A Week Well Spent?

I'm halfway through my "stay-cation" and figured it's time to evaluate. My original intention (ha, ha) was to tackle house projects: cleaning cupboards, sorting through paperwork - you know the kind of stuff. But has that happened? Oh, no. I've nearly finished a baby afghan, read some books, took naps. The house looks pretty much the same. I have come to the bottom of my seemingly endless book stash, which means a fresh start when I'm back to work. I am feeling better, so that says a lot.

But my major project of this week has been genealogy. The computer keeps beckoning, and I've found myself sneaking away while everyone else watches tv to do "just a little more." I found some organizing tips online, and slowly, but surely, things are taking shape. Ancestry.com is great, but it is so tempting to just follow the "leaves" without digging any deeper. My challenge has been finding ways to do the digging with any level of success.

I found that I wasn't getting any sense of what the lives of these people were like - no sense of getting to know them at all. Not being sure how to begin, I pulled out Shirley Miller's book. It's unbelievable how much she was able to accomplish. She told me once that she stopped using the Internet - too much junk came into her inbox to make it worthwhile - so it was all done with slogging.  I decided to take her book and make sure all of the info was included in the Ancestry files - her work might be helpful to others out there, and it's nice knowing it is available to people who might be able to use it. It's been enlightening for me, and I'm starting to get a sense of the family story - more so than by just following the "leaves." The book is nearly empty now, and I feel like I have a better start. I'm also getting the bug to go see some of these places. Who knows - there may be a field trip in the offing!

Signs of Spring

Woke to another gloomy morning, but it matters not, because it definitely feels like spring. It's hard to say why things feel different from last week, but they do. We're spending more time outdoors. The yard is aswarm with hummers and house finches. The apple blossoms are gone, replaced with little green apples. The patio looks more inviting all the time.

Spring is not my favorite season - fall and winter are much more appealing to me. I never get tired of rainy days and I love watching the clouds over the hillsides on my drive to work. Maybe what I'm enjoying now is the release of energy - out of the house and into the world at large. Primarily, kid energy. The current MO is to have dinner pretty early and to send the kids outdoors to play basketball, ride scooters, whatever they can do to burn off some of that energy. There's nothing worth their watching on tv, so why not keep them out in the fresh air as long as possible. Even we grownups are more active in the evening. A little yard work, tinkering on the Sprite, lots of little stuff going on.

I'll bet this all sounds very familiar to Mom, I just didn't appreciate it like I am this year. So here's to spring, longer daylight hours and lots of outdoor time.

Nature Morning

When we woke up yesterday, it felt like spring. No one needed to stay indoors for the day, so we searched out an adventure. Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary is in Modjeska Canyon, about 30 minutes from us. We hadn't been there in fifteen years or more, but we remembered it as a quiet outdoor place to be. The kids were willing, so off we went.

Fifteen years has brought some changes to the sanctuary. It is overseen by Cal State Fullerton and is a popular spot for school visits, etc. The site was originally the vacation home of a Los Angeles banker (named Tucker, obviously), but not much remains of the original house - the porch and the well are all that remain. The porch has been maintained as a "bird porch" with benches on the porch and a variety of feeders hanging in the trees outside it. At certain times of the year, the feeders are overrun with hummingbirds, but yesterday there were hummers, jays and a grosbeak to watch. Since I was last there, paths and bird-watching shelters have been added. The kids had a great time watching squirrels and poking around near the koi pond.

There was also a 75-year old desert tortoise and a feral cat or two. And of course there was a small museum/gift shop. The gift shop was very popular. We came home with a "tortoise egg," a ceramic owl, a hand puppet and a hummingbird patio clock (on the $5 clearance table). James made a new friend.

We started on a ranger walk, but it was getting so close to lunch time that we gave it up. Lunch at Fuddrucker's on the way home made a perfect end to the morning.

Nothing too exciting, but we were reminded that we spend a little too much time at home "getting things done." We all came home tired, but kind of refreshed. I can see going out again in the early morning just to spend some time on the bird porch with a cup of coffee. Maybe you and I can go sometime when you're down, Mom.

Goodbye to an Era

Any one in my family will tell you that I do not care about cars. When it's time to buy a new one, I send Jim out and say "Bring back whatever you want. I don't care." And I don't. Rosanne cares much more than I do. Christian and Mackenzie care more than I do.

Fifteen years ago she and Matt went out with Jim (at least I think they went) and they came home with a white Explorer. To me, it drove like a truck. It never seemed all that comfortable. It had a lot of space for loading stuff, and boy did we pack it in sometimes. The back seat used to seem roomy, but has felt more cramped in the last couple of years.

Well last week it was time to say goodbye, and I found out I cared. There were a lot of memories in that car - it was part of our family for a long time. I hope its next life is as much fun and that it is as useful to another family as it has been for us.

So, goodbye, dear friend.

Still Thinking

The atmosphere around here is definitely different - my "interior" atmosphere, that is. We still deal with the day-to-day stuff with the kids and everyone's hectic schedule atmosphere. I'm tired. It's time for a change. I won't go into lots of detail here. I'm fine, but I'm ready to make some changes - and I hope they are major. For me it will mean more reading, more knitting, less tv, and less cooking! And fewer library shifts. I know you are all my cheerleaders, and we are moving toward easier times here. Enough said for now.

As to my latest book (The Fate of Mercy Alban - Wendy Webb), I was hoping to be able to recommend a rousing ghost story. But it wasn't strictly a ghost story, and it was "pretty good," not great. However, it was a good read, not a waste of time. I got Mike's book recommendation from Goodreads the other day - I hope to see more.

Peter Robinson

I've just finished the latest book in Peter Robinson's series with Inspector Banks, Watching the Dark. For those of you who haven't read his books, I highly recommend you give them a try. The characters are so well developed, and if you read from the beginning of the series forward, you learn to know his detective very well. My favorite book series are those in which I find people I would really like to know. So try them.

This poor blog is gathering dust, I know. I've been doing a lot of thinking about it - my good intentions are getting me nowhere. It kind of feels like my life has become such a routine that there isn't much to share over and above what goes into our checking in letters. But the original intent of the blog was not to share news. My hope was to start conversations, which has happened a few times. I really miss our times of being together, so I plan to muster my ideas and get this working again.

Love you all.

Book Review: Step-Ball-Change

This book was so much fun. Refreshing story involving a stable married couple weathering all the storms that come from being part of an active, slightly crazy family. The lesson in this book - embrace the things that make you happy.