Author Archives: Mrs Marvel

And they’re off

Posted in Baking, Melody, Misc by

Today we shipped our latest care package of home to 1st Lieutenant Donahue in Baghdad, Iraq.  Melody was very excited to work on this Round as she’s a little more in tune with the whole “putting these little balls of dough in the oven results in tasty cookies” routine.  We made a double batch of Munchie Dudes Snack Crackers (crackers with a dill ranch flavor), and 6 dozen sugar cookies – half rolled in nonperiels and/or sprinkles and half rolled in cinnamon sugar – and finally included a selection of gum and mints, and a box of good old Girl Scout Cookies courtesy of Auntie Kathy.

Click the picture to see some more of Melody baking

Please visit team leader Lindsay’s blog Baking For Our Troops  to learn all about Lt Donahue.  She did such a great write up with pictures that I just can’t duplicate it.  He is really an amazing individual – military brat with a Colonel for a father and a Blackhawk helicopter pilot for a wife.  He was barely married before shipping out for a year’s deployment.

If you are interested in baking for someone deployed overseas in the future, please visit the Operation Baking Gals website for more information.  It’s a rewarding and fulfilling activity that takes so little of your time compared to the sacrifices our military make.  And if you don’t want to bake, please try to find some other way to help.  My mom knits watch caps so the guys don’t get cold at night.  Lots of bases have an organization that accepts donations of gently used items such as children’s clothes for the families who stay at home.  Whatever your strength is, please find a way to give a little bit back to these men and women, and their families, who give so much.

It’s an oldie, but a goodie

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Have you ever listened to the oldies station in your area?  Just for kicks, with the kid(s) in the back seat, rocking out to “Splish Splash” or “Wooly Bully” just because the music is funny, familiar, and somehow comforting?  For those of you not familiar with Southern California radio, KRTH 101, or “K-earth,” is the local oldies channel.  They set their playlist to 1965 and let ‘er rip.  Images on their website include The Beatles, Dirty Dancing, and The Beach Boys.  This is the station for folks who love the old days, nostalgia, Coca-Cola memorebelia, Ruby’s Diner, woodies and all things Happy Days.  Get the gist here?  This is the hits for kids who want to be-bop and meet at the sock hop for some good times and clean fun.

Yesterday, I was flipping around the channels and I heard the 1982 Hall & Oats hit song “Maneater.” 

On K-earth. 

It was a Marty McFly-playing-at-the-Enchantment-Under-The-Sea-dance moment.

Surely it’s a sign that end times are near.  No way it can be that the times they are a-changing, or even that I am just a-aging.  I’m looking for the 4 horsemen as we speak.

Sincerely…

Posted in FRO, Misc by

I had a Sincerely FRO Me To You post all planned out, but I realized on Wednesday morning, when I went to The Glamorous Life Association to link up my FRO that Marcy didn’t have her FRO up yet.  Because FRO is on Thursdays, duh!  And when I realized FRO was going to fall on this particular Thursday, I immediately knew that I couldn’t use the original FRO I had planned.  I’ll save it for another week.  This week is special.

May 7, 1999 was the day I met John for the first time.  We had been speaking on the phone for several weeks and exchanging emails.  As the early stages of courtship go, we were in that exploratory state when each tries to impress the other without giving away that each is a total dork/nerd/geek/whatever.  Our conversations went very well, and we frequently found ourselves talking for an hour or more.  We had a really good connection over the phone.  And we seemed to hit it off personality wise, too.  So, one night we were talking on the phone and he said that he thought it was about time we met in person.  Now, here’s where I do a little back tracking, mostly for the benefit of my family.

We told everyone that we had been introduced by a mutual friend.  We even had a scapegoat, this woman named Tracy I knew from Renaissance Faire.  The story would go that she knew me from Renaissance Faire and she knew John through computers, and thought we would make a great couple, set us up with each other’s email addresses and let the rest follow the course of nature.  Except that isn’t what happened AT ALL.  I don’t think Tracy ever met John, and after that year of Faire, I never saw her again.  See, at the time we met, things like personal ads and online dating was considered a little kooky.  I never wanted to admit to my family that I met my date on Yahoo! Personals.  But, that is in fact where we met.  I answered John’s ad because the title was “Ignore Me, Please!”  I figured he was a guy with a sense of humor who didn’t take the whole thing too seriously.  

So, fast forward about a month, and we decided we would finally meet in person.  John invited me to dinner at Houston’s, a steak house in Irvine.  I was very excited and nervous and chose what to wear very carefully.  I wore a long black wrap skirt, dark blue pinstriped blouse, black tights and black pumps.  As I was walking through the parking lot, there was an area that was under construction and very uneven.  I tripped, didn’t fall, but was very worried because there was a single man walking near by.  I prayed that it was not John.  (Years later, John admitted that yes of course that had been him and that he had considered turning around and leaving when he saw me stumble.  Thank goodness he didn’t!)

