Valentine

Apologies to those of you who hate the "manufactured holidays". I like being invited to dinner by my sweetheart on Valentine's Day or any other day of the year.

Many years ago, Paul brought home a beautiful orchid for me for Valentine's and I relished the beauty while bemoaning the fact that I have never developed a green thumb and would soon be "burying" the poor plant.

We continued to bring orchids into our home and kill them, then replace them again over the years, until about 4 years ago, when I learned the secret.....

After the orchid finishes blooming, place the plant outside on the north side of the house and do nothing but water (even I can handle that) until it begins to bloom, then bring it into the house and enjoy the blossoms. This orchid has been with me for all this time, blooming each year with flowers so beautiful, I thought about making corsages and selling them on the side. This year was a different story, the freezing temperatures we experienced took their toll on my orchid and prevented it from blooming this year. A sad tale indeed.This year, TDH (tall, dark, handsome) took me to Maurice Carrie for dinner. It was the first opportunity to wear my red shoes! (see my "What's Been Going On?" post in January) The theme was polynesian which was a little on the cheesy side, but the food was delicious.

MOM's Adventure #2

Once again, Diane, our now official historian will recount the adventure for us: (Thanks Diane) Moms' Second Adventure: Indio, February 4, 2007
Rilla's Magical Mystery Tour

Pre-Tour. We kinda expected a weekend at a cabin in the snow...

Teasers
1. We're going from 5:00 Friday to 2:30 AM. "Have an open mind." So we thought we would be HOME at 2:30 AM. Home from. . . .what? Chippendales? Guess we can make other plans for the rest of the weekend. Diane plans to procrastinate her laundry into the next weekend. Others make more exciting plans.....
2. What to wear, what to wear.....All in good time ladies..... 3. Dress up BUT bundle up in a coat and bring a lawn chair. OK. That is just too oxymoron for us. I plan to wear jeans. Dressy jeans.
4. Aaaannnnnd. We will spend the night, and go to the Palm Springs Aerial Tram up the mountain, and bring a bathing suit. Brrrr! Are we going swimming in hot springs in ice caves? I will NOT sleep in an ice cave. 5. Belinda's ASAP Ironing Issues: Belinda begins a subtle search for clues. She must know ASAP. She needs to make reservations with her ironing board.

