iPad Pro Oops

I have treasured each and every one of my iPhones and iPads - and I have had several. We not only have them for my husband and myself, we got one (now two) for my mother and two more for overseas friends. I had the first iPad when it was introduced and now use it for all of my digital art custom pet portraits. I am now on my fourth iPad. This one is an iPad Pro that I got because the Art app I was using was not compatible with an updated operating system. The new version seemed too difficult to self teach. So I took the summer to reintroduce myself to the app Procreate, and relearn my digital art skills on the new iPad Pro. I liked the bigger canvas and the size hasn’t been an issue - except when we travel I need to bring my largest purse to fit it in. For all of my devices I always got a warranty, but for whatever reason I did get one not for the iPad Pro. And wouldn’t you know... while on a trip last month we stayed at a hotel with stone floors. While I was getting up from the couch my iPhone strap somehow got entangled with the iPad and it came crashing down to the hard floor. Of course the corner was dented, and the glass was also affected. I was so upset and put a band aid on the glass to keep it in check. Luckily the small section of shattered glass was in the corner and within the black edge of the screen - so it wouldn’t affect viewing anything or drawing anything. As long as the unit continued to operate I was reconciled to the fact that I now had broken glass on a six month old iPad. The band aid was replaced with tape. I had a feeling when I got the case for it that the iPad was not completely protected because the sides were left exposed so the Apple pen could adhere to it. I always prided myself in taking such good care of my Apple products. So much for that. 

From Beyer to Stohlman Subaru

We have owned three Subaru’s. We had an outback and a forester when we lived in the Midwest. Finally,  after ten years and street parking, we got another forester when we lived in DC about four years ago. We bought it at Beyer Subaru in Alexandria where we had been having our old car serviced. It was about a forty minute drive from Capitol Hill and a real pain in the neck dealing with traffic - and a bigger nightmare if we required a loaner. We didn’t like having to park it on the street. We have since moved to northern Virginia and we had our be last service call done at Beyer. But it didn’t make any sense to keep going there when Stohlman Subaru is just three miles away from where we live. So we needed a 60,000 mile service and expected to need a loaner. But we were pleasantly surprised to have the choice of taking Uber - on them. Since we didn’t need a car for errands, etc - Uber would be fine. So they contacted Uber and a car arrived in short order. When it was time to pick up the car after 6 PM, they contacted Uber again to pick us up and bring us to the location. Apparently you need to live within a certain radius, and this option works better than a shuttle service. Although we didn’t like paying the huge service bill, the service was excellent. So now we no longer need to spend so long driving to and from Alexandria for Subaru service. That’s the way it should be. (Stohlman photos from the internet) 

Escape from Jury Duty

It wasn’t uncommon to get a jury duty summons at least every other year when we lived on Capitol Hill. Both my husband and myself had to show up for jury duty more times than what seemed “normal.” We lived in the Midwest for thirty years and I was called one time. Luckily for us, we didn’t get as far as actually serving, although I had a close call twice. The last time I got a summons it was not even a year since I had last served and I finally got a reprieve. So it was a surprise when my husband got a jury summons in the mail last week. It was forwarded via the post office to our new address in northern Virginia. I knew he wouldn’t need to serve, but he would definitely need to notify someone that we no longer lived in DC. So we checked the website and as soon as we updated the residential address, the pop up screen said he was disqualified because he was no longer a resident. That was followed up by an email that the disqualification was approved. We had mixed feelings about moving from Capitol Hill, but they become less and less intense when we get reminders like this one. We can still go visit whenever there’s a good reason. Every time we drive in to the old neighborhood - it’s only ten miles away - I am reminded of a lot of the more unpleasant issues we had to deal with. It’s taking my husband longer to feel the way I do, but I’m sure he’ll come around sooner than later. This is one of them. 

