Guest Note

Direct TV guy is here, upgrading the HD service.  Now if you come to visit, you'll get HD on local channels too.  The guest room is finished, so plan a trip!!!!

Mom's going to take the acrylic's class with me, starting tomorrow.  Should be fun.  I've got to think of something to paint, because I'm not so enthused about doing another student's photo of a Greek fishing boat, even if she does say there are kittens hidden on the other side.  Reminds me of Papa, who used to ask, "How many eggs are in this picture?"  It was a painting on our kitchen wall in KC.  I'd count, and he'd say, "No, there's one you can't see behind that cup."  He always was a joker.

Must clean, as I let go Shirley, who was our maid for exactly 3 weeks.  Anyone who can't clean as well as I can does not deserve to be paid!  So, back to the toilet scrubber.  But I found the Remarkable Stone at Walmart!!!! Will it take off the well water stains?????  We shall see....

Had lunch with my drawing class yesterday.  It's fun.  You absolutely starve yourself thru 3 hours of sketching, then go to Tuscany's for the antipasto tray to share.  Mmmm.  Was out of my league (and interest, actually) listening to the director of the art center discuss the new art center plans w/my prof and Polly.  Kinda glad when Barrie needed her purse out of my car and we had a chance to escape.  But, really enjoyable people in that class.

The weather continues to be gorgeous, so I'm off to scrub and walk!

Napa on Valentines

I am in the process of painting the bathroom.  Literally.  I just took off my pink rubber gloves to break off a bite of Lindt's dark chocolate and pop open another Diet Coke.  I've gotten spoiled being out so much.  The cokes I order from drive thru's are bubblier, esp. since I ask for it with no ice.  So I drink 2/3's of one at home, toss it, and get another.  Now isn't all this interesting?  My brain has a coating of putty colored paint on it.  But heck, it'll go great with the rug, towel & art in there.

If you want to go to an interesting, fun blog, go to The More The Messier.  I'll put the link to the side of this.  She's a stay at home mom who always, always makes me laugh.  In fact, Click & Clack even had her on the radio once--and not for car trouble, I don't think.

G., McK, and I were in Napa for the weekend, and the wine Pat introduced us to was phenomenal.  Ballantine...a white & a red...you could actually taste the bouquets, I mean this was like actually understanding the wine writer in the Wall St. Journal.  All that blackberry essence, etc, I never discovered till Napa.  Pat brought a Zin to Valentine's dinner that talked me back into reds--although I could feel it the next morning.

Saw the property in Sacramento that the Ridder clan went in on.  Very pretty and definitely a good investment.  Water pipes and development going in, now that ordinances have changed.  It's right by a bunch of windy little roads with boutique vinyards in Amador County.  The grapevines were getting plenty of moisture over the weekend.  It rained pretty much the entire time.  McK and I did dash off to Target for bathing suits though, because The Vintage Inn's pool was nice and steamy.  As always, their breakfasts are enough to tide you over till dinner.  Just once, on Valentine's Day, I tried the combo of champagne for breakfast + regular expresso (not decaf).  Phew!  Practically danced on the table and couldn't stop gabbing.  Fun!  Only it wore off, and I fell asleep at noon for an hour nap.  Lovely way to go though.

Visit with Lisa, Mike, Jake, Clyde & Cleo

Here are some photos from yesterday.  Cleo & Clyde came to visit!!!   You'll remember them as Chloe & Jasper from babyhood.  They're so sweet.  Toby was a bossy boy & Ellie didn't like seeing her babies.  They were not very good hosts at all.  Harry thought it was great to see his brother and sister though!   Lisa, Mike and Jake are really happy with them.  Mike says it's hard to have a dog be smarter than you, but isn't that how we all feel!

Notice the before and after photos too--more remodeling done!  Yes!  So, now what to do today?  McKenzie wants to go for a drive to McDonalds for a cinnamon roll.  She was severely deprived over camp week.  At least she used her hiking boots every day.  So, she's actually suggested that when we come home from McDonalds we can go for a walk!  Will wonders never cease?  You should have been with us at Fiesta Jalisco last night.  Not only was the food incredibly good, but McKenzie was delighted to be back and in a restaurant with us.  It was a delicious dinner.

