Our 16th Wedding Anniversary

I know some of you have heard this before, but it is my tribute to our anniversary!

I met David while I was a bartender. I bartended for about two years and loved it. Playing shrink without a license was something I enjoyed as well. I had been dating the owner of the bar for about a year at the time I met David. The bar was sold not too long after I started working there.

One night while I was working, David and an old girlfriend came in. They didn't sit at the bar. They took a booth. They nursed their beers, so it was not a pain to wait on them. My bar was pretty full and I was busy. At one point I heard David talking about getting in there and working with his hands. I asked him if he was a surgeon. He told me no, he was a lawyer and gave me his card. I put it on the back on the bar and didn't think much more about it.

I had just turned 30 the month before I met him. I had never been married, although, I did live with a man for many years and we had been done for a couple of years by the time I took the bartending gig. There were lots of reports of a woman's chances of getting married at 30 were about as good as getting struck by lightening! I was not fretting about that. I was having a really good time.

That night was the night before Thanksgiving and I was looking forward to the next day off. As David and his friend were leaving the bar, he made a turkey with his two hands and it made me laugh.

The day after Thanksgiving, I was back at the bar. David came back. He was alone and he sat at the bar. He charmed me with his stories and jokes. He asked me out and I told him I was dating somebody and would have to let him know. The next day, I told the man I was dating that I had met somebody I wanted to go out with. We broke up. It was not a bad break up, but I really wanted to go out with David.

We dated and saw each other almost daily. He had taken me to his house and it was lovely, sparsely furnished and new. One Sunday near Christmas, I was working, mainly because I was the only one who could get all the football games tuned in from the satellite for the seven TV's that we had. It was much different than changing channels like it is today. Anyhow, David stopped by the bar and told me he was out buying pool supplies. I said, "You have a pool?" I had been there several times at night, but the blinds were always closed. I was not impressed that he had a pool, just thought it was funny I didn't know that.

He told me he wanted to give me a personal Christmas gift before he came to my family Christmas. He gave me a pair of sapphire and diamond earrings. They were beautiful and when he left, my boss told me he was a keeper. Suzie, who had bought the bar, was a very opinionated Japanese lady. She made me laugh because she didn't like many of the guys I had dated in the two years she known me. She acted like a mother hen.

One day David asked me if I wanted to take a vacation with him. He told me to pick a place. I chose Paris. We got tickets, passports and were ready to leave on Feb 3, 1990. I broke my ankle for the second time in January. I got my heel caught coming out the front door, which resulted in a compound and shattered bones break. Exactly like it had been done when I was 16. I was in the hospital for several days and when I got out, I went home to live with David. We never made it to Paris, so we went to Las Vegas on that day 16 years ago to get married. I was in a cast, used crutches going down the aisle and cannot remember most of the vows. We were both nervous getting married. It was quick and we headed home the next day, me in the back seat with my leg elevated.

Lightening had struck. I was thirty and I was married. Zoe was born the next year and sixteen months after that, Katharine was born. We had a nice little family and we were very happy and having a lot of fun.

We never did go to Paris, which is fine with me. We have traveled to places I never thought I would see. We went to Honduras after my ankle healed. Roatan, for scuba and snorkeling and then to Copan to see David's daughter and the Mayan ruins. We went on a cruise to Alaska when I was six months pregnant with Zoe. We spent a couple of days in Vancouver after the cruise. We went to NY and CT pretty regularly before and after the girls were born. There have been vacations to other countries as well. Before I met David, I had only been on two planes. One to go to Mexico City and once I took a sea plane to Catalina Island which is about 26 miles from our coast.

We have had our ups and downs, mostly ups fortunately. I have been blessed to be married to this very generous, handsome, funny and exceptionally intelligent man for the past sixteen years. We have been very blessed with our girls as well.

Last night we went to see Walk the Line with the girls and tonight we are going on a date to Mozambique, a restaurant here in town!

Happy Anniversary David. I love you.

Finally, Brokeback Mountain

After all the hype and anticipation, I finally got to see Brokeback Mountain yesterday afternoon. Was it worth the wait? Yes. Was it the best love story of all time? No.

Brokeback Mountain is a beautiful film. The characters were somewhat painful to watch. For me, it was particularly agonizing to watch how life was forty years ago, for the cowboy lovers. It could have been written with an interracial or interfaith couple as well. There was no tolerance or understanding back then. If there was, only a few voiced it and not vociferously. One thing is clear, we have come a long way in the last half century. To be open and out, to be free to express love without reprisal, was just a dream back then. Sadly, even today, there are some who just don't get it. No doubt we have a long way to go, as ignorance which breeds intolerance, is still alive and well.

The acting was excellent on all levels. It was directed brilliantly. The setting was absolutely spectacular. The movie was a bit slow in spots, but I think necessary, to let the viewer get to know the characters more profoundly and see where they came from.

All in all, in was a good movie and I would definitely want to own it on DVD.

I went to see this movie with my friend Amy and three of her friends, whom I had never met. After the movie we moved to a nearby restaurant and were met by yet another of Amy's friends. She had seen the Brokeback Mountain already and wanted to hear our take on the movie. The six of us discussed the movie and it was nice. Like a book club, but a movie club. We are considering having a movie club. How fun is that? It was also interesting to see what stood out to some and how some noticed things others didn't. Or just a completely different take on certain scenes.

I am not one who would normally feel comfortable going out with a group of people I don't know. I sit in the aisle seat, in case I need to flee. David knows this and always makes sure I get the outside seat. I have had panic attacks in the past, at plays and other events. I quietly slip out and get air and calm down. I don't know why I have the dreaded panic attacks, but I have learned how to handle them and still be able to attend shows, as long as I can get out in a hurry.

This was a terrific group of women and I am glad I met them. They were fun, lively and all very intelligent. I cannot wait until we do it again!

NO SCHOOL!!

No school today. Getting ready for the new term. Finals are over. Grades posted so far are As. I love that they post the grades online and the assignments as well. Each one graded. The report cards are now online and if you want a hard copy, you must ask the office. No way can my kids cut school the way I did! No way can they get away without doing homework either. Not that they would try that!

Katharine got back last night from the mountains. They got to sled on the man made snow. They went ice skating and shopping too. They had a nice weekend.

Zoe and David went to see a movie yesterday. I stayed home and did some laundry and watched Kill Bill. I never thought I would watch Kill Bill. I was not going to watch Kill Bill Volume 2, but I had to. The first one left a cliffhanger! Strange movies, both. So Quentin Tarantino!

Today, Katharine and a group of friends are going to Boomers. Video games, laser tag, boats and cars to ride. A wall to climb. A little Las Vegas for kids really. They get addicted to collecting as many tickets as they can while playing the video games. And what do they get for all their time and efforts? Toys. Cheap toys too. They should get cash back. Oh, that would be illegal.

I am going with a group of friends to see Brokeback Mountain at 4:00. Then we are going to have dinner and discuss the movie. Kind of like a book club! It should be fun. I need to put something in the crock pot for the kids to eat.

Oh, did I mention we are shooting for a Friday, this week, birthday sleepover for Katharine's 13th birthday. It is going to be a very busy week!

Random

I watched Oprah with James Frey yesterday. It was very uncomfortable to watch. She was embarrassed. He is a liar. His answers made no sense for one who is such a good fabricator. I have not read A Million Little Pieces. I wonder what possesses somebody to do what he did. Did he actually make all that stuff up to make the book better? Did his publisher push for him to make it more sensational? Did they actually think they would not be found out? My impression of James Frey is that he is simple. I wonder who really wrote the book. I cannot believe they are going to release another batch of books with a disclaimer. Why didn't they just call it a work of fiction? What do millions of people feel who have read his book, now that they know it is not a memoir? I give him credit for going on TV in front of millions of people and enduring Oprah's wrath. On the other hand, one reason I think he is simple, is because he has gone on TV to say that he didn't lie and not only to Oprah, but to Larry King as well. What will he do with all those millions he has made, thanks to Oprah? What are the chances of him every penning another book and getting it published? Probably pretty good. He can come clean again, this time about lying and the dark secrets of publishing companies.

Finals this week for the girls. They have gone pretty well. Today is the last day. It has been a busy couple of weeks and by yesterday an ailing Katharine needed to just stop! No lunch with a friend. No going to the school to see a talent show rehearsal. She needed to stay put on the couch and do absolutely nothing. After about three hours of this, she was better. Her throat still hurt and she was still coughing, but she had some energy back. She had to study, do some laundry and pack for a weekend in the mountains with her girl scout troop. No rain here means no snow there. Except for the man made stuff. It is cold enough for that at least. I am sure they will have a good time.

We never made it to Brokeback Mountain. We have all rescheduled for Monday. Monday is a day off school. I would like to see some more Oscar contenders before the big show.

Local NPR is doing their fund raising, it is annoying me. I know they need to do it, still, it annoys me. I need to go to another radio station for the next two weeks. Thankfully, they do not have their fund drives simultaneously.

I finally got the incentives (prizes) for the nut sale for girl scouts, which was back in October. Talk about slow. I now have them in troop order and really want them out of my house! I have received too many emails from troops asking for them. As if I got them and stashed them until I felt like giving them out! And 8 items belonging to five troops are on back order! What a pain in the ass. To top it off, cookie sales have begun! Only the preorder right now. Nobody really likes the preorder part. I guess the scouts do it so they know how many cookies to have baked. Still, people like instant gratification. Pay for cookies and receive cookies. That begins in a few weeks. You will see them all over. Booth sales outside stores and other locations, only lasts two weeks. After being bombarded every place one goes, two weeks is plenty long. Until next year.