The End of an Era - Goodbye Parking Pass

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. Our DC visitor parking pass expired on December 31, 2019. We moved to Northern Virginia this year after living on Capitol Hill for thirteen years. With two tiny condos came two visitor parking passes. Since we only had street parking, our vehicle required a residential parking sticker. But if you show proof of residency in the district, you can apply for visitor parking passes. They weren’t used that often when we lived there - primarily for workers who needed to fix something in our condo and the occasional visitor who needed to drive in to get to our house. Since April we have been using the visitor pass to park in our old neighborhood whenever we came in to town for a program at the Library. Now, we will have to do what every one else does - find a street parking space but make sure you don’t stay for more than two hours, or a parking garage if more than two hours is needed. These parking passes are so valuable and we are so sorry we can no longer use them. And we don’t have any friends or family in our DC neighborhood any longer who could let us borrow one if we needed it. I have a feeling we will be going less and less in to town because it’s getting to be more difficult. Metro and Uber are options but I don’t care to use them - though we probably will under the perfect circumstances. 

Plant Console Table Update

We have a hanging wall vase and a console table full of plants in the dining room. I recently added a large vase that used to sit on the top of the TV cabinet to the console table to add flowers and color. For Christmas, the vases were used to hold greenery and branches and a few twinkling lights, plus a couple of birds and pine cones. We took all of the holiday decorations down the other day and wanted to start the new year off with some fresh flowers, and also replace the begonia that finally faded after a glorious thanksgiving bloom. So we picked up a couple of bunches of roses and white flowers. I kept the Christmas branches because they always add a bit of flair. I wish I had saved some of the greenery because the new arrangement looks sparse compared to the holiday decorations with Santa Claus and bulbs. Not having a backyard or patio garden limits my ability to find more greenery for any arrangement. I used to cut up bushes and trees and flowers to make the vases look just right. So I’ll wait until tomorrow when we go to the grocery store and get some greens there. It’s just so nice to have flowers and plants in the house. 

My Art Project

It started with a sketch here and there. My husband and I have been together for over forty years. And, as most people, we have a lot of photos together. So I picked out several that are the most memorable from the beginning of our time together to today. There were old boxes, and many digital files to go through and I know there are more. But I needed to start somewhere. I had an idea for an art project that had a “Where’s Waldo” theme. I basically started sketching many of our favorite images - places, events, settings, celebrations ... and put them all together in one canvas. Then I moved them around to try to make it all look put together. Basically these were all line sketches using the “studio pen” brush to create them. The black and white just didn’t look right. The idea in my mind wasn’t turning out like I thought. So I started all over again using different photos. I added color, but it looked too disjointed and juvenile. Then I played around with single color options. It still didn’t look right. Now I’m thinking the end product might look better to cut the canvas in to four or six parts. getting frustrated, I’m beginning to think this whole idea may not go anywhere. If nothing else it is a collection of our favorite memories that may just end up as an image on my iPad rather than as wall art. So if that’s what it ends up being it was worth it. Please let me know if you have any ideas! 

The Perfect Birthday

As one gets older birthdays are more of a necessity, but not always something one looks forward to. This year was particularly wonderful. For the first time in over a year my mom was finally feeling better - she went from living independently to 24 hour in house care - and has rebounded in spite of it all. To see her take small steps from the bedroom to the front room was short of miraculous because the threat of amputation was very real. We were staying on the beach for a couple of days earlier this month - and on my birthday we took a drive by the Gulf of Mexico and started out the morning at Waffle House. Then we drove to the bird pond in my old neighborhood and watched the action for a while. After saying we would one day get to Sunken Gardens, it finally happened. It was so pleasant and peaceful walking through the gardens. The flamingos were a big hit! Then in the evening our neighbors brought over a birthday carrot cake that was just so thoughtful. In January I will be getting my first social security check. I can hardly believe I’m saying that. So, this year was really a difficult one in some ways, but so good in others. And being New Years 2020, I have a lot to be thankful for. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy year ahead. You never know what tomorrow will bring.