Memories, like the corner of my mind

This morning as I watched the mocha I had just ordered swirl around the cup so pretty like a chocolate sunset, it reminded me of when we lived in Crescent City. Way up north near the Oregon border, little one  horse town with just a Safeway, Grocery Outlet and a JCPenney's catalog store. Alex was just a baby when we lived there, from 1994-95, where we celebrated his 2nd birthday, rented our first house, adopted our first dog "Buddy" and the best part? We lived just 2 blocks from the beach. When I think about it, I miss it, but I miss just about every city we lived in....with an exception of Highland in Socal. That place could disappear off the face of the planet and I wouldn't give a hoot. Anyway, there was a delicious cafe on the corner of Nowhere Street and Boonies Avenue, we used to regular there. Funny I don't remember the street names or the name of the cafe and this blog post is about memories. My next blog post should be labeled dementia, it's not just for seniors anymore! They had mochas and lattes TO DIE FOR! I didn't even know what they were before visiting this place.  I guess you could call it "BM" before mocha. I remember being amazed at how the milk and coffee met with yummy swirls trying to merge together as the cup was served. It was heaven in a whimsical little mug.

Memories for other people are just as interesting as what jogs mine. My Grammie and I were just recently in a store and they had an old register with the push buttons, accepts cash only. She turned to me with a smile on her face and said "back in my day, that's all we had". It made me think how she must feel in this world, things are so different now. Cell phones, computers, text messaging, which she has a good grasp of by the way, her humor even comes across in almost every text she sends. When we got her a new cell phone, she immediately wanted to change the ring-tone to "vintage telephone", it's nostalgic for her, probably reminds her of her first phone. Also, I think it's what she recognizes easily and it's the loudest choice!

The smell of rain always makes me think of one of my first dates with my husband. It was pouring down rain and we went to Bancheros (makes me smell Italian food to even say that word), it's only the best Italian food restaurant in Northern California. We always brought food home, the portions are decent sized and it's family style so by the time you get to your entree, "fugedaboutid", you'll never finish it. So back to the rainy part, we got out of the car and I spilled my spaghetti on the driveway. It was raining so hard that it slid down the driveway like slimy worms. It made us laugh big belly laughs (it's not that funny today) but we were happy, in love and everything was funny. Plus, when I first started seeing Rich, I drank iced tea with every meal and the caffeine made me hysterically laugh each time.

I know I am going on and on about this subject but as a scrap-booker ( I just typed "crap-booker which reminds me of the time that I sold a pair of capris on ebay and I listed them as "crapi" jeans, they shockingly sold, I guess there's something for everyone!) As I was saying, as a SCRAP-BOOKER, memories are my thing. I have to remember every little detail so I can journal them for later, much later when I am gone and my kids are thumbing through the albums. I also wrote in their baby books, little sayings and funny stories. I've always liked to hear them about me. My Grammie has told the story a hundred times about how I would yell "NEVERRRRR" from outside the house when they would tell me to turn off the hose. It's a funny visual and it's very me, bossy, defiant and a rebel WITH a cause. That day it just happened to be playing with the water.

Memories are intangible, priceless and one of the most important things in my life. They're what made me what I am today....