My favorite folks ! :)

30 March 2011

New pics

 And some thoughts.


The pics scattered thru out are from Duane's camera in his phone.  (He's gotten some good shots with his phone; i didn't think these turned out top quality.) He took them last weekend on his SAR camp out.  It is good he went.  There were only 5 people for the training, 3 newbies/trainees, the other trainer, and Duane.  It would have been hard for them to do the training had Duane not gone.  This first pic is the "igloo" snow shelter he made and slept in.


This is my week home and the first week of spring break for our "rent-a-kids."  I can't take Kip just anytime because he usually has to take care of the two smaller ones.  Saturday the little ones were with their grandma, so i took him to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  It was pretty good.  I also took him on Monday for a while.  


He had a school project to build a catapult and he and Duane had fun with that one.  Kip found a youtube video where someone made one with a binder clip.  His project is limited in size and has to propel a small marshmallow X number of feet (20, i think).  Extra points if it goes 50.  I happened to have a couple of large binder clips (and a spoon from the dollar store i don't care about) and he and Duane spent a lot of time designing, building, and flying marshmallows.  (Yes, i had them.  Must have had a recipe that called for them and i then did not make; marshmallows are not something i find tempting.)




The plan was for me to have Kip Monday, rest Tuesday, have Sierra Wednesday, rest Thursday (except to have Olivia come for a couple of hours), have Joshua either Friday or Saturday.  Mama knew this and approved it.  But when i called last night to confirm, Sierra had the opportunity to snowboard today, so, couldn't i just take Joshua today instead?  


Well, no, i can't.  The purpose of Friday or Saturday is to have him here when Duane is here too.  If i took him (4 year old) by myself, the most i could manage is an hour or two.


But i told her i could probably take Sierra tomorrow (Thursday) instead.  It does kind of screw up my schedule, i'll have to have Olivia come a different day.  I'm not very good at making changes like this when i have something already planned.  I wish i was more flexible, but, i'm not.  However, i don't want to prevent Sierra from having fun on more than one day (i guess the person offering to take her can't do it another day) nor do i want to create any friction with Mama.




So, i've another day at home alone.  I really did mostly rest yesterday.  Today i need to do some laundry and would like to make truffles.  Maybe some bread, tho i need to buy yeast if i do.  (When i have Sierra, i want to have a "tea party" with sandwiches i can eat.  I've not made bread for some time now.)


I've been in quite a lot of pain, tho it is intermittent, for the past few days.  This is a weird, unique, severe pain that i've never heard of anyone else having.  The story behind this is quite long.  The only thing that has made it bearable (and not make me kill myself long ago) is that it is intermittent and usually for only about 10 days of the month.  I've kept it in check the past few years mostly thru eating gluten free (yes, that makes a huge difference).  However, while i sometimes "cheat" on eating GF, i've not had any for some time now, nothing to justify the amount of pain i am in.


I've been watching the old show The Waltons.  I always loved that show.  I know it is considered campy, and at times it is.  In my mind it is never as campy as anything/everything Michael Landon did or was involved with.  (I was not a fan of ML, & having loved The Little House books before i ever saw his show, was quite appalled at what he did to that story.)  While there are some story lines in The Waltons that i don't care for as much, one thing that was shining in that program really was the love the family members had for one another.  I think, somehow, i believed that if my own family had been big like The Waltons, that somehow there would have been that love too.  I now know that to be fallacious thinking.

I did not have the most horrible childhood ever.  My parents meant well, i know they did. The abuse was not severe.  Somehow, however, our parents were not able to make my sisters or myself feel that we were loved.  Instead we felt we were worthless bits of trash.  This may be overstating somewhat, but is fairly accurate.  

Oh, but i didn't mean to go there!  My point in bringing up the show is something different.  

I lived in East Tennessee until i was 8, and have vivid memories of the beautiful mountains there, especially in the spring and fall.  Also my family visited extended family there (well, central TN & KY) every couple of years for the rest of my time living with my parents.  So i know that part of the country is so very lush and green .

I've also lived in California for a long time now.  I am quite familiar with the mountains, the trees, and the grasses (which are dry and dead about 10 months of the year).  And don't get me wrong, i think the mountains of California very beautiful, too, just in a different way from the Appalachia mountains.

