Rancho Bernardo Fire

Last night I saw President Bush visiting the neighborhood where I lived in Rancho Bernardo. It was such a charming neighborhood with all English country names and tile roofs. I loved that home. It is where we were living when Richard passed away. It was to be our retirement home. The fire struck just one day before our 48th wedding anniversary--we were only in the home eight years and this is a picture of our first or second Christmas there I believe.

It looked like a war zone with just a few houses left standing. It showed the house number of the home they were filming and it was just a couple streets beyond my street. It also showed the hill we looked out on from our home. So far no houses on Camberwell Lane have been listed as destroyed (there were only about 5 on that Lane). But every street around Camberwell Lane had most of the homes listed as burned. It is so sad.

James called though, and after being evacuated since Monday from their home in Rancho Santa Fe, he said everything looks fine. It appears the fire went around them and the ashes drifted over them to Fairbanks Ranch. He hasn't looked at the new house being built yet, but from what he has been told, it appears that one has come through unscathed also. So thankful!

My Love for Sweatshirts!

A few years ago, when I began traveling so much with the government, I starting buying a sweat shirt at places I visited. Then, family members also began buying me sweatshirts at places they visited and I can now wear a different sweatshirt each day of the month and still not wear them all. I love sweatshirts and though a good many are red or blue I really like my yellow one, my two coral ones, my Bear Hug beige, Hawaiian beige, four white ones, three black ones, purple etc. as well. Since I live in sweat shirt country most of the year and also need beach sweat shirts when traveling south to San Diego they all get lots of use.

Some of the places represented in my collection are Billy-Bobs, Fort Worth, TX; Galveston Island, TX; Coronado, Ca; San Diego, Ca; San Diego Zoo; Lake Tahoe, CA; Lake Almanor, CA (2); Maui; Old Navy (San Diego); Oxford; Yale; Lassen College; BYU; BYU Alumni; Makoshika, Glendive, MT; Silvergate, MT; Yellowstone; Rain Forest Cafe, Denver, CO; Annapolis, MD; Crossing the Chesapeake, MD; Virgin Islands; Los Cabos; New York City; Park City, UT; Okika, HA; Charleston, West VA; Venice, Italy; Vince Buzz (John's trademark); Harrods, London; and UC Davis. Also T Shirts from Guam, Dawson County High School, Greece, Silversea Cruise Line, Parrot Cafe and Pulsifer Ortho which I use at the Gym in the summer.

When Richard passed away each of the grandchildren were given at least one thing from him. However, he was not a collector so there was not a lot to go around besides his ski paraphernalia and his books. With all my collections of Dolls, Paper Dolls, CDs, Videos, DVDs, Sweatshirts, Memory Books, Family Portraits, Scrapbooks and Quilts I am sure a lot of my things will end up in the dump. Ce La Vie!

Carla

My friend Carla whom I had written about from my childhood sent this picture today. She is sitting with her son Ken on her last birthday. She still looks like a young gal and he is very handsome. Thank you, Carla, it is so fun to see friends in our old age who we knew as children.

Unfulfilled Wishes

I think, as adults, we try to fulfill those wishes we had as children that never came true. Which is why Baby John ended up with a red ranch wagon at the age of 3 (Richard's unfulfilled wish) and why I ended up with 7 Shirley Temple dolls in my 50's. It was 1939 and I wanted a Shirley Temple doll with all my heart. My mother knew that and had purchased one (though they were hard to come by). She had hidden it, along with all the other special Christmas presents for the six of us, at the store my dad managed downtown. Just before Christmas, a customer had pleaded with my Dad to sell him a doll and Dad, thinking the doll could be easily replaced, sold it to the man. Mother was furious, so I am told, because not one could be found at that late date. Thus my doll for Christmas was a substitute, building three things into my young mind. 1--You do not get what you wish for 2--Christmas can be very disappointing, so don't get your hopes up 3--If you really want something, you have to get it for yourself. Those three impressions stayed with me the rest of my life.

