55. Where's Waldo?

According to our fabulous faux leather dictionary from the Friends of the Library book store the word proctor means b. a person who supervises students during an examination.  That's what we do for extra money.  We stay with old friends from school, (Bob and Bruce have been best friends since they were eight) and we all work the Bar Exam, as well as several others.  We always have such a good time.  It gives us extra money, gets us out of the house and we get to spend time with several of our good friends.

There are many reasons why I love my dear, sweet (most of the time), spoiled rotten husband.  One of the most important reasons is that I would miss so much in life if he weren't there to pay attention and show me things.  They are not always huge things, but they are usually things that make life so much more fun and interesting.  Working the exams are very tiring and tedious, especially the older we get.  We're out of the daily habit of working for one thing, but standing and walking for ten or twelve hours on concrete reminds you of how many creaky old bones you have.

The last session of the third day seems to be the longest of all when working these and we are all counting the minutes until the announcer calls time and everyone in the room including us cheers and claps.  Well, about 30 minutes into that last session Bob came up to me and whispered, "Where's Waldo?"  Immediately I started scanning the sea of 1,359 candidates in search of "Waldo."  Could it really be that we have him in our midst?  Naturally and amazingly "Waldo" is sitting almost in the center of the huge auditorium and in Bob's section!  I couldn't believe my eyes! There sitting and quietly taking this  hugely stressful exam was a tall, thin young man dressed exactly like "Waldo" from the very popular "Where's Waldo" books by the British author, Martin Hanford.

http://waldo.wikia.com/wiki/Waldo_Wiki

Soon the whispered game was passed to all the proctors and  the staff from the State Board of the Bar.  Even those who had never heard of the books (I can't imagine never hearing about them) had to admit it was a great

way to end the day.  The young man will do well in life

because of his self confidence and sense of humor. Those around him will prosper, as well.  I can assure you my life has been far richer because my bunk mate

pays attention.  So, be on the look-out, you never know
when YOU might just happen to get to play "Where's Waldo!"

                                                         rmema@aol.com

54. A Grand Time Was Had by All

Things are fairly buzzing in the canyon.  We are always so happy when we have company, especially now having our new beautiful dining room and laundry room...Oh, my goodness...ALL of the improvements make entertaining just a breeze!  

Our daughter, Trisha, and our grandson, Robby, are here for three weeks from far away Switzerland.  Sometimes it feels farther away than other times, but it is a twelve hour flight with layovers no matter how you plan your trip. Couple that with  the fact that they have taken most of the fun out of air travel.  Twenty dollars for this, forty-five dollars for that and seven dollars for a deli sandwich on board.  Good grief!  Please!  Just raise the fare a hundred dollars and give me the rest.  They would make more money and make us feel like we are on a real vacation.  I never have that much money in my wallet...EVER!  It also seems that British Airways looses Trisha's baggage.  One piece had to be delivered to our house here in Santa Maria, three days later.  She has learned to plan a well packed carry-on, I can assure you!

I have given travel and all the add-on's quite a bit of thought over the last few days and a recent article in a magazine got my full attention while I waited my turn to have my teeth cleaned.  The part that recommended sending your clothes to your destination by UPS in advance sent me straight to my feet!  What on earth!  To add to the madness the sweet dental assistant who has an eight month old daughter said she was sending her things UPS to Boston for their up coming vacation.  I was astonished! I've decided that on my next trip I'm going to dress in layers with all clothing items color coordinated.  They have such cute stretch pants in all lengths and lots of gals wear layered tees and tanks.  I won't sink to wearing thong underwear,(ladies my age can remember an item that makes thong underwear unthinkable) but I think I could handle 3 pair of the silky ones.  You watch, I'm serious!  I'll also roll a couple of days worth of light weight clothes in my carry on which will look like a lady's large purse.  I have small toiletry kit that Bob's cousin, Carolyn, gave me that she got when she flew first class.  It is full of anything you could ever need.  Add my prescription caddy and there you have it!  I'm not sure what Bob will do, but he had better have his own plan or cough up his own money.

The visit with her grandfather was very nice and he was really happy to see both grandchildren and great-grandsons, (Bud and Preston joined us.)  My dad is failing and doesn't come to barbecue's even though my sister's house is literally across the street.  That hurts your heart.  However, he seems happy enough and sleeps more and more.  I assume that is a defense mechanism and I'm sure that I would be the same were I ninety two.  Bob sincerely asks for forgiveness for all his sins and to be pulled up (or down) before he has to suffer a similar fate.  It is really good that we don't know our future, isn't it.

