Here's another picture of my hair cut. Yesterday morning I washed my hair (I don't like the stuff they put in your hair at a salon) and let it air dry. I wanted to see how curly/wavy it would be. Well, it was a little wavy but it was all over the place and really wouldn't do anything. So I took a curling iron to it and got it tamed a bit. It was OK. Then went before I went to bed I put a few soft curlers in it and this morning this is what I got. Not too bad. Looks like this may be the way to go.

Today I went to a class I had signed up for. I have joined a "mature adults" group called OASIS. This is for people age 50 and older. My friend Carol, who retired from teaching last year, told me about it. They have classes that they offer during "semesters" and they send out a catalog letting you know what is available. So I signed up for a class about Shakers. The first hour we saw on a large screen TV a DVD of a documentry done by Ken Burns for PBS called "Shakers. Hands to Work, Hearts to God". I had seen this a few years ago when it was broadcast on PBS and it is very interesting. But the real reason I went is that for the second hour we listened to a group called Willow Bend play Shaker Music. This group consists of three men and one woman who go to various places and put on programs. Some of the instruments they played today were, hammered dulcimer, cello, washtub bass, recorder, guitar, bodhran (Irish drum), and a mandolin. They were very good and played and talked for close to an hour. I am linking you to both OASIS and Willow Bend. The Willow Bend site is not "up" at this time. She is looking for a new host and it should be back up in about a week.

http://www.celticana.net

http://www.oasisnet.org/lakewood/

All in all it was a very interesting afternoon.

I feel so much lighter. It feels so good not to have my hair hanging all over the place. It feels and looks healthier too. I plan to play around with it and see what else I can do with it. You can't tell by these pictures but my hair does have some natural curl to it. The stylist did a blow out with a brush which makes it straight. I am going to try letting it dry naturally and see what happens. Also try using a curling iron and some other ideas I have. I think it will be fun.

Here are some of my before pictures of my hair before I got it cut today. Granted it looks pretty good in these photos but what you don't know is that in order to get it to look like this I had to sleep on pin curls all night. About two hours after these photos were taken my hair just hung down straight and limp. Also after washing my hair and putting conditioner on it it was still very tangled and even using a large tooth comb I was ending up pulling hair out in gobs, and it hurt too. I can't get the photos to set up correctly so I will post again with my after photos.

I have finally gotten a chance to sit down and post about my day yesterday. Above are two pictures of the Disney Cruise Lines ship The Disney Magic. It is here for the summer in connection with Disneylands 50th birthday. It leaves at 5 PM on a Saturday, cruises South to the Mexican Riviera and then comes back to port the following Saturday at 6 AM. The photo above on the left is the ship docked at its terminal. The photo on the right is the stern showing Goofy hanging over like he's trying to finish the painting. I think it is so cute.

Anyway, my brother Bruce came over yesterday and we spent the day visiting and then driving to San Pedro so we could view the ship. I had understood the ship would depart at 4 PM so we had a longer wait than planned. I wasn't sure about parking so we drove along Harbor Blvd. and parked in a two hour parking zone and walked back to the terminal area. We had no problem seeing where the ship was. There is a lovely walkway and places to sit where one can look at ships and watch everything. Originally we had planned to look at the ship and then drive down towards Port 'O Call to park and walk out to an area where we could see the ship sail passed. We changed our minds when we found out we could see the ship maneuver its way out from where we were.

We walked over to the entryway to the terminal itself but we were not allowed in that area because we were not passengers. We did have a nice conversation with the guard and that is when we found out its departure time. In the meantime I found there was parking in the area where we were sitting and the first hour is free. So I timed it and went back and got the car and brought it into the parking lot.

Right around 5 PM you could hear them on the ship counting down to the blowing of the horn. Now the horn on the Disney Cruise ships is cool. It plays the beginning notes of "When You Wish Upon A Star". Frankly, that is one of the main reasons we went down to see it ... so we could hear that horn. I also captured it on my video camera which also records movies. I also recorded the ship pivoting out and around and into the channel when it left.

