Walk Down Memory Lane

I was in Maryland this past weekend and on Saturday David and I made a trip out to my grandparents old farm in New Windsor, MD. I hadn't been out there in almost ten years! Before that last visit I had spent a week or two there every summer for as long as I could remember out at my grandparents farm and visiting my Aunt Judy in Virgina, and later my Aunt Elsa in Baltimore. I can easily say that some of my favorite summer memories occurred on these trips, and I look back at those times with a smile. :o) <--- Like that!

History of the Farm

According to my dad my grandparents bought the farm in 1969 when my grandfather retired from the Coast Guard. The lived there until the mid-9os when they moved into a nursing home close to Baltimore.

The Farm - 1979

The last time that my dad and I went for our normal visit together was 1993. I came back years later alone (I was a big girl by then!) in 1999 when I was about to finish college, and then sadly again for another time in 2000 for my grandmother's funeral.

The Farm - 1999

My grandfather passed in 1996 and my grandmother in 2000. I wasn't able to make my grandfather's funeral because I was in school, but I was able to make it back for my grandmother's. Last year around the holidays David and I took a trip to Arlington Cemetary to visit my grandparents.

Arlington Cemetery - Dec 2008

Capt. Arnold E. Carlson
US Coast Guard

Allegra Carlson
His Wife

Growing Up

My parents took me to the farm long before I remember ever going. The love telling the story of how they took me as a baby and there was't a crib for me so they put me in a drawer to sleep in. Okay, these days that might sound like child abuse, but I think its cute. :o) My mom also talks about how she couldn't sleep at night because of the sound of the cows mooing. Do cows really moo at night? Maybe it was in the morning? Or should I say moooorning? Haha. By the time I could remember the farm the cows were long gone. In my younger years my grandfather had chickens, but for the majority of my visits to the farm there were mostly small crops like corn and potatoes.

Little Monika
(The cross eyed full Asian girl)

I remember going out with my grandfather while he turned the ground and I picked up the potatoes! (and then made icky icky poo hand motions and faces while I rubbed the dirty dirty off my hands. Yes ... even as a young child I was a prissy priss. haha.)

Me & My Grandparents & Aunt Judy
(At my cousin David's wedding)

Grandpa used to also take me out into the corn fields and pull off a few ears and peel them open to look at them. I remember how he'd peel back the shucks on a few and then toss them aside behind him if they didn't look right. I was shocked! Little city girl me! Him tossing an ear of corn behind him was the same to me as if he'd thrown a box of cereal or a loaf of bread off to the side. That was food!

Me & My Grandparents & Dad

Good Memories

I have so many good memories at the farm that its hard to list them all briefly. I loved going out with my grandfather and picking up potatoes and picking corn .. even if the natureness of it grossed me out. I loved working on craft projects with my grandmother, and best of all her letting me sit in her lap with my head on her chest listening to her pacemaker. I was being prepped to be a real homemaker at that farm! I learned how to sew, knit, do needlepoint, and do latchhook. Each summer we usually had a project we'd complete, most often from a craft magazine or from Bob's Hobby Lobby in the nearby town of Westminster, MD. My Aunt Judy usually was a huge help, and I attribute my needlepoint skills to her alone!

Silly Picture of My Dad

I have so many various random childhood memory from the farm ... making potato chips from scratch with potatoes from their field, sitting on the porch watching the fireflies and wishing they had them in San Francisco, watching my grandparents fry bacon with a bacon press (quite a contraption for the bacon lover who loves flat, crispy bacon), planning my next dollhouse based on the room replicas my grandmother had made, reading books with the window fan going (because there was no AC), swinging on the porch swing with my dad or grandparents, listening to the kitchen screen door slam whenever someone came in, playing on the armchair my grandparents had which lifted you up to standing, watching the Young and the Restless with my grandmother (oh Cricket!!), answering the phone when someone called for "the Captain" (my grandfather) ... and so many more. Those were good times, really good times.

My Grandfather

But I digress.... wow, this is getting me a little misty!

Return to the Farm

Ever since I found out that David had grown up in Maryland I've wanted to go back and see the farm. I mean its been ten years since I'd been there! And ... its the defining point of all of my childhood summers! We were in Maryland last year around the holidays but due to the busyness of the week we never got to make it out. I have been back to the area a few times since but we've just never had time to go. For this past trip David asked me "So what do you want to do this weekend?" I answered "Well, its your birthday weekend so we can do anything you want. But .. there is one thing I want to do ... I want to go see my grandparent's farm." And so we did!

