Catching Up

Ok, I'm back. Sorry about the delay in writing...but when I'm not motivated to write I don't write. This is really no way to keep an audience but unfortunately that's the way I roll. I have a lot of catching up to do and maybe later this week Dave will stop by and check in. Dave gets far more fan mail than I do.

Now...things that have kept me busy for the last couple of weeks:

Every year my mom and I get all dressed up and attend an amazing fashion show that is put on by a Whittier church. I have never attended the church but I have not missed a fashion show in several years. This year my mom told her friends about it and so many of them wanted to go that we took up two tables.




The ladies in this picture are either friends of my mom from elementary/high school or they are friends of hers from the "Mother's Of Twins Club". The lady on the far left end is my best friend, Mary. This event takes place in the Disneyland Hotel Grand Ball Room. This room is HUGE and the show sells out every year. The clothes that are modeled are always beautiful and usually they are clothes for real people and not anorexic Parisian fashion models. This year the fashions were a little more haute couture than usual but they were still fun to look at. A lot of the stores that supply the fashions set up shop in the ballroom lobby and you can purchase their clothes as soon as the fashion show is over.

Below is a picture of me and my mom in our holiday finery. I have no idea why I look like I have Popeye arms in that jacket. I don't think I looked like that in person. As a matter of fact I actually had a stranger in the ballroom stop me and tell me that all of the ladies at her table just loved my jacket and thought that I looked simply mahvelous in it. I can't tell you how long it's been since a stranger has paid me a compliment so this was an extra special treat. What has not been a treat is the fact that my car seat still has silver glitter on it as has all of my clothes I've worn to work since riding in the car with the glittery jacket. No one has stopped me to tell me that my butt was shiny so I guess it isn't that noticeable.

(You have no idea how many family pictures have been taken at this blank wall...apparently we think the best back drop for a nice picture is a door jamb.)

The key note speaker at the fashion show was none other than "DJ Tanner" from "Full House"...Candace Cameron. She has grown up to be a beautiful woman and she has a lot to say about her strong christian faith. I was right there with her until she started to talk about being where God meant for women to be...at home raising their kids. She didn't have anything to say about the millions of women who are working their butts off 15 hours a day in order to keep a roof over their kids heads. I don't think she realized that she inferred that those moms were not where God wants them to be and that made me sad. Why I should care what Candace Cameron thinks God thinks is beyond me but I do. I wanted to tell her that if my mom had stayed home , "the way God wanted her to do", when my dad got sick then we would have certainly wound up starving and homeless. Not everyone has a child actor trust fund to tide them over after they have babies and want to be a stay at home mom.
I wonder if God wanted her to be here selling her books and giving autographs and taking pictures instead of being at home with her kids?

After the fashion show we went to the "Red Hat Society" store in Fullerton. How do I look with purple hair?

A weekend or so later my family and I went to the City of Hope breast cancer walk. Unfortunately by the time we got there it was over. We snuck this picture in just before they tore the sign down.In case you are wondering what Paul has in his mouth...it's a Mr. Potato Head smile. I took 6 pictures in front of this poster and this was as good as it got. Hannah wouldn't even think of smiling and Paul wouldn't take the Mr. Potato Head smile out of his mouth.

On Thanksgiving weekend my daughter moved. She and her husband were given a wonderful opportunity to move in to a beautiful 4 bedroom house for only $200.00 more than what they were paying for a one bedroom apartment. The only catch is that the beautiful house is in Apple Valley. For my out of state readers..(Cousin Katie, Deb, Mhari, Staci and Margaret Sally..YOU ROCK!)..Apple Valley is 101.54 miles from Huntington Beach. I am so happy that she has this beautiful house but I hate that it is soooo freakin far away.

I took several pictures but my battery was almost dead and most of the pictures came out blurry. All I have to show you is the front and back yard:



This picture was taken from the back patio. They have a little bit of grass, a huge pool with a jacuzzi, tiki torches, and a stage. The person who owns this house used to have a huge party every year and he had the stage built so that the bands would have a place to set up.
The back yard goes beyond the wall. There is a horse shoe pit and enough room to ride dirt bikes.

The last picture is obviously a shot of her front yard and horse shoe drive way. Their yard is the only one on the block that has grass. Apple Valley is in the high desert and I can only imagine how hard it is to keep grass growing during the scorching summers and the frozen winters. A gardener comes with the house so hopefully he will be able to keep the grass growing all year around.Inside the house they have cathedral ceilings, a fire place, walk in closets, room to room sound system, family room, formal living room, lots of closet space, a 3 car garage and Amanda's favorite amenity...kitchen cupboards with pull out shelves. If any of you are in the greater Apple Valley area...drop on by and visit with Amanda and Mike. What? You don't know Amanda and Mike? I don't think that matters!Amanda is so bored up there that I think she would invite you in to her home with open arms and cook you dinner. Request potato leek soup. She makes a mean soup.

I promise that I will write more often. I've been mulling around ideas...let me know what you think:
Do you want me to write about:
My first husband; the handsome rogue who stole my heart the moment I saw him across a crowded room...and then 20 years later burned my clothes in the fireplace of our home.
My second husband; the idiot foolish who threw me under a bus when he should have been my protector
My cancer story
My life in the 80's
My life before and after anti depressants
Or if you have any other ideas...let me know.

For now I will end this post with a picture of the cutest little brat in the world doing his "MySpace" face that he learned from his big sister: