Raptor luv

There were two pairs of hawks on Mt. Rubidoux this evening who were doing that in-flight mating ritual thing. Way, way cool. They'd glide together for a while and then one would drift closer. Then they would both turn and try to grab ahold of each other. Every time they twirled around a little but they were never able to make a good connection. Except for one time. They were soaring in the updraft of hot air blowing up the side of the mountain. Then they grabbed on and went spinning up like a hawk frisbee and disappeared over the top of the rocks. It looked amazingly awesome (dude), like a multipronged boomerang made of feathers.

After a while the activity slowed down. They moved higher and held still, riding the thermal wave. I moved on down the road. Another Mt. Rubidoux treat.

Dental appointment tomorrow. Later, I'm getting an estimate on having that sofa and chair that we found in the trailer reupholstered. I've never done this before. I figure of it's under $400 it's a good deal. We'll see.

I'm pooped!

Today I worked at the drum and bugle corps competition that was at RCC. This is part of my obligation for Paige's tuition for the Yamato tour. For most of the day I was standing around looking for something to do. There were just too many people and not enough jobs to go around. But that was at the start of the day. Later when the competition got going and people got hungry and thirsty it got crazy fast.

At first they had me working in the food booth. I was setting up drinks when someone said they needed someone to stir the chili. Ok, fine, I can stir chili. I go over to the pot and some old guy everyone calls "Grandpa" came over to give me special instructions on how to open a can, pour it in the pot and stir. He actually kind of yelled at me because I didn't use the handy tab on the top of the chili can to lift the lid. Then he had me open a big can of nacho cheese and pour it into another pot. I had to have special instructions for that, too. He said, "You have to add two ladles of water to it and stir it in!" Again, almost yelling at me, like I was stupid because he had to tell me to add the water. After I had stirred the pot for about oh, maybe ten seconds he said, "So, how's it look?" I said, "It looks like cheese with water in it." He said, "Well, you gotta keep stirring!!!" Ok, I know the whole food booth thing must be his gig. I'll bet he's been doing it for years. But Grandpa must have a touch of the ol' AD because he was acting just like Dad. So, you can probably guess that there was no way in hell that I was going to hang with Grandpa for another minute. They had too many people working in there anyway.

I took a little time out and went to find my cousin, Daniel. He teaches percussion with the Denver Blue Knights. They were just pulling in when I walked to the parking area. They were in 4 huge busses plus a couple of semis. I found him and said a quick hello and then a quick goodbye. He had a lot to do and I had to get back to the Yamato booth.

Paige sat at the will call ticket table all day. She handled the job well. When I got back a little girl came up and asked me where she could buy water. The only place we sold water was at the food booth and it had a line a mile long. I felt bad for her. It was HOT. She was discouraged and went back to the stadium. I wish she hadn't left so quickly. I was going to get her some water. I talked to the woman in charge and suggested we set up a table for water sales only. We set it up quick with a big cooler and a cardboard box for cash. I started with a case and a half of water. We sold out almost instantly. Then I had to sit there with 20 people in line all waiting in the heat for a dinky bottle of water. Then someone showed up with 2 more cases, which sold out in a flash. This old guy (one of the RCC people) told me there was no more water and the store was closed. At 6 in the evening??? He said Smart and Final was closed. I said, "Well, I'll bet RALPH'S is open!" What a dope. I was getting pretty well fed up with old people at that point.

Someone did go and get more water and ice so we were set for a while. I went back to the food booth to help take orders from people standing in line. I saw that we were running out of water again so I started telling people in line that there might not be any water when they get there. Most people were cool with that, they could buy soda or iced tea to drink. One guy started chewing me out over it. He said, "I've been waiting in line for water! Why didn't you tell me they were out?" I said, "I'm telling you now." He said, "WHY didn't you tell me BEFORE?" Jeez, who the hell am I? I moved on. The guy behind him was really nice.

Things started to calm down after that. The competition was almost over. I missed the Denver Blue Knights but I did get to see the last two groups. Paige and I stood up at the top of the bleachers and watched. Man, it was hot. Sweat was pouring down my face. The Blue Devils were the last group to perform and everyone wanted to see them. The stands were PACKED. They won, of course. After it was all over I grabbed some trash bags and started cleaning up. Since we were hosting the event it was our job to clean the stadium. It took a while for the kids to start helping but eventually they grabbed bags and started picking up trash.

After that we all went to clean up the food area. Lordy, that food trailer is FILTHY! This is the trailer I'm going to be working in for 3 weeks on tour! I asked Eddie-san, the director, if there will be an opportunity to clean and organize the trailer before we leave. He said, "Yeah, you could do it next weekend if you like." I said yes, I would. I got the feeling he had no plans to have that trailer cleaned. So, next weekend during band camp I'm going to clean that disgusting trailer. I hope this heat wave is over by then.

After we got all our stuff picked up there was a big pile of food equipment left that wasn't ours. Just as I was about to ask who it belonged to I looked up and here comes a huge motor home and GRANDPA'S DRIVING! Run away! Run away! Yes, it was time to leave.

I'm home. My feet hurt and I need a shower.

It's the little things

I bought new underwear yesterday. Funny how a little thing like that can give you a lift. I've been putting it off because 1. I've been losing weight and 2. the underwear I really like is only sold at Walmart and I don't shop there any more. But since I'm going on this Yamato tour I really didn't want to take along my disintegrating underwear. We'll be on the road for 3 weeks with very few opportunities for doing laundry.

Happy dance! Jockey makes a style that's very similiar to the Walmart brand. AND I'm down to a single digit size. I'm going back to the store and get 3 more packs of undies. I'm set! Life is good.

Now I just need to get a new bathrobe and a couple nightgowns. And air beds for Paige and me. And a bunch of other crap. So, I guess I'm not all set.

My song

I forgot to post my song. It kinda relates to my previous post. I don't consider myself to be a songwriter but I'm kind of proud of this one. Someday I'll perform it.

Bosom

Things have gotten so bad and you're feeling so sad
You've got the blues? Hey, I'll help you lose 'em
Just come hither, dear, and sit down right here
And plant your face in my bosom!

You can have my lovin' arms and even my legs
All I ask is please, don't abuse 'em
I'll make you feel better, so come on, take a header
And plant your face in my bosom

Just park it right there on my pillowy pair
Relax, take a nap. Wow, you've got nice hair
We can sit here all day. Um, are you ok?
Do you need to come up for some air?

Ah, everybody wins with these soft, cushy twins
All you gotta do is choose 'em
I fed two babies with these, now they flap in the breeze
I DARE you to plant your face in my bosom!

A healthy woman I am (I had a recent mammogram)
I'm able and ready to give you good cheer
I'll love you like no other. Don't be shy, come to mother
I've got sweet comfort in my black lace brassiere

The charms are quite ample. Give me your hand, I'll give you a sample
They're real! No need to excuse 'em
It's great to be alive! Be a man, take a dive!
And plant your face...in my bosom!

Mt. Rubiboobie

What a great walk I had last night! Lately I've been walking up one of the trails. It's a pretty walk and it keeps me in the shade for most of it. Just as I was reaching the top I saw a woman coming up a different trail that ends in the same place. She had the biggest, most painful looking boob job I've ever seen. These were huge, melon-shaped, antigravity boobs. They looked weird, they moved weird and looking at them made me feel afraid. I fell in behind her on the road.

As she was rounding the corner I saw a man coming in the opposite direction. After he passed her I could see his face. He looked stunned and confused. Those boobs were like those sonic blast grenades that the cops use in hostage situations. As we got closer he saw that I was smiling at him and he burst out laughing. He said, "Boy, you just see everything up here, don't you?" I continued on behind her for a while. Every time she passed a man his face would take on the same expression. Totally confused and amused but too scared to really enjoy the moment. After a while she continued to the top of the mountain and I followed the road down the hill.

Now, I don't really have anything against boob jobs. I've seen some good ones. But sheeeeit!!! Shame on the doctor that consented to that mammular trainwreck. Just because a RETARDED woman hands you a bag of cash and requests a disfiguring operation doesn't mean you have to say yes.

When I was almost at the end of my walk I glanced into one of the back yards that are all along that road. I noticed some movement but I couldn't tell what I was looking at...for a second. Holy crap, it was a family of skunks! They were about 30 feet away, two adults and four babies. They were ambling along, very low to the ground, just a squirming mass of black and white fluff. Since they were fairly far away I didn't feel threatened so I yelled, "Hey skunkies!" They immediately stopped and in a FLASH arranged themselves in a circle, noses in, butts out, tails raised! It was freakin' amazing! They held this position for about 6 seconds and then the mom decided it was better to just get the hell out of there. They ambled off into the bushes. I'm standing there, totally alone with no one to share the moment with. You know, that's happened to me several times in my life. Something exquisite happens to me and I have no witnesses, no one to talk to.

Then, BONUS! I continued on my way and was soon passed by a woman jogger who was wearing black shorts with white stripes with a black tank top and a white tank top underneath! She was attired in skunky perfection! It was the perfect capper.

Man, I love Mt. Rubidoux.

A great practice

Today the TV's Kyle band had a very productive practice. Fun, too. My fingers hurt!

So far we have 14 songs that we're working on.

Arica- A musical pep talk for a friend who was down.
Babaganoush- Not about Babaganoush.
Beaverduck- Part beaver, part duck.
Bennendann- Instrumental. Good for kicking off the show.
Bob From Accounting- About one of Kyle's highschool teachers.
Bump- "Where is the car in the parking lot?"
Dizzy Spells- Can a pill cure love's dizzy spells?
Joe's Java Jungle Cafe- Getting mellow with a cup of Joe
Let Me Crazy- Pickin' up chicks in the boba shop
Lindsay Is Totally Centered- Written for Lindsay's birthday last year. I do believe he was courting her with this one.
Rated G Life- No, I don't think so.
Tri-State Area- Touring the countryside and crashing his Vespa
Why Not?- The answer to "why?"
You're My Pal (And I Like You)- Happy and evil.


Arica, LIndsay Is Totally Centered, Rated G Life, Why Not?, and You're My Pal are pretty much performance-ready. This is fun. Every time we practice I feel more secure about our ability to do a good show. I'm really looking forward to the day when we get to practice with Ben (drummer from L.A.) Gotta work out some kinks first.

