DECEMBER 26

Even though he hated it, there is no denying that the 26th of December was my son's birthday. My first child, my only son. I can remember in detail how I felt about that wonderful day......the excitement and the love. The love is still there. It always will be.

CHRISTMAS 2009

Annabel and Mia with Santa. Annabel is not too happy.


My husband and I had a very quiet Christmas alone at our home this year. It was the first Christmas Day in my life that I didn't have either parents or children in it. Because of that it was very unusual and I'm still contemplating how exactly I feel about it. However, I must say it was fine. In fact, it was pleasant in that there were no pressures of any kind associated with it. We didn't even have a Christmas tree. I really think I needed this type of (non) Christmas this year.
I spent the day knitting a new hat for Chance.

We had a "Kids say the Darndest Things" moment on Christmas Eve when we spoke with our 8 and 6 year old grandsons:

Us: So, Jack, what are you doing right now?
Jack: Listening to the music from "Glee".
Us: You really like this TV show. How are you listening to it?
Jack: on an iPod.
Us: What did you have for dinner?
Jack: Mashed potatoes, peas, roast and salad.
Us: That sounds delicious. Can we talk to your brother, Hayden, now?

Us: So, Hayden......We hear you are listening to the music from Glee.....
Hayden: Yes, but I don't like it.
Us: What kind of music do you like?
Hayden: Ummmmm........Disney music.
Us: Well, maybe you can listen to Disney music and Glee music.
Hayden: Yes, I'd like that.
Us: So, what did you eat tonight, Hayden?
Hayden: Ummmmm.......mashed potatoes, these carrot thingies and Ummmmmmmmmmmm Cow!

I love these candid moments!!!!!

VACATION WITH THE KITTIES

This past weekend we had to leave our cozy cabin home because it needed to be tented for termites. That meant all living creatures must leave. That meant we had to take all four of our cats with us. We chose to go to our daughter, Anne's home in San Diego. Anne was not thrilled with the idea of "All" of us coming, but I reminded her that even though we do have 4 cats, no one ever suspects this since our 2 female cats hide whenever there is company. I also reminded her that I never complained any of the times when she or her sisters had brought all of their pets with them while visiting us. Anne said our cat's would have to stay in the garage. After all, she has a new condo.
Since it's been really cold in California lately I was worried that our pampered kitties would be miserable if they had to stay in the garage. It was in the 30's when we left our home. My husband assured me not to worry. I wasn't all that sure about this whole outing.



But, I had forgotten that my husband was still the head of our household. When we arrived, he promptly brought all four cat carriers into Anne's home and announced to everyone that this was quite an occasion. It was the CAT'S FIRST VACATION!

He opened up all 4 doors of the carriers and ..................................nothing happened. An hour later...........Still nothing. We finally dragged our most adventurous cat, Rocko, out of his carrier. He was fine. Then we took Ernie our Maine Coon cat out. He went right back in. Then Lucy oUr most "scared" cat. Lucy promptly joined Ernie in his carrier. We just left little Miss Kitty, our tortie cat alone at this point. Some vacation!

All along, I had been thinking that it would really be more of a "Cat Reunion" since Anne has another cat rescued by my daughter, Jane, named Frank. Frank is an orange tabby that Anne took in because he was terrorizing our two females. We discovered that Frank is still a bully cat. Only Rocko seemed to get along with him, although eventually, all cats settled in for the most part in my grandson's bedroom so anyone who came to the house would be hard pressed to realize there were any cats in Anne's condo. Seriously!

It was also, my husband's birthday this past weekend. He said he had one of the best birthdays ever.



That made the whole "tenting for termites", "Cat Vacation" worth while! He deserved a nice birthday.











(I know..........I'm a horrible picture taker)

THANKSGIVING 2009

The best part of Thanksgiving this year was having all of my Grandchildren together in one place. Aren't they beautiful?
It's so nice to interact with each one individually, too. My daughter, Anne, decided not to get a Wii for Christmas this year for her two sons after seeing that it caused so much negativity while the boys played it at my middle daughter's house.

Our newest Grandson, Chance, has grown so much. Mia's hair is still as curly as ever and Annabel's beginning to really converse.

We had a wonderful meal. I got up at 4:30 AM to prepare, but it was worth it.

Ben was missing..................
I'll never get used to that.

