SharivilleLife stories from Shari

I don’t know about you, but when I get behind it preys on my mind, I have only a few more days now before knee surgery, and not knowing when I will feel like blogging, its safe to assume I should try to do some catching up.

A couple of Sundays ago I spent one of THE most enjoyable days ever.  Jerry and I attended the Chico Portuguese Holy Ghost and Fatima Club festival.  About 3 yrs ago I became reacquainted with my niece Tracy and her husband and in laws.  They have become like family to both Jerry and I.  We call them our West Side Family. Mary Hubbard is my niece’s mother-in-law, and has become one of my dearest friends ever.  Mary and her two daughters, Denise and Rene and son Shawn are very dear to  my heart, as are their families.   This had been for me,  exposure to the Portuguese culture.  I was raised as a little girl in the Italian culture, they are similar in many ways.  The Portuguese people are very outgoing and loving people, the food is of course wonderful and this was a food event.  The meal was Soapas, which is french bread and cabbage soup with roast beef and potato salad on the side and orange drink or beer or wine if wanted.  It’s served family style with unending refills of platters of Soapas and roast beef.  The meat is cooked in an oven at the Portuguese Hall.  First they heat the oven to about  700 degrees, then rake the coals out.  The temperature drops to about 50o degrees then they  put the meat in, in huge amounts, and close the door to the oven and the meat roasts about 4 to 5 hours. and comes out fork tender and delicious. Really delicious. French bread is put into a bowl, covered with boiled cabbage and beef broth and served. Like I said potato salad served as a side dish.  Very different food but very good,  Jerry had 3 servings, and he’s not a “Foodie.” There were tons of people in attendance, eating both inside and outside the hall. It’s a big deal for the Portuguese people,  and I can see why.

Mary’s family is from the Azures, specifically from the island of Ler  Ceira.  At the Hall, after dinner there was a Portuguese lady entertaining. Her name is Emily Silva. She is renowned here and in Portugal. Mary has a lot of her tapes.  She was singing Portuguese songs and playing the keyboard.  The festival draws people of all ages.  This especially appealed to the older folks who still speak the Portuguese language on a fairly regular basis.  There was lots of dancing, both young and old.  There was a very old gentleman in a wheel chair who was able to dance briefly,  it was an emotional event.  They danced The Chicken Dance, that was hilarious, so much fun.  There was a Folk Dance,called Chamarita.  The dancing was so enjoyable to watch and the music was so special. Mary and Rene danced together as did Mary with one of her cousins.  Mary also danced with an old friend, one she used to dance with over 60 yrs ago, when she was 7 yrs old and attending festival.   It was obvious he still had eyes for Mary. Next year Jerry and I will dance, I will have a new knee. The Portuguese in our area are a close knit people. They enjoy life and family and are close to God. Both Jerry and I are really getting into this culture and enjoying it so much.  This was the second year we attended the Festa, already looking forward to next year.

In the Hall there are statues of Fatima and also of Queen Isabella, yes, the same one who sent Christopher Columbus over to discover  us.

Well after 100 blog posts I suddenly ran into writers block.  Got some personal,  not so good news , and just shut down.  Angie has been hinting that I need to get back into the swing of things so I have decided to get with the program again.

Jerry and I find the the month of May is always our busiest month except the holiday months. Thank goodness I have lots of pictures to remind me of this month.  We started out the month going to the Garden Show, one of our local Chico events.  Tom and Joann Husa joined us.  Actually the salad lunch was better than usual, they changed the pasta salad recipe and it was really tasty.  Of course the guys would likely disagree. They are not fans of the luncheon.  There were only 4 yards in the garden show, poor response this year.  I’m not alone in rethinking next year if they cant do better.  I was able to make it to 3 of the yards, so personally it didn’t bother me, but come on only 4.  I sat out the final long walk yard, one I couldn’t walk any more and this yard had been on the tour a few yrs before.  For the most part we 4 agreed that the best yard was the smallest yard , and it was made up of mostly potted garden flowers and plants.  From the garden tour we headed to Kwando’s for the Asian buffet, which is always wonderful.  Once again Jerry lost out, he does not like Asian food.  So he eats salads and jello and desserts.  Oh well.  He’s a good sport.

