Category Archives: Misc

I should start my own handyman business!

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If you have ever seen any of my home repairs, you are laughing at the idea that I will start a handyman business. I’m capable of very minor repairs, but installing baby gates resulted in major damage to two walls and the newell post of our stairs. You could say I know just enough to be dangerous.

Unfortunately, the yahoo who built the additions on our house only knew a little bit more than me, it seems. My dad and I built shelves in Melody’s bedroom, but the recess is SO out of square we practically have trapezoid shaped shelves. I had a new bifold door installed on our linen closet with a similar reaction from the installer – it’s very out of square. While that is normal everything seems a bit more out of square in our house than any other house I’ve lived in.  How hard is it to use a plumb bob and a level in construction? Everything seems to be a little more wonky that it ought to be. As another example, all the outlets were installed upside down and in different colors – black, beige and white. It was just lazy construction work I think.

Our upstairs bathroom was decked out in hideous simply gorgeous pink tile and oak accents, including the toilet. Very 80s. We have long thought that we would like to change out the wooden toilet seat, but it recently became a requirement as the toilet seat broke. Keep your snarky comments to yourself, people. Now I’m all for recreating the past, but splinters in my patoot just isn’t something I want to experience! My friend suggested these toilet seats that have a child seat that folds down onto the regular seat, so I went and got one. It eliminates the padded seat thingy for Melody. I’ve changed out the toilet seat on other toilets. I’m a capable woman. Piece of cake, right?

Please refer to paragraph two here. Oh, and just for those of you who don’t know, a toilet seat is attached to your toilet with a couple plastic or nylon nuts that screw up against the underside of the base of the bowl. Not too difficult.

These little buggers were screwed on so tightly the plastic had actually conformed to the shape of the bowl underside AND was sealed ad infenitum in perpetuity world without end with a dab of silicon caulk. I was afraid, very afraid, that I would have to run for the downstairs every morning if I could not get that seat off there. I even called my dad because of course the screws themselves were rusted to the fixture. What a mess.

Well, it took me two days of dogged determination, motivated by a desire not to sit down on the seatless bowl in the middle of the night, but I got that yucky old wooden toilet seat removed. I actually had to take a safety cutter, cut away the sides of the plastic nut, all while turned upside down with my head wedged between the bowl and the wall, and then using sheer will and brute force pull the screw/nut combo up through the hole.

My new toilet seat is lovely.

Not a SkyWatch submission, but…

Posted in Misc, Pictures by

…I wanted to share it none the less. I don’t think my pictures are good enough yet for SkyWatch Friday, which is a global link-up every Friday featuring the skies of the world. If you like pretty skylines, check them out here.

Thursday last week, a storm was rolling in to bring us some more rain. As I drove home, the first clouds were making their way across Orange County, and the sun was obscured, yet still shining brightly. I took a couple photos with my phone – we were in the “stop” phase of stop-and-go traffic, don’t worry – and here is the best shot.

Week in review

Posted in Baking, Melody, Misc by

Last week was eventful and the upcoming week is shaping up to be busy as well. It’s the way life speeds by that gets me every time!

In the last week, we celebrated Auntie’s birthday, she and I went to a Victorian tea (as the Victorians), we found out our dog is fat, John and Melody finished watching all the back episodes of Kimba, we finalized the details for Melody’s birthday party, I cooked a delicious Cheddar Chicken Soup, Nano had 3 teeth pulled, Melody is increasingly stubborn about potty training, John worked about a million hours, we cleaned the spare room enough that it will soon be a guest room, and I baked for our latest soldier through Baking Gals.  Whew!

 

My company has announced a “get fit” program and a bunch of us at work have been walking during our lunch breaks. It’s great and I really felt it the days we didn’t walk due to rain. It’s also fortuitous for Nano because he needs to lose 2 pounds. He’s only 11 pounds but he should be 9. My little doggy is fat, lol. However, it’s more serious than that. He has heart disease and something called a collapsing trachea, which causes him to cough a lot. The doctor thinks that the extra fat around his neck is pressing on his trachea and causing breathing troubles. Nothing to joke about, the dog gets less food and more walks. On top of that, poor guy had to have three molars pulled. Ouchie!

