Aunt Ronnie and Uncle Jimmy Gildea

I have such fond memories of my Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Ronnie. Aunt Ronnie is my mother's cousin.

Uncle Jimmy....what a great guy. I remember as a child he would greet us with an "Eskimo kiss." I still wanted to do that as an adult whenever I saw Uncle Jimmy. I also remember a conversation that I had with him telling him that I really like the little crinkles at the corners of his eyes....I am pretty sure that made him feel good. I have no idea how old I was then.

Once when Uncle Jim and Aunt Ronnie were visiting, I called my Mom's house from work...between dialing and the phone being answered I forgot who I was calling. I just stayed on the line thinking I would recognize the voice of the person who answered. Not a glimmer of recognition. I apologized and tried to hang up. The conversation when like this:

Aunt Ronnie: Hello.
Me: Hello...oh, I'm sorry. I must have the wrong number.
Aunt Ronnie: You might not, who are you calling?
Me: No (still not remembering)...I am sure I have the wrong number.
Aunt Ronnie: You might not.....
Me: I am sure I do. Thank you.

A few minutes later, I remember I was calling Mom and Aunt Ronnie was there. So....I called back.

Aunt Ronnie: Hello.
Me: Hi! Can I talk to my Mom?
Aunt Ronnie: (in the background) It's the crazy lady!!!!

What a laugh we had that day.

When I visited Ohio with my Dad and my sister both in 2006 and in March of 2008 for a funeral, we just could not stay away from Aunt Ronnie. She is still so much fun.

In 2006 we ended up having to take notes to get some of her recipes and different household hints - Dad always said my Mom (Ronnie) was the best cook west of the Rockies and my Aunt Ronnie was the best cook east of the Rockies. Also in 2006, my Uncle Jimmy had passed away three weeks before our arrival. As we were planning our trip, we had been looking forward to seeing him. I hadn't seen him since the 80's when they were in Washington for a visit.

Aunt Ronnie is still living in her home and her kids come frequently to visit and help her out. She is determined to stay as independent as possible. In 2006 she said when she couldn't get up and down the stairs to the basement laundry room, she would just sit on the steps and scoot up and down....I and think she started doing that at some point.

Aunt Ronnie....I am not sure what else I can say about this wonderful lady. At age 91 she is spirited and opinionated. While her body is slowly failing her, her mind certainly is not.

Cousins

I got to talk to my dear cousin Sharon tonight....she is a really busy lady so I was glad to catch her. I must say we have some really terrific memories together.

Were we not the beauties? That is me with the really bad hair! Some days it isn't much better now. Sharon always loved to fool with my hair - not on this particular day though.

One of my favorite memories was going into Cleveland to Higbees...7th floor....he'll be waiting for you to turn the key!! Mr. Jingaling at Christmas time. What fun we had. Then, just before we left Ohio for California, Sharon gave me my very first Beatles album. Meet the Beatles. I was in the 7th grade. All those family parties...what a ball we had. All the laughter and fun...food...love.

When Marty was six months old and Jenise was turning three I visited Ohio with my parents. I remember Sharon giving Jenise a baby doll. When she asked Jenise what she was going to name the doll I am sure she was pretty shocked that Jenise was naming her Cleveland and not Sharon.....oh my!

I was just looking for some pictures from 2006 when we met up in Austin Texas - she flew in from Louisana, I from Washington for a wonderful event. But...I didn't have my digital camera yet and don't have the photos downloaded I guess. We hadn't seen each other for 25 years. It is like we are sisters instead of cousins. What a wonderful relationship. Sharon, if you read this I hope that you know how much you mean to me.

Michael

My nephew Michael was in town yesterday....so some of us went out to dinner at Olive Garden. It was a really nice gathering. Also...a welcome relief from the heat for those of us who don't have air conditioning. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera or I would have photos to show you.

I am trying to figure what to call Mike once he finishes his dissertation and has his Ph.D. ...

Dr. Mike
Dr. Mikey
Dr., Honey

Well, I guess I am back to just Mike. But I am so very proud of him for this and all of his accomplishments over the years.

Best of luck him on his endeavors in the Navy....