Hayley's all stressed out because she chose Mimi's and dropped Microeconomics, which would have been easier.  She had her first day of work, and ironed the white shirt (got the goop off the iron, and made the counter an ironing board) for about half an hour, getting creases in it over and over.  Hey, I did it the first time and it wasn't good enough!  Really, Mimi's will be more of a learning experience life wise.  They sent her home with a notebook of info to learn, and she has to pass a "final" on it, Wednesday, before starting.  Makes you feel better about eating at Mimi's, doesn't it? 

After ironing rugs....

Hayley's taken a new job at Mimi's and needs to iron her white shirt.  I told her she'd better go to Grams!

The ironing board is currently stripped of its cover, and tucked over the electric heat unit in McKenzie's room (for safety, so her bed which was pushed against the wall won't, well, overheat or anything). 

The iron needs to get brown plastic gunk off of it, from ironing these annoying creases in a Walmart rug I put by the new (Andy's old) bedroom door.  Who would've thought it would melt?  

The summery weather here has put me into a creative fix up the house mode.  Andy's old room is fini!  Except for the love seat and ottoman that are coming in 2 weeks.  The kitchen is fini!  All faux paint tiled, lit, and polished.  The walls in the hallway downstairs--fini!  Looks like an art gallery and very fresh.  Jill is fini!  She is refreshed, top of the world, and ready for another 60 degree summer day.  This weather is incredible!

Mom and I buzzed down (hide your eyes, cutting across 3 lanes with a milk shake to make a left on Alameda during lunch hour) to Pro Source so she could choose new vinyl for her bathroom floor.  Harry and Ellie came along and shopped with us.  Harry kept picking up pieces of wood on the floor, but other than that they were very helpful.  Did I mention that the carpet guys put a nail in the radiant floor heat pipe, causing a drip to the floor below, and necessitating a tearing up of closet and bath flooring?  Anyway, Mom's gotten a new bathroom floor out of the deal.

Andy turned 22 last week.  He had class at 8:30 am that day, but we saw him Saturday for a rolicking dinner at Tuscany's.  There, my arch enemy came in to dine.  You all wouldn't think I'd have an arch enemy would you?  Actually the whole war has de-esculated to more of a feeling of "oh no, keep a low profile, don't let her see us."  Anyway, Hayley was there, and the woman in question is her old best friend's mom, so Hayley was telling Geoff --"don't make eye contact" etc.  He gave the thumbs up, then on the way out went, "Oh HI!  Evan!  Stephani!"  

Well, you all have a lovely day.  Know I will.  We're going to pick up McKenzie from camp and zip down to Cherry Creek with her for lunch.  G's working half a day.  He wants to pick up something for A's birthday.  We'll have lunch at Nordstrom's cafe--mmm pizza & diet coke.  Maybe a piece of chocolate cake for dessert.  Wonder what Ms McPicky's eaten all week?  Can't wait to hear about her cabin and camp activities.  Did she square dance?

PS-- Don't even try to pick out birthday presents for a 22 year old.  McK and I shopped all Saturday and found random things like fake mango trees, little rock waterfalls, a poster, and a plug-in teapot.  Turns out he likes real plants and water from the microwave.  Ah well, my stir fry pan gift at Christmas was a bomb, why did I think his birthday would be any better? 

McKenzie's sick --day 6

Hayley cannot believe McKenzie is still sick, but she's coughing, and even though I was on the way to school with her this morning, we just ended up visiting teachers and getting work.  She has to be well enough to go to Mt. Evans next week.  

Here are our new kitchen lights.  Scott N.'s back today to do more painting and lighting.  Yea!!!!

A Most Delightful Day

Want to hear about the perfect sort of day?

This a.m., I saved The Women (classic version) for breakfast, watched it till 10:30, showered and took the doggies for a stroll.  The day was absolutely gorgeous, 60's sunny, no wind.  

