Still in Tujunga: Day 4

Bonny and John took me to a great Mexican restaurant last night, La Camanita (not Las Camanitas). It was the most amazing non-spicy style from Mexico City where I had a combination of mole enchilada and chile relleno. We also enjoyed margaritas and daquaris.

Today Bonny cooked breakfast at home and we quickly planned dinner at that time. Reminding me how David used to say us Warren's plan our next meal while we're still in the middle of this one.

I spent the afternoon in Hollywood at the new ArcLight Cinema's where there is an independant film art house ($14-Oh My God!). There I saw "Into the Wild" which is Sean Penn's new film. Long but worthwhile in this state of the art cinema.

Now they're waiting for me to eat dinner. I've been playing with fun Jade who is growing up fast and speaks up a storm in two languages. She's cute as a button. See photo below.

Next stop: San Diego tonight

10 days, 10 siblings: Day 3

Day 3, but kinda feels like Day 1.

I'm writing from Brian's computer, but he's actually not here....off camping with his family including Brendon. Hope to see him and all "growd" up Jade and Santa on Sunday afternoon. Just arrived and going out to dinner with Bonny and John soon. Tomorrow before meeting up with Brian I will likely go to this state of the art cinema place called ArcLight Hollywood.

I'm actually off to an auspicious (is that the right word, certainly Susy will correct me) start. I was supposed to see Kevin on Thursday, but he had to work while I was there to pick up his car. I did get to see Sally briefly, so I'm going to count that, I know she wants me to...LOL. Gia and I were in Napa that day (I playing hookie) and she shopping, we also went wine tasting at one place and had this amazing steak dinner, far far away from where we started, but that's another story all-together.

After work on Friday, headed to Los Gatos for dinner with Jim Arballo and a few friends. I was going to attend a play of a mutual friend, but I begged out to get to Hollister earlier than later. Did see Kenny briefly before he had to get to bed. I didn't realize he was already done with the house arrest thing. Now just on probation. We had a laugh and then chatted with Dad about the Vegas trip. Sounds like it was a great time. Thanks to Peggy and Anita. Dad says Peggy's place is great, and that Anita is well connected. I love the stories of getting moved around from the green room, private box?, and front row seats. I think I'd enjoy hearing Tom Jones sometime; but it's never been on my radar. Oh and the 1/2 price Rat Pack tickets, nice job Nini. Peggy, were you just going along for the ride or what? Valet parking, sounds nice.

Today started with a trip to Compassion Pregnancy for some copying (more on that when I see you in person) and some Google mapping. I'm all setup now, thanks to Dad's connections, even if different than Nini's...LOL. Dad and I had a nice breakfast at Cozy Cafe and he walked home from there. Wow! He can walk for a man of advance age...better than me probably. Drove the I-5 all day and looking forward to the real visits starting.

Stay tuned!

Ten Sibs, Ten Days

ALC 6, June 2007: As many of you know I will be taking a California road trip and I'm leaving this Friday. I call it "Ten Sibs, Ten Days." Sorry I can't get to Colorado Peter.

UPDATE: Kevin has graciously agreed to loan me his car, so I'll be seeing him first (and last). Here's the revised tentative schedule:

Thursday, Sept. 27, San Rafael (KEVIN)

Friday, 28, SF to Hollister (SEAN, KEN)

Saturday, 29 Hollister to LA (BONNY)

Sunday, 30, Los Angeles, eve to San Diego (SUSY)

Monday, Oct. 1, San Diego (ANITA)

Tuesday, 2, SD to ? (camping)

Wednesday, 3, to Hollister (JOSEFA)

Thursday, 4, H to Sacramento (PEGGY)

Friday, 5, Sacramento (CEFE, MARIA)

Saturday, 6, to San Rafael/SF

I hope to take pictures and blog about it as I go, or upon my return. I'll be carrying a blow up mattress and sleeping bag, as needed. I look forward to seeing you and your families.

36 Orderly Questions from Cefe

Know Your Family, Know Yourself

For this contest you are allowed to try and get answers from one or more people (except Cefe) to 3 of these questions; select carefully (we’ll be checking on you Anita). If using email be sure to keep it private.

Please email your answers to Rick AND Cefe. Deadline is Oct. 4th (John’s birthday). The winner will receive a special gift from the Golden One. Have fun!

