Gone Girl

I can't believe I did not write a post about this book "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn but I can't find one. It was one of the most suspenseful books I have ever read and I noted her down as a new author I want to follow.

Today I heard on the news what a best seller it has been and they are now making a movie of it!!! Gillian Flynn had lost her job in 2008 and decided to write--four years later, boom, what a success!!! I can't remember the details of the book but I don't think I will read it again before the movie--evidently the ending will be a little different.

She was asked how she could write such a dark movie about marriage when she appears to have a very happy one and has a little boy also.  She said she had to be careful to never write just after they had had a fight...but it is all her imagination what she writes in the book.

Easter break with the Stewarts

Easter fun and school holiday!

Darling little Molly--wish I could snuggle her!

 Future heartbreaker at the swimming pool, Ryan hits the water.

Brynn and Kate share a tube.  Thanks, big sister.

Brynn does a little sunbathing.

Look what is in the Easter Basket!  Sweet Molly!

A Good Week

From a LACC Memo:   Lake Almanor has water. While many of California's lakes and reservoirs are experiencing extremely low water levels, Lake Almanor is holding steady for the time being.  

That is good news!!!

Thought for today--

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”

― Epictetus

I remember my college friend Marta telling me that same thing when she came to visit.  I was stewing over something and she said, "Is there anything you can do about it?"  NO--"Then stop worrying about it."  Good advice.

This has been a great week, I accomplished a lot though it takes me forever to do things and I have to keep resting.  I get too tired too fast. 

Every time I drive to Susanville or to Chester I think what a beautiful place I live in,  I don't mind the drive at all.  There is very little traffic and just scenic views on both sides.  The snow is still atop Mt Lassen and the Sierras and Cascades but the temperature is up in the 70's,

I also enjoy going to the branch each Sunday and meeting with people who know my name and who are friendly and enjoyable to listen to and be with.  This is a good place for me to be, it is still lonely, of course, but thank heaven I have Sadie.  

She sometimes sits at the end of her "run" and cries because she wants to go play with the big dog in back of my lot.  Yesterday the big dog and the two golden labs from the next house came and played with her at the same time.  It was three big dogs all taking turns tussling with her and the owners stand and watch to make sure they don/t hurt her but she just loves it.

The branch has a new tabletop flat screen tv that we can play our teaching videos on.  Maryanne used it today and then showed me how.  She even looked online to show me what connector I needed to use with my Samsung.  Yes, very nice thoughtful people here.  And I am glad I willl not have to drag my computer and speakers to church anymore when I teach!

Hula Plus is A Plus and Matt and Mitch are My Heroes

The other day I asked Mitch why I needed Hulu Plus as one of my Roku Channels.  He said he had just read that they had added a lot of the old black and white Classic movies.  He knew I had been looking for some on Netflix and could not find them.

Sunday I had been talking to my sister Marilyn who had her 83rd birthday that day.  We were giving each other advice on how to live our remaining years and she left me with the admonition to just "do what you want to" so Monday after cleaning my little house I sat down for an afternoon of the "Classics"  on Hula Plus.

I have a list from somewhere of Classics to see before you die so that is the list I am using.  But first I was fascinated by an Ingrid Bergman film called "Stromboli".  Loving anything that Ingrid Bergman was in and not remembering ever seeing it (I hadn't, it was a foreign film) it was my first to watch. She was a left over prisoner in a refugee camp after WWII and was proposed to by a Greek prisoner who had a home to go back to.  He described the island in the Mediterranean as a desirable place and since he was a handsome young man and she did not have family left to go back to, she was married and left with him.

Feeling somewhat sad and lonely myself after Mitch and Matt left and I was alone for the first time in a few months it was a great film to cry to.  The town on the island was called Stromboli and it was town which was destroyed by a huge volcano at the top of the island every once and while and there was hard lava all over with little green vegetation and the homes were cracked and barren.  There was little furniture in his home. Anyway with her emoting and feeling rejected as a foreigner and he being a young jealous husband who believed in beating a wife who smiled at anyone else, etc, etc, etc it was a movie of tears...but I enjoyed feeling her emotions.

Then I found "Tokyo Story" on my list.  This was the story of an older couple who goes back to rebuilt Tokyo to visit their married children.  Since I had just been to San Diego to visit my married children this was a great movie to relate to.  As you can imagine their married children are all very busy with their jobs and family and having the parents is more a burden than a joy.  It really tells the story of just how it is--they love their parents but they do not have the time for them and the parents feel slighted and go home early. However, it is nothing that they talk about.  In fact they do not have so much in common to even converse anymore.

There were many excellent views voiced "your children grow away from you gradually"  "a married daughter is like a stranger"  "it is hard to lose a child, but it is not easy to get along with the living either".  The timing of watching the movie could not have been better for me.  I had just moved on to another film when Maria called and we had an excellent discussion about it all.  As she said you can't take these things personally it is just the way it is...we all adore you but everyone has so much that they are involved in, it is hard to do it all--or something like that.  Anyway excellent movie and I enjoyed the conversation with Maria very much.  I needed that.

The last movie I watched was not a Classic but a new one that had been added and it was excellent as well.  "33 Postcards" is about a Chinese orphan who is sponsored by a young man from Australia for 10 years from age 6 to 16.  They have corresponded faithfully and she has grown to love the life he depicted in Australia.  When she goes to Australia to perform in a children's choir she looks for him and finds he has been in prison for 10 years and was not living the life he depicted at all.  It is a very beautiful film about innocence and love and crime and prison life and the unfairness of life and how far love can go in helping each other survive and thrive.

