girls take heed

i was talking to p's aunt marge yesterday about college and stuff. she said that in the days when she graduated from U of R, the only jobs that educated women could get were teacher, nurse or secretary. i'm not exactly sure when she graduated from college. p guesses it was late 1940s or early 1950s. my how times have changed! no one thinks twice about their daughters going to college as well as their sons. and no one limits which majors girls can take or what sort of job you can get once you graduate. the limitations are on you, pretty much. it sounds like aunt marge had a successful life, as a public relations writer and editor, despite the limitations of the 1950s. she has travelled a lot. she is a wealth of information. she's a fun lady to have around.

so, yesterday's family gathering was to celebrate our nephew's graduation from high school. this is where i was chatting with aunt m.

today's family gathering is to celebrate 40 years of marriage--my folks. it's not raining at the moment, so that is a good sign for the pictures. everyone is in town--all of my sibs and all of their spouses and kids and probably pets too (i'm not sure...). this is what my folks wanted--everyone all together. it should be a good day.

no one knows if p and i will have 40 years together. i hope so. he is precious to me. our first year and a half has been wonderful. the closest we've come to arguing was driving through pennsylvania, and it wasn't really an argument, just frustration.

oh my goodness! i didn't write about PA! we decided what their state motto should be: "everything is worse in pennsylvania!" honestly. wow. the interstate highway was fine, as long as you weren't stuck in a construction zone. and, ok, we have those here in NY too. but when we got off the interstate it was like we were in another country. narrow, winding roads with little to no shoulder. the houses and buildings don't have a front yard, they're like right on the street! there was no warning of an upcoming street that might be the turn we need. and then half the time the streets didn't even have a sign so that we could tell if it was our turn or not. holy cannolis -- annoying. exhausting. exasperating.

we found the hotel, p found his job site, and we found the martin guitar factory. touring the factory was pretty cool. i think it would have been better if we both weren't tired and frazzled from the rest of the trip, however at least at that time we had no pressures on us. we got to look at everything and even play a few guitars. and it is free.

but then we still had the drive home. and this weekend has been a full and busy weekend. i think i will need to take a long nap on monday to recover. yowza. but right now i'm feeling pretty good, mellow but good. so bring on the party!