Mother had a friend named Bertha and she and her husband Bud had never been able to have children. We loved Bertha but her husband was a little gruff and frankly, he scared me. Bertha knew my desire and told me if I would just come to live with her for awhile she would see that I got my Shirley Temple doll. I don't remember discussing this with my mother but I am sure I did. I do remember packing a little suitcase and my brother Dick carrying it for me as we walked about a block to Bertha's house. It was getting dark so it must have been after supper. As we stopped in front of the house and looked up the stairs, there, lighted in the window, was Bud! I can still see him as if it were yesterday. He was sitting in his chair reading his paper. I was frozen. I could not go up those steps. Dick tried to encourage me but I would not move. Finally, with sadness in my heart, but no tears (no one would ever see me cry)I turned and slowly walked back home and I never got my Shirley Temple doll.

Many, many years later after the children were raised, and I was earning money, I told no one, but I starting buying my Shirley Temple doll(s) one by one.

"I'm Going To Buy A Paper Doll"

Was a favorite song in the 50's but I have taken it literally and have collected over 50 books of paper dolls. My favorite is "Gone With the Wind" reprinted for the 50th Anniversary of the movie. Meagan's mother Jennifer bought them for me. The reason I like them so well is they are an exact replica of the kind we played with in my early grade school years.

My first set of dolls was when I was about 5. I remember because we were in the white house on the South Side of Glendive and all my brothers and sisters were in school. It was a large Snow White and all the Seven Dwarfs. I would play school with them all over the living room. You can't find a set like that anymore. Nor can you find the Bride and Groom set we had with all the attendants, flower girls, ring bearer, plus mother and father of the bride.

I probably did not have many of my own, but my friend Donna had many sets and they were all kept neatly in boxes in her closet. She and her sister Pat had a huge double bedroom with beds to the side of the room so we had a lot of room to spread them out. Donna and I would play for hours, she was a year younger, but we had lived next door to each other on the South Side and we followed them to the Heights. Our parents fished together among other things so we were together quite a bit.

Her mother always had homemade vanilla ice cream and Hershey's topping and often home made cookies. It was a nice place to be. Sometimes I would stay till after dark and because I was afraid to walk on the sidewalk by all the bushes and hedges, I would walk for a block in the middle of the street and sing "He Walks With Me", a hymn I had learned at the Methodist Church, and then I would run up the dark hill to our house as fast as I could go.

BYU and FIZZIX

When I attended BYU, there were 5000 students and probably 1/4th the buildings. Now, among other things, BYU is seventh in the world for turning research into products for the marketplace, based on licensing income relative to research expenditures. This is the latest!

BYU food science professor Lynn Ogden invented the “zing” in General Mills' new carbonated yogurt product by experimenting with dry ice and yogurt. His patented tingle is now available in stores all over the country. It has taken 20 years to get from his first idea to actual manufacturing.

"Brigham Young University was a great partner for us," said Lisa Schroeder, R&D Vice President, Yoplait division, General Mills. "The launch of Fizzix(TM) carbonated yogurt is an example of successfully bringing together two parties with complementary capabilities and resources to introduce a novel product to consumers."

Besides this The Wall Street Journal ranked Brigham Young University’s Master of Business Administration program first among regional schools in the paper’s 2007 report of top business programs, up from third in 2006 and sixth in 2005. The Marriott School was also ranked number two among the best schools for hiring graduates with strong ethical standards behind Dartmouth College.

It's A Small World

When Lea was born about 7 1/2 years ago Camber chose the name of her mother Mary's best friend from college days in Utah, Leah (but spelled it differently). She had said she really admired Leah and loved the name. I had mentioned at the time that my first baby sitter with Baby John in Pacific Beach was a Leah and she was a really special girl, beautiful and smart.

This last year when Camber was looking for a cleaning lady her mother Mary suggested she talk to Leah's brother Tracy in San Marcos as he knew some ladies who hired out. In their conversation Camber mentioned her mother-in-law and Tracy was incredulous. "Janet is your husband's mother? You are married to that Jimmy. I know Janet, we lived near them in Pacific Beach. I even babysat Jimmy!" She gave Tracy my phone number and he immediately called me and we talked over the 60's, when we lived in Pacific Beach, and where we had been since that time.

Thus we found that the Leah from college days of Grandma Mary and the Leah from babysitting days of Grandma Janet was one and the same person! It is a very small world, indeed, and Lea has a beautiful name, named after a very beautiful lady.

Oh, No, Snow in September!