Mike's Very Proud Aunt Alaine

Golfing with the Ladies League

I have been wanting to golf with the ladies league for quite some time. I don't often have a Tuesday off so....I asked Ruth Fiels if I could join them for yesterday. Of course...we also don't often have weather over 90 degrees....or for that matter over 85 degrees.

I went out with Sandy, Bea, and Sharon (I don't have a picture of Sharon) and had a great time...until it got so HOT I wasn't feeling well. I should have known better, but I REALLY wanted to golf with these wonderful ladies.

Better luck next time I get a Tuesday off....I will make it through all 18 holes!! Thanks for letting me join you.

Aunt Vi and Uncle Larry

I was talking to my Dad about Aunt Vi the other day. I had lots of questions....she had been on my mind for some reason. The last time I saw Aunt Vi was in 1979 and by then she was in a wheel chair.

I remember her being really beautiful, and as you can tell by the photos, she remained beautiful even into her older years.

Aunt Vi was the oldest of the Schumann kids...7 younger brothers. She was about 16 when their mom passed away. Two cousins, Francis and Angela (twins) took turns taking care of the kids until Aunt Vi finished high school. She then took over. Raising all of those boys must have been quite the hand full. (And I hazard a guess that all of my siblings and cousins would not disagree!!!)

Aunt Vi married Uncle Larry later in life and they never had children. Uncle Larry worked in construction. He also booked sports bets. Uncle Larry loved to play poker....called Aunt Vi in the middle of the night and asked: "What kind of bird am I?" Vi grumbled that it was the middle of the night. Turns out he was a "jail bird." The poker game he had been playing ran into a little trouble. She went down to bail him out.

Dad says they used to fight like sparring partners. He thinks they loved it. When Aunt Vi ended up in the wheel chair he would carry her up the steps into their apartment. When she became bed-ridden, he used to sleep sitting up in a chair and help her out with anything she needed.

Uncle Larry remained in that same apartment to the end of his days.

My Dogwood

This corner of the yard was bare naked! The first year we only planted a few rocks. I fell in love with the pink kousa dogwood at our landscape designers nursery. By the time we were ready to plant one, they had no pink ones left, so I decided to wait a year! I think it was well worth the wait.



The kousa dogwood is more resistant to diseases than the native dogwoods we see around here. That sure makes Dan happy, since he is the chief landscape horticulturist in the household. I am simply and underling who gets to dead head the fuscias and pull an occasional weed.


The blooms start out as green as the leaves and the first time it bloomed I didn't think the blooms would turn pink. Then, finally, they got almost white.













By the end of June they were the lovely deep pink that I fell in love with.

Golfing with Dad

I am so grateful that Dan taught me to golf 12 years ago. Not only do I love to golf, but I have been able to spend some great times with my Dad on the golf course. Those are opportunities for time together that we probably wouldn't have had.

The first few years we would golf a time or two a year, but usually on Father's day and maybe one other.




After we moved to Scott Lake Golf Course about seven years ago, we started golfing most Sunday mornings in the good weather. EXCEPT when Dad had other plans. Most of you who know my Dad know that he is a pretty busy guy for somebody who it turning 90 years old this fall. He occasionally has a dance or other event to attend on Sunday afternoons and sometimes a Discovery Tour.

It was only about 3 years ago that we convince Dad to ride instead of walk. He figured out that he had more energy to play golf if he rode. I will always treasure our Sunday morning golf.

Thank you Dad for being willing to spend time with me....and thank you Dan for helping me to have this wonderful opportunity.

We WON!!!!!!!!!

We golfed in our golf league mid-season tournament tonight and our team won!!! It was so awesome. Dan and I golfed with Sandy and Brian Walch. What a great time we had. It was a shock to all of us that our score of 34 would win.

Sometimes in one of these scrambles only a few members of the team contribute. Tonight I can honestly say all members of the team contributed. Two holes that we birdied were hole 9, where we had a 15 foot putt - putting a tennis ball using a giant toy hockey stick. Sandy made that put....we didn't even think a tennis ball would fit.

The next hole had potatoes all over the green. Somehow, we managed to birdy that hole as well. I am loving my rescue club that I often use to do a bump and run. From about 20 yards out I took that club and we ended up with a 2 foot put....which we made.