Melody’s birthday is coming up next weekend, and pretty much every day, she asks “is it my birthday today!?” with such a look of excitement and eager joy that I almost want to tell her that it is her birthday, lol. I really can’t wait until Saturday to be able to tell her “yes, Melody, today is your birthday!” We are planning a bouce house (weather forecast is sunny), friends, food, and a Tinkerbell cake. Thursday I will be taking her and some of her daycare buddies to the Santa Ana Zoo, along with Rhonda our babysitter. I’m really looking forward to it!

This morning, she was tired and did not want to get out of bed. She lay there watching as I was gathering clothes for her. She then told me “Mommy, I have a headache. When someone has a headache they have to rest and stay in bed.” I am so not looking forward to her trying to get out of going to school! I can only conclude she got this idea of staying in bed from me, since a couple weekends ago I had a terrible migraine and stayed in bed half the day..

During some of our cleaning of our spare room, I was forced to deal with my old records. You remember those things…vinyl, big pictures on the jackets, lyrics on the inside sleeve? Yeah, so back in the late 80s and early 90s, I collected Depeche Mode records. Specifically I was addicted to British and West German imports. I’d play them once (maybe) to record the music onto a tape and then never play them again. The West German ones were all colored vinyl, beautiful royal blue, neon orange, lemon yellow. I carefully stored them in plastic sleeves to protect the jackets, and never stored them in a garage or attic. Well, this paid off – figuratively and hopefully literally! I was about to send them to Goodwill when I decided to Google “who buys Depeche Mode records” and found a dealer in England. They have made me an offer for some of these records, and that should help out a bit toward my trip to Tennessee in April.

Yowza, how could I have forgotten to mention that I booked our trip to Knoxville?? Melody and I will be visiting the Hall family at the end of April! It will be Melody’s first trip on an airplane; in fact, her first trip anywhere. John of course offered to pay to have Tara come here, but I really want to go there, ha ha. I will even get the chance to see a real Civil War battlefield, AND go to Dollywood! Melody tells me “Mommy, we are going to Hollywood with Cassidy!”

This past weekend we baked for our latest soldier, CPT Steven Wisniewski. CPT Wisniewski is an Army pilot flying Apache helicopters in northern Iraq. He’s young, having graduated from high school in 2001, where he participated in football, wrestling and track. He also loved the arts, participating in the school choir and drama group, National Honor Society, Latin and Spanish clubs. To balance that, he earned his Eagle Scout in Troop 101 in Ohio. CPT Wisniewski went on to Ohio State University where he earned his degree in Engineering with an emphasis on Industrial Design & Systems Engineering. Wow. For this very worthy soldier, we made Cinnabon cookies, merengues, and heart shaped oreos. I hope to get in one more batch of white chocolate chip cranberry cookies and ship this all before the weekend. It won’t reach him by Valentine’s Day, but I hope he will know we are thinking of him and wishing him and his buddies a safe and happy Valentine’s Day.

CPL Wisniewski reminds me a little bit of my cousin George. He has the same zest for life, a few of the same interests – choir, flying, sports – and was also from Ohio. Every part of my being asks that George watch out over this young soldier and keep him safe.

We have been doing a lot of cleaning, getting rid of, donating. One group that has gotten all of our gently used baby gear is a support group for the families of deployed Marines out of Camp Pendleton. I recently received a sweet thank you note from a young lady who took a bus from Corona to Irvine in order to collect my old Pack N Play and high chair. The families of our deployed military suffer so much, it makes my heart break. Having seen some of my friends go through the struggles of being wives of deployed military, I am happy to give up the things we don’t need to someone who needs them so much. The support group is like a Goodwill, but the family pays nothing. If you find it in your heart to make a donation to any organization that helps out like this, please consider it. It makes a big difference!

I’ll call this one "OC Reality vs TV Reality"

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First let me preface this with “I am not writing about some so-called housewives who have a TV show and purport themselves to be real by any definition of the word.”

So, one of my new favorite TV shows is called Criminal Minds. Those of you who know me well will be surprised because I usually eschew “fake” crime shows. I’m more of a First 48 girl, myself, but this show is somehow enjoyable. I also used to love Profiler, which was basically the same premise. Criminal Minds is about a team of FBI Behavior Analisis Unit (BAU) profilers who save the day almost every episode. The writers are smart enough to have them win almost all the time, but still have room for humility. I record the show on our DVR and watch three or four in a row whenever I can.

