AnderFamStuff

Earthquake

2010-06-15T22:41:00.000-07:00

Last night there was a 5.7 aftershock in So Cal close to the Mexico border at about 9:35 p.m. Tiffany felt it and told me so at once, but it had escaped my notice. Rex, the cat, with his superior feline sensitivity, slept peacefully beside me throughout, apparently ignoring the fact that he was supposed to alert me to seismic occurances such as this. I was under the impression (misplaced, in this case) that animals have an innate ability to anticipate movement along the San Andreas Fault, causing them to exhibit bizarre behaviours before the onset of an earthquake, which would then result in the saving of many lives, their master's in particular.

Lassie, after all, did tell someone whenever Timmy was in the well, earthquake or not.

The family member who experienced the most siginificant effects of the aftershock, although he was unaware of it at the time, was Spencer. He and Chyann were at Disneyland and had boarded the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster, hoping to see the nightly fireworks from the vantage point of the moving train car. At precisely the moment of the quake, the roller coaster stopped, placing Spencer and Chyann at the highest point of the track. They remained there for several minutes, with a perfect view of the fireworks above. He texted us and told us so.

Seriously, Rex. You could have at least opened one eye and checked to make sure I was okay.

Twi Cruise Meeting

2010-06-14T00:21:00.001-07:00

L-R Me, Cassie, Linda, Tracy and Stacy at Brent's Deli. We had dinner there yesterday (Saturday) after meeting at Linda's house in Winnetka to work on some things in preparation for the Twilight Cruise to Alaska this August. They invited me to come along and work the vendor's room, and in spite of the fact that I'm not a Twilight fan, I jumped at the chance because it should be an absolute blast to work and hang out with these friends of mine. I always have a good time with them and we usually do a lot of laughing. In fact I want to go so badly, that I'm willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and read the entire Twilight series, of which I am halfway through book 3, and I've Netflix-ed the first two movies. I want to be sure that I know my subject before I climb on this ship with 500-600 rabid fans. Should be a kick! People-watching should be especially fun. It's a true test of our friendship - at this point in the book series (actually within the first chapter or two of Book One), I'm ready to strangle the heroine. I will couteract the negative effect these books are having on me with immersing myself in the Harry Potter books when I'm finished.

Disney Day 6/13/10

2010-06-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight we drove to Disney for dinner. It was the end of a busy weekend - a wedding in San Diego on Friday, and me getting together with friends on Saturday to help coordinate activities for a cruise to Alaska in August. Anyway, we got to Disney around 7:00 and ate at the Plaza Inn. We split a cobb salad (hold the bleu cheese) and that's always just enough. We met up with Amanda and Lizette after they had dinner at the just-reopened Italian restaurant at Cali Adventures. I had originally intended for us to get together for dinner with them but had somehow forgotten to let Amanda know we were coming. Hmm. I have decided to embrace my inner forgetfulness. Anyway, after the salad at the Plaza Inn we strolled and visited my favorite jewelry store on Main Street and I asked the cast member if the Annual Passholder Discount can be applied to the Harvey's Disney bags they have there and she said YES. Very cool. So we strolled some more and went to the Disney Pin store in Frontierland and I purchased some more pins for my lanyard (see photo). After reviewing this photo, however, I have made a note to self to suck in my tummy when I'm wearing jeans and short tops. Either that or wear longer tops. Perhaps I should also embrace my poochy tummy. Or else do more sit-ups. We met Amanda and Lizette at the Bakery and got some muffins to bring home to Tiff and Spencer and I had my tall decaf mocha no whip. (Poochy tummy notwithstanding.) We walked back to the parking structure instead of taking the tram, and it was a nice night for a walk. The fireworks were starting just as we left.

Super Nanny

2010-01-23T12:27:00.000-08:00

I watch an episode of Super Nanny almost every day.
She's awesome!
She's on my DVR list.
I see her work with selfish, ungrateful children
who don't share their load
or appreciate/respect their parents.
Am I an ungrateful child?
I have been given soooooo much.
Am I spoiled?
Do I carry my share or appreciate/respect my Father?
It's so easy for me to judge others quickly.

Every Day The Same

2009-08-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

This is going to take a bit of back story.

When I was little we had a babysitter that we called Mrs. Hughes. Her name was Hazel and her husband was Charlie and they lived half a block walking distance from our house in San Gabriel. I was four years old when we moved to California and my baby brother Seth was just a few weeks old, and by the time he was about a year old he would cry every time he saw her because he knew that meant my parents were going somewhere.