Dan and Brian always came through on the holes where we had to take the men's drive. Dan made a terrific drive while sitting in a chair. We could always count on Dan's chipping. And playing an entire hole with a 7 or 5 iron (including the putts) isn't easy. Brian's long drive on number one set up the birdy and his second shot on number 2 bent around the corner giving us a great chance at the green in three.

The Proposal

Jane Jenks, Jenise and I went on Saturday to see the Proposal....then out to dinner. It has been a long time since I have had a chance to spend time with Jane. We had a terrific time.

Six thumbs up on the movie!!!!! Very cute. Laughter is always a good thing.

I am sure Jane and I haven't changed a bit since we first met in ohhhhh.....100 years ago or so. What a great friend she has turned out to be. I feel very lucky to call her my friend.

The Back Yard

This isn't even where we started when we bought our home. The front yard was landscaped and the back yard was....weeds, blackberry bushes, and more weeds. We couldn't even see the stumps that were inside the blackberry bushes. Dan spent the first summer weeding from one end of the back yard to the other and by the time he got done had to start over. So....one day I called somebody and ordered sod. Dan was quite surprised to come home to bulldozers.

We sure enjoy sitting in our back yard on most evenings.

The Garden Girls

In 2002 this is what the side view from our deck looked like. Oh and Dan and his squirrel friend, Mr. Beggans (who was a girl, by the way). She would see Dan in the kitchen and tap on the glass of the back door so he would come out and feed her nuts.







In 2005 we added this lovely fence and the garden girls. I had no idea they would look so great. fI honestly thought they would be too formal for our garden. Now, as our garden has matured, things are looking lush and the garden girls look like they belong there.

Here they are in 2009----and they don't look like they have aged a bit!!!! The clematis on the right is loaded with buds and will have deep purple flowers soon. The chocolate vine in the center - I never dreamed it would get so big. And this is the first year we have had honeysuckle blooms - the aphids attacked the plant and we had no idea how pretty it would turn out.

Blue Star Path

As usual Dan has been working very hard in the yard this year. The hard work has paid off. This is the path along the side of our house.

I always enjoy the blue star ground cover - the little blue flowers bloom all summer long.

When we first moved in the house the entire back and side yards were just dirt - hard, packed dirt.

My good friend Sylvie Sue shared her ferns with us. They were the first things we planted. And we really enjoyed them that summer. We had a little straight path of small flagstones and bark.

A few years later we added the current flagstone path and ground cover along with helebrose between the ferns. They bloom in January and bring some needed color to the garden.

Father's Day

I enjoyed a very nice Father's Day dinner at my sisters. Not too many of us there but we all had a great time. Dad's friend, Lorene came to the dinner as well. My brother Ray wasn't feeling well, so stayed at home. Missed Marty very much as I always do at our family gatherings. It was good to have a small gathering this time. Jenise and her dog Mollysue were able to make it as well. She managed to avoid the camera though.


Jenise and I go to karaoke with Dad and Lorene at the Emporer's Palace on Friday evenings a couple of times a month. Lots of good singers there. We spent time looking for a karaoke version of the song, "Yes, we have no bannanas." Donna found it and got it ordered.










Donna's dog Angus was right in the middle of all of the action. He has a nice temperment.







One of the big discussions was Dad's 90th birthday party. Since his other brothers all live in Ohio, my cousin Bobby will have a 90th birthday party for Dad at his house and Donna will have one here...with web cams so we can all celebrate together. Dad is now the oldest brother....only 4 of the 8 siblings are still around.

More on Hawaii

The wedding was lovely. I am sure Marty was around!!

ORBS Tour

We did an awesome Ghost Tour while on Maui.

Here is my best ORB photo!

The North Shore is beautiful. Would have loved to spend more time there.

Hawaii was AWESOME!!!!

My first time there and it was so great!!!

Got to visit my friend Sheryl....and little Kylie. What a cutie!









Jenise and I rented a red Mustang convertible for tooling around to the North Shore!




We stopped and looked around the Dole pineapple gift store...those Maui Pearl Divers got us...we both ended up with a really nice necklace.