Speaking of working out the kinks, I'd better get myself up Rubidoux. It's been a few days...

Who's blog is this, anyway?

My husband, my walking buddy and my daughter's boyfriend require fresh posts. It's just that nothing interesting has happened lately. So, I'll blog about boring stuff and try to make it sound interesting.

Dad was visiting the Leeces last week in SLO. Jono graduated from highschool (congrats, Jono!). Today I drove up to Ventura to pick him up. Ventura is about halfway between here and SLO. David was driving him down. I got there a little early and took a quick detour to a yard sale. I bought a bookcase for Kyle for $5. Score! Add that to the $1 file cabinet I got for him from another yard sale. Kyle's room needs organizing and these two pieces will help a lot.

It was nice getting a week's break from dealing with Dad. Thanks, Dede and David! Jim and I got the rest of our stuff out of Dad's downstairs. We're slowly getting things moved into the trailer. Right now the studio is blasted. Things await sorting. We're getting rid of lots of stuff.

(Warning! I am about to talk about "female trouble") Ugh! I didn't have any hot flashes for a couple months but now I'm getting several per day. Big drag. Fortunately, they don't last long. Dang! I've heard that this BS can drag on for 10 years. As I'm sitting here I keep switching the AC on and off. I just can't reach a comfortable temperature.

Father's Day. I'm going to church with Dad. He played the guilt card. He's being pissy about it, too. The service doesn't start until 9 but he wants to get there at 7:30 to make sure we get a seat. I told him I don't think we need to get there an hour and a half before church starts and he said, "Fine! I'll get a ride with someone and save a seat for you." Yeah, I wonder who's going to be willing to give him a ride that early. I told him I'll go to church but I'm not hanging around for Sunday school. I'm not looking forward to being paraded around like I'm some kind of trophy. He'll be like, "Look! I got a kid! It's Father's Day and I got a kid!"

I know I should be more generous about this. Church is a big deal for him. Out of five kids, only two are practicing Christians and they both live out of town. If he shows up at church alone on Father's Day it will look pretty bad. I don't know what Stacey and Drew are doing and I don't know if he asked them to go. Probably not. But what I do know is him dragging me there is just for show. Really, I'd much rather take him out for breakfast.

Paige has Yamato practice. Kyle will be here in the afternoon. We gonna practice.

But first I have to clean this studio!

A summer of music and hard work

Holy cow!

Paige is going on this drum corps tour and I'm going with her. I'm going along as general support staff. I'll be driving a 12 passenger van, cooking and cleaning in the food trailer, running errands and generally being on hand for whatever generally might come up. The tour is 3 weeks long but there will also be some weekends and a week-long band camp where I'll be needed to help out.

Hoo-boy! It's gonna be interesting. Good for me, I think. And great for Paige. There's an American group and a Japanese group that will combine and then tour together. There are 2 professional chefs who are going along so I won't be doing much actual cooking, just cutting up a lot vegetables. Big relief there! I think we'll be eating a lot of Japanese food. Big bummer, eh?

Paige looooves this group! She says the attitude is much better, much more mature than in Ramona's band. The music is more challenging. These people are there to work, not screw around.

When I'm not working with the drum corps I'll be working hard on Kyle's music. We had a great practice last night! Very productive. I think we all feel encouraged that we'll be able to do a good show with our pared-down group. I'm getting better on ukulele. Totally digging that.

Rats! Blogger is having trouble. More later...

Oh, the pressure!

I've been told I must update. Umm.... what's the haps?

Yesterday went to a party at Stacey's. She's looking pretty good considering she got konked in the head with a baseball bat last Monday. Yep.

Tori and Audra were practicing their swings close to where Stacey was bending over working on fixing a piece of equipment. Somehow their positions shifted a bit and Stacey's head ended up within Tori's range. She caught it on her forehead just above her right eye. She was lucky it didn't get her in the nose or eye socket. But it did give her a concussion and a nasty shiner. She's supposed to be taking it easy but that's not her style. It's Memorial Day weekend after all.

It was a fun party. Mostly their friends from softball so there were a ton of kids there. After a great dinner we all played softball, kids against adults. They whooped us. We left not too long after the game ended. I talked to Stacey this morning and she said the party lasted until about 11:30. Long day!

Jim and I have been workiing on getting the workshop cleaned up and organized. We're s l o w l y getting things moved into the trailer. There's just way too much crap to go through. We put this off for too long. But it feels good to get things moving.

I've been practicing the uke a lot lately and I'm showing some improvement. Jim bought a pickup for it so now I'm amplified. Oh yeah! Right now it just sticks on the outside but we're going to install it permanently on the inside. I really like how it sounds. Jeff sent me some great sites that have a lot of songs and chord progressions. I've been spending a lot of time on those.

Tonight I'm going to open mike. I don't think I'll perform, though. I'll just go to listen and hang out with the Odiens. Tomorrow Stacey and Brendan are coming over. I'm going to help B make a dragon for a school project.

Ok, Kyle, how's that?

Better now.

Nothing important happening. I just wanted to write. Jim's been bugging me to blog.

Let's see, what haven't I written about? We've all decided that the Kyle band is going to be just us four for now. That's Jim, Lindsay, Kyle and me. The other guys just weren't able to make the necessary commitment. Also, we had drummer issues. We're going to work on the songs and get them polished enough to perform. Then when we're ready we'll bring in a drummer friend of Kyle's. It'll be a bummer not having a bass player but we can deal with that.

I think I've dropped a few pounds. The jeans that were too tight to wear in January are now too loose. Happy dance.

Paige and Rory went to the prom last weekend. We had to do a lot of last minute shopping but we managed to pull everything together. Paige looked just beautiful. I'll post some photos when I can get Jim to help me. I always forget how to do it.

Dad's doing ok but he always seems to be at the edge of a freak out. As long as things are going smoothly he's fine. But he does get flustered easily and he's become more forgetful. We might be seeing the beginnings of a slide.

Jim and I have been working on cleaning out the big trailer. We're going to use it for storage and get rid of the container we've been renting. On Monday we built some shelves that will hold about 20 of those plastic flip top bins. We can start moving things in now. Drew and Mindy had some furniture stored in there, including a sofa and chair from the 60s. I think they're pretty cool looking and they said we could have them. They need to be reupholstered of course. I'm going to do some calling around and find out how much that would cost. They seem pretty solid. Jim and I sat on the sofa and it didn't fall apart. Good sign!

Moving our storage into the trailer will really help things get organized around here. Right now we can't really use the workshop because there's no room. This will be a good opportunity to get rid of some stuff. I want to do a major purge.

Friday is Kyle's 27th birthday. We're going to the Trucker show. Happy Birthday, Kyle!!!

Sigh...

I took Dad to the doctor this morning. I called him before we left and he suggested we take his car. I told him we couldn't because it's not insured anymore. He flipped. I told him to stop yelling at me and ended the conversation. When I picked him up he started yelling at me again. He accused me of reporting him to the DMV and "starting this whole mess". I stopped the car and wasn't going to move until he stopped yelling. I told him the doctor was the one who reported him and he said, "Oh yeah, blame the doctor! JUST DRIVE!!!" He shut up and didn't say another word until we got to the VA. We didn't talk much during the whole visit. I think he knew he blew it.

When we were waiting he kept asking me why we were there. I explained several times that he needed to get all his meds up to date and he needed to have the doc look at his toe. When we went in to see her he started going off about his car. I had to keep explaining that he couldn't get insurance because he didn't have a license. He kept yelling that "they" can't keep him from owning a car. We went in circles with that one for a while. She asked about the anxiety medication that she had prescribed before Christmas. We never gave it to him because it had some nasty side effects and the problem went away on its own because the stresses of the Christmas season ended with the tree sales. He smirked and said, "Oh, there was no stress at Christmas!" (I can hear you all now. You're saying waWAWHAT??????) Dr. Griffin kept looking at me like she knew exactly what I was talking about.

After we left her office we went upstairs to the lab. Dad didn't have any current blood work and they needed it to renew his prescriptions. Then we came home, still not talking.

I was talking to David the junk guy the other day. He said that Dad again asked him if he knew anything about where his big trucks went. These trucks had been stored out in the junk yard and most of their essential working parts had been stolen. They were pretty much worthless. The pink slips were signed and turned over to David and he cut them up for scrap. We've told Dad this many, many times. Anyway, he asked David about them and David said he didn't know anything about it. If he had told Dad the truth he would have gone off. Dad said, "Well, my daughter must have given them to someone."

This is the pattern. Any time Dad doesn't have an answer for something he thinks I did it. I'm the one who reported him to the DMV, I'm the one who got rid of his trucks, I'm the one who told Ruth and Molly that he has AD (he did!), I'm the one who took all his medication (they were in his medicine cabinet). I hear this kind of thing over and over again.

I swear he's slipping again. Things were stable for a while but now it's pretty noticeable that he's not doing as well as he had been. There are some goofy times ahead.

Work to do

Yesterday's performance was..... not good.

Lots of reasons for that. We didn't get to rehearse on Thursday. Trying to do unfamiliar material without rehearsing is a big mistake. Some of Kyle's songs we did ok on. Some we butchered. Also, this bar was NOT the right scene for Kyle's material. The audience was waaaay too old. They did enjoy the Casual Sunday stuff. We're pretty sure we'll be playing Worthington's again. It just won't be the place for the Kyle show.

It's a teeeeny bar. We were totally squished in. A couple times Ken had to move aside to let people in the front door. Ken had the levels set high for the sound check and didn't turn them down again. We started out loud and we stayed loud and I HATE that. I used ear plugs for most of the day.

After the show I wanted to get the hell out of there. I felt bad that Kyle's songs didn't go well. I was wrong to have set my expectations so high. Jim, Lindsay, Kyle and I went to Marie Callender's afterward for comfort food (pie). By the way, I highly recommend the quiche and salad combo. Ham and broccoli quiche with a Waldorf salad and a spinach salad with candied pecans. It put me in my happy place.