Hula Plus I will keep while I watch more of the classics...and others.  Isn't it great that I have so much time to just do what I want every day.  Today I get my hair cut and will take Sadie for a long walk.  It will be in the high sixties and seventies all week!!!  Spring is here...for now and thanks to Mitch and Matt my yard is beautiful and ready to enjoy.

When Matt came to pick up Mitch and saw the ninety plus bags of yard waste he said we needed to get rid of it and was the waste dump open?  It was till noon!!!  Matt is very decisive and they immediately cleaned out Matt's nice big Suburban and I drove to town for some cash.  The waste dump is just three plus miles down the road but it took four loads and lots of effort and mess and their precious time.  I am so appreciative of Matt and Mitch to do this for me.  I would have had to put the bags out for the garbage dump at $2 a bag and it would have taken almost a year!!!  If only I had a truck!!  Anyway I cannot give enough praise to Matt and Mitch for all their effort and Mitch had cleaned up the yard so beautifully while he was here.  Matt reminded me just  before he left that he is only two hours away and if I needed anything to call!!!  Nice to know when I am all alone up here, thanks Matt.

Relief Society Building

From the Relief Society site in the church website:

“In October 1945, plans were announced to erect a Relief Society building. In October 1947, the First Presidency approved a plan proposed by Sister Belle S. Spafford: each member of the Relief Society, which then numbered 100,000, was asked to donate five dollars to the project. Sisters from all over the world sent donations. Some sent artifacts from their homelands to beautify the interior of the building. In one year, sisters raised $554,016." 

This week it was possible to look on the church site to see your ancestor's names who may have contributed to this building.  I did not look up all my ancestors but I did find my mother and aunt's name who had contributed in the name of their mother.  Mother had done it through her home ward in Weber Stake in Utah.  Glendive was still a very small group at that time.  I was in high school and we were meeting in the IOOF hall.

I also found the names of Richard's mother and aunts plus his Grandmother Hardy.  I am sure there were many more I knew if I had kept looking.

I was in the building on business in the 70's but did not realize it was built through the efforts of the sisters in the 40's and 50's.  Very interesting, I thought.

Who Doesn't Love Spring Snow?

Spring surprise this morning.  It will probably melt later today but so pretty right now.  Unfortunately my car looks the same way.  Since the garage door is broken the car is in the driveway.  Always something.

 Sadie's new favorite spot is laying by the burning woodstove.  She is actually fascinated with the whole wood fire process and stands anxiously watching while the cold stove becomes a roaring fire.  I think we will run out of wood before we run out of winter we are burning so much.

Sadie just had a fun romp in the snow.  She quite loves it and with her red coat she is cozy warm.

A Little Emerson Philosophy

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

That was the Thought for the Day in Yahoo and I love Emerson.  His is one of the few college books I still have and I am so glad I marked it to show what was impressive to me in the 50's.  I especially have a lot of marks and notations in his essay on "Compensation".  

For instance he says, "For every thing you have missed, you have gained something else; and for every thing you gain, you lose something.--There is always some leveling circumstances that puts down the overbearing, the strong, the rich, the fortunate, substantially on the same ground with all others."

He quotes St. Bernard, "Nothing can work me damage except myself; the harm that I sustain I carry about with me, and never am a real sufferer but by my own fault."  And isn't that the truth.  I remember taking a correspondence course on how we "make our own depression".  It is so easy to feel sorry for yourself and make a good case for your misery.

 I have been thinking a lot about the last chapter from "The Husband's Secret" of how different directions, destinations, consequences, etc. are determined by our choices.  And yet some choices are made with a lot of thought and others we just drift into because we don't choose something else.

I remember so well the first week of my Disaster Duty when we were to choose whether we wanted to go out into the field or stay in and do the processing.  Not having experience in either one you did not know how to choose.  One of the leaders came over and tried to direct my choice by making the one sound more enticing that the other.  Of course, it was the one he was a leader over.  I later found out the experienced reserves much preferred the field and not what he suggested at all.  However, as Emerson inferred there was definitely leveling circumstances in both situations I found out when I experienced them both later on.

But back to the thought for the day.  How do you know what "yourself" is?  I have had to reinvent myself several times in order to do what had to be done to survive.  I was over and over again "out of my comfort zone" and different from what I considered "myself".

Changing of the Sheets

Friday I washed and put away the flannel sheets and put on my silky summer sheets.  The changing of the sheets from season to season is always a big deal for me and the first night always feels so good.  I also changed from my flannel pjs to my silky ones.

Alas this morning I woke to the sound of rain but the look of snow--big wet blogs of snow!!  Oh, no, winter is still here...too bad, the flannel sheets are put away till fall, even if it does snow for all of April!

So Much To See, To Read, To Listen to--What an Amazing World

Now that the rains and snows are upon us for awhile and our yard is completed I am back into the reading and listening to books and finding interesting shows to watch.