Saturday morning we had plans to head to the farm in the morning, have lunch in the nearby town, and then head back to College Park. I woke up on Saturday morning, yawned, looked at the clock, looked outside .... and my world came to a standstill. RAIN?! (Give me a break here. I've lived in San Diego for the past two years and lived in Arizona for about six years before that. I can almost count the number of times I've seen it rain in the past 8 years on one hand!) Okay, mayyyyybe two! Growing up in San Francisco I didn't see a lot of rain either, but moving to Arizona made me think "Rain? What's rain?" Okay, back to Maryland. So I woke up and it was raining. Boo. I hate rain. Whatever though, we'd be in the car and it would be fine.

Driving to New Windsor

As we started to drive towards New Windsor my surprise over rain quickly turned shock over SNOW! It looked like it was snowing! But when the snowflakes hit the windshield they went SPLAT and were drop/splotches. California girl was confused. David quickly informed her that if its not cold enough outside it can snow ... but it won't "stick". Okay .. I get it. So we drove in the snow splotches for a while as I sat in amazement ... and then suddenly there was snow on the side of the road! And then more! And more! And as we got closer to the farm the sides of the road were blanketed with snow! I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!

About an hour later we arrived in New Windsor and started approaching the farm. The first time I had told David about my grandparents farm in New Windsor he almost immediately said "oh, I bet its row houses now.". :-O No~ I was like what?? No way! He said yeah, that's what happens. :o( I didn't want to believe it, and didn't believe it in my heart ... but a tiny part of me was scared as we got closer. I vaguely remembered the road to the farm being bumpy and hilly .. as we coasted along with only a few miles to go I got nervous .... but then we got closer... and there it was! The same as how I remembered it!

Arriving at the Farm

When we first drove by the farm there was a bundled up man salting the driveway. I instinctively gave him a dirty look thinking "UGH! You're living on *MY* grandparents farm!! ! Who are you anyways!?!" David said "Hey look! You should talk to him and tell him why you're here!" I declined thinking it sounded too cheesy.

David and I drove by a few more times before parking down the road and walking up to the farm so I could take pictures. It was probably really weird that in the middle of nowhere a big truck drove by about three times. David joked that the man ran back into the house and said to his wife "Honey! There's a hippie and a Muslim casing the place!" haha.. David and his long hair ... me and my phobia of snow and rain with my scarf wrapped around my precious hair!

The Farm! 2009

Grandparents' Farm

We got a few good pictures of the farm and McKinstry's Mill across the street. I had never seen the farm in snow before... and it was soo pretty. A part of me is still sad that this cornerstone of my childhood is no longer in my family. I wish someone had been able to buy it and our next generations would be able to come there to visit and spend there summers.

Walking Past McKinstry's Mill

McKinstry's Mill

Sams Creek Rd/McKinstry's Mill Rd

After casing the farm and taking a number of pictures we headed into the town of Westminster. There was a bookstore that my grandparents used to get me books from each Christmas. I'd get a book wtih a special bookmark in it from "Locust Books". When I was old enough we'd go into town togheter and I'd get to pick out a book myself. My hopes for this bookstore still being around were slim. I had forgotten the name so David and I just headed in the general direction of the main town street. As we got closer to the main street he asked me if things looked familiar. Sadly ... I said no. :o( And then we pulled into a parking lot and EUREKA! I recognized a brick tower in the parking lot and knew we were right behind the bookstore. We went in the back entrance and I was AMAZED that the store looked just as I remembered. Wow, my last visit was 10 years ago! And I'd been there as a child! According to the signs the store had been there for 25 years! (Older than someone I know... haha)

David and I looked around the store and he ended up buying four books for his America Reads kids and I bought one book for my dad. (Dad, if you're reading this ... guess what you're getting as a Christmas gift? haha) After buying books we went to one of the nearby eateries for lunch. Mexican! With the option to order fries or hot wings of course! Random...

Locust Books - Westminster, MD

As we drove back from the farm I had mixed emotions. It was bittersweet to see the farm, the place where my childhood summer memories lie. It was nice to see that the farm was still there. It was nice to think back to all of the times with my grandparents. It was nice to visit the bookstore and the town of Westinster as an "adult", after going there for so many years as a kid.

I think part of me loves the farm and all of those memories becuase they are SO opposite of the rest of my life. I'm a city girl, born and raised in San Francisco. (The "city" - for those of you who think "San Francisco" means everything within 100 miles.) I love being a city girl! But I loved those times at the farm with my grandparents as well.

