To Mohawk Valley Girl (and anyone else who is still around As of today. Jim and Melissa's two young boys are both in school.His grown kids are all here in Merced and seem to be doing fine. Tim and Juan were on top of Mt Palomar the last I heard but are probably back on ground level in Anaheim by now. Elcie and Rochelle are back with me. Rebecca is in Junior college. The older girls are working on decisions - in this economic climate, not simple. Ray (25 years married) has been in and out of hospital far too many times. Now he's in a medical rehab relearning walking and talking. He's lost over 20 pounds, his speech is almost clear (but he fades quickly) and he is back walking with his walker. The last time he was in hospital, he fell when we brought him home and the ambulance came and took him back and them in a few days to rehab which seems to be the answer. I'm hanging in. This morning Elcie and I went with the friend who drives us and his son to see Ray and then for our usual Barnes & Noble visit and a brief stop for milk, etc. at the store. Now they've watching Season 3 of Once Upon a Time" (again) and I'm keeping up with the Giants on the net. That's my exciting life so far. 100 degrees here in Merced. The rest of the blog is still intact and the history of my somewhat scattered life on the sidebar.

Rebecca and Rochelle have signed up at Merced College. How is it possible? Elcie is spending some time with me while she transitions to independent living. I know most of you are on FB now and we've caught back up with each other but the other day I was reminiscing back through the bloc roll and wondering about some of my old friends. I like FB but I miss the blog(s). Ray is doing okay - we putter along. Son Jim moved his family to the Seattle area (his adult kids are still here but he has the two little boys as well). The Army is still trying to figure out what can be done about his injuries. Meanwhile he waits. Tim and Juan are doing great in Anaheim. Today was a banner day for them. The state Supreme Court confirmed one more time that Prop 8 is history. They were married right before it went into effect but still it's reassuring that it no longer exists being unconstitutional and all that. Took Elcie to church on Sunday. It's harder now that I'm not driving and I miss my friends. We've become what is called a Reconciling Congregation (open to all) Eventually my United Methodists will join the other progressives on the one remaining issue (which is ignored by many of us). We have tomatoes again this year and we have the hottest summer I remember. It goes hand in hand with the worst baseball season I remember. How do we go from World Series champs to chumps in the short space of one year? Oh well. Hey, they just scored two runs in the 8th. Now it's only 6-4 and they have a guy on second with one out. I should start paying attention. Much love to any of you who happen to stumble across this.

I think a new friend is coming over to check me out. Hope I still have her if she reads back through this. Hi!!

Another update as much for myself as anyone else. Elcie, who will be 20 next month, is visiting this weekend. Right now, she's busying herself picking dog hair out of the carpet sweeper. Why a dog? He turned up (long story) and just wormed his way into our lives. He's a border collie mix (mostly Border) and a good little guy. We still have a couple of cats living in the yard but they're quite wild. Made one of her favorites for dinner - chicken and dumplings. She's been spending every other weekend here. A little crowded in this tiny house but we manage. Rochelle (now 18) will be here for Elcie's birthday next month -not sure about Rebecca yet. I don't see as much of her. Son Jim is still receiving medical treatment at Ft. Lewis. His wife and their two boys will be moving to the Seattle area next month. I'll miss them, darn it. When I moved here from San Francisco in 1993, I left everyone behind. They all followed, eventually. Now I'm the only one still here except for my oldest granddaughter (Samantha) and her mom (maybe one of her brothers too but I'm not sure). Other than that, things are about the same. Tim & Juan are in Southern California and seem to be doing great. Tim's in college once again. I don't know if I every said my daughter Carol's younger son turned up a couple of years ago. We never thought it would happen but he found us. Great happiness all around and he and his wife have provided me a great-grandson to go with the great-granddaughters. I'll try to update now and then - meantime, I'll see you on FB.

Rebecca, the youngest of the three great-granddaughters, will be 17 tomorrow. Seven years have passed since I first started writing about the girls here. She was such a little thing then. Happy birthday, Halloween girl!!