"The Beginners Goodbye"by Anne Taylor was a sobering book about death of a spouse and the actions of the other spouse because of grief that follows.  JK Rowling's adult book was about how quick we are to condemn one another.  In the Swedish film "As It Is In Heaven" a famous conductor with a bad heart has always wanted to produce music that would cause people to show love.  Because of his health he must retire and he returns to his hometown and becomes involved with a small group of people who want to make beautiful music but have never really been there for one another.  Each suffers alone because of some problem that most are aware about but do nothing to help.  It is a very moving movie and I loved the countryside of Sweden it was filmed in.  Here again the emphasis is what lousy human beings we are for one another instead of being loving and caring, we keep our distance and blame and condemn but seldom really love.

A dark comedy is Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe in "A Young Doctor's Notebook" which was taken from an actual notebook written during the Russian revolution.  Very different--we watched Season 1 and Season 2 is not on a station I do not have so will wait to see it later on Netflix I guess.  Some very gross medical scenes but it is strangely comedic.  Produced by BBC, of course.

I am now reading "The Book Thief" and crying most of the way through it.  I may want to watch the movie when I have completed it.  It is a WW ll movie about a little girl 3 years older than myself but living in Germany.  So sad what they went through.

I am also in the middle of "The Husband's Secret" which is very well written about marriage relationships of a few who all end up connected with each other in someway and a murder is involved, it is getting very exciting.  I like the writing so well I looked up the author Liane Moriarty from Australia--yea she has other books to read.  I love to find new authors I enjoy.  The problem is when I like a book I tend to read most of the night and get no sleep. Next day note--another one of those all nighter readings.  Finished the book and one thing at the end I liked was to do all the "What ifs"  -- how our life is determined by even the most minute of choices.  Liked the book, want to read her other best sellers for sure.

With a couple books on my tablet and more on my kindle and having roku with Netflix and Amazon and Hulu Plus, etc. there is always much to read or watch or listen to to put me to sleep.

Today I listened to the Diane Krall station on Pandora all day while I read.  I find it is the most satisfying station for me--jazz, classics, so soothing.

Oh, yes, and I walked today with no pain in my thighs!!!!!  What have I done differently?  Off all grains, legumes, nuts, etc.  Off milk totally.  Taking Vit E and Magnesium in addition to all I regularly take.  So what is it that is working???  Less calcium, more magnesium, not so much inflammation from grains and milk????

If It Isn't One Thing, It Is Another

Last night I went to bed frustrated over a tax situation--I think because of it I had a terrible nightmare and was so happy to wake and find it was just that, a nightmare.  Then today as I was rushing to grab my raincoat out of the bedroom Mitch is in... my arm snagged his fishing pole and I was hooked!!!  All the way into the skin.

Mitch cut the fishing pole loose but we couldn't do more than that because it was embedded in my skin under the long sleeved turtleneck and it hurt.  Guess what-- I was on the way to the Veterinarian and he is a fisherman--maybe he would know what to do.

However, after Sadie had her shots, the Vet did a squeamish pose and said he could not deal with doing anything on humans and I would have to go to Seneca!

Seneca has my regular doctor, the emergency room, other doctors and the Walk-In Clinic with Dr. Tonya--all of them have my fat file.  I am never sure where to go but usually I will go to Dr. Tonya as in the time I cut my finger badly on a can-opening incident, or when I got the shingles, or when my eye was suddenly all inflamed and swollen.   The emergency room handled my dislocation of shoulder and Dr. Nelson all my made ahead appointments except when he was gone and then I had Dr. Wall.  So Dr. Tonya it was again.

She and her assistant appraised the situation and then had to cut my shirt, a lot--numb my arm--probe around with a needle until she had loosened and removed the hook--and then give me a tetanus shot. Yes, they saved the hook but not my shirt.  They did not have a single tetanus vaccine and so it was a tetanus, whooping cough vaccine.  I had to give permission for all this probing, shots, etc., of course. She said the vaccine was especially good if I was going to be around any newborns as there has been over 220,000 babies die from whooping cough this past year.  She said the babies do not get the shots until about 9 months and they are catching it from adults so she said it was good for the adults around babies to get vaccinated.  Well, I have already visited Eden and I doubt I know any other people here having babies but at least I won't get whooping cough myself this year.

What a day, but I did stop at the store and rhubarb was in!!! yea!!! and I cooked some for dessert and ate it all!!  I also snagged two packages of Miller's frankfurters and some Diet Dr Pepper to soothe my nerves.

Oh, and we had snow last night but then it turned to rain and  everything looks beautiful, now it is sunshine... and Mitch had a nice fire going when we came home...very nice.

"Chosen" for Spring Cleanup

The "Chosen" one for Clean-up of all the needles and pods, etc this year was Mitch.  He has been staying here for a couple of weeks while waiting for work in Tahoe.  Mitch drove me back from San Diego and has somehow endured the boring regime at Grandma's house.  He does have his games which he can play on the computer in his room and he can even get Netflix on it if he wants to watch from bed instead of the living room.  But, let's face it, he misses someone and it is lonely here.  So...good he has hard physical work to do!!!

Sadie, of course, oversees the whole operation!

With no snow this year the debris is very dry--here is Mitch as he begins the half acre clean-up.

And here is the finished backyard--so clean, so nice.  The neighbors in back have a new device.  He drives around while two garbage cans are filled with the debris!!!  He dumps it  all in a pile and then someone comes and loads it and takes it away.  Mitch was not so lucky.  It was all rake and fill bags and he filled over 100!!!  Now all we need is a truck.