My maternal grandparents lived back in Illinois and my paternal grandparents passed away before I was born, so Mrs. Hughes became kind of like my grandmother. To me it seemed like she spent an awful lot of time at our house, and to my baby brother it must have seemed like an eternity. She became like more of a family member than a babysitter. She would take care of us at night if my parents went out, and pretty soon she would be in the house after I came home from school doing the ironing or the dishes if my mom had appointments or shopping to do. The smell of ironing (that hot metal-on-cotton smell) still reminds me of her. She also baked a lot of banana bread. If I see bananas in the bowl becoming overripe, I think of Mrs. Hughes.

Mrs. Hughes taught me how to iron handkerchiefs and pillow cases (my personal chore) and how to embroider tea towels. She taught us kids how to play card games with strange names to the ears of a child who was used to "Go Fish" or "Crazy Eights" (like "Bikini", "Spit", and her favorite, "Canasta"), and then she thoroughly enjoyed playing with us, even when we grew old enough to start beating her. She was very competitive for and old lady. She loved the Dodgers and Roller Derby and if she was over at night while my parents were gone and the Roller Derby was on, she would tune in and watch. She loved those Thunderbirds. Mrs. Hughes was no wimp.

Mrs. Hughes always wore support stockings with the ropey-looking black seam up the back of the leg, and those chunky-heeled lace-up shoes that old ladies always seemed to wear back in those days. I rarely saw her wearing anything other than a flowery button-up house dress and a full-body kitchen apron with pockets. She carried a carpet-bag and always brought us suckers (either See's suckers or something smaller and slightly inferior called Dum-Dums). She wore glasses which always slid down her nose, and a hairnet. When I was little I thought her middle was made of concrete, because when you gave her a hug the corset she wore made her seem solid as a rock around the midriff.

Our relationship with Mrs. Hughes continued all through my growing up years, even when we moved to Goleta for three years. When my mom was in the hospital for surgery, my dad brought Mrs. Hughes up for a week or so to take care of us. By the time we moved back to San Gabriel, we were older, especially my older sister Sarah who could drive by then. She became Mrs. Hughes' chauffeur of sorts, because Mrs. Hughes didn't drive, and we were closer in proximity than her family for taking her to doctor's appointments or for running errands. Pretty soon my older brother Scott was taking her places too, and then as each of them grew up and moved out, it became my turn.

Taking Mrs. Hughes on an errand was an experience that made your insides crawl, especially for a teenager. I remember driving her to Perveller's Drug Store to pick up a few things, and being mortified when she asked the cute guy behind the counter to help her find the Kaopectate. As much as I loved Mrs. Hughes, my teenage priorities didn't align with being her taxi service, and I soon came to dread her frequent phone calls.

One afternoon before I turned 18, Mrs. Hughes called me for a ride to her doctor. She hadn't been feeling well lately, and he told her to come in. I had been asleep on the couch when her phone call woke me up. I told her no, I couldn't take her because I was taking a nap. She said that was okay, she would call someone else. She called back a few minutes later to tell me that she had found a ride and wouldn't need me. I said goodbye and hung up the phone and that was that. I felt slightly annoyed, and slightly guilty, but not enough to keep me from continuing my nap.

Mrs. Hughes was having heart problems and the doctor admitted her to the hospital. Over the next couple of days, I broke up with my boyfriend of two years, and was looking forward to telling Mrs. Hughes all about it when she got home. She had been telling me that he wasn't good enough for me and there were "other fish in the sea", so I knew she would be interested in hearing all about it. My birthday came and went, and maybe in my teenage selfishness I couldn't see what other people saw, because when Mrs. Hughes had a heart attack and passed away without ever coming home, it hit me as quite a surprise.

A couple of days after my birthday I received a birthday card in the mail from Mrs. Hughes. It was postmarked the day she died, so when it arrived she was already gone. Here she had been like a grandma to me, and had even been thinking of me in the hospital, and I couldn't even get up off of the couch and take her to the doctor. My last words to her had been that I wouldn't help her. It was pretty shattering, but I brushed it off. We attended her funeral and went to her graveside for her burial. I was kind of bewildered at the way I had treated her, and I didn't really want to think about it.

Fast-forward to the 1990's. Over the years I had collected my past failures and screw-ups and sins and built them up like little logs in a Jenga tower. I was under siege from spiritual warfare of major proportions and I was drowning in self-loathing. I was haunted by the idea that I should go to Mrs. Hughes' gravesite to talk to her and ask her for forgiveness. I was in counseling at the time, and was told that my notion was actually a helpful tool he thought could help break the log jam of unforgiveness in my life. I decided to give it a try and planned on the nearest holiday, Memorial Day, to make the pilgrimage.

