Pearl Harbor Day

When I walked into a nursing facility for work on Tuesday, December 7, I mentioned to a few residents sitting nearby that it was Pearl Harbor Day. Two men later came up and shared personal experiences they remembered on that day.

One of the men was a boy living with his family in Navy housing near Pearl Harbor. His dad left for work down at the harbor not suspecting anything unusual. When the sirens went off, this man (then a boy) and his mother went into an underground bomb shelter. When all was clear and they returned to their home, they found that one side of the house had bullet sprays all across from the living room through the kitchen including through the refrigerator and into a bedroom. His father was safe but lost some of his friends.

Another man, also a young boy at that time, told how during the week after the attack, his dad packed the whole family up and drove from San Diego up to Monterrey to enlist in the army. He was turned down because he had three children, so they returned back to San Diego. Many things were in short supply and couldn't be purchased, like shoes. His father would drive to Mexico and purchase huaraches (leather sandals) for his children. This little boy didn't have a pair of shoes other than the sandals until he was 7 or 8.

Both were grateful for their dad's example of service and patriotism to their country and the freedoms we enjoy. What a great reminder of the American spirit on a tragic day years ago.

Learning Curve

Mike came home from a buisness trip to LA and wanted something light to eat for dinner (having eaten out for two days). He suggested Cream of Wheat. Since only the two of us were home for dinner, he asked if the 4 portion serving was good to make (yes, because it was dinner). So, he measured the water and put it on the burner. While it was heating up, we took care of getting the trash out to the street. When we came back, the water was boiling. I double checked with him that he had done the recipe for four. So I measured the cereal and poured it in as I stirred. It got very thick, very quickly. Then I realized what I had done. I am so used to doubling everything for the family, that by habit, I doubled the amount of cereal for the serving of 4! So Mike whipped while I poured in more hot water! It may take time to remember to cut back on the amount of food to fix for two! Maybe I'll have to call the kids and ask them how much to fix - they are used to cooking for 1 or 2!

Look! Our own little Pups!

Yep, our own little pups! Earlier this summer, we replanted the sego palm Mother gave us several years ago. We took it out of the large plastic pot to replant inside a plastic trash can (with the bottom poked out to allow drainage). We popped off the trunk about 5-8 of the pups. They didn't have any fronds on them but I decided to plant them and see if they grew. Well, 3 of them did! So are we going to end up propagating lots of segos like Daddy??? Mother told us there are plenty more pups up at her house!

Oh, yesterday before our thunder and rainstorm, the large yellow epis blossomed - 3 blooms at once. They were beautiful in the morning and dead by the afternoon. So sad they are shortlived.

This Crop is for the Birds!

Our apple tree has two crops each year, a crop ripe in July and then crabapples in December. However, this year, we have had an unseasonably mild summer with just a few heat waves in the 100s. Our apple tree started reblossoming in July before all the other apples were picked (or fell to the ground). The crabapples usually stay small, but this year they are bigger and are already ripe and have started to fall to the ground. We certainly are not going to pick and can these apples so we freely dedicate this crop to the birds - as if we have to give them permission!

Well, I tried three times to upload a little video I took of a house finch chowing down on an apple up in our tree, but with no success. So imagine you saw this video and it made a nice little blog entry. Ha!

LOL

Last Friday night, we left our Nashville time share and stayed downtown Nashville in the Renaissance hotel. (Tamara's graduation was Friday night and the time share ended Friday morning.) Mother, Mike and I shared a room with two queen beds that night. At 3 am I woke up to go to the bathroom. I found it in the dark but wanted to find the toilet so I shut the door and turned on the light. When I left, I turned out the light before I opened the door so I wouldn't wake anyone up. I couldn't see a thing of course, as my eyes hadn't adjusted back to the darkness and so was groping around thinking there was a wall (where there wasn't). But all of a sudden I was startled and jumped and screamed! There was Mother standing all of sudden right in front of me. I told her, "I didn't see you there." She didn't say anything. I tried to move to one side to let her go into the bathroom but she moved the same way - several times. So, I reached out to hold her shoulders so I could step around her. But what I found was the closet door mirror! I had been seeing my own reflection in the dark. So I started laughing! And through all this, no one woke up.

Some kind of Blessing

This morning, Mike asked me to sign my check from the church for Primary supplies. So, I turned it over, signed it and then decided to look at the amount. $532.00! Wow. They must have made a $500 mistake or there are more blessings to paying tithing and serving in the Primary than I realized! Mike took the check to look at "the mistake." The mistake was with me not putting on glasses! The 5 was really the $ sign! Oh well. I'll just count my many other blessings!

Can eating vegetables get better than this?

Brent and I were hungry for lunch and discussed our options on our way home early this afternoon.  Tired of grilled cheese sandwiches (his specialty) I suggested trying to dip potato bread in our leftover pumpkin pancake batter and frying on the griddle like French toast. It turned out delicious! And I say, doesn’t that count for two vegetable servings!