Good Old Days

I visited with my mother and my sister this weekend and they gave me an album my mother had made about me back in the 50's. It was her attempted at early scrapbook-making! Anyway, looking through the photos just reminded me of how drastically things have changed between when i grew up and my kids' childhoods! First of all, no car seats back then. How did mothers travel with wild children loose in the car back then? Amazing we all survived! I ate spam sandwiches on white bread covered with mayo everyday and lived to tell the tale. My mother was not much of a cook back then. Also, those spam sandwiches would sit in tin lunch boxes outside in the San Fernando Valley heat. Never got sick. Then there were the days when i would leave with my best friend on our bicycles early in the morning and be gone all day until dinner time. Nobody cared that we were gone all day (no cell phones).. they were just happy to have us out of their hair! In fact, I don't think we ever spent much time indoors unless we were sick! Now we can't let the kids out of our sight because of the fear some sicko will grab them.. and heaven forbid anyone see you feed your child white bread! You would be asking for a public lynching! My family definitely wasn't Leave it to Beaver.. but it did have a 50's kind of charm to it!

My Hero

Tina is my hero. She is patient and kind and funny and caring. If you asked her, she would probably never admit to being any of those things, but believe me, she is an inspiration to us all. She is patient and kind to her daughter Molly who can be a trial most of the time. I think God gave Molly to Tina because He knew she is patient and kind. Tina cares about everyone she comes in contact with and I can tell you that she is loyal and thoughtful to her friends. She is even nice to people who aren't nice back. And she is one of the funniest people I have ever known. Thank you, Tina for being my pal and my partner.

Long Time- No Write

Ok if anyone out there reads this, Karen and I have neglected this poor blog for numerous reasons... I am not going to bore anyone with the details. We have created a new purse for our little line of fabric purses which is adorable, even if i do say so myself. We have our first 2-days show coming up at the end of October (yes, on Halloween) and we are madly trying to get ready for it. I have started yet another diet because all of my pants are too tight. I really hate getting old! I never had much of a metabolism... and with menopause, i think the metabolism is sub-zero now. I have resorted to coming home from work and putting on my sweatpants. How attractive I must be! Anyway, life has continued on... my daughter, Molly is as crazy and difficult as always... no rest for the wicked.. but sometimes i do stop myself and try to remind myself that she is a little child in a grown body and all she wants is love. I wish i could remember that all of the time.

Labor Day

This past weekend was the gorgeous Labor Day weekend. I even took Friday off so I had a four-day weekend! It is amazing how fast the time flies when you are away from work! Friday, my husband (who also took Friday off) took me to Home Depot. What a romantic get away! Anyway, we got the paint for the kitchen and he got wood for his wall unit he is building. Then i sewed. I absolutely love sewing! It instantly puts me in a good mood to create something with beautiful fabric. Saturday I played. I went to see my dear friend, Pam, who lives in Orange County. I hadn't spent time with her since January! We went to the movies (Julie and Julia, which i loved), then we had pedicures. This was my first pedicure, that's right, I was a pedicure virgin! Now I am hooked! My feet look so much better! Sunday I began the horrible job of painting the kitchen. It is such a tedious job... taping off the ceiling, then cleaning the walls...this after the joy of filling in all the holes and sanding.. Yuck! I only got part of it painted because i was exhausted and hot! I figure I should get it all done by Christmas! Between the two, give me sewing any day!

Football People are Sick!

And not in a good way! Today my 14 year old big teddy bear dude of a son had to scrimmage for football. Now, not only did it get to around 104 today, we had the horrible La Canada fire which has made the air quality extremely poor. The news said we should all stay inside. But the football coach didn't get the memo, I guess. What a nimrod! His elevator obviously stopped at the basement level. So poor Jon slept the day away, probably trying to remember how to breathe. Tina says I should report the coach to the school because the school announced over the loud speaker yesterday that the football team would meet today but only watch films. Needless to say, no films were watched. It was all a ruse to show how tough the team is. Well, Jon is not that tough! Anyway, I am off to make my first smaller version of the sling bag. I just made the pattern today - am looking forward to trying it out.

Great Friends

I am so lucky to have the most thoughtful friends. My birthday was last Saturday and I had the most fun-filled weekend ever! I went out to lunch with my husband and 2 kids. Rob was his usual low key self....his quote of the day was "Happy Birthday, Rob's home." It was his first weekend at college. Then my friend Brenda took me to the movies and to dinner (Greek food - delish). Then on Sunday, Tina picked Mary Ann and me up to take us to a surprise lunch at Border Grill in Santa Monica. It was the best! I was with two of my most favorite people in the world and then we went shopping! Only I have gained some weight since I could fit in a size 2 so it was not as successful as it might have been :( Oh well, I like food, what can I say? If I drank nothing but water (not watermelon lemonade, which is what I had at lunch) and ate nothing but lettuce, I might be able to stay skinny, but I don't think it is in the cards. Not after the dessert we had at Border Grill. It was a white meringue filled with cinnamon chocolate mousse and topped with dark chocolate curls. I took the rest home, needless to say. Which is maybe why I am no longer a size 2.....

Fancy Stores for Skinny People

Yesterday, Karen and her good friend, Mary Ann, joined me for a day at Santa Monica. We started off with brunch at this wonderful Mexican food place called Border Grill. It was yummy. Then we decided to stroll down the Third Street Promenade which is super fun because there are tons of people, street performers and great stores! These are the type of stores which are outside of my norm for shopping... Anthropology, Abercrombie and Fitch.. stores like that... really expensive, but full of neat stuff. The thing that got me was that they seem to cater to the anorexic. The normal size was 2, 4 and maybe some 6's. Heaven forbid someone of my great size even try and find something to try on! There were jeans there that looked like they would only fit thighs with a diameter of 8 inches! I don't think I could get my upper arm into some of them! Don't people in Santa Monica eat! Too bad because they have some great restaurants! I just don't want to live out the rest of my life eating carrots and drinking water! Well, we returned to the Valley where the sun was blazing hot, there's no sight of the ocean let alone any ocean breeze, but at least we can find clothes for normal people in the stores!