Bermuda Kitty Triangle

okay, they NEVER do this. This is the closest I have ever seen them sleeping to each other. Maybe it's the unmade bed, maybe it's the rainstorms we had earlier today, maybe it's the way my purple sheer curtains cast a lilac glow in my room. Whatever it is, I'd like to see it more often, it's cute, to me anyway.

Bragging About Bowling

This week was a good week for my kids at the bowling alley. Although Max no longer bowls in the youth league on Saturday morning, he usually gets in a couple of games after his shift. The other night he came home from work saying he just bowled his personal best--a 191--terrific!
Well today Leo was in the Nor Cal youth tournament which was being held at our local Monterey Lanes. I was a little concerned that he would be disappointed in his scores since due to poison oak he had not bowled in 3 weeks and was out of practice. I emphasized to him that he should not be so concerned about his scores, just to relax and enjoy his first tournament experience. So we get there and the place is jam packed with young bowlers and lots of parents and family. Kids were bowling from all over Northern California, and we were beginning to understand that this was a pretty big event. So Leo starts bowling and the kids from out of town that are bowling with him are pretty good. Their averages were in the mid 100's and Leo's average is 105. They seem like nice kids and everyone is having a good time. One of the kids bowled a 200, the other a 180, and Leo a 102 for the first game.
The second game starts and in the first frame Leo gets a 9. Then he proceeds to bowl SIX STRIKES IN A ROW. He has never bowled more than 3 strikes in a row before that. With every strike people are getting more and more excited, other parents are starting to cheer for him now. After the strike streak he bowled mostly spares and ended the game with a 211--a 211! That's 106 pins over his average, 110 pins over his previous game, and about 50 pins over his previous personal best. His high game got announced over the PA system and the whole packed bowling alley cheered for him. Leo was so excited and happy, and even Max, who was there working, went over and congratulated him, saying to everyone "that's my little brother!" It was a really great moment. Buoyed by his bowling glory, he went on to bowl a whopping 101 in the third game. Apparently he lost his mojo. But that's ok, a 211! So now Leo holds the high score in the house, bumping Max and his 191 in just 3 days.


This picture was actually taken last summer at Lilac Lanes in Spokane, but it is the only picture I have of Leo in a bowling alley. I called Max today and asked him to bring the camera to the tournament when he came but he said no, fearing I might put the pictues on my blog. He was right!

Ralphs is Closing!

The last day is March 27th, but I don't think there will be anything left on the shelves by that time. All their refrigerated stuff is gone already, and I got some great prices on wrapping paper and those foil packs of spices that have names like Swedish Meatballs or Pot Roast.
Anyway...Ralphs has only been in that building for about 7 years. Before that, it was Alberstons; before that, Grocery Warehouse (I used to think I was funny calling it Grocery Whorehouse), and before that it was MONTE MART!!!
Beautiful Glorious Monte Mart--How I loved that store! It was way ahead of it's time back in the 60's, very much like a Super Wal-Mart or Super Target is today. It was a department store that had a full-on grocery section. It had a record section, jewelry, clothing, shoes, appliances, toys, and automotive as well. It was also the only thing within walking distance from my house, so as a kid walking to Monte Mart was a fun adventure, a place to buy Fruit Stripe Gum, Chinese Jumpropes, and 45's of the Ohio Players and Elton John.
One time when I was a teenager, my mom and my 7 year old niece Nichole and I were in the ladies clothing section looking through a big bin of panties. My mom held up this pair of crotchless panties way up in the air and practically yelled "What ARE these things? How do you put them on?" because she did not know that crotchless panties even existed, much less what they were used for. Nichole, world-wise at age 7, knew what they were and started howling with laughter and said, "Grandma, don't you know, they're crotchless panties! Ladies wear them!", to which my mother replied "What for? They don't have a crotch!". Nichole answered, "Grandma, they use them for sex!", after which I can't remember what happened because I had died of embarrassment by then.
Those were good times. Long Live Monte Mart!

