Mug Shots

There is no shortage of coffee cups at my house.  When I pour that first mug of steaming heaven in the morning, I could choose one of the lovely coffee cups we’ve collected on our trips to Hawaii.  I love these mugs.  Every time I look at them I remember it all.  Palm trees, sandy beaches, tropical flowers, coconut shrimp…

Or I could use my custom For the Love of Pete mug.  It’s my choice of cup when I have coffee out with my friend Paula on Fridays.  I figure a little advertising never hurt anyone, and using this cup is so much more practical that wearing a sandwich board…

And then there are these beauties.  These cups and saucers are among the few remaining pieces of my mother’s wedding dishes.  They are classic 50’s style-and the pattern is called Caribe by Carlos Montez.  How I would love to have a whole set some day, and there is something so sophisticated about drinking coffee, or tea from a cup and saucer instead of a mug…

This however, is the mug that I search for each morning.  I can’t explain my attraction to it, other that I just seem to find it really pleasing to look at.  It’s a Fiesta ware mug in the color periwinkle.  Normally I’m a green person, and I have Fiesta mugs that are green.  I don’t know, there is just something about this mug…

So tell me.  Do you have a favorite mug that you like to  drink your morning coffee or tea out of ?  Or will any cup do, as long as it doesn’t leak?

For the Love of Pete

 

I’m reposting this today-I wrote it almost 3 years ago and thought I should give it a bump .  Since I first posted this, I’ve also learned how to scan photographs, so they are easier to see.  I continue to crunch out words for NaNoWriMo and at this moment I have around 8,5000.  I am also taking care of Amy today, as my darling daughter is home sick.  Here’s wishing all of you a wonderful weekend!

My uncle, Roland Erich Going, July 1, 1914-January 9, 1945. The origin of the nickname Pete remains a mystery to this day.

 Pete at Pearl Harbor. Pete enlisted in the navy in 1934 and became a pharmacist's mate. He was sent to Pearl Harbor for his first duty assignment. He adored Hawaii. He was transferred to Manila, Philippine Islands in 1940.

 

Pete and Adeline. A love story doomed from the start. Manila fell to the Japanese in January, 1942 and Pete was taken prisoner, as was Adeline. In May of 1942 Pete was moved to the infamous Bilibid prison camp. Because of his carpentry skills, he was given the job of making wooden grave markers for prisoners who died.

 

After Pete was taken prisoner, his family began their long and agonizing ordeal of not hearing from him and not knowing his fate. Letters written to him during this time were returned.

 

A note Pete secretly wrote and kept hidden at Bilibid prison. He left this note behind at the camp when the Japanese moved the prisoners out of the camp around Christmas Eve 1944, and loaded them on transport ships known as hell ships, so called because of their horrible conditions. The prisoners were to be sent to Japan to be used as forced labor. While Pete was aboard the Enoura Maru, the second hell ship he had been on, the US bombed the ship. They were unaware that the ship contained allied prisoners of war. Pete was killed, along with many other men. Pete's note was found by the American  forces when Manila was liberated a short time later.

 

My father visiting the grave of his brother Pete around 1950. Pete is buried in the beautiful Punchbowl Cemetery on the island of Oahu. In a final token of love by a father for his son, my grandfather chose Hawaii as Pete's final resting place. My grandfather was given the choice of having Pete buried in a local cemetery where he could have visited his son's grave, but instead chose the place Pete loved best. Towards the end of his life, my grandfather was able to visit Hawaii and finally pay his respects to his son.

No Time for Dilly Dallying

A few days ago, I signed on with NaNoWriMo.  As many of you already know, it’s a 30 day writing marathon (November 1-30) where the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Achieving that final goal of 50,000 words  averages out to having to come up with approximately 1667 words per day. 

In typical Valerie form, I’ve already written close to 5,000 words.  I am so determined to finish NaNoWriMo that  I am trying to write as much as I can during these early days.  Those 50,000 words are nipping at my heels, and I want to get a good start by exceeding that daily number,and leave myself some wiggle room in case, for some reason, I can’t write on a given day.

It seems overwhelming right now, but like any big task, just jumping in and doing the work is my best strategy.  It works when I decide to paint a room, or can 50 pounds of peaches, or whatever.  At some point during the project, I know the balance will shift from what I have left to do, to what I’ve already done, and the end begins to come into sight.

I won’t be blogging as much in the next four weeks, but I’ll still be reading your blogs.

Wish me luck.  And for those of you doing NaNoWriMo as well, good luck to you.  We can do this!