Here is Mitch, doing what he loves to do, after the last day of cleaning Grandma's yard  for spring.   The front yard looks beautiful, too.  My yard is raked dirt, mostly, with a few greens things here and there. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain.  We are ready.  Mitch already wrote one song while he is here--maybe he is writing another.  Thanks so much, Mitch, love you!

Great Grandma Picture

Meagan was not too happy with this picture of herself still swollen after her C-Section but allowed it so we could have a picture of her girls with her Grandma.  I like it.  I called it "the barefoot girls" because we all had barefeet--San Diego style.

Meagan had so many beautiful pictures of the baby but I especially liked this one of Keira looking at her new sister Eden.

.Do they have eyes alike?  Right now Keira's are darker...and just look at that cute splattering of freckles across Keira's nose.  So precious, both of them.

Home Again!!!

I have been home almost a week and am loving it, sleeping so well, it is so quiet and of course, there is no place like your own bed.  Sadie is snuggled about as close as she can get so I am pushed to the edge of this huge bed and have to keep moving her over.  She is very solid and strong for such a little gal.  She has enjoyed going out and roaming but always comes back.  Of course, there are not many cars around this time of year so it is fairly safe for her.


As a memo to myself, it is March 15th and if I don't like the basic Dish package I have changed to, I should not make any changes for 30 days or there will be a charge.  I finally talked to someone who knows what he is doing I think.  Before when I have asked if I could change to a less expensive package and still use by DVR I was told I was at the lowest program now.  He said, Not so, I can still record and I still have my basic channels so I will try it for a month at least and cut my bill in half and hopefully with all my other Roku options I will have more than enough TV watching.!


We actually had a fairly smooth trip home--straight up 5 where the only slowdown was a section near Ventura where they had miles of one lane but no one working on the other lanes as it was Sunday.  Highway 50 is quite scenic after leaving Sacramento and there was no snow in Tahoe at all except on the slopes where they are probably using artificial snow.  We dropped Hana at a motel that looked very much like the Bates Motel in the series which is so fun to watch.  Unfortunately I will not have A & E so will have to watch it another way.


I felt very energetic and so have worked and rested and worked and rested until I have a clean and orderly house and now will have to start in the yard--lots of raking to do and gathering of branches for my almost empty wood bin. It was good to have Mitch here to help with the high or heavy jobs I couldn't manage alone. The garage has some more stuff that needs to go to the Thrift, too and then life will be back to normal I think.  Two days ago my back was so bad I had to take to couch and bed in the middle of my mess but after a good long rest it was feeling ok again--hope I keep all this energy so I can plow in to some of my many  projects with gusto.  We have tried to get the TV fixed from the Pulsipher house but no luck yet!

Twin Sisters

For some reason all my Netflix recommended films right now are foreign, mostly WWII vintage. "Twin Sisters" is exceptional.   The German girl twins are separated at the death of their parents when they are about 7 and live very different lives because of the homes they are sent to.  However, because of WWII their lives intertwine several times.  It is very sad, romantic, and a reminder of how much one's upbringing determines their destiny.

The following review was given in Rotten Tomatoes.

Dutch family-oriented filmmaker Ben Sombogaart directs De Tweeling (Twin Sisters), based on the best-selling novel by Tessa de Loo. Using black-and-white and color film stocks to establish the interwoven time periods, the story concerns twin sisters who grow up during WWII. In 1926, orphans Lotte and Anna are separated and forbidden to contact each other. Lotte is taken in by a wealthy Dutch couple to recover from tuberculosis and Anna is sent to work on a farm in Germany under the aegis of her uncle. Each woman becomes romantically involved with a different suitor; when the war breaks out, both sisters lose their men. The socioeconomic differences between their experiences drive them to opposite sides of the battlefront once war breaks out. Years later, they reencounter each other again and face the difficult prospect of a long-delayed reconciliation. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Danny and Lani

After I visited the Masseys I walked down the street to the home of Danny and Lani, friends from the late 50's when I came to San Diego to teach.  Lani was talking to a friend on the porch and she immediately said, "Janet!" when she saw me.  Danny was getting ready to go to lunch with a friend when Lani called to him that I was there.  He asked for her assistance, "I can't let Janet see me with my walker."  Lani and I were talking about why the Christmas decorations were still up when we heard Danny say, "The heart can only stand so much, Janet is here."

Evidently Danny had been in the hospital for a couple weeks starting on December 13 and he was still recouping from an injured back.  Lani had put the Christmas decorations out and they were still celebrating the Christmas they missed by being in the hospital so much.  He was apologetic that the yard was not weeded as usual because he still could not bend down, but he was giving instructions to Lani to be sure and show me his '40 Mercury in the garage and other pictures of his restored vehicles before he walked out the door to lunch with his friend.  Lani was her usual happy, giving self, doing all he wanted.

He gave me a big hug, and said "Not like the last time we locked lips."

In 56 when I came to teach in San Diego with my friend Colleen we were part of about 17 new teachers that had come from Utah colleges to teach school in San Diego.  We all ended up in 4th Ward on Hamilton--there were only six other wards in San Diego and 4th Ward was the Stake Hall. There were also about 15 or so Navy boys who came in each Sunday to church there, too.  They were returned missionaries who now had to do their draft time in the Navy.  Then there were the San Diego locals like Danny and Carol, etc. There were probably about 35 to 40 of us young adults going to this ward and having dances on Saturday nights and firesides and potlucks on Sunday and other youth activities like the beach and mountain parties, etc so it was a very fun time in San Diego.

