I've had a great deal of fun this week deciding how to spend my winnings. It's amazing how much fun it is to spend 'free' money. So far I've purchased a new printer, a shredder, some decorative items, and the best of all...a new vacuum.

This isn't just 'any' vacuum. Its a Dyson. When I made the decision that this was something I really needed I did a little research and found the least expensive place to purchase it was at Costco. I excitedly drove to Costco and found a parking place - NOT an easy thing to do - and walked into the store with single-minded purpose. I loaded the box into my cart and started to wheel it to the checkout. I noticed immediately the glances and looks of downright envy from several of the other shoppers as I made my way forward. Several women commented on my purchase, one even stopped me on my way out to tell me how jealous she was of my new equipment.

I was happy and anxious to get home and try it out. I dragged the large box into the house and proceeded to open it As I tipped back the cardboard lid, I swear I heard an angel chorus. This is the epitome of household equipment! Just about the only thing it won't do is cook supper. OK, perhaps thats an exaggeration - but it is AWESOME. I'm a fairly mechanically inclined person, but even I had to resort to actually reading the instructions, but read I did. Then...I was ready.

I plugged it into an outlet and gave the on/off switch a test. The motor roared into action. I quickly turned it off, my heart beating rapidly. The excitement was almost more than I could take. I had to decide which carpet to clean first! I decided on the living room. I moved into the room and switched the machine on again. Wow! This thing could even pick up dirt from a clean rug! I moved on to another room, each time being amazed at what I was seeing in the clear plastic recepticle. My household tool had made my gloomy day into a blazing victory of gleaming surfaces.

But, with great technology comes great responsibility. It has been a few days now and every time a crumb ends up on the carpet, I feel compeled to vacuum. I'm hoping that, like any new 'toy', the newness will wear off. And soon. My time-saving device is taking up all my time.

Go figure.

This has been an interesting weekend. For me anyway.

Bruce is in Washington,D.C. doing whatever it is he does there (OK, I'll admit I know some of it, but not all of it.) So, anyway, I decided it was a good time to see if I was brave enough to stay out at the beach house all by myself. I arrived about 11:00 a.m. and went directely down to the basement to turn up the hot water. The basement is clean but very very dark...especially when you're all alone! I did that with no problem. I unpacked some things I brought with me and settled in. I cleaned for awhile (it's actually fun to clean a clean house.) I went down to the outlet mall and made the rounds, went home for lunch and then decided on an outing. I took a small amount of money with me because I planned to eat while I was out, also. The beach was awesome because of a minus tide (LOTS more sand to walk on a minus tide) so I walked for awhile. Then I decided to go to the casino. I knew I'd be fine because I didn't have much money with me. I walked in and started cruising the machines until I found one that called to me. It was a penny machine. I played that for a good while and got my pennies up to $124.00. That was pretty cool, so I cashed out with the idea of going home MUCH ahead of where I started. I was on my way out when I saw a triple-diamond machine. I need to explain at this time that my mom always had a 'thing' for the diamond machines ( probably because she had a 'thing' for diamonds.) So in honor of my mother I decided to play $20 of my winnings in that machine. I sat down and started to get comfortable before my first bet, then I hit the button. Lights flashed and sirens blared. I thought I had broken the machine somehow, then there was a woman floor worker beside me telling me congratulations. I wasn't sure exactly what she was congratulating me for, because it all happened so fast. Turns out I had won $1500 on that one pull! I played out the rest of the $20 while I waited for the paperwork (tax forms) and fended off some overly friendly people who wanted some of my 'luck' to rub off on them. It seemed prudent to leave while I was ahead so I did. I went home, opened a can of beef stew and toasted my win with a diet coke.

Winning is fun.

Whew! Its official! Christmas 2008 is over except for the store returns. I didn't do too badly this year...only a few things have to go back.

I really really tried to keep it down this year to a 'reasonable' amount of gifts. The problem is, my 'reasonable' may not be the next guys. I do the best I can.

We all went out to the beach house for a few days to test it out and see if we could survive the close quarters. It went well. The house lends itself to many little pockets of activity. If any one of us had had about enough togetherness, we could find a place to hide for awhile. The weather was lousy most of the time. The sun didn't come out until the last day. We did have a pinochle tournament and I'm proud to say Stephanie's and my team came in second place. I do believe the cards were rigged though. We shoulda been first.

On day two I tried to maim myself. Stephanie had asked me for something that I happened to have in the car, so I volunteered to go get it. The problem started when I chose NOT to get dressed first. I was in my Sponge Bob Squarepants jammies with fuzzy Ugg style boots. I figured no one would see me, so I stealthily worked my way outside in the rain. As I closed the door of the car after retrieving said item, I heard the unmistakable sound of a car engine coming up the street. I scurried (or tried to) up the concrete steps and on the third step I slipped. I hit both knees, my hand and my lip (of all things). I had a mental flash of having to go to the hospital in my Sponge Bob pants with a fat lip and a broken leg. I think I said a really bad word.

Luckily I was just bruised and scratched. I've tried milking it for sympathy but the family will not comply. I do have a great bruise all the way down my right shin that I'm willing to show to anyone who feigns an interest. When I hit my lip I was rather hoping I would knock out one or both of my front caps. They really need replacing. When they were put in well over 35 years ago the dentist said they would need to be replaced in 5 years. They are 'on the list'. Oh well...

