Earthquake

Mother's remaining pieces of china. The bowl is from aunt Amy's china pattern and the lid is from mother's.

The few remaining pieces of Aunt Amy's Bavarian china.

Our recent earthquake was immediately designated a 5.6, quickly upgraded to 5.8 but finally came in at a modest 5.4. My multi-story office building in Orange Co did quite a bit of shaking, creaking and groaning but there was no damage - unless you count a few frayed nerves. I called home immediately - or rather tried to because all phones, even cell phones, were out for quite a while. I wanted to make sure DH was fine and wondered how my mother's and aunt's few surving pieces of china had fared. Mother had a service for 12 of Hertel Jacob Bavarian china and her sister had Green Leaves Bavarian china. They bought it at the same time and lost almost all of the pieces at the same time in the 6.6 Sylmar quake of 1971. Mother had enough pieces to give me a complete service for 1 and the lid to her serving bowl. Aunt Amy also gave me a complete service for 1 and her serving bowl which had lost its lid. Though the lid and bowl are no longer a match, they look okay together and that's how I use them. Every so often DH and I use the dishes and they mean so much to me because of all the family history associated with them.

The networks covered our minor quake extensively and I remember one woman saying everything shook for five (5!) minutes - nope, more like 30 seconds which actually is quite a long time earthquake-wise. Have you ever experienced earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes?

I should add that we were living in Washington state at the time of the '71 quake. My sister, who didn't live too far from our parents, said everything in her kitchen fell out of the cupboards. One of the few items not broken was a gift bottle of alcohol and though she didn't drink, that day she said she did.

One Project Done!

Tom's Farms, Corona. It was 100+ but fountains always look cool. He was singing, "Oh, Lord I'm stuck in Lodi again" - not CCR but pretty darn good.
We were very tempted to join the ducks.
I will always need to live near mountains and Mexican food.

It’s been so long since I’ve logged on that my password recall was a challenge!

Sometime in May I removed wallpaper from what is now our guest room in preparation for a fresh coat of paint. We were excited about the work we could do around the house now that both boys were with their mother. We had so much fun listing future projects but I noticed we weren’t getting any of them done. None. DH had been insulted all out of proportion when I originally suggested we hire someone to do this for us so I no longer suggested but said it was time to bring in additional help. He agreed.

Near the end of June we tried to reach the contractor who had painted the exterior of our home a couple of years ago but the number no longer worked. Unbelievably we got a card from him the next day saying he was contacting former customers and wanted to know if we had any work for him. We sure did. Because of the mortgage mess in this area, he had to let his employees go and was struggling to just keep his business going. We had him completely re-do the inside of our house – removing more wallpaper, texturizng walls, painting, updating the kitchen and kitchen and bathroom cabinets. And because he was working alone it took forever. It was fun to watch everything change but awful to have someone here every day from early morning until evening. By the time he left and dinner was fixed, the thought of even turning on the computer was too much. And weekends were spent doing all the things we couldn't get to during the week. When I did try to get online, there were "connection problems." I spent hours with Earthlink until I figured out it wasn't them - it was us. DH and the contractor were inadvertently disconnecting our DSL connection. Sigh.

He’s now finished and we’re trying to put all the rooms back in order. The walls look too nice to hang anything on so we have pictures propped up everywhere. We’re glad this is over and eager to get back to our routine. I remember a client who had their house remodeled – took about six months and she said it was the closest she and her husband ever came to divorcing. We didn’t go through anything like that but it took much longer than we expected and did test our patience.

Re our contractor: one of our neighbors liked the job he was doing for us and hired him for some work on their home. Another friend came by, saw his work and is also going to use him. The contractor is a young man with a wife and two small children to support, trying to keep his business afloat until the economy turns around. SoCal has been hit hard by this mortgage mess and many of the jobs he had lined up were cancelled. It’s a tough time to be young and self-employed.

Have you ever gone through a remodel, room addition? Are you a DIY person who loves doing home projcts? If you are, I could use your name and address - I'm planning our next project right after I get caught up on your blogs!

The Quilt

The quilt pictured was given to me last week by my neighbor. It was hand quilted by her mother and grandmother, is 55-years old and has a wool batting. I felt guilty accepting it and politely tried to decline the gift saying it was really a family heirloom and was she sure she wanted to part with it. Was there another member of her family she would prefer to give it to? Nope, she wanted me to have it. She then went on to explain that six years ago after her mother who lived with her had passed away, seeing the quilt made her sad. I then felt more comfortable accepting it and remembered a friend who used to make and give quilts as gifts. She always took a picture of them before she gave them away so I asked my neighbor if she would want pictures of her quilt. She got a little teary-eyed, hugged me and said yes. These are some of the pictures I gave her.