Slide Show

When I was little, my dad was into making slides of all his photos. Consequently, I have very few photographs of me when I was small because they are all in slide form. My sister came down on Friday with a surprise--she had all the slides transferred to disk and so now I have them all loaded on my computer--hooray! Even though I was too young to remember all this stuff, these pictures have given me valuable insight into family history and why my family is the way they are now. Insight #1:

Why we are all fat. Food was everywhere, and judging from the pictures, treated just like family. Insight #2:

Why it is so important to me to be a stay at home mom no matter what. This was our grocery store. After my dad left, my mom worked from 8am to 10pm six days a week until she got rid of it when I was nine years old. I was raised by my grandma, great aunt, and a German lady named Margaret. Insight #3 (a biggie):

Why I fell in love with an alcoholic. That's my dad two-fisted drinking there. Enough said, except I believe I have learned from my experience and hopefully won't be making that mistake again.
Sorry if this post is a little dark. I should note that most of these slides were of get-togethers of family, baseball games, family vacations, etc. and there were a lot of fun and happy times. I was 2 or 3 years old and don't really remember:

I can say that the reason I grew into a compassionate, loving, optimistic and happy person is because of this gal here, my mom:

I sure miss her!

All New Cells For Cross Stitch!

I heard or read somewhere at some time that in seven years time all of our cells die and regenerate, meaning that seven years from now I will be a completely different person, cell-wise, than I am right now. If this is true then today I am a completely different person than I was seven years ago. Well this theory makes sense to me because--
I picked up my cross stitch today for the first time in eight years. I was a daily cross stitcher for probably fifteen years, from my early 20's until my divorce when I was 36. I enjoyed it and I was good at it, but cross stitch came to have a negative connotation to it right at the time of my divorce. I realized that most of the times I spent cross stitching were times when I was waiting for Dana to come in from the garage, or come home from work, or come to bed. I realized that cross stitch was a means of killing time and putting my life on hold while I was waiting for my husband to show up so I could resume my life. Once I made that realization I put the cross stitch down, vowing that I would have a life and not let it go by while I stitched.
Well now it's eight years later and my life now is very different. I don't wait around to live anymore, that's for sure! So I have been packing to move and I realized I don't have any books or other crafts in the house now, they are all in storage! And I have been watching the Olympics and I really need something else for my hands to do besides eat chocolate. So I went into the garage and found my cross stitch, just like I had left it 8 years ago. I was a little apprehensive about dredging up a bunch of old feelings or issues, but I started to stitch and there were no issues except that my vision is worse and that I probably need bifocals now! Then I remembered the thing about the cells in seven years, so my theory is that's why I could cross stitch now, just for fun when I have some free time in the evenings, not obsessively all the time because I had no life. I am not only a different person spiritually, but physically as well. Praise the Lord and Pass the Bifocals!

I Love Me Some Olympics!

I have since I was a kid watching Olga Korbut and Dorothy Hamill. So last night I watched the opening ceremony which I thought was great except what was with the 70's and 80's pop and disco during the parade of athletes? I enjoyed it since I liked most of the songs that were played, but it just seemed out of place somehow.
So today I find myself with a cleared calendar since Leo still has poison oak all over and does not want to bowl. Hooray! (Not for Leo) This means I can pack all morning until 2pm and then watch the olympics. I wonder who will capture the hearts of the crowd this year. Will there be another Eddie the Eagle or Jamaican bobsled team? Tune in and find out!
Oh yeah, and what's with Pavarotti's eyebrows, they look like they are alive and about to crawl off his face.
PS Sophia Loren looked fabulous! And can anyone tell me why Susan Sarandon was helping carry the olympic flag?

Blossom is Annoying

Whenever she wants to be fed or to go outside she comes over to wherever I am sitting and digs her claws into my knee. Once she has my attention she will start walking over to either her food bowl or the door. I am expected to follow her and if I don't, I get another claw in the knee. Yesterday she reached up real high and clawed me in my stomach, now I have 4 little scratches on my stomach in the shape of her paw. She can't just sit by the door and meow like normal cats, oh no, she has to personally escort me. And then when I open the door she just sits there and looks out and doesn't even go! But that's ok with her because in the middle of the night she sits in my bedroom windowsill and meows until I get up out of a sound sleep to let her out of the window (which proves she understands about the meowing thing). And I had better not get back to sleep too soon, because in 20 minutes she will be hanging off the outside of the window making all kinds of racket until I let her back in. WHY DO I LOVE HER SO MUCH????

EVIL.