Time for School

Repainted this table and chairs this summer.

Kay and I got to Wichita on the afternoon of July 22nd and Kay left the morning of July 23rd for Lowell, Kansas to help her father-in-law. I will let her share about this important visit. I will join her on Saturday before we continue our journey together.

World Map on the ceiling

While I was in Wichita this week I worked on my classroom for the new school year which begins soon after our trip ends in August. Here are some pictures from my room. I am ready to begin year 37 of teaching! Wow, where do the years go!

Pratt, Kansas

Kay and I left Denver on Monday July 21st with a few tears. After a day of winding through Colorado and Kansas we arrived in Pratt, Kansas for dinner with our brothers and their lovely wives. A great meal was had at Cafe D'est where nephew Matt and Lindsay joined us to visit. After dinner we enjoyed visiting at the Comfort Inn and Suites for several hours sharing about " Life, Life, Life, Life" as brother Lynn always says. On Tuesday, July 22nd, Lynn's birthday we met at Medicine Lodge where Lynn is working on the hospital there and received a wonderful tour from the Hospital Administrator Kevin. We left after lunch promising to meet again in 10 days in Topeka.

On the road again

Hello from Denver, Colorado!

Kay and I left Vegas on Thursday morning and headed to Colorado via Arizona and Utah. A long day of travel through some amazing venues ended when we arrived for the night in Grand Junction. After a short night we left early for a trip through the Rocky Mountains and our final destination of Denver! My husband Paul had driven in from Wichita and son Drew had flown in from Monterey for the weekend to visit Kendra, Josiah and Madison Drew! Of course the first request was to hold Madison and then naps were in order for almost everyone. After a grilled supper, thanks Josiah, we visited until it was time for us all to "Sleep Like A Baby"

Viva Las Vegas!

 Tuesday July 15 The first task of the day was to mail the cookbook letters!  WOW – that was a big relief to both Kay and I.  We dropped it in on Tuesday morning and had our first response on Wednesday evening via e-mail from Reg and Anne Gomes who live in Oakland, California!  They sent us a great picture as well as a spectacular recipe!  I’m sure they win a prize but not sure what it is!

Reg and Anne

The travel from Monterey was filled with visual delights of California agriculture with Kay providing armchair commentary.  She admitted that after only two years of retirement she could name all the trees but she did point out Driscoll berries and had insights on the growing and packing of many of the crops.  Seeing the farmworkers harvesting strawberries made me aware of the labor intensive requirement that brings fresh food to my table.  

From cool Monterey with a morning temperature of 54, we entered the California desert with a temperature of 112!  We arrived around 6:00 and settled into our Treasure Island hotel room on the 19th floor which had a wonderful view of the Strip without having to walk outside in the heat. As Kay was looking at the Strip she realized that she hadn’t been there for 24 years!

  

 She had been to the Las Vegas airport many times for flight connections and meetings but not to the strip since she and Dennis participated in the Desert Southwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1990.  At that time they stayed in dorm rooms at University of Nevada at Las Vegas but the Bishop’s Banquet was held at one of the casinos where she remembers clergy playing the slot machines as they were in line for the buffet– hmmmmm.  

Our task that evening was to eat at the The Buffet at Treasure Island where we dined on gnocchi prepared to our specifications and a variety of decadent desserts.  We kept watching for ACTE II on America’s Got Talent that night but missed the first twenty minutes of the show.  Don’t forget to watch the week of July 21st to find out if they go to the live shows.  (Note from Kay: ACTE II is an opera duo with a dear friend, Ashley Renee Watkins.  Both Ashley and Olanna were voice students at The University of Oklahoma with Joanna.)

Wednesday – July 16

Wednesday morning brought warm sunshine and a day of shopping.  Our first adventure was to Popcorn Girl.  This small little store was featured on Food Network and has become a favorite of the Meissner family on their frequent trips to Las Vegas.  From dill pickle to spicy hot wings to lemon meringue pie, the flavors continue to amaze the taste buds.  After sampling different types we settled on Denver style (white cheddar and carmel corn) and a variety of small sample bags for the Meissner reunion coming up in Denver.  