Everyone handles grief differently but it would grieve me to give away something like that if my mother had made it. I wonder what makes the difference. After my mother passed away, a client asked if he could ask me about her or if the subject was too painful. It was a sort-of therapy for my grief to share her so I was rather grateful he asked and it didn’t bother me at all. I found letters mother wrote that I would have liked to share with my sister but she said no – she didn't want to see them because it was just too painful for her. Both of us grieved but handled it differently. Does it give you comfort or pain to discuss a loved one who has passed away? I think my client was particularly tactful when he asked if it was okay to ask and that’s what I now do with those who have had a loss.

Update

Our 18-year old DGS asked to borrow my digital camera and these are some of the images I found on it when it was returned.

I asked him about them and he said it was "art." Hmmmm. Seems art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.


Crisis averted. DD went on an interview last Thursday for a job driving a bus in another county. They hired her on the spot and she started her new job yesterday. The down-side is that it's further from home so it's unlikely she will be able to go home on her split-shift days and apparently they will all be split-shift days; she's also taken a pay cut. For the up-side she once again has a paycheck, medical coverage for the family, is contributing to the same retirement plan and has a job she enjoys. She has learned a lot through this whole experience and so have we.

Before she lost her job she purchased a car from a private party that literally died as she was pulling out of the driveway. She wanted her money back, the other party said they'd have their mechanic fix the car instead. Bottom line - she didn't get the car and has gotten some but not all of her money back. So she and DGS shared his car. Until it died. Our son then told her about a friend selling a car and she bought it and that's what she and DGS are now sharing. We've helped out where and when we could so it's been a busy time for all of us.

Now a little personal stuff: DD has been remarkable through all this. I can't begin to say how absolutely crushed she was at losing her job and then the one "good" car they had gave up the ghost. I wondered how she would handle all the stress she was given and she did just fine. Amazing. It wasn't that long ago when her life was an unbelievable mess - I won't go into details because it doesn't matter and she isn't that person anymore - but she was at the very bottom in every way imaginable. When she checked herself into a place where they taught her how to live a "normal" life they helped give her her life back. All of the little speed-bumps in life that threw her such a curve are now just that - little speed bumps. There were times when all of us chafed at the rules and regulations she had to follow but we told ourselves, they must know what they're doing. And they did. She has learned how to parent, budget, maintain a home and her sobriety. And we're learning how to relax and trust things will work out.

Thank you all for your prayers, good thoughts and well wishes. Love does make the world go round.

That Was The Week That Was!

What a week this has been. After learning on Monday that she no longer had a job, DD was told to pick up her final check Tuesday. She was distraught so I said I would take Tuesday off to drive her there and suggested she ask for a letter of recommendation and also if they would consider rehiring her at some point. I knew they thought well of her and had spent a lot of time and money training her - if the accident had happened after her probation period it wouldn't have been a problem. I also thought that giving her a "talking point" would keep her steady.

Tuesday morning I picked her up, her eyes swollen from crying but chin up and ready to face the music. A friend spent most of Monday evening with her because she said she had been in "code red." She realized she had come too far to slip but it did cross her mind.

At the yard I waited in the car while she went inside. After about 30 minutes she came out and said we needed to go back to her place for the badge and uniform. She then told me what had gone on inside. Bottom line, they didn't want to lose her but had no choice. Her supervisor had wanted to extend her probation a month instead of letting her go but rules are rules. He said that they had reviewed the tape after the accident and watched every rider on the bus give her a hug as they got off. Undercover riders had been on her bus many times and had all written glowing reports on how she handled the bus and passengers. She was then told she was the type of employee they wanted and asked her to reapply in about seven months and they would rehire her. Her supervisor had already made a call to a possible new employer for her and asked DD to go there and pick up an application.

When we went back to the bus yard with her badge and uniform, she brought her supervisor out to meet me. Awkward but nice. He said he wants her back and I stumbled through something. The rest of the day was spent running errands - she needed a DMV printout, we went to the bank to deposit her final check, she picked up an application, did some grocery shopping and we ended the day by having a late lunch. It was a long day and I was exhausted.

Today is the first day we haven't been over to see her. She still feels sad about what happened but is keeping herself busy looking for a new job. Knowing how much they wanted to keep her I wish they could have but......what's that expression? If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. DD is resilient and will get through this but I'm a little slower and haven't even been able to turn the computer on until now. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your good thoughts, prayers and well wishes for DD.