A Week In The Life: Day 2

I get my allergy shots every Tuesday, so yipee...that was on my agenda today. I'm reading "The Book of Joe" by Jonathan Tropper thanks to Rosemary's recommendation. Only on chapter 6 because I'm the worlds slowest reader, but I love the story so far. After I get my shots, I have to wait 30 minutes in the office so they can monitor me in case I have a reaction. Prime reading time and I think I've bought 90% of my books for my Kindle in that office.

I also got my hair cut. I needed it. I haven't gotten it cut since June. I looked like Cousin Itt:I suppose I could show you an after, but really, it looks like all the other haircuts i've had before and ya'll don't really need to see that again. But can I just announce to the world that I love the woman who cuts my hair? And who else loves getting their hair washed at the salon?

Our nephew Derek celebrated his 24th birthday today.This is Jimmy and Derek in Muir Woods in 1995. oh how i love flashback photos. :D

Blog browsing today, while on Ali's, she linked to Lisa Leonard Designs, a jewelry designer.Love this very much.

Lastly, this is my new favorite snack - Fruit Sorbet by Jamba Juice:Picked it up at the grocery store yesterday. YUMMY! And only 70-90 calories, 1-2 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber. Which translates to only 1 weight watcher point if you care about keeping track of that sort of thing.

Hope you had a good Tuesday. Good night!
_

Counting down the last few hours of 2009

I can't be absolutely certain, but I think this photo was taken during a New Years Eve party. I was 2 1/2 years old. No wonder I look so sleepy!
_

Holiday Memories {Daily December 02}

Since I didn't do anything in regards to Christmas today, I decided to journal about an old Christmas photo.

As I was finishing up this page, I realized that it's appropriate that I used that photo on the 2nd of Dec, because I'm 2 in that photo and the 2 for date seems to work as a 2fer.

Haven't put any Christmas decorations up yet. Have you?

Here's another video of a dance I learned in my line-dance class:
_

I hope she will forgive me

My cousin is shy. So I hope she doesn't mind me posting this pic of her when she was little. She's probably not quite 2 years old in this pic, which means I'm 9 in this pic.

But the reason I'm posting this pic, is that I'm just so happy that she's my family. Because aside from Jimmy's family, she is my FAMILY. We're not even true cousins, but it doesn't matter because she is much more like my sister than a cousin. And seeing how she's raising her own family now with her amazing husband who I also love to pieces, just makes me swell with pride that I can't keep it to myself. I love the girl. I love the woman and mother she's become.

And I loved that horse sweater so very very much.
_

Merry Everything

Rise and shine everyone. It's Christmas day! In a couple of hours, we are off to the parentals to have breakfast with 11. Nieces will be anxiously waiting to open presents. Hope your day is magical, too.
_

Reality not my reality

I've been addicted to Jon and Kate plus 8 . I can't even tell you how much I've watched lately. I'm usually not the reality tv type of person, but this summer, I became the reality tv junkie. I think my fascination with their family is how they do it with 8 kids. So impossible for me to put myself in their shoes. Firstly, no kids. Secondly, I was an only child. If you're not familiar with the show, it's a family of 10: the mom and dad, plus a set of twins and a set of sextuplets. The twins are 7 and the sextuplets are 4.

This is me when I was 7:
What's up with that hoe-down outfit? I donno, but I loved it. I remember watching the tv variety show "Hee Haw" all the time. Maybe that's why I loved this outfit so much.

I can't wait for the regular fall tv schedule to start. Maybe I'll stop watching all this reality tv. What shows are you looking forward to? I heard about "Fringe" and I recorded it, but haven't watched yet. Aside from that, just looking forward to my old standbys: Grey's, Heroes, Lost, Pushing Daisies, Ghost Whisperer, etc. Since I fast forward through commercials, I don't even know what new shows are coming out. I need any recommendations you'd like to share.
_

Sunflowers

Andie got me thinking of sunflowers the other day and I couldn't help remembering the sunflowers my mom grew for a few years. For some reason she stopped growing them when I was around 7 or 8. But they were so big and gorgeous. In the fall, she would dry out the seeds and bake them with salt.
_

Yo, Pop. I miss ya.

I never called my dad Pop. It was always Dad or Daddy or more often Daaaaaaaaad. Anyhoo, with Father's Day on Sunday, I thought I'd do this little tribute to the man who raised me, spoiled me, loved me unconditionally, and taught me patience. He had an abundance of it.

