Nite

Nite turned eight on June 3, the birthday we gave her. Here she's resting on our winter quilt.

The following appeared on our Intranet for work:

Nite was a lady of the night rescued by our youngest son from under a bush at a busy intersection in Concord. No one responded to lost and found ads so our family adopted her, giving her the birthday of the day we moved. So she's five years old and was a young cat when found. She's a short-haired all black with chartreuse eyes. Nite is best known for responding to whistling or singing, especially hymns. She will jump on a lap and snuggle around the face to try to stop the singing. After being an indoor-outdoor cat a new dog frightened her into leaving the yard and crossing the street regularly so we keep her in now to protect her, letting her into a net tunnel when she wants out, then letting her scratch on wood outside. Nite is a lovely companion but probably not too child friendly as when she's had enough petting she may nip or swipe, especially when she's tired. She was a great tree climber and had a favorite pastime of catching salamanders. A home is not a home without a cat.

Far From Home, The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995)

One of my favorite movies. I love it.


(01-26-11) 08:51 PST NEW YORK, (AP) --
The American Kennel Club says the Labrador retriever is the most popular dog in America for the 20th straight year.
The German shepherd is ranked second, with the Yorkshire terrier third, the beagle fourth and golden retriever fifth.
The AKC also has added three dogs to its list of registered breeds.
They include an ancient Mexican breed, the Xoloitzcuintli (shoh-loh-eets-KWEEN'-tlee). The calm, "noble," pointy-eared dog — also called Xolo (SHOH'-loh), comes in three sizes. Some varieties are hairless.
The Norwegian Lundehund (LUN'-du-hun) is handsome, athletic and playful. The sure-footed dogs hunted Puffins on treacherous cliffs before the bird became a protected species.
The Entlebucher (ehnt-lu-boo-KAHR') Mountain Dog made its mark as a cattle herder in Switzerland. The floppy-eared breed is described as energetic, loyal and "persistent."Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/01/26/national/a083117S78.DTL#ixzz1CADnS5Gx

Gone With the Wind Turns 70

The film premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15, 1939. I have some extra copies of the video version, one unopened, if anyone wants one.

The 50th State Turns 50 August 21, 2009

August 21, 1959, the state of Hawaii was added to the Union. Aloha!

http://hawaii.gov/statehood/events

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/

www.the50stateclub.blogspot.com

I hope to attract others who have visited all 50 states. 50stateclub@gmail.com

An Excellent Summer Read

For our first visit to Hawaii in 2009 I wanted a book that I felt would deliver. I am so glad I chose The Other Side of Heaven, The Memoirs of John H. Groberg. It is particularly poignant for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because we are believers, but I can promise anyone can and will enjoy this book.

Ushering

I've been ushering for some four decades. Many performances can be seen for free just by signing up to usher, arriving early dressed in black or as required, seating patrons, taking tickets, stuffing programs. I've ushered at big and small houses in San Francisco and enjoy the intimate and wonderful Willows Theatre in Concord, California. I felt that the cultural arts were passing me by and ushering plays, ballets, and other venues I've added that missing spice.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/17/DDMQ1974F5.DTL

The above article gives an overview of the usher experience.

Adam's Return from a Mission and Informative Web Sites

Adam returns from a two-year Spanish speaking mission to Oklahoma Tulsa in 2005.

http://www.mormon.org/
http://www.lds.org/
http://www.jesuschrist.lds.org/
http://www.providentliving.org/
http://www.ldscatalog.org/
http://lds.org/temples/main/0,11204,1912-1-49-0,00.html
http://www.templehillevents.org/

http://www.josephsmith.net/

http://www.josephsmithjr.org/

http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/

Saying aloha to 50-state journey, by Lee Cataluna, columnist, Honolulu Advertiser

By Lee Cataluna

It took Olivetta Chavez nearly 50 years to visit all 50 states. Last month, her trip to Hawai'i completed her list.

The first 48 she saw in one magical summer. She was 13 years old in 1960. She and her mother and her younger sister left from Vallejo, Calif., as soon as school got out. Her mother bought a green sleeper trailer, hitched it to her '55 Chevy and set out to see the country.

"She had a big map of the USA on our living room floor in Vallejo and penciled in her route," Chavez said.

Chavez was trusted to hold the road maps as they traveled. To this day, she loves reading maps.

"My mother just wanted to see everything," she said. "She had a real wanderlust. If we saw a sign for something, she'd pull over."

Two years after that adventure-filled summer, her mother died at age 51. Chavez and her sister went to live with relatives, but her mother's love of traveling lived on in her. She drove around the country in a '68 Mustang convertible in her 20s, went hitchhiking in Europe by herself for a year, and worked as a chambermaid and dishwasher in Switzerland before coming home to the Bay Area.

But it took a while to get those last two states in. Last year, Chavez, a senior clerk typist for the city and county of San Francisco, found a great deal to Alaska. Last month, she and her husband finally made it to Hawai'i, even though the people they were supposed to stay with didn't come through and her husband struggled with poor health. They budgeted, booked a room deal on Orbitz, ate out only one meal a day and took in free entertainment at the International Marketplace.

"Every morning between 6 and 7, I would go to the beach to swim and read," she said. "One morning, I walked on the beach as far as possible toward Diamond Head, looked up and saw the people standing on the top and said I want to do that."

So she did. She kayaked, took the bus all over the island, made friends in church and saw seminary graduates loaded up with lei.

"That was a neat thing to see," she said.

She even found the mythical hula pies she had heard so much about. They ordered a slice at Duke's in Waikiki and shared it with two spoons.

During her two weeks in Hawai'i, Chavez thought of her mother often.

"Hawai'i was probably the only state she didn't get to," she said. "She would have been pretty starstruck."

Now that she's seen all 50 states, she already has her next trip in mind. She wants to come back to Hawai'i.

"We loved it," Chavez said. "I was enchanted."

Reach Lee Cataluna at lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.

One year later on June 7, 2010, The Honolulu Advertiser merges with Honolulu Star-Advertiser:

http://www.kitv.com/news/23536804/detail.html

Two Weeks in Paradise and Suite 1615

This coconut pudding, haupia, is a staple desert at every Hawaiian luau.
Ingredients:
2 cups coconut milk
1 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 tsp vanilla (if desired)
Preparation:Pour one cup of coconut milk into a saucepan. Combine sugar and cornstarch stirring into coconut milk. (Add vanilla if desired.) Heat over low stirring consistently until thickened.
Add remainder of coconut milk and whole milk and continue to heat until thickened. Pour into 8 inch square pan and chill until firm.
The recipe can be easily modified for personal taste using more or less sugar and cornstarch.

When my mother was 50 years old she drove my younger sister, Rosella, and me to Ontario, Canada, for the second time, visiting all 48 contiguous states, her dream come true. She had a big map of the USA on our living room floor in rural Vallejo, California, and penciled in her route. It took me almost 50 more years to visit my last two states. Last year my husband, Michael, and I took our silver wedding anniversary cruise on our temple sealing anniversary May 7 to Alaska's Inland Passage, my 49th visited state during Alaska's 49th anniversary of statehood and Alaska is the 49th state. May 16, 2009, Michael and I flew together for the first time in 26 years of marriage to Honolulu to visit Hawaii, my 50th visited state during their 50th anniversary of statehood, and the 50th state in the Union. It wasn't planned that I wait until Hawaii's 50th year as a state, it's just the way it turned out. We were planning to visit Hawaii first last year. Now it's my own dream come true. All who have visited the 50 states please contact me.