Meet the Bocks

Tom had several things on his wish list for this trip but tonight was the completion of one of mine. I got to visit with "Elder Bock" and his family. Aren't they cute? We had several favorite missionaries while we were in St. Helens, but Elder Bock was always MY favorite.

We kept in touch with him throughout his mission, somewhat. And this is the first time I've gotten to see him since he's come home to California. His wife, Katie, is a teacher and lucky enough to be able to work full-time AND stay home with their little girl.

And she WAS the entertainment for the evening! She is normally afraid of men with beards, but had no problem warming up to Tom and playing with him through the dinner. What a cutie! The two of them pounded on the table, shook things, played with the spoons, made faces and covered parts of their faces all evening. I wish I had videoed it.

Notice the sippy cup in front of Emma. Notice the red bottle upside down on the table at the bottom of the picture, in the middle. When Emma would shake her sippy cup, Tom grab the catsup and copy her. She LOVED it. She would go from thing to thing, waiting for Tom to copy her. It was hysterical.

They are a sweet couple and patient parents. It was fun evening. I love that the Gospel makes families like this possible. I love that we can have enduring friendships through our shared faith and principles. I love that his mother gave him up for two years so that he could bless the lives of so many people. And I love that Katie let an couple of strangers get to know her and share an evening with her family.

You guys made my trip!

Elder Bock

I got in touch with "Elder Bock"!! We're taking his family out to dinner tomorrow night!

Frances and Alice

Yesterday we made a trip to see two of my mom's best friends. They were next-door neighbors in Rowland Heights for years. They are also mother and daughter.

Frances came up two years ago and stayed with my mom for a couple months, before I stopped working. Gave us a wonderful gift of her time and love. Alice also used to be a regular house guest with my parents once they moved to Oregon. In her senior years, she worked as a camp ground attendant at Whispering Falls campground, in Lake Detroit in Oregon each summer. She would stay with my parents prior to going to the campground and sometimes after it closed before returning to California for the winter. An amazing lady.

Alice is living with her son and daughter-in-law now in Huntington Beach. She is a bright, spry 95 years old! Still a delight. She still has her sense of humor. Frances asked about one of her eyelids, which seemed a little "droopy." She joked that maybe her mom needed a botox injection. Alice quickly came back with "At my age, I think I will just let it hang!" Mothers and daughters. They don't change with age. She made me laugh over and over. So freakin' cute! i have a new role model for my old age!

I had been a little iffy about making the trip down there. It was a long drive. What with picking up Frances, going to Huntington Beach and taking Frances home - it was going to be a four-five hour round trip in driving time alone. Trying to come back from the beach in the evening is , well, a daunting task. Traffic is obscene. We had to travel on the Garden Grove freeway, which was described by Frances as never having been designed to BE a freeway. It was merely intended to be overflow parking.

I was wrong. I had a lovely time. Frances' sister-in-law was warm and friendly. Moara was gorgeous - at 63. I MEAN gorgeous. (She takes jazz dancing classes with 20-year-olds!) Her home was a work of art. Definitely NOT kid-friendly, more like a provincial French resort. So lovely and relaxing. AND she is a beader! We had the BEST time. Her creations make mine look like pop-beads! She gave a beading magazine, fliers to a bead and gem show in Portland and Eugene this summer and hundreds of ideas. The funny thing was that Frances had never known that side of her sister-in-law before! (Chrissy - she spends $70 on ONE necklace! But ends up with something worth $200! And it looks it too!)

About 4:30 pm, we were ready to leave but didn't want to spend our time in the "overflow parking" lanes of the freeway. Moara told us about a "dollar movie" theater close by and we went to see "Marley and Me." All together a great day. It was twilight as we started home and the freeways were free-flowing. We started our day about 10am and got home about 9pm.

Today? We're laying low! I have some beads ideas to try out! I'm letting Mom sleep in this morning.

Pinnacle Pete - Riverside, CA

Such a nice family...Right? Don't forget they are Archers...
Yep - Archers! Tim, Cheryl and their girls.

We went to Tom's favorite steak place. Pinnacle Pete's. Home of the 30 oz. steak. If you wear a tie here, they come after you with a cow bell and scissors. They make a big ritual of cutting it off. Then they mount it on the wall with the date and the name of the wearer. And the walls are decorated with ties.

