My Life List

1. Columbia, South Carolina zoo w/Mom
2. Augusta River Tour
3. Augusta Ghost Tour
4. Atlanta History Center
5. Noah's Ark
6. Spend a weekend w/Missi - just us
7. Scrapbook w/my mom and my sister
8. Take the Jacksonville (Florida) boat cruise on the river
9. Go back to Washington DC and visit all the Smithsonian Museums
10. Go back to Phoenix
11. Vacation in Hawaii
12. Take an Alaskan cruise
13. Visit the Great Lakes and see all the lighthouses
14. Get a tablet PC
15. Visit Gettysburg.
16. Go to Utah and visit all the scrapbook stores 
17. Teach my dog to walk on the treadmill
18. Get a DVR in my scrapbook room
19. Plant a magnolia tree in our yard
20. Visit Williamsburg, Virginia
21. Visit New England in the fall
22. Visit Boston
23. Visit Philadelphia
24. Go back and assign labels to all the posts on this blog
25. Get to where I'm only six months out on scrapbooking
26. Take Daisy to a dog park
27. Do a pet emergency plan
28. Update my will
29. Have a session with John Edward.
30. See the San Diego Zoo.
31. Read all the books I own.
32. Visit Austin, Texas
33. Visit Austrailia

My genealogy life list can be viewed http://gatapleytree.blogspot.com.

After a While

After a while you learn

the subtle difference between

holding a hand

and chaining a soul

and you learn that love doesn't mean leaning

and company doesn't always mean security.

And you begin to learn

that kisses aren't contracts and

presents aren't promises

and you begin to accept your defeats

with your head up and your eyes ahead

with the grace of a woman

not the grief of a child

and you learn

to build all your roads on today

because tomorrow's ground is

too uncertain for plans

and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.

After a while you learn

that even sunshine burns

if you get too much

so you plant your own garden

and decorate your own soul

instead of waiting

for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn

that you really can endure

that you really are strong

and you really do have worth

and you learn

and you learn

with every goodbye you learn.

-- Unknown

A trip to the High side

Today, Stacey, Mom and I ate lunch at The Varsity in Atlanta.  I don't care how cold it is, that chili dog and onion rings (oh and the fries) make it worth the drive AND the walk across the parking lot!

After lunch, we went over the the High Museum of Art to see the Salvador Dali - The Late Work exhibit.  It has been in town for months, but of course we wait until one of the coldest days of the year to go!  I have only a passing interest in art... I know very little about it.  I can recognize a Monet and maybe Dali's surrealism work.  That's about it.  However, Stacey is a huge admirer of his work, so there we were.  The flier for the exhibit reads:  "Get to know Salvador Dali, whose larger-than-life personality is as well known as his art.  With more than 100 works - including paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs - this exhibition explores Dali's fascination with science, religion, and illusionism, and his surprising connections to such artists and celebrities of the 1960s and 1970s as Andy Warhol and Alice Cooper."

I can say that it was a HUGH exhibit.  An entire floor of the museum.  Room after room of his work and information about his work... plus a gift shop!  Dali was no doubt a brilliant man, but as I said over and over today, I would not have wanted to live in his head.  I'm not sure when he had time to paint... he was so interested in science and religion and many other subjects.  All in all, it was a good exhibit... there were some things that made me laugh, some things that made me shake my head, and some things that just made me wonder.

At the gift shop, Stacey got a package of 10 note cards of various Dali paintings and split them with me.  The one shown here is called "The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, 1952-54." (I say that's me!)  We also purchased magnets and packages of stickers of actual Dali quotes to use in our scrapbooks. 

Photographs were not allowed in the exhibit, but a really helpful and nice museum employee took our picture in the lobby (which was totally blurry - it's always a gamble when I let someone else hold my camera).  We also went down to Peachtree Street and took a picture of the front of the museum with the Dali poster hanging on the building.  The High Museum is one of my favorite pieces of architecture in Atlanta.  It is a beautiful building.

Another entertaining day in Atlanta...

I need to scrap!

Well, I see that I did not even finish the posts about the Family History Expo.  November turned into a very busy month!  The Expo put me on an "everything genealogy" path, and I have not scrapbooked in probably more than a month.  I did go in my room and clean up one day, but that's it.  Almost every day I think to myself, "I will go in my scrapbook room 'in the morning' or 'this afternoon' or 'tonight'" and it never happens.  I am too preoccupied with genealogy at the moment.  Genealogy requires a LOT of reading.  I was two months behind on genealogy newsletters and it seems that every one has at least 5+ links to follow and check out!  I try to print out the really important stuff to keep for when I really need it.  The rest I scan or save the link for later.  It's crazy.

I did have a couple of photo-taking opportunities in November.  (That's me... tons of photos taken, few scrapbooked!)  Mom had carpel tunnel surgery on her right hand on November 17th.  I went over the afternoon before and stayed with her for about 3 days.  It was actually a simple, straightforward surgery, and it makes it seem a lot more doable for myself - because I WILL have to have it some day.  That's inevitable.  But anyway, I did take a picture of her with her bandaged hand and her nurse, Yarko the cat, on the day of the surgery:

Isn't he sweet - looking over her like that?  Most likely, he was waiting for a treat...

I also took a few pictures of her rotten kitty-cats.  Aren't all pets spoiled rotten?  That's how it should be.  

Of course I took pictures at Thanksgiving.  We hosted this year, the first time in a long, long time.  Many years.  Tracy fried a turkey, I made black-eye peas, green bean casserole, rolls, and banana pudding (my first!).  Tracy's mother brought the dressing and a chocolate cake.  Mom brought cranberry sauce.  It was more than enough food for just the five us us.  I really went all out and used my grandmother's china with cloth napkins; Tracy made a beautiful centerpiece; and Zeus managed to stay off the dining room table!! 

I ordered some prints from York the other day.  I am still ordering prints from our Washington DC trip - which was a year and a half ago!  I used to tell people in my scrapbooking classes not to feel behind - this is a hobby.  Like anything else in our life - work projects, housecleaning duties, holiday preparations, volunteer duties, etc. - you can become so overwhelmed and bogged down that you get nothing done.  'Why go in there if I don't have the entire day to work?  I won't get anything done in just an hour.' Or 'By the time I get everything out, I'll just have to put it all back again!' Now I find myself falling into this same trap.  Yesterday, I had in the back of my mind that I would scrapbook for the day.  Well, we get up and find that there are several chores that need to be done.  So we start on that.  And I'm thinking that we'll finish by lunch and I'll have the afternoon in my scrapbook room.  Then I finish my chores before Tracy, and I find myself sitting down at my computer.  That is ALWAYS a mistake.  I end up being there until almost 3pm.  I look up, see the time, and think "Well, it's too late to go in the scrapbook room now.  By the time I start, it'll be time for dinner!"  Blah, blah, blah.  Same old excuses. So I took a nap instead.  And then after Tracy goes to bed, I go right back to my computer... no use starting scrapbooking that late at night!  It's a vicious cycle.