Arnold & Allegra - May you rest in peace. I love you. Thank you for the memories. :o)

The Making of a Sock Monkey

There seems to be a sort of obsession with sock monkeys in David's family. Maybe "obsession" isn't the right word, I suppose tradition is probably more suitable. David has his own sock monkey named Marcus which sits (creepily) in the corner of his bedroom. The sock monkey is kind of like the Mona Lisa ... its eyes follow you wherever you go in the room! No, I'm kidding - but it is weird to see the little sock monkey propped up in the corner. I actually think he might have been lost in transit to David's new place, but in his last two apartments Marcus manned his corner post each day and night.

Last Christmas when we were looking for a gift for his niece Skylar we came across a large stuffed sock monkey at Target. It immediately went into the basket. Little did we know his mother had bought her one as well. David wanted to be the one to give Skylar her first sock monkey so the one his mom bought was put into the pool for the gift exchange we'd have at his cousin's house in MD on Christmas Part 3. Skylar's twin sisters also received sock-monkey-like themed dolls... sock frogs!

Sock Frogs for the Twins

When I was at the craft store about a month ago looking for supplies for my Girls On The Run group I came across a sock monkey kit! How perfect! I could make David a sock monkey for Christmas! I immediately bought the kit and then went to go buy stuffing. For some crazy reason the store was out of polyfill stuffing! (And all stuffed animal making in San Diego screeched to a halt... jk) I found stuffing at another craft store and we were ready to get monkeying!

I brought the supplies over to my friend Devika's house with the intention to make the sock monkey while we watched a DVD marathon of True Blood.

Sock Monkey Kit

Sock #1 Becomes the Body
(With baby foot for size perspective.. haha)

Let There Be Legs!

Sock Monkey Body

Sock #2 Tail & Arms

Sock Monkey w/Tail

Sock Monkey Arms

Starting to Look Like a Monkey!

Rear View.. Love the Red Butt!

Sock Monkey Face
(Kona jumped into a picture)

Sock Monkey Face Completed!
(Mika jumped into this picture)

We watched about 6 hours of True Blood .. and I wasn't finished with the monkey! Six hours of sewing was miserable! I had no idea the project would take so long. Due to the loose fibers in the sock material the stitches needed to hold the parts together were this back cross-over double stitchy thing that took a lot of time and a lot of thread since you were basically going over every stitch twice. I got most of the sock monkey done at her house including his hat, but still needed to make his slippers and teddy bear before he was complete.

Sock Monkey w/Hat

I put the project aside for a few weeks until I realized that I didn't want to wait until Christmas to give David the sock monkey, so I quickly finished the project early this week so that I could send it to him for his birthday instead. I made the slippers and bear .. and we were done! Yay!

Sock Monkey's Teddy Bear

Sock Monkey w/Teddy Bear

Welcome to the world Thaddeus Primus!

Sock Monkey Complete!

Home For The Holidays

This Thanksgiving I went home to San Francisco for the first time in several years. I had decided to drive up so that I could bring my dogs with me and have a car available during the long weekend.

The Drive

I knew that traffic would be bad on the 5 on the way from San Diego to San Francisco so I set a goal to leave before noon. (I had some work I needed to finish before the long weekend, otherwise I would have left first thing in the morning.) I wrapped everything up from home and was on the road early – 11:45am! Hey, even 15 minutes early is an accomplishment for me.

I loaded up the car and started off on my drive. San Francisco or bust! I usually let the dogs sit up in the front seat with me but due to the length of the trip and my guilt about being a bad dog mommy, I decided that for this trip I’d put the pet gate up behind the front seats and blockade the dogs in the backseat. Mika was not happy about that… not happy about that at all! She whined and whimpered incessantly hoping that she’d wear me down and I’d let her up front. About 45 minutes into the drive I couldn’t take her whining anymore and decided to stop to get a sandwich so I could get away from the awful sounds of a dying dog. I had this crazy delusion that once I got back into the car and on the road after the quick pit stop that she would have calmed down and given up on the whining. Nope, it persisted.

Mika Struggling to Get Up Front

We hit traffic about 20 minutes later … and that traffic didn’t end for the next four hours. Yes, FOUR HOURS! Guess how far I got in four hours? 145 miles. Seriously. I stopped again at that point and tried not to get too down about the fact that I should be halfway home by now. The dog whining had died down a bit by now. Possibly because of the crazed look I was getting in my eyes from being stuck in the car for so long and making so little progress. Maybe Mika started getting scared that I would “forget her” at the next rest stop. Aww.. I’m kidding, I’d never do that. Where was Kona during all this? Sitting quietly like the little black angel that she is. Of course.