Anyway, after a hot bath last night (good for mulling things over) and talking about it with Jim and Ken and the kiddos I think we all feel better. There may be a personnel shift and some instrument swapping and there certainly will be more rehearsing and studying. Also, we want the rest of the band to go see some L.A. shows so they'll see what we're aiming for. We gotta tighten this baby up fer sherr.

On Saturday we went to the Trucker show. Good golly, that was fun! T-Bones was there this time and he was a total hoot. And the Trucker was more naked than he was the first two times I saw him. But he held that guitar firm and he never turned around. Dang-o-rama. Afterward we all went out to the House Of Pie. Andy, the drummer, sat with us. He said he had Gruber's "junk" in his face the whole night. He now calls him "Dimples". Nuff said.

Today I am goofing off. I'll get dressed in a little while and go walk the Rube. I need it. I had pie two nights in a row.

Stuff

No real news. I'm blogging just cuz.

Just got back from walking the Rube and I be pooped. I don't understand why some days are easier than others. Yesterday I zoomed up, today it was hard. Oh well.

We're still dealing with Timio residue. It's going to be that way for a while. Today David the junk guy found some cockatiels in a cage that were left behind. Are thy coming back for them? We don't know. They had water but all the food had been eaten and there was nothing left but empty seed hulls. The cage is this weird home-built thing that looks like it's never been cleaned. I gave them some wild bird seed that I had. David says he has an aviary at home so he's going to take them.

I called the guy who owns the cement truck that's been parked out in the junk yard for a year. He came over to check it out. It's been geting vandalized and parts have been stolen. He's going to bring a battery for it and fix the tires so he can get it out of here. He also says he paid Dad for the back rent. I dunno. He seems like a nice guy, maybe he did.

Scotty said our realtor is going to put a sign up to advertise the property. It's funny but that bit of news gave me a little emotional jolt. I don't think I'll like seeing a For Sale sign hanging on the fence. But I'll get over it.

Let's see... Friday we're going to see Ramona's production of Once Upon A Mattress. Paige is playing in the band. Saturday we're going to see Naked Trucker and T-Bones. There might be a band practice in there somewhere. We might be playing at Jessica's bar on the 7th or the 14th. It'll be the first time in a looong time that Casual Sunday has performed. And it will be the first time we perform all the Kyle songs we know. Yeah, baby! We're gittin' a show together!

That's about it, I think. Next, a hot bath. My feet hurt.

Naked Trucker and Open Mike

Jim had a gig on Saturday. He played with Dave Hockett's band at a posh party up in the hills near Temecula. He said it went really well and the house they played at was huge and awesome.

Lindsay and I went to Naked Trucker. We drove down early and met up with Kyle and Arica and had dinner. Chris came later. Again, a fun show. Jill Sobule was a special guest. I enjoyed her a lot. Her songs were intelligently written and she rocked on guitar.

After the show we went to House Of Pie. Gruber (the trucker) and Andy Paley (composer who wrote the Moobeard music and a bunch of other stuff) showed up later with two girls that I had met earlier. We had a fun time with them. Gruber picked up the tab for everyone. Nice. I was hoping I'd be able to talk to Gruber and Andy about the TV's Kyle show but it wasn't the right scene. I'd like to get their input on doing live shows around L.A. Another time. I got home around 4am.

Sunday we practiced the Kyle stuff at Ken's. It was a good rehearsal, very productive. Then Jim, Lindsay, Kyle and I drove to Claremont for open mike. This one wasn't nearly as good as last month. Most of the performers were snoozers. We screwed up a bit. Jim and I flubbed a few times and at one point Kyle forgot the words to the song. This time Kyle didn't play accordion and I played dumbek instead of the uke. That left Jim to carry the song on keyboard. We sounded kinda puny. So, it wasn't the big bang we gave them last time but it was a good learning experience. Next time, more instruments and more practice. They're letting people take 7 minutes to perform now so next time we're going to do 2 songs.

This afternoon I worked on cleaning out the big trailer we now have parked behind the house. It's a 40 foot container van that we're going to use for storage. Dad came out just as I was finishing up for the day. He saw the oil that had been spilled on the ground by out back gate. He said, "Hey, don't let anyone do that again. That's bad!" AAARRGH! I've been bitching about Timio's oil spills for 2 years now and his attitude was always hey, no big deal. Then he'd tell me about how much Timio has done for him. Well, now Timio has moved out and left a ton of crap and numerous oil spills AND a litter of kittens in the barn! Dad said, "Next time you see him here follow him home so we'll know where he lives." Yeah, right.

I'm going for a walk.

New Post!

I seem to be blogging after the weekends lately.

Happy Easter, everybody! On Saturday we had the boys over for dinner and egg dyeing. I left them to it and went out to the studio to work on mosaics. I'm kinda into that right now. I just finished covering a couple styrofoam balls with broken bits of ceramic. They look pretty cool. These are practice pieces. I want to do a table next.

Late Saturday night I played Easter bunny and hid the eggs and put baskets together. Now, earlier I was enjoying a mellow evening doing my little art thing and sipping tequila. But it wasn't THAT much tequila. I hid 21 eggs but they could only find 15 of them. I'm thinking probably some critter got 'em. But I couldn't remember all the hiding spots so we'll never know for sure.

I gave Rory his Easter basket when he went home. Kyle spent the night. It was a little strange setting out 3 Easter baskets on the mantle. It was the first time ever that we had an extra kid (?) for the egg hunt. Yes, we still do egg hunts. I'll be hiding eggs when I'm 80 years old and pushing a walker. This year our egg hunters were ages 15, 21 and 26 (almost 27)!

Sunday afternoon we worked on some more Kyle songs. It's always a pleasure working on these silly, fun songs. Kyle said he talked to some friends in L.A. who might interested in having us open for their band. Cool!

Timio's been moving his stuff out. The back alley is almost clear. We're still waiting to see what he does with the barn yard. I'm betting he'll take his tools and working equipment and leave us with all the crap. At this point I don't care. I'm just happy to see them go. We're working on a new land deal (The first one fell through. No surprise there.) so being able to get back there and clean is a good thing. We can toss with reckless abandon.

And now I'm going to grout a ball.

Recovering on Monday

Whew! What a weekend!

Saturday we were supposed to ride the bus to go to Paige's last drumline show. When we got to Ramona there were a lot of parents there who decided to go along on the bus. That worked out well for us because we really needed the day to work around here and get ready for Lindsay's birthday party. We decided we'd go to the show (it was in Rancho Cucamonga) and then come home and work on the house. Turns out the bus never showed up but there were enough parents there to take the kids to the competition.

Jim, Lindsay and I got there just before Ramona went on. I was glad Lindsay got to see the show. The kids did really well. They had added some more movements to their choreography which made their routine much more interesting. They came in 3rd.

Friday and Saturday we spent most of our time cleaning and working on party food. I was so wiped out. That was a lot of work! Sunday morning we hit the ground running. More cooking, more cleaning. We piled everything into the truck and the van and took it over to Ken's. I ended up having to make another trip to the store and to home but mostly we had everything together. But I can't help getting totally scattered. Too tired, brain no work.

The kids actually showed up early (!). No time to decorate. Sherri had some leis that we hung up around the yard. Instant festiveness. Ken and Sherri had taken Jessica out to brunch (it was her birthday, too) and showed up just before the guests
arrived. John and Joe came a little later. After a while we all went into the studio and played the 4 Kyle songs that we practiced. The crowd went wild.

We barbecued mass quantities. I got way too much food. We had ribs, chicken, killer beans, salad, artichoke dip with bread, chips, salsa and fruit. Carrot cake, chocolate cupcakes and ice cream for dessert. Brought most of it home. It's ok, I love leftover party food. After dinner we played the songs again. Then we threw everything into the cars and brought it all home and continued the party here. Pinata time!

Jeez! I think Lindsay and Kyle bought a kevlar pinata. It weighed a ton, totally stuffed full. I thought it would break under its own weight. After beating it with a wimpy plastic wiffle bat we switched to a wooden one and finally got it bashed to bits. Way too much candy.

The kids stayed until 11:30. Everyone had a great time. Lindsay has a good group of friends and I enjoyed being with them. Today I didn't do ANYTHING. Well, I did go up Mt. Rubidoux. I HAD to after eating all those bad carbs yesterday (yes, I fell off the wagon). Tomorrow, back to normal.

Ha!

The weekends

It's getting to be a regular thing here. Rory and Kyle come over, I'll make a big dinner and we'll do some pleasant hanging out. Watch a movie, play music, draw, whatever. Kyle spends a night or two. I'm enjoying these weekends with the boys here.

We had some good rehearsals this weekend. On Saturday Jim and I went over some songs with Kyle. On Sunday we practiced for the first time with the rest of the band at Ken's. It was great!!!! The songs came together fast. We're going to play them at Lindsay's birthday party next weekend. We're doing Why Not?, Lindsay Is Totally Centered, Arica, and Beaverduck.

I'm encouraged. This weekend made me feel like we really could get this thing off the ground. We's makin' a show!

What a great week!

And a wonderful visit with Dean. I drove her to the airport last night. That left me in a bit of a weird emotional state. The week went by too fast. (Heh, heh! I just found a sunflower seed shell on the desk. Yes, Dean was here!)

Monday we had a goof off day. We searched the barnyard and came up with some items to mosaic. Dean wanted to learn how to do it. We always seem to find an art project to work on when we're together and this time it was mosaic. Dean did a galvanized bucket and I covered a cement cone. She used tiles and broken dishes, I used mirror pieces and flat marbles. Using broken mirror pieces is a little scary. It was the shiny cement cone of DEATH.

On Tuesday we rode the Metrolink to L.A. That was pretty cool. Not the most scenic ride but it's better than driving and parking. We went to Olvera St. and had breakfast. We had a good time but it would have been much better if it hadn't been raining. That put a damper on things. (Sorry) But we still had a good time. We shopped along Olvera St. and I bought some trinkets for the girls.

Wednesday Dean and I walked up Mt. Rubidoux. The view was beautiful but the mountains were obscured by clouds. Dean never got a good view of the mountains the whole time she was here. Danged weather.

Yesterday she finished her mosaic. Turned out pretty well for a first piece. She left it here for me. I just grouted my mirror thing a little while ago. It's taking a long time to set up. The air is a bit damp today.