I need to take my own advice and stop thinking about how "behind" I am.  I am just not motivated to scrapbook right now.  The main reason is my current genealogy obsession.  I have always either worked on one or the other - one falls by the wayside while I concentrate on the other hobby for a time.  I guess the other reason boils down to maybe I don't self-motivate well.  I have that wonderful scrapbook room that Tracy worked so hard on, and yet I don't go in there by myself much.  I think most scrapbookers are the same; we would all rather scrap at our own house with our own stuff.  Let's face it - it's a pain to plan layouts and/or pack up all that stuff to take somewhere else.  And yet... we can't seem to get going without a "get-together" of scrapbookers to justify it.  Ahhh... do you see the Catch-22? 

So I'm working on a new plan.  I bought a webcam.  I can hook it up to my laptop right by my scrapbook table, make a video call to other scrapbook buddies with webcams, and we can all scrapbook in the comfort of our own rooms, and still have that camaraderie.  Others to bounce ideas off of and to look at what we're working on. To ooh and ahh at our efforts and give us an instant boost to our self-esteem that will mostly likely motivate us to keep going.  The plan has not actually come to fruition yet.  I have one scrapbooking friend who has gotten a webcam, and we have not tried the actual scrapbooking together yet.  I'm still talking to others.  But I'd sure like to give it a try - cause I am sooooo behind and I NEED to scrapbook!  LOL

I don't even know...

what to say about today!  I am exhausted; my eyes are tired and burning; and my brain is on overload.  I took five classes today: 

(1)  Getting the most from Family Tree Maker (the genealogy software program I use) - this class was about the newest version, 2011, and I realized very quickly that I HAVE to have it!!  LOL  They are having a show special on the software so after asking a couple of questions tomorrow, Donna and I will be ordering it, for sure!

(2)  Finding People Before They've Died - This class wasn't what I expected.  The instructor, while entertaining, declared right off the bat that he doesn't like genealogy and he doesn't come from that angle.  Oh, well, that's what the rest of us are there for.  But he did give us some new ideas for finding living relatives or non-relatives who may have known our relative and can tell us something about them.  Thinking outside the box, basically.

(3)  Digital Photography for the Family Historian - The instructor was the same one who taught the "Finding People..." class.  This one was better, but again, he was more geared toward taking everyday photos rather than using photography in our research.  He did hit on a few things briefly... like photographing documents or headstones at the cemetery, so it ended up OK.  He did have suggestions for items to include in a "Photos on the go kit" that were good ideas.

(4)  Genealogy on the Go - I learned the most from this class.  It was about using technology such as a laptop, netbook, flash drives, smartphones, etc. when we take our research on the road.  He gave us some good websites to look at that will sychronize our family information between our desktop and laptop or actually let you access your desktop computer from anywhere!  I have so much research to do!

(5)   My Ancestors Were from Germany and I don't speak German! - This was a good class; the instructor was excellent.  However, it was overwhelming.  Germany has such a troubled history (war about every 30 years); the geographical boundaries have changed numerous times; not to mention, the language barrier.  In addition, I do not have the items for my ancestor you HAVE to know in order to research German records.  For instance, you have to know their religion.  Well, I know what church he attended here in the U.S., but it wasn't Lutheran or Catholic, the two main religions of Germany at the time.  In addition, I do not know the exact location my ancestor, George Schwalls, was from.  He mostly just put Germany on the census; there is only one place that he got more specific and listed Bavaria.  However, the instructor told us that the Family History Center has not been allowed as yet to scan the microfilmed church records for Bavaria.  So I may hit a brick wall even if I take all the online courses on conducting German research and buy a German-English dictionary! 

I'm supposed to take another class tomorrow on German research... I can only hope the mud will clear some then.

I have a long list of to do items after I return home.  Also, Donna and I will have to get together and share with each other what we learned in each of our classes.  Will I ever get it all done??!!  I'm going have to live to be 150!!

I'm gone again...

and not just around the bend... though that is a possibility any day. 

My friend, Donna Bingham, and I are way up in Duluth (a whole hour from home) working on our laptops at the LaQuinta, getting psyched about attending the FIRST Family History Expo at the Gwinnett Center tomorrow and Saturday!  Registration begins at 7am tomorrow and we will not have a break, I'm afraid, until the expo is over at 6:30 on Saturday evening!!  We have divvied up the classes - divide and conquor - and we are ready to soak up some learning!!  I just hope I'm not too sleepy to take it all in!

I will not even catch my breath before I have to go to Augusta next week.  Mom is having carpel tunnel surgery on her right hand, and I need to stay with her for a couple of days afterwards.  She visited the surgeon today, and he made it sound like there's not much to it.  He said two days after surgery, they will put a brace on it, and she will be good to go for as much as she feels like doing!  I hope he's right.

We did stop at a couple of scrapbooking stores on our way up here today... I found the most awesome paper for my Oakland Cemetery pictures.  I also bought more Washington DC paper - I sure hope I use it all!  I found some beautiful paper and a Jolee's silver flower with pearls in the center for Brittany's homecoming pictures.  I think it will be beautiful - fingers crossed!  I also got some California stickers, miscellaneous patterned papers that I thought were pretty (like I need any more paper!), and some FFA stickers for Tracy - he was in FFA in high school, and I couldn't believe my luck in finding such a thing!  Oh, and I got a card kit to make some masculine-looking birthday cards.  I think that's everything.  More stuff I need to use, so I need to find the time to use it all.  Doesn't look like that's going to happen in the next couple of weeks!  ;)

Trip to GA Mountains: Day 3, Sun, 10/31

Time to go home!  And boy were we ready!  The owner had told us that we didn't have to check out until 1pm on Sunday since they would be gone to church, but we did not hang around.  We were up and out of the cabin by 9:30! 

Steam was rising off the river as we went into Blue Ridge.  It was really pretty.

Another McDonald's breakfast and we were headed toward Cumming.  We did stop at a flea market; I bought a couple of little things for friends.  Daisy enjoyed the attention, as usual. 

We stopped at the same area in Pickens County where we had stopped on the way up on Friday to let Daisy walk some.  I found a stick for her, and she had a blast playing (more like chewing) with it in the leaves.

We got back to Cumming around lunch time, dropped Daddy off at his office, and Miss Daisy and I headed on home.  We were both so tired.  She actually slept a good part of the way.  We reached home about 2:30pm; I unloaded the car and promptly collapsed into my recliner for about 3 hours.  Daisy was very excited to be home.  She had to inventory her toys first thing to make sure every one of them was still there; she chased Zeus; and she walked around the outside of the house, barking, announcing to the neighborhood that she was back on guard!  LOL

So that was our big weekend in the mountains, and Daisy's first vacation.  I learned that she is like her mama... she enjoys going, but she enjoys coming home even more!