The day came and I was sure I had made a mistake in judgement. It seemed the silliest idea ever. I was doing the dishes, very slowly - putting off the inevitable as long as possible - and listening to a Wynan's Brothers' tape. The song that was playing was "Every Day The Same" - a song about heaven.

"Every day the same
I'm going
To the city of the place
Called Heaven"

I eventually finished the dishes and, with much prodding from Don, left for Rose Hills cemetery. I had no idea where her plot was, and was hoping there would be someone there who could tell me. I stopped at the local grocery store first and went to their floral section to buy some roses - for some reason the only color they had was white. I bought the white roses and a small card and was off. On the way there, I prayed that I could have some privacy while I was doing what I intended to do. If there were people around, no way - I couldn't bring myself to talk to a grave marker all by myself like some nutter. I got off the 605 freeway, wound around to the cemetery entrance and pulled into the left-hand lane to turn up the drive, when directly across from me turning right into the same drive was the Channel 7 Eyewitness News Van. So much for my desire for privacy. Why had I picked Memorial Day?

I parked in the tiny parking lot at the Welcome Center and walked up a grassy incline to a small set-up with a few tables where people were waiting in a short line to talk to some Rose Hills associates. I got in line and when it was my turn I told the lady who I was looking for and the approximate date of her death. She picked up the phone in front of her and called in the information, wrote some instructions down on a cemetery map, and handed me the directions. I felt kind of numb, and must have looked like I was totally lost. I took the directions and made my way back to where my car was parked. I had to wait at a curb for a few cars to pass before I could get to mine, and as I waited a large, old, four-door Chevy with the windows rolled down pulled up and waited in the car line right in front of me. While I hovered there mulling over my strange task at hand, I heard music playing from the stereo inside the Chevy. I stood and listened, stunned.

"Every day the same
I'm going
To the city of the place
Called Heaven"

Do angels drive low-riders? I wanted to lean over and peek in the window to check the guy for wings. He eventually drove away and I moved in a dreamlike state to my car. There was no turning back now.

I followed the map and drove to the outlined location one more signal down Workman Mill Road, across to a stretch of the cemetery that continued below the hill. The narrow road continued around between expansive patches of green lawn, and I parked right at the edge of a grassy area and sat there, giving myself a pep talk. All I could remember from the day of her funeral was being outside the chapel after the service, and standing at the graveside, at a curve in a road with a few trees sparsely placed. I remembered that her plot was close-ish to the road, but that was it. I wasn't even sure if my memory was correct. I finally got out of the car and approached the area outlined on the map, wishing there was an "X" to mark the spot, when I spotted the trees and the curve in the road just as I had remembered them. I walked back and forth, up and down the aisles of grave markers in earnest, reading names and searching for hers. I couldn't find her name anywhere and started to get discouraged. I was sure that I had moved too far away from the road, and wondered if maybe she wasn't here after all. It was when I turned to head back to the car and leave that I found her.

Thankfully I was alone just as I had prayed. Her plot was right next to her beloved Charlie's. I sat down on the grass and brushed some leaves off her marker. It had her name written and dates of birth and death, and some inscription about always taking care of others. It wasn't hard to start talking to her; actually it was much easier than I thought. I sat cross-legged on the grass and told her everything - how sorry I was, how horrible I felt, how I wished I had been there for her. I thanked her for the birthday card. I told her about my husband and family, and that I wished she could meet them. I told her TONS of stuff. It felt like a few minutes, but it was really hours. I remembered there being a picture of Jesus in the hallway of her house - that famous portrait in brown tones of an Anglo-European Jesus with a sad face and long brown hair. I told her that I hoped that meant I would see her someday, too. I talked to her like she was there, but I knew she really wasn't. I cried a lot, too.

When I felt emotionally tired and like I couldn't cry another tear, I went to my car and got a magazine. I knew I should go home but I didn't want to leave. I sat under a nearby tree and read the magazine from cover to cover. It was a nice day and there was a cool breeze, and I was still pretty much all by myself so I didn't feel a need to hurry. Don told me to take as much time as I needed, and I was grateful for the opportunity to take total advantage of his generous offer.

Eventually I finished my magazine and felt the need to get back home. I got my white roses from the car and placed them on her marker. I was walking slowly back to my car when a light breeze kicked up and blew a white envelope across my path. It was the size of a greeting card and it tumbled end-to-end in a cartwheel for a few feet before it stopped. I hadn't seen it on the grass before. Curiosity got the better of me and I went and picked it up. On the outside was written "Grandma Hazel" in cursive.