Last night we had band practice. Dean always enjoys that. She even sang a song with the band. She also did some filming with her new camera. That camera got a workout this week.

It was a good visit. Too short, tho.

I wonder if that grout has set up yet?

Open mike

This Sunday is open mike at the folk music center. We're doing a Kyle song. I think it's a good way to get the live TV's Kyle show going. So far we've got Kyle, Jim, Lindsay and me. Haven't heard back from John yet. Ken might be joining us. That tiny stage is gonna be full!

I'm practicing ukulele like mad. Trying to get the mush out of my fingers. There's a chord change that's kinda hard. I probably won't have it down by Sunday but I'm going to keep practicing and get it right for future shows. It's only one chord that's a problem and it goes by so fast I can skip it.

Dean's coming in tomorrow morning. Saturday we're going to Paige's drum line show in Valencia. We'll be back by early evening and Kyle will be here so we can practice. I'm really looking forward to it. Every time I hear these songs I can imagine what they'll sound like live. It's exciting!

Ok, back to house cleaning....

Lunch with Rhoda

Rhoda Fickle sent Dad a card asking him to meet her for lunch. Today I drove him to Tustin and the three of us had lunch at Mimi's. Rhoda looks just great! She seems very much the same as she was when I was a kid. So funny and full of energy. After lunch we drove over to her old house. This is where we used to go every July 4th when I was growing up. I loved it. The house was beautiful and Larry and Rhoda were great hosts.

We'd always start the day by meeting at Irvine Park for a picnic breakfast. We'd spend a few hours there (Irvine Park is gorgeous) and then head over to the Fickle's. They had a great swimming pool, a garden and horses we could ride. The food was always really good. After dinner we'd go out the front yard for fireworks. Every family would buy a big box of them so we always had loads of pretty explosives. Their house was up on a hill above Anaheim so we could also see the fireworks shows from Disneyland and Anaheim Stadium. We always looked forward to 4th of July at the Fickle's.

Now the neighborhood is unrecognizable. Many of the old houses have been torn down and replaced with huge mansionoids. But the Fickle's house is still there. It was a big house to begin with (Larry and Rhoda built it) so there's not much reason to tear it down. There's a guest house where the garden used to be and a new addition is being built at one end. But it's the same house. I'm glad I got to see it again.

I'm also glad I got to spend some time with Rhoda. The last time I saw her was at our wedding. Larry was still alive then although at the time he wasn't doing too well. He was a sweet man.

Blogs are useful

Last night I read over my earliest entries, especially the ones after Dad was diagnosed with AD. Hoo-wee, we've been through a lot! And we're not even into the nitty gritty of Alzheimer's yet. These days Dad is actually doing better than he was a year ago. Medication, I guess. Still, there's nothing that can give me that sinking feeling in my chest like a hard day with Dad.

We're kind of in limbo here. We don't know for sure how long we'll be here on the farm. We don't have any idea at all where we'll live after we leave here. We'll stay in Riverside until after Paige graduates but if the land sale is complete before then we'll need to find a house to rent where we can have our 3 cats and 2 dogs. And then what? Where will we go?

This is the thing that makes me feel like I'm staring into a deep, black hole. Eventually we'll get it figured out and I doubt we'll end up pushing a cart, but for now it pretty much sucks to try to plan for the future.

But I do have some things to look forward to. It's looking pretty good for the band. I'm optimistic about our new drummer. It will be fun to start getting some gigs around town.

I'm really looking forward to getting into some real work on the Live TV's Kyle Show. Jim's been working on transcribing some songs and I've been studying the vocals. I'm going to try adding in some ukulele on some songs. The guys in the band are enthusiastic about the show. Lindsay says Kyle is excited about it. I'm glad because at first I felt like I was railroading him into it.

Dean's coming on Friday! Her visit will be theraputic for both of us. It's good for her and I to get a dose of each other at least once a year.

Open mike is next Sunday. Kyle, wanna do a song?

So, even though I have a cloud of uncertainty hanging over me I try to stay positive. Doing fun stuff helps, meditation class helps, exercise helps a LOT. This blog really, really, REALLY helps. Between this and the weight loss blog I get to talk to some wonderful people. Thanks, you guys!

I missed 3 days of exercise.

Feeling blobby. But I went up the Rube today so I'm good.

Had another nice weekend. Kyle was here. We're starting to work on putting together the live TV's Kyle show. Didn't get a whole lot done, just gathering some lyrics. I'm looking forward to really getting to work on some music.

I grilled some steak and chicken on Saturday. It was going to be a nice dinner with Paige and Rory but Jim had to run off and deal with another car crisis. Lindsay clipped a curb and got a flat. The Grand Am has fancy wheels that are a pain to deal with. Jim was gone a long time. And what made it an even bigger bummer was it was sooooo cold outside. So Paige, Rory and I had dinner and a real nice talk.

Kyle pitched Weird Eddie for us. I love watching these pitches. Kyle said he's pitched Weird Eddie eight times and no one was interested. I'm not sure why. i guess the cartoon execs know what they want and Eddie didn't cut it. Had me laughing, tho. Jim was going to video the pitch but he couldn't get the camera to work. He'll have the bugs worked out eventually.

Had a small blow up with Dad this morning. We were talking about Timio leaving and he said he's going to ask Bud Lyon if one of his guys wants to move in out back. When I tried to tell him he shouldn't do that he got nasty real fast. I ended up walking out on him. He can go from zero to abusive in a split second. Gotta talk to the sibs about this one. I don't think it's a good idea to have someone new living here. But hey, whatever.

The vibes

Dan and Carol gave Paige a set of vibes for Christmas. This is one happy girl. For a while we had a set of Ramona's vibes in the studio. They took up a lot of room and since the studio sometimes resembles Grand Central Station she didn't get to practice much. Now she has these vibes in her room. She puts in a lot practice time every day. I'm often amazed at the runs she's able to play, very fast and accurate.

Thanks, you guys. You are too good to us.

Remember them crawdads?

Some photos

Lindsay stuck on a rock.


Lindsay and Kyle on Mt. Rubidoux.


Donita and Kyle on Mt. Rubidoux. Kyle is showing you his apple slice.

Cripes!

Everything is falling apart! The valve on the washing machine is leaking. We have a big puddle on the laundry room floor. The slow drip of the bathroom faucet has turned into a stream. The auction cars' repairs keep mounting. Lindsay's laptop is in the shop. The bed in the studio has collapsed (ahem).

Fixing the bathroom faucet is a problem because you can't turn the valves all the way off. Same problem with the main house valve. There's always water running. We haven't ripped into the washing machine problem yet.

The frame for the studio bed is a cheapo trundle frame. Might have to trash that thing altogether. Ah yes, mattress on the floor. Just like the good ol' days. We'll get that taken care of before Dean comes to visit.

Dean's coming to visit!

That's a motivator. Let's get this crap handled.

I've been told I'm neglecting me bloggy.

So, I'll write about the weekend so far.

Yesterday we cleaned house and shopped and cooked a big dinner. Kyle is here for the weekend and Rory was here for dinner. Them's my boys. We all had a lovely time. Jim and I found a box of videos that included some early footage of the girls. We watched Lindsay's first birthday party, Paige's birth (not the actual birth, just the bits before and the bits after), Lindsay's ballet recital, Paige's first Christmas, Sally's run. I don't think the girls had ever seen these videos. I loved seeing my babies again and I think even the boys got a kick out of them.

We had ribs for dinner. I'm good at ribs. Paige made dessert. This was a dessert that could seriously injure you if you are anywhere near being a diabetic. We're talkin' brownie with chocolate and vanilla ice cream and Dove chocolate sauce. I skipped it.

Kyle brought Spiral. He getting to be a big boy. Gracie just can't leave him alone. She looooves kittens. He's getting used to her now but if he wants to get away from her he has to walk around on the tables and windowsills.

Later today I'm taking Lindsay and Kyle up Mt. Rubidoux. Paige and Jim might come, too. We'll see. We're going to put a little picnic together and have lunch at the top. This won't be an exercise walk. This will be a leisurely stroll.

Dad came home yesterday. Drew took him to a ball game. Right now he's at chruch. I know he'll be wanting to come over and tell us about his trip but I'd rather spend this time visiting with Kyle and hanging out with our little family. So, I'm glad Dad has activities right now.

We've got both of the "new" cars in decent shape. The Taurus still needs some work done on the brakes and shocks and it needs a new windshield. Lindsay has claimed the Grand Am (Jean-Claude Grand Am). She slapped some flower stickers on it. We're talkin' Rickie-tickie Stickies from the sixties. She installed her dashboard critters.

(Wow. I was out here alone. Now everybody is here except Kyle, who is in the shower. I have an abundance of company.)

That's about it for now.

Naked Trucker and a couple-a cars

Fun, fun show! We laughed the whole time. The Naked Trucker wasn't totally naked. He wore a loin cloth (an American flag loin cloth) and had his guitar positioned in the usual place, which would have kept him covered in the event of a loin cloth malfunction.

Saturday's show was a little different. Usually it's the Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show but T-Bones wasn't there this time. The Naked Trucker is Dave "Gruber" Allen. He's doing one of the voices for Moobeard. The drummer is Andy Paley, who is doing the music for Moobeard. Yes, there's a Kyle connection here. They also had some special guests performing. There was Andy Kindler who did some stand-up. He's a semi-regular on Everybody Loves Raymond. He had a kind of "insult the audience" act that was pretty funny. There was a guy (didn't get his name) who did a bit with a girl that was freakin' hilarious. He was dressed like Esteban with the hat and sunglasses. She came out holding a guiro and was striking poses and saying, "Meleeeeenda" into the microphone like she was the most fabulous woman on the planet. He kept saying, "She's not supposed to be out here" and she kept posing. It's hard to explain. I guess you had to be there. It was funny as hell. Later the two of them came back and recited some rude haiku. But the trucker's songs were the best. It was a great show.

Afterward Lindsay and Kyle introduced us to Andy Paley and Gruber. Andy is a chatty ball of energy. Gruber was very nice and mellow. I swear he must be 7 feet tall. We couldn't talk much. Too much after-show activity. I hope we can meet them again sometime.

