6.26.2008

Summer At Country Roads

When Mom is working in the garden and watering on a great June day, and its summer, what better way to pass the time than a dip in the "pool"! In this case, Yesi decided her daughter Josalyn could spend some time in a Country Roads type pool...totally country!! It was just one of those great summer days here in SoCal. The best part about little kids is it just takes so little to make them happy. Josalyn turned three years old yesterday. Where does the time go so quickly. So, after Josalyn was done playing in her own private "pool", what better way to end the day than to have a nice, cold "Lunchable" from Rod's! And being the polite, little kid that she is, Josalyn even offered to share her lunch with me. So as she sat in the middle of the Annie's Annuals perfectly happy and content, eating her lunch,and when I glanced over at the empty pool,it reminded me why I love kids, Summer and Country Roads. Its the small stuff that is special, that holds memories in my heart. Seeing the smile on Josalyn's face and hearing her laughter today made me remember,that's what means the most in life, just the small, every day stuff!! Take the time to notice, your days will be so much fuller. Happy Summer!

6.15.2008

Happy Father's Day

That's me and my dad when I was little. We got along pretty good then, mostly because I couldn't talk back to him yet! My dad died on Valentine's Day in 2007 from complications of Alzheimers and missing my mom who passed away five months prior. This is my sister Teri with my dad. She couldn't talk back then either, but she usually didn't anyway. She was more like my mom, she just would walk away rather then scream till her last dying breath like I would! Me and my sister grew up pretty much like the rest of the world at that time. My dad worked for Edison his entire life and there wasn't always a bunch of money left over for the extras but it was a good life. Our vacations were called, "let's go for a ride" which meant usually going to someplace close in the car. This is my dad and us at the old Pier Point Landing in Long Beach, which is still where I live. I still live in Long Beach, not Pier Point Landing, in case you were wondering.After my dad died I learned more about him. He saved and documented everything, and I mean everything! In his WWII scrapbook,he even had a paw print of his platoons dog. Guess that's where we got the love for animals. My dad had a whole scrapbook FILLED with EVERYTHING his grandkids (my three kids) gave him. Photos, notes, and every Christmas card, like this one. His grandkids meant the world to him, and when my son Bryce was born, he was so excited because there was finally a "boy" in his family. And actually, as my son gets older I see more and more of my dad in him. Like when I came home from the store the other night and he was working on furniture in the garage like my dad use to do. My dad had that antique bug like all of us. Bryce had some "miner" kind of light strapped to his head so he could see better while working on a piece of furniture. Yep, he is definately still grandpa's boy! The last ten years of my mom and dad's life was tough, bordering hell for me. As I said before, when you're caught up in the dementia/Alzheimer cycle you never have time to come up for air and understand what's going on. We had to take three cars away from my dad, turn him into the DMV, and finally my sister and I had to move my parents into assisted living. My dad knew he needed to be there, but still hated it none the less. When Katie had Riley, my first grandchild, my mom died four days later. She got to see a picture of Riley, then just let go, it was her time. My dad was never the same,except when he held Riley in his arms And he would always say, "your mom would have loved this baby". One of my friends Leslie once said, "everyone has got a story to tell Sue, you know". So, this is my Father's Day story. It's not about sadness, its about memories, good ones. My dad was an ass, but in a good way if that makes sense. I use to HATE going over to see my dad on Father's day because he would say stuff like, "why did you get me this, I don't need it", or better yet toss the present aside and not open it. Buy hey, that was my dad, the world famous Mr. Moore!! So dad, at least I don't have to get you some dumbass gift this year you'll toss aside or hear you say, "why in the hell did you buy me this, I don't need it"! But instead, I have a lifetime of memories. Thanks, and by the way, I miss you!

6.11.2008

The "LONGEST" 15 Minutes Ever!

Riley goes to swim school once a week, for 15 minutes, at this great little place in Seal Beach. Katie had been wanting me to go and watch for awhile now, but I kept making up excuses not to go because I knew Riley cries when she goes and that bothered me! I use to feel sad at different times when my kids cried when they were little, but NOTHING compares to how I feel when Riley cries when she is scared ( I should admit it's more like when she is mad as well). I guess it's been my week. I went to the doctors with Riley on Monday, and I thought I was going to cry when Riley started crying!! It just breaks my heart to see her scared, or hurt, or mad. Okay, back to swim school. Riley needs swimming lessons because I have a pool and we want her to be safe and also everyone wants her to be able to enjoy the water. Katie convinced me to go tonight with them to watch. On the way to the swim lessons, Riley was a bit sleepy in the car and I'm thinking to myself, "this may not be good". Sure enough, once Riley got in the water, I was right! She screamed and cried the WHOLE 15 minutes!! Despite the crying, it's really cool the way they teach the tiny kids to swim. The first thing they learn is when you go under the water, you flip over your back so you can float, thus you keep from drowning. Of course if you were kicking and screaming as loud as Riley was there might be a good chance you would take in some water in the process! All and all, as Riley got to ride on the raft and float back to all of us, and the sun was setting, I was thankful the lesson was over!! But I'm also thankful that I get to be a part of Riley's life in such a big way. I know there are some of you out there that know what I'm talking about, that bond that grasps your heart more than it did with your own kids. And even though the longest 15 minutes ever was tough, I'm grateful that Riley will soon learn to love the water and ocean just as I do!