An Interesting Weekend

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.

Song of the Week - 21

So another long period of time has come and gone since my last "Song of the Week" post. Actually, too many periods of time are passing in between any posts lately. This past weekend went by fast (as most do). Friday night started off with a fabulous Christmas dinner party for the department I work in. It was a very nice evening. Besides that, the weekend found me sleeping, working on cleaning up a few of my images so that I can relist items in my Etsy shop, listing a few new prints, running errands. Then suddenly it was Sunday night. Where does the time go?

I am so much more aware of time now that I'm older than I ever was when I was younger. Does it truly go by faster as we get older, or are we just more aware of it? Am I at an age where I'm aware of the fact that I don't have "all the time in the world" and now it seems to be slipping away? I'm surely not the only one that wonders about this.

So Sunday evening as I was sitting on my patio, this week's song popped into my head. It probably did because I was in the midst of wondering where the hell the weekend went! When I went back into the house, I did an Internet search of the song and just couldn't believe that it was recorded 40 years ago! Wow. I remember being a kid and hearing it on the radio. I also remember my older sis having an album with this song on it. I can't really say if it was the debut album or if she had a "best of", but I do remember hearing it on the radio, her album playing on the console stereo and singing this song. Dare I say, it is timeless!

How can it be that I am now eligible for AARP, and nowhere near where my teen self would have expected me to be in life. Somehow, through the years, I lost touch with the dreams of my teen self and fell into line with the "norm" - get a job, blah, blah, blah. It's been OK as I've earned money and made some good friends along the way, but it hasn't been heart driven, and therefore, does not make a happy person. I rather, just go through the motions daily and feel depleted. I really need to make changes and soon, as time waits for no one (to quote The Rolling Stones)!

What would I really like? I would really like to draw, paint, write, find my grandmother, print on fabric, and get paid to do this. Oh, and be happy at the same time. I don't think that's too "out there" or too much to ask for. Just need to figure out how to make that a reality. I also hope that what I create in pure joy, brings that to others. In the meantime...

The Business Trip

Business trips are not something I do often. I have probably taken about four in the past two years. So, now I'm on another one. I suppose it is time.

I have been planning my research trip to Iowa and Illinois, just not getting it together, for several months now. I really wanted to go in the spring when the weather would be mild, but, just didn't make it happen. Part of the reason is that I have been attempting to make contact with family in Illinois, hoping for contacts before hitting the road. Establishing these contacts, oddly enough, hasn't been happening "overnight".

I have now been uncovering living members of Red's family, slowly, but by the time I had, the weather began to change. Summer arrived and so did heat and humidity in the Mid-West. Being a California girl, I decided I should push the trip out to the Fall when the weather will once again be mild.

Once I made that decision, I was asked to take this trip. So now, here I am in Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL. It has been hot, warm and humid, and has been raining off and on since I arrived. Luckily cars and buildings have really good air conditioning, so the warm, humid, balmy weather is only felt when leaving a building for the car and visa verse.

I arrived in Mobile, AL on a Sunday night. When I walked out of the airport, I gasped. It was hot and humid and after 8 PM. That is NOT normal where I come from. The following day, I went to lunch with some of the people from the office and on our way back to work we saw two guys throwing blows on the divider between the highway and the service road! I couldn't believe what I was seeing!

I stayed at the Quality Inn in Mobile. There is one elevator in the place and someone dropped a piece of birthday cake in the elevator, picked it up but left tons of icing on the elevator floor. This was my first night there. The icing was still there Monday morning, but was finally cleaned up by the time I got back Monday night. Monday night was a late work night, so one of the managers decided to order pizza. I asked for a veggie pizza with no cheese. The pizza arrived and I got a pizza crust with sauce and no veggies. OK.

Wednesday night I needed to head down to Pensacola for a few days. Had to tough it out staying at the Hilton on the gulf. I had the most amazing view.



I ended up spending a week there and returned to Mobile this past Wednesday, back to the Quality Inn where my view isn't so grand; it's the Econo Lodge and the newly paved parking lot. Since being back in Mobile, I had lunch at LuLu's in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Jimmy Buffett's sister, Lucy, owns it. It was a busy place. Had a yummy salad and unsweetened iced tea.

Today, I went to a pretty cool store with a fun co-worker for a quick shopping trip. I saw the coolest T-shirts that I have never seen before. Fun designs screened on nice cotton. The line is called "Life is Good". I loved the whimsical designs and how these guys that started it are making a living doing something they love.

