Family
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My Grandma
I am a very fortunate person, in that I still have both of my Grandmothers. I don’t know a lot of 40 year olds who can say that, and I suspect that most of those that do, count themselves as lucky as well. My Grandma Wells is the one I told you about last month, she of the cole slaw and turning 90 and all. She is my father’s mother. The beautiful woman in this picture is my Grandma Ward, who is my mother’s mother. This picture was taken at the time of her marriage, when she was only 18 years old. My Grandma Ward is much in my thoughts…
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Halloween Candy
I was at the grocery store the other day, and passed by the piles and piles of fun sized candy, ready to be bought a bit too early, brought home and eaten, and for the eaters of said candy to come back and buy some more. I was thinking about how nice a tiny little Baby Ruth would taste, or maybe an Almond Joy. I’m looking forward to after Halloween, when our ‘candy cow’ is full of yummy candy. Most of it will be from Maya’s trick or treating, and some will be the leftovers from our failure to get anyone to come this far back into a little condo…
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Looking Good
LaLuna has two wonderful daughters, Big Sis and Chee. In so many families, each person has a role, i.e., “The pretty one”, “The smart one”, “The funny one”…in this case, they are both pretty, smart, talented, and funny, so she’s obviously doing something right. Chee has always been interested in fashion…when she was little, she used to like to talk to me about my clothes…”Auntie J, I like your shoes…” that kind of thing. She used to like showing people her newest outfit, and she would come out and say, “This is how I look.” Just matter of fact, satisfied and happy with her appearance. I wish that confidence could…
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My Wise Child
I’m sad, because I lost one of my favorite earrings the other day. They were little gold hoops, but with a delicate pattern etched into the gold. My bestest friend, Rosemary, gave them to me a few years ago. I’ve worn them pretty much every day. They had a little click attachment on the back. Well, on Sunday, I was wearing them, and I lay down to take a nap. I forgot to take off my earring when I did so. When I woke up, we went to the shops to get a few tops for our growing girl. We walked all over Old Navy and the mall. I came…
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Yummy Rice Recipe
I posted a recipe last Sunday, for a vegetarian dish. Today I’m going to post a recipe for Saffron-Orange Rice, which is VERY yummy. My step-mom makes this recipe. I know it’s from a cookbook, but I don’t know which one. I’ve had it on previous trips to Portland, but I never thought to make it for Ted, because he’s not a fan of basmati rice AND he thinks dried fruit is devil food AND he’s not generally thrilled by nuts either. So I was excited when he raved about this dish, and said he would like to have it again. Right away, I emailed my step-mom for the recipe.…
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Happy Birthday, Grandma Wells!
Today is my Grandma Wells’ 90th Birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandma! I wish you were computer savvy, so you could read this, but maybe I’ll just print it up and mail it to you. I thought, since Grandma’s birthday is on a Thursday this year, I’d do 13 Things You Should Know About My Grandma. 1. She makes some tasty coleslaw. 2. She worked full time, graveyard shift, at the Gallo Bottling Plant until she was 84 years old. She was a bookkeeper for them. 3. She also makes some yummy lima beans. (The trick is to buy dried lima beans, and soak them in chicken broth instead of water, before…
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Grandpa
Saturday, we were driving around in the car, listening to the radio, and my perhaps favorite new song came on: “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”, by Panic! at the Disco. Why do I like this song so much? Because, in addition to a catchy pop tune, it reminds me of my Grandpa. Here are the lyrics: I’d chime in with a “Haven’t you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door?!” No, it’s much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality. I had to laugh, because that “Haven’t you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door?!” sounded JUST like something he would…
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My Horse Picture
When I was maybe 7 or 8 years old, my mom worked as both a Montessori school teacher, and because we all know how well teaching pays (esp a private school), she also worked at a local restaurant. The restaurant, as I remember it, was next door to a small art gallery, where they sold paintings by local artists. I’m not sure how we ended up going inside the gallery, but we did, and I fell in love with one of the paintings. It was of two horses, running in a field, and it was painted on a piece of wood. My love of horses knew no bounds, and this…
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Birth Story
Black Belt Mama has a second blog, called Birth Story, where you can tell the story of the birth of your child if you want to. I wrote about Maya’s birth there awhile ago, and my mom just wrote about my birth. If you’re so inclined, go check it out. 😉 (My mom’s birth, Lilith Joycelyn, and my brother’s birth, Richard Roland, are also there. Which led Maya to wonder if her Granny might write the story of my Grandma’s birth as well.)
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The Post Where I Literally Murder my Readers with Boredom…
This was one of those weekends where you are so very busy, and you take a peek at the activities that are planned, and you think, if I had no child, this would be a COMPLETELY different weekend. Not better. Not worse. Different. Friday, I took the day off of work, and chaperoned Maya’s class to the Monet Exhibit at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. All I can say is, WOW. There are some paintings that just look…DIFFERENT…in real life. I’ve seen pictures of Monet’s Japanese bridge with waterlillies for as long as I can remember. On posters, greeting cards, whatever. It’s background noise for the eyes. Then,…
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Heads Up
I’ve told you once before about my cousin, Tony, who is in prison, convicted of a murder that, tragically, he did commit. Tony has been in prison now for just over 30 years, and is a very different person than he was back then. Tony’s mom, my Aunt Lori, recently began reading my blog, and had emailed me to ask if I might print and mail Tony the 3 part story about when I met my father for the first time. I did so, and wrote him a letter as well. Upon returning from our vacation in Oregon last Monday, I found a letter from Tony, including some lovely pictures…
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Nietzsche
For those of you who read my blog, but maybe not Ted’s or Lura’s, I’m sorry to tell you that I lost my dog-in-law on Tuesday. (that sounds like she was my dog…she was my mother-in-law’s dog, but not her dog-in-law, or Ted’s dog-in-law, so that’s why I phrased it that way.) Nietzsche was a very good girl, the kind of dog who you dog-sit, and then think, “hmmm….maybe we should get a dog,” which is how we ended up with Genevieve. Nietzsche, you will be dearly missed. You’re such a good girl, and I’m so sorry that we didn’t get to say good bye to you. Don’t worry, either…
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Sunday Morning Thoughts…
I just got up, looking at a few blogs, and the first two I came to had some interesting coincidences… 1st, my mom’s blog talked about the sexualization of children, about how dressing young girls in adult’s clothing, and visa versa, is dangerous because it sends very confusing messages to the world. This reminded me of when I was a girl, and I wanted to get my ears pierced…I wasn’t allowed, because my mom said that earrings were a symbol of being a certain age and maturity, and so I didn’t get them done until I was 16. I’ve put a lot of thought into when to allow Maya to…
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Uh Oh…
I just saw this article. If signed, children under 8 need to ride in a booster seat, and children under 12 need to ride in the back seat. What’s the big deal? Well, Maya’s been riding in the front seat for a little while now…the Volvo doesn’t have any airbags (too old), and on the Camry, we have the passenger seat pushed all of the way back. Ted reasoned that many small adults are in the front seat, so she would be OK. I read some reports that said that there is no proof that kids who have been harmed by passenger side airbags in the front seat were ‘properly…
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Ode to Forest Park
When we go to Portland, Maya’s favorite thing to do is to hike in Forest Park. She told me that Forest Park is her favorite place on earth. This most recent trip was no exception, and happily, Ted was able to join us this time, and I think he may be hooked as well. For Maya and I to enjoy hiking is definitely saying something, because we are two girls who do NOT like to get hot and sweaty. Sadly, there is almost no way to hike around here without getting hot and sweaty, because there are simply not enough trees to keep you shaded. So the sun is beating…