The Legacy of Polly Q

First of all, let me say that I just might pass out as I am writing this. I simply cannot believe we have two consecutive blogs originating from the Campbell homestead! That’s a record.  It looks like you all had a cozy Thanksgiving with a little native twist to it. Great photos.

I have a lot of info to cover this blog so settle in.

SAN FRANCISCO

The following photo sums up the entire trip.

Thomas and Joel were completely out of control the whole time. It was, however,  very fun to be in the city during the holiday season. There was a hussel and bussel in the air, and we got to see the humongous Christmas tree lighted in Union Square. We had a blast in Chinatown, I bought an amazing necklace and Ben bought a red plastic rat (he was born the year of the rat, kind of fitting). Thomas wondered when we were picking up our “China sister”.   Alcatraz was fascinating. The day we went was cold and foggy, which added to the mystic of the island. The solitary confinement cells sent chills down my spine. We road in/on a car, plane, tram, train, trolley, cab, cable car and boat. We walked and walked and walked. If we hadn’t had two screaming banshees constantly preforming daredevil stunts close to oncoming traffic, it might have been the perfect trip. Here are some more photos:

JEWELRY

I am busier than ever on new designs. I am doing really well with my adoption jewelry. I seem to have found a niche. Here’s some of the latest:

THANKSGIVING

We went to Ben’s parents. The food was great. I took Mom’s cranberry Jell-O salad and rolls. Ben’s mom is a great cook and we had a very nice, quiet (the Petry’s went to Brian’s parents) meal. Thomas missed having Joel to help reek havoc.  We forgot our camera, so no photos to share this time. We are looking forward to a busy weekend. For some reason, unbeknownst to Ben and I, we are already busting at the seams with Christmas spirit. Oh, by the way, everyone should know that about two weeks ago Ben made two large fruitcakes.  He found traditional recipes online and was itching to try them. He is aging them in the pantry and dousing them with rum and stout every week. Be forewarned that he will be serving these gems at Christmas. 

Anyway, we are really into the season this year and so Ben is contemplating putting up the lights tomorrow.  I am off to shop.  On Saturday, we will be putting up our tree and decorating the mantel. Sunday is reserved for church and opera bar.   I hope we are able to hold on to our enthusiasm throughout the month!

 To give everyone a little jump start on the season, I want to post this really good commentary given by Ben Stein on CBS Sunday Morning.

“Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don’t know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise’s wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.

If this is what it means to be no longer young. It’s not so bad.

Next confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu.

If people want a creche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.

I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution, and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too.

But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to. “

It was just our family and Aunt Tonja’s family.  The food was great, including Ryan’s “cooked in the ground” turkey.  Mom made brown sugar rolls and surved them about 2/3 way thru the meal, like Grandma Campbell used to do.  The sock belong to Katlin.

Dad

Mom and Dad let me cook a turkey (we had two) underground. Here is how it is done. Dig a hole about 2.5 feet deep, line it with leaves, cook some good sized rocks in a fire for about an hour, place the hot rocks in the hole all around your turkey wrapped in tin foil, bury it, and let sit for about 12 hours.

When I dug it up it was still hot. As you can see it turned out alright.

We enjoyed spending time at Kelly & Heidi’s for Halloween.  We also went to Silver Fall State Park which was really cool.  Thrs we left for the coast, traveled down the coast for two days to Coos Bay then went inland to visit Crator Lake.  We stayed in Bend, Oregon,  then drove home.  A great trip in all. 

Papa

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Dustin….

Happy Birthday to YOUUUUUUUUUU!!

Photo taken on State Street in Santa Barbara 

Here are some things I learned on “Girls Weekend 2007″:

* wigs change color in different light

* not many people sleep in pajamas

* seven women with a GPS are still capable of getting lost

* a good pair of brown boots is hard to find

* always be suspicious when you hear giggling when you are in the shower

* best friends can be as different as a dog, a cat and a rat

So, we did A LOT of shopping.  We ate a wonderful meal at the Montecito Cafe. We stayed up until 2 a.m. talking. We saw Dan in Real Life (which I strongly recommend) and we visited the cemetery where Jenny and Andre’s baby girl is buried.  We laughed a lot and cried a little.  It was great.

From left to right:

Jenny, Jill, Tammy, Ms. Fab, Rachel, Cammie, Becky

So not much to report here. I am leaving tonight for a girls weekend getaway to Santa Barbara. There are seven of us going. I think it is going to be a lot of fun. Ben is taking the day off tomorrow so he can take el nino to escuela. Oh that reminds me, Thomas and I are learning Spanish. Ben bought the Rosetta Stone software and I am going to start  doing that along with our class. The other day I was having lunch with Rosa and I keep calling the grapes osos instead of uvas. An oso is a bear. She didn’t say anything.  I have been making some really cool pieces of jewelry, but the weather has been so overcast that I haven’t been able to photograph them yet. 

I had a stamp made that says family in Chinese:

I will use it to make some silver jewelry. I get a lot of my customers from adoption people, and really enjoy making these kinds of pieces. I think Chinese characters are really neat looking. Well- I’ll take lots of photos to post this weekend. Hope everyone has as much fun as I plan to!

 Here’s a ring I made. The character means courage.

Okay- who remembers a band called Royce that we were all into about three or four years ago? 

This may jog your memory:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mzl7F0qaSTg

Amy worked with one of the main singers. So, the other day Amy and I were talking and she asked if I thought there was a chance that Shawn Record, who is our good friend that Amy and Mom meet at Thomas’s birthday party, could be related to this guy she worked with who’s last name is also Record. Turns out, he is his brother.  See “Happy Halloween” blog for picture of Evan Record, son of said Shawn Record.  Anyway, it is just another reminder of what a small world it is, especially when you are a member of the church.

Also, here are some new jewelry pics for you all to enjoy.

It looks like everyone had a happy Halloween! We were excited to have Mom and Dad here this year. I feel sad I didn’t get more photos, but Dad did get a few really good ones that I can share with you all! We are really going to miss them. Dustin has already asked me a couple times today “where gama go?” “where Papa go?” “Bye??”

P.S. I just heard from Dad, he said they are in Newport and they want to try to go to the aquarium today.

April, I can’t get the photos to work… grrrrrrrrrrr!

We went to trunk or treating and Charley’s favorite word was “SOME!”  She got lots of compliments on her goldfish costume.  She liked having her costume on after she saw all the other kid’s in theirs. For part of the night David had on his fishing vest & fishing pole.  We had a fun!

p.s.  If you look closely in the background, you can see the color we painted our house.  We still need to finish up the last touches.  I would love to paint the base also…maybe white.