This coming weekend we are going to a fiftieth wedding anniversary party.  Bob has known B'Ann for some fifty five years, in fact as I recall, he dated her a few times.  We reconnected with her purely by accident about thirty years ago.  It turned out that they left southern California and settled here on the central coast, too.  Trisha and their daughter, Betsy were pals in school, so it will be a nice day for all of us.  Seeing everyone and their children and probably their children will be a great pleasure.  I'm so pleased that it is this weekend and that Trisha's plans allowed for her and Robby to join us.  A big thank you to the couple that couldn't come so that our extra house guests could fill the newly vacant spaces!  It will be held at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, CA.  If you are not familiar with the Madonna Inn, it is a fabulous tribute to the opulent art of tacky.  Upon one's first visit it is tradition that all females must enter the down stairs men's bathroom.  The urinal is a rock faced waterfall.  Fabulous fun!

www.madonnainn.com

Their children have come up with a great idea, as well.  Everyone always says "no gifts."  That is great, but most people feel like they want to do a little something.  Best Buy has a plan called the "pitch in card."  The account is set up so all you have to do is call any Best Buy store or go on line, find the account and put in any amount you want.  The money is placed on a card to be used at the store.  A greeting card with all the contributors with out the amount given is created to accompany the gift card.  I think that is a FABULOUS idea.  Even if you only can afford five dollars, you can still send a little something and they don't end up with a pile of well meant gifts they don't need.  Believe me, need, as such, went out the window a long time ago.  Most of us old folks have given up shopping a long time ago.  Our cottage has all the nick-knacks needed, thank you very much.  I'm sure this idea isn't just at Best Buy.  I'll bet with the internet such as it is, you could go to any store and create the same thing.  Just food for thought for your next big gift giving occasion.

Hmm...I'll bet that Target will have just the large lady's purse/slash bag that I'm looking for.  I'll check while I'm in town today.  Now's the time to find coordinated tee's and tank's too.  You'll recognize me at the airport.  I'll be the little red head who looks like a little dumpling!  Bob will probably be following at a discrete  distance behind me carrying his suitcase and money.

53. The Ability to be so Repentant!

Our little Maggie is such a good dog, if only we could break this one bad habit.  I wasn't sure if we should punish her AGAIN for this behavior or what.  She is so easily repentant it just makes you laugh.  For what ever reason tearing up napkins, Kleenex or paper towels gives her such pleasure.  She doesn't eat them, just shreds them.  If we catch her is the act, she makes a bee line to under the coffee table in the living room, mainly because she thinks we can't reach her quickly and it gives her one more second to finish the job.  It makes me wonder what goes through her little brain.  Is she like a second grade cheater?  Does she look around and think, "Now's my chance?"  Or does she just stroll by the trash cans and think, "Hmm, wonder if there are any fresh Kleenex in there."  Or is it just an image or two...trash can...Kleenex...like the dog in the movie "UP"..."Squirrel!"

One of our acquaintances said that he tied the trash can to his dog's collar and let it drag the can around for a couple of days.  He swears that it worked.  I know my dad had a farm dog that killed a chicken and he tied the dead chicken to the dog's collar for a week and that cured that dog.  The stink alone would be the deterrent in that instance.  I guess we will just fuss at her and be happy that it isn't the couch!

We leave for Los Angeles for a few days as our daughter, Trisha, and our grandson, Robby, arrive this evening from Switzerland for their vacation.  We will stay at my sister's house a couple of nights so they can visit with my dad.  He is doing really well, but one never knows. Things can turn on a dime, take Bob's knee for example, the new knee cap has come partially undone.  He has no pain and the swelling is reducing with good range of motion, so we all decided to let a sleeping dog lie.  It's just a worry, but in the grand scheme of things it's small potatoes so we are surfing the wave and hoping for a miraculous healing!  If I call and he doesn't call right back I go looking for him to make sure he isn't in a heap in a ditch, but then I did that before the knee surgeries.  No reason to change now.

52. Note to Self: Always Label!

The early morning fog and barometric pressure gives me a headache.  I can feel it before I open my eyes.  Bob on the other hand welcomes the coolness.  He is out of bed and off to weed whack.  Our friend, Susan, does most of their weed abatement and last week she was sporting a new light weight hard hat with noise canceling ear phones and a heavy mesh face shield.  Bob was drooling with envy.  By the time I made it to the rental agency that was having the sale, they had one left.  Woo Hoo!  He is a happy man and the meadow needs to beware, no weed is safe now!  He will be looking for errant weeds to whack.