Overall it was a very cool experience. We left and came home and went to dinner at Home Town buffet before I took Bruce back to the Metro Rail Blue Line Station. He no longer drives and takes public transportation everywhere. Whenever I want to go into Los Angeles, or Hollywood, or Universal City Walk I also take the Metro Rail. But that is a story for some other time.

My hair drove me crazy this weekend. We went to a graduation Friday night and it looked great when we started out but about two hours later it went limp. The hair was all over the place everywhere I went, especially at the harbor where it is windy. I plan to call the salon tomorrow and make the big appointment for Tuesday or Wednesday.

Tomorrow I am thinking about going and volunteering at the thrift store Jennifer and I used to volunteer at back when she was in High School and needed service hours.

I have a lot I want to do this summer. I have a big sewing project planned and I want to teach myself PhotoShop 7 using the book I purchased. I am also reading book 3 of the Abram's Daughters series of the Amish Books Beverly Lewis writes. When I finish that I have book 4 from the library. I understand book 5 (the last in the series) just came out.

The continuing saga of the back yard plant. So, Paul goes out yesterday morning and finds the weight of the whatever it is has caused it to drop off the tree limb. No damage has been done but the fruit needs to be propped up. Taking the whole thing off the tree and laying it on the ground is too iffy as the whole thing could break. So later in the day Paul goes out and makes a cradle for it. So the pictures above show the fruit hanging down on the left (sorry, I should have been closer, kind of hard to see) and the cradle Paul constructed is on the right.

This is the first time I have used the new add pictures to your blog Blogger just instituted. Yes, that's right ... after going to all that trouble to download the free picture hosting site in order to get pictures on my blog they put this feature up which is a piece of cake. Sigh.

I have much to tell you regarding the graduation I went to on Friday night and spending the day with my brother on Saturday. But that will have to wait.

Thank you for your comments Rebecca and Jan :)

Something strange is growing in our backyard. Now, you have to understand our backyard is a mess. Because of reroofing the house and garage, things are scattered all over. Also, for awhile, we had a garbage hole out there so all kinds of food things (with seeds sometimes) got buried in this hole. A few months ago a squash type plant started to grow. It is growing at an amazing rate and the leaves are huge. Large yellow/orange flowers would open for a day, then close and then drop off. Think of the stage play/movie Little Shop of Horrors. That is what I would think of whenever I looked at this plant.

This plant reached the tree in the middle of the yard and started to climb up it. We let it go up to see what would happen. We did help it go along a low branch. One day a female flower opened on the branch. At the same time two male flowers opened. So I helped nature along and took the two male flowers and introduced them to the female flower. As an aside we are noticing very few bees around. This is sad. It has something to do with something wiping them out. Anyway, back to the plant. Yesterday I went out and was shocked to see that a squash of some kind is actually growing! And it is settling on the branch. If it gets too big and heavy we may have to carefully lower the whole thing off the branch and onto the ground. I will try and to get a picture of this and put it up (NO! Not try to put up a picture (runs screaming from the room!).

Minnie and me at CHOC Walk October 2004

I finally got the above picture posted to my profile. It took me almost two hours to get this on here. I do not like the way they do this. I use Netscape and their preference is IE. But by hook and by crook I finally got it on. Sheesh, I had so many windows open, help and otherwise, it's a miracle I got it up. Believe me it won't be changing anytime soon, that is for sure!

I was also successful in getting links over on the right side of the blog, one to my church and the other to the school where I work. That didn't take quite as long. My husband spotted right away that I was copying my link address into the wrong area of the template. Live and learn.

I had an interesting start to the day. While fixing breakfast I cracked open an egg and, it was a double yoke. Wow, I don't think I have ever had a double yoke before. I know that sounds weird but I thought it was pretty cool.

We got the battery, it is installed and the car is up and running! While we were out and about to get the battery we went by Borders Books so I could use the $10 gift card that I got as a gift from one of the students on the last day of school. We have PhotoShop 7 on the computer and this is something I want to learn. So I have purchased a simple, easy to use book to teach myself PhotoShop. No use having such a powerful program just sit here. May as well use it.

