Bored in California

I actually woke up this morning with out an allergy headache! Amazing-that's pretty rare for me. I'm happy as a clam. Today there's a breeze, it's also overcast and in two hours it will be too hot for me. That's California for you. I really can't stand the intense sun or heat here due to blood pressure pills making me photosensitive to the sunlight and I wilt in the heat.

So I was all happy and went out to water the lawn, something I've been neglecting for a bit. But, hey as long as the weeds are green and ya keep em mowed who's to know. I'm joking of course, I hate mowing. Gotcha. The sprinkler wouldn't sprinkle so I noticed the hose was kinked so I get that all straightened out. It's still not sprinkling and I see that the end of the hose attached to the sprinkler is crushed. Can I find a wrench, do I have the strength to unscrew it? Of course not. That's the end of that.

In the mean time my youngest son has left for Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I'm all alone, hee hee ! I can read, make a cool drink and sit in the shade...well scratch that, too. The pharmacy calls to say my Moms meds are in, so off I go. And who is at the house when I get back? My ex. Now this is a really long story so I'm not gonna bore you with it. In a nutshell he wants to use my driveway to fix a car that belonged to my son who's in the USAF but doesn't want it now. Fine, whatever.

Then Mom and Dad call on the cell and say they need some groceries. So I get that done. When I get back I make them something to eat, I clean the kitchen, re dress my Mom's wound from falling two weeks ago, fill all her and Dads pill boxes and finally I'm back to my place next door. Guess who's still there.

The one good thing that happened, my ex fixed the screwed up hose and I can now water my lifeless lawn...

Can life get any better............

My Eva

Well, I just had to show off my Grandbaby, Eva, and her pink bow just barely hanging on by a hair or two. She's a sweetie if I do say so myself.

Italian Lesson #1

So I bought Rosetta Stone's Italian language CD set....and yes, still on lesson one-level one. I think at my age the learning takes a tad bit longer. Not to mention there's nary a soul to listen to me (but myself!). The CD's are pretty good as far as getting you to understand what they are talking about- reminds me of third grade, matching colors and pictures with words. The only bad thing is if I'm really lost I have to use bablefish.altavista.com.
Sometimes the interpretation in not quite right but you end up getting the jist of it all.

I'm still early in the planning process of my trip to Sicily. A few fellow Bloggers have offered to help, Thank You-very much! My husband, on the other hand, has decided to leave all up to me, yes-I know where this is going. If there's a screw up it's all on me. Hubby, Len, is 1/4 northern Italian and 1/4 Sicilian the other is Irish and Scottish (yikers). There is now a possibility we may stop in Lucca, Italy to see some of hubbies relatives. Len's Aunt Angela Beggigo (sp?) in northern California who speaks Italian and was opera singer, Pavarotti's voice coach here in the states, and would probably love to go. I need to check that out!

I'm patiently awaiting my Grandparents birth act (that's what it's called over there) documents from Italy, via Trabia, Sicily. My researcher has spent much time on my search as there were two sets of brothers with exact first and last names, nothing new in the Italian naming format. She had to get the priest at the local parish in Trabia to search, I sent a donation to the church, which is only fair for his efforts. But the Trabia Commons, the civil entity, screwed things up a bit and forgot to send some documents. But all is straightened out and with fingers crossed I should get my documents before next week!

Then... I ordered microfilm of Trabia from the Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints. Good grief, I sat for two hours and read, looking for familiar family names, because currently it's all Greek to me! Ha! I found one name....and I have many more pages to peruse.

Lazy Blogger

Since being on hiatus for quite a few weeks I've decided to rejoin the blog-o-rama. Most of my time has been spent researching genealogy and taking short jaunts to Idaho and Washington.

With planning a trip to Sicily next year I've been hot on the trail checking out hotels. Unfortunately, there is only one hotel in Trabia that is half decent. On the other hand, I really don't plan on spending much time in the hotel except to sleep and take care of hygiene. I am considering staying in Cefalu and Taromina a night or two and be a regular tourist, although I do prefer to go off the beaten path.

My Grand baby turned one on May 3rd, my oldest turned 30 on May 6th...what a reality check! I miss them both dearly. My Grand baby lives in Washington and my son is currently in the United Arab Emiratus, he will be over there for two months. My other two sons, lucky them, will have to endure my motherly affections for the time being.