It is amazing to me that they could show the scenery of the mountains at points in The Waltons, particularly in the opening, and think that it could pass for Virginia!  The pics around the house might possibly pass, but the mountain scenery which opens each episode could not in any way be mistaken for Virginia.

It was filmed about 100 miles from Big Bear Lake.  If you ever watch the show, there are some shots that look like they were done here, particularly one that overlooks a valley. 

Are there shows or music that you like in spite of them being considered camp?  Do you have memories of certain shows from your childhood? 


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9 comments:

Radha (Big Bear Lake) said...

Thanks for the pictures. We enjoyed them. Isn't Big Bear beautiful. It's the perfect place for kides!

Kathryn said...

Radha - YES! :)

Lorie said...

I totally get the not being flexible thing...now more than ever. People just don't seem to understand that I can't just decide I have the energy to go on an outing, etc.

I don't really remember shows or much else from my childhood. I blocked a lot of it out of my memory.

I'm glad you are having fun with the kids. They are blessed to have you and Duane invest in their lives.

lisa said...

We used to watch the Waltons!and Little House on The Prairie! The older I get the less I want to have to alter my plans. I have a pretty full day most of the time and I hate having to be flexible!

Rosemary said...

Oh, such an interesting post. That igloo actually looks like it would be warm and pretty protective. Love the photos.

Hmmm...I didn't know that the Waltons were filmed so close to you. I loved that show too and I loved that it was a big, happy family that despite having nothing cared so much for one another.

I liked Little House but some of the episodes made me cringe even then as a child, because they deviated from the books so much.

Love reading your posts - I hope you have the energy for the kids, I know you will try so hard.

Amrita said...

Hi Kathryn. Happy to hear that the outings with the kids are going well.

I am going to make my whole wheat bread too. I don 't like refined flour.

Your mountains look fantstic - and oh my tha t igloo - Duane made a good one. He must have frozen in it - could he sleep in it?

I don 'T have many hapy memories of childhood. Similar feelings like yours - my sister felt very loved and valued - not me - all that was augmented by my handicaps of course. I had to struggle very hard - the scars are still there and I fight against them.
Parents are good but not right at times Kathryn.

Anonymous said...

That second photo is absolutely fantastic looking! I love Big Bear and have some great memories of my visits there :-)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the comment on my blog...I love Big Bear and we can see it from our house down in the valley....my aunt and uncle used to live in Crestline years ago.....
not a big fan of the Waltons as I always thought it was a little too sappy for me...LOL but I know alot of people did like it...Little House was good at the beginning but later got off track ...Big fan of the Little House books...

Kathryn said...

Hi Lorie - yes i find that flexible thing difficult. Sometimes i wonder how much of it (for me) is mental - i seem to need to "get my head around it" before i can. Other times, of course, it is energy.

Hi Lisa! :) I think for me it is being older, some, although i think when i was younger i didn't like plans messed with either. Maybe i've just got an "inflexible mind."

Hi Rosemary - with a lot of time on my hands this week, i watched parts of Little House out of curiosity. I was never able to watch a full episode. I think the deviations from the book bothered me, but more, they had the characters doing, saying, acting things that the folks in real live would NEVER have done. Things that Laura made very clear were part of the person's personality/character were totally ignored in the show. The use of melodrama in that show bothers me.

Amrita - hello! :) Home made bread is the best!

It is hard to have such memories of childhood. I think we can forgive and heal from those scars, but they still effect us, and that isn't easy.

Hi Mr. Geezer! Ron. We do so appreciate being able to live here. You should make another trip to Big Bear soon! :) Make new memories.

Hi Dani, thanks for coming by. Part of the reason i started following you is that we have family in Menifee.

I can see how folks would consider the Waltons sappy, and sometimes the story lines are a bit too much for me, but i have never found it to be sappy in the way i find Little House (TV) to be. I wish he had just done a pioneer show and left the books alone. It says "based on" those books, but only by the loosest connections and by using the same character names.

I, too, love the books which i think is why i respond to the TV show so strongly.