Cat House Prints

A Little Tribute to Rose Estelle Hancock Gamble

2012-01-25T23:23:00.000-08:00

My mom's friend, Rose Gamble, passed away last Tuesday, January 17, 2012. When I got home from work yesterday, my mom told me that she had a call from her friend, Gaylene, with the news and letting her know that there would be a viewing and funeral for Rose in Glendale, CA. The viewing was scheduled for today and the funeral mass and burial service will be tomorrow.

My mom was clearly upset and wanted to attend the funeral. I told her that we couldn't go to the funeral because she has dental surgery scheduled for Thursday, but we could certainly attend the viewing. When I got home from work today, mom and I went to the viewing (or visitation). It was at the very massive and very beautiful Forest Lawn in Glendale. I can say that Forest Lawn is probably the most difficult cemetery I have ever attempted to navigate. Their maps are dreadful and the directions are lacking. I've attempted many times to fulfill findagrave.com photo requests there, knowing where the graves where located, but the maps are not user friendly. Even had to enlist help from grounds keepers and my success rate was only ever 50%. Luckily, today's viewing was in the main building at the entrance to the grounds, which I found out only after arriving there.

I really had no idea where on the vast grounds the viewing was being held and when we arrived, the information guard shack was vacant! There was a sign posted directing questions to the Mortuary Office, yet I couldn't find any sign of that office. The only signs posted were for the various churches and chapels on the grounds. Anyway, after driving around, I finally found some employees at the Human Resources office that told me where the Mortuary Office was.

We found the viewing and as my mom and I approached the room, a lovely young woman saw us and immediately called my mom by name. It was Rose's granddaughter. She was so kind and so very charming. I can't even say enough good things about her! She remembered meeting my mom when she had stayed with Rose after she fell and injured her hip (like my mom had a few months prior). My mom and Rose met in the senior apartment complex they lived in and they had many things in common. As lovely young women in the 1940s, both girls enlisted in the armed forces during WWII to serve their countries (Rose in the US and my mom in Canada). Both girls were very proud of their service and very supportive of the troops and the veterans (especially female vets). Both girls were honorably discharged from their service and went on to be contributing and productive members of society and both ended up in Los Angeles to raise their families, and met spending their golden years in the high desert of California.

As it turned out, Rose had raised her family in the same city my mom and I now live and will be buried in our city cemetery next to her late husband. It was very nice to meet her children and grandchildren and the family friends that were at the viewing today. It was an open casket viewing, and Rose looked incredibly beautiful. Her hair and make up were perfect and she was in her uniform! On her lapel, was a badge with the picture below of her. You know, nearly 70 years and three children later, Rose could still fit into that uniform! Not to mention it was still in great shape. I was surprised though that it was a light brown or dark tan in color. As I only really see black and white photos of that era, I just assumed the uniform would be green.

You didn't have know her well or know her for a long period of time for her to leave an impression on you. She had something about her that made you remember her after your first meeting! She was a wonderful lady and may she now be in peace and free of any pain that her final days may have brought upon her.

ROSE ESTELLE GAMBLE

ROSE (ROSIE) ESTELLE GAMBLE Rose Estelle Gamble, 92, was born on July 25th, 1919 in Savannah GA and passed away in Victorville, CA on January 17th 2012. Rosie enlisted in the Women's Army Air Corp (WACC) in 1943 as a medical dental technician during World War II. She was honorably discharged as a Tech Sgt. in 1945. She was proud to be a part of the armed services and supported the troops throughout her life. She traveled to Washington D.C. when they had the dedication of the memorial wall for the Women Veterans of America. She married Bernard (Buss) A. Gamble in 1945 and settled in Los Angeles to raise her family. She was preceded in death by her husband Buss in 1990. She is survived by brother John; daughters Carol, grandchildren Charlotte, Lorraine, Edward; Susan, granddaughter Rhonda; her son Thomas, grand-children Carly and Scott and 6 great grandchildren. A celebration of her life will be held at St.Bernard's Church, 2500 West Ave, 33, Los Angeles, CA on January 26th, 2012 at 11:00AM, with burial following at Forest Lawn, Glendale CA. In lieu of flowers, make donations to American Women Ventrans Foundation, 1250 Connecticut Ave., North West Ste. 200, Washington D.C., 20036 (americanwomenveterans.org/home/donate).

Published in the Daily Press on January 24, 2012

My Frustration with The HIPAA Law

2012-01-22T00:34:00.000-08:00

How can I equally respect and hate the HIPAA law? Right now, I hate it more than respect it, but I do appreciate the law in the big picture. I can tell you that I had to jump through hoops to get my own grandmother's records (as limited as they were) and now I've been trying to get insight on her paternal aunt who also died in the same facility that my grandmother died in. Considering that the law deals with privacy and insurance, I'm thinking that the people I'm interested in, didn't have insurance during the time they were "incarcerated".

I just want to know what happened and how she ended up there, but I am not "eligible" to receive that information as I'm not considered the closest living relative. I've attempted to reach out via other sources to a great granddaughter of my grandmother's aunt, but haven't had any luck there. Possibly, the "descendant" isn't really into the gen research and doesn't know or care, but that doesn't mean others feel the same way. Therefore, how do we handle this?

So, if you're not not a direct descendant, how do you obtain this information if the direct descendants don't really give a damn? The laws really do screw things up. I'm talking about a woman that died in the early 1950s and not someone that recently died. But, it is someone from my bloodline and I want to know that history. Why is that so difficult? This is bugging the hell out of me.

Happy Birthday Martin and a Song of the Week

2012-01-16T23:35:00.000-08:00

It does often seem true that the good die young. Maybe that's because they are truly brave and can take a stand against injustice. They have a voice (like we all do) but seem to be driven to make their voice heard without fear of the consequences. Where would we be without people like that?

Fear is a killer. It kills dreams. It kills people. It kills society. It kills humanity. Fear also causes us to "conform". We fear failure, rejection, labeling, gossip, you name it. For example, some may fear any of the above, so they marry an abuser rather than be labeled a spinster. I once knew that person. She was married to an abuser and called me a spinster when I was 26 years old. Some fear their dream life and instead settle for a job (which is not a life).

To me, conforming does not lead to a happy and successful society. Rather, (and yes, Americans might gasp and this thought) a socialist society. A society where you are told what you should want, do, like, love and so on. A society that might think you're odd if you don't belong to the "right" church or political party. The society that might think you are less valuable because you didn't finish college. All a bunch of crap, really. And maybe, one day, society will appreciate the value of diversity (truly and not just lip service) and appreciate those brave enough to break the stigma molds that we seem to accept as the norm.

Now that I got that off my chest (as they say), I want to acknowledge Martin Luther King. A man that accomplished SO much in such a short time. It truly boggles my mind when I think about what he did in his life compared to what I've done. He was brave and held tight to his beliefs. He did not back down and took a stand for so many of us. He had a dream, and I'm sure so many of us do. The difference is he acted upon his dream and how many of us can say we do. Go out and be inspired by the man that dared to live his dreams in the hopes that we could lives ours. Maybe if we all do one little dream thing, we can somehow help make this a better place and contribute in a positive way to the lives of others. Hey, we never really know how some little thing we can do can really impact someone else. Think about it.

My Song of the Week is one that I can't hear without emotions being stirred. Ever since I was a kid, this song brought tears to my eyes. Enjoy and live your dreams. Life is short and too valuable to not live!

Saturday in the ER

2012-01-11T21:34:00.000-08:00

It wasn't exactly how I had planned to spend the very first Saturday of 2012, but I've learned over the years that we must be flexible. I had a "fun" day planned of getting the oil changed in the car and then getting the car smog tested. A California smog test is required on older cars every other year, your car must pass the test in order to get your vehicle registration renewed. And yes, the renewed vehicle registration is required if you drive a car with California plates.

At the ghastly hour of about 4:30AM on Saturday, my mom woke me up and told me she didn't feel good. Her entire left side was numb. She wanted me to call an ambulance. I got my sister up and we agreed that we would take my mom to the ER rather than wait for an ambulance that would probably take her to the ER anyway. I brewed a cup of coffee in my Keurig, took my mom's blood pressure (it was rather high) and off we went.

It was early, and not many people were in the ER, so they took my mom in immediately and let both my sister and I go in with her. Normally only one family member is allowed in the ER with patients. Then we waited and waited and waited. The nurses came in and hooked my mom up to the monitors and IV. Questions were asked and reports written, then more waiting.

I grabbed my smart phone and checked in on Facebook and noticed that an author I follow had posted the most hysterical article from the Huffington Post. I began reading it to my sister and we were both laughing so hard that I wasn't speaking well due to laughing. My sister asked for the phone and she attempted to read the article. She began laughing so hard and then we were both crying. She finally asked me if we were laughing because the story was funny or because we were punchy. I said, "both". The article was about a guy being arrested by Madison, Wisc. Police for drugs in a park. The guy had just recently legally changed his name to Beezow Doo-Doo Zoppitybop-Bop-Bop! The article is hysterical and you can read it here.

During our laughing fit, one of the nurses came in to run tests. My mom had blood work done, urine tested, CT scan, chest x-ray, EKG and her arteries checked. In the end, she was fine. No sign of stroke. The ER doctor said it could have been a small stroke known as TIA and said that they tend to heal themselves within 24 hours. Therefore, if she had that during the night, they wouldn't be able to diagnose it, as they have to see it happening.

Eight hours later, we were free to go. Came home and gave my mom a cup of coffee and some oatmeal. After she ate and had coffee, she went to bed and slept for several hours. She is doing fine now, thank God.

Yesterday, a friend shared a link on my Facebook that once again had me laughing. Yes, Beezow Doo-Doo Zoppitybop-Bop-Bop reappeared in my life! This time it was a little hysterical clip from the Jimmy Kimmel show. All I can say is that I really wish I could have seen the judge grant that name change. I wonder if he/she was able to keep a straight face!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T19:30:00.000-08:00

This week's Wordless Wednesday photo is one I found in my late aunt Sadie McPhee's photo album (which I have). This is a picture of three of my (late) maternal aunts, Patricia McPhee Dolan, Clara McPhee McPhail and Sadie McPhee.

Based on the clothes, I believe this picture was taken in the 1940s and that would then mean it was taken in Toronto, Canada.

L-R Patricia McPhee Dolan, Clara McPhee McPhail, Sadie McPhee

I love how glamorous they were! Whenever I see old pictures like this (especially from war times) I am always so amazed at how glamorous and put together people looked during the war and during a time when many things were rationed. How did they do it?

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-04T22:46:00.000-08:00

My mom in Canada, probably during the 1940s. She doesn't recall the details of this picture and there is nothing written on the back. I do love it though and use it currently as my personal Facebook profile picture.

I curated my second Etsy Treasury of the year. This one features members of another team I belong to called 247 Treasury Team. They are also a very supportive team, but they are all business. I like them very much, but don't yet feel the same connection to the members as I do the EAWT Team.

My First Etsy Treasury of 2012

2012-01-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

The last time I created an Etsy treasury was in mid November. I guess I became overwhelmed with the holidays, working and taking care of my mom and pretty much vanished from the land of Etsy.

I started 2011 with two big whopping sales and ended with five. I really would like to do much better than that this year. I don't think my items are hideous but maybe they're not functional. On the other hand, a plastic mustache on a stick doesn't seem functional either, yet it has been very popular on Etsy and people seem to buy things like that. Either, I am totally out of touch or I am out of touch! I must be out of touch.

I decided to participate tonight in my EAWT team treasury challenge. Here's the treasury I created. Now lets see how many views, comments, and hearts I get. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to be a finalist in the challenge! But, the point of sharing this collection is so that you can see some really cool vintage or vintage inspired handmade items! Check them out and maybe you'll find something you really want or would like to give someone as a gift (sorry but no plastic mustaches on a stick here).

Don't You Just Love People?

2012-01-02T23:50:00.000-08:00

Some lovely guy flipped me off today in the Target parkng lot after I honked my horn at him. Go figure - I honked at him after he didn't look or stop and just pulled out right in front of me. I seriously thought about chasing his sorry ass down, but, really didn't want to WASTE the energy on such a jerk. Just said a silent "prayer" that someone returns the "nice treatment" to him.

New year and a new me!

Hello 2012, PS I Love You, and 52 Things

2012-01-02T23:14:00.000-08:00

I start every new year feeling so optimistic and hopeful. I set goals and achieve some and some that are more realistic than others! I have this goal to win a lottery. Well, maybe that isn't so realistic, but it sure would be nice. It sure would help replace the income I've lost in 2011, especially now that I've taken on being a caregiver for my mom. Well, as long as my mind is functioning, I shall continue to dream of the day I win BIG! I did have a goal to travel to Illinois in 2011, but things came up and that trip didn't happen. I actually had that trip planned in 2010, but didn't make it then either.

However, this is a new year and I have added the trip to my newly declared "52 Things"! This time, there is no pressure. If it doesn't happen due to upcoming circumstances, I will not kick myself or feel disappointed. I turn 52 this year and have started a list of 52 things I want to do that I've never done, and taking a trip to IL is one of them. I want to meet family in person and gather data and pictures and stories! I want to go to the courthouses and check the records of my "famous" great grandmother, the notorious Effie Beck Cloos Roby! She had quite the past. I want to find out how my grandparents Red and Lola met and when they married. I would LOVE to find pictures of Lola, as well as her sister Bessie and their father George Cloos, their mother Effie and so many others.

This past Friday, December 30, 2011, we went to Palm Springs (PS) for our annual Christmas visit, dinner and gift exchange with good friends that are really family. Earlier this year, my dear friends purchased a new home on a golf course and we got to see the new pad. It was fabulous and so was the day and the visit. We drove around the country club and chatted, played dice, exchanged gifts and had good food and laughs.

I made vegan lasagna and vegan German Chocolate Cake! It was so good and rather decadent! So that is now something I've checked off the "52 Things" list. For the cake, I used this wonderful recipe and the frosting was from Fatfreevegan! Man, it was so good, and I say that as someone who long ago, lost interest in cakes.

While we were in Palm Springs, I realized yet again, how much I love it there and have added a home in PS to my list of things to accomplish this year! I LOVE Palm Springs. The vibe and the architecture speaks to me. I also love the lack of LA rat race that seems to surround the environment. As a kid, my family spent the week between Christmas and New Year in Palm Springs, so I have very happy memories of it (and some very goofy old pictures that I'll not share now). I am not one to like the heat but I can learn to deal with three months of "pain" in order to be in a place that calls my name. As always, the weather was fabulous at this time of year and the sky so beautiful. Once the sun went down, it got cold out.

My mom enjoys watching Dr. Oz and while we were in PS, we turned that on for her. That episode featured chef Rocco DiSpirito's Mushroom Lasagna and I thought it looked good, so yesterday, January 1, I added that to my list of 52 Things and made a killer vegan version of it! Two things now checked off my list! I hadn't ever made a "white" mushroom lasagna and decided to try it. It was fabulous. The picky eaters in my house really loved it. They thought the sauce seemed to be very "Alfredo" like. For the ricotta, I used the vegan tofu ricotta from the Skinny Bitch cookbook which I've used for my "red" lasagna. Instead of mozzarella, I used Daiya Mozzarella and two 13.5 cans of mushrooms. I drained the mushrooms and added three teaspoons of corn starch to the liquid and whisked it together and added the mushrooms and liquid to the "ricotta". I then sprayed a 13" Pyrex and layered the no bake lasagna noodles, the "ricotta and mushroom" mixture, the Daiya and sliced black olives, covered with foil, and baked for about an hour, covered, at 350F. It tasted even better tonight!

My friends have adorable little furry children - a dog named Cody and a kitten named Chance. Their friend stopped by with his cute little puppy Raven and those little furry kids were running through the house, playing and chasing and rough housing and just entertaining my mom! They even ran across her lap a few times and she thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It was a wonderful day.

Yesterday was New Years Day, but it didn't really seem like it because it was Sunday. I always associate New Years Day with the Rose Parade, but this weird old agreement, if you will, between the parade and the churches in the city, declared the parades would not happen if New Years Day fell on Sunday as that would keep the folks out of church. OK, the times have changed but not that strange agreement. So the parade happened today on January 2.

So, here's to a fab new year! Last year was tough, but I am looking forward to the new year. I plan to make it count and accomplish things this year so that I don't just feel like a cog in a machine going through some kind of corporate motions. Yeah, I say that every year, so, here's to this year being different. For you, I hope you have great success and prosperity and ask that you might even give my vegan recipes a try and let me know how it came out. I also hope you might participate in the "however many years" challenge and keep us posted here. You never know how your "thing" might inspire someone else!

Here's to a happy, healthy, safe, successful and prosperous 2012 and I look forward to hearing about all the successes and to sharing my own.,

Goodbye 2011

2012-01-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

Another year has come and gone. In fact, 2011 flew by! As I reflected back on the year, I noticed something that I am terribly guilty of - lack of follow through. I started several paintings and tutorials that I never completed. I still have those incomplete paintings hanging around and the tutorial pictures on my camera. I even had a tutorial in my head that never came to life, so that can come to life at a later time.

2011 was a challenging year. My mom fell and broke her pelvis in March after many trips to the ER earlier in the year because of high blood pressure. Once her pelvis healed, she moved in. That has been an adjustment for all of us. The cats do love having her around because she eats turkey and they love that gamy smell. They also love sitting on her lap and sleeping curled up at her feet. They don't like the fact though that she does rat them out when they misbehave!

My mom does have "chores" here that she likes doing - she folds the laundry and loads and empties the dishwasher. The evening I got busted emptying the dishwasher brought her great disappointment. I no longer empty it unless she is asleep! And only if it really needs to be emptied due to mass quantities of dirty dishes that I don't want to hand wash or have hanging out on the kitchen counter all night.

The Thursday before my mom moved in (she moved in on a Saturday) I was frantically cleaning and trying to organize things and while putting laundry away and not watching where I was going, I ran into the cat scratching post, tripped and landed, face down on my dresser! Lord have mercy. I felt the blood running down my face and ran to the bathroom. I could see my face already beginning to swell. I had two black eyes and looked like the beast from Beauty and the Beast, as the bridge of my nose rapidly expanded. Luckily, it was not broken, just fractured. My nose is still a bit sensitive I should add. I wonder how long this really will take to completely heal.

In 2011, my work hours were cut. I actually was cool with the part time hours as I have "full-time" work at home playing (or at least attempting) caregiver. I really believe the cut work hours helps with the care giving and my boss is truly amazing and understanding! I'm very lucky. Now to better organize my time so that I can make fabulous and functional screenprinted shirts and linens that will supplement my lost income. Hell, I've got the artwork ready so what is stopping me?

Major car catastrophes also happened in 2011! I locked my keys in the car one Sunday and frantically tried to get them through the small window opening and failed miserably, getting a nasty bruise on my forearm. You can find that story here.

My battery died at the post office in a 10 minute zone on a Saturday. I had taken my mom to her hair appointment and then ran to the post office to mail an Etsy order I had! Package sign, sealed and mailed and the car wouldn't start! Ugh. I needed to pick my mom up and then we were going to our friends' house for a fun Tupperware party. I called AAA and they sent a tow truck driver that had batteries with him and he replaced mine on the spot!

Driving home on the freeway from a doctor's appointment my mom had one morning and I suddenly heard something weird and loud. It was my front tire. Blow out on the freeway! Traffic was light so it was a breeze getting to the shoulder. Calling AAA and getting a tow truck there was a bit longer! But, ultimately, I ended up needing three new tires.

I was invited to join four Etsy teams this year and that has been a blast. I have been most active (until recently) with the Etsian Artists Working Together (EAWT) team. I really love that group (although I have been bitchy on occasion with some of the members that tend to be non-responsive). I might just be bitchy in general, who knows! I love the community feel of the teams and, especially, the EAWT as they are truly connected to one another! They were my first Etsy team, for the most part super supportive and I am so happy to be amongst them! However, if I don't get back in the groove, they might banish me!

2011 was the year I found my grandmother Lola! That was huge. After two years of research and pretty much dedicating this blog to my search for her and what I've learned about the "unknown" family, I found her. I also was also able to get the medical records that still exist on her. She was originally admitted to a state hospital in 1930 briefly for depression. Six years later, she was committed for the remaining 24 years of her life. She died exactly eight days before I was born and the doctor that wrote the justification for her commitment, was the same doctor that delivered me 24 years later!

The search was challenging because she was in the system, died, and was buried under a different name - Marie. That is still a mystery and something I am continuing to look into. Finding Lola was a huge goal, yet there are still so many unanswered questions. I kind of thought that once I found her, I'd know all the answers and could neatly wrap up the story and be ready to go on the Oprah show. But, alas, I'm not yet there.

Good thing it is a new year and now I can have new goals for 2012.

A New Year and 52 Things

2011-12-28T00:45:00.000-08:00

My sister was telling me about a friend of hers that did this very cool thing when she turned 50. My sister said she plans to do this in the new year, and I thought it was so cool, I'd do it myself.

With the new year upon us, take your age in the new year and then create a list of that many things you've never done that you can do in the new year. So, for myself, I will be turning (gasp!) 52 in the new year, so I will create a list of 52 things I haven't done and do them. I shall then check them off the list as I go.

What is cool about this is that there is no pressure. I really believe the pressure to accomplish goals or resolutions can lead to failure so I like the rule that there is no pressure. You can even change your "things" as go along. The ultimate goal is to complete however many things (based on your upcoming age) in the new year. Your "things" don't have to be monumental either, but rather things you can really do. For instance, cook quinoa or go to a cemetery and photograph headstones that someone requested on findagrave.com. You may even want to volunteer at a shelter one weekend, or start a journal. The possibilities are endless and open to change, just as long as you can do things you want to do that you haven't done yet! A kick back bucket list, I guess. I hope you'll give it a try!

I shall create a spreadsheet of things I shall do this year that I've never done and as I complete them, I will check them off. But even better (I know!), I will blog about them! These little gems will be tagged here as "52 Things" and the post titles will also contain "52 Things" so that you won't miss a single exciting moment!

I really hope others will join in and share their "however many things" with me. I really believe we can all inspire each other! Having said that, I'm getting an early start with some of my 52 things for the upcoming year.

1 - I will make a vegan German Chocolate Cake. As a kid, that was my absolute favorite cake in the world. It has been too long since I've had it, so, I'll come up with a recipe that meets my vegan diet.

2 - Request a coroner's report (my grandmother's). I learned that these are public record.

3 - Offer international shipping at my Etsy shop.

4 - Transcribe 1940 Census Records (I've never transcribed any census records and have already signed up as a volunteer)!

5 - Compile my mom's recipes into a cookbook (I have all those recipes of hers in my possession) and offer the vegan options. She really was a great cook, but now, it isn't something she does.

So, here's my start, and, maybe number five is a bit huge, but, I'll give it a shot. Remember, no pressure. That just really makes it more appealing IMO.

I hope others will join in and share their own accomplishments and goals here or share their links! I think my item 5 is huge and will take several months to complete, but I have others so far that will be easier. I look forward to seeing where this goes in the upcoming year. I also look forward to seeing what others do as I might find someone else's "thing" something I want to try.

Here's to 2012 and a prosperous, successful, healthy, safe and happy New Year! Do things! Make things happen and contribute something good to others while doing something good for yourself!

Holiday Weekend Recap

2011-12-26T21:44:00.000-08:00

The Holiday weekend is ending and the New Year is on the horizon. It is Monday, but I seem to have the blahs like I tend to get on Sunday. In an hour or so, I will log on to the work computer and do some work as the morning deadlines will come either before I'm fully awake or while I'm preparing my mom's breakfast.

The weekend went fast. It seems the majority of it was spent shopping, running errands, calling in and picking up prescriptions, doing laundry, chores, wrapping gifts and cooking meals. Alas, the art projects fell short. That seems to have been my mantra this year and not one I like. I did some brief search through my posts here from this year and that has been a common theme. I really need to make a better effort. I know other people find themselves as working caregivers and make the time to do things that fulfill them on a personal level or make the time to do little things for themselves. I just haven't been able to successfully work that balance yet and am sitting here typing, thinking about how yet again, I have hideous regrowth and didn't seem to manage to get an appointment to color my hair. My escape time tends to be writing or doing genealogy research as that does not require dragging out art supplies and is something I can do while in the kitchen cooking.

