Emily Bear

This little one has been on the Ellen Degenres show a few times.
She is adorable! Just 6 years old. Composes her own stuff and plays without a music score.

check out one of the many YouTube videos, like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC24Z2kshrU&feature=related

Everyone's home again.................

I received emails from Australia and New Zealand today.

My cousin in OZ just got back from his trip to Borneo, he's spending his retirement well, traveling around, something he loves to do. Always so interested in history and geography. His daddy would be so proud! Glad he got back in one piece, back to his life as a caregiver to his mom, who is suffering from dementia and lives in a "home" across the street from him. He also came back to spend time with his kids and his ex wife, who is in the last stages of ovarian cancer...
Not a good time for that family, but they have each other...for what it's worth...
My thought are going to be with them...

My brother and his wife got back home to winter from their European trip. The trip of a lifetime for them. They spent a good deal of time with our parents and our sister and brother, and after that that traveled to Italy and Greece, and visited their daughter who lives in London...From the post cards and stories I understand they had a marvelous but very hot time. Good for them!

I heard that my parents were truly distraught after they left. They had to take the bus back to my sister's (where they were staying) after their last visit, and had to wait a while. It was so hard to stand there waiting for that bus, seeing my mom on the balcony, waving and waving...
My parents had a bad week, they are convinced they will never see them again...my sister told me they cried for days...

Their lives are coming to an end. They were independent for so long. They had their car, the one thing that kept them able to fend for themselves. But after my fathers last little glitch, and after the doctor told him "no more driving!!!" the car was history...

Now he uses his electric scooter. Come rain or come shine. Mom is getting one too, and I can just picture them zooming around the neighborhood on those. At least they can get their loaf of fresh bread every morning.

They have so very clearly come to a certain mile stone in their lives, and they know it!
Especially mom complains: we'll never go anywhere ever again!

By that she means, little trips out of town, little trips into town, my dad driving to his fishing hole...his stamp club...evening trips to Kijkduin; the beach....

I spoke with my sister yesterday and she is planning to borrow her son's car (a four door, larger car, as opposed to her little two door cookie jar) and take them to Schevingen for a day. They love the casino, and perhaps they can make a spin along the boulevard.

Of course at times like this I feel so far away, and also guilty not being able to do my share.
To carry the burden of taking care of these two. As positive as we all are, we are just waiting for the shoe to drop.
But...I know we all have our own little situations where we are needed. My brother in New Zealand with his mother in law, my cousin with his mom and his family, and lil ole me here in my little hole in the ground.

It's alright, we all have our script to the play, and we are all trying our best not to screw up our lines.

So today is Wednesday. My back is feeling a little better, at least I don't need the cane. Boo Boo will be here at noon, and I need to make a run for some groceries this morning.

It's already hot and muggy here, so it will be a Mumu day :>)

Have a wonderful day y'all!

SGMKJ!

PS

Bugs got the day off after all YooHoooo!!! She brought Boo by for an hour so she could still do some paperwork. But Boo was tired, so right now she is trying to take her nap.
Such a relief!
Hehe...nice surprise....for all of us.

Another brick in the wall........

...that's what I am listening to here...guess it's Pink Floyd day today...:>)

Well, I experienced a wonderful night of explosive diarrhea and rib cracking barfing Sunday night....probably something I ate...who knows...but it was pretty bad. Lasted from 1 o'clock until 7...then I was empty...

Stayed in bed all day yesterday, slept for most of that time...couldn't eat anything, but kept water and some baby yogurt down....slept through most of the night as well...woke up feeling a bit better...

so

I stripped the bed, started the laundry, made breakfast...ate some..had some coffee...helped Wheelie with his shower...
Then I just collapsed. My back is hurting, muscle spasms, and my ribs are sore, can't stand up straight...so I made the bed, kinda...without ironing the sheets...took a shower and I guess I'll spend today in bed once again....

Bugs managed to arrange other babysitting services. She had to organize some convoluted way...won't go into that, cause it's just too weird...but...Boo is being taken care of by Nanna and her cousin at Daddy's house...whew...

I hate putting her out like this, but on the other hand I am getting to the point where I don't give a hoot...

At least she called me to find out if she needed to do anything...(sure kiddo, come and vacuum, the floors need mopping and the windows need washing)

She might have to go to the store for me tomorrow, as she is working open to close today, her other manager is stuck in Kentucky somewhere with four busted tires on his truck (always the incredible excuses)...hopefully he will open to close tomorrow so she can have the day off and run some stuff for her poor sick mom....

Forgive me for sounding so cynical, but I am feeling rather sorry for myself.

Wheelie is being patient (what else is he going to do) and didn't mind me heating up a can of soup for him last night. I am sure it scares him witless not to have me functioning like my old self...

It's times like this I feel pretty damn lonely though....

SGMKJ!

The Park

Yesterday Boo-Boo and I went to the park in the morning. It's not very far from us, and it's really a lovely place to go for a walk.
Except for the gravel paths, it's very hard to push the stroller on them.
So we stay on the paved road.
We visited the ducks.
Those Canada Geese leave turds as big as from a German shepard, so you have to be very careful where you put your feet.

I'd been saving up our old bread to feed the fishies. Our fishies get fed by many, many people every day. Their most favorite food is catfood/kibbles. When you feed them those they create quite a feeding frenzy. The pond has mostly catfish (hence the catfood? hehe) and some of them are HUGE. I've seen some that are about 30 inches long and have ten inch heads.

There are turtles and a bunch of different geese and ducks. It' always entertaining.
Walking around the lake was something I did quite a lot two years ago...Pre Boo-Boo. The trails are nice and quiet.

Today was Library day. Our regular lady was not there, so we had the fellow again. He's learning! Even though he puts the toys out at the beginning instead of at the end of the program, so most of the kids ignored him while he was reading the books, oh well...it's a man....he reads the books with a lot of enthusiasm.

