A dip taking a dip!

Yes, there's a little snow left on the far bank. Click on the title.
Jim

Life is crushing, family is really all that matters !

It's fun to be clsoe for the first time in our lives, you know really sharing, kinda ! It seems we still sometimes act as if we are step brothers and sisters ... But we really are family; siblings and kids.

Thanks for all the concern over our family mishap. All is well ! Puppy is fine and Bianca is recovering, although her puppy was so excited to see her she opened up her slash on her neck. Totty, my puppy, is happy to have his wife back. She's not old enough yet; but they hope to mate, well actually we hope for them to make DatsChi's.

The last few weeks has been eventful for me. Work is especailly difficult. I have a lady here with Borderline Personality Disorder. I've evicted her. No money in the world is enough to have to answer to protective services, accusing family members and omsbudsmans. HELP !!!! Beleive me, I earn my money! It's always scary to see someone go who pays as much as she does. But keeping her is not beneficail for either of us. I am not greedy nor do I do anything that is not in the best interests of my clients.

My daughters are in that great stage of mothering where they think either they or the kids may not survive. I have to smile and ask them to trust me; they get stronger and all do survive. Well not everyone, but reasonable people do. As hard as it is, I have to smile and get a little satisfaction out of them being mothers, for the terrible time they put me through as kids. Mike is shocked as a two parent household, his girls aren't perfect little angels; LOL!!! He has always blaimed any kid issues in the family for the lack of the fathers. Life has proven him in error.

OK>>>> I know no one is going to step up and ask me, or say anything, but yes, I am divorced. I feel I need to give my gifts back and reimburse everyone for the time and money they spent coming to my wedding, it was such a short marriage. But it wasn't my shortest. LOL!! It's over, life goes on. I tried !!!

No more said!

When it all comes down to it, family is the only thing that matters. I'm immursed in the world I created and I am very happy with that world.

Happy Birthday ... to all the May Family Birthdays!

Lots of birthdays this month. My G. daughter is 6 today. My neice Judy was 50, Lauria geez almost 40 !! (Hey we'll have to have a big one for that big one !!!) Spent a few hours with the twins and Jess. It was nice. Due to our little family drama, THE WRECK !!! I didn't get their birthday presents finished; what do you get someone who has too much of everything? So I had to put some thought and work into it >>>>

Wanted to let everyone know, the PUPPY is found. Everyone has been searching since Fri. evening for her. Today they got a big search party out and combed the side of the freeway. They heard her crying, poor little thing, and called her. She crawled out of the bushes. She had huddled there for all this time, too terrified to move. She is fine. But I'll take her in tomorrow and have her checked out.

So all is well.

Hey Peter, I said NO MORE WRECKS >>>> This means check tires, brakes etc ... before traveling !!!

Don't Drive on Old Tires!

If I believed in Karma, I'd think I was being punished for calling my sister's snotty! In case you can't make it out- you know how when you're traveling down an old freeway, and you see scraps of black stuff on the side of the road? Well, when you see that about thirty/forty miles east of Boise, know that one of those scraps of rubber is my trailer tire. But I've learned my lesson. I'm not going to drive on 10 year old tires any more. Actually, I know better than that, but I wasn't sure of the age of the tires, they looked brand new, but they were just unused, (and old). So we crippled into the nearest town (one mile), unable to get a new tire. That was Sunday, then today is Memorial Day, so will wait till tomorrow and then try to fix the plumbing that the tread took out when it tore off. At least we didn't loose our Cherrio's, they were teetering on the age of the huge hole through the cabinet. But it's an adventure; we're thankful we left plenty early and can absorb this.

Trip to San Francisco

What a whirlwind of a trip. this is my perspective of the trip and not to compete with Jim, that would be really tough to do.

It was more of a joy than i can express seeing my big sister graduate. To see the reward of so much sacrifice and hard work that she put forth in this endeavor. I am so proud of her.

One of the things i wanted to do for so long was to see the Hayes St apartment. On saturday we ventured off with Glenda and Lydia and got a whirlwind tour. We did spend about an hour at Hayes St and just looked around, for me it was kind of surreal.

Last time I was in S.F. was in 1973. so this was a very special trip.

Well like i have been quoted by Jim, "Pictures are for those that are to lazy to write" so enjoy the slide show.

