Saratoga News

Louise Webb

Get out of the daily routine

Have you ever thought of doing something different to get out of your daily routine? This thought came to mind when Lillian Isaacson remodeled her kitchen. Isaacson suddenly realized that for years her whole life had been on that white box refrigerator. There were appointments for the dentist, Little League practice times for carpooling, recipes to be tried, chores for kids, food lists, diets, messages for her husband and sanity phrases. There was the children's art work, their A papers and family photos.

All the above ceased for a while when the children left the house, but in their place were the pictures of grandchildren of all ages and their accomplishments. Isaacson was thrilled to strip the refrigerator naked when a new refrigerator came, and she decided to leave the new one blank. It gave her a real sense of freedom, she said.

I shared her story with friends. They said they like life's little perks and doing something different. Pat Wunderling chose a once-in-a-lifetime experience by dancing in the l997 Carnival in Rio de Janeiro with the Imparetriz Samba School.

Joyce Hands took a soothing bubble bath in the middle of the day. She leaned back on a small water pillow and read a magazine cover to cover and loved it.

Another friend zipped around the house vacuuming while listening to some jazz music on radio earphones. Her housework was done earlier than she expected. She made herself a big bowl of popcorn and enjoyed sitting down to watch an old movie video without feeling guilty.

A friend of Pat Bortle's wanted to cheer Pat up after her husband died and sent her a bubble blower. Bortle said blowing the bubbles helped her get in touch with her inner child, temporarily forget her sadness, relieve tension and put a smile on her face.

Virginia Clark likes to buy new shades of lipstick. Veda Freedman sometimes likes having dessert first or breakfast at dinner time. Mary Hoefler suggests going to the Book-Go-Round located at Oak and Saratoga-Los Gatos roads to browse and buy inexpensive secondhand books. The Book-Go-Round is run by volunteers, and the money earned goes to the Saratoga Library.

Ann Chalmers enjoys meeting her friend Yvonne Goss every few weeks for sushi at Sushi on the Run in Los Gatos. Yvonne made up a sushi combination, and it is listed on the menu as Yvonne's sushi.

Barbara McDonald recommends taking a class. She took a dance repertory class at West Valley College in l991 and continues taking tap dancing lessons there. McDonald tap dances now with a group of women 50 years and older she met in class. They perform free for organizations. The group calls itself Silver and Spice.

Andrea Liddie and her mother went to Sacramento last month to help Andrea's sister deliver a baby girl. Andrea says she is still in a daze over the experience.

Roseann Traina got some people together, including two recent widows. The 12 members of the circle share their talents and are a support group for each other. Once a month they meet and do something fun within an hour of Saratoga.

Badri-Motallebi likes sharing her Persian culture with others and learning about other cultures. She invited 10 American-born friends to share the Persian New Year (March 2l) with her family at an all-day park picnic.

Phil Jacklin enjoys holding yearly poetry gatherings at Christmas time. Hans Guth attends humor sessions with people all over the United States. Rachel Cart and Ian Oeschger, owners of Saratoga Book Market, are planning to hold philosphy discussions in their store.

Etta Palmer recommends running a marathon or walking or running in Bay to Breakers. Lori Smith thinks it's fun to go over old letters. Recently she and her best friend went over notes they had written to each other in grammar school (Lori now has two grade-school children of her own).

Judy Putoff likes to paint watercolors for fun. She is the facilitator for the Community of Painters Outdoor Water Color Group. Currently she and members of her group have paintings of local barns hanging at Marjolaine's Bakery in downtown Saratoga. The other artists who have paintings at the bakery are Norm Carter, Dr. David Hunt, Ann Marie Mix, Emma Mori, Nancy Patka, Mary Ann Henderson and Ruben Martin.

These people all had fun doing something different. Next time you find your life is getting a little monotonous, why don't you try something out of the ordinary?

Other News: Recording artist John Boswell, a former Saratogan, has been playing the piano and singing the last few weeks in the Plush Room at the York Hotel in San Francisco. The show he's been appearing in, Overlapping Lives, stars Boswell, Brian Green and Lee Lessack. They will be touring with the show in numerous cities, including Chicago and New York.