My house is a mess and I feel that my life is too. I need to get my mom into activity programs that will benefit her while allowing me some time to do those silly little things like hair appointments and art projects. I need to get her house ready to rent out and get things in her house sold or donated. I also need to go through my own stuff and let go of things I no longer need or use.

Today I had planned to walk into a salon and get my hair colored, as well as (here we go again) make some art, but then I found myself making breakfast and lunch for my mom, checking her blood pressure, giving her meds, and helping her set up her foot bath for a soaking and foot massage. In between, I pretty much drank coffee, read some gen blogs, checked in on the Etsy happenings and thought about what I wanted to do (she moves so slow these days). Then laundry, dinner, dishes, and the weekend is over. At least the week is short and another holiday weekend is just around the corner.

Happy Holidays

2011-12-25T23:10:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Cool Yule and a safe, healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!

I had a very nice Christmas, prepared a huge dinner, and actually got everything I asked for. My sister and I got my mom a foot bath and she was very excited about that. We also got her two sweaters, a Sobakawa Cloud pillow (I got one, too, and it is very comfy), and a massage gift certificate.

Now I am so tired I can barely type this. I'll write more tomorrow (I can't believe I've been away for a few weeks). Where did this year go? That old saying is true - the older we get the faster it goes. The year flew by and I have to say it was a huge year of genealogy discoveries for me (I found my grandmother Lola), as well as being personally challenging.

Last Sunday, my BFF got my sister and I tickets for Christmas to see one of all of our favorites, Brian Setzer Orchestra (BSO)! We have gone to see his Holiday Extravaganza many times over the years and he NEVER disappoints! If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend it.

Until tomorrow, I leave you with one of my fav holiday songs and the best cover of it, by BSO. The only time I saw him perform this live was the year the US bombed Baghdad and he dedicated it to a buddy of his who was there. It was very moving and brought tears to my eyes as well as many around me in that theatre. Until tomorrow...

Rainy Days and Mondays, and a Song of the Week

2011-12-12T21:46:00.000-08:00

It is a rainy day and it is a Monday. Rainy days don't so much get me down, but Mondays tend to. And the rain today brought some cold weather with it, along with some cold winds, but luckily nothing like the winds we experienced last week that did much damage in certain areas.

Since it was so cold and rainy and Monday, I thought it was a good day for some warm comfort food. I made a really good batch of Lentil Barley Soup and some cornbread muffins. It did hit the spot! Unlike the recipe in this link, I did add two bay leaves and some torn Kale and it was fabulous!

I posted yesterday about Lena Cloos and her death certificate and indicated that I'd be calling the facility in Costa Mesa to talk to the woman that handles the patient records. I did call her today and, as I suspected, my relationship may not be considered next of kin. But, I do have a homework assignment - I need to use my "detective" skills and find out if Lena has any living "next of kin" such as grandchildren or great grandchildren. Lena did have two daughters that are now both deceased, and from what I can tell, one of her daughters had a son. He is also deceased, but it appears that his wife and three daughters are still living. Now I must figure out who they are and how to contact them.

I also mentioned in yesterday's post that I had made a bunch of bottle cap magnets. The resin is drying now and they look so cool! Not all are totally dried yet, but I just couldn't help taking a pictures to share. Yeah, the little things. I'm so happy with them, yet the pictures I took tonight aren't that great. Actually they're pretty bad and I can't seem to fix them in PhotoShop. I'll have to wait until I can get pictures during daylight to share.

In keeping with the post title, it is a rainy day and a Monday, so I thought it was appropriate to share a Song of the Week. The weather may not be beautiful, but the song is and so is the voice of Karen Carpenter. She was such a talent and her life ended so tragically. Two weeks ago, a very nice man I worked with passed away suddenly from a heart attack. When I was telling my mom about his passing and how very nice he was, she said that it always seems that the nice ones leave us early and the bad ones seem to stay around. Maybe the nice ones are just lucky enough to leave while they are at the top of their game so that they can be remembered that way. Or some may not have gone while on top of their game, but we still remember them for the things they contributed. My song of the week, obviously, is Rainy Days and Mondays by The Carpenters. Enjoy.

Lena Cloos, Part 2

2011-12-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

Oh, man. I got Lena's death certificate this past Thursday, and have been taking it in since. Lena Cloos, aka Magdalene Moyer died in DeWitt State Hospital on 5 Nov 1951 in Auburn, CA (Placer County)! I really couldn't believe it, yet prior to getting her death certificate and knowing where she died, I did wonder. I wondered if Lena and Lola being in the same county and possibly city, were aware of this and knew of each other's whereabouts. I wondered if they were in contact with each other. I also wondered if Lena was for some reason at DeWitt, as their both dying in Placer County did strike a chord with me.

So, Lena was at the same state hospital that my grandmother, Lola was and they were there at the same time. I did review the medical records I have for Lola and there was no mention of an aunt anywhere in the files. That doesn't mean a mention wasn't there, but from what I understand, these records get purged over the years and therefore, what I have, has no mention.

Lena was a "resident" at DeWitt (according to her death certificate) for 3 years, 10 months and 19 days prior to her death. Based on that I figure she was admitted around 1947 or 1948 and the physician that signed off on the d/c indicated he had been treating her from 17 Dec 1947 until 6 Nov 1951 (her date of death). Interestingly enough, Lola was transferred from Camarillo State Hospital to DeWitt on 17 Dec 1947.

I wonder if Lena may have been at Camarillo prior to landing at DeWitt. Lena's usual residence was listed as Los Angeles. Or maybe she just somehow landed in Northern California at DeWitt in 1947. Sadly, my hope of an informant that may have been a relative was shattered. Her informant was the DeWitt State Hospital Clinical Records. They did have good information, so either she provided it upon admission or someone close to her did.

I called the facility that holds DeWitt's records Friday and the person I needed to speak with was off. The records are held in Costa Mesa, CA because DeWitt is closed. It closed in the early 70s. I will have to call again tomorrow to see what my chances are of requesting and obtaining Lena's records. I imagine I may not the closest living relative, yet, I might just be the closest interested relative. I know Lena had children (they are now deceased) and I'll have to research their children.

I really find it rather sad that a few women on my dad's side of the family did die in State Hospitals. My mom always felt that my grandmother was in because of menopause. That is very possible as she did have her ovaries removed at 22 or 23 years of age, which could have started her change early and at a time when the only way "they" knew how to deal with the emotional aspects of that, was to declare them mentally unstable and lock them up. My grandmother did suffer from depression in 1930 (which was documented in her medical records). I can't help but wonder just how many women that were depressed or going through the "dreaded" change, landed in mental hospitals. Locked up and maybe given weird shock treatment and then released. Maybe after that, they were different and then put away forever. Who knows.

The scary thing is that it really wasn't that long ago. The other disturbing thing is that due to the diagnosis of the time, probably many women lost support of their families. How very sad. Mental illness was such a stigma back in the 30s through the 60s (and maybe even through the 90s). And to think that mood swings, depression, or the change of life could have been considered mental illness! Could it be considered that now?

On the art side of life, I have made a bunch of bottle cap magnets and more line art from my prints for screenprinting! I won't share pictures yet as the resin hasn't fully dried on the caps and the screens haven't yet been printed. I also FINALLY got my cut today! It has been so long and my hair was getting really ratty looking. The guy cut it a bit shorter than I wanted, but it will grow and he did a pretty good job. Curly hair isn't something that all stylists are gifted at. I know that from experience!

Cocktail Cat Test Print

2011-12-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking that I need to turn some of my groovy cats into line art for screen prints. I can then print them on towels and shirts. I get great feedback on my cats, but not really sales. So, my thought is that if I make them more "functional" they might stand a better chance of finding new "homes".

I have been working on many, but thought I'd share Cocktail Cat. In reality, I may get nice feedback on my designs, but do I really get any view on my Etsy shop? Not really. Is that disturbing? Absolutely. I can create treasuries until I'm blue in the face, but that doesn't seem to be what works (no matter what any Etsy expert might say). I can relist until I'm blue in the face, and, well the same.

Anyway, while I try to figure out what the hell I need to do to get my handmade items out there, I thought I'd share my first test print of my Cocktail Cat. I turned my collage into black and white line art and just tweaked it a bit. Here are the "before" and "after" results. I was actually quite happy with the test print. Now, for the fabric printing. Of course, that will come after work, my mom's doctor appointment and my trip to the vet.

Blood and Cats

2011-12-06T21:42:00.000-08:00

I got home this evening and there was blood around the house. Not dark but still a lot. There was blood on the couch, on the chair, on the bed, in the kitty donut on the bed, and little bloody paw prints all around the carpeting in the house.

My mom had put a blanket over the blood on the couch and did say that she thought it was Petey as he had been sitting in the spots today where the blood was.

Petey

Basically, the blood was pretty much in all the areas Petey was today. Petey's little paw pad was cracked (kind of like my hands in this weather) and he left blood and blood prints all around. I have to take him to the vet tomorrow evening to make sure he's OK. He is acting normal - running, eating, sleeping, scratching on cat posts.

I called the vet to see if there was anything I could put on is paw such as aloe or something. I was advised by the receptionist not to put anything on it. I asked if it was possible that his paw pad cracked and bled like my hands do in this weather. I was told no. Naturally, I was told it would be best to take him in to see the vet. So, yeah, we're doing that tomorrow evening. If the vet tells me that is pads were dry and cracked and to put ointment on them, and then charge me for the visit, I will demand a refund.

Lena Cloos

2011-12-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

Lena Cloos was a name I came across a few times over the past few years while doing research and looking for my grandmother Lola. I saw a few Decatur newspaper blurbs about a "Miss Lena Cloose" and always thought she might somehow be connected to my family. It wasn't until I saw a blurb in one of those old papers about Lena and Emma Sowers visiting someone, that I knew there was a connection. Emma Sowers was the daughter of my great grandfather (Lola's father) George Cloos' sister Catherine Cloos Sowers Mauzy. Plus, Lola's middle name was Lena.

Until just recently, Catherine aka Kate, was the only sister I knew George had. There were several newspaper articles mentioning their visits, and Kate Mauzy was listed as George's nearest relative on his WWI draft registration.

Towards the end of October, I reached out on the Rootsweb message board for Decatur, IL, requesting an obituary look up for George. Someone came through almost immediately (the gen acts of kindness is truly beyond words!) and sent a transcription of the 1947 obituary. It confirmed my thoughts that Lena Cloos was connected. Lena Morgan of California was listed as a surviving sister of George. The obit also listed a surviving sister from California named Louise Allen. I had not yet discovered a Louise, so this was another great find! It also gave me proof that George's mother, Elisabeth Groshauser had remarried a man named William Henninger (or Henninges - I've seen both spellings) and had more children (George's surviving half brothers Rolf or Ralph, and Roy). I did find Emma Sowers listed in the 1900 census as a granddaughter to William Henninger prior to getting the obituary.

As soon as I got the obit, I found a death record for Louise, the woman I didn't even know about. I found her on the California Death Index (CADI) on Rootsweb. It was easy to find her as she died as Louise Allen. I used her name, father's name Cloos, and birthplace "other" (I figured she too was born in Germany) in my search criteria and she popped up right away. Louise died in 1955 in San Diego, California. Her death index record even had her mother's maiden name of Groshauser. I also found Ralph's Illinois death record on Ancestry and it listed his mother's maiden as Groshauser, as does George's death certificate.

Lena Cloos or Lena Morgan, on the other hand, eluded me. I couldn't find much on her. I did find on the Illinois Regional Archives Database (IRAD) that Lena Cloose married Alfred Martin in 1893. OK, so maybe Alfred Martin and Lena Cloos divorced before 1947 and she remarried someone named Morgan. Actually, Alfred Martin died in 1935 from what I can tell. I cannot yet find Lena in 1930, but she did have two daughters with Alfred, Doris and Alfreda. And there the trail went cold, until last evening.

I was thinking about Lena and that in 1947 she was living in California so I was pretty sure she died in California as she would have been in her early 70s at the time of George's death and I just didn't imagine her moving around from state to state at that age for some reason. Previously, I had tried searching the CADI for Lena Cloos, Lena Morgan and Lena Martin but found nothing. So I decided to search only on birthplace "other" and father's name "Cloos". There were several hits and among them, Louise, but no Lena. As I looked at Louise's record it came to me to remove "Cloos" as father and put "Groshauser" as mother and leave birthplace as other (no first or last name) and I got a hit! Not sure why I didn't think of that before as that is how I found Lola after all!!!

Lena died in Auburn, California (Placer County) 6 November 1951 as Magdalene Josephine Moyer. There it was - mother's maiden name Groshauser and father's name "Closs"! As with the census records I found for Lena Martin, Magdalene Moyer was born in 1873. What was so surprising to me was that Lola died in 1960 in Auburn, California! I immediately ordered Lena's death certificate. I wonder if they were in contact with each other. Lola was in the state hospital at that time in Auburn. I can't wait to find out where Lena was and who her informant was. I realize she died many years ago, but hopefully her informant will be someone that will be "searchable". I keep hanging on to the thought that someone will be alive with pictures, stories and information to share.

I also found that someone added a memorial to her on Findagrave.com. How cool that strangers do that!

I can't wait now to get the death certificate and wish I could somehow convince all State and County offices that maintain vital records to get automated. I can't understand why in this day and age, one must still print out paper applications and send checks and wait weeks for informational copies of vital records. Of course, we can use a third party online service that these offices contract with, but the fees are astronomical.

Holidays, Kitty Drama and Caregiving

2011-11-28T22:28:00.000-08:00

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is now over in the US. It was certainly nice having four days in a row off to veg. On Thanksgiving eve, I began my ritual of prepping food for the big day. Generally, I have a house full of family and friends, but this year was different. Things came up which prevented friends from coming for dinner and to visit, but that didn't stop my food ritual. On Thanksgiving eve (last Wednesday) I prepared tons of food - marinated tofu, vegan green bean casserole, tofu pumpkin pie and vegan scalloped potatoes.

Since the week had been rather hectic, I was cool with the lack of company as that meant I didn't have to find the time to add house cleaning to the schedule. Thanksgiving morning rolls around and the first thing I did after making a cup of coffee was to pop the pie into the oven. I was in the kitchen and so was my sister (she was making our mom breakfast) when my little 14 year old Louie let out a loud and guttural yell. Not once, but twice, and something I've never heard come out of him before. At first we didn't even know where that came from.

My sister and I realized it was Louie and the other cats were disturbed by this sound. We followed Louie and he went to a cat box, but could not go. I said to my sister that I was going to wash my face and take him to the vet. He was "constipated" and clearly in pain. My sister washed up too, and we ran him to the vet. Being the holiday, I wasn't able to call in a regular appointment so was stuck with the "emergency" fee. That was fine as I only wanted my baby well.

Louie at the vet on Thanksgiving

We spent about two hours at the vet and then left Louie there while they did x-rays and gave him an enema. After about three hours, I called to check on him and found out that he still hadn't "gone" and they said to call back in two more hours as they were going to give him another enema. Poor baby.

Louie at the vet on Thanksgiving

My sister and I cooked the prepped dinner and did laundry while my mom kept asking for updates on Louie. When I called back the second time, the tech said he still hadn't gone but the vet said he could go home. My sister went to get him while I finished our Thanksgiving dinner. Louie came home with a huge bottle of liquid stool softener and we enjoyed our dinner and monitored him that night. The vet felt that he wasn't comfy enough to go and would probably be able to once home. He finally did! Thank God.

Louie's x-rays showed that his intestines were pretty full and needed to be "evacuated". The vet sent instructions home to give him a tablespoon of pumpkin pie filling (from the can and sans all the sugar and spice) daily as that is a good "cleanser". Turns out Louie LOVES pumpkin and will eat it right off of a spoon!

He's doing better now and I'm so happy about that. Wasn't quite how I had planned my day, but, do daily plans ever 100% materialize? The food did come together though, and was really good. The art I planned to work on, didn't really happen. Sigh. Louie's OK and I can work on art in the weird wee hours of the night. That does tend to interfere with sleeping though.

So now I just have to get my art going so that I can hopefully supplement my lost income with art sales. My day job work hours were cut after I moved my mom in. Maybe I can learn something from the "mommy preneurs"! I've got to do something! The difference between me and "mommy bloggers", probably not much. They are caregivers to little kids and I'm a caregiver to my mother and my cats. The bottom line is that we are all individuals caring for others while possibly trying to maintain our own "thing", hopefully somehow helping others, and have the means to provide for our loved ones.

Sunday's Obituary - Edna Vina Beck Coffman

2011-11-27T22:33:00.000-08:00

Edna Vina Beck Coffman was one of my great grandmother Effie's many sisters, and was my grandmother Lola's aunt. Edna was the sixth child (and fourth daughter) of Wells Marcus Beck and Emma Mayben Beck. She was born In Prairie Home, Shelby County Illinois on 1 February 1876.

Based on information I've found online, I am only able to present her dates of birth, marriage and death, along with the names of her spouse, children (Rose, Elzie, Everett and Hazel), parents and siblings, as well as where she was living during the various census years. As with the others in my tree, I do hope to find pictures of Edna and her family.

At twenty years of age, Edna married William Wesley "Wes" Coffman in Shelby County, Illinois. By the 1900 census, they were living in Penn, Shelby County, IL, with two young children. By 1910 census, they were living in San Antonio, Texas with their four children, and 1910 was the year they went to Laramie. By 1920, Edna and Wes were living in Laramie, WY, with three of their four children. In 1930, Edna and Wes were living in Laramie with their son Elzie.

I did find a memorial on Findagrave.com for Lester Coffman (1898-1904) and the memorial listed his parents as Wesley W. and Edna Beck Coffman. The burial is at Prairie Home Cemetery in Shelby County, IL, where many of the Becks are buried. I did not find a child named Lester on the 1900 census, though, so I checked another great resource for Illinois, IRAD (Illinois Regional Archives Depository) and checked the pre-1916 deaths. I did find a Leslie Coffman that died 12 Oct 1904 in Pickaway Twp, Shelby County, IL. The database lists Leslie as a 2 month old male. I also found a newspaper article on Newspaperarchive.com from 18 Oct 1904 announcing the death of the "babe of Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Coffman". I will have to verify this by ordering a copy of the death certificate. I could not find it on familysearch.org.

Edna moved to Denver, CO in 1943 and died there on 19 Sept 1948. She is buried with Wes at Greenhill Cemetery, Laramie, WY.

Transcription of the obituary:

Mrs. Edna Coffman Dies in Denver

Mrs. Edna V. Coffman, 72, former Laramie resident, died at noon yesterday in Denver following a brief illness. She had lived there for the last five years.

Mrs. Coffman was born Feb. 1, 1875 in Decatur, Ill. She came here in 1910 with her husband, the late William W. Coffman, Union Pacific Engineer who died in 1933. She was a member of the Christian Science church.

She is survived by three children; Mrs. O. C. Dinelly, Laramie; Mrs. L. M. Cole, Denver; and E. E. Coffman, Denver; three grandchildren: Mrs. Duane Cordiner, Laramie; Lloyd Cordiner, Denver, and Delano Dinelly, Laramie; five great grandchildren and a sister, Wade Thompson and one brother, Edgar Beck, both of Decatur, Ill.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Stryker mortuary. Pallbearers will be H. B. Pope, Henry Larson, J. R. Sullivan, James H. White, Joe Vesley and Walter Fredericks.

The Laramie (Wyo.) Republican-Boomerang, Monday, 20 Sept 1948

My "Famous" Great Grandmother, Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby

2011-11-17T23:07:00.000-08:00

This evening I was talking to my mom while watching Katie Couric's interview with Regis Philbin on the eve of his retirement. My mom used to watch his network show and we used to see one of his early shows from Los Angeles back in the 70s. His co-host then was Sara Purcell.

I was washing dinner dishes and my mom came into the kitchen and tried to see the show on my small kitchen TV. That wasn't easy for her as she has macular degeneration. Suddenly she couldn't remember his last name and I tried giving her clues, but rather than getting it, she started laughing so hard she had to pee. Afterward, I think the interest in remembering Regis' name was gone and the discussion turned to Dr. Oz's show and ended with my reading an article I had found a while back but never saved. I recently went back to Newspaperarchive.com and found the article. My mom had a good laugh, although she did comment that at the time people did what they could to make money (and I have to agree with that).

I have referred to my great grandmother, Effie (Lola's mother), as "famous" before and I'm doing it again. I have found more articles on her than anyone else in my tree pretty much (you can search Effie here for all the posts). Effie had a hard life, there is no doubt about that. She gave birth to a daughter at 17 years old and the "Lothario" abandoned her. She then married and had five more children that I'm aware of, and her marriage broke up. She and her children ended up separated, living wherever they could get shelter and work.

Her eldest son died at 16 while working as a laborer on a farm for his board. Her youngest son ended up in a different state at 8 years old being adopted by the family he was with, and her two daughters ended up in State Mental Hospitals. She did remarry a man named Ellsworth Elmer Roby at least by 1920 (the year her divorce from George Cloos was granted) and was married to Ellsworth at the time of her death.

I so desire to take a trip to Decatur, IL to really scour through the historical society documents and those at the library. I also want to check court and police records in hopes of pictures. Considering Effie was known to the police, surely pictures of her exist. And surely pictures exist elsewhere, as she was a person that did exist. I firmly believe someone has pictures of her but may not know who she is.

The following article was published in the Decatur Evening Herald on Friday, October 7, 1927, page 10. I know it isn't easy to read and I'm not going to transcribe the entire article, but basically Effie was arrested for running a bootlegging establishment (or speak-easy) and charged with illegal traffic in liquor. According to the police, Effie had a gallon of "mule" at the time of the raids and arrests. Effie did manage to "furnish" the bond money on the same day of the raid to appear on charges and I assume walked because, as usual, money talks!

Effie really does intrigue me. At a time when she should have been content with being a "proper" young woman and "proper" older woman, she was anything but that! I want to know more about her. As I've said before, I believe her story alone, would make a great book!

Leah Furst Beck

2011-11-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

Leah Furst Beck was my great great great grandmother. She was the mother of my great great grandfather, Wellls Beck. Leah was born on 30 June 1818 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania and was the daughter of Thomas Furst and Anna Margareta Ilgen.

She married Joseph Beck at 23 years old in 1841. Leah and Joseph had four children, Wells Marcus Beck (1842 - 1928), Orlando Carson Beck (1843 - 1913), Agnes Amanda Furst Beck (1844 - 1911) and Luther Thomas Beck (1851 - 1935).

She and Joseph moved from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania to Prairie Home, Shelby County, Illinois in the spring of 1864 and lived there for the remainder of their lives. I do not yet know much about Leah but will research her more in the future. I am certain pictures of her are out there.

Transcription of Leah's obituary from Findagrave:

Death of Mrs. Leah Beck

(Review Special Service)

Prairie Home, Ill., April 27--Mrs. Leah Beck died at her home, three fourths of a mile west of Prairie Home on Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock, aged 86 years, 9 months and 21 days.

She moved from Mifflin county, Pennsylvania in the spring of 1864 and has resided in the same place ever since.

Her husband died almost eight years ago. She leaves four children, one daughter, Agnes A. Beck of Pennsylvania, Wells M. Beck of Prairie Home, Orlando Beck of Montana and Luther Beck of Kansas, besides several grandchildren, great grandchildren and one great great granddaughter.

She was a member of the Lutheran church in ___ when she moved here when she united with the Presbyterian church at this place, of which she remained a member until death.

Daily Review, The (Decatur, IL) 27 Apr 1906

11-11-11 and Happy Veteran's Day, Happy Remembrance Day and my 200th Blog Post

2011-11-11T23:39:00.000-08:00

Well that was a long title! Today is 11-11-11. It is also Veteran's Day in the US and Remembrance Day in Canada. This is also my 200th blog post!