Katharine will be 13 next week and is still stressing about what she can do for her birthday. Apparently, her friends want her to have another sleep over. She did that the past two years. She is still undecided. Now we will have two official teenagers in the house. They are good kids.

Last night I had a beautiful dream that our garage was clean and piles of laundry were all washed and put away. Then I woke up.

Happy Friday.

My New Vacuum

Sadly, nothing better to write about today than my new vacuum!

My new vacuum is a Dyson. After figuring out how it went together yesterday, I couldn't wait to try it out.

It is amazing. It truly sucks! The bare floor tool has so much suction that it was difficult to pick up and move. I ended up sliding it instead. It picked up microscopic pieces of dirt. I just know it did. Dog hair too. I could see that.

I was using in on the upper windows and wood beams to remove webs. Yes, I did say webs. It is a wood house and we get lots of those. None of my other vacuums would even reach them without a ladder. This vacuum has an extra long hose and a wand to attach making it even longer. And the cord is long enough, keeping me from changing plugs!

As I was using it, I thought to myself, I like playing with my new vacuum. Then thought better of using the word play in the same sentence with vacuum. One could infer that I actually like vacuuming. I may have yesterday and maybe will a few more times, but I don't want to be the only person who vacuums in this house. It was simply because it was new and I wanted to try all the bells and whistles. Oh, and get rid of the webs.

The vacuum is an upright. Purple and scarlet. It is low enough with the right attachment on the end of the hose for it to go under most of the furniture. I like that. The bin comes off to toss out whatever gets sucked in. No bags. I like that too. It does have a filter that should be washed out once every six months. It says lifetime. We shall see.

My friend called yesterday and started a conversation as if I knew what she was talking about. Then she said, "You haven't read any of my emails!" I told her, "No, I have been vacuuming." As if I was having a great time. I was just still in new toy mode.

When I asked David what he thought about me buying this expensive vacuum, he told me, "Well, we do have an anniversary coming up." Think he means it? I do!

I thoroughly researched this vacuum. I found it on overstock.com for $130 less than the other stores. Free shipping too. I read more than fifty reviews. A five star rating from the reviews. People who didn't know their pets shed found out they did. Others vacuumed with their old vacuum first and then went back thru with the Dyson and were amazed at how much more it picked up. A couple did complain that it was a bit heavier than the ones they had and that it is not self propelled.

I realize this sounds like an add for Dyson. Perhaps it is. I just know that this machine rocks!

I had a terrible night sleep last night. My feet were hot and I could not keep them still. So, after some vacuuming this morning I may just take a nap! Except I am supposed to go see Brokeback Mountain. No nap.

Scrabble

I have not played Scrabble for years because I got burned out on playing it with an ex-boyfriend years ago. We recently purchased one and have been playing. We played the other night and it was my first time against the hub. He told me to watch and learn. He kicked my ass.

We just finished and I beat him! I needed ten points to win and I got seventeen! I never thought I could beat him with his knowledge of words and their origins. But, I did. And that makes me the winner!

The End

Time To Slow Down

This past week had been insanely busy. Running around constantly at a moment's notice to get the girls somewhere or to get them something they needed for school. This was the week before finals. It seemed to me that the high school teachers were hurrying to get all the curriculum that they had yet to teach this term stuffed into this past week, before finals. Unfair to the students and parents as well.

I believe that next weeks finals will be an easier week than this one was. Minimum days for both the middle and high schools and then they have the next Monday off. Then in two weeks, it is ski week and they are off for a week! Seems like they just got back from Christmas break! I mean, I still have my Christmas lights up. (I am doing it for the anal creepy neighbor's sake. At least that is what I keep telling myself) I am pretty sure these kids have less school days than we had when I was in school. Although, I will admit, they do work harder and have much more homework than they had when I was their age.

It feels like we are running all the time. My wonderful friend who moved from Laguna about two years ago, I finally got to see on Friday. I gave her the Christmas gifts I had been holding onto for her and the family. We got ours too. That was fun to open more gifts yesterday. We finally had her birthday lunch and another friend's birthday lunch combined on Friday. The other friend's birthday was in December! We don't see each other nearly as often as we should. Then when we do, we both race home to pick up kids. Although, it was Jami who had to race home 60 miles south of us. This time she came up here. I only had to go up the hill.

When we are in Huahine and spending days and nights together for weeks, we promise we will see each other more. We don't. We need to slow down and make the time! Seems that when we do, something comes up. One crisis or another! I miss her so much. One of these days I am going to go down to her house in my pjs just to have coffee with her like old times here in town, after we dropped off the kids!

My other friend Jana, lives about 15 minutes from here. We exchange multiple emails through out the day and talk on the phone some nights. We may not see each other, but we are in constant contact. I met her at 8:00 this morning! Saturday morning. My family were not all up yet and her daughter was still asleep too. It was cold, at least to us here in sunny California, it was cold! It was 33 in the canyon this morning!

Jana and I were going to meet in Crystal Cove. There is a Starbucks and a Trader Joe's there and it would have been perfect except for the Ferrari show in the parking lot. We ended up at a bakery in town and leisurely had quiet time for just the two of us to talk. No interruptions from dogs, kids or phones. Then we went shopping and she bought a bunch of stuff. I bought nothing! There is a store here in town called Fresh Produce. It is their original store which turned twenty a couple of years ago. I have been such a good customer in the past that they call me to tell me when they have new shipments or a sale that I should know about. I got that call last week. Jana got a bunch of stuff at least 50% off. I already had most of what I wanted from what they currently have, but she told me a new shipment is coming in and showed me a green that I just love. I will get something in that color when she calls. She will put my size on hold for me too! Such fun to live in a small town and get that kind of service!

Jana and I went to another store. Beautiful stuff, tropical in nature, but way over priced. Jana is my Martha Stewart friend. She saw some mirrors with sea shells and said she could go home and do that. Then a very expensive bed had the head board that she loved and she decided she would go home and make one for her daughter. Hard to explain what it looked like, but it had bamboo frame in black and woven material across the face of the headboard. I was not sure if she was headed home or to Home Depot after we parted ways. She made her own headboard. It looks like a picket fence. Very cute and then she decorated her room with that piece in mind. I am in awe of her abilities and visions!

She also let me borrow a tape of the first night of the new season of 24! I was basically distraught that I missed the first two hour show, kind of important, I sucked it up and I figured I would just watch the second night. A coworker of Jana's taped it and so now I will be able to see the beginning. I am rather stoked about that. This is supposed to be the best season yet, though it is hard to imagine it can be any better.

Two hours with Jana this morning. About the same with Jami and Pat on Friday. Just to slow down and take the time for a visit or two is such a relaxing thing to do. We should all do it more!

Tagged

Tagged by Bonny. Thanks Bonn.

Four Jobs I've Had
1. Worked at Import Store for a couple of months at 14.
2. Winchell's Donuts, made donuts & coffee and sold them for three years.
3. Made circuit boards and ended up Purchasing Manager for ten years.
4. Bartender, made drinks for two years, until I broke my ankle and got married.

Four Places I've Lived
1. Santa Ana, CA
2. Huntington Beach, CA
3. Irvine, CA
4. Laguna Beach, CA

Movies I'd Watch Again
1. Almost Famous
2. Spanglish
3. Crash
4. Bad Santa

TV Shows I love to watch
1. House
2. 24
3. Apprentice
4. The L Word

Four of my favourite foods
1. Chicken and homemade noodles
2. Anything Mexican
3. Fresh hot bread
4. Good French Onion Soup (like mine)

Four places I'd rather be right now
1. In bed
2. On the beach in Tahiti (very relaxing)
3. Fishing
4. Connecticut

Four Bloggers I'd like to Tag
1. Sarah
2 Jan
3. Alan
4. Zbjernak
or anybody else who wants to play. I know some who won't! LOL

This is too funny

I read this on CNN this morning and got a good chuckle. This is not exactly as it was written. I have summarized, because I don't have much time this morning and I don't want to be accused of plagiarism. LOL

An English man found out his girlfriend was having an affair. He and his girlfriend were sitting on the sofa when his parrot Ziggy said, "I love you Gary." The man's name is Chris. He didn't know what to think when he heard the parrot say, "Hiya Gary," which was how the girlfriend answered the phone when he called.

Chris saw how embarrassed his girlfriend was and figured out she was having an affair. She admitted to a four month affair with a co-worker, using the flat.

Chris said he was not sad to see his ex-girlfriend leave, but he is heartbroken that he no longer has Ziggy. He had him for eight years. Chris said, "It was too painful to hear the Ziggy keep calling out Gary's name." He made sure the Ziggy went to a good home.

The ex-girlfriend said, "I'm not proud of what I did but I'm sure Chris would be the first to admit we were having problems. She added, "I was surprised to hear that Chris got rid of that bird, he spent more time talking to him, than me."

We Do Have A Cat

Yesterday Charlie went for a bath and a pedicure. While he was out, we brought up Patric the cat. No k, just Patric. Zoe gave him the name and the spelling.

