Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone.

I enjoyed reading all the responses to this question.

It’s a good time to remember kindness. Remembering to be kind is a good focus

It always is.

So kudos to all you kind people on the feed today! Thanks for sharing🧡

How would you describe yourself to someone who can’t see you?

I’m a little stumped.

I probably look like a yoga, artist type. A bit of a hippie, probably smiling. Or laughing out of turn. Did I mention blonde hair already? Lately I’m oddly tanned and especially light haired, thanks to all the sunshine.Not tall, not short. Not outgoing, small talk phobic, but always up for some good conversation and a laugh.

What traditions have you not kept that your parents had?

As I have said before, I love tradition. I’ll try not to break into that Fiddler on the Roof song here, but no promises.

When my kids were little I tried to resurrect as many old traditions as I could remember from my own childhood because all the moving we did cancelled out most of them. I even borrowed some from other families because most of ours had to do with food.

Being back on the East coast has me remembering a lot of things.

Traditions I have not kept would be things like big weekend breakfasts or frequent family trips to DQ.

I didn’t feel good as a child after eating big pancake breakfasts. The huge surge of sugar syrup, runny yolked eggs and bacon, toast and jam was too much for me in the morning, even if it was just once a week.

Dairy Queen was delicious, but my mother struggled hard with her weight, and I did for awhile after I hit my teens, too. I’m all for healthy food traditions or spacing out the especially bad for you ones, but maybe more happy for non food ones going forward..

Not to be confusing. My kids and I LOVE food, likely more than a lot of people. We are all extremely picky about quality, flavor and temperature. (I mention temperature because Gs mom keeps picking tomatoes and putting them directly into the fridge. My kids all visibly cringe at the thought of this)

But I like to have a balanced life. I care about harmony. I care about balance. I care about my own comfort more than I ever have before, so I’m happy to let go of certain unhealthy traditions or at least keep them to a minimum.

Food is a wonderful part of life for sure. At the moment I’m in love with my garden and all the things I’m making or will make from what is coming ripe, but I have to acknowledge that thete is so much else to celebrate and celebrate with, besides food, in my life.

(I never know where I’m going with these prompt questions…)

Was today typical?

Today I’m back in New England. I flew back into the rain last night. It went on to rain all day, then finally stopped a few hours ago.

I picked some cherry tomatoes and basil. I made a caprise salad to go with our meatball and sausage pasta dinner.

We decided to go out in the boat for a real cruise around the inlet. I had to bail a lot of water out first.

The morning I left for my trip, we put her in for the first time. I did a little Christening ceremony, rowed for about five minutes and then G took over for another five minutes, then we tied her to the dock and left for the airport.

Today after work, and supper and much bailing, we cruised around as the sun was getting ready to set. It was a lovely evening. When we went inside, the Red Socks were on.

I guess it was a typical New England summer day.

How would you describe yourself to someone?

Do you mean so someone could find me in a crowd at the airport? Like a driver or something?

I did have a scenario like this once.

I met my birth mom for the first time when we picked her and her husband up at the airport. In fact I think it was the same airport I’m heading to right now.

She was one of the last people from her flight, to come down the escalator that day, due to a mix-up at the gate. I had that omg-she-changed-her-mind slight panic, afraid-she-didn’t-come feeling for a little longer than was comfortable (sort of like a good movie clip)

She stood at the top of the stairs.

Looked down and saw me, pointed with both hands, she was one hundred percent sure it was me!

The funny thing was, that she and I had forgotten to have that conversation. Her husband had asked her on the plane “How will you know her?” She told him that she just would.

I probably told her I had blonde hair. Living in southern CA that is not a unique quality that helps me stand out in a crowd.

Once I was painting a mural in PR and there was only one of our group who spoke enough Spanish to be able to sort of communicate. The kids kept asking which one of us it was. Told it’s the blonde one, the kids would say in exasperation, they are all blonde! I’m from Canada, learned French instead of Spanish, the blonde was not me.