I Should Find Some New Pictures

So what's new? Not much. Rebecca and Rochelle will be high school seniors in a few weeks. Amazing. Elcie has transitioned from assisted to independent (sort of) living right around the corner from me. She has a cute little apartment, she's close to me and even closer to my friend Dawn if she needs help (or gets bored or lonely which does happen. Right now she's unhappy because her scooter battery died about 4 blocks from home. Fortunate, she was with Dawn and her 12 year old daughter who pushed her the rest of the way. She's back in her manual wheelchair so can at least get over here. Ray is still about the same. We've been married 23 years as of July 1. Doesn't seem like that long. My adoptive mom died last May. She would have been 100 this month. My "baby" brother turned 72 two days ago. Son Tim is living in Anaheim with his husband and two cats. Son Jim is back in the USA from his second (and last) tour of Iraq but is still at Ft Lewis due to some medical issues. Hope to see both of them before too much longer. Les Miserable (the musical) will be in theaters in December and we already are planning. The three of us have seen the live production twice in San Francisco and I know Tim has seen it more than that. I've seen trailers of the film and I'm impressed already. My tomatoes are doing well after a bad year in 2011. Our temps are hovering between the 90's and 100. We expect to pass that today with no real end in sight. And that's my life. Still getting out for coffee at B&N or a neat little downtown shop called Coffee Bandit which reminds me of San Francisco. I hope they succeed. Still political but now primarily on the net or the phone. Walking is becoming more difficult (although no walker just yet) and I tire far more easily than I once did. Other than that I'm okay and really blessed. I have my sight, my hearing (somewhat), and my mind (although some days I do wonder). No major illnesses, not even the flu and no prescription meds. Ray makes up for it so I don't think big Pharm is going out of business anytime soon. I'll be back. If anyone is out there, take care. I was looking back through my old posts over the past couple of days and remembering all my online buddies. I've lost track of some unfortunately (my fault). I'm keeping the blog if for nothing else than to read back over life with the girls.

My life at this moment

Just received a notice that this blog will be deleted soon. Perhaps I can save it somewhere.

Meantime, I'm on FB. Just look for Ann Adams in Merced.

For anyone who is still around here, Rebecca is now 16, Rochelle is 17, and Elcie will turn 19 in March. She's going to City College in Fresno and the other girls will be high school seniors next year.

Elcie spends every other weekend with us and R & R have dinner with us every other Friday. They've all grown very tall.

Ray and I are okay but not enjoying the cold and wet too much.

Elcie

Elcie will be 18 tomorrow. She's doing fine - working on eventual independent living and continuing her education. She's so beautiful.

Happy birthday dear great-granddaughter.

Rochelle a Year Later

She is now 16 - as of yesterday.

I'm obviously not posting much here but I can be found on Facebook.

Happy Birthday

I know Rochelle checks this blog once in a while so

Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday dear Rochelle
Happy Birthday to You.

She's now 15. Amazing.

What's Happening

Hi everybody. Yes, I'm still around but we seem to be keeping up with each other via FaceBook & Twitter.

Chilly here, I think fall has arrived in November and tomorrow will begin winter.

We're doing well for the most part. I'm trying to plan Thanksgiving dinner if I can decide when it will be. Jim is busy with the National Guard and Tim's work schedule is up in the air. Meantime, I have the ingredients ready to go but may have to move the date.

Other than that, not much news. The girls are doing well. Rochelle is living separately from her sisters and quite involved in cross-country running. Has won a medal. I don't hear quite as much from Rebecca (now 14) and Elcie (almost 17) but know they stay busy.

Not that I'm posting much over here but I've reluctantly enabled "verification" and am no longer allowing anonymous comments. I hated to do it but I've had a rash of spam, mostly unprintable and I'm getting tired of deleting. I stopped reading it a week ago so my apologies to any "anonymous" person who posted a legitimate comment.

Take care, Happy Thanksgiving to all in the USA, and I'll try to keep up on FaceBook.

test

misteakmistake

Nice lady just emailed me asking how to "strikeout". I hadn't done it in so long I had to test to make sure.

He's Home!!

Jim, Zachary, Melissa



Back: Jim, Zachary, Me, Juan, Tim
Fron: Melissa Jonathan



Tim and Jonathan

These will be much more clear if you click on them.

Jim finally got home Friday night so on Sunday we all (except for Ray - I brought him home a plate) got together at a local family style restaurant for dinner.