First I must thank all Veteran's, past and present, for their service. Theirs is a service I was never up for. As a teen, the thought of someone yelling at me at the crack of dawn to remake my bed because a quarter didn't bounce on it, turned me off! As an adult, that isn't an appealing thought! However, serving your country is obviously much more than that.

I do come from a long line of veterans, and as far as I can tell, they all came home. I know I have veterans in my tree of the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korean War and Viet Nam.

Both my parents were WWII veterans. My dad served in the United States Marine Corp (Semper Fi, dad) and my mom served in the Royal Canadian Air Force. In honor of this special day, I took my mom out for dinner. She had been craving "old school" meals (not my vegetarian stuff) and all day I wracked my brain trying to figure out where I could take her. On my way home from work, I had to stop for gas by the house (the fuel light was on), and I noticed a "family" restaurant across the street from the gas station. I decided we'd go there.

I got home and googled them and found the menu. I read it to my mom and she was very excited by the huge selection of items! So off we went. She was smiling as we walked in and the hostess seated us. As we were seated, I flashed back to my childhood. This place reminded me so much of a restaurant we used to go to on Friday nights back in the 60s when I was kid.

This place has a massive menu, a full bar, wood panelling on the walls, oil paintings hanging on the wood panelling, is open 24 hours. The extensive menu includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, kids menu, cocktails, you name it pretty much. Earlier in the week, my mom had been craving pork chops, but just couldn't remember what they were called and referred to them as ribs, but not ribs.

As we sat on our booth that was upholstered like a vintage car, I read her the menu options. As soon as I said pork chops and apple sauce, she said that is what she was trying to say the other night and she wanted that. Her dinner came with a baked potato with whipped butter, sour cream and chives, a little corn on the cobb, dinner roll and salad, and her choice of jello or tapioca pudding! Oh how old school!

I was able to order spaghetti with vegetarian marinara sauce. My dinner didn't come with all the extras my mom's did (which was fine by me). We both did get a lovely dinner salad prior to our meal that was served on chilled plates with your choice of dressing (including blue cheese or thousand island). We both picked Italian. The other throw back was that the salad also came with a package of Rye Crisp crackers and Saltine crackers!

The clientele as well as the waitress were basically of the senior generation. My mom just loved the entire experience. There was a couple there with a baby (a grandchild possibly) and young hip guy, but other than that, I think I was the youngest person there! My mom just loved the entire experience and so did I. I told her I was tempted to order from the kids menu because I flashed back. We will go there again. When I got the bill I was so surprised. My mom's meal, my meal, her glass of wine and my iced tea cost half the price that a meal for two cost at Olive Garden (two meals, glass of wine and glass of water)!

Family Research - What Would They Think?

2011-11-10T00:03:00.000-08:00

I was just reflecting on my past two years of "hard core" genealogy research - all the people I've found, the living cousins I've found, the documents, pictures, etc., and about the blog posts I've dedicated to various family members.

I don't come from famous folks, but rather, working class people. I started to wonder what they might think if they knew that I (in some little way) have "immortalized" them via my blog. I'm not so sure my dad would like it (or at least my attempt to find his mother) but maybe some of the others would find it kind of cool.

I wonder if many of the people in my tree may have felt no value in their lives, but this exercise in gen research has proven to me that everyone does have value.

Does anyone else ever think about this and how their long gone relatives might feel about being "out there" via this new technology?

Wordless Wednesday - Donald Elmer Robinson

2011-11-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

Donald Elmer Robinson was my dad's first cousin. He was born 16 May 1928 in Lincoln, Logan County, Illinois and was one of the many children of Harry Ward Robinson (1889 - 1960) and Luella Sutton (1899 - 1943).

Don's father, Harry, was my grandfather Earl's (aka Red) brother. I couldn't tell you if Don and my dad knew each other, but Don did live in the Southern California city of Long Beach and died there at 40 years of age on 5 January 1969. Before my dad retired, his final work location was in Long Beach.

Once I learned about Don and that he died in Los Angeles County I had to go pull his death certificate. According to the record (and mind you these records are only as good as the informant), Don lived in California for 16 years (yet according to his father's obituary in 1960, Don lived in Phoenix, AZ). The informant listed on Don's death certificate was Records - VA Hospital, 5901 E. 7th Street, Long Beach, CA. Don died in that VA Hospital. He was a US war veteran - an Army Sergeant in Korea.

According to the death certificate, Don never married and had worked for 7 years as a cook at a place called Fleet Inn. I assume that was in Long Beach as Long Beach was also his last known address. Like so many others in my paternal family tree (both Red's and Lola's sides), including my dad, Don died of congestive heart failure.

His body was transported home to Lincoln, IL on 8 January 1969, and he is buried at Bowers-Templeman Cemetery in Mount Pulaski, with his parents.

Sunday's Obituary - Robert Clay Beck

2011-11-06T22:54:00.000-08:00

Robert Clay Beck was the brother of my "famous" great grandmother, Effie, and the uncle of my grandmother, Lola. He was born in Prairie Home, Shelby County, Illinois on 21 Aug 1869 and was the second son, and third born child of my great great grandparents Wells Marcus Beck and Emma Mayben.

My research indicates that Robert married Cora Patton on 9 May 1892 in Shelby County, IL and that they had three children, Alverna Beck Taylor (1892-1971), Alma Lucille Beck McConnell (1897 - 1975) and Wells Marcus Beck (1899 - 1961).

Robert's wife Cora died in 1901, and he married her sister, Lulu Patton on 26 Feb 1903. They had a daughter Dorothy Beck in 1907.

By 1910 they were living in Rio Grande, Colorado (where his sister Zadie Beck Loser was living) and that is where he died on 22 May 1925 at the age of 55.

Transcription of obituary

Robert C. Beck

Robert C. Beck, aged fifty-five years, and husband of Mrs. Lulu Beck, died suddenly in his home in Monte Vista, Colo, Friday afternoon, May 22, at 1 o'clock. Mr. Beck was born in Shelby county Aug 21, 1869. He is the son of W. M. Beck Sr. of Decatur.

Mr. Beck is survived by his wife, Mrs. Lulu of Colorado; four children - Mrs. O. C. Taylor of Decatur, Mrs. Ray McConnell of Moweaqua, Mark Beck of Decatur and Dorothy Beck of Monte Vista; also five sisters and one brother - Mrs. Oliver Loser of Monte Vista, Mrs. W. W. Coffman of Laramie, Wyo; Mrs. William Wempen of Santa Ana, Cal; Mrs. E. F. Roby, Mrs. Wade Thompson and E. B. Beck, all of Decatur.

The funeral arrangements have not been completed as yet, but will be held at the Prairie Home church, east of Moweaqua.

The Decatur Daily Review, 23 May 1925, page 10

See The USA in a Chevrolet and Song of the Week

2011-11-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

Unless you grew up in my house. We didn't see the USA nor did we have a Chevrolet. We did see California in a Ford, but there are not songs about that! However, my big sister did have a Chevy Camero in her teens.

Me, sisters, Puddles (our dog), 59 Ford Fairlane

Chevrolet turned 100! Can you imagine? What an impact Chevy had just in music - Elton John, Dinah Shore (yes an ad for Chevy), and maybe the most famous, in my opinion, was Don McLean's American Pie. I know so many people that actually tried to analyze that song (including myself) and I can't hear it without getting a bit choked up. Why, I don't know. Maybe because my mom loves that song or because it reminds me of a time when life was less stressful.

So, may you have happy or sad memories, or be inspired to analyze the song, I hope most of all you enjoy it! It was, and still is so very cool. My song of the week is American Pie by Don McLean.

Aunt Sadie

2011-11-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

I love this picture and came across it while going through a large box of old photos. It is my maternal aunt Sadie McPhee and her precious cat Sam. This was actually in a little plastic photo book that contained pictures of Sadie's cats, her dog Brandi, and me with Sam when we were both babies.

Sadie and Sam, 1962

Growing up, Sadie was the "fun" aunt. She took my younger sister and I to our first walk-in movie, That Darn Cat! I naturally thought Sam was in the movie.

She was a glamour girl in her day and was tall. She used to tell people she was 5'12"! She also drove small cars for many years (a Karmann Ghia, a VW Bug and a Toyota Cressida).

Patricia McPhee Dolan, Clara McPhee McPhail, Sadie McPhee

When Sadie passed away in 2004, I made the funeral cards. I found a great old photo booth picture of her that I used and printed the cards with my Gocco.

Sadie McPhee in photo booth in Toronto

Funeral Card

She was always very organized and had her entire funeral planned and written out and everything was paid for. She is buried next to my aunt Pat in Rowland Heights, CA.

Sympathy Saturday - George Cloos

2011-10-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I posted about the genealogy community and how helpful they are. To briefly recap, my sister posted a message to the rootsweb.com/ancestry.com message boards for Macon County, Illinois, a request for an obituary look-up and a kind researcher offered to go find my great grandfather's obit! This request was to be filled in a few weeks as the researcher had surgery recently and wasn't yet released to roam!

Well, yesterday afternoon, this awesome stranger went to the Decatur Public Library and found George Cloos' 1947 obituary and sent the transcription of it! We were so happy to get it and it not only answered some mysteries, but also added a few more possibly. My great grandfather wasn't apparently as mysterious as we believed and that might very well be that my dad didn't really know much about him. I do know from my grandmother's medical records, that the State Mental System did know of him and how to contact him, therefore, George knew that Lola was in the system.

I knew from my research that George had a sister Kate and that she had several children, including a daughter, Emma Sowers. A few weeks ago, I began to search for Emma as I hadn't found her in 1900, and I found what I thought was her living with a family named Hennings (or Henninager or Henninges - all spellings I have encounter). Emma was a young girl about 13 years old listed on the 1900 census as the granddaughter of the head of household - Wm. G. Henninager. William's wife was Elizabeth and one of their children was a son named Rolf. Yes, they were German. I printed that out and wrote notes on it and filed it away. I came across it early yesterday when I was trying to organize stuff.

I also had seen the name "Lena Cloos" pop up in a few newspaper articles on Newspaperarchive.com and in a few, both Lena and Emma were mentioned in the same articles. I felt Lena was connected somehow, but just couldn't pinpoint it, that is, until receiving a transcription of George's obituary! Here's the transcription.

George Cloos, Former Foundry Worker Dies

George Cloos, 2312 East Main Street, a resident of Decatur since 1882, died at his home at 10:55 a. m. today after a long illness.

Mr. Cloos was born in Germany Dec. 23, 1872, and came to the United States and Decatur 10 years later. He was an employee of the Union Iron Works for 27 years, retiring in 1941 because of ill health.

He was a member of the Knights of Pythias and the International Association of Machinists, and the German Lutheran church.

Mr. Cloos was married twice, the second time in August, 1925 to Miss Grace M. Abel of Decatur.

He leaves his wife; four children by his first marriage, Mrs. Bessie Trump of Alton, Mrs. Lola Robinson and Wells Cloos of Huntington Park, Calif., and George Cloos of Libertyville.

He also leaves two stepdaughters, Mrs. Mary Beckham of Boody and Mrs. Catherine Kessler of Decatur; two half-brothers, Roy and Ralph Hennings of Bloomington; and two sisters, Mrs. Louise Allen and Mrs. Lena Morgan of California.

The body was taken to the Monson funeral home where services will be held at 3 p. m. Monday. Burial will be in Mt. Gilead cemetery. Friends may call at Monson’s after 3 p. m. tomorrow.

Decatur Daily Herald
June 28, 1947 – Page 8

The obituary answered a few questions I had, and has now given me a few new avenues to research. I knew that my great great grandmother was Elisabeth and Elizabeth Henninager was the grandmother of Emma Sowers in 1900. I knew the mysterious Lena Cloos must somehow be connected and there she was in George's obit as his sister! The obit also mentions another sister I had never heard of or prior to this, Louise. I did find a death record in the California Death Index for Louise Allen. Her father's name was Cloos and she died in San Diego (either the city or the county - I'm not sure yet) in 1955. I shall order Louise's death certificate tomorrow and I hope that it will list a child as the informant! I haven't yet found Lena Cloos Morgan but shall continue to search for her.

The other strong clue I got was the surviving half brother Ralph Hennings. I did find a death record of him. He died four months after George in Illinois and his mother's maiden name was Groshauser. That was also Louise's mother's maiden name. On George's death certificate, it lists his mother as Elisabeth Graushausen. I also found a Roy Hennings on findagrave.com. He died in 1956 and is buried in Bloomington, IL. Like a good mystery novel, the plot just thickens when you're researching your family history not really knowing much to begin with! Certainly there will be much more to come on the Cloos family.

Another Call to AAA in One Week, and Some Dish Towel Printing

2011-10-27T20:43:00.001-07:00

Today marks the one week and one day anniversary of my mom's new pacemaker. She is doing quite well and did take all of the prescribed antibiotics. That wasn't always easy as she wanted to stop taking them because they made her nauseous. It was also "fun" because these were to be taken on an empty stomach either one hour before a meal or two hours after a meal twice a day. The morning pill was hard as she had a routine down - get up and have a cup of coffee and then have a bowl of cereal. For the past week, she had to get up and have a cup of coffee with an antibiotic and wait an hour for the cereal.

At night it wasn't as tough because two hours after she took her medication and vitamins (containing zinc, calcium and magnesium), I would wake her up to take the second antibiotic of the day. She told me that she felt the pill was making her have crazy dreams and she was yelling in her sleep the other night and woke herself up. In her dream, she was with some people somewhere and a woman came in with a gun. My mom began to yell at this woman to "get out of here" and other choice words.

Anyway, she is doing quite well and today we had a follow up appointment with the surgeon. The readings appeared to be good and the scar is healing well. I could tell she was very tired and was looking forward to getting home to have another cup of coffee. As we were on the freeway heading home, chatting away, I suddenly heard a strange noise. I turned the radio down but still heard this noise. I then thought it might be the truck next to me until I felt the car attempt to swerve a bit and I realized it was me and that I had a flat or a blow out. I immediately began to hit the brakes and was able to easily get into the shoulder of the freeway just two off ramps from home.

For the second time this week, I called AAA for a tow truck. I knew I needed to replace the front two tires, but just hadn't done it yet and was sort of pushing my luck. The tow truck arrived in about 20 minutes and took us to a Goodyear Tire Center, and in just under an hour, we were out of there with three brand new (and safe) tires! Got home and my mom's urge for coffee was gone. Instead she wanted to have me read her blood pressure and take her medication that we didn't get around to taking this morning prior to the 9AM appointment. After that she was ready for soup for lunch and then was so tired she took a nap on the couch with my cat Petey curled up next to her.

It has been a tiring week and that might be because I feel like I'm trying to come down with a cold. These past two evenings I have been so cold I put on two sweatshirts and warm socks. Even slept in sweatshirts last night because I was so cold.

I did attempt some creative stuff the other night. I experimented with iron-on transfers of a few of my cat prints on dish towels. The first towel was a HUGE experiment - the first one didn't transfer well at all and I forgot to print in mirror image! Ugh. The next one was a bit better and the third was the charm. These are cold peel transfers so the third charm transfer was a bit too glossy for me and I read that the cooler it is when you peel it off, the glossier. Excuse the bad lighting here that makes the transfer look like it has glitter on it!

I did a second towel and decided to peel it while still warm and much prefer the matte look, yet I think the towel wasn't stretched as good as it could have been so the transfer looks a bit off. Isn't this supposed to be so easy to do?

I also FINALLY printed a stencil I cut about a hundred years ago! I only did one print as it was done on another experimental towel and the space was limited. I liked the way it came out though (and again, bad lighting).

Now to see how the towels actually work and wash up before possibly making new ones to list in my Etsy shop!

Wordless Wednesday and the Genealogy Community

2011-10-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

I can't say enough good things about the genealogy community! Strangers are so willing to offer help, and I've found I've become that way when I go searching for documents locally. Before I go, I look on message boards in my area to see what requests are out there so that I may be able to help someone in a different state find information they are longing for.

On that thought, my sister posted a request to the Rootsweb/Ancestry message boards requesting an obituary look up for our great grandfather, George Cloos. I have a subscription to NewspaperArchive.com, but George died in 1947 and NewspaperArchive doesn't have Decatur papers that "recent". Someone has already volunteered to go to the Decatur Public Library and find it on microfilm!! A total stranger. That is just so cool! He also offered to get George's widow, Grace's obituary as well!

So, while I wait to see grandpa George's obituary, I'll share a picture of his grave marker that can be found on findagrave.com. I made a photo request and a wonderful lady was kind enough to get it.

Photo by Carol Perry

Sunday's Obituary - Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby

2011-10-23T22:47:00.001-07:00

My paternal great grandmother, Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby, is rather famous on this blog. She was the daughter of Wells Marcus Beck and Emma Mayben. She was born in Prairie Home, Shelby County, Illinois on 9 Aug 1871 and died in Decatur, Macon County, Illinois on 13 Apr 1931.

Effie was the mother of six children, Zetta Fern Beck Younger (1889-1969) , Bessie G. Cloos Trump (1893-1976), Lola L. Cloos Robinson (1894-1960), Monroe B. Cloos (1895-1912), George W. Cloos (1899-1968) and William Marcus Meents born Wells Cloos (1901-1977). She married my great grandfather, George Cloos in December of 1892.

Effie had a rather hard life and much more research is required to truly pull her story together. Currently, there are so many gaps and missing pieces. I am convinced that Effie's story would make a great book. Sometime before 1910, she and George split. By the 1920 census she was remarried to Ellsworth Elmer Roby of Decatur. Effie died in their home. I recently learned that Effie has no grave marker.

I am fascinated by the fact that her son Monroe who preceded her death, was not listed as a child. I am also fascinated by the fact that her son George was not mentioned as a survivor, nor was Bill (rather his wife was listed as a surviving child). The other child not mentioned as a survivor or even a child was her daughter Zetta. The mysterious child to me is Miss Georgia Roby of Chicago. I still need to look into that. I suspect she may have been Ellsworth's daughter. I'm also intrigued by the mention of her sister, Zadie. The obit claims Zadie was from Los Angeles, but I cannot find that to be true. Zadie and her family lived in Colorado for many years and I don't believe she ever lived in Los Angeles. Zadie's daughter, Mabel Loser Smith did live in Southgate (a suburb of Los Angeles at the time and died there in 1936).

Transcription of Obituary:

Mrs. Effie Roby

Mrs. Effie Furst Roby, wife of Ellsworth E. Roby, died at 7:35 o'clock Monday morning at the family residence, 522 North Witt street. She would have been sixty years old in August. She had been in failing health for the last two years, but her condition did not become critical until five days ago, when pneumonia developed.

Mrs. Roby was born near Prairie Home, in Shelby county, Aug. 9, 1871, and was a daughter of Wells M. and Emma Beck. She is survived by her husband and the following children--Mrs. Ben Trump of Greenville, Mrs. Earl Robinson and Mrs. Wells Cloose of Los Angeles, Cal. and Mrs. Georgia Roby of Chicago. She also leaves a brother, Edgar Beck, Decatur, and the following sisters--Mrs. Zadie Loser, Los Angeles, Cal., Mrs. Hattie Wempen, Ontario, Cal., Mrs Edna Coffman, Laramie, Wyo. and Mrs. Grace Thompson, Decatur. The body was taken to the Moran & Sons funeral home where friends may call.

The funeral will be held at 3:30 o'clock Wednesday afternoon at the Moran & Sons chapel. The burial will be in Fairlawn Cemetery.

Decatur Daily Review, The (Decatur, IL) 13 Apr 1931

New Car Battery Saturday and a Song of the Week

2011-10-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

My mom has been doing remarkably well since getting her new pacemaker on Wednesday. What a relief. Today, I took her to get her hair done and then ran out to the post office to mail an order I had from my Etsy shop! Yeah, finally! So, I dropped her off and ran to the post office. Ran in and shipped my package. Got back in my car that was parked in the 30 minute parking zone and it wouldn't start. It sounded like the battery! Ugh.

I called AAA and waited for a tow truck. Since I told AAA that it seemed to be the battery, they said they'd probably send a truck that could tow but also had the ability to check the battery on the spot. Murphy's Law was in my space big time, I should add. The plan today was to get my mom's hair done and then go to a birthday party. My dear friend's mom was celebrating her 81st today (oh, I mean, 29th!). It was hot today and there I was in the heat of the day, dead car, needing to pick up mom and go to a birthday party, with my tinted moisturizer melting all over my cell phone. Not pretty.

Anyway, the truck arrived quickly, it was the battery, and he was able to provide me with a new battery on the spot! Yeah. I didn't have to drive somewhere else to get a new one so that was perfect. Picked up my mom, went home to change and off to a fun party we went. Tons of great food and great company and wonderful friends.

After returning home and kicking back for a bit, I decided to run to the store to get quarters so I can do laundry early in the day tomorrow as I forgot to get them when I stopped for a pretty bouquet of flowers before the birthday party. When I got in the car my favorite local radio station was playing album sides and they were in the middle of Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic! The song, Adam's Apple was just starting. I can tell you that I had that album (yes, vinyl) and wore it out. I loved it and every single song on it. I haven't heard Adam's Apple in so LONG that when I parked at the store, I sat in the car to finish hearing the song before going in.

As I sat in the parking lot at the store listening to Adam's Apple (and finding myself flashing back to a different time in my life) a car pulled in to the space in front of me. This car contained about 5 twenty somethings. The driver got out and opened the backdoor to let the backseat passengers out. Well, out came a young lady in probably the shortest and tightest dress I've seen in many years! Good grief. I don't think I mentioned that the neckline was elastic, which made it super easy for her to slide the fabric down and expose her left shoulder before she entered the supermarket in her skimpy little outfit. Man, where the hell is my camera when I need it!!! You know, the song Adam's Apple was really perfect background music.

So, without further ado, I present a new "Song of the Week". Aerosmith (before the rehab years)! Enjoy and if you have any memories of this song, please feel free to share here. You are also free to just comment in general.

My Very First Contest!

2011-10-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

I am having a contest. Please check out my main characters in my Esty Shop - Guitar Cat, Art Cat, Mid Century Modern Poodle, The Girl Cat (Mid Century Modern Cat and others), Music Lesson poodle, and tell me which character you would like to see in a "scene" of your choice. Now, this is a "family show", so please keep it clean. If I pick your suggestion and make a collage, you will win a FREE print of it! Submissions end at 7PM PDT on Sunday, Oct 23, 2011.

I'll do my best to produce the art in a timely fashion. I look forward to seeing what suggestions people come up with (here's hoping I get some)!

You can add your suggestions/submissions here or over at the FaceBook page!

Wordless Wednesday...and a New Pacemaker

2011-10-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my mom in Toronto, Canada around 1947. Yesterday was very stressful and that kind of caught me off guard. She was scheduled to have her pacemaker changed today and we went through all the pre-op tests just fine. But for some reason, I started to get nervous yesterday about this. Probably because I could tell she was nervous in the morning before I went to work and also because of her age and how frail she seems now.

It was a long day and the doctor and the staff were amazing! The procedure went well and although she has a really scary looking incision, it looks so much BETTER than the last pacemaker. This doctor changed it around and moved the wires so that the wires do not show through her skin and it just doesn't seem so obvious now. I know it will look a thousand times better once the incision heals.

She is home and sleeping but has been in pain which is natural under the circumstances. I did run out to fill her prescription for antibiotics and to pick up some regular strength Tylenol after we got home. The Tylenol was a challenge - three stores were sold out. A manager at the third store mentioned there was some kind of recall and they have not received any since.

Murphy's Law - my cell phone died today (forgot to charge it last night) so I had to come home and call the doctor to see if a generic Tylenol would suffice. I was told yes, and ran out to store number four and was able to get the generic just in time for her to take two more. I look forward to her healing and the pain going away.

An interesting thing is that this was the very first time I have ever heard a doctor say that you need to take yogurt while taking antibiotics! My sister and I grew up knowing that because of my mom. If we ever were taking antibiotics, she made us have yogurt every day. I've known people on antibiotics that ended up in the ER and when I mentioned yogurt to them, they said they were told that in the ER! I guess our old nickname of Doctor Mom during my teen years had some truth to it.

