Signs of Home

Four signs along Silverado Drive, and then no more. As if you had to know now where to go, or miss it.

So we searched up the street, and down, finally picking the correct turn, into a cul-de-sac.
The signs reminded me of a United cross-country flight I once took to Dulles. My parents and I had agreed -- I'd take the shuttle bus. But they were waiting near baggage claim. I smiled -- home at last. It didn't matter that we still had another 25 minute car ride to go.

Christmas Crafted Cheer

I don't remember it looking so funky.



The twig tree craft was extra holiday insurance the year we traveled, eliminating tree-turned-fire-hazard house sitter risk.

Funky, yes. But politically correct "green" before its time thanks to recycled products. Plus... the big upside:

Stop to craft Christmas cheer and the craziness of holiday preparation slows to the pace of a bending wire, a warming glue gun, a pin attaching a pattern to a bit of felt. Traffic becomes passing fabric pens, scissors and fabric glue.

That, and stove-brewed hot chocolate? Priceless.

3 Nativities and a Camel

Nestled under the decorated corner pine, it's one family's tradition neighbors expect to share. Just try to find someone who remembers when it wasn't there.

Simple -- yet attractive -- molded-plastic design.

"It's surprising no one ever steals it," someone said a few days ago. And yet, I'm not surprised. Are you?


Meanwhile, a few miles away, another faux nativity greeted arrivals to the Methodist church's bi-annual "Bethlehem Market" production.


Groups flowed through the market vendors, winding towards that familiar scene, cast this time with teens.

The camel? Kazzy -- a therapeutic camel, manger moonlighting.

Miracle Humor @ Lafayette Town Hall

Risky, this long term fan of Maureen's O'Hara's 1947 Christmas classic taking in Lafayette Town Hall's Miracle on 34th Street production.



Surprise -- strong community theater cast delivering familiar lines brings back movie scene memories where simplistic props might fail.

Extra credit for ingenuity -- Alfred (Santa wannabe) is M.I.A., replaced by new vision of Doris Walker's office assistant, primed with hilarious one-liners.

So... let's forgive Doris' Christmas morning junior high sewing class disaster, ill-fitted sleeveless black bodice with Christmas plaid sateen Barbie-doll full skirt.

Just know... Hollywood heads would roll.

Not Everybody Eats Pie

Our New Thanksgiving, bookended by gospel music...




and trade show magic...

...produced sights, sounds and impressions -- family story fodder.

The Auto Show? 3 boys PLUS Dad. Mom with new camera. Oddly perfect.

Biggest "re-traditioning" lesson? Not everybody eats pie.

At least, not in the traditional holiday-at-home way. True in the suburbs, it's easiest to verify in the city.

People were everywhere -- playing, eating, volunteering, working. Perhaps, for some, a Thanksgiving time-out. So what. At that moment they were cast in San Francisco's Thanksgiving scene. So were we.

Expect repeat performances.

2 Days to a New Thanksgiving

Turkey Surprise is no longer just a Friday leftover.
While I've been focused on New, my husband has been studying Safeway's Thanksgiving brochure the way students scour Cliff Notes.

TIP C -- Foil mittens.

Planned, prepped, and even roasted -- we're ready for our first New Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving

Thursday: Serve turkey at Glide Memorial followed by a family walk through the Tommy's Joynt food line and a SF afternoon.

Tonight: Man vs. turkey.

Tomorrow: Dinner in the dining room with everyday dishes when Campo's gym lights go out, somewhere around 9:30 p.m.

Life lessons? Many.

Shirts, signs and cheap solutions

The hidden costs of varsity sports just begins with the apparel form. But I drew the line at expensive posters.

I spied the answer on my player's bedroom floor -- potential for colorful, cute, AND cheap.


The key was keeping the final design to tabloid size. Kinko's starts those sized color copies at less than $2. One inch bigger jumps you to the big color copier. Then you have to get out the calculator -- and your bigger bills. Pricing is per square foot.

Total cost? 4 for under $10.

Each a winner.

Beat those odds.

Musical Gym Rats

It always feels like we see the same people in the gym all the time. Not the same KIND of people. The EXACT SAME people. Basketball people. Doesn’t matter if we’re at Campolindo, Tice Valley, Diablo Valley Community College, Reno or San Diego.

Last night as we left DVC, though, a crowd of bus-weary Southern California high school kids with sleeping bags poured into the gym. Today, WBA 2008 band championships begin.



So, there it is. We’re not all the same. Some gym rats play instruments. Apparently, they come out at night.

The Promise, a movie

Craig Cooper's 1980's Peace Corps memory lodged in my heart, then morphed in my brain as trailer for would-be feature film titled, The Promise.

Do the chores. I won't pay you now. But if you stay in school and finish high school... I'll pay for college or help you build a house.

Two willing Bahn teens. One earnest college grad.

Zero war contingency.

Years pass. Decades of silence.

Liberian, googling. Surprised engineer. Third-world taxi. Wherever the script begins, it'll lead to three men, reconnected. $5,000. New homes. Satisfaction.

The Promise, fulfilled. Finally.

Knowing Pains -- Stories for all

I bought Knowing Pains, an essay anthology marketed as "by and for" women in their 40's, because of Maria Hjelm's essay about the loss of her mother, Just a Blip.

Hearing it reminded me of my mother's raw pain at the recent loss of her mother.

Love. Loss. Sex. Self-awareness. Friendships. These experiences transcend age.

Swap stories with women of varied generations and you'll see -- we are more alike than different.

Don't let the cover-hype age you out.

These are new voices worth hearing.

Helping support breast cancer education? An added bonus.