Trip to GA Mountains: Day 2, Sat, 10/30

After not much sleep, we got ready to spend our full day in the mountains.  I had found a scenic driving tour online so we decided to do that in the morning, since it had plenty of places to stop and get Daisy out for a walk.  Then we would hit downtown Blue Ridge and visit the shops there in the afternoon.

We headed to McDonald's first for breakfast.  The McDonald's in Blue Ridge is one busy place.  But even at 10am, the Waffle House was still full, so we had to take the least busy.  Daisy waited patiently in the car.  As we were leaving, a man who worked there walked up to the car to talk to Daisy.  Now our dog is pretty friendly with people and rarely barks at anyone who is visiting with her.  But she started barking at this guy and just wouldn't stop!  I have to think she could sense something "off" about him.  I told Tracy a long time ago, that I think she is an a**hole detector.  I myself trust my dog's instincts.  On Sunday, we went through the drive thru at the same McDonald's on our way out of town, and this same guy walked by and waved and spoke to Daisy, and she barked at him again!  She obviously knew something we didn't!

The scenic drive was somewhat scenic.  As I said, the leaves weren't really turning yet in the area.  The guide pointed out some historical homes, areas where Indians had lived as early as 1835, a one lane wooden bridge, and natural sites such as Blue Ridge Lake (which was WAAAAY down cause they are working on the dam) and the Toccoa River.  Here's pics of both:

Daisy's favorite part was the hike to Fall Branch Falls.  She loved it! The woods, the smells, barking at other dogs, people telling her how pretty she is, and believe it or not, the water!  Now the guide claimed it was an easy 1/4 mile hike to the base of the falls.  Yea, it didn't mention that it was straight up and more like 1/2 mile, at the least!  (Or maybe 10 miles - that's more what it felt like!!)  When we reached the falls, there was a family there that was actually hoisting their children up the shear rock face of the falls!  Unbelievable!  People are so incredibly stupid... anyway, because they were all in the way and would not move, it was hard to get good pictures of the falls.  Then a family came up with a couple of dogs.  Well, of course, Daisy goes crazy, barking and pulling.  We have tried many of Cesar Milan's techniques, but she is so focused and it's hard to get her out of that zone.  We moved off the viewing deck and stepped over to the edge of the stream, and Daisy went right into the water!  I think she thought she could go that way and get to one of the dogs, but when that didn't work, then she realized how good that mountain water tastes!  LOL  She proceeded to jump into the stream at least 2 more times on the hike back down!!  Take a look:

She is such a funny and spoiled DOG!!

On the drive back to the main road, we passed this creepy sounding subdivision:

How would you like to sleep THERE??!!  No, thank you!

After we finished our drive, it was time for lunch.  Again, I felt guilty about having to leave Daisy in the car, especially since she whined when we left her.  This restaurant had terribly slow service, so we both ended up checking on her.  The food was good, (Tracy had shrimp pasta and I had the broiled local trout.) but for $38 for lunch, it should have been the best we've ever had - and it wasn't!

We drove back to downtown Blue Ridge.  I had contacted the old time photo store and inquired whether they allow dogs.  They replied that they do, so that was one thing I really wanted to do on this trip.  We headed there first.  The lady was very nice and helpful.  Daisy let her put a bandanna on her with no problem; Tracy dressed like an outlaw, and I was just a lady of the day.  It was a lot of fun, and Daisy posed so beautifully - she is definitely the photogenic one in this family!  Yea, she'd look at the camera for this woman (especially when I stood behind the woman!  LOL).

We left there and found the dog and cat store.  We bought Daisy a tennis ball that squeaks (She LOVES it, and so does Zeus!) and her own bandanna.  She was so cute wearing it around town.  A lot of the stores put out water bowls for visiting dogs.  I am sure many of the stores allowed dogs, but we didn't risk it.  Plus they were having Halloween in town that evening, and it was starting to get very crowded.  We were all tired, and we headed back out to the cabin for a little rest.

We talked ourselves out of going to the drive-in movie again because we were just so tired.  I figured that's how it would turn out.  When we went back to town, I just did a little shopping in Roses (We don't have them around here!), and we ate dinner at Waffle House.  We didn't even watch another movie on DVD that night!  I think we all slept a little better since we had gotten fresh air and exercise that day!

Trip to GA Mountains: Day 1, Fri, 10/29

After I finally got us all packed, cleaned litter boxes, left out instructions, cat food, and accessories for the cat sitter, Daisy and I finally hit the road about 11am.  Whew!  I could finally rest!  LOL  Daisy was excited because she knew something big was up.  She had whined constantly before we left home, and she continued to whine during the drive.  I did stop in Grayson at a park and walked her for a few minutes.  That seemed to help calm her. 

We got to Tracy's office in Cumming about 1pm, and he had gotten us Chick-fil-A for lunch.  Daisy was all excited to see her daddy and thought the office was an exciting place to check out! 

The three of us headed north.  Tracy tends to get in his zone and not look at what's coming up on the roadside, so we passed several yard sales, flea markets, and antique stores without stopping.  I like to sight-see on trips; being a man, he's all about getting there.  He did finally stop at one antique store outside of Jasper, I think.  We didn't find anything to buy, but it was fun to look. 

In Pickens County, right before the Gilmer County line, there is a scenic pull off.  We stopped so we could let Daisy walk for a few minutes, and it's a good thing we did, because they were about the only turning leaves we saw!  The trees here had beautiful yellow, orange, and red leaves.  The ones up in Blue Ridge had not turned yet.  Oh, well.  We managed to get Daisy to stop sniffing long enough for Tracy to take a few pretty good pictures of she and I.  I rarely get pictures of me with her since I take most all of the family photos.  Here's one of us and the pretty leaves at this stop:

She does not like her picture taken.  She will look away every time.  A digital camera is not fast enough.  I literally have to taken a dozen pictures to get one good one.  You have to be sneaky and quick to get a picture of her looking at you!

We arrived at the cabins' office a few minutes after 4pm.  No one was there.  We called their house (on site) and the daughter and husband came down to check us in.  They could not locate the paperwork.  The husband told us to go on and get settled in, and we'd take care of it later.  We went to the cabin and unloaded the car.  You could tell that Daisy didn't know quite what to think.  After a bit, we went to town to get some dinner.  We had planned to go to the drive-in movie that evening, but we decided that we should give Daisy some time to settle into the new surroundings and move around a bit, rather than forcing her to lie in the backseat for two hours.