Next week will be the last time for the summer. When the program starts again we are graduating to the toddler group.

Nothing earth shaking to report here. Boo-boo spent the night with us, was a piece of cake. She went to bed at 8, I changed her at 11, and she woke up at 7. Perfect!

Saturday is Wheelie's birthday. He'll be 72. I bought some of the books he has on his wish list.
Never a problem, the man is easy to please. :>)
We're planning on going to breakfast with Bugs and Boo on Sunday.

And so it goes......

SGMKJ!

Some celebrity pictures/The man does clean up nicely, doesn't he? *S*

I just found a folder with pictures of these "in stores" among the celebrities were: Antal Dorati, Barbara Cook, Isaac Stern, Pavarotti, Lazar Berman, Anna Russell, Boss Scagss, Darth Vader, Mae West, Frederika von Stade, Teresa Berganza, Gladys Knight...hmmm...I've got me some valuable autographs here...hmmm...forgot all about these pictures...:

These are just a few of the pictures we have, not going to publish them all...you get the picture....haha
no pun intended!

With Barbara Cook

With Frederika Von Stade

With Gladys

With The Luce.
On his right is the tug boat captain

When Sally met Harry.....

On our wedding day, October 24, 1981


Okay...sit and expect to be entertained:

Even though we went to bed tired, and early, last night, I could not get to sleep.
My mind was trying to put my story about meeting Wheelie in order.

It brought me way back to 1969, and it took me about an hour to get all the events in chronological order. There are still some memories that are too vague and where I'm not sure about the order of times and the places, so I'll try and keep it simple.

:>)

I will have to backtrack as far as 1969 though, just to make this story as fantastic as it really is.

Puri and I were still married. My son had not been born yet. Wheelie and Puri worked for the same record company at the time. Wheelie was married and had two kids, 3 and 4 years old at the time.

The very first time I met Wheelie and his family was at a birthday party for someone at work. This lady lived in a beautiful house somewhere in Marin county in California.
The only thing that I clearly remember from that event is that Wheelie and his family were, well, to put it mildly, off the beaten path.:>) They stood out. They were different.

Wheelie sported a long red hair pony tail, and had a huge red handlebar moustache. He smoked a pipe. His wife was tiny, his children were two little fireplugs with red hair. The girl had the thickest hair I had ever seen on a child that age, she had a braid down her back that was as thick as my wrist.
The adults spoke French with the children, which I thought was a bit over the top. *rolls eyes*

After that day I did not see him much, as we had other couples we hung out with on a regular basis. People not as hippy-ish as the Towns were.

The next time Wheelie popped up in my life was when we all went down to Santa Cruz where we were invited to a record store opening. There was this fellow, a tug boat captain no less, who wanted to start a chain of record stores, and since he lived in Santa Cruz, that's where the first store was.
I remember it was a hot day. Old Blue barely made it over the pass in the Santa Cruz mountains, and I kept myself cool by holding my skirt over the AC vent in the car. :>)

Much to our surprise, Wheelie showed up with one of the ladies that also worked at their company. A very tall MUCH younger woman (younger than ME even!), with a very assertive attitude and suicide shoes.
(Those wooden platform sandals that were so popular in those says)
I will call her Tall Chick just for this blog. I hope she will forgive me for that, as we became and still are, good friends.:>)

It turned out that Tall Chick and Wheelie were having an affair. hmmmm....we didn't think they were suited for each other and we were all very surprised.
But hey, this was the 60s...
In the years that followed, Puri and Wheelie became close friends and we all spent time together, the boys usually listening to music, playing 'drop the needle' and such.
They introduced new and exciting (to them) composers, like Sibelius, Arnold Schoenberg, Bartok, John Cage, Charles Ives.....
Puri was pretty much just into Opera at the time, but Wheelie got him to listen to other stuff as well.

When my son was two, I left Puri and went back to Holland for 3 years.

While I lived in Holland, Wheelie went to work for the tug boat captain, and managed his store in San Francisco. It was a record store which only sold classical records. He loved that job, he ran the store with an iron fist. He organized "in store" visits with very famous artists, like Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Beverly Sills, famous pianists, conductors....


In 1976 the tug boat captain took all his store managers and his buyers on a tour of Europe. Minnesota guy just HAPPENED to be one of his buyers. I met the gang in Amsterdam where we spent the day. We stayed at the Marriott that night, and thinking back this was one of those situations in life where you later think: WOW...how on earth?

Here I was, in my very fancy room, in the room next to me was Wheelie, in the room on the other side was Minnesota guy...Never in a million years did I think then that I would fall in love with both these guys....makes you wonder....

When I came back from Holland, hoping to try and salvage my marriage, Puri didn't have a job, nor did he have a place to live.
So we camped out at Wheelie's house for the time being.

When we finally found jobs and an apartment, my stuff from Holland arrived. Since Puri was not very gifted in the way of manual labor, we hooked up with Wheelie, who rented a panel truck, and drove us to the San Francisco docks. We got the customs stuff taken care of and were told we had to move everything out of the crate, disassemble the crate and not leave a speck of dust behind or we would be charged a hefty fine.

No problem!!!

Wheelie single handed and in no time emptied the crate, which had our beds and dining room set (IKEA) and our other stuff. He then proceeded to take apart the crate, put the Styrofoam pellets in large garbage bags, and low and behold, left the dock spic and span!

At the apartment he proceeded to put together the furniture, and hang the lamps. Something Puri wasn't able to do.

I marveled at Wheelies ability to just roll up his sleeves and get stuff done. He moved up a few notches on my admiration stick.

The reunion/marriage did not last long though. We were eventually evicted from our apartment. You see, our darling little son who was five at the time, managed to tick off our apartment manager, who overheard him say something gross to his daughter. The man was a born again Christian and extremely prude. He kicked us out. No if, ands or butts.