During a recent marathon, one episode made me laugh right out loud for it’s complete lack of understanding of Orange County and just how we do things here. The storyline went like this “normal middle aged father of three completely loses his mind after the death of his child and starts shooting blond women driving luxury cars, at random locations on Orange County freeways.” Now, wanting to annihilate a snooty lady in her luxury car cutting me off on a freeway is something I can totally relate to, but here’s where it got really funny.

The guy would drive around looking for construction zones on the freeway, and drive through them repeatedly until someone meeting his requirements (snooty blonde in a luxury car), cut him off. He would then follow her and blast her with a sawed off through the window, resulting in her death. Anyone who has lived in Orange County for more than thirty seconds knows there are far too many snooty blonde women in luxury cars out there to necessitate driving through a construction zone repeatedly before one cuts you off. That’s just a result of the socio-economic make up of the OC. Secondly, have they seen the back-up created by these merged lanes?  It would take him hours and hours to drive through repeadtedly and anyone in OC knows that is almost more annoying than getting cut off.  Finally, in order to catch this guy, they closed down all the construction areas that required a lane merge except one. In all of OC. Really? Have they even noticed that construction in OC is occurring on almost every freeway and highway and major thoroughfare in existence in our fair county? AND, how could they have gotten CalTrans to respond in record time, pulling crews and rearranging traffic patterns in a matter of hours? Realizing this is just a TV show with fake FBI members and even with suspension of disbelief, I just cannot buy CalTrans doing anything in a matter of hours, as opposed to the standard matter of weeks.

As testimony to how messed up OC freeways are, the freeway chase scenes were actually shot in Long Beach. Obviously, LA County must have a better relationship with film makers, and also the ability to close down lanes of traffic quickly to facilitate filming, and aprehension of violent but normal looking serial freeway shooters.

However, I’ll grant that this scenario is more interesting than “normal middle aged father of three completely loses his mind driving in OC rush hour on the 405 creeping along at 10 mph” and yeah, that chase scene would be pretty boring, although I’d love to see some CHiPs running along side a car in rush hour to catch the bad guy. But that’s a story for Reno 911.

Our Deepest Thanks

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Today is Veteran’s Day. Days like today mean more than light traffic on the freeway, no school, mail or banking, although it seems some people only look at it that way. This is a tradition that started with a great relief that the War to End All Wars was over. That is certainly reason to celebrate! You might have heard of Armistice Day, or maybe not. Let’s learn a little bit about this holiday that we don’t really celebrate any more.

World War 1 was raging in Europe since 1914 and America had become involved in April 1917. At the time it was referred to as The Great War, and really, it was a great and terrible war with battle tactics that shock our senses still today. Trench warfare was bloody and almost certainly fatal to participants. Initially, America had adopted a policy of neutrality, both militarily and in terms of ongoing trade and finance. The President at the time, Woodrow Wilson, was seen as a peacemaker who sought treaties and peaceful resolution to the war on several occasions. Up until Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917, he was seen to have given every effort to keep America safe while helping to broker peace in Europe. Within the first three months of 1917, seven American merchant ships had been sunk and Germany was caught trying to incite Mexico to join with them against America. Wilson and Congress had had enough, and in April 1917 war was declared.

In just over one year, the United States sent almost five million men to war in Europe. Of those, we lost 116,516 and over 200,000 were wounded but not mortally. When you factor in all military and civilian casualties during the course of the war there were 16 million deaths and 21 million injured. Just to put that into perspective, the total number of dead is equal to twice the modern population of New York City.

America’s entry into World War 1 is often seen as the catalyst to bringing the war to an end. The Allies and the Germans were tired. They had been fighting since 1914. Germany was fighting on multiple fronts and the surge of fresh troops from America overwhelmed them. In 1918, an Armistice was announced to take place at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – November 11 at 11 a.m.