And last year, it didn't come till November...Oh, well, as

Annie sang, "The sun'll come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar, that tomorrow, there'll be SUN!"

Le Cage

While watching "The War" the other night I made cages to plant my lily bulbs in so the squirrels wouldn't get them. Now I find out the holes are about eight times too big so it may all be for naught!!!

The Ken Burns special on World War II on PBS has been excellent. Since I was only in 3rd grade on Dec 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor) I have learned so much. It is probably the one and only time our country has come together as ONE! It helps you to understand how necessary that war was but how unprepared we were and the terrible mistakes that were made. You also see how American ingenuity and drive made us into the best manufacturing country in the world by the end of the war. One airplane plant was putting out one plane every hour!!! It is a must see, if you haven't had a chance to watch.

Myrna never signed!

Myrna called me to tell me that she never signed the LTL pledge to not smoke or drink! I didn't remember this. Mrs. Lowe, a church biddy, called and reported to Myrna's mother that Myrna had refused to sign the pledge. Her mother asked if Myrna had said why. "She said she didn't know what she was going to do when she grew up." "There's your answer!" her Mom said and that was that. And Mrs. Lowe never spoke to Myrna's mother again.

The Specialist

Maria showed me her new office digs at the college the other night. Very impressive!! Maria is the Payroll Specialist at the college and from the little experience I had of doing payroll, this is most impressive to me. The detail of data and rules and applying them all correctly would be so difficult.

But Maria has always been an expert on detail. She worked as an assistant for Richard from the time she was in high school and he always said she was the best he had. In the meantime she also pursues her 4 yr college degree and has only about a year left. Congrats, Maria, you are amazing.

We also went to a Concert on the Green, which I enjoyed, since it was Country Music. They were actually very good. I have always enjoyed the landscaping at the college, very beautiful, especially in the fall with the change of colors.

Fall

It's that time of year again, cool nights and the furnace turning itself on, switching from silk to flannel pajamas, transforming bedrooms from a cool summer look to a cozy, warm winter took, burning a wood fire while watching TV at night, and yet, Indian Summer days. I love it. Today I readied my gardens for the new bulbs that have come and trying to make a plan to keep them from the squirrels. Between the birds, the squirrels, and deer the survival rate around here is about less than 50% I think. I wonder about more drastic measures...B B gun? What do you think--would it scare anybody, besides me?

Heartaches

The word Heartaches"

reminded me of my friend Myrna who I stay with when I travel back and forth to San Diego. She lives just off the freeway in a beautiful home in Manhattan Beach. This song

"Heartaches" was one of her favorites in high school when she was going through a heartbreak romance. She also loved "My Blue Heaven". Funny how songs remind you of people and places. Here she is with Eddie, a neighbor in Glendive, at our 2000 high school reunion. They were not a romantic couple but were the best jitter buggers in our high school!

Myrna had to work from an early age in Kaplan's, the dress shop next to our store Anderson's, so she missed out on a lot of the after school happenings. She was such a great clerk because she is a people person and took an interest in all of their customers. Myrna is such a people person that she had and still has friends of every age. She is everyone's best friend, with a very compassionate heart and kindness for all. She has a fantastic memory and knows all about each of us. We all think she is our best friend... and she is!

Myrna had some heartbreaking moments in her life but persevered over all. Unfortunately the "love of her life" passed away in 1993 and they did not have enough years but she was so happy those years together in Manhattan Beach. Now she lives alone with a daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters near and two stepsons and their wives and two grandsons a little further away.

Myrna had the smallest waist of all of us. We made these ballernina skirts that were a full circle and so fun to dance in. Myrna's mother worked but I remember her being so fun to be around, always laughing and joking. Myrna and her mother made this fabulous boiled white frosting and chocolate cake and the best divinity. Myrna is still a great chef today and it is always a pleasure to eat whatever she is dishing up. My favorite outing with Myrna at her church was Easter Sunrise Service and then to the basement of the church for scrambled eggs, sausage, hot cross buns and orange juice and then we would go wake up our Catholic friends...Even though we had our own church in our home on Sunday nights, I went to the Methodist Church with Myrna. Her aunt was our Sunday School teacher when we were in grade school.

A really fun adventure in junior high was to travel by open truck (We were all in the back--against the law today) all the way from Glendive across Montana to Livingston for a Church Camp.

