Blast from the Past... 1969

What might be one of the most famous quotes of 1969 is "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." spoken by astronaut Neil Armstrong as he became the first man to walk on the moon that year.

Other notable events that year...

Nixon became President

Sesame Street made it's debut on PBS

The Chappaquiddick Affair involves Senator Edward Kennedy

Still at war with Vietnam

Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its debut flying from Seattle to NY

Average Cost of new house $15,550

Average Cost New Car $3,270

Gas per Gallon 35 cents

So what made me go on this memory ride into the past? This morning as I was counting the bills in the cash drawer getting ready to make the weekly deposit I came across an old $5 bill. I have gotten so used to the newer design that I almost had forgotten what the old bills looked like. So I looked at it closely and saw it was from the 1969 series. Of course my imagination begin to run wild and I'm wondering if this bill could talk what could it tell us about where it's been and what it has seen. Was it in some one's pocket when Nixon gave his inaugural speech? Was it used to buy some bell bottom jeans and tie-dye shirts that had become part of the teenage fashion scene?

And where was I in 1969? Well, I dug up some old pictures and as far as I can tell I was a shy little toddler living in San Cristobal, Venezuela along with my parents, older sister and brand new baby brother.

Here I am with my sister Donna (I wonder why she is wearing a tie?) and our dog Jetty.

Where were you in 1969?

Fall in Summer's Clothing

So after going through the whole summer which was unusually cool and mild Fall arrived disguised in Summer's clothing! We have been getting such warm temperatures that it's hard to believe it is almost October. Sunday was quite warm so Grace, Jon and I headed to the beach to "cool off". It was beautiful and I loved basking in the sun all afternoon!

Monday surprised us all by arriving with record breaking heat. It got all the way up to 111 degrees in La Mirada! I don't ever remember it being that hot since I've lived here. Quite strange. Regardless, I still went for my daily walk in the park although not too many others braved it.

Each day has gotten a little bit cooler. Yesterday I enjoyed a perfect evening at the Angels game with Charlotte & Bill. I even got to see a home run (with fireworks) and the Angels won 4-2. The last time I went to an Angels game was in 1986 when I was a new transfer student at Biola way back in the day! That's right, back in the dark ages when we didn't have cell phones or the internet! Oh how times have changed...

Today the cool down continued with a beautiful afternoon display of monsoon clouds, rainbows, and gorgeous sunset. I love sunsets! Hopefully the weather will continue to improve and it will finally feel like Fall.

First Weekend of Fall

It's the first weekend of Fall but you couldn't tell by the weather! It definitely felt like summer. So what better way to cool off a bit than by heading to the beach. Grace, Jon and I drove to Huntington Beach and spent a wonderful afternoon relaxing. Besides lots of surfers we also saw quite a few dolphins swimming across about 100 feet from the shore! I have never seen dolphins that close! I'm so thankful to live here.

LA County Fair

I can't believe another week has almost gone by and I have been meaning to get a post up about last weekend's trip to the LA County Fair.

It was a really fun afternoon/evening with Michael, Abby, Kate, Savannah, Jeri, Chrystal & Paul. I have never been to the LA fair and so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I didn't expect was how huge it was! You can literally walk for miles!
I think Kate was the most excited of us all to be there. She would point to the Ferris wheel, and the airplane flying overhead, and the giant horses, and the piggies, and the chickens, and the cows... but she really didn't care for the trains or the train whistle. I think it startled her.
I on the other hand I was happy as a clam to cuddle up with Savannah for the entire time. It was great!
How many things can you fry? And who comes up with this? Well, I passed on the fried stuff but indulged on some outstanding handcrafted real ice cream... YUM!

After meandering around the big red barn and all the farm animals we headed over to see the Peking acrobats.

From skates and hoops to twelve or more people balancing on a bike they were pretty amazing. It was almost 10 pm by the time we left and we all wished we had a comfy stroller like Kate to crash in. Sweet dreams!

Thank you Firefighters!

A big thank you to the hundreds of firefighters who attacked the fire by land and by air and kept us all safe. I've never seen a brush fire as close as this one was in the eight years I've lived up here. It was impressive and mesmerizing to watch the water dropping helicopters and airplanes flying over head and swooping down so close to the ground. Thankfully it was not windy and they were able to knock it down quickly.

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's...

It's a crack on my windshield!

Here is a close up of my Labor Day "souvenir" thanks to a semi on Forrester Rd. Thankfully my friends at GEICO waived the deductible and I was able to get it sealed at no cost to me.

Now that's what I call a blessing in disguise!

Fig Preseves

It is fig season and the tree in the backyard has been quite fruitful this year. I picked alot of figs last week and froze them so I could make some jam later. Well, I've made two batches which yielded about fifteen jars and still have more to go. Here is a step by step of my jam making adventure.

Fig Jam

fresh figs, chopped

cane sugar

juice of one orange

cinnamon

all spice

cloves

Lions & flags & figs, oh my!

So what do you do all weekend if you don't have internet access at home?

How about go climb up a "Dreaded Hill"...

or try not to run into a mountain lion...

or try and figure out why someone felt the need to put so many locks on a gate you can just walk around...

or go fly... a flag!

Or you can just decide to make 15 jars of fig perserves... pictures of that coming soon!

Remembering on 9/11

This morning Grace, Jon and I went for a hike out in Foothill Ranch. It was a clear beautiful day. When we reached the top of the hill I flew the flag in remembrance of 9/11. Thank you to all who work hard to keep us safe everyday.

Can it be September already?

I know... I know... people always say "time flies" but seriously where did August go 'cause I think I missed it!? Maybe what has thrown me off is the unusually cool summer we have been having. I feel like I am still waiting for summer to arrive.
This past weekend I finally headed over to HB. The day began overcast and cloudy but by the time we made it out to Sea Bridge Park it was sunny and nice. Rick and Rebecca invited me for a fun picnic with some of their friends. What a beautiful day to just relax in a hammock and nap as long as I wanted... mmmmmm! I love sunny days!Mom's back in town after a nice summer visit to PA. Grace, Jon, Sara and I took her out to Lizzaran on Sunday evening to celebrate her birthday. Paella, tapas and incredibly delicious flan. Yum!
I've been spending my evenings picking avocados and figs from the backyard. It is really a bountiful crop this year. I made a batch of fig jelly earlier in the week and last night I made about three quarts of guacamole from the avocados that were ripe.