During the three years this was going on before I met and married Richard in October of 59 there were a lot of romances and break ups among the group.  Marta married Quinton and Colleen married her Navy pilot and Lani married Danny, Norma married Ray and there were several others, too.  I have a picture of Lani in her wedding dress in my blog here somewhere.  She was so beautiful.  I remembered the Christmas that Lani and I were the only ones left with no where to go for Christmas. We ended upon Christmas Eve driving to Orem, Utah so she could spend Christmas with relatives and I could spend Christmas at Jeanne's.  Lani was always a delight to be with, she taught school and then substituted until just last year!!

In the first year Norma got us all together to put on a play (Danny remembered the title) but I didn't. He wants me to send him copies of the pictures I posted a few blogs back.  He played my son and my hair was floured to look grey and I wore a sophisticated dress and Bob was my husband in the suit. We had to kiss in the play but Danny and I had an impromptu (much better kiss) behind the curtains. He flirted with me for three years but Lani was crazy for him and eventually they married after Richard and I had married and moved to Pacific Beach.

He has kidded Meagan and Matt about me since they moved nearby and was always playfully upset I did not come down to visit them.  The last time I saw him was when I was walking in La Jolla with Maria and Linda when they were in grade school.  He was driving by in a SDGE truck and yelled out the window--Hey, Janet.  Anyway, always a fun guy.  He had brought me to his home in '56 to meet his Mom and show me the Japanese hut and pond, etc he had built on the side of the canyon.  I thought this was the house he and Lani were living in but it was not.

Lani told me they had been living in an apartment down the street and he told her to find a house to buy, a big house with a big yard, he was not coming with her.  She said she found a five bedroom house with a small yard and a smaller house with a really large yard.  They bought the latter, for the big yard which Danny wanted.  She showed me Danny's restored Mercury first.  The garage was filled with trophies and pictures of all the car shows he had been to and won--he restored one car, sold it and then another, etc.  Beautiful work. When I knew him in '56 he had bought a new Chevy and polished it every night after work, kept it meticulous.

Then she showed me the rest of the yard--large tif-green yard with a couple patios, ponds (there also had been a Japanese hut but it was burned in a fire 20 years ago) and a very large beautiful pool in full sun, another deck and then property that is theirs all the way down the canyon, a huge yard!!! They have 19 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.

Anyway it was a fun visit and Danny wanted me to come back when he was there but I told him I was leaving Sunday and not going to drive the freeway out there again.  Maybe they can stop by when they go to an autoshow in Redding.  He comes up to the August nights in Reno all the time, too.  Small world.  I have seen those restored cars drive on Highway 36 in the summertime.  Never thought Danny might be one of them.

New Baby Eden

Visiting the Masseys and holding new Great Grandchild Eden--so precious.

Sadie Abandons Her House

I guess it is time, Sadie has earned the right to sleep with me.  She always tells me if she has to go outside.  She does not chew my shoes anymore,   She does not tear up the toilet paper.  She is just one smart dog with good manners.  This last week she has been sleeping on top of the covers but as close as she can get.  It kind of feels good to feel that solid warmth next to me.  She also likes to reach up and give a kiss on the cheek.  She is a sweetie.

The only time she runs to her house (7 ft kennel) is when she sees me reach for my purse.  She knows I am going in the car and she does not want to go!!!  She has always had a little problem with car sickness but I just took her with me to drive Sarah to school this morning and she was ok.

When I left Lake Almanor last month and drove through the canyon to Melissa's house she had thrown up all over my red quilt.  Of course, it is a winding road and she had eaten.  Secret to leaving for Lake Almanor from here on Sunday is "do not let Sadie eat anything before we leave".  I remember Bandido never wanted to eat while we traveled either, but she do like to go with me in the car everywhere I went.

Thank heaven for Sadie, she is the one constant love in my life.  Why can't we all be like dogs--so forgiving, so loving, so comforting, and when I talk to her she really tries to listen and understand.  She perks up her ear as if she really will understand me and looks me in the eyes, as if to say, I hear you, I'm here for you..  When she is hungry she gently taps me on the arm, when she wants to go outside she stands by the door.  I really should be more consistent about walking her, that is a good resolution for the New Year.

She did know how to sit and lie down and walk slowly beside me but I did not keep it up and now I will need to start all over if I want her to do the tricks.  She was also shaking hands fairly well.  Sweet Sadie, what a joy. she does want to please.

Today she wanted to go back to bed after I breakfasted and cleaned the kitchen and she stood poised in the hallway waiting for me, the way Bandido used to do.

New Baby and Shirley Temple

Hopefully I will get up to see the new baby this week and more pictures will come.  New babies are the most exciting thing that happens to us in our lives I think.  They are so perfect in every way and such a joy to hold and behold.   I am so happy for the Masseys.  Still haven't heard the new name, guess they are getting acquainted with her so they can pick a name that fits her. 

I was named after a movie star but Janet is not a popular name anymore, I never really liked my name.  I would often pronounce it with a French flair as in Ja- nay with a long a sound.  Myrna always called me Janney.  In college I changed it to Jan and that is what my old boyfriend Bill still calls me.  But it is difficult to choose the right name.  John and Linda came easy--Linda was a teenage girlfriend of a neighbor and she was so pretty and I loved the name and the song called "Linda".  John's middle name was my grandfather and I just liked the name Eric.  With Maria it was harder, we had chosen a different name and then a friend of mine had a baby and used that name!!! 

