Joan on the Road

Temps are rising here in Hemet so it's time to be on the road. Jim needs to be in South Dakota in May to get his drivers license renewed. So the plan is to head out this Sunday for Montana then SD. We're wrapping things up here. Cleaning out, stocking up, planning, etc. But there is always time for reading.

I've really enjoyed having the Hemet Library close by feeding my book appetite. They have a very slick website where you can order a book and when it comes in you get an automatic phone call. They put it on a special shelf with your name and then you check yourself out. It's the neatest system I've seen in our travels.

So between that and swapping books out here at the resort I've been in book heaven. Just wish I'd written down all the titles I've read :) The one I recall vividly is the current Ken Follett book, World Without End. It is a continuation of Pillars of the Earth which is about life in the 1300's and the building of a cathedral in England. Both are great books...and nice long reads.

I enjoy a variety of reading from light detective stories to emotional love stories to biographies and epics. Lots of books are not too memorable but, to me, better than anything on TV. Some are unforgettable, like the Follett novels. Or Gone With the Wind! Who can forget, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!" or "I'll cry about that tomorrow."

So I keep reading a few books a week and every now and then come across a winner. Someday maybe I'll learn how to put a little column on my blog titled "Books I'm Reading".

Posted by Joan at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Every now and then a day comes along when I am almost overwhelmed with love and pride in my family. Saturday was one of those days. I find it hard to put in words my feelings so I'll tell you what we did. If you are a parent or grandparent you may know the feelings too :)

It started with daughter Renee and her daughter, Hilly. They invited me to attend Zeta Day, Hilary's fraternity celebration. Hilly attends Cal State San Bernardino and is a member of Zeta Tau Alpha. The luncheon award event was held in a lovely ballroom at the Doubletree Inn in Ontario. Lots of awards, raffles, Zeta stuff for sale and a nice lunch but most importantly about 200 young women focused on values, community service, friendship and love. I asked Hilly what benefits she got from the organization. Her first answer was the opportunities for leadership and to quickly socialize in college. The networking experience alone makes it invaluable.

I am in awe of my Hilly who works two jobs, maintains over 3.0 average and is now adding volunteer work to her schedule. Hilly! You go girl!

We got back to Renee's about 3 pm and found the guys home from a shopping trip to Fry's Electronics. Thankfully they did not buy anything :) We watched the Angels lose their game while we waited for Evan to wake up from his nap. He provided us with a little entertainment and then we chowed down on Charo Chicken, beans and rice. I love that all rolled up in a tortilla.

The main evening event was Grandson Zach's high school musical, Bye Bye Birdie. Zach has been in concert choir this year and has really found his niche. He loves it and now loves theater. His role in the musical was in the chorus/dance group and he also played several bit parts. I think he changed costume six times. He had a blast and we all really enjoyed the evening.

Naomi brought Evan and we all wondered how he would do for two hours of the play. He loved it! Either he sat beside his Mom or stood up so he could see and watched almost the whole show very attentively. When Zach first appeared on stage of course Evan had to shout out "There's Zachy!"

We enjoyed the whole evening but were especially delighted seeing our Zach sort of blossom in this new role. He's already signed up for theater for next year.

Two events with lots of nice, talented young people including 5 of our 7 grandkids. We missed you Jimbo and Mary and Brad!!! Jim and I opted out of the ice cream trip after the play. I was pooped. Up at 6 and out until 11. But worth every minute of it.

Posted by Joan at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yesterday was "move the house" day. It's been several weeks since we did that :) Months ago Ford sent a recall notice regarding the cruise control. Seems something could go wrong and there could be a fire. Right. Everytime we asked at a Ford dealer they did not have the retrofit kit. . Our dealer in Hemet said he was only allocated 10 kits a week. Guess Ford thought it wasn't too serious. Finally our name came to the top of the list and we got it done.

It was only half an hour in the shop (just put a fuse in the line) but it took us 3 hours to break down and set up. Course that's not a bad thing really. It causes us to put stuff away, clean out corners, and recall our routine. So we were back in business here by 1 PM.

Today we're having an old fashioned TV antena installed. Sometimes we've really wanted to know the local news as we travel. But back in 2003 when the solar panels were installed we gave up the antena for a fourth panel. Bad choice.

Tomorrow we are getting awnings put on the slide out. We used to have the awning as part of the slide topper but that pooped out on us a couple of years ago. We put sun shield film on the windows but thats not as good as awnings for keeping the whole slide cooler.

And now for the Evan laugh of the day. Imagine you are sitting on the floor playing with a 2 year old. You are driving your lego block car to the lego drive in. When you get there the little guy says:

"What do you want?"

"I'll have a cheeseburger."

He hands you a fistful of nothing. "Here."

"How much will that be?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know."

"How about $2?"

"OK."

"Do I get money back?"

"Sure," and he hands you a fistful of nothing.

"Thanks," and you proceed to eat your imaginary cheeseburger.

"You ate the money!" he giggles and rolls on the floor.

How am I supposed to keep track of this imaginary stuff?! Guess I should have put the money in my pocket:)

Posted by Joan at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

One evening with Great grandson Evan will provide us with a week of laughs :) Naomi and Brad invited us to dinner last night and we got to play with Evan in his natural environment. He's now 2 1/2 years and I may be biased (may?) but he is one good, smart boy. He kept us entertained for hours.

This morning we are still laughing at his antics. OK...does this look like a little devil or what?