Puri and I moved to another apartment, but it was around that time I met up with Minnesota Guy. Well, you've read that story.

We finally got a divorce, and went our separate ways.

After my son and I moved back to California from Minnesota, and after a few months of trying to get back on track as a single parent, I got a letter from Wheelie telling me he was coming to town.
He was living in New York, working for Polygram at that time.

Before that he and his family were in Chicago, where Tall Chick decided to leave him for a younger fella, and the kids graduated from high school and went back to live with their mom in California.

I hope this isn't too confusing. Yep, we all moved a lot!

So there we were, both of us licking our wounds, being extremely vulnerable and needing a friend.

I welcomed the idea of hanging out with him for a few days. My son and I were living in a flat, the top level of a very nice house, in Oakland.

Wheelie and I had a great time, and little sparks were starting to fly.
One evening we talked until two in the morning. We ended up doing, of all things, a crossword puzzle, neither one of us wanting to make the first move.
But we were sitting on the couch, our knees eventually touched and VIOLA!
*LOL*
I won't divulge what happened then, but you can probably guess.

He left the next day to visit his kids up north, his mom in Oregon, and then he was going to a job interview in Seattle with a small record company. After that he went back to New York.

I missed him immediately, we started corresponding. We wrote each other every day, and called each other every night. (Yes, I still have ALL those letters!!!)

He started to WOOooo me...(I had never been wooo-ed before!!!) had a dozen long stemmed roses delivered to me at work, small gifts came frequently, and the LUV bloomed.

Who would have thought!

He visited me in late July. In September I received a letter where he proposed to me...(I had never been proposed to before!!!)
Of course I said yes, and so it began....

He took the job in Seattle.

He put his stuff on a moving truck and came to California, where after a mad rush to get our marriage license, our blood tests done, on October 24th, 1981, at seven o'clock in the morning, we were married in a Redwood grove. The lady who married us was a justice of the peace. She was a friend of mine from the Ashram. She was supposed to run an intensive that day and seven o'clock was the only time she could get away.

It was an interesting little ceremony. Very sweet. Very quiet. It was still dark. The energy in the Redwood Grove was magical. We said our vows with only our children present. A very casual affair, but at the same time, very special.

Afterwards we went home and got ready for a little reception for our friends. We picked up a few huge cheese cakes and a crate of champagne and enjoyed a fabulous time with our family and friends.

Wheelie and I went to Seattle on our honeymoon, and to look for a place to live.
We found a wonderful home on Bainbridge Island. Life was looking up. Everything was just perfect!

A week later we loaded up a truck with my belongings. I am still puzzled how Wheelie got my 10 foot couch down those stairs by himself, but he did.
We drove up north to say goodbye to the kids and pick up the dogs. Wheelie had two Basenjis, who had been living with the kids.

The three of us drove to Washington. The first day was tough, the dogs were freaked out, but settled down the second day and pretty much slept on the floor of the cab for the rest of the way.

So there you have it.

And so our married life started. Wheelie had the killer job, vice president of production of a small record company. I stayed home with my son, befriended a wonderful neighbor with her kids, and life was perfect.....

I think I'll leave it at that for now...

If you're still reading this....thanks...it has been very nice to pull up all the old memories....

SGMKJ!

Dutchies

Boo and Carson with their Moms
on Boo's birthday

A few months ago I was at a red light on one of our main highways here and from the car behind me comes this fellow...walking towards me...

I quickly locked my doors...wondering what the hell?...Did I hit someone? Is this guy gonna rob me?

He comes to my side of the car and I roll down my window about an inch...he bends down and grins and says:

Goede Morgen!!!

Panic turned into relief when I realized that this man saw the NL sticker on my car and decided to say hello!
I drove on when the light turned green and saw him following me. Oh crap, I thought...*lol* So I turned into a parking lot and so did he.

Long story short: He is Dutch too, and so is his wife. He has been living in Cartersville for about30 years and has his business here. The man is 80 years old and still as sprite as a 20 year old. We exchanged phone numbers with promises to arrange a visit.

This couple just happens to live on a street very close to ours and I drive by it almost every day. I usually stop the car when I see him puttering in his yard, and we say hello and small talk for a few minutes, but we never got around to actually visit.

Until yesterday.

He called and apologized for procrastinating, and invited us for "coffee" at 7 that evening. Instead of scrambling for an excuse I quickly said YES! Thinking it's about time I meet some folks around here.
Initially Wheelie was going with me, but he decided later on that he didn't feel like it. He said: you go, have fun speaking Dutch :>)

No problem.

So I went by myself. Spent a lovely evening with two very sweet Dutch people, laughing and sharing stories. I was so glad I decided to go. Even though they haven't been back to Holland in years, and apologized for their bad Dutch, after about ten minutes we all chattered along just fine. What a lovely couple. And Joe was ever so sweet to fix up a makeshift ramp in the garage so we could wheel Wheelie in over the doorstep.

In the short time we had, I learned that they moved all over the world. From Indonesia to Australia, to New Jersey, back to Australia and finally back to the USA again. They have a lovely home and beautiful yard, and even though they have lived abroad most of their lives, they are still VERY much Dutch.
I am glad I decided to visit them, and I am hoping to meet them again.

The weekend started off on a shitty note, as Bugs called me on Friday night. Daddy had to work and couldn't babysit Boo until 2 o'clock. I hit the roof. I was tired, and I was SO looking forward to (and NEEDING) my weekend off.
I told her I was sorry to be so upset with her, but that it is time she gets her shit together with Daddy and make other arrangements for the weekends. I am sick and tired of this short, or NO, notice stuff. I am starting to feel like the proverbial doormat, and I am tired of it.
I told her to call me back after we both calmed down and after she made other arrangements.