Genealogy

Well, I finally have something to blog about instead of being a lurker. I got this urge to finally pick up on research for my Sicilian heritage the last few days. I must have gone to five sites and spent the last two days on them. I actually took the plunge, which is hard for me to admit, and ask for help. I went to ItalianGenealogy.com and blabbed about how I've hit a standstill in searching. I was helped by "vj" who had an answer for every question.

VJ gave me the name of an Uncle living in Fremont which is an hour away so I called him. He didn't really have much new to tell me except we have relatives in Canada! That was such a weird call as my Dads family was divided when the last parent died. A dead uncle supposedly, and I believe he did, made a fake will and gave himself all the family property! He used my Dad as his "slave boy" (that's what I call it) on the ranch so his kids could go to college...My aunt used to say that our Grandma loved my Dad so much, because he was born three mos after his father died, and she would never leave him out of a will... Ok, well that's the family dirt! But my Dad got outta that situation with my Mom's insistence!!! HooHa!

VJ searched the Census and Death Indexes and made since of what I'd seen before but couldn't make the pieces fit. Most of it is related to BAD SPELLING ! It was exciting to see previous family names mentioned come together.

"VJ" even found the name of my Grandmother as well as her birth date and Immigration status. Now I should be able to find her name on the ship manifest among the zillion of immigrants.

It's hard to imagine but the manifest shows my grandfather came here with only $90.00 in his pocket ! Him, his wife and a baby! Oh, I'd surely faint over that one in this day and age. I know the search isn't over yet so back to the manifests...

Idaho ! Watch Out !!!

OK- just added this tidbit from CNN news

Are you worried about the California invasion? Well, click here.
(I'm not one of those people...snicker)

I clicked on Sandpoint and a few others. Most posts seemed to want to know where in Idaho to retire.

I stumbled on that site/forum while searching about the town where I grew up.
When you get to the main page you can either go to "forum" or search for a town. There you will see search or towns listed you can pick from. I'm not sure but it sounded like there may have been a few real estate agents putting in their two cents.
I'm almost temped to post all the negative stuff about Sandpoint...hummm, what would that be?

• smoke from the field burning,
  
• the huge snow storms and power outages
  
• the gravel roads,
  
• the new Biway ;)
  
• lack of culture
  
• just plain nothing to do.
  

All but the first one was a lie, well, maybe part of the second one. I love snow storms but not the loss of power.

Geocaching !!

This time I'm gonna do it !! Geocaching that is. If you don't know what it is here's a link.

I have bought the GPS (had it for a year+ now), my cache box is ready to hide, tons of SWAG (stuff you trade) and that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are PDA's and other goodies to download the locations but heck I can't even figure out the GPS. I need to get geekafied. Anyone who knows the Garmin Rino can chime in anytime.

I did get in touch with Marianne Loves hubby, he's offered to help me when I get back up to Cocolalla. I hate waiting...I won't be up until Feb 1st, currently working in California.

I'm hoping I can find some caches while canoeing this summer, too. I haven't researched that far but I imagine there must be a few caches close to the waters edge. Can you tell I'm having delusions of grandeur? "Arrgh matey, anchor down and get the map and we'll have a look fer that there treasure".


PinkAcorn

Can U Canoe?

<---- Not us, hee hee, but close.



Our newest gig is a search for a new canoe. As teenagers hubby and I went canoeing together ....once. That was on a local dam where the water was like a mirror. After a high school breakup Len and I didn't meet until 30 years later at a class reunion.

A little in between history: Len was into racing canoes and kayaks down level 5 rivers like the American, Russian (before it was dammed) and Sacramento. As for me: About 10 years ago I was on the American River , level 2, and our raft did a pancake going around a huge boulder. I had two of my kids on board. Thankfully they made it to shore but not me. I was rescued by a lone rafter who pulled me out of the rapids and steered us to safety. I know if it weren't for her I'd be a dead duck. Since that day I stay as far away from moving water as possible and that includes choppy and white caps on the lake.

I think we've finally narrowed down our choices to three canoes. They are all made by Old Town Canoe. There is a local dealer in town which is convenient.But, it doesn't end there. There's a zillion choices for paddles, life vests, fishing gear and oh yes, hubby wants an electric motor. Not to mention we want to take McKay, our dog, so that means gear for her. Yikes! It only took me six months to decide on tile for a back splash so I guess if I start now I should have all our gear by June.....