Patric is a big furry orange cat. He used to have free rein of the house. Once Charlie got too big for his crate, which he slept in at night, Patric took to the lower level of the house, where all the bedrooms are. We were sad for him at first, but he has all the comforts he needs. He is an indoor cat. We have coyotes around here.

I don't have a photo of him on my new computer cuz the photos didn't migrate with the rest of the stuff. I am sure somebody in the family will send me a photo to upload. I will also learn how to get those photos before the old laptop goes to the boneyard.

Patric used to sit under a plant and try to get the birds around their feeder. We made sure he had a bell on his collar so he would scare the birds, but not eat them. He loves to hunt.

While Charlie was gone yesterday Zoe brought him up and he sniffed everything single plant on the deck. He was very nervous and listening for the dog. Charlie was supposed to be gone for hours, but Patric didn't know that. He smelled the dog all over the place. He was having a good time checking things out. His tail was wagging. He was so happy.

Then Hub called. He and Charlie were on their way home. Zoe got Pat the cat and took him back downstairs. He let out a couple of cries and we felt sorry for him. He came back upstairs and went out onto the deck again. About that time, Hub arrives with a clean Charlie. I shut the open door to the deck. Patric knew Charlie was home and freaks. Charlie saw Patric out on the deck and just looked, didn't bark. David and Zoe tried to get Charlie into the bathroom so Patric could go back down to his domain, which is gated at the bottom of the stairs.

When the attempt at getting Charlie to chill in the bathroom failed, Hub just held the leash and I opened the door. Patric came in and went to the stairs. He was unsure if he would go down until we let Charlie off the leash.

Once Patric was downstairs, Charlie went all around smelling every where the Patric had been.

Zoe was hoping that Patric would have enough fun upstairs that he would confront his hate, I mean fear, of Charlie and come up more often. Who knows, it could happen!

Friday the 13th and My Brother Turns 50!

I grew up hearing how wonderful Friday the 13th is because my brother was born on this day, a half century ago! My friends always had their superstitious feelings about this day. I suppose that is why I am not bothered by a black cat crossing my path either. I had a black cat and now there are two in the neighborhood. What kind of day would I have if every time I saw those kitties, I thought it was bad luck?

I walk on cracks, although I don't allow my children to! Not really. I don't mind walking under a ladder (provided it is tall enough) or opening an umbrella inside either. I am not fond of those emails that say I will have bad luck if I don't foward them. In fact, I dislike the ones that say something good will happen to me if I forward it to ten or so people, just as much.

My brother is not real happy about turning 50. Can't say that I blame him, I will be there in four years myself. I am hoping that I will be happy to turn 50! 30 was hard, 40 was a piece of cake. Yes, literally and lots of gifts cuz I threw myself a big shindig.

Of course, hitting 50 is better than the alternative. He is healthy, he has a wonderful loving family and is generally happy. Who can complain about that?

My brother and I are closer now than when we were growing up. I mean, he is four years older. He did have some cute friends though.

Happy Birthday Clark and Happy Friday the 13th to everyone else!

"Mommy can even make the dog feel guilty!"

Apparently, I can make anybody at anytime feel guilty. A gift? I think so! To those I make feel guilty, maybe not so!

Tonight, Charlie got a hold of an expensive tie of hubs. Hub had it nicely folded on the kitchen table. Not lost on Charlie as a meal, he took it out to the deck where Zoe and I were writing thank you notes. We tried to retrieve it, but he would have no part of it. We finally got it away and the tie was ruined. Zoe hung it on a light to show David when he got home from chorus. He saw it and was none too happy. Maybe putting things away would work?

Charlie takes paper towels, food and anything else on the counter that he can get. This includes dollar bills, so far, only ones. We have almost learned to push things back so he cannot get them. Sometimes we fail. You would think the dog grew up with a bunch of other dogs and never got his fair share. We got him at eighteen weeks, and they even called him chunk a monk. He seems to eat everything in sight as if we are starving him, which we most certainly are not!

After Charlie growled at me for trying to save the tie, which I don't tolerate, he let go. No, I didn't smack him, although I did yell at him. I went to another room and I heard Katharine say, "Mommy can even make the dog feel guilty!" I cracked up hearing this and when I came back, I told them, "I have my next post!"

I am not Jewish, but I am an honorary Jewess, according to my sister in law. I don't mean to use guilt as a weapon, but it certainly works. Funny thing is that I truly don't even try. For instance, somebody, of course, unnamed, was going on and on about her day. When I spoke, she cut in. I stopped talking. She told me to finish what I was saying. I declined. She told me that I do that all time and it isn't fair. The way I see it is, if I, or anybody else is talking, the considerate thing to do is listen and then talk. If I am interrupted enough, I finally quit! Not a Jewish thing at all, just a matter of common courtesy.

The stubborn part of me says, " I am so done" and I am. No matter what cries come from anybody. I am just done! If I am not worthy of hearing the first time then, well you know!

"Mommy, Can I Have Some GoGo Boots?"

Katharine: "Mommy, can I have some gogo boots?"
Me: "Katharine, do you realize we just finished with Christmas and you got cowboy boots?"
Katharine: "Yes, but I need these for D's birthday party on Sunday."
Me: "Why do you need gogo boots?"
Katharine: "To go with my gogo outfit."
Me: "Oh, of course."
Katharine: "And I will wear them after the party too!"
Me: "Well, how can I refuse that offer?"

Katharine: "We need to get something for D's birthday."
Me: "How about a scarf?"
Katharine: "We have to get her something better than that!"
Me: "Katharine, she is having 32 kids at her party. I think it will be okay!"
Katharine: "But I am her best friend."
Me: "Is there a rule about how much best friend's spend on bday gifts?"
Katharine: "No, but can I get the gogo boots?"

D turned 13 yesterday and is having a murder mystery party for yes, you read the number correctly, 32 kids. Luckily, D's family owns a restaurant and are having the party there. Katharine is spending the night tonight, by request, to help set up the party and get other things ready tomorrow.

Katharine will be 13 next month. Her last two birthdays were celebrated here at home with numerous girl friends. Lots of pink balloons hanging down from the ceiling with ribbons. All the furniture pushed back to the walls to make way for games and dancing. Lots of games planned, prizes too. Then all the sleeping bags come out. Wall to wall sleeping bags. Then it begins. Sewer Rats. A game that requires all the lights to be turned off and one or two people are "it" or the sewer rats. Lots of screaming and laughter. Sounds like elephants from our bedroom downstairs. Crawling around on the floor, chasing each other or trying to get out of the way. Last year, I told anybody who got scared to go down to Katharine's room. Some did. I was also asked, politely, to go downstairs so they could begin the game.

Katharine came home from school yesterday and told me she had asked for suggestions from her friends about what she should do for her birthday. Seems they want another sleepover. Hmmm. I offered to take her and a friend and drop them at Disneyland for the day! Of course, I would go back and pick them up!

West Virginia

I was elated staying up til the wee hours watching the miracle rescue of twelve surviving miners. Until I heard, "there was a miscommunication," according to the CEO of the mining company. "Only one miner survived and is in critical condition."

My heart go out to the families and friends of the miners that died and to their small community as well. For them to hear that the miners were alive, to give them the miracle of hope they had prayed for and then to take it away three hours later is just incomprehensible to me.

The Last Couple of Days

Front yard & deck after the storm

Salivating at the thought of the kids going back to school? I'm not really. We have had fun the past couple of weeks, especially watching a bunch of movies. I just found out that HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc., all have on demand. I knew that on demand had movies that cost four bucks, but if you have the pay stations, you can not go to on demand and watch them for free whenever you like. And they are yours for twenty-four hours. Stop, go shopping, cook dinner, walk the dog and go back and resume play too. Very cool. I was watching movies on the pay channels that we don't use enough, but they start at odd times and I either missed the first five minutes or go on to another channel. HBO on demand was the best of the lot.

More

We watched Crash. Excellent movie. Loved Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Big Bounce, an Elmore Leonard book, was funny and starred Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman. Can't go wrong with that pair! Bewitched was surprisingly funny and fun with Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. Watched other movies too in the past couple of weeks. Fun.

I mentioned I was in a cleaning mode lately. Yesterday was the refrigerator. Top to bottom. Out with the old. Have you ever thought rearranging the shelves would help keep it organized? I have tried that again and again and yesterday I rearranged the shelves and layed out the rules. Leftovers go here. Yogurt, sour cream, jello, small items go on this shelf. No longer under the deli bin where they get lost. That is now reserved for tortillas and basically leftovers. Only the very top shelf is high enough to hold a two liter bottle of seltzer, oj and cranberry juices. The next shelf is for the big Costco size salsa and real maple syrup and mayo, among other things. We are going to make this work!


Front yard and deck

We cleaned out the snack cabinet too. Really, it is a snack cabinet and has been for eight years. Every kid that comes in our house knows where the snacks are. Rolling shelves come out and there are Airheads, licorice, Crackers, Raisins, Cookies, Croutons, Pretzels, Chinese noodles, those sorts of things. We filled up a black trash bag with all the stuff in there yesterday. Out with the old. It got to the point that we were tossing things in there but when the girls wanted a snack, there was nothing to eat! It has already worked. Zoe was looking in there this morning and gazing at what to have. It has not been restocked, but I did know where the Ritz Crackers were. Katharine was impressed by that. LOL

We got the tree out of the house the other night too. Everything looks so much more spacious when the big tree is gone.

