Sunday, July 31, 2005

Granny Babuska!


Granny Babuska!
Originally uploaded by grannybabs.
My blog has been bereft of pictures, but no more! The Terrill Family reunion was sparsely attended, but those who came had a great time!! I feel like such a matriarch - planning and executing family reunions!! Watch for more exciting details!!

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Never thought I'd run out of stuff to say!!

One thing about online classes - they require a lot of writing on the old computer - at least the classes I am taking. I am tired of trying to think of interesting ways to write essays about coronary heart disease and managing stress. And this guy doesn't even do threaded discussions.

The SPED class is another story - we have to do a devotional each week, then reflections on our reading, then assignments - and threaded discussions (where I feel like I am always losing the thread!) I thought I would enjoy the anonymity, but that is not turning out to be the case. I usually am not at a loss for words either, but sometimes I'm just tired of writing it - it's much easier to just say it!

I wonder how I would feel if these were literature classes?

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Coming up 50 years!

We took the sister missionaries to the temple for the early a.m. session. They can go to the temple with a ward member as long as they are back "on the job" by 10 a.m.

It was fun to drive to the temple and point out all the unique things we don't even think about unless a tourist (or missionary) is in the car! The Wrigley Mansion, California's oldest freeway, the cluster of Victorian Houses, the Lummis House (what is the Lummis House? Polly says it's quite interesting.), Dodger Stadium, China Town (we took a "short cut"), the Mormon Battalion Monument, the Shrine Auditorium, ad infinitum. It was foggy, so the temple was pretty close when we saw it - missed the drama of seeing it from afar!

It is nice to go early in the morning to the temple - no lines, no rush, every worker eager to help you (they are usually eager, but we were their first patrons of the day) - about 35 or 40 in the session. Moved along nicely - there were several elders and 2 other sisters from the Arcadia Mission.

It was nice to see things through other eyes. To talk about being there 50 years ago for the open house and dedication, shaking President McKay's hand. The spiral staircase as imposing as ever but we're so used to it now. Showing them the room where we were married (we got engaged 38 years ago this Thursday!!)

It was nice to come out after - still foggy and cool - taking pix in front, admiring the flowers - you know, the temple wasn't always awash in bright, colorful flowers. It used to be lots of bushes and hedges - flowers in yards were not in vogue - I guess you didn't realize that there's a landscape equivalent to avocado green appliances and shag carpet!

Your dad had to go to Beverly Hills to drop off plans - so we cruised the ville - Rodeo Drive, lovely mansions, sculpted yards, Jewish schools, Koreatown, San Vicente Blvd - traffic - good thing your dad knows the shortcuts.

And got back to Monrovia at 9:58 a.m. - can't beat that with a stick.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

The jRoom In The Garage

The room in the garage is something of a barometer of life here at the Terrills. For one thing, it only gets worked on in the summertime. For another thing, it's started to become the repository of our lives. Finally, it actually is getting some food storage in there! (for the uninitiated, the room was orginally carved out of the garage to be a food storage room - and it has never been just a food storage room - at some point it did have a lot of empty Mason jars in it though!)

Yesterday I took everything out of there and put it on the patio. Harry is putting more shelving in - I am convinced that shelving will help. Hauling the boxes out was enlightening. A Batmobile, baby pictures of me, some great little Sunshine family-type dolls and accessories that Eve already loves, old clothing as in a sweater I took away to college, the corporate seal that Harry has been looking all over for, three large Raggedy Ann dolls that belong to Bonny, Phoebe and Eliza I guess - there's another doll too, some seashells and the rock collection that belongs to Bonny. There's a lot more - and I keep thinking - Didn't I just go through all this? I guess we are acquiring stuff faster than I get rid of it - because I do get rid of trunkloads of stuff on a regular basis.

Maybe I'd better have someone take a picture of me in that old sweater and then I can toss it!

Friday, July 01, 2005

The Senses of Summer

I went walking this a.m. and it was cool and quite overcast. I hoped against hope that it would stay that way - but it didn't. But I was reminded of other overcast days - and wondered why they stand out in my mind.

I remember an overcast summer day in Centerville, Utah when I was pregnant with Phoebe. We were living in the Cook Apartments, and so I decided to sew. (You need to understand that this was long enough ago that not only did we not have air-conditioning, we didn't even have a fan!) I made a red checked top for Bonny - with appliqued strawberries on the yoke. It was cute, and there are a number of photos of Bonny wearing it.

I remember going to UCSB for Parent/Student orientation in July of '88 - and not only was it gray and overcast, it was downright cold. We kept saying to ourselves, "It's July - why is it so cold?" Come to find out it's the norm for SB - they are hot at odd times too!

I also remember a gray overcast day in 7th grade - it was a Saturday and the Student Council was going to the beach! You need to understand that even though I was not truly deprived as a child, I pretty much never went anywhere very exciting so a trip to the beach was a BIG DEAL! It was also drizzly and cold - it was May or June, and Marguerite Hardin and ended up huddled in the bus eating our lunch!

Another cold July also comes to mind - about 4 or 5 years ago - we had just come back from the Scout Pancake Breakfast and it was cool and overcast, so I decided it was the right time to can apricots. What is memorable is the way Hannah carried on - she claimed it was child abuse to make her work so on a holiday! (I think she doesn't like canned apricots either!)

It seems strange that a gray day can evoke so many specific memories. I suppose a sunny day or a rainy day or even a snowy day could evoke specific memories too, if I thought about it. But that's not what I thought about this a.m.