Good Day for Music

I was going to call this post "Catching Up," but when it auto-filled after "Ca," I decided to try a bit harder. There's been a lot going on lately, but it's been a challenge to keep on blogging. 

Yesterday was indeed a good day for music in the Styffe household. As soon as I arrived home from work, I made sure John was cleaned up and dressed, had his trumpet so we could head over to the Fullerton Downtown Plaza for opening performance of the Ladera Vista Junior High Jazz Band. John has been playing trumpet for 2-1/2 years in the Fullerton Elementary School band and now at LV under the direction of Mr. Hastings. To be honest, the 5th and 6th grade concerts were kinda rough, and without a strong measure of parental pride, would have been difficult listening.

But these kids rocked last night! It is heartbreaking to think that school music programs like this throughout the state will be shut down due to the budget crisis.

The Ladera Vista Jazz Band

John (far right)

But wait, there's more!

Last night at our regular Thursday choir rehersal at church, we were continuing our work for the Easter cantata to be presented on Palm Sunday morning April 5. Our director Mitch Hanlon, asked daughter Emily to take a solo part. The first run-through left us all slack-jawed. Can't wait to hear it in further rehersals and performance.

In the Oh-by-the-way Department, we added to our growing collection of grandchildren last month on 2/10/09 when Melissa gave birth to Aurora Anne Schweitzer. 

Aurora Anne with her Auntie Em

Halloween, Etc.

Editor's note: I wrote this post shortly after Halloween, but for some reason (which escapes me now), I didn't publish it. Hint: the "Etc." probably refers to my unfinished business, but again, for the life of me, I don't recall what that was. So four days before Christmas, here it is. I'll have a new post (or two) up soon.

It's not my favorite "holiday" to be sure, but with kids and grandkids about, ignoring Halloween completely is an unthinkable proposition. Fortunately, we were able to offload the task of handing out candy onto Emily (who was grounded due to some bad behavior last Halloween) and her friend Emily (who wasn't grounded) while John and his buddy Nick hit a few houses and called it a night. They did, however, put a fair amount of creative energy into their pumpkins, as can be seen in Amy's pictures.

Emily turned the lid into a jaunty beret.

John's barfing pumpkin reprised a holiday classic.

Of course the grandsons had a great time. I'll just steal a couple of images from Melissa's blog and put them up here. I'd have stayed home to give these kids some candy.

Jamie

Finn

Grace and Insanity

Finally!

We moved into our house last Saturday, October 18. Most people my age (at least the saner ones) hire professionals to do the packing, lifting, and hauling. Since I have been declared insane by any number of people, I've chosen (or been forced into) a different path. So armed with a rental truck and an army of friends and family (including both sons-in-law) we cleared out the apartment and most of the storage unit and filled the house with boxes and furniture that looks much too shabby for the walls that now surround it. Reinforcements arrived around noon and the early birds headed off to salvage what was left of their weekend.
By sundown, I was whupped! I really am too old for this…

A friend from church brought dinner over to the house that evening. So there we were, gathered around the dinner table that we'd retrieved from storage, holding hands, ready to say grace and it hit me--we were home. An entirely overwhelming sense of gratitude swept over me with the effect that my prayer of thanksgiving sounded like the voice of an alien from my thick throat. But if I were asked to select the 10 best moments in my life, this would be near the top of the list.

I think my next move will be posthumous (just strap me to the appliance dolly and try not to scratch that corner in the hallway).

But wait, there's more. Sunday, October 19 was Amy's birthday. Her 50th. Wouldn't you think that by spending a quarter mil on her present that I'd done enough? Perhaps, but you forget…I'm insane. So two weeks ago when we were able to pin down the moving date, I started planning a surprise birthday party for her…at the house! A few hastily composed invitations passed out at church and a few emails to her co-workers did the trick. I made people fully aware of the situation, summed up with the statement, "It'll be chaos, but it'll be fun."

It was chaos. It was fun.

How often does something come off almost exactly the way it was envisioned? This sure did, thanks to a lot of help from Amy's sister Luanne, my Mom and lot of friends and family who brought refreshments and gifts. In all, about 70 people came! To be honest, I didn't expect half that many, but I was too busy to count the RSVPs. My top ten list of moments was now as crowded as the house.

We found out several things at that point.

1. The house can handle a party.

2. As good it looked up to that point, the house looked even better full of people.

3. I sometimes forget to take pictures at important events.

I suspect that many women would have been appalled at the prospect of having so many people over to the house with packing boxes all over the place and nothing but dirt in the yard.

But that's one of the things I love about Amy.

She is as insane as I am!

Amy's sister Leslie, Amy, my Mom, Amy's sister Luanne.

Amy and her Mom

Blowing out the candles

Success!

Insanity squared

John, Emily (are those my glasses?), Amy and I catch a breath after the party.

Thanks to Jacqueline Shirley who once worked at Hughes Aircraft with Amy and now works with me at Santa Ana College for the photographs.

Almost Home

A lot has happened since I last posted, this has been a very busy month. When we first drew up the contract for the house remodel project, we intentionally left a few things out in the event that some cost overruns might put the total project over our budget. So we left out the kitchen cabinets, interior painting and flooring. We figured if the money was still there when it came time to do these things, we'd hire someone, otherwise, we'd do it ourselves.

Having to pay four months of extra apartment rent at the beginning of the project due to the zoning delay along with losing $10,ooo to a crooked contractor last year before we fired him, it's been apparent for some time that the final month of the project would involve a lot of labor on my part. As it turns out, the project has gone very smoothly otherwise and those two items totaling $17,000 were virtually the only two unexpected expenses that we faced. In terms of actual construction, we've had only two change orders adding up to less than $2,000.

