Category Archives: Fun

Eight Random Things Meme

Guide lines: List eight random things or habits about yourself. At the end of your post, select eight people to follow suit

Susanna Rose from Mommy, Inc. has tagged me for a meme. Something I learned from her meme is that she is named after Susanna Wesley and she puts marshmallows in her tea! Here we go then….

1. If someone offered me a free trip anywhere I’d go to The British Isles again and again….

2. I was raised Semi-Kosher. We did not eat pork or shell fish and even avoided butchers who used the same knives to cut beef and pork.  I’ve seen the light and read Peter’s vision in Acts 10,  so I can really enjoy BLT’s now.

3.  I really enjoy soccer (World Cup 2004 post coming soon).  I like to watch World Cup Soccer Games live so I’ll get up at the crack of dawn to do that.

4. All my children are adults now, 2 sons and a daughter. My oldest son is married. They all live in Washington State.  Dear and I are in California where Dear is working right now but we would both love to be back in Washington State.

5. We own 3 Toyotas. The 1992 Corolla has 240,000 miles, the 1999 Camry has 125,000 miles and the 2007 Camry has  7500 miles. They are all original to us. We run them into the ground before we give them up.

6. I’ve developed this new habit/hobby called blogging. Since I’ve started blogging curious people have come out of the woodwork wondering what I do all day or how many hours I spend blogging.

7. I sat in the press box at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles with Elton John’s mother and a few others during his concert there in 1975. All I can say is that it was so darn loud I couldn’t see straight. I tried stuffing T.P. in my ears but it didn’t help.  I was used to loud music but I’m saying this was over the top hurt your ears and head loud! I’m not sure the bragging rights are worth it especially since the only thing I remember about it was his mother and my poor ears…

8. I have a habit of conversing in song lyrics at times. So if I leave a comment on your blog that sounds vaguely familiar and lyrical you’ll know what I’m up. You should know though if someone does that you’ve got a friend. So if you need a commenter you just call, call out my name, and you know wherever I am I’ll come runnin to comment again…

Oh my who to tag? As I always say ignore this if you’d like and if you play give me a holler so I can read your randomness!

 

El Tecolote ~ por Bridget!

The Founder of El Tecolote (The Owl) ~ Mike

The Story of EL TECOLOTE:
The El Tecolote story begins in 1946, 50 years ago, in the neighboring community of Moorpark. A young man, fresh out of his World War II Uniform, decided to open a small restaurant, because there weren’t any jobs available and he loved to cook. The night before he opened his new restaurant, the young man, Mike Loza, locked himself inside with a shotgun to make sure no one broke in and spoiled his opening. Mike couldn’t close his eyes – the trees around the restaurant were full of owls! Mexican tradition considers the visit of an owl to be an omen of very bad luck, so to overcome the bad luck sure to follow, Mike promptly named his restaurant El Tecolote, The Owl. Mike moved El Tecolote to Camarillo, in 1948 to a small house a few blocks from its present location. The restaurant was so tiny there was always a long wait for one of the four tables. Finally, a frustrated customer offered to finance a larger building, and the first part of the current restaurant was opened in early 1952. The large dining room was added in 1957. Mike operated El Tecolote for 34 years.

Dear and I enjoy this restaurant. It’s very low key (no frills!). One of the things we think they do that is brilliant is they keep their salsa in those plastic water pitchers and come around and refill your salsa from the pitcher. At other restaurants they have to come take away your little salsa pot then come back with a fresh one. Too much time wasted in my opinion where dry chips are just sitting around waiting to be dipped! Prices here are also more reasonable. I hope you enjoyed this little post Bridget!

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

Quick Family Fun in Huntington Beach

We had a last minute party in Huntington Beach on Saturday because our brother Leonard came into town from Dallas, unexpectedly. It’s his and Lana’s birthday on Sunday so we got everyone together for a meal and fun. (Lana was in Seattle so she couldn’t come to her party!)

Dear and I had to drive South for 2 hours to Huntington Beach because of …

traffic! Where are all these people going?

We had the mini birthday cake for Leonard.

Leonard always the life of the party!

Mom and Pop brought the lamb chops to barbecue. Nick (Mr. T.) barbecued the chops after marinating them in rosemary and mint.