By far, the hardest part of traveling with your dog is eating out.  Of course, no restaurant allows dogs, and most do not have outside seating.  I felt guilty leaving her in the car - it was her vacation, too!  And I certainly was not going to leave her alone in the cabin - a strange place.  So we ended up eating Wendy's... we thought it would be quick.  Boy were we wrong!  I felt like that comedian, John Pinette.  It's Wendy's people... you don't have to be a genius to order.  If it's that hard:  'GET OUT OF THE LINE'!!!  LOL 

After we finally ate, we decided to go back to the cabin and watch our Netflix movie I had brought.  Of course, it was dark by the time we returned.  We pull up to the cabin, I got out, Daisy jumped out... and started barking.  About that time, I hear a voice behind me.  It almost scared me to death!  It was the cabin owner, wanting us to come down to the office RIGHT THEN so she can run our credit card!  What the??  I mean we were there on time, and it just HAD to be done right this moment?!  Whatever.  Tracy drove back down there and took care of it.  When he came back, he had a copy of the rental agreement which she was supposed to have e-mailed to us beforehand, along with the directions.  (She didn't.) So we get ready to watch our DVD and... no DVD player.  What?!  I could have sworn the cabin description said there was a DVD player.  I happened to start reading over the rental agreement and it stated that DVD players were available upon request!  So Tracy had to drive back down to the office to get a DVD player, which she basically handed to him and said "Good Luck - hope you are good at hooking up electronics."!!!  He is.  (I told Tracy she could go to Goodwill and get DVD players for each cabin for less than one new DVD player would cost!  I have bought DVD players, VCRs, TVs, and a coffee maker from the Goodwill, and they all worked great!)  We watched the movie and went to bed.  

I had brought Daisy's bed, and Tracy had placed it in the middle of the cabin (The cabin being all one room.).  But she didn't seem happy there.  She kept trying to crawl under the bed, like she does at home, but that bed was way too low for her.  So finally Tracy moved her bed over to my side and placed it between the bed and the wall.  She finally settled down.  I never sleep well the first night in a strange place, and I don't think she does either. By morning, she was on the bed with us! 

I'm off to see the wizard

I am running around like a crazy person this morning... packing, cleaning, more packing.  I swear packing up a dog is as bad as packing up a baby!!  Her bed, blanket, towels in case she gets wet, toys, food, food bowls, water bowl, treats, leash, harness, bones, etc. etc. etc... 

Headed up to the North Georgia Mountains to see some turning leaves.  I am basically a single mother so thus all the last minute running around like crazy.  We are obviously taking Daisy...  I am sure she will have a ball!  As long as she doesn't meet a bear or a skunk, then Mama and Daddy will be happy!

There is no Internet access where we are going, so I will have to give the blow-by-blow of our trip after I return.  Keep an eye out!

Quick update

It took about four days, but I FINALLY got over my jet lag or exhaustion from the California trip!  I've just been piddling around the house since I've been home.  I haven't scrapbooked much, but I am going to crop at a friend's house tomorrow, so maybe I'll get a few pages done.

Since we are now having absolutely beautiful weather... sunshine and in the 70's... I'm back to taking Daisy to Oxford for a walk everyday.  We've been averaging about 30-35 minutes; yesterday, we made it 45 minutes.  I would like to work up to an hour, but it will take a little while since we are both out of shape!  She loves the trails through the woods where she can chase squirrels and especially chipmunks!  She loves to go after the chipmunks!  She sticks her head in almost every hole she can find, and I tell her something she doesn't want is going to get a hold of her nose if she keeps doing that! 

Next weekend, Tracy, Daisy, and I are going to the mountains to see the turning leaves.  We've never done that before.  I'm sure it will be beautiful.  We found a pet friendly place and will be staying in a cabin near Blue Ridge.  We'll hike to a waterfall or two, go to the drive-in theater, and maybe walk through the antique stores.  Should be relaxing fun.  Can't wait to see how much fun Daisy has. 

Last Saturday, the First Baptist Church of Conyers was having a huge amount of yard sales in their parking lot.  Since it was outside, we took Daisy.  She loved it.  All those people petting her and telling her how pretty she is.  We almost couldn't fit her head back into the car!  LOL 

Well, again, I'm just piddling around the house today.  I need to get into my scrapbook room and make sure I'm ready for tomorrow!

Day 8: Coming Home

Sorry this has taken awhile to post.  First, I was too tired and unable to stay awake to do any blogging.  Then all day today, I have been unable to get into my blog... on Firefox, at least.  I finally had to open it in Internet Explorer.  Don't know what's up with that.

Anyway, we had checked the weather on Tuesday night, and in some strange twist of fate, it was to be 59 degrees and raining in LA when we left and 75 degrees and sunny in Atlanta when we got home!!  And the weather was true to its word!  It was raining when we left the motel.  We were fortunate, though, that we only had to get out in the rain at McDonald's to get our breakfast.  Our car was parked in the parking deck at the motel and the rental car return was covered with the shuttle van right there.  Also, the van let us out right on the curb at the airport so we were good to go!

We got to our gate about 2 hours early.  We read for awhile, grabbed something to eat at the only place available at that terminal (Again, Atlanta has it going on at the airport!), Burger King, gobbled that down and it was already time to board the plane.  It was another uneventful trip.  It was a full flight, though, so VERY crowded.  There is definitely no room to stretch out.  They pack you in like sardines!  However, because it was a full flight, Mom got to check her carry-on for free!  Since we already had checked bags, it was a no-brainer for us.  Made it easier on me and Mom not having to carry that extra bag on the plane and (me) not having to lift it into an overhead bin.

We left LA at about 11:35am PST and actually got into Atlanta 30 minutes early - at 6:30pm EST.  I was so psyched to be home!  Our bags were already coming down the baggage claim when we got there, and we zoomed out to find the shuttle van back to my car.  He was waiting for us!  It was great.  Got to the car fine... and then we tried to leave.  Well, there was some idiot (I'm sorry - I couldn't think of a nicer way to put it.) in a truck at the window that didn't have his ticket.  An instead of having him pull over and waiting on the car ahead of us and us... no they made us wait.  and wait.  and wait.  For so long, that I honked the horn.  A female employees stuck her head out the window and held up her index finger like, "Just one more minute." Well, that minute stretched into 2 to 3.   FINALLY, the line started moving.  When it was our turn, the male manager that was at the window by this time, apologized, and I told him that they should have had the difficult customer pull aside while they waited on the others.  Of course, he made some excuse why that wouldn't work.. but you know what?  This guy showed great customer service skills.  #1 - He apologized... that goes a long way with me when someone screws up, but a lot of people won't apologize for anything anymore; #2 - He never got mad or upset.  He was upbeat and smiling through the entire thing.  He even diverted me by asking about our trip and expressing that he knew we were ready to get home.; #3 - He thanked us.  All of that EXCELLENT customer service (which we rarely see anymore) diffused the situation and will make me give them my business in the future.

