A visit with Donna & Bob

Saturday June 29, 1991

Awoke at 6:30 sleeping on the air mattress at Donna & Bob's. Slept well. Backache is somewhat better today.

After breakfast we take a walk. The sky is partly cloudy. By afternoon it is mostly clear. We are in Placerville for coffee and yogurt with Donna and Bob, Mark & Yvonna and Heather. Heather is so cute at 18 months. A doll! Jennifer and Leah are with us too. Leah is crazy about Heather. They are so cute together.

Back at the house, we all have a nice dinner and relax til bedtime at 10:30.

Mom and Frank are spending the weekend with Donna and Bob at their home in Pollock Pines, just east of Placerville, California. Donna and Bob moved there from Southern California in 1980. It was hard for Mom to be separated by distance from her best friend. This weekend was Bob's retirement party. His son Mark and Mark's wife Yvonne are there, along with Mark and Yvonne's baby Heather. Jennifer is Donna's daughter from a previous marriage and Leah is Jennifer's daughter. Leah and my son Justin were born just 5 days apart.

Earthquake!

Friday June 28, 1991

Up early again to leave with the boat for Pollock Pines at 8 a.m. Frank leaves to get gas in the truck. I'm curling my hair upstairs at 7:45 when a 6.0 earthquake rocks me nearly out of my chair. Frank's mom called all shook up. Frank returns--he didn't feel a thing while driving. The radio says Pasadena was hit the worst so I call Cathy. She says alot has fallen from shelves. Luckily, according to the radio, no major damage except Pasadena, some old buildings.

We're OK with the earthquake and leave for Pollock Pines. It's raining lightly. When we get close to Sacramento, it really rains hard all the way to Donna and Bob's. Marck, Ivana and Heather are all there and we all have dinner lasagna.

The trip was fine except I'm achy all over from the walk yesterday. My back is still bothering me too. Otherwise, I feel fine.

The earthquake was later revised downward to a 5.8 magnitude. It occurred on the Clamshell - Sawpit Canyon fault, an offshoot of the Sierra Madre fault zone in the San Gabriel Mountains. Because of its depth and moderate size, it caused no surface rupture, though it triggered rockslides that blocked some mountain roads. Roughly $40 million in property damage occurred in the San Gabriel Valley. Unreinforced masonry buildings were the hardest hit. Two deaths resulted from this earthquake -- one person was killed in Arcadia, and one person in Glendale died from a heart attack.

The Perm

Thursday June 27, 1991

Up early and off for a walk to Sav-On to buy a perm. At home Frank helps me by putting on the solutions and rinsing the curlers. He's always been great about helping me color and perm my hair. He doesn't mind carrying my purse for me when I'm tired even in a crowd. He's always looking after me--sometimes too much. He can be stubborn and obstinate at times but he is really the husband most women dream of. Why God sent him to me I don't know. I'm so lucky. If life gets tough I know he'll be there for me to do whatever is needed. I tell him often how lucky I think I am to have him. I try very hard to be the good wife he deserves.

We work hard all day packing for our trip but manage to finish in time to go square dancing. We take Judy and Dave Dowd. Many friends are there in Reseda.

Mom could have been a hair stylist. She loved having a little girl so she curl my hair and style it. Even in the photo taken in 1957 on my main page, I have a perm at the age of 4. I always hated getting them because the solution was stinky and she pulled my hair tightly around the rollers until it hurt. Mom gave Frank perms too and he helped her with hers. He was a very caring husband to Mom. I am amused by the idea of him carrying her purse in public. My husband would not be caught dead carrying my purse, no matter how tired I was.

Junior High Graduation

Wednesday June 26, 1991

Slept very well--only got up once to pee and no hot flashes woke me. Most nights the flashes wake me cause I'm so uncomfortably hot. I kick all the covers off and wait to cool down (5 minutes), then cover up and usually go back to sleep.

Arrive at Maria's mom's house 10 a.m. for Joseph and Junior graduation. We have a BBQ steak lunch with all Maria's family. We like them all alot.

Later at home I give Frank a perm then bake brownies and Krispie treats. Frank makes fudge. I make phone calls.

I napped in the car on the way home from L.A. I seem to have little trouble napping in the car these days and often do.

I remember the night sweats when I first entered menopause, but I used some herbs and soy to alleviate them. My worst night sweats occurred after giving birth. That is a quick hormone adjustment.

Her nephews Joe and Junior (now known as Gabe) were 10 and 12 in 1991. The photo at Lake Almanor above was taken in 1989 with mom and Justin. My sister-in-law Maria always has family gatherings at her parents' home in downtown Los Angeles. The house is very small, but the family is huge. Maria has 8 brothers and sisters! How did they all fit in a 2 bedroom house? When all those siblings get together with their kids, and now even another generation of children, the house is bulging at the seams.

I am amused by mom's comment about being able to sleep in the car because for as long as I can remember she never had trouble sleeping in the passenger seat. She would be talking away and then suddenly silence--she had fallen asleep. To stay awake while driving she often took No-Doze a caffeine pill.

Nightmare on Ambergrove Ct.

Tuesday, June 25, 1991

Up early to go to the doctor. I awoke at 4 a.m. from a bad dream and didn't get back to sleep til 6:30. I dreamed I was alone trying to find my group of friends. I kept walking around the building where they were last seen until my legs were so heavy I couldn't drag them anymore. Then I turned on my back on the ground and pushed my body along. I knew Frank would be worried but I didn't know what to do and I woke up.

I went to see Dr. Bix alone. She said my white blood count was down but not enough to worry about. My platelets were fine too. She was so nice asking about our trip etc, I couldn't bring myself to say I want another doctor. The next time there's a problem I'll tell her then.

After dinner I went grocery shopping for Don Pedro. I'm really tired and go to bed at 10.

Could it be that mom was having a nightmare because she was dreading the thought of seeing a doctor she didn't like and didn't feel was in her corner? I just changed my doctor this week for that very reason. I need a doctor who is going to fight for me, not against me.