The traffic lightened up when I finally got to the boring, smelly, farm part of the 5, and eleven hours later I finally made it home to my dad’s. Yay!

Turkey Trot

On Thanksgiving morning I was signed up to run my very first Turkey Trot! My friend Christina and I were going to be running the Turkey Trail Trot in Golden Gate Park sponsored by my alma matter – Oh Lowell High! (If you’re a Lowellite did you hear the Lowell Hymn in your head as I said that?) When I originally asked Christina to run the race I didn’t think to register right away, and once I went back to register a week later the course was full! Ack! Christina talked me into running as a bandit on the course which I felt fairly guilty about .. but she had a point, the race was in the park and I could have just been running in the park.

I saw on the website that a lot of people dressed up for the race. The costumes ranged from turkeys to Indians to Pilgrims. I decided to make a modest effort to be festive and put my hair in Indian style braids. AND I wore a yellow running shirt. You know, a Thanksgiving color! Well, kinda. There were a lot of great costumes among the racers on this race day. There were several people in full body turkey costumes, dozens of people with turkey hats, a few people dressed like Indians and Pilgrims, a cute couple dressed like peas and carrots, and a funny pair dressed up as a turkey and a chef with a big fake knife!

Turkey Trail Trot 2009

The course was 5 miles (not the 5K I had hoped for) and started from the Polo Fields in Golden Gate park and lapped around a larger grassy loop up and down into picnic areas. I haven’t been training or running very hard since my marathon a month ago and was a bit nervous to be trying to go all out on a short distance. The pressure was off though when I found out that I couldn’t register and have my finish time tracked. But then … when Christina came to pick up her race number the night before she found out about a “secret” registration link which allowed you to register for only $10! You wouldn’t get a shirt but who cares! I immediately signed up and thought about how all races should give that option. I almost never wear race shirts and have donated almost all of them.

This excitement was quickly dashed on Thursday morning when I showed up to pick up my number and it wasn’t there. Did I have a print out of my race confirmation? Of course not, I’ve run dozens of races and never had a problem, I had never even though to print it. So okay, back to the bandit plan.

My goal for the race was to run a sub 8 minute mile. That had me aiming for a finish time of around 39 minutes. I’m disappointed to say that I finished in 42 minutes .. BUT .. my GPS watch tracked the course at 5.24 miles not 5.00 miles, so over that distance my pace ended up averaging out to 8:01. Perfect! I’m embarrassed to say that around mile 2 a turkey flew past me, but I did managed to cross the finish line well ahead of the peas and carrots!

Side Note: Interesting - I got a snarky comment on my blog late last night from someone with a private profile going off about how being a bandit is equitable to being a thief. While I see his point to a certain degree he's not totally correct to bash me for this race because #1 I DID register online but my registration got lost. And #2 Because I wasn't registered for the race I didn't take any water, food, and I didn't even cross the finish line. There have also been numerous races that I've registered for but haven't run for one reason for another... so not that I've registered for this race and not run it in the past, but in the running universe I have paid more than I have taken.

Commenter said...

"Christina talked me into running as a bandit on the course which I felt fairly guilty about .. but she had a point, the race was in the park and I could have just been running in the park."

And would you have run the very same coure in the park if there was no Turkey Trail Trot occurring? Race bandits are thieves, plain and simple. The course is designed to accomodate 1,000 runners only. You did NOT pay for the insurance, the permits, the portapotties, the refreshments, etc for the event. Nor did your participation contribute to the donation that went to Lowell.

Any event can happen in public space--concerts, picnics, sporting events. If they all charge a fee for admission, does that give you a right to simply partake in the events without paying, especially when the events have sold out or have restricted entries?

Race bandits are thieves.

Turkey Lunch

After the race I went back home to shower and change and my dad and I headed out for lunch and to go see the movie the Blind Side. I was hoping that the California Pizza Kitchen near the theater would be open but it wasn’t. Neither was Chevy’s. Big sad face. Luckily Max’s Opera Café was open though so we went there. In honor of Thanksgiving they had a special menu that featured Thanksgiving dinner! (And a very limited menu outside of that.) Since it was only lunch time I wasn’t ready for turkey so I ordered a veggie wrap – but then at the last minute asked if they could add some turkey to it as well. Dinner was great and the movie was great as well! Very touching and a great story, even more heart warming to know its based on a true story. I totally recommend seeing it!