Dick

Happy Birthday Lili and Lisi,
Hope you both have a great birthday tomorrow. Love Ya both, Bonnie

Congratulations, Glenda!

I was very happy to be able to go to SF with Dick to watch Glenda get her Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Systems from University of San Francisco. I’m still not exactly sure what that is or what she can do with it, but I know she worked really long and really hard for it and owes a lot of money for it. All for the pleasure of being able to put B.S. behind her name.

I’m sure she made a lot of friends in college staying up late at night studying. In fact, she saw one of them at the graduation. All that studying looked like it made her shorter, and him taller. Also, now that she has her degree in hand she’ll make a lot more friends of the Alumni Association since they’ll be looking for new prospective willing donors.

Lydia, came from Phoenix, and Carmen and Roger, friends from Clovis, CA, were there. We all piled into her nine-passenger station wagon and headed to the graduation. You’ve never lived until you’ve been in San Francisco with an immigrant driving. You would think she owns the entire city the way she takes such liberties with the driving suggestions (laws). Actually, I think she’s a really safe driver since she hasn’t had any fender bender accidents in the entire time she’s lived there, and most important, didn’t have one while I was sitting in the kiddy seat in the back with Lydia. Hmmmm….maybe I am the youngest one. Dick recommended to her that if her present job is eliminated that she get a job driving a taxi cab, or maybe, better yet, training taxi cab drivers.

But, you haven’t experienced San Francisco until you’ve sat in the rear facing seat and seen The City looking out the back window watching oncoming traffic pulling up behind you with crazed grins on their faces going 40 mph while careening down the steep streets….and they stop inches from your toes. If you notice in the pictures that I have less hair just remember that I left Crescent City with a full head of hair. It was only after we rode with Glenda that I experienced this loss.

When we arrived early at St. Ignatius Church, where the ceremonies were held, Glenda gave told us that we could ‘probably’ go into the church through a side door and get good seats. The trouble is she forgot to ask the people inside the church if it was OK. It wasn’t. Now I understand that must have been the reason that there wasn’t a handle on the outside. I had to use the tips of my fingers to get a hold of the edge of the door. I thought it was kind of odd that there was a really nice wooden door there but no door knobs. I just thought they had spent all their money on gold leaf for the steeple and they ran out of money for knobs.

Jack London must have been in SF on a day very much like the day of the graduation when he said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." It was cold. I’m just glad that they didn’t have an outdoor graduation. I was really glad to get back to Crescent City and feel warmth again.
Jim


Turn your sound on and maximize for your ultimate viewing pleasure.

Glenda's Graduation

Jim asked that I post this image. Lydia on the left, then Glenda, Carmen, Glenda's best friend, and Carmens husband, Roger (I think that's his name). Looks like there must be a more handsome guy than Jim taking another pic, Lydia and Carmen are looking at him!

Car Wrecks

My Grandaughter Bianca was in a car wreck this evening. It was a 4 car collision. One of those that starts and you just can't avoid. Yeah, she came in 4th and her car was totaled. And what a sweet car it was.

Oh she is ok. I took her to urgent care because she banged her already not ok knee up, bruised her arm and her seat belt slashed her neck. She will be siore tomorrow and her knee is worse for wear & the cut on her neck freaks me out.

Her car was customized and the air bag didnot go off, due to a custom wheel. Good thing she didn't need it. The car got severe front end damage.

The real bummer, is her puppy was in the car and was thrown to the front. She jumped out of the car into highway traffic. Bianca's boyfriend chased it as far as he could, but she was totally freaked out and crossed under the highway into a swappy area and disappeared. They are heart broken. We put an ad on Carig's List to see if anyone hit her, saw her or picked her up.

But these little detours in life sure make you look at things differently. Life changes, hoepfully for the better. makes you re-evaluate so much. I am just so thankful that I sent my prayers to God to guard my grandchildren; DAILY/HOURLy >>Even ...

When she called and was hysterical over the phone, I wasn't sure what happened, but I knew she was ok; she was screaming & crying and I just said " Thank you God for watching over my child. " Then I hurried to search Beltline where I thought she had said she was. Thank goodness this is a small town. I found her fairly quickly.

All is well, but I could really do without any more wrecks in this family; PLEASE !!!