Anyway, we got out of there and I very quickly re-adjusted to driving in Atlanta!  That is to say I did about 80 MPH all the way home!  LOL  I couldn't wait to see my babies!

Tracy went and picked up hot wings for our dinner, and (perfect timing!) we pulled into the driveway at the same time he did!  I didn't have my house key with me so we had to wait for Tracy a whole minute or two, and Daisy was barking up a storm on the other side of the door!  She was very impatient to see her mama!  She was very happy to see me, as was Gracie.  Trixie hid because Mom was here, of course.  And surprisingly, Zeus kept his distance until I went to bed.  He's been sticking close to me ever since, though!  Daisy wouldn't hardly let me out of her sight.  When I finally went to bed (about 2AM!!!), she jumped right up on my side of the bed so that I had to angle and squeeze my way in between her and Tracy!  She wasn't about to sleep too far away from me - I might disappear again!  LOL

You should have seen how happy she was to see my mom leave the next morning!  She knows that every time Mom comes, I leave.  So once Mom was gone, I guess she figured I was home to stay!  She's so funny!

My friend who came over and let Daisy out a couple of times a day while I was gone called me and said that Daisy was a different dog on Wednesday.  Every other day, she had just scooted outside, did her business, came right back inside, no playing, no nothing.  On Wednesday, Daisy met her at the door with a toy in her mouth and was all happy cause she just KNEW her mama was coming home that night!!!

I am waaaayyy jet lagged, but I am glad to be home... though I'm not too thrilled with doing laundry, cleaning house, or paying bills.  It never goes away.  ;)

Day 7: Burbank, etc.

By this point, WE ARE SO TIRED!!!  LOL!  The places we go in L.A. aren't really that far apart... but we drive a block, stop at a red light; drive a block, stop at a red light, on and on and on.  Now nothing has taken twice as long to reach as my GPS tells me (like an article I read on the Internet warned), but it ALWAYS takes longer than Samantha originally figures.  It seems that we loose 2-3 minutes at every single red light!  So that became the big joke of the day.  Oh, Samantha says we'll reach the scrapbook store in 20 minutes?  Well, we know that actually means about 30.  The last joke of the day was that I will be glad to get back to driving in Atlanta... it's easier!  LOL

We started out about 8 this morning, heading to the Warner Bros. Studio.  Like I mentioned, there aren't that many breakfast places, so we were looking for a McDonald's.  Now they are on almost every corner here, but not when you're actually looking for one.  Or it's on the left side of road, with 4-6 lanes of traffic between us and it.  We finally found one, though on the left side of the road, it was the middle of a block with less traffic so I shot over a couple of lanes and headed in!  After filling up our tummies, we continued on to Burbank.  Warner Bros was easy to find, and I lucked up and turned down the correct street to find the parking for the VIP tour.  Everyone was very nice and helpful... one lady stopped us on the sidewalk to give us directions (We didn't even ask!).  Our tour was scheduled for 10:20, but we were there about 9:30 so they bumped us up to the 10:00 tour!  (Again, we didn't ask!) 

The tour started EXACTLY on time... you gotta love that!  It was a great tour.  If you are ever in Los Angeles, I would highly recommend going on this tour.  They start out with a short film that very quickly covers their 85 year history.  Then your tour guide takes you out to the tram to start the 2 hour tour.  Our tour guide kept telling us that every tour is a little different, since it is a working studio and every day has different sound stages being open or closed or different back lot "streets" closed for filming. 

We saw a back lot "city street" where a lot of films and shows are/have been filmed, such as "The Road to Perdition," "Annie," "Cold Case" (TV Show), "Spiderman," etc.; the last set left from "Casablanca" (!!); and we got to go in and see the set of TWO AND 1/2 MEN!!!!!!!  They weren't filming and we weren't allowed to take pictures, but it was still very cool.  The front door and living room of Charlie's place was right there in front of us!  We walked through their furniture warehouse, where they have a lot of antiques, and I saw a Grandfather Clock tagged for "Chuck."  Then later we saw a mountain tram (a real one from Palm Springs) that the man working on it told us it's for "Chuck."  We also saw an actor step out of his trailer with a bathrobe on, and we think it was Rob Morrow.  He was there today became they were filming his new show, "The Whole Truth."  "Chuck" was also filming today, but we weren't lucky enough to see any of the stars.  Our tour guide me that they are all very nice.  We stopped by the Warner Bros. Museum and saw outfits from "Casablanca"(!!!!!!!), "Pushing Daisies," "Music and Lyrics," "I Am Legend," "Cool Hand Luke," and many, many more.  Plus props from movies and shows, letters from stars to the studio heads, etc.  AND the entire second floor was dedicated to "Harry Potter."  The guide also took us to the transportation department and into a warehouse full of famous automobiles:  A Geek Squad car from "Chuck," one of the original "General Lees" from the "Dukes of Hazzard" TV show, the car from "Harry Potter," the van from "Scooby Doo," and more that I can't remember right now.  Take a look:

So all in all, it was a fantastic tour!  Mom and I stayed and had lunch in their Cafe.  We didn't see anyone famous, just the regular folks that work there.

After lunch, we drove to up to the Griffith Park Observatory.  It has got to the be highest point in Los Angeles.  You can see for miles in every direction.  It really helps you grasp how large an area Los Angeles encompasses.  The Observatory itself is a museum with a planetarium, but unfortunately, due to budge constraints, they are now closed on Tuesdays.  Just our luck, but the view made it well worth the drive! 

We left Griffith Park and drove and drove and drove to another scrapbook store.  For as much trouble as this store was to get to, it was a big disappointment.  First, you had to pay to park in a parking garage, take two escalators up (one of which was not working), walk in the wrong direction twice, finally figure out the right direction and walk halfway around the building!  Whew!  And then she had it so packed in there, you could hardly get to stuff to look at it.  Mom bent down to try to see something and hurt her back!  Of course, we bought stuff... ;) 

Now that we had purchased all the scrapbooking supplies and souvenirs we were going to, we had to find a postal store to ship it all home.  Like I said, I don't trust the airline with my scrapbook paper, and my suitcase was borderline in the weight department coming out here; I sure couldn't add much going home!  LOL  So after coaxing Samantha to find us such a shipping place (the clouds today made it very hard for her to make contact with the satellites), we set off.  And drove... and drove... and drove.  Mind you, it was only 7 miles away.  30 minutes to go 7 miles.  And then it was a game of hide and go seek to find the store.  It was actually behind another strip of stores.  But find it we did and spent a fortune to to ship a 24x14x4" box home. 

We went ahead and ate dinner at 5pm at Sizzlers so that we wouldn't have to go back out again tonight.  That dinner is another story that I am too tired to relate at the moment.  I'll add some details I have missed after I get home this week.