The boys are adorable and they were so good. More of Zach's mac and cheese landed on the floor than in Zach but he's only 18 months old. Jonathan is almost 3 - doesn't seem possible.

Jim's doing okay - still doesn't have any idea how he injured his arm; just that the damage is inoperable, service incurred, and permanent. It won't necessarily keep him out of the Guard but he'll be limited as to lifting, etc.

It's so good to have him home. Hope he stays for a while.

Not much else to report - we stay the same, the weather is pleasant so far, our garden hasn't died. Tim is working part time in a vetinarary clinic (can't remember if I told you that before).

The opera was wonderful - I'm wearing my "Faust" t-shirt in the picture but not sure how well is shows up.

Hope all are well - I'm heading for a nap before cooking dinner.

Take care everyone.

Tim, me, and several friends.



Ray of course. He can't stay in the sun long so we brought him his dinner.

The monkey in the back is wearing a San Francisco Giants uniform with #1 on the back of his shirt. That's the number of catcher and my current hero Benjie Molina and my birthday gift from Tim & Juan. The monkey is sporting a fielder's glove intead of a catcher's mitt but that's okay.

My friends brought me batches of flowers, knickknacks for my shelves, a stuffed animal assortment, a lightweight quilt, and a lovely lavender candle. I may never light it - it's too pretty.

We had a wonderful time. I made a bunch of baked chicken drumsticks which just needed a short time on the bbq, potato salad, deviled eggs, baked beans (from a can with a little cooked bacon) and cole slaw. Took a loaf of my banana bread out of the freezer and cut it in small slices. Did most of the work the day before (with Ray helping) so on Sunday morning all I had to do was the chicken and cupcakes (see next paragraph).

Dawn was in charge of the grill. We did hamburgers, hot dogs, the baked chicken, and boneless country ribs. We'd started off planning a small party for Dawn and her family, Ray and me. It expanded rapidly and we counted at least 20 and I think we had a couple of drop-ins (kids) I've forgotten. I kept thinking of people I didn't want to leave out so we ended up with my extended family, Dawn's extended family (plus the extra kids), and my friends John (my computer savior), his wife, Michelle, David (my coffee drinking buddy), and card playing friend Reno as well. Wish Jim could have been here but maybe we can do the whole thing again for Memorial Day. He should be home long before then. Or maybe we'll throw a party before then in his honor. I'm usually flexible.

Oh, and birthday cake naturally. Dawn baked a chocolate cake and I made a small batch of vanilla cupcakes for anyone who didn't do chocolate. (It boggles my mind that there is anyone who doesn't do chocolate but that's okay you know who, I love you anyhow.) I was joking to some on-line friends that if they heard about a fire in Merced, CA it would be the result of me trying to blow out 71 candles at once. We settled for 9 on the cake.

Does anyone except me frost cupcakes by dipping them into the frosting? Ray had never seen it done before. Color me lazy but it works. When I try to frost them the "right" way, they end up a mess.

It was a little warm, but otherwise a wonderful day. The kids played in the small pool, the rest of us pigged out. Other than the cooking I'd already done, I didn't have to lift a finger, even to take the pictures. I handed Rochelle the camera. I think the only person she missed was David who arrived after Rochelle had put the camera away. My fault; I forgot to get the camera back out. I didn't get all the pictures on the blog. A few turned out a little dark, even with some editing on my part. It's enough of a cross section though so you can get the idea.

Leave it to me to write nothing since Christmas and then cover you up with words.

Take care, all you wonderful folks.

More Birthday BBQ

Dawn, Destiny, & Friend




Rochelle - that is not a blacked out tooth, it's her hair hanging down her face (I don't know why).




Juan, Reno (both blending into fence), Tim, & I (with young friend). Tim and I are wearing matching La Boheme shirts from our afternoon at the Fresno Grand Opera. No, we didn't consult ahead of time.



Rochelle once again. Why does she cover up those beautiful eyes?

Birthday BBQ

Rebecca, John, and Michelle's back (sorry Michelle)





16 year old Elcie in her fancy scooter




The guest of honor stuffing her face.

The one below is me, Tim, and friends. For some reason, silly blogger isn't letting me write below the picture this time.

Can you Believe an Update?