Happy Birthday Lauria !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

This little girl sure is cute! Looks like she's stealing my son's toy though. (maybe the other way around) Happy birthday little girl. All of us Aunt's and Uncle's love you dearly and wish the best for you.

glenda

click the title

is this the song you were talking about? i dont remember the song. but i do remember

"oo ee oo aa ting tang walla walla bing bang.

Good times..........

Mac is doing great. She has relaxed. Amen. lol. She asked to get some items for a school project. 6 20 oz pop's and cake mix with frosting. I asked "What is the cake mix for?" She said for your birthday cake. lol. How God knew what I needed from her. I just want to have a close relationship with my daughter.  I know we have it. Love it. 

Max was in a car accadent yesterday. He is banged up but doing well. He went to school today to show off his battle scares. lol. You know to impress the girls. Face is swallon and stuff but he is wanting to show off. Good for him. 

Christian has been the hardest. I miss him. He is with his mom. No food hard food for 5 weeks. No bumps or playing neither.  Bummed he was testing for his yellow belt in June. But can't know :(. But oh well. I hope the teeth take.  He has not been is school all week. 

Justin wow he is doing great.  Job Corp didn't work so He came home and found a job in 3 days. His old boss hired him.  She moved to taco time and hired him on the spot.  Not even an application!! He did such a good job with the last job with her.  And I am so happy to announce he is doing summer school at Mt hood community college!! Writing and reading. 9credits!! He did this all in 4 days from coming home. Funny Justin had a teacher tell him "he would not do good in the real world". I am happy to announce I called that teacher yesterday with the news of everything Justin has done. I love that part. lol. Ya i'm his mom. lol. He just came home from his first day at work and I gave him a big hug. I told him how much I love him. 

No worries everyone. I am doing great. Just wanted to give heads up of what I'm up to. God is with us bad and good times. I don't worry about my faith. I just some times feel I'm alone with no one to see what i do for my family.  I don't need cutos. Just at times I feel I let everything go but my kids at times. I do because I ran out of hours in the day!! lol. And in 5 years it will be something else. lol. Thanks and Happy birthday to me. May 20 nice ending of the week. lol

Oh Uncle dick hugs , Aunt Karen hope your doing better. Aunt Glenda congrads to you and Teisha on graduating!  Aunt Bonnie and Aunt Rick sorry about the family loss. May god give you peace and warmth thru this hard time. Uncle Peter take care of Aunt karen :) and enjoy the grandkids and say hi to my cousins. Aunt Illa I worry about you too :) stay strong. Good job being a great mom to your kids. Sandi and Jim you have showed my so much with your kind words with your grand child. thank you for sharing. hugs My mom is doing great. She has pic of herself that turned out great. Ask her for one. You'll love it. xooxoxoxo

hard times.....

would love to post up pics of good times. but at times I would like to post the up's and downs. Since the last post.

 Mac is in soccer and the star. But she had some hard times tuesday night  with her phone. To say the least the phone is gone and we have been dealing with her being 14 with our bloodline. lol. She has great grades. and needs me to help her keep bounderies. We have a great relationship. we are smiling again. but it happen today. 

The last few weeks dealing with Justin and Job Cob. Last month his teacher left. and they were not learning welding. sad but true. Now they don't know when they will have a teacher. Well then he had a hard time. He then called thursday needed to be picked up.  He has resigned from there. Now looking to see how he can get a welding certificate.  Hands on. He is not good with college. But still he going to sign up. Worried and excited. 

Then the friday day Christian our littlest wrecked on razor bike.  Knocked out 3 teeth. He had to be rushed to an oral surgeon. His mom had 90 min to get the teeth back in his mouth. Sad but she made it. Now they are wired in. And having another surgery this week. Feel bad and miss him.  

Besides that drama with other stuff this month that was heart breaking. Anyway. Funny how we have mothers day and fathers day. What about kids day. lol. I wish I had parents come to my house. Pick up the kids and love on them. I wish I had great talks about how im doing. Anyway Sorry about being so busy. Just want to explain why I'm busy. I love when Im asked what I do for my mom. Does anyone ask what support I have? 

Hugs and again. Love on the family.  Oh my kids are happy and doing better. I know some family wonder what i do. so thought I would explain days I deal with. lol. 

It's OK, no cheeks here....

Do you know how difficult it is to get into the water when you're in a hurry and the flash goes off too early? Let me tell you, it's not as easy as it seems. Let's just say I had to delete more than a few pictures.