The next morning Jim, Lindsay and I went to the OC auto auction. This time we got to preview the cars. Not a great selection. We ended up buying a '93 Taurus wagon. While Jim and Lindsay were inside waiting in line to handle the paperwork I went back out for the drawing they had at the end of the auction. They were giving away a tv and a car. We didn't win the tv.

We won the car. Don't get all excited. We won an auction car. It's a '90 Pontiac Grand Am. A total grandma car. After getting the paperwork handled, which took FOREVER, they brought out our cars. The Grand Am has one window that came loose from its frame and the other windows won't roll down more than a couple inches. There is no rear view mirror. Jim drove the Taurus home and Lindsay drove the Grand Prize. I followed her home. The Grand Prize was really smoking, especially when she accelerated. Jim said the Taurus clunks like the engine isn't properly mounted. Oh yeah, we brought home a couple of gems. Tomorrow they're both going in for service.

Lindsay really likes the Grand Am. Unless there's something terribly wrong with these cars we'll probably keep them and sell the truck. Paige will be 16 in July so we'll be needing another car anyway.

After we got home we went straight to Ken's to check out this new drummer. He seems like he's pretty good and I think he likes us. He can't practice on Fridays which is a bit of a problem. We can rearrange things to accomodate him. We do need a drummer. I hope he works out.

We got home around 7:30. It seemed so much later. What a freakin' long day. I was kind of stunned.

Man, I hope these cars won't be too expensive to fix.

Hey! Happy Birthday to Brother Atom Bomb Of Reflection! Happy Birthday Brian P! A late Happy Birthday to Brian K!

We get a break!

At this very moment Dad is winging his way to Galveston. The airport experience was uneventful though we did get there 2 hours early because Dad was feaked out about the possibility of being late. So, we had breakfast and did the people watching thing. Dad HAS to comment on everyone who walks by. I could feel my neck tensing up. At one point he got up to go to the bathroom. While he was gone I tried to meditate my tension away. I didn't do so well. An attendant parked a woman in a wheelchair next to me. She was making noises like she was in constant pain and she was way over-fragranced. I just couldn't tune that out.

It's nice to be home.

Tomorrow I'm taking a precious metal clay class with Virginia. I've seen it demonstrated on tv and it looks way cool fun. I'll post photos of our results.

Then Jim and I are going to a Naked Trucker show with Lindsay and Kyle. Yes, the trucker will be naked.

Sunday we're going to the OC car auction again. Early this time. After that it's to Ken's to try out a new drummer. Another full weekend.

Deviant Art

Every time I tell someone about this I have to explain it's not a porn site.

Got the links listed right there to the right. Give 'em a click. Once you're there you can click on a name and go to that person's page. Dean and I signed up recently so there's not much in our galleries yet. Lindsay and Kyle have tons of stuff. Paige even has a DA page but she says she hasn't been keeping it up. Maybe she'll get inspired to start posting again.

Just one more thing that keeps me sitting in this chair. Blog, blog, blog, blog, Deviant Art!

Here it is again! The weekend!

Band practice tonight. Still no drummer but we've been very productive. When we finally do get a drummer we'll be soooo ready. I'm going to walk to Ken's.

Tomorrow we're going to Paige's drumline show in Chino. We gonna ride the bus! Let's see, shall we embarrass Paige and try to start a sing-along? C'mon, everybody! A hundred bottles of beer on the wall, a hundred bottles of beer....

Sunday is the OC car auction. Oh pleeeeazzze let us find a car there!

I'm still working on my painting. I've changed my mind several times about certain areas and had to re-work them.

Jim set me up with a Deviant Art page. It takes a while to set up the gallery. Yuo can't just dump a bunch of pictures in there. So, go take a look. Not much there right now but I'll be adding stuff every day. You can also get to Lindsay's and Kyle's pages from there. Just click on their names. (Hey, Nancy, does Amelia have a Deviant Art page yet?)

Things are pretty good right now. The diet is going well, I'm getting lots of exercise and generally having more fun than I was a few months ago. Dad has been stable. He's going to Texas next week so we'll be getting a nice break. That'll be a good time to go over to his house and organize the stuff we have stored downstairs.

Tra-la-la...

2006 Milestone Birthdays

I just realized that Jim, Lindsay, Paige and I all will be celebrating milestone birthdays this year. Paige turns 16, Lindsay turns 21 and Jim and I will be 50. Ain't that a trip?

Dean, Nancy, Lorraine, Mary are turning 50, Stacey just turned 40. Rory will be 18. Amelia, too?

Ooh, who else?

Starting the weekend

I walked this morning with Stacey. She kicked my butt. Don't know why. She's only 10 years younger and 80 pounds lighter than moi. It was a good walk. I like my sis.

The painting is coming along nicely. It's a big 3x3 ft. canvas, the biggest painting I've ever done. Usually I'm working on paper. I started it last summer when I visited Dean in Texas. I love it. I want to do more big paintings.

It's a big, goofy Halloween explosion. The main figure is a black cat with its back arched impossibly high and an evil grin on his face. In the background on one side are some green, grinning demon faces. On the other side is an orange and purple squiggly harlequin pattern. There's a big yellow moon rising over the cat. At the bottom on the left is a lake of lava with hot rod flames rising up. On the right is a pile of multi colored Day Of The Dead skulls. Right in the middle under the cat's belly is the central figure from The Scream. Oh yeah, I'm having fun with this one. I'll post a photo when I'm done.

No band practice tonight. John Duke, our bass player, is coming over. I enjoy hanging out with John.

I went to meditation class last night. Another good one. Afterward we all went to Coffee Depot to socialize. Enjoyed that, too. It was nice getting to know some of the people in the class and it's always fun talking to Virginia and Bill.

I'm back to feeling good. I think I've dropped a little more weight.

AND!!!! Dad's gone for the weekend! A break!

Tomorrow morning we're going to the auto auction preview and look at cars. Sunday is the auction. Crossing all fingers and toes. Gotta get a car for Lindsay.

But right now I need to do a little house cleaning.

Stressed out

Dad just informed me that he's going on a church retreat this weekend. He also said he needs to have his car back because he's going to have one of the guys drive it up there. I told him I need the phone numbers of the people he's going with. He got very angry and started yelling stupid shit like, "You're in the habit of sticking your nose where it don't belong!" and "Nobody needs to know anything aobut this!" and "Don't you dare call unless someone has died!"

I said, "You've got a badly infected toe. If you forget to take your meds you'll be skipping a dose of antibiotics and you can't do that. (He said he doesn't forget. It's in the past. Why can't I just let it go?) You're going to be out of town with someone who isn't family. You need someone to help you do what you need to do. No, you are NOT normal and you DO need help. If that infection gets out of control you will lose that toe or even your whole foot. Give me the phone numbers of the people you're going with. GIVE ME THE PHONE NUMBERS!"

He's back in nasty old bastard mode. No problem, I can switch to bitch mode pretty quick.

When I came home Jim told me that Dad had called earlier and demanded that he take the car in by Thursday and have the oil changed. We've been using the car since Lindsay's accident. We're hoping to buy a car this weekend but that might not happen. There's no good reason for him to use it to drive a load of church guys up to the mountains. He's being sticky about us using his car. Thing is, he used our truck for several weeks while he was having car trouble and returned it with the electrical screwed up and we never said anything.

Anyway, I called one of the church guys and told him my concerns. He said he'd help Dad with his meds and he agreed to keep our conversation a secret. Also, he said they're all driving up there in his truck so the car issue isn't a problem, at least not for this weekend.

So, I'm stressed out. I'm going to try meditating. I'm supposed to meditate on wanting inner peace this week. Right now inner peace isn't the first thing on my mind. Right now it's "maim and kill".

Dang, I'm out of Petron.

A very nice weekend

It started on Friday with an enjoyable and productive band practice. Did a lot of vocal work.

Saturday Rory came over for for the day. He and Paige hung out and played video games. Pizza for dinner. Later we went to Lindsay's band concert. There was a very rude family sitting in front of us. Noisy, fidgety kids and the parents didn't do anything to stop them. At the end Jim had some words for them. Weird. Kyle and Jon and Jon's friend Alex were there. Afterward they went to a show in L.A. Lindsay said things were awkward with Jon there.

Yesterday Kyle came over to record some clarinet parts for one of his songs. We basically made a day of it. At first Jim and Kyle were doing the Polar Bear dink-around-with-the-equipment thing. He and Lindsay worked on the clarinet recording for a while. Then we had a big ol' dinner. Barbequed teriyaki steak, chicken, some salmon, a big salad and baked potatoes. I eschewed the potato. Good dinner, lots of laughter.

Then we went back out to the studio for some more recording. Paige added a bell part to the song and I composed a brilliant single-strike finger cymbal part. After that Paige went to bed and the rest of us settled in front of the tv to watch The Aristocrats. Ah yes, good family entertainment.

Kyle spent the night. This morning Lindsay fixed salmon omelettes. I took Dad to the VA for a toe check. It's getting better but the doctor gave him some more antibiotics just to keep the healing going. Later this week he goes in for a shoe fitting.

So, it was a nice weekend. Gonna have lunch and head up Mt. Rubidoux.

Meditation class

I went to my first meditation class last night. I've been wanting to explore meditation ever since I heard on the news that meditation can actually make your brain bigger. Dude, give me a bigger brain! Yeah, yeah, there's also all that stuff about it being good for mental clarity and inner peace. But hey, bigger brain.

I found out about the class from Virginia. She and Bill were there last night. I was glad to have some friends there since I'm a total novice.

The class is being taught by a Buddhist nun. I'd never met a Buddhist nun before and I know so little about the whole thing I didn't know what to expect. When I first walked into the building she was coming down the hall towards me. She wore red and yellow robes and had her hair in a buzz cut so I was pretty sure she was the one leading the class. Just a brilliant guess on my part. She noticed my guitar pin and raved about it. She told me she used to play bass. Now THERE'S a band! Her name is (spelling?) Rokma. Like Rock Ma World. Virginia, how is it spelled?

