Lady Mice

Just some of the ladies. It is raining today here in La Jolla, and we're rushing about...time to get nails done and a little last minute shopping.

Talk later!

Jill

Of Mice Men (Almost a famous novel...)

In case you are wondering, I have fifty mice.
Roughly.

I didn't count baby mice held by mommy mice.

The train mouse; how cute is it that Bernie's grandpa, the one who started the Christmas dishes, retired from the Union Pacific Railroad. The little lantern fascinates little kids (and me too!)
My brother-in-law Mark played drums for years. He even had a video on MTV and a picture in the Rolling Stones magazine. Of course, he dressed in rock and roll drummer garb.

I think this is MUCH cuter on drummers.
Ski mouse was a gift the year Bernie wanted to start skiing; finances, small children and common sense kicked in. If he broke his leg we would have had no income as he was in construction at the time.

Bernie skis a lot now. In fact we'll be in Salt Lake City the day after Christmas so he and Jeff can carve the slopes together.

I eschew skiing. Ow. Scary. Cold. No. I've tried to like it, and tried it several times. Last trip capped it for me.



But wait! Just skiing????

Oh no. We're in San Diego right now, visiting LauraRN, my folks and Bernie's folks and his sister's family. Saturday Bernie will head to the links with friends.

Skiing and golf. Ah, life is good for a Bernie.

December 18, 2006: 30 years ago today....

That's Bernie and me, on December 18th 1976 at 2 in the afternoon taking our vows at La Jolla Presbyterian Church in Southern California.

A perfect setting for a Christmas wedding!

Maid of honor Jennifer wore red, the bridesmaids were wearing deep green.

I remember walking down the aisle and being just so amazed that I knew everyone in the place, that everyone there loved me, and that I would probably never have so many people that I loved in one place at one time ever again.
Back up the aisle, the deed is done. I have a new last name!

I know what we were looking at in this picture. My friend Chris was holding her baby boy Josh, who was squirming in the back row. Josh is expecting his first child any day now, maybe Tristan will be born on our anniversary!

Bernie is wearing a dark green tuxedo...which was very cool back in 1976. I'm carrying a Mother of Pearl covered Bible from Jerusalem that my grandmother loaned me. It figures that a future librarian would get married carrying a book. A few roses were wired on top so I could have a bouquet too.

This site about the 1970's bridal fashions shows a dress almost identical to mine.

(And by the way, am I the only one who thinks sleeves on wedding dresses are due for a come back? These strapless gown brides doing the funky chicken move to pull up their gowns...eh, cover your shoulders, and save the bare look for the ball room, its not a good look in church.)









Our cake has a story. The smiling gentleman is Dodd Burright, a friend of my dad's. He was a baker, and made fabulous wedding cakes for his family members.

When I was born, he told my dad he wanted to make my wedding cake when it was time.

Twenty two years later he kept his promise. As soon as I got engaged, he called and said to come over and help design the motif for my cake.

Between each layer is a mirror, on the top of each layer and on the underside as well. The mirrors were decorated, and created an infinity effect when you looked at the cake.

It was the most DELICIOUS cake I have ever eaten. I still have the doves holding tiny rings that perched on the edge of the glass holding the fresh flowers on top. The cake was white, with pale green leaves as its only color accent.








Another friend of my dad had a 1934 vintage Rolls Royce. Ken donned chauffeur livery, and drove us slowly through La Jolla.

It was the weekend before Christmas, and the village streets were packed with holiday shoppers. Everyone stopped and clapped and cheered for us as we went by.

I felt like royalty. Princess Diana had nothing on me!

It was a perfect day.

Couples

Guess who showed up in my Christmas stocking thirty years ago?
Their married friends include Albert and Victoria, who arrived in the stocking the year Mom and I went to Jolly Old England together.
Miles Standish and Priscilla, who arrived the year I finally got to visit New England, and my family's ancestral home in Haverhill Massachusetts (ca 1684)
These two arrived separately, but paired up right away.

He's was one of the first few mice, from the church tour collection, so he has a poem:

"I'm a happy Christmas Elf
In Santa's shop I stay
I hammer, paint and fix the toys
That Santa carries on his sleigh."

(or at least he did until Little Red Riding Hood batted her big black eyes at him and offered him goodies from her basket...)

Red and Green: Yupon, Mice and Time Magazine's Person of the Year: Me!

Pretty blue skies! The berries get brighter every day, especially as the leaves fall from the other trees in the background.
Tiggie checks the gifts under the tree each morning, rubbing his nose along the present's corners.

You never know, there might be something from another cat or something.

It pays to be careful about that.

Tiggie doesn't like surprises from other cats.
One of the earliest mice in the collection.

His poem reads:

Hobo's the King of the Road.
No place to call his own.
His home's out under the stars
The old church has been torn down.

Kind of sad...

I love his little bandanna satchel held on the end of a stick over his shoulder.


St. Lucia!
I received my Lucy mouse the year we joined the Swedish Covenant Church in San Diego. As a child I born into the Covenant church, and grew up thinking Swedish food was church food. I especially liked the sour cream pickled herring; I occasionally get a craving for some, and have to eat the whole jar by myself as no one else in the family enjoys the treat like I do.


I think girls born into Swedish families are lucky to get to wear the white dress and have the candles and everything on Dec. 13 each year. They look so pretty dressed in their St. Lucia gowns.

Now, about the Time Magazine's naming me as Person of the Year.

I quote from the December 13, 2006 issue, an article by Lev Grossman entitled:

Person of the Year: You

Yes, you. You control the Information Age. Welcome to your world.

"Who are these people?.....I'm going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?

The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you."

I'd like to take this moment to thank TIME for acknowledging my efforts, both as a blogger and as a person with a Master's degree in information management. I will be including this honor on my resume, and hope that you have a picture of me to post that doesn't make me look old or fat.

(If you'd like to read the whole article, and kick yourself for not blogging this year so YOU could have received this honor as well, click here. Meanwhile, high fives go out to my fellow recipients:
Kate, who got me into this, Laura, Dawn, Erin, Rose Buttons, Heidi, Matt, JillyTee, Jason and the many more whose writing inspire me and keep me in touch with the wonders of life.)