Sunday's Obituary - Emma Mayben Beck

2011-10-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

Emma Mayben Beck was my great great grandmother. She was born 7 March 1844 in Mifflin County, PA and was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Carson Mayben.

On 12 April 1864, at 20 years old, she married Wells Marcus Beck at Lewistown, PA.

In 1870, at 26 years old, she lived in Shelby, IL, and was the mother of three young children. She lived in Shelby, IL and raised her family there until sometime before 1910. According to the 1910 US census report, Emma and Wells were living as lodgers in Decatur, IL. By 1920 they were was living in Canon, CO with eldest daughter Zadie. They returned to Decatur around 1921.

Emma and Wells had 10 children (Zadie Mae Beck Loser, John Carson Beck, Robert Clay Beck, Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby, Mary Laura Beck, Edna Vina Beck Coffman, Grace Mabel Beck Thompson, Hattie Bell Beck Wempen, Edgar Bruce Beck, Bessie Cornelia Beck). Emma was preceded in death by her son John Carson Beck (1867-1875), daughter Mary Laura Beck (1873-1878), and daughter Bessie Cornelia Beck (1884-1893).

Emma died 23 January 1922 in Decatur, IL. Her obituary was published on 23 January 1922 in the Decatur Review.

Transcription of obituary:

Mrs. W. M. Beck Dies at Age 78

Was Mother of Eleven Children.

Mrs. Emma Beck, wife of W. M. Beck, died at 8:20 o'clock Monday morning at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Wade Thompson, 235 West Cerro Gordo street. She would have been eighty-eight years old in March. Her death was due to the infirmities of old age.

Mrs. Beck was born March 7, 1844. She and W. M. Beck were married April 12, 1864. For forty-five years they lived on a farm near Prairie Home. For the last twelve years she has made her home with her children and only two weeks ago returned from a visit with a daughter in Monte Vista, Colo.

Mother of Eleven

Mrs. Beck was the mother of eleven children, a son and two daughters preceded her in death. She is survived by her husband and the following children: Mrs. Oliver Loser of Monte Vista, Colo., Mrs. Effie Roby and Mrs. Wade Thompson of Decatur, Mrs. Hattie Wempen of Ontario, Cal., Mrs. Edna Coffman of Laramie, Wyo., Robert Beck of Monte Vista, Colo., and E. B. Beck of Decatur. She also leaves a sister, Mrs. Carrie Stanton of Lake City and a brother, Jake Mayben of Minneapolis, Minn. There are twenty grand-children and twelve great grand-children.

Decatur Review (Decatur, IL) 23 Jan 1922

It is interesting that Emma's obituary refers to her as the mother of eleven. She really was the mother on ten. The eleventh child was actually Zetta Fern Beck, my great grandmother Effie's illegitimate child. Zetta lived with Emma and Wells and was not mentioned in the obituary by name, nor was she mentioned in Wells' obituary or Effie's obituary.

Transcription:

Funerals

Mrs. Emma Beck.

The funeral of Mrs. Emma Beck was held Thursday afternoon at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Wade Thompson, 235 West Cerro Gordo street. There was a large attendance. The services were conducted by Rev. C. E. Jenney, pastor of the First Presbyterian church.

The music was furnished by Miss Bernice Taylor and Miss Gladys Phillis.

The flowers were in charge of Mrs. C. E. Taylor, Miss Rosetta Thompson, Miss Eva Thompson, Miss Viola Beck, Miss Ethel Hinkle, Miss Jessie Hinkle and Miss Laverne Hinkle.

The pallbearers were Robert Baird, David Coulter, Russell Smith, George Ford, Frank Compton and William Jesse. The interment was in Fairlawn cemetery.

Decatur Review, Decatur, IL; 27 Jan 1922

Emma and Wells are buried in Fairlawn Cemetery, Decatur IL (Macon County).

Sympathy Saturday: Monroe B. Cloos

2011-10-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

Monroe B. Cloos was the first born son of my paternal great grandparents, George Cloos and Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby. He was born 15 October 1895 in Shelby, Illinois, one year and one day after my grandmother, Lola Cloos, was born (she was born 14 October 1894). I actually just noticed that as I began to write this post! I wonder if his middle initial, B, was for Beck.

I do not yet know much about my grandmother's childhood or her siblings. I know some things such as where they lived in 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 because of the census, spouses they had, when they died, but it does appear that to date, many people still living, know little if anything about these people. From the information I currently have, only two of the five children (one being my grandmother) had children, and of those three children, two are deceased (my dad and his brother) and one is still living, but sadly, has Alzheimer's disease.

Sometime between 1900 and 1910, my great grandparents split up. I can find Effie and all five of the children on the 1910 census, but I cannot find my great grandfather George. The story my dad told us was that George left the family to return to Germany to fight for the Kaiser, yet, I don't know if I really believe that as I've not found any documents to indicate he left the US. I also think it would be odd as from everything I can find thus far, George was very young when he came to the US from Germany, and I can find proof that he was in Illinois in 1915. But, that doesn't mean he didn't go to Germany. I haven't yet found his immigration records when he came to the US as a boy, but I did find an article about his becoming a naturalized US citizen on August 15, 1898.

So, in 1910, Effie and all of her children were living in the homes of others as either servants, domestics, or working for board. Monroe was living and working in Bremen, Cook County, Illinois, a 14 year old "hired help" on a farm owned by one George Schultz, who was a farmer. George Schultz was also born in Illinois of German parents, and in 1910 was a young farmer of 33, married with three young children.

On May 9, 1912, 16 year old Monroe died in Blue Island, Illinois, from peritonitis. The farmer, George Schultz was the informant on the death certificate. Monroe was stricken 4 days earlier and also had appendicitis. On his death certificate where it asks for father's name and mother's name, and it says "not known", yet his birth date was known, as was the correct spelling of his last name (oftentimes spelled Close). I began my search in 2009, and 97 years after his death was able to name the parents of that young man who died without his birth family. Monroe was buried on May 11, 1912 at Burr Oak Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois.

The interesting thing about the burial is that Burr Oak Cemetery, from what I can find, is located in Alsip, IL and was founded about 1927. It was founded as an African American cemetery, and clearly founded 15 years after Monroe was buried. When I first discovered his death certificate, I thought this was his burial place, but that was before I realized the approximate date of it's origins. Now I need to research more to see if there was an earlier Burr Oak Cemetery. The Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip is the resting place of such notables as Emmett Till and Dinah Washington, and was the subject of scandal in 2009.

Turns out there are two Burr Oak Cemeteries in Illinois, one in Alsip, Cook County and one in Leroy Township, Boone County (approximately two hours from Alsip). Now I must really determine which Burr Oak Cemetery Monroe is buried in. Based on the circumstances, I'm quite sure he has no grave marker. I'm also thinking that he might be buried in Boone County based on dates.

I now want to list the names of George Schultz's family in the hopes that maybe a descendant might be doing a google search and find this post. My hope is that in some old family photos or records, there might actually be information and/or a picture of that young man, Monroe Cloos, that worked as a hired hand on the farm in Bremen, Cook County, Illinois, belonging to George Schultz. That young man, Monroe, all these years later, has family actually looking for him.

1910 United States Federal Census

George Schultz

Age in 1910: 33

Estimated Birth Year: 1877

Birthplace: Illinois

Relation to Head of House: Head

Father's Birth Place: Germany

Mother's Birth Place: Germany

Spouse's Name: Ricke Schultz

Home in 1910: Bremen, Cook, Illinois

Marital Status: Married

Race: White

Gender: Male

Household Members: Name Age

George Schultz 33

Ricke Schultz 29

Lillie Schultz 7

Ester Schultz 5

Hilbert Schultz 4

Monroe Close 14

The Non-Traditional Wedding Photo

2011-10-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

When I think of all the extravagant weddings of late (especially during such financially challenging times) I can't help but appreciate the weddings of years gone by. A time when stockings were rationed along with food. A time when a world war was in progress, yet the farmer's daughters always looked well dressed and glamorous! A time when average "folk" didn't have video cameras to stupidly film their own "sexcapades" that would land on the world wide web causing them to try to fight that distribution in court and spending all their money (either inherited or riches from their reality television shows). And a time when a bride did not make a huge profit by getting married.

So, I shall step back to a time when people may have not always been so smart, but maybe just not so blatantly stupid. A different time indeed. A time when a girls form of rebellion may have been to marry a man her father did not approve of. Yes, that surely happens now, but probably not as much as stupid videos.

My maternal aunt, Patricia McPhee Dolan married a man named Frank Dolan in Canada in the 1940s. The marriage didn't last and I'm really not sure of all the details but when I was going through an old FANTASTIC photo album that belonged to my late aunt Sadie recently, I came across some wonderful pictures of the ceremony and discovered that my maternal grandfather, Dan McPhee, was not happy about this union (although he was there). I'll post more on that later.

I just love this photo and the dresses my aunts were wearing. If I recall the story correctly, someone made these for Aunt Pat's big day. Nothing fancy or extravagant, but beautiful nonetheless.

L-R Frank's uncle, Frank Dolan, Patricia McPhee Dolan, Sadie McPhee

That Darn Treasury Challenge

2011-10-13T00:40:00.000-07:00

Oh man, that darn Etsian Artists Treasury Challenge is back and I have participated again. I do enjoy these challenges because we are given a theme and that is fun. However, I'm not the only participant and every time I submit to a challenge, I face fierce competition. This week, is no exception.

You can check out all the awesome "competition" here. The participants have really stepped up to the plate, and, if I was a lesser person, I probably wouldn't share this here. LOL. I really encourage you to check out all the talent here, both by the contributors and the art they've included. It is really cool and a great way to support artists out there trying to be discovered.

Here's my contribution to the challenge. The theme this week is "harmony".

Wordless Wednesday and Happy Birthday Dad

2011-10-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

For Wordless Wednesday I'm sharing a picture of my dad from July of 1958. Not really sure where this was taken, but it was one year after my parents got married. Maybe an anniversary trip, or maybe the wedding photos weren't developed for a year. My mom doesn't remember where this picture was taken, yet she does think it was taken in a motel room somewhere.

Dad, July of 1958

If my dad was still alive, he would have turned 94 yesterday! I find that so hard to imagine - 94! He was strong and stubborn and set in his ways, and towards the end of his life, he was very frail. I love this picture as he has a smile like I've never seen on his face! And dig those argyle socks. This outfit is much better than his favorite from his later years.

He had these "fake" jeans that were wine colored and he would wear them with a red and white checkered short sleeved shirt! Yikes! We always thought some cheesy guy possessed our dad, as he was a dapper guy in his younger years. When we'd question that outfit, he'd always say it matched - it was red. Ugh. He didn't get that the pants weren't really "red". Sadly (or maybe luckily for you readers), I may never share a picture of that insane outfit.

Scary Stories

2011-10-08T23:55:00.000-07:00

I just read a fab blog post about spooky stories and was inspired to share my own. Check out Akemanartist's post (via the above link) and I'd like to thank her for her that post as it reminded me of this story that I'd actually forgotten about.

One afternoon, back in my teens, I went straight home from school. I think I must have been grounded, otherwise I would have been hanging out with friends. I got home and began chores, cleaning the kitchen and prepping the dinner (my mom worked out of the home at that time).

The phone rang (land line and not cordless either). It was one of my friends and we started a typically marathon long teenage girl chat. As I chatted on the phone, I saw my younger sister walk in the front door. She said hello and put her school books on the kitchen counter and disappeared from my view. I had hoped she'd pick them up since I had been cleaning, but, I continued to blab, periodically calling out to her to pick up her stuff. When I finally hung up, I was annoyed that the book clutter was still on the counter and began calling out to her and walked through the dining room, kitchen and down the hall looking for her.

She was nowhere to be found and I was certain she was hiding from me. By now I more than annoyed, to be honest. There I was, standing in the hallway, walking in and out of bedrooms, calling my sister, and nothing, until the phone rang. I ran to my parents' room and answered the phone as it was closer than the phone in the dining room. It was my sister! I didn't see my face turn white as a ghost, but I could feel it. I could also feel my heart racing. She called to tell me that she stopped at her friend's house after school and had been trying to call me to let know but the phone busy for a long time. She was clearly upset that she couldn't get through to let me know because she didn't want my dad to get home from work and have me tell him I didn't know where she was.

Upon recovering from my initial shock, I thought this was some kind of joke as I saw her walk in the front door and drop her books on the kitchen counter. I told her to hang on, dropped the phone and I ran out of my parents' room, down the hallway towards the dining room fully expecting to bust her on the phone. There used to be some trick where you could dial some numbers and make your own phone ring and I thought she had done that. Well, she wasn't there and the phone was on the hook. I picked it up and she was still on the line. I then knew she really wasn't in the house as we didn't pass each other running through the house!

I told her what had happened, and as I told her about the books on the counter, I looked at the counter, and nothing was there! I freaked! When we hung up, I called my friend back because I wanted to ask her if I really was calling out to my sister to pick her books up off of the counter. My friend confirmed it and said she heard my sister talking to me when she first came in.

When my mom got home from work, I told her about it. The only conclusion we could come up with was that my sister being upset when she tried to follow the rules and let someone know her whereabouts (but couldn't get through) must have somehow projected herself home to get my attention. Who knows really, but it was rather scary as it was unfolding. As she is still alive, I know it wasn't a "traditional" ghost visit, and to this day, can't think of anything other than our above conclusion.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Have you had similar experiences or any hauntings or scary stories you'd like to share? Please feel free to share your thoughts or stories here.

Wordless Wednesday, Trees, an Etsy Treasury, and a Song

2011-09-21T22:27:00.001-07:00

For the Wordless Wednesday portion of this post, I'm sharing an old picture of my dad and my grandfather Red (Earl). Written on the back of the picture is "1952, Los Angeles".

I participated again in my fab Etsian Artist team's treasury challenge. My last contribution really tanked, but I must say that this new one got many views, comments and was favored several time! It was also a treasury first for me - the first time every single featured shop commented! I was blown away and very happy about that. The theme was "COMBO" and I decided to do a combo of trees. I really have no idea how that came about, but it did and just kind of evolved. Here's the treasury.

On the tree theme, I thought I'd share another song that I love. This was by the great Canadian group The Guess Who. I remember as a young teen asking for a Who album for Christmas and I got a Guess Who album. I remember being a bit bugged as it wasn't the right group, but as I played it, I loved it and knew so many of the songs! Since my treasury is about trees, the Guess Who song I thought appropriate to include here is "Share the Land".

The Lineman and a Song of the Week

2011-09-19T01:39:00.000-07:00

In my earlier post tonight, I addressed the possible upcoming grocery workers strike here in Southern California. Growing up, my dad always told us to NEVER cross a union picket line. Apparently, that stuck with me (probably prior to my rebellious years) and I always honored that. You just deal with it, inconvenience yourself by driving way the hell out of the way to get what you need, as long as you don't cross that line.

Then I found myself in a job where I dealt with unions. I began to find I don't seem to have the "love" of them I used to. When you employ union folks you are pretty much (in my opinion only) at their mercy. You agree to hire union workers and pay their wages, along with all of their fringe benefits. Their fringe benefits just might be better than the benefits you get at your company, but, whatever. They also seem to be brought up to NOT even answer a question if they're not being paid for it. Hmm, some of us are in roles where we get paid for so many hours and are expected to get our work done whether or not we exceed those hours. That tends to make some of us just a little less sympathetic.

Now that I've had my rant, and I did mention my dad's rule that you NEVER cross a picket line, today my mom asked me to help her call her former hairdresser. She wanted to find out just what color the hairdresser used on her that was such a hit! My mom was certain that the card she had contained the hairdresser's personal phone number. I called it and got a recorded message for the salon. When I told my mom that, she went to get her collection of business cards, knowing she had a personal phone number somewhere.

She handed me a rather large rubber-banded collection of business cards to look through. As I did, I found numerous duplicate cards amongst grocery store club cards and countless massage therapist cards. Then I came across this very old and discolored card that caught my eye. It had my dad's name on it and was dated October of 1960. I paused and looked at it. Turns out it was my dad's "honorable withdrawal" from the IBEW!

My dad, bottom row, center. His good friend, Lowell Judy is back row second from left.

That kind of brought it home. Why my dad always raised us to never cross a picket line - he was a union guy. I so wish I could have this conversation with him now and get his opinion. I knew my dad was a lineman, but never thought that he was a union man. He never really talked about that (like so many other things he never really talked about). He used to work nights, climbing electrical poles and as his family grew, decided to go a bit more mainstream and get a desk job that was probably safer and, according to my mom, paid a bit more. Funny thing is that my nephew is a member of IBEW. I wonder if he knows that my dad, his grandfather, was also a member.

My dad was a lineman at the time I was born, but not for the county. Nor was he a lineman in Wichita. He was a lineman somewhere in Los Angeles for a utility company. When he got the safer desk job, he worked up to management and in the 70s did have to cross a line when workers went on strike. I remember that he was gone and somewhere in the desert. He and the other managers would be bussed in to work, crossing lines, and subject to violence by those union workers (workers that he once was). He did talk about that experience, and he didn't like it, but I don't recall that ever changing his mind about us never crossing the lines in a grocery store strike.

So as I sit here writing this, thinking of how inconvenienced I'd be (yeah, selfish maybe) by a possible strike and how I currently feel about unions, I wouldn't cross the lines. No, I'd just sit and bitch about it and drive farther to get my grocery items, while I still pay more for my health insurance than they do. Good thing my mom's pharmacy isn't in one of these stores, or I'd have to cross the line, as her needs just MIGHT rank over their strike.

In honor of my dad, the former union guy that was a lineman, my song of the week pick is a song I grew up hearing and loved. As a matter of fact, Glen Campbell had so many great songs prior to his famous song, Rhinestone Cowboy, that I'm constantly amazed that Rhinestone Cowboy is a signature song for him. It would really take too long if I mentioned all of the fabulous songs he recorded prior to RC and hope you'll do a little research on your own to see for yourself.

Without further babble, I give you my song of the week pick, Wichita Lineman, by Glen Campbell. Hope you enjoy or I hope it might bring you fond memories as it does me every time I hear it!

Large Appliance Drama and Etsy Treasuries

2011-09-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

I had every intention of posting sooner, but, another week has come and gone and nothing, until tonight. I should add that no art has emerged from me either this week. Not that it wasn't on the "to-do list", but reality kind of got in the way. I really don't know how that happened, and the past week, oddly, seems like a blur of typical things like work, errands, store, chores, dreams.

I did participate on Tuesday in the Etsian Artists Team Treasury Challenge, but that really tanked. Hardly any views or favs from the included shops, but oddly enough, TONS of comments from shops I was not familiar with! I was overwhelmed by such great feedback from those not in the treasury! That was just so cool. The theme was "Magic" and here's the treasury I created for the challenge. Personally, I don't think it was that bad and I was actually happy with it, and apparently "strangers" were too!

Needless to say, I didn't have enough views, clicks or favs to make the finals, but that's the way it goes. I'll just keep mental notes and know which shops to NOT include moving forward (especially if I notice a pattern with them, which I have in some cases). The point is to have fun and promote and the apparent "brick walls" take the fun out of it, so, I have to look beyond that, and as the team continues to grow, feature new shops and hope they're more receptive.

On the other hand, I think because of the "tanked" treasury, I was then invited to join a new team which is quite mellow and cool, and I did. They're called 24/7 Treasury Team. I did notice, upon accepting the invitation to join this cool new team, that many of those that commented, were members. I joined and on Thursday created my very first 24/7 Team Treasury. I was AMAZED at the number of views, comments and favs I received in less than 24 hours! More than I ever have in any treasury I've created to date. I was truly jazzed about that! Here's that treasury I created featuring the members of the new 24/7 team.

I was so happy when Friday arrived and was going to go home from work and tackle laundry early. I did, but when I went to get the first load of bedsheets out of the dryer, they were wet and the dryer was cold. It was running but not hot. I hoped to make a hair appointment for myself as I really need to get a trim and color, but, that didn't happen. The really needed oil change is still pending, too.

Saturday was busy with typical mom stuff and walking her to an appointment she really wanted before we went to fabulous Tupperware party that some good friends of mine hosted. Timing, and the fact that I wasn't up early enough, prevented me from getting out to see my hairdresser. I really wish her shop was in walking distance. The Tupperware Lady, Aunt Cassie Rolle, was THE best TL I've seen to date! The party was an absolute blast! So fun and oh so campy, good food and free flowing beverages. My mom even had a blast!

This morning I decided to re-wash my comforter that was wet in my washer since Friday (and not smelling so good) and would use the dryer in the laundry room where I live, when suddenly the washer overflowed! Ugh, what else? So, my washer and dryer were useless and I had to get quarters in order to finish doing my laundry. Of course, this was after my sister grabbed the ShopVac to suck up the soapy water all over the floor and I was taking things out to the trash or to dry.

The bulk of this day was spent running back and forth to the laundry room. The lack of a washer and dryer in your pad really does limit your ability to venture anywhere while the machines are running. By the time I was down to two final loads, I ran to collect prescriptions for my mom, groceries and hair gel. The grocery stores here are currently in "discussions" with the local union and a strike is possibly looming.

If there is a strike, it will happen at one minute past midnight so I think the entire city was at the store and it was so busy, items were picked over and I noticed that things I normally buy, were actually more expensive than normal. When I got home, I finished the final loads of laundry and made dinner. What an exciting weekend, eh? It's now late, but I still wish I could do at least ONE creative thing before I have to power up the work computer to do that stuff and then begin the quickly approaching "Monday".

Ten Years After

2011-09-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

After all the hopes I had of being creative this weekend, it just didn't seem to happen. All the unfinished projects remain unfinished and now it is Sunday night and I'm feeling blue!

I did take my mom to her hair appointment yesterday and she was a bit slow and dizzy, but did manage to get through it. Otherwise, I did typical errands and chores and found myself a bit caught up in the 9/11 coverage on television.

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, really early in the morning, I got up and ready for work. I took a shower and washed my hair and went downstairs to get coffee and put on make-up. I just sat down to begin the make-up "artistry" and the news was covering a plane that apparently crashed into one of the Twin Towers! I was drinking coffee, watching the coverage and apply cosmetics when all of a sudden the live coverage showed a second plane fly into the other tower! I was shocked. I looked at my sister and we both said something like, "that was not an accident". That was at 6:03 AM, Pacific time. The rest of that day is rather blurry.

I watched the weekend coverage when not running errands and began to reflect. What have I done in these past ten years? Have I made any improvements to the lives of others? Did the events of that day change me? Did the events of that day make me change my own life? I don't know those answer, but I feel that the coverage has got me thinking about all of these questions. Life is really short and our time unknown, and life is not about going through the motions (something I've done for far too long). I must figure out what I need to do, what my purpose really is, and move forward.

In honor of this anniversary, I would like to share two very moving treasuries I saw today on Etsy, created by two of my awesome team members, NettiesCollectables and MadriganDesigns. Please take a moment to view these and also check out their awesome shops. As the name might imply, Nettie has wonderful vintage finds, and Madrigan has beautiful handmade jewelry! Vintage finds and handmade jewelry are just a few things I can't live without!

The other thing I'd like to share is this very awesome and very powerful Budweiser commercial that one of my FB friends shared today. It brought me to tears. Apparently, it only aired once, but I did hear that some cable channel played it today.

Here's to a brighter tomorrow for everyone! Please take the time to live your life to the fullest every single day, and I am going to do my best also. Can you imagine what a great place this world would be if we all could do just that!

A Tabby Cat or a Stalker

2011-09-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to figure out if my little Petey is just a tabby cat or a stalker! He had his smelly wet food tonight and has his kibbles in his bowl, but he is paying way too much attention to me. He is on the counter stalking me - rubbing on my arms and my hands as I try to type. He's also running in front of me, cutting me off as I walk through the room. He is so darn cute!