We did a simple breathing meditation first. Breathing in pure, white light and breathing out dark smoke. (Not literally, of course. That would be scary and would probably violate some kind of safety regulations.) It was relaxing and energizing. It also helped get me settled down and ready to listen. She talked about desire and desirous attachment. Some of it really hit home.

After the break we did another meditation, this time adding in stating the desire for inner peace. If we have inner peace we'll always be happy. So our "assignment" is to think about wanting inner peace and then meditate on it.

I really enjoyed this class. When I had a series of hypnosis sessions a few years ago I noticed that I felt very peaceful most of the time. I think this could do pretty much the same thing. I know it will be useful for getting me through the trying times ahead. Damn, I should have done this before Christmas!

Toe woe

Dad's toe looked pretty gnarly this morning so we went to the VA. He didn't have an appointment so we had to do the wait, wait, wait, wait thing. They looked at, bandaged it up and sent him home with antibiotics.

I want a nap.

Moobeard

This morning Lindsay showed us the music for Kyle's cartoon, Moobeard the Cow Pirate. We heard the theme song and the audio of the voices with the background music. We also heard some of Kyle's voice work. Holy cow! (Heh,heh!) The music was done by Andy Paley, who does the music for Sponge Bob. What a cool, cool thing. It's been fun to see all the pieces come together.

I love the theme song! I want to learn it and perform it! I don't know where, tho. Play it in a bar and people would go "Hunh?"

It's also fun seeing Lindsay so happy. She's having fun with her fun boyfriend. Fun, fun, fun. Dude, I'm down with the fun.

Our crop o' crawdads is doing fine so far. Still haven't found the first one, tho. Jeez, how far can an out-of-water crawdad crawl?

I'm still feeling good. All that dieting and exercise seem to be working, My clothes are fitting looser. I'm shortening my bra straps. Wheeee-hoo!

We got the settlement offer for Lindsay's car. We're getting $1,950. We've got to get a replacement pretty quick so our new project is cheap car shopping. Joy, joy, joy.

But hey, for now things are pretty good.

Live bait rescue

I took Paige shopping this afternoon. She needed (?) a new backpack so we went to Sports Chalet. Next to the wall o' backpacks there was the fishing section. Right there in the aisle was a trough of crawdads. Of course Paige had to have one. We talked a while about whether or not a crawdad could live for long in our aquarium. We decided a crawdad's chances would be better with us since he would either die neglected in that trough or he'd meet his Crawdaddy at the end of a fish hook.

We picked out the biggest, reddest, prettiest crawdad and took him (her?) home. Paige named him Sporty because we got him at the Sports Chalet. We put him in the aquarium right away. Them fishies were confused! Sporty seemed to settle in nicely. Jim did a little research about crawdads and found that they need extra aeration because they're not great underwater breathers. I figured if we get him an extra air stone he'd do alright.

On the way home from NOT walking with Jeff (ahem), I stopped by Elliot's and got some crawdad supplies. I got another air pump, a bubble wand and some algae pellets. I stopped by the studio to let Jim know that I was home. He was on the phone with Scotty. New family crisis. Ruth has had a stroke, her second one. Aunt Ruth is Dad's older sister. We made some phone calls to try to find out her condition and try to decide if we should tell Dad tonight or wait until tomorrow when we'll know more. We decided to wait.

I can't even think right now. Ruth is my godmother. We just came through Lindsay's car accident event. Sporty needs air!

Ok, I'm going in the house and set up the crawdad. Then we're going to band practice. I've already had all the carbs I want for the day but maybe I'll add in a glass of wine.

Good-bye Toulouse

Gotta sit with this one for a while. About an hour ago Lindsay called, very upset. She had been in a car accident just down the street. Jim and I zoomed out of here quick. There were flashing lights right at the corner of Central and Phoenix. We got there just as the emergency vehicles were showing up.

She's ok, not her fault, car totaled.

She was coming home down Central and a guy made an unsafe left turn in front of her. She swerved to miss him and took out a Don't Walk sign and crashed into a big switch box. The other guy smashed into the signal light pole.

Lindsay was wearing her seatbelt. Her chest hit the steering wheel but not too hard. One of the guys from the other car was walking around with a big, bruised goose egg on his forehead. I'm thinkin' he hit the windshield. Lindsay was fine except for a little pain in her chest from hitting the steering wheel. She didn't feel like she needed to go to the hospital.

Pretty crazy affair. The whole thing is a blur. I was mainly focused on Lindsay. I know there was a big fire truck there and a police car. I think a paramedic truck was there, too. Spotlights, flashing red and yellow lights, people everywhere. Two cars sat smashed on the corner. It looked like a movie set.

The police took their reports. It was clearly the other guy's fault and he admitted it. We were told the tow truck was on its way so we cleaned Lindsay's stuff out of the car. For some reason her i-pod is missing. We watched them load Toulouse onto the tow truck. Lindsay was very upset about seeing her car all bashed up and being taken away. Toulouse was her first car and she had cute stickers all over the back. It was so totally Lindsay's car. Now it's totaled.

We started back home just as the tow truck was pulling away. For a block were were right behind it. It was almost like we were following Toulouse on his final journey.

We got home and Lindsay had a good wail on the couch. Grieving for that silly car. Sorry, Lindsay, I just can't look at my daughter sitting there all in one piece and get worked up over a hunk of metal with a name. Right now I'm kind of numb. The outcome could have been so much worse. And so I say thanks.

After she calmed down Lindsay called Kyle. He's going to come over tomorrow and bring some good cheer. It's what he does.

I know I'm neglecting this blog.

I started my weight loss blog so I've been working on that. Don't worry, Curioso. I still love you the best.

Dad has been very stable lately which is one reason I haven't been writing much here. He has an appointment tomorrow with the podiatrist to check on his toe. It isn't healing like it should. I'm going to request some antibiotics for him.

Everything is much better than it was a month ago. The diet is going well and I'm exercising a lot. The future is still uncertain (when is it not?) but not quite so scary.

I need to use these hands and create something. I have a couple projects started that are stalled for one reason or another. Finishing them would feel good. So finish them, bone head!

But for now, I'm going up the Rube.

The first week

I finished my first week back on Atkins. So far, so good. But the first week of a diet is always easy. Most people can get through 2 weeks with no problem. After that I think it gets a little harder. You want results and you want them fast.

I got lots of exercise this week. That oughta give me a boost. I do feel good. I didn't weigh myself before I started. Whatever I weighed the last time I went to the doctor will be my starting point. If my clothes fit better, if I have more energy and if I have fewer aches and pains then I'll know it's working.

We're going to Ken's tomorrow afternoon to play music. Then tomorrow night is open mike at the Folk Music Center. I'm going to do Tin Foil Hat again. I didn't have it memorized last time and I think I do it better now.

That's it. No drama right now. Things are blissfully normal.

Diet and exercise

I wasn't planning to start my diet this early but it kinda just happened. I got commited without realizing it. What really kicked me into action was an article Dean sent me about diabetes and Alzheimer's. Since I'm a borderline diabetic and I'm staring Alzheimer's in the face every day it seems like a very good idea to give up sugar altogether like, NOW. I was planning to go back on Atkins anyway. Today is my third day.

I've been up Mt. Rubidoux three days in a row. I'll probably go tomorrow by myself and with Jeff on Thursday. I want to find some other activity just to keep things interesting.

Last night I went to Vons and bought lots of veggies and low carb bread and ice cream. Today Jim and I went to Costco for the meats. We're stocked up, baby! I'm keeping a log of my carb consumption on my calendar.

Jim says he want to do the pre-diabetes diet that Kaiser gave us. I don't know if I can get Lindsay and Paige interested in joining us. I'm just going to make sure the right foods are available so at least they have a choice. But the bad stuff won't be allowed in the house. They'll have to go out for that.

I sent out an e-mail inviting some friends and family to join my little weight loss group. I haven't heard back from anyone except Jim. Maybe they're all thinking about it.

I feel pretty good. Tonight I had a small piece of chicken and a salad for dinner. I'm totally stuffed. I feel like I have more energy. Tonight's Rubidoux walk took an hour. That's faster than usual.

So, here we go. Let's see how we do!

Happy Birthday, Stacey!

Big four-oh and looking great. Tonight we all went to BJ's for dinner. This was just a mellow pre-celebration. The bigger party will be in a couple weeks. An even bigger 40-50 party will happen this summer. We'll celebrate this milestone all year. Yee-haw!

Jim and I spent a mellow afternoon at Ken's messing around with music. I gotta work on my voice. I don't think it's fully recovered from those 2 head colds I had in December. It's very hard for me to sing right now. Nope, don't like that at all. I wonder if the affects of aging are starting to creep in? I was listening to some old Polar Bear recordings last night from about 15 years ago. Whoa. It's definitely changing. The voice does have a shelf life. Maybe if I work on it I can keep it for a few more years.

I'm listening to the new Fiona Apple cd (Christmas present from Jim. Thanks, sweetie!). Different direction for her. I think she's pretty awesome.

My art table is mostly cleaned off. I should go make something quick before it clutters up again. But...that's what will get it cluttered up. Ah, well.

Yesterday and today

were pretty good days.

Nothing much happened. How wonderful is that? I got a lot of work done; yesterday the kitchen, today the front porch. Got into some serious puttering. I practiced some dietary discipline. Jim and I went over the Casual Sunday song lists and did some compiling. I've started re-reading the Atkins book. I feel like I'm somewhat getting things back on track. Right foot, left foot.

Thoughts of the future are creeping in at the periphery. (Heh, heh) No, really. I'm getting glimpses of how I'd like it to be. Still too blobby to share here right now.

So I just want to keep going and not let myself get knocked off course so easily. This whole lose-the-job-move-back-to-Riverside-oops-Dad-has-Alzheimer's thing has reeeally been a learning experience. Blogging about all of it has been very helpful. I like going back over my previous posts to help me remember everything that's happened and how I dealt with it. It's also helping me get a handle on what I want to do next.

Still don't know what that is, tho.

But my mood is so much better. Jim's been pretty cheery. Paige is doing better. Lindsay is a big, poofy, marshmallow of love energy. There's no living with her.

I guess we'll make it.

What a fool am I

I've been lounging around in the vortex. Yesterday afternoon was the low point.

