Easy Go...Easy Come
It was sad leaving So CA...

My whole reason for going on this short but sweet junket was to babysit so HSH could go to Dove Chocolate School and a Dove Convention, then spend a few days with my son and his family, and meet up with old friends that I miss terribly.

Things started out fine with am American Girl Birthday luncheon...and a Superbowl bash the next day.

Then I watched the same Beauty nap after a long day at school.

I got to the beach once with Little one.


...and delighted in her love of her baby.

I was amazed at how grown up Pooper was with his typical eight year old love of Nintendo DS. And spent time eating junk and seeing a movie with some awesome kids.

My daughter-in-law was recovering from surgery, and before we could even think about having much fun...


she ended back in the hospital with internal bleeding problems...to keep it simple.



This replaced any plans for personal pleasure with visits to the hospital.

The weather turned cold and wet...reflecting the turn of events.

If you were are one of my friends that I neglected to call..I'm sad that I couldn't pop in for a hug and maybe go to lunch at In N Out.

Rebeckah, my neighbor wouldn't dare try to infringe on my patio while I'm gone, ever again...no never!

Oh, and once I get caught up on dirty laundry I'm planning to leave again the end of March for Denver. I'm gonna drive this time....maybe spend a day in Santa Fe on the way. Of course I have to honk my horn at Hollywood as a pass through Albuquerque.... Wanna come along?

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL...is AWOL

Well not really, she's just too busy for blogging trivial stuff. Who the heck am I talking about? Why it's the person who talked my into blogging, and the girl who's diapers I changed, just twenty-one years ago, practicing for my next three babies.

That's right, it's Heart Shaped Hedges herself. Not only is she busy with her three children, and with two of them in school, swimming and soccer, there is only a sliver of time left for becoming a National, award winning, top performer as a Dove Chocolatier.

That doesn't mean I haven't been working hard on fulfilling her real life long "chocolate dream".

I went to see some Oompa Loompa's and convinced them to help me make Heart Shaped Hedges' birthday special....and they did!

They included her in some fun

and gave her one of their shirts

and a pair of rose chocolate colored glasses!

Now the only things missing are some Billy Mays gifts birthday wishes from her blogging friends.

Happy Birthday, little girl. I hope your day is special. I love you!

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WORLD SERIES SCHEDULE

Game 1: at Rays, PHILLIES TAKE IT 3 -2

Game 2: at Rays, Thurs., Oct. 23, 8 p.m. ET

Game 3: at Phillies, Sat., Oct. 25, 8 p.m. ET

Game 4: at Phillies, Sun., Oct. 26, 8 p.m. ET

Game 5: at Phillies (if nec.), Mon., Oct. 27, 8 p.m. ET

Game 6: at Rays (if nec.), Wed., Oct. 29, 8 p.m. ET

Game 7: at Rays (if nec.), Thurs., Oct. 30, 8 p.m. ET

FROM WHALES TO MARSHMALLOWS......

...which isn't a reference to me and John, or Gavin, or any neanderthal man. Hi Nick.

Well, I trekked by pack mule into the cozy little town of Skagway this morning to post about yesterday. The thought of Chesapeake Bay Woman selling the family estate to pay my Internet cafe fees on ship just for a picture of an old man made me scared for her children feel compelled to comply with her wishes.



Tuesday was an early morning rise in Juneau, capitol of Alaska. We were up at six, and of course I headed outside to take a picture of early morning Juneau, then on to nice sit down breakfast at seven, then head on out for a day of whale watching, tour of the Mendenhall Glacier, a nature walk then a salmon bake.

While waiting for the dining room to open, I was pleasantly surprised to see Kristie, a fellow blogger. I'd started following her daughter’s leukemia journey in October 2005, right after my grandson was diagnosed. Thankfully, her daughter has been off treatment for almost three years…..yeah, Kendrie.


We went by bus to Auke Bay, where we boarded a tri-level catamaran. This is the sun coming up as we heading up the inland Saginaw Channel. The weather was in the high fifties which was warm for Alaska.

