Day 69

Saturday, May 14th, Tiffany Birthday Eve, and time for another story. So when we were expecting Tiffany, I was 21 and Wade was 20. We lived in an apartment in Millbrae, California and the freeway ran between our apartment and the San Francisco Airport. It was one of my favorite apartments even though it could get noisy with the jets taking off. I was still working at Chancelor and Lyon and soon Wade was working there too, except in the warehouse. After about a month, my boss called me in and told me that they could not allow a married couple to both work there, so I said, "Fine, I'm giving my notice." I think I shocked him and I'm guessing that they were hoping that Wade would quit. Since I knew I was pregnant and he had a job, we decided I would just stay home. 
In March of 1977, Wade requested and got a transfer to the Sacramento warehouse. However, we didn't move for a couple of weeks and he would drive up to Sacramento on Sundays and then drive home on Fridays. It was pretty hectic and we finally got a place and moved up there. 
Our first apartment was in Rancho Cordova, which is a community southeast of Sacramento. We had no clue what type of neighborhood we had chosen and soon found out that the apartments we were living in were rent-subsidized and there were some pretty strange and unusual characters living there too. This was also the time when the East Area Rapist was very active in Rancho Cordova, which we had not heard of before we moved in. (A google search for 'east area rapist sacramento ca' will call up lots of articles.) I didn't spend a lot of time outdoors and socializing with the neighbors.
Now I had been living most of my life in San Francisco where the temperature tends to run a little cool except for one solitary week in September. And here we move to the Sacramento area in March/April. And I'm pregnant. It was safe to say that I was feeling a lot of heat. Some time after the above picture was taken I had finally had enough and cut my own hair. Not a pretty sight, but at least it made me feel cooler. 
I covered the windows with sheets and blankets to keep to sun out (I thought it would work) and just hoped that the air conditioner would work a little bit better.  I was feeling hot and big and one day when Wade came home from work he discovered that I had written "GOODYEAR" on my huge tummy. 
All of Wade's relatives, on his mother's side, lived in the Modesto area (which was about 80 miles away). All those lovely ladies came and held a shower at our apartment for me. It was a wonderful treat. I didn't have to do a thing, they brought everything they needed for the shower. That picture was taken at the shower. I don't have any other pictures of me when I was expecting either child so this is a pretty special picture to me. 
So, Tiffany's due date was May 15, Jason was born almost two weeks after his due date and I was expecting the same with Tiffany. In a joking tone, I told Wade (this night 34 years ago) that I was going to paint my toenails just so that I would look good for the doctor when I went to the hospital. It is also a strange coincidence that this was also Saturday night in 1977.  =============================
The temperature today has finally dropped a little and it's more comfortable. I was up moving early and at the church this morning by 9:00 with Jared for dress rehearsal for the Children's Musical tomorrow. We ran through it twice and I am hoping that it will all work out. I'm sure that Moms and Dads will be pleased to see their kids singing and dancing - even when they make a mistake, it's cute and parents just love it. But all these kids have put A LOT of work into this production and I'm very proud of what they have accomplished. We've been rehearsing and working so hard for months. 
When we were done, Jared and I had lunch at Taco Bell and then I took him home. I did some grocery shopping and then just rested this afternoon. I was able to take a nice nap in my recliner and I'm feeling pretty good. 
I fixed lunch for tomorrow already and put it away. I always like it when I can get things done in advance. The table is already set and I just need to heat up the food when I come home from church. 


So goodnight, Tiffany. Have sweet dreams and I'll finish the story tomorrow. 

