A Legacy

When my kids were growing up in the late 70's/early 80's,they spent a lot of time with my parents, who lived only 5 miles away. My kids were the first grandchildren for Gram and Grandfather.....yes, I said "Grandfather". I don't recall how that title came about 35 years ago, but everyone in the family, and even friends of grandchildren just know him as Grandfather.

One of my Dad's biggest hobbies has alway been woodworking. Starting with me, the oldest, he has made hope chests for all his Daughters & Grandaughters. Over the years he has made me countless pieces of furniture and hung shelves in every apartment and home I've ever lived in.

a bookshelf for a Grandson going off to college

He and my Mom have made hundreds of decorative wood items over the years for church fairs: he cuts the wood, she paints.

My two sons spent a HUGE amount of time with Grandfather in his garage workshop over those early years, starting with small, age appropriate projects and working up to bigger and better things. Not all of these items have survived the last 25 years, but look at all this I pulled out of storage yesterday to show MY Grandkids. They were very impressed! And Son enjoyed reliving all the memories, too.

Lots of vehicles, of every variety

and look at this customized Star Wars case, all wood and decoupauge (remember decoupauge?)

Over the years, our family has become heavily populated by females: 15/6

Grandfather's family head count:

3 Daughters, 1 Son

8 Granddaughters, 4 Grandsons

4 Great-Grandaughters, 1 Great-Grandson

The time span between the last Grandson (19 yrs.) and Great-Grandson (4 1/2 yrs) is 15 years, so it was time for Grandfather to remember what it's like to have a small boy in the workshop once again!

A few days ago, Grandson & I drove 90 miles to spent the morning in Grandfather's Garage.

There were safety instructions first

and then he got to use the drill press.

There was painting to do

and hammering

and when the morning was over, a very happy boy had made several Christmas gifts. For Sister, a desktop holder for new markers

For his Dad and his Pop-Pop in Ohio, dinosaur key holders (the pattern for that dino was drawn by his own Dad 25 years ago at age 8 for one of his own projects)

What a good day!

and Grandfather's Legacy will live on in yet another generation.....

Wiener Dog Memories

I used to have a Dachshund. His name was Howie. He's been on my mind a lot lately.

This is my story of Howie the wiener dog........

I am not a dog person.

I am not a PET person, period, and yet I spent 18 years married to a man who was the proverbial "little-boy-who-had-animals-follow-him-home". Our life was a constantly revolving door of dogs, cats, racing pigeons, chickens, pheasants, tarantulas, mice, snakes, lizards, fish....well, you get the general idea. (see: chicken story and snake story)

While I tolerated all this (what else could I do?), I was never really an active participant in much of it. Oddly enough, my 3 kids weren't much interested, either. I guess they didn't inherit whatever gene that was that Husband seemed to get an extra helping of.

In 1992, our family went from 5 people in the house down to 2 in the short span of 6 months. Daughter got married and moved away. Oldest son went off to college, and Husband left in search of greener pastures. 12 yr.old Son and I, like deer caught in the headlights, were left to figure out a new kind of life together, just the two of us.

Somewhere during all of that adjustment, Youngest Son caught me in a weak, shell-shocked moment and asked if we could get not one, but TWO dachshund puppies and for some reason that still puzzles me, I said yes. That is how Howie and Oscar came into our lives.

We accidentally stumbled across a group of Dachshund owners that met twice a year in Balboa Park in San Diego for a 'Wiener Dog Picnic" and we attended several times. Each time the group seemed to have doubled! Trust me, you haven't lived until you've seen over 100 wiener dogs all in one place, especially at Halloween when most of them are in costumes! That was really a lot of fun, even for a non-dog person like me!

Sadly, when the wieners were about a year and a half old, we lost Oscar to the busy street in front of our house. That clever dog had figured out how to climb a low, twisted tree in the backyard and jump over the 4 ft. fence! (I know what you're thinking, but really, I saw it with my own eyes!)

A few years later the three of us, Youngest Son, Howie, and I, moved out of our house and into an apartment. I became one of those people that I never thought I'd be in million years....someone who has to get home to "walk the dog". Someone who stands on the sidewalk holding one end of a leash with a pooping dog on the other end. Someone who has to carry a bag of poop while making a mad dash to the nearest trash can.