Anyway, after the hike and a peanut butter and jelly, I was off to the library to use the internet since I don't have Microsoft Word.  Natalie ( a friend of McKenzie's) has an enormously talented writer mom who sent me her first romance novel via e-mail.  For 2 hours, I shuttered myself, sometimes plugging my ears, in a library cubicle to read it.  I laughed out loud and smiled throughout.  This is a happy, fun story, with a buoyant, optimistic main character and the story takes place in Evergreen with familiar restaurants, etc.  Very entertaining!  I was able to be perfectly frank with the author and tell her she's the next Janet Evanovich.

Then....I picked McK up at the bus and we went to Baskin Robbins, picked up Wonder Bread, and made for home.  French toast and eggs for dinner, as G's out of town.  Yum.  In the mail I got a gift from the Mini people--lots of door prizes for buying the Clubman last month.  Included some peel off stickers for windows--you come up with your own curious statements.  Gotta think about that!  And I got wheels!  For this chair I'm sitting on.  Crate and Barrel came through with replacements, because I have been coasting around with two broken wheels duct taped.  One had a big spool on it.  The other, the April Fools fake dog poo.  Now the dog poo has sticky residue, and can be used on the ceiling this April.  Pity the poor fool sleeping under it.  Oops!

 

Girl Scout murders in 1977

Weird, but I had one of those threading thoughts that occur at 3 in the morning.  Last night, I started thinking about the 1/2 summer during college spent in a little bitty town outside Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I was a counselor at a horseback riding camp there....

The place was run by two couples, sisters and their husbands.  They'd just opened it.  It had 3 cabins, one for boys, and two for girls.  The boy's counselor was from some East coast prep school who thought it was hilarious that Tulsa had streets named after schools like Harvard.  He stayed in the cabin a lot and read books before the kids came.  Kate was my co-counselor, and a real sport.  Very gregarious, happy, and athletic.  There was another girl too, Carolyn???, who was younger than either of us, and beautiful, just horse crazy.  

When we first got there, we could choose a horse from the pasture, one who hadn't been ridden for the winter, and get on.  I chose Blue, a dapple gray appaloosa.  He only cantered wildly through the field when I got in the saddle.  He was a good boy.  

So...why did the sisters get so depressed over the first month and a half that one could not even leave the little house where they lived together?  Here's what happened:

First two weeks:  during a hay ride, one sister's puppy was run over by the wagon.  A girl who was afraid to get on a horse the entire time, decided to brave it when her parents came to pick her up from camp.  The horse took off into the woods with her, and one of the men leapt on a horse to chase the runaway down.  They served no fruits or vegetables there, and I got a terrible case of constipation!  They had to put me on a diet of yogurt and offer their house bathroom to me!!!

Second two weeks:  the swimming hole, which was a mucky pond, started to dry up in the heat.  Still, swimming was an activity, and they made kids go in.  One boy came down with a horrible ear infection and had to be sent home.  Can you imagine the microbes lurking in that hole?  Then something happened that they kept very hushed up about....

Three girl scouts were murdered in a camp "not far away".  This was June, 1977.  That's all I knew about it.  We didn't have TV or newspapers or even radio.  From that point on, we couldn't keep the windows open or sleep on the screened porches.  We had to be locked into the cabins with windows shut tight.  This was Oklahoma in the summertime, remember.  The two husbands took turns staying awake all night to patrol the camp with pistols.

Turns out, the police never pinned down the rapist/murderer of the 8,9, and 10 year old girl scouts.  Whoever it was, was "an animal," according to the doctor who did the autopsies.  

All I knew was that it was hot, discouraging, and I got a spider bite on my leg that started streaking red up and down like poison spreading.  My best friend, Tweedledum (I was Tweedledee), drove down from Tulsa to take me to the emergency room.  I packed my bag and never went back.

Odd, those thoughts about a summer so many years ago.  But if you look on the internet, there's a ton of stuff on the girl scout murders.  To us, it was just an event that closed the windows.