So Much For Wishes

I woke up this morning just before total sunrise and noticed my cat Ernie sitting in the window beside me intently watching something outside. If you've lived with a cat long enough you can recognize when they are casually looking out the window or not. So, I, too, looked out the window and saw what Ernie was so interested in. A small animal was walking up the driveway like he owned the place. It was a skunk.
Now I think I know that the wish I expressed in the email i wrote to my daughters 10 days ago didn't come true:

"Dear...............
I opened the front door to call for the cats, Ernie and Rocko, to come in last night and the first thing I notice are two splayed out tails sticking up in the air just to the left of the door like they are looking under the green cabinet that is there and I think, "Oh, they must be after that mouse/rat that I've seen hanging around outside" and I start to talk to them and telling them it's time to come in. They didn't flinch which is no surprise when they are "on" to something. Then I look closer and see that both tails have white on them and think that's strange because only Rocko has white on his tail.

Then I notice that the white is in the middle of both tails - a wide swath of white down the length of the tails and realize.......

SKUNKS!!!!!!

There were two skunks there...........

They had broken into the bag of trash I had set there earlier because it was getting dark and I didn't feel like taking it all the way to the trash cans in the dark.



Just then Rocko came running up and wanted IN fast, before the skunks took note of him. I opened the door for him and called for Ernie but he didn't come. Dad came and started yelling at the skunks and they left.

I repacked the bag they had broken into and put it inside to be taken out this morning because I knew they would come back for more if given half a chance. About a half hour later I called for Ernie and he came right in.
I have a feeling that he was there all along but didn't want to chance the skunks.


I sure hope the skunks were just passing through.........."

So, dear readers, you have a glimpse of my real life. It's not what most people imagine when they hear that I live in Santa Barbara, California. Oh, and about my garbage. There's no garbage man that comes and gets mine. I have to make trips to the dump, myself for that. The only good thing about that is that I pay a lot less for trash disposal. But if you were to include my time and effort, then maybe I'm not getting that good of a deal, after all. (sigh)

LOVE and FIRE!!!!!!!!

It is now the 4th day of fire where I live. What a week this has been. On Thursday, April 30th, my youngest daughter, Jane, got married on the Santa Barbara Courthouse lawn. It was a lovely, immediate family only, wedding on an absolutely picturesque day in Santa Barbara.

From left to right: Best friend, Tracy, sister Helen, Jane, James, sister, Anne.



Jane and James's picked this date because it is the day between both of their birthdays. Jane's birthday is April 29th and James' birthday is May 1st. It was a wonderful day.


It was another "first" for me in that Jane asked me do make all the bouquets for her wedding. I admit I had a moment of panic , but I did a "trial" run the weekend before and felt confident enough after that to make them.





Jane walked down the isle to the Rolling Stones' song, "Lady Jane". Jane and I had always thought this would be a unique and beautiful song for her wedding because it is such a melodic song with a harpsichord playing and the words included not only her name but that of her older sister, Anne. Part of their service included a surprise for everyone. Both James' mother and myself were called up front and handed an envelope. When we opened them, we discovered ultrasound pictures of their baby with the news, "It's a Boy"!

After the service Jane and James walked out to the tune, "Sweet Child of Mine" as a tribute to our late son, Ben.


Later that day, Jane told me that they were planning on naming their baby, Benjamin Chance", and call him "Chance".


We had a wonderful weekend with both the Gilmore and Martin families. Then, my oldest daughters and families went to Palm Springs and Jane and James went home to begin their married life together. My husband and I went to Palm Springs, also. The weather there was hot and beautiful.








On our way home to Santa Barbara we were stuck in traffic in Los Angeles and turned on the radio for the traffic report when we heard the "Breaking News", "Fire in Santa Barbara". I immediately called my nearest neighbor and was reassured that for the moment, we were not in the path of the fire. Since we arrived home, we have been monitoring the fire and it has been absolutely crazy. Our weather is all over the place. It's over 100 degrees Fahrenheit wherever the fire is at it's peak, but not where I live just a few miles from it's eastern boundary. But we have had high winds for days, switching directions constantly. We have also had intermittent power outages and go to bed not knowing what will happen with the fire at night. We woke up this morning (May 8th) to the news that one end of the fire is creeping towards us. I shouldn't really say, "creeping" because when it moves, it moves fast, driven by the winds. This morning the winds are toward us. We are hoping that they will shift as the day goes on. The last fire, we had to pack everything near and dear to us and were ready to flee at a moment's notice. I truly do no want to do that again. But I have learned the bitter lesson that life does what it does, with no matter to my wishes.