So, it is late Friday night. I am so thankful that the weekend is here. I hope to finish some pending art projects and start some new ones. I'll take my mom for her hair appointment tomorrow as she is feeling better (she wasn't feeling so good the past few days) and I really need to get the oil changed in the car. Exciting, I know, but necessary.

I also decided to put together a treasury featuring my team members from Etsian Artists Working Together! I really love that team. The philosphy behind it and the members are so cool. They really are a talented bunch. Here's the treasury I built, and I'm now in the mindset to create more with similar themes.

The other thing I've been thinking about is joining the already in progress 30 Days of Get Your Art On Challenge! Traci Bunkers is the culprit here and I am finding so much inspiration in her posts and the others participating. If I do join in, I've got some catching up to do, but I do have projects in process and just maybe I can let go of that "commitment" fear and do it!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-07T23:45:00.000-07:00

My dad at the beach. The back of the photo has 1941 written on it. Beneath that, someone penned, "I thought your girls would like to see what a 'stud' their dad was! I think maybe this picture was sent to my dad by his long-time friend, Jack's, widow, Bettie Ann.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

A quick little Wordless Wednesday post on Thursday. I had been meaning to scan this and share it and thought I'd go ahead and do it now. This is a copy of photograph of my dad's brother Raymond, their paternal grandmother Hattie Belle Horney Robinson Kemp Taylor Palmer, and my dad. I received this and so many other photos from my cousin Beverly. Beverly's mother, Edna, was Hattie's youngest daughter.

I am quite certain this photo was taken in January of 1920, as Hattie, Edna, and Hattie's youngest son, Joe, were all listed on the 8 January 1920 census at my grandfather Red's house in Mason City, Iowa. Lola, Raymond and my dad were also on the census, as was Lola's brother Bill Meents.

Raymond died in July of 1920. My dad always said he'd drowned but last year we learned that according to the Elmwood Cemetery records, where he is buried in an unmarked grave, his death had something to do with his heart. I'm not sure when he died, but I know he was buried on 8 July 1920, and was listed as 4 years and 8 months old.

Raymond, Hattie, Robert

Email

2011-08-31T22:07:00.000-07:00

I received an email today that actually disturbed me. I'm not sure why I found it so disturbing, but here goes. There is a website I just LOVE called http://www.findagrave.com/. In my search for my family history, it has played a huge part in finding vital information of people on my family tree. I became a member last year and began to post my own memorials of my family and photos of graves I've taken. There is also a nice feature called "request a photo" which allows members to request photos of headstones of their family that are buried in far away places.

My paternal great-grandmother, Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby, was on findgrave. Someone added her and someone else added her obituary. I added the photo request probably almost a year ago. Today I received the following email from findagrave:

Greetings from Find A Grave,

We are writing to let you know that a Find A Grave volunteer has reported a problem with your photo request for Effie Roby.

The general problem they reported is:
Cemetery office confirmed that this burial is unmarked

They also reported, specifically:
Walked the whole section they said she was buried in and found nothing. Went into the office and they confirmed there is no marker.

Due to this problem, we believe that this photo request can not be fulfilled. As a result, we are removing it. If you can fix the problems that were reported and believe a photo can be acquired, please feel free to make a new request.

I sent the email to my sister and she brought up a good point, why would someone go to the trouble and expense of writing an obituary, but not pay for a headstone? Well, maybe that was the financial circumstances of the family at the time.

At the time of her death, five of Effie's six children were still living (although Zetta was not mentioned in the obituary), and an unknown daughter was mentioned, one Georgia Roby of Chicago, a woman I still haven't been able to find.

So, my great-grandmother, my grandmother, my dad, and my dad's brother Raymond (who died at at the young age of 4) have no grave markers. In the case of my dad, that was his wish. I'm not so sure that was my grandmother's wish under the circumstances of her life and death, and feel that my grandparents probably couldn't afford a headstone for their young son Raymond in 1920. When I mentioned all these people without headstones to my sister, she said that it must be a family thing. I guess so.

Transcription of Effie Beck Cloos Roby's obituary:

Mrs. Effie Roby

Mrs. Effie Furst Roby, wife of Ellsworth E. Roby, died at 7:35 o'clock Monday morning at the family residence, 522 North Witt street. She would have been sixty years old in August. She had been in failing health for the last two years, but her condition did not become critical until five days ago, when pneumonia developed.

Mrs. Roby was born near Prairie Home, in Shelby county, Aug. 9, 1871, and was a daughter of Wells M. and Emma Beck. She is survived by her husband and the following children--Mrs. Ben Trump of Greenville, Mrs. Earl Robinson and Mrs. Wells Cloose of Los Angeles, Cal. and Mrs. Georgia Roby of Chicago. She also leaves a brother, Edgar Beck, Decatur, and the following sisters--Mrs. Zadie Loser, Los Angeles, Cal., Mrs. Hattie Wempen, Ontario, Cal., Mrs Edna Coffman, Laramie, Wyo. and Mrs. Grace Thompson, Decatur. The body was taken to the Moran & Sons funeral home where friends may call.

The funeral will be held at 3:30 o'clock Wednesday afternoon at the Moran & Sons chapel. The burial will be in Fairlawn Cemetery.

Decatur Daily Review, The (Decatur, IL) 13 Apr 1931

I do have Effie's death certificate and can say that pneumonia was not the cause of death listed. What baffles me is that she lived 59 years, had six children, two marriages and one divorce, a hard life, and appeared numerous times in newspaper articles, yet I cannot find a picture of her. I know someone has pictures and maybe it's the decendants of the mysterious Georgia Roby.

Time Management

2011-08-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Time management is not my strength and I struggle with it. I have, year after year, considered taking a class in it, but then I don't seem to find the time to do it! Go figure. I had a somewhat draining week and thought that I'd be productive yesterday. I spent three hours sitting in the salon with my mom while she got pampered (her hair, fingernails and toenails) and while I was sitting there, I took the opportunity to read one of the MANY books I've purchased over the years that have become dust collectors in my house.

I love vintage printmaking books, and really vintage art and sewing books in general. The illustrations and artwork are so appealing to me. After I got my mom up in the morning and got her breakfast and confirmed with her that she felt up to keeping her appointment, I got myself ready and gathered up my book and my sketchpad and pencils.

You may wonder why I checked to see if my mom was up for her appointment. Well, she fell out of bed again Friday night and hit her head on the end table on her way to the floor. She was dreaming about trying to help someone and my dad was there in the dream. Apparently an active dream at that, and she was moving around in her sleep and just rolled out of bed. She now has a nice egg sized bump on her head. I had her sleep with an ice pack on her pillow, and she seemed better in the morning. I am seriously considering moving the nightstand closer so that it will stop her from falling or getting some kind of bed guard (if such a thing exists).

Anyway, I played around with an exercise from the book while sitting in the salon and did a "scribble" sketch that will become a stencil. I thought I'd have finished it by now, but once we left the salon and came home, I made my mom lunch and attempted to cool off. Heatwave here and no AC in my car. Then we sat and watch the CNN coverage of Hurricane Irene and chatted, and before I knew it, it was almost 5PM and I needed to go to the grocery store, do laundry, dishes and make dinner.

Hopefully, I can finish my scribble stencil project today. The other thing that has been taking the better side of forever to do is fix or re-take pictures of some of the bracelets I've made. I took some shots of them outside a few weeks ago and even used my own arm as a model. When I saw those pictures, I freaked! My skin looks so old and I almost wondered who the hell the model was!!

My other project that is taking forever (or a week anyway) is loading my files on to my new laptop that I bought last week when my "regular" laptop crashed and gave me the most frightening message "unable to find operating system"! I freaked out and shut it off for about 15 minutes and when I turned it back on, everything was there, thank God! I then went to Staples and bought a new laptop and backed up all my pictures and documents from my croaking laptop onto my little external hard drive.

So here's hoping I can grasp this time management thing today and kick into Wonder Woman mode and accomplish much! I'll have to stop by later with an update.

The Control Freak is Losing Control

2011-08-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

I never really considered myself a control freak, but I really think I am one. I have this idea of how I'd like life to be and how I'd like things to happen, but just haven't quite mastered the fine art of achieving those things. I was raised with the "new thought movement" concept (which includes the laws of attractions) but have really failed on that. I sometimes find it so hard to get out of my own way, and my own way just might be self-sabotaging.

So here I am at the beginning of my fifth decade (I can't even believe that) and am pretty much where I said I'd NEVER be when I was in my late teens and early 20s. I have dreams and goals, yet seem unable to find the way to achieve them. I've tried many avenues and then when they don't work (maybe immediately - yeah, I'm not famous for my patience), I drop that and try the next thing, and then, I'm in the beginning of my fifth decade with what? A bitchy attitude if nothing else.

Rumor has it that as a child I could throw some major tantrums. I don't necessarily recall that, but I do know I'm more than capable of that now. I think the reason for these "tantrums" is really based on lacking control of things in my life and instead of stepping back to rethink, I jump into childhood tantrum mode. That helps, right?

So, why do I feel a bit out control lately? First of all my mom and her early stages of dementia. I can't control that, nor can I bring my mom back, the mom that raised me. I know it is still her and she is still as kind and caring as always, yet she now struggles with her words and doesn't always have the ability to express herself. That just really kills me.

My sister is having a medical issue that I can't control. I just want to be optimistic and I want her to be whole and better ASAP! I really understand the whole life thing, but, it can be challenging when it hits home. In a perfect world this stuff doesn't happen.

I'm trying to figure out how the hell to organize my life so that I can do things creatively and get out there and sell my stuff. That isn't happening. I try to promote myself and others, but that sometimes just seems to be a waste of time. I also try to promote stuff on my (possibly useless) FB "fan" page and generally, I'm the only one that "likes" or comments on my posts. Therefore, when I try to promote myself and others, and basically feel overlooked, I tend to regress to that little girl that would throw temper tantrums and probably I alienate the world!

My take on it is that if I'm going to play the game, and that seems to include creating these things called "Treasuries", I do it. What I just seem to have a real hard time with is how many Esty sellers, especially those on my that I include in these treasuries, have absolutely no desire to even view or comment on them. I joined a team and part of being on that team requries creating these little hard to pull together gems on a regular basis. I do it, and I admit, I'm not gifted with creating "pretty" treasuries, but I try. What I've noticed is that many of my team members just don't find it necesarry to comment when I notify them that I've included them and I'm kind of at a point where I just wonder what the hell am I doing. Why do I bother. I do notice that the older team members are very good about it and very supportive.

Surely this sounds so stupid to those of you that don't have an Etsy shop or don't create these treasuries. It really seems that it has gotten to the point where creating a treasury and/or being featured in one, is ONLY about how PRETTY it is and it's potential to make the FRONT PAGE. Period. Making the front page is great exposure, true, but from what I've heard, it hasn't necessarily brought sales.Maybe if one of my goofy treasuries made the damn front page, the silent shops would then comment. Yes, I'm annoyed and probably annoying, but I just really wonder what these shop owners think. But I suppose in the "big picture" this really doesn't matter. What really matters is my mom and my sister and their quality of life.

So after my latest temper tantrum (how many times have I said that in this post?), I decided to take a vacation from Etsy and today I spent time with my mom and researching the family tree. I took a trip to the Orange County, California, Hall of Records to pull the marriage certificate of my grandmother's first cousin. He apparently was a rather abusive husband (well not apparently, really, as I have a copy of the divorce record). My intention to was to find his wife's maiden name in hopes of finding her living relatives. I now have her maiden name and tonight have been doing some research, but it isn't coming together as easily as I'd hoped. I did find someone to reach out to and we'll just have to see. I hope it is a connection.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-24T22:04:00.000-07:00

Paul Robinson, Earl Robinson, unk

I'm not sure where or when this photo was taken, but I do know it is my grandfather, Red (aka Earl) and his brothers. I know that Red's younger brother Paul is on the far left, next to Red, but don't know who the others are yet nor have I been able to get feedback from the Robinsons on this picture. I can tell they are all related though, as they all have the same nose!

Always the Bridesmaid and Never the Bride, Fabulous Finds, and a Song of the Week

2011-08-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! After weeks of always being the bridesmaid and never the bride, I finally won the Etsian Artists Team Challenge Treasury! These challenges happen every Tuesday and are open to anyone. In other words, you do not need to be a member of the team (although, I would highly recommend it as they are awesome) to submit to the challenge or to vote in the finals. So, if you have an Etsy shop and participate and win the challenge, your shop along with your treasury (and all the shop finds you included) will be featured for one week on the team blog!

Last week was rather busy and flew by and I think I was tired every single day. It had been a busy weekend and suddenly it was Tuesday and I thought I'd just not participate in the challenge. I was content with that decision until Elizabeth (Oddball Art Co), our team captain, posted a plea on the team message board to everyone to participate as there were only four challenges submitted. I saw that and suddenly the word vintage came to mind (probably because I tend to hang out in the past with the family history research).

I then put together a treasury called Deliciously Vintage and submitted it. I was actually quite happy with it and did get lots of great feedback and lots of views. By Sunday (yesterday), I had made the finals and was honored to have received the most votes! Now I feel like giddy school girl every time I pop on to the team blog (link above) and see my prints, cards and shop featured there! I only wish I had more items listed. That will just have to be in a future win (oh, I do hope).

The other fun thing about being the challenge winner (and no, I did not say that with a Charlie Sheen tone, hahaha) is that all entries for tomorrow's challenge (the theme is "Scream"), must include one of my items! I can't wait to see what people come up with!

I must also share a Fabulous Find with you! What gal wouldn't love delicate whatnots for women and children, and that is exactly what you'll find at Cherrytime! This wonderful shop is run by two fabulous best friends, Mojca and Vesna.

These ladies are so talented and make the most wonderful crocheted items, toys and repurposed vintage cloth with embroidery, just to name a few things. It is a visual treat. They have so many lovely handmade goods that it was hard to pick just what to share. Here are a few of their items that I adore, but all you have to do it follow the above link for your own fabulous adventure!

I think it is so cool that these two best friends share a love of crafting and work their shop together! They are also quite good a photographing their art and I've asked how they manage to do that! I believe the answer was "practice, practice, practice"! So, do check out Cherrytime as I know you'll just love what you see. You can also check out their blog and follow them on Facebook! Go, do it now!

Finally, a few weeks ago, my mom and I watched a wonderful special on PBS about Folk Music and it was so good that my mom wanted to make a pledge in order to get the CDs. Well the CDs arrived today and man are they good! We were listening to them this evening and it sure did make my day job work that I'm in the middle of doing at home tonight so much more enjoyable! The CDs just contain one great song after another! It really was a great purchase on her part. When this song came on, we were singing along.

My parents had this album and they loved this song. I always remember this song from my childhood and love it, too! The compilation my mom got actually has the Pete Seeger version of Guantanamera, but in honor of my mom and my dad, I'm sharing The Sandpipers cover. Enjoy and I hope your Monday was as fab as mine was!

Sunday's Obituary - Wells Marcus Beck

2011-08-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

Wells Marcus Beck was my great-great grandfather. He was born 9 January 1842 in Rosetown, PA and was the son of Joseph and Leah Furst Beck.

I don't yet know much about Wells' young life, but from various census reports I can tell that in 1860, at 18 years old, he worked as a clerk in Armagh, PA.

On 12 April 1864, at 22 years old, he married Emma Mayben at Lewistown, PA.

In 1870, at 28 years old, he lived in Shelby, IL, and worked as a farmer. He lived in Shelby, IL and worked as a farmer until sometime before 1910. According to the 1910 US census report, Wells and Emma were living as lodgers in Decatur, IL. By 1920 they were was living in Canon, CO with eldest daughter Zadie. They returned to Decatur around 1921.

Wells and Emma had 10 children (Zadie Mae Beck Loser, John Carson Beck, Robert Clay Beck, Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby, Mary Laura Beck, Edna Vina Beck Coffman, Grace Mabel Beck Thompson, Hattie Bell Beck Wempen, Edgar Bruce Beck, Bessie Cornelia Beck). Wells outlived his wife and four of his children.

Wells died 5 April 1928 in Decatur, IL. His obituary was published on 6 April 1928 in the Decatur Herald.

Transcription of obituary:

Wells M. Beck Dies Thursday

Recently Suffered Paralytic Stroke Followed By Pneumonia

Wells Marcus Beck, retired farmer, died at 7 o'clock Thursday evening in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Wade Thompson, 235 West Cerro Gordo Street. Recently he suffered a paralytic stroke and pneumonia developed a few days ago.

Mr. Beck was born in Rosetown, Pa, Jan 9, 1842 and married Emma Mayben at Lewistown, Pa, April 12, 1864. They moved to Shelby county and lived there during the years of his active business life. Prior to coming to Decatur about seven years ago, Mr. Beck made his home for a few years in Mont Vista, Col. Mrs. Beck died in Decatur in 1922.

Until his illness during recent months, Mr. Beck had been in fairly good general health. His greatest handicap in the enjoyment of life during late years, was his impaired sense of hearing which handicapped efforts to converse with him. But his interest in life did not drag, he enjoyed frequent rides in the auto, always was especially interested in the young folks and reading enabled him to keep abreast with current events.

Mr. Beck is survived by six children, Mrs. Zadie Loser, Monte Vista, Col., Mrs. Edna Coffman, Laramie, Wyo., Mrs. Hattie Wempen, Los Angeles, Cal., Mrs. Wade Thompson, Decatur, Mrs. Effie Roby, Decatur, and Edgar B Beck, Decatur. He is also survived by 20 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

He was a member of the Woodmen of the World at Monte Vista, Col. No funeral arrangements have been made.

Decatur Herald, Friday, 6 April 1928, pg. 9

My grandmother, Lola, was one of those 20 surviving grandchildren and my dad was one of the surviving 15 great-grandchildren.

Wells and Emma are buried in Fairlawn Cemetery, Decatur IL (Macon County).

Wordless Wednesday and the 1940 Census

2011-08-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

My dad in 8th grade. Irvington School, Huntington Park, CA 1931. My dad is on the far right, third row up.

My dad and the ladies from the carpool. They worked at Douglas Aircraft. This was a night at Joe's Zamboanga. It was located at 3828 W. Slauson, Los Angeles, CA. What you don't see here is that these ladies of the carpool autographed and left lipstick kisses on the groovy paper frame this picture is in! I wonder who these gals are and who their living relatives are that might really love to have a copy of this fabulous photo.

We had these scary plastic wigs when I was a kid! You couldn't wear these without your head sweating.

And since I'm on a vintage thing, I thought I'd share my latest Etsian Artists Team Treasury Challenge. The theme this week is "Delicious" and my contribution is Deliciously Vintage. You can see the other participants here!

On the exciting news front, Ancestry.com had a press release today. They will be offering the 1940 census for free starting in mid-April of 2012 through the end of 2013! I am not sure I can wait for eight months! Come mid-April, I will hopefully have a little more insight into my great aunt, Bessie's, whereabouts. In 1930, she was in the Alton State Hospital and I still have no idea what happened to her husband Ben. I'm also anxious to find out where Red (my grandfather) was in 1940. I know where I think my grandmother was and now will be able to find her because I now know she fell into the system under the name Marie instead of her birth name Lola. Should be most interesting! You can read the press release here.

The Campus Queen

2011-08-15T20:41:00.001-07:00

When I was a little girl I had the most fabulous lunchbox. It was metal and came with little magnetic game pieces. It even had a game board on the back. It was surely the dream of every little girl in the 1960s - Campus Queen! I loved that lunchbox so much I even had my picture taken with it! Yes, goofy!

Little sis, Little Kiddles lunchbox, Puddles (our dog), me, Campus Queen lunchbox

The other thing I just loved was my groovy big sister! She was so much fun, so pretty, so nice and so cool. She had groovy clothes and wore liquid eye-liner, frosted lipstick and teased and flipped her hair! She also had some great albums that she'd bring over on the weekends she stayed with us. She was also a great story teller, telling us the scary story of The Golden Arm or The Green Ribbon by candlelight, scaring my little sister and I every time! Yes, we begged for these stories whenever we saw her. I did not grow up in the same house as my big sis as we had different moms, but, she would come stay with us and my little sis and I always looked so forward to her visits.

She would also take us out for "girls" day where we'd go to A&W and sit in her cool car to have lunch. She was also a great gift giver! She gave us stuffed poodles with transistor radios in them! The radios were only AM, but man they were cool!

Little sis, Big sis, me (smog of Rialto, CA in the background)

Having said that, you can only imagine my "near death" excitement experience when my big sister went to her Winter Formal and we got a picture! I couldn't believe my eyes! She was the Campus Queen! She was the girl on my lunchbox!

Campus Queen lunchbox

My sister, the Campus Queen

After getting home from work today, I did manage to get some pictures of bracelets in natural daylight outside! I now just need to improve them and get them listed in my Etsy shop. I also am about ready to (finally) list another print and am working on a new mixed media painting.

As I wrote this post, I suddenly became inspired to create a treasury in "honor" of the scary stories The Green Ribbon and The Golden Arm. I'm hoping the featured artists don't find that concept too creepy! Here's my Scary Stories treasury...

Wordless Wednesday, a Blog Feature, a Fabulous Find, and Song of the Week

2011-08-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

For Wordless Wednesday, I'm sharing two old family pictures from our family collection. I cherish these like you wouldn't believe. All these pictures were stored in a huge box at my parents' house, and after my dad passed away, I brought them all to my house for safe keeping (didn't want any of them to accidentally find their way to thrift stores)!

My grandfather Red (holding my big sister), Esther (my dad's second wife), my dad

My dad, unknown man in uniform, my dad's buddy Gerry McGowan

I was very excited and very honored today to be featured on the Etsian Artists blog!! The ultra hip Rebecca from Libromancer (one of my fav shops) won last week's team treasury challenge (she is really too good at these) and this was her second win. I was runner up, and she graciously offered the interview space on the blog to me as she was interviewed a few weeks ago. You can read the interview here!

Rebecca is a book junkie like me! I also think she is a teacher of sorts, as she puts together some of the best treasuries I've ever seen that are dedicated to authors! They are so unique and so interesting and wonderful. Now, I'm not saying that other treasuries are not beautiful (they are and they do take time and effort to create), but I just love her take on them! Here's one of my favorites - a tribute to Erle Stanley Gardner, the author responsible for one of my life long obsessions, Perry Mason!

A former California girl, Rebecca and her boyfriend moved to Pennsylvania and are going to open a bookstore! You can read more of her interesting story here. She also has a great Etsy shop where she rescues classic books that cannot be resold and turns them into art pieces!

You can find her shop here. She is also on Facebook and you can follow her and keep up with her FABULOUS author treasuries! I tell you, if you want to impress people at your next cocktail party, you need to check these out! No more excuses for being dull at the party!

And since I'm on vintage trip here, I thought it would be perfect to end this post with a "Song of the Week". As you may have read in my interview, I was a kid that wanted to be a go-go dancer when I grew up! I grew up in the 60s, a time that was rather turbulent, but a time full of some amazing music. I feel so lucky to have been a kid when I was and really think that I'd not want to be a kid now based on modern music.

I was also lucky enough to have a fun mom that didn't find anything wrong with her kids playing with Tarot cards, obsessing over astrology, or playing with the Ouija Board (and she made sure we never dabbled into the dark side of anything)! She was a follower of the "new thought movement". So, in honor of my mom, the 60s, the new thought movement, groovy music and the Age of Aquarius, please put on your go-go boots and enjoy The Fifth Dimension!

Where Did the Weekend Go and Fabulous Finds

2011-08-07T22:52:00.001-07:00

The weekends just go by so fast. I always have my plans and then reality seems to step in and snap me back to reality. So, Saturday I took my mom to her chiropractor and massage appointments and after that she wanted to go shopping for music. She was in the market for old western music and we were heading to Target. When I say "old" western music, I mean vintage, and nothing that Target sold. Had I known what she was after before we got there, I wouldn't have made the trip. My mom was looking for Marty Robbins and Eddy Arnold and you'd be hard pressed to find them at Target. You will find the modern "western" artists though. So I told her we'd check Amazon or a cool store in Pasadena called Canterbury's. But we did pick up (on sale) the DVD Bell, Book and Candle starring James Stewart and Kim Novak! I've never seen that movie and have always wanted to. Lord only knows when I'll watch it.