It was painful to say no, but after my heart palpitations stopped and I calmed down, it felt good!
I finally put my foot down and I think they got the frigging MESSAGE....I want my weekends back!

So she found some friends who live two doors down from Daddy and who have a little boy Boo-Boo's age. They loved having her come and play. The kids have always gotten along great, so....Actually, those two little ones make a great couple! Little Carson ADORES little Boo..and apparently they had fun chasing each other, as Boo is now walking and he is still crawling.

I also suggested she look into trying to get the other Nana to babysit on Saturdays as well. I know she would love to see her grand child too. And Saturdays is the day they come and visit Daddy anyway to see Boo, so...that is now also being 'discussed'

*whew*

On Saturday morning Wheelie and I went to breakfast. I didn't feel well, but he needed to get out. When we got home I went to bed.
A chat friend of mine (a local gal) called me in the afternoon. We share a "situation" We both have single parent daughters with "problems". Although hers is a tad more nasty, in my opinion.
But it was nice to share our bitchies, and she made me feel better.
We made plans to go to lunch next Saturday.

So all in all, this weekend is going well. Today we're staying home, and are taking it easy. Reading the Sunday paper, reading our books, taking naps...

And by the way. Since I figured everyone has seen Boo-Boo's little videos by now, I decided to delete that particular post. No need to keep it in cyber space.

I cut her bangs the other day and now she has a Dumb and Dumber hairdo *lol*


So there you have it.

I wish everyone a lovely leisurely Sunday! Stay cool, and relax!

SGMKJ!

Beets used to cost 49 cents a bunch!

Wheelie had his appointment today with the neurologist.
On Friday he had his cat scan.
Evidently, nothing weird showed up on that.
The doctor told him that the problems he was having were not of a neurological nature (the dizzy spell etc. on Saturday) That it might have been a drop in blood pressure (which is what we thought all along anyway) Or that it had something to do with his heart. Since he already had an echo done of his carotids, and the results are still pending, the doctor wouldn't commit to a diagnoses. He might have to go back and have his heart checked again though. We'll wait until we get the results from the echo, due tomorrow.

BUT....!!!! Surprise, surprise!!!

He was familiar with MJD! Apparently this disease and many spino cerebellar ataxias are now studied in medical school, as they are becoming more prevalent.
Usually we end up educating the doctors about this, but this fellow had done his homework. Wow!

The doctor thought it would be prudent (Geesh, where do all those big words come from?) to do genetic testing!!!

Even though Wheelie was diagnosed in 1979 by the neurologist who 'discovered' this disease, the gene was not discovered until the late 1980s, so we really never got absolute proof that it really was MJD.

In the past genetic testing was very expensive, one reason many people don't even bother. But this time Humana/Medicare will cover the whole sjebang!

We will be sent a kit, and will get a phone call to set up an appointment. The company that does the testing will come out to our house and take the blood, then ship it off to their labs in New York.
It will take 3-4 weeks to hear the results.

We were both surprised with this turn of events, I never thought Wheelie would go along with testing, but...he did!

So after I dropped him off at home, I went back to the supermarket for some "quality time alone." (I had already had a full day, since I had done four loads of laundry and babysat Boo for an hour so that Bugs could get her oil changed.)

You might think it's a little pathetic that I get my jollies from going to the grocery store, but it really calms me down. I don't have to worry about Wheelie, don't have to worry about him watching what I buy. Don't have to worry about him having to wait while I browse the greeting cards and the book section.

It's also a great opportunity for me to mingle with other adults. I kid you not! Love just bumping into people and striking up a little conversation. It's pretty much one of the only times I get to interact with adults!

So I was dawdling in the vegetable section. And I gasped at the price of beets. $3.99 for a bunch (three little beets)!!!! Beets used to be the cheapest vegetables you could buy for God's sakes!

A few other ladies agreed with me, and we all just stood there pointing at stuff and bitching about the prices.
Then one lady said: Yes, but you are still ABLE to pick from this nice array of fresh vegetables.
What a party pooper! Who cares if there is a nice frigging ARRAY of vegetables to pick from when you can't AFFORD them?

Wheelie won't let me buy corn on the cob unless it's 10 for a dollar. *LOL*
(another reason I like to shop alone, so I can buy stuff he doesn't want me to buy.)

So I enjoyed my little shopping trip. Bought some nice smelling, relaxing, SOOTHING, baby shampoo and lotion (which ain't cheap either, folks!) and some other stuff we needed.
I even bought an expensive artichoke! *grin*

All in all a pretty good day, if I may say so myself.

Gotta savor these days you know!

SGMKJ!

Sunday...BOOM BOOM

It's a great muggy stormy day here.

It took me a few hours to tweak my long post from yesterday, as more memories came to me last night when I was trying to get to sleep.

So if you read this early yesterday, go back and read it again :>)

Then Wheelie started to watch this documentary about Joe Strummer, and I sat down JUST for a minute, but it was such a fascinating film, I watched the entire thing.

So here it is three pm, and I am just about to stretch out and read some.

Have a wonderful restful Sunday y'all!

SGMKJ!

Happy Birthday "Best Boy"

Our house at the end of the dirt road
Old Blue in the driveway

A few weeks old....taking our first stroll through the garden

12 months old, just started to walk
Home made little denim outfit made by mommy
it was reversible, light blue on the inside
:>)

July 12, 1972 was one of the most important days of my life.
That was the day my son was born.

Puri and I had been married for three years when I became pregnant. I am sure quite a surprise to some of my relatives in Holland, since we got married in such a hurry :>)

For three years we'd been using a rather controversial birth control method. I still don't understand the fine points of it, but it had something to do with astrology. Something Puri was very much into those days. When the moon was in a certain house, I was 'safe'.
Well, we miscalculated one day :>)
Perhaps it was a cloudy night?