The young T’s were there to join in the fun.

The guys (Levi, Caleb and Ryan) being nonchalant because of the camera, were discussing Caleb’s new (old) Fender Telecaster that he bought.

Michelle and Jack enjoying Unca’s cake.

I had to include this photo of my parents. Nadz (baba, mom) is stylin’ with her capri’s!

The moon from Huntington Beach when we left.

 

The moon from Camarillo when we arrived home.

I didn’t get photos of everyone there, but no worries we never pass up an excuse for a party so there are always photo opportunities in the future, Lord willing….

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

Happy Birthday Lana and Leonard! ~ The Sixties

twins.jpg

The Twins, my youngest sister Lana and youngest brother Leonard (#7 & #8) were born on July 29, 1963. You can go on over to Lana G.’s blog and wish her a happy birthday!

A Very Happy Birthday to You

Here’s the decade of the 60’s in a nutshell for you to enjoy…

1960 ~ John F. Kennedy is elected.
1961 ~ The Berlin wall is built.
1961 ~ Freedom Rides are organized to promote racial integration on buses, trains, and in terminals.
1961 ~ Roger Maris of the New York Yankees breaks Babe Ruth’s record by hitting 61 home runs in one season.
1962 ~ John Glenn is the first American to orbit earth.
1962 ~ Cuban missile crisis escalates the cold war.
1963 ~ Publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique marks the beginning of the feminist movement.
1963 ~ Zip codes are instituted.
1963 ~ President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. Lyndon B. Johnson sworn in.
1964 ~ The Olympics are telecast via satellite from Tokyo.
1964 ~ Surgeon General issues the first cigarette warning.
1964 ~ Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act.
1964 ~ Martin Luther King Jr. wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
1964 ~ Johnson is re-elected.
1965 ~ LBJ’s peace offer is rejected; the Vietnam War escalates.
1965 ~ More than 14,000 National Guardsmen control rioting in Watts, South Los Angeles. Your older sisters were at Bethany Baptist Church in Los Angeles for Youth Night when the riot was in full swing. Scary!
1966 ~ “Black Power” enters the civil rights movement, introducing the militancy of Stokely Carmichael.
1967 ~ Detroit riot becomes largest U.S. riot of the century.
1967 ~ Apollo 1 blows up, killing three. Space program halts for several months.
1968 ~ Nixon is elected.
1968 ~ Assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.
1968 ~ Your sister Ellen graduates from high school.
1968 ~ Computer RAM arrives on the market.
1969 ~ Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.

Some great quotes from this era…

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. (The Wall Street Journal, November 13, 1962)

“America wept tonight not alone for its dead young President, but for itself…Somehow the worst prevailed over the best.” ~ James Reston (Columbia Chronicles, 1963)

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” ~ Neil Armstrong (Televised broadcast, July 20, 1969)

Enjoy your special day. I love you both dearly and thank God that He added you to our family in 1963, what an amazing day in history that was!

High School Meme ~ Memories

Montebello High School is located in the San Gabriel Valley approximately 8 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. Its famous alumni include tennis champion Jack Kramer, baseball great Bobby Knopp, basketball player and coach Jerry Pimm, Nobel Prize winner Bruce Merrifield, actors Edward James Olmos and Jack Larson, and California Democrat Party Chairman Art Torres.

I saw this meme over at Fiddledeedee. Dee Dee got it from another blogger. You know how that goes. Since High School was 39 years ago I’ll see how my memory is holding up. Yikes did I say 39 years ago…2007 minus 1968 = 39, Ouch!  Have fun at your 20th year reunion (oops I mean 30th!) Dee Dee!

1. Who was your best friend? My best friend in Junior High and High School was Judy T. and Nanc M. (I want to respect their privacy so no last name even though they’re married).  

2. Did you play any sports? I did enjoy sports. I was part of G.A.A. (Girls Athletic Association). I didn’t play any organized sports on an actual team, just in Phys Ed.

3. What kind of car did you drive? I drove whatever second hand car was available. I didn’t have my own old jalopy till college.