Although our weather is nothing like what they are experiencing up in Northern California, we finally got our first real storm of the season. Not a huge rain event, but the wind was downright scary up here in the eucalyptus grove. Our front yard is full of bark that has fallen off the huge trees. We leave it on as was recommended, so they are not the beautifully stripped trunks that we may see around town. We have strips of bark wanting to fall off and it usually takes some good wind and rain for that to happen. The bark protects the trees from three threatening types of bugs, currently eating the eucs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. One kind of Lerp eats just new foilage. Another eats the older leaves and yet another eats anything. I did have to laugh at the creepy neighbor and wonder how he was doing in the storm yesterday. Bark, branches and leaves falling onto his itty bitty house. He has a flat roof and it is new. He was out there in the storm putting plastic on the roof with big river rocks. I was nice enough though, to not tell him those are our rocks! They line our side between our driveways. He was outside raking and put all the bark into a pile that I bet he is taking photos of to show how messy the eucs are! They are known as trash trees and he lives in a eucalyptus grove for cripes sake!

More

Our street and yards are covered with long strips of bark and I am happy to say lots of the blooming flowers are washed off the trees. The flowers looks like snow falling in a light wind. And they make me sneeze! They are very pretty, they make a huge mess and that is okay. Our back deck is a disaster at the moment. There are three umbrellas out there. Two that are rectangular. One is tied up and it fell over a couple of times before I left it on the ground. The other rectangular umbrella never falls, but did yesterday and we lost a mosaic bird bath and a hummingbird feeder. We did close them before they fell. The other umbrella is a standard octagon. I had it up all summer, tilted to keep the morning sun out of our eyes. Locked securely between two eaves, it never moved and I never put it down. Yesterday, Zoe and I decided it should probably be put down and it was a joke watching us in the wind and rain. I had visions of her being taken away in a big gust of wind. The problem was I could not get the umbrella off tilt. So, we took it apart at mid level of the pole and put in on the ground, while wide open. It survived and while I was just putting it back up, I remembered the button to push to put the umbrella off tilt! I will have to get it locked into the eaves again. The heaters fell over, a fan blew over but the house is still standing and no trees fell on us. It was a good day.

These photos are of the front yard and deck. The girls wanted to take photos of me out in the pouring rain while trying to get Charlie to do his business. The creepy neighbor was watching us from his front door. We got soaked but making the kids happy is what I live for...

The gardener comes tomorrow and normally, I would not have him clean up all the mess. However, he is just back from a three week vacation to Mexico. I think he can do the clean up. Plus it is very difficult to clean up with a broom or a rake until it dries out. So, there!

sunrise a couple of days pre-storm

Migration

I have been migrating my old computer information to my new one that I got for Christmas. I thought I would get everything, including all the files on my desktop. I still may, I have not had enough patience to deal with it for a lengthy time today.

I started using the firewire and hand picking applications that I wanted to transfer. After about fifteen of those, I found Migration. Click here and transfer all your info. Cool. Now, what do I do with the other stuff I transferred, did Migration know that I had already done it or not? I have opened each icon and checked in applications to see if it was there, then dragged the icons to the trash. I have not emptied the trash though. Too soon for that.

I transferred AOL and it seemed fine and working. Next time I logged in, I had to set up AOL again. Which of course means that I lost all my saved mail! I suppose that is not such a big deal since in got a new hard drive in the old computer this past summer and I lost it all then as well. Nothing like a good cleaning for the beginning of a brand new year eh?

I will figure it out. I am feeling better, but not very energetic today. Tomorrow, I, am taking down all the decorations and putting the house back in order. I say "I" but I really mean the girls and I are doing it tomorrow.

We are expecting some real rain tomorrow, so it will be a good day to clean up the inside of the house. Then all the boxes can go back into the storage unit and I can begin on the garage which has been terribly neglected since the last time it was cleaned. It depresses me to walk thru it, so it needs to be taken care of. No reason to wait til Spring.

I have made no New Year's resolutions and I plan to stick to that. I hate breaking them, therefore, I don't make them.

It is supposed to rain on Monday as well and that means rain on the Rose Parade for the first time in fifty years. It has only rained a handful of times on Rose Parade day in a hundred years. I say, rain rain rain! People see how beautiful and clear Pasadena is and they want to move here and many do. Much better to see some hard rain and realize that California is not the perfect weather capitol of America. It is to some. I love the rain. It clears the air and makes everything so clear. David had only lived in Santa Monica for six months and one day he was at the grocery store and noticed there were mountains! That is true California weather, at least in the summer!

Happy New Year to you all.

The Flu

This is not a poem.
This is simply how I feel.
My head aches.
It is difficult to hold up, even though it feels full of cotton.
I hurt all over. Even my eyes hurt.
I think I have the flu.

I Wish YOU

Zbjernak (he's in my links) did a great post and played Santa. He sent me a helicopter that I am looking forward to seeing in the morning. He gave out lots of gifts and I liked his idea so much, I borrowed it from him. Although, I will not be giving out material things, I thought I would tell you all what I wish for you. If I omitted your name, it is unintentional, a lot of my links are on my computer and the display screen is not working....So, I am using my links off my blog and I know so many of you are not there. It only holds so many...I am putting names in bold, but not the links to your addresses. I already did this post today and lost it. And it is Christmas Eve! My kids have already opened one present each. Now, they wait for the stuffing of the stocking and then coming upstairs at the crack of dawn, probably earlier, to see what else they got! I love it! We used to wake my parents at 3am, until we got older, then my father woke us!!!

Heidi I wish you a year of less anxiety and less stress. Less worrying and more carefree days ahead. I also wish that our friendship is life long!

Cindy I wish you and Anthony a many more years of laughter, if that's possible. I wish you all the Michael Stanley concerts you can see. Plus, I treasure our friendship!

Bonn I wish you a wonderful new year in your new home with your family and your new addition! You and I nicknamed each other early on in our blog friendship and you are soooo witty and fun.

Jaded I wish you much happiness with your darling family and lots of fun with your new oven. Sans gas leaks! I have not heard much from you lately, I know you have been crazy busy, but I do love the friendship I think we established this past year. I hope Jadette has a wonderful Christmas morning!

Lighty I wish you a new home of your own where you can put out your own welcome mat and have some time to yourself. I have enjoyed you so much!

Annie and Jan I wish you both lots of time together and a much less stressful New Year. Annie, you post with your heart and Jan, you post occasionally, but with great heart! I appreciate both of you!

Sarah I wish you a lifetime of anxiety free days and lots of snuggle time with Jenn. You know that I adore you, even though I could easliy be your mother!!!

Anne I wish you to have your cozy shack stay cozy and a trip to Huahine in the near future! My six degrees of separation friend. This has been one of a kind with you.

Deb I wish you lots of cherished memories from your holidays with your family and friends. Selfishly, I wish you to continue to supply us with your important posts! It has been my pleasure to get to know you, a little tiny bit! LOL

Hollie I wish you and Hunter continued wonderful adventures, wild rides and lots of scrapbooking fun! Pong, you have rocked from the moment I met you!

Karen I wish you a virus free future and lots of time with your man and time to get your patio finished! You are so wonderful Karen, where are you????

Zbjernak I wish you a year of healthy, safe, adventures and lots of traveling! And I hope you continue to take your beautiful photos! You have become one comical friend that I just adore!

EngLee I wish you and your girlfriend a wonderful future! I have been away for a while but you know I care!

Dianna I wish you an easier time taking care of your kids and family. I wish you good health and less worrying as well. You work sooo hard! You amaze me with your stories and your life Dianna.

Carie I wish you a fab New Year with your off the chart smart daughter and lots of compassion from your family. I wish you to know that I am always here with an ear for you too.

LisaI wish a wonderful job for you this year that doesn't disappoint you. You deserve better. You have not posted in a long time. I wish you happy holidays!

Jackie I wish you a wonderful time with your beautiful kids and hope you take the time to enjoy this time, although often times hard. They just grow up soooo fast. You have such a wonderful heart!

Jan I wish you and Bob lots and lots of time together and that things just keep getting better and better! Your mind is on Bob and good for you!! LOL

Connie and Rob I wish you both a happy and healthy new year with lots of fun photos to keep us amused on your blog! Is there really a Rob? Just kidding!

Cracker I wish you and L'Ailee a wonderful New Year. I love reading your posts. You are a very intelligent woman with a lot of funny posts that I just love! Health, happiness and a happy New Year. You just plain rock girl!

SassyFemme I wish you and Fran to have a wonderful, exciting, adventurous New Year. I hope that your trip was great too. I hope to get to know you both better in the New Year.

Renee I wish you the most wonderful time with your little darlings and that you have a perfect New Year. Merry Christmas to you. You are the reason I try not to cuss in my posts! LOL

Blogzie I wish you lots of love, chaos and dinner in the New Year! And I promise not to be too intimadated to comment on your blog!!!!

Babs I wish you a terrific New Year with lots of funny posts to us! You were a bit late to get on the blog band wagon, but it has been so fun getting to know you through the buddy site!!!

Lois Lane I wish you much happiness and lots of sass in your posts. I, for some reason, just recently commented on your blog. Even though I saw your name everywhere for a year or so. My loss! You have it going on! You are funny, intelligent and have so many comments! I hope that you will keep up your very own brand of humor.

Alan I wish you much success with your New Year's resolutions. I am not a fan of New Year's resolutions, but if anybody can keep them, I believe it will be you! You have been a great new blog friend!


