Wreath Laid at Gravesite of Graeff Galebach

This past Friday Gerry and Ray Sutera, a good friend of ours, laid a fresh wreath at the gravesite of Graeff Galebach. Graeff passed away the middle of June 2009. He is buried at the Veterans Cemetery in Dixon, CA.


Gerry ordered the wreath from the Worcester Wreath Company located in Maine. This company has been providing and coordinating the laying of wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC at Christmas time. Through that project Wreaths Across America was started. Wreaths are also available for Memorial Day.

Sea to Shining Sea Bike Ride from San Francisco to Virginia Beach, VA

Gerry told me Sunday morning that there was a Patriot Guard event in downtown Sacramento for a group of disabled veterans. They are riding bicycles across the country having started in San Francisco on Saturday. They weren't due into Sacramento until about 4pm so after having lunch, we drove into Sacramento and then West Sacramento. We ended up driving into Davis since that was a water stop for the cyclists before heading into Sacramento. We didn't see any activity at the park in Davis where they were going to be stopping so we drove a ways out of town. Not seeing any of the riders, we drove back to Davis. By that time we saw a State Farm vehicle so we parked and Gerry went to go find any Patriot Guard guys who might be there. He found a couple of guys and came back to the van to get his flag.


After I joined him we learned that the riders had taken a wrong turn and would be an hour or more later than expected. A couple of people went out to try and find them. State Farm is the secondary sponsor of this ride. It is sponsored by World T.E.A.M. Here is the link for the ride if you want to check it out. www.s2ssbikeride.org. One of the support vehicles.

One of the riders coming in.

I wasn't going to add this picture then decided to do it anyway. That is the arm of Mickey, one of the Patriot Guard riders telling the rider where to go. Gerry is standing there on the left with his flag.

This is Brian Petras, the rider whom Mickey was directing, Mickey and Gerry. Brian had walked over to thank Mickey and Gerry for being there. The summer of 2009, Brian returned from Iraq with a cancerous tumor in his right foot, which resulted in having his lower leg amputated. He served in the Air Force.

This was probably the largest group of riders to come in at the same time.

Several of the riders were riding hand cycles.

This is the corner of B Street and Russell Blvd in Davis, if you are familiar with the city of Davis. Davis is very bike friendly, it is called the Bicycle Capital. UC Davis is also located in Davis and students can be seen everywhere riding their bikes.

This is Nicolette Maroulis, one of two women on the ride. I'll write more about her later.

This veteran riding the hand tricycle had a serious back injury. He has to be helped on the tricycle and strapped in before he can take off. He walks with great difficulty.

This is Nicolette arriving at Cesar Chavez park in downtown Sacramento two hours after leaving Davis. She and two other riders decided to go ahead and ride into Sacramento. The riders that arrived in Davis earlier rode into Sacramento. The rest of the riders were loaded up in the support vehicles and driven to Sacramento. Nicolette was born in Hawaii and resides now in Austin, TX. She was injured 7 years ago while serving as a K9 handler in the Navy. She spent 3 1/2 years in a wheelchair not knowing if she'd walk again. She is now able to do some walking. She is new to cycling having tried hand cycling earlier this year. She found out about this ride two months before it started and began extensive training so she could be on the team to make this cross country ride.

She got her bike at Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop in Austin, TX (Lance Armstrong's bike shop) and did her training through the shop.

This is Sue, Jean and Eileen. Eileen's nephew, Chad Jukes, is a member of the team. Sue and Eileen are roommates and Jean is their neighbor. Jean went out to find Nicolette and the two riders with Nicolette to ride with them into Sacramento. They were the last riders to arrive. Jean is an avid cyclist.

Sue, Chad Jukes, Jean and Eileen. I visited with Eileen's mom and Chad's grandmother, Polly in Davis. Polly's other daughter is Chad's mother who is from Utah. Chad was injured in December 2006 in Northern Iraq when a truck he was in struck an anti-tank mine. His heelbone and femur were broken on his right leg. He had his leg amputated below the knee 3 months after his injury and fighting MRSA. Chad is an avid climber and was back climbing within 2 months of his amputation.

We visited with Nicolette for a little bit after she arrived in Sacramento. Gerry was very interested in her bike. There are a total of 20 riders with a few riders riding along as support. A couple of them are Paul Bremer who was an envoy to Iraq, May 2003 to June 2004. He was responsible for efforts in the rebuilding the country's shattered political and economic structure during the first year after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Also, Bob Magnus who is a retired Marine Corp General. He served as the 30th Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corp from September 2005 to July 2008. He is an avid runner and cyclist and looks forward to riding each year with wounded warriors and disabled veterans. There is a Marine Major riding along and another General who was not in the Sunday ride. These men are not disabled.

