A Little Left of Center

From 9 to 90 - From Blue to Brown

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 05:55:00 GMT

Well, I'm home safe and sound. We arrived yesterday at 11:45 a.m. with a huge sigh of relief after really pushing ourselves for a day and a half to get here. When we left Laramie on Monday morning at 7:00 it was 9 degrees. There was snow on the ground and spots of ice on the roadway. The sky was clear blue with white clouds scattered across the sky. When we got home, it was 90 degrees, windy and the sky was brown from the smoke from the fires in Southern California. What a transition!

As we traveled through Utah on Monday, my son called every hour or so and gave us updates on the fires and road closures. When we went to bed Monday night, we had no idea if we would be able to get home over the Cajon Pass on Interstate 15 because it had been closed off and on since Saturday night because of very high winds and fires. On Tuesday morning, we heard that the 15 was open all the way to San Diego so we left our hotel at 6:30 in the morning and headed home.

I drove from St. George, Utah to the Nevada/California border. When we stopped to top off our gas tank, my sister called her husband. He logged on to the internet and found the California road conditions site. He told us I-15 was still open and to get going again. He also talked to two other California drivers who were going to other places and helped them find good routes. That was so great of him to do that.

When we got to the Cajon Summit (see map below.... Cajon Summit is just above the I-15 sign) it wasn't windy at all. We were very relieved. The traffic was light and we were able to get over without any problems BUT as soon as we got the bottom of the grade, the winds were blowing very hard and we had to drop our speed and it got pretty tense.

Look on the map and locate the 210 and Chino along the I-15. From those two points, we saw SEVEN over turned big rig trucks. Only one had emergency equipment on the scene; The others had been there a long time. That will give you an idea of how hard the wind was blowing. It blew those huge trucks over on their sides.

Now, if you look to the east where you see Devore Heights, you can see where Crestline and Lake Arrowhead are located. There is a huge fire there that has connected those communities. If you draw a triangle between the numbers

138, 178, 18 and back up to 138 it will give you a rough idea of the scope of the Lake Arrowhead fire. It has burned hundreds of homes and forest and it's not the worst of the fires.

As far as our family is personally concerned, the fire threatening Silverado Canyon in Orange County is effecting my mother-in-law's daughter and her husband. They were evacuated yesterday morning at 6:30. Colleen and the cat are at Bernice's house waiting it out. Mike, a retired fire captain, and a friend are at the house ready to defend it if the fire crosses the ridge. As of tonight, the fire has not crossed over but it continues to threaten. If you look at the map, Silverado is to the right of the I-15 just above a box with the number S18 inside.

My sister's inlaws have been evacuated from their home in Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego County. They are staying with their oldest son in Santa Barbara until they can return home. There is no word on their home. We do know that some homes in the Rancho Santa Fe area have been lost but do not know if their home has been effected. We do not think so based on news reports of the locations given but we probably won't know for several more days.

Please pray for our fire fighters, police officers, all the men and women from other agencies that have been brought in to help fight these terrible fires. Please pray for all of the pilots who are flying the airplanes and helicopters dropping water and fire retardant materials on the fire to help stop the progress and damage. Please pray that the winds stop and that the moisture from the ocean air returns to increase the humidity. That will help a lot. Our humidity has been between 4% and 15% which makes it such a dangerous fire hazard. Please pray for everyone who has been displaced and for those who have lost everything.

adventure.

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Of Course It Snowed!

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 17:45:41 GMT

Not only is my mood 'chillin' my body is, too. Here we are, a day away from heading back to California after a wonderful visit in Wyoming to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday and it snowed 3" last night. It never fails. I don't care what time of year I visit this state, it snows. March, May, October, December..........It does NOT matter, the snow clouds know I'm here and they dump their white stuff all over the roads I must travel to get away from here to go home. Does the snow come the first few days of my visit? No! It comes as I prepare to leave to heighten my anxiety about driving home. DRAT!

I'm fortunate to have my sister and daughter-in-law with me to help with the driving. Between the three of us, we will do just fine.

Please pray for safe travels for us.

More when I get home.

Project complete!

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 22:56:35 GMT

I finished the waist coat and delivered it to my sister-in-law today. She was very pleased with it and I am so happy she's satisfied. I'm elated to have it finished and out of my house. It was a very difficult project for me and one that I thought would never reach completion. I must have sewn, torn out, and re-sewn twenty times. It was very frustrating.

The hardest part was the collar and how it joined the lapels. After fretting about that and trying several different ways of getting it to work, I threw up my hands and took it to a tailor and paid to have it done. It was worth every penny to (1) have it done right and (2) not have to think about it again.