Ohmah and I went up to Dry Lake today. The same place Dick and I went when he was down here. I had planned to paddle around in the lake, and if I found some wood on the way up cut a load of wood. There were too many people at the lake so I went down to the creek and took a dip. The flowers were in bloom and the air was warm. It was a good day to "Get Out."



Jim

Little Joe and family moving to Virginia

Just talked to Joe and Lynn. They are moving their family to Virginia to be close to her son and his wife there. Chris works for the Government there, something about Arlington. He and his wife are expecting twins early anywhere between middle of June to sometime in July. They will be doing a C- Section. They are excited. Heather is also 4-5 months pregnant. So they will be leaving sometime after the 29th of May. Tomorrow is Joe's last day at Pelican Bay. So they won't be around for the Re-union first week of Sept. I really wish them well.

Just thought that you all would like to know. They will be stopping by here for the night on their way. It will be good to see them again. I think this will be good for them.

Love to all Illa

Claudia's first Mother's Day

Turn your sound on.

Happy Mother's Day !

Today is a speical day for me even if my kids are doing their own thing & and not by my side. I love being a mother. And my kids let me know daily what a great mother I am. This gives me great satisfaction; knowing they know I did my best and they are great kids becaue I did. where I fell short God filled in the empty spaces. I've always prayed for my kids and sent angels of protection to be with them. I am proud of my kids and I know I am / was a good mother.

As I live in a Foster Care Home; I feel sad for the estranged families I meet. A few times a year some famlies take their loved ones out or buy them a gift; seems out of obligation. Why can't they send their mom's a card once in a while or a little gift box .. just to say .. we want to make sure you feel loved and your needs are met. Instead they often leave that up to me. It saddens me.

No matter what you feel mom has done or been in your life; she gave you life. In the years where she is not as young, is lonely or sick or maybe just not present; she is still mom. I hope we can all honor the mothers in our lives.

As life wanes things just don't matter so much; but love does. And love does not have strings attached. Our loved ones can't be who we might want them to be; but they are still our loved ones.

Being a mother is a gift God gives.

Happy Mother's Day to all my family mothers. To my sisters & to my neices & to my daughters.

Love you all even if we don't all see eye to eye ....

Thought this was cool

Well, there is a project that's been talked about for our family for years. I can't wait for mom to post about it, and I got a picture first... sooooo...




For those that don't know what that is, this is the most important piece of equipment in any fire lookout other than a radio or a landline. This, dear family, is the Fire Finder (AKA Azimuth). You sight the smoke, align it to this, and use it to help determine the coordinates of where the fire is. Two lookouts will give their Azimuth reading and help pinpoint it more exactly, and then the responders know where to go based on what Dispatch tells them.

This, I should add, is mom's... not mine... though I get to touch it and probably even eventually use it when we get the next step finished.

~Teresa

It is actually called a Kresek Alidade. The cheaper version of the Osborne Fire Finder. They cost $4,000.00. This one was $300.00. The plan is to put a platform on the roof to house this device as we have such a good view of the valley and the surrounding mountains. We are Officially known as the Illa Garcia Lookout by the Fire Finder Lookout Museum of Spokane, Wa. which is where I purchased it.

Illa

Laws of Ultimate Reality

*Law of Mechanical Repair
After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will
begin to itch and
you'll have to pee.

*Law of Gravity
Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible
corner.

*Law of Random Numbers
If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and
someone always
answers.

*Law of the Alibi
If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had
a flat tire, the
very next morning you will have a flat tire.

*Variation Law
If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in
will always move
faster than the one you are in now (works every time).

*Law of the Bath
When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone
rings.

*Law of Close Encounters
The probability of meeting someone you know increases
dramatically when you
are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

*Law of the Result
When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't
work, it will.

*Law of Biomechanics
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the
reach.

*Law of the Theater
At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the
aisle arrive
last..

*The Starbucks Law
As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss
will ask you to do
something which will last until the coffee is cold.

*Murphy's Law of Lockers
If there are only two people in a locker room, they will
have adjacent
lockers.

*Law of Physical Surfaces
The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face
down on a floor
covering are directly correlated to the newness and cost of
the carpet/rug.

*Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are
talking about.

*Brown's Law of Physical Appearance
If the shoe fits, it's ugly.

*Oliver's Law of Public Speaking
A closed mouth gathers no feet.

* Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy
As soon as you find a product that you really like, they
will stop making
it.