We played with big Legos, pretended going to the drive in, buying cheeseburgers....well you know the routine but it seems such fun with a great grandchild. He's quite imaginative, very analytical and has a great sense of humor plus being very dramatic. We can sure see the results of all the adult attention. He's a little sponge soaking up everyone's facial expressions and body language.

The best Evan story of the night that had us rolling on the floor is this. We were playing a little rough, tickling and wrestling. He stood up and patted his ear like he was trying to get water out of it.

"What's wrong Evan:"

"My brain!"

What's wrong with your brain?"

"My brain is stuck!"

Now he was very serious. We absolutely cracked up. I wish I could have a little video running on my shoulder to capture all the funny things the kid does. Guess I'll have to rely on my great brain and hope it doesn't get stuck :)

Here's the family...Granddaughter Naomi, hubby Brad and Evan Patrick.

Thanks for dinner guys and thanks for giving us so many wonderful memories.

Posted by Joan at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I woke up at 2:30 AM hearing my cell phone beeping like a message alert...beep, beep, beep. I tried to ignore the thought but finally reached over to see who left a message. No phone. OK, what did I do with it. Usually it is right beside me on the charger.

I got up and looked in all the usual places. No phone. I even went through all the laundry thinking I might have left it in my pants pocket. No phone. Finally it occured to me to call my cell from Jim's phone. So I went to his bedside, got his phone and naturally disturbed his sleefp.

"What are you looking for?"

"Someone called and left me a message but I can't find my phone?"

By now I'm ready to go look in the car. I'm getting a little panicky and not thinking clearly. Jim is up helping me search.

So I called my phone and heard....nothing. Called again and walked through the MH and finally on my bedside heard faint phone sounds. Seems I'd tossed the phone on my bed, forgot to hook it up to the charger and it fell on the floor in a pile of teddy bears :)

AHA...check the phone. No messages! OK. Well this has been real fun. Now we are both wide awake. So we do the night time bathroom routine to tell the body it's going to bed again. Crawl into bed, snuggle up and very quickly I hear light snoring. Jim is sound asleep. I'm lying there waiting, waiting, waiting for sleep to come. And what do I hear? Beep, beep, beep!

It's the damn mockingbird! I swear he (or she) sounds exactly like a phone sometimes. The bird goes on singing for hours at a time, all night long. Guess I heard the bird call in my dreams and thought it was my cell. Three hours later I finally fell asleep.

Posted by Joan at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For many, many months we've had an intermittent "problem" with our Villager van. On some mornings there would be a loud screeching belt sound on start up. But not every day and only on the first start of the day. Might go weeks and not hear it.

We finally decided to have it looked at by the local Ford dealer. Turns out two belts and pulleys were worn out. Replacement cost ...$400. Ok. Got that fixed with a car wash thrown in.

The next day we drove to Temecula and every time we started after a stop, like at a red light, there was a wonky grinding sound. Not real loud but we knew something was wrong. Back to the dealer.

The mechanic and service writer duplicated the noise by stepping on the brake and the gas at the same time. I think they called it power braking. They also use a stethoscope to locate the trouble :) Seems one of the pulleys they installed was faulty. No charge to replace it. However.....

When they did the power braking the mechanic noticed that the engine lifted up about 6 inches. Yikes! One of the three motor mounts was cracked and broken. Alrighty...another $190 ....and throw in a car wash :)

After four days in the shop we now have a smooth running, sparkling clean van. And we'll be eating beans for a few weeks :)

Posted by Joan at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know...It's been three weeks since I wrote. But the days are pretty much the same here in Hemet. Lovely weather and lazy life.

A typical day:
Sleep in until 9 (maybe 10)
Have a couple of cups of coffee
Visit over breakfast
Surf the Web and check email and read all my blogs
Shower and get dressed
Read, scan slides to the computer, listen to music
Shop for dinner
Prepare and eat dinner
Mfaybe watch TV, more likely read or watch a movie

For variety we clean house a little, go shopping, take a bike ride, work on a project, visit the doctor, get the car repaired, go to the library or take a day trip...like yesterday.

We had lunch at our favorite wine country spot, Carol's at Baily Winery. Here's why we love it.

I had a salad of mesclun spring greens, cranberries and almonds topped with a pecan crusted baked salmon filet with raspberry rose vinaigrette. It was more delicious than it sounds and so huge...couldn't eat it all. Jim had a Caeser salad with grilled shrimp and we had an order of fresh baked rolls washed down with Baily Reisling. So much for food for Friday :)

Lots of the snowbirds have left the park (Golden Village Palms) so it is very spacious and quiet here except for the birds. We have a hedge behind us that fills with finches and wrens a couple of times a day..sunrise and sunset. One bird starts the conversation and pretty soon they are all twittering. What a lovely racket. Topping that off is the resident mockingbird who must be seeking a mate because he sings all night long. At least I think it's a "he". I'm always amazed at the vocal variety of this bird. The doves have not returned but we do hear them cooing all day long.

A soothing and relaxing life here as we transition to summer. Today the temp will hit 85+ and soon we'll be in the constant 90's. So around May 3 we will head up to Montana and then South Dakota to check out our home state.

Today we're being treated to dinner by grandkids Naomi and hubby Brad. I hear Naomi makes some great fajitas! And of course that means we can visit with little Evan and see what new tricks he's learned.

Posted by Joan at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)