I really don’t know how to describe myself. Maybe just: you’ll know me when you see me. Or you might not. Face ID only recognizes me part of the time. 🤷

Good thing I don’t need an anonymous driver.

If I make my connection in Charlotte, G will be there to pick me up. If I don’t, I’m pretty certain he will pick me up whenever I get there…

(PS in case you wondered, I missed my connection, but so did most everyone flying on that airline that day. I was lucky enough to get a flight out later so unlike most everyone else in line around me, I didn’t have to spend the whole night in the airport, just part of it. Many were on their way to a hotel, picking up meal vouchers etc.

G picked me up around 2:30 am in the pouring rain, sitting in a long busy airport traffic. At 2 in the morning! We were delayed 3 more times! 11:55 to 1:03 to 2:18 so…it was…an adventure?)

If you could bring something back…

I like to believe that life moves the way it does for reasons we don’t understand, that it has to, that it’s all naturally correct.

I wish I could bring my best friend back or my grandfather. Impossibility is not a great place to dwell, though.

If it were, I expect that I don’t know enough about all of any of it, to rearrange circumstances.

Jurassic Park was a fun movie that depicted what could go wrong if we mess with Mother Nature’s timeline. Or Nature at all, remember the dust bowl?

My own evolution, society’s, the earth’s? It’s all happening and I sort of trust it. Mostly because whenever man has gotten involved and managed to manipulate things, there are consequences and repercussions .

I trust nature. It seems to understand the bigger picture.

If you won two free plane tickets, where would you go?

Funny to get this prompt today.

I just spent yesterday flying from Las Vegas to Kansas. Two and a half hours of in-air time, took my entire day. I’ll spare everyone the boring details of mostly sitting around waiting, changing gates 4 times AND terminals. I had to go through security twice because the tram from terminal D to A takes you to baggage claim? I think maybe someone from the Vegas airport should visit the Kansas City airport because clearly Vegas needs to pull up her socks. Oh and could someone please buy Spirit airlines? They need some serious help too. I had to buy a tiny plastic cup of water on the plane because nothing is free on Spirit it turns out.

Where would I go? Back to CA again to see everyone I just left!

What’s the story behind your nickname?

I’m not one to have a nickname or be nicknamed. No one ever shortens my name, but I do get every pronounciation of Andrea. I never correct. I actually like all the other pronounciations better. I like that certain people call me this one or that one, it becomes kind of like a nick name, specific to this one friend or that.

My grandfather was the only one who got away with calling me Andie.

My mother hated that he did and he eventually stopped, but I have the fondest memories of being Andie to him. I was the first grandchild. The only one old enough to go with him on errands or ride on the lawn mower or sit on the front of a mini bike. I went with him on his little boat, I followed him around his giant garden. I stood on a chair and watched as he cooked.

I named my boat Belle Andie. Belle because I was Isabelle for my first few months, from birth to adoption and all the lost time in between. It’s weird that no one knows where I was then.

I was adopted and became Andrea, then Andie…

I named my boat after myself.

I’ve had so many memories come up from that brief time in my life lately. It’s interesting that my grandkids are close to the age that I was when that time ended for me.

I was just visiting my son’s family. It was a quick trip and I spent every minute with my sweet grands. Their youngest, my mini me, said a few things that I will likely remember forever.

She said, while just she and I were walking home from the beach, “Grandma, you get me. You’re like the only one who does! You can’t miss my childhood!” She’s eight. She has always been so animated and funny and imaginative, but also shy. I don’t know if anyone even knows her at school because she composes herself so completely. Shes right, I HAVE to be part of all of their lives…

So I missed seeing my friends and going to yoga because we spent as many moments as we could, in as many different combinations of small and big groups, hanging out together.

Eating chocolate cake made by twelve year old Lily, Thai food, Italian, tacos, going to the beach, an arcade,on walks…

It was all amazing.

Now I’m on a plane heading for the rest of my kids homes.

Names my grandkids call me:

Grandma, Grammy-grand, Grands, Gram, Memaw, Grammy, Granny…they are goofing around but it’s perfectly fine with me!

What time do you go to bed and wake up currently?