Soldiers of the 353rd Infantry near a church at Stenay, Meuse in France, wait for the end of hostilities. This photo was taken at 10:58 a.m., on November 11, 1918, two minutes before the armistice ending World War I went into effect – image from the US Department of Veterans Affairs

The Treaty of Versailles was signed in June 1918, bringing the Great War to an end.

In 1919 the first Armistice Day was proclaimed by Woodrow Wilson, and he stated “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.” The day was intended to be a reflection on all that had been lost to restore peace in the world. Through the 1920s, these celebrations were carried out with great success and included the dedication of a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetary on November 11, 1921. By the end of the decade, Armistice Day had been proclaimed a state holiday in most states and was Federally recognized. By 1938, it was established as a holiday for Federal employees, and most states followed suit.

By 1954, the number of veterans in America had swelled to the hundreds of thousands due to World War II and the Korean War, and President Eisenhower passed legislation changing Armistice Day to Veteran’s Day so as to include all veterans of all wars.

There has been a little fiddling with the date of observance over the years, but tradition kept bringing it back to November 11th, regardless of what day of the week it fell.

The holiday is meant to be a time to recognize our great heros at home and work toward peace abroad. So, today, if you can find it in your heart, please thank a veteran for all they have done for our great country and the preservation of peace in the world.

Sources: US Department of Veterans Affairs, The History of Veteran’s Day

What IS in a name?

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When we were deciding names for our daughter, we agonized over the decision. We wanted to be sure to select a name that would be distinctive and cute, traditional but a little bit different. Something that would coordinate with our last name nicely and not spell a bad word in its initials. Since we named her Melody, two more friends have named their daughters Melody. Choosing a child’s name is really a difficult decision for some parents. It can have repercussions through grade school if it’s weird or unusual – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called Aunt Martha by my peers! – and really, I don’t get the strange spellings we are seeing these days. I joked with Tara that we could spell my daughter’s name Melo’Dee. It was a joke though, don’t worry!

The middle name for some people is just as important. We settled on Rae, simply because we wanted to honor her grandfather Ray who will never have the joy of knowing her. Other old family names have been used in my family. John’s family seems to go with names new to the family. My friend really wanted to name her son Joaquin but her husband objected so that fell to the middle name.

Coordinating the first and middle names is difficult enough, but you have to look at how it all goes with the last name. You don’t want to wind up with a funny word spelled out in initials! One of the names we considered was Emilie (an old family name) and the middle name Grace, but John pointed out her initials would be EGG. Off went those names to the recycle bin. Rosemary Angela Gibbons? Nope! Henrietta Alice Gibbons? Uh, no. Francis Andrea Gibbons? Never! You get the picture.

Today I read an article expressing outrage – outrage I say! – that women change their last name upon marriage. Wait, back up a second…what? The author was seriously irritated that women give up their identity when they change their names after marriage. I really need to think about this, because personally I never thought of my last name as my identity, or even that changing it would change me. I always figured that when I got married, the act of combining my life with another person would be the big change. My name change is my badge of pride in being the wife of who I am married to! Our daughter shares our name too, and we are a family identified on paper by that name.

But again, that doesn’t make us who we are, does it? It’s not like we are the bin Laden family – that poor family is forever linked to Enemy #1, just like the Hitlers were. As a mere peon, doesn’t what I do in my life shape who I am rather than a name?

The article mentioned things like “would you want to listen to songs by Barbara Brolin? (Barbara Streisand)” Well, personally no, because I don’t care for her, but aside from that, I think this is a poor example. A person with an established media name becomes that commodity. If Barbara Streisand had really become famous as Barbara Apple Pie, we’d find that the norm and Barbara Streisand the tongue twister. It’s rare for a celebrity to change their name after marriage because it’s their trademark – and many times it isn’t their “real” name anyway, lending creedence to the trademark concept in the first place. Who wants to buy records by John Deutchendorf? Well, no one, but they sure lined up to buy them from John Denver, and I’m pretty sure the masses were not really interested in going to see Stanley Eisen front a band, but the minute he walks out on stage with a big black star painted over one eye, everyone knows Paul Stanley of KISS.

So, who we are…is it defined by our names? Or by how we live our lives? Or by the lessons we learn and teach?

If you ask me, I don’t think changing my name caused me to give up my identity. My name doesn’t make me, the same as my career or my choice of home town do not make me.