This is a picture of the fire in the mountains near where I live. There is a lot of dry underbrush to feed this fire. If you add wind to the mix, then the possibility of it spreading gets much higher. We have our SUV parked facing out in case we need to load up the cats and what is most important and leave quickly. To where, I do not know.........

It's been an indescribable past 11 months. First, the birth of our granddaughter, Annabel, the unexpected death of our oldest child and only son, Ben, three major fires, one of which we are in the midst of now, the wedding of our youngest daughter, and the news of a new grandson on his way. Life is whirling around me, with my emotions being pulled in opposite directions. I am but a witness to it all.

EZ's Surplice Baby Jacket

This was a project that I put down for some reason and as usual had no notes along with it for me to remember what it was or where I was in the pattern. I usually leave the pattern with a knitting work in progress but not this time. Thank goodness for Ravelry as I was able to find the pattern for it just by typing in "cross over cardigan" under baby patterns. That's how I found out that the pattern was in the Spring/Summer 2007 Vogue magazine which luckily I still had and it was easy to figure out that I had cast on for the larger version of this and where I was in the pattern. That's where the easy part ended for me. I've never knit one of Elizabeth Zimmerman's origami-like patterns and I really got confused at one point. My mind clearly does not work like Elizabeth Zimmerman's. Sad, too, because we share the same first name and even one of my grandmother's maiden last name was Zimmerman. You would think that would give me an edge, right?
So, I asked Aiga, aka Sockpr0n on Ravelry for help and she was fantastic and generous of her time. Like so many others, I added on to the original sleeve length. I knit mine in stockinette and then used a picot bind off to make it more "girly". I knit with Atacama 100% alpaca in color 515. I liked the yarn but probably should have used a more easy to care for yarn to make my daughter's life a bit easier. This will fit my 2 year old Granddaughter, Mia and then hopefully later her sister, Annabel.
The interesting thing about this pattern is that there are buttonholes literally all along the bottom, making the fit adjustable. However, I don't think I'll knit this one again. It made me realize that I'm just not that crazy about garter stitch garments and also that I really prefer solid or near solid colorways. It also made me realize that I'm not much interested in knitting EZ's Baby Surprise Sweater. Both are garments knit mysteriously in one piece and then fold to become an actual sweater. If you are interested in either of these patterns, Meg Swansen has it for sale at her Schoolhouse Press site.

Interestingly, I asked my British Son in Law's mother, who has knitted all her life, if she knew who Elizabeth Zimmerman was and she had never heard of her.

And about the name, Zimmerman. Once upon a time I was a office/ranch manager at an Ostrich Farm and the owner was German. Not American German but his home was actually in Germany. I told him one day about my Grandmother's maiden name being Von Zimmerman and I will never forget his reply. "IMPOSSIBLE! " Von" implies aristocracy, he said. And "Zimmerman" means carpenter man. There is no aristocrat carpenter man". Of course my boss's last name also had the prefix, "Von". I guess he told me. Ahhhh, that was an interesting job experience.
It really was.

At Last, a Finished Object

I've finally finished the Checkered Heart baby pullover sweater! I had started this well over a year ago, put it down (without any notes about what the pattern was or where I was in it) as usual. I hate that I do this but I never seem to learn my lesson. I always put projects down with the intention that I will get right back to it. Good intentions but bad knitting practice. The pattern is a blending of two pullovers in Little Badger Knitwear, but with a twist. I change the yarn used to fingering instead of what the patterns actually call for to "size down" the sweater for my needs. I started this with the birth of my first grandchild, Jack.
His father is British and I wanted to knit a Union Jack sweater. The only pattern I could find was in a Debbie Bliss book, Nautical Knits For Kids, but it was a pattern for a child, not a newborn. Since it was my first intarsia pattern, I didn't want to attempt it without some assurance that I could size it down. I emailed Debbie Bliss, who was most gracious and replied back that, yes, I could indeed use fingering yarn (and appropriate needle size) to size down the pattern and it worked. It came out exactly like I wanted. I'd show a pic but I don't have one of it. I hope my daughter kept the sweater, though. She does like to through things away.
Anyway, for this latest sweater I used a the skull and cross bone sweater pattern that I had previously knit in Rowan CashCotton 4 Ply for my Granddaughter Mia. Unfortunately, I took the picture of this in the summer and Mia, poor thing, wanted it off!
Since I liked how the pattern and yarn worked, I repeated the pattern again with different colors of the same yarn and a different intarsia chart. I adapted the heart chart for another sweater to a checkered heart. Why, you ask? Well, I not really a cutsie heart loving kind of gal. The only heart jewelry I own is a handcrafted heart necklace from local "sister" crafters who live in Santa Barbara. Uncharacteristically, I fell in love with one of their "heart" pieces.

