I'm going to try something different. As I've said several times in the last few weeks. I know just enough about the computer to be dangerous. So in the midst of transcribing my journal I also have to keep it current. What a joke. About the only reliable thing about this journal is the fact that it tends not to stay current. I think I prefaced this whole opus by saying that it was for posterity...didn't I? Whatever, I hope that I'll be able to cut in prior to this entry and keep on the transcription process. If it doesn't work then a better computer mind than mine will have to sort it all out at some future date. Meantime, a break from the past to catch up the present. We started the new year by driving back from Sacramento. Not strictly true perhaps, but close enough. We spent Christmas at Mom's with all the clan except for the Baldwin Wilsons. Wayne had to be in Tulare on Friday the 17th (?) so he just kept driving and spent that night at Mom's. The girls and I drove up on Saturday. Sunday was the All Alumna Tea at Loretto. The representation from '70 was good. Now that one of our own is the principal we had to have a good turnout. Helen Timothy - principal! Amazing. She was one of the biggest hell-raisers in the school and now she's running the joint. The rest of the Wilsons showed up either on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day. Mark and Ruth got to Mom's just as we were leaving for 7 o'clock Mass. Mike and Lexi showed up a bit later than that. Margaret and Ed didn't get there until mid-afternoon on Christmas Day. Margaret had to work. Oh well, if you 're a nurse that's the breaks. All in all, we had a very nice visit. Wayne and Mom pored over the crossword puzzles with the occasional solution by Mike, Lexi, or ME. Bodies everywhere at bedtime. But none of us would have it any other way. It really fosters family. The girls get into the act because they have "the cousins" to relate to. Jessica stayed behind with the girls for an extra long visit. Ed came back the following Wednesday to pick her up. And Ruthy developed a shadow in little Eddie. He was her best friend until he found out that she was a girl. I guess she'd told him that she was a tomboy, and all he heard was boy. Even after Ed told him the 'truth' it was all okay. She still was more fun than the girls with their Barbie dolls. Mom, Joe and I took the girls (all five of 'em) ice skating at Dad's old Iceland Rink..It's the only ice rink in town. They all did very well, with Martha and Ruth taking top honors. I feel as though I did justice to my heritage. I didn't fall down and managed to skate without holding on to the railing! Joe was hoping that the ability was genetic. Unfortunately, his genes came from Mom too! His ankles were wobbling something fierce. Shelley is back in school today. The others go back either Wednesday or Thursday. We can't seem to get an answer as to which. There are two different calendars in the neighborhood. We'll have to call the school tomorrow. I've spent the last few days putting Michelle into the computer. My pregnancy, the delivery, our routine...it's unnerving to realize that she'll be a teenager in just about 10 days. My little pettitoes is going to be 13. Yikes! I guess I've run out of time here. The interruptions have become more frequent. Lunch? A movie? Can I go to Jennifer's to play...and I know from experience that unless I go downstairs and deal with all of them, it'll just get worse. Motherhood, not just a job, AN ADVENTURE! hah.
January 8, 1994
Switching over from a 1982 entry to the present takes a little adjusting. We celebrated our 16th Anniversary yesterday. Nothing fancy, but we did manage to go out together for dinner. The Red Lobster - at 10pm. Thanks to Jordan's Dad not picking her up until 9:15. As Wayne says, the guys a jerk, but he always has a plausible sounding excuse. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be willing to put up with their late hours. It's not the first time and since I don't raise a stink, it probably won't be the last. Then again, if Wayne has anything to say about it, it WILL be the last time. Shelley spent the night at Kristy's and Margaret spent the night at Jennifer's. The twins took Super Nintendo over to John and Sheila's and were content to play until we got home at 11:15. Talk about a fashionably late dinner. Shrimp and steak, broccoli, salad, stuffed mushrooms, Wayne had a raspberry cobbler for dessert ( I got a few bites!) We didn't fall off the diet wagon too badly...except for the stuffed mushrooms maybe...and the cobbler, definitely! Today's another day. And we don't do it all that often! Rationalizing? You betcha!! I'm going to collect the girls from the various homes and head down the hill. Today is Grandma Boone's birthday. We're not calling first, just going, I'll call from around the corner, that leaves her with limited options. And that's generally the way to deal with that woman. Wayne is at "F-4's" this weekend, so if we wanted to go back down the hill tomorrow to help Uncle Mark celebrate his birthday we can. You know, I like these monthly weekends he does. It frees up time for me to do whatever the heck I want to do! Of course, it's all kid related anyway. Speaking of which, I just took two phone calls, one from Michelle, Kristy's dad is bringing her home, and one from Mugsy - I have to go get her. See? whatever the heck I want to do. Yeah, sure!
