Good-Bye, Sushi....

Christine and I were in the kitchen this morning making some blueberry muffins for breakfast and I called out to Sushi, our pink beta fish. (he's really Natalie's but she left him here when she went to grad school and like all good moms, I inherited his care and keeping!)

He usually does twirls and swims right to the glass when I talk to him and then I feed him his beta bits. Today--no response. Now he is a tropical fish and on cold mornings he moves a little slower and takes a while to warm up, so I wasn't too concerned at first.

BUT, then I SAW HIM and he was on his side flat against his blue and purple glass pebbles. There was no mistaking he was gone. I burst into tears. Amazing how a little fish can just wiggle into your heart! We held a small funeral for him downstairs in the guest bathroom, and then Duff did the 'honors' of proper fish burial. It was very sad to see him at the bottom of the porcelain throne.

We knew he was getting old--almost 3 years--and when I changed the water in his bowl last weekend, Mike and Christine gave me a hard time and said I should just flush him then. I debated it with myself, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. He rallied yesterday eating a lot and swimming around so carefree I thought he might be on the mend.

Funny how now that he is really gone I don't feel any better about it. I don't think I'll run right out and get another fish, but I will miss his greetings. Even fish have personalities I've learned. At least he died in clean water!

George Washington & The Clean and Purge Continues!

Today is the birthday of George Washington, the first president of the United States of America and often referred to as the Father of our country. This is one of my favorite pictures of him kneeling in prayer asking God to direct him and help him in the battle for religious freedom. The birth of our nation paved the way for the gospel to be restored and the Book of Mormon to be translated. It was divine and the Lord's hand was in every part of it. He was a 'homebody'. He built a lovely farm which he named Mount Vernon, in Virginia. I have been there and there is a tangible feeling of peace there. It is right on the river. I can easily see why he longed to be there whenever he could. Unfortunately, he was gone a lot molding the country and fighting for freedom from the British rule. He was a loving man. He died at his beloved Mount Vernon of a throat infection in December of 1799. The nation mourned him for several months. He was a man of character and devotion.

Ever since Jeaneen has passed away and the wedding is done, I find myself going through rooms and cleaning, straightening, and throwing out. Now my house is NOT dirty or messy--but I'm going through things that just accumulate over time and you just close the cupboard door or shut the drawer and think "I'll do that later!". I don't spend my whole days doing this. But all of a sudden I'll look at something with fresh eyes and think how did that get like that????

So today I started with the cupboard in the laundry room with all the school supplies in it. That then led to the pencil/pen/junk drawer in the kitchen since they share common items. By the time I was done I'd gone through the whole bank of cupboards over the sink in the laundry room and boy do they look fabulous! And you can find exactly what you need in the drawer in the kitchen!

Two days ago, I cleaned out the garage refrigerator. It was a bit desperate I'm sad to say. It acted as the floral frig for all the bouquets and boutinerre's for the wedding and all the fruit. But it is 'clean as a whistle' now.

We continue to have rain and drizzle. It really poured during the night last night. Mostly intermittent and drizzle today with another storm coming in tomorrow. They are forecasting rain for the Academy Awards and the Red Carpet is covered with awnings. It will be interesting to see how they pull it all off. Or maybe the weather will cooperate in the end. After all--This IS the land of palm trees and fair weather!

Welcome Brandon Steele!

ANNOUNCING The Arrival of:

Brandon Eric Steele

Born: Thursday, February 21, 2008

Weight: 8 lbs. 2 ounces

Length: 20 inches

Time: 1:42 a.m.

Proud Parents: Jeff and Lisanne Steele

Mommy and Brandon are doing great. Grandpa Kevin is flying there tonight, and Grandma Cindy and Aunties Stephanie and Brittany are on their way to Arizona tomorrow morning.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Errands and Memories

Today I had a lot of errands to take care of. Lowe's, Willow Manor, Albertsons (for some case lot sales for food storage),and the bakery that did the wedding cake. I had to return the tiers and base.

I drove past a Weinerschnitzel restaurant. This made me SMILE. It used to be 'Der' Weinerschnitzel, but they have now dropped the 'Der'. When I was growing up, we had one on the corner up the street from us, and my mom would always take us there one on one for a chili/cheese dog to 'talk'. The hot dogs were only 33 cents back in the early 70's! I remember her picking through the change in her wallet that she had carefully saved. And we sat outside on the little round tables under an umbrella with the breeze from the beach blowing or in the car when it was cold. Looking back, we had some pretty good parent/child/teenager talks during those times and I didn't even realize it then! Smart mom, huh?

So I just had to pull in and get a chili/cheese dog for old times sake. Mmmm, it was GOOD and so were the memories!

Drip, Drizzle, Drip, Drizzle

We have rain/drizzle today. So cold and windy. I made a fire in the fireplace this morning while I was cleaning up the kitchen and tidying up the downstairs. It was so cozy and Miss Darla took her 'baby' over and stretched out on the hearth and napped all morning.