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? Football games, basketball games, or baseball games. I was a Song-Leader part of the Pep Squad so I attended most every sporting event and cheered and danced away! I lost about 5 lbs. (water weight) every Friday night!

5. Were you a party animal? No, I really didn’t see the point of parties.

6. Were you considered a flirt? Not typically. I did get along with boys and sometimes better than I got along with girls.

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir?  Cheer Squad was my gig. I was part of the Russian Baptist Youth Choir.

8. Were you a nerd? Nope, not smart enough to be a nerd!

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? Never!

10. Can you sing the fight song?  “Long ago she rose and stood, Montebello dear old high, Mid the sunlight’s golden flood, Montebello dear old high, Where the blue and gold flag flies, sheltering splendid enterprise, neath California’s summer skies, Montebello dear old high.” That doesn’t sound to fight songish. I think the fight song was more along the lines of “On Montebello, on Montebello, Fight on for your team da da da da da da da…..

11. Who was your favorite teacher? Mrs. Sawyer ~ English

12. What was your school mascot?  Ollie the Oiler

13. Did you go to the Prom? We had a Junior/Senior Prom. I went to the prom in my junior year but not my senior year. Our prom was at the now demolished Ambassador Hotel (where Bobby Kennedy was assasinated). My date took me to the Coconut Grove for the pre-prom dinner and show and we saw the Righteous Brothers.

14. If you could go back, would you? No way, no how, well…maybe just to set the things right.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? The tiring all night party at a bowling alley and the senior trip I took with my best buddies right after graduation.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? We did not have a senior skip day.

17. Did you have a job your senior year? Yes, I worked for Link-Belt as an office assistant. I got off school half-day because I had enough credits.

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? Cafeteria with my sack lunch that my mom made for me every day.

19. Have you gained weight since then? Mercy, mercy me!  Yes, anywhere between 10 – 60 with pregnancies, etc. Right now I weigh 26 more pounds than I did in High School. I’d like to get that down to 20.

20. What did you do after graduation? I attended University of Redlands and then Cal-State Los Angeles, both in Southern California. I graduated with a degree in Home Economics and a k-8 teaching credential.

21. What year did you graduate? I graduated from high school in 1968.

22. Who was your Senior Prom Date?  Senior year no one, Junior year with Adam M.

23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? I went to my 10 year and my 30 year. There weren’t enough of my old buddies at the 30 year reunion :(. I was happy to see the few that were there.

Please feel free to play along! Then let me know if you do…

 

Some of the Cutest Harry Potter Fans I Know

 Bridget ~ Julie ~ Erin ~ Lucy

 Hands Down the Most Adorable Owlet ~ Finn

One of the most loyal Harry Potter Fans in the World and Finn’s Mother

Michelle, Katie and Kelly discussing Harry and all the possibilities.

Loved the Box Our Copy Came In with Attention Muggles Do Not Deliver or Open Before July 21st!

An Older less cute fan…

Katie almost done with the book at 8:00 PM Pacific Time

And now off to a corner to read till the end.

Ht: I stole photos from Erin’s blog and Bridget’s blog. Please let me know soon if you’d like me to give them back!

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

Baba and Deda’s with the Girls and Jack

Deda and Baba

Niece Michelle, Daughter Katie, and SIL Kelly

We had a family “girls night out” gathering at my parent’s apartment since Katie is here for a short visit. As usual my mother went “over the top” in preparing a wonderful meal for all of us. We were doubly blessed this time because my SIL’s Kelly and Letty were able to make it.

Sister Vera, SIL Letty, and Sister Kathy

 

We had Apricot Chicken, a Honeydew Spinach Salad with a wonderful mint dressing, a mixed veggie basmati rice, not to mention appetizers. Now for that fabulous cake pictured above, yummy Pistachio Cream Angel Food Cake.

 

The sisters enjoying a laugh. What a blessing to have loving, joyful sisters with peace between us.

Vera, Lana, Kathy and Ellen

Nana Kathy with grandson Jack. “It’s a high mountain goat.” My nieces Debbee and Melissa were there but didn’t get into a photo shoot.

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

Ellen B ~ My Childhood Home ~ 4635 Oak Street

Ellen b. ~  7 years old.