I make me who I am.

BlogCrush Meets the Matador

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Cantina, that is…

A while back I became involved in yet another new activity that, for me, has the potential of opening some doors of opportunity. My pal Suzanne Broughton invited me to join BlogCrush – could we call it a support group for bloggers? – which has monthly get togethers and helps us Orange County bloggers network, make friends, grow businesses, and have a lot of fun.

Last night, the BlogCrush descended on the Matador Cantina in downtown Fullerton, thanks to Suzanne and Marcy Massura, who organized the event. I went, I tasted the fabulous queso fundido, I collected business cards of new acquaintences, I had a great time! As a special bonus, Melody and Dad had a great time at home, too.

In addition to seeing some previous acquaintences – Suzanne, Marcy, Kirsten Wright, and Roxanne Hack – it was great to meet Lamia of Lamia, Priscilla of Top Mom Blog, Lisa of Life Illustrated, Michele of Play Parks Central, Kara Noel of Eli’s Lids, Laura of If Not Now, When, and Dawn of Spontaneous Clapping!

The cantina also offered us a sampling of their appetizers, we met the owners of the restaurant and also the head chef, David, and some enjoyed the specialty drinks – mango martini and jalapeno martini. I enjoyed the company of other bloggers and seeing the nail-biter ending of the Angel game with fellow fan Roxanne. I recommend the queso fundido, it’s unbelievable! I’d like a bowl and a spoon, please.

The Matador Cantina is in downtown Fullerton in a renovated building packed with charm and atmosphere. They offer Saturday brunch as well as Sunday brunch, and I expect I’ll be taking friends and family back for more. Hope you will too!

A truly wonderful moment

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This past Saturday found us at Calico Ghost Town for the 47th Annual Calico Days event. Kathy, Melody and I went to the Lane House & Museum and displayed family heirlooms – a 100+ year old infant gown worn my my Grandpa George in 1892, a tiny silk coat made for my father in 1932, and a tatted lace collar made by our Great Grand Uncle John Hart. Don’t worry, these items are all safely inside display cases! Kathy and I took turns with Melody, taking her through the town off to do really fun things like ride an historic stagecoach, ride the Calico train, play in a hay bale, share an ice cream and play with the hobby horse she got at the Mercantile. With that, she galloped around shouting “yee haw, ride ’em cowboy!” Folks thought it was hilarious. She is definitely not inhibited!

Every year at Calico Days there is a parade featuring all sorts of characters, drill teams, the stagecoach, mule teams, the like. Well, this year the parade was started by a corps of United States Veterans from the Veterans Home in Barstow. All these fellows were in motorized wheel chairs so they could make the long trek up hill and then back down! I had a perfect spot for watching the parade, right up at the front and by a lamp post that is somewhat out into the street. Another woman was there taking pictures like me. As those veterans came up to us, she said “I feel like someone should be singing.” 

Completely spontaneously, she and I both started singing God Bless America. Our voices were paired perfectly, we both were unafraid, our song carried over all the sounds of the crowd. A hush fell as those brave heros approached us, and the song ended right as the last of their group passed us. 

I am not the type to perform in front of a crowd, but the looks in their eyes as we serenaded them was truly a wonderful moment that I will cherish forever!

Marching Thru History Exposition Was Awesome!

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This past weekend we went out to the Marching Thru History Exposition in Chino. What a great event! Military and historical groups from ancient times until recent history were represented by fantastic camps, amazing clothing, pageantry, pomp and circumstance, and weapons displays. We saw Roman Legions, a real-live knight in shining armor, Celts, German Landsknechts, English Civil War archers, American Revolution – both sides, War of 1812, Spanish-American War, American Civil War, Great War aka WW1, both Germans and Americans, New Zealanders, British India troops, World War 2 American GIs and military hospitals, Japanese WW2 officers, Philippine troops, Korean War and Vietnam War camps and soldiers. There were also numerous American Vets who were honored throughout the weekend.

We were camped in the American Frontier town and it was great to see familiar faces – Widow Peters, the Coffeys, the Deedees – as well as make new friends with the Mule Skinners, Seventh Calvary, and the Wayward Sisters. Lisa Taylor, the organizer for our area, did a great job at making everyone feel welcome and important. It was a lot more busy for us because traffic flow was more pronounced than at past events. We spent the days piecing a quilt, tatting, and knitting, and on Sunday hosted a tea party with the Captain and Sergeant of the Seventh Calvary. Now, that was an experience!