So, I made a new chart and finally finished the sweater. This will be for Annabel because only Annabel will fit in it now, thanks to my procrastination
(sigh).
I do like how it turned out and I can't wait to visit and see how it fits!

To my readers: I apologize for the placement for my picture placements. I just can't seem to get Blogger to do what I want.

Silly Painted Door Test

My front door isn't painted. I have no intention of painting it, either, but I thought this one question test was fun because it reminds of a sight I encounter frequently. Whenever I venture down the mountain I live on, I drive past a house which always catches my attention. It's a modern stucco house with a flat roof that is painted all pale lavender except for the south facing side which is painted bright yellow. And on the attached deck of this side is a stunning black and white canvas gazebo. This sounds horrible, I know, but it actually isn't when seen in person. It's all done in a very tasteful way. I loved it when the owner had a life size zebra by the purple front door, but they moved that. I wonder where? I also love that they have a freestanding faded green painted door - just a door - standing by itself at the entrance to their garden. I never see who lives there and often think that when I do, I will stop and tell them how much I admire their creativity.

Your Door Says You Are Absurdly Fanciful

You are daring, unusual, and extravagant. You are like an eccentric wealthy person... Even if you don't have the money to back it up yet. You crave luxury. You love to feel rich.

The Front Door Test

St. Brigid, Patron Saint of Poetry, February 2nd

I missed it, but I still care. In honor of St. Brigid and poetry,

I submit two of my own:


Lace hands
Betray
A woman’s
Age.

Silky,
Graceful,
Welcoming
Hands


Display
Affection
And
Sage.

Written Thursday, October 9, 2008, 7:43 PM
© 2008 Elizabeth Martin


You discover who
Your true friends
Are
In the worst of times.

Those who were there
For the
Fun,
Are not there
For the
Long
Run.

It’s a lesson
Learned,

If you really
Discerned

The qualities
Of people
You once
Held dear,

And if your
Love
Was truly
Earned.

Realized

Now,
That they’re
Not
Here.

Written 10/17/08, 12:15 P.M.
© 2008 Elizabeth Martin

Annabel's Blanket

I've finally finished the long overdue blanket for my latest Granddaughter, Annabel. It is just like all my other baby blankets, the only difference being the names embellished on them and the color schemes. They are all knit with Berroco Cotton 100, an Aran weight, 100% cotton, baseball type yarn no longer produced. I think the closest yarn to it now would be Mission Falls 1824 cotton yarn. Anyway, it's a perfect yarn for a baby blanket because it is soft and cuddly and a machine wash and dry yarn, which the mom's love. For Annabel's blanket I went over her name that I had first embossed in white with extra pink yarn for an easier read. My daughter will most likely take this blanket to Annabel's day care facility for everyday use and bring it home on weekends to be washed and dried just like the one I knit for sister, Mia. Annabel will have no idea what a milestone blanket this particular one is for me or know how many tears I shed while knitting on it. But I'm happy to find knitting enjoyable once again.

I made an interesting dinner last night that came to me as I was thinking of what to prepare - pork chops encrusted with dry roasted edamame that I had found at Costco this week. I simply ground up the dry roasted edamame, added some Montreal steak seasoning to it for added flavor, dipped each chop in egg first, then in the edamame mixture and fried in a small amount of virgin olive oil. I knew the dried edamame would appeal to the crunchiness my husband loves and it wasn't until after he had eaten his pork chops and I saw him picking up extra "crust" and eating it that I told him what that crust was. Sneaky but healthy.

Now, I'm pondering what I should knit next. This is one of the best parts of knitting for me.

2009

Unlike most people, I was sad when it became 2009.   I hung on to every last minute of 2008 because my only son would not be alive in 2009 and he was in 2008.   I have struggled every day since his death and not one has gone by tearless.   I think I honestly felt that if I wished hard enough, tried hard enough, he would not be dead anymore.   And it didn't work.   I have to admit defeat.

Thank goodness that my daughter, Helen, gifted us with a new digital camera for Christmas.   It has allowed me to see some color and beauty once again.   I am a Taurus,  after all.  I cling to earth. 

Since my last blog entry, so much has happened.   I became a Grandmother for the fourth time with the birth of Annabel Katherine on June 18, 2008.   I feel very blessed by this and for all of my Grandchildren (2 boys and 2 girls).  Annabel has a two year old sister, Mia.   Mia can't decide whether she likes Elmo or books better.   I love it when a child is thrilled with books.  

