the fam....

at the risk of becoming (oh horrors) a "mommy~blogger" here a couple pics of the family from my "49er Forever" pahtay.  I won't post pics of the other attendees out of respect for their personal privacy....smile.

sugarcookie...in control and in charge.  She made delicious hors d'oeuvres and my all time very favorite cake... Chocolate Nut Loaf (my Gramma's recipe.)

Little Missy wore red and gold...but with her beau being a Raider fan couldn't quite wear 49er gear.

 
The Bear Cub...who went out and bought a new shirt to wear cause he knew I'd notice....but neglected to actually read the invite which specified 49er Red and Gold. Probably the only family event I wouldn't complain about him wearing a jersey and he missed it....laughing.

My stepdad striking a pose...he brought out all of his Niner collector paraphernalia and autographed memorabilia. Way Cool.

 
My Mama...it was her first soiree in over six months.  She kept her bargain of not telling any katherine stories.  Praise God.

and of course....the photographer...a Ram fan...who had to chemically disinfect his body after wearing a 49er jersey...pobrecito....

five oh ------> 49er forever...

yeah...tomorrow I turn Fifty.

I figured I might as well own it.
Fifty.
I don't feel fifty.
Half a century old.
I certainly don't feel old.

I  have a lot more I want to do in my life....
....with my life.

tonight we are having a 49er forever party....
to celebrate 49er's.

the team,
those who came to California for gold,
and me.

One of the things I am most looking forward to is have all three of mine with me at the same time.

Sugar Cookie, Little Missy and the Bear Cub.

The last time we were all under the same roof was last year on my birthday. I have spent time with each of them...and all combinations of two of them...and the three of them have been together a couple times...but with their traveling...and my traveling...and school...and work..and all that has transpired....this will be the first time in a year. Let's not do that again.

a portion of the invitation they sent read:

On 24 January 1848, gold was discovered by James Marshall, a foreman building a lumber mill for pioneer John Sutter.

The San Francisco Forty-Niners Football Team was named in homage to the prospectors of the great California Gold Rush of 1849.

This year on the 24th of January, katherine will turn 50 years old. Believe it or not. Please join us in celebrating the last day of katherine's 49th year !

In the spirit of participatory celebration, we would love to see everyone dress in accordance with our "49er Forever" theme (e.g. football, gold miner, red & gold). We won't have a bouncer at the door refusing entrance to those not thematically attired, so please feel free to come "normal" if you prefer.

So... tonight we party.  The kids, the folks and a couple dozen close friends.  It's also a sorta kinda coming out party for my Mama.  (ohhh ahhh)

If you're in the area....please stop by!!

Sawyer's Sugarpop

I'm heading out to a "Lost" party tonight. I have never been to a television show soiree before... except to watch the Academy Awards.

I was requested by the hosts to go online and obtain my very own nickname from Sawyer.

"Sugarpop"...

Sawyer calls me Sugarpop...sigh....

(go ahead...click here and tell me what nickname Sawyer would call you !!)

I swiped this photo of Josh Holloway in "Lost" from ABC.com.  Out of respect for Mel the student in me did not post one of him unclothed...or in a love scene. But the stripper in me certainly wanted to...

I've never watched "Lost" on television...cause I find the multiple timeline, multiple storyline and ensemble cast too disjointed when jam packed with commercial breaks.

I have however, seen every episode of all four seasons via the digital versatile disc...more than once.  It really is rather well written...but I have no idea how the writers will explain it all. I hope they don't wimp out and have everyone wake up from a dream.

wordless wednesday ~ flores encantadoras for ILTV

red and the pledge....

from the lunch table today....

this morning ~ 38 degrees
this afternoon ~ 72 degrees

but I would like to see a little snow....

wordless wednesday ~ playa del carmen alley

friends, romans, countrymen..... lend me your

created and given to me by the artful Roger....

the van gogh's ear award

I am honored!  Roger runs the show over on Idaho Photo...if you have not seen his work you owe yourself a few minutes to surf through. 

Roger is always changin' things up....keeping his site fresh.  Previous gigs include creative photo contests and the humor of Ol Tex...so check out the achieves as well !!