If you missed it this time, you can see it again on the weekend after Independence Day next year at Old Fort MacArthur Days. The picture above is of Mrs Bronner of the War Horse & Militaria Heritage Foundation. Click her picture to see more pictures from Marching Through History.

Next weekend we will be visiting Calico on Saturday for Calico Days! Check our the commercial here, you can see each of us for a split second if you don’t blink! 

Two Thousand One, Nine Eleven

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I can’t believe tomorrow is September 11th.

Today, I made a donation to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, in an amount that entitles me to a cobblestone. One small brick in the building of a memorial to one of the worst tragedies in American history. In the 8 years since this happened, a lot has been said and done to distract Americans from our outrage, our hurt, our grief and our fear. Today, let us be reminded of the actions of those on Flight 93, who said “Let’s roll.” Today, let us be reminded of not only those who died, but also what they lived for. This poem touches me every year and I hope it touches you too.

Two thousand one, nine eleven (2001-911)

by Paul Spreadbury

Two thousand  one, nine eleven,
three thousand plus arrive in heaven.
As they pass through the gate,
thousands more appear in wait
A bearded man with stovepipe hat
steps forward saying, “lets sit, lets chat”

They settle down in seats of clouds,
a man named Martin shouts out proud
“I have a dream!” and once he did
the newcomer said, “your dream still lives.”

Groups of soldiers in blue and gray
others in khaki, and green then  say
“we’re from Bull Run, Yorktown, the Maine”
the newcomer said, “you died not in vain.”

From a man on sticks one could hear
“the only thing we have to fear.”
The newcomer said, “we know the rest,
trust us sir, we’ve passed that test.”

“Courage doesn’t hide in caves
you can’t  bury freedom in a grave,”
The newcomers had heard this voice before
a distinct Yankee’s twang from Hyannisport shores.

A silence fell within the mist,
somehow the  newcomer knew that this
meant time had come for her to say
what was in the hearts of the five thousand plus that  day

“Back on earth, we wrote reports,
watched our children play in sports,
worked our gardens, sang our songs,
went to church and clipped coupons,
we smiled, we laughed, we cried, we fought
unlike you, great we’re not”

The tall man in the stovepipe hat
stood and  said, “don’t talk like that!
Look at your country, look and see
you died for freedom, just like me”

Then, before them all appeared a scene
of rubbled streets and twisted  beams
death, destruction, smoke and dust
and people working  just ’cause they must

Hauling ash, lifting stones,
knee deep in hell, but not alone
“Look! Blackman, whiteman, brownman, yellowman
side by side helping their fellow man!”

So said martin, as he watched the  scene
“even from nightmares, can be born a dream.”

Down below three firemen raised
the colors high into ashen haze.
The soldiers  above had seen it before
on Iwo Jima back in ’45.

The man on sticks studied everything closely,
then shared his perceptions on what he saw mostly
“I see pain, I see tears,
I see sorrow — but I don’t see fear.”

“You left behind husbands and wives
daughters and sons, and so many lives
are suffering now because of this wrong
but look very closely. You’re not really gone.

All of those people, even those who’ve never met you,
all of their lives, they’ll never forget you.
Don’t you see what has happened?
Don’t you see what you’ve done?
You’ve brought them together, together as one.

With that the man in the stovepipe hat said
“take my hand,” and from there he led
three thousand plus heroes, newcomers to heaven
on this day, two thousand one, nine eleven

* *  ***  * *

Former President George W. Bush gave an emotional and stirring speech in the week after this terrible attack, the most memorable quote being “We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.” Whether it be militarily or emotionally, we must never forget what happened on September 11, 2001.  We must never tire of it, we must never falter in finding meaning out of the destruction, and we must never fail in our compassion for the survivors.

 

You may also be interested in learning a little about the Patriot Guard Riders, whose motto is “Standing for those who stood for us.” These riders will attend military funerals in order to preserve a respectful means for families to mourn American heroes killed in the line of duty.