We fly out of L.A. in the morning.... It's supposed to be 59 degrees and raining when we leave here, and 75 degrees and sunny in Atlanta when we land!  What's up with that?!!  Mom is all freaked out about being cold and wet.  I figure I won't melt, so I'm not too worried about it.  I'm just ready to go home.

If you have read this far over the last 7 days, bless you.  Like I said, I'll add some tidbits after I return home.

Does anyone recognize the set behind Mom???

In the immortal words of one of the greatest of Warner Bros.' creations, Bugs Bunny:

"That's all, Folks!"

Day 6: Back to L.A.; Hollywood (again!)

Got up early, left Redlands about 8am; thought we we had plenty of time.  Yea, right.  It was 11AM before we got to Hollywood!!  The traffic was bad on the freeway (of course), so we got off the freeway and took back roads and that took a lot of time, too, since there is a stop sign or light every block!  Then to add insult to injury, it was RAINING in Southern California today!  Not a downpour, thank goodness, but a good drizzle - enough to make it miserable.

We were back in Hollywood to finish what we had wanted to do there in the first place.  First off, we went to Madame Tussauds wax museum.  I've never been to one, and to be honest, I've never been interested, but it was  part of our City Pass.  I actually enjoyed it.  Took LOTS of pictures since this is as close to the "stars" as I'll ever get.  I even got my picture with Humphrey Bogart from "African Queen"!!!!  But that's on Mom's camera.  Here's a couple I took:

George and I are discussing our future... no kids, and we'll live in Italy.

Mom gave Mary Hart an interview on our way out!

Some of them didn't look too much like the person (like George Clooney (above), but some were dead ringers and would almost scare you... like Anthony Hopkins.  He was made up to look like Hannibal Lecter in the jail cell.  They had a place for you to stand in front of him and look into his eyes.  I couldn't do it!!  WAY too realistic!!  Anthony Hopkins scares the **** out of me.

They take pictures of you at a couple of spots along the way and give you a claim card (like at the aquarium or Disney).  We got to the end to look at our pictures and they didn't have most of them.  They only had 2 poses in front of the Hollywood sign - when they took 3 (AND that picture was taken in front of a green screen and the photographer didn't bother to tell me that my green shirt would not show up.  I looked kind of splotchy.) and they didn't have the picture we took upon entering at all.  That kind of ticked me off.

Then we made our way through the rain (We didn't pack umbrellas, mind you.  The 10 day weather report I got before we left home showed NO rain, and besides, umbrellas weigh at least a pound or two apiece - we couldn't waste that much weight in our suitcases for something so mundane!) to purchase our tickets for the tour of Grauman's Chinese Theater.  Since the next tour wasn't for an hour and a half, we went to Johnny Rockets and had lunch.  After eating, we did some shopping, trying everything we could to say out of the rain and still had to stand around for 15-20 minutes waiting for the tour to start!

The tour only lasted about 30 minutes, and that tour guide took us out in the rain twice!  And while the tour wasn't nearly as interesting, and we had already heard a lot of what the guide told us, the theater itself is beautiful and worth the visit.  Mom had been there in 1960 to see "Ben Hur," so she was really interested in seeing it again.  It was about the only thing out here, she said, that hasn't changed much!


We gave up after this tour and headed to our motel.  It was only 2pm.  Mom made the comment that it was too bad that the scrapbooking store was closed on Monday.  So when we got checked in and everything, I did a search and found a scrapbook store in Torrance (supposedly 20 minutes from the motel - more like 30) open on Mondays until 6pm.  So away we went.  It was a nice store - They are called A to Z Scrapbooking because the store is alphabetical, i.e., A is for Adult, B is for Baby, C is for Christmas, etc., etc. all the way around the outer wall of the store.  Pretty neat idea.  I found some things, but again, my mom, who doesn't even scrapbook, had even more fun.  She spent twice as much as I did! 

After a couple of u-turns and a ride through a shopping center, we finally found a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  I had steak and shrimp fajitas, and it was VERY good.  It wasn't authentic Mexican; it was almost like what we have back home.

It doesn't sound like it, but it was really another long day.  I think I am now ready to go home so every day seems long!  :)  Tomorrow we go on the Warner Bros. Studio tour.  I just hope it doesn't rain cause I'm betting most of that tour is outdoors!

More differences I have thought of...

I thought of a category I missed... Grocery stores. There are no Krogers or Publix. There are Albertson's and Stater Bros. And lots of fresh food markets like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and one I had not heard of:  Fresh & Easy. 

Also, the roads are TERRIBLE here.  Georgians don't realize it, but we have excellent roads.  In Beverly Hills, the roads are all smooth and nice and the next lane over might be in Los Angeles and it's all bumpy and rough!  LOL  We can just about tell when we go from one city to another by the road conditions!

On the freeways, there are no signs letting you know what restaurants or gas stations are on the next exit.  You just have to chance it, I guess, and hope something is there you want! 

At almost every red light intersection, instructions are painted on the road, in each lane, letting you know to "Stop Here" or if there is another road feeding into the one you're on, the instruction may be "Keep Intersection Clear."  The only thing that is really driving me crazy about driving here is that your right lane will at some point run out with no warning or your left lane will suddenly turn into a left turn only lane with no warning! 

That's all for now...

Random thoughts/things from California

I like going to new places and seeing new things.  Whether it be new scenery, museums, zoos, aquariums, tourist spots, or plants, I like to see them.  I like seeing how things are different in different parts of our vast country.  So I thought I would share some different and alike things I've observed while being here.

Restaurants:  Plenty of McDonald's - almost on every corner - kind of like Waffle House at home.  KFC and Taco Bell are also in good supply here.  NO Waffle House or Krystal.  Chick-fil-As are few and far between.  We have seen one each of Applebee's, Macaroni Grill, Dairy Queen, and Red Robin; a couple of Wendy's; a few IHOP; and several Denny's.  No Arby's (Even though my GPS says there is one around here, I have yet to see it).  Del Taco, Carl Jr., and Jack in the Box are popular here.  Also El Pollo Loco (LOTS of Mexican and Italian restaurants out here).  There is something called Weinerschntzel that I just figured out today is a hot dog stand.  I may have to try that before we leave.  In and Out Burgers are plentiful in Los Angeles, and I have heard they are good.  So lots of familiar "faces" with several new and different.

Shopping:  Targets are the favorite out here, hands down.  It wasn't until we were headed out here to Redlands that we saw our first Wal-Mart or KMart.  But there was a Target on almost every corner in LA.  Didn't really see any other familiar chain stores in LA, but out here in the suburbs, we have seen all the usual:  Kohl's, Dress Barn, Michael's, Jo-Ann's, Mervyns, Best Buy, Big Lots, Ross, Marshalls, etc.  Home Depot seems to be the more popular home improvement store out here; we've only seen a couple of Lowe's and those were not in LA.  We did find a Goodwill here.  There are a few Dollar Trees around, but the 99 cent store seems to be the more popular choice.  Oh, and there is no shortage of CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, or RiteAid!