Day 68

Nice to see the blog site back up and running. When computers fail, the phones don't work, or the electricity goes out, I tend to stress a little bit. So all is well in my little world tonight. 
It's been extremely hot and humid here the last couple of days and I've been trying to stay cool. Not having a lot of luck with that. It's more the humidity that's the problem. Just like they say. "It's not the heat, it's the humidity..." Yes, I agree. 
This morning I had a wonderful long skype with Wade. We talked for 100 minutes. That's our new time record. It was great to spend that time with him. 
After that I went to Hannah House and did the bills and other financial things that needed to be done since I didn't make it in there on Tuesday. We are having a new resident moving in tomorrow or the next day. 
I was going to go get a pedicure afterwards, but I changed my mind and just went home. I will think about that sometime next week I think. 
Tonight I met with Charlotte, Tracey, Kathy, Michelle and various assorted kids to set up the sanctuary to look like a zoo. I think we did a pretty good job. This is for our kids musical that will be this coming Sunday morning. I think we did a pretty good job of setting it up:

Jaide and I in the gorilla cage. 

After we were done I took the kids to Dairy Queen for a little treat. 
Now I'm just relaxing and getting ready to watch a movie, "127 Days". Don't know how it will be, hope it's okay. 
I'm worn out tonight. I think the heat and working tonight is getting to me. We have dress rehearsal tomorrow from 9:00 to noon. 

Day 66

Oh what a busy day today was. In fact, this is a busy week and I've been stressing out a little because of it. Too many activities and I'm just wondering how I'm gonna get through it all. 
I woke up at about 3:00 or 4:00 to the sound of severe thunderstorms. My windows were open and I just laid there listening to the sounds and watching the lights flashing. It was so cool. My dog, Sheba, woke up too and we listened together. We all love the sounds. 
I stayed home all day long until evening. I shampooed some of my carpets that needed it, vacuumed others, prepared my Sunday School lesson, did reading for another class, did laundry, and other housework. I had the windows open and it got pretty warm today. 

Here is the tem-perature on the front porch at 5:00 tonight. I didn't seem to mind it too much, but my dogs all started panting like they were dying this afternoon. I guess they're part-sissy. However, I came home from church tonight to a wonderful surprise. Jason had put in the living and bedroom air conditioning units. So that will help make the house a little more liveable. Thank you Jason! I was not expecting that at all. 
I met with my Sunday School teacher to set up his computer for skype so that the class can skype with Wade on Sunday morning. Well, he couldn't get it downloaded before classes so we agreed to meet after classes at 8:30. By close to 9:00 we were a little bit closer to being ready, but it was discovered that the laptop he has does not have an internal mic. Another teacher is going to attempt to get things fixed up on his personal laptop and we'll use that Sunday morning. I need to be in there at 8:30 to make sure that things are working. 
Along with all the rehearsals for the kids musical it was a pretty stressful night tonight, and I shouldn't have let it affect me like it did. I need to adjust my attitude and just try better tomorrow. 

We've had so much rain that behind the house along the creek it looks foggy. It's hard to tell, but the sun is setting in the center of the picture. The trees are growing so much that you can't even see the ground down below any more. Very pretty. 
Wade has been doing some boating that pertains to his work and he's enjoyed that. Just the same old news for today as yesterday. Love reading emails from him when I get them! 


So goodnight Tiffany - time to go to sleep! 

Day 65

Yep. I guess summer is really coming. The temperature was nice and warm today and switched to hot and humid in the afternoon as we got some thunderstorms this evening. Fortunately I got all my screens placed in the windows and I could enjoy outdoor sounds and fresh air all day long. I am glad that window job is over and I don't have to think about it until October/November when the windows go back in. 
Because I have been having cold/sinus issues, I decided not to go work at Hannah House. I will make the time up later in the week. I did drive over to Enon to take care of mailing a package to Wade, filling up the car with gas, and got some medicine for me at Rite Aid. Gas was down this morning to $3.97/gallon and I bought $50.00 worth of gas. I am glad I bought then because when I went out later this afternoon, the price had gone up to $4.12/gallon. The pills (generic imitation of Claritin D) have helped me greatly and I don't feel like my head is filled with cotton now. 