Then while doing laundry Saturday evening, one of the cats decided to use my blanket that was on floor waiting to be laundered as a cat box. I came a bit unglued and called the Animal Hospital to make an appointment. This is a 24 hour place so I was able to schedule his appointment for this morning. As "luck" would have it, some guy "decided" to have a solo spin out in the carpool lane and we got caught in hideous gridlock. We were sitting on the freeway/parking lot and our appointment was in five minutes. I decided to call the Pet Hospital and tell them and they rescheduled me. I sighed big time. I called at 10:10 am and our appointment was at 10:20.

We were rescheduled for 11:40. There was no way I was going to turn around and go home just to head back out, so we got through the gridlock and made it to the hospital by 10:35. Well, they couldn't squeeze us in and so we sat until 11:42 when we finally got called in. Such a waste of time really (not being able to get in earlier but taking the cat was important). Tests were run and results will be in tomorrow and Wednesday. Hopefully his problem is behavior driven and not medical (note, he is my newest rescue cat and not one of my long-time house cats).

So by the time we got home after 1pm, had make mom lunch and then finish errands. Got back home and we started watching a local PBS station and they were just playing so many great show! I love PBS. We watched a show on Folk Music (my mom actually pledged to get the CDs), Malt Shop Memories, Comedians on Ed Sullivan, and the 60s Music on Ed Sullivan! We were just singing and dancing around the house all afternoon and evening! It was great! So many memories that really transported me back to a time when life was carefree and fun. Now, I'm not a religious person by any means but I am spiritual and this was one of the songs featured on the Ed Sullivan 60s music show, and I song I just love. The great Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions - People Get Ready.

I am still in the process of working on some projects and now also in the process of creating two tutorials, but I began to focus on how I wanted to do some stencils of all the great cat pictures I have and the great old family portraits. The stencils are still in the infancy stage, but, funny how things happen when you put them "out there" - I became aware of a great artist that paints with acrylics and does some amazing stencil paintings!

He's Juan Tobaru. He has an Esty shop with some amazing art! He has stencil paintings and acrylic paintings. His work is so awesome. I just love simplicity that speaks volume in art, and his stencil paintings do just that!

I also love color and power in art, and that is completely evident in his paintings.

You can also find Juan Tobaru on Facebook where you can keep up with his art. He is really so talented that I believe he must out there even more than I have shared! He's probably in galleries and other places beyond what I have shared. I should also mention that he is owned by cats and I've seen them appear in his work! Enjoy.

Handbags and Gladrags and Song of the Week

2011-08-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

My rather new and most recent favorite purse seems to have died an early death! I don't like that. This morning I was rushing out the door to head to the office and as I do every morning I threw an energy bar and a bottle of water in my purse. I got to work and walked into the building with both my purse and my laptop bag on my shoulder. I said "good morning" to the security guard and all of sudden I felt something weird on my shoulder. I said, "what the..." and noticed my purse dangerously dangling towards the ground! I grabbed it and realized that where the strap is attached to the bag had completely been severed. It had completely torn. I'm sad to think I may not be able to salvage it.

When I left work I had to rush to the store to buy a new one. I wasn't "in love" with the options but had to get something. I can't believe how expensive handbags are these days (and I'm not shopping at a high-end boutique or department store). I am one of those people that buys one purse and carries it until it is dusted and then I replace it, so I had no emergency "back-up" to hold me over until I could find one I really LOVED. Oh the lessons we learn.

So in memoriam of my purse, I thought I take this opportunity to post a "Song of the Week"! I'm a long time fan of Rod Stewart and the Faces and had this idea after reading Steve's hysterical blog post about going to see Queen in concert in 1978. It came to mind because I never did see Queen (which I really regret) but I saw Rod and The Faces EVERY SINGLE TIME they came to town!

There really are so many great Rod Stewart songs and I have so many favorites, but this one truly fits with the post and has always been able to not only make me smile, but for some strange reason, bring a tear to my eye!

Wordless Wednesday and Fabulous Finds

2011-08-03T22:41:00.000-07:00

For Wordless Wednesday (wordless, yeah right) I am sharing a photo that I really love of my mom, her sister Sadie and their cousins (Alec, Sandy and Anslem). This picture was taken in Orillia, Canada where my mom grew up. I think her cousin Sandy looks like a Robert DeNiro type!!

Mom, Sadie, Alec, unknown, Sandy, Anslem, cute dog

This week's Fabulous Finds features an artist and blogger who is oh so entertaining! Steve manages to create collages and ACEOs (something that escapes me as I can't even write that small let alone paint that small)! Steve is a corporate guy that goes home and paints and takes awesome photographs, collects vintage items and writes a most entertaining blog.

He recently did a series that I am fascinated with on guilt! Hmm, I wonder why that topic has grasped me. I am just obsessed with this one and might even have to purchase it! You can find Steve's artwork here on Etsy.

He also has some fabulous black and white photos of old headstones at cemeteries. Now, as a genealogist, I do have an obsession with headstones and cemeteries and can hardly drive by a cemetery without wanting to stop and pay a visit!

Steve truly has an eye for art that is evident in his collages and paintings, as well as his photography. But, I must add, that his other talent and gift is in his writing! I am completely hooked on the (mis)Adventures of ArtySandp, a blog worth checking out and following! You can catch up here and, trust me, will not regret it as you laugh your head off! I have been "begging" Steve to write a book, which is a goal of his, and I think we should all encourage this! I was so happy to learn today, that his challenge for August is to focus on writing that book! Someone even suggested he do the illustrations and he's planning to include old photos. I think that is super cool and look forward to it! You can also keep up with the adventures via his Facebook page.

As a former teen journalist/feature writer for my school paper, I was always interested in human interest stories and what people did (and I still am). It's really funny how something that might seem so "silly" such as a recap of an old vacation with family or friends, can be so entertaining to someone that wasn't there at the time! I hope you'll head over and check out his pages and be a cheerleader to encourage his August challenge in getting that book written, while still creating his art and hanging out in the corporate world doing the 9-5. You might even be inspired to pick up some cool art while you're at it.

The Hardest Job in the World and a Great New Blog

2011-08-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

Having not been a parent, I really had no idea what was in store for me once I officially became a caregiver. I can tell you that it isn't easy and I really don't know how parents do it and I have nothing but respect for them. How does one take care of others, while taking care of themselves and their homes and their lives and participate in their jobs? My hat's off to you!

So, the old broken record here, I didn't finish my Catupulets, nor did I finish my tutorial. Hell, I am no farther than I was yesterday or the day before, to be honest. I'm either lazy, old or just not able to handle emotionally, all things I could have handled in my 20s or 30s, and that bothers me. I really don't relish the thought of doing nothing besides the mundane in what is left of my life and am struggling to get a grip on the time management thing (yet again, or always). But, the night is still young and I should be able to accomplish something!

I tried to be somewhat creative yesterday by participating in a team treasury challenge. I really don't think my treasury lives up to the others, but I did find some really fabulous items to include! There really are so many good ones compared to mine and you can see them all here. But, I'll get there. I am always amazed at what people can put together and they are so cool and hip and visually appealing! I do suggest you head over to the Etsian Artists blog and participate in the challenge. This weeks' challenge entry is closed, but you can vote on Sunday! The treasuries with the highest views, clicks and comments will be entered into the vote. The winner of the vote will then be featured on the blog and interviewed!

On a happy note, my cousin Wendy started a blog! I'm so excited about that and hope you'll show her some support. She is a long time genealogist and a fabulous photographer. She has spent that past year and a half dealing with the horrible Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia diagnosis of her 22 year old son, which to date. they have overcome! You can find Wendy's blog here. I must now convince her to open an on-line shop to sell her amazing photos! Wendy and I share great uncle Bill Meents!

Mystery Monday and a Future Tutorial

2011-08-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

I had this idea that I wanted to work on over the weekend, photographing the steps so that I could make a tutorial. I got the supplies I needed (including a small, portable sewing machine) and was determined to work on it. Other things came up and the tutorial (nor did finishing The Dionne Catuplets) didn't happen and last night I was feeling like I was going to lose it. So I thought I'd give it a try tonight but I just didn't get it done. I began to write the tutorial, sans doing it and therefore no pictures, so that will have to be tomorrow, I hope. If not the tutorial, at least finish the Catuplets already!

And now for a little genealogy. Today is Monday and over at Geneabloggers the blogging beat prompt I'm going with is Mystery Monday. Lola had a sister Bessie. Bessie was the daughter of George and Effie (like Lola) and much about her still evades me. I know that she was born 1 July 1893, about 7 months after George and Effie married and that she married a man named Benjamin Trump.

I found them living together on the 1920 census in Greenville, Illinois. Come the 1930 census, much to my shock, Bessie was an "inmate" at Alton State Hospital! Interesting indeed. Two sisters just about a year apart in age, find themselves in "mental" hospitals in the same year (Lola's first admittance to my knowledge was in 1930 for depression at Norwalk State Hospital in California).

After much research on both Ancestry.com and my fave Newspaperarchive.com, I found Bessie's obituary. She died in a nursing home in Peoria, Illinois that is now under new ownership. My sister and I also found living relatives of the Trump family and did reach out to them. They responded earlier this year, but, probably didn't find our requests for information and pictures their top priorities, so, I think it's time to reconnect.

From what I can tell, Bessie and Ben did not have children, but again, that's from what I can tell. You really never know. Bessie's obituary listed among her survivors, two nieces and they are now deceased. It was their descendants we reached out to. Basically, the descendants didn't really remember Aunt Bessie but promised to contact others that might have the pictures or either remember her or know of her! Then silence. Now, I know pictures exist as one doesn't spend say 50 years as a member of family without someone having pictures!

Bessie died in that Peoria nursing home on 7 Feb 1976. So while I still try looking for any information on her that I can find, I am also trying to find information on her husband, Ben. I am not sure what became of their marriage but he was listed as spouse on her death certificate and even mentioned in her obituary, yet I cannot find a death record for him. I know that there is no way in hell he is still alive as he was born in 1889. The mysteries of Bessie and Ben do haunt me and I need to refocus on finding them.

I do have a copy of Ben's WWI draft registration from 5 June 1917 where he indicates he's married, and a copy of his WWII draft registration from 27 April 1942. The WWII draft registration did not ask marital status so none is indicated. It did ask for "the name and address of a person who will always know your address" and Ben listed a friend who is also now deceased. He was also living in Donnellson, Illinois at that time. Did Ben basically leave her after she was admitted to Alton? Did she ever get released? Why was she admitted? Why did his nieces seem to be connected to her at the time of her death? What happened to Ben and when did he die?

I belong to the Illinois State Genealogy Society and they have recently added a message board to their site for members. Oh, happy day! I can tell you now, I'll be posting there! My many posts regarding Ben and Bessie at Rootsweb/Ancestry have mostly gone unanswered, but I did have someone contact me and she was awesome and very helpful. She even went to the hospital where Bessie died but wasn't able to get much information! I tell you, the genealogy community is like no other! The help is unbelievable!

Of course, if I don't find anything on Bessie or Ben, there's always the 1940 census which may hold some answers. Although I anxiously await that, it won't be released to the public until April of 2012. I really hope to find answers prior to that.

Sunday's Obituary - Fern Elizabeth Snapp Robinson Sewell

2011-07-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

My dad's first wife was Fern Elizabeth Snapp. I believe they met through mutual friends, Bernie and Opal Cole. Bernie and Opal were the managers of the apartment where Fern was living, and my dad was friends with the Coles. Fern and my dad were young when they married on August 22, 1940. She was 21 and he was 22. They were married in Huntington Park, California and honeymooned in San Francisco, California, staying with Red (my grandfather) and Gladys. They went to the Worlds Fair. I didn't know that until about a year and a half ago when talking to the widow of my dad's childhood best friend. You see, Jack and Betty Ann Swineford, accompanied my dad and Fern on their honeymoon! That was because Jack couldn't get time off of work to be my dad's best man at the wedding. My dad had never mentioned that he went.

Fern was a very kind person. She was also quite a glamour girl. From what my dad said, it was Fern that convinced him to visit his mother, Lola. My dad hadn't seen Lola in a few years. My dad always said Lola was in Norwalk State Hospital (now called Metropolitan State Hospital) and I figured that was where he visited her, but based on the records I have and the timeline of his life with Fern, he would have visited Lola at Camarillo State Hospital.

My dad and Fern separated probably around 1942 and I believe she filed for divorce then. I'm really not clear on that timeline, but I know that my dad said she was very nice and he said he was an "ass". When I spoke with Betty Ann she said that she thought it was 1942 when my dad showed up at their house for cards without Fern and said he had left her. The rest of that is a mystery and I still need to get to Downtown LA to retrieve the actual divorce record for timeline. From what I've heard, they were still married when my dad was drafted and rumor has it that Fern remarried before my dad was discharged and before the divorce was final. Again, I'm not sure if that's correct and will begin to research that soon.

Anyway, they did go their separate ways and Fern remarried a businessman named Paul Sewell and my dad remarried a young lady named Esther Vondollen. My dad's circle of friends always remained in touch with Fern and her mother, Mary Roades Snapp. At some point, Paul and Fern moved to Oklahoma City. Paul had a trucking business and Fern worked with him running the firm.

I knew that Fern was killed in a car accident and that she was the only one that died in that accident, but I just didn't know when or where that was until I spoke with Betty Ann. She told me it was Oklahoma City in the mid 1960s. Prior to that, I just always thought it was sometime in the 40s for some reason and I thought it was in California. My parents never shared tons of info, obviously, hence my thoughts. According to my dad, Fern was always afraid of cars and feared she'd die in one. Betty Ann told me that Fern was actually involved in a plane crash and survived that, and had no fear of flying, but apparently, cars were a different story.

Armed with a place and an approximate year, I posted to the Rootsweb/Ancestry.com message boards for Oklahoma City asking for an obituary for Fern Sewell. It wasn't too long before a woman responded and said she'd check the newspapers at the library (mind you, she did this during horrible weather conditions). She sent some newspaper articles about the accident! True to what I had always heard, Fern was the only one killed in the accident.

It happened on Friday, July 28, 1966. Paul and Fern were driving in their car with Fern's brother James and his wife. They were traveling west on NW 39 Expressway in the 3500 block when they were hit head-on by a car driven by Thomas J. Dawson. Dawson was travelling east in the westbound lanes and police could not explain that. Fern and Paul were both wearing safety belts upon impact.

Fern's funeral services were held at 2pm on Monday, July 31, 1966 at Smith and Kernke Funeral Home. I will have to check with them to see if they have an actual obituary.

As for any art this weekend, the ideas were massive yet production nil. With taking my mom to her hair appointment, errands, filling and picking up prescriptions, returning mom's items that don't fit, shopping, laundry, chores, no art from me, yet again. I am now feeling very down about the fact that I didn't do anything fun for myself (maybe selfish) and now have to prep for the day job tomorrow.

I had an idea for a dish towel and got the supplies I needed and planned to work on it, and photograph it in progress to create a tutorial, but now it is after 9pm on Sunday and none of that has happened. Plus, my new smart phone isn't even loaded with my contacts, nor did I create a Twitter account. I feel sometimes like I'll never accomplish what I want to under my current circumstances. What can I say other than, oh well, deal with it. It’s easier to blog in between doing laundry, running errands and making dinner than trying to do art projects sometimes. Sadly, that doesn't help my goal of creating art to sell on line. Hell, I can barely get views any longer when I re-list items in my Etsy shop. I really need to rethink what I'm doing. I would hate to die tomorrow feeling like I do right now.

Smart Phone, Bracelets, Genealogy, and Family Recipe Friday

2011-07-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

The past 24 hours have been rather interesting. Got up and got ready for work. Prepared my mom's lunch and chatted with her before heading to the office. Prior to heading to the office, I checked my Etsy and found that I'd been featured in four Etsy treasuries! That was sure nice to wake up to. In case you are not familiar with the treasury thing, basically, it is a way to showcase other shops and their items and share it with others. It is a great way to promote others, while promoting yourself. The thing is, you must get people to click on it and "favorite" it and view it, blah, blah, blah.

I belong to a really great and supportive Etsy team called Etsian Artists. My history with Etsy is that back in November of 2009 I opened my shop/account, added my avatar and banner and profile and that was it for an entire year! Lazy maybe. I had some items to list but not many, so I was a bit timid. Then a year later, I listed nine items, and have since added to that, but need to add more. I have tons of ideas and half finished items just waiting to be listed. The other thing that is "just waiting" to happen are more sales! That would be super nice. I had considered joining teams but never did until our fabulous team captain, Elizabeth invited me! That was after she featured me on her fab blog! I was honored and excited and jazzed and any other word you can think of!

I have finally "graduated" to a smart phone! Today I upgraded my mobile and now can spend the weekend getting to know it and figuring out how to stay connected when I'm running my mom to all of her appointments! Yeah!!! And, yes, I no longer have an excuse for not opening that Twitter account. I still don't "get" Twitter, so this should surely be interesting.

The other cool thing that happened in the past 24 hours is that I was contacted by a genealogist today that I met back in April of 2010. We met at the LA County Records' Office (vital records) before I found my grandmother. She offered assistance and I gave her the details I had at the time, and then nothing. Turns out after our meeting, she encountered some family issues and after a sad death, was beginning to catch up. She did send me research info on my grandmother that I had already done, research that took me two years to do. I thought to myself that if she hadn't experienced her grief, I would have found Lola in 2010. However, all things considered, I am glad that I was the one that found Lola.

Here are some bracelets I've made but haven't yet added to my shop because I really do need to get better pictures of them.

And now for the Family Recipe Friday. When I was a teenager, I was famous for bringing by friends home just in time for dinner. My mom was never really ready for that but she never got mad at me either. One night in particular, my mom made the only "scary" recipe I ever remember her making. She was a fabulous cook, and would still be if her vision was still with her.

This night she made a funky gelatin dish. Oh man, even before I was a hard core vegan, this scared the hell out of me. From what I remember, she had chopped veggies like onion, celery and carrots and placed them in a Pyrex baking dish and then poured liquefied Knox gelatin over it and let it harden. I couldn't bring myself to touch it. She had NEVER made that before and said it was something that her mom used to make. My two friends did try it, and I could tell by the look on their faces that it was not easy to consume! A recipe gone bad or a bad recipe to begin with, but, thankfully, she never made that one again, and we did laugh about it years later!

Big Rigs, Spoonman and Freeway Gridlock

2011-07-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

I can't remember exactly how the conversation came about but a few days ago, I was talking to a co-worker and 18 wheelers came up. That reminded me of the time I was hit by one and I had to tell her about it.

The year was 1994 and it was a Friday. Back then I had a job that had pretty cool work hours. We worked 9 hour days, Monday through Thursday and 4 hours on Friday. I loved that schedule as I always knew when I wasn't working and could schedule appointments easily. I would always schedule my hair appointments on Fridays. So on one particular Friday early afternoon back in 1994, I was making the commute (yeah, my hairdresser at that time was not close by) to the appointment. It was really like any other Friday commute to get the hair done, traffic moved OK and then the dreaded gridlock on the LA freeway known as Interstate 10.

Back then I drove a Pontiac Fiero. I loved that car. It was a dark cherry red with light grey interior. In retrospect, I don't know why I had to have that car as I am much too tall for a sports car. I would nearly bend in half just getting things out of the very small trunk! Plus, I wear heels so getting in or out of that car was always an adventure. I must have looked like an Amazon woman crawling out of that tiny vehicle. Add to that, the fact that SUVs were the newest phenomenon and caused major "visibility" issues on the road for those of us driving "low to the ground" vehicles!

So there I was, that early Friday afternoon, in my sports car on Interstate 10 sitting in gridlock, and almost at my exit. I was in the slow lane and had the radio blasting and the window rolled down. I still remember the song that was playing on the radio. It happened to be a song by a band I loved, Soundgarden, called Spoonman.

As the traffic inched forward, I glanced into my side view mirror and was pretty scared! All I could see was a huge rubber tire. The tire of a big rig. A big 18 wheeler, and I knew it was almost on top of me! I guess I did what anyone in that situation would have done - braced myself, held the steering wheel tight, and screamed as the big monster hit my little car. Thank God for guard rails as they did stop any possibility of my going off a cliff (okay, not a huge drop but still a drop). My car was pushed by the impact of that big machine and I pushed hard on the brake and tried to control the steering wheel, again, all while screaming. To this day I can't really understand how helpful the screaming was!

The good thing was that we were not moving fast so I was able to get the car to stop and didn't smash into the guardian angel guard rail! I managed to stop in the shoulder just moments away from my off ramp and wait for the truck to pull up behind me. I almost couldn't get out of my car as my legs were rubber at that point and all I wanted to do was chain smoke cigarettes to calm my nerves. It was hard to open my driver's side door as it was damaged from the impact, but I got out and was standing there on the side of the freeway, while weird guys drove by yelling cat calls! Oh please. How about pulling over and offering to help instead of yelling unwanted shit! A little observation - that is not cool or appreciated, guys!

Anyway, the truck driver was just as freaked out as I was. He was a working stiff with a young family and just didn't see my tiny little car and tried to change lanes. It was an accident and nothing malicious. In conclusion, I decided to let his company take care of the repairs as I didn't want to contribute to the loss of livelihood for this young working man and his family by involving insurance companies. We exchanged information and I got to my hair appointment (a bit late). As I left my appointment and got back on the freeway, with my now jacked up car, I suddenly heard that scary big rig horn sound and looked, only to see the driver that hit me waving! He had made his delivery and was heading back to home base. Anyway, my car was repaired, I was given a rental and everyone was fine.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

I feel the need to bring back Wordless Wednesday. I haven't done many of these posts, but I think it's time. Such a great idea from Geneabloggers and a great way to preserve old family photos. They have daily blogging prompts which are quite fun.

So, without too many other words, the first picture is one of my favorites of my big sis and I. The second is another favorite of Red (my grandfather Earl), his second wife Gladys (they never did legally marry because Red never divorced Lola, but Gladys was the only grandmother I knew and she was kind to us and was quite gifted at crocheting and would give us great blankets and slippers), my glamorous aunt Georgette and my dad. My aunt refers to it as "the hat picture".

My big sis and I

My grandfather Earl, my other grandmother Gladys, aunt Georgette, my dad

Can the Weekend Really Be Over?

2011-07-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

Please tell me I'm hallucinating and that it isn't really Monday! Please tell me that I don't have to get up and go do something mundane when I'd rather do something creavtive and fun. Then I always hear things like, "I'm so thankful I have a job" or "you should be thankful you have a job". Surely there's some truth to that, but what if that "job" you're so "thankful" for drains the absolute life out of you or might just be taking a toll on your health? Then what? I've read that times like these are the best to start a business. Hmm. Maybe so, but what kind of business? Enough of that downer talk, but any thoughts are surely appreciated.

On Saturday my sister thought it would be nice to take my mom out for lunch and then shopping at one of her favorite stores, Merle Norman. My mom had said that she'd like to go get some foundation and lipstick. Having macular degeneration makes it hard for to primp herself into her onetime diva self and she's been feeling a bit down about that. So off we went and had a nice lunch in a very loud Chipotle. Naturally, my mom eats much slower than my sis or I and we waited quite some after finishing out veggie tacos for her to finish her burrito in a bowl. Then we walked to Merle Norman. My mom got lovely special treatment there and ended up getting this awesome tinted moisturize with SPF! It really looked good on her and brightened her complexion! I couldn't wait to try it. She also got a nice pink lipstick that is somewhat reminisent of the old Yardley Slickers!

On Sunday, I FINALLY did some test prints of my lino and soft rubber blocks! Yes, I think Hell did freeze over. I did my test prints on an unironed floursack dish towel and pretty much feel that the lino blocks did not lend themselves well at all to the fabric. Not sure why that is.