We really were surprised. When I came out of the doctor's office I was crying, and Puri thought I was upset. In the parking lot, walking back to our car, he asked me if I wanted an abortion.

God no!

You have to understand that we were hardly in a position to bring a child into the world. He was working, but only off and on. I was working as a sales clerk at a large department store, The Emporium, which in those days was the big competitor of Macy's, at least in California. Puri was into horse racing. Not particularly the gambling, although he did spend a few bucks on that too, but he was convinced he could develop a system......a sure way to pick the winner, every time!

Oh Lordy, that damn card system of his. This was in the beginning of the computer age. He used them at Stanford University to enhance his system. He dabbled, and designed, and worried. His horse racing was a priority.

He once told me, if the house is on fire, don't bother getting anything out but the horse racing card system!

Looking back our life was to say the least, picturesque.

We lived in a tiny cottage, no larger than a single wide trailer, really. But it was a darling little place. A small kitchen (no oven) stove on top of the fridge, built in cupboards, a small living room with room for a trundle bed, a dresser, and later two fold up Cost Plus chairs. When we pulled out the bed at night we had to move everything else into the kitchen. There was a small bathroom, with a bathtub that tended to back up when it rained, and we used the space by the back door as our closet. The whole interior was covered with wood paneling, windows on both sides.
This was our home, ours and our puppy Sheba, and our cage of rainbow finches. Our little caboose. Or, as a friend of ours once exclaimed: Holy Shit! Sirhan Sirhan has a bigger cell than THIS!

We lived on a hill, there were three homes along a dirt road, our landlady lived in the first one, and at the end of the road were two more homes. These three properties were pretty much the last holdouts of an ever spreading developing area with apartment buildings. In later years the entire hillsides were built up, but these three houses are still holding their ground and are still there.

Our landlady was a wonderful woman, she was a widow. Her husband used to be the mayor of the town we lived in. She had three sons. We became part of the family, celebrated Christmas and Thanksgiving with them and their friends. She let me use her washer and dryer, and her oven if I wanted to bake cookies. I still use her recipe for twice baked potatoes. She was a teacher at a local College. For years after we exchanged holiday cards, until about four years ago the cards stopped coming. Either she is too old to write now, or, more likely passed on.

Her youngest son became a journalist and we ALMOST met up when we lived in California recently. He wrote for the Sacramento Bee. The oldest son was already gone from home when we lived there, and the middle son went crazy after he experienced the riots at the Chicago convention in 1968, and eventually jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. Our first experience being close to someone who went from being a bright handsome promising young man to a drug crazed lost soul, who in the end could not face his world.

The little house was made of wood, painted dark brown with white trim, it sat in a beautiful garden next to the main house where our landlady lived. There was a huge plum tree and a persimmon tree, as well as a grove of eucalyptus trees and many blooming hedges and bushes.
Spring time was incredible, with everything in bloom.

When we became pregnant we had to look for another place to live.
The house at the end of the road was empty and very mysterious. The people who built and owned it lived there until their deaths. They were quite old when they died, in their nineties.
The guy who lived next door to them was their nephew, who was the heir and executor of their 'estate' His name was Bob, he had a dog named Blackie. He drove a Chevy El Dorado. A little fireplug of a fellow, never married, always very serious, didn't know about deodorant.
He never thought of selling the house or renting it out. It just sat there, something for him to fret about.

It was a spooky place, because he had it wired so that lights would go on at night, and radios would play at certain times. He had a fire alarm on the roof that would go off every time we had a thunder storm, and the alarm was LOUD!

Some friends and us ventured to take a look one evening, in the dark, and as we peeked into the sun room, a radio started playing somewhere in the house, we all jumped. We peeked into one of the rooms we were able to reach, and it was a bedroom (we later found out it was really the dining room, but when the folks got too old to climb the steep stairs, they probably moved their bed downstairs.) The bed was still in there, with the indentations of the people who used to sleep there. On the dresser there were still grooming items, a brush, a comb, a mirror and a few hair pins.

The house was on top of the hill, where you could look in all directions. There was a trail down below that went to around the property towards a reservoir, Waterdog Lake. It was very quiet. The grounds must have been beautiful at one time, as you could still see the outlines of the gardens and terraces. Apparently they worked in their garden from sun up to sun down. It was a huge lot. On one slope behind the house each spring thousands of daffodils would bloom. A huge pepper tree sat at one corner of the house, the limbs almost reaching some of the living room windows.

I decided to get friendly with Bob, who was a rather paranoid little guy. And when we finally got to know each other a little better, I asked him if he would rent us the house.
Our land lady convinced him that it would be a good idea, and that we were good people.

He said yes. He had to remove the stuff from the house though, and it took four large moving vans to take everything out.

The rent was $200 a month....

When we finally were allowed to have a look inside we were blown away. The place was in pristine condition. Hardwood everywhere, all the floors, the ceiling. Redwood window casings. Redwood built in cupboards, a huge three part sun room, a large kitchen with an antique stove, which worked perfectly. Across from the front door through the hall were a few steps down to another bathroom and a small storage room.

It had two bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom, complete with a bath and shower. There were huge walk-in closets with little windows and built in dressers, and next to the main bedroom was a smaller room, which we ended up using as a nursery.

The basement was huge. Ran all the way under the house.

You entered the house (the basement was above ground) and went up four steps. On the right was the dining room (the room that was used as the bedroom) On the left there was the living room, two dramatic steps down. The acoustics in that room were amazing. I used to stand on top of the steps, which were like a stage, belting out Abba and Four Tops songs.

The living room had windows on all three sides. It had a huge fireplace, about ten feet wide. It was cemented shut because of a bee problem at one time, so unfortunately we were never able to use it.