But Maria was popular in the movies and I later found it was a name we had in our Swedish heritage also, still it took longer to name her.  But wow, look at all the songs about Maria.  James was easy, too, even though there were other James Hardy's I just liked the name and his middle name is after Richard's brother Scott who had passed away and a name I liked also--but he was always Jimmy and John was Johnny for many years and the Las Vegas cousins still call him that.  My father called Linda, Linda Poo, for some reason, not Linda Sue. And Sue was a popular name in the movies at that time, too.  Interesting how movies stars can make or break a name.

Today I didn't do any of the things I planned to do but I did watch a couple of films about Shirley Temple.   The first was a movie made in around 2001 I believe.  I don't remember ever hearing about it so maybe it was on TV and not in the theaters.  It was not that good because as talented as the little girl playing Shirley was she could not duplicate the magic that was Shirley.  It was also obvious how gifted Shirley was at such a young age and what a really adorable child she was.  Another clip I watched compared Shirley's scenes to child stars who played her later in movies about her and there was just no doubt she could not be duplicated in any way.

Then I found "Shirley Temple, America's Little Darling" and it was excellent.  Child stars who worked alongside her and other movie stars and movie leaders at the time talked about her and why she was so unique.  She could not be duplicated and there has never been any other like her.  I was happy to find out what a positive influence her mother was and how strong she was in protecting her in every way.  Several expressed how different she was from every other child stars in that she was just Shirley being Shirley and not acting.  Her mother had been a dancer and really taught her a lot about dancing and her mother went over her lines with her every night and the next day Shirley would know everyone's lines.  She did not realize that she was not living like other children, it was all just natural and enjoyable to her what she was doing. President Roosevelt said how wonderful it was that for 15 cents we could go to the movies and smile and laugh and find joy when life was so hard and sad during the long depression.  She was very protected though because she was money to so many.  She saved the studio who was nearly bankrupt and was a bigger draw than all the popular adult stars at the time.  They were lucky to get into a movie with her so they could be successful.

The Davis family from around the corner had come over Saturday so the children could meet Sadie and ask to walk her and then the two twins sat and talked to me and I showed them some clips of Shirley and that is what got me to thinking about her today.

Newest Great Grandchild

Born at 12.49 today, 7 lbs 14 oz 

California Dreaming

So I just finished working on my budget for 2014.  How depressing.  I am back to where I was in 1999--living on Social Security with no job. How impossible.  When I bought my house in 1998 John said I could not afford a house.  How right he was.  People on SS or minimum wage cannot afford a house, a car or a dog.  So what do they do?  What do I do? Go without, beg, borrow, steal?  Maybe all but the latter!!!  It got me to thinking in the night, if I played the lottery and won the lottery what would I do with my money? This is really quite a fun exercise.

First, I would pay off every one of my descendant's student loans and any other debts they had--including my own.  Secondly, I would see that everybody over 25 had a home and new car of their own and I would buy a second home by the beach.  Then I would have my kitchen counters redone and the whole house painted inside and out.  But before that, I would have the front deck and roof extended---I liked that idea when John suggested it and I would put in a Jacuzzi somewhere.  How about another window put in the side of the house or good skylights built in so there is more light.  I would probably replace the carpets in the bedrooms and buy new quilts.  Hmm, what else?  Replace the tubs with showers?  Maybe one because I still like my bubble bath or if I had a Jacuzzi, would I need that?  l would throw out all the old pots and pans and start over--same with kitchen dishes and glasses--

And I would work harder on losing some weight and exercise so that I would look good when I saw myself in the three way mirrors at the stores and all the clothes I tried on looked great!!!  You should shop at least once a month so you realize what you really look like!!!

I would not care to travel anymore but maybe high definition TVs and also mirrors on the closet doors and ceiling fans in the other bedrooms and how about a new desktop computer that was really fast and I could Skype easier.

And how about replacing all the garden areas with good soil so everything grows better--while I am wishing.

I could even fence an area to keep the deer out and grow some veggies!!!!

OK, that is enough, back to reality and what's for breakfast--as Scarlett said, "I will think abut it tomorrow."

Rained all day and I watched a very touching movie "Unfinished Song"--about a Senior Center, singing, and death of your loved one and being left alone--Vanessa Redgrave is amazing at her age.

A Day of TV

I finished the French series of "Count of Monte Cristo" today and I think they did a great job of being authentic to the book.  Now I understand yet another version is being made in Hollywood.  I am interested to know who will be the "Count".  I liked how at the end he is trying to forgive instead of just seek revenge and is that really how the book ended?  I can't remember, I better read it again.

I also watched "In the Land of Blood and Honey" which I missed first time around.  I have to believe that Angelina is one smart cookie.  I know she took a lot of criticism but I think she did a great job of presenting the way things probably were and yet showed the warmth and evilness of both sides. What atrocities in the world, though...man at his worst.

I may not finish 'Casual Vacancy'--I am not really enjoying all the unpleasantness of so many people. It is a rather jaded look at people or is it reality????

I also prepared for the days of rain expected and did a run to Walmart.  Five days of rain and snow in the mountains is expected.  We may go home to snow after all.

