Category Archives: Meme

A Fatherly Hodgepodge

Me and my dear old pop in 1973.

I’m adding a lot of random (not in chronological order) photos of my dear old pop throughout this post.

1. What happens to the mail at your house?

90% of it goes in the recycle bin. Bills go in my pay bills folder. Our kids’ mail goes next to the microwave for them to pick up the next time they come over. Magazines that we want to read end up in the family room or next to the toilet.

My older sisters and our pop in January of 2017.

2. Something you always splurge on? Any guilt associated with the splurge?

I’ll always splurge on my kids and on a good meal when we have friends and family over. The best meat with no guilt…just an empty pocketbook.

Josh and Laura with their Dzeda in January of 2017.

3. There are many, but what are two important questions you think every bride and groom should ask/answer before they plan their walk down the aisle?

If the bride and groom are believers these two questions are important. Do you love Jesus? Are you willing to obey him?

Our pop in the 1990’s

Dear and our pop in January of 2017 at Joe and Hannah’s wedding.

Me and my siblings in the 50’s with our pop before our next 4 siblings were born. I’m the youngest in this photo.

4. What’s the best advice your father ever gave you?

I can’t remember him giving me verbal advice. My parents were Russian immigrants and it took them a while to communicate in English. My Russian was dismal so verbal communication was an issue. Modeling was the best communication they gave. I learned a lot from watching them. One thing my parents always were ready to do was to drop everything and head over to someone’s home when they heard that a family member had died or to the hospital when they heard a friend or family member was suffering. They showed up. My mom would take food. They sat and listened and then they prayed with the hurting. My parents also modeled their faith in Bible reading and praying.

January 2015 with half of my siblings.

5. Your favorite movie where a father features heavily in the storyline?

I needed help with this one because my memory failed me. I’m going with Fiddler on the Roof. Teyve and his daughters.

“If I were a rich man…”

Our pop in the early 1950’s at 4635 Oak street in Pico Rivera, California.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Pop in 1967 or 1968 in Montebello while hosting our cheer leading squad for dinner during crazy hat night.

When I was in high school a door to door salesman tried to con my parents to buy a set of encyclopedias that they claimed would help us kids in school. The cost was prohibitive and I confronted the salesman and told him my parents would not be buying the set of books. The salesman was a little hostile and I didn’t back down and showed him the front door. After that incident whenever my father had to go out of town for a job, he’d leave the “purse strings” with me to pay the bills and dole out the money for my mom and the rest of my brothers and sisters. I was a scrooge.

Pop and mom (dzeda and baba) with our kids on Norway Hill in the early 1990’s.

My mom and pop at our niece Debbee’s wedding in April of 2013 five months before my mom passed away.

Me and my siblings with our dear old pop at our mom’s funeral in September of 2013. One brother is missing in this photo.

My pop and oldest sister at the Molokan Cemetery where our paternal grandparents and some uncles and aunts are buried.

Our dear old pop, who is now 95, is struggling more and more and continues to wait on God’s timing for his homecoming.

I’m linking up for Wednesday Hodgepodge with Jo From This Side of the Pond. She asks the questions and we answer them.

Totally Rad 80’s Hodgepodge

1.Describe your 30’s in one sentence. If you’re not yet 30 tell us one thing you hope to accomplish once you hit that particular decade.

A decade of change with a 2 year old toddler, 2nd baby (1981), 3rd baby (1985) moving on to elementary years with two moves, one north to Ventura where 3rd baby was born and then further north to the Pacific Northwest for hubby to pursue a career change at the University of Washington.

How’s that for a long sentence. In one word or three I’d describe my 30’s as “Changes” or “gnarly but rad”.

2. Is it harder for you to exercise or eat healthy?

Depends on the definition of exercise and healthy. I’m not a gym kind of person but I enjoy walks or easy hikes and mowing the lawn.  I like good food and a variety of food. You won’t find me drinking green shakes.

3. June 7th is National VCR Day. Huh? Anyway this reminded me of something I saw on Facebook listing household items we no longer have and the VCR was on it. I couldn’t put my hands on that list, but found another list here of 21 items we all had ten years ago, but which are now obsolete-

bookshelves (WHAT!!???), drip coffee makers, alarm clocks, file cabinets, desktop computers, printers, printed phone books, answering machines, fax machines, paper shredders, a Rolodex, CD racks, CD burners, china cabinets, home phones, entertainment consoles, DVD players, calculators, takeout menus, incandescent light bulbs, and cable TV

Your thoughts? How many on the list do you still have? Still use?

Haha! We still have everything on the list but CD burners, answering machines, a Rolodex. Instead of CD racks we have baskets that hold our CD’s. We do still have a VCR but it’s not hooked up at present.