There was a hallway in the middle. Bee problem there too, but we were never able to get rid of the bees there, when it got hot in the summer we had honey dripping from the ceiling though.

Next to the dining room was the breakfast room, also with built in redwood cupboards and glass doors, then the kitchen, and off the kitchen the three sun rooms, one large space divided into three rooms, the outside rooms were open and were covered with mesh. We used one room at one point to house our seven puppies for a while, and used the other side as a hot house where I grew my marigolds from seeds. The middle room was our ironing/play room.

Now picture this. We had nothing! We had two folding chairs and a dresser. I had a little rocking chair. We had shelves on bricks for the LP collection and the stereo, and a little cabinet for the TV.
We moved all our belongings in a wheelbarrow. I only took about ten trips.

The dining room still had the table, a beautiful round oak table with chairs. The breakfast room had a small table with chairs as well. As I looked at some of the pictures I still have I remember now that there were also two large oriental rugs. A blue one in the living room and a red one in the dining room. I hung my guitar on the wall, along with all my handmade wall hangings, bought many plants, among them a selection of different ferns, which I found in a remote 'fern ranch' near the coast, and a few fast growing Swedish Ivy plants. The plants thrived in that house. I had a button fern that grew about three feet wide.

We bought a mattress and box spring, and a second hand dresser, which I repainted.

We used a piece of plywood on cinder blocks for a coffee table. My parents sent a bolt of fabric for curtains, which I sewed myself. The curtain rods were already there. Beautiful cast iron rods with gorgeous fixtures. There was a central heating system, but no air conditioning. Opening all the windows at night enabled the fresh air to blow through the entire house.

Puri was working for a record distributer at the time. We owned a VW bug, named "old Blue" which I bought from my uncle for $400 after my cousin (cough) ran all over the world in it all through college.

Old Blue finally died, but we sold it to Wheelie, who happened to live across the road from us at the time with his second wife and his two kids. (We don't believe in coincidence, people! :>) and had a grand old time rebuilding the engine and making it run for many more years.


We were pretty content in the house, even though there were some spooky elements to it.
Not in the least the small storage room off the extra bathroom, where a few large trunks were stored, and it was lined with shelves filled with boxes of laundry detergent, OLD stuff from the 40s at least.

Had I known what I know now, I would have confiscated all that stuff, which is probably worth some money these days. We never had the nerve to open the trunks though, who knows what was in those.

We also found a fully stocked work bench in the basement. Many of the tools were hand made, and my father had a field day in that basement. Drawers full of old towels with crochet trim, and those wonderfully colorful retro table cloths. I found a set of colorful dishes, which I smashed into pieces, for a mosaic coffee table project I was planning. The table was never made, and in later years I realized that I smashed a bunch of valuable Fiesta ware into smithereens.

There was an armoire upstairs on the landing which still held a bunch of clothes and old shoes.
Wheelie's then wife was enamoured with that stuff and took a few of those dresses. I rather left the stuff alone. I really never opened that armoire, just didn't feel polite somehow.

I never felt strange in that house though. It felt comfortable to me. After I left Puri and went back home to Holland he lived in there alone and he tells me it was haunted. Hmm...

But I digress......big time.....:>)

My pregnancy went smoothly. I saw a different doctor at Kaiser Permanente every month, but that didn't bother me. It cost us $85 TOTAL to have prenatal care PLUS the birth and well baby visits. Amazing!

In those days there were no prenatal classes, and my only source of information was a small paperback book that told me exactly how things worked. I had a basic idea what to expect from the delivery and I was confident that it would be a cinch.

My parents came over to visit late that June. The baby was due around the first of July. Of course this child was almost two weeks overdue! I remember that as a last resort Puri and I decided to go play some catch football at the beach at Half Moon Bay. Didn't exactly help. :>)

But finally the day was there. My water broke in the middle of the night. So off we went to the hospital. My mom was sure we would be back. Not!

The weather that week was horrendous. The temperature reached 106°. My parents spent their days with most of their clothes off in the basement.

I really don't remember much about my labor, except that a lady in the next room was screaming like a banshee. The doctor wanted to 'ease' my pain a little and proceeded to come in with a HUGE syringe, at which point Puri decided to leave the room (and who the hell knows, the hospital.) I received a shot through my woo woo, right into my cervix.
Don't ask, this is how I remember it.
The pains went away, I slept...

Next thing I know I was being rolled into the delivery room. The doctor who delivered my son was a stranger to me. The nurse was an older German lady, who I remember to be rather enthusiastic.

Yoo are doink great! POOSH POOOOSH!!! Yes, yes!! POOSH POOOOOSH!! No drugs! Good for Yooo!!! POOSHHHHHH!!!!

Puri chickened out and didn't come into the delivery room with me, but he was standing out in the hall and we had this commentary going back and forth.

The doc decided to 'cut' me, I guess things didn't go quick enough for him.

So after a long time of poooshing, there he was!!!

It's a BOY! I yelled out to the hall.

I was ecstatic. I was so damn happy.

The doc sewed me up (45 stitches, ouch) and after that I really don't remember much, they gave me Tylenol III, which knocked me on my ass for the next two days. The codeine really did a number on my head. Everyone in the hospital spoke Dutch. I was in lala land.

In those days you were not allowed any visitors except the daddies. So my parents were not allowed to see me, but they were able to see the baby in the nursery.

I remember Puri looking into the bassinet after he was born, and really squinting his eyes and examining the child. Like he was looking at an interesting bug.

Our baby's right ear was folded over, and he did look rather comical. But to me he was the most gorgeous baby on earth.

After three days we went home. There is a video of us coming home.

In Old Blue.

No car seat

No seat belts.

Me holding baby in my arms.

Trying to get out of the car without any help. OUCH OUCH OUCH...Puri oblivious, My dad filming, my mom wringing her hands....