I picked it up Sunday, brought it home and attached the tails, did the button holes and then the finall little touches. Today, I delivered it. YIPPEE...........it's over and done with.

Below are pictures. It does not look all that great on the hanger. It looks a lot better when Dennis tried it on and it will look very nice on the mannequin when my sister-in-law gets it all dressed up for Halloween.

Front

Back

I learned a great deal thru the pain of making this project. Would I do it again? NO. LOL

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 01:53:13 GMT

"Wait 'til next year."

Boston 9 - Angels 1

Sunday

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 19:34:37 GMT

My husband is at Anaheim Stadium this afternoon watching the do or die play off game between our ANGELS and the Boston Red Sox. We are down 2 - 0. If we lose today, we are out of the playoffs and our old motto, "Wait until next year" will be our sad refrain.

I was going to go with him but I made a commitment to Cari to go to a play at Cal State University Fullerton with her today and I must keep my commitments. To be honest, I think I'd be such a nervous wreck watching that game that it's better for me to be with my daughter.

Most of you know, we love . We were season ticket holders for years until this season. It just got too expensive and we decided with a wedding to save for, we had to cut back somewhere. Unfortunately, our tickets went on the chopping block.

Honestly, it doesn't look real good for our team this year. If they had split the 2 game series in Boston, I think we would have a good chance but coming back here down 2 means we have to win 3 in a row. We will play two here and if we win both, we go back to Boston for game 5.

Wish us luck!

Baby Blanket

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:25:35 GMT

Here's a picture of Ava's blanket. It came out really cute. The back is white with tiny little pink flowers. Very plain. I wanted something quiet because the front is so busy. I hope little Ava enjoys it and that it keeps her cozy and warm.

Above is a full size view and below is a close up so the pattern shows up.

Snuggle up, baby Ava!

Getting Out There and Getting It Done

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:54:23 GMT

Good day! I was up and out of the house early this morning. I got to the lab at 9:15 to have my blood drawn. I wanted to get there early because I have to go in fasting. When I opened the door, I thought I would be there for hours because the waiting room was packed. Luckily, they were pretty organized and I was out in 25 minutes. Not too bad.

I went directly to Starbuck's, about 1/2 block away, for my Iced Venti Non-Fat, Sugar-Free Vanilla Latte. Yummy. Oh, gosh it was delicious. I was starving by then so it tasted extra good this morning. From there I went to the fabric store, the car wash, the Evil Empire (WalMart) and to another fabric store. I was able to get everything on my list so I headed back home. It was nice to get all of that done and get home by 11:45 a.m.

This afternoon, I am going to make covered buttons for the waist coat I'm making and I will practice making button holes. I haven't made button holes in a while and I need to practice on a few before sewing them onto an actual garment. I will pick up the top part of the coat at the tailor's on Sunday. I have the tails finished and ready to attach. I figure it should take me about two hours to finish the darn thing and have it ready to take to my sister-in-law on Monday. I will be posting pictures so I can have a record of 'the thing that wouldn't go away'. LOL

My next project is a cute baby blanket for my friend Linda's new granddaughter, Ava. It's pink with green froggies on it. I will post a picture of it when it's done. Should be really cute. After that is done, I'm going to give the sewing room a good cleaning and when I get back from my trip I will start on purses.

Trip? Did she say trip? Ahh, yes. I am going on a trip to see my mom for her 80th birthday. My sister, Carol and I are driving along with my daughter-in-law, Shannon; my granddaughter, Megan; and my youngest grandson, Matthew. We are leaving here on Sunday, October 14 and we will be back on Tuesday, October 23. It should be an interesting adventure with all of us in the car together for a total of 16 driving hours (0ne way!). It's 1100 miles from my house to my mom's.

Day one, we will drive to Salt Lake City, Utah and spend the night. We could probably go farther but we will most likely take a lot of breaks because we will need to stretch and I'm sure the baby won't want to be in his car seat for a lot of hours at a time. We will just take it as it comes and do the best we can. He's such a good little guy that if someone is sitting beside him talking to him, passing him toys, and keeping him company he should do pretty well. Megan is an excellent traveler. She likes to take her portable DVD player to watch a movie. She also enjoys coloring and talking (a lot!) so I'm not worried about her. She's not a complainer. We will split the driving between the 3 adults which will be great.

My mom doesn't know that Shannon and the kids are coming, too. She will be SO excited to see them. A nice birthday surprise.