The next May event was a trip to my orthopedic surgeons office, only to find out that no one in Chico is really capable of doing my knee surgery because it is so complicated.  What should I have expected.  I have been dealing with these knees from birth and this will be my 6th knee surgery. I guess I have run the gamut and should have expected something wouldn’t jive.  So now I will be going to Sacramento June 15th to have what they call one of the “Super Stars,” do the surgery.  I really like the surgeon and he seems confident he can do it OK.  So now its no longer in my hands. Need prayers guys.  I will be in Sacramento’s Sutter General for a few days, Jerry will bring the RV and Teddy down for the duration and will hook up to utilities at the hospital.  So he won’t have to  drive back and forth.  It will all work out I’m sure. It is just such an inconvenience to have to travel out of town for surgery.  Who would have thunk it.

On the 13th Angie had Dave Gergenti, founder of,”Wish Upon A Hero,” on her show, and to also show the Wish Mobile that Tommy wrapped for the charity.  It’s an awsome mobile, The show was also awsome.  After the show we were off to the little town of  Princeton for a spaghetti dinner to support the kids in their funraising.  This was in support of our West Side Family, who are such an important part of our lives.

We had a very special Mothers Day tea at Kathy’s care home.  I make those cute and tasty little tea sandwiches, you know the ones that you cut the crusts off and cut 4 ways.  I made 6 different fillings and supplied some of my sandwich plates , I have almost 70 now, for the traditional effect.  You know those glass center handled plates, I really must stop collecting them.  I hardly see them any more now, I must have them all.  A Mary Kay rep came to the house and did facials for the ladies that stay at the home.. It was fun.  Kathy participated fully even tho it was really difficult for her. Shes really movement impaired now.  Shes a good sport too and I love her great spirit.  There was a good turn out and such a wonderful idea for a mothers day event.  Altho Kathy never became a mother, she did share Angie with me, and Angie claims her as her God Mother and vice versa. Kathy is a good role model for my daughter.

Next day Jerry went in for his yearly echo cardiogram to see if the new aortic valve is working as it should.  Must be cause we haven’t heard otherwise. That was our mistake last year before we left on our trip we should have had that test done. It was my mistake because I should have followed thru, what was I thinking, just because he seemed to be doing so well, one never knows.  A valuable lesson for me.  It might have saved us some really scary times.  But then what?  He still would have needed the surgery and let me tell you it could not have happened in a better place.  Good grief, we might  have had to settle for Sacramento. I guess every thing happens for a reason, that’s what Angie keeps telling me and she’s seldom wrong. Bless her heart, and she and Tommy were there for the much needed support.  The only reason I was not such  a basket case was because I was able to stay right with Jerry in the same room for the entire stay post surgery.  What a wonderful hospital Baylor Heart Hospital is.

Sunday was the church barbecue.  It was a splendid affair.  All my favorite people were there.  Shawn Hubbard my nieces husband and church cook, as he’s so good, cooked some awsome  ribs. Everyone brought very tasty side dishes and wonderful homemade ice cream.  Lots of good fellowship and food.  I brought Jerry’s fav, 7 layer dip, he never gets enough of that, with of course, La Comida chips.

Oh good grief, only half of May has past, there’s still more to come, but at a later date.   Stay tuned, I perked up again.  Hugs………..Shari and Jerry……………PS these are pictures of our West Side Family, love them lots.

I’m excited,  have you ever been invited to participate in an event, not knowing most of the people there.  This happened to us this past weekend at the Durham  Good Sam Club outing.  And have you ever had the almost instant feeling that its a fit, personalities just seem to mesh, this is the feeling we got.  We were fortunate enough to have been invited by Chuck and Judy Birtcil to come to an outing as their guest and we took them up on it, much to our delight.  Chuck is a ” Class of 60,” classmate of mine, that’s the connection.

This turned out to be a delightful camp out.  There were 14 rigs in our caravan, with Orland as our destination.  We started out with breakfast for the whole bunch at The Waffle House  in south Chico.  We immediately knew this would be a fun weekend.  Most all of these folks are retired, but definitely not tired.  They were a fun bunch to begin with. This club is a close group of individuals who seem to have a high regard for each other and absolutely out to have a good time.  The food and service was very good considering the large group that showed up.  They made a good choice to start the week end off.