Walking up those stairs, my mom oowing and aahing...OUCH OUCH OUCH

Since we had no money to buy anything for the baby, my parents and my aunt and uncle got this basinette from the Goodwill store. My mom "dressed this cradle with white cotton on the inside, and blue gingham with lace trim around the outside, like a long skirt. They made a little canopy that hung like two wings. Mom made sets of little sheets and pillow cases. This first grand baby of their was going to sleep in a true cradle! :>)

I was very much aware that my world had just made a huge shift. As new moms tend to feel, overwhelmed, scared, and just filled to the brim with so much love for this little new human being....

My parents had to leave a few days later.

I remember standing at the bedroom window upstairs where I could watch the car leave and drive down the dirt road...

Standing there an overwhelming feeling of sadness came over me....I had never felt so lonely in my entire life....I can still see myself standing there at the window, holding my son in my arms, waving my parents goodbye as Old Blue drove down the dirt road.....
I held on to this little bundle and it felt like it was him and me, together, forever. This is it, kiddo, I thought, here you are, and oh, how I love you!

~*~*~

And here we are...today...

I can still feel that horrible loneliness....as the child that meant the world to me, the boy I adored, nurtured, loved....called my "Best Boy".... the curious and adventurous toddler, whose first words were: light! train! and ME! The little rascal who would 'run away from home' scaring the daylights out of us, one time found under my landlady's porch with the new kittens, another time scooped up by a cop, he was halfway to Waterdog Lake! And he was only two years old then!
The little kid who was so darn clever, so naughty, and couldn't do anything wrong in our eyes...


He no longer wants to have anything to do with me....

His reasons are understandable. I made some unwise decisions along the way....In my quest for the perfect mate/family I must have neglected him somehow...at least he feels that way...All I know is that I tried to do the best I knew how.

He's all grown up now. He has done some incredible things. I am so proud of his accomplishments. He is so very talented in so many fields.

My hope is that in time he will come to understand why things happened. That he will be able to forgive me.
That he will be able to call me Mom again.

In the meantime I wish him a very Happy 36th Birthday. Wish him much much happiness, good health.

SGMKJ!

Thunder and Lightning...or in baby speak: BOOM BOOM!

Another day another dollar.

There was some confusion about the doctors appointments. This chick calls this morning reminding us we have an appointment tomorrow at 9:30 for a sonogram. Yes I knew that, and right after we get the cat scan at 10:00.
I was told by the other chick yesterday that both appointments were in the same building.

NOT!!

So we had to reschedule the carotid sonogram.

I made the daring decision to take the slot they had this morning. Since we had Boo-boo, I knew it was going to be interesting.

Well, it worked out fine. I dropped Wheelie off at the front door, and then parked the car and strollered Boo-boo in. She entertained all the old and feeble folks in the waiting room of the Vascular department. But after 20 minutes she got a bit testy, SO I went to walk around the block a couple of times. When we got back Wheelie was done.
Results to be announced Tuesday or earlier.

It's interesting to watch a small child cheer up old and not feeling well people. Every one of them ended up talking to her and smiling.
Of course it helped that she called everyone "Baby"

On our way home we stopped at the grocery store, where I did my "run in and grab, run out" routine, so Wheelie and Boo wouldn't have to get out of the car. I left the engine running, not a very economical and ecology friendly method, but hey. It works for me.

So no Library this morning. Every little change in schedule seems to throw me off somehow.
And right now I feel like I've just ran a marathon.

Boo was in one of her feisty moods today, and she only took a very short nap.

She didn't want to eat much either. She toddles all over the place and is quick as a cricket. Toddles, falls, toddles, bangs head on table, toddles, toddles, toddles...

SO...

At 5:00 I gave her her dinner, and gave her a bath. I then served Wheelie his dinner (left over stuffed bell peppers) and took the baby for her evening constitutional. The thunderstorms were gone for the moment. We've had them every day this week, with some much needed rain.

It was cool, and quiet, and she fell asleep about 20 minutes into the walk.

A huge WHEW!

I feel tired and sore. A nice hot shower sounds like an excellent ideas, so that's what I'll do.

SGMKJ!

Wheelie's update

Took him to see his doctor this morning.

He was baffled.

So he's running a bunch of tests, blood work, urine sample, ordered an echo for his carotids and a cat scan of his brain. Cat scan happens Friday morning.

He also referred him to a neurologist (something Wheelie has been trying to avoid, he is just tired of breaking in yet another doctor :>)

He seems to be feeling fine right now. The doc upped his BP meds because it was too high (his BP), and he also prescribed a sleeping aid, so he may possibly sleep through the night, and not kick me black and blue all night :>)

Other than that, it's a quiet day in the neighborhood.

Cloudy and hopefully a few thundershowers tonight.

Have a great day y'all!

SGMKJ!

Happy 4th!

Well, another uneventful, quiet week has gone by.
Since Bugs was off yesterday we didn't have to watch Boo, so instead we stayed home, putzed around the house a bit.
I made hot dogs and potato salad and corn on the cob.
Big wow.
When it got dark we joined our neighbors on the patio by the water fountain, which is no longer working because of the draught, and is now a big tall planter.
The fireworks were not where we thought they would be. Usually they are done at the park across the street, so we can just sit and watch without having to go anywhere.
But to everyone's surprise, the fireworks were about a 1/2 mile to the west, barely visible above the trees.
Oh well.
It was nice being out, not too hot, a little breeze.
Wheelie and I sat on our front porch for a little while afterwards, watching the traffic jam from the people coming from wherever the fireworks were. I suspect they were on the large sports field by the middle school, about 1/2 mile away from us.

We slept late this morning, and when Wheelie was in the bathroom getting dressed he got dizzy, clammy and couldn't move his arms.
His vision was blurred and he was cold to the touch and sweating.
I couldn't get the damn BP thing to work, so we couldn't measure his BP.