I feel that the soft rubber blocks printed much better on the "unironed" cotton, and now my little adorable Louie might just be ready to adorn kitchens worldwide. Will need to work on the prints though, prior to his household appearance. Oh, and get better pictures!

Fabulous Finds...and woe is me

2011-07-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

This has been the week from hell (as they say). Work is getting me down, it has been hot, and I have managed to go nearly the entire week without producing any art. I do tend to think of writing as art, so maybe my blogging in lieu of painting or printing might count. So, yes, those lino blocks are still waiting to be inked up and printed and I shall do that tomorrow. Tomorrow is Friday, after all, and thank God for that! I think, too, that I've tanked on the 30 day art challenge, so I am going to have to get a mental adjustment and try again.

I even told myself earlier in the week that I was going to pull out my Gocco and play. Well, not yet. I have been wanting to print with the Gocco for some time now, but have been afraid to since the supplies are quickly becoming obsolete as the parent company, Riso, has discontinued my favorite little "toy"!

Today I had to take my mom to a doctor's appointment. This was a follow up to discuss the results of her barium esophagram. The results were normal and only showed typical signs of aging which is good. She was having headaches, coughing, and what seemed to be allergies and the doctor gave her some samples of Nasonex which has really helped her. Well, we got to the appointment at 2 in the afternoon. There was a lady there already doing a crossword puzzle, and shortly after we signed in, a man came in for an appointment. The clock was ticking and the man there for his appointment was loud and chatty. Then the receptionist told us that the doctor was running late - a surgery went into OT and he wouldn't be in the office until 2:45. So, we sat and waited.

While we waited, the chatty man began talking to the lady doing the crossword puzzle. They somehow got on the subject of her husband's arthritis and various surgeries and then she mentioned that her husband is 85. I thought she was a child bride or something. Not that she was in her 20s, but surely, she wasn't yet 70! She had on a hip blouse and Capri pants, and was wearing sandals, exposing her polished toenails and toe ring. Her hair was done and make-up applied perfectly. I'd say she may have been a diva! She mentioned that she and her husband were pen pals and went to the same high school, except that she was 4 years younger than him! I nearly fell out of my chair. She began writing letters to him when he was in the Navy during WWII. When he came home he took her out for dinner to thank her for all those letters and they began seeing each other and have now been married 62 years!

Speaking of artists that are producing artwork on a regular (if not daily basis) and divas, today's Fabulous Find features both! Steven Hall is the artist behind some of my all time favorite illustrations, The Doodle Divas!

They are fabulous. They are fun. They are funny. And they are taking over and here to stay! You can adorn your walls with divas or you can get a diva notecard! And if that's not enough, you can even get them on candles, soap and t-shirts!

I can't see these illustrations without being in awe of the simplicity, yet the detail at the same. I love them. You can find them on Etsy and follow their adventures of Facebook or on Steven's blog. Get out of the mundane and step into the fabulous (one high heel at a time, of course).

Deacon Jones, You've Been Gone Too Long

2011-07-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

After an early morning of house cleaning (so not my strong point) and then five very frustrating hours at work, I left the office, stopped at the store and came home. I chatted with my mom and caught up on her fun visit today with her friend, Gaylene, who stopped by earlier today. She had a wonderful time! Then I changed out of the corporate "uniform" and into comfy "real people" clothes (jeans and t-shirt) and started to make dinner. I turned on my fab little kitchen TV to catch the news while cooking. Now, I am NOT a sports fan at all and get rather bored when sports is on the local news, but tonight was a bit different. Deacon Jones was on the news!

When I was a kid, my dad was a fan and follower of two sports teams - The Los Angeles Dodgers (baseball) and the Los Angeles Rams (football). For those of you that do not follow these teams, The Dodgers are experiencing much drama now with their current owner and the Rams left Los Angeles years ago. But back in the 60s and 70s when I was growing up, those were the local teams. I grew up at a time when one TV in the house was the norm and that TV was usually tuned in to the sporting event my dad was interested in. Surely, that seems odd by today's standards where most houses have TVs in every room!

One of the LA Rams players I remember (besides Joe Namath) was Deacon Jones.

He played on the Rams from 1961 to 1971 and is a Hall of Famer. Not sure if I remember him because he was a great player (again, I didn't follow, but it was a part of my childhood) or because of his catchy name! But, when I was a kid, he was a household name. He was on the news tonight speaking at a luncheon in Los Angeles and the minute I saw that and heard his name, I had major childhood flashbacks!

There was this very popular girl group called The Supremes (you might remember them)! They had many great and memorable songs. They were also fronted by a "diva" called Diana, until she left the group in 1970 to pursue a solo career and "replaced" by Jean Terrell. Of all the wonderful Supremes' songs, the one that always stuck with me was Nathan Jones (released in 1971). I actually thought it was called Deacon Jones, for some strange reason (and I attribute that to the house I grew up in). Even today, after seeing Deacon Jones on the news, I walked through the house singing "Deacon Jones, you've been gone too long" knowing damn well it was actually "Nathan Jones". LOL. Just in case you're not familiar with this song, I'm sharing it as it really is too good not to share! I hate to think of something this cool being lost in this day of say, Oops, I Did it Again or the like.

Another Day, No Test Prints and a Bit of Genealogy

2011-07-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

So, another day has come and gone and so has my opportunity to test print the lino blocks! What's wrong with me? I've got about two week's worth of carvings to print. I left work yesterday with every intention of test printing when my cell phone rang. Naturally, I couldn't answer it as I was driving and the "take me to your leader" Bluetooth was buried in the glove box in serious need of recharging. Once I got home, I played the message from that missed call.

Well, it turns out my mom's friend was going to be passing through town today and wanted to stop by for a visit! My mom was so excited that we had to run to the store and get some cookies and tea for her visit. She was so looking forward to this visit from her friend and had been smiling all night! Me, not so much. Why? Because I am probably the world's worst housekeeper! Molly Maids, I am NOT, but should think about hiring them.

Since moving my mom in with me on the 14th of May, I still have boxes of her stuff in my living room and dining room. You see, boxes of my mom's stuff that should have been taken to "storage" on moving day, ended up here (including two bags of plastic grocery store bags - I kid you not). So there was the mad dash to tidy up. I would hate to think that anyone might be inclined to report that my mom is living in squalor! Was I busy tiding up last night? Not really, I started writing this blog post instead. Ugh. I really dreaded company coming over, cleaning, denying my mom anything, and cleaning (did I say that already?) Oh, I also dreaded that I had to go to work today, even though I now work part time hours.

I didn't accomplish much on the cleaning front last night as I was just too tired. I did buy lottery tickets but nothing came of that. Really, at the rate I'm buying them (and praying) something's got to give soon. That would be a huge score in an otherwise mundane and kind of stressful life. One of my friends pointed out that I've been feeling lost lately because I found Lola. That could be true. Even though I found her, there are still so many unanswered questions, and I'm kind of at a loss as to where to look, but, I know that will change as I seem to be pretty good at that type of research. And tonight, thanks to another friend, I just learned about a show in Canada called, "Ancestors in the Attic"! Well that looks quite good, and you can even watch episodes on the computer. I tried to do that tonight, but nothing would happen. I guess I need to update something here or try it on my other computer.

So, got up early this morning and started cleaning - dusting, vacuuming, mopping kitchen floor, putting things away, the works. The pad is now clean. Hopefully it can stay that way. I did drag out my lino blocks, new ink and supplies, but still haven't printed. Maybe tomorrow. I have to take my mom to the doctor's in the afternoon, so hopefully after we get back.

Fabulous Finds...and a little more

2011-07-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I'm really tired tonight, and have used that as an excuse to, yet again, not run test prints of my lino blocks. When I'm tired, I find writing seems to be much easier than pulling out the art supplies and working them. Surely, I'll kick myself if I don't get those test prints done soon! Seriously, what's the point of carving them if they're just going to hang out on the table! And why do I find it easier to carve linoleum than to print the carved pieces? Who knows!

A few months ago my cousin, Beverly, sent me some copies of old family photos she has. I actually got the photos the same day I got the Records Release form from Fairview Developmental Center to request my grandmother's hospital records. The photos were so cool, but this one has really haunted me. It was a copy and probably the original is not very big, so it isn't the best quality nor clarity, and I really need to get a scan of the original to better "research" the people in the photo.

Now I know my dad, and I know that the little boy with the ball on his head on the right is him. I also know that the tall guy with the wild hair next to my dad is my grandfather, Earl (aka Red) - and it's funny that tall and wild hair does run in the family. Could the lady next to Red possibly be my grandmother, Lola? I don't know as I've now only seen one picture of her that I'm aware of and that was the "inmate" photo on her admittance forms from the State hospital; a photo that does not depict a happy, young woman in her 40s. I also wonder who the other people are, and wonder if this picture was taken in Mason City, Iowa, where my dad was born. I'm still not sure when or where or how Lola and Red landed in Mason City, but I do know that they stayed there until my dad was 10 years old and then they moved to California.

You know that saying, "Those who can't, teach"? Well I think that saying sucks! In my opinion, anyone that teaches, provides a tremendous service to society, and sometimes, they are lucky enough to teach something they absolutely love!! What better way to spend your 9-5? I've always thought it would be so cool to be an art teacher. Imagine spending your days teaching people to paint, while you're also working on your own paintings that you might just show or sell!! Today's Fabulous Finds features someone that is an artist and an art teacher!

Katt, from Black Friday Studios, is a fabulous painter! Some of the best Johnny Depp paintings I've seen, have been at her Etsy shop! Yes, I do L-O-V-E Johnny Depp.

She is also an animal lover, and does donate to her local shelter and animal charities (which I find admirable)! This multi-talented lady is also a blogger. But she doesn't ONLY paint Johnny Depp, she also paints fabulous animal portraits! I really love her work and find her totally inspiring!

The realism in her paintings amazes me, as I am NOT a realist when I paint. I think any student lucky enough to be in her art classes should be "thanking" God, and I'm sure learn a lot from this cool teacher!

Etsian Artists Team Treasury Challenge, Week 4

2011-07-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah! I made the finals in this week's team challenge! The theme was "geek". Now it's time to vote. I have some serious competition here, but the cool thing is that the winner will be interviewed and featured on the team blog (which has an ever growing following) for a week and that means any shops featured in the winning treasury will also get the exposure! How cool is that? The other fun rule - next week's challenge must feature an item from the winner's Etsy shop.

So, without further ado, here's my contribution! Of course, I want to win, but really do exercise your rights and vote for your favorite. I did buy lottery tickets today, so maybe I can win there if not in the challenge LOL!

Also, I pulled out my fabric ink to test print my lino blocks and much to my horror the ink was all dry! I had to grab my mom and run out to the art store! Yikes. Got new ink and will have to test print tonight. On a downer note, didn't get my hair colored. I wonder if I can use that as an excuse to not go to work tomorrow. Probably not. Ugh.

The Hair Color, Wash and Set, and a Genealogy Challenge

2011-07-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

Busy Saturday. Took my mom to get her hair colored today. Three hours later, we left the salon! You might gasp that it took that long, but you must realize that we are not talking about the blow-dry type salon here. My mom comes from the wash and set with curlers and sit under the hairdryer generation. Once the hair is dry, it is followed by back-combing and teasing and lots of hairspray! But she was happy, and that's the point!

After the appointment, I made her lunch and we went to get her vitamins and pick up a few grocery items (and lottery tickets for me). Then home to watch recorded episodes of Keeping Up Appearances while I put the finishing touches on The Dionne Catuplets (should be ready to list tomorrow). So, yet again, no test prints of lino blocks! Tomorrow for sure. I will get up in the morning, make a cup of coffee and get printing!

In between the above, and making dinner, I checked my blog reading list and found a fun post at GenBlog about a challenge. The challenge is to list your 16 great-great-grandparents with their birth, death and marriage data (dates and places), countries, etc. Well, since my genealogy research of the past two years has really only focused on my paternal grandmother, Lola, and her family, I am not ready to participate in a challenge dating back that far. However, I can list two of my paternal great grandparents and give a little history of them! So here goes.

George Cloos - Father of my paternal grandmother, Lola. Born 23 Dec 1871 in Germany (not yet sure where in Germany). Son of George Cloos and Elizabeth Grauhausen (both from Frankenthal, Germany, according to grandpa George's death certificate which I have a copy of). From what I can tell, he arrived in the US in 1876 at age 5. He had an older sister named Catherine E. Cloos Sowers Mauzy that he was very close to. He married my great grandmother, Effie Furst Beck 14 Dec 1892. They had five children - Bessie, Lola, Monroe, George and William. They split up before 1910 and were divorced 11 Oct 1920. George remarried Grace M. Hayes Abel Cloos sometime after 1920. I have established contact with a granddaughter of Grace and she has a picture of grandpa George to share with me once I make my trip to Illinois. George died in Decatur, Illinois on 28 June 1947.

Effie Furst Beck Cloos Roby - By far, the most notorious of my great grandparents, Effie was the mother of my paternal grandmother, Lola. Born 9 Aug 1871 in Prairie Home, Shelby County, Illinois. Daughter of Wells Marcus Beck and Emma Mayben (both from Pennsylvania). Her middle name, Furst, was the maiden name of her paternal grandmother, Leah Furst (mother of Wells Marcus Beck). Effie was the fourth of ten children. I have learned quite a bit about her thanks to a favorite site for genealogy research called NewspaperArchive.com. They have many Decatur newspapers archived there.

On 23 Sept 1889, Effie gave birth to an illegitimate child she named Zetta Fern Beck. According to newspaper articles, Effie was "betrayed" by a 25 year old "Lothario" named Charles Cox, who refused to marry her after, as her father, Wells, put it, "blighting the life" of his daughter. Effie did charge Charles with "bastardy" and that must have been terribly scandalous in the 1889s! A young woman of 17 years old being pregnant and unwed must have been enough to drop a family from certain social activities of the time. Wells and Emma did claim Zetta as their daughter on later US Census reports, yet, Zetta was never mentioned in obituaries for Wells, Emma or Effie.

I'm not sure yet how George Cloos and Effie Beck met, but I think George may have known Effie's brothers (from articles I've seen). George and Effie married 14 Dec 1892 and their first child, Bessie, was born 7 months later on 1 July 1893. They then had four more children - Lola, Monroe, George and William. They split up sometime before 1910 and Effie and the children were living with different families as either laborers, domestics or servants for their board. Obviously, Effie was in no position to financially support five children once her marriage split up. I still cannot find grandpa George's whereabouts in 1910, but have found him in newspaper articles in Decatur from 1915 on.

Effie was arrested a few times in 1914 for being drunk in public. The articles did mention that she had a hard life. On the 13 Jan 1920 census she was "married" to Ellsworth Roby, yet her divorce from George Cloos wasn't "official" until 11 Oct 1920. Effie was arrested in 1930 for illegally selling booze and died at the young age of 59 on 13 Apr 1931 in Decatur, Illinois.

Moms, and My Attempt at The 30 Day Art Challenge

2011-07-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

I went to a really nice memorial service today. A good friend of mine lost her mother last week after being diagnosed with brain cancer a few months ago. These past few months have been extremely hard on my friend as she and her mother were very close. Her mom was an amazing woman. She had a bit of a hard upbringing and was a single mother raising two young daughters when her marriage broke up, but did manage to overcome the hard times and succeed. She also instilled that drive in her own children, who are both very successful and independent young women now. She had a love of life and was taken way too early. She was only 59 years old.

After the service, I went to the office for a few hours before leaving to pick up my mom for her eye doctor appointment. As I've mentioned before, my mom has macular degeneration and has stated that she didn't feel like her glasses were good any longer. She had the full eye exam and her prescription glasses checked. Basically, the doctor said she is in the "end stages" of macular degeneration and that there is nothing that can be done to improve her vision and that it would just be a waste of money to get new glasses at this point. He also said that two major factors contribute to this condition - age and genetics, and then asked me when I last had my eyes checked and told me that I had a 30% chance of getting it! So, some things you can do to help prevent or slow the condition is to eat well (fruit and vegetables with every meal), don't smoke, and avoid hardcore drinking.

We left the appointment and I took my mom to a salon for some pampering. Then we came home. I made vegan lasagna for dinner and it was killer! I made a double batch of tofu ricotta from the Skinny Bitch in The Kitch cookbook, Daiya cheese, lasagna noodles, black olives and two jars of tomato and basil marinara sauce. Layer and bake for 60-75 minutes at 375F and then let it set for about 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving. I think what made this batch of lasagna sooo good was the marinara I used! As it was baking, the house spelled so fabulous!

Making some minor finishing touches to my latest mixed media "masterpiece". Then I can list the prints on Etsy. This was inspired by an episode of Antiques Roadshow. Someone showed up with collectible Dionne quintuplets dolls and that inspired this piece that I call "Dionne Catuplets". Now, I just have to finish it and list it.

Then I must run test prints of my carvings! That is on my "to-do" list daily and still isn't done. Ugh. Maybe I'll find my second wind after I finish this post and wash up the dinner dishes.

Falling out of Bed

2011-07-12T00:43:00.000-07:00

I took my mom Saturday for her massage and chiropractor appointments. Luckily, both are at the same place. She had the massage first. While my mom was having her treatments, I waited in the lobby thumbing through magazines. It was hot Saturday morning and the office didn't have A/C (not sure if they don't have it or if it wasn't working), but they had fans blasting and doors opened.

Phyllis, the massage therapist, came to the lobby to get a cup of water from the dispenser. She told me that she noticed a huge bruise on my mom's lower back. I hadn't noticed this. It turns out that while I was in San Diego on the business trip, my mom fell out of bed and that is what caused the bruise.

When I got home from my business trip, my mom did tell me she fell out of bed. She said she just woke up and was on the floor. Good thing she didn't hit her head on the corner of the nightstand! Since then, I check on her at night to make sure she is not on the edge of the bed. If she is, I have her move towards the middle.

I wonder why people fall out of bed. Could it be active dreams that cause them to roll around? I can't remember the last time I fell out bed (if I ever have). I know that my mom fell out of bed a few months back, before she came to live with me and did recall a dream she was having, and just waking up on the floor.

The massage seemed to really help her as she had been complaining about a pain in her side and low back (which I suddenly understood why she had that pain). When we got home, she knocked out on the couch for an hour and I took advantage of the quiet and worked on a mixed media painting and began carving another lino block.

I spent a good portion of the weekend working on these two projects and they are just about done! I tried taking a few pictures, but they don't look that good so I can't share them here now. Hoping to get pictures during daylight tomorrow. I'm also hoping to run some test prints of my carvings! Yes, I still haven't done that.

Visions of Sugarplums, Visions of Art to Come, and Retro Modern Projects!

2011-07-07T22:09:00.000-07:00

After my business trip Monday night to San Diego, I have found myself busy with day job work and just not being creative! Not good. Needless to say, I now have even even more sketch/collage/painting ideas that are just waiting to come to life. I still haven't test printed my weekend carvings either.

Funny thing happened at the business trip on Tuesday. I took my older Epson all-in-one with my co-worker and I so that we'd be able to print and/or scan documents we needed for our trip. I purchased a newer model printer a few months back and my older model has just been hanging out at the house unused. When I needed to scan something Tuesday morning, I lifted the cover on the printer and noticed a page there, face down. I picked it up and was so surprised to find one of the medical reports I received from Lola's State Hospital files! That was weird, I thought. I wondered why I left that there and didn't put it in the file I am keeping on her. Hmm.

It did remind me that there is still much research to do on Lola (although that is always on my mind). For one thing, I really need to take a trip to Sacramento (State Capital) to see her records as I've learned that these are public. Now, I do find that odd, considering HIPPA laws, but maybe it isn't so much about medical records being public but rather court or inmate records. Basically, Lola was in the State Hospital system and therefore considered an "inmate" and inmate records are public!

The other thing that is still a mystery is when and where my grandparents met and married. I have no clue. I would love to find something on that, especially if there is information as to who witnessed the nuptials. I find it odd that I cannot find anything documenting their marriage, yet as far as I know, they were married (my dad was not listed on his birth certificate as a bastard child).

So, while I try to get back in the creative and genealogy detective groove, let me introduce another artist I absolutely L-O-V-E! Her name is Stacy and her Etsy shop is RetroModernProjects.

I absolutely love her work! I was a child in the 60s and just love all things mid century, modern, atomic and retro. I also love shapes and lines and lino carving! She does awesome work all while raising kids! She has also had some gallery shows which is so cool and is about to release new prints! Do yourself a favor and check her out! She's quite cool. You can find her on Etsy and on Facebook!

30 Day Art Challenge - Do I Dare!

2011-07-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

Lately I feel like I have been busy with so many things that being creative has taken a backseat. I really do hate that. I know of some artists that have challenged themselves to do something creative each day in the month of July. I thought that would be fun, but I'm afraid to openly commit to it for fear of not sticking with it!

Now that this challenge was in my head, I decided on Saturday I could work on a few things to either make up for the fact that day 1 had nothing creative to offer and also in case I don't make or find the time to create during the month.

I started by pulling out the sketch pad and found a face I drew about a month ago. I thought I might be able to work on that while sitting in the beauty salon with my mom. She was getting a perm, shampoo and set, and a manicure.

I thought possibly, I could remove the "cross-hairs" from the face, and using my Prismacolor pencils, finish the drawing. Well, I didn't do that. Instead I started a brand new sketch and spent the time at the salon working on that.

Once back home, I decided to carve. I started with a soft rubber block and drew circles on it and began to carve.

I also pulled out an old carving and worked a little more on it. I can't tell you how many half carved blocks I have!

On Sunday I watched I Love Lucy and drew squares on a lino block and began to carve that. I haven't yet printed any proofs and hope to do so this week. You might ask why I don't do it today (since it is a holiday), well that would be because I have to go out of town on a business trip! Ugh. Anyway, I was happy with the way the lino carving came out.

The other "creative" thing I worked on both last night and today, was rather torturous! I was trying to create a grab button for the blog. It took me forever. Well, if you look to the right, in the sidebar, you'll see the finished product!

Etsian Artists Tuesday Treasury Challenge - Week 2

2011-06-30T01:48:00.000-07:00

This team challenge is quite fun and in it's second week. The theme was "Film". Considering my love of vintage, old movies, and black and white photos, plus the fact that I've been hanging out in the past for two years now searching for Lola, I chose to call my treasury Black and White Film. Here's my contribution to the challenge.

Go check it out. I think you'll be pleasantly surpised by the fab items and just might be so inclinded to purchase something. But if not, you can always click on items and even comment! Sunday we get to vote for the best treasury and I do have some competition here, so I will reach out again and ask that you vote.

On a family note, I took my mom to the hospital Tuesday for a barium esophagram. She has trouble lately swallowing anything from pills, vitamins, food, water, and the doctor was concerned about that. I got to hang out with the radiologist as he viewed the xrays on the monitor. They had her drink the barium and watched how it went down (a very unscientific term). The results will be in soon and we have a follow scheduled with the doctor that requested the test. The radiologist did tell me that she was in very good shape for her age, as they had her laying in various positions of the table while drinking the barium. She told me it wasn't bad at all.

Shopping With Me Is Not Always Fun

2011-06-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder just why things happen. For example, why did I fall and fracture my nose? Who knows, really. I suppose we can surmise all we want, but will we every really know why?

Yesterday I found myself having one of those "why did this happen" moments. I promised my mom I would take her to Sears. We were both in the market for new lingerie and I wanted to get a few blouses. We also had to run to Target, get cat food, go to Staples for ink for my printer, and to Rite Aid to pick up and to fill prescriptions for my mom.

Well, we went to Sears first and scored! The bras we wanted to on rack for 30% off! When I scanned them at the price scanner (a weird habit of mine), I noticed they came up at full price. I decided to question that and turns out the sale ended Saturday but no one took the sign down. We got the Maidenform bras at the sale price!

Then to Target at the Galleria. Now, I don't generally go there because it is insanely crowded. This Target is at the Glendale Galleria and across the street from this somewhat new monstrosity called Americana. Being cheap, most people don't want to pay to park at the Americana, so they park at Target/Galleria, and it is always a nightmare. We lucked into a close parking spot, went in and got our items. Heading out, the stupid shopping cart locked and I had to carry my purchases which included two 15 lb boxes of cat litter. I was annoyed.