I also went by the salon that is listed on the Locks Of Love site near my house. They will cut your hair for free there and send it to locks of love. Hair must be clean and dry. They will cut it off, then wet the hair and cut and trim and blow dry it. Anything else, like shampoo and conditioner is extra. I will need an appointment and they do this on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Still thinking. I have not decided but leaning closer to cutting.

Jennifer is having a good time at camp. Enjoying the group and the work. I guess you could say she is a happy camper.

Hand bell practice went well last night. Our director is on vacation but we have two girls in the group who are excellent ringers and musically well versed so they led us through the two pieces we will be doing on July 3, America The Beautiful and The National Hymn (God of our Fathers). These pieces are coming together quite nicely.

Today Paul is looking into a car situation we have. I am also going to try and get him to look at links and photos on this site. I keep saying that, don't I. I have also reconsidered putting up my trip diary. After I posted my Disneyland trip report and saw how long it was, well ... the vacation report would be huge. So, I don't think I will. If anyone wants to see it, let me know in a comment and I will email it to you. If I don't have your email address, I will need that.

That closes out another exciting day in my summer life. Weather here has cooled down a little bit.

Paul is out right now pulling the battery from the Toyota. He will get a new one from Sears and install it. I am so glad I am married to someone who can take care of cars.

Well, I am considering cutting my hair short. Gasp! After my cancer/chemotherapy four years ago my hair has really grown back. It is down my back now and it became something of a badge of honor or courage or whatever to me. When it first grew in it was very curly. That curl is still there to some extent but it is so long now the weight is pulling it out. My hair is also much thicker than it used to be. Hard way to get thick, curly hair. But now it is annoying. It is hot and it is always in my way. When I wash it I put it up in pin curls overnight and the next morning it looks real good, but it doesn't last. So I am thinking of going to a salon that participates in the program called Locks of Love. Here is a link, http://www.locksoflove.org/ They use real, donated hair to make wigs for kids mostly who have no hair either due to illness or a disease that leaves people hairless. I figure I went through chemo and lost my hair and now I can give back. But this is still a huge decision on my part. I really like my hair when it is fresh and curly, but it only stays that way for a few hours. And it is hot and all over the place and I don't look good with my hair pulled back in a ponytail. I am 56 and maybe I should have shorter hair. I don't know.

Jennifer is having a good time. The theme this year for the camps is along the lines of pirates so the back drops she will be working on have to do with that. I don't know yet where these are going. One scene she said is an island with a pirate ship in the background. Another is a pirate ship that is shipwrecked. She doesn't know what the other two will be yet. One thing they are doing this week is a "trust" workshop. Learning to work together and all that stuff. One thing they will do is climb a tree using climbing equipment and then close your eyes and fall off and trust. This is not a problem for her because one of her electives in High School was rock climbing.

Tonight I will be going to my church, Bethany Bible Fellowship in Westminster, to practice hand bells. We are planning a performance on Sunday, July 3 and we will be playing three patriotic numbers in honor of Independence Day.

Well, Paul has asked if I want to go to Sears with him so I think I will do that. Adios.

I spent a good portion of the day away from home today. I went with my friend to Long Beach Memorial Hospital for there monthly free lunch, lecture and a movie. This is something they provide for free to seniors (55 and older). We had a bag lunch that consisted of half a sandwich (turkey with lettuce, tomato, and cheese on whole wheat) and small cup of cole slaw, a nice big red apple, a cookie and choice of beverage (I choose coffee). The lecture was on what is stress and how do you cope with it. Then we had a small break and moved over to a small theater where we which Cheaper By The Dozen (the 2002 versions with Steve Martin). It was a pretty decent sized screen and air conditioned. The battery in my car died so Paul came over and got it started and we switched cars so I could run some errands.

Heard from daughter again and she is keeping busy. She also said she gets to help with designing and painting backdrops. For what, I don't know but her artistic skills will be put to good use and she is real happy about that.