Halloween Hide and Seek

It happens every year during the last week in October.  I go on a sort of Easter egg hunt, only it isn’t Easter, and it sure isn’t eggs I’m after.  I’m hunting for something much sweeter.  The Halloween candy.

We always buy plenty.  Much, much, more than we’ll really need for the big night.  The way I figure it, we can spare a bag or two, and certainly a few pieces at the very least.  It’s not like I’d be depriving any of the ghosts or witches who turn up on our doorstep tonight, their hard earned reward.

But still, the candy disappears.  Hidden some place where I supposedly won’t find it.  I guess I’ve shown my husband one too many times that I can’t be trusted to exercise self control. (He’s right, of course.)

After searching out the obvious hiding place, and a few more creative ones, I come up empty handed.  Once again, Stuart has done his job well. 

Part of me is disappointed, but another part of me is glad.  Actually finding the candy would involve some tricky decision making.  Like how much to help myself to, and whether or not to confess  my sins.

I guess I’ll just make myself wait until this evening, when the candy will reappear, and be left out in plain sight, no less.  With all the confusion of trick or treaters coming, and the doorbell ringing, and the dogs going crazy, well no one will be keeping an eye on me…

Happy Halloween, everyone!  And here’s wishing you endless pieces of your Halloween favorites!

Amy

 

It’s hard to believe that next Monday is Halloween, and then begins the season for counting blessings. I don’t need a special holiday to be thankful for my daughter, though.

Before she was born, and after she arrived, we were like any other new parents. We read articles from the experts on the best ways to create a smart baby. We bought toys designed to stimulate brain development. We wondered about preschool, and which lessons and activities would optimize her chances for success later in life.

All of this is great. All of this is fine. It should be the desire of every parent to want the very best for his or her child.  But I’ve realized that we have done a good job in raising our soon to be 16 year old Amy, but not for the reasons that years ago I would have thought I needed to list.

I am proud to say that Amy is kind and caring, compassionate and helpful, and she always sees the good in everyone she meets.  She may never be a rocket scientist, or be a billionaire, win a Nobel Prize or even be the next movie star—but the world is most definitely a better place because of her.

 

Golden

Yesterday we went for a long walk along a section of the “Rails to Trails.”  This particular stretch is named the John Wayne Trail, although Kona and Willow were more impressed with the attractions that were off the trail…

We were impressed with the beauty of fall.  It’s come to our valley in a big way, and the color this year is spectacular!  Please enjoy these pictures I took-

 

 

 

 

I asked this wooly caterpillar for his predictions about the severity of the coming winter, but he wasn’t talking.

So to help prepare myself, I’ve gathered two of  my favorite recent vintage finds:

It can get pretty blustery here when the winds of late autumn blow.  Even though this bottle-from either the 40’s or 50’s-is empty, I still think it will help me. At $4.00 it was too charming to resist!

 

And on cold and dark fall and winter nights, I can read by the glow of this pumpkin colored lamp.  A steal at $3.99!

Have you carved your jack-o-lanterns yet, or are you waiting until next weekend-like we are?

Getting it Right

I’ve been spending the past few days doing something I should have done a long time ago-getting serious about my Etsy shop photos.  For the Love of Pete has been in existence for almost four years now, and up until this point I haven’t put that much work into my pictures.  In my own defense, it hasn’t been for lack of wanting to, but I was just so intimidated by the whole idea.

And then last week, I got the shoes.  I knew they would make an excellent photo prop, but there was a catch.  I was the only one able to wear them-they are too big for Amy, plus she has a pretty hard class schedule this year. With lots of homework every night,  she simply doesn’t have the time to help me.  I had one alternative.  Learn to use the automatic timer on my camera and take pictures of myself, and while I was at it, learn to master some lighting techniques too.  As you can tell in the above photo-I found out that I have to hold perfectly still in order to get a clear image.  After setting the timer and getting into place many, many times, my legs got tired from wearing the shoes, but I kept at it, and I now have several good photos in my shop.

I also decided to experiment with different backgrounds for some of my other pictures, opting for colorful and bold instead of white.  (First I even tried a piece of plywood for my background, but that didn’t look so good!) 

So what’s my point in all of this?  Too many times I think we all tend to believe that we can’t learn to do something new.  We sell ourselves short and give up before we even begin.  But we can!  I like to think my pictures prove that.

Is there something new you’ve found the courage to try?  Something that seemed overwhelming, but you gave it a shot anyway?  I’d like to hear about it.

 

P.S.  I’m proud to be using my dad’s old footlocker from his Navy days, too!