Now, my mama taught me not to open other people's mail, but this was too much to resist. It was as if the card had tumbled from out of "nowhere", because it hadn't been near the marker that I could see and nobody had brought it while I was there. I opened the envelope and a Mother's Day card was inside. I opened it (again, sorry Mom) and saw the inside and back of the card covered in handwriting.

The writer wrote about how she was 17 and wished she had known Grandma Hazel and Grandpa Charlie, because everyone said how wonderful they were. She even mentioned wishing she could have played cards with Grandma Hazel. She said what a character everyone said Grandma was, and even though she didn't get to meet her, she wanted Grandma to know that she loved her. It was signed "Jenny".

I was dumbstruck. Again. With awe and reverence I placed the card back on Mrs. Hughes' marker next to my flowers. I got in my car and drove away, feeling amazingly blessed for having known Mrs. Hughes when her granddaughter hadn't even had the chance. Her granddaughter Jenny was the same age I had been when Mrs. Hughes died. It was too much to take in all at once.

I thought about my visit to Rose Hills almost constantly the week after that. The kids were relatively little at the time (Amanda was about 10 or 11). We had recently moved into my father-in-law's house, and still had a lot of things stored in the garage. The kids asked me if they could go out to the garage and each bring in a box of their toys to play with, and I said okay. I remember sitting on the edge of my bed when Amanda returned a few minutes later, carrying a large box. She brought it to me and said, "I think these things are yours."

I opened the box flaps and looked inside. On top of the contents was a large manila envelope filled with old papers and letters. There was a letter my dad had written to me when I was 15 and away at camp, and a letter Mrs. Hughes had written to me that same summer. But the one that was the most remarkable of all was an envelope with the postmark dated two days after my birthday, 1974. It was the birthday card from Mrs. Hughes.

I still keep it in my nightstand beside my bed.

That week was the beginning of the healing of many emotional scars. It was as if the first Jenga peg had been removed, and over the next few years the rest would be pulled one by one until the tower collapsed and the stronghold was broken. I realized that week that if God wanted to make the effort to touch someone like me, sending songs about Jesus playing from a Chevy stereo and messages from a granddaughter I'd never met who didn't know the impact her words would have on me, then I needed to give Him my baggage and trust Him. I guess he knows I'm a drama queen, and would appreciate the theatrics. But isn't He just so cool?

"Goodbye House, I'm going to . . . "

2009-06-28T23:30:00.000-07:00

Our niece Abigail arrived this morning from Missouri! It's great to have her here. So of course the first place we had to take her, straight from the airport, was - Twohey's! I think it was a pretty selfish decision, actually. Other than the fact that my family grew up going to Twohey's for lunch almost every Sunday after church, and it's one of my favorite greasy spoon eateries, the restaurant itself is pretty unremarkable. (Except for their pancakes, hot fudge sundaes, onion rings and the Number 2 Hamburger with cheese, that is.) One gastronomical landmark down, many to go!

If we're not careful, this trip will turn into a week-long foodfest. We had In-N-Out burgers for dinner. Having a relative in town is lovely!!

The Cat in my Hat

2008-09-02T00:16:00.000-07:00

Today I wore my pink Dodger cap to Disneyland and came home and tossed it on my bed instead of hanging it up. Rex the Cat decided it would make a good pillow.

How can this be comfy?

If only this hat was bigger . . .

TMJ

2008-09-02T00:06:00.000-07:00

I've been having pain in my jaw on the right side for awhile, but it always came and went and was sore for a few days and I figured it was no big deal. I even thought maybe I was sleeping on my pillow wrong or some other random ideas that could be causing it. Finally last Wednesday I went to the dentist because it had become really painful and I could barely chew and when I tried to close my jaw or clench my teeth, I couldn't make them meet properly. My dentist told me I haved TMJ and he made a mold of my teeth to build me a "night guard" for when I sleep. Wow, that sounds attractive! I promptly did a Google search for TMJ when I got back to work after my appointment. The letters stand for some really long word with "jaw" in it somewhere that I can't even remember. The dentist told me it would heal in a week or two; meanwhile, I can't have anything crunchy or chewy (in other words - no good stuff! *sigh*). I can only eat soft foods and I have to chew on my right side (where the pain is) to force my jaw back into place, and I can't yawn big or tense my jaw in any way. Man, it's been a revelation finding out how much I clench my teeth or tighten the muscles in my jaw. Anyway, I've lost three pounds! But I don't recommend TMJ as a diet.

Apparently I've been a candidate for TMJ for a long time because my jaw pops. It has always popped whenever I yawn or sing or take too big of a bite of whatever I'm eating. Who knew that was a bad thing?? So now my jaw has popped out of place - and stayed there. Thankfully it will eventually heal and work its way back, but for now it's the weirdest feeling.