Of course John was thrilled to be up run

ning on his umpteenth Alaskan whale watching excursion.

The girls were ready too. One nice thing is the boat had a snack bar with free beverages and snacks like bagels, salmon and pastries.

The tour guide would announce the sighting of a bald eagle, or hump back whale and the whole pack of tourists would scramble to the side of the boat with cameras and binoculars.

I caught a few pictures of humpback whales.

Today there were three of them having a feeding frenzy, which shouldn't be confused with Grandma J.in the buffet line. They were blowing bubbles underwater, causing the schools of fish to scurry away from the light and up into the darkness, which was the open mouth of a whale. The whales would surface as they scooped them up. The tour guide said it’s not that common for whales to orchestrate a “bubble feed”, and it was a rare opportunity to see. BTW, Humpbacks eat about a ton of small fish a day.

We saw Killer whales which are smaller and are actually in the dolphin family. They travel in pods, and are hunt prey twice their size, such as humpback whales. We saw quite a few killer whales, but they surface and dive back so fast, that it’s hard to get a good picture. I was going to draw one in with a sharpie…


Next we headed to the Mendenhall Glacier. It’s a fantastic sight to see. There are waterfalls, ice masses, majestic mountains and bears…lots of bears. We weren’t allowed to bring food into the area because it attracts the wildlife.

We topped the day off with a salmon bake that included ribs, chicken, corn bread, wild rice, beans, salads and a marshmallow roast. We headed back to the ship in time for a nap before dinner. Tomorrow, Skagway. Life is good in Alaska

Thank you Postcard Cindy for the BB update. If anyone who watches BB and doesn't want to know what's going on, please be forewarned that this is the only way I can keep up. I don't have access to network TV. Sorry, Heartshapedhedges. Please don't put any ideas in Beauty's head. We aren't going to the American Girl Store this time around. We will have fun getting our pedi/mani and shopping. We also have a hotel sleepover and a Disney Birthday celebration with her BBF William. Carol Z, thanks, I can't believe I won the first week of the pool, and next time I invite you to come on a cruise....just know the boys will survive! I'm also hoping to connect with Pumpkin Delight sometime today.....You there Pumpkin?

THE ONLY 4 MEME

I was tagged by My Second Journal to do The Only 4 Meme. It's an easy one, and I love easy things....simple, uncomplicated...bring it on!

Four places I go to over and over
1. Walmart
2. Walgreen's (do you see a pattern here?)
3. JJ's house
4. The pool

Four people who e-mail me regularly
1. Walmart
2. The Biggest Loser Club (I don't belong, but obviously someone wants me to).
3. John McCain
3. Nick

Four places I would rather be right now
1. Catalina Island
2. Hawaii
3. Beaches of Orange County
4. The slopes of Colorado

Four TV shows/programs that I watch
1. Fox News
2. Big Brother 10 (and BBAD)
3. Survivor
4. The Dog Whisperer

Four things I have for breakfast
1. Coffee
2. English muffin (sourdough)
3. Coffee
4. Pizza

Four animals I like best
1. Dog
2. Dolphins
3. Monkeys
4. Dogs

Four beaches I've been to
1. Huntington Beach (my home town and every beach in Southern California)
2. Cocoa Beach, Florida
3. Hampton Beach, New Hampshire (summer vacations in N E)
4. Mazatlan & Cabo San Lucas MEX.

Tagging 4 people. I'm making this a serve-yourself-buffet to all that want to do it. But I would really like the following Bloggers to give it a whirl.

1. Kim at Heart Shaped Hedges, Because she's my daughter
2. Rebeckah at Life With Kaishon, because I would like you all to meet her
3. Chesapeake Bay Woman at Life in Mathews, because we need to keep her busy.
4. Cortney @ The Cortney Chronicles

Please let me know if you do this easy as pie The Only 4 Meme. Don't forget to visit My Second Journal for a good read, and one of my favorite blogs.