4. What’s something you see disappearing in the next ten years?

Hopefully not the postal system.

5. How did you celebrate your birthday this past year? Is that typical?

This year Josh and Laura had us over for brunch to celebrate my birthday and it was wonderful. It is typical for us to enjoy a meal together but we usually go out.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

This past weekend was packed with all these people who are near and dear to us. Our family connected with the Dickinson family the decade of my 30’s and our friendships have grown since.

Linking up to Wednesday Hodgepodge hosted by Jo From This Side of the Pond. She asks, we answer.

Weekend Roundup ~ V

This week’s prompts:  Starts with “V.”  A Favorite.  Violet.

Starts with V: Viola and

my sister Vera who was Valedictorian of her graduating class.

A Favorite is this view.

Violet: Our daughter’s hair at present is violet or close enough to violet.

This is a vintage photo (1950’s) of my cousin Violet and me and my sisters Vera, Kathy and me. I’m pretty sure it was taken at Easter judging by the white patent leather shoes.

Thank you Tom for hosting The Weekend Roundup.

Next week’s prompts  Starts with “W.”  A Favorite.  Water.

Weekend Roundup ~ R

Starts with “R.” 

A Favorite. 

Red

Here are my choices from the prompts for Weekend Roundup.

Robin starts with R.

A Favorite: Reflections including some family members on Lake Roosevelt.

Red: Red tulips growing in a rather long row behind Judy and me in Chilliwack, B.C.

Parting Shot:

The raging Spokane River because of Spring runoff.

Cllick over to Tom The Backroads Traveller to see more selections from the prompts.

Today is mowing the lawn day and then I’m going to a soccer match with my adult kids on this side of the mountains. Happy Cinco de Mayo to all!

The Merry Month of May Hodgepodge

1. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Is there a flower you associate with a particular memory? Explain.

We live in the Rhododendron state. Every May these beauties in the photo above bloom all over our state. They come in different sizes and colors. We have five different plants in our yard. They grow with extra care and they grow wild with no care. The yellow one below is our newest one. I’ll always associate Rhodies with our move to Washington state way back in 1988.

2. Last time you helped someone? Tell us how.

These two just attended the Aeronautical Engineering “Space Ball” last weekend. Andrew will be graduating soon and he has been offered an intern to hire job after graduation. And yes, Katie’s hair is a rich shade of purple. They needed to search for a new apartment and I helped them by driving them to five complexes to check them out. These two brilliant young adults hate to drive. I like to drive so I was happy to help them in this small way. I also needed to be out of the house since there was an open house going on at our home so it filled the time nicely.

3. It’s National Salsa Month (the food, not the dance) so tell us, do you like salsa? Hot, medium, or mild? Homemade, store bought, or from your favorite restaurant only?

We like the salsa at our local Mexican restaurant. It’s medium. Other than good restaurant salsa we enjoy homemade.

4. When I was twelve years old…

This is the junior high school I was attending when I was 12. When I was 12 I attended Hume Lake Christian camp. What I learned at Bible Camp was that the only connection I could have to God was through Jesus Christ and what He did for me on the cross. Being Russian and being a part of my father’s religion did not give me a direct link to God that I believed I had. In 1963 at Hume Lake while listening to a speaker talk about Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross to save sinners I was moved to step out and become a follower of Jesus. God’s plan of salvation was exclusively through his perfect son Jesus, who is fully God and came to earth to live a perfect life among us and be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. I knew I was one of those sinners and I needed a Savior. This decision began a journey of ups and downs, highs and lows, but a journey forward with my God and Savior.

Nestled close to Kings Canyon National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada is the Youth Camp that I was able to attend in 1963, 1965 and 1967. I was 12, 14, and 16 during these wilderness adventures.

5. It’s the first of May so let’s run with it-first things first, don’t know the first thing about it, first dibs on something, first impression, first rate, first cousin, first string, first come first served, at first light-which phrase can best be applied to something in your life currently or even recently?

Currently I’d have to choose at first light. Seems Dear and I are up before first light each day. We should have been farmers or milk deliverers.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
It’s the Merry Month of May and I’m happy that it’s here.
Joining Jo From Across the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge.
 

There’s a Hole in My Bucket Hodgepodge

1. Three things on your spring bucket list? If you don’t have an actual list that’s fine, pretend you do.

  1. Sell our home 2. Buy a new home 3. Be moved into our new home by the time Spring is over. This is my reality bucket list. Any other time in life it would be filled with things like travel here and travel there…

2. Where do you find rest? What restores your soul? When was the last time you did whatever it was you answered here?

Going to church on Sunday restores my soul, especially communion Sundays. I also need a day in between very busy days to have no agenda. All this moving crunch has messed with my soul restoration time but…it is well with my soul nevertheless.