In Roger's own words:

Always remember you're unique.
Just like everyone else.

The point of this award:
We are all artists in our own way be it art, photography, writing, philosophy, comedy, blogging and we all go a little crazy sometimes. But if you ever feel so crazy to cut off your ear and give it to a prostitute "Seek Help"!

(Roger gives such good advice)

Inspiration of the Van Gogh's Ear Award
You may know the story of Vincent Van Gogh a well known artist in history. Although a brilliant painter in his later years went quite insane he received the nickname of fou roux ("the redheaded madman"). The most bazaar of Vincent's behavior is when he cut off the lower part of his own left ear lobe, which he wrapped in newspaper and gave to a prostitute named Rachel in the local brothel, asking her to "keep this object carefully. After this he suffered recurrent bouts of mental illness, which led to his suicide July 29, 1890 he was 37 years old. His works of art are priceless.

Lately I have been terribly amiss at acknowledging and thanking people for various awards and recognition...I apologize...and resolve to do better in the new year...
Thanks again Roger.... 'ears to you!  Happy New Ear!

Happy 21ist Birthday Little Missy

Not a child anymore....
but ALWAYS one of mine.
Happy Birthday ~ Love You Much!!

Happy 27th Birthday Sugar Cookie

You are an amazing young woman...I love you and I am ever so proud of you! 

The Magi Effect

gifts

I'm all jumbled these days.
being out of town.
preparing for Christmas.
my Mama's healing.
my brother's birthday (he would have been 46 today had he not frozen in time at 20)
SugarCookie's birthday tomorrow    (27 oh my)
Little Missy's birthday friday   (21 legal at last)
It's a big week.

I've been dwelling on the gift of giving.

gift ~ as in presents
all wrapped up for birthdays and christmas...

gift ~ as in talents
grace, teaching, faith, wisdom, knowledge, mercy, prophecy, tongues..et cetera...
(a talented tongue is a gift...yes?)

the art of giving
the art of gifting

and maybe most importantly...
being mindful of what I have been given.
being grateful...
and thankful....
for what I have been given.

It comes to mind that I am thankful for YOU reading this.  I have been a less than faithful writer...and recently even an unfaithful reader...so I am thankful you surfed by...and that you have waded this far into my stream of consciousness... it is a gift that somebody learns what goes on in this pinball brain of mine.
(you are kinda like my flippers...ya know?)

I am thankful you are willing to "listen" to me ramble...even if it is not always an easy task to undertake.  Cause you see.....even though I am an "Earth Girl" I am NOT Easy...nor would I ever want to be. (cheesy film reference).

Tis A Gift To Be Simple... true...I strive to be simple....yet another gift...but it would be a total drag to have to be easy.

So...to those of you who read my little weblog out of interest...not out of obligation....
Thank you for your gift of friendship.

One of my top five all time favorite Christmas stories is:
              "The Gift of the Magi"

So much so that while in NYC for work I bullied one of my friends in to visiting Pete's Bar where O. Henry wrote his short story in 190-something.
( I even wore my own long hair pulled back in combs for about ten years...as if I could find true love with a pocket watch)

Not to be confused with THE Magi....The Three Wise Men (We Three Kings of Orient Are....) who followed the star to find the baby Jesus.  Our tradition of Christmas gift giving derives from their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. An event which is very well documented outside of the Bible and which most of the world celebrates in the first week of January as the Epiphany.

I have had an Epiphany about gift giving...it is....well...quite simply...a gift.

To be able to recognize what an individual would embrace...a gift they would appreciate...is not always an easy task.

One of my kids won't give a gift they covet...that sounds selfish...but they are honest about what motivates their behaviour. 

Another kid calls for a gift list..."what do you think [fill in the blank] would like."  I am surprised how many of my suggestions they follow through with.

The other had picked out the exact perfect gift...and scared the recipient.  They have become a bit gun shy in their personal gift giving... and as a result...are generous to a fault in everyday life.

Why do so many people get caught up in the hype?  The bargain?  The trendy gift of the year...that you have to stand in eph-n line for in the middle of the night? Do they really know someone who WANTS a gift like that?