Labor Day

2008-09-01T23:50:00.000-07:00

Today Don and I had breakfast at Disneyland. We left the house about 9:30 and got there about 10:15. There was a long line of cars going into the parking structure, and it was pretty crowded for the tram, so we walked to the park instead of waiting. It was a nice morning, overcast and a little cool, the typical June Gloom in September.

When we got to the park, the lines to enter the park were really short. We walked right up to the turnstyle and went in. We went to the bakery on Main Street and bought muffins and I had a grande iced decaf latte, and we took them back to the little tables just inside the patio where the ragtime piano player plays. It was kind of late for the breakfast crowd, and a little early for the lunch crowd, so the tables were empty and we had our pick.

We spent about half an hour sitting, having breakfast, people watching and talking. Some of our very best, funnest and most important conversations over the past seven years have been had at Disneyland. It truly is a magical place!

When we'd finished our muffins we walked down Main Street to the board that shows how long the wait for rides is, and Pirates of the Caribbean was listed at ten minutes, so we headed into Adventureland and got in line. After the ride we headed back down Main Street and stopped in an art studio next to the Mad Hatter and looked at Disney art, oil paintings, lithographs and other paintings on display. We saw one we really liked called "Jazz Trio". We're looking for something to hang over our bed and even though we won't be ready to purchase anything like that until December, we're taking our time and trying to find something we both really like.

We left the park and passed up the tram again and walked back to the parking structure. By the time we left, the park was becoming more crowded and the clouds had burned away and the sun was pretty warm. It was a warm walk back and definitely felt good getting into the air conditioned car.

Tonight we had dinner with our good friends John and Debbie. We went to their house and had a BBQ. Their kids and our kids have been friends since they were elementary school age. We played games afterwards and got home about 9:45. It was a great way to spend the last day of summer before going back to work! I've been at work for the past two weeks but without teachers or students on campus. The first day back to school is this Thursday.

Ride 'Til Your Hat Floats

2008-07-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

Last week Don took a week off for vacation, and I've been home for a couple of weeks on summer break. We had a great time going (local) places and doing (cheap) stuff together. Last Saturday we spent the day with our friends Doug and Claudia and rode the Metro to Long Beach. We took the Gold Line to Union Station, got off and walked to Felippe's and had lunch. Then we took the Red Line to the Blue Line all the way to the end, and got off and spent the day walking around beautiful downtown Long Beach. The weather was perfect and we had a great time.

Here's Don and Doug and the Queen Mary

Here's Doug and Claudia and the Queen Mary

Here's me and Don and . . .

It took about an hour from start to finish to ride the Metro all the way to Long Beach. The end of the line was walking distance to tons of restaurants and shops and the Long Beach Aquarium. Parking is free at the Metro station in Pasadena and no traffic there and back - it was a great way to go!

Cat on a Hot Couch

2008-06-20T23:56:00.000-07:00

Temperatures have been over 100 the past three days here. Our little cat, Spot, found a way to cool her whiskers.

Today my car's digital temperature display read 108 degrees as I was driving home from work, and at 10:30 p.m. the temperature widget on my computer as I was uploading this video read 96. The indoor temperature was 85. Too hot for kitties!

It made for a nice evening walk, tho'. Don and I walked to Old Town and had dinner at a teriyaki place. Summer is definitely here!

Camping

2008-06-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

Camping. TENT camping, no less. Only the most extreme, most special circumstances could ever tempt me, the one who loves room service and electricity, to partake in such an activity.

Frequency? Once a year on Memorial Day weekend. That's about all I can take! Location? Green Oak Ranch in Vista near San Diego. Occasion? Lake Avenue's annual family camp. Reason? Gotta be total insanity! That, and - we actually enjoy it.

We volunteered at the Welcome Tent, greeting campers and cabin-ers as they arrived. There were approximately 480 of us this year, and we take over the entire campground.

Here is our friend Beth waiting to greet you.

Here is our campsite.

That's Tiffany's tent in the front. (It looks like a ghost, doesn't it??) Our blue tent is in the back.

That's my car and Don crossing the bridge to the right of our tent heading up towards the dining hall. It's actually "luxury" camping, or "fake" camping, I guess you could call it. There are bathrooms located throughout the campground with showers. And even though we stay in tents and sleep in sleeping bags and eat our meals out of ice chests, if you drive back down the road and out of the campground there's Target and Wal Mart and Starbuck's and Stater Bros. and Taco Bell less than a mile away. So I can still have my tall-nonfat-decaf-mocha-no-whip while I'm "roughing" it. No whining for me!

