"Flu Season"

I was driving by a pre-school the other day and I had an instant flash back of kindergarten. There was the teacher and all the little ones lined up outside all holding hands. Now I remember at times we would all grab a piece of the rope and hold on to it going to and from the classroom. Mostly though it was take a hand. As far as I recall the Teacher never said "make sure to wash your hands" after touching literally everything but the school roof! I think the only time we washed our hands was after painting or using that thick paste glue. ( that glue smelled like you wanted to eat it! ) Does anyone remember what glue I'm speaking of? We used tongue depressors to scrape it out of the container. Again, you need to keep in mind this was all in the early 7o's. The days you climbed trees, did hand stands on the concrete, and touched everything on the playground and stayed out till the street lights came on and ate anything before washing your hands. I would play raquetball at Magnolia Park and we would play doubles and after a game I didn't see anyone running off to wash their hands. These days I go into the mall and there are anti-bacterial wipes attached to every stroller! There are even wipes at the entrance of Grocery Stores! Now we have this Swine Flu going around and I won't get into those details but it seems that the more paranoid (in my opinion) the more likely things happen. YES, we should all teach and be taught good hygiene, to others and especially our children and grandchildren. Education is key to this ever growing subject. Sometimes I wonder how much is a scare tactic and how much is a pharmaceutial profit? Just my opinion.

"Motorcycles"

Growing up in my home was like being raised in a Motorcycle dealership. I was surrounded by motorcycles! My Dad was and still is a motorcycle fanatic! My Dad could do a wheelie on anything and I mean anything. He could do a wheelie on a Honda GoldWing 1000! Back in the day there were no helmet laws and he worked at different Motorcycle dealerships. He would ride different bikes home and sometimes he would take me for rides. One time I remember, is going down Beach Blvd. in Orange County Ca. at over 100mph with tears coming out the sides of my eyes from going so fast. Did I like it? Heck ya I loved it! The faster the better. More important I trusted my Dad's riding skills. I've seen more dirt than I think more little girls had when they were small. I did'nt play with dolls. I watched and sometimes helped my Dad work on his motorcycle. At our house it seemed any guy who rode or was interested in motorcycles hung out in our garage. There were always guys out hangin with my Dad. I used to sit on the steps in the garage that led to the kitchen and just listen to them talk. It was like watching a tennis match my head going back and forth watching them all b.s. about there motorcycle adventures. Myself, brother and sisters were taken all over to watch and support my Dad's racing. He raced the Barstow to Vegas race and I remember it was like out in the middle of no mans land and I got bored. So, I decided to go exploring now mind you I'm only five or six years old. I came across what seemed to be a friendly looking cactus I mean it looked like it had soft fuzzy hairs on it and it's shape looked like big mouse ears. Well, I decided not to touch it but to put both hands over it and then instantly thought, not so fuzzy and this hurts! I pulled my hands away from this not so friendly cactus and had hundreds of very fine cactus needles in my hands. I ran to my Mom not able to close my hands and showed her my curiosity "reward". It took what seemed to be hours for her and another woman to take each fine hair looking needle out. Do I touch cactuses anymore? Ah, not so much! My siblings did not show to much interest in motorcyles but I loved it. My first motorcycle was a Honda XR-75. I thought I was the coolest, riding my motorcycle. My Dad fixed it up to make it faster and we would go to different riding spots. Now you need to understand one thing about my Dad and that is he only knows one speed, FAST! When we would go to places like El Mirage (the dry lake bed) or escape country or saddleback and a place we called "Joe's place". We would unload the bikes and put all the gear on and head out for a ride. Of course the deserts have different terrain and some had more sandwashes than others or maybe that was just the route my Dad decided to take me on. If a sandwash was coming up he would look back and hold up two or one finger letting me know what gear to shift down to so I would'nt eat it in the sandwash. Squirrely comes to mind going through the sandwashes! Most of the time I made it through. After my Dad seen I was good to go, so would he and I would be following my Dad's dust trail praying I did'nt crash! His motto "when in doubt gas it"! and he did and still does. When my Dad and the guys were hanging out in the garage it seemed they had a whole different language. Some I understood and some I don't think I was suppose to understand. I still love riding but mostly on the back of my husbands Suzuki 750gsxr. Our trips to Glamis are amazing and it feels like home. There's nothing better, and for the most part people are one big family and happy to lend a hand when they see a rider down or out of gas or like me stranded and can't start the bike up cause I have nothing to lean on to get it started. Never ride alone!!! Trust me not good! Would I trade my childhood for dolls and not motorcycles No Way! Thanks Dad! (WFO)

