A Peek into the Past

       Today was the last day of classes at William Jessup University!!!  Now I just have a week of finals to survive (AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!).  My western civilization history class, definitely my favorite class this semester, required us to do an interview and presentation-style write up of someone who lived through the many Cold War decades.  My Grandma made a special trip up just for this project. (Thank you, Grandma!) We talked about many different topics and I learned several new things about my own family history.  Sadly, I had to limit the information down to just a few subjects, but I think the project as a whole turned out very well.  I have always felt my blog is like a scrapbook of my life, and I am very happy to be able to preserve this little piece of family history within its virtual pages.  I hope any passerby’s enjoy this peek into the past too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time Flies When You are Not Paying Attention

I found a photo album from the first year we moved up to Grass Valley.  How is it possible we went from this...

to this,...

or this...

to this so fast!

And I cannot even wrap my head around the fact that we have gone from these little girls..

to these adults!!!!

I guess I better pay close attention and soak it all in before life slips on by.

Guys and Their Bikes

Look What I Found!

May 1981

March 1981

Christmas Trees & Rainy Days

          Yesterday I took down the Christmas tree.  While slowly removing each ornament and packing them away for another eleven months, I thought of leaving the tree up all year round.  Lydia and I laughed at the concept and discussed different themes we could dress the tree up with throughout the year: snowflakes in January, flip-flops in July -- it could be really fun!  But, in the end, each branch was carefully removed and the tree stowed away along with my customary, “See you in eleven months.”  My attachment to our faux tree may sound kind of silly, but this tree has been part of my life as long as I can remember.  I had just turned three when the tree arrived in a big brown box (mom’s allergies no longer permitted having a real tree), and I remember carrying the branches from the box to dad as he assembled the tree.  Dad calculated if the tree lasted ten years it would pay for itself; this year marked its twenty-second Christmas, and it is still going strong! 

          So, all the Christmas decorations have been safely stowed away, and just before the rain!  I was beginning to wonder if we would be doomed to a dry January.  Granted, this small amount of rain will not do much to alleviate California’s current drought situation, but I am just happy for an excuse to have an extra cozy, lazy Saturday.  Hopefully this rainy day will be the start of many to come, because I have a lot of reading and writing to do.  I find rainy days are quite conducive to that kind of creativity.  ;)  So . . .  let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!    

    

Memory Lane

          Tonight I intended to devote to tidying up my room.  I am very good at creating piles of stuff, not so good at putting those piles away.  I did manage to get a lot of stuff sorted and put away, and the bathroom cleaned, before I stumbled across a big box containing stacks of photographs, I did not get much done after that.

 

It appears I started annoying my brother at a very early age ;)

 

 

 

          These were just a few of my favorites.  The majority of pictures ranged from the late eighties to early nineties.  Now I have to add “organize and digitize pictures” to my to-do list.  Be back in six months! ;)

Making Progress!

          After a great deal of awkward maneuvering between many pairs of hands we finally managed to get the canoe up on its new resting place.  This 97 year old canoe originally belonged to my great-grandfather, Edward Unruh.  My parents used to take it often when they were dating and newly married, sadly the canoe has not been in water since before I was born.  Dad talks about taking it out one of these days, but until then it makes a lovely addition to our tropical themed hideaway.      

 

Ugh! Eye Doctors

          I hate going to the eye doctor.  Actually I hate going to any kind of doctor.  Good news is my eyes came back with a clean bill of health, my contact prescription is the same (Whoo Hoo!  My sight has stopped deteriorating!), and I have several boxes of contacts and new lenses for my glasses on the way.  Aside from taking a rrrrreeeeeeeaaaaaaalllllllyyyyy looooooooooooong time, and looking like this all day . . .

. . . it was not that bad.  Though that eye numbing stuff always makes me feel kind of woozy, probably because I know they are numbing it so they can touch my eyeball!  The only thing that should ever touch my eyeball is my own finger with a contact lens perched on the end. 

          I still remember my first visit to the eye doctor when I was five.  My clearest memory is the doctor having me put on these special glasses and then look at a hologram of a butterfly.  Having a dad in the laser-techno world means I have grown up with a lot of cool and unusual stuff; including holograms.  Our conversation went something like this,

Dr:  “Here, put these on and look at this”

Me:  puts on glasses and looks at three-dimensional butterfly.