Convenience stores:  7 Eleven and Circle K are almost everywhere.  No Raceway, Racetrac, or QuikTrip.  The rest are the usual Shell or others I don't recognize.  There's no BP out here that we've seen.  Gas is running anywhere from about $2.83/gal to $2.99.  Not nearly as high as I thought it would be.

Plants:  Of course, there are LOTS of palm trees.  According to Mom, there used to tons of orange trees, but they are almost all gone now.  Not a whole lot of cactus... we're not out in the desert here.   Saw this bird of paradise out in front of the building where the reunion was held last night:

There is also hibiscus, but I haven't gotten a picture yet.  I posted an earlier picture of the "Graveyard Cyprus."  They are everywhere out here.  There is also a lot of eucalyptus and roses.  Beyond that, I wouldn't know what I was looking at!  LOL

Prices are a little higher out here, but nothing like I imagined.  Or had been told.  Maybe it's just housing prices that are through the roof; I don't know.  In some of the local restaurants, food can be pricey; like $15.99 for a sandwich, but the chains seem to be pretty comparable.

Of course the air is dryer out here.  There was some humidity a few days ago, and everyone we talked to was complaining about it and even saying we brought it with us.  Mom and I say they know NOTHING about humidity!!

I've already mentioned the no cell phone while driving laws.  I can see it works.  Also, I told you about the weird way motorcycles weave through traffic in LA, but I haven't noticed that out here.  You can turn right on red here, which is great.  I haven't noticed an obvious "green" movement like I thought there would be.  Maybe that is more in Northern California.  I've noticed a lot of Priuses on the road, but that is it.  And like I said, the only rude people we have encountered are the drivers in LA.

That's some of the things I've observed here.  I'm really tired, and you're probably really bored, so I'll quit now and get some sleep!

Day 5: Redlands, Yucaipa, San Bernardino Mountains; Lake Arrowhead

Whew!  It's been a long, full day.  We thought we had an easy day today... we were wrong!

We ate a full breakfast at IHOP right next door the motel.  Then we headed over to Mom's high school and walked around to take some pictures there.  She said it looks very different and is much larger than it used to be.  We rode out (being careful to avoid the breast cancer awareness walkers that were out today) to Hillside Memorial Park to visit the graves of some of Mom's relatives.  We were luckier this time and didn't have much trouble at all locating the graves.  It is a beautiful cemetery full of trees, including what Mom calls "Graveyard Cypress."  Here is a picture:

Different, huh?  I'm going to talk about some of the differences between Georgia and California later.

It was getting hotter, so Mom wasn't real interested in going to the picnic her class was having (with no food or anything provided and not enough places to sit.  I kid you not.  And we would not have know this if Freddie had not asked at the reunion last night.  All they kept saying was "no host picnic."  We did not know that meant bring your own food.  Plus when Freddie asked if there would be enough seating for everyone, she was told "Well, some can sit on the wall." !!  Can you see a class of 68+ year olds sitting on a concrete wall?!  I think not!)  So we skipped the picnic and took the scenic route to Yucaipa, which is the actual town (only about 6 miles from Redlands) where Mom grew up.  Along the way, we traveled along this street:

:)

Unfortunately, Mom's house in Yucaipa is gone... it's just a field now.  We rode by her elementary school (still there) and her church (no longer a church, but still there).  We rode by her junior high, but it's a high school for 9th graders now, but still in the same location.  We found a Big Lots and bought a few scrapbook things.

Then we headed back to Redlands.  We decided to have lunch at El Pollo Loco.  They are all over the place out here.  They specialize in flame broiled Mexican-style chicken or something like that.  The food was good, but I noticed when I was ordering, the girl at the register was looking at me funny.  I didn't think a whole lot about it since I get that a lot after people hear my accent.  After we finished eating, I went to the restroom.  I looked in the mirror and one of my earrings was missing.   (Look closely at the picture above... you can see the new style I'm sporting!  LOL)  I came out and told Mom that now I knew why the girl was looking at me so funny.  Then I told Mom that she doesn't notice anything and  how long had I been without one of my earrings?  And my mother... the woman who carried me for nine months and bore me from her body... says to me, "I don't look at you."!!!!!!!!  Can you feel the love??  So obviously from the picture, I was without the earring a lot longer than I thought.... before we left Redlands... which means I walked through Big Lots like that, too. 

After lunch (and after removing my remaining earring), we went to the Redlands library.  My mom spent a lot of time there when she lived here, and it is a beautiful building.  It opened in 1898 and is the oldest continuously operated library building in the country,  It has a Spanish tile roof and wonderful stained glass windows.  Here's a looksie:

Neat building.

Behind the library is the Lincoln Memorial.  It is basically an Abraham Lincoln museum.  It was donated by a family in honor of their son, who was crazy about Lincoln.  It was interesting, especially since I'm such a Civil War buff and admire Lincoln so very much.  Here I am with the great man:

They had quotes on the wall from famous people, and this is my favorite:  "Ohio claims they are due a president as they haven't had one since Taft.  Look at the United States, they have not had one since Lincoln." - Will Rogers.  :)

We walked across the street to the Redlands Bowl.  It is basically an outdoor amphitheater... and where my mom graduated.  She said they would have plays, etc. there during summer evenings back in the day.  Obviously they still use it. 

By this time, it was 2PM and we had done everything we had wanted in Redlands and Yucaipa.  We had planned to just go chill at the motel, but then I asked Mom how far was it up to the mountains.  She said it wasn't far so we hit the road.  After stopping at the California Welcome Center in San Bernardino (??? - It is NOwhere near the state line!) and getting directions, we took off.  I had no idea that where my mom grew up was so close to Lake Arrowhead (20 miles) and Big Bear (45 miles)!  We only made it as far as Lake Arrowhead today.  The drive was a little scary... VERY curvy road up a VERY high mountain -- over 5,000 feet elevation.  At Lake Arrowhead, there is shopping and restaurants.  The best part was the temperature was only 67 degrees up there.  It felt wonderful!  And the entire village is geared toward dogs.  They are allowed into the stores on leashes - there were dogs everywhere!  It was great.  And check out the door sign at the Three Dog Bakery - a bakery for dogs:

Isn't that awesome?!!!  Anyway, we shopped a little and got an ice cream.  The drive back down the mountain was a lot more fun and certainly didn't seem to take as long!  LOL  Here's a view:

See that road way up there... yea, we were there.