*Doctors' Law
If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to
the doctor, by the time
you get there you'll feel better. Don't make an
appointment and you'll stay
sick.

*Law of Probability
The probability of being watched is directly proportional
to the stupidity
of your act.

Somebody better post!!!

Or I'll have to muse again!!!
Jim

For all you Gonzo fans out there.

4 months 2 days.

For all of you Jeff Foxworthy fans out there.

Jeff Foxworthy on School Employees


YOU might be a school employee if you believe the playground should be equipped with a Ritalin salt lick.

YOU might be a school employee if you want to slap the next person who says, 'Must be nice to work 8 to 3:30 and have summers off.

YOU might be a school employee if it is difficult to name your own child because there's no name you can come up with that doesn't bring high blood pressure as it is uttered.

YOU might be a school employee if you can tell it's a full moon or if it's going to rain, snow, hail....anything!!! Without ever looking outside.

YOU might be a school employee if you believe, 'shallow gene pool' should have its own box on a report card.

YOU might be a school employee if you believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, 'Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.'

YOU might be a school employee if when out in public, you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior.

YOU might be a school employee if you have no social life between August and June.

YOU might be a school employee if you think people should have a government permit before being allowed to reproduce.

YOU might be a school employee if you wonder how some parents MANAGED to reproduce.

YOU might be a school employee if you laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the staff room as the 'lounge.'

YOU might be a school employee if you think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

YOU might be a school employee if you can't imagine how the ACLU could think that covering your students chair with Velcro and then requiring uniforms made out of the corresponding Velcro could ever be misunderstood by the public.

YOU might be a school employee if meeting a child's parent instantly answers this question, 'Why is this kid like this?'

YOU might be a school employee if you would choose a mammogram over a parent conference.

YOU might be a school employee if you think someone should invent antibacterial pencils and crayons...and desks and chairs for that matter!

YOU might be a school employee if the words 'I have college debt for this?' has ever come out of your mouth.

YOU might be a school employee if you know how many days, minutes, and seconds are left in the school year! BTW, 23 days, 5 hours, 53 minutes, 18 seconds, in case you wanted to know.
Jim

for your enjoyment

jess new address

New location on Vancouver as of May 14th:::: 618 SE 121st Ave, #135, Vancouver WA 98683

Epiphanies from the shower

No worries, it’s all G-Rated here. I have always wondered why I have moments of clarity and realizations when I’m bleary-eyed standing in the shower each morning. This is not to say that I don’t have periods of clearness and lucidity when I’m out of the shower, it’s just that they’re not as defined or clear, or very frequent. When I stand in the shower, things that I’m not even been consciously thinking about become crystal clear to me. So far I’ve not had any huge revelations like how to make world peace happen or a cure for the common cold, but rather how best to approach something at school or an answer to something I’ve been thinking about.
Does anyone else suffer from this malady?


I think there’s some type of power in running water. I do know for me it has a soothing, relaxing, but yet revitalizing effect. Whenever I’ve had a stressful day at work I drive by the beach and enjoy the beauty. If it’s been an especially stressful day I just stop at one of the turnoffs and just sit and stare at the scene. Perhaps, this is a reason why I like to get into just about any water at all times and for any occasion and in any state of undress. Perhaps.

I believe that the subconscious mind solves many of my problems and I come to many realizations when I have the down-time to allow it to do its job. I think that during the time I stand in the shower, it’s that time between total relaxation where my subconscious mind is still working and the business of the day hasn’t fully filled my mind that these epiphanies come. I suppose there is some real wisdom in the adage “Sleep on it before making any decisions,” either that or maybe to take longer showers. The Hooper variation to that is “Gel on it.” The implication here is to think it over very slowly much like the consistency of gel.

OK, I’m done, there’s my musing for the day. Next………

Jim

"Yeh, dad, that was really funny.

I just can't wait to get older so I can understand what you just said."

Jess

Thursday took a trip to Store with three other, then today Lili, Jess & Tinker, went to the corner store for coffee, once we got to the store, Tinker pulled Jess in the wheelchair!!! She thought it was fun, now when we go out she can pull him, at Wal Mart, and the Shopping mall's.

She loves to shop, and go out. Jess and I are going to train her, to help pull Jess, she thought it was great, ..a

He will be in for, four more weeks, or less, then go in about 3 times a week, for the rest of 6 months.