January 12, 1994 12:10 AM
As the time line shows, it is January 12 - just barely. Our little Shelley-belly is officially a teenager. That seems especially strange given the task I've been involved in lately (the transcription) Why, just three pages ago she was an infant just rolling over in her playpen. Incredible. Wayne phoned from his office just a few minutes ago. Said he'd be home in about twenty. So I have my satin jammies on. And sox. After 16 years, sox are permitted. The living room has become the music room. There are the two chairs - and as a reminder to self: Get those damn chairs recovered soon! There is a table and lamp. And of course the dining set. But mostly there is music.
January 24, 1994
Can't believe that it's almost the end of January! I haven't done any work on the earlier phases of my journal for a few days now. There's lots of time isn't there? Anyway, there's plenty of other things to do. At the moment I'm looking at about four hundred dollars of work to be done. There are three (make that four) uniforms to make - the ushers...a lace dress for Dixie, the stripper...I"ve got the patterns for Serena's and Kelly's dresses, but not the fabric. And what else? MJ's uniform shirts. Ruth Anne forwarded my name and number to someone at the school who is going to need two bridesmaid dresses. Wait, scratch that, it's her future sister-in-law that is getting married. Pretty busy for cottage industry! Matt's birthday is in two days, I guess the card will be late, but I'd better make an effort to get it out! And, it's been one week since "the quake" . 4:31 AM what an ungodly hour for something like that. But I guess there is no good time. It was really pretty bad down the hill. We felt it up here but the damage was limited to pictures knocked askew and kids nerves being frazzled. Mom and Joe were in Long Beach helping Mike and Lexi with the move. Mom slept right through it. The rats woke Joe up about three minutes before the quake actually hit. I hit the floor running . The first jolt work me up, and I could hear the girls crying and carrying on. Michelle and Margaret were huddled under some blankets in Mugsy's room - right in front of Mugs' bookcase. Not the best place to shelter. I hustled them into the doorway and then down the hall to the twins' room and under the table. Martha and Ruth were sitting in bed and we got them under the table too. Daddy wandered in just after all the ruckus stopped. We laughed that it had even awakened him! Nothing wakes daddy...and well the girls know it! It gets you thinking though. These are the times when I miss having the motor home. Everything was there. I had it all outfitted out as our quake shelter. Food, medical supplies, clothing and bedding. Whatever natural or unnatural disaster befell us, We could have gotten into the RV and driven out. Of course, with the damage that the quake did to the 'infrastructure' as the media is fond of saying. What they mean is that the overpasses and underpasses on many of the freeways down the hill are impassable. Wayne has had cause to make several trips down to GO since the quake and has prudently taken the Metrolink (train) I read that back and I know that the sentences are faulty. ah well. I am going to have to knuckle down and identify our current quake needs. I know that if "the big one" were to happen tomorrow we probably wouldn't starve but we are definitely not prepared. And when you look at all those people living in tents in the Rec basins and parks. Well, I wouldn't want that to happen to us. I was talking to Karen this morning. She pointed out that Wayne would likely be the only husband home in the event of a quake during the day. All the other husbands work down the hill. We decided that we would all pool our resources and hole up at Cookies - provided it was habitable. or perhaps our house seeing as we have the reservoir in the backyard! Whatever, it would definitely be a case of pulling together to survive. Well, this has certainly been a cheerful entry! And lest I forget, the night of the quake was too weird not to record. We went to bed at 11:30, just after the news. At midnight, Margaret's crying woke me up and I went in there to comfort the nightmare away. At 1:30 there was a crank phone call