Elcie, Rochelle, Rebecca, & Destiny



Rebecca @13-1/2



Rochelle @ 14

These pics were taken the day before Easter when the girls came over to help Destiny and her younger friend color eggs. I have more from yesterday's picnic which I'll add in a separate post.

So, what's new from me? We're still here, Ray stays about the same although the trips to the hospital are not as frequent. He putters about in the yard now that spring has arrived with a vengeance. Our temps yesterday and today have hit 90 (F).

We're planting flowers and veggies. I have tomatoes, leeks, bell pepper (capsicum), strawberries, and one lonesome okra. It was my experience when I lived in Arkansas that okra would overwhelm everything except the zucchini so I'm starting slowly. I don't want more okra than I can possibly give away. I'm not going to let a zucchini anywhere near this yard. We have some flowers already planted and two packages of zinnias yet to be put in the ground next week. We didn't have a lot of luck last year with our flowers but zinnias are sturdy and I have hopes. They're my favorite flower.

Friend Janet and I took the girls to see the new Monsters/Aliens film last week. We all enjoyed it. I usually wait for videos but with 3D, large screen made more sense.

Jim is safely home from Iraq but somehow injured his right arm while he was there (non-combat - it's a mystery). They think he may have permanent nerve damage. They can do something for the pain but he may lose partial use of the arm (heavy lifting, etc.) We'd expected him home a couple of weeks ago but they're keeping him at Ft. Dix, NJ and sending him back and forth to Walter Reed Army Hospital to consult with the experts. At least he's safe and we connect by phone. I know Melissa is anxious to have him home as am I.

Tim is employed at a veterinary clinic in Fresno as a receptionist. He's good with people and is fond of animals so it should be a good fit. Part time for now but that may change. Considering the unemployment in this part of CA hovers around 20%, any work is better than none. His hours are flexible so he can keep up with his classes.

Our Easter dinner was just the two of us but the girls showed up the next day to help us with the leftovers (after the movies). I did ham, sweet potatoes, potato salad, cole slaw, and a key lime pie (my first attempt).

Elcie will be having surgery later this week so will appreciate your thoughts. She's a trouper about it but shame she'll be in casts and miss much of the lovely spring weather. Each of her prior surgeries have helped her and trust this one will as well.

Let's see, what else? I went for coffee with friend David this morning at a cafe which is part of one of our local market/delis. I picked up one order each of chile rellenos and chile verde and an order of ceviche for dinner tonight. After all the cooking Dawn and I did for the bbq yesterday (see other post), I didn't feel much like cooking today.

Oh, and we've discovered long lost family. Tim went on a Facebook search and found a cousin. It snowballed from there and the other day I connected not only with my two nieces by marriage (to Tim and Jim's dad) but with my favorite in-law who I've always thought of as a sister. We're all so excited. Jim and Tim are thinking about a trip to Memphis later to connect with all of them and meantime there's the telephone, email, and Facebook.

When I lived in Arkansas (hi Diane, Karen, etc), my Aunt (by marriage), my sil, and I used to call ourselves the "outlaws". My beloved Aunt Clarice died several years ago but sil and I are still going strong. I think she and I are close to the same age - she might be 6 months older but I still picture her as young and so beautiful. We were both still in our mid 30's when I saw her last. Her oldest son and my daughter Carol were the same age.

Next weekend I head for Fresno and the opera. They're doing Gounod's "Faust" with soloists from the New York Metropolitan Opera. I have a good video but there's nothing like seeing it live especially with having a family member (Juan) in the chorus. I'm so looking forward to it. I think I may have mentioned seeing "La Boheme" last winter. In the pictures on my bbq/birthday post, I'm wearing the La Boheme t-shirt.

I'll be back with the other pictures shortly. Hope all of you are doing well. I'm sorry about my vanishing act but I'm back (sort of). Even if I don't post much here, I can be found hanging out at FaceBook and Twitter.

Take care everyone.

Merry Christmas

Or whatever greeting of the season you prefer.

Here's a link to a card my local buddy Janet sent to me. It's adorable.

Merry Christmas

All is well here. Ray chugs along and so do I. I'll be cooking a simple Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve for Tim and his partner who will be coming in from Fresno. As far as I know, the girls will be joining us for dessert, eggnog (and presents), and then spend Christmas Day with their honorary grandparents down the road. Extended families can become rather confusing but they'll have a good Christmas however it works out. Hard to believe they're all teens.