The rain has been light so far which is good, because we could still use the moisture and this way it has a chance to soak in good without running off. I used to love rainy day schedule at school! We would play Heads Up 7-Up at recess and lunchtime. When I was in the 8th grade, rainy days meant we could wear pants to school instead of a dress. I loved that because it felt so warm. 'A long time ago' girls couldn't wear pants to school! You'd think that was pretty funny today. But we only wore skirts and dresses then. And NO jeans! Those were for boys only! Yikes--this is making me sound OLD!

Catching Up

I've been doing a little catching up each day. Almost done! Scroll down....

Water

I went to Enrichment Night tonight. It was our meeting for the quarter. They had a great mexican dinner and then we had Patti Preparedness fly on in in her cape and tights costume to get us all fired up about emergency preparedness. I have to say, it was really well thought out and cute.

Then we had 3 speakers from the ward talk to us: the first about water storage, the Bishop next on financial preparedness, and then a sister on Spiritual preparedness by studying the Joseph Smith RS lessons. It was so well done. I came home very inspired.

We have been good about our water storage, but it needs to be rotated. I did order some Aqua Liters that have a 5 year storage life for cars and portable drinking. I guess I better calendar a weekend soon to empty, clean, and refill our 55 gallon drums! The RS presidency's point was to at least START. You can only eat the preparedness elephant one bite at a time! We have a lot of storage that needs to be gone through. But we do have our 72 hour kits! Those were Christmas presents to each one of us a couple of years ago.

(journal: drizzly day. Doctors for Shaun. Laundry that didn't get done yesterday because of the holiday. Phone calls, piano lessons for Christine. Got the cause of death on the death certificates for Jeaneen: hypertensive cardiovascular disease. Got mom and dad off for the trip home to AZ. Worked on knitted cap.)

Presidents Day

This is a picture of the Washington and Lincoln Memorials in D.C. When I visited them, there is such a feeling there. Today on the news they announced the presidents of our country who have been voted the top 5 of all time. They are:

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. Ronald Reagan
3. Roosevelt
4. John F. Kennedy
5. George Washington

I have love and respect for George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. I truly believe that they were guided by the Lord to prepare this land for the restoration of the Gospel and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.

I'm glad we set aside a day to honor them!

Fun Random Day

On the way home from Church yesterday, Christine thought it would be a good idea to take Grandma and Grandpa to The Original Pancake House for breakfast. This is NOT to be mistaken for IHOP. This is TOTALLY different. Lines all the way out side and around the parking lot, only seats 100 tops, and everything is made from scratch, fresh! My dad is a pancake LOVER and here he is in 'Pancake Heaven' trying to decide which ones to order.

There is no need to dress up or even get dressed for that matter when you eat breakfast here. Pajamas are just fine! (No lingerie accepted-whew!)

Who can tell me who these 'Chewbaca Boots/Slippers' belong to? They kept her plenty toasty on this overcast morning!

Grandpa and Grandma waiting with us outside. Aren't they cute? And take a good look at Grandpa--I see a resemblance to an uncle of his! Just add a gray mustache! Do you see it too???? We had fun laughing and visiting while we waited for our turn.

While we were eating, we looked over at one of the tables next to us, and a person there had ordered Corned Beef Hash. It looked divine! It jogged Grandpa's memory with a flash from his childhood: Mamo Myrna would ALWAYS make Roast Beef Hash on Monday mornings from the leftover Sunday roast beef dinner. You could count on it like the sun setting! He could see perfectly in his mind how she would attach the grinder to the table or the pull out bread board and put the meat, potatoes, carrots, etc. in and grind it up and then fry it into hash with a fried egg on top. He said he could smell it and taste it by just remembering the moment! He said it was very delicious. I can believe it because I remember my grandmother being a really tasty and good cook!

Then when we were driving home, we passed the 73 toll road on ramp and Grandma asked where that took someone. Duff answered that it connected up to the south down in San Juan Capistrano. This triggered a memory for Grandma! She remembered how every year her parents would load them up in the car and they would drive from Westchester to San Juan Capistrano for a 'ride' to see the swallows return. After the celebration, they would drive home via Pacific Coast Highway through Laguna Beach, Newport, Huntington, and then Palos Verdes. In PV, there was a Japanese vegetable stand and Mamo Minnie would stop and buy fresh peas and beans and they would go home and cook them for dinner.

I never ever heard these little 'bits' of growing up about my parents! They remembered them so vividly and warmly. It was great to hear about them, and so I just had to write them down for posterity!

We dropped off Mike and Adrianne at their apartment and they invited us up to see the new BBQ they got. It is pretty nifty! They'll be able to get down right gourmet and challenge Bobby Flay to a throwdown! Grandma and I helped Adrianne by washing and putting away some more dishes and kitchen stuff while she showed Grandpa (the family handyman...) where she wanted clocks, pictures, and shelves hung. Mike was his assistant. It's really coming together and looking homey.