Here's Beth and I singing the Star Spangled Banner before the softball game. (I'm on the left.)

Here I am singing with the worship team on Sunday morning. (I'm second from right.)

This is a picture from last year's camp of us with our friends, Beth and Randy, who head the planning committee for the entire weekend. They do a fabulous job!

For the past five years I've been the camp "craft lady". We make lanyards (I'm hopeless at starting them, tho!) and beadie babies (those I can do). We also do some pretty crazy things with puffy paint and glue. Fortunately I have a lot of worker bee moms who help make it all happen! Green Oak Ranch is mostly about me stepping outside of my little comfort zone for four days - and then packing up and heading home on Monday for a really long nap! It's pretty cool.

But the best part is, while I'm feeling out of my element and insecure - God meets me there. God is GOOD.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

I've had a Happy Mother's Day today. Amanda baked me an awesome cake.

Minnie was delicious.

For about a nanosecond, it occured to me that it might be disrespectful to eat Minnie. But I got over that notion quickly.

Children are a gift from God. And then they grow up and bake you cakes! It just gets better and better.

Happy Mother's Day to Sarah, Steph, Jenny, Mona, Ruth and Eleanor!

Strange Laundry

2008-05-03T12:55:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched as my cat Rex strolled leisurely across the top of my dresser. Then, suddenly, he disappeared from sight. Here's where he went:

Don had just finished sorting the laundry and the bag was empty. Then it became full of cat.

Rex is four years old and weighs about 17 lbs. He has three black dots on his nose in the shape of Mickey Mouse. He likes to hang out in my room, and this is the first time he has attempted a foray into the laundry bag.

After several attempts, he managed to work his way out.

Next we will teach him to sort the delicates from the permanent press.

Video Experiment

2008-05-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a video of Full Force Percussion earlier in April. It's the first lengthy video I've taken with my camera, and I was trying to be discreet while recording it, so I held it low and kept getting this guy's head in the way in front of me.

They've done better, and so have I, but it's a start!

ADLA

2008-04-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

First of all - happy 22nd birthday, Tiffany!

Spencer's final competition with Full Force Percussion was last Sunday, April 27 at the ADLA competition in Corona. ADLA stands for American Drum Line Association. Full Force placed third out of seven other drumlines in the Independent World class.

Nice job, Spencer! Now, on to VK!

What makes you laugh?

2008-04-18T23:42:00.000-07:00

When I was a little kid, Soupy Sales, Allan Sherman and The First Family comedy albums made me laugh. As a grown-up, I tend to still like the silly stuff. My kids can make me laugh. My husband knows what cracks me up. But I'd have to say that the person I can laugh with the most, the one who gets me laughing about stuff so hard that tears come to my eyes and my stomach hurts and I can't breathe, is my sister, Sarah. That's one of the things that hurts about living so far away from her and her family. Whenever we get together, it's as if I remember who I am. But that's another story.

So last night I got home from work and Amanda had something on the internet she wanted me to hear. So the three of us, Marc, Amanda and I, sat around the computer and listened to this broadcast from a local morning radio show. And I had one of those moments. I guess you have to be in just the right mood, or be with the people you love, or the people you have fun with the most, or both, in order for it to hit you just right. I must have really needed it, because it felt so good to laugh hysterically. It was a gloriously silly moment. So silly, in fact, that I sneakily listened to it again at work today, and spent the afternoon breaking out in fits of occasional giggles. Last night in the few minutes before I finally fell asleep in bed, I kept trying to stifle giggles with little success.

Oh dear, now I've probably oversold it before I've even told you what it is. It's a broadcast on a morning radio show (Kevin and Bean) where they have a (scripted) telephone conversation with (not really) Bob Dylan, based on the premise that no one can understand a word he says. Oh my, I'm giggling already. Here it is:

http://kroq.wmod.llnwd.net/a168/o1/kbaudio/bob_dylan_5707.asf

My dad was good at laughing. One of my memories of him is hearing him down the hallway in the den laughing at Johnny Carson long after I had gone to bed. If something was funny, he had a great laugh. And if something was really funny, his laugh pitch got higher and he had this great giggle. I can hear him now in my head. Laughing is good.

Spring Break - Sunday

2008-04-14T22:06:00.001-07:00

Well, it's Spring Break Sunday, and we've managed to stretch our vacation to the very end! And, what better way to bring it to a close on the night before heading back to work, than at a Fab Four concert?

They performed at The Grove in Anaheim, which is one of our favorite places to see them.

And now - The Fab Four.

Here's one.

Here's two.

Here's three . . .

. . . and here's four. This one is my favorite.

Cool, huh?