Okay, if I have forgotten anybody, I am sorry, This took longer than I thought. I went to other blogs to get names!
I have to be mommy now. I love all of you and wish you the best.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanakuuah to you all!

Off to Another Party

I mentioned tonight's event was an open house and Katharine looked at me funny. I told her it is still a party. I should be in the car on the way there now, but the traffic will be horrendous and I just had a look at Katharine's feet and sent her to the shower. She has been cleaning her room. We have wood floors and they do get very dusty. Especially when you cannot find them.

Anyhow, I have a couple of minutes of relaxation. We are going to cuzbro Ron's and cuzsis Pam's house. They live in Whittier which is about fifty miles from us. In LA county. My friend just dropped a gift off to me and asked if we were spending the night. I said, "No, it's only fifty miles." She raised her eyebrows...

Just to clarify, cuzbro is a name Ronnie made up for himself because we are as close as siblings, yet, we are just cousins. And Pam is his wife, yet like my only sister, except for my two sister's in law. Don't want anybody thinking we are from some back wood place where he is my brother and my cousin! I don't even want to think about how that could happen. We had double sets of cousins who married cousins in our family. Completely sends me to la la land when my older aunts try to explain it.....

Last night we went to my brother Clark's house. He is four years older than I am and just about to hit the century mark on the 13th. We have not seen them in so long that I still had their presents from last year. I actually took them in the box I was going to mail them in and never got to. We had such a blast. We did fondue. Kelly, my sister in law for twenty some odd years, had two fondue pots on the table with canola oil in them and sterno under them. We had chicken, filet, salmon and veggies to cook one piece at a time. It was a blast and we got a chance to have long chats and lots of laughs.

So, tonight we get to see why Ronnie and Pam won most innovative in their neighborhood for their Christmas decorations. I asked what they did and they told me I would have to see it. As if I wouldn't come to their annual party! Oh and they made tamales for us to take home too....YUMMY


We had a lot of scary fog last night. It was so hard to see while driving, but I only had to go about fifteen miles to my brother's house last night. On the way home, coming up the hill, it was slippery, as if we were driving on ice. I did a little sliding and got control and slowed down. I was not speeding either. It was just oily from the lack of rain for so long. It was quite wet. At the top of the hill, coming in our direction, was a Hummer sliding out of control. The driver got control and pulled off to the side. We proceeded up the hill about 20 mph. Tonight, there is no fog at all. In fact it is quite balmy out. Tomorrow it will be about eighty! UGH. I do appreciate the offers of sending snow my way though. Thanks!

Off topic of really no topic, I was wondering today if I am dyslexic. I read a phone number and put it in and get the wrong house. With the help of caller number review I can see that I mixed the numbers. Now, if I were a bad math student, way back when, I would have had a reason to be bad. I do hate math. However, I am really good with numbers, so it is strange. It could be a need for stronger glasses too. I am sick of wearing glasses to read anything these days. I am about to get a chain and let them hang on my neck. I am constantly saying, "Let me get my glasses." I know, it happens, deal with it. I am...

Okay, we are about to leave, so I will close now. Everybody have a grand Christmas Eve and first night of Hanukkah tomorrow...

Is This Rude To You?

The other day I needed to get a box of buttercream milk chocolate candy from See's. My neighbor's annual gift from us. She loves this stuff and can use the calories.

I had driven past See's twice and thought I needed to hit that store when it first opened to get in or find a place to park! Tuesday, the girls and I got there a little after 10:00 am. They didn't have the buttercreams already packaged, which meant we had to order them from the case. We got there behind three women.

The first woman ordered a couple of two pound boxes and she selected every single candy to go in them. She then decides that she needs another box for the day after Christmas and may as well get them at that time as well. Now there are eight people behind her. She picks each candy for another two pound box. Then she decides to get four separate pieces. The woman in line in front of us, walks out. The other woman, being helped by another woman in a white with black trimmed See's uniform, was not quite as bad. She ordered a two pound box and picked out each piece too. When the saleslady weighed the box, it was about two and a half pounds. She asked the saleslady to remove some, which of course, the woman chose herself. Then she was over by less than a buck over what two pounds cost, and she said, "Oh, that is fine." Saleslady asked her, do you want this wrapped?" Of course she did. This whole process took about a half hour between the two women and there were a dozen people behind us! Finally, it was our turn. I asked for a pound of buttercreams and was asked if I wanted it wrapped. I told the saleslady, "Just toss the paper in the bag please, and I will wrap it myself." I didn't have to hear it, but I knew that those in line behind me were applauding me! LOL

I think next year I will revert to ordering a box online. It came very fast last year!

When I am at the deli at the grocery store, I don't order a ton of items when there are people waiting. I think it is just rude. I go shopping and come back when it has cleared out. Many people are ordering a sandwich for lunch or one or two items, like I did. But to continue to hand pick each piece and ignore the line behind me, would make me feel bad.

In other news, we are in for another 80 degree Christmas this year. I know those of you who are freezing may think we are lucky. But, it feels more like Christmas when it is cooler out. Zoe asked if we could get a log for Christmas and Katharine pointed out that it will be 80! I told her we have a log and we can put it on if they get up early enough!

Also, we are having the biggest surf we have had in years. A swell all the way from Hawaii!

Surf's up

I cannot believe that Christmas will be here in three days. This year has gone by so fast!

Happy Holidays to you all!

I've Been Watching Movies...

And some have been good and some have not. I have been taking advantage of HBO and Showtime, etc., since so many things are reruns right now. Last night I saw Bad Santa. It was made in 2003 and I have wanted to see it since then. Just never did. Billy Bob Thorton cracks me up! I laughed my head off watching this flick. Not for kids. Wacko Cohen brothers movie, but I thought it was funny, as I do most of their films. I do have a warped sense of humor. Not for those who cannot handle the "f" word!

I watched Cold Mountain. I thought it was a good movie. It was very long and sad, but good. Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweiger (sp) were very good. And that Jude Law dude...I have seen him in a couple of things, but this movie he stood out in. These are only my opinions.

We watched Mr and Mrs Smith. What a dog of a movie. Dumb and dumber. Silly and just bad! Brad and Angelina were the stars and the movie reminded me of a bad version of Spy Kids. Need I say more? Save your money, rent it if you must, but don't buy this one!

I loved Aviator with Leo DiCaprio. Well done and just a really good movie. The life of Howard Hughes. Lots of actors got work on this flick. I love movies that depict the thirties and forties. The sets were awesome and the acting was very good. I think DiCaprio was very believable as Howard Hughes. I would recommend this one.

I absolutely loved Spanglish. I have to say, that surprised me. Adam Sandler is not one of my favorite actors. However, in this movie, he was very good as a Chef who had a thing for the nanny, played by Paz Vega. Beautiful woman. Tea Leoni was good too. Man, can she do yoga. She is one strong lady. I would recommend this flick.

Anchorman, silly but fun. Will Ferrell, again, not one of my favorites. However, he was funny in this movie. I think the makers of this movie new it was silly and played into that. I have to admit, I fell asleep at the end and have not wanted to go back and watch it....I suppose I would not recommend this one. Although, Katharine loved it.

And I finally saw Sideways. I have wanted to see that movie since it came out. I have a friend who hated it and the arguing that went on. I loved seeing and hearing about California's wine country. The characters were in a real life town of Solvang, which we love. Over the hill from Solvang is where Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch is. We have stayed at a place called Alisal Ranch, a working ranch, with everything in the world to do as well. David and I fished on the beautiful lake the first time he took me there. I love to fish. The next time we went, Zoe and I fished by ourselves (David and Katharine went on a trail ride) and there was not one other person on or around the lake. We were out in a little boat watching the cattle come down to drink from the lake. It was spectacular.

I think one of the reasons I liked this movie was that I know the area where it was filmed. Right down to the restaurant where many scenes were shot. But, I enjoyed seeing Thomas Haden Church. I loved him in the TV series Wings set in Nantucket. He was good in this movie. I especially loved seeing Sandra Oh. I just love her. She was in Arliss and was his assistant, she was hilarious. She was in Under the Tuscan Sun, which I really enjoyed too. Sandra Oh now plays an intern on Grey's Anatomy, which is one of my favorite TV shows again this year. Virginia Madsen was really natural in her role. She is a beauty and had to do some mighty fine acting to be with the guy her character was interested in. His name is Paul Giamatti. I have seen him in other movies, thou what they were, escapes me right now. His character was depressed and not very likeable at all. Just imagining Virginia Madsen being with Antonio Sabato Jr in real life and then with this guy...Well, she did a fine acting job, is all I can say. I would recommend this movie.

I think that is about it. I think I may have seen a couple others, but nothing that stands out for me to write about. It has been fun to catch up on movies that have been out for a while. I am waiting for Million Dollar Baby to come. I think it will be this weekend on STARZ.

Flashback

Yesterday, I was making a turkey sandwich and as I was spreading mayo, I had a flashback to making sandwiches when I was a kid. Using Miracle Whip. We never used real mayonnaise. It got me thinking about all the ways cooking and eating have changed since then. The way I learned to cook and had to unlearn when I grew up.

I was eighteen when I first tried broccoli and artichokes. I loved each. I suppose broccoli was within our means, but artichokes were foreign to my folks. They probably didn't have a clue how to eat them, so they never served them. I think my favorite vegetable is broccoli. Not covered in butter either, just steamed and yummy. I enjoy artichokes too. My kids like them too. Well, I am not certain about Zoe these days, but Katharine still likes them. And asparagus, I never had that until I was about eighteen and moved out either. I do enjoy steamed asparagus.

