Looking Back

All week, I've been going through all the boxes, crates, and suitcases, full of photos and heritage documents Gramma has collected and saved all her life. Scanning and editing the photos I hope to have published in the family newsletter. I've visited with Gramma a couple different times this week, asking questions about the photos. She has so much. There's old newspaper announcements and articles about family members; education and job accomplishments, birth and marriage announcements.

I love sitting on Gramma's bed with her, talking with her about the days when she was a child and young adult. Even though her body has failed her, her mind and memory are sharp as a tack.

Here's one of the photos I liked, Gramma was 12 years old with some of her brothers and sisters. She's the one sitting tallest in the photo, June 1933.

Tonight, I wonder what I will tell my grandchildren of my life. At the moment, my life seems so uneventful, too busy living it.

Birthday

Tomorrow, January 21st, is my birthday. I've taken a long weekend off work, and won't be returning to work until Tuesday. Nothing's planned, just staying home, staying warm.


Wednesday, my son made me a cake with icing. It was pretty good, chocolate with chocolate icing. It was early, but it was very good.


Thursday, my first day home, my son and I spent the day with my parents. We had an early dinner out. My mom, my dad and I, all had the same meal... the Chef's Salmon at The Macaroni Grill. This was my birthday dinner with them, and it was delicious! I'm not sure if the waitress overheard us talking about my birthday... she must have, because she brought out a very rich, very chocolate piece of cake with a candle, once we were all done with our meals. The cake was big enough to split in four pieces. Oh! It was rich!


After dinner we were back at my parents' home. My mother's cousin, C, issued the first of a monthly family newsletter starting with my grandmother's parents this month. C wants to highlight my grandmother's life in the next issue as my grandmother is the eldest surviving child.


So, I brought with me to my parents', six boxes of photos and genealogy records of my grandmother's, to sort through. We were looking for photos of my grandmother's childhood, marriage, adulthood, and senior years.


My grandmother was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1921, the fifth child of Spanish decent. Both her parents were born in Spain and made their migration to America during WWI. Her father was a fisherman and was gone a lot of the time while she was growing up. Gramma used to laugh when she told me that every time her father came home, her mother had another baby. There were 14 children in all, including two separate sets of twins.


When my mother was in grade school, my grandparents moved out West. Gramma was the only of her siblings to move West though she kept in close contact with her siblings. Now, Gramma is the eldest living child, and my mom's cousin C is trying to round us all up.


It was fun going through the old photographs and documents. I found that my grandfather's name was different on his birth certificate than what I had thought, different from what I had been searching genealogy files for so many years. Lots of information in the books my grandmother has put together.


I will have to figure out how to get the photos onto my computer so I can send copies to C for her newsletter. Before I do that, I will bring the photos I've chosen to my Gramma so that she can fill in the stories that go with the photos.


I think this will be a fun project for me, my mom, and my grandmother. There's a whole bunch of family out there to get to know!

And the Answer is...

I found this survey in Monica's journal...

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? Oh my, those bags under my eyes are terrible, I need some sleep!

2. How much cash do you have on you? $2.00 and some change

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? Floor

4. Favorite planet? Saturn, I like the rings.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? One of my employees calling in sick yesterday.

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? Sweet Child O'Mine by Guns & Roses

7. What shirt are you wearing? I'm not, I've got my jammies on already.

8. Do you label yourself? I think I do.

9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing? It's late, I'm in my jammies and I've still got my socks on. lol

10. Bright or Dark Room? Dark, it's almost midnight.

11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you? I think she's a great photographer, a great mom and grandma.

12. What does your watch look like? Ahh...my watch just stopped a couple days ago, needs a new battery, but it's silver with diamonds surrounding the face.

13. What were you doing at midnight last night? Funny you should ask, I was up!!! I had tried to go to bed a couple of hours earlier but, my smoke alarm's battery was dying and started beeping, very loudly, every couple of minutes! It's the one in my living room, the room with vaulted ceilings and I could not reach that high! I moved my son's drums out of the way (he had cleaned his room, leaving everything in the livingroom!) Then, moved my guy's fan (and industrial size fan that should be in the garage!) Then, moved the telescope that's been in the corner, untouched for years. Then, went out to the freezing garage to find the ladder. I brought the ladder in through the laundry room, stumbling through 3 foot high piles of dirty clothes, I kid you not, my son's clothes (remember, he cleaned his room!) Finally to the livingroom. Set up the ladder, climb the ladder in my jammies and realize, I'm too damn short! I wanted to call the fire department, they could fix it for me! I decided to try and wake my son, for the third time! He lays there, wishing I'd go away! The sound of the screeching alarm wasn't bothering him! Grumble, grumble, I've got to work in the a.m., he can sleep in in the a.m., grumble, grumble, why can't he help me! Next, I hear the what I thought might be footsteps, could he have gotten up? I go back out to the living room, and he's at the top of the ladder, swapping batteries, and looks down to me, grumble, grumble... "...go back to bed! You owe me a battery!" Silence. No more beeps. I could finally sleep! Thank you! (Hence, the bags under my eyes!)