This is my first water-melon of the year. Although it was not as sweet as I would have liked, it was still very delicious and helped me to get in the mood for summertime. I enjoyed a big bowl with my lunch.  
I had Sonshine Club this afternoon. We only had about 45 kid today. And next week will be our last club meeting for the school year. We will be having a party with hot dogs, chips, ice cream, etc. If the weather cooperates it will be held outdoors. I enjoy Sonshine Club, but I am looking forward to having some more free time.
Tiffany called and we talked while she drove home from work. I enjoy hearing what's going on with her and Shelby & Sam. I'm looking forward to my next trip down there. We'll have to celebrate her birthday when I'm there, although it will be a belated birthday. 
Wade said that it's pretty hot over there. It was 105 or 106 today - or yesterday - so I don't think I should complain when it gets warmer than 80 degrees, right? He's been busy and his days are pretty much work, eat, sleep. Not a lot of recreation going on over there. I sure do appreciate the internet and facebook and skype to help me keep in touch with my best friend. 

Day 64

What a beautiful day today was! It was sunny and warm all day long. Last night I broke down and removed the storm window and put up the screen in my bedroom window. I woke up this morning to the sound of birds singing in the yard. I have missed that sound. Now, one job I don't look forward to twice a year is switching between the screens and the storm windows. The brackets are not cooperative and it is a struggle and I cuss them out each time. So this spring I have decided to do a couple each day. This afternoon I replaced the screens in three kitchen windows and now I can listen to sounds in the yard while I'm in the kitchen. Maybe someday we will modernize the windows and I won't have to do this, but for this year I will just have to deal with it.

I stayed home and worked on Bible studies this morning.  I had not been planning that, but I was blessed with special revelations that spoke to me and gave me some encouragements. Thank you, God! 
I picked up Jared and did some tutoring this afternoon. Then I went to hand bell rehearsal tonight followed by a church board meeting. This Sunday we are hosting a Mass Bell Ring in the afternoon at our church. This is where about 10 other churches in the area join us for an afternoon of music. Each church will play a couple of selections separately and then EVERYONE will play 2 or 3 songs all together. It is really impressive to hear a mass bell ring and I enjoy hearing what types of music other churches are playing. 

I ran up to Wal-mart and did a quick shopping trip after my last meeting and came home to eat dinner and relax. Seems like another routine, boring day. I didn't hear much from Wade today. I know he's busy. I'm planning on having a little bit of something for a snack and watch some tv. I'm catching up on Survivor - Redemption Island and so far I'm up to episode 6. 

Day 63 - Mother's Day

May 8th, 2011. Mother's Day. I've been trying to remember some things about my mom - it's been 29 years since I've seen her or talked to her. Let's see...... 

• she was a stay-at-home mom but once my brother went to college, she needed to get a job. She worked for many, many years for the state of California.
• she always wore Shalimar perfume (do they still make it??)
• she was an introvert and very shy (like me)
• she battled with weight problems (like me)
• she had a heart condition (like me)
• she loved my kids (like me)
• she changed her hair style and color a lot (like me)
• even after I got married and moved out I think I talked to her every day on the phone
• she said "I kid you not...." way too many times :o) 
• she loved John Wayne and his movies
• she always made way too much food at meals and didn't feel satisfied until everyone else was stuffed - and then gave away all the leftovers
• she loved to sew, knit and crochet
• when Wade and I were young and newly married and didn't have much money, she would always slip me a twenty or a bag of groceries. Or she would send me home with bags of food from her own cabinets.
• even when her health was getting worse, she still took care of Jason while I worked. Eventually I quit and stayed home myself.  
• she overdid Christmas and birthday presents for the kids.
• she endured hours and hours of my piano practicing and never said a bad word about it. (That probably deserves a medal)
• She loved her family and her life.......
  So happy Mother's Day mom!

Today, I had a very nice day. I taught Sunday School and it went great. I taught 3rd and 4th graders (Amanda was there too). They loved 'dancing' in the body socks and I had a hard time getting them to take them off. We had the US Senate Chaplain, Barry Black speak at our church this morning at the worship service. He was great and challenging.  

For lunch we were going to eat at Olive Garden, however restaurants were packed and the traffic going to all the restaurants was bumper to bumper and jammed. We decided to buy sandwich-makings and soup and eat at home. What a great idea!! And we feasted for a lot less money and with a lot less stress.

