Today our adorable first granddaughter becomes a teenager! This is a special day of memory for our family because July 22 was also my amazing mother-in-law’s birthday! This will be Mom's third birthday in heaven but she had a couple of very sad birthdays over the years. Mom's brother—her only living sibling—died on her birthday in 1991. And unbelievably, five years later, Ken’s dad, my dear … [Read more...]

I recently read an article about medieval dog names found in a book called "The Names of All Manner of Hounds." Someone was thinking about commercial appeal even in the 15th century. How do you decide on a name for your dog? Once my family ran through a series of US general names: We had Patton and MacArthur and Ike, but I couldn't bring myself to name a dog Schwatzkoff (sp?), so we then went … [Read more...]

I was born and raised in Riverside, a city in southern California. I haven't lived full-time in California since I graduated from high school, but I still love my home state and visit often. Three years ago, my family saw a section of California from a new perspective when we took a road trip on Highway 1 from San Diego to San Francisco. We had a fabulous time! Back then, many readers who … [Read more...]