From there we caravaned over to an RV Park in Orland.  The club usually schedules events close enough  to make it convenient for everyone.  No really long distance driving.  The coming itinerary for the rest of the year really looks like fun get togethers in very interesting  places.  I know we are looking forward in participating in the outings and hopefully be accepted by the Club as new members.

Friday afternoon the group met at the clubhouse for crafts and card games.  Cathy our host for this outing had planned to teach us how to make earrings, and had all the beads and tools.  It was funny trying to get about 12 ladies to figure that one out.  More beads were spilled than used I think, but turned out several nice pairs of earrings.   ”Happy Hour”, followed by heading out to the Berry Patch for dinner.  Jerry  had his usual hamburger steak with all the trimmings and I had the most wonderful barbecued ribs. We had dinner with Sandy and Ruth and Win and her husband, John De Kleine, who is also the president of the group.  There was another couple there as guests also, Jackie and Mel, they have been married since 1945, figure that one out, congradulations.     Everyone seemed to enjoy their dinner.  Back to the club house for a really fun dice game called, Left, Right, Center.  We played for nickles and it was hilarious.  Back to our homes on wheels for a restful night.  Sat. some of the ladies from the group went antiquing, a few couples headed for Woodson Bridge to check  out antique trailers on display.  Jerry and I stayed behind and watched the Rock and Roll Hall of fame.   Back for ” Happy Hour,” and a truly delicious potluck. The surprise for me was that there were actually two pineapple upside down cakes. YUM!!!  Anyone who knows me knows that’s my favorite cake.  Did I luck out or what?   I know from experience that campers make the best food.  After the dinner the club had their monthly business meeting.  The meeting  filled Jerry and I in on the way the club is run, Chuck Birtcil, the wagon master, caught us up on up coming events that are planned..  It was also funny to see the club president awarded  “The Ding-a-Ling award.  He was caught driving down the road with his awning unraveling as we went along.  He was totally unaware. I have a picture of Sandy and her little Min Pin “ Levi,”  he’s the smallest member of the group, only 2 mos old and precious.   More games Sat night and back to our home on wheels for another restful night. 

Sunday morning was a breakfast pot luck with some very good and interesting dishes.  More comaradarie and jokes and laughs for all.  Ate breakfast with Chuck and Judy Birtcil, our hosts.  Then it was time to pack up and head for home.  All in all it was a most fun filled weekend with some really fun folks. The time went by TO quickly. Looking forward to many more get togethers with this group.  Thank you Judy and Chuck Birtcil for the invitation.  Stay tuned for more to to come ………..Hugs,   Shari   &   Jerry                                                                                                                  

Win and Bridgette doing crafts.

What a great lunch meeting we had for the class of ” 60 “, today.  This month it was held at Olive Garden and we had about 16 in attendance.  Everyone has some summer plans or have made some changes recently.  Most of the group had the soup and salad with bread stix for lunch.  Olive Garden does a good job with this, the soup and the salad is always good, the bread stix wonderful.  I will tell you about some of the on going plans of some of today’s participants…….Claudia Jenkins ….. is busy taking care of her 92 yr old mom.  She is also planning a 5th wheel trip to Genoa Nev. for some much needed R and R.…….. Greg Watkins and his pardner Dave Owen are planning to attend Greg’s nieces wedding  in Santa Barbara, and Greg is deciding his next step in regards to work to be done on his R ear to improve his hearing after his extensive surgery due to the tumor removal……..Judy Snow Dye has sold her home in Magalia and is headed for North Carolina the end of this month. One of her daughters lives there and her other daughters will soon be relocating there……..Mable Little is working 6 hours a day at a school in Orland with reading and math and such and just loves it………Larry Wahl is thinking of leaving city office and running for county supervisor.  It was so nice of Larry to order a lovely appetizer of Calamari, because we all got to share as Larry had to leave before his food arrived.  Thanks Larry……….Chuck and Judy Birtcil and Jerry and Shari Greenfield will be heading out tomorrow for a camp out with the Durham Good Sam Club, with about 12 other rigs.  Good food, fun and games, did I mention good food.?……Betty Fish and LG, her husband are soon heading for an Alaska tour with 14 other rigs for a grand total of 50 days.  The itinerary sounds wonderful, they will be gone most of the summer.  ……….Mike Brown is semi retired, down to 2 days a week now.  Enjoying some free time……You can see how tired he is, sorry about the picture, Mike, guess you blinked……  Gary Imhoff is undergoing some radiation therapy for his recent L leg surgery..  We missed Rosemarie today.  I didn’t get to visit with everyone, the others in attendance were Linda Lund and Cathy Young.  It was a good lunch with lots of conversation and of course lots of summer plans discussed. I will share some pictures.    Thanks to all until next time. Have a wonderful spring.
 Shari