that woke me up. At 2:30 I awoke hearing noises, and discovered that Margaret and Shelley were together in Mugsy's room playing with clay and listening to the radio. I told them to put stuff away and get to sleep. At 4:31 the earthquake woke us all up. I got them settled down, Wayne went back to sleep and I went downstairs to see what could be seen on the tube. But I could still hear the girls muttering upstairs, so I had them drag their pillows and blankets down into the family room and let them watch TV with me. They lasted about 30-45 minutes. Then I shut everything down and we all slept until about 9 the next morning. Since Wayne still had to go to work, he woke me up and I went upstairs to start the inevitable round of phone calls. Mike had called at 4:45 using his cellular phone, but I still had to track down Ruth and Mark and let Matt, the nuns, and Ed know that we were all okay. Those non-SoCal people have no concept of geography down here. It all looks so close on the map that they assume that it's all mushed together. None of us sustained any damage. Even Holewinski's and they were the closest to the epicenter in Northridge. As it was this house looked like a refugee center. The H's stopped overnight because of traffic on their way back to Pasadena from Santa Rosa. Mom and Joe were here because it is also the only route open north to Sacto. Like I said earlier, the freeways are a MESS! Hasta la pasta!
August 25, 1994
My 42nd birthday! Age, one of the few sure things in life. Actually, it wasn't so bad. The "coffee group" as Wayne refers to us had a lunch for me. Down at Karen's house, they served lasagna, salad, garlic bread and we pretended that the mint and chip ice cream was spumoni. Just as well, I don't know that I've ever had spumoni (or that I liked it if I did!) They gave me a $30. gift certificate to the mall and a pretty flower arrangement to hang on the wall. Mom is down for a little visit and of course she was invited to share the celebration. She and I went to the Cocky Bull for dinner. It's free on your birthday. What the heck! Wayne is down at Riverside for ANG...he has traffic school on Saturday. Busy guy. Actually, he had to take time on Wednesday night for an MRI. The doctor seems to think that the numbness he's been experiencing in his arm and leg were caused by a mini stroke. Scary stuff. He's going to be 48 next February. Not old at all. I sure wish we had access to his medical history. That's something that has changed adoption-wise and probably for the best. He's not curious about his birth parents except where their medical histories are concerned. It would be nice to know EXACTLY what runs in the family. And not just for Wayne's sake either. The girls should know too. Mom has gotten a dog. Joe arranged the 'rescue' through a girl he works with. The girl's mom breeds Welsh Corgis - a when someone can no longer take care of one of her dogs she takes them back and places them in good homes. Well, Daisy has got one of the best homes now. And she's so cute. The kids were in the pool and we found out just how much of that herding instinct is still in her. She was pretty frantic when anyone went under water and diving in just about drove her nuts! We were laughing, but it was really something else! I just wish that Mom had brought her video cam...it would have been pretty special footage. Shelley and Mugsy start at a new school this September. 7th and 8th grades. Whoo! We had to get them out of Adelanto Middle School. Shelley may have had her friends there, but the quality of the teaching was so substandard that it was scary. She'll make new friends and we'll get our foot in the door for Serrano High next year. Much better than Victor. I guess it's true that the schools all over are below par. But we have to go with the best we can arrange. And it looks at this point to be Pinon Mesa. I guess time will tell. And speaking of time, It is after midnight, no longer my birthday, and definitely my bedtime. adios. or as Matt the e-mail fanatic would say :-)
(Editing note February 1999)
Amusing to see that I referred to Matt as the email fanatic back then. Now, I'm probably every bit as bad as he is...and I'm the one posting my Journal on the Web...hmmm...how crazy is that??