Jingle Bell Spiders

So I went to my sisters annual Gatehouse sale which is the name of her business in Costa Mesa Ca. She has amazing indoor and outdoor high quality furniture along with imported home decor items. Anyways I helped out at the sale and had a great time talking with customers and hanging out with my sisters, my daughters and my niece.It was chaotic at times but that was the best part! At the end of the day she gave me a lot of things for helping one which being a replica paint can filled with jingle bells. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them but I like making things and I thought I'll figure out something to do with them. So, being Halloween is coming up I decided no time like the present to look on line for a project with jingle bells,right? So, I type in jingle bell Halloween crafts and click on images. Well up pops a jingle bell spider and I think perfect! It looks easy enough to make and the direction are there on how to make it. So off to Michaels "where creativity happens" I go. I need pipe cleaners, beads ( cause each spider takes 24 beads ) and some 20 gauge wire. Well what seemed to look easy was not so easy. Putting two pipe cleaners through the same hole can be a challenge. Putting wire to secure the two bells to make a body was another challenge. Thanks to my husband, he seen my frustration and decided he would help me out and get me started. So I took a deep breath and jumped back in. Things were going smooth and then comes the bending of the pipe cleaners to make the legs look like a spider. Good Lord you wouldn't think that would be hard at all but you try it! My poor spiders looked like they had broken legs! Some came out really good and others not so good. I decided to take the project to another level and took the supplies to my in laws and recruited them to help me finish all these spiders. They seen the one I had already made and commented on how dang cute he was and then I said here you try. Well the next comment was now we know to appreciate the hard work it takes to make these jingle bell spiders and we can all take pride in knowing we did it!

"crafty spider"

When you lose someone. I don't mean there lost and you can't find them! I'm saying when you lose someone you love. When my mom passed on August 23, 2000 it was the worst day of my life. It was a shock when we first found out she had cancer. It was on my birthday which I shared with my Grandpa. My mom's father. We were in Orange County by the orange circle at a restaurant. I was sitting on her lap getting ready to take a picture and she asked if I thought the whites of her eyes looked yellow. I could see that they were very yellow but it seemed denial quickly set in and I said it's probably nothing but get it checked. She, looking back was distracted and not herself although she was good at not making a fuss. It wasn't to long after that she went to the E.R. only to be told that is was probably hepatitis. She wasn't convinced. Now her skin was beginning to look very tan but in a weird way. So, she went to U.C.I. and was finally diagnosed with a rare liver cancer which totally explains the jaundice that was consuming her body. Her liver was shutting down. The Doctor explained that he would do surgery but not to get our hopes up. The day of surgery was a nightmare in itself. We were told it was going to be a very long, time consuming procedure and not to expect any news for a while but he would try to send out a nurse for updates. The whole family was there in the waiting room not really saying to much if I remember correctly. Lots of praying and then the my heart stopped. The doctor came out within a couple of hours instead of 11 or 12 hours and it was not a nurse he sent out it was him! My knees went weak and I fell to the floor. He said it was very bad and it was a very large mass in her liver and had very little hope it could be operated on. So, we were asked the unforgettable question. Do you want me to proceed and do what I can or do you want me to close up and see what happens? I don't think any of us hesitated and we all said operate, do what you can to try and save our mom. Surgery went on for what seemed to be forever. After several hours and some positive updates it was finally over and we were able to see her briefly. It was so hard to see the person I thought would live forever, and never for a second did I imagine my life without her. I took her for granted, thinking mom's don't die or at least my mom could not. As a child and a adult I always told her you can not die and if you ever did they better make it a double casket cause I'm coming with you! It seemed absolutely impossible for my mom to not see her children grow and her grandchildren blossom. Our youngest sister was still in her teens and the rest of us were adults with children except for our brother. Our mom did some chemo and I'm not sure but I think some radiation and no medications and was given a very poor prognosis. She however was very confident that whatever was to be that it was in God's hands and His will is what she was going to go by. We on the other hand were terrified that it was just a matter of months that we had left with her. But, through God's grace He gave us 3 years more with our mom and she was nicknamed by her surgeon his miracle patient! He had never in his career seen a patient with her type of cancer live longer than a few months less alone a few years! When it was time for hospice to step in that was a definite blow and for sure complete denial set in. We were given a sheet of paper with a list of symptoms listed by numbers like 1 through 20 or so. As I read the list I thought she does not have one of the symptoms listed, she's not a candidate why did they send hospice? Well it was not to long before number one on the list happened and even then denial! She was talking and laughing reading her bible and we were reading it to her. She watched the movie Beaches over and over and over. Then number two and three started to show and again, denial! Before to long she had gone down the paper quickly, so fast I could not think straight. The strange thing was I did not react like the way I thought I would all those years of telling her she could not die. Again denial! Then it happened, I knew the end was near but I did not want to face it. I remember leaving her room as if someone took me by the hand and said lets go outside. A few minutes later I heard my older sister gasp and I knew it was the end. I ran in the house down the hall and seen my sisters eyes which confirmed she was gone. I sat at her side and cried, closed her eyes and put her arm close to my chest to keep it warm. That was the time "no word in the dictionary" could ever describe. When I see people with their moms I think and many times I will tell them they are so Blessed to have their moms and cherish every moment. What I would not do to hug my mom just one more time. My message, love, honor, respect, cherish and most important never take for granted the short time we have with eachother.

