Life On The Central Coast

I've played along with the Ali Edwards, One Little Word Challenge for the past 2 years.In 2008, my word was Greatfulness . There was SO much to be Grateful for that year. In one year we added 3 grandsons to our family. Last year I chose REcreate . What I was hoping for was a year of having fun, camping, doing all sorts of recreational activities. But I think the "Universe" heard RE create and instead of laying around on some beautiful beach, we did home repairs and fix-ups for the entire year! My home is gorgeous now and I'm really happy I picked that word, BUT, like the end of 2009, I'm ready for a break. I've tossed around words like peace, tranquility, rest, serenity, meditation but nothing has really seemed right. Then I was doing some reading yesterday and it said to just let the word choose you. I'm open, I'm waiting..... I think I'm hearing my One Little Word coming in.... My One Little Word for 2011 is.... ROOTS! I'm the keeper of m...

This is my beautiful mom. I'm guessing she was in her late twenties or early thirties. Can you imagine going out to some rustic place like this, Yosemite I think, and wearing a dress, silk stockings and a matching purse? Wow! Today is my mom's birthday. She'd be 86 today if she was alive. She passed away in 2001, a week after she turned 78. It was a VERY sad day for me. So for a tribute today, I'm going to tell all of you a little about her. She was born September 22, 1923 in North Dakota and named Donna Geraldine Schonberger. I can tell you, she always hated the name Geraldine and most of the time would only use the abbreviation G. She was the oldest girl, 3rd child of 6. Her father, George Schonberger was a farmer and her mother, Alice Viola Baker Schonberger, had been a schoolteacher. There were 6 children in her family. In order: Kent George Schonberger, Claude Schonberger, Donna Geraldine Schonberger Geske, Darlene Schonberger Moody, Fern Schonberger Crane an...

Today is my younger sister's Birthday. Happy Birthday Lynn! No, I won't give away your age. Have I told you lately how much I love you? Well I do! Lots! I found this picture on the internet today and it reminded me so much of the things we got into as kids; dragging home jars and jars of pollywogs from the local "swamp", hiding in the bathroom at night with walkie-talkie's to neighborhood boys pretending to me "Moon Maidens" from the moon, making tents under the kitchen table and playing dolls for hours, telling you to "suck it in" and watching as you turned from little sister to little skeleton. Man you were skinny!! Then when I got older (not you of course though, he he he) I could hardly wait to call home to find out what funny situation you had gotten yourself into this time. I SWEAR, is it possible to have THAT much happen to one person??!! Ummm, those yummy S'more ice cream cones from 31 Flavors and to-go boxes filled with the BEST O...

52 years ago today, I was born. My Mom said I was a big April Fools joke on her and Dad. They thought I was going to be a boy, Larry Dean, but I'm really glad I was a girl. The middle child, I grew up with two sisters. Because of that, I vowed I'd never have an uneven amount of kids. It was usually two against one in fights, and I've been on both sides of that! It was also a scapegoat position... "I didn't do it, she did, yeah, she did it", and that was that, a spanking for NOTHING! I wasn't a girlie girl during my elementary school years. Mom and Dad called me a Tom Boy. Girls were already too clique-y and they never wanted to get dirty. I was a "hunt the desert for horned toads, dip into the muddy pond for pollywogs and play football, kickball, baseball, whatever was the ball of choice, every Sunday afternoon with "the guys." In my teen years I met the man of my dreams and got married. In my 20's I had my 4 kids and became Mom. Ok, wit...

It all began for me in 2nd Grade. Our teacher, Mrs. Adkins, had us bring in empty egg cartons and a pack of seeds. We cut apart the egg cartons and created the perfect seed starter packs that we could use, transplant into a garden and watch the vegetables grow. Working in groups, we would step up to the table, fill each of the 12 holes with dirt and one wonderful seed, then cover them over. I planted Pole Beans. Over the next couple of days, with a little water and sunshine, the "Spring Miracle" happened and little green leaves began to appear. Before long we were able to take them home and plant them in our home gardens and one day, if we were lucky and good gardeners, EAT the beans, peas, tomatoes or radishes that we had grown. I've NEVER outgrown the need to put something in the ground in the Spring. When I was first married, I grew only veggies. Let me tell you, we were on a budget and we needed to make our money work for us. As time went on, it became a mixture of fl...