Somehow I managed to get to the front of the restaurant and there he was.  He was tall, with a black blazer, tan dress shirt and dark slacks.  I approached him and said “are you John?”  When I looked into his eyes, I still remember this moment as clearly as if it had just happened, I thought “this is a very special man.”  We had dinner and neither of us wanted to go home so we went to see a movie – The Matrix.  I’d already seen it but I didn’t care, I didn’t want the date to end.  John gave me his coat in the theater so I wouldn’t get cold.  :::sigh:::  

This picture was taken about a month later and I’m wearing the same outfit I wore the night we met.  This was the first trip we went on together.  It was a day trip to Santa Clara and we drove with another friend who took the picture.  I have carried this picture with me in my car ever since I got it developed (back in the day before digital pictures!).  You can tell from the scratches and wear that this photo has been a lot of places with me.  I used to keep it on the flip side of my visor and every time I would pull it down to block the sun I’d smile because there was that very happy moment in time looking right back at me.  These days I keep it in the center console and whenever I reach in for my ipod, there it is.  Even when we were broken up for a time, I kept it there, as a token of luck in hopes we would get back together.  Obviously we did.

Ten years together.  The love of my life, the father of my daughter, my best friend and constant champion.  I love you!  Sincerely, FRO me to you.

Three Reasons I Love The Glamorous Life Association

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I’m about to rant and rave over a website I’ve been following for a few months now.  I had the pleasure of meeting Marcy, chief beautician and membership chairwoman at The Glamorous Life Association at the KCET taping of A Place of Our Own a couple months back.  I admire her wit, her humor, her sophistocated yet homey way of doing things.  She’s a mom, but not just any mom.  She’s a cool mom with a wicked sense of humor.

So anyway, Marcy is giving away a Kodak printer and I want to enter the contest to win it so I gotta make a post to get double points on the entry.  I figured I’d stroke the ol’ ego while I was at it and maybe I’d get some uber-love.  No?  Well, it was worth a shot. 

If you want to try to win the printer too, go to The Glamorous Life Association and follow all the directions.  And while you are at it, you can follow me on Twitter!  I’ve been there for a couple years.  My first tweet was on March 28, 2007 and was “ignoring the Howard Stern show that John is watching.”  Since then I’ve made a whopping 22 more posts!  Try not to fall asleep reading the history, I know it’s extensive…

That’s all for now, back to your regularly scheduled day.

Those three little words

Posted in Melody by

This morning, Melody was awake and calling for me, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy,” in a little sing-song voice.  Dad was up, I was in bed, very tired.

I heard Dad talking to Melody in her room, and what I heard was so sweet, so special, it really made my heart swell with love for this family of mine!

Dad said to Melody “Mommy is tired, so we’re going to let Mommy sleep.”

Why do I do this?

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This is Melody’s website as you know, but I have really taken it over as a general forum and blog for all my thoughts, not necessarily limited to Melody.  I’m not sure how it evolved this way, maybe one day I felt like I had something to say that was related to Melody in the most remote way, or I hadn’t updated the site in ages and felt like I should put something new up here.  I can’t really remember, but I’ve been asking myself the question lately “why do I do this?” when I don’t often write about Melody and her exploits.

I think I finally have the answer.  It’s taken me a while because I’m a thinker, not a spontaneous, clever and quick-thinking person.  Well, I’m clever, but I have to think about my cleverness and plot when I can use some trick of wit on the unsuspecting.  Melody’s a good candidate here because she doesn’t understand when my clever jokes fall flat.  She just laughs at me regardless of the level of real comedy and that boosts my ego somewhat.  Someone asked me one time what superhero power I’d like to have and my response was “I’d be able to go back in time 5 minutes and say that funny thing I thought about 5 minutes after the moment passed.” 

So after long deliberation – I think Dad asked me why I blog about nothing in particular at least three or four months ago while suggesting I get my own blog, hint hint – I have come to the conclusion that I blog here on Melody’s site because I want her to know what was going on in her life while she was growing up.  I’d love to have a window onto my mother and father’s lives as children, maybe even just to see the family dynamics as they were growing up.  I’ve heard lots of stories about Gram and Grandpa George and what they were like, and I have seen lots of pictures of them, but I didn’t know them very well, even though I wanted to know them.  They were older and lived 3000 miles away from us, so Auntie Kat and I didn’t have the luxury of just dropping in for the afternoon on Saturday like Melody does with her grandparents.  I feel the same about Grammie Hennie and Grandpa Jim (who was my Dad’s stepdad, I didn’t ever meet Grampie at all).  I loved visiting with them and they lived a little longer so I was able to know them as an adult, but still, I didn’t know them as well as I’d like to have.  I don’t know what they were like as parents, neighbors, aunts and uncles, friends.  I don’t know if my parents were model children or hell raisers.  I don’t know what their school experiences were really like, only the few things they might have shared with me, and I don’t know what their thoughts were as new parents in the late 60s.  Apply this to all my aunts & uncles, cousins and other relatives, and you might get the picture.  We live on the left coast while the rest of our family is on the East coast (like how I didn’t call it the “right” coast, ha ha?).