" Equal "

Equal, and I don't mean the sugar subsitute. We are all suppose to be equal yet there are many who have a different view or opinion. Hense the word Blog. I get to write whatever is off the top of my head. So here it goes. We are all equal even if others think differently. It does not matter what size house you live in or how big your diamond is or what imported car you drive and so on. We all have human needs. Such as, love, food, clothes, work, friends and I hate to say it but a bathroom! Status is not something you get to take with you. There is nothing you can take with you when it's all said and done. You can will material things to pets or family but guess what it won't be able to go with you! Here's a story about my mom when we visited New York. My sister and her husband treated us to a trip to New York and our mom was so excited. When we arrived it was like another planet! I've never seen a place like L.A. x 20! The busiest and loudest state I have ever seen. I think I only seen grass in central park which was a little different. I like trees and water and nature but if concrete is nature than you should live in New York. Anyways, our mom was set on finding the perfect souvenier to bring home and she searched and searched. It was just a swearshirt that she searched for and you can only imagine how many New York sweartshirts there are. Every corner is a souvenier stand. Finally she finds the perfect sweatshirt that she's been searching for and we are all like whew, finally she found one she really likes. She was so happy to have it. So off we go. We turn the corner and there stands a women wearing a green trash bag. I could read my mom's mind and I think we all did and we were like nooooo, you just bought the sweatshirt you searched and searched for but sure enough our mom turned around and went to the women and literally put the sweatshirt on the women. As she walked back to us she said " we are all God's children". It still makes me cry to think of that moment. Here's a mom who gave up a huge part of her wants and dreams to give her all to her children and other people's children. She is a great role model I can only pray has rubbed off a little on me. In loving memory of our mom.

"Just Say It"

Ever wonder why people hold back comments? Is it the society we live in? What if you said whatever it was at the time you wanted to say it. It does not mean it has to be a negative comment, it could be a neutral or positive one. Our life span is so short and we NEVER know when our time is up so why not express who you are and leave with no regrets. Right now I would say I have many regrets about my life and my accomplishments. I would of, should of, could of moments. What if you had a "say whatever you want" party no holds bar. You say what ever has been on your mind or just pops in your brain at that moment. You can talk about things you want to do and maybe get the courage to try and do those things. I believe it has so much to do with how you were raised and the type of household you lived in. If you had a positive and nurturing up bringing than you probably have or had no problem accomplishing your goals. If it was dysfunctional then maybe it hasn't been so easy. Self confidence and self esteem are vital to who you are and what you will become. If I could, at the snap of my fingers be what I always wanted to be I would be a singing, R.N., dancer, animal rescuer and have as many homes as it would take to house ALL abused children. Off the top of my head.

Off the top of my head in 5 minutes

When I was little small things interested me like what does dirt taste like and I wonder what this piece of chalk tastes like. I would hang out at the local park and play board games and ride the slide. I would and still do like to people watch because you can learn a lot by watching other people's body language and body movements. I often wonder what it would be like to see through a child's eye but never want to be a child. I've experienced two lifetimes! I like where I am now. Ok I only have one minute left. Don't know what the next "off the top of my head" will be but I'm sure it will be a surprise to me too! Until next time...