It was really fun--here we are discussing the weighty things of the world, Raine, Myrna, Myself and Eddie. On the way back to Glendive the back of my jeans came unsewed and so I tied my fringe jacket around my waist and said I was too hot to wear it--actually it was freezing in the open truck.

We also joined LTL (Loyal Temperance League) and signed our names that we would not smoke or drink. I was probably one of the few who never did.

A Broken Heart

Tonight I was remembering the day I left my Rancho Bernardo home, after turning over the keys to the realtor. Everything was ready for the new buyer. I had been a widow for about two months. I looked a wreck, I was a wreck. Brian, my realtor and friend, looked at me and said, "Janet, I'm worried about you." I said, "Brian, I have a broken heart."

Oh, I had had a broken heart before. I remember so well as a freshman in college walking with a couple roommates and we were talking about boys and love and all that stuff. And I said, "I hope I can have a broken heart someday." That is probably one of the more stupid things I have said in my life. Several years later, I did have that broken heart. The sleepless nights, the depression, the pit in your stomach that never goes away, the extreme sadness, the loneliness. I don't remember any one thing that I did to get over that broken heart but moving to California and starting a new life, with new friends and exciting new places probably helped a lot.

A few years later, another heartbreak. I went away to summer school this time for classes I hadn't had time for in college. New friends, new faces, new experiences. Eventually I healed and moved on. But I found that a little of those heart breaks always remain with you to pop up and cloud thoughts and give a jab of pain from time to time.

But never had I had heart break like this--the death of my husband, the loss of our "retirement home", a complete change to life as I had known it for the last 37 years. I think I had lots of help, but I couldn't tell you exactly what I did to recover from that heart break, if, indeed, I have recovered, as I don't think you ever do completely. I prayed a lot and the Lord was with me, directing me, giving me strength. And then a few years later, there was the loss of my son, and more heartbreak.

I remember one time my friend Marta heard me fretting about something and she said, "Janet, is there anything you can do about it?" And I had to say that no, there was not. She said, "Then stop worrying about it." Sounds simple, doesn't it?

Today I see the internet has all kinds of help for getting over a broken heart. I checked out a few and they are interesting. One in particular had stories written by people suffering from broken hearts and it was sad to read them and know there wasn't anything anyone can really do for them. 

 Another site had 5 steps, one of which was specific music to listen to--none of which I was familiar with, but music played a big part in my recovery and why I have two trunks of videos and DVDs and over 200 cds.

One thing I know for sure, broken hearts are inevitable in our life and we all need whatever help we can get as we suffer through them and move on to new experiences, new friends and possibly more heartbreak-----Another kind of painful heartache is to watch a loved one suffer and know the pain they are in and not be able to do anything about it.

The Toilette

I know something as basic as a new toilet is no big deal, right? Wrong, when you have been living with a TEMPERMENTAL one for eight years, it is a really big deal! It works so great, yea!!! Anyone need a plunger? Thanks again, Mark for being the "local plumber" and installing it and thanks again, Linda and Gary for sending me home from San Diego with such a great one that Kirk, the Plumber, picked out. It is a a TOTO if anyone is interested. Kirk says they are the best!

Lake Tahoe, contd.

Marjorie on the lake shore.

We were trying to catch the different colors of Lake Tahoe. They go from an aqua, to a deep turquoise to a deep blue but this picture did not get the right colors. Anyway the lake and sky are beautiful no matter what or when at Lake Tahoe.

The water at Lake Tahoe is over 99% pure. It is so clear it is unbelievable. We did not go in it as it is too late in the year but it is very fun to swim in and you can walk a long way out, but it is extremely deep in the middle, 1645 feet with an average of 989 feet throughout. Lake Tahoe is one of the "must see" destinations and did you know it has enough water to cover the entire state of California to a depth of 14 inches--122 million acres of water. We also took the Dixie II dinner cruise for $10 each ( a deal from the timeshare people). The filet mignon dinner was unexpectedly fabulous!

This is one of the stately redwood trees that are found around the lake--not as big as on the coast but they have really lovely markings and color. This picture did not do the tree justice.

The Canadian Geese are very much at home all around the lake, as we found out when we came up in the summer of 95. You have to watch where you step!