A roundabout car trip took us to Las Vegas’ Premium Outlets where the next few hours found us hunting and gathering.  With coupons in hand (thank you, AAA) we perused shops finding more clothes for Madison (Kendra, get another closet ready.), a Germany World Cup jersey for Drew and oh, yes, themed clothes for the sisters.  Of course we always shop at Dress Barn and they should really be sponsoring our travel.  The salesclerk recognized our Dress Barn outfits when we walked in!

After a brief stop at Whole Foods for Linner (lunch and dinner) and The Container Store so we would have matching Tea Stands.  We found our way back to Treasure Island for a great performance of Cirque du Soleil’s Mystere .  While this was my fourth viewing since 1995, it was Kay’s first experience of a live Cirque show. Kay was only nervous during one section when the aerialist was employing a ribbon high in the air and bending her knees at all kinds of angles!  All Harrison girls’ knees “lock”  when they bend at certain angles and Kay was afraid they were going to make her come on stage and participate!   Silly sister!

After the show, no Vegas trip would be complete without playing the slot machines.  With Kay’s luck and Shirley’s support we managed to lose $20 in an hour.  We were up and we were down and only played the one cent and quarter slots.  We tried four machines and came back to our winning machine and lost the rest of the $20.  Kay was convinced that someone was going to sit down at “our” machine and win a fortune after we left --- but I convinced her it was time to go to bed!

Monterey in July is so Cool!

This is going to be a unique entry in our blog --- Shirley is driving so she is dictating her blog entry while Kay types it into Microsoft Word.  Kay loves doing this because she is adding her own editorial comments!  LOL

After a flurry of packing we headed out to cooler Monterey to arrive in the nick of time to watch the World Cup Finals – 
Germany vs. Argentina.
 Drew hosted us in his new, lovely apartment where anxious minutes were spent in overtime waiting for Germany to score and WIN! 

 To celebrate their win, we went to Fisherman’s Wharf with Drew and a friend and ate at Fisherman’s Grotto where I am told they have the best clam chowder ever! (Shirley loved our Grandfather Harrison so much that she inherited his allergy to shell fish.)  Our table overlooked the Monterey Bay where we watched seals, sea otters and a few humans in the cold water.  Our discussion was lively and the view was breathtaking.  

Kay had hunted and hunted for a hotel room that was less than $400/night since we were there in “high season”.  She convinced me that it would be ok to stay in something called a Ramada Ltd.  We were anxious to see what this was because we had images of pushing furniture against the door.  We were delighted to find a small, old motel with about twenty rooms.  Instead of a pool, it had a serenity garden where the Innkeeper urged us to relax in the Rubbermaid lounge chairs.  Boxed flowers adorned our parking space and we had a fireplace with a duralog ready to go!  By the way, we did push the chair in front of the door!

 

The next morning (Monday, July 14) I chose to experience the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the first time.  I got to experience what my husband, Paul, does scuba diving but I didn’t have to wear a wetsuit!  The highlights were the feeding times of the octopi and the sea otters with a relaxing lunch at Cindy’s Café where we shared fish and chips along with deconstructed tamales with mushrooms and cheese grits.  

Time was spent on Cannery Row where I purchased a Hairy Otter shirt for me to wear to school.  

The kids will love it.  I also found a fabulous coat for Madison Drew to show where her Uncle Drew lives.

Drew arrived to visit after a day of work at NorthstarBiofuels where he is the laboratory supervisor.  This is a startup company in Watsonville, California which has started producing biofuels from  recycled biologics including beef tallow, oils used in frying, etc.  He was proud to show us the crystal clear product they are now producing for sale.

Dinner was spent at Baan Thai in Seaside where we feasted on yellow curry, mussaman nua, an spicy fried rice.