3. April is National Celery Month. Who knew? Do you like celery? What’s your favorite dish made with celery? On a veggie and dip platter which would you reach for first-carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumbers or cherry tomatoes?

Celery is okay especially with peanut butter spread on it. A Bloody Mary with a celery stalk in it is good, too. My first go to on a veggie tray would be cucumbers. Mirepoix (celery, carrots and onions) is a great base for lots of dishes.

4. I read here eight things to do before 8 am to make your day less hectic-Start one load of laundry, drink water, empty the dishwasher, read your Bible, know what you’re having for dinner, get dressed, brain dump (two lists-one what you’re thankful for and one what’s weighing on your mind), and after the brain dump make your to-list for the day

How many of these are you currently doing? Which one do you think would help the most if you added it to your early morning routine?

I like this list of things to do but for a retired person this doesn’t have to be done by 8. I think if I do this list by 9 or 10 am it would be sweet! And because we are retired some of the things on the list aren’t critical like starting a load of laundry.

5. Describe the view from your window.

This is the view from my laptop spot on my family room couch.

Patio covers up and my patio furniture all set out with my privacy fence in the background. Leaves beginning to appear on the huge maple that looms above my patio covers. Sweet bleeding hearts blooming in a container just outside our “french doors” that exit to our deck.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m apologizing ahead of time for not visiting other hodgepodge posts in a timely fashion. Today is our outdoor work day to get the house ready for open houses before we hightail it out of here to Eastern Washington on Thursday. I mow, Dear weed wacks. So far we only have one house to look at in Colville on this trip. We are hoping for more houses to come on the market that we look forward to seeing. Time will tell. What’s great is that we get to see and enjoy our eastern Washington kids including dear little Addy May while we are in Colville. It’s been a while…

Spring is finally blooming here in our yard and in western Washington in general. How’s Spring doing in your corner?

Linking up to Hodgepodge Wednesday with Jo at From This Side of the Pond. She asks the questions and we answer them.

Centered Hodgepodge

1. What’s a word that describes your life? A word you wish described your life?

Centered is a word that describes my life and only because my center is Jesus. This doesn’t mean that life is not chaotic at times or sad or underwhelming but I’ve known since junior high who holds my life together.

Right now I’m waiting for my life to be more settled.

2. Back in my day we___________________________________?

There is so much I could say here, but… Back in my day we didn’t have hand held hairdryers, computers, cell phones, facebook, instagram, blogs.

3. When it comes to takeout are you more likely to opt for Italian, Mexican, or Chinese food? Does a typical week at your house include takeout?

Most regularly if we think about takeout it’s Chinese food. Delivery food is pizza. Typically we go out at least once a week for Mexican.

4. Think about the people you most respect. What is it about them that earned your respect?

Consistency and integrity. Living the life they proclaim. I appreciate loyalty, too.

5. What’s something your friends might see and say is ‘so you’?

Being straightforward and honest. Some might call it blunt. I think they could say I’m more apt to encourage instead of discourage.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

We just spent 4 days in Colville celebrating our 1 year old granddaughter. This is our goodbye shot, but soon we will be living in the same city with fewer goodbyes. Crazy and good!

Not so random but the next couple months are going to be filled with staging, selling, buying, packing, goodbyes, unpacking and wondering what where and how it will all come together. I do know that soon I’ll be sitting and seeing new views and meeting new people and moving forward centered in Jesus now and forever.

I’ll be linking up to Wednesday Hodgepodge From This Side of the Pond.

Spring Hodgepodge

The Cherry Blossom Quad at the University of Washington. Katie, Laura and I enjoyed a couple hours at the University with lunch on the “Ave” on Monday.

1. On this first official day of spring tell us something (besides the weather) you’re looking forward to in this season of the year.

Well that’s a great question. This Saturday we are celebrating Addy’s first birthday with family and friends. She was born on the first day of Spring last year and she turned 1 on the first day of Spring this year. She’s our very special Spring gift. We are also looking forward to finding our new home somewhere close to our kids in Colville.

2. When it comes to spring cleaning would you rather wash windows or wash baseboards? Clean out closets or clean out the garage? Dust ceiling fans or dust bookcases? Wipe down the patio furniture outside or wipe down the light fixtures inside? Any of these tasks recently completed?

I’d rather wash baseboards.

I’d rather clean out the garage because Dear will do that and not me.

Dust ceiling fans since I only have one but I have a ton of bookcases.

Wipe down the patio furniture outside because that means the sun is shining.

I’m trying to pack a box a day so my closets are getting cleaned in a manner of speaking.