After hosting a short training course for a few new employees, I ran to Target to pick up the Netbook I've been eyeing since June when I attended a Genealogy convention. I couldn't believe it was on sale and selling for a reduction of $50! So, I got to Target and they were sold out and wouldn't give me a rain check. I just hope the sale will still be on tomorrow when I get home so I can pick it up and the sale price.

I ended my day and my trip with a fun dinner with some of the ladies from the office. We went to a fun place in the old downtown part of Mobile. It was quite pretty there. A nice mix of old and new, without the new being overpowering.

My time here has pretty much been non-stop work, but I did get to oh so briefly play tourist. I do like going to places where the lifestyle is so opposite of what I'm used to and I did have fun with my co-workers. I have missed sleeping in my own bed and I have really missed my cats! I can't wait to see them. With the majority of the past two weeks being pretty much consumed by work, my sketchbooks that came here with me were pretty much ignored. The other thing pretty much ignored, was my search for my grandmother, Lola. I did spend a little time working on my Ancestry.com family tree last night. A "little time" turned into a good hour and a half. As tired as I was, I couldn't pull myself away from it. I look forward to getting home and getting back on that search.

Who's your mother, William?

As I've mentioned before, Lola had siblings. One that has intrigued me since I've learned about him is her youngest brother, William. William was born in Joliet, IL in 1901. Sometime between his birth and the 1910 Census, Lola's father, George, apparently abandoned his young family, leaving his homemaker wife and five children to fend for themselves. This caused his homemaker wife, Effie, and her five children to fall into "the system" at the time. All six members of the family lived in the homes of others, working either as servants, domestics or farm hands for board. They were in various towns in Illinois, with the exception of the youngest, 8 year old William. He was in Iowa.

Naturally, the detective in me can't stop wondering how an 8 year old ended up in a differnt state than his mother and his siblings. What is the connection? Was there a connection? Was he just a small child with the good fortune (or some might think misfortune) of landing on an Orphan Train, in the hopes of a loving family and a better life? I don't yet know that answer, but am determined to find out. Again, I'm intrigured by William's story, just as much as I'm intrigued by Lola's story. At some point, the older couple William was living with, adopted him. They already had three older children that by 1910 were no longer living in their home. These three children were all born in Germany prior to the family immigrating to the US.

I have thus far been to the Los Angeles County Registrar's office three times in search of vital records and once to the Orange County Clerk's office for the same. In those three trips, I did find most records in regards to William that I wanted. William had three wives, outlived at least one, and died in Los Angeles in 1977. His death certificate lists his adoptive parents, Henry and Etta.

He married his first wife in 1926 in Alameda County. He and his wife lived together then in Los Angeles (I found them in city directories) until she filed for, and was granted a divorce in 1936. I found her living alone in that same city in 1936, and then lost track of her. She may have remarried, changing her last name, thus making the search a little challenging. I am going to attempt to obtain both their marriage certificate and their divorce record. I'm not sure if these records might hold clues, but you never know.

William married his second wife in Los Angeles in 1942, and this was his longest marriage. Sadly, it ended with her death in 1959. I pulled that record and was more than pretty suprised. Most vital records indicate a place of birth, father's name and place of birth and mother's name and place of birth. This particular record was no different. It listed his city of birth (good so that I now know where to go for his birth record), his father and his mother. He listed his adoptive father, Henry, from Iowa (Henry was from Germany) and as his mother he listed not his adoptive mother or what I've always felt was his birth mother, but rather a name that didn't make sense (although I could identify these names). He listed the first name of his "adoptive" sister and Lola's married name as the last name! My jaw dropped and I said out loud, "what the hell?".

William's third marriage in 1961, actually listed Lola's parents (and the parents I always felt were his birth parents), George from Germany and Effie from Pennsylvania. When you are looking for answers, these documents are invaluable. Mind you, they are old, but they contain names of witnesses and/or survivors (depending on the document). In my experience, once you have these names, you can search for them.

I am happy to report that I have found survivors and have reached out. This is truly exciting. Where they may not hold answers to Lola, they may very well hold answers to William. I am so thankful right now. I have been lucky enough to connect with family; something I have not had a lot of growing up on my father's side. What I find so sad, is that I could have have known him and the family in life. He died when I was a teenager. Unfortunately, my dad never told us about him. I can't hold that against my dad, as I have absolutely no idea what it must have been like for him, being a child in a horrible situation. I only wish he could have found peace with that part of his life while he was still alive. This indeed, is turning into a great and exciting adventure.

The Big 5-0

Wow. I turned 50 today! Never in a million years did I think this would be so easy and so much fun. This past week has been just amazing. Last Saturday, my friends threw a fabulous and fun birthday party for me. I got tons of wonderful gifts and hysterical birthday cards! Lots of old and new friends came to help celebrate. Great weather, food, company! What more...