It was hard to tell him goodbye but I knew I would see him on Friday in Denver when he will meet his namesake, Madison Drew, for the first time.

THE ROAD TRIP LAUNCHES!

Sooo – you know that last minute flurry before you go on vacation?  Well, we had it times 10!!!  On Thursday (July 10), Dennis’ dad was admitted to the hospital in Joplin, Missouri.  I’m happy to say that this well-loved 94 year old was dismissed today (July 15) and is happily back at Quaker Hill Manor in Lowell, Kansas.  I can’t wait to see him on our trip.   I met Burgis when I was 14 --- well before meeting Dennis at Friends University when I was 17.  One of the first things my father-in-law told me when we met was that he had a son just a little bit older than me!   And, when I met Dennis I remember telling him “I know your dad!”.  I’m sure that impressed him!!!  LOL

Friday and Saturday (July 11 and 12) were spent doing laundry, ogling one month pictures of Madison Drew (Shirley’s beautiful granddaughter), finding tires for Joanna’s car and getting them installed, getting gas and a car wash for Shirley’s car, picking Joanna up at the airport from her great trip to Mercer Island near Seattle, going to David’s Bridal for Caroline’s first fitting of her wedding gown and watching the wedding attendants picking out their gowns, and packing like maniacs!  Oh, yes – and one additional trip to Ikea to finish decorating the last blank spots in Taber House along with hunting down a World Cup shirt for Drew!!!  We did take a short break to watch three episodes of Newsroom with Jeff Daniels…..one of our new favorite shows!  WOW!  Great writing, great acting, and so fast paced it was making our heads spin! Five Stars!  

Stay tuned!  Shirley will be writing about our trip to Monterey and the Monterey Bay Aquarium next!

P. S : There will be NO pictures posted here of the wedding gown or wedding attendants’ dresses but I can assure you that they are all beautiful, of course!  However, there is  a picture of Drew and the great jacket that Shirley got for him.  See that in the next section. 

Mints, Cookbooks and Quilts, Oh My!

On Tuesday, July 8, we were invited to have dinner at Caroline and Ryan’s apartment and we decided it was a great time to tell them about three projects we were planning for their wedding in November…..cookbooks, mints, and wedding quilt, oh my!

Cookbook - When Dennis and I were married, a kind cousin of his mom’s took the time to gather some family recipes and type them up and put them into a notebook for me.  Shirley decided to do this for Ryan and Caroline and we needed to get their input and permission to produce the cookbook.  With computers, clipart, fast printing, new style of binding, the ability to burn CD’s and have the file for use on a tablet, this cookbook will be a wonder.    But it also meant producing a letter, addressing envelopes, return addresses and stamping the envelopes…..hmmm Shirley decided I should attack folding, stuffing and labeling as we drove to Monterey to see Drew.  AFTERALL -  she was DRIVING!   You can bet that we will make sure our Aunt Pat’s Velveeta Fudge recipe will be in the cookbook! 

Mints --- another Harrison tradition is making cream cheese mints for weddings and showers.  Shirley and I made prototype mints (various molds and colors and flavors) for Ryan and Caroline to sample .I even found the “bell” mold from my wedding but, alas, after 42 years it is better suited as a mold for cement instead of cream cheese.  Yuck! 

After meeting with Ryan and Caroline, a color and flavor was decided on for one of the pre-wedding events and Shirley, my good friend Joyce and I produced them on Wednesday, July 9. 

Quilt –

Shirley and I have a long Quaker heritage and I quilted with our Great Aunt Irene Neff Harrison when I was a child.  Shirley and I tied quilts with our mom during our teen years.  We have special memories of the quilt frame being put up in our middle bedroom in our family home.   A special wedding gift in a Quaker family is a quilt made lovingly by family and friends.  I decided to do this for Ryan and Caroline and Shirley jumped right on board to help me!  The cool decision we made was to ask as many of our friends and family to participate in the piecing as we possibly could.  I found a pattern reminiscent of Quaker patterns I remembered and the fun started.  The first part is to engage those family and friends we are seeing on Sisters on Wheels 2014 to sew strips together…..the quilt fabric is lovingly packed in the trunk of Shirley’s car as we travel.  I will bring the strips back to California, cut them into smaller squares and form the blocks to piece the top.  Strips will be sewn together at a tea, in sessions at Taber House and for those who live in Sacramento you may find me popping into your home with my sewing machine before this is completed!    One difference from early days is that we will have men and women and children sewing the strips.  