Our vegetables consisted of corn and green beans primarily. Carrots and potatoes. Potatoes cooked every way imaginable, but the best were fried, with onions in bacon grease. We saved bacon grease in a shortening can in the fridge. The mere thought of that now, makes me ill. We used shortening to cook, instead of oil. Maybe it was cheaper? I honestly don't know why we did that. We had one other vegetable to this day, is my favorite, but since I only like it fried, it only gets made once or twice a year. Okra. Okra with cornmeal and fried up crunchy. Delicious. Since it is so bad cooked that way, I am happy I love broccoli.

We used to cook bacon and eggs and cook the eggs right in the bacon grease. Sends shivers down my spine.....Thankfully Pam was invented and non stick pans! I think those two things were very important in helping people eat differently. Of course, If your family was not from Okalahoma or Iowa, maybe you would have eaten differently anyhow! Lox and bagels comes to mind... We had fish, but trust me, it was fried!

We used to have an occasional salad. Always with tomatoes and cucumber. I still love those two ingredients thrown into most salads even today. We only used thousand island salad dressing though. I like thousand island, but not on salads these days. Only for french fries! LOL I Love El Torito's Cilantro dressing and some others as well. I see a difference by introducing vegetables to my kids at an early age. Zoe is not fond of vegetables, but Katharine is and loves salads too. Zoe is better with fruit, like strawberries, grapes, cantaloupe, bananas, pears and watermelon. Which is great.

When I was little, we ate a lot of bologna. My mother made this bologna spread that was made with Miracle Whip and relish, I think. She would put the grinder on the edge of the kitchen counter and grind the bologna up and make her concoctive. I loved that stuff.

I also loved Brunsweiger (sp), I would take it to school and get teased by the other kids that said I was eating dog food! Of course I stopped taking it for a while. I have it once a year or so now, out of nostalgia!

I think the last time I had Miracle Whip was about six years ago, when my mother was dying. My brother came over to be with me at her apartment. He brought ham sandwiches with Miracle Whip. I told him the sandwich tasted different and I couldn't figure out why. He told me it was MW and I laughed, because he still uses it! Same way he laughs at me for breaking up crackers into my chili!

Okay, back to the last post when I mentioned HTML. The girls gave me a paper with instructions to do it. So, I promised I would try it and here goes....bold should be here. This should be italic. This should be underlined Okay, it is not that hard! The font and color still elude me.

Finally

I got all excited because I saw all the characters on the top of the page on AOL for posting. I clicked bold and my post disappeared. POOF. Crap. Of course it doesn't work, I have a MAC!!! Or, I am just not understanding how to use the different fonts and colors. It says error, so I am pretty sure it is not me. I normally use Safari, cuz, well, AOL truly does suck. I should give it up, but it was my first! I should know by now that it will be very slow in the evening because everybody is on at the same time. And half the time I cannot get on websites, so I use Safari. It is almost like having dial up again!

I suppose I am too lazy to use the HTML to make the font bold, italic, or even to change the color on my posts. But, I am not very HTML savvy either. That is why they always look the same. The words may be different unless I am on one of my current rants, but the font, size and color is ALWAYS the same. See, I would have put always in italic. Not caps...I know if I click the italic letter at the top of this composition, I will lose the whole thing! I have learned to copy and send most posts to myself before I publish too. Not an AOL problem there, well, I suppose it could be, but sometimes posts go poof and I hate to redo the post. Especially if they are funny and I forget what I had typed or if I am no longer as witty as I was when I originally composed the post, before it went poof. Cuz, you know when your post goes poof, you are not really in a good or even funny mood any longer. Poof equals mood modifier. And not in a good way...

So, the title, Finally, see I cannot even underline the title. Finally, is in reference to shopping being done and vacation is one day away for the girls. Not too much scheduled for next week. Only night time stuff and those are parties and Christmas caroling, which is fun! Tonight, Zoe is singing in her Christmas concert at the high school. Oops, did I say Christmas concert? Oh noooooo. I suppose it really is a Holiday concert cuz they are singing many different songs. I am looking forward to hearing the chorus tonight though. Zoe loves to sing. And I love (would be in bold if I could do it) seeing her happy. She is happiest when she is singing.

Only a couple of gifts left to wrap. Christmas cards were mailed out a couple of weeks ago. Last year, I mailed them in time for New Year's Day, which of course is a holiday! Yes, they were really tardy. Last night I realized the stockings were not up. I can't believe I forgot them, nor that the girls didn't remind me! We will find them with other decorations I am sure. Up in the rafters or in the storage unit. I am not putting up any more decorations though, only the stockings.

Did you know that the Rose Parade is on Monday Jan 2nd this year? How weird is that? My friend who grew up in Pasadena said that they NEVER (should be bold) have the Rose Parade on a Sunday! I have lived here my whole life and I didn't know that. I guess my mind has been on other things. My friend said, "Monday should be a holiday too, because the Rose Parade is on that day and we ALWAYS (bold) watch it together with hot cocoa." Therefore, I am pretty sure her daughter will be getting an extra day off for the break. I mentioned recording it and watching it that night, but that would not be the same.

We had an earthquake yesterday. Until late last night, I thought Charlie/Steve and I were the only ones who knew about it. I turned on the news and nothing. I looked online and nothing again. I picked up Zoe from school and asked her and she said she didn't feel it either. An earthquake, under only our house, and it shook like crazy. Okay, there must be some explanation, the neighbors house went boom??? Nope, I looked. And before you think me evil, I would not have wanted him to go boom, just away.

Katharine who had been at the movies came home about nine last night and I mentioned wanting to see the news. She said, "Oh, did you hear the big boom and feel the earthquake today?" I said, "Finally, somebody else felt it." She said most of the school did and some thought it was a sonic boom. Still, nothing in the papers or TV about it. We have Camp Pendleton blowing things up all the time, but this was different, it felt like an earthquake...Maybe some day I will know what it was.

My computer is in the shop. I will hear tomorrow what is wrong with it. Hopefully, it is just the back light on the screen. We shall see, and then I can get it fixed and have it back, finally.

Increase in Sales Tax for LB

A whopping 24% of voters turned out to vote on an increased sales tax for the next six years here in town. It passed with 55% of the vote. 15% of voters were absentee. Still only about 5000 voters voted overall. Enough to make it official.

The increased sales tax will begin July 1st and will put us on the map as having the highest sales tax in OC. Same as LA county. 8.25 %.

The monies raised by the increase are supposed to be used to help pay for the rebuilding of the hill that fell down during the summer. Bluebird Canyon, where I believe eleven homeowners lost everything. The hill is going to be rebuilt, like another part of it was back in the late seventies. Which is still standing.

It was my opinion that this was a bad precedent. The city didn't pay for a home that came tumbling down a couple of years ago. The family heard noise and got out just in time. The city cleaned up the mess and sent the family a bill for $75,000. I believe the family and the city made a deal in the end, where the city did help pay those fees. Of course, it was kept quiet because they didn't want to set a bad precedent. Along comes the city to shore up the hill and I was told by a contractor who was working on the street, on another project, that the work they were doing would not be enough for the road not to erode any more. In fact he was told by the workers that they knew it was not good enough to shore up the road. But, that is what they were told to do.

I don't have much confidence in many aspects of our local government. Especially the building department and certainly not the design review board. It all depends on who you know to get work permits in town. I am waiting to see if the loser neighbor Scrooge gets the "powerful person" he knows from the city to help him take out historical trees, without permits or contacting the neighbors up here.

Anyhow, I will be interested in seeing how well the hill gets reconstructed. I hope the work is good and that those who lost homes will somehow be able to afford to rebuild their homes, once they have a hill again. I was not wishing that this tax did not pass out of ill feelings toward any of those poor people. I was just wondering what would happen if another hill falls down. Will it come out of the monies left over from the current project? Will there be leftover money? Will the city have to pay to clean it up? Will we raise taxes again? Will this six year sales tax go away in six years? So many questions that I have, with very few answers. I just hope no more houses or hills come down ever again.

Scrooge Is Our Neighbor!

Our new loser neighbor is Scrooge! I actually thought Scrooge was gone, I was wrong. Here is the story. There has been an old man at the end of the street down below for years who caused all sorts of problems for the neighbors. He called the police on kids in the street with skateboards or if their ball went into his yard and they retrieved it. He let the air out of the neighbor's tires. He finally set up a video camera to prove that the kids were crossing a line by going into his driveway. Well, the good news is that his wife had his ass hauled off with a court order. Then she put copies of a restraining order in all the mailboxes. In case he was seen around her house, call the police. Finally, the kids can play in the street without the mean old man getting in their faces.