Ok, Family Storytime again. My daughter-in-law's dog brought a rope in from out back yesterday and I was telling my grandson he should make it a jump rope. That's when I heard it, a sound in my head my sister Lynn and I would say when we jumped rope, chi ka ka, chi ka ka, chi ka ka. Sometimes we would jump rope without the rope and make that sound. I just had to send her off an e-mail reminding her of our childhood antics. She wrote me back with two more stories about when we were kids.  The first was about a little barn set I had. It was metal and was a barn and silo along with a bunch of farm animals, farm equipment and people. We used to put it in my mom's flower bed and create an entire afternoon of fun and imagination pretending the cows were in the field and we were plowing and bringing hay into the barn. We would turn on a hose very lightly and make a stream that flowed around the property. Man, it was so much fun! I think we played for hours in that farming land of ...

Soon it will be Winter here on the Central Coast of California. It may be better to describe it as "Winter" because temperatures here are so mild, the bulk of our rainfall won't arrive until January and we get virtually NO snow. Today, temperatures are in the mid 60's and it's sunny. We are still able to leave our windows open during the day to let in the fresh ocean breezes. I'm sure that sounds like heaven to some of you who are already clearing snow from your paths, putting chains on the tires and having to split wood for the fireplace. There's a little part of me that envies you! For the record, "I sure do miss snowy winters!" I didn't always live here in paradise. Once upon a time, I lived in a four season state... Arizona. As a kid growing up in Winslow, Arizona, I experienced snow regularly EVERY winter. So much snow that at times it resulted in Snow Days off from school. We'd bundle up with extra sweaters, socks, boots and scarves...

**Chapel in Thanksgiving Square - Dallas, TX** Thanksgiving has always been a special day for me. Getting together with family plus eating a meal fit for a King is my idea of a celebration! My Dad made a very "memorable" stuffing and was usually the first one up on Thanksgiving morning stuffing the turkey and getting it in the oven. The day before he would make two of the world's best pumpkin pies around. His secret ingredient? A dollop of molasses and you HAD to add extra cinnamon. His crusts were handmade, flaky and delicious. There would always be a little leftover to make little flat pie pieces with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on. There was usually a little of the pie filling leftover that he would pour into small glasses for us to savor like fine wine. It's funny, but I think that's why I love Chai tea so much. It tastes similar to that wonderful pumpkin pie potion. Mom would keep us busy cleaning for days making sure everything was fresh, clean and in it...

My little grandson slipped on his momma's shoes the other day and tried to walk around in them. Shortly after, she had to hurry to work so I let him walk around in my slippers. Yeah, I was afraid he would tumble over because they were huge on him but he did OK.  "Come on over here Scotty in those clumpity clumps," I told him. Then I sat there and thought about it a minute. Where in the world did I get THAT description for over-sized shoes? Pretty soon I realized that I had always called them that... this was my baby word for big shoes, probably because that is the sound they made as I walked along. My mom's high heels were the very best sound makers and there wasn't so much carpet back in the late 1950's. It's so much fun to get a flash of insight from my childhood. The detective work has begun! I want to know more about ME and how I got to be the person I am today. Those extra large boots on my husbands side of the closet are calling my name. I might just...

Wes and I went to an antique truck show today in Edna. This is one of the trucks that was there. It is a 1965 Chevrolet truck and my dad had one just like it. We lived in Winslow, AZ at the time and he went about making a camper for it in our garage. He had all kinds of power tools and this project probably took an entire Fall & Winter and by Spring, he was putting on the finishing touches. The camper slept 3 above the cab (my sisters and I) and down below, the table turned into a bed for mom and dad. We camped in Pine, Payson and Oak Creek Canyon in Sedona (before it was a spiritual vortex) and waking up to the smell of the pine trees, coffee and campfire, ummmm , what a wonderful start to a day. I had the window area up above and I can remember waking up many times to a window full of frost. I miss those simple days. Now I've lost both of my parents and only have those wonderful memories. This truck took me back and I almost wound up in tears. It was just the kind of show m...