And that is why I blog here and not necessarily about Melody all the time.  I want Melody to have this record of what her parents and family were thinking, feeling and doing while she was growing up.  My mom suggested that I print these blogs out for Melody and I will at some point.  Currently we have it backed up regularly, so there’s no fear of losing anything in a disaster of electronic proportions.  Moreso, I have always been a bit introspective, thinking and writing is a great outlet for me.  I can go back over what I write and change it around and tweak it until it feels perfect to me, something I can’t do verbally. 

This is my legacy for Melody: a record of her mother’s thoughts and activities, usually involving Melody, with love and hope and all the crazy mixed up fears and worries of motherhood all rolled in for good measure. 

Thanks for reading!

When in doubt, listen to your mother!

Posted in Misc by

For over a week now, I have been sick, down with a nasty cough, sore throat, congestion and fatigue like I haven’t had since I was in high school.  It’s like a mini version of mono.  When I had been home sick for 4 days, my mother asked me “have you gone to the doctor?” and of course I said “no.” You see, like so many others, I figured I had a bad cold.  I missed four days of work, and then on Saturday started to feel a lot better.  Through the week, Melody was sick off and on; one day fine, the next coughing & hacking, the next fine, the next running a fever.  On Saturday she seemed to be feeling better too.  

So we went to a birthday party with 20 kids and their parents.  I know, I know.

By Monday, I was back to work, but Melody was doing really poorly and I took off work to take her to the doctor and get some additional rest myself. Because of course, I was starting to not feel great again.  Melody has an ear & throat infection.  My husband said “since you have the same symptoms, don’t you think it’s possible you both have the same thing?”  But I ignored him like any good wife does.

To cut this story short, I finally went to the doctor today after working only partial days this week so far.  I have really got to get better!  I now have SIX prescriptions to deal with the virus (cold) that is in my throat and the sinus infection in my ears and nose.  

I should have just listened to my mother in the first place!

Growing up OC – dads can be so cool

Posted in Growing Up OC, Misc by

Mom has been sick all week, so today we have a post from guest-blogger Auntie Kathy.

Remember That Song?

by Auntie Kat

It’s funny how things jog your memory.  I was sitting at my computer over the weekend listening to music and working on stuff when this John Denver song came on and I though “Huh, I haven’t heard that in ages”.  Then I thought about the first time I heard it.  The song is Calypso.  He wrote it for Jacques Cousteau about his research ship.  I remember there was a John Denver special on television.  We were taping the songs off the t.v. with the tape recorder.  For some reason it didn’t record.  Now this was when you had to put the mike up to the t.v. and push play/record on the tape player and do everything yourself.  There was no DVR, no Tivo, no VCR.  Your antenna was all you had for reception.  Cable and satellite were the things of Star Trek.  Well, our dad was on business travel that week and when we talked to him on the phone I told him how disappointed I was that the songs didn’t record.  When he came home he had a John Denver tape for me of the album Spirit.  Calypso wasn’t on the album but I enjoyed it just the same.

One thing I remember about the show was that John needed a prescription diving mask.  He wore Coke bottle glasses.  He kept saying ‘FAR OUT!’ about everything under the water.  Even in the mid ‘70s that was a bit dated.  I also liked listening to Jacques Cousteau talk.  He was soft spoken and had an accent.  What song do you remember and why?

 

We are back to baking and out for fun!

Posted in Baking, Melody, Misc by

Well, we are signed up for Round 7 of the Baking Gals cookie love fest!  Our soldier this round is Sgt Richard Cedeno, currently on his third deployment to Iraq.  Sgt Cedeno is a fuel supply specialist, and has been in the Army since March ’03.  He has a wife and son here in the states who miss him very very much!  On deck for Sgt Cedeno to receive from us are:

Chocolate Pecan cookies

Easter egg shaped sugar cookies

Munchie Dudes (seasoned crackers)

Altoids and various mints & gum from Trader Joes

Smarties (monster package)

We will be shipping next week and hope that our treats reach Sgt Cedeno safe and sound with huge support from the U.S. of A.  It’s not too late to sign up to bake if you are interested.  Please visit BakingGals.com to learn more; I am on Team Baking For Our Troops. Currently it’s in the 90s in Iraq, so if you join up, please keep in mind that chocolate chips will melt as the temps rise.

Next!  This coming weekend is the Prado Regional Park Civil War event sponsored by the Southern California Civil War Association.  All proceeds from the event go to the Chino Boy Scouts.  Last year we attended the event and I was delighted to see the numerous boy scouts in attendance just absorbing everything.  The way the map reads this year, there should be some Girl Scouts in attendance.  I hope we will meet up with some of these young ladies and help them to understand the history leading up to their current freedoms.  Here’s a cute picture of Melody last year at the event, worn out and sleeping in her wagon, and another with orange juice and watermelon spilled down her white dress.  Yes, it’s white for a reason…bleach!

           

Finally, we have relaunched our reenacting website, redesigned and ready for the future.  Please visit us at Past Periods Press for specific information on the comings and goings of Mrs Marvel, Mrs Brewer and Mrs Marshall (aka Mom, Auntie and Miss Pauline).