If the giving becomes caught up in price and cost...it loses its value.  If the focus is on comparison and competition....it is merely satisfying an obligation.  If it becomes more about the stress and strain...it is not a gift...it becomes a present.  (don't even get me started about wrapping...you've seen the way I decorate cookies...)

Don't get me wrong...I like receiving presents...I do.

Gifts that are given are presents...but not all presents given are gifts.  To my way of thinking...a present is something that can be given to any number of different people...a true gift has been selected specifically for the recipient.

It is not always just the thought that counts.
I told you my mind is all pinballing....

Quintana Roo - dia dos

Needing to keep in touch with those at home...I have become acquainted with the cybercafe onsite at our beautiful resort.

I have never been to this part of the world.. as we landed in Cancun, I could see why people come to visit from all over the world.

As you know each airline passenger is allowed two pieces of "baggage".  From the plane window, Teamster watched his second piece receive special treatment from the baggage handlers as it came out of the cargo area.

Immediately following check in we opened his "baggage" to make sure his precious cargo had survived the flights intact. (whew!!)

Our resort is about an hour south of Cancun on the Mayan Riviera outside of the town, Playa Del Carmen.  We shuttled into town today to purchase supplies and walk around.

 

 

We had a late lunch a little place along the main shopping district watching tourists from just about everywhere. 

 

Since Sunday is the the Lord's day of rest, we are gonna hang out by the pools and beach front....all day long.  (I never even do that at home!!) Tonight we are having dinner prepared by a visiting French chef.....

mas tardes.

Quintana Roo ~ day one

blogging live from dallas fort worth....

With a bit of disorganizational craziness, a fresh passport...and too many pairs of sandals....I am heading off for about a week to the Yucatan Peninsula.  The Teamster and I have sorta vague plans for some tourista time.

Apparently being online is not as intrinsic to others as it is to me....so I will be limited in my "air time" while in country.

Regretfully....I neglected to get my act together and create posts to magically appear while I am on holiday....but promise to take an embarrassing number of pictures to post later...

no te preocupes. voy a regresar

wordless wednesday ~ last night's walk

cookie monsters

Today begins our annual three day Christmas Cookie baking extravaganza.  Some of you may remember the pictures from last year (if not, here ya go....)

We doin' it a little low key this year.  We are only making five different types of cookies and only four different flavors of tarts.

I will admit it is expensive to buy all of the ingredients.  I wonder if my prominent product placement would qualify me for one of those sponsored posts some of you make coin with?

With kids who have their own lives and jobs...finding a weekend in December when everyone can get here is sometimes a scheduling nightmare. (okay...since SugarCookie reads this blog upon occasion...I will admit that I am gonna be away a couple weekends...) 

The oldest arrived last night...finished the supply shopping and first thing this morning started mxin' with her GammerKay.
 (the BearCub texted me at 7:30 am sayin' he was coming over when he finished pouring concrete...Little Missy works graveyard and is going through one of her phases...)

okay...gotta get back to it.
mas tardes.

"this is the best [blank] you'll ever have, baby"

take the almost five minutes to watch the entire clip...trust me

cheese pie and chai lattes EVERY night...

laughing....Laughing.....LAUGHING

Beware of the Doghouse- Hilarious! - A funny movie is a click away

a new gang member

I greet the usual gang.  After four months they are as familiar in my routine as coworkers and neighbors.  Down the hall...through the doorway, I notice new faces.  Without meaning to... I catch them in an intimate moment.  Their raw emotion hooks my attention. 

Two very attractive men...one with his eyes closed relaxing in the recliner...a blanket pulled up to his shoulders.  The other man leaning over the chair lovingly running his hands over the resting man's face...massaging his head.  Gently rubbing his shoulders.  He stands up. I can hear him apologizing sadly.  He has to leave.

He softly kisses the top of his loved one's head.  Common courtesy dictates that I should turn away, but their poignancy is riveting.  He can't help himself....he starts the therapeutic touching again.  Face, neck, chest, head.  He straightens and even from my stand point I know he can not pull himself away.  Adjusting the blanket. Checking the water bottle. Touching a cheek. Smoothing the beard. He turns to speak to someone out of my sight. He is already late and he has to leave. One last kiss and he heads towards me.

