The White Picket Fence

Sooo many years ago I can recall the thought of the perfect life with the white picket fence out front, a corral full of horses, and a house full of dogs, cats, and kids. Of course the husband would make all the money to accommodate the perfect life with above said additions. How interesting it is to recall what the young mind thought was reality. Although the money was made, but of course went to different priorities, I do have some white picket fence,(out back), have had a horse we enjoyed for a period of time, many cats over the years, an interesting rescued dog, various other pets, ie, hamster's,rabbit,fish, etc and not to mention the house full of kids, 3 of our own and the neighborhood entourage. Which was fine with me. Better at our house than away. With the excitement of sports x 3 kids, life as we all know is not perfect. Many roads traveled over the last 35 years of adulthood, some I would choose not to return to, others not so bad. Of course can only speak for myself.

I look forward to the next 35 years of life's journey. It is curious to me the changes that happen with age and experience. Every few years I can relate to the older generations reactions to situations. There is a sensitivity to my surroundings and the response seems innate. I remember watching my mom when I was 30ish thinking she was over reacting, now I understand why, she had a sense of the circumstance due to experience. She may very well have been over reacting, but maybe heightened an alertness that was necessary. I think it helped me to take a 360 degree view, I could have the option to make a 180 if necessary.

Today I try not to apologize for who I am,(I'm very hard on myself) but instead embrace and understand who I am. I love God, family, friends, life, and Country. I get anxious to easily, stress to much, worry needlessly, But I love nature, healthy food, laughing, enjoy relaxing moments, exercise, the beach, the water, the sun, (try to stay out of the sun) meeting up with good friends, and family time. I continue to work on a complete partnership with my husband, and an understanding with our 3 wonderful daughters, life is good. Really it is.... Oh, I also watch Glen Beck,Fox News Channel, he is my TV boyfriend.

Helpful gardners

Sydney, Calvin, Jaclynn and Nana planted some cosmo flowers in my front yard. Sydney and Calvin cultivated the soil, added some fresh soil, dug the holes for Nana, and even moved some rocks around, Jaclynn was very helpful in looking for worms and digging the surrounding soil she could reach. I was explaining the benefits of worms in the soil. The initial reaction to the worms was Ahhhh. All the while, Candice and Gregory Mark were very happy to sit back and enjoy the busy workers running around spilling soil a little here, a little there. In addition to the neighbor hood dogs licking the babies face and drinking the grand kids water. Next time I will take pictures of all the happenings. A snap shot in time......

Honorable mention, my husband set up this fountain in our back yard that we inherited from my sister in law, I love the sound of the water fountains.... very peaceful. I noticed this morning a hummingbird bathing in the flowing water, I will try to take a video to post, we will see..Thank you Greg...

A good time was had by all..(with the exception of the heavy lifting of the fountain)

Cosmo flowers were purchased at Pinedas Nursery in Stanton, my friend Malessa and I went there Friday morning, she purchased a flat of 16 cosmo containers for $10.00 and I split the flat with her. A bargin, 8 flowers for $5.00. I love this wholesale nursery, I always find something I like.

Jaclynn Grace and Gregory Mark

This is Jaclynn's first hair cut. By our family friend Sarah Stout,I don't think mommy really wanted to cut any off because there is not much there. If Jaclynn is anything like her aunties, before we know it there should be a long flowing mane soon! We can only hope.

Gregory Mark is clearly much happier with his beautiful momma than with Nana. He is certainly growing like a nice strong tree, I prefer that over growing like a weed. Some how that strikes me as not so helpful...

Oil Painting Class

I am thinking of getting back into oil painting. I took a class in 1978 with my brother Gary. I really enjoyed it. Aaron Brothers had a clearance on a starter kit. So I purchased it to see what I remember on my own. But I do think it will take a class to make any sense of what I'm doing. Slight correction, the palm tree painting was actually my mom's. This basket of flowers is mine. Frankly I think the palm tree looked better but I need to give credit where credit is due! This picture is one I painted in my original class....Not much to look at but certainly fun to create. Might be smart for me to take a class that could be helpful with job security too!. I might need to throw that into the mix as well.. Not to much pleasure before work, but why not simultaneously.

Some Me Time......

I enjoy my time by working in my yard and starting projects. What a difference it is to have the time to devote to one or many ideas. Just like organizing and cleaning. So much easier without 3 busy kids. The girls were my projects during the growing years. No time for outside interferences.

Speaking of organizing and cleaning, quick tip for cleaning out your silverware drawer, I use alcohol on a paper towel to wipe out all the compartments, it sanitizes, no need to dry, and it is very quick.

Can use it for a quick wipe down inside the refrigerator too!

Back to the yard work, no quick tips here, just hard work but satisfying results. If you have a helper all the more fun and can accomplish more too. Now, go get dirty all you Nana's that now have me time......