Robin Williams had dinner with the team in San Francisco the night before they left and then joined them on Sunday for some of the ride heading to Napa.

Check out their website. It was quite emotional watching these riders on Sunday. They will be traveling over 4000 miles and expect to dip the front wheels of their bikes in the Atlantic on July 24th in Virginia Beach, VA.

Yummy Dinner

Here's the recipe for what I fixed for dinner tonight. I forgot to take a picture of it before we dug into it. I am writing exactly as printed. I do not usually follow the exact directions to a recipe, especially when it tells you to cut something in .... inches.

Artichoke Parmesan Pasta Toss

Cook 1 package or box or your favorite pasta according to package directions; drain well and place in large bowl. Meanwhile saute 3 links Aidelis Artichoke Sausages, sliced diagonally 1/4 inch thick, in a large nonstick skillet. Add 1 (7.5 oz) jar of Raley's Marinated Quartered Artichoke Hearts, sliced in half, and 3/4 cup halved grape tomatoes; cook for a few minutes more to heat all ingredients. Add pasta, 1/2 cup Raley's Shredded Parmesan Cheese and 1/4 cup snipped fresh basil to skillet and toss well. Makes 4 servings.


The pasta I used were small tube type pasta. I threw the bag away so I can't tell you exactly, however something like rotini or rigatoni would work great. I used all 4 pieces of sausage that came in the package and did not cut them in 1/4 inch pieces. I just sliced them diagonally. This recipe came out of a magazine that Raley's puts out quarterly so that's why it says to use Raley's brands. Any brand of marinated artichoke hearts and shredded parmesan cheese will work, I'm sure. I used two bottles of artichoke hearts and did not cut them in half. Instead of Parmesan Cheese, I used a 4 blend Italian cheeses that comes in a tub. If your grocery store doesn't carry grape tomatoes then use cherry tomatoes. The only seasoning I added was some salt to the boiling water for the pasta. The liquid from the artichoke hearts was sufficient for seasonings. And I didn't add the basil, I don't like it.


Anyway, this was very easy, went together quickly and it was oh so good!! I'm looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow!! :)) Try it and let me know what you think.

Rubber Stamp Convention and Ashley's Birthday Party on Saturday

Saturday morning I went to the Rubber Stamp Convention held at the Scottish Rite Temple each year. There were 23 vendors this year, a few vendors were new to the show. I stayed for an hour. It was so crowded, the space is not very big and then to have 23 vendors with their merchandise and then add people. I don't do well with crowds and tight quarters. Another thing was that the organizers ask that strollers and rolling bags not be brought to the show. There were several ladies with huge rolling bags. I almost fell over one lady's bag. Every time I moved to get out of her way, there she was in front of me again. I only shopped at one vendor before I decided I had enough.


Later that evening we went to Ashley's birthday party. She celebrates her 18th birthday on the 27th. She is the oldest daughter of Elizabeth who is the oldest of our girls, Gerry's 1st born child. Here's Miss Ashley...she is so pretty and has a very sweet disposition. Up until 3 or 4 years ago, she seldom had much to say to me much less look at me. She has blossomed into a very sweet girl. She is taking voice lessons and had her first recital recently. I love her!! Elizabeth outdid herself again with Ashley's cake. I teased her about her hibiscus flowers on the cake. I was giving her a bad time; she just gives it back to me. :)

I loved the color scheme of her cake and napkins. I saved one to try a card with these colors. I have a nice hibiscus stamp.

Here's her card that I made for her. I posted it on my card blog too. I could have done a hibiscus card if Elizabeth had told me what the theme was for Ashley's party. When I said something to her about it, she says "yeah, yeah, yeah". I get no respect from that girl. LOL!!

Ashley will be doing something fun this weekend to further celebrate her birthday.

Today - Wednesday 5/19/10

Just a quick post before I head off to bed.


Gerry and I spent the day at Mercy General Hospital in downtown Sacramento today. No, not for either of us. A very dear friend, Tom Riddle had a triple bypass this morning. His surgery was scheduled for between 6am and 6:30 am. He actually was taken into surgery about 6:55am. Gerry and I got there a little after 9am.