Well, since I've been searching for my grandmother, Lola, I've discovered much about her immediate family. As I've mentioned before, she had a baby brother, William, that somehow ended up in Iowa as an 8 year old, ultimately being adopted by another family. Lola and William did manage to remain in contact and when he was a young man of 19, he did live with Lola and Red (my grandfather) in Iowa in 1920. Thanks to a handy feature on Ancestry.com, I was able to establish contact with someone who was also searching for William. Wendy is the granddaughter of one of the children also adopted by the family in Iowa that adopted William. I guess that makes us second cousins or something. Well, let me tell you that Wendy is quite the detective and extremely savvy with the ancestry research.

Knowing that my sis and I were looking for information on the death of our dad's brother, Wendy reached out to the community my dad was born in via message boards. Almost immediately a stranger replied. This stranger went out and found information on my dad's brother. I was near tears. Based on what she told us, I knew it was him and so did my sister. He was buried on 8 July 1920, in a cemetery in Mason City, Iowa. There is no headstone (leads me to believe my grandparents couldn't afford one) and the section of cemetery he was buried in indicates that he was either an infant or young child. He was four years and eight months old when he died. My grandfather was listed as living relative. The interesting thing is that we were always of the impression that Raymond had drowned. The cemetery records did not indicate that, but rather mentioned something about the heart. I am truly amazed and thankful that a stranger went out to the cemetery and the genealogy library to check records for a stranger.

For my birthday, my sister and our friend Karen treated me to a fun tour of sixties homes in Brentwood, CA. It was so much fun and one home in particular was calling out to me to move in! It was fabulous. I love the ranch style homes and the four on the tour today, were just that! To me, no design can come close to the atomic ranch style home. I live in Southern California and craftsman style is huge, but ranch is still the best in my opinion!

To top off a really great week, a few of my friends bought me a special birthday gift! This is the one thing I begged for year after year as a kid in the 60s, but never got. I did, however, get the accessory kit one year. My dad thought this "toy" was a waste since we had the real thing in the house. This thought was surely typical of someone growing up during the depression. When I opened it, I looked up towards the sky and said, "Dad, I finally got it!". Woo hoo.


What a great birthday! When I was a teenager, I would have never thought this possible, nor did I imagine being 50. Back then, 50 was something ancient, polyester, bouffanted, dull and old. I think 50 must be the new 30! So, to wrap up one hell of a great birthday week, I thought I should share a favorite childhood song. To this day, I can't hear it without jumping up and doing the pony! I guess the title of this song sort of lends itself to the Easy Bake Oven (Sugar Sugar).

Historic West Adams District

When I wrote out my 2010 goals, one is to have more fun. In keeping with that, I went on a fabulous bus tour of the Historic West Adams District of Los Angeles. The tour was offered through a local company called Esotouric. If you're in the LA area, I highly recommend them. This was the second tour they offer that I've taken. Well worth the time and the price. It was a beautiful, rain-free day (after nearly an entire week of rain) and just perfect for some photo ops.

We toured neighborhoods, viewing beautiful homes and beautiful architecture. Just amazing. We would also stop in front of various homes to hear tales of a murder or a crime that happened at those exact locations decades ago. We also stopped in front of the house where Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his father. A particularly disturbing fact was that during the 1920s, child abduction, molestation and murder, seemed quite prevalent. Made me think of the movie "The Changeling".

Near the end of the tour, we paid a visit to Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery. What a magnificent place! Founded in 1884, this is the resting place of many notable characters such as Louise Peete (convicted serial killer) and Fernando Lamas. The grounds are kept well and are peppered with flowers and tall palm trees.



What intrigued me the most about this cemetery was all the headstones and mausoleums. I felt like I was in New Orleans. I had no idea that a cemetery with so many headstones exists in LA. These became my photo op.

Massive headstones of winged angels and towering crosses with possible guardians on watch:





I can only imagine back at the turn of the last century these amazing sculptures were handmade and surely quite pricey. However, I haven't researched this and could totally be wrong and possibly molds were in existence. After all winged angels, guardians, crosses, and the like, surely was common cemetery decor. Of all the wonderful headstones, the one that mesmerized me was the one I call "The Mourner":



This is something I don't think I've ever seen. I have seen footage and photos of cemeteries, but none that contained anything quite like this "Mourner". It was as if I could feel her pain:



I think I shall have to make another trip there in the future for more photo ops and to see if I can find the graves of the notable "residents". This trip found me so caught up in photographing the cemetery "art" that I didn't think to look for the famous.