Great steaks. Fun place. Family is always the best.

Beads, Again

I promised Chrissy I would post these. I made some drops. I was playing around with some larger beads and bead caps.

#1 Close-up

And the bigger picture.

#2 Close-up

And the bigger picture.

#3 Close-up

And the bigger picture:

#4 Close-Up

You know what:

And #5

Freeway Rant

Okay - I give you that in Oregon I usually pull out on Highway 5 without a car in sight. It's a family joke to quote my step-dad. "Damn this congestion!" I admit I am spoiled on a daily basis a far as having to deal with traffic. The biggest traffic jam we have in the spring is when a mama duck decides to take her brood across the road to the next pond!

But - I learned to drive in California. I drove the freeways for 30 some years. I commuted from L.A. to the Pomona Valley during rush hours. I'm not a novice.

I complained to my kids about the freeways in Utah. Especially between Salt Lake and Provo. I apologise. Utah drivers have nothing on So. Calif. drivers. Holy crap! Six lanes of traffic and you get run over doing 65 in the far right lane! I mean - run off the road! I've had a CHP (California Highway Patrolman) pass me like I was standing still while I was going 70 mph - and he wasn't chasing anyone. No one slowed down.

The surface speed is one thing. I can handle driving 65-75 in a freeway situation. Straight down the road. But there are the "Ricky racers" weaving in and out of traffic, from far right to far left at super-sonic speeds! Cutting from the lane on your right, across your lane, into the lane on your left - with only inches to spare. I was afraid to roll down my window for fear one of them would try passing through THAT to get to a faster moving lane!

I used to say that no one in So. Calif. used turn signals. They consider them a sign of weakness! A REAL driver never declares his intentions ahead of time. That would give the other drivers the opportunity to cut you off. Which is exactly what happens. If there was an opening you wanted to move into - and you signal that you are moving over - I guarantee that the space will evaporate when the driver behind you sees your intention. In fact, he MAY just cut into the six inches in front of you just to show you who is boss and immediately slam on his brakes to keep from hitting the car ahead of him.

And never, never, never pull out in front of the speeding car coming up on your left - two miles down the road. For some reason it is a sin to use your brakes when your horn is still operational. No matter how much advance notice might be given.

There is this fundamental difference between Oregon drivers and Calif. drivers. It involves the use a lane that is being eliminated. The highway posts a "merge left" sign. In Oregon, at the first indication that the lane is ending, all drivers evacuate that lane. And God help you if you stay in it and try to merge at the point where it tapers down. They form an solid wall and you will wait until the line of traffic is past or until some Christian person takes pity on you.

In California, seeing a "merge left" sign is considered a free invitation to cut off as many people as possible. I have seen drivers go from the far left land to the far right lane, just for the chance to pass up the backed-up traffic. Doesn't matter if you planned on getting off there or not - a free lane is a free lane. And they use it down to the last half inch. If you try to stop them from cutting in front of you, there is the risk of getting your front bumper re-designed. It's their right! They plan to use every advantage to get ahead of you - even if it's only by two inches. He who arrives first wins.

I'm too old for this crap...

Wednesday

Tom is going fishing with his brother, Tim, today. This is his outfit. He plans on intimidating the fish onto his hook.

If he catches one of these -
He will instantly transform into this!

Mom and I are driving out to Cabazon. It's got a big fresh fruit stand and a big casino. Nothing says California like reservation-based casinos. (Ooops - we have those in Oregon, too....)
Cabazon is one the #10 Freeway, heading toward Palm Springs.

No one should ever miss seeing Cabazon....It has the distinction of being the only city in Riverside County to vote away their right to BE a city. Most communities want to be incorporated. Cabazon voted to to DIS - incorporate. Must be the influence of the giant dinosaurs.

Moreno Valley - 2009

Let us just say it isn't what Tom remembers.

He is off having dinner with his sisters and brothers. It's been about two years since he was last here. He came down before his mom passed away and hasn't been back. He's looking forward to fishing with Tim on Wednesday. Tim has a boat. Needless to say, Tim is his favorite brother.