Turkey Wrap @ Max's Opera Cafe

Lunch w/My Dad

Thanksgiving Dinner

My dad and I had planned on going out for Thanksgiving dinner and I searched on OpenTable.com to find the perfect place. A number of places were offering special “Thanksgiving” dinner packages and we ending up choosing the restaurant First Crush near Union Square. The restaurant was packed when we got there at 6pm! The restaurant was really cute and everything on the menu looked great. I had been planning on having turkey for dinner but after looking at the menu I knew I had to go fish all the way! I had mushroom soup, pistachio crusted Hawaiian walu fish, and crème brulee for desert. My dad had hmm… I can’t remember what he started with (probably because I was too busy shoving food in my face), we shared crab cakes, and then he had a shrimp and cheesy risotto as his entrée. I tried to get him to split some of the dessert with me to share some of my guilt but he passed. More crème brulee for me!

After dinner we headed back home (on the Muni! I roughed it!) and I headed straight for bed in a fine food coma. Yum yum yum. I wish I could have that meal all over again!

Heading To Wine Country

Later the next morning I had plans to meet some of my friends to drive up to Sonoma for a day and a half of wine tasting. There was a special event going on this past weekend where for $30 you gained entry to 23 wineries in the area! Not only was that an awesome deal on tasting fees, but each winery had “holiday treats” to eat and they were offering 15% off on all purchases. Some of the wineries only had crackers and nuts and chocolates, but others had sandwiches, crab appetizers, chocolate truffles, and one place even gave out small bowls of pork and beans! Mmmmm! On Friday we managed to visit 6 wineries in the 4 hours that we had. We ate so much that driving wasn’t that much of an issue, but just to be the safe responsible citizens that we are we had arranged for a limo to take us around.

Living the Fabulous Life

SF Friends at VJB Winery

Christmas Carolers at VJB Winery

Seafood Feast On The Grill

After the wine tour we came back home to our swinging pad in Oakmont, a community for active seniors. We brought life to that area! The plan for the evening was to BBQ crab legs to start, and to cook ceviche style tilapia to go into fresh fish tacos. The marinade for the tilapia probably took more than anything else, but it was well worth it.

Fresh Crab Off the Grill

Preparing for Dinner!

I’m Black and White ….

After dinner we retired to the fireplace area (like the active seniors we are) and played a few rounds of Bridge and Gin Rummy. Just kidding, we played the game Taboo. Some of the clues the teams were giving were hilarious and made me think of that scene in the movie Four Christmases where they’re playing the game. Have you seen it? Anyways, of all of the funny clues and guesses that came out that night, by far my favorite was:

Jared: Okay I’m an animal, and I’m black and white, and I smell really bad.

Tom: A panda?

A panda?? Haha! Not a skunk? Oh Tom..

Taste of Sonoma – Take Two

Since the passes we had bought to the Holiday Open House event were good for Friday and Saturday, we couldn’t pass up the chance to go out and check out more wineries! We didn’t have a limo or driver this time and all also had to drive back to the city that night so we were more moderate in our tastings. We managed to visit 6 more wineries on our list in the 4 hours that we had on Saturday which wasn’t too bad! That even included time that we took out for a picnic lunch break at one of the wineries.

When the event ended at 4pm we went back to the house to collect my dogs, pack up the car, and prepare to head back to the city. Although Mika whined like a banshee the entire 1 ½ hour drive up to Sonoma, she was a perfect angel on the way back. Weird. By the time we got home I was full and tired .. and called it a night and cancelled my overly ambitious plans to go out afterwards with some other friends. What was I thinking?

Mika As Co-Pilot

Driving Back to SD

I was so traumatized by the drive north to San Francisco and wanted to make sure I got an early start on the way back down to San Diego. I planned on leaving by 8am so I’d hopefully get home before dinner time .. and I did it! I left right at 8am! Who am I? This strange punctual road-trip girl! There wasn’t any traffic on the way back down and I got back home by 4pm. Who would have thought I’d be happy about an 8 hour drive? Well I sure was! The drive back down was fairly uneventful. Luckily the dogs slept almost the entire way and the car was peaceful and quite. I cleared out a ton of podcasts on my long drive down and the trip really wasn’t too bad.

It was really nice to come home for Thanksgiving and to spend time with my dad and friends. For the past four years I’ve worked an annual dental tradeshow in New York, NY and have taken off for New York on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. That really cut my Thanksgiving weekends short. For years! I wasn’t going this year for the first time in ages it seems which gave me the opportunity to take the time to come home. It was worth it! There’s no place like home.