Emerald Bay of Lake Tahoe

We are starting our trek one mile down (and up, yikes) to see the Vilkhommen Castle built in 1928 by a wealthy lady who bought the 238 acres for $250,000 and spent $125,000 building the home. The island out there has her Tea House on the top left corner. It was sold in the 60's back to the state for $250,000.

The main part of the "castle" as seen from the lake side is made of rock and is two story. The top right bedroom belonged to the owner but she usually slept in the porch above that with a full view of Emerald Bay. Her money came from a wealthy husband who had passed away. The home was built and the furniture also to replicate Scandinavian castles.

The servants quarters and the garages and workhouses had sod on the roofs and wild flowers grew there during the summer. The State does not go to that much trouble. The home is in a U shape so has a huge courtyard with a iron gate at one end. The mountain in the background is very majestic also. She had 15 servants there in the summer when she was there and the lady who works for the State and showed us the property used to come there as a teenager from Santa Barbara. She has shown the property for 38 years.

This is the entrance from the courtyard into the living/dining area of the home. All the bedrooms except for servants are on the second floor with gorgeous views of the lake.

More Grandchildren and Kate, GGD

Marjorie and I took a trip to Lake Tahoe on Friday the 14th and drove south on 89 all the way from Lake Almanor. What a breath taking drive! We stopped first in Truckee and caught grandson Matt as he was finishing one job, cutting trees for 9 hours, and was going to a second job at North Star Ski Resort, tending to Lodge clients. Matt is the one who did so much on my Mourning Gardens--He is a great worker! And very handsome. He and Kristi both look like movie stars here...

We caught Kristi and great grand daughter Kate in Incline Village in north Lake Tahoe, where they are living in a gorgeous home of her in-laws. What a beautiful ski/golf lodge! They will be moving to Reno when their new home is finished! Kate looks like a doll but couldn't make her smile. Kristi does look like a movie star. What wonderful grandchildren I have, (as I have said before.)

Personality Test

My Bloginality is ISTJ!!! Maria threw out the gauntlet and so I took the test--which you can also if you click on the dark blue Bloginality. If you want to know who the test says I am, click on the ISTJ---Interesting.

Musical Artists

I know there are so many musicians I am not familiar with, but working for SBA and rubbing elbows with a younger generation I really widened my favorites while traveling. In Maryland, I added many Elton John songs to my list. In Texas it was Al Green and John Lennon. In Guam, it was Don Henley. My daughter Maria introduced me to Rod Stewart. I found Michael Buble' and Dierks Bentley on my own. My latest find is Chris Botti. It is his trumpet music you hear on my blog. Is he good or what--not since Harry James has there been such a master of the trumpet--that I know of, anyway. Enjoy--and who else should I be listening to???

Favorite Clothes

This is a little indulgent, but then blogging is indulgent. I wanted to remember my favorite clothes through the years--and many I can remember only in my mind--no pictures that is. For instance what I was wearing when I had the first important kiss at 16--a grey A line skirt with a tight waistband and a tucked in peasant blouse and red espadrille shoes. I can see it like it was yesterday.

I was thinking that all my favorite clothes had been red but maybe not--the only two I remember about in grade school was this red plaid, wool dress and my red plaid skirt with straps. I liked this dress very much but wished I had silky long stockings instead of those awful brown cotten ones...ugh. We had to change our dresses right after school as we wore them many times before they were washed...

These dresses were probably all Gay Gibson brand. They fit me so well and cost about $19.95 a piece and we carried them at my Dad's clothing store. The white pique was my high school graduation dress. I really thought it was perfect. The brown velvet was a big favorite along with a two piece purple corduroy. There was also a brown corduroy two piece I liked really well. So much for having red clothes as my favorites.

And this dress-- I loved the neckline and the way it fit. It was a rich light two shaded woven material they don't make dresses out of today, at least in my price range-- too expensive now--there was even cording around the neck and sleeves.

We always wore dresses and skirts and sweaters to class in high school and college. I had only one angora sweater with socks to match--that was a status symbol almost. But I did have several jantzen sweaters that had pictures and words knitted in them--one specifically I liked had music notes all through it and yes, it was red. Sweater and skirts were such a fun thing to wear with sox to match, if possible with those polished saddle shoes. But my favorite shoe was the mocassin. Dad did not like us to wear them as they had no support in them. I had a favorite leather fringe jacket and a lookalike Navy Pea Coat--loved them both.

