Z is for Zeus! 🐾

                    I saved the best blog for last...this my friends, is my grandpup Zeus 🤎                                                                       

                               

                                                                    "I'm bored..."

                                                              "I'm a handsome boy"

                                                                "I'm a lucky grandpup"

                                                                       Baby Zeus 😂

    Zeus is a very special member of our family. Presently, he is at 150 lbs. He is a Rottweiler/Bullmastiff breed. He basically looks like a giant Rottweiler and is one big hung of love. Can I repeat that? He is one big hunk of love! Zeus is the sweetest dog I have ever known. He is also the best guard dog I have ever known. His bark is one that if. you were a prowler around our home and you heard Zeus bark - you would immediately head in the opposite direction. He can sense any movement outside the home during the night. It's interesting how when we would go to bed, he would assume two different positions in the house and go into guard dog and protector of the home mode. We raised him a good deal of his life. He presently lives with my son, whom he adores, in Monterey. They are the best of buds and go on many adventures together. 

    Quite often, we look at Zeus, shake our head and say "Zeus - you're such a goober..." truly one of a kind and a star wherever he goes. When we walk him at the beach, were told quite often that he looks like a bear. He really does! Many dog walkers with their little pooches see us approaching and will literally cross the street. Little do they know, Zeus would love to introduce himself and politely say, "Hi, I'm Zeus. What's your name?" 

    We're about due for a visit with the big guy. I hope it's soon, this blog is making me miss him so! 

Y is for yarn

 

    In an earlier blog, I wrote about my collection of pens and pencils. Well, I also love to buy yarn. The yarn store nearest me is Beveryly's Fabrics. They do sell fabric, but they sell lots of yarn too. Currently, I am working on some blankets for our new home; specifically, throw blankets for the my son's beds and one for the sofa. The color scheme in our house is mostly natural tones, as you can see by my yarn.    

I learned how to crochet when I was very young. After school, I would stop at my grandma's house before walking home. She would always make me a bowl of chicken with rice soup and sometimes I would get a crochet lesson. She used to crochet doilies with a very small sized crochet hook and medium weight thread. She must have had amazing eyesight now that I think about it. I used yarn and she used thread. She didn't hold her crochet hook in the traditional fashion and neither do I. I've tried to hold it the way it is shown in all the "how to crochet books" and videos, but I just can't do it. I hold my hook the way my grandma showed me.

    I have made hats, scarves and baby booties, but blankets are my favorite. I have read that crocheting is a form of meditation and I truly believe it. Crocheting forces me to be still, focus and breathe. I find that it's a great way to relax. 

    I enjoy crocheting gifts for others. This is a baby blanket I was working on in an airport waiting for our flight. It was for a teacher at my son's school who was expecting. 

    I have been to some amazing yarn stores! There is a quaint one in Carmel, Ca that sells very high end yarn. I bought some hairy yarn at this store and made some fabulous scarves for Christmas presents. My next favorite yarn store I've been to is in Cambria, south of Big Sur, Ca. I'm sure there will be many more yarn stores to discover in my future 💚

    What can I say, I love my hobbies!

X is for xu

        The letter "x" challenge took an unexpected twist for me today... I am a nightly "words with friends" player. I currently have about 15 games going. It's a great way to unwind at the end of a long day with something I love to associate with - words! I have often been using the word "xu" when I am in a predicament with my letter x sitting in my letter bank. I use it all the time! To think that all these times I have used this precious little word to get me out of a bind and land my x on a triple letter square (24 points), and I knew nothing about what this word meant. Today, I was going to find out. 

    Okay, so some of you smarty pants out there may already have known what the word "xu" meant, well I didn't.

    Xu is a coin formerly minted by South Vietnam equivalent to one cent (now little seen or used), forming a hundredth of a dong. 

   The dong is the currency of Vietnam

                  And there you have it - this blog has been brought to you by the "letter "x"

        

W is for Winter time

     Because of Covid, we didn’t do any traveling, but we are fortunate to have a home in Incline Village, Nevada - so that's where we went when we felt the need to “get away.” My husband is an expert skier so winter time means many ski days for him. I enjoy skiing too, but not at his level. I’m a content little intermediate skier. I just enjoy the view on the way down the mountain.

     I appreciate the cozy winter days spent in Lake Tahoe this year.

                                      Northstar Ski Resort, Lake Tahoe in the distance

                                                               home away from home

                                              My husband - he helicopter skis too 🚁

        

V is for vaccine

    Who would have thought that I would be getting vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus because of a global pandemic. I remember when the first cases were reported in the United States. Never, did I think the next 12 months would be that of quarantine, face masks and hand sanitizer. 

    Where I live in Santa Cruz County, we are in the red tier and headed for the orange (fingers crossed). Thankfully, my family has remained healthy. My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones to the virus and who have suffered with the illness. Some are dealing with the long term respiratory damage and other side affects from contracting the virus.

    This day and age of technology through Zoom and email has allowed many to continue working from home. I have never spent so much time at home and quite frankly am loving it. We were starting to travel a bit pre-pandemic and though traveling is fun, I don’t miss the hustle and bustle of it. I’m a home body at heart. 

    Life as we knew it before Corona is presenting itself again.

    Hopefully, our take away from this human experience is gratitude.

    

    

U is for umbrella

                                                         vintage smiley face umbrella

    I was about 9 or 10 years old when I was blessed with this umbrella. With the rainy season approaching, I had hoped that with my birthday in October and Christmas in December, that I could have the one thing in the whole world that I so badly wanted - a smiley face umbrella. I must have seen it in the toy section of the Sears catalog or perhaps advertised on TV. All I knew was that I wanted it! I would dream of the day I could glide through the school yard one morning with my smiley face umbrella, for all to see,  protecting me from the rain; the world! 

    Well, the day came and I cannot honestly remember whether I got it for my birthday or Christmas, but this umbrella was gifted to me. Then, I prayed for rain. The rain finally came. On that morning, from the back seat of my mom's car, I opened the door and carefully stepped out, popped open my smiley face umbrella and I would continue to promenade through the school yard of St. Mary's School and enter my classroom. My life was complete. 

    That's all it took... an umbrella with a bright yellow handle.

    My, how times have changed. The memory of this season in my life, takes me back to a much simpler time.

    

    

T is for the three amigos...

 

                                                                     the three amigos

    

       Here is a picture of my first three born: Aaron, Daniel and Joseph (Joey). It's one of my favorites. They look like little gangsters or renegades. They kept me on my toes, but they're really good kids and were a blast to raise. It's an honor being their mom. 

    This was taken during Aaron's first year of college at California State University at Monterey Bay. Daniel and Joey were in high school. This was taken on a spur of at the moment trip to Disneyland. We called Aaron at his dorm on Friday morning, told him to throw some clothes and a toothbrush in a bag; "we're going to Disneyland!" and we were out the door with the rest of the family by late Friday afternoon. The eight of us piled up in the suburban, bigger kids with their headphones on and a bag of snacks in hand for the younger ones on and we were off.

    We had a great time. We stayed at the Embassy Suites (best place for large families), not far from the park. We especially love their happy hour snacks (unlimited popcorn and pretzels) and drinks. We ventured over to California Adventure Park after a day at Disneyland. That was probably the last time we went on a trip as a family.

    Aaron transferred and graduated from University of Nevada Reno, Daniel is in the construction business (like his dad) and Joey earned a degree in microbiology at San Francisco State. Aaron is marketing online and Joey is my little surfer-scientist, working for a bio-tech company. 

    Love these guys. I think I'll give them a call today 🖤🤍🖤