AND THE ADVENTURE BEGINS So on Friday promptly at 5:00, Rilla & Diane met Jan, Belinda & Sharon at El Pollo, after Diane bought more Sea-bands at Vons, so as not to throw up on Sharon, come what may. We carpooled to Corona, and all piled into Jan's car for the next leg of the mystery tour. Rilla directed Jan up the Fast Track on the 91 to the 55, then the 22, then the 405, to Long Beach by saying, "Turn here, go left there." And eventually we found ourselves in the deserted parking lot of the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center of Long Beach College. There Rilla spread out a sumptuous tail-gate party: sushi, veggies, grapes, salami, cheese & crackers, & wine. We feasted in our lawn chairs, bundled in our coats. In a surreal interlude, we were solicited by an earnest and excited lady to join the communists in ousting Bush, and Diane risked political exile by accepting the community newspaper to peruse later and help her make her decision. Next we enjoyed Rilla's surprise concert. Ladysmith Black Mambazo. They were amazing acapella harmony singers and performers. At first they were a little too mellow to keep us all thoroughly awake, as it was the first time some of us had had a relaxing moment all week, but soon their spirited moves and voices had us all memorizing the dance steps (tip-toe) to try later. I don't think most of us had heard of this group from Africa, although they have had a presence in the background of many movies, and singers and have had Grammy nominations. It also turned out that they were on Vanessa's Grace DVD. Their style of music originated when blacks were mining in South Africa, and evolved into regional contests. Ladysmith continually won the contests, and made a career of it. After the concert, we picked up Rilla's car in Corona, and carpooled out to the desert....Indio. On the way we pursued a quest to fina a Starbucks with an open drive-thru, eventually with success......somewhere, and all the designer cafe addicts were appeased. (Diane snuck off to a convenience store and got a plebian diet coke.) In Indio we pulled up to a beautiful resort where Rilla had acquired a lovely suite for us through a time-share bonus. She had even come down the night before and stocked the refrigerator and put chocolate hearts on all our pillows! There were lots of beds. Jan and Sharon shared a room with singles. Diane and Belinda had a humongous king size bed with a private bathroom, Rilla got the Murphy bed. We had a PJ fashion show, and practiced our dance moves from the Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Diane made everyone look at her battle scar on her boob from the kayak adventure. Then we chatted, read a little and slept, all vowing to sleep in. Next morning we bundled up weird layers over our night clothes and had a lonnnnnng visit on the balcony overlooking the beautiful lake and grounds of the resort. We munched on bagels and cream cheese, and the juicy oranges one of Diane's first grade dads had picked the day before. Then for lunch, Rilla served us delicious chicken salad, potato soup, veggies, etc., and we stuffed ourselves preparing for our snow adventure. We put on our snow clothes, and after Jan entertained us with a pole dance to demonstrate her fly-apart ski pants, we headed for Palm Springs. Jan took her car too, because she had to leave from there. We finally found the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway around 4:30, and headed up the mountain. It was just amazing! I could not have imagined it! We were suspended from a sort of globe, all windows, on a ski lift cable. About 20 of us stood inside, and the globe revalved slowly as we went up so we could view the ascent, from front, back, and all sides. The floor revolved, but the glass walls and railings didn't, so you couldn't lean against the glass because it kept moving. The passengers had to keep up or make new friends fast! As we ascended we passed through a geological timeline, with great strata of rocks passing by. It was very dry. Lots of dead foliage. Eventually there was a dusting of some snow, then some small drifts. We seemed to go really fast and passed close to great jutting rocks whizzing by. At the top, we changed our dinner reservations to 6:00, and headed outside for our snow adventure. There wasn't much snow, and the sun had already set. We trudged down a windy steep sidewalk with hand rails, then came to some trails. We picked a short one, and we went pretty slowly, which worked out well for Diane. We wanted to make snowballs, but the snow was dry as powder, so we threw some in the air and got "snowed on". Diane wrote "HI" in the snow, but it seemed rude to do anything more to disturb the little bit of snowy ambiance for the other visitors. There were huge pine trees towering over us, and giant pine cones artfully strewn about under them like Christmas presents waiting for the kids. At the end of a short trail we came to view, and the sky was all pink and blue behind silhouettes of tall black pines like a watercolor painting. Sharon set up the camera for a group shot, and we all gathered by a boulder and waited for her to dash over and get in the picture. But her hiking shoe caught on one of the little rocks lying about, and she took a dramatic flying fall, flipping over and landing on her back. She lay there with her hands up to her face, and was laughing so hard! Though we were frightened, we had to laugh too, and that is what the camera caught us all doing when the delayed shot finally went off. We pulled Sharon up and examined her cut hand and finger tips. She had torn her jeans on the shin, too, but amazingly was spared further injury. She didn't even break a nail! ( You can see my knees under Diane's red glove-Sharon) Then as we were fussing over her, Jan noticed her eyes rolling back, and we supported her as she nearly fainted. We almost had to deposit her on a pointy rock, but she was mobile enough to get her over to a broader, more appropriate rock to finish recovering. It was getting dark as we headed back, and Diane found a long splintery branch to use as a walking stick. We made it back to the lodge without incident, and enjoyed the moon and stars coming out. We identified Venus, Orion, and the Pleiades. It was a magical night! We went to dinner, and Jan surprised us with the Tram's photos of the five of us all in front of a tram (well, a picture of a tram,). It was a great picture of us all! We were seated alone at the end of the dining room with the table set up so all of us could see the lights of Palm Springs below. We had tasty Margaritas and lovely dinners. Jan had lobster bisque, Rilla and Diane had fabulous burgers with delicious crispy fires, Belinda had BBQ chicken salad with onion rings, and Sharon had linguini. The bread was great, and the service was excellent too. Then we rode the tram down in the dark. There were only a few of us on it, and everyone was very happy. We walked down to our cars singing The Happy Wanderer, and reluctantly bid Jan goodbye. She had to see Ken off to Georgia early the next morning. The rest of us drove back to Indio, with another quick Starbucks stop, and got to our suite to hit the spa. Rilla and Sharon had on matching outfits of blue hoodies and blue and white beach towels, another addition to the Mom's Weekend Fashion parade we were participating in. The spa was really hot, and quite lovely. Sunday morning Rilla made us eggs, soup, cinnamon rolls, and oranges, and then we packed up to leave our beautiful resort. We may have hit another Starbucks on the way home; they are beginning to become a blur. What a great weekend! Rilla thank you so much! You did an amazing job of planning your secrets, and graciously putting together all the details for our pleasure. It was packed with fun, AND relaxation. You have set the bar high for the next adventure! Diane will have to lower it. We don't know who is next, but Jan is hinting around about hang gliding, and Diane has decided she can't do that. She will happily WATCH other people do that, but she doesn't even go on roller coasters that go upside down. Tally: Injuries; Adventure #1 Diane's breast bruise Adventure #2 Sharon's cut hands Who will be next! ?????

