Origins of interests

  I spoke with my mom for only a few minutes today.  In the few minutes I spoke with my mom, I found out something that I never knew before.  My mom and I were talking about one of my favorite hobbies, which is horseback riding.  I have always loved horses and horseback riding, and in my short conversation with her I found a key to why I have that interest.
  It turns out that my grandfather on my dad's side, was a "trick rider" in the late 1930's - early 1940's!  He used to perform at rodeos.  This not only explains my inherited interest, but it explains some other things also.  I remember when I was about 7 years old and my grandparents took my brother and I camping for a week one summer.  The campground we stayed at offered activities such as a playground, swimming pool & waterslide, campfires and horseback riding.  I begged my grandparents every morning to take me horseback riding, my grandmother always said "no" but my grandfather never had a problem taking me. 
  Each morning when we arrived at the campground stables, my grandfather would help me up on my assigned horse, then he'd show me how he learned to "mount" a horse.  He would stand with his right shoulder up against the horse (facing the same way as the horse), grab the saddle horn with his right hand and jump into back flip and land on the saddle!  Amazed me everytime I saw it!  In later years, he and I enjoyed going to rodeos together, explains a lot.
  Another big interest I've always had is my love airplanes and flying.  The origins of this interest have always been known to me.  My grandfather on my mother's side was a navy pilot during WWII, later he became a naval officer, when he retired from the military he got his pilots license and flew corporate jets.  I was always fascinated by his stories about the aircraft he flew in the war, and loved looking through his aircraft pictures.  My grandparents took me to airshows and to see the Blue Angels when they performed nearby.  I ended up taking "Aeronautical Science" classes in college (I also was taking flying lessons during this time), then did weight and balance configurations for a major airline for 4 years (which I loved!).
  I did inherit interests from my grandmothers also.  My grandmother on my mother's side loved gourmet cooking and she also loved learning about different countries and their cuisines, customs etc...  I love trying dishes from other countries and learning about their customs, it's fascinating to me.  I also really enjoy cooking gourmet meals and learning new recipes etc...  My grandmother on my dad's side was always into making wonderful crafts, she was always in the middle of some craft project, and I also find myself always in the middle of one!  I start one after another just like she did.
  It's funny, neither of my parents inherited any of these interests from their parents, and I seem to be the only grandchild(out of 11 total grandchildren adding both sides together) that did.  Hmm...

Memory Lane

I received 2 surprise deliveries today. A UPS truck pulled up in front of my house today (I never mind seeing a UPS truck in front of my house, especially if there's a cute driver inside wearing the uniform shorts!)and delivered a couple of huge white boxes at my doorstep.
The surprises were courtesy of my parents. I've been here almost 10 years now and they just now decided to send me the last of my belongings from my old bedroom, I thought I had everything already.
I opened one box and immediately found one of my grandfather's coats (he died in 1993)which instantly brought tears to my eyes, I gave it a tight hug for a moment. Under the coat was a large, furry, yellow, stuffed dog that provided my grandmother with a lot of comfort during her last few days of life (she died in 1984), that brought more tears, and I kept squeezing the dog.
Aside from the sad sentimental things, most things in the boxes brought back a lot of good memories.
It's amazing how items from the past can take you back! I found a few albums from my childhood in one of the boxes. One of my favorite albums was as a child was the soundtrack to the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", and has soon as I saw that album I just had to play it! I put the album on and cranked up the volume like I did when I was a kid, and I still remembered all the words to every song! The album played as I looked through the rest of the box.
I found pictures of me performing with my high school concert band at the world's fair along with pictures of past birthday parties, and family. I had a couple of old baseball ticket stubs from games my dad used to take me to.
The funniest thing I found was my diary from when I was in junior high through high school. The minute I saw my old diary I had to read it! I wrote entries about boys I had crushes on (OMG!), my older brother's wedding (he just recently got divorced after 26 years of marriage), my grandmother passing away, space shuttle Challenger exploding, the 49ers winning the superbowl, family vacations etc...What a flood of memories!
My trip down memory lane today brought a mixed bag of emotions but at the same time it was a wonderful trip!

Things I Love/ My Favorite Things: Day 2 (Pug Love)

Today it's all about Pugs! Pugs! Pugs! Pugs! Pugs are my all time favorite dog breed.
It's really my parents' fault, because I caught the "Pug bug" from them!
About 10 1/2 years ago when I still lived in California, my mom and dad went on vacation to San Diego for a week. My mom and dad not only returned home with their luggage, they also had a extremely cute 8 week old Pug, they named Daisy! I took one look at Daisy's little wrinkled face and just fell in love! How could anybody resist! Pugs make my heart melt with their little wrinkled faces and pushed in noses, oh and their big brown eyes! I love the "snorting" sounds!
I moved to Ohio when Daisy was a year old. I moved in with my then boyfriend (who is now my husband). We lived in an apartment (no pets policy). The apartment seemed empty without a pug, I missed hearing "snorts" and hearing them over the phone wasn't enough!
My mom and dad started sending me pictures of Daisy and also Pug cards, they always put a big smile on my face!
The first order of business when we bought our first house was to get a dog! I wanted, you can guess it, a Pug! I didn't even want to look at other breeds. Don't get me wrong, I love all dogs, but I just wanted my own Pug.

We got our Pug Lacy a month after we moved in. She was 6 weeks old , and the cutest, tiniest thing you ever saw! OMG! We couldn't put her down, it was definitely "love at first sight" for my husband and I! Three years later, my husband got me another Pug as a Christmas present, he had me go on a scavenger hunt, and at the end was a little 6 week old pug puppy we named Lilly!
Our 2 Pugs together are unbelieveable! I love taking them to the dog park on sunny days, and watching them play together is "hilarious". We have true "Pug love" in our house.

I am posting a few pictures of our Pugs. Enjoy the "Pug love" today!

Question of the day

The question of the day is:


What items do you wish you had from your parents' living room?


When thinking about this question, there are three items I would love to have from my parents' living room:

1. The round end table/curio cabinet.
My parents had a wonderful end table with a beautiful wood finish, that also had a glass curio cabinet in the body of the table. My mother housed her animal firgurine collection in this table. I used to love to open up the cabinet door, reach in and switch on the little light inside the cabinet. Next, I would turn off the lights in the living room, and enjoy the "glow" of the table. I've always thought it was really exquisite and beautiful!

2. The curved sectional couch.
The most eye catching item in the room was the huge 4 piece curved sectional couch. This couch played host to many family Christmas mornings, childhood "tents", and cozy book readings. I remember my dad telling me he bought the couch at a garage sale in the mid sixties for only $25.00! The couch was always in perfect condition, never showed any wear. My brother Mark and I used to take bed sheets into the living room, lay them along the top of the couch secured with pillows, carefully extend the sheets out to make a tent. We brought in a small TV and watched movies underneath in the tent while we ate popcorn.

3. Great Grandma's rocking chair.
My Grandma was rocked to sleep in this chair as an infant, as was my mom, my brother and I, and my nephew & niece. A family heirloom and the best rocking chair in the world! As a little girl I rocked my baby dolls to "sleep" in this chair also. It was a "magical" chair!