1. What was Kenny's nickname at St. Mary's?

2. What festival did Peggy & David attend for several years in Ashland, Oregon?

3. What club did Bonny & Brian join a few years ago?

4. Where did Susy & Steve go on their first "unofficial" date?

5. What degree does Sean have his Masters in?

6. Besides California, name two other states that Cefe & Dave lived in.

7. What present did Dave give Maria on Mother's Day in honor of her friend Terry?

8. What is Joey’s favorite "animal”?

9. Who is Kevin's favorite Saint?

10. What much wanted gift did Peter get for his 10th birthday?

11. What famous person does Anita look & act like?

12. What is Ricky's confirmation name? If you put his first name in front of it what singer does he become?

13. What is Altie's middle name?

14. Name the small Hawaiin Island that Brian, Santa and Jade lived on.

15. What is Brendon's favorite sport to play?

16. As a toddler, what was Trenton's favorite Sesame Street character?

17. What is Shahera's main nickname?

18. What is Clint's current job?

19. Name at least one (guess up to four) of Rivi's all-time favorite Broadway musicals.

20. What sport did Quinlan play from age 5 to 12?

21. Geoff & Rayna's friends Jason & Karin recently had twin daughters. What are their names?

22. What city did Chelsea go to for sea camp this summer?

23. What did Rochelle recently become?

24. What musical play did Johan have the lead in?

25. What special event, in August, did David Horton celebrate?

26. Name 2 sports that Samara played in school last year.

27. What was the last play Nicky was in?

28. What is Alana's favorite book series?

29. What is Carson's favorite TV show?

30. What Disney character did Ariana dress up as, last Christmas, when she sang?

31. What is Amari's favorite Sesame Street character?

32. In what country was Claire born?

33. What word does Dave Damitz' first, middle & last name initials spell?

34. Name the company that Gia just started work at?

35. Name at least two vegetables that Sally is growing in her wonderful garden?

36. Who are the two newest babies in our family?

-The Golden One, Cefe

Warren Generation Quiz Answers

From Susy:
I have just tallied the scores and have the results of the Warren
Generation Quiz! Here are the answers and some comments:

1. Whatever happened to Gammy’s piano?
Hortons house, and Uncle Johnny tells them he is glad it ended up
where it will be well loved and often played by that musical family.

2. Which (gen. B) families have pianos in their home?
Hortons, Schroeters, and less known by many, Sniders. Did you know Doug plays beautifully? Some said Peter had a piano, but I asked and they said "No".

3. Name the members of the gen. B grandparents club.
Peg, Bon, Sue, Anita

4. Which of those grandparents has the most grandkids?
Accepting both Bonny or Peggy as correct.

5. Name all the kids in D generation.
Ariana and Leila; Bonny and John's grandkids (jake, Kirby, Riley, Brett) and Jade; Amari and Elijah Ford; Hayden and Collin

6. Who is the only gen. D baby with blue eyes?
Hayden

7. Name the 4 gen. C cousins all born in 1992.
Chelsea, Johan, Samara, and Rivianna (those cousins need a nickname, what should it be kids, the "ninety-twoers"?)

8. Name the 3 cousins all born in 1999. (Caution: one is actually gen. D and the other 2 are gen. C).
Ariana, Carson, Alana

9. Name each of the Warren "Mambo Kings" (from the past--gen. B).
This stumped many people. In fact only Ricky got it correct. It
refers to nicknames SEAN and KEVIN made up for themselves on a
camping trip.

10. Who in gen A takes a walk every night after dinner, and might visit a neighbor or two on the way, and take you along if you wish?
Wes, Dad, or Grandpa.

11. Name 2 Gen. C's that love to cook gourmet meals?
Brian, Shahera or Rayna. Some said Claire. Yes, she is a gourmet cook, but she is Gen. B, not Gen. C. Also Rivi, since both she and Shusti say so.

12. What was Ken's theme song from the P.O.F. movie?
Ken's theme song from P.O.F. plays while he rides a scooter. It is the theme from Rocky, "Eye of the Tiger", picked by David Horton. But I liked Joey's guess, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

13. Name at least three kinds of pies Gammy made every Thanksgiving.
People seem to have different memories of those Gammy pies. Originally I had pumpkin, pecan and rhubarb. I do not remember any
apple, but people remember it as well as mincemeat, so I gave everyone credit, even lemon meringue, which was Grandma Ramona's favorite.

14. Who took a call at work once from then Vice-President, Al Gore?
Peggy took a call from Al Gore when her boss, who was VP of Caltrans got a call from him. I was on the phone with her at the time. She said,"The Vice President is on the other line." "Of the United States?", I asked. "Yes". I let her go. (That is my favorite excuse I have ever received from someone trying to end our call!)

15. Who in Gen. B does the best Al Gore impression?
Peter. Someone said Rick and I gave them credit because perhaps they like his impression better.

16. Who in Gen. D loves turtles?
Jade loves turtles. Sea turtles are big in Hawaii, folks.

17. What nickname did Mom's best friend, Marty, call Mom?
Marty called Mom, "Bucharest". They were studying geography in school and somehow the names stuck. Cefe says Mom called Marty, "Romania"(same class).