Mother's Day Feast

Showing Grampee the bag of Cheetos

Fixing the sandwiches

Jaide and her cheetoh

It was a very nice time. Thank you all.

Later this evening I got a call from Tiffany and we talked for a while. It was nice to hear from her. She and Sam are recovering from a nasty flu bug - she missed church today because of it. Hopefully she is over it now and feeling better tomorrow. She also reports for jury duty tomorrow although she thinks she'll be excused because she works for the police department. We'll see what happens. 

Wade has been busy and out of the office. He wrote early this morning that he would be gone and wouldn't write much today. So I look forward to hearing from him tomorrow. 

Day 62

I was thinking this was going to be a lazy Saturday all day long.......... I got a call on Thursday night from the director of the Wednesday night children's musical. We needed to read through the whole script and time it to make sure it would fit in the time frame for worship service on Sunday, the 15th. Ms. Charlotte wanted to know when could I make it to a meeting. Surprisingly, I had NOTHING on my calendar for Saturday - all day long - which is very unusual. God must have been arranging my calendar for me. So we decided to meet at 1:00 at Ms. Michelle's house.
Last night, Jaide and Jared spent the night at my house. We watched movies and Bullwinkle shows until about 9:45. Then we played a bean bag game until 10:10 and then I read a couple of books with them. I finally said good night and kissed each on the top of the head at 10:30. I had felt really tired earlier - like around 8:30 - but at 10:30 I got my second wind so I laid in bed and started reading a book. It's Ashley Judd's new autobiography. I was looking for something that I could classify as recreational, or lighter reading. With all my studies and classes, I read enough heavy literature already. 
I was awake by 7:00 this morning and we settled in the living room for a morning of pure laziness. We feasted on toaster strudels, pop tarts, and Captain Crunch Peanut Butter cereal. We watched 3 whole movies this morning - Hoodwinked, Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and A Bear Called Winnie. 

Ms. Michelle and Poppy

I met with Charlotte at Ms. Michelle's house. We started reading through the whole script and it ran almost 85 minutes which included all the songs too. Way too long. Charlotte had been told not to go over one hour. So we went through every single page and cut lines here and there. What we thought was to be a one hour job turned into a whole afternoon marathon. We edited everything and read through it again to check times. We did manage to cut a little over 20 minutes off the original script and it was getting to be 6:00. Good thing I actually ate lunch before I went there. I got to meet and play with Poppy which Ms. Michelle adopted last fall. He is a little sensitive because he was apparently mistreated before she got him but she is a good, patient caregiver and I know he'll be fine. Plus Ms. Michelle has three sons who love this dog like crazy! 
I still had a few other stops to make before I could go back home. I needed to pick up a snack for my Sunday School class tomorrow morning. I got some sort of granola bars because my time had been used up for other things today (no time to really prepare anything). Then I stopped at Fazoli's to pick up a dinner for me. We only have one Fazolis in Springfield, and it's one of my favorite restaurants. I really can't fix myself spaghetti for one and frozen tv dinners just don't cut it. Blech!! Good thing that Ms. Michelle lives just 2 blocks from Fazolis! What a wonderful coincidence!!
So I arrived home sometime before 7:00 and ate my dinner (half a dinner - the rest is for another meal) and listened to thunderstorms breaking over the house. I'm so glad they didn't happen while I was driving home. My dogs were very happy to see me and screamed for me to fix them their dinner too. 
Wade has reached a milestone - sort of. He has been in country over 44 or 45 days now and that qualifies him for some extra benefits. He had been talking with someone that told him there were some days last summer that got up to almost 150 degrees!!  Can you imagine?? We decided that I need to send him some thermometers in my next care package. It's hard to think about it even being hot at all because it's been so cool and rainy here. 
Tiffany was taking care of Sam at the end of this week as he had a stomach flu and fever. I wrote and asked if he was better and she said that he was but he was so nice and shared his germs with Tiffany and now she wasn't feeling well. I don't think that qualifies as a good Mother's Day present!! Bad, Sam!! 

Speaking of Mother's Day - here are my two little, sweet babies. Thanks for making me a mom. I love you both!!