Passing next to me in the narrow hallway he catches my eye and says,"Good Morning."

There is a strident sense to his voice that is all too familiar.  He so wants this to be a good morning. I smile and say, "Hey".  I watch him scan me and then my Mama with the nurse. I watch him figuring out our gig.  He touches my arm... turns... and strides back into the chemo room.  Reaching out for the other man once again...he needs to get going....but in his face I see that he can not bear to leave.  He is torn between love and obligation.

We walk from the lab office to the doctor's office.  The man standing sees us and greets my Mama "Hello".    He watches our slow stroll....her arm through mine.  At 5' 2" I am never tall but these days I tower over her.  I have this ragg-mopp of hair...she has none.  He watches us walk by...his fingers still stroking.  I smile at him and make some typically smartass comment to the chemo staff.  They have finally become accustomed to my irreverent banter and laugh out loud. Humor is my shield. As we pass I see the man resume his affectionate goodbyes.  

After our time with Dr.A (for whom I am most thankful) we join the chemo group.  A circle of lazyboys with colorful blankets and pillows hold a half dozen warriors reclining with their poisonous IVs. Lengths of tubing. Drip bags of venom.  On days like today there is room for embedded family and friends.  As Mama gets situated I realize the anxious man is gone...and I get a first look at his loved one.

They are virtually identical...the same man a couple decades apart.  This is not his lover...this is his SON.  There is a tug on my heart. Those endearments were not that of a lover's distress... what I had witnessed was parental anguish. I feel that hot pressure threatening to flood my eyes.

I gather Mama's coat and hat to stow during treatment.  Crossing the threshold out the side door tears escape and I am ticked.  I haven't cried at chemo since the very beginning and I am not about to do so now. 

Later.  When I can think it through and control the tears.  Then I will cry for the father's torment. It has been a year of tears.

Back in the chemo room I sit between my Mama and this boy. He is well over six foot. Handsome. We exchange names.  He graduated high school in 2003 and just transferred to Sonoma State. He's read about LittleMissy. He is majoring in kinesiology....wants to be a physical therapist. I remember his father's attention.   Like my BearCub he wears those stupid ass corduroy bedroom slippers as if they are shoes.  Today is his first treatment.  He has a ream of paperwork to complete.  He needs to schedule other sessions.  A girl calls his cellphone.  He draws designs in sketch book.

I look about at the other players in our little drama.

Knitting lady who is dropped off and picked up by her husband...but her friend always joins her in the chemo room.  Usually eating...they sit and talk the entire time.  The entire time. 

The black guy who can sleep and snore through everything. A linebacker type who barely fits in the chair.  I wonder if his shiny bald head is by choice or a circumstance.

The elderly woman from my church who comes with her oldest son.  She lost her husband in January and her younger son in July. To look and talk to her you would never know of her illness or loss.

The police detective who is always reading. He carries an accordion file stuffed with work. His chemo quit working (why does it do that??)   He will transfer to Stanford for a clinical trial.

The well dressed quiet fred astaire type who seems so sad...but whose face becomes brilliant when his three year old grandson brings him lunch halfway through.

And the new kid on the block.  Chatting with me to keep the other stuff at bay. I know I will think of him...and his father for a while.  I start to sigh...then manage to take up a deep breath before the sigh has a chance to take hold.  

I've gotten pretty good at that.

thursday thirteen ~ giving Thanks

Last year...when I was a faithful little weblogger... and did Thursday Thirteens every Thursday... I even had themes.  My November theme was:

        Things I Am Thankful For

It seems to me a good idea once again this November.  (How in the world did it become November already??)

I am Thankful there are no more political commercials on television and radio.

I am Thankful for winding roads through magnificent mountains.

I am Thankful for Google, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, and Cruzio.

I am Thankful I have the right to vote.

I am Thankful for brisk clear mornings.

I am Thankful for warm hugging. 

I am Thankful for living in a country where we can freely disagree.