18. What is Steve's middle name?
STEVE'S MIDDLE NAME! I had no idea this would be such a stumper! We have gotten the biggest laughs from the answers: Marvin (his
Dad's name), Robert (his brother's name), Walt (his Uncle's name),
Scott (his cousin's name) and Allen (as in Steve Allen?). A few
ingenious people tried to google Steve to discover he only uses his
middle initial, C. so we got quite a few "Charles" as guesses but the
biggest laugh came via email to Steve from a desperate contestant. It said simply, "Cheat time. What's your middle name? Help a Sistah out!" To be fair this sistah had already sent in her answers so it was all in fun, and we got a big kick out of it. Only one person got this answer correct: the only child of STEPHEN CRAIG SCHROETER!!!

19. Name the Gen. B's who were named after a Saint because their birthday fell on that Saints feast-day (first or middle name counts)?
This was the other difficult one for many who got it partially but not fully correct. Hint: Check Catholic calendars with Gen. B family birthdates and you will find complete answers. Congratulations to Maria, who is the only one who got it completely correct, and included exact names and dates. The answers are: me (St. Vincent Ferrar 4/5); Maria de Lourdes (Our Lady of Lourdes 2/11); Josefa (St. Joseph 3/19); Kevin Joseph (St. Joseph the Worker 5/1); Peter James (St. James 7/25). Mom consulted the calendar to help her come up with names, because she had so many to name!

20. What neighbor of a Gen. A and B is currently building an authentic pizza oven in his backyard?
Neighbor building a pizza oven. I was hoping pizza would be the hint that he is Italian. Josefa and I were walking around the block
with Dad in July when Alessio invited us into his backyard and showed us the big outdoor oven being built. Most guessed correctly on this one.

21. Who in Gen. C just got caught up in the Harry Potter craze and is currently reading all the books, one after the other?
Finally, the Gen. C who JUST recently got caught up in the Harry Potter craze is Geoff. Little bit of a trick, as he is the spouse of
a Gen. C. I had to carry an extra suitcase to Missouri recently,
filled with the 5 previous hardbacks, and i think he is already on
book 6!

NOW TO THE WINNERS: I had to divide the score into # wrong and # partially wrong or incomplete. (If you had some saint names but not all, for example):

Winner: The GOLD goes to CEFE, with one wrong, and 4 incomplete answers.

Second: The SILVER goes to Josefa with 2 wrong and 2 incomplete answers.

Third: The BRONZE goes to Rivianna with 2 wrong and 3 incomplete.

Fourth: Tying HONORABLE MENTION are Rayna and Anita each with 3
wrong and 3 incomplete.

It would be impressive if I put this much time into my own work, but this is more fun. -Susy

Next up - The winner, Cefe, will present her own trivia as is becoming tradition.

Generational Quiz from Susy

Intro: The format is questions related to different generations. Dad's is generation A; the dozen and their spouses are generation B; the grandkids are gen C; and the great grandkids are gen D.

Prize for winner: Susy will make you a hand-painted gift for Christmas. In case you win, what hand-painted gift would you like?

Deadline is Sept. 13 (Rosh Hashanah). Please email your answers directly to Susy.

We would like at least one member from every family to participate this time. Come on boys and Generation C'ers, represent.

1. Whatever happened to Gammy’s piano?

2. Which (gen. B) families have pianos in their home?

3. Name the members of the gen. B grandparents club.

4. Which of those grandparents has the most grandkids?

5. Name all the kids in D generation.

6. Who is the only gen. D baby with blue eyes?

7. Name the 4 gen. C cousins all born in 1992.

8. Name the 3 cousins all born in 1999. (Caution: one is actually gen. D and the other 2 are gen. C)

9. Name each of the Warren "Mambo Kings" (from the past--gen. B)

10. Who in gen A takes a walk every night after dinner, and might visit a neighbor or two on the way, and take you along if you wish?

11. Name 2 Gen. C's that love to cook gourmet meals?

12. What was Ken's theme song from the P.O.F. movie?

13. Name at least three kinds of pies Gammy made every Thanksgiving.

14. Who took a call at work once from then Vice-President, Al Gore?

15. Who in Gen. B does the best Al Gore impression?

16. Who in Gen. D loves turtles?

17. What nickname did Mom's best friend, Marty, call Mom?

18. What is Steve's middle name?

19. Name the Gen. B's who were named after a Saint because their birthday fell on that Saints feast-day (first or middle name counts)?

20. What neighbor of a Gen. A and B is currently building an authentic pizza oven in his backyard?

21. Who in Gen. C just got caught up in the Harry Potter craze and is currently reading all the books, one after the other?