I mentioned I will tell about my trip to Disneyland last Thursday, June 16 so here is that account:

We could not have had a better day. The weather was perfect and everything worked out real well.

We left the house around 8:13 (13 minutes later than I wanted). The traffic was awful on the 91 east of the 605 and on the 5 where you get on off of the 91. But ... I had Jennifer with me so I could use the car pool lane and we just sailed right along. The car pool lane system for Disneyland Drive is fantastic. The off ramp is from the car pool lane and it just takes you right to Disneyland Drive. You stay in the left lane and go right up the ramp and into the parking structure. It was drizzling when we got there but that was fine with me. All day it was overcast and cool. The sun only came out briefly in the mid afternoon and it was hot and humid but it didn't last long. I needed my jacket while we were waiting for Mrs. Smith to come but after we got in the park I put it in the locker and didn't need it again until we left.

So we parked on the Donald level and walked right to the tram which left shortly after we boarded. Got to the area where we were supposed to meet Mrs. Smith at 10 to 9. She wasn't there. I was thinking if she drove alone then she would be caught in that awful traffic. 9 came and went, no Mrs. Smith. I had her cell phone number and we decided to give her until 9:15 and then I would call. She showed up around 9:12 with her daughter and granddaughter in tow. So she got to use the car pool lane, too. We talked for a few minutes and got in line and bingo we were in ... free!!! We thanked her profusely and off we went. Jennifer brought her new digital camera (her birthday gift from us) and took lots of photos. I am in the process of up loading them to my Epson Album. It is a slow process because of our dial up connection. I will link you to my albums at the end of this and you can open it, just click on Disneyland 6/16/05.

Before I go further, the reason the park was closing at 9 was because Grad Night was going on and it is announced on the tram that the tram service will stop at 9:30. But yes we got the parade (at 7 pm which really wasn't dark enough to see the floats lit up and yes they had the fireworks at 8:45).

The E.P. Ripley was out on the tracks. I didn't realize that that was the engine that Jennifer photographed until after we got home and I looked at the picture more closely. So we went and got a locker for the day and I got my coffee at the corner store (save your receipt and you get free refills all day, best deal at the park!). I had told Jennifer this was her day and we would do whatever she wanted. So first we went into Adventureland past the Tiki Room and the torches were lit. Looks soooo good. We decided to see that later, get the rides with the longer lines out of the way first. As we went by the Jungle Cruise, the line was short so we did that first. While waiting I took our tickets to Indie Jones and I got fast passes. Went on cruise, female pilot not so great, and enjoyed everything including the piranhas .... very well done ... nice new effect. Then we went on POC because line was short and moving fast. Always like that and we were right in front so it was nice for picture taking. Also got wet though. After POC we went to try and make reservations for lunch at Blue Bayou but they were full up so went to rest room and then Haunted Mansion. Love how that is all cleaned up and love the new Madame Leota effect. Very well done. Jennifer tried to take a photo but because no flash is allowed it did not turn out. As we were leaving a film crew was talking to people as they came out. Subject, is this your favorite ride at the park? They are making a commercial. So they filmed me ... whether or not they use me is another matter entirely.

By now the time is up on Indie Jones so we go to Splash Mountain and get fast passes for that (working the system). We leave the area on our way to Indie and see the Mark Twain at dock and so run over and get on that. After that we went on Indie Jones and then went over to BTMR. Our time was not quite up on Splash Mountain (only a couple of minutes) and so we waited and then got fast passes for that. Then we went on Splash Mountain and came back to the Golden Horseshoe for lunch and saw Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. Very cute show and we split lunch (fish and chips and a soda). After that we went BTMR. Now this was a mistake for Jennifer to do this after lunch. She has always had a problem with motion sickness and so she was queasy for a long time afterwards.