3. Your favorite thing to make/eat that calls for cream cheese? Sour cream? Whipped cream?

Cream Cheese = Cheesecake

Sour cream = Beef Stroganoff

Whipped Cream = Parfaits

4. I read here a list of commonly mispronounced words. What is a word that gives you trouble when it comes to pronunciation?

Arborvitae

5. What’s a song you love with the word ‘rain’ in the title or lyrics?

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

We are headed east again for a very special birthday celebration and to look at some more houses that are for sale. Tuesday I clocked more than 20,000 steps…a first for me this year. We did some major yard work. Hello Spring and so it begins, weeds and the grass growing before our eyes. That’s a spring cleaning job that I don’t mind, mowing the lawn. Crazy but true. Happy Spring dear bloggy friends. Hope you find renewed energy and new things every day to thank God for.

Hop over to From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you Joyce!

Weekend Roundup “K”

Time to link-up to Tom’s Weekend Roundup. This week prompts are: 1. Starts with K 2. A favorite 3. Kids

Starts with “K.” 

Katie starts with K and she’s knowledgeable and kind and is our third kid.

A Favorite. 

The latest view from our Kid’s driveway.

Kids.

Six of our kids (our granddaughter Addy was sleeping).

Parting Shot…

Keeping up with this little Kid will keep you young or knock you out.

Happy weekend and Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all.

The Best of February Hodgepodge

1. Are you currently operating at 100% capacity? If not, what % are you? What’s keeping you there?

At this stage of life I have spurts of working at different capacities. I’ve been working on one project at 100% which means my other daily operations are working at a lower capacity. I am learning more and more to appreciate the days and hours that my output is 100%.

2. Have you done your taxes? Planned/booked a summer holiday? Thought about or started your ‘spring cleaning’? Besides what’s listed here, tell us one task that needs doing before spring rolls around.

We have an appointment with a bookkeeper to do our taxes on Thursday. Spring cleaning is definitely on the schedule as we are putting our home on the market in May. Spring cleaning will probably start in April, with the most daunting project being the cleaning of our mini blinds. No Summer holiday this year as we will be using all our energy to move and adapt into our new environs. We do have a fall road trip planned in October to attend my 50 year high school reunion in Montebello, California.

3. What’s a favorite food from your part of the country?

Fish and shellfish stand out as the favorites for the Greater Seattle area. A favorite cooked in a variety of ways or smoked is Salmon. I did not grow up with much fish and it is not my favorite thing. A good barbecued Salmon is something I like. I also enjoy Penn Cove Mussels in a great sauce on occasion with a thick slice of bread that I can dip in the sauce. This next weekend the Penn Cove Musselfest in Coupeville is happening on Whidbey Island. I have to mention Dungeness Crab, too. We have Dungeness Bay, Spit and Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge in Washington State.

I’m amazed with myself that I’ve grown to enjoy a good oyster in a great sauce which would have made me gag years ago. A good piece of halibut, swordfish, or some good ole fish and chips cooked to perfection are dishes that I enjoy once in a while.

4. This isn’t a leap year, but let’s run with it anyway…look before you leap, a leap of faith, grow by leaps and bounds, leap to conclusions, leap at the opportunity…which phrase might best be applied to your life currently (or recently)? Explain.

We will be leaping at the opportunity to sell our home in a very hot market in the Seattle area and move to an area of Washington that is more affordable.

Special Side note about Leap Year: My sister Vera was born on leap year and only has her real birthday once every 4 years! We celebrate her on the 28th the other three years. Happy Birthday Vera! You are a dear sister and I appreciate you!

5. As the month draws to a close list five fun and/or fabulous things (large or small) you noticed or experienced in February.

  • The most fabulous/large experience I had in February happened at the very beginning of the month when I was able to fly down to Southern California with our son’s family and introduce our granddaughter to some of her Great Uncles, Great Aunts, her cousins once and twice removed. Most special was introducing her to her Great Grandfather (Dzeda).
  • We had some unexpected snow that only lasts a short time which is great, the short part.
  • Our kids, all of them, spent a weekend together which warms a mom’s heart. (Top Photo)
  • My dear old pop is feeling better in his health decline and he sounds better which is good to hear.
  • We are making progress on this old house, getting it ready to sell.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m looking forward to March. Our little granddaughter is turning one year old! Wow how fast the year has gone. She is just marching forward to her milestone! Walking, signing, lots of new teeth, eating some solids, standing up from a sitting position, climbing and learning some consequences from over reaching her limits and safety boundaries. Her Baba (me) will be enjoying a birthday in the month of March, too.

Thank you Jo, for the questions you ask for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you, too, for those of you who swing by and read the answers. I appreciate you.