The land sale is a-happenin'. The way it's set up we'll be able to live here for a year after escrow closes. After that, wheredowegowhatwillwedoohnooooooooo!!

Well, for one thing, after that I won't be taking care of Dad. I won't be carrying that psychic anchor around my neck any more. Holy moley! The picture of that reality has finally started to sink in. Why didn't I see it before?

So, I'm feeling better.

This morning Jim and I organized the Halloween stuff that had been stashed in Dad's downstairs. I got sick 2 days after Halloween and we never got around to putting it all away. It was a nice project for us to do together. We did it while Dad was at church.

I'm going to start sorting and packing for this move. If we can pare things down to the essentials I know I'll be glad when that time comes and a lot of it is done already. We're going to have a garage sale this spring. Stacey has a lot of stuff she wants to get rid of, too. We can do a big family sale down at the Christmas tree shed. I'll bet Drew and Mindy and Ken and Sherri would also like to participate. We can start cleaning out the barns and sell that stuff. Oh yeah, we're going to do some ebay sales too.

Ok. I'm getting a glimmer. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Right now Jim is playing The Walk Of Life on Itunes. The hook in that song is peppy and dancy. I feel like Steve Martin in The Jerk when he first finds out he has rhythm.

Ok, girl, don't get too carried away. Things are still going to be rough but at least it's going to change for the better and sooner than you thought.

So, what's next?

Dad has been doing much better in the last few days. Still foggy to be sure, but much better emotionally. The stress of tree season and family visits is gone. As long as there are no issues for him to obsess on he pretty even-keeled. He's even been remembering to take his evening meds on his own.

I know this won't last long but I'll enjoy it while I can. I wonder how the land sale will affect him? That's the next big thing. I know he'll be happy about the money but it means he'll have to get used to the idea of leaving this place. I'm sure he'll want to know where he'll be going and when.

Actually, I'm feeling the same way about our situation. Where are we going and when? This process is supposed to take about 2 years but there are no guarantees on that. We want Paige to finish up highschool at Ramona. After that we can go wherever. I wish we had some kind of plan. So, I guess the answer to that is to make a freaking plan. But jeez, I sure don't have any good ideas right now. There's too much that I don't know.

Like how long will it really take to go through the whole land sale process? What if it's less than 2 years? I'm not too excited about the idea of having to find a place to rent in Riverside with 2 dogs and 3 cats and all our stuff. We've been paying $1000 a month here. How much is it to rent a 3 bedroom house? I think Lindsay is planning to move out after she finishes up at UCR but I don't see how that would make a housing search any easier.

It's more of that damned uncertainty. We've been living with it for 4 years now. It started when things started going south at Agilent. Hell, maybe it's been 5 years. I try not to be fearful about the future but I am. And I know it scares Jim. And that's another thing that drives me nuts. I'm tired of my life being one big sob story. Yeah, boo hoo, things are hard. I really get sick of myself sometimes.

Ok, that's enough. I need to go do something constructive.

Happy New Year!

I'm amazed I'm not hung over.

Kevin and Mary had a little reception yesterday afternoon. Usually they have a New Year's Eve party but Kevin's health has been pretty bad for the last couple months. They kept it simple this year and had their party earlier in the day to make it easier on him. Poor Mary was recovering from the flu and she barely had a voice. But they pulled off a very nice party. The food was really good. There was a barbershop quartet singing in the living room.

Then we went home for a little while before heading over to Ken's. We stopped by Von's and picked up some delicious goodies. Jim thought I went a little overboard but I hadn't eaten much at Kevin's and I wanted some bold-flavored foods to take me through the night. When we got to Ken and Sherri's they said they had already stuffed themselves at dinner. They also thought I had gone overboard. I set everything out on some trays. We had hummus with wedges of pita bread, teriyaki grilled salmon, summer sausage and swiss cheese, crackers, sliced apples, gourmet potato chips and a creamcheese and pepper relish dip that Sherri had. Good stuff. We also had lots of champagne and Bailey's Irish Cream.

Amber and Anthony showed up at around 8:30. She's lost a lot of weight and looks great. I'm very happy for her.

We all sat in the living room and drank and ate and talked and generally had a very good time together. At the end of the evening most of the food was gone. So, I hadn't gone overboard. Well... I did go overboard with the champagne. Oops. I had to take a little snooze on the sofa before I was ready to walk to the car. But I had been smart enough to recognize my overboardness and had a couple glasses of water before I met up with the sofa. Anyway, I feel ok this morning.

Gonna clean house today. Kyle is coming home tomorrow so Lindsay is floating several inches above the floor. We'll miss Spiral. He's been a good houseguest.

Ah, we're back...

It was a pretty good visit. On the way up we stopped in Santa Barbara and dropped off some paper samples at 3 stores. Jim bought some new pants. We got to SLO late in the afternoon. That night the adults went to dinner at a pretty nice restaurant. The quality of the food wasn't quite up to the price we paid. We tried to avoid sitting next to Dad but it didn't work out. He plopped himself down next to Jim and made a nuisance of himself all through dinner.

When we got back to the Leece's we had the adult gift exchange. Good stuff this time. Jim and I came home with a nice little patio table and a bag of Starbuck's coffee stuff.

Before we left for dinner I had everyone gather in the kitchen, which is where Dede and David have their cd player. I told everyone about Debbie and Bob's thoughtful gift of some cash a few weeks ago. To thank them Jim made a cd of Little Space Girl that he found on the web. This was a record that Debbie and I had when we were really little. When I first heard it I was whisked away back to my early childhood so I knew Debbie would really get a kick out of it. I was right, she loved it. Everyone else was mildly entertained. Dede and Stacey weren't even born when we had this record. Drew remembered it a little. Still, we all enjoyed listening to it and it was a special moment for Debbie and me.

The next day we all went to see King Kong. Too much CGI for me. I just didn't buy it. But it had its moments.

That night we had Mexican food at Dede's. The rest of the evening was spent just hanging out. Very pleasant and mellow. Scotty got out his Poker set and a big clump of adults and kids had a rousing game. I enjoyed listening to them, especially B.

This morning everyone got going early. Jim and I stopped in Pismo Beach to have breakfast. We were intrigued by one restaurant that claimed to have the best clam chowder (they even had a plaque saying they had won this year's competition) and they were advertising a lobster omelette as one of their specials. Sounds good, right? Well, the clam chowder had chunks of raw celery and half raw potato in it. The lobster omelette was a clump of overcooked lobster, a slab of half rubbery half-melted swiss cheese covered with eggs. It was horrible. I asked the waitress of they had some kind of cream sauce or something I could pour on it to try to improve its rubbery dryness and she brought me some Worchestershire sauce and some green tabasco. She was a bit of a dope. Jim's ham and cheese omelette was way too salty and the ham was substandard. It was one crappy breakfast. I gave them some negative feedback on one of their "How Are We Doing?" cards.

Traffic was pretty heavy going through L.A. but we finally made it home. Debbie and Bob had some friends coming for a quick visit and we all went to dinner at Original Joe's. Jim and I tried again to avoid sitting with Dad but alas, we failed. Jim actually had to get up and leave for a while just to get a break from Dad's meddling and barking orders at the waiter. He really is getting to be more and more obnoxious. I think everyone else was oblivious but Jim, Stacey and I had really had enough. Oh well, at least the food was good. It made up for my icky breakfast.

Lindsay had a nice visit with Chelsey. They made a gingerbread house. It's kind of a tradition with them. Tomorrow Paige and Rory are going to Knott's Berry Farm. A Christmas tree customer paid for his tree with 2 employee tickets so we're giving them to Paige. The last few months have been difficult for her. So tomorrow she's going to have a fun day with her boyfriend.

Ah, this is what I've been waiting for. Post Holiday Happy Time. No pressure. Well, less pressure anyway.

Merry Christmas?

This will go down as the not best Christmas ever. We've had worse. Spending Christmas with Dad's second wife's mother was pretty awful. And any time Bernie is in the picture it ain't fun.

I'm sick AGAIN. I'm pumped full of cold remedies. Right now Lindsay and Paige are out getting Chinese take-out. I only have a few gifts for the girls and none of them are wrapped. I'm going to muster up enough energy to wrap them after dinner. We've already talked to them about the thinness of this year's Christmas bounty. They understand. We're going to Dede's on Monday. We'll hit the after Christmas sales in San Luis Obispo and have a post holiday gift exchange.

I just can't get too worked up about the whole thing. Too much pressure. It is what it is and so it is. So let's move on.

Going to Dede's is always fun. This year I'm thinking it will be more relaxing and nurturing because we've all been through a ringer together. Debbie and Bob are here. Dad loves it when all of his kids can get together (we like it, too) and tree season is over so he can relax. There's nothing to fight about and there will be lots of activity to distract him. We're going to go wine tasting. We did that a couple years ago and had a very good time. Actually, I don't care of we just go up there and sit in the jacuzzi for 3 days and stare at the view.

Today we sold 5 trees. The Odiens came by and got a normal tree, a short normal tree for Zoe and a Charlie Brown stick for Liam. We had a very nice chat with them. No one else came by after they left so I was able to crawl back into bed and crash.

Anyway.... Even if it's not going to be the merriest of Christmases we'll still find a way to have a good time.

Ah, the Chinese food is here!

Two more days

I'm tired and a bit blue. I'm really looking forward to the new year. I can start walking up Rubidoux again. I'll get my weight loss group started. We have a drummer now so band practices will be more fun and productive. No more Christmas tree sales. Forever. Don't even ask.

Didn't see Dad at all today. I took Paige to the doctor this morning for a throat infection. Got some antibiotics for her. Then us Smiths went to Denny's for breakfast. I told the girls they probably won't have much to open for Christmas this year and they said it's ok. They understand that it's just different this year. They're happy to shop the after Christmas sales.

Today Cody and Kyle worked. I sent Lindsay to the bank. After she came back she hung around the sales shed to make googly eyes at her new boyfriend. They're in the nauseatingly cuddly stage of their relationship which is actually kind of fun to watch. Kyle brought his sketch book. Man, what a pro.

Sales were absolutely dead today. We got a little bit of a rush at the end but not enough to justify staying open till 8. Drew came by for a little while but there was really nothing for him to do.