DECORATING MANIA!!

This year we decided to use part of our time together to help each other decorate our houses and Shirley’s classrom.  For me, I had two bedrooms to convert after Caroline moved out of Taber House and after Shirley’s son, Drew, moved to Monterey (oh, so sad that he had to move to beautiful Monterey – LOL).  This is what we've been calling the pre-trip and I hope you have already read about our adventures at Opera in the Park and the first guest bedroom, Harrison Suite.

In case you haven’t figured it out, I name everything at Taber House…..closets, cabinets, garages and rooms!  I think I started this because we lived so many places as a pastor’s family that it was hard to know where the scissors, tape, music and china were stored!  Joanna and Caroline (my girls) think I need to print maps for guests (smile).   The downstairs set of hall cabinets with the music library and puzzles and games is called That’s Entertainment!  The upstairs set of hall cabinets with photographs and memorabilia is named Memory Lane.  AND, the sewing/quilting/craft room is named Three Thimbles.  That name is a little more elusive…..but it’s named after our Grandmother Harrison and our mom who were both professional seamstresses and me --- hence, three thimbles.  I used it as a business name in 1983-1984 when I had a sewing business for a short time until Joanna started to attack a custom made wedding gown with peanut butter on her hands.....then it was time to go back to work at the university.  After retirement I was able to re-activate the creative side of my brain (Thank God it hadn’t atrophied!) and Three Thimbles was born!  My good friend, Joyce, and I installed the Elfa shelving and the pegboard.

Sooo --- Rosemary and Thyme!  Shirley and I love, love, love the British series called Rosemary and Thyme.  If you haven’t seen it, it’s a mystery series with two women; one is a professional botanist and one loves to create gardens.  Caroline has been the Taber House gardener so it only seemed fitting to name her former bedroom, Rosemary and Thyme and decorate it in a classic English style with our Great-Grandmother Neff’s rocking chair, a matelassé bedspread and botanical prints on the walls.   Ok – that’s a great description of a relaxing guestroom EXCEPT  I decided that we need to hang eight botanical prints by one of Caroline’s favorite artists on the wall instead of using a headboard.  Can you say CRAZY WOMAN?  Shirley and I were measuring, tweaking, leveling, and saying bowling words as we discovered that the matching frames varied in sizes by minute amounts which threw the whole plan off.  But, I have to say the end result was beautiful.

I left the closet doors off with a small amount of hanging space for guest clothes and placed our Grandmother Harrison’s buffet in the closet.  The round, glass side tables have metal leaves and birds welded to the frame and the reading lamps are mounted to the walls – I have yet to find the perfect cord covers to finish them off!  The drapes have silver leaves and the Ikea terrarium has artificial succulents in it.  The room is finished off with a lamp with a bird on it and a large, round silver  mirror on one wall.  I love this bedroom because it has so much natural light – two large windows and three small windows mounted high in the room.    All of this was accomplishd by many trips to Ikea and Pier One and Home Depot --  and deliveries over the last several months from Overstock.com and JCPenny sale items.  There isn't a thing in the room that was less than 50% off EXCEPT the curtain rod.  Hey, how come curtain rods are NEVER on sale????  We learned a great new shortcut way to hang curtain rods and would be happy to come to your home and install your rods --- ok, that last part about coming to your home to install your curtain rods was a lie.  Shirley is yelling at me “Don’t volunteer to hang curtain rods OR pictures instead of a headboard!".

Whew!  Bedroom Two is done!!!!!!!!