We are staying at a place in Moreno Valley. Most be popular, since a car club picked it as well. There were about a dozen customized show cars in here. Not the classic early muscle cars, but the low-rider hydaulic-ized, mega-boom box variety, with novelty lighting packages. And rude owners. They were up all night playing with their cars and auto alarms. I didn't sleep much. Tom slept through everything.

Luckily the car show ended today and they all left. There is a big group of irritated guest here. I feel sorry for the poor desk clerk. She earned her money today.

There is a In&Out close by. Joanne's AND a Michaels. Maybe things are okay...

Big Six-O

I'm officially into my sixth decade now. This was the first significant birthday for me in a long while. There were YEARS that went by when I actually could NOT remember how old I was unless I subtracted my birth year from the current year. Age has never been important to me. Somehow, this one was. And it was awesome.

It wasn't because of what happened, particularly. It was a quiet day. My kids are in other states. It could have been a disappointing day - but it wasn't. There was just a special spirit around all day and I had the best birthday. I went to my favorite place for dinner - Tidal Raves in Depot Bay (a good 45 minute drive away from home) with Mom and Tom. Great seafood, great view, great company, great atmosphere, fabulous sunset with no rain! Amazing!

Tom planned the dinner - being willing to take me to MY favorite place, when he hates seafood (they DO have GREAT ribeyes!). The surprize came when the check was presented. Chrissy and Matt had called from Salt Lake (knowing our plans for the evening) and arranged to pay for our dinners! Totally uncalled for, but very thoughtful and sweet.

I arrived home after dinner to find this waiting for me in the doorway:

Ericka hadn't known what time we made our reservations for dinner and so missed us by just a few minutes. It's such a pretty arrangement!

Then, my birthday card from Matt Allred. This is a tradition he introduced to the family when he married Chrissy. His mom does these great photoshopped cards and he has shared the practice with us. Tom and I seriously look forward to these creations on our birthdays and Mother's and Father's Days. He outdid himself this year! Tom and I had talked about the sheer number of candles and were glad they didn't put that many on my dessert at Tidal Raves. They would have melted my ice cream!

And he shared these images of us - I laughed until I cried!
My sweet husband - people say he has made a big impression on me.....


Others say I have made a big impression on him....

Truth is - we have influenced each other. We have grown together. We are truly becoming one... Scary....

But, in all honesty, this is how I see him every time I look at him - my hunk!





Sorry ladies - he's taken. I'm a lucky woman!

More Necklaces

I'm sure I'll get tired of this soon - but I've got about a dozen necklaces so far. Tom asked me what I am going to do with them. I don't know. It's like my afghans. I just make them.

This one is more feminine. It has silver spacers, crystal and pale purple beads with a matte wine-colored square bead. I really like how it turned out. The photo doesn't show it's true color.




I tried to adjust the brightness - but it still isn't a true representation. The colors are very subtle.

I bought some fluorite beads several weeks ago and wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them. I liked the color and they are supposed to react under black light. WalMart had some findings on sale and I got these bead frames. I really like how this one turned out as well. It's a little heavy due to the fluorite.

More Necklaces

I made seven more. The next three are the brown beads I showed in the bowl (in close-up). then I gave an over-all shot.

Here are the others:

First in close-up -

Then the whole thing

This one is in honor of March and aquamarine....

Projects

When we moved into my Mom's house, I gave my granddaughter my collection of beads. I figured I wouldn't have the time or space to play with them. She said then, "You like beads don't you, Grandma?" Yep. I do. And I haven't given them up. Here is my current collection:



This is my most expensive project - I made it for myself. Jade and polished jasper. Jade because I like the color. Jasper because I like rocks! And it reminded me of Utah and Survival. We used jasper as our flint in making flint and steel fires. I have several pieces I collected while living in Hanksville, UT.



I love the translucent quality.


Here are my leftovers from prior necklaces. Too pretty to discard. I'll find a way to use them.

I put these together and will make my next projects of of these. I like seed beads - I grew up in the 60's, remember. Love beads. I like to mix other beads with them. I want to find some juniper berries. Another Survival memory. They called them ghost beads and they are in a lot of Native American jewelry.

Here are my latest necklaces.

I have finished two lap-size afghans as well. (It's a sickness....)

That's not all I have been up to, either. I have been working on the quiet book again. I'm creating my own pages, based on the Book of Mormon. I'll post on that later. I want to do a quiet book with a gospel focus.