My Grandsons, Jack and Hayden, are wonderful little boys and complete my Grandmother status.   They are growing up so fast.   Now that Hayden (almost 6) is in public school his once beloved and enormous Thomas The Tank collection is not "cool"." He's started saying, Thomas Sucks" (sigh) and Jack (age 7) is loving playing tag football which brings much joy to his Grandfather.  And for all of this I truly am grateful.

This is all I can talk about right now.   Sometime, perhaps I can talk about how I will never be the same.  Until then, have a  peaceful Holiday everyone.

 

Bubbly Weekend

We went away for the weekend to visit my daughter, Anne,  and our two grandsons, Jack and Hayden who live in San Diego.  On saturday we all drove up to Lawrence Welk Resort to visit with SIL, Melody and family who were staying there for the weekend.   Melody has a timeshare there that was originally owned by my mother and father in-law and it's a great place for both of our families to meet at.    Not only is the 2 bedroom condo a delight, but there is a fantastic pool with slide area for the kids to frolic in.   Going to a Lawrence Welk Villa now somehow makes up for those countless hours my husband and I had to spend as kids when there was only one TV in the whole house, watching the Lawrence Welk Show with our parents and having to listen to his "Champagne Music".   Remember that borefest? 

 Anne was especially happy to hold baby Dylan who is only 6 weeks old when we arrived there.  Dylan Brian Bingham is the son of my niece, Amy and her husband, Ron.   He is Melody's only grandson, which makes him extra special.   He is a beautiful baby boy with a full head of hair as you can see from the picture. He actually slept 99% of saturDAY, which probably meant he didn't sleep as much as his parents would like saturNIGHT.   Seeing Baby Dylan really brings home the fact that my daughter, Helen, will be delivering a baby in about 2 weeks.   I'm scrambling to get as many loose ends in my life tied up before I leave for San Francisco next weekend to be there for her delivery.

I was happy to see that the baby blanket I had knit for Dylan was in use and I was able to take a picture of it.  I like to photograph finished items or else I forget about them.   I was in such a rush to finish the blanket in time that I had neglected to take a picture of it.   The blanket was in use when we arrived and already had some breast milk spilled on it.     

I knit this with Berocco Cotton 100.   It's my favorite yarn for baby blankets because it is so soft and can be machine washed and dried repeatedly.    Too bad it's no longer made, but I have quite a stash of it.   Mission Falls 1846 cotton yarn is a perfect substitute for anyone interested.  This is my standard baby blanket.   I  try to customize them with the baby's name whenever I can.  It's a subtle touch to make it more personal.     Isn't it the best, when a knitted gift is appreciated and used?   

Benjamin's Back!

Yes!   Benjamin Sofa is back.  He's been repaired and looks as good as new.  I am so happy to have something other than two chairs to sit in.  And only one of those chairs was really comfortable.  Of course, the driver that picked Benjamin up for repairs last week made sure he didn't come back to deliver the repaired Benjamin.  He DID mention that he never wanted to come back here.  The poor crew that came this time said their truck was even bigger than his.   They ended up parking down at the end of my 1/4 mile driveway and walking Benjamin uphill on a dolly!  I would love to hear the conversation they have with the driver who made sure he didn't come back.  There are only two delivery crews so they are sure to see each other.

 Wouldn't you know it, but my wonderful sister-in-law, Melody, came last weekend right after Benjamin Sofa left so she never got to meet him.   It had been over a year since she'd been here and she came the one weekend in my married  life that I had no sofa in my living room.    Melody is not only my sister-in-law but she is my best friend.   I've known Melody since she was 8 years old.   Ours is a unique and very special friendship.   I'm sharing a picture of Benjamin sofa enjoying his proper place in our cabin/home with you.  He was so surprised to have two new end tables and a new coffee table surrounding him.  What's this?   Well, the tables were an Anniversary present brought by Melody.  Aren't they perfect for Benjamin?  Isn't she something?!   

Thanks, Mel!