The concert was all Beatles music in the first half, and Wings in the second half. It was amazing, and we always have a good time seeing our Fabbie friends.

Well, back to work tomorrow. Spring Break was fun while it lasted!

Spring Break - Saturday

2008-04-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to see Spencer's drum line perform at a competition in Ontario. He's with a winter drum line called Full Force Percussion. Here they are in action:

The name of their routine is "Capture the Flag", and Spencer is (obviously) on the Red Team. They took first place in their category. Spencer wasn't too impressed, because there was only one other drum line competing in that category against them. However, he needs to allow his mother to think that it was pretty cool.

Spring Break - Friday

2008-04-12T23:50:00.000-07:00

Today we spent the day with our friends Doug and Claudia, trying to see where we could go and what we could do on the Metro. (Again with the trains!) And - I think we did pretty well. Here's a sample:

We had lunch at Felippe's near Olvera Street. They are celebrating their 100th year in business. 100 years of YUM!

After lunch, we rode downtown to 7th and Figueroa and walked to the Fashion Institute of Design (FIDM) to see the travelling display of movie costumes in their museum. (Do we detect a pattern here?) Among others, Harry Potter costumes were on display.

The above costumes were worn by (from left to right): Professor Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), Tonks (Natalia Tina), Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs) and Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) in Order of the Phoenix. There were other costume displays there, from movies such as 300, Blades of Glory, Elizabeth: The Golden Years, Marie Antoinette, Across the Universe, 3:10 to Yuma, Beowolf, Hairspray, and Sweeney Todd. It was really cool.

Here's Doug and Don, waiting patiently on a park bench under an arbor at the beautiful park outside FIDM while Claudia and I were inside looking at costumes.

Here's me and the angel statue (for some reason she's wearing a cat mask - I'm wearing sunglasses) outside the museum.

This is the view of the El Capitan Theatre (where The Little Mermaid is currently playing) from above the courtyard at Grauman's Theatre. We went there again because Claudia hadn't seen the footprints before. Another beautiful day in the neighborhood . . .

Here's another handprint (and my camera strap) - this time from former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda - only we're not at the Chinese Theatre anymore. These are in front of the Dodgers store at Universal City Walk. The store is pretty extensive - just about everything Dodgers you could think of. These hand prints were the only thing I found photo-worthy while we were at City Walk. We took the Metro almost to the end to get there, and fortunately there's a shuttle to take you up the hill to the mall. There's also a square with Eric Gagne's handprints next to Tommy's, but the shuttle was leaving and I didn't have time to take a picture of them. I had my priorities straight, tho' . . .

We Metro'd all the way back to Pasadena (end of the line) and the four of us had dinner at Islands. Yaki tacos - yummy! There and back again, all for five bucks. (Except for food, and the ninety-nine cent ceramic chicken necklace I bought at Olvera Street . . . ) Another all-around good day.

Spring Break - Thursday

2008-04-11T23:54:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we arrived at Disneyland and took a three-hour guided tour of the park called "A Walk in Walt's Footsteps". The guide wore a headset and microphone attached to an iPod, while we wore headphones and radio packs. She could talk to us without shouting and we could hear everything clearly. She would play recorded quotes from Walt or various Disney songs while we walked around the park, and was a veritable fount of information and Disney trivia. She took us past landmarks that had specific history or meaning where Walt was concerned, and we went on a couple of rides as a group and had dinner together at the end. It was very cool.

Here's the "Partners" statue at the hub of Main St. - the original plans had Mickey holding an ice cream cone.

We rode the Jungle Cruise together. Originally Walt wanted live animals on the riverbanks, but decided they would probably be sleeping during the daytime and no one would see them. Bad idea.

We had a private viewing of one of the original Tiki Room flowers from the early 1960's. Her name is Ophelia. She's retired now.

This is Don's sandwich. Everybody got a Disney character name on their lunch. His was kind of obvious. ;>

This is a tiny courtyard opposite Sleeping Beauty's castle where they hold weddings. (Little, tiny weddings.)

This is the actual Disney family crest. It is positioned at the front of Sleeping Beauty's castle right over the entrance. I hadn't heard it was the Disney crest - but Amanda had.

This is the fountain next to Snow White's wishing well to the right of Sleeping Beauty's castle (otherwise known as My House). The statues of Snow White and the seven dwarfs were sculpted in Italy of Italian marble. When the statues were finished and delivered to Disneyland, they didn't have the heart to tell the sculptor that Snow White wasn't supposed to be the same height as the dwarfs . . . so they put her at the top of the waterfall to give the illusion that she is taller.

