Autumn painting and baking day

Mariah, Ross and kids came for a 3 day visit. As I went to work I told the girls that when I got home it would be an "autumn painting and baking day". Of course it was only a couple of hours, but Mariah said they were looking forward to it all day long - and since anticipation is half the fun, we can count it as a whole day. We made autumn trees, apple stamps, pumpkin bread and apple muffins.

I like how Emmy's leaves exploded, or maybe shook off her autumn tree.

Painting with apples was very fun. There really is a star in the middle of every apple.

Saturday evening was fun because:

Mariah and I made sugared/toasted pecans which we then used in our pecan bars.  We also watched a movie while Mariah borrowed my sewing machine to make a wig for Avonlea's Halloween costume.  It turned out so great! I can't wait to get a picture of her wearing it in October with her full costume. I think Mariah surprised herself with her sewing skills.

Friday night was fun as I worked on my own Christmas -sewing projects and Luke, Samantha and I did some impromptu birthday and Christmas shopping on Amazon. They both have birthdays in the next few months so it was fun to do that together.

 

fishing hole

 

Sunday evening we went to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and noticed so many birds just hanging out - at their own fishing hole I guess. It was a nice, peaceful evening. We only had a few minutes before the sun set to walk on the trail among the trees. They seemed to be welcoming autumn.

Grandbaby #11

healthy discussions

 I like that Luke is interested in a variety of music through the ages. Today he mentioned that a Whitney Houston bi-opic movie is coming out. This morphed into a debate about who was the original singer of "I'm Every Woman". I was surprised that he hadn't heard of Chaka Khan, so I educated him good and proper. Although, I must admit, nobody sings like Whitney Houston. I found this video and love it -  I love that Chaka Khan is singing with her; I love that it celebrates womanhood.

searching for my past

 In 1986 I was working for a temp agency which sent me to a long-term assignment in South San Francisco. It was an office job at MacGregor Sea and Air Freight Service, which turned into a permanent, full time job. I'd like to describe what I did, but the most details I can remember is that I was at a desk, dealing with paperwork for the air freight carriers coming in and out of San Francisco. I remember hoping that someday I could switch and work with children.

I had that job until I was pregnant with Julia. Then I did get what I wanted - to be a stay at home Mom, a day care provider in my home, and eventually to work in the schools.

Last week Samantha started a new job in South San Francisco. In driving her I realized it was in the same area. It's so built up now, and I know my former company moved years ago, but some of the street names and the route are familiar to me. So yesterday, before picking her up, I drove around trying to find the building or at least the street. The best thing about that job was that at lunch time I took a walk over to the water - a really pretty trail right by the bay. I haven't found the building or even that trail yet, but I will keep looking. It was somewhat like the picture below, which I got off the internet.  Anyway, it is strange to re-visit my memories of such a long time and different life ago.

peaceful

 A few weeks back I needed to pick up Samantha from the Oakland airport. So, to avoid traffic I went a couple of hours early, right after work, and killed some time at the Oakland Temple. I walked around, had a picnic with the dinner I brought, and sat in front of the fountain working on my talk (blogged about recently) as the sun was starting to set. It was beautiful and peaceful.

Also back in August, I visited the Sacramento temple for the first time. Same thing - peaceful and beautiful as the sun was setting.

Isla's Baptism

 Love this girl so much. She has such a sweet and inspiring spirit. We are so blessed to have her in our family.  We wished we could have attended her baptism, and were disappointed that the video didn't work on the ZOOM. But the audio did, and Reggie was able to give the talk as she had requested. In fact, it was a pretty sweet moment as he gave his talk into the telephone as she listened on the other line. Not sure if anyone else could hear it, but she could, and it was pretty special.

On a side note, before her baptism last week, she sent a video showing her new dress for the occasion. She pointed out that the dress had a little dragon fly emblem and a little star - they represented Ray and Evangeline from the Princess & the Frog. When she was very little Reggie and I took a trip to New Orleans. We came back home and told them all about it. Isla told me then that she and I were going to take a trip "down the Bayou" someday.  I hope so!

the happy sight of my ironing board

 Strange that the sight of an ironing board can make me smile, but it does. As the priorities and to-do lists of life take over, I try to save myself at least 20 minutes each day working on something fun - like Harry Potter doll robes for Christmas. The ironing board is a major sewing tool in fact, and so I keep mine up for that purpose. I don't reach my goal everyday, but looking at it gives me hope. Silly but it helps!

Friday night I stayed up late and got quite a bit done while I watched a movie. It was an interesting movie - don't know if I would recommend it; some of it was heavy and sad, some irritating, and some happy and healing. Maybe that can be a post for another day. 

Labor Day

Reggie came home from a business trip just in time for the Labor Day weekend and we went spent a few hours in the city, at Dandelion Chocolates, Green Apple Books, and the Sutro Bath houses.

We also stopped in at Luke's work and got a beautiful loaf of oatmeal/sourdough bread.

I was excited to see one of my favorite children's books on sale at the bookstore and got a few copies - for my grandkids but also for a donation. The primary is putting on an activity in November of gathering new or gently used books for a group that will donate them to a literacy group for children. I love it.

The day before, one of my favorite broadcasts (Music and the Spoken Word) spoke of the holiday Labor Day. It talked of what a blessing work can be.  My parent's and their parents and on and on treasured what they called a "good work ethic". My Uncle Lynn, who reminds us so much of my Grandpa Stowell, is an example of that to the point that my cousin says it is hard for him to slow down and rest in his retirement years. 

So, I try to keep all of that in mind as I head out the door each day, and even though I don't dwell on it, I try to remember what a blow it was when I was laid off years ago as a school librarian,  and how happy I was to get another job. I also can see the blessing it is for Samantha. She has been in between jobs for almost 2 months. She made the most of it and took a trip to see Julia's family in Seattle, and she helped Hillary's family in Sacramento, and had a major concert event to attend. (I am trying to get her to guest-blog about it!) And now she is very excited to start her new job tomorrow. It is a little further away and will add to my commute time, but that's okay. It is Harry Potter season, after all, and I intend to start listening to those books and many more, while driving.

the month of brown

I feel like August's beige blended right into brown for September. I have decided we will "celebrate" in the form of chocolate! We will make it educational by going to one of Julia & Lester's favorite places in the city - Dandelion Chocolates, where they have info. about chocolates from all over the world, and lots of taste testing of course. It's going to be a great month!

Badiya!

 It's Autumn time! And once our hot, over 90 degree weather is over it will be time to make pumpkin bread, gingersnaps and hunt for sunflowers. In the meantime we are enjoying beautiful orange sunsets. I've realized that, though I love our sunsets over the ocean, orange sunsets are happening everywhere -over mountains, neighborhoods, open fields, etc.

So hello September, nice to spend some time with you!