Before we knew it, it was 3pm, and here we were still in sweats and pj's from the morning! We hopped in the car and came home to get ready for the President's Day BBQ. This is the first time in about 12 years we are not in Utah skiing during this weekend. But we were so tired and had so much to 'tie up' from the funeral and wedding that we decided this year to stay home. We BBQ'd shish kabobs--lip smacking good--and had cherry pie in honor of George Washington!

The guys washed all the dishes with Grandpa at the helm, and then Christine studied for her violin chair test tomorrow and her science test. Grandma and I knitted hats for the Humanitarian Center on our round looms, and they guys watched Transporter on the TV.

I need to just note: Grandma didn't put make-up on or comb her hair all day! I know, I know--hard to believe, but she went with the flow and the relaxing was good for her!

A great day all the way around!

Sunday

Grandpa and Grandma have decided to stay until Tuesday! It's been fun to visit. Church was great, and tomorrow morning we are taking them to breakfast at the Original Pancake House. Grandpa already knows he is getting the 49er Flapjacks and he's never been there! Too funny! He loves a 'sweeter' breakfast whereas Grandma prefers a 'saltier' one. He and I both share a love for pancakes and waffles. I'm a lot like him in those things. We both prefer more cake than frosting, vanilla ice cream is our favorite, etc.

Grandma and I will be knitting hats for the Humanitarian Center on the round looms.

Mike and Adrianne will be coming over for a BBQ later on in the afternoon tomorrow, or maybe we will be going to their place??? Adrianne gave Mike a really nice gas BBQ for her wedding gift to him. It was all set up on the balcony when they got back from their honeymoon and he was sooo excited. He gave her a nice digital camera which was great because neither of them had a camera and now they can take pictures. I learned that she took a photography class not to long ago. I better get some pointers from her!

We had a yummy roast beef dinner with all the trimmings and ate in the dining room with the blue china. Rosie (their Cockatiel) was having a fit and wanted to be in there with all of us, so Christine went and got him and he sat on the table and ate brocilli and potato with us. I'll have to do a post devoted to Rosie. When Rosie 'goes' we will just have to bury Grandpa with him! They are quite a pair! The interesting thing is that Rosie--a bird--and Darla--a dog--get along. Darla could care less that Rosie is in the house. G and G leave the cage open and he roams about and Darla just disregards him. So interesting.

Slow Saturday And Loving It

Wedding pictures soon to come! Grandpa's here with his camera and we went to Target.

But the morning was very slow. It felt so good to everybody. We ALL slept in--even the usually early risers. Most of us just puttered around or sat around talking in our jammies. Obviously we all needed it. Down time is a good thing.

Here is Grandpa talking to Auntie on the cell phone. He's in a t-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms complete with bed-head! He usually gets right out of bed, in the shower and into his jeans and sweatshirt--but NOT today.

Love these kind of times!

The Honeymooners Are Home And The Gifts Are Opened!

Mike and Adrianne are home from their honeymoon. They stayed locally in Newport Beach and then down San Diego way at LaCosta! They went to Disneyland and Sea World and just had a great relaxing time. They came back today, and I put on a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup for everyone for dinner. Christine and her friend, Addy, went back and forth to each other's houses today to 'hang out' for the day off from school. They helped me roll out some of Grandma Duffy's famous soft sugar cookies for the opening gifts party. (It seems like lately everything is a 'party'...) Christine is so interested in all things pertaining to the kitchen. At 13 she is becoming quite the cook! She is always asking if she can help or try to do this and that. I figure, why not! She's getting pretty good at knives too!
So here we all are: Grandma Sigie making hot fudge sauce for the ice cream and Christine, me and Addy frosting away. We decided on pastel pink and lavendar frosting for the different sized heart shaped cookies. Grandpa didn't get a shot of the finished products on the platters. Oh well! The dessert table looked fabulous though and we had 4 different flavors of ice cream, sauce, and valentine/love cookies in honor of the bride and groom.

Groom and Bride very pleased with their All-Clad slow cooker. Hey how did they get so lucky to get that? Can I trade my Rival for theirs? I've been married longer! hahaha....

Beautiful vase from Crate and Barrel that she had registered for.

A great oval platter. Always a good thing to have a few of.

Mike's turn. They switched off who got to read the card and who opened. Can you say P-Y-R-E-X? They registered for one set and got 5!!!!! Fortunately they can be returned, but how did the store not catch that??? I do want to mention though how nice they are these days. It's great how over time the improvements they make on products are so good. Nowadays Pyrex comes with soft rubber/plastic lids. Why didn't they think of that when I got married? It makes so much sense. No more foil or plastic wrap and you can stack them on top of each other in the frig if you need to!

I don't want to get married again--I'm very happy with my hubby--but I've been thinking lately how it would be really nice to have a 'shower' and get some updated things! What do you think?

(I took Grandpa to Target and we put the pictures from his camera on a disc. I chose a Kodak disc and the blasted thing won't let me load them to the computer unless it is in their program. So it is a bit complicated for me to identify what picture is what. Any hints from anyone how to make this more simple???? Well, maybe it's just a reflection of my not-to-savvy computer skills!!!!!)