So that was our busy day.  After supper at Red Robin, I've been right here at my laptop, recording it all for you... and me!  :)  Tomorrow it's back to the big city and the crazy drivers.  We're going back to Hollywood for the 3rd time - hopefully we'll get it all done this time around!

Day 3 Pictures

Mom at her Redlands (California) High School 50th Reunion

Mom went to school with Vera (on the left) and Penny (next to Mom in the red dress) all the way through from 2nd grade!

Freddie and Art (They live in Utah.)  Mom has known her since 7th grade.

Check out this fun house that we saw on our tour.  Look closely and see how many animals you can see in the rock.

Going on a bus tour of Redlands.

Day 4: Redlands

Yes, I know... Day 3 was yesterday, but I was literally nodding off at my computer last night about 11pm PST so I had to give up!  So it is bright and early here (7:15) and I'm writing this before I even get dressed.

Let's see... Oh yea!  We left the motel yesterday morning and went straight to the Chick-fil-A for breakfast!  LOL!  Then we rode by Mom's grandmother's house... and it's still there and according to her, looks very much the same.  The entire neighborhood looks almost the same!  Everything is just neat as a pin here in Redlands.  So you have a neighborhood that dates back to before the 1940's and everything is tidy and well-kept.  Very nice.  Of course I took pictures from every angle and again, thank goodness no one came out shooting!  We continued riding around the neighborhood for a bit to see what Mom could remember and then it was time to head to the high school for our bus tour.

We actually rode a Redlands school bus for the tour!  The first thing that struck me was how narrow the space is between the seats.  I actually had to sit sideways. I wasn't the only one noticing that, either!  The kids today must be tiny!  Like short with no legs!  Anyway, before we boarded the bus, we got a great group shot (with MY camera) of the entire group!  Then we were off.  The lady that did the tour, Dodie, is a fellow graduate who I think actually did all the work to make this reunion weekend happen.  She did a great job on the tour... she shared some history of Redlands and showed us some beautiful old homes... Victorian, 3 story, fully restored, painted wonderful colors... On the tour, Mom did recognize some places... but it seems that when the freeway came through, of course, the entire landscape changed, and sadly, some beautiful homes were lost.

There is something here in Redlands, obviously, that I am allergic to.  I awoke yesterday morning with full sinus headache.  Luckily, I had brought my medicine, but I still wasn't feeling 100% while on the tour.  While it was cool and comfortable before the tour, it quickly heated up and the bus got very hot, indeed.  By the end of the ride, I wasn't doing too well.  I just thought my allergies were gearing up for a bad episode, but Mom thought I had gotten too hot.  She was right... after we got off the bus and I got in the air-conditioned car, I began to feel better.

Next stop:  SCRAPBOOK STORE!!!!  It was heaven, I tell ya!  I had fun there.  Mom did, too, which is so funny to me because she buys and buys, but she never scrapbooks!  Sound familiar to anyone???  LOL  Anyway, typically, they did not have a whole lot of California stuff... I know at Memories, we would sell out of the Georgia stuff quickly.  But I found some neat papers for Washington DC and Arizona and the Civil War.  I did get some California stickers.  They had some QuicKutz on clearance, so I had fun there.  Overall, a good time was had by all.  We will have to be shipping that stuff back home (I certainly don't trust the airline with my scrapbook paper!), but we want to wait and go to the scrapbook store in LA before shipping anything.

We had lunch at Marie Callender's restaurant.  Yes, they have actual restaurants out here... seems they are from the area.  Alas, we didn't save room for pie, but the lunch was good.  Potato and cheese soup... YUM!

We had seen a Goodwill from the freeway, so we hunted it down.  Didn't find a thing.  There is a Jo-Ann's here so we went there - hoping to find some California items.  That was a total bust.  Not only did they have very little good scrapbooking items, but the aisles were so packed in there and narrow that two shopping carts could barely pass!  There were many aisles that you couldn't even go down cause someone was in it and wasn't moving.  Also, the store had ladders or carts of merchandise blocking others.  On a busy Saturday! I was ill-tempered when we got out of there!  Mom wanted to find postcards, but I don't think Redlands is geared toward tourism.  We thought maybe a drug store would have some, so we found a Walgreen's.  No luck.  Then we found out where a Wal-Mart is, and I actually went in there on a Saturday.  Again, a total bust.  We gave up and came back to the motel!

I read for a few minutes and then crawled in the bed and took a nap!  It was so hot yesterday and it had worn me out with all the getting in and out of the car.  When I awoke, it was time to get ready for the reunion.

The reunion was held downtown in a building called The Mitten Building.  It's an old, red brick building.  We entered and they gave Mom a pretty glass with "RHS Class of 1960 Reunion" engraved on it.  Then we had our picture made - I was her date, you know!  Then we entered the main room.  There was a crowd.  The tables were round and beautifully decorated with white tableclothes, mirrors in the center with lit candles and a vase of flowers.  There was also dessert already sitting out, along with salad dressings in bowls (including Ranch).  We found Freddie (Mom's childhood friend) and her husband, Art (I loved this guy!  He is a hoot!) and we chose a place to sit together with the desserts we wanted.  (I chose the chocolate cake.  And spent the entire evening protecting it from Art!  LOL)  We tried to mix and mingle, but there are just so many people Mom didn't know. She did find two other friends she has known since 2nd grade.  That was nice - it even ended up that they were sitting at our table.  We found pictures posted on the back wall - and there was Mom with her 6th grade class at Dunlap Acres Elementary!!  She tried to hide her picture from me, but she was front and center!  There was also a picture of the graduating seniors from 1960 who were from Yucaipa - there Mom was again.  1960 was the last year that Yucaipa kids were bussed to Redlands High - they got their own high school after that.  They also had a HUGE picture of the entire graduating class in their caps and gowns.  I found Mom and took a picture - just of that section.  She said what she remembers the most is that it took FOREVER for them to get to the "T's"!!

We were served our salads at about 6:30... and our meal at about 7:30.  No kidding.  Then it was almost 8:30 before they started the program.  By then, the bad chair was killing my rear end, and I didn't think the program would ever end!  Freddie and I had a good time complaining about it!  I told her we needed to be on the committee next time!  Mom got to stand up and speak when they asked if this was the first reunion anyone had attended.  I don't think she gave the real reason (Daddy), but she just said it was so far.  But they had someone there last night from England!  The other thing I found funny (which my mother did NOT) was I think everyone thought I'm illegitimate!  Her last name is still Tapley, and I had my last name on my name tag - TAPLEY-Matthews.  I asked her during dinner if anyone had asked her about a husband, and she said not a soul.  LOLOLOL Anyway, as soon as the program was over, Mom was out of there like a shot.  It was her bed time!!!  We didn't last long after we got back to the motel.

I MUST get dressed now... bacon is calling to Mom, so I will have to post pictures tonight.