My brother Dick pointed out to me that I had misspelled his wife Katherine's name. There is some irony in that because I named my first daughter after her (Amy Catherine). I know how its spelled. I changed the first letter for Amy just to be a little different. I just had a brain knot. Those happen more and more these days. Soon I'll have macrame' knots for a brain. (That's a really dumb joke - but it's all I got.)

I hope everyone had a good holiday and will be safe for New Years. I love you all.

I've gotten a few comments from people regarding my posts. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks so far (and correct my errors...) so please leave your comments as we go. I'd appreciate it.

Love, Deb

David

In many ways, talking about my twin brother David is harder than writing about my other brothers. I thought of us as a unit when I was a kid, because we were always referred to under the collective term "the twins". We were always together. We played together, we watched cartoons together - we even had our little imaginary friends together. We named them Picky and Bozo. I realize now that we must have been referring to Pinky Lee and Bozo the clown.

I remember my mother making us "matching' outfits of a shirt for David and a dress for me out of the same fabric. I was convinced that when we dressed alike no one could tell us apart - the twins on tv all looked alike so we must also. I thought the only difference between us was that I had long hair. (I didn't consider that other difference at that young age.) After the neighbor girls cut my hair I tried to make my mom feel better by saying "Well, at least now no one will be able to tell David and me apart!". I don't think it worked.

David is an incredible musician. We both began music lessons with Clyde Heck when we were about 12 years old. (I had taken piano earlier, but that didn't work out.) David learned the drums and I learned (or tried to learn) guitar. It didn't work out for me, but David took to it like a fish to water. He started playing with an accordion group first (hooray for the Polka!) and then started a garage band. Over the years he has continued to play and still does to this day with all sorts of different music groups from country to reggae to blues and rock.

Back in the day before electronic drumming, the guy keeping the beat was key to a bands' success. Once at a high school talent show David's band at the time played and rocked the house. A newspaper article ran a picture of David and commented on his 13 minute drum solo!

David also got all the artistic talent. From a very young age he could duplicate cartoon characters while I was stuck on stick figures. It seemed to be one of those things that just came naturally for him and he was constantly drawing.

He also has a natural mechanical ability. He was always working on cars, and I don't recall anyone ever teaching him how. He just did it. For several years he made a living as a mechanic. He is currently self-employed as a contractor. As with other things he's been involved with or done over the years, his work is meticulous.

He married Debbie Boyer right after she graduated from high school. They had two children, Chad and Jenny. The marriage didn't work out and he later met and married Fran. For several years Dave and Fran ran a small restaurant/wine bar in downtown Ventura. They sold that business a few years ago.

As with my older brothers, I've barely scratched the surface of who David is. I think it's going to take me a lot longer than I originally thought so I'm going to intersperse stories about our family with posts about my day-today stuff.

(the picture at the top of the page is my brother Jim, Grandmother Mabel Stewart, Bill, Dick, David and me)

Baby, its cold outside...

I'm going to take a short break in my brother introductions to talk about the weather. That's right...I said weather. At the moment its 17 degrees outside and dropping. That's just wrong on so many levels. There is an inch of solid ice on the roads (or more) and snow in all the yards. Even the beach had snow (this pic is my yard in Lincoln City, the beach one shows the snow on the hill above the beach - it had already melted off the sand by the time I got there.)

My feet are cold and my lips are dry.

OK, enough whining. Time to get to the next post.

Wow! I hadn't realized it had been nearly 2 weeks since I posted last! I guess the Christmas shopping season is taking more of my time than I thought. I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas, but I'll talk about that another day.Today I want to talk about my brother Richard.

Even saying 'Richard' sounds funny to me. My brother is and always has been Dickie to me. I suppose I sometimes call him Dick in front of other people, but he's 'Dickie". Dick was born September 10, 1943 - 18 months after Bill. (See, I'm trying to act grown up and take the 'ie' off both brother's names.)

Dick was the kind of kid who always brought home the stray dogs. I remember Ginger best of all. Dang she was a good and smart dog! As happened with many of our animals, she got hit by a car on Victoria Ave. It was a sad day for all of us.

I think Dick and I are the most alike temperamentally. We are both pragmatic. We can usually see both sides of an argument. We are generally non-reactive in many situations, preferring to consider all our options. We probably would have both been good counselors or psychologists.

Dick is also a protector of family, friends, and extended family. He's the kind of guy who will take on the practical task of paying bills or fighting with insurance companies on behalf of someone else when they are ill. He's the guy you call with a tax question or in many cases to do your taxes. He has been with Bill every step of his illness and recovery, taking over and acting as an advocate for Bill - pushing the envelope with doctors and health care workers to get the best possible response for his brother. Now THAT is love.

Dick married Kathryn Louise Beaver on August 9, 1962. He was 18, almost 19. She was 16. They have two children, Tammy and Rick. Dick worked for the State of California as a land surveyor and also at our parents liquor store to help make ends meet. They bought a house after a few years of marriage and still live in it to this day.

Dick developed a significant drinking problem during the early years of his marriage that colors a lot of the memories of those times. After a health scare nearly 20 years ago, he quit drinking entirely. As I mentioned we are very alike in temperament and both have "addictive" persona lites (try and take my diet coke and lose a hand!) His current 'addiction' is spending time at the Indian Casino. He enjoys it very much and so does Kathy. Thankfully, the only health concern with the casino is second hand smoke, which most of the time you can avoid.

Since our parents died, Dick's home has become my 'home base' in California. Partly because its nearest to where we grew up, but also because of the hospitality he and Kathy have offered me and my family.

I'm proud of my brother for the challenges he overcame, it wasn't easy. I look up to him with love, respect and admiration.

-more later.