And then, horror of horrors, it happened!! Youngest Son, at 19, went off to start his own life and left me with the dog! Howie and I lived in that small apt.complex (20 units) for 7 years. Many new neighbors would come and go and often before I got the chance to meet them they somehow already knew Howie (neighbor kids would occasionally walk him for me ). One friendly little 6 year old neighbor never could remember my name but always cheerfully greeted me with "Hi, Howie's Owner!" GREAT!! Not only did I have to carry the wiener dog's poop, but he was more well know than me, too! The ultimate indignity!!!

My kids thought the whole thing was quite funny! Just me and The Dog. Daughter was living 400 miles away and Howie would ride shotgun on all of our trips back and forth to Modesto. Ha! Ha! Mom actually travels with a dog! Ha! Ha! Mom is actually really attached to a DOG!

Ok! Ok! So I'll admit it.....Howie helped get me through my empty nest trauma and he was a good dog.....we had some good times together.....

Then, 5 years ago, I bought this house with Son, Daughter-in-Law,and (then) 3 month Granddaughter. Howie was 12 and feeling his age. He had some aches and pains in his hips and was somewhat cranky. By the time Granddaughter started crawling, it was obvious that we had a problem. She was a very aggressive baby and just wanted to "play" with Howie and he did his best to stay out of her way. Then came the day when she managed to sneak up on him and "pat" him on his aging sore back. He of course instinctively nipped at her, his tooth hit her face and there was a little blood.........one of them had to go and it seemed best to keep the baby since her parents were rather attached to her, and after all, I'm not really a dog person.....but where would I find a suitable home for a cranky, aching 12 yr.old Dachshund? I didn't know what to do....

The following week, while leaving Howie at a doggie hotel for the weekend, I mentioned that I was looking for a new home for him. When I returned to pick him up a few days later, an 18 yr. old employee was waiting to tell me that her family had 2 wiener dogs and would love to give Howie a new home! HALLELUJAH!! I packed up all of his things and took him to his new home the next day. They were such great people and loved Howie right from the start. Much to my surprise, I cried all the way home. Yes, me, the non-dog person who never wanted a dog in the first place, cried all the way home.

Two months later when Daughter and family came to visit, I had to break the news to (then) 6 yr.old Granddaughter, who was especially attached to him. She was so crushed that she hadn't gotten to say good-bye that I called the new family and asked to visit. When Granddaughter and I walked in the door Howie was overjoyed to see us!! We had a nice visit and heard all about how everyone in the family loved him, a Vet in the family was helping with his hip problem, and how he would come running when he heard the freezer door open because he knew he would get an ice cream sandwich! Granddaughter looked at me and said "Wow Mimi! You never gave him ice cream sandwiches! They must really love him here!" We left there with a clear conscience, knowing he was in the best place for him.....but I had to choke back tears once again as he ran to the front door expectantly when he heard my keys jingling.......

Earlier this year, Daughter's family got a Dachshund of their own, which is quite amazing since Daughter is even less of a dog-person than I am!

This is Dennis

Except for his color, Dennis looks very much like Howie. The same face, the same expressions, the same bark. I'm always startled when I think I hear Howie barking...Deja-vu

Dennis has made me think of Howie a lot lately. My family has suggested that I call his family and ask about him, but I know it's highly unlikely that he is still around at age 17, crankier and more achy than ever. I just prefer to remember him being carried around everywhere and being fed ice cream sandwiches.....

Wherever you are Howie, know that I think of you often and thank you for making me a little more of a dog-person than I ever thought possible

Rindercella

I had heard that you can find absolutely anything on the internet these days. I now know it's true.....I have proof:

Do you remember "the Gong Show" from the '70's? For those of you too young to remember this HUGELY popular show I'll explain:

The Gong Show was a VERY popular game show/amateur talent show. There were game-show-celebrity judges and if they liked your act they let you finish and then gave you a score of 1-10. If they hated you they would bang a gong and you were done....you'd been "gonged!". The person with the highest score won a prize of $516.32 and a golden gong trophy.

