San Diego Evacuation - update

I just heard back from my brother. They were allowed back in to their house. Luckily - their house was left intact - it requires a lot of cleaning, but they feel blessed not to have lost anything.

Here's a picture of their house. They took it Monday morning while they were evacuating. The sky is black with ash and the glow behind the house is the fire - not the rising sun. As they took this picture, they weren't sure if this was the last time they would see their house standing or not.

I'm glad to hear they are OK. However, others aren't so fortunate or truly don't know yet what the outcome will be. They still need our prayers.

Evacuation in San Diego

My brother and his wife live in San Diego and are one of the families who have been evacuated. They are currently staying in a hotel with a neighbor of theirs to wait out the fires.

Right now, several houses within a mile of theirs has burned down and even if they are not hit, the cleanup will be horrendous! My brother, Ed, mentioned that his swimming pool was pitch black even before they left. Think of the clothes they left behind, the food in the cupboards, the walls and ventilation ducts.

They don't need anything in terms of material goods - but prayer for them to be safe and that they don't lose anything would absolutely help! And - don't forget everyone else who is in the same situation.....

I have a Silly Cat!!!

I had to share these pictures. My son has a mesh laundry basket that's got a hole in it. Well - it's become Chuck's most favorite toy. He'll crawl in (usually after terrorizing the dog) and hide... If Opie the dog happens to pass by, he gets popped on the head by a lightening quick cat paw.

I kept trying to get his picture and he would only peek out at me, but once I stood up, he suddenly flipped over onto his back and stuck his head out the hole. I grabbed the phone and quickly snapped the picture, which is good because he retreated back in as soon as the flash went off.

Aren't silly cats fun?

JB ROCKETS WON!!!

Sorry Maura! The James Buchanon Rockets beat Camp Hill last night 38 to 0!!!! It was great to see our team come together and really work as a team. This was their first win of the season and by having that huge of a win will do wonders for their confidence.

The past few practices where the coach worked on skills made a HUGE difference. It was like watching a totally different team play. The coach's reward was getting the water dumped on him after the game, but after first running away - he laughingly took the honor of getting soaked....

Congratulations to the team. I know they were super-excited and the emotions ran high for players, parents, coaches and cheerleaders.

GO ROCKETS!!!!

School has started and so has football. The house is quiet again and I've been able to get more done during the day. The food magically stays in the 'frig during the day and I am able to keep a bottle of soda for more than 20 minutes before it disappears somewhere! LOL......


Unfortunately, I spend 3 nights per week at football practice and 2 additional days attending games. Of course - my kids don't practice at the same time, so I get there at 3:30 for the first one's practice and at 6:00 I move to my second one's practice. I'm usually there until about 8 or 8:30 and am bored silly by that time! I tried taking along my computer, but couldn't find an available network to login to and the satellite service is lousy.


So - I'm reading, doing crossword puzzles, talking to other parents and even volunteering at the ticket booth so I can harass the young kids coming to games! ha ha - it's fun - especially when I tell one he looks suspicious and I need to see some picture ID - this is especially good when I know they're not 16 yet. They know I'm a parent and look at me wondering if they should take me serious or not. The rent-a-cop and I get good laugh during admission time. Unfortunately, the kids are starting to recognize me and don't take us so seriously anymore. oh well - it was fun while it lasted. However, they now take notes about who we picked on and who we didn't. The ones that get picked on brag about it to their friends and seem to view it as a badge of honor.


Here are some pictures: This is Lucas (number 57). He plays center on offense and usually nose guard on defense. Here - he's waiting for the others to finish up the huddle and move in for the play. The team hasn't won any games yet, but they've got some good players with talent and skill. Unfortunately, many of these are first year players, so they're just now starting to play like a real team and getting the hang of working together.






Here is Michael: He's number 60 - again he plays center for the offensive team, but on defense he plays nose guard or tackle. He really, really wants to play tackle because he likes the thrill of knocking someone down, but his coach likes him in other spots. Their team is AWESOME! They have it together and have some good coaches who push them to do their best. They don't have to win - but they have to work hard. Then - they get rewarded for it.





One last picture for Jeff: Thanks for coming out and spending a week at our house. It looks like we overworked you, but at least you had company sneaking in a nap:

Unsolved Double Murder in 1975

In going through the genealogy information for my own family, I found that my mother's cousin (her mother's sister's daughter) was murdered in 1975. How I found out was through a newspaper article my grandmother had copied into a book. Here's the story as I know it:

In early November of 1975, my mother's cousin - 37 year old Beverly A. (Morris) Withers was babysitting 4 year old Melanie Gargasz at the Gargasz house in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. Beverly, my mother's cousin, was married and had two daughters. Four year old Little Melanie had a at least a 12 year old sister and a schoolteacher mother.

When Melanie's mother, Marilyn, returned home in the early afternoon, she found both Beverly and Melanie dead, from multiple gunshot wounds to the head. According to the New Castle News report, no weapon was recovered from the scene, but the weapon was considered to be a small-caliber weapon. It has yet to be solved. To my knowledge, no one has been arrested - no one prosecuted and no one held accountable.

Although tempted to leave it alone - after all - I never knew this woman, I moved around a lot and can sometimes barely keep track of my own eyeglasses, I felt compelled to just find out what I could. After all - an innocent little four year old shot to death along with her babysitter, who is just about my own age, got me intrigued. I couldn't seem to stop it.

What I found out is that the Pennsylvania State Police have re-activated the case. Yes - it's still considered cold and yes, the chances that the murderer will be caught and punished are small based upon the percentages, I am still hopeful for a resolution.

The families of a perpetual 4 year old and 37 year old deserve no less.

I'm ready for school to start!

I'm soooooo ready for school to start. My kids are driving me nuts! All day long, it's Mom - Can I.... Mom - six of my friends are coming over in ten minutes...... Mom - I'm making grilled cheese.... Mom - I burnt the grilled cheese.... Mom, can you turn off the smoke alarm... Mom, what do you get when you cross a blond with an elephant.... Mom, Knock Knock... Mom, what are you doing?..... Mom - watch this.... Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom etc... I can't even go to the bathroom without hearing, Mom - what are you doing (DUH!)?

As much as I've enjoyed being with them this summer, it never stops. I can't seem to get any calm and peaceful time this summer. Once someone calms down, someone else stirs it up. Of course - the dog and cat don't help. They jump right in the mix. They're constantly chasing each other or a child throughout the house.

Yesterday after another burnt grilled cheese incident, we opened the patio doors a little bit. The cat snuck in between the glass and the screen, crawled all the way to the top of the screen and got stuck. We kept hearing him meow loudly and after figuring out where the little scoundrel was, we had to figure out a way to open the door without hurting him and get his curious little behind off the screen!

I'm sure I will miss them once they are back in school, but right now, I dream of quiet time!