A glimpse in time

Oh what is was like raising 3 active girls. Many many funny, crazy, scary memories. People would say "oh my gosh 3 girls, all with long hair, how do you do it". Fortunately my husband knew how to braid, it was a big help, not so good with brushing out the hair, but If I brushed, he would manage a nice braid or two.

Most people would say girls are very high pitched with there voices and screams, and that would be true. My mom always told me she only wanted one girl due to the whinnier and screechier tendency. But that was a small part of having 3 girls all 2 years apart. We were very occupied, which is the way it should be when you have kids, no time for any indulgences. But I'm glad I did it that way. Our attention was spent on there activities, along with school and building relationships.

I still don't feel like I had enough time to devote to each of them the way I really would have like to, but life is life and things happen.

Another challenge always seemed to be the cost of 3 girls, combine everything female and you have a big whopping chunk of money. Especially when it was prom or the like. We were always very frugal, and had a limit. If they wanted to go over the limit they were responsible for the difference. Today, they are all very frugal too! I'm glad.

Time certainly flies, but it sure is nice to have fond memories of the crazy days of active girls.....I'm glad I have me time now....
Our oldest is married and has 4 kids, 2 girls, 2 boys, 2 dogs
Our middle bought a house 1 year ago, unmarried, working and has a steady boyfriend and a dog
Our youngest just turned 25, is in school to become a registered nurse and has a steady boyfriend, so they are all on there own life journey now... Life is good...still has up's and down's, but that is life....

Flower power

One of my most relaxing, de-stressing invlovments is taking pictures of flowers and trees.

I need to pursue this more often. It is a big stess reliever. My grandaughter loves to pick flowers and place them into a basket whenever she is visiting.

It was a pleasure to arrange them into a vase and enjoy our cuttings. So, needless to say if I'm having a stress moment I can really just look about to find the beauty,and find calm. And that I am gratful for.

New meaning to stop and smell the roses.

The Real Nana's Of Orange County

Lets keep it real. After two days of helping my daughter with chasing grand kids, dogs and what ever else was running up and down the stairs and around the house, then a whole day of reorganizing my living room and steam cleaning my tile floors,(with Hubbies help of course), grocery shopping, and some laundry, I'm exhausted. That's real. I think this is what real Nana's do! But I must say it was and always is fun. What ever I'm choosing to do for the day, I decide to make the best of it. Whether it is cleaning house or having fun out and about. Not to say it's always about chasing grand kids or cleaning. It is a blast when I am able to get together with some very dear friends and have a weekend of time, would definitely like to do this more often. Along with road trips up the coast with my Husband. One of my favorite areas is central and northern coast. A couple of dear friends passed away very young, they were in there early 40's. I now am very thankful even If I'm washing dishes or doing laundry that I'm still here to enjoy family and friends. So keep it simple and enjoy what is real. This picture is with two friends from elementary school, we were in Tahoe in the summer.

I have a notion

I would like to have my girlish figure back. The problem is lack of tone. So here is a list of what I DO NOT like to do
1) Commit to exercise
2) Cut out sweets
3) Surgeries for that fake body

Here is what I DO like to do.
1) Walk on my lunch hour at work
2) Gardening out in my yard
3) Crank up the music and dance around the house (always have always will. My girls loved this one when they were little, hopefully they will continue the fun.)
4) Take a trip to the beach and walk the board walk (like this one too)
5) Dance around any where with my grandchildren
6) Just carry the grand kids up and down the stairs a few times(that's a good one)
7) Join the grand kids on a walk with there scooter's. I have to walk fast to keep up
8) Occasionally walk across to the market instead of drive

Along with the normal everyday duties of household chores, If we stick to what else is fun and try to eat healthy foods more than sweets, there's a real possibility of getting some tone back. When I indulge in sweets I like to have what I call a vegetable chaser! Maybe that helps wash it all through. Also lots of water, keeps the skin looking better. Lets face it, that girlish body will never be like we were at 16 or 17 laying on the hot sand, Huntington Beach life guard station 17, or Belmont Shore, all covered in baby oil enjoying the attention while we baked for that perfect tan for the big party later in the evening.

But just accept what God has given us at this stage, and try to improve as much as possible. Get real, expectations can be our worst enemy, so keep it simple.

Getting started

This will be an interesting endeavor for me. I'm intrigued by the idea of looking back at life and all the pleasures that have been enjoyed from childhood through Nanahood. (Nanahood: to become a Nana, and all that surrounds it.) We Nana's have fun life lessons to share. That will be my offering. Look forward to pictures and experiences. My motto in life is not to look back, keep moving forward. We cannot get yesterday back so embrace the now. I say, if we have something we do not like about ourselves then start the stop now... Meaning, we have to stop it or change it some time. Might as well be now.... Our children and grandchildren look to us as the matriarch. Lets give them something great to emulate..So, back to looking back at life. I don't mean to live in yesterday, I mean lets learn, live and embrace what is, by our life's lessons...