Our neighbors moved out last week and Pat, our land lady, said we could have anything left that we wanted.  Well, today I'm gathering all the large rocks that aren't in concrete and I have my eye on several lemons on the prolific tree by the driveway.  I'm going to squeeze and zest them and freeze the juice and zest in ice cube trays.  Then the cubes can be transferred to labeled (emphasis labeled) freezer bags for future use.

One time when I was young, (maybe twenty five) several of my relatives were visiting from Iowa and they wanted to see our new home.  This sort of thing always made me just a little bit nervous, not having had much experience in entertaining.  The living room was full and the weather was warm so I decided I would make a couple of pitchers of lemonade.  I had a bag full of cubes from my mother-in-law, Billie, in the freezer.  I pulled them out and poured some hot water over them to thaw the frozen cubes.  Bob was helping me and noticed a rather panicked look on my face.  "What's wrong, Honey?"  "Oh, please no!"  I replied! " They aren't lemon juice!  It's chicken broth!"  Ice water had to suffice and I was able to keep it together until they left before I dissolved into tears.  So a word to the wise, label, baby, label! 

About three weeks ago I splurged and bought one of those Food Saver devices.  It is the sort of thing that vacuum packs food so ice crystals don't form inside the bag.  I got tired of loose bags and saran wrappings and things in all shapes and sizes inhabiting my freezers.  My friend, Dort, has had one for years and loves it.  Well, I'm here to tell you that it is wonderful!  I even bought a couple of plastic containers for lunch meat and cheese.  Someone we know and love refuses to close the plastic zip lock bag when he sneaks a piece.  When confronted he looks at me like I have lobsters crawling out my ears and swears it wasn't him and this is the first time he has heard of the need to close it anyway.  We will see how long it takes him to learn how to seal this!  My guess is that he will stop taking pieces rather than learn. My pleasure may be two-fold.

Well, I'm off to scavenge rocks and pick lemons.  Ahh, it's a good day in the canyon!

51. Spoons Anyone?

Today we're starting the count down until Trisha and Robby arrive from Switzerland for their three week vacation.  We can hardly wait!  Things are coming together in the master bedroom.  Pat is here painting her heart out.  Her daughter and family are here from Denmark for six weeks, too.  She also has the heartache of a child so far away.  She has perhaps a little bit of a different attitude about the separation as she left her home in Europe to marry a man from the United States.  

Trisha was recently  recruited for a position at a University in Bern.  She will still teach English as a second language, but with less hours and much more money, not to mention all the benefits.  We are, of course, so proud of her and want nothing but the best for her, however, there is always the thought of her being so successful that she decides to stay there.  If she does come home, this will be a big plus on her resume.  They sought her out which is something else to be proud of.  It would be hard to pass up fourteen weeks (that's right fourteen weeks) vacation a year with all paid holidays.  What ever her decision we will make the best of it.  I finally sent in our passport renewal.  I wasn't going to just to be stubborn, but they go up thirty five dollars the first of July.  I'm good at cutting my nose off to spite myself, but I can be dissuaded, especially by money.

We had children when we were very young partly thinking that when they were eighteen they would be out on their own like we were.  We could then be free to do as we pleased.  Oh, the cruel tricks fate plays on you.  My naivety has gotten me in more trouble than one can imagine.  They never stop needing you even if they don't listen to a thing you say.  You can't make them do anything.  All you can do is stand by at the ready to pick up the pieces and remember not to say "I told you so."  Not giving a lecture is the hardest part of being a parent.  Well, that may be an exaggeration, but it is definitely in the top ten.  When the kids were small Bob's fraternal grandmother told me once when I was particularly frazzled with motherhood that, "They are stepping on your toes now, soon they will be stepping on your heart."  Oh brother, what an understatement! 

Parenthood is the hardest, most rewarding job you will ever undertake, bar none.  When the last one crossed the stage to get the diploma, Bob and I both screamed "Free at last, free at last!  Praise God All Mighty, free at last!"  Well, we all know that's a joke.  It's the same book just a new chapter.  Just another plateau on Fool's Hill.  No matter what, we have never regretted having children or having them when we were young.  The experience has made us well rounded.  The difficult part isn't  having  them, it's the letting go of them that is hard.  We love Italy and the Italians.  They can be so succinct.  My favorite Italian quote is "When children are babies they are so sweet you could eat them with a spoon,  when they are sixteen you wish so heartily that you had!"  My sentiment exactly!