What to do.

He was coherent enough to tell me he just wanted to rest, not to call the EMTs. I did try and get a hold of his doctor, but it being Saturday I got the maze/telephone/system, I gave up.

We decided to wait and see. I plopped him back on the bed, and let him rest. It took a few hours before he felt better, but he stayed in bed until 3. At which time I forced him to eat half a banana and some chicken soup. That perked him up and he got up and dressed again.
For dinner he had more soup, and right now he's watching the Britcoms with a bowl of ice cream.
His color is back again too.
I suspect he might have had a TIA, he's had these spells before. I am going to try and convince him to visit his doctor on Monday, just to make sure.

So there you have it. Boring boring...

My sister sent some pictures of the big birthday lunch celebration for my father's 88th birthday.
My brother and sister from NZ were there as well as their daughter who lives in England and works for Tim Burton. My other brother and his wife were there as well, as were my sister, her oldest son with his wife and two kids.
My mom was a bit out of sorts and accused my sister of organizing the lunch behind her back, without letting her know. Which is bull, because this was planned two weeks ago with everyone in attendance.
My sister and I think that my mom's brain is starting to deteriorate.
But looking at the pictures, they seemed to have had a good time.

My friend Hularoo had her baby boy on June 29! He weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. He was born by cesarean section. I am hoping to talk with her really soon, can't wait to see this kid and hear how everything went.

Another new life, isn't it amazing and wonderful. If you are reading this, kiddo, congratulations again, and enjoy this incredible time.

Since I had nothing to do this afternoon I went and got out a few boxes of photos to look through, and came to the conclusion that in these past 27 years we sure went through MANY MANY pieces of furniture. We moved a total of ten times, and it's mind boggling to think about how many times I packed everything up, gave stuff away, unpacked again and so forth. We used to have many garage sales, but stuff always seemed to accumulate.

It's a relief to know that during the past few years we managed to get rid of a whole bunch of things, especially the records and the CDs. I am becoming less and less attached to my "stuff"

Last week I sold a mess of handbags and decorative stuff on Ebay. Funny how people buy crap like that. *lol*
But it keeps me busy.

So now it's almost 8pm. I've got some spy ware scanning my computer for Trojans and viruses, so I'll probably need to run this for a while.

In the meantime I'm going to start on a new book.

Have a great weekend y'all!

SGMKJ!

Wednesday

So my little angel is now 14 months old, unbelievable.
I am so glad I got her tons of books, she really really likes them! She even tries to read to herself, which in itself is a thrill to observe

Kinda goes like this:

Whassat???? (points at something in the book)

ThasMamma!!!!! (keeps pointing and smiles)

Yeah!!!!!(goes to the next page)

She has conversations in Chinese, laughs and giggles, must be some good stories she's reading.

She stopped walking. But she now 'walks' on her knees, and crawls. Which make her have Wal-Mart knees and feet (dirty...Oma needs to clean her rugs)

But she is developing a unique little personality. She has a wicked sense of humor. Laughs out loud and looks very proud when she farts. Loves to tickle my feet. Loves to throw balls and races after them. And lately covers her head with a towel or blankie and crawls around the house until she bangs into a wall. Then cries, and gets pissed off.

Overall this child is easy to take care of and even easier to love. Thank God for her.

She's my little sunshine.

Now, see? I did not write anything depressing or whiny!
*LOL*

We have been watching the Olympic trials on TV every night. I really enjoy the Olympics. Too bad they can't show every single event.
We particularly love track and field, swimming, gymnastics.

Bugs and I did some volunteering for the 1996 Paralympic swim trails here in Atlanta. That was such an incredible experience!! Not only to watch and interact with the athletes, but the camaraderie among the volunteers. Bugs was 12 years old, a little dumpling of a girl, and SO enthusiastic! She was one of the girls carrying out the medals, and I was coordinating the flag carriers. I did pretty well, until I made a big mistake by switching the Australian flag with the New Zealand flag. But he, they are so similar, I had no clue.

My dream is to be able to go to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Dream, I said, not gonna happen, but I've checked out the travel packages, not too bad, we'll see.

We did not stick around for the actual Olympics in Atlanta, huge crowds were expected, so we took those weeks and went to the Florida panhandle and spent time on the beach, and watched the games on TV instead.

Joann...I made an honest effort this morning to get something FUN going here.
You see, four of the ladies at the post office became first time grandmas last year. It was fun sharing our experiences throughout the pregnancies, and now with the babies. (two of them we 'see' when we attend the Library's story program.
We've been talking about us getting together some time for lunch or dinner...of course nothing ever happened.
This morning I have one of the girls my phone number and ordered her to get the gang together and set a date.
So we'll see how that will pan out.

I would love to join an art class, or a choir, unfortunately, they all meet when I cannot go, either in the evening or during the day. Our local Booth Cowboy Museum had some great classes, glass fusion, pottery, painting, but...all at night...

I tried to get the ladies in my community together to crochet baby blankies a few years back. no takers. I even wrote the Linus Club, which is a national organization, they never wrote me back.

I tried my volunteer coordinator here at our local hospital. Phone calls were not returned, emails were not answered.

I just took it as a sign that I should concentrate on home...

Either that or I have real bad BO...what do you think?
*LOL*

It sure as hell would be nice to be among adults once in a while, some folks I have something in common with, something we share...

In the meantime I'll just sit and deal with more urgent stuff, like babies and husbands and daughters.

By the way...and this is important...

One of my dearest young friends is supposed to have her baby today.
I found this sweet girl online during my son's early rise to fame.
She was a punker girl, lived in the next town.
To make a long story short. We became friends. She is a delightful women, now married, and having her first child.

So please keep her in your thoughts today....

In the meantime, y'all keep cool and take care..

SGMKJ!