knob from which to hold it.  But, I could glue a knob to the top of the glass bowl, it I come across one.

What do you think of my improvised butter dish?  Yes, it isn't shaped like a regular butter dish, but it works (the bowl is large enough not to touch the sides of the stick of butter).  How likely are you to improvise something using what you have instead of running out to buy a replacement?