The boys, Nathan and Andrew, were a bit pouty but know they will have fun with their Dad. He has some fun things planned for them and their Grandpa Dennis is going to be in on some of those plans which will really make them happy. I may take them with me the weekend after we get back from Wyoming when I go to Central California for a doctor's appointment. I am going to wait and see how I feel before extending an invitation. I may really need the time to myself but we shall see.

More soon.

P.S.

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:47:49 GMT

I installed my photo printer on my computer today and printed out the latest pictures of my grandchildren. Tomorrow I'll buy frames for them and get them in the mail to my sister for her birthday on the 9th of October. She's going to love them. I'll also get frames for pictures I will take to my mom's when I go for her 80th birthday which is on the 16th of October. She doesn't know about the pictures so it will be a real treat for her.

Now, I'm going to take care of a few things and head out to run an errand. I need to pick up a prescription and some ice cream for my husband. He went to get some while he watched the Angel game this afternoon only to find he was totally out. He gave me that sad puppy dog face so I promised he would have some for TV viewing tonight. I spoil that man. LOL

More later.

Inspiration

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 16:28:37 GMT

I read the following entry written by Indigo at:

http://journals.aol.com/rdautumnsage/ravens-lament/

"How old are you today? What joys, hardship has this year brought you? Own up to it, lay claim to what is yours in all it's beauty and ugliness. Don't allow another year to go by without laying claim to it. I continue to explore my past for answers I may never get. Looking to my future with a smile and willingness to age gracefully and full of life. Yet I'm here in today living for all the day may bring. Harvest your age for all the bounty this year brings to you and yours. Only the heart may know if your milking all you may from your life. From my spirit to yours stay safe and loved!"

It really struck a chord with me so I sent an email to Indigo and asked permission to use this paragraph as a spring board to a new entry in this journal. She graciously agreed to allow me to quote her words and I am very grateful. Thank you, Indigo!

Today, I'm 58 years, 8 months, 11 days old. When I get up in the morning or after an hour of sitting, it's easy to lay claim to the fact that I'm 58 years old. My joints remind me, especially my knees. My eyes remind me when I try to thread a needle even with my glasses on. My failing memory reminds me when I get to the landing of the stairs and can't remember if I'm going up or down and why. LOL

I made a list of the hardships and joys of 2007 and I am so grateful that the joys far out number the hardships. The hardships are pretty weighty which makes it feel like there were more of them so it was a good exercise to actually write them down. As I wrote my list, I spent time thinking about each thing and deciding if I needed more time to work through any issues related to it. My Dad's death still comes up as an unfinished grief process but that isn't surprising and I'm just going to let that take as long as it takes. There is no way to rush through that. I've had enough experience with loss to know that patience is your best friend in dealing with grief.

The other things on the hardship list are things I can do nothing about. They involve the economy, other people, or situations that I can only pray about and let go of. There is freedom in knowing what things I can change and which ones I can't.

The main thing I got from Indigo's entry was that I haven't been 'milking' my 'bounty' for all it's worth this year. I've been floating along like I'm on a raft in a river. I'm just going with the flow and not steering or paddling my raft (life) where I want it to go. I spend far too much time on this computer just messing around and being totally unproductive. I've let things go that need to be done. I procrastinate terribly. I feel like a slug. I'm not eating well ~ too many carbs. I'm not taking control or responsibility. That has to stop. NOW.

I want to harvest the bounty of my life. It's Fall now. It's time to harvest, right? Thanksgiving is right around the corner. When it comes I want to have a LONG list of things I'm grateful for and it begins right now.

So, thanks Indigo for a swift kick in the pants! With that one paragraph I awoke from my procrastinating coma. I started yesterday, actually, by cleaning my house from top to bottom. I even cleaned out a bookcase in my office that has needed sorting for over a year. I threw away old VHS tapes that I've had since Cari was 2 years old. She hasn't watched "Follow That Bird" in 18 years. LOL I have a stack of books that I'm going to donate to the library and clothes for the Goodwill. They will go out tomorrow (Monday). Just a beginning but gosh it feels so good to get it done.

P.S. Indigo, my husband would give you a big old hug if you were here. LOL

I'll be writing updates as I want to be accountable.

Hugs!!!

Monday Photo Challenge

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:34:26 GMT

This weeks Photo Challenge from John Scalzi's By The Way Journal is Red Eye.

http://journals.aol.com/johnmscalzi/bytheway/

I found these pictures on Flickr.com. They are great examples of RED EYE:

It's OK to say, ewwwww.