50. Small Town America

What a  wonderful  Fourth of July!  We  cleaned up after  the jam  episode  and  decided  it was the  perfect

opportunity to take a drive.  Bud and Preston were heading  for a BBQ at Bud's old  high  school  chum Jay's

house.  So we were free as birds on the wing.  We didn't take time to try to Google the surrounding venues, we just took off.  Things usually work out for us, we tend to do things by the seat of our pants anyway.  No expectations and no disappointments.  Arroyo Grande isn't far and they have a charming park with a swinging bridge over a running creek.  They usually have an art show there in conjunction with the Art Association, Village Association and the local farmer's market.  No luck, the park was empty of venders, but we noticed several folks on the sidewalk carrying lawn chairs.  With the thought that there was something going on, we followed them to a little park on the other side of the creek where we found a band concert just beginning.  What luck!

                                                                                    

We didn't have lawn chairs with us, but everyone else came  prepared so that left the picnic table to the few of us who just happened by.  Maggie settled in under the table in the shade and Bob and I purchased a baseball cap and a visor from a vendor and all was well.  We enjoyed John Philip Sousa and other classics accompanied by the obligatory grilled hot dogs, the perfect afternoon in celebration of our Independence Day!  The conductor was our old pal, Gary Thompson.  He was the band and choir director for one of the local junior high schools and after retirement has conducted the city band.  It is, I'm sure a thankless job, but it is in his blood and they seemed to be having a great time.  As usual, we didn't win any of the door prizes, but what the heck, our house is full anyway and all the profits go to a good cause.  We took the long way home humming Yankee Doodle glad to be alive in such a great country.  All bad news will never convince me of anything different.  Maybe I'm just a Pollyanna, but I believe we are still a great nation and we will overcome all the divisiveness.  It is wonderful to be a part of small town America no matter what it's size!  

49. We Be Jammin'!

Five glass jars, big and small,
Apricot jam fills them all!

Bob and I just finished making the apricot jam to celebrate the Fourth of July.  Wouldn't that be a great annual thing to do?  It  could represent the full circle our nation has come in what is really important.  During war time people planted Victory Gardens so the farmers could feed the military, during the depression people planted gardens to help stave off starvation.  Europeans have never stopped tending small city garden plots which dot even downtown Bern, Switzerland.  Besides all of the patriotic reasons to go back to our roots and really take care of our selves, fresh homemade food is really good for your body.  It has been manipulated by only you in your own clean kitchen where you know you haven't added anything that you can't pronounce!  What could be better?

Homemade Apricot Jam                                                                                         
5 cups finely chopped apricots
(Bob used the slap chopper)                                                                                 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
7 (I know, I know) cups sugar
1 box of Sure-jell pectin

Boil your jars and lids and keep them in the pot with the water until you are ready for them.
Measure your ingredients exactly or it won't set.
Put fruit and juice in 6 quart pan and add pectin.
Stirring, bring to a boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred)on high heat.
Stir in sugar quickly.  Return to a full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and skim off any foam. You can add 1/2 tsp of butter with the sugar to reduce the foam.
Ladle quickly into hot jars that have been placed on a kitchen towel.  (This keeps them from
possibly cracking-never had it happen, but who knows)
Fill jars to within 1/8 inch of the rim of the jar and then wipe the rim with a damp cloth.  At this
point you could cover them with melted paraffin or you lids.  The recipe calls to set them in a
water bath but in all my years of making jam, I have never done that with jam.  Now, green beans,
that's another story.

This is high in points but once in a while on a toasted English muffin WITH BUTTER and this
marvelous jam, a cup of coffee and...heavy sigh...slowly tasting each and every morsel!

Even as much I as I tout what Weight Watcher's has done for me, it is the meetings and the camaraderie, plus my having to pay someone to weigh me that works.  It's not their food that you can buy.  I also have a real hang up about eating whole foods.  I don't buy non-fat this and sugar free that.  My motto is buy from the perimeter of the store then you won't get in trouble.  Think about it, what is on the perimeter?  Fruit, vegetables, milk products, (especially plain YOGURT! a perfect food) meats, eggs...get the drift?  When my budget allows I buy organic products.  That's one reason that I love Trader Joe's.  Eat good for you and you can eat more.  There are no chips and soda hiding in amongst the radishes, radishes keep better company.