Anniversary

Yesterday, June 2nd, was my/our 41st  Anniversary.  This is a picture of us cutting the wedding cake made by my mother in-law.  I apologize for it's poor quality, but it's actually a polaroid (remember those?) picture taken by a family friend. All my wedding photos were polaroids.  We had a very simple, low cost wedding.  I wore my best friend in high school's prom dress that I paid $25. for. She was my matron of honor, having preceded me as a bride due to the Vietnam War.  I borrowed my wedding veil.  I was only 19.  So was my husband, who had to take two finals at Riverside City College before we were married that day.  We were married in St. Christopher Catholic church in then Sunnymead, CA.   We had to get special permission to be married on a Friday evening because my husband wasn't/isn't Roman Catholic. We were married by an alcoholic priest who wouldn't allow the playing of "Here Comes The Bride" because he said it wasn't "fit" church music.   I was walked down the isle by a friend of my parents because my parents were stationed in Okinawa at the time and couldn't afford to attend my wedding.   It's hard to believe now that there once was a time when the average American couldn't just book an International flight to anywhere.  We couldn't even talk on the phone back then to Okinawa.  Well, maybe some people could, but it was cost prohibitive for my family at the time.  Still, it was a happy day for me even though I would never put up with the conditions laid out by that priest now.   But that was then.....

I can't believe how life goes by so fast.   Life is sneaky.   It just keeps happening whether you like it or not.   I wish you could stop it every now and then, especially in the good parts.   I wish, I wish!

Ernie

Fushia's on steps.  I take them for granted.
 No Cars - so much nicer!



I woke up at the crack of dawn and decided to take advantage of no cars parked in front of  our cabin.  Our cat, Ernie, decided to join me.   He could almost be mistaken for a bobcat considering that bobcats are frequent visitors here in the mountains.   We don't have a pedigree for Ernie, but he sure looks like a Maine Coon to us.    He's as steady as a rock.   The only cat not frazzled by visitors.   Everyone loves Ernie.

Nature is amazing.   For example, I have not planted one plant this year.  I have done nothing, yet my perennials didn't care and planted themselves.   I've decided that I really love columbines.

There are some really nice things about living so isolated.

Thomasville just came and took away my Benjamin sofa.  I bought this sofa last April and during a visit earlier last month I was playing with my Granddaughter, Mia, on the floor and just happened to look at Benjamin sofa and noticed that he was lopsided.   His  frame had broken!  I immediately went on-line and found out that there was a warranty for one year from the date he was delivered.   There was less than one month left on my warranty. Yikes!  So, I called the saleswoman who sold me Benjamin to tell her he was broken.  "What do you mean it's broken?"

blah, blah, blah.   The good news was that Thomasville sent out a repairman to check it out, fully expecting it to be repaired on site.  I was there when he revealed Benjamin's inside parts.

Benjamin was not assembled as carefully as he should have been and thus sustained a break.

An unfixable break.   He had to be rebuilt and so off he went today to an upholstery shop.  All I'm left with are his cushions.   I really liked Benjamin.   I sat on him everyday.  I already miss him.   The good news is that he is supposed to come back in a week, hopefully better than he was the first time.  Of course, the driver for Thomasville had to come in a big ole' truck and predictably hated  the drive to where I live. He told me that he hopes he doesn't have to come

back.  My house is not very typical for the area.   I bet now they understand why I was so concerned about how big their trucks are.   At least I was their last stop before the weekend.  I  bet at least one of the guys who came will be lifting a cerveza tonight while he tells a story about where he went today.

Get well, Benjamin.    (I just can't help myself.   My only son is named Benjamin, too!)

Bolero

Sometimes you knit a winner.   And this bolero I knit for my youngest daughter is one.  

I LEFT MY HEART

left to right: Helen, Mia, Mark & Ben

Yes, in San Francisco!  It may be late, but I've developed an absolute love for this city. Sometimes I think it's because it resembles architecturally and weather-wise the East Coast, where I mostly lived in my early childhood.   This fondness is helped, of course by the fact that three of my four children live there.   My oldest child, Ben, lives and works in the Sunset District of SF and my middle daughter, Helen, lives with her husband and daughter in the Castro District of SF.   My youngest daughter, Jane, actually lives in Mountain View (south of SF) with her boyfriend, James, but in my mind Mountain View is close enough to qualify.   

I Make as many trips to the Bay area as I can, either with or without my husband.   I would go there exclusively if it weren't for the fact that my oldest daughter, Anne, lives in San Diego. Living in Santa Barbara means that I'm in between the two most important cities in my life.

Did I mention that I have grandchildren to visit with whichever place I go?  No? Well, even though I love my children, I adore my grandchildren.   I have two wonderful grandsons, Jack and Hayden, who live in San Diego and one incredible granddaughter, Mia, who lives in San Francisco.   Mia will soon have a sister who is due in the latter part of June.   Obviously, I will be in San Francisco, too, searching for that heart of mine!