Later I watched "Remembrance" a based on true story about a Polish guy and a Jewish girl who escaped from a Nazi camp and then later became separated.  She was pregnant and he did not know it.  They each thought the other died only to discover 30 years later they are both alive.  The movie ends with them about to meet so your imagination can run wild.  Does she leave her husband and stay with him?  Can they even converse or care about each other?  Did she tell her daughter who the real father was--did the daughter get to meet him?  I am sure there is more to the story...

Small World Elicits More Memories

Small world again!!!  The Pulsiphers were invited to the neighbors house for dinner and I opted to stay home.  Lo and behold the husband is the son of a former acquaintance whom I had dated a couple of times in 1959 in San Diego and known for awhile.  I remember that week well.

I had just come back from BYU and moved into a new place.  It was purposely an apartment upstairs as I felt safer and a young couple with a baby lived next door.  Both Colleen and Marta were now married.  I had broken up with Bill (we were planning marriage and then broke up). It was the religion  problem again.  My parents were going to meet us in Salt Lake City and so drove on down to see how I was.  It was late May I think.  I have written about that strange episode earlier so skipping to this week I returned from BYU.

I went to church Sunday night and all my friends were there.  Norma had written there was a new guy in the ward she wanted me to meet.  I said, "No". It was Richard, and he immediately came up after the meeting and introduced himself and asked if I would go to the Fireside with him.  I told him Danny had already asked me.  Sometime Clinton (the father of the neighbor) asked me to go golfing on Saturday morning and Bob asked me to go to a movie on Wednesday.  I had been dating Bill, a nonmember for a few years, and was suddenly "available" and that is why I was getting rushed.   Monday was Labor Day and Richard took me to Balboa Park but  he asked for another date and we settled on Friday night.   He knew I had these other dates. Tuesday we were decorating for something at Mutual and I remember talking to all of them.  We were all in transition.

Danny had been dating Lani, but was unsure about marriage yet and was always flirting with me,   We had been in a play together and I played his mother!!  He even visited me when I had my wisdom teeth out and brought me ice cream.  Clinton had been dating a girl but really wanted to date her roommate I found out when we decided we did not have any chemistry but enjoyed talking only.   We had gone golfing and on one other date before I found this out.  Richard had broken up with a girl sometime before he came to San Diego and had been dating another in San Diego before I came back in August.  Bob was getting ready to get out of the Navy and had asked me out before.  We were all friends as there was only one Stake at that time and we all went to the Saturday night dances.  I used to bring Bill when he would come with me but we often sailed on Saturday and Sunday afternoon if there were races so we were not always there.

Anyway I remember encouraging Clinton on our last date (as I was now having feelings for Richard) to never mind the code of not dating the roommate of a former girl you had dated.  If he felt that strongly about her, he should ask her out.  He did and they later married.  He was Temple President when Richard died and when my children and I went to the Temple a few days later it was so crowded but his wife intervened and brought us to the front of the line and had more chairs added so we could immediately get into a session.  I always appreciated that kindness to us.

Anyway Danny married Lani and lives down the street from Meagan.  Richard took me to meet his mother the second week after he met me.  He thought all the guys were after me and he dropped all other dating and concentrated on me.  He was a "Take Charge Guy" and I pretty much let him take charge of my life.  The neighbors next door said "some guy keeps running up the stairs to see if you are home".  He was an appraiser for a bank so I guess when he was in the area he would check to see if I was home.  A strange think about chemistry.  I remember Richard and I felt very comfortable together and I would let him hold my hand that first day.  Whereas the other guys I did not want them to even touch me.  Except Danny and I had chemistry but I never thought of him as marriage material for some reason, just a fun guy to flirt with...

I don't know what happened to Bob.  He was such a nice guy and really thought I was the one for him.  At any rate I was living alone, teaching school with no chance of time off and Richard had just started a new job, etc. etc. etc.  so we married on a Friday evening six weeks after we met and were back to work on Monday morning and lived at my place for about a week before we moved to a bigger place where Richard had been living with a roommate and the roommate moved out.  It was in Normal Heights and I was teaching at Hamilton School not too far away.  I taught school till the end of the term and then we moved to Pacific Beach on Felspar.  Loved living there!!!  Richard had changed jobs and was working for a firm in La Jolla, rather than downtown.   It was all a whirlwind with Richard managing everything...I let him handle everything until he had his heart attack in 1969 and then I stepped up to become more of a partner than a princess being taken care of...I always liked being a princess.

Oh, yes, the other funny thing that happened.  After our first Friday night date Richard was just saying good night to me at the top of the stairs when Bill appeared and Richard had to leave.  I think that further pushed him to drop everything else and pursue me.  Who knows...

Danny as the son, me as the Mom

Bob was fourth from right--oh and John second from right I dated prior to Bill--a lot of singles in the ward.

Norma is on the right end and Danny, fourth from the left.

Bill

Richard

Living the Good Life

It has been a long time since I posted, I must be living a busy life...I am!  The days are whizzing by and it will soon be time to head north.  I am going early as Mitch and Hana need a ride up and Hana will be dropped off at Tahoe and Mitch will stay for a while.  He is trying to get work in Tahoe with Matt but it probably will not start until April. 