Along comes our very own loser neighbor. You have heard me complain about all his remoldeling without permits. Jackhammering concrete for weeks on end. Tearing out walls, cabinets, floors, and all the landscape and concrete in and around the house, putting in new, and replacing basically everything in the itty bitty house. I am not complaining because he did all that. That is fine. He could have waited til 8am or even told us that we would not be able to talk on the phone that day because of the noise. And he could have gotten a fricken permit for all the work he did. Now he asked the lower neighbor to take out some of his trees. And to top and thin out others. The neighbor said he would do it and along comes loser neighbor, who from now on will be referred to as Scrooge. Scrooge went over there with a guy from the city. Powerful guy he told the neighbor. He could get rid of the historical trees, while others in town cannot. I heard the "powerful" guy ask, "Are there any neighbors that may give us problems?" I believe that would be the neighbor on the other side of him and yours truly. We live in an historical Eucalyptus grove and we like it that way. He comes in and notices last weekend he can see the ocean...Wow, take out the century plus trees so Scrooge can see the ocean! He is the most narcissistic person I have met in a very long time.

It appears his mother is staying with him. I could be wrong, she could be his older, much older wife. We have tried to get Charlie/Steve to not bark at Scrooge, but how can we blame him for barking at such a miserable man? I have one of those cans of air for electronics. I spray it or reach for it and Charlie/Steve cries, but does not bark. I have been doing this for a couple of weeks, every time I hear his door open or his chain leash approaching. Charlie/Steve can be in a dead sleep in the sun on the deck or on the couch in the house and he hears Scrooge's dog's leash. He comes hauling ass out to bark at Scrooge's dog. People walk by all day and Charlie/Steve sometimes barks, but usually when there is a dog attached to a person. He stops once they pass our house. I have the mismatched beach towels up so we cannot see Scrooge and he cannot see us. But, I cannot stop my dog from barking at Scrooge. I assume when I am not here he barks to his heart's delight! Who could blame him, he is a DOG!

Right now, I am shaking. I am so fried I cannot even express how angry and upset my stomach is. We have been putting up the rest of the decorations and the ornaments on the tree and I came out here to untangle something with my glasses. I heard Scrooge and the old lady and I got the can of air. Charlie/Steve barked first. I squeeze the trigger on the air and he stopped. Then I hear the old lady say, "Shut up, you bad dog!" I had steam coming out of my ears! I told the old lady, that I could not see behind and down from my mismatched beach towels, that he is not a bad dog. They both got into it with me. Grandma said, "He is too a bad dog." Then I told her that he was protecting his territory. Scrooge, hiding behind grandma's skirt tails says, "He is too bad, he makes too much noise." I told him, "Why don't you just move out?" "You are the one making all the noise with your jackhammers, saws and all your other unpermited construction!" I told them it was nice up here til he moved in. I cannot remember much else, my heart was pounding in my ears. Katharine came out, David at the kitchen table looked shocked. I asked him if he heard what they said. He said, "No." But, he told me that Katharine was surprised to see me lose my temper this way....I told her what happened and she said, "He is a dog!" Out of the mouths of babes.

I poured myself a scotch to calm myself down. I am still pissed, with a knot in my stomach. If Scrooge was the kind of person, who would listen, I would talk to him like a normal human and tell him we are trying to get Charlie/Steve not to bark at him and maybe he could get a quieter leash! But, that will never happen. The war has begun, unfortunately. Not talking was okay with me, but I am not sure I will be able to hold my tongue now! That train has left the station.

Honestly, as I am typing this, I hear dogs barking all over the place. Charlie/Steve is not barking right now. He is playing with his toy, quietly in the house. How the hell am I supposed to keep my dog quiet when he has a deck to protect and run the length of while doing so. I will not put up screens to block him from looking out. And, I have truly been working on keeping him from barking at Scrooge and his dog in earnest. He can hear me tell Charlie/Steve not to bark, to sit, stay and good boy. Scrooge can hear all these commands. Does he appreciate it? No, he doesn't realize that keeping a dog quiet is no small feat. Unless, one has a dog like his that seldom barks, but barks at me plenty when I am out here at midnight. Charlie/Steve can care less at that point. Scrooge's dog barks when Scrooge is not home. His dog was barking when he and the old lady went into the house tonight, not mine. Mine only barks when he hears somebody coming near our property. It is not big, trust me. Once past our house, he goes about finding something else to do.

I am so angry right now. I am angry that when Scrooge told David that we should have our dog trainer call him, a couple of weeks ago, I didn't speak up and tell him to shut up and deal with it! We have such a great neighborhood, well we did til the twenty something narcissistic Scrooge moved in!!!! Scrooge needs to live in an association with CC&R's. Not up here in hippieville. We don't act like the stuck up stickybeaks in other areas. Most of the people up here are new families, with dogs, or the older people who have lived here for thirty years. We have had a great ride for eight years here. It is sad to think it is coming to an end because of Scrooge.

I am sorry this is happening. I wish he would sell his place now that he has fixed it up. He took one of the smallest, and the cheapest houses in Laguna Beach and made it it nice. I don't think he would be able to recoup what he put into it, because it it is so tiny. Unfortunately, he seems to like it here and he works from home! This truly sucks. We live so close to one another that we can hear everything each other says. I am not being nosy when I hear conversations. In fact, I usually turn up the radio, not to hear the conversations. But, the fact is, we know each other's business. Fact of life when you live viturally on top of one another.

So, I am asking for advice here. Should I be doing something differently? I am trying to keep an animal from barking due to one lousy complaining neighbor. We have had Charlie/Steve for a year this month and never has anybody complained before Scrooge moved in. How do you make a dog not bark? Is is possible to make a rat/fox terrier not bark at passing dogs? Or will he just protect his territory? Because at this point, I really don't want to hamper him barking at Scrooge anymore. I just want to let him bark til Scrooge has passed our house and let it go...But, to keep the peace, I will continue to try and keep him quiet. Is this dog abuse???

UGH

The other night my neighbor and I were going to put up the Christmas lights and she knocked over a glass of water, with a ladder and it got into my screen. It is dark, but the computer still works. I am going to back it up and take it to Apple. But, in the mean time, I am borrowing one of the other three in the house. Not mine though and don't have my bookmarks and there are times when all four of us are on them at the same time.

I have all my Christmas information on my computer and of course more valuable stuff that I need! I lost over 2000 songs when my hard drive was replaced. I backed up everything but my music, because I didn't know I was getting a new hard drive when it went to the "shop." I was trying to upgrade to the latest o/s and it wouldn't work. The techies couldn't do it either. That made me feel pretty good, and as I have said before, the warranty had two days to go. So, I don't want to lose my computer. I just want a new screen, but I also want everything backed up before it goes in!

We did get the lights up and got quite hammered. We do this once a year and it was fun too. We actually had to hit Target the next morning to get a couple more boxes of lights. I wanted to make it nice and colorful for the new loser neighbor. We put up multi-colored icicle lights and blue all along the fence. We did blue on the deck where my "office" is as well, but we lacked a couple of boxes. I thought it would look kinda white trashy looking, which was why it was for the loser neighbor, but they came out really pretty. I doubt he will put anything up on his house, since he is scrooge!

David and Katharine went to her manager's Christmas party last night. A two hour drive on a Friday night. They didn't know anybody, the did some visiting, ate and only stayed for an hour or so and then came home. Katharine looked so cute in a long brown velvet and lace skirt and a new cream colored sweater and boots. Unfortunately, it was a party for adults more than children, so she didn't have a good time. Oh well. She got some nice compliments and at least made an appearance.

Zoe and I stayed in and had a Mexican meal that I prepared. We then proceeded to watch a couple of tivo'd episodes of House. Love that show! I have five more to watch still! Good because this time of year everything goes to reruns. And then there is the dreaded "best of 2005" shows that will be endless! UGH

Anyhow, the hub is home with yummy tamales from the farmer's market. I am going to have dinner. I may not be around as much as I can only remember some of the blogs that I visit, without my bookmarks. I do have several links on my site though and will be able to visit you all.

I wanted to take a minute and tell Cindy happy birthday tomorrow! Happy Birthday Cindy! I hope it is a fun day and that you enjoy it!

Phishing

I just heard a story about phishing on NPR. They said that phishing is getting better and fooling more people than ever. Please don't ever click a link on an email that says where they are from, even if you do business with them. Instead, go to their web address by typing in their address. Check your account. If things are okay, you will know that you were being phished. You may want to contact said company and let them know you were being phished. Chances are they have had several complaints before yours.

One example they gave was fake Amazon.com emails. People click on the link, enter their username and password and the page flickers and they now have your information, by the time you figure out, this is not really Amazon.com.



I have posted about this topic before. For novices and even others, this is very dangerous. As our world becomes more internet dependent, more trolls come out of the woodwork and try to steal our identities or at the very least our stored credit card information. NEVER let a site store your credit card information. ALWAYS enter credit card info each time you purchase from a site. Change your password from time to time. Immediately, if you were just phished!



Another way to make sure a site is real, especially if new or unknown is to go to bizrate.com. Put in the item you are looking for and it will tell you all the places selling that item and for how much. It will also give you their rating. Ratings based on customer reviews, re: quality, customer service, selection, cost, shipping, price and overall satisfaction with the site. I would be leery of using a company that had only an handful of reviews. It could be a real company, new to Bizrate or it could be somebody who is trying to get a piece of all the money that is spent this time of year!



Phishing is not limited to the internet. It has long been learned that we do not give out financial information to people who solicit us via telephone. Be aware for instance, if they want your social security number or your mother's maiden name. If this happens on the phone then hang up and if you have caller ID, report the number immediately to DoNotCall.gov. If you are not signed up for this website, you should be. It makes calling you for solicitation purposes, illegal. They are fined or jailed depending on the number of complaints. But, they are also not going to call you again, which is great.