Another exceptional day.  Today we started out with breakfast at ” Biscuits,”  had really good corn beef and eggs.  Then we  drove back up to Sherman to visit Joy Jones and to have a wonderful dinner with her and her daughter Tammy and husband Chris and lovely daughter Jordan…Tammy cooked “the best” spaghetti and meat balls and sweet Italian sausage.  This girl can cook. 

We felt so privileged to be invited to their home for dinner.  We had never met Joy’s daughter and family and it was so special that she took the time to entertain her mom’s friends. It was above the call of duty.  After having spent one of the best afternoons I can remember I truly understand her generosity.  These folks are just special people.  Joy has a very special relationship with Tammy, just as I do with Angie,  It’s so nice to see that, so I understand the connection.  Joy has lots of love and support from Tammy and her family. We are both very lucky daughters.

We took Teddy along for the visit so he could have a “play date,”  with Joy’s little Missy.  At first Teddy didn’t know how to act with Missy  bouncing around him.  He quickly caught on and they did play with gusto for sometime.  Enough to tire each other out.  I think Teddy met more than his match. It was fun to see these two play. 

Tammy has a lovely home and without a doubt I think she has the most extensive collection of Precious Moments figurines I have ever seen in one place.  They are of course beautiful.  She has a flair for decorating and has lots of American Indian decorations in their home. Both Joy and Tammy are very talented ladies craft wise.  Tammy showed me the quilt she is making for daughter Jordan, gorgeous.  Speaking of Jordan we got to see some tapes of her singing.  Give her a couple years to get a little older, she’s only 16, and she will be ready for American Idol.  I couldn’t get enough of her singing, they ran out of tapes.  So she’s not just a lovely young lady, but a talented one too. She’s very active in her church youth groups.

We had a great visit and it was hard to say goodbye  to Joy this time knowing I would not see her again now until Sept when she drives out with Missy for our 50th class reunion.  She promises to stay with us for awhile when she comes out.  I haven’t  known  Joy long but we will be firends for life now.  I already miss her.

Good friends are hard to find and then sometimes hard to hang onto.  I have found a good friend in Joy Jones.  She came to me via Judy Lou back home when Jerry was stricken with the bad news of another heart surgery. Judy Lou has spent the last several years trying to keep the class of 60 together and united, so she was up on the fact that Joy lived in a near by town.  Joy  and I went to school together in Chico and she will be coming out for our 50th class reunion in Sept.  We do not remember each other from high school, but we had a big class.  Joy was so supportive of us with Jerry’s heart surgery and I think she was an angel sent in disguise.  So I am not going to lose track of her.  She and I have really got a lot  in common and think alike on a lot of things.  I am thankful for her friendship.

Thurs. Jerry and I  drove up to Sherman where  Joy lives for a visit and to go to lunch.  Its about 60 miles north of here.  It was drizzling rain, but rain never bothers me.  It was a nice drive to someplace we have never been and that’s what we are all about.  We are here for a reason, an unplanned one, but here.  We are going to take advantage of these adventures, you only have one go round here and I want to see and do it all.   We went to lunch at The Olive Garden, had my favorite, fetachini alfredo, Jerry had his favorite spaghetti and meatballs and Joy had her fav lasagna.  It was a good lunch and a very good visit.  We returned to Joy’s house for coffee and to visit with her precious pup, Missy. She is the cutest little girl, only 10 mos old and a ball of energy.  I can see why Joy loves her so much. 