Matt has been here and I have eaten out with him, Maria, Linda, Linda and Gary, and James.  So far I have had Fish tacos about five times since I have been here, a couple of Paneras salads, tacos at Jack in the Box, Strawberry shakes, hot fudge sundaes from McDonalds, Pizza twice at Blaze (gluten free)Tortilla soup from Chilis, wonderful salad from the Yellow Deli and yesterday Linda and I went to Meagan's after going to the Temple and Linda bought Mexican and Sprinkles cupcakes for lunch.  I needed to deliver a present for Keira's third birthday.  Naturally my camera did not function.  Keira really liked the Press Me book I had bought.  I was trying to pick one out at Barnes and Noble and this Grandma told me her grandchildren loved that one--what a surprise as it is just dots of color, but it is interactive and Meagan said Keira had to read it twice more and then took it to bed with her flashlight so I guess it is fun for children.

Tonight everyone is coming to Linda's for another get together as Matt is leaving next week and hasn't seen everyone.

James and I saw a stupid movie "Winter's Tale" while everyone else went to the Lego movie--we should have gone there.  What a lot of driving we had to do though, picking up friends and driving to the movie and then back to take Sarah and I home.  It is so much driving in the city.

Wednesday Matt had free lunch coupons for "Veggie Girl"--that was different, I had a Kale salad and it was good but I do not think I would choose it over Rubios Fish Tacos, or Paneras salads, or Chilis tortilla soup... 

Today Sadie goes in for grooming.  She had a bad upset last weekend and it cost me a fortune at the Vet's but she is well and happy again.  She had bad diarrhea for about 4 days and I could not resolve it...

I have been enjoying the Olympics, American Idol, and reading and listening to so many books...I have nothing but fun things to do--it will be hard to get back home and have a house to tend!!!

Good Food and Interesting Memories

Last Sunday I ate at Maria's.   We first sat in the Jacuzzi and enjoyed the sun, surf and Jacuzzi all at the same time.  Then Maria deep fat fried cut up corn tortillas and sprinkled them with sea salt while Matt made guacamole with onions, tomatoes, mangoes and spices.  Wow, this was so good.   Maria had also slow cooked chicken with salsa all day and was that ever delicious!  Nice day.

Friday night everyone came over and Gary cooked hamburgers and brats on the barbecue at the community pool--Maria brought more chips and drinks, Kelly brought yummy guacamole, Camber brought salads and Linda brought all the extras for hamburgers plus lemon bars and Kelly and I each brought cookies.  Great food again.  Hard to get enough of those brats!!!  Enjoyed being with all the family down here yet again.

Today one of my former Primary students and daughter of friends I first met in 1956 when I came here spoke in church about Religious Freedom.  It was an excellent talk and she said she would email me a copy,  I hope she does.   Later I talked to the grandson of people I knew in La Jolla in the sixtys. They were both doctors and the wife was an immunologist.  She had a famous clinic in regards to cancer cure.  In order to earn money toward a youth event I donated my blood at the clinic.  This was a little different from the usual blood donating.  I had to go to the clinic a couple of times for testing and then the donation was done live from donor to recipient.  It took a long time and I remember the lady was from Great Britain.  It netted $50 for our youth group!!!   What a small world.

Another person I recently remembered was a Jackie I worked with in the 80's.  She was the manager of Ameristar, a Mortgage Banker we brokered loans, too.  She and I had become quite well acquainted and she told me she was the daughter of Joe Louis!  Joe Louis was a famous boxer in the pre WWII years and after, too.  He was a hero of the nation and was the World Heavyweight Champion, having beat a boxer from Germany.  In the documentary I watched this week  I learned why Jackie had a different last name than Louis.  Joe Louis dropped his last name Barrow when he first starting boxing in the 30's.  He was also divorced from Jackie's mother when Jackie was only about three or four years old according to the documentary. She was a darling little girl, but I got the idea that she had not seen her father too much while she was growing up.  As I say, it is a small world.

Yesterday Linda and I saw "Frozen" since we had both missed it.  It was very enjoyable.  Prior to the movie we went to a Mex restaurant Maria and I had gone to a few years ago and I thought it was good.  Woe to us, neither of our dishes was that great for San Diego Mex food so they are crossed off our list of places to eat.

I talked to Maryanne in Chester today and she said it is 62 degrees up there!!!  She has lived there since 1966 and she said there has never been a winter like this!!!! I am sure when I return the snow will come but by then it will melt easily...we need the moisture so badly.

Birthday Beach Bash

Saturday afternoon on the 25th we gathered to celebrate my birthday.    Me, the Pulsiphers, the Rasimas families (two) plus Michelle and son James and friend, and eventually the Hardys. the children enjoyed the sand and surf--adults enjoyed basking in the the late afternoon sun (until it goes down)...but so beautifully it goes down, a joy to watch and I get it on camera..

Sue and childen

Maria, Johnny's Mom Sue, Johnny, Johnny's sister Michelle

Maria, Linda, Gary and Bob

Maria and Michelle..

Sue--we had a baby shower at my PB house before she had Michelle in the 60's!

Linda

Doesn't get nicer than that--California Dreamin...

.

Gary and Sarah enjoying Linda's yummy food.

Sarah looks up!

 

Birthday girl at 81--I look like my Mom!  Beautiful daughters.

The sun is almost gone--it's gonna get cold...

How many birthdays ahead?  Who cares--seize the day!

 

The Hardys arrive just in time to eat what is left...

Camber and Michelle,,,

Brrrr--time to go home--Good Night!