Wellllll.......32 years ago in 1977, my (then) brother-in-law performed a funny act on the show and actually won the prize! He recited a poem in an unusual way. Recently something reminded me about this... I wonder if it would still be funny today in 2009? Hmmmmm.....I wonder if there's any way that clip could be on the internet? .....I sat down at the computer.....I wonder if I could find something about his act. How can I research this? I remember the name of the poem was "Rindercella"......I decided to just try Google first and typed in the words "Gong Show Rindercella"....and BAM!! Guess what was the first thing that popped up from YouTube?!! Yep!! There he was doing his act......time elapsed: 5 SECONDS!!

and WHY? WHY? is this 32 year old Gong Show clip of 2.42 minutes on YouTube? Who put it there? Are all the hundreds of clips from that show on the internet? or just some of them? and why this one? What the heck!!!.....WHY IS THIS CLIP ON THE INTERNET?!!! Oh, wait...I know the answer to that question...

BECAUSE APPARENTLY EVERYTHING IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE UNIVERSE IS ON THE INTERNET! that obviously can be the only explanation......

now go here and watch my brother-in-law doing his act (and yes, it's still funny)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhRdD1OU_nE

A Snake Story

Daughter wrote a blog post yesterday about some childhood memories and has asked me to do a companion piece.....please go read what she wrote first, and then come back here for my story that we refer to as "the time I almost picked up the rattlesnake....."

A long time ago, when my kids were in elementary school, we lived on a 200 acre avocado ranch in North San Diego County. We often ran into visiting wildlife as soon as we stepped out the back door. Just off the top of my head I remember coyotes, tarantulas, horned toads, racoons, possums, roadrunners, bobcats, and even a donkey (never did figure out where he came from!)....oh, yeah, and snakes....LOTS OF SNAKES!

So, one day, while Husband was at work, I heard all the kids outside screaming for me "MOM! MOM! HURRY! HURRY! COME QUICK!" Of course my heart stopped as I ran outside to find all three kids following (from afar!) a large gopher snake slithering accross the driveway. They knew I wasn't afraid of snakes and shouted "GET IT! GET IT! We want to take it to school for sharing. GET IT!" I ran inside for a cardboard box and came back out just in time to see the snake's tail disappear into a waist-high row of bushes along the driveway. The kids were frantic by now that I was going to lose the snake! I stood above the bush, peering down through the branches, and there he was, just laying there quietly, all coiled up! I slowly, carefully, reached my hand down through the branches, and when I was only inches away I suddenly thought to myself "wait a minute! How did that snake get coiled up so fast and why does he look so much smaller than he did a minute ago?" As the kids started hollering again a few feet away "Here he is over here! He's coming out of this bush!" I FROZE! I quickly stood up and took a deep breath.....THAT GOPHER SNAKE PICKED THE ONE BUSH IN THAT WHOLE ENTIRE 200 ACRES THAT HAD ANOTHER SNAKE ALREADY IN IT...A BABY RATTLESNAKE!! AND I CAME WITHIN INCHES OF PICKING IT UP!

Well, I did catch that gopher snake. We kept it for about a week so all three kids could share it at school and then we released him back out into the 200 acres. And that rattlesnake never even noticed me. I think he was asleep and slept right through all the commotion until Husband came home right about then and really did pick him up (with a shovel of course). I don't remember what happened to him . I think I remember him in a big jar for a few hours (he was small) but after that I don't recall......

You know, now that I'm seeing this story in writing for the first time I realize how anti-climactic this story actually is! It would be a much better ending if I really HAD picked up that rattlesnake! Now THAT would have been more interesting for sure!! (I'll remember that for next time!...)

remember?

Is there anything better on a lazy Saturday than making a blanket tent?

Remember that? I have such fond memories of crawling inside with my dolls or stuffed animals and playing school or hospital or animal doctor.

Best of all was when my Mother would let me have the tent all to myself (I'm oldest of 4) without younger siblings to bother me and I could curl up with a book for some alone time..... especially if it was a rainy day!! That was just the best thing ever!

Even though I'm 51 years old, when I'm occasionally down in the dumps for no real reason (hormones probably?) I think what I really need is my own blanket tent for a few hours.

I'm pretty sure if I were to make a blanket tent in the corner of the dining room and crawl in there with my pillow and a book, I think my family would think I was slipping off the deep end.

BUT, the next time everyone is gone for a few days and I have the house to myself........