Childhood Memories

When I was a kid, we rarely took family vacations. If we did, it revolved around a family event. Someone getting married or graduating. I loved those trips. But they had a purpose, and it wasn't just "let's go to Disneyland!" or they kinds of trips my friends families would go on. Instead, I got to take my summer vacation trips with my grandparents. Sounds maybe not so good. Ah, but they were fun.

The good thing about taking a trip with grandparents, is they can be gone for nearly forever. Lots of time to travel across the country when you are retired. My younger sister and I would take the train over to Wenatchee. We would be loaded down with luggage that weighed more than us, filled with all the things teenage girls needed to survive. Hair products, makeup, different outfits for each day and weather possibility. By the time the back of the Chevy Citation was filled with four suitcases, a cooler and snacks, well we were lucky we got out of the driveway. Close quarters, we would have that line drawn down the middle of the seat, sometimes mental and sometimes an actual blockade.

My grandpa has always been an early riser. Like a 3 a.m. kind of early. With the goal of being on the road by 5 a.m. So, being girls that take a bit of time to get ready in the morning, we'd be up before the sun, blow dryers, curling irons and makeup littering the hotel bathroom. Rushing to be ready before breakfast. Did I mention that my grandma is the opposite of an early riser? She is barely moving before 10 a.m. So, we'd make it too breakfast, usually at Denny's. Then we'd load up and hit the road. My grandpa would start out driving. He'd drive for about two hours, then kick us out of the backseat, so he could lay down and take a nap. Early rising wears a guy out I guess.

A lot of the trips involved old west history. We would often drive for miles down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere to reach some historical site where someone "famous" was shoot or stood, or had lunch. We'd get there to find a small plaque. This didn't much impress my sister and I, but my grandpa would stand there and talk about how he could just see it all happening around him and how wonderful it was to be in the very spot.

We went a lot of terrific places. We went to Acadia National Park and had tea and scones at the Jordan Pond House. I have been to Mount Rushmore. I have seen where Betsy Ross sewed the flag. I have seen the monument for Little Bighorn. We went to Deadwood City before it became a huge tourist attraction and stayed at one of the oldest hotels in town. Other trips involved seeing the Meteor Crater in Arizona, the Vietnam Memorial, Museum of Natural History, and we even made it to Disneyland with them.

In between all this sightseeing, we would listen to the one tape owned by my grandparents. Marty Robbins. I learned to love how every song he sang seemed to have the same melody. My favorite is El Paso. It fit with our travels, a gunfighter ballad about an outlaw who dies trying to get back to his one true love, Felina.

But most appreciated now, is the time we spent with our grandparents. Talking and listening. Learning and sharing.

Our assignment, should we choose to accept it... IM

Well, I happen to love IM. I use it often. I am most familiar with Skype. My sister often travels to Africa, and when there, that is how we talk with her. Skype also lets you have live phone conversations if you have a mic and speaker on your computer. This is all free, which is handy when you want to talk to some one in Africa! I think IM is much better than email, and sometimes better than the phone. You can several people in on the conversation at once, and they can answer when convenient. They can walk away and get back to you and you're not left hanging on the phone line. It is great for people who like to multi-task. I think I would probably stick with skype, since that is what I am used to and most of my family uses it. The linked article made a good point, that sometimes it is nice having no email trail of the conversation. In skype, you can choose to save chat history or not. It looks like gmail has the same ability.

In case you wanted to know...

Starfish and Coffee



It was 7:45, we were all in line 2 greet the teacher Miss Kathleen
First was Kevin, then came Lucy, third in line was me
All of us were ordinary compared 2 Cynthia Rose
She always stood at the back of the line, a smile beneath her nose
Favorite number was 20, every single day
If U asked her what she had 4 breakfast, this is what she'd say
Come on....

Starfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam
Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine, and a side order of ham
If U set your mind free, baby, maybe U'd understand
Starfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam


Cynthia wore the prettiest dress with different colored socks
Sometimes we wondered if the mates were in her lunch box
Me and Lucy opened it when Cynthia wasn't around
Lucy cried, I almost died, you know what we found....

Starfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam
Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine, and a side order of ham
If U set your mind free, baby, maybe U'd understand
Starfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam


Cynthia had a happy face just like the one she drawed
On every wall in every school
But it's alright, it's for a worthy cause

Go 'head Cynthia keep singing.....

Starfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam
Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine, and a side order of ham
If U set your mind free, baby, maybe U'd understand
Starfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam

Just what I needed

Thanks so much to the Web 2.0 team for adding an addictive past time to my line up. I really enjoy reading my co-workers blogs. Much more than I like posting to my own. It's interesting seeing the creativity and individuality. Ryan from circ has a hilarious youtube video. Joe from ILL is sharing the best of Interlibrary loan. And What's the License Plate? has the link for the Librarian song that I lurv.

I wish I had a better understanding on how to edit the page elements. I want to add more elements, but maybe there is a limit? I can't seem to find the answer to that one on the help page. But I haven't searched to hard. If you find the answer before me, do tell.

How'd they get that way?

I have 13 year old twins. A boy and a girl. (uh, no they aren't identical... I get that a lot. When I feel sarcastic, I point out how they have one very important difference between them, but then those folks usually persist... but are they identical??) Born 13 minutes apart, they are as different as two kids could be. I raised them the same, they had the same parents, the same toys, offered the same food, played with the same friends.

From day one, my son was picky, harder to soothe. When he was little he would grind his teeth and had night terrors. When he played, it mostly involved lining things up. Sorting by color or type. His room is filled with lists he has created. His room is a mess. Which seems odd for someone who appears to like order and logic. He is very smart and creative, but the pressure to get it right is nearly overwhelming for him.

His sister... easy going. From day one. Soothed herself. Loves food. All of it. Marks days on her calendar that she will clean her room. And, she does it! Does all her homework. Loves to read, and devours most books. Reading is her favorite thing to do. (She wants to be a librarian). She aims to please.

How much influence do we really have?

Fear of publication

A blog is nothing I would create and maintain in my own life. It carries with it a fear. What if I misspell a word? What if my grammar sucks? What if no one but my kids read my blog? It's like high school all over... will I be the last one standing on the red line, and the other team is like... "Yeah, I guess we'll take her." Ah, the fear of humiliation. I much prefer to blend in, stick with the crowd, let the other guy take the lead. There's nothing wrong with being a follower, right? Someone has to follow. Without followers, there couldn't be any leaders.