After this we went over to the Tiki Room and we are really impressed by everything. So nice and clean and everything working. We went over to Toon Town because one of the guys at our church now works there. But we had no idea where he would be and it was crowded. So we went into Mickys house because Jennifer wanted a picture with Mickey. But the line was long and moving slowly so we left. As we were leaving, there was Steve! He had to do something but then came back. I noticed the little coaster was down and asked him what the problem was. He told us because of the earthquake they had done a shut down and they were checking things out, mandatory precautions. Earthquake? What earthquake? The one about an hour ago. OK. We did not feel it but in talking to others during the day, they had. Also all the big rides were shut down to be checked, but that never effected us.

So we talked to Steve but he needed to go to lunch so we went over to Star Tours. Jennifer was still not feeling so hot but she really wanted to go on this ride and take photos. We did have to wait about 45 minutes but that was OK. The parade was going on and getting around was a problem so being on the ride was fine. Did Star Tours and then went over to DCA so Jennifer could go on TOT. Big slow line getting into DCA. Guess everyone had the same idea and the parade had just ended in Disneyland so everyone headed over there. Finally got in (stupid people in line w/o tickets, asking ticket person questions, that's what slowed things up). Saw Mickey and Minnie and Jennifer thought, here's my chance to get my picture when they were taken away. Saw Goofy "this his is last picture for now" and he got taken away. Later saw Sulley and he was mobbed so no chance for a photo. Poor Jennifer, she never got her picture with a character. Anyway head to TOT and noticed the doors were not opening so I asked the bell man and he said the ride was operating. So we went to get in line and a recording came on saying that only one elevator was operating today and the wait would be 70 minutes! Well, she wasn't feeling good anyway and did not want to wait. We checked over at Fast Pass but the return time was much too late for us. So we went over to get a fresh warm tortilla and then headed back to Disneyland.

We went into the 50th display in the Opera House. That is very nice and I really like the layout of the park on opening day. Jennifer got some good photos of that and other things in there. The film with Steve Martin is really good. Left there and went to the locker so Jennifer could change her shoes. I got a free coffee refill. It is now 5:45 and people are lining up for the parade on Main Street. I ask a cast member what time the parade is, 7 pm. OK.... So we start thinking about dinner. Jennifer is feeling better :) We go to Plaza Pavilion but decide to wait, she's not that hungry yet. So we head toward Small World and she sees a Churro cart and she decides to get one. I notice there is a small place to sit along the railing and so we sit there from 6:16 until 7:15 when the parade gets to our area. It wasn't dark enough to really enjoy the look of it at night but it is a fabulous parade. I got to talking to man from Scotland (Glasgow) and he is there with his family and he has a nice, new digital camcorder. It was a nice way to spend the time. I also gave him some advice about where to be for the fireworks and other things about the park because they were coming back the next day.

So we decide to eat and then find a place for the fireworks. Well, as we came around the castle we saw everything filling up fast. We went over to Plaza Pavilion and they were closed. So we found a spot to sit in the street in front of the castle and I went over to the Haus place in Fantasyland and got us two chicken nugget kids meals with child size drinks. So I make my way back to Jen (an interesting feat) and we sit and eat our dinner and wait. When I went over to throw our trash away (again interesting feat, tiptoeing my way around people) I notice a spot right next to the trash can and a bench. So I go back and tell Jen that's where I will be (because I just can't sit on the ground). So I stood right behind the trash can, sometimes sitting on the railing and I had an excellent view of everything. That show brought me to tears. It is the best thing I have ever seen. It is so well done. I got to talking to some people around me. They go a lot. One lady came after work and had been sitting on the bench since 6. Two guys (a father and son) are members of LaughingPlace and so we had a nice talk about the sites. They have also seen the show a number of times. Obviously these folks are annual pass holders.