This formal dress is hard to see but it was a fuschia and full skirted soft net with tight bodice--I am the one looking at Ivan peeking around my shoulder--in the middle. I liked this dress for the color, and fit, plus it was soft and flowing...Another dress that was a real favorite when I was dating Ivan was a red knit suit--ooo, it was neat... can see it well.

This squaw dress was made by my roommate Marta's mother. I loved it. She made one for all of us!!--so fun to swing in--we didn't square dance in college though--only high school...but it was fun to wear.

This coat was so soft with sleeves that snugged in a little at the wrist and this lovely fur collar. Unfortunately I wore the front out by carrying books all the time. Loved that coat--

I also wore navy blue quite often and this was a great dress that fit snugly around the waist and had a soft flowing skirt--so 50s... made out of blue crepe, hardly wrinkled at all... always ready for church or...

I also had a grey that was fitted and A line with a high collar--it was also a favorite of mine but have no picture. I wore grey and blue more than I remembered...

This was my kind of outfit (John, from church with me)--a wool skirt I made to match a favorite sweater. This one was grey, again--I had thought all my favorite clothes were red, but not so... we wore full slips under these skirts to make them stand out a little. Had lots of cotten skirts like this that I made...

Ah, just remembered a red dress was what I was wearing when someone brought Bill to a church dance and he asked me out again--(we had a disastrous first date)--it was a silky soft taffeta type material that was fitted to the hips and then flaired out. I made that, too. I wonder, did it really look that good (I thought that was why he asked me out). But it might have been because I was feeling good about myself and so I was outgoing and friendly instead of skulking in the shadows. Oh, well, it was red and I loved that dress. Am I superficial or what...

Just remembered another favorite dress I was wearing when I met Richard--funny how we remember what we were wearing at important moments of our life--at least I do. It was a silk floral with wrap around waist bands--very classy--and I made it, also. I can't believe I was such a seamstress in those days. It was a Vogue pattern, I remember. Anyway, my friend Norma had set us both up for a blind date and neither of us was interested--until we saw each other. Except for the first week when I had some dates with former friends, we were together and married six weeks later. Must have looked good in that dress, ha. It wasn't red, either.

Favorite Clothes After Marriage

The clothes I loved from my married life were mostly when I was younger and slimmer. One of my favorite was a maternity dress--red pleated from the bodice with a white collar and bow at the neck--it always looked so dressy. Marilyn had sent it to share. My other favorite maternity was the black velvet jumper top and velvet skirt or pants with a pretty white blouse.

I have more than one dress from Tiajuana and this was one I loved to wear--yellow with beautiful embroidery. Richard liked to bargain with the sellers and use his Spanish. The other one I loved so much was squared necked with a three quarter length sleeve with lace insets and border--it was fuchsia and very nice ribbed cotten--why didn't I save those dresses??

This coat reminded me of the one I loved so much in college, except it was suede, but had that same soft fur collar. I remember Richard gave it to me for Christmas one year. I had learned by then that he loved to be asked for things, rather than told, and I called him and said how much I wanted it and, of course, he told me to buy it for my present.

This was probably my all time favorite dress. It was from India and the dress flowed from the bodice and had soft full sleeves--there was a border on the bottom of the dress--a very soft material and red. I knew I liked red. I should have kept it even if I couldn't fit into it anymore.

I loved orange all most as much as I loved red and this knit suit was lovely. Reminded me of that red knit suit I had in college that I wore so much.

I liked this yellow dress as it was straight down to the hip and then a pleated skirt, I felt very feminine wearing it, and it was very comfortable.

I have no favorite clothes now except for my jeans and sweat shirts--is that sad or what...Oh well, it was fun remembering. Maybe I will think of some more...

Carla

Today my childhood friend Carla called--(Carla is her stage name, she was on the Perry Como show, played the lead in "Fantasticks", was Miss Montana, Homecoming Queen in High School, Child Prodigy, pianist, violinist, singer, A student)--In other words she did it all and I was a best friend.