Phishing, or mail fraud, seems much more prevalent these days. Mail fraud is a federal offense. Things that look real are fake. Look for bad grammar, or anything that tells you this may be a scam. If you call the number on the mailing and they ask for personal information, don't give it to them. Generally, you will find that the automation system is nonexistent and a real person will ask you for your financial information. A real company will already have this info and will not ask you for it! EVER.

There are so many ways to protect yourself from identity theft. Use them, be aware, be vigilant.

Fruitcake

Tis the season for the fruitcake. I used to wonder, as I am sure you did as well, if there was one fruitcake. One fruitcake that got passed around year after year. Seriously, since nobody really eats these things, who would know if you regifted it?

This fruitcake never got eaten, nor unwrapped. It was used as door stops, paperweights or on display for the cute little tin it came in.

Yet, year after year, these fruitcakes make the rounds. They are everywhere and they are not cheap either. I wonder if that is because they have gotten more costly to make or they sell less, so they mark up the price. Who in their right mind would go into business making the butt of all jokes, fruitcakes?

The only person I know who eats fruitcake is my hubby. I laughed when I first found this out. And he has a favorite. I had forgotten about fruitcakes all together until the other day at the store. For the size of a pack of Hostess donuts, you can pay upwards of six bucks for a fruitcake. Of course the fruitcake weighs a lot more than a pack of donuts.

Yesterday, I got an email from the famous Collin Street Bakery, to remind me to order my fruitcake now, so I will receive it in time for Christmas. Already they are starting the last minute emails. It is the sixth of December. Nineteen days til Christmas. That used to be all the time most people had before sales began. Now, right after Halloween.

But, I don't think I will be getting hub a fruitcake this year. Even the small one, is not cheap and once opened, they truly do not last forever!

Yes, I did go shopping at a mall today.

I know, I cannot believe it myself! David, Zoe and I hit the grocery store about 8:30. Katharine got up about the time we arrived home to help put away the bags of groceries. We started talking about what she is going to wear to her manager's party this Friday night. Well, almost manager, probably this week. I had to get her a work permit. She has a doctor appointment on Tuesday.

I thought it was early enough to go to the mall and get a sweater that she could wear with a couple of her really cute skirts. Believe me, this kid is a slave to fashion and it's hard to imagine that she needs anything! Especially so close to Christmas. So, I thought a good compromise would be for her to get a sweater instead of a whole outfit. Because I am the mommy and I say so. Zoe reminds me of this often! It's pretty funny. She will say, "You know, you are the mommy and you can say no!" She is a different breed of fourteen year old in my eyes! Such a great girl.

We went to the first store that was open, JC Penney. I cannot remember the last time I went there. I don't do malls much. I am an creature of online shopping. We found a black lacy, velvet, longish skirt for Zoe, who has a concert with her chorus this week and asked if she could get a skirt. From the kid is exclusive to shorts, OH YEAH, she could have a skirt! First one was the right size and on sale. Good thing too, cuz there were no others. We were second in line and an older woman was behind the counter. Ignored us. Took a couple of phone calls. Then wondered out loud about where the woman was who left a stack of things on the counter and where she would put them. Then she moves the stack and then asks what she should do with all the circulars and not to anybody in particular. Then she asks somebody hanging clothes if she is going to work a cash register. Then she gets on the phone and loudly tells the person that she is very busy with a long line and asks the person to call back. We hear her say, "Oh, you want me to call you back?" Under my breath, I said, "like that is ever going to happen!" Then not under my breath, I said, "Now I remember why I hate shopping here!" Both of the girls told me shush! Finally after about eight minutes, the older woman was ready for us. Do I want to open an account? Seriously!!!!

We went to a couple of different stores and it is so freaking hard to find a decent cute sweater for a twelve year old. Not too young and certainly not sexy! We found two at Jones NY and they were on sale too. A nice cream color to go with her brown skirt and boots. And a red one that is so seasonal and cute with jeans. Both needed camis underneath because they were a bit too low cut. Katharine asked if she needed a cami and I said, "Absolutely." The cami's were on sale too.

Off to find a decent pair of shoes for Zoe. She has a couple of pairs of sandals and two pair of tennis shoes. She hasn't even worn the second pair of tennies yet, cuz, the old ones are good. We didn't find any shoes she liked, which was good with the prices in that store. Katharine found a cute pair of sandals. "Can I have these?" she asked. "No way." I tell her. "Why?" she wants to know. "Because they are heels and you are twelve!" And oh yah, I am the mommy! Zoe said she didn't get the problem with her wearing heels. I told he my first pair of heels was in ninth grade and that I wanted her to wait to ruin her feet or break an ankle! Like I did, twice. Funny thing is that when I was a kid, kid's shoes looked like kids shoes. Now days they look like little Ho's shoes. It is difficult to find flat shoes for kids. Luckily, they are in style and I was able to get some for Katharine before school started. I suppose I should stock up in bigger sizes as heels and platforms will surely replace them by Fall! I wanted to find a Payless, but we didn't. I like Payless for kids shoes. Their feet are still growing! I am pretty sure Zoe's are about done now though, at 14 and a size 9...

We ended up having lunch at outside the mall, in the corner of the parking lot and before it got crowded. It was a beautiful day. A bit chilly, but spectacularly clear. We had a funny waiter, which makes things fun too. I told him Katharine drank my ice tea and what was he going to do about it. He told her she was grounded and that he was going to tell the manager on her too.

I made a pot roast for dinner in an oven bag. It came out really good. I had a few bites. David is still at the office. Poor guy had to work on Sunday. He did go by the storage unit and picked up our tree though. I am thinking tomorrow after school we will decorate it and then we can wrap gifts. Hopefully Charlie/Steve will not eat them, nor the ornaments like he did last year. We got him on the 22nd of December last year. He was three months old and an outdoor dog. Things have changed. Since he outgrew his crate, he usually takes a couch to himself. I got him a big bed at overstock.com. Sounds like I am referring to a toddler! LOL... That is his Christmas present and he seems to like it and has yet to eat it! If anybody knows how to keep him from snatching ornaments off the tree or ripping open gifts, please share with me!!!

Hospitality Night Photos

look at the home above City Hall


People everywhere just hanging out


some of the singers


David


Hard to get a shot of the tree in the dark!


We had such fun. The light rain held off till the middle of the event, but it did not deter thousands of locals from conversing and shopping downtown. The streets were shut down and they were full of pedestrians. Clad mostly in jackets and scarves, sweaters and rain gear.

David and his community choir did sing. The keyboard was taken in when the rain began to fall. The singers kept on singing though. Many had libations to keep themselves warm and were not worried about the rain after the second set began! They are singing again tonight at the local high school theatre. It should be fun. He is there rehearsing now.

The kids had a great time. Starting at a local church where people were still bringing coats and jackets for the girl scouts to distribute around the area, very soon. Food everywhere. Lots of hot cocoa. Local bands. Marching bands. The lighting of the tree in front of city hall. Santa's arrival on a very old fire truck was exciting to the little ones!

Shopping was fun. Most stores were giving out refreshments and having sales as well. I got a couple of Christmas gifts and a pair of earrings for myself!

Sorry the photos are so dark!

This is Strange!

How strange is this??? David found a website and signed up Charlie. It is called Piedog. Cuz, he has three colors. He got his certificate in the mail yesterday and his photo is on the website....Seriously, one of the strangest things I have ever seen! LOL


Piedog


While on the subject of the dog, here is what is going on with the loser neighbor!

I despise the new loser neighbor. We have been working with the dog, Charlie/Steve, to get him not to bark at the dog next door. Can't dislike the dog, even though his owner is an idiot. Charlie/Steve has been doing better as I get him to sit and stay as the loud chain leash with the dog attached go by our house three times a day. I can hear the neighbor come out of his house and then I get Charlie/Steve to sit, before he hears it. If I can. Sometimes he gets there first. He just wants to play and talk to the other dog. Or maybe he wants to bite the loser neighbor in the butt! I have no idea what happens when I am not here. But, I suspect Charlie/Steve likes to bark at him, because he can.

It is very stressful to make sure not to let the dog bark and to constantly be listening to when I need to be on my toes. I heard another neighbor below us tell another neighbor next to him that the new guy has asked him to take out some of his trees! They are blocking his view! He said, he will be trimming his trees and will be doing this once for the guy, cuz he is new. He also asked the neighbor if he could top his trees by ten feet. I heard him say, sure, and I will pay you for it. I asked him six months ago to trim the mass of trees blocking our view of the bay and he told me he was going to do it next year. Maybe I should get the loser neighbor to ask. We all seem to be abiding by his demands these days. I can see what is next too. Our trash cans. He looks up to our driveway and we have the trash cans there blocking his view of us getting in our car. I can just hear him telling the city that we don't have them hidden. Which they should be. But, there is nowhere to put them, other than where they have been for the last thirty years!

Okay, this is too funny. I can hear the deer in his yard right now. HAHAHA. I have photos of the previous neighbor's garden being devoured by the deer. This guy is about to have his yard landscaped after ripping out almost all the gorgeous flowers that the last neighbor put in for the two years he was there. He worked from morning til sunset every weekend. I wish he still lived there! But, the loser neighbor is in for a rude awakening very soon. I am not going to tell him that the deer are going to eat everything he plants. I can't wait til he comes out and sees only stems. I suppose that is mean, but I don't care. This guy is not kind or neighborly in the least! He is Scrooge!