My darling daughters draw every single day. It is so hard for me to part with their drawings. Inevitably, I stack them on top of the fridge, promising to box them up for their future perusing.
I want to share my favorite drawings that I’ve scooped up over the past few months.
Natalie ~ Age 5
Shadow & Reflection
Girl In The Mirror
Mermaid
I love the fluid lines of this.
Married Couple
I love the positioning of his feet.
Vacant Eyes
Cool Girl
The Wind-Up
Dead Pet
Pearl ~ Age 3
M Eyes
Nude
Detailed Face Surrounded by P’s
Thank you for letting me share this with you.
Build•A•Bear
Yesterday I took Natalie and Pearl to Build•A•Bear in Henderson, Nevada (about 9 miles south of Vegas). My parents had sent them money to be used on this shopping spree.
When you walk into the store, you are greeted by a wall of stuffed and unstuffed animals.
Once you choose your animal, you can select sounds for it. The sounds are slipped down into the paws, and then the stuffing is added.
Natalie adds stuffing to her St. Patty’s Day bear.
Pearl adds stuffing to her white/pink bear.
Before the bears are stitched closed, there’s a cute little heart ceremony.
Rub the heart on your forehead for brains, on your cheeks for smiles, or your nose for the heck of it (I don’t remember), spin around twice and blow.
The new bears received an air bath.
Dresses & accessories were selected.
The bears were named, ID’d, and presented with birth certificates.
Alison and India
Chuck•E•Cheese
Building bears makes you work up an appetite! We found a Chuck•E•Cheese down the street. It was deserted, so the kids and I had the run of it!
Chuck
While waiting for our delicious *ahem* pepperoni pizza to bake, the kids played…
Skeeball
Whack-a-mole
plus Drove
and Drove
and Danced around the empty joint.
Bass Pro Shop
What the heck is the Bass Pro Shop doing in this story? Well, I had to exchange a pair of waders for Tom. The exchange took a while, so I snapped some pictures. Here’s a wall with mounted fish.
On the opposite wall were mounted wildlife.
And then I spotted him! The uncle from Napoleon Dynamite! Check it out!
I swear it was him. I was looking at him saying, Why do I know this guy?
Update: Unless this guy was wearing a toupee, it’s not Uncle Rico. I did some research, and this is the real actor, Jon Gries (notice the crome dome).
Silverton Aquarium
Attached to the Bass Pro Shop is the Silverton Casino. Inside the casino is an incredible aquarium!
Rays
There’s also the Mermaid Bar. Above the bar, is a jellyfish tank.
After staring at all the sea creatures, and making our way around the impressive tank, we headed back home.
I’m so old, I still have Disneyland B Tickets.
Have you heard of an E Ticket Ride? Well, that’d be an Exciting one.
I have the Boring B tickets.
I’m so old, I remember when stewardesses (yes, they were called that) wore *hip* outfits like this:
I was born June 13th 1965 in San Pablo, California.
Aside from my birth photo, this is the oldest picture of me (age 2) in my parents album.
My Dad was a salesman for AC Delco, and my Mom was a housewife.
I have one brother (James) and one sister (Sunny).
My parents rented a house from my paternal Grandparents.
Louise & Manuel’s 50th Wedding Anniversary ~ 1970
My Dad’s parents came to the USA from Portugal. They were in an arranged marriage.
These are my maternal Grandparents, Gene & Clara.
My Mother’s parents were from Missouri. They traveled to California to raise their family.
As a child, I really had no extracurricular activities. I didn’t participate in any sports. Just lived a quiet, hermit-like life with my family.
As I was lying in bed last night, I realized something. My parents had no friends. No one came over to visit. We would, on occasion, visit Grandma Clara. The adults would play pinochle. Once in a blue moon, we’d visit my Dad’s parents. There was a bit of difficulty communicating with them as they mostly spoke Portuguese. There was definitely a feeling of seclusion.
Here are some photos of me from my early school years, ages 6 through 10.
When I was in the 6th grade, my family moved to Reno, Nevada. This was during those awkward teen years.
Yes, full head gear.
By the time high school rolled around, I was out of braces.
The eyebrows were plucked and the hair lightened too.
In High School, I was allowed more freedoms. My best friend had a car, so we were able to go to the Keystone Theatre which always had the most unique movies.
We participated in Debate and Drama, so finally extracurricular activities for me.
I wasn’t allowed to date until I was 16. I dated a few different guys, had maybe 3 boyfriends tops.
After graduating in 1983, my parents moved us back to the Bay Area of California. There was no time to sit and mope about the loss of my friends and the town that I had enjoyed spending my formative years in. Time to get a job.
I applied at the local mall, and was excited to become a sales person for Jean Nicole, a women’s clothing store. I wasn’t there long before my father managed to get me a job at a local bank. And thus began my 14 year career in banking.
When I turned 21, I met the man who would become my first husband. My girlfriends, whom I worked with at the bank, and I would go club hopping each weekend. At one of these clubs, I spotted him. An El DeBarge wannabe (he’d be the white version though).
He had all the Michael Jackson moves down pat.
I saw him strike this pose a few (hundred) times.
Against my parents’ wishes, we moved in together. For an entire year, he’d set the date for our wedding, and then cancel. He finally told me he had no intention of marrying me. He just liked how happy it made me when he’d set a date. I moved back in with my parents.
The next evening, New Year’s Eve as a matter of fact, he came to my doorstep and we drove to Carson City, Nevada to get married. No one from my family accompanied me. His grandparents were our witnesses.
Three months later, he wanted out of the marriage. It was like a noose around his neck, he said. He told his family we were through, and when I reached out to them, they told me to face facts that it was over.
I was humiliated. I did not want to return home. I did not want to go to work. I ended up sleeping on the couch, in the same apartment with him. Signs that he was dating were evident.
I changed jobs so I didn’t have to face my customers who thought I was still a newlywed. My life was falling apart.
My Life ~ Part 2