Different staff people came during the course of the morning to let the family know what to expect. About 1pm the doctor came out and spoke to Nancy, Tom's wife; his mother and four of their kids that the surgery had gone well. He told them they would be able to see Tom in just a little while. It was taking quite a while and so the family had the volunteer check and see what the holdup was about. Tom's nurse came out to talk to the family and told them they were having a difficult time getting Tom settled. He had come to a lot quicker than they anticipated and he was not tolerating the breathing tube that was inserted in his mouth. He kept thrashing about, they upped his medication a little and it was not helping. After about 2 hours of more waiting, the family was finally able to go in to see him. However, they were only able to be there for a few minutes because Tom was so agitated with having the tube in his mouth. The nurse told the family that they were afraid to remove the tube too soon because he could still have some of the anesthesia in his system. If they removed the tube too soon, he would possibly not be able to breathe on his own. Finally, the nurse came out and said they were going to remove the tube and she would be back out to get them. They were able to go back in, this time he was fighting the oxygen mask and when they removed that, he calmed down and went to sleep.


Nancy went in to see him for a few minutes before we all left the hospital. By this time it was after 5pm. She said he was calmer and sleeping. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better time for them when they go down to see him. We'll go down to see him after he is able to have visitors. Right now they are restricting visits to family only.


After we left the hospital, we stopped at Arigato Sushi for some dinner then went to Whole Foods before coming home.


We are not able to pull into our carport for a couple of days. Yesterday there were workmen in the park cutting lines in the concrete at some of the side street intersections in our mobile home park. Then this morning they had machinery cutting up the concrete and pouring new concrete. Since our space is at a corner, we had to move both vans out of our carport. When we came home tonight, the intersections they worked on are all blocked off.


The one nice thing about this work is that it is very quiet out there tonight. There is so much traffic at our corner. Some people think it is the Indianapolis Speedway out there.


I am off to bed now. It has been a long day and I'm tired. I took my Nook with me today and was able to read quite a bit. :)

Monday Morning

I know I've been missing here for a few days. You know, blogging is hard trying to keep up and with 2 blogs, it is even worse. LOL!


We have another yucky Monday. Actually yesterday wasn't the greatest. It was overcast all day, the sun did peek out once in awhile. There is suppose to be some rain sometime today.


I've been busy at my craft table and with all of my Splitcoast Stamper card swaps. Plus I am hosting a swap on Splitcoast. I will be at my craft table today in between doing the laundry. Enjoy the day and hopefully I will have something interesting to share soon.

My Nook

I finally got my Nook set up and today downloaded a book. The author is Debbie Macomber, the title is "The Shop on Blossom Street". There are 5 books in this series. The cost was $5.76. I started with an inexpensive one to see how this works. It is a little confusing, at least to me, in figuring out how it works. I had to have Gerry register the device for me. It has a keyboard much like a smart phone and I kept hitting the wrong keys when I was trying to register it. Gerry told me it was because I don't type with one finger like he does. :)


I went up to Barnes & Noble today to look at the covers that are made for the Nook. Would you believe .... they don't have any in the store. I had looked at them online yesterday, I wanted to see what they looked like in real life. The sales person told me that B&N is having such a overwhelming amount of sales of the covers online that they cannot supply the stores. They are rather pricey starting at about $25 to $125 for the designer ones. So I guess I will have to order one online.


The sales person told me about a class that they are having to teach Nook buyers how to use the reader. One is this coming Saturday, I already have plans and the next one is the middle of June. I think I will register for it. It wouldn't hurt to take it.


After I figured out how to get to the book I purchased, I read the first chapter. I wouldn't be surprised if one could read a whole book in one day, if there weren't a lot of pages. This particular book has 300 pages.


I had created a list of the books I want to read on my desktop computer. So yesterday I brought it up and printed it out so I could check and see which ones are in ebook format. I started creating a wish list on B&N and so when I want to purchase another book, I can just look at my wish list and order from there. I won't have to look them all up again.


Of the authors I like to read, the selections are not that great. I have several books that I purchased that I haven't read. I need to get those read, I've run out of room to keep them. My craft room/office is overflowing between my stamp stuff, my books and everything else that seems to find its way into this room. I need to go through my Stampin Up stamp sets and see if I can get rid of some of them. Some friends of mine that are Stampin Up demos are having a huge garage sale this Saturday. It would have been nice to have been able to sell some of them at the garage sale.


Anyway, I think once I figure out how to use my Nook and am comfortable with using it, I am really going to enjoy it. I just need to get a cover for it so it doesn't get all banged up.