I am Thankful for embracing change. 

I am Thankful for a mexican vacation to anticipate.

I am Thankful for winning bets and the promise of debts being collected.

I am Thankful for floating rainbows from the window prism. (remember PollyAna?)

I am thankful for Taxol, Taxatere, and Avastin.

I am Thankful for homemade tamales.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot ~ anti trust ?

explain this to me...

Microsoft and Google are big successful companies.

AOL and Yahoo are big and formally successful companies.  However....now... they are in serious financial jeopardy.

The federal government won't allow the successful companies to merge with, or buyout (all or even part of) the not so successful companies. 

I get the anti-trust, global monopoly concerns.

However....is it better to just sit back and watch AOL and Yahoo fail?  Allow their stock to plummet until bankruptcy ?  Stand by while their employees lose their jobs?

'Cause then the business...and the revenue will just rollover to Google and Microsoft anyway. 

They will still be bigger and more powerful.  They will still control damn near 100% of the market.

But this way they get the last little bit for free. 

with my hand over my heart....

hat tip to sandee

the ballot has been cast

manic monday with mo ~ colorful

It has been forever since I played Manic Monday with Mo.  However the theme this week is "Colorful"...and I had some photos I've been wanting to post.

Weekend before last I was enjoying a few days of respite in the central valley.  After church on Sunday, The Teamster thought it'd be nice to head out on the bike to see if we could find some Fall Colors.

In our part of California we don't get very many trees with leaves that change colors...a few here and there interspersed with the redwoods, pines and firs. We do however, enjoy an amazing Indian Summer.

We stopped for lunch at the Black Oak Casino's Mill Creek Sports Bar.  Didn't do much gambling...but wanted to catch the end of the NASCAR race and Forty-Niner game.

After lunch we continued our beautiful ride . At one roadside stop in the late afternoon, The Teamster wondered if he should just call in sick on Monday, so that we could ride through the Sierras up over Sonora Pass. I must admit I encouraged him.

The Sonora Pass with an elevation of 9,624 feet (that's 2,933 meters for ILTV and David) is the second highest roadway pass through the Sierra Nevada range.  It is extremely steep (a 26% grade at some points) and very narrow.  Every couple of feet they are are warning you about something.

We had just about nothing with us to accommodate an overnight trip....except four pairs of glasses, a couple of cameras, two cell phones...and a laptop.   No toothbrush or hairbrush or change of clothing.  Thankfully The Teamster had stowed the chaps in the saddlebag...cause it got a little cold on the eastern side of the Sierras.

My cousin Jamie saw this picture of our ride and said:

"Nice Pict! I guess Desert Brown is a fall color.
It's probably also the summer color there as well."

What does he know?  He's spent the better part of his adult life catapulting off some carrier and has just chosen to settle down in the garden spot of Wichita for crying out loud.

About nightfall we came to Topaz Lake and started looking for a place to stay....see that tiny red dot?   Topaz Lodge !

I highly recommend this little spot.  Friendly and helpful.  Very affordable and fun. Good food. Comfortable rooms. The only draw back is that the area has only a single cell tower and it's for Nextel.  Since we are AT&T and Verizon customers neither of our cellphones or the laptop had service. sheesh. We had to use the room phone to call in sick and notify family and friends. (When extending a motorcycle ride its a good idea to let people know....especially when they can't get through on either cell phone...or instant message...those search and rescue guys don't appreciate false alarms)

We had a very enjoyable..rather old fashion...evening.

Topaz Lake is closed for the winter...but when open is an amazing place to fish!

 

Once it warmed up just a little we started our trek back home....this time via Highway 89 and up over Monitor Pass (only 8,314 feet in elevation).

I am very happy we took this trip when we did....I heard the storms of the past few days will close both Sonora and Monitor passes until the Spring.

We stopped for a gluten free lunch at Mel's....
but she wasn't there...sigh.... 

 

while you are humming  "on the road again....
I just can't wait to get on the road again....."
go visit  Mo's other colorful Maniacs....

wordless wednesday ~ don't be such a crab

wordless wednesday ~ still walking

wordless wednesday ~ morning walks