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS.......
......and that

I made me a Wordle today.... I feel so damn accomplished, you know, almost smart. So, because I love you with all my heart, I thought I'd give you the link so you can make one. Please don't think this is a meme or mimi, or mama....it's not. I'm just a kind, loving, sharing, type of person like some of the famous bloggers. Here's the Wordle link again because if you make one, let me know so I can come see it.

Please don't confuse this offer with the infamous Arte Y Pico This is so not that! Besides I'm sure you all have a Arte Y Pico award by now....No? Please, I find that hard to believe. But if in fact you don't, I will bestow one on you. I know it's against the rules, but if you don't tell anyone, no one will know the difference. SHHHH!

Now for the "one of the thats" of This and that..... I sent a huge care package to my granddaughter, Little One, for her second birthday. She will be two, oh yeah, I said that already, at the end of the month, but I like to send packages early because I know it will drive my daughter nuts....I mean I can't depend on the mail system to be swift and dependable because, hello...you've all seen my local post office .

Anyway, I send one much wanted gift, then a few things I know her mom would never buy her, a few odds and ends that I find at The Dollar Tree Nordstroms, and then a little something for Pooper and Beauty.

They received the package, and a few things weren't wrapped..like a Dora umbrella and a three-piece outfit. Little One can't open her gifts yet, but she walks around with the umbrella in the closed position........because no one will tell her what it really is! She thinks it's a friggin stick with a Dora head on the end. Anyway, here's a hint at a couple of the odds and ends.......

Now for the final "that"....

my sweet almost wannabe grandson JJ is a curious little guy. He hops from the couch to the air hocky table to sniff things out.....

Or maybe he's just a sneaky thief. We find these hidden all over the house! You're busted dude!

***if you are a big brother fan, don't forget to vote now!

ARTE Y PICO AWARD
for me?

I was just awarded my first ever Blog Award...the Arte Y Pico Award. Katrine at Squibs and Crackers bestowed this blog award on me. I don't know what Arte Y Pico means, but I must deserve it, right? Thank you, Katrine!

I have nominated these five bloggers:

1. Kim from Heart Shaped Hedges because she encouraged me to blog, I love the way she blogs with substance and humor, and oh yeah, she's my daughter.

2. Cortney from The Cortney Chronicles because she actually commented on other blogs, tell me to start blogging.

3. Marey from Elemento-P. I knew Marey before I started my blog and she also encouraged me. She is by far the world's best kindergarten teacher ever!

4.Chesapeake Bay Woman from Life in Mathews. This woman is as funny as they get, yet she blogs about the beauty and serenity of a place far away from the stress most of us live with.

5. Rebeckah from Life With Kaishon. Because she named me one of her favorite blogs writes with humor and an upbeat sense of how to live life as a mom.

Congratulations my nominees! Here are your rules:
1. Pick five (5) blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award Art y Pico

BLAST FROM THE PAST
or, Life comes at you fast!

My son works for a company that has that slogan along with the saying, ...we're are on your side.

Recently several events have brought the past square in front of me. The first was an invitation to a retirement dinner for a guy who used to work for me part time when he was in high school and college. I looked at the invitation and thought there had to be two Gary H. because the one who worked for me was just a kid! Well, it was the same Gary H. The next event was knowing that my third oldest child was heading to California to attend her twenty year reunion this summer. The third event was the recent passing of my brother-in-law, who was several years younger than me. It's been several years since I've seen him, but the void is apparent. He will be missed, especially by my sister after 30+ years of marriage.

So with these events all coming at me fast, I started reflecting on the good old days, and how different life was when I was a carefree teenager living in Huntington Beach. It was a slower time back then, the town wasn't a resort, and it was sparsely populated due to the lack of employment opportunities. My father was self employed so we were fortunate enough to have a beach almost in our backyard, and the only time there were crowds where on the weekends in the summer, or Holidays.

I thought I'd tell you all a little bit about what being me was about back then, and how I spent my time when I wasn't in school, or doing chores...because we had some real chores, like washing windows, mowing lawns, doing ironing for a family of seven. The kind of things most kids our age did back then. You may think life as a teen growing up in a beach town was a bit different, and it was.