My dad was born in 1904 and lived a mostly healthy 87 years. He came to America when he was 20 years old in the hopes to start a new life, work hard and find the American Dream. He landed in San Francisco first, traveled along the west coast, finding jobs in Seattle, Alaska, Los Angeles and finally in a remote Southern California desert town. Somewhere in between, he became a United States Citizen and served in WWII.

When he began his life in the desert, he worked at a then-famous (built in the 40s) desert resort/inn, catering to many Hollywood types like Clark Gable, Gene Autry, boxer Joe Luis, Phyllis Diller, Gregory Peck, as well as Roy Rogers and Dale Evans who loved the community so much they built their home there.


I have no idea where this photo was taken. For some reason, I have it in my head that it's Seattle. But I'm probably wrong. I'm guessing it was taken in the early 50s.

Again, I don't know where this photo was taken either, but those houses in the background scream Los Angeles to me. Cool car back there, too. Wonder who it belonged to?

At the resort. The pool was kept heated during the winter months. Something very unique back then.

Working at the inn.

Another one at the resort.

Hitting golf balls into the empty desert. Perhaps near his house? At a friends?

Fast forward...oh, 10-15-20? years:
In the mid-to-late 60s, my mom worked as a nanny for the man who owned the desert resort.
Man meets woman (1966), they get married (1967) and a child is born (1968).
He has his first child at the age of 64: me! He's dressed in his work clothes for the inn.

Me again, 1968.

A typical Sunday. Must be 1969.

Sometimes it snows in the desert.

A party where we got all dressed up, Christmas 1970. Possibly at the resort.

Well, when you grow up Catholic, it's expected to get your holy communion when your around 7.

Sometime in the 80s, my dad is honored as one of the very first pioneering Filipinos in the High Desert. Go Dad! PS: Thanks for going there and meeting mom.

At my high school graduation party at the 'resort' which at this time turned into a hokey throwback to the 50s. Too bad. But they still had pretty good food. Pay no attention to the girl with the big glasses and big hair.
edit: Jimmy reminded me that I had contacts and short hair by graduation so this pic was actually taken in 1982 when I was in the 10th grade. By 11th grade I had chopped off that crazy big hair.

Both of my parents walking me down the isle.


Happy Father's Day to all fathers, past and present and all men who have the hearts of father's.
Peace out.
_

1973

Apparently the telltale ultra short dress was not unusual in the early 70s. I really was wondering because I would describe my mother as being very modest and showing off my knickers like seems out of character for how I perceived her to be. Congrats to Ragged on guessing the right year! We moved into that house summer of 1972. Based on the new plants and I can tell that it was winter/early spring, that would make it anywhere between Dec 72 - Apr 73. I was 4 1/2 years old. Thanks to all for joining me down memory lane.
I musta been grumpy or something. both photos i'm sporting a little attitude.
_

flashback

Any guesses what year this was?
Um, I think my mother put me in a dress made for a 2 year old. It's a tad short, don't you think?
_

It was a sunny day in Claremont, California

Just how the heck did 17 years go by in a flash? Must mean that its been a great ride.

The other day we had dinner with the Bowen's at La Fondue to celebrate. Their 14th wedding anniversary this month, too. Have you ever had fondue? Can I just say that it's one of the best inventions ever. Get yourself to a fondue place if you've never tried it. Just be prepared for a long dinner, ours lasted 3 hours. Which isn't nearly enough time to digest all that cheese, meat and chocolate. But the pain is worth it, I promise. :)
_

My first Christmas

Obviously I don't remember this, but here I am with my dad oh so many years ago. We lived in the Mojave Desert in Southern California and although the morning sun is shining on us, it must have been a cold day, as all winter days in the desert were. I would have been about 5 months in this photo.
_

Fotobooth Flashback

I've been scanning some old photos and found these silly photobooth pics from my junior year in high school. Good times, despite those crazy big glasses.
_

Another thing

I really need to smack myself. I suppose I'll give myself a break because all of this sudden reflection can't happen all at once, when I'm trying to get ready for a big trip and the 4th of July. (have I told you that I'm not a great multi-tasker? Although I can chew gum and walk at the same time).

uh. what was my point here?

Oh yea. How could it have slipped my mind that my mom was the same age in these photos as I am now? That's just so crazy to me. Her 38 is so vastly different than my 38. Not just because she was getting married and I've been married for a long time already, but e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.! I know though, that's probably the case for almost all mothers and daughters.