Joy is also the craft person of all time and she makes the most beautiful jewelry.  She really has a flair for color co ordination.  She also does silk embroidery, very fine work.  We visited for a couple of hours and then had to leave so we could get back to the Metroplex before dark, which we did.  It was a really nice drive, and a good visit with a friend I have come to greatly appreciate and love.  She is also a face book buddy and a computer fan.

One of the best parts of being best friends is that it is forever.  Time and distance doesn’t matter.  That’s the way it is with Liz and I.  We can be separated by time and distance and when we get together it’s like we just saw each other the other day, when in fact when she flew into Dallas on Fri it had been 4 plus mos. since we had been together. Liz has actually been at my house in Chico house sitting for us. We are so grateful for her.  Sooooooooo while she was here we visited at a furious rate. Is there ever enough time?  We had to schedule rest times just to keep going.  Tommy and Angie,  bless their hearts, planned some  fun stuff for us all while she was here.

Sat night they took us all to Medieval Times for dinner and tournament.  Liz has never been, so it was a new experience for her.  Liz is all into new experiences. Tommy must have been too, or he was really really thirsty. The food was wonderful, as usual, despite the fact that one must eat with fingers only.  What fun that was.  I looked over at Liz as roasted chicken juice dripped from her fingers, and the glass holding the soda became pretty slippery, all the  while flying spears and axes flew in the arena.  We rooted vigorously for our knight in shinning armour ( the Yellow Knight), but alas,  he was defeated by an even shinier Knight.

Sun afternoon Angie took Liz on a tour of Tommy’s shop, always an experience, since there is always such a diverse variety of characters  hanging out there. She learned how cars and trucks are wrapped, it just happened that this week end was a training weekend for Tommy, he had seven students in attendance, two guys there all the way from northern Canada.  Tommy teaches his craft once a month.  After the tour we all went to Pappadeaux Cajun restaurant for some awesome food.  We dropped by Felecia’s apartment, so Liz could see how cute she has it decorated.  Then we were off to what was suppose to be a video shoot that did not turn out.  The hotel where the shoot was suppose to take place refused to let them video shoot a Hip Hop Video there, they found this out at the last minute. , so Liz didn’t get to sit in on an MTV video shoot.  She did get to meet some of the major players tho. Money Militia and Cas-ualle was there.

Mon night Angie and Liz and I went to Texas de Brazil, my favorite place ever,  there we dined most finely on some sumptious presentations.  The salad bar is fab and the Gauchos stroll throughout the  restraunt with huge hunks of meat on skewers, to be sliced at request onto your plate.  Some of us had to have thirds on the house special, a wonderfully seasoned top sirloin roast.  I of course went for the lamb, both roast and chops. The desserts are to die for. And so we rolled out of there more than fully satisified.  Liz reported she was to full to sleep that night.

Tues. during the day Jerry, Liz and I went to old downtown Grapevine, a really special little town, restored, with wonderful little shops and quaint little restraunts, we ate lunch at the French Bakery, I was going to imprision Liz at the old jail, just to keep her here longer.

Tues night was girls night out at Angie’s spa, and it was held at The Melting Pot, I have never done fondue before and it was great fun.  We had wonderful tasting martini’s, like Gummy Bear and Lemon drop.  We had traditional fondue to start with chunks of french bread and veggies.  Then a truly tasty smoked duck, spring greens  salad, followed by the meat and veggie course.  Its a cook your own and it really was fun.  There was chicken, teriyaki beef , pork, shrimp and raviolis and lots of the most delightful sauces to accompany the meat and veggies, like broccoli, mushrooms and potatoes……But the piece de resistance of course was the chocolate fondue dessert, thick rich heath bar chocolate accompanied by strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, pound cake and cheese cake, just begging to be dipped into that chocolate and popped into my mouth.   A delightful ending to the time spent in Texas by Liz.  We did have a good visit, there’s never enough time to spend with best friends.