So now Disneyland is closing and the herd of people leaving is something. We hang back and wait around and then walk through Frontierland to Rivers of America (almost deserted now) and out through Adventureland. We go to our locker and get our stuff and leave. Even though it is now after 9:30 the trams are still running but we decide to walk back because the crowds are still huge to get on the trams. So we walk back to the parking structure which is quite the hike I must say. When we get near our car I notice that some people one row over are upset. I can't figure out what is going on, are they mad at each other? Has their car been broken into? Then I notice something that made we walk over and here is a young girl threatening to commit suicide by jumping off the top railing of the parking structure down into the traffic moving below. It is obvious that she is distraught but also doesn't seem to really want to do it. She is talking to someone but from our angle we can not see if it is a security guard, officer, boyfriend, what. We do see two officers off to her right aways. At one point she sits on the railing but almost immediately stands again and clutches the light fixture. She keeps putting her leg out but pulls it back in. We decide to leave. As we are coming around to take the normal exit out I'm thinking this isn't a good idea and a security car pulls up and blocks the exit. So we are about 5 cars back and I just shut off the engine. A security man walks along apologizing and saying they are getting parking structure personnel up here to redirect us out. This takes about 5 minutes and then we are rerouted out the normal "in" entrances. This ends up taking us to the driveway that normally is the exit area for the hotel and Downtown Disney. That is OK with me because I am familiar with that exit. So we don't know what happened. I tried looking at todays online OC Register but there was nothing in it. A rather bad ending to an otherwise good day.

Well, life happens. Paul and I were not able to get to looking at links and photos on this site. Today won't work either as I have things to do and places to go.

Heard from Jennifer last night. She will be working hard up in that there kitchen. Kitchens must be kept spotless because of health regulations so besides cooking they must pitch in and do their share in the cleanup process also. Good for her! Life skills in the making.

I did not care for the font I used this morning so I am going back to what I had.

I just finished a new writing, did a preview and then tried to back up. Oops, guess I can't do that, lost everything. So I will start again.

Got daughter safely up to camp. If you would like to know more about this camp here is a link
http://www.verdugopines.org/
We had a good trip up, no traffic problems going or coming home. A tradition we have is to stop at Bob's Big Boy in Diamond Bar for one of their Big Boy Combos. Yum. I miss Bobs. We used to have one around the corner from our house. Now it is a Cocos which I do not like. So we followed tradition and stopped at Bob's on the way and had our combo.

Arrived at camp around 3 pm and got all her things in her dorm room. They have fixed up the dorm rooms real nice. On one side of the room are three bunk beds. These are separated by a small wall so that every two girls have their own "space". Every two girls have their own 5 drawer dresser and an open closet to hang clothes in. On the other side of the room is a couch and a table. In the bathroom, under the sink, is a plastic drawer thing so the girls can put their bathroom things there. They were each given a small gift bag which had a bottle of water, some snacks and two 20 minute phone cards. Also in the staff lounge there is a computer they use to send and receive e-mails which is nice.

Jennifer is one of four cooks on staff. This is in addition to a man who is up there permanently as a cook. This will be good for Jennifer as she is taking culinary classes in the Fall at City College. Her goal (right now) is to be a baker with the intention of some day owning her own bake shop preferably in a mountain resort type town.

So, that is it for today. I am going to go back to trying to get links on the right side of my template and I also will look into the photo hosting for this blog. But that may not happen until tomorrow. There is probably a lot that can be done here, I just have to figure it out. And, yes, my trip in April will show up as will my Disneyland visit. That will hopefully occur tomorrow.

Today I am trying a different font, to just to see how it looks. I have been trying to figure out how to change my links on the right side of my blog. No success yet and I have run out of time. I'll work on it tomorrow. Today is the day I take my daughter up to the mountains for her summer job. This will be the first time we have been separated for this long, 8 weeks. She has a job working as one of the cooks at a Christian childrens camp near Wrightwood, CA. She is very excited and so are we. This is a good opportunity for her and we hope it will benefit her. I am excited and kind of sick to my stomach, all at the same time. I am not going to enjoy the drive back by myself. I'll probably run into traffic coming home. Dad isn't coming with us because she is taking up so much stuff. She will be home for a couple of days in mid July so she can attend a wedding. Exciting times!

Wow. I have gone and done it now, created a blog. It will take me awhile to get used this and figure out how everything works, so be patient with me. I look forward to putting up some recent things I have written about in e-mails such as my recent trip on a tour of the East Coast and my trip to Disneyland yesterday. But for now I will sign off this first posting.