Honestly!

I ask, how much news and talk show time must we dedicate to the paternity of the late Ana Nicole Smith's baby? How does this subject qualify as news? Please check out the following article of Timmy Brister.....very poignant: http://timmybrister.com/2007/02/12/
go-and-sin-some-more-a-meditation-on-the-life-and-death-of-anna-nicole-smith/

As for basketball, I would love to blog about the Lakers, but they have just finished a disappointing road trip with a 3-7 win loss record for the last ten games. I hope they can beat the Knicks tonight back at the Staples Center, because I don't know if I can watch in agony as they turn the ball over as many times as they did the last time.

On another note....I was told by a friend that Daylight Saving Time will be earlier this year. I related this information to another friend who checked out my story to find it was indeed the truth. I decided to look it up for myself and came upon the following interesting content: "Since 1966, most of the US has observed Daylight Saving Time from at 2:00am on the first Sunday of April to 2:00am on the last Sunday of October. Beginning in 2007, most of the US will begin Daylight Saving Time at 2:00am on the second Sunday in March and revert to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the US, each time zone switches at a different time.

On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates for DST in the US. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to resume the 2005 DST schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete."

You may inquire.....Why, Sharon, is this so interesting? I would reply that I happen to love the long days of summer. I enjoy my pool, camping at the river, and BBQing in the backyard. So the more sunlight, the merrier for me.

One more interesting piece of information on DST for my daughter, the english teacher: "The official spelling is Daylight Saving Time, NOT Daylight Savings Time. Saving is used here as a verbal adjective (a participle). It modifies time and tells us more about its nature; namely, that it is characterized by the activity of saving daylight. It is a saving daylight kind of time. Similar examples would be a mind expanding book or a man eating tiger. Saving is used in the same way as saving a ball game, rather than as a savings account. Nevertheless, many people feel the word savings (with an 's') flows more mellifluously off the tongue. Daylight Savings Time is also in common usage, and can be found in dictionaries. Adding to the confusion is that the phrase Daylight Saving Time is inaccurate, since no daylight is actually saved. Daylight Shifting Time would be better, but it is not as politically desirable."

I know we all will sleep better knowing these facts.

Lastly, here is the safety reminder: "Many fire departments encourage people to change the battery in the smoke detector when they change their clocks because DST provides a convenient reminder. 'A working smoke detector more than doubles a person's chances of surviving a home fire,' says William McNabb of the Troy Fire Dept in Michigan. More than 90 percent of homes in the US have smoke detectors, but one-third are estimated to have dead or missing batteries"