This is Jingles, the carousel horse (or the back of Jingles, rather). She has the distinction of being the horse that represents the one Mary Poppins rode in the scene when they all jumped into the sidewalk chalk drawing. She has an umbrella on her right . . . flank? hip? whatever, and a crest with a drawing of Mary Poppins and some other things from the movie which are covered by the girl who was riding her at the time - I didn't want to freak her out so I didn't ask her to move her leg. Julie Andrews herself had ridden this horse the day before this picture was taken when they had some kind of special Mary Poppins ceremony.

This is a model of Sleeping Beauty's Castle which is on display in the Opera House at the entrance to Main Street. We enjoy looking for Hidden Mickeys while we're in the park, but if you crouch down and look inside the opening at the entrance of this castle, you'll see . . .

. . . a hidden Walt! Cool, huh?

At the end of the day, we went to California Adventures to see a show and then we went to Downtown Disney and saw a movie at the AMC theatres ("Leatherheads"). The movie was okay, but our day at the parks was AWESOME. More Spring Break on Friday!

Spring Break - Wednesday

2008-04-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, we packed our bags for an overnite at the Hyatt Regency in Garden Grove and headed for Disneyland, just the two of us. We had lunch at the Mexican restaurant in Adventureland and then embarked on a walking trip to see how long it would take to walk the perimeter paths of the park. We started in New Orleans Square and headed up past Pooh Bear's ride, down through Adventureland and up past Big Thunder Mt. Railroad into Fantasyland, around past the Matterhorn and up into Toon Town, back down past Small World and into Tomorrowland by way of the Nemo submarine ride, around past Star Tours and back down Main Street. It took us a little more than an hour and we figure we probably covered a couple of miles. We definitely weren't power-walking (it's too crowded for that!) and we did sit down in the shade a couple of times. Along the way, we stopped at every Kodak photo spot sign and took a picture. One nice lady in New Orleans Square took pity on us and took the picture for us . . .

This is New Orleans Square with the newly updated Tom Sawyer's Pirate Cove Island.

Here's the Kodak photo spot by Thunder Mtn. Railroad.

Here's the Kodak spot by the Fantasyland Carousel.

Here's the Kodak spot in Toon Town (well actually the photo spot is a fire engine, but there were a bunch of kids in it, go figure).

Here's the Kodak spot for the Matterhorn.

The weather was beautiful (sunny, cold and windy). Sometimes we don't go on any rides at all, we just re-invent ways to see the park from a different perspective. And we have a blast doing it!

Spring Break

2008-04-11T22:53:00.000-07:00

This past week I have been on Spring Break from my job at an elementary school. Don took the week off from work too, and we have crammed as much activity and fun as we possibly could into one week - and it's not over yet!

Monday - The week started out slow, with a trip to the Krikorian Theatre in the afternoon to see "Nim's Island." It was pretty cute, and Gerard Butler was absolutely adorable.

Tuesday - We started out the day by taking the Metro gold line to Chinatown for dim sum at the Empress Pavilion with our friends Beth and Anne and Beth's mom Dot. Whenever Dot comes to town from Texas, it's always time for Dim Sum with Dot.

After lunch we got back on the Metro and went to Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to see the star's foot and hand prints. Seeing all the stars in cement was great, but here's the main reason I wanted to go:

It's the hand, foot and "wand-prints" of the trio from the Harry Potter movies! These were in the center of the courtyard and were made just before the premier of the most recent installment of the series in July of 2007.

Here are a couple more:

Here's me with my hand in Emma Watson's handprint, and

Here's me standing in Donald Duck's big (webbed) feet. I took pictures of tons more, ranging from Bing Crosby, Clark Gable and Frank Sinatra to Will Smith, Denzel Washington and Johnny Depp. I hadn't been to Grauman's since the mid-60's, so it was almost like seeing it for the first time. We had a blast playing tourists!

Easter

2008-04-02T17:50:00.000-07:00

These are our family pictures from lunch at Bahooka on Easter Sunday. We were celebrating Easter and my birthday on the same day.

Here's the whole fam. Easter was the earliest I can remember it being in a very long time. Somebody told me it's going to be about 49 years before Easter comes this early again.

Here are Spencer and Tiffany. Bahooka gives you suckers when they bring your bill.

Here's Spencer and Marc . . . and Don holding the sugar.

Here's a very silly mom and a very pretty Amanda.

Here we are on Amanda's front porch. I remember Easter being right next to my birthday only other time in my life. It was my fifth birthday and we had just moved to California six months earlier. The reason I remember is because we had a birthday party and invited my little friends and had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard and played pin-the-cotton-ball-on-the-bunny. Nice consolidation of party games and Easter tradition, don't you think?