Dr:  “Can you see it?”

Me:  “Yes”

Dr:  “Can you touch it?”

Me:  “No, you can’t touch it”

Dr:  “Why can’t you touch it?”

Me:  “it’s a hologram.”

          Up to that point the Doctor kept trying to get me to touch it, when the word hologram came out of my mouth he turned to mom a bit surprised.  “Her dad works with lasers and holograms.”  After a bit more coaxing from the eye doctor I did finally wave my hand over the butterfly.  How embarrassing, waving my hand over a hologram like a silly little kid.  But, embarrassment aside, I walked out of there with perfect vision, those funky film sunglasses, and two gift certificates to a local ice cream shop.  Now I have to go to the eye doctor for vision correction without the reward of ice cream, *sigh* growing up loses so many fun perks.             

They're Gone!

          This morning as I was putting something away in the laundry room I peeked out the window and failed to see any little Robin faces or open beaks.  Going outside to investigate I discovered an empty nest.  Our baby Robins have flown away!  In less than two weeks they went from four small blue eggs to fully feathered birds.  Good luck little Robins!  I wish you well and hope to see you hopping around the garden.

Memory Day

          Happy Memorial Day!  Today has been chilly and drizzly, after the last couple weeks of sunshine I was a bit surprised.  But, a few raindrops did not prevent me from going out to the farm, when school hit crunch time and things got busy I did not go out to the farm for four whole weeks!  While I was absent all their melons were planted, the ground has been rototilled in preparation for tomatoes, squash, and many other delightful summer crops, and two goats were born!  I forgot my camera, so no pictures this week of the adorable twins.

          I arrived back from the farm to find Tiffany, with the help of her family and two vehicles, finally moving in!  She had everything unpacked and put away by the end of the afternoon, I was impressed.  I did some grocery shopping yesterday so we made up a quick dinner of pizza bread (slice bread, cover with tomatoes sauce, sprinkle with basil and cheese, broil till cheese is slightly toasted, yum!) and fresh veggies, not bad for our first dinner.
         Tomorrow I head home (I still think of this place as the “guest house” and “home” as, well, home!) to help the family prepare for our Memorial Day celebration with Chef Karl and his wife Lily; they were unavailable today so we are shifting our holiday celebration.  The plan is to have a barbeque, so I will be praying for a warm clear day, BBQ just is not the same if you have to eat it inside.  So, even though this felt like a pretty typical Monday, it turned out to be a very special and very fabulous day.  Happy Memorial Day!

Bay Leaves & Cashmere

Bay leaves and cashmere, what do these two things have in common?  Nothing actually, but while serving out the stew before dinner I kept finding bay leaves.  Bay leaves reminded me of a bailiff (no rational reason, they just sound similar), which reminded me of a sheriff, which led to the sheriff of Nottingham, and Robin Hood, and the Disney movie Robin Hood.  Thoughts can be a funny thing; one word can trigger dozens of memories and ideas instantly!  Whenever I think of cashmere, for example, I have to remind myself it is not perfume.  When my Grandma P would visit after getting off work, she was often still bedecked in pearls, heels, and a cashmere sweater.  Now being good grandchildren, Matthew and I would run up with a shout and give her a hug.  Without fail she would hug us back gingerly and say “Oh, careful honey I have on cashmere.”  I had no idea what cashmere was, but for some reason I believed cashmere was perfume, probably because along with the fancy outfit she was always drenched in fragrance.  It was YEARS before I learned cashmere was a fancy type of wool, and I still have to do a mental double-take whenever I hear that word.  Oh brain, you are a funny thing; on that note, platypus.         

Disney Blues

We have been having a bit of Disney blues lately.  As of the tenth it has officially been over a year since we went to Disneyland, and there are no plans to go for some time to come *sniff*.  So, we plan on a having a very Merry Mickey Mouse Christmas to make up for it!  Details to follow as the season draws near . . .

November 10^th, 2010.   

Our last night right after the amazing World of Color spectacular!