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? from my son after I left him a voice message once he didn't come home as expected, "let's just say I've run into a friend, be home soon"

15. Where is your nearest 7-11? Not sure, we don't have many in Idaho

16. What’s a word that you say a lot? Good job!

17. Who told you he/she loved you last? My daughter.

18. Last furry thing you touched? Bentley, Molly, Lucy, Sadie, Rodney and Peanut... my Yorkies. lol

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days? my daily prescriptions, three.

20. How many rolls of film do you need developed? Ya know, I have several rolls of films from I don't remember when, that need to be developed. Not sure they're even good any longer, it's been like 10 years, sitting in my dresser drawer!

21. Favorite age you have been so far? My 40's

22. Your worst enemy? I think this is a pretty common answer, myself.

23. What is your current desktop picture? A photo I took in the Sawtooth Mt Range of trailing sheep (click here)

24. What was the last thing you said to someone? Goodnight. (to my son)

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be? The million bucks! I could use the million for a lot of things that could make my heart and soul fly.

26. Do you like someone? I do!

27. The last song you listened to? Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac

28. What time of day were you born? 5:07 pm

29. What’s your favorite number? 7

30. Where did you live in 1997? I had just moved here to Idaho, from the Monterey Bay area of California

31. Are you jealous of anyone? No

32. Is anyone jealous of you? Not that I'm aware of.

33. Where were you when 9/11 happened? I was just waking to the Today Show, lying in bed (my t.v. is my alarm) hearing Katie Couric saying it must be a horrible accident. Then the second plane hit.

34. What do you do when vending machines steal your money? Try to shake my purchase free, however I can.

35. Do you consider yourself kind? Yes, I do.

36. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be? I won't ever get a tattoo, but if I had to, it would be above the outside of my ankle.

37. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be? Spanish. I think I could use Spanish more than any other language, plus I took practically 6 years of it in grammer and high school. I was able to help a hotel clerk with another customer over the phone who was at the airport. The clerk was trying to figure out where to send the shuttle driver to pickup the customer. She needed to know if the customer was arriving from an international flight or domestic. The customer was from Peru, arriving from an international flight.

38. Would you move for the person you loved? I would, anything for love.

39. Are you touchy feely? Funny, I would say I was very touchy feely, but... since my surgery 3 years ago, I've been pretty numb to touching anything. lol

40. What’s your life motto? Be bold, be courageous. In the end, the only things in life you will regret are the things you didn't do.

41. Name three things that you have on you at all times? My cell phone, keys, and lenses (can't see without them.)

42. What’s your favorite town/city? McCall, Idaho... I first visited this little mountain town when I was just 16 years old. I told myself then, someday I will live there. Boise is as close to that dream as I've gotten, 100 miles south of McCall.

43. What was the last thing you paid for with cash? I don't remember, I use my bank card for most purchases, no matter the price, because I get cash back.

44. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? Just before Christmas, I hand-wrote letters for my Gramma, to her family back east. My Gramma can no longer hold a pen to write with, her hands are brittle and full of arthritis.

45. Can you change the oil on a car? Probably not anymore. I did take a college automotive class when I was 18 years old.

46. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her? Oh, it wasn't good. Temper, temper. My exhusband, the father of my kids, angry at a mechanic who fixed my daughter's car. He'll never change.

47. How far back do you know about your ancestry? 1600's on my grandfather's side, my mother's father.

48. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy? I wore black slacks with a glittery black sweater for Christmas dinner on our Cruise last year, 2005.

49. Does anything hurt on your body right now? My lower back. I think I need a new bed.

50. Have you been burned by love? Yes, hasn't everyone?

Sir Bentley

Bentley is 9 weeks old today, and doing great! We haven't had any further episodes and he's eating and drinking on his own. Next week we go back to the vet for a check-up and second round of vaccines. Bentley romps around with the big dogs (they're only 4 to 12 lbs...not really big.) Bentley thinks he's as big as the rest of them, but he weighs only a pound. I think our Sadie has met her match! These dogs play and play and play!

Boise State Wins Fiesta Bowl

43 Boise State - 42 Oklahoma

Oh my gosh! If you didn't see this game, you missed out on what most are saying was the best college ball game ever! Oh my gosh!

FOX television is replaying the whole broadcast of the game on Saturday, and again on Sunday. Maybe you'll be able to catch the excitement. Check your weekend FOX listings.

David slays Goliath!... See the OT clips here.

FOX announcer, live... click here to listen.

If the game wasn't enough, Ian Johnson who made the final TD, proposes to his girlfriend. She says, "Yes!"

And, I just had to order the DVD of the whole broadcast of the game!

Incredible! The whole town is on a Bronco high! BSU doesn't start back to school for another couple of weeks. The city mayor has already given the team a golden key. A huge celebration is in the works for later this month. Wow! Bronco Fans love their team, Boise loves their team, and thousands love the underdog who fought to the end and blew the bigger team away!

All photos snagged from internet, most from AP.

Fiesta Bowl

Bronco Nation converges in Arizona for BSU's biggest game ever!

Photo snagged from the Idaho Statesman