The newspaper story came out today. About half of the story was about our farm but the rest of it was about tree farms in general. There was a photo of Dad and me on the front page of the Local section. It was a nice story but after all the photos that were taken and the lengthy interview I expected a bit more. Only one customer today mentioned it.

Debbie and Bob are coming on Saturday. Since it'll all be over by the time they arrive Dad will probably be fairly calm.

Or not.

Today I went shopping

I was gone for most of the day. Got a few things but I didn't make much of a dent in the Christmas list.

Dede arrived just before I left. As she drove in she said, "I'm here out of my love for you. I'm not here for him." I guess he was pretty mean to her on the phone last night. It must have been really bad for her to say something like that. Dede is always so good at letting the Dad crap just float by. It takes a lot to push her buttons.

David got here at around 8:30. They took Dad out for dessert. I think David is going to tell him about the offer on the land. Maybe if David can get him to understand that soon he's going to get a big pile of money he'll be able to stop being such a jerk about the nickel and dime stuff he's been freaking out about.

One more week of tree sales. One more week. Hey, I know! Let's get drunk on New Year's Eve and bulldoze those @#$&%*!!!!!!!! trees! Maybe Drew can get the backhoe back from Louie! We have Dave the junk man's forklift! We could do some major damage with that. WHEEEE-HOOOOO!!!!

The weekend

Friday night we went to band practice and auditioned a new drummer. I think we have a winner. He's pretty good and he seems like a good fit personality-wise. And he seems to like us. Now we can get down to business and get some gigs.

Saturday was crazy busy. Dede, Jono and Mike came down. The boys helped with tree sales and Dede wrangled Dad. I barely saw her all weekend. It's great when the Leeces are here because they're so good at keeping Dad busy while the rest of us sell these damn trees.

Today wasn't quite so busy. But we're selling 'em and the fields are starting to look thin. It's actually kind of fun since none of us really cares about the bottom line. We're making deals and making the customers happy. I spend most of my time driving the Christmas truck around the farm. Lindsay decorated our truck with tinsel garlands and I added a small fake tree to the top of the rack. I attached jingle bells to one of the back wheels. It looks quite festive. The kids like riding in the back and I like taking a pause at the top of the hill to admire the view. It doesn't have power steering so my arms are getting a good workout.

Tonight Dad came down and made some trouble. Just his usual maddening meddling. I casually gave him some cashews and it seemed to help. He got concerned that we had too much money on the premises and wanted me to make a night deposit. We can't really do that because we're not set up for it so I left for a while to make it look like I was gone taking care of business. What I was really doing was some Christmas shopping at Gottschalk's.

Thank you, Leeces, for making that long drive down. Over and over throughout the day Drew, Stacey and I say thank God for Dede. I know that Dad enjoys her visits and it makes things so much easier for us. David's influence also makes things easier because Dad listens to him. And we depend on him for his medical expertise (Alzheimer's, spider bites, whatever) So, thanks, you guys. We can't say it enough.

Drug interaction, maybe?

This morning I went to Dad's and helped him with meds, usual routine. He said he had taken a Benadryl for his itching. I really don't think he needs Benadryl for that. Lotion would probably be the best thing for his dry skin. I helped him with the meds and organized his pill box (he had it way wrong). I left him at around 9:30. Just before 2 when we were getting ready to open for business he called and aksed if I could come over. I asked him why and he said, "You'll never believe it."

Huh?

I went over there and he looked terrible, really blasted. He said he fell asleep after I left (not totally true since there were a few phone calls in there) and had had a dream where he was on a big farm and he was fighting. He had really dark circles under his eyes. He asked me what was in the medicine I gave him. I told him it was just his regular meds. Maybe the Benadryl messed him up. He said he took only one but he had some the other day and he was fine, just mellow. He said he wanted to take a bath and I told him that would probably be fine just don't make it so hot. I told him to eat and drink something and maybe take a walk around the field to get his circulation going. He decided to skip the bath and take a walk.

When he was done he came down to the sales shed. He said he saw some dead trees that he wanted removed, drew me a diagram to show where they were and then went back up to the house. I'm guessing he went back to bed. After we closed tonight he had Jim and me run him up to the church for choir practice. Well, they had cancelled choir practice so we took him right back home. His energy was much better.

He was running low on Rivastigmine and he was completely out of test strips so we called the VA to find out why they weren't sending him his refills. His records were messed up. They had him getting 50 test strips every 90 days which, according to them meant he was supposed to be testing once every other day. He had been taking 2 Rivastigmine twice a day and they had him down as taking one pill once a day. It was as if they had only read the first line of the dosing instructions and left it at that. I think everything is fixed now and he should betting his refills soon.

Selling was mostly mellow tonight. Stacey was here. We had a rush in the afternoon so we had Paige and Rory come down and work. Then the rush was over and we had too many people working. No big deal, they stayed busy much of the time. Some people wanted to buy one of the Oregon trees that Dad had Jon put a stand on. But they didn't want the stand. We struggled with it and tried to get it off but it wouldn't budge. So we gave it to them. It was one predictable result of Dad's tree stand project last night.

We're almost halfway through this selling season. Looking forward to the end.

By they way, he told me he doesn't want anyone to know about what happened today so, shhhhhhh.

Hoo-whee! A good day.

Dad was quite cooperative and agreeable today. He and Drew delivered the church tree and then went to get some more bowls for the stands. We raised the price of the stands to $15. All these things made Dad happy. Later he went to the church for a meeting. So, he was gone for most of the day and when he was here he was in a good mood and didn't meddle. Whew! A day without crisis.

He called a little while ago to tell us that when he came home he and Laurel saw someone stealing trees from the back field. He said they chased the guy for a while but couldn't get close enough to get the license number. He sounded like he actually enjoyed the excitement.

So.... AHHHHH! It's good to know that it's still possible to have a good day with Dad.

Where to begin?

So much happened today that I might not be able to make sense of it here. Dad started early this morning monkeying with stuff down at the sales shed. I think he was messing with the electrical because when we tried to drill a tree there was no power going to the drill.

Jim and I went down there at 2:00 to open. We got some customers right away. Connor showed up nice and early and I was glad to see him. Of course, Dad started in barking orders at him. Poor Connor. He's our best worker, so polite, so confident. After 5 minutes with Dad he looked like a deer in headlights. Jim left to go pick up Paige and I sent Connor off to move a sign which got him away from Dad for about 15 minutes. I was watching Connor reattach the sign to the fence when a truck loaded with cut trees drove in.

We weren't going to get any Oregon trees. We're trying to keep everything simple. Besides that, Dad hasn't finished paying for last year's Oregon trees. Dad knew he wasn't supposed to order them. I asked him if he'd talked to David about ordering the trees and he yelled that he's still the boss around here. I went in to call Jim and Dad followed me into the shed yelling, "Oh yeah, go ahead and call you tattle-tale!" He went back out to deal with the delivery guys for a while and then came back in to yell at me some more. I don't remember everything that was said, it all happened so fast. But when he yelled, "You shut up! You shut your face!" I said, "That's it!" and grabbed my jacket and started for the house. He followed me yelling. I said, "I will not stay here and have you talk to me that way! You're on your own!" He said, "Then I'll apologize!" in a very non-apologetic way. I kept going.

When I got to the house I realized I had left my keys down at the sales shed. I knew I'd have to go back down there anyway because I couldn't leave poor Connor on his own with Dad. Just as I was going back down Jim drove up with Paige and Rory. He had seen Dad and me yelling at each other in the driveway so he drove up by our house instead of going directly to the sales shed. He gave me a house key and then drove down to relieve Connor. I stayed at the house to make phone calls.

I called Dede and left a message. I called Drew and left a message. I called Stacey. I'm so glad she was home because I really needed to share the warmth. She was appalled. She thought we should have the delivery guys take the trees back. The whole thing was still unfolding so I didn't know what was the best thing to do. I went back down. Dad was up at the house looking for the invoice from the tree company. That gave me a chance to talk to the delivery guys. I told them he wasn't supposed to order those trees. One of the guys called his boss and handed me the phone. I told him that Dad has AD and wasn't supposed to be ordering trees. I asked him about the unpaid balance and he said Dad still owed him about half of the amount on last years trees. Dad came down as I was talking to him. He was yelling at the delivery guys that they shouldn't listen to anything I was saying, that I was lying. I decided to let them go and we'd figure out the whole thing later. The boss said he'd take the trees back if we wanted him to.

Dad immediately started having the boys untie the trees and put them out for sale. Drew called and let me know he was on his way. Stacey called and said Scotty would be here soon and she would get here as soon as she could. I stayed in the sales shed and waited for them. Every once in a while Dad would poke his head in to state that he's still the boss around here. Scotty showed up and talked to Dad. Then Drew and Stacey came. It was this weird scene of private conversations and phone calls to Dede and David. I don't know what all was said but I think everyone pretty much said the same thing to Dad. That we agreed there were to be no Oregon trees, that he made a bad decision, that he had agreed to this when we had our family meetings, he can't treat us like crap, he has Alzheimer's, he's sabotaging our smoothly running operation.

At some point Drew took him someplace because I didn't see him again for the rest of the time I was there. We had to leave because tonight was Lindsay's band performance. We were actually going to take Dad to this concert but there was no way I was going to spend another minute with him. It would have been nice because Drew and Scotty would have had a night of running the farm without Dad there.

After the concert I called Stacey. She said things went smoothly for the rest of the night. Dad asked her for a hug and she told him she really didn't feel like hugging him after what he did today. We decided to keep this order of 50 trees and sell them out.

Jim, Lindsay, Jon and I went to Chili's for dinner. About halfway through Paige called and said that she thought she saw Dad driving down Hillside. She went to his house and didn't see his car. Oh great. When we got home we went to his house to check on things. His car was parked behind the bar area so I think Paige just missed it. I don't think he had been driving. The evil part of me was wishing he had so we could bust him.

I really don't want to work tomorrow but if I don't it will just make things harder for the sibs. Jim is going to handle morning meds. So, I'll work the sales shed but I'm going to let Dad know that he reeeeally should stay away from me for a while.