As we walked to the car, my mom was having trouble seeing in the structure (she has macular degeneration) and people drive through it like it's a race track. I couldn't hold her hand or help her as I was carrying the cat litter. We got to the car, put the purchases in and split. I was, for some reason, flustered at that point and when we went to the next shopping center for cat food and ink, I did something I've never done before - I locked my keys in the car! I was nearly in tears. It was by now 5PM Sunday and the last thing I wanted to do was be stuck in a parking lot waiting for help. I did leave the window down a bit and went into a frenzy mode and attempted several times to stick my arm through the opening to try to pull up the lock on the door.

It just didn't work. I would push down on the window, stick my arm in and then the window would go back up and I'd feel pain on my forearm and would have to push it back down in order to pull my arm out. Ultimately, I had to call Auto Club and within 30 minutes the car was open. Needless to say, I didn't get home until 6PM and basically was so annoyed that I didn't work on any the paintings that are currently in my sketchbooks waiting to hit the canvas.

When I did get home, I noticed just how much my forearms hurt and actually looked at them. I was horrified! I looked (and still do look) like a junkie all bruised and battered.

Needless to say, I was pretty cranky and my poor mom had to put up with me and my anger over this. I apologized to her for being such a bitch; I truly felt bad. If she wanted to rip my head off, she never showed it. She can be a real saint and lives up to the one she was named after, Saint Cecelia.

After I barely calmed down, I made dinner and managed to make an Etsy Treasury. It is dedicated to the talented artists out there that also manage to blog! There are some mighty fine things included, so do check it out. BTW, I'm still trying to figure out how to actually showcase Treasuries here on the blog and haven't yet made it happen.

So after a drama filled day, I woke up this morning to find that I was featured on a very cool blog! I was jazzed. Thanks to Black Friday Studios for the feature! My fourth in a week! Wow. I shall feature Katt here soon and you will be glad I did! She is an amazing artist and an animal lover.

Fabulous Finds...and more

2011-06-26T02:08:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to do so many things right now - spend time with my mom and help her out; produce art; actively promote my work and promote the work of other artists; and trying to do this with recently cut work hours and still trying to solve mysteries of my grandmother, Lola, and her family.

Time management has never been a strength of mine, and I'm hoping to get that under control. So I think that while I try to better manage time and family research and producing art, I shall start a new feature here. I will start sharing art of others I admire. I will decide just how I'm going to do that (maybe a weekly feature) and will now test the waters. As to not yet commit myself to a particular day of the week, I shall begin with calling this "Fabulous Finds" and leave it at that.

So, may I present my first Fabulous Find! Elizabeth from Oddball Art Co. was the first blogger to feature my art on her blog! She also created a team on Etsy and invited to join! She is a multi-talented human being. A woman who is a cancer survivor, an artist, a blogger; who has art shows, maintains blogs and on line teams, just to name a few things. And, like me, she's a crazy cat lady in progress!

I admire her so much. The fact that she's out there, exhibiting her fabulous art and a working artist, is something I dream of. Her work is so appealing and touches so many.

Busy Week and A Few More Blog Features!

2011-06-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy week. Let's just say the week started this past Saturday. I took my mom to the chiropractor and then to get her hair done. After that, we went to a wonderful dinner party to visit with some friends that were in from Denver. We all had a great time.

On Sunday I had an invitation to join the fabulous Etsian Artists Team on Etsy. I have always been a bit hesitant about joining a team because there is a commitment involved and I wasn't sure I could fully participate with my current schedule. But, I decided to bite the bullet and join the team. I am glad I did. Great artists and a great support group.

Since joining this group on Sunday, I have been featured in several Etsy Treasuries (I'll post those over the weekend) and featured on the team blog. I have also contributed two treasuries of my own (I'll post those also).

Today, I got up for work, went in and left to take my mom to another doctor's appointment. After that, we went to pick up her prescription that I had filled and came home. I was then able to finish up some work from here. Also, today, I was featured in three team treasuries and one of my prints was featured on a great blog! Thanks to the very talented Em at Jazzy Gems by Em blog for including me! I was so jazzed that I had to go buy a lottery ticket. Now I need to check that!

All week I've been attempting to do another mixed media painting. It just hasn't happened yet, though. I have the idea sketched out and a little hint is that it was inspired by an episode of Antiques Roadshow this week. All I will say now is that someone brought a stroller with dolls in it to the show. The dolls were the Dionne Quintuplets!

I Was Featured in a Blog!

2011-06-20T23:28:00.000-07:00

And was I ever jazzed! A very cool and talented artist found my art via Esty and featured me in her weekly Fabulous Friday Finds. There's a first for everything.

I must say thank you to Elizabeth from Oddball Art Co! I am still walking with my head in the clouds over being featured on someone's blog!! You can check out Elizabeth's cool art here.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T00:39:00.000-07:00

I wish all you awesome dads out there a very Happy Father's Day. Dad's are such special people. They teach us, guide us, scold us, and, often, just don't "like" us. But in the end, they love us. Sometimes, they even spoil us.

Who, but a dad, could thank you, year after year, for yet another tie? Who would go to work all day and come home and play catch with you (hopefully not wearing shorts with his work socks)? Who would drop you off at the midnight movies because you didn't drive yet (and bust you smoking a cigarette and not tell your mom for a year)? Who welcomed your friends into the home and treated them like his own kids? Your dad did.

I have many memories of my dad and am really thankful for the time I had with him. This year marks the sixth Father's Day without my dad. Six years of not getting him a tie or a bottle of Jim Beam or a ticket to see Tom Jones for Father's Day. Six years ago on May 1, 2005, my dad had his three daughters with him on his last day visiting, looking at pictures, having lunch and meeting with the hospice nurse. He was failing and ready to go and I feel we were finally ready to let him go. He had been suffering with heart failure but was stubborn, and I believe, waiting for one last chance to have us kids together with him. He had a wonderful day, and for that, I am so thankful. Of the many fond memories I have of my dad, one will always stick with me.

I was raised by a mother that at the time would have been considered either a "food faddist" or a "health food nut". We didn't have white bread or white rice, and white sugar was scarce. We also didn't have dessert on any regular basis. My mom brought us up to believe that yogurt or cottage cheese with canned peaches was dessert. On occasion, she would bake peanut butter cookies and then my little sister and I would get one cookie each, one night a week, before going to bed. That was a treat!

My dad basically went along with my mom's "rules", as long as he had the stuff he liked. He was a major meat and potatoes guy that was raised in the depression and considered things like hot dogs and sliced potatoes to be comfort food.

My parents would usually do the weekly grocery shopping on Saturdays. Sometimes, though, things ran out during the week, or were just missed on the Saturday shopping trip. My sister, Carol, and I were both determined to try this Imperial Margarine. Why not, really? After all, you could eat a piece of bread that was "buttered" with this margarine, and music would play and a crown would suddenly be on your head! Well, who wouldn't want that? We begged my mom for this margarine, but to no avail. She was a Mazola gal all the way. That was the only margarine allowed in our house.

It just so happened that the Mazola was out and an "emergency", out of the weekly norm shopping trip was required. My dad was pegged with that job. My dad was nowhere near as strict with products as my mom. Carol and I went to the store with our dad. Our begging worked with him and luckily we convinced him to get Imperial Margarine instead of Mazola. We were quite excited. The crown was finally in sight!

Well, we got home and unpacked the grocery bag. Much to my mom's horror, we did not bring home Mazola. She hit the roof and demanded this "crap" be returned and replaced with Mazola. We lost the battle. My dad gave in and off to the store he went to return the Imperial. Needless to say, Carol and I were not happy. The crown that was so close, was now completely out of reach.

He did try in so many ways to make us happy (even if my mom didn't approve). I miss my dad, but am happy for the time that I had him in my life. I also respect the fact that no matter how tough it may have been to provide for a family (and yes, my mom worked too), no matter how much he may have wanted to split (he said there were times) or how much he may have wanted to slap me for mouthing off (oh yeah, often), he stuck it out and did the best he could! What more could you ask for?

Happy Father's Day, guys! I share this so that you may understand that the little things you do, really ARE meaningful. You don't have to buy your kid a car to be special (unless you've raised a monster of course). I raise my glass to you and wish you a wonderful day!

Sugar Sugar

2011-05-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

I am an avid animal lover and am rather ruled by my adorable pets. I would do anything in my power to make sure they are safe, healthy and happy. While checking my Etsy shop activity this evening, I noticed a seller had added my shop to her favorites. I had to go check out her shop and noticed that she makes lovely jewelry and all proceeds are going to pay for her adorable dog, Sugar's needed surgery. Sugar is 3 1/2 years old and must have surgery on her knees as she has torn the ACL. You can even help out by purchasing jewelry or even a $5 print of Sugar (which I did). It does feel good to help someone out!

You can check out Sarah's shop here.

The Complimentary Panhandler

2011-05-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

Today my mom and I ran some much needed errands. I was very proud of her as she chose to go out without her walker today. Since her fall in March when she fractured her pelvis, she had become quite dependant on first a wheelchair and then a walker.

We went to Target and she pushed the shopping cart in lieu of having her walker. I did weigh it down a bit with boxes of cat litter and it finally did get too heavy for her. I then took over the cart and she held her own beautifully.

We left Target and went to Petco for cat food. We had the pleasure of meeting two little adorable brother and sister Pomeranian puppies! They were so precious and active and just loved the all the attention my mom and I showered them with.

While wrapping up our shopping trip and climbing back in the car to go home, a panhandler approached and asked if I had any change to spare. He was very polite in his approach. I told him, "sorry I don't have any cash on me". He "blessed" me and complimented my hair. Said he loved the "frizzy" look! What?? I use leave-in condition and thought that was under control. LOL.

So, we left the Petco shopping center and drove to the Ralphs by the house. We picked up grocery items needed, but this Ralphs didn't have everything I needed for the dinner I planned to make, but my mom was tired and ready to go home. So, home we went and I unloaded the groceries and purchases with the help of my sister and got my mom settled. Then my sister and I headed out to a different Ralphs to pick up the final groceries needed.

While at the second Ralphs, I ran into a co-worker and we briefly chatted and then my sister and I checked out and then got lottery tickets (duds, I might add). Then, as we were chatting and walking out of the store, two men (a blonde and a brunette) were walking in. The blonde was yelling at a woman behind them and this caught us off guard as we were busy chatting. The guy was yelling, "I'm an American and you're going to call the cops on me! You were talking on your phone while driving and could kill people (or something like that). We don't do that here." The woman, in her thick accent, said, "you're sick", all the while holding her phone to her ear. Then, out of the blue, the blonde guy said with such attitude, "Honey...". Well, I heard that and suddenly lost all other words out of his mouth because I could only think, "oh he must be gay with that tone in his 'honey'!"

This was truly the most interesting shopping experience I've experienced and I only wish I would have caught that encounter in it's early stages and had a phone with video so I could have made a fun short film of it. Oh well, maybe next time.

Neil Young by Jimmy Fallon

2011-05-28T00:55:00.000-07:00

I'm a long time Neil Young fan. Whether he was solo, in Crazy Horse, CSNY, or Buffalo Springfield, I just loved the music and songs. A few days ago, a friend shared this video of Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen singing the Willow Smith song, Whip My Hair. I thought, "really?", so I watched it. I died laughing! It was not only hysterical but the best Neil Young I've seen (besides the real Neil Young). Considering I don't stay up late enough to catch Jimmy Fallon, I had no idea he was so good at imitating Neil Young. Bruce Springsteen is played by Bruce Springsteen. I am now going to have to surf Youtube for more Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young songs. Enjoy.

It's Been A While...

2011-05-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

Since my last post here, I have been busy getting things ready around this place to move my mom in. After she fell and fractured her pelvis in March, the decision was made that she shouldn't live alone (although in a senior apartment complex) any longer.

Well, between cleaning up at her place, getting her house ready to rent out, cleaning around my place to make room for her, and going to a day job, my time has felt less like my own. There is still so much to do - changing her doctors, finding her meds, calling in prescriptions, making her lunches in the morning, etc. I am also looking for a place that I can take her for a few hours one day a week so that she is out mingling with people. Maybe a senior center would be good.

I also had my own accident. I was getting ready to crash one night a little over a week ago and was carrying clean laundry to the room to put away. One of the cats was laying on the bed stretched out and looking so cute and I was walking towards the dresser looking over my shoulder at him and BAM, I walked right into the cat scratching post, tripped and fell. Lucky (not) for me, I fell face down onto the dresser! Ouch. My nose began to bleed and I ran to the bathroom to stop the bleeding. Amazingly, I managed to get to the bathroom and grab a towel without dropping blood anywhere! Once I got the bleeding to stop and my nerve up to look in the mirror, I could see the swelling on the bridge of my nose which made me look like the Beast from Beauty and the Beast!

I then grabbed an ice pack and went to bed. In the morning, I had two black eyes and went to urgent care. Everything is OK. Thank God my nose wasn't broken - just a minor fracture. The swelling has now gone down considerably, the bruising is going away and the black eyes are disappearing!

I hope to get our new arrangement into a groove so that I can get back to creating art. I had ordered supplies to make glass pendants but haven't done them yet. I also tried making badges with the manual Badge-A-Minit, and they kept falling apart. I know if I can't make a badge with that thing, I'll never be able to make a pocket mirror. I may need to invest in a better machine!

I am really happy that I now have my mom with me and am happy knowing she isn't alone at night. In the past, her blood pressure spikes and her fall (all landing her in the hospital several times this year) happened at night when she was alone.

Rest in Peace, Dad

2011-05-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it was six years ago today that I lost my dad. I wonder what he'd think about my finding his mother, Lola! If he was still alive, he'd not be happy with me.

Happy Easter, and...

2011-04-23T03:09:00.000-07:00

To some, Easter is the rebirth of Christ. To some it is the rebirth of the Earth and renewal of the inhabitants of the Earth. Either way, I can't help but wonder what Easter (or any holiday for that matter) may have meant to my grandmother while she was locked up in the system. I personally like the idea of rebirth and change but could Lola ever have that? A depressed woman lost touch (possibly) with her family and basically had nothing. She spent the last 24 years of her life in the system. I wonder what hope she may have felt. I wonder just how many of her family members and friends (religious or not) ever bothered to pay her a visit. Was she someone that could handle a visit? I don't know and this is something I am now trying to find out.

From the records I now have, I know that her whereabouts do not jive with what I was told. My dad mentioned that the last time he saw her (at the urging of his first wife) she was at Norwalk State Hospital. Based on the timing of my dad's first marriage, Lola was not in Norwalk, but Camarillo. Why did my dad say she Norwalk? I don't know and now I cannot ask him. I know this was painful for him and, therefore, something he wouldn't speak much of. I also now know that depression is no big deal (unless you're living with it) yet in the 1930s was enough to change the course of one's life depending on one's ability to cope with the condition. In many cases, including Lola's, you could be locked up and untreated. Once released, it just possibly got worse and ruined relationships with family and friends (again, based on ability to cope) and that was during a time when these rather common conditions were not so common and rather unsavory, and a time when this was just rather shameful and not talked about.

My Birthday So Far

2011-04-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

Today was my birthday. It was very nice considering it fell on a full moon Monday and I worked all day. I went to the Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks concert at the Hollywood Bowl Saturday night (thanks Rach)! Sunday I won $20 on a $2 scratcher. Plus, today I had tons of well wishes on Facebook, phone calls, emails, got flowers, cards, nice gifts and topped it off with Dancing With The Stars.

Prior to that I did find my grandmother recently. This time last year I was thinking it would have been such a great birthday gift if someone found her and presented that to me for my birthday. But in the end, one year later (almost), I found her and that was a great gift. I also got copies of some great pictures of Red (my grandfather) as a young man and pictures of my dad as a young boy from a cousin of mine! Those pictures are so special and I need to scan these and send them to my big sister.

My mom is doing much better and will be moving in with me. I look forward to spending more time with her while we can. Ever since telling her this, she has just been so upbeat and chatty! I'm so happy that she's looking forward to this and won't be so lonely in her final years.

I Got the Medical Records

2011-04-11T23:12:00.001-07:00

They came this past Friday and I'm still taking it all in. A few things of note:

Lola had her first "attack" in January of 1930 and it was diagnosed as symptomatic depression. She was admitted to a facility that I still cannot find and then paroled to another mysterious facility and released.

Lola was admitted in 1936 (the second time) as Marie. According to records I have, she stated her name was Madeline and not Marie, yet the previous records indicated she was admitted as Lola L. Robinson.

The doctor that wrote the initial admittance certificate (or whatever it was truly called) in 1936, was the same doctor that delivered me 24 years later in the same city! How weird is that?

Lola died eight days before I was born and died at DeWitt State Hospital.

DeWitt attempted to contact family for permission to do an autopsy. They contacted "her mother". It wasn't really her mother, but her father's second wife and widow (George Cloos died in 1947). Grace, George's widow, didn't feel she had the authority to grant that and suggested DeWitt contact Lola's husband or son. This was the first I'd ever seen that anyone in the family knew of my dad. The hospital couldn't find either and went back to Grace for help. She suggested then that they contact Lola's brother and gave them contact information. He also suggested they contact Lola's husband or son (apparently no longer in touch and unaware of the fact that Red was dead and my dad nowhere to be found). When DeWitt responded that they couldn't find anyone to grant permission for an autopsy, Bill granted it.

Lola had one child deceased (Raymond), one child living (Robert) and one miscarriage.

After Lola's first "attack" in 1930, she was never the same (according to Red) and their marriage deteriorated and he left her in 1934.

Lola's religion was listed as Jewish and the records indicate that her mother was. My oh so scandalous great grandmother, Effie Beck, was apparently Jewish, according to these records (and is certainly deserving of a book about her life). I am completely fascinated by her.

This is but a small portion as there is much to digest and I haven't quite digested it all.

I Found Lola

2011-04-03T15:24:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I mentioned the death certificate I ordered for Marie Robinson. There were similarities that made me go ahead and order it. The last name, state of birth, year and month of birth and mother's maiden name. The one thing that didn't match was the first name. Well, the death certificate arrived on Tuesday and it is Lola! I couldn't believe it. Not only did the death certificate list Effie Beck as her mother, it listed George Cloos (born in Germany) as her father. It also listed Earl (Red, my grandfather) as her husband and listed marital status as separated.

I was and still am excited, shocked and sad all at the same time. She died and was buried under the name Marie, and I need to research that. I know where she is buried and now am ready to begin the next phase of my search - still so many questions.

She died in Auburn, California at DeWitt State Hospital. DeWitt closed in the early 1970s and through the State of California Department of Mental Health's website, I was able to find out where the records for DeWitt are maintained.

I called the Fairview Developmental Center (they maintain the records for DeWitt) on Wednesday. I gave the woman the info I had and she asked for my phone number and said she'd check the records. She called me back a few hours later - she found them!! She gave me a few little details and asked for my address so she could send me the records release form. She also told me what I would need to send back with the completed form (a copy of my birth certificate and a copy of my dad's to prove the relationship). Now I'm not sure yet what all I can expect to receive, and the form is a bit confusing, so I will have to call her tomorrow for some clarification.

So, Lola was in the state system as Marie. This might explain why Metropolitan State Hospital (where my dad said she was) claimed she wasn't at their facility. I plan to also contact them again and ask if they have records for Marie Robinson. Stay tuned as there will be more to come as this mystery unfolds.

Baby The Rain Must Fall, and Other Things

2011-03-20T23:15:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of Spring and it rained non-stop. We also had wind like crazy! Not being one to like venturing out in storms, I hung out at home today just waiting for a break in the rain to run out for cat food. It never happened (the break in the rain, that is, but the cats did get food). So, while waiting, I began wondering where else I could look to find anything on Lola. I decided to visit Rootsweb and do a search of the California Death Index. I have not been able to find a death certificate for Lola, nor could I find her in the Social Security Death Index. This may very well have to do with the fact that she could have remarried and died under a different name.

I had an idea to search the California Death Index and this time not provide so much information. This time my search was based only on last name, gender, year of birth and birth state (Robinson, female, 1894, Illinois). The search results came back with nine women. As I looked at the results, one made me gasp! Turns out a Marie Robinson was born in Illinois on October 14, 1894. All records I can find indicate that Lola was born in Illinois in October of 1894. Marie Robinson's mother's maiden name was Beck. Lola's mother was Effie Beck. Marie Robinson died in Placer County California in 1960 (the index does not give a city) and it appears that Marie did not have a social security card.

Now, it may seem like I'm grasping at straws here, and trust me, I've done it before more than once. I have had other things arise that seemed like a possibility and when I got to view the death certificate, it wasn't her, and this may be another one of those cases, but, I just can't let it go. I can't get past the fact that for the first time, I found someone that had the birth month and birth year of Lola, plus a mother named Beck. Not to mention her place (state) of her birth. I have to get the death certificate. I also did a little research on the Rootsweb message boards for Placer County and learned that there was a Sanitarium in the County that at some point housed mental patients. I have filled out the application for death certificate and will put that in the mail tomorrow. My fingers are crossed.

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. My younger sister and I went to visit her. Her helper and friend, Galeen, organized a very nice birthday lunch for my mom. She got lots of nice cards and gifts. One of her friends loaned her a wheelchair as she is having trouble getting around since falling last weekend. My mom shared her birthday celebration with another friend of hers, Evy, who actually turned 90 today. It was a very nice day. My mom was so very happy that we were there and my sister and I both had different telling us that she looked so happy (she hasn't looked way for a long time). Need to seriously make steps to move her closer to us.

An Interesting Weekend

2011-03-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was interesting. I had Friday off and went to check out a place that sells overstock items with my sister and my friend. We wanted to see what they had that we could then try selling on Ebay. The three of us went there each wanting to see cosmetics. Well, there wasn't much. We got a tour and met with an "account manager" who really tried to talk us into selling BIG (by that, I mean, buying thousand dollar plus pallets). We were not ready for that.

Then on Saturday, I went on a fun bus tour of crimes in the East Los Angeles Area. This was the third crime bus tour I had taken and it was so much fun. These tours, offered through Esotouric, are fun and informative. We even went to Evergreen Cemetery and I learned that the old "potter's field" used to be there. I also found out that there is a list of unclaimed people who were buried there and now I need to find out how I can view that list. There's a part of me that thinks Lola may have been buried in such a fashion, but until I can find out if she ever left Norwalk State Hospital, this is pure speculation on my part.

Sunday morning, my mom called. She had fallen the night before and hurt her leg. She spent the night in the ER and was released in the early morning hours once all vitals were checked and her leg and hip checked. She has been struggling with getting around since then as she is using a walker and that is difficult for her. Plus, her leg is hurting and she is just very tired. The doctor told her she needs a good solid few days of rest and she has been heeding that advice.

On the creative side of the weekend, I finally got the perfect template for greeting cards of my prints. They came out really nice, and now I need to get good pictures of them to list. I took tons of pictures Sunday and really didn't like how they came out, so back to the "drawing board". I never thought it would be so difficult to get good pictures of things.

Wordless Wednesday - My Great Uncle George Cloos

2011-03-09T22:21:00.000-08:00

Like my great uncle Bill, I never knew George and only learned of him last year when I began searching for my grandmother, Lola Cloos Robinson. This is a picture of George on his wedding day. He married a young lady named Bessie. The funny thing is that George had a sister named Bessie and his bride, Bessie, had a brother named George!

Go Cat Go

2011-03-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

Growing up in the 60s, I was surrounded by great music. My parents listened to Big Band, cocktail music, Sinatra and the like. My older sister listened to all the groovy music of the time. We had a console stereo and we had cats.

My dad was also quite the Louie Prima fan and we did hear Prima often in our house. Louie Prima playing on the console stereo was my inspiration for this mixed media painting:

This happy and cool cat listening to cool tunes on the console stereo is available in my Etsy shop and my ArtFire studio.