What was your mother doing when she was your current age?
_

Today would have been their 40th Wedding Anniversary

I'm a little bit ashamed. I've been so single minded lately that I didn't even realize till moments ago that 40 years ago, my parents got married in a tiny desert town in southern California. I never asked how they met before they were both gone, but I think I have a pretty good idea. My mom's cousin was married to a man who worked with my dad at the Apple Valley Inn. I suspect she played the little matchmaker, introduced my mom to my dad, then not long afterwards they were married. I really should thank that cousin!

Married 16 years, together since we were babies

Not really babies, but sheesh! Lookie how young we were.

We started dating December 1985 so, wow, we've been together for over 21 years. This is our graduation picture June 1986. Four and a half years after this, we were married at 22.

Happy anniversary sweets. It's been a blast!

There's a party in the sky tonight

Celebrating my dad's birthday. He would have been 102 today.

Thank you!

I just wanted to thank everyone for all of your comments on the last couple of posts I left. I was feeling nostalgic and all of your supportive words really pulled me through!

Jimmy and I are on our way to the oceanside for a bday breakfast.

Me - 37 years ago. 

38 years ago

Tomorrow is my birthday.

I can't help but think about my mother. I spent my entire teenage years battling her. And nearly all of my adult years till she died. It's been over 8 years since she's been gone and I'm just now able to write about her. And damn, do I miss her. I think now that I'm older and not in constant conflict with her, I can see the way we interacted with each other more objectively. I can see her perspective a lot clearer now.

She was strict. Stricter than all of my friends parents. Stricter than my "cousins" (ie: all the other Filipinos in town) parents. She wasn't afraid to smack me around. She used guilt and was good at it. That's how they did it in the Philippines. The problem though, we weren't in the Philippines. I was born in a small, remote desert community about 2 hours from Los Angeles. When I was born, my mother consciously made the decision to raise me as American as possible. She succeeded. A little bit to her dismay. I listened to punk rock and new age music, I watched MTV, the Brady Bunch and John Hughes movies. I talked back (enter the smack across face), I talked on the phone too much, I got my drivers license as soon as I turned 16. I sneaked around behind her back. But I got good grades, almost always made curfew, never did drugs or smoked. Didn't date till I was 17. Went to college and married my high school sweetheart.

We constantly fought. Our relationship was strained. She wanted to beat me into submission. I wanted independence. She wanted me to act like a good Filipino daughter. But she raised a good American daughter. I became exactly the person she wanted me to be, but I didn't have an ounce of filipino-ness in me. She regretted not teaching me the language or customs. She constantly compared to how things were like “back home”. I had no concept of “back home” because this was home.

There were a lot of other things that contributed to our strained relationship, but now that she’s gone, I understand why she did the things she did. We were continuously fighting a cultural battle.

As I approach my birthday, I wonder what she was like before I was born. She died before I could really conceptualize that my mom's life was more than “she grew up poor in the Philippines”. I was still too young and immature. But she was about 36 when she came to California, 39 when I was born. I’ll be 38 tomorrow. I’ve done a lot of living already, and it would be sad if my hypothetical child had no concept of how important those years are to me.

I also wonder what my mom went though when I was born and what I was like as a baby. In the late 60’s it was really unusual for a 39 year old to have a baby. Was she scared? Was her doctor kind? Did she breast feed? Did I cry a lot? How long was her labor? How old was I when I started potty-training?

I also wonder if she were still alive today, would our relationship still be strained? Would I not be able to see beyond our differences?

All this soul-searching has me craving cake and ice cream.

Bring it on!
_

July 3, 1967

Today would have been my parent's 39th wedding anniversary. Bless them...getting married in the California desert in July. No wonder their reception was at night.

Coinsidentally, this weekend at the cabin, I was unpacking a bunch of boxes that have been in storage and found my parents cake topper. Gotta love the bride's blonde hair!! heehee! 

Belated Father's Day Post

Me and my dad.
Yup, my dad. Not my grandfather.
He was 64 when I was born.
He'd be 101 now.
As an adult (and now that he's gone) I'm thinkin'...geez, what a stud!
Fathering a kid at 64??

He was my hero.
And he spoiled me rotten (to my mother's dismay - she ruled with an iron fist).

And, theoretically, I'm his only kid.
But there are a lot of years that he was a Single.Man.

Grew up an only child.
Now I can't help but wonder...

Flag Book

Made this cool little book at my stamp club last night.

The pics are of my dad in the 1950s.

Thanks JT for sharing a very fun project!