To start, I will tell you what this is, since you didn't guess and missed a chance at the $500 I almost offered as a prize.
It sits on the back side panel of this!
This is the first car Grandma J had. Well, not this car, but one like it in black. It was a 1958 Chevrolet, Delray. The cheapest model Chevrolet made. Seriously. I had to share it with my sister, who was a year younger than me, but it was wheels, and it got us where we had to go. Now, since I was a year older, I had a job, and since I had a job, it was considered selfish for me to take the car to work and just let it sit there doing nothing! So, on my days to have the car, I had to let my sister use it while I was at work, because really? Why should it just sit there! The only problem was, my sister didn't have a job. Which meant my sister didn't have the same cash flow that I had, which also meant most of the gas that went in the car where on my dime....most not all. And hey, just because gas was only twenty nine cents a gallon didn't mean it was free. And hello? Please don't forget to pick me up when I get off work. And, if you have a flat tire, don't hitch hike home and leave the car on PCH. Because someone has to get it fixed, and then pay the parking ticket. Just saying!

The thing is, my job was at night. I worked a dream job at this really cool place called the Golden Bear.
It was many things over the years, but in the early 60's it was a folk/blues coffee house/bar kind of place. I wasn't old enough to serve alcohol but most of the people who came at that time were into the coffee and expresso drinks. The people I met was unreal. Hoyt Axton practically lived there, as well as at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. To those younger readers, he wrote "Greenback Dollar" for the Kingston Trio and "The Pusher" and "Snowblind Friend", both recorded by Steppenwolf.
I got to know Theodore Bikel quite well, and paged for his bigger concerts in large auditoriums. Others who played there regularly were Joan Baez, Ian and Syvia, and Joe and Eddie (they recorded "There's a Meetn' Here Tonight", and "Children Go").

When Grandma J went out at night with her friends, it was to dances at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, which was about 5 miles down the road. Dick Dale and the Del Tones played there on weekends. Dick Dale was known as the King of The Surf Guitar. He had two hits that I remember, "Miserlu" and "Let's Go Trippin", which was the inspiration for the Surfer's Stomp, a popular dance in Southern California. Dick Dale is still around, living in Newport Beach.

So like, is that all Grandma J did? Hang out in dance halls, work in beatnik joints? No way Jose! I was a good student, and eventually got a better job.

Now, this is my granddaughter in Florida, she's an East Coast surfer girl.
These are my oldest daughter's kids, Pooper and Beauty.
and can you guess who they take after? Yep, Grandma J.
OK, so that's not really me.....honest...It's not. But the truth is, I did surf. I wasn't a great surfer. Maybe I wasn't a good surfer. But I surfed. I had my own surfboard. I knew how to refinish it and bought my share of resin and fiberglass...something that had to be done regularly on the older heavier, Hobie longboards. And I used it. Often. That's what girls did if they had an ocean instead of a bicycle.

Today? I still love the ocean, and when I go in the water, it's body surfing only!

"Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing....where have all the flowers gone, long, long time ago......."

THANK YOU M

for the cutest ever!

Some of you might remember me briefly mentioning, a trip I made to the ER...with possible fractures to my right hand. Does that jog your memory? Well, I was reminded of that incident when I went to my mailbox today. No, it wasn't a statement or bill. It wasn't a notice to change my follow-up appointment.

It was this beautiful card.....

Can you believe it? Not only is it a "hope your injury is healing nicely" card....it's from my new BFF.... That's right, and to respect her privacy I'll call her M. I've never really met M, but I've met her daughter, Cortney, along with Briana, on my Major Road Trip to Phlugerville Texas. Is this about the nicest gesture ever? And on top if it all, M made that beautiful card for me. The photo doesn't do it justice, but it's three dimensional and hand stamped. So, thank you, M, for caring enough to send me the beautiful card. It really meant a lot to me.

M might not appreciate me mentioning this but what's even nicer, except for the beautiful caring note inside, is finding out M has a rubber stamp business and does this for a living too!