Speaking of radishes, I have discovered them on sandwiches.  Now, you may not consider this a sandwich, but boy do I love this mile-high meal!  Take a fabulous sandwich roll, the sky's the limit, slather it with creamed horseradish (0) (mayonnaise (1 for 1 teaspoon) ( if you like but who can stop at a teaspoon?), one sliced hard boiled egg (2), sliced radishes, sliced cucumbers (my passion are the little Persian cukes from TJ's, soooo crisp) sliced tomatoes as many sliced onions as I can cram in and shredded romaine lettuce (all the veggies (0) .  Top that with a little garlic salt and then your favorite dressing.  Some days I use a sweet poppy seed other days I like Newman's Balsamic vinaigrette (1 for 2 T.)  Mash that sucker down and wrap in a paper towel and mange.  You can have whatever bread or roll you want because the only other thing you have to count as points is the egg (2) and the dressing (1-3).  Lemon olive oil is also killer on it.  On weight watchers this is a way to get your daily healthy oil.  That's 2 teaspoons a day.  Voila!  It takes a while to finish this monster and you really feel like you have had a meal and only 5 or so points.  Even the fanciest roll is about 3 points.  I toast the roll in the toaster oven but I don't butter it.  I only use butter and cheese when I can actually taste it, otherwise it squanders 3 or more points.  I intend to taste my points, each and every one of them.

Now I have to go water my little Victory Garden.  Four hardy tomato plants and one grand basil are the two plants no summer should be with out.  Rubbing tomato leaves between my finger and thumb takes me back to my childhood in Iowa.  You pick a tomato and rub it on your jeans to get the surface dust off, give it a lick so the salt will stick and eat it like an apple.  Trust me, it doesn't get better than that unless you can close you eyes and see a field of corn stretching out before you.

48. John Philip Sousa and Apricot Jam

It's the Fourth of July again.  Where does the time go?  We don't usually do much on the 4th.  When the kids were young we made a big deal of it with the BBQ and a trip to the fireworks, but not so much now.  A quiet dinner watching the fireworks and the Boston Pops suits us just fine.  We remember with great fondness though, the band concerts in the park that we used to go to with our friends Jack and Joan.  We would take a picnic dinner and pack up all the kids and dogs and blankets for all and head for the band shell at Ganesha Park in Pomona, California, our old stomping grounds.  We didn't wait for the 4th though, they had weekly free concerts with the city band playing their hearts out.  The John Philip Sousa marches still give me chills.  The kids and dogs would roll around and giggle while we grown-ups (all of 25) lounged on the blankets and enjoyed each others company with small talk.  Those are the times that feed your soul.  Joanie is gone now and that is still hard to believe.

We went to town late this afternoon and mailed off another order of kitchen towels then headed for Applebee's for an early dinner.  That is something we don't seem to do much of, lunch in town is more our speed.  But it seemed like a day to celebrate, not anything special, just glad to be alive and able to go out once in a while.  Applebee's has several Weight Watcher's dinners on the menu.  They are highlighted with a blue band and the point number.  I tried their new Paradise Chicken Salad.  I usually have their French Onion Soup, which I LOVE and it is only 290 calories and very filling for me.  Bob always has a half sandwich and French Onion Soup.  He was shocked when I  actually branched out and had the salad.  It had a nice serving of blackened chicken, pineapple, mandarin oranges, fresh green apple chunks, fancy greens and a great spicy balsamic vinaigrette.  All for only 6 points.  It could have used a little more pineapple and mandarins but I was happy with the very generous serving of chicken.  Give it a try sometime.

Weight Watchers has been such a good plan for me.  I'm sneaking up on thirty pounds.  Yippee!  There are so many wonderful high fiber breads in the market these days.  That is what I love.  If I have a nice sandwich roll I'm a happy girl.  I love an English muffin and an egg for breakfast.  I found a great 10 grain cracked cereal that is a winner, as well.  It takes 10 minutes in a pan like the old fashioned oats, but boy is it worth it.  I make a double batch and then we can just warm it up in the microwave the next morning.  A little brown sugar and a splash of milk and yum!  

Tomorrow I'm going to finish shortening the curtains for our bedroom window and then...hmmm, not sure what then.  Bob said that I had better make the apricot jam if I wanted any apricots in it because they are going fast.  The remnant of that old apricot tree really out did it's self.  We managed to beat out the birds and the little red fox and have enough beautiful apricots for a small batch of jam.  I think that sounds like a patriotic thing to do on the Fourth of July, make a batch of jam to celebrate the fact that I still remember how and have the energy to complete the project.  Well, we will see what the morning brings and if there are any apricots left in my grandmother Lily's crock.  One can hope.