We're having long overdue rain off and on this week along with what, for us, is cold weather. We've hit freezing a couple of nights. I shouldn't complain though when I look at what most of this country and Canada are dealing with. My friends in Australia should be enjoying summer.

Warning - Once again I'm assaulting your ears with classical music for Christmas.



Have a wonderful holiday and, if I don't get back before then, a blessed New Year.

Fisher House

My friend Chris at Rude Cactus is donating $0.50 for each comment he receives in the next 24 hours (probably 21 hours by the time I post this at around 8:00 PST) to Fisher House.

Fisher House seems to be similar to Ronald McDonald houses here and provides free or low cost housing to families of veterans or troops receiving treatment at military hospitals.

So, if you have time, drop in and say hi to Chris.

I'll try to get back with some kind of Christmas update - meantime hope you all are enjoying the season.

Way Overdue Update

Yes, I'm still alive.

Where to start?

Most of the hot summer is behind us but we're still having air quality problems. Ray's been in and out of the hospital a few times - he's home right now.

Jim's so called desk job in Iraq has turned into flying here and there. I heard from him yesterday - he spent last week in Baghdad. He says he's staying very busy.

Tim and I are hanging out whenever we can. His friend in Fresno is in the chorus of the Fresno Grand Opera so we went yesterday to see him (and the rest of the cast of course) in La Boheme. I took the train down (Tim was already there) and we all had breakfast. Then we saw the opera which was wonderful. I was so surprised to find that kind of quality in the middle of the farming area. They do two major productions a year and I'm already planning on Faust next June. They import the leading singers; all of whom are young, extremely talented and on their way up.

We were planning to attend a pizza party for the cast later but decided on a quiet dinner instead. I still met some of the cast in the parking lot and that was enough.

Tim may move to Fresno next year. He's been busy with college here but his credits will transfer to either the Junior College or Fresno State so no problem. And the job market may be a little better in the larger city. It's awful here. Businesses are closing down almost every day, houses are either standing half build or empty. We made the New York and London Times as one of the most depressed cities in the country. I can think of better ways to be famous. Of course it's bad everywhere.

And, now that the court hearing has been held, I can say that the girls are back in town and living with their dad - right around the corner. I see quite a bit of them - they show up to raid the refrigerator and I've tried to have them over for dinner most weekends. It's great to have them close.

I've been somewhat involved in local politics which is nothing new. I haven' t been able to do much but I've helped with phone banks. I just can't seem to walk or even stand for any length of time without paying dearly. We did get to one rally at the University and I'll do a little more this week.

Our tomatoes are still producing. For some reason they turned from plants into very tall bushes. Strange. We had a few bell peppers too.

Oh, and my kitty died last month. She'd been slowing down a lot so it didn't come a shock but still we were sad. Spunky had been part of our family for around 10 years or so. Now I have a visiting cat. He lives in the front house and used to visit us often. Then I didn't see him for months. He turned up a couple of weeks ago so I went and bought a small sack of cat food. He comes in each morning for a snack and water, visits for about an hour, and then leaves. Sometimes he repeats in the afternoon. He's a beautiful, neutered male, mostly Siamese and mostly while with streaks of light orange on his ears and tail. Great cat - much more affectionate than most Siamese I've know. Dawn's daughter named him Sally when he first started turning up months ago. We explained Sally was a boy but the name stuck. It can always be short for Salvatore.

I should go back and read from I wrote in the last post - I may be repeating.

I've been doing some baking - experimenting with different kinds of bread. We decided we like the banana the best and it's certainly the most economical. I can get day old bananas at half price and friend Janet and I picked up large sacks of walnuts and pecans at Costco.

I'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year. My friend, the computer geek and his wife, will be here, possibly Tim and his friend later in the day, and possibly the girls with their dad. As usual, I'll cook for an army. Melissa (Jim's wife) and the kids are always invited of course.

Baby Zachary is walking and Jonathan is talking a blue streak. They're adorable.

I think that's about it from me for now.

Take care everyone. It's cooler now so maybe I can start spending a little more time at the computer. I've missed keeping up with all of you but it's been almost impossible.