My parents immigrated to the US in the late forties and just after I was born settled in Pico Rivera, California for several years. The neighborhood I grew up in was called “The Jardines” Spanish for “The Gardens”. Let me tell you it was hardly a garden! We were a minority where I grew up. Most of my neighbors were Hispanic. My childhood was filled with neighborhood experiences, hide and seek in the street with the neighborhood kids, marbles, jacks. We didn’t spend a lot of time inside. The only books my home had in it were Encyclopedia Britannica that my parents were conned into buying by a door to door salesman promising us all a good education. We also had a Bible.

 

My childhood spanned the 50’s and 60’s. You can see the great 50’s furniture and accessories! Don’t miss the venetian blinds. We had a narrow long hall that we liked to run and slide down and we also would jimmy up the walls. One night before Easter Sunday I ran and slid down that hall and jammed my toes into the wall at the end. I had to wear one slipper to church because my toe swelled up. Talk about embarrasing being all dressed up in my Spring best with a slipper on!

One of my all time best family memories in this house was coming home from church on Sundays with bags of sunflower seeds from the sunflower seed cart across the street from our church. We’d sit around shelling and eating those seeds while we watched T.V.  Ed Sullivan Show was a standard.  I could go on and on but I’m going to spare you and save more for future posts.

If you want to read more about Childhood Homes go around the corner to Owlhaven…

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

Safe and Sound In Southern California!

Katie and I arrived safe and sound today. The trip was easier than we expected. Thank you to those of you who were praying that my feet and legs wouldn’t cramp. God answered your prayers! Not one cramp in the 20 hours of driving. Of all the books on cd that we took our #1 favorite was Jeeves and the Song of Songs by P. G. Wodehouse. Funny and very entertaining. We enjoyed one of the Barchester Chronicles and Book 5 of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Today we listened to Meet Me at the Morgue which was an entertaining murder mystery. We wouldn’t recommend The Vicar of Wakefield, for us it was horribly dull!

 

Katie took this at the border of Oregon and California.

 

Katie being creative…

 

There is a story to this mountain range. Yes, what you see is a mountain range. The smallest mountain range in the World! Dear’s Mother Verna is buried in a cemetery with these mountains in the background. Our photo is from I-5 which is the opposite view from the one below.

Yuba City’s Sutter Buttes

Sutter ButtesYuba City’s western horizon is dominated by the Sutter Buttes, renowned for being the “Smallest Mountain Range in the World.”

The range is actually circular with a diameter of 10 miles and covers an area of about 75 square miles. The mountains are the remnants of a volcano that has been dormant for over a million years. South Butte, the highest peak is 2,117 feet above sea level. North Butte is 1,863 feet and West Butte is 1,685 feet above sea level.

Before modern levees and dams were built to contain the rivers, winter storms and spring run-off frequently turned the Sacramento Valley into an inland sea making the Sutter Buttes an island refuge for Indians, settlers and wildlife.

The Buttes have had many names over the years. The Maidu Indians called them “Histum Yani” which translates as, “Middle Mountains of the Valley” or “Spirit Mountain” … depending on the source. According to Maidu legend, after death, the spirits of their people rest in the Buttes.

Gabriel Moraga, a Spaniard trying to locate possible mission sites, was the first European to see the Sutter Buttes in 1806. Another Spaniard, Luis Arguello, led an expedition in 1817 to explore Northern California by water. He called the Buttes “Los Picachos” or the peaks. He also named the Feather River “El Rio de la Plumas”, because he saw many feathers of wild fowl floating on the water.

Other names for the Buttes were “Marysville Buttes”, “Sacramento Buttes”, and “Los Tres Picos.” They were finally named the “Sutter Buttes” in 1949.

Today, most of the Sutter Buttes is private land and not open to the public. However, you can drive through and around the Buttes. It is a beautiful drive any time of the year! Each year, in the spring, over 1,000 cyclists converge to “Bike Around the Buttes” an event sponsored by the Diabetes Society of Yuba Sutter.

If you want to experience the Buttes up close, organized group tour hikes are available. You can also play golf in the Buttes at South Ridge Golf Course, but watch out for the infamous 16th hole!

http://www.syix.com/yubacity/sutterbuttes.html

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.