Pumpkin Plunge is right around the corner!

Pumpkin Plunge is the annual swim meet hosted by The Girl's swim team, the Sea Serpents. I've coordinated the Snack Bar for the last two years and this will be my third. 

My sister and I sewed MANY aprons last year and
with her fancy-schmancy sewing machine, she embroidered "Sea Serpents" on them!

And here's just a few of them MANY 

volunteers who helped out last year over both days of the swim meet. 

THANK YOU!!

RIP Robin Williams, 1951-2014

I chose this photo of Robin Williams because I think we are all doing a "face-palm" right now.

Why, Robin, why?

The collective grieving is apparent..and we now have Facebook and Twitter and whatever to express our feelings in a huge way. Somehow it helps.

Robin, are you watching? Do you see, hear, feel the outpouring? It's so for many reasons...you were too young, you were healthy, we thought you were handling the "inner demons" everyone is talking about since you were so open lately about "going back to rehab" for whatever reason.

It wasn't an overdose. It wasn't an accident. It was just so deliberate.

All the love in the world didn't stop you. And, you know, all the world loved you. Because you were a good guy. A nice guy. A guy who could make us laugh until it hurt. A guy who helped people who hurt, even when not "on," your heart was "on."

Was it hurting you all along? Was that capacity to feel so much what also gave you your genius? (Along with that brain that moved at a 1000 mph.) Love/hate, sorrow/joy, happiness/depression. Two sides to every coin and those sides are millimeters apart.

Part of me thinks it's my fault. It's really silly, I know. Not my fault, really, but somehow I could have stopped you. No, I didn't know you...never even met you, never saw you on a sidewalk even though I lived in the next county. Part of me thinks...if I could have knocked on your door that morning, and asked you to go for a walk, this could have been prevented.

I know it's not that simple, but if I had a magic wand, I'd turn back the clock and sure as hell be on your doorstep and giving it a try.

If only you could have had your own personal "It's a Wonderful Life" happen to you, so you could see what the world would have been like without you, or to see the outpouring of grief and love at the news of your passing, maybe you could have seen and understood your true value and you would have made a different choice.

We don't have royalty in this country, but we do recognize greatness. Robin, you were a King of Comedy and a prince to us regular folks. It hurts that you are gone. It hurts to know we will miss out on what else we might have seen from you. It hurts to know that your family is hurting and will miss just you. You. You, the guy they loved. Dad, husband, son. No matter your accomplishments, you will be missed and the grief will continue.

We'll spend the next year watching you in films that you left for us. A bittersweet, extended good-bye note that will leave us crying and laughing like we never have before.

I just wish that if you'd wanted to be a poster boy for depression, that you would have found a different way to do it. Robin, whatever regrets you had in life, this is the biggest mistake you made. We all regret it.

But maybe that was part of it...too much pressure to "do the right thing." I don't know. None of us will know, I guess, none of us will know.

The Postcard Project

I may be crazy for starting another project, but this one is right up my alley.

On my first day of volunteering at the Food For Thought (FFT) Antique Store last week, I found all these vintage postcards (that need organizing, of course!). In looking through them, I found a number sent from Cape Cod in the 60's.

This one in particular had a great little correspondence on the back, and it was such a fun jumping off point for a short story (or novel, what the heck!). It's July of 1966, and Karen was working as a "mother's helper" for a doctor, his wife and their four children, two boys and two girls, ranging in age from 2-14, at the family's summer cottage in Dennis, MA.

Anyway, since she mentioned the family name and cottage address,  (I've blurred it out) on the card, I thought I'd do a little internet sleuthing to see if I could find someone in the original family. It was such a uncommon name that I found numerous hits right away. And, long story short, I am in contact with the boy who was 11 that summer, now a man of about 59, I guess. We'll be chatting later this week. His dad, the doctor is still around at age 90. (Hmmm, does this sound like a family we all know?)

I'm looking forward to where this takes me. It could be as simple as picking out a new card each week and writing a short story, finishing before my next shift the following week. Or maybe a fun project of looking up a card each week to see if I can contact anyone who has written a card or who is mentioned? A "where are they now" for 50 years later? We'll see!

 Oh, and a postcard stamp was only 4 cents! I wonder how much Karen made that summer? What are some things you would like to know? I'll get to ask John this week. (He said his dad would be thrilled to hear about this.)

2014 Update

Life has gotten busy or I have gotten lazy...not sure which or some of both.

A quick update...

Our latest vintage trailer is a 1962 Shasta Astrodome in need of a paint job. We were hoping the sale of the Lil' Loafer would finance that project, but (one new water heater and $2000 worth of car repairs later) that fund is dwindling! I haven't lost hope, just a little steam. We still need to take her in to get estimate on a paint job, and maybe we still have enough in reserve!

Her name is "Tweety" as in Tweety Bird since she is canary yellow and we will keep her original color scheme. And of course I've found tons of stuff in yellow and am amassing a, cough cough, hoard. This is just a tiny bit. More pics later. We haven't camped in her yet, although she's camp-able and very towable. (She made the trip from her other home in Susanville just fine. Seven hours!) Her interior is in really good condition and I think we got her for a pretty good price. Yes, there is a toilet room, but the previous owner had not used it, so we're not sure what the condition the plumbing is in.

I've started volunteering at Food For Thought's Antique Store here in Sebastopol once a week. Just one 3-hour shift each week amongst all that glorious vintage stuff! I've only worked once so far. Next week I learn the cash register!

The Girl has numerous day camps this summer. Two weeks at Coyote Camp as a Junior Mentor (helper), and two weeks of afternoon camps at Sonoma State. One was on Fashion Design and one will be a "Harry Potter Camp." She elected to not do the Humane Society Camp, she felt she'd aged out of it. And of course she had 9 days on the "East Coast Adventure" with her teacher and schoolmates in June. (Boston, Philly and NY) (Louisa May Alcott's home below.)

The Man is continuing to work and slave away, trying to get some three-day weekends to go camping. I make him work more at home, too since my birthday "present" was painting the kitchen cabinets and walls. (Going slowly, but it's coming along!) Finally got that awful "painting" off the range hood! Only 22 more cabinet doors and 12 drawers left! (The bottom cabinets on the stove area should be done shortly.) So far, it's just the island and the upper stove area that are done, and the trim on the pantry and laundry room doors and those walls (blue from yellow). Can't wait until it's all just blue and white! So far, I'm doing the walls, trim and bases and The Man does the doors and drawers with all the intricate sanding and caulking. I scraped down the range hood.