Here, she is the smiling one in the center, I think it was a birthday party for her--I am the gloomy one on the right (I don't know what that was about). Anyway we had a wonderful childhood. There was a canyon by her house with lots of tall growth. We would play "Nyoka of the Jungle." She had a terrific imagination and I loved to follow her lead. We also would put on our rubber boots and crossed from the creek to an island on the river and searched for treasure (agates). We called it Poco Moco Loco Island as I recall. One day her brother followed us and that was the end of that. We were evidently walking through raw sewage. We would hike out to the badlands and Sugarloaf (a magical clay mound perfect for climbing up to and sitting in and eating lunch). Just don't be there when it rains--slippery, slippery. In high school we were the first Freshman to get our big D--attained through all kinds of athletic feats like biking 75 miles, 200 sit ups, 10 push ups, etc. We would have my brother drive us out of town so we knew how many miles it was and then bike back. With her imagination she would also make up stories to submit to magazines like "Confessions" or "True Love" or something and enthrall us with her articles.

In high school, our boyfriends were best buds so we double dated. One of the most funny to me was chasing a pig through town. I drove while the boys chased and I followed them down alleys and such. We had a lot of fun, needless to say. As I have said before, we had a magical childhood and teenage years. Oh yes, Carla was also a star in all the high school plays. As I say, she could do it all. I was a terrific audience but what else, I am not sure, a better driver I think. She would scare me to death as she would turn and talk to us in the back seat as she drove. As children, we even donned our best and attended the Community Concerts together. I used to have the autographs of famous violinists and pianists I had never heard of.

After her Broadway and TV years she was a music teacher at a private school and then a stockbroker on Wall Street and I was a school teacher, then a homemaker and then a mortgage broker in San Diego. She had her doctorate and did very well in the financial business. A regular whiz kid in anything she tried.

Now we are both old and she is in the city of New York or vacationing in Hilton Head and I live the simple life in the mountains. Amazing how two such different individuals can be best friends. But that is how life should be, isn't it?

Questions and Answers

Richard--A Man with Answers

My son tells me I ask a lot of questions, my gynecologist said I asked more questions than any patient he had ever had, the first summer working at SBA one of the men told me not to ask any questions as it made the meetings too long. So am I just more curious, more dumb, or more forgetful--why do I ask so many questions? Probably all of the above, but I do wonder about a lot of things. When my husband came home from a meeting, I would ask him questions about things he didn't even think about.

However, if I asked him a question about something important he always had an answer--usually a long answer--and he wanted me to sit still until he had finished the whole answer. I got so I would say, "Just give me the short version." Richard had an amazing memory for detail. I could read so much faster than he could, but I would immediately forget what I read--he never did. In fact, because he knew so much about so many things, it made me upset if he didn't have an answer.

Of course, then there was the "brokering to banks" side of our mortgage business that he never learned. He couldn't answer my questions, but I knew that most men like to answer questions. So if I met someone who appeared knowledgable, I would pester them with questions and they would love to tell me all they knew. That was how I learned the brokering business in the days before there were classes and books and computers with all the answers.

Music Added!!!

Maria is so smart--she taught me how to blog and now she taught me how to add music. I love blogging, even if no one else reads it. It is such an easy way to save your memories and view them at any time without pasting, cutting, typing even though I have a lot of memory books also. Meagan has now added videos but since I don't have any, I can't try that, but it really is a marvelous way to preserve thoughts and memories. As Maria said, even if a fire came and destroyed your books, you still have this all on the internet!!! It's a great life!

The Puzzle

I have a huge cedar tree to the left of my patio and something (I thought it was squirrels, but it may be those strange birds that climb down the tree to the water dish) anyway something is splitting those little pods (this one branch got away from them). Anyway all day these split pods come down from the tree and I have swept up as much as two quarts a day! It is a huge mess and I do not remember it happening before (the last eight years). In the fall I have seen the pods all dried up and split open like little heliocopters and fluttering down but never have I seen these green pods split open and the center seed removed. I have used my binoculars and I can never see a thing up there. If it was squirrels, I would think I would see them running up and own and jumping. Heavens, they are all over my yard and easy to see as they think they are hiding from me running around. But who is up there? These birds come walking down the tree, I am not kidding, walking down the tree, could it be them... It is a puzzle and a mess...PS-- Mark came this afternoon and he could see better than I and it is a little squirrel, way up high (more than one? I don't know?)