OK, I'm out

Arkansas Traveler. . . . The final post

OK, Let's get this over with. . . .Saturday was cold and drizzly. Pat and I decided to drive way up the mountain to Oakgrove Cemetery. The last time I was in AR was when my Dad was dying. I came with Ron & Sally. My Dad recognized me when I came into his hospital room, grabbed my hand and kissed it. The rest of the time he was pretty much out of it. When he died in August, I did not return for the funeral......so I wanted to visit his grave and see the Flemings that were buried there. Interestingly, if you are born in Clarksville, you are assured of a burial plot. I told Pat to make her plans :) since she was born there, however, I am on my own since I was the first in my family to be born in CA. It was a looonnng way up there, but we knew we were at the right spot after driving the dirt road for miles and finding an outhouse beside the cemetery. When we got out of the car, it was freezing! We walked in, took a few pictures and then it started to snow. The little white spots across the front of Pat's coat is snow or maybe it was sleet. In any case, my hands were frozen! The wind was blowing and I think we stayed for 10 minutes. Here is my brother Mike's headstone. Back in the car, we traveled down to Clarksville, and to the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. This headstone is my aunt Patsy. I never knew her, she died in a car accident at the age of 17, the same year my brother Mike was born. This picture is an old one that Aunt Paula let us scan. Patsy is on the left, a friend of theirs is in the middle and Paula is on the right. Love the saddle shoes! It was time to head out to Aunt Edna's to pick up Mom. We said our goodbyes to Aunt Edna, Uncle Tony and a few other relatives and headed over to Aunt Paula's and Uncle Joe's to return the pictures they had let us borrow and to spend some time with them. They wanted to take us out for dinner, so we went to the local mexican restaurant.....interesting food. After dinner, we drove out to my cousing Gary's house. (Aunt Paula and Uncle Joe's son and brother to Pam-the hog farmer) Gary had just finished building his house and was a little under the weather, but he sure was happy to see us drive up. He showed us around the house and let us see the master bedroom which was under construction. We were laughing in this picture with Gary because his son Brandon said we looked like "The Simple Life". Brandon, along with his three young sons, has moved in with Gary and is helping with the construction. Here is Uncle Joe with his three great grandsons....can't remember their names, one is Zach, I think. The 2 younger ones definitely need to stay away from sugar....too much energy! We visited for a while, and then headed back to town. My dad's cousin Burl came over to visit when we got back to Aunt Paula's house. He hadn't seen me since I was 4 years old, but he thought I looked like his daughter and his brother's daughter. This is interesting to me because I have been told that I favor Aunt Paula and I thought that this was the Fleming side of the family coming through, but Burl is a cousin on my grandmother's side. So....I guess the resemblance comes through the McCartney side of the family. A new twist on my thinking. Anyway, Burl wants me to email him so he can send me a picture of the girls that look like me. I downloaded these pictures for Lauren. Back when she was in 4th grade, she came home talking about a cute guy named Joey in her class. I asked for his last name, and it turned out that he was my cousin Debbie's son. I had no idea that he attended that school. Anyway, I thought you might be interested in what he looks like now. This is Joey with wife Jessica. They are expecting a son in about a month and this is Joey with his daughter Cleo. I think she's 7 or 8 yrs. old. Anyway, there you have it.
We left on Sunday and when we checked in for our flight, we encountered a screening due to my Mom's driver's license being expired. We were forced to stand and wait while security went through every square inch of Mom's suitcase. When they were satisfied that she carried no wmd's, they gave her a boarding pass. When we went through the security to the gate....they patted Mom down! Poor Mom! How humiliating. At least the airport was furnished with the most comfortable chairs I've ever seen in an airport! We arrived in Ontario, where Paul picked us up and took us to my niece Joyy's baby shower. Lauren and Joyy Beanie and Jana No picture of Zack, he unpacked the suburban as soon as it pulled into the driveway and left.....Those newly licensed Teens! Long day, but glad to have stopped and spent time with Joyy. Don't even remember what time I got home....very tired and ready to sleep. Coming up, Mom's Adventures #2

Arkansas Traveler . . . . .pt. 5

Friday, January 26th.......Mom's 83rd birthday. Today our explorations take us to Mt. Magazine State Park. Our mission......to reach the summit, the highest point in Arkansas.We stopped at Cove Lake to take some pictures....... The Entrance The trailhead On the trail The Summit

The new lodge completed in May of 2006 and the view from the lodge One of the cabins available for rent...very nice, with a hot tub on the deck and rocking chairs. And the water was heated! In the afternoon, we headed to Wing, AR where Donna & Bob live. They were hosting Mom's birthday dinner. Donna prepared some delicious french dip sandwiches with potato salad and crudites. Yum! Yum! Donna & Bob have a cute farmhouse on 22 acres of land. Everyone gathers in the kitchen. Donna's daughter Jamie came to see everyone and brought new daughter Jenna, 4 mos. old. Isn't she darling?! Of course, I had to get my "baby fix". After dinner, we sang to Mom and she blew out candles, then opened her gifts. Another fun day!