Let me tell you bout my best  friend, sounds like the beginning of a song from an old TV series, for those that remember? I think Eddie’s Father.  My best friends name is Kathy, and our friendship goes back 40 yrs.  During those 4 0 yrs we have built up quite a history and raised a daughter. She was always there for support and advice and love. And now it’s Christmas and we are separate by thousands of miles, due to a medical emergency with Jerry, me here in Texas and she in Chico.  I miss her terribly, I miss the comfort of knowing she’s nearby and that I will see her in the next few days to celebrate the holidays. I miss picking up the phone just to chat, I miss hearing about her canine family, Ginger and Suzy, I miss hearing about George’s newest project.  I just miss my best friend.

I went to work for Kathy as a waitress in her restaurant, Studio Inn, when Angie was a toddler.  those were difficult times for us.  I was in the process of canceling Angie’s father’s contract, divorce, and money just wasn’t there.  The IRS was all about attaching my paycheck for back taxes my X owed, simply because I was apparently easier to find.  Kathy and her family took me under their wing and by ” hook or by crook,” the IRS got paid off.  They paid for uniforms I couldn’t afford and were just there for us esp Kathy.

I worked for Kathy all the while I was in LVN school, she gave me a schedule for work that got it all done.  She was there for support while I went through RN school and training.  She took over parental duties of my daughter while I had to leave town for 2 summers for training.  She was there for her to take care of the mom stuff that Jerry wasn’t up to.  Angie considers Kathy her Godmother.  Thank you Kathy for the good influence you had on Angie.  I couldn’t find a better person to share her with.

How do I cover 40 yrs, I can’t do it here. Our plan was to grow old together, take fun and interesting trips to everywhere.  We did manage to squeeze in a few trips and many many social parties and dinners, including our husbands, Jerry and George , of course.  We spent time cooking for one another, Kathy is a chef  by profession, so guess who got the better deal there.  She was always there though for cooking advice and tips when I needed them.  I can’t remember how many times I had to inquire about what went into that “shrimp salad”  that Jerry was so fond of.  I seemed to have mental block there. Kathy was the only friend I ever had who cooked for me.  We went to car shows, casino’s and the openings of all the newest restaurants around.  My mind reels from all the fun things we did. We went to concerts and enjoyed all the 50′s and 60′s music together, and best of all we were ELVIS fans from the word go.  We were both lucky enough to have gotten a real actual lip to lip kiss from the King himself. All through the years we have had fun seeing who could give who the newest Elvis trivia present.  Kathy has made sure I have every single recording Elvis ever made, and I brought her back memorabilia for Graceland in Memphis when we were there.

A few yrs ago all 4 of us started noticing changes in Kathy, me the medical person esp.  There was some occas slurring in speech and slight unsteady walking and slower to do tasks.  Finally there was just no way to deny it anymore.  I forced her Dr. to give her an MRI and getting no help or satisfaction from him, I got her into see one of the north state’s best neurologist’s. He with the help of specialists in San Francisco finally diagnosed Kathy with a very rare neurological disease know as Cortical Basilar Degeneration. It’s terminal and progressively debilitating.  she’s losing the ability to use her body and her speech.  Her mind is sharp and she has good long term memory, she is losing her short term memory, and is now unable to walk without major assistance.  Kathy was recently admitted into a full care home, as the time had come where George could not handle the necessary care she was requiring.  It’s a lovely home, but not her home. Kathy always has a smile on her face even though she is fully aware of her situation.  I have only seen her cry twice in my life, once when her mother died and the night she and I packed her belongings to move the next day to the care home.  She cried for her house so wonderful, designed by her, she cried for her dogs left behind, she cried for her life slipping away without her control and no ability to stop it and all the things planned that would never be. And she cried to leave her soul mate, and only love of her life , George.

As I grow older I realize more and  more how important true friendships  are, they have to be relationships made in heaven, and there are not a lot of them,  Kathy and I have a spiritual connection.   She has always been there for me through thick and through thin, for the good times and the not so good times.  She always stood by me and never ever judged me even when she knew I was making a mistake.  She never lectured or turned away from me, she was always there.  Kathy is an extraordinary person person with a sense of humor that won’t quit, she would have to have that to put up with me all these yrs. She always has a smile despite her own situation.  I have never heard her say a bad word about anyone.  Kathy is not just my best friend, she’s my hero.