Tuesday, September 16, was the day interior painting was to begin, so I arranged for vacation time from my job for the remainder of the week. The job would involve spray painting 6,000 square feet of freshly textured drywall and 2,000 sq. ft. of ceilings in one day (spray painting ceilings is not a fun job). However the drywall texturing was delayed until Tuesday, meaning that painting couldn't start until Wednesday.

Does this bunny suit make me look fat?

Kitchen cabinets were scheduled for installation on Thursday and Friday, so that area had to be painted on Wednesday as well. As the week progressed, we managed to keep everything on schedule and by the end of Friday, 80% of the interior painting was finished and the kitchen cabinets were in and looking good. This involved a lot of help! Amy held up her end painting and answering questions, my brother-in-law Tom laid ceramic tile floors in both bathrooms, rented a second spray unit and jumped into the painting panic. He, along with another fellow parishioner – Dirk McCuen – installed a whole kitchen full of Kraftmaid cabinets. My Dad, 81, painted his brains out and helped keep the place straightened out while boxes, ladders, brushes and paint buckets were flying about. Another friend from church, Carol Henke, lent her professional expertise helping Amy pick a gorgeous palette of colors, made excellent recommendations on paint brands and grades and with her husband Bill pitched in with the actual painting and brought us a meal. Amy's sisters Leslie and Luanne helped paint the upstairs on Saturday. Luanne also brought lunch over from Brea's Best Burgers and Pepe's on Thursday and Friday. David Curlee not only provided some much needed painting help, but loaned us some ladders and critical lighting equipment as well. Our pastor, Darrell McGowan took time out of a very busy week to pick up a brush and roller for the cause. 

All told, it was perhaps the closest thing to an Amish barnraising that you'll see in Orange County, outside of a Habitat for Humanity project. 

Late yesterday, I took on the task of installing a ceramic floor in the entry way. It was the first time that I had attempted such a thing on my own, and will perhaps be my last. Amy stood steadfastly by as I mixed thinset adhesive, cussed, groaned and finally completed the job at 9:00 p.m. with the help of the Curlee lighting system. To say that I was thoroughly "whupped" when I got back to the apartment would be an understatement. I ate some leftovers out of the fridge, took three ibuprofen along with a prescription pain reliever left over from a tooth extraction a couple months ago and was in bed by 10:00.

Why I'm wide awake at 4:00 a.m. the next morning, sleepless, and writing this, I can't explain.

After church today, Tom and I intend to grout the downstairs tile, and I may paint the door frames as well. I'll meet an installer at the house on Monday so he measure and template the countertops in the kitchen.

Otherwise, the pros take over again on Monday. The finish electrical will be installed Monday and Tuesday, the stucco color coat goes on Tuesday, interior doors, floor molding and door casings go in on Wednesday and Thursday before I start installing the floors on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I may be ready for one more of those pills next Sunday night, but if we continue to stay on this schedule, we'll be moved back into the house three weeks from now.

Gratuitous Grandson & Train Photography

These are eventful days around the Styffe household with house construction, weddings, birthdays, etc. The temptation, of course is just keep throwing up pictures of the construction, since that project has most of our attention these days. But I can resist temptation. Usually.

Still, life goes on. Quite nicely. We had a lovely dinner with friends, the Strapacs and Lustigs, hosted by Ted and Liz Benson in Newport Beach recently. It had been a number of years since the two older Styffe daughters had been with the young Benson ladies. Having bonded at an early age over their fathers' unusual shared avocation, they have each blossomed into lovely young women. Dads and Moms couldn't be prouder.

A week later came grandson Finn's first birthday and the ceremonial smooshing of the birthday cake. Finn did not disappoint in this endeavor. More Photos

Finally, just to keep myself centered, I brought my camera trackside this past weekend even though nothing particularly unusual was going on. But as often happens under such circumstances a nice image resulted, this one of commuters going off to work early on a Monday morning. More Photos

By the way, the house is still coming along well. The outside lath is nearly complete, the rough plumbing and electrical are signed off, and the drywall will start going up soon. 

Even from our lofty perch these days, things are looking up.

The Wedding

The moment one sees his baby girl in the cradle, a dad is aware that the essence of that relationship will be short lived. The fact that this is as it should be makes the whole scenario not all that painful.

From the moment that we met Ben, it seemed apparent that this event would unfold in its good time. So happily Ben joined our family just as Jenn joined his and the world keeps on turning just as it should.

I am not a wedding photographer, I don't even play one on TV, so these photos are just a few images that I took while being the father of the bride. We hired my friend Damion to do the essential and creative photography of the event.

Normally, I don't do weddings, which is also as it should be.

Growing Up…or Not

Inevitably, time marches on and we witnessed two events which underscored that fact.

The boy started kindergarten at Raymond School just a block down the street from our house just a couple of months before Amy and I were married in 2001. It's the only school he's ever attended, but last Thursday we attended his promotion where he was ceremonially flung into the wide world of junior high school.

Speaking of junior high school, the girl finished her two years at Ladera Vista Junior High with a graduation ceremony held outdoors on a sweltering June morning last Friday. She sang in the school's advanced choir for one last time during the ceremony.

Of course this meant that we had to subject ourselves to modern graduation behavior. At one time these were dignified ceremonies, the band played Pomp and Circumstance while the graduates processed to their seats. Everyone applauded after all of the graduates had received their diplomas.

Now days, each student has his/her own cheering section which erupts into a mighty roar when their child's niece/nephew/cousin/whatever has their name announced. This loud cheerleading woman's overexposed back grabbed my camera's autofocus sensor as I was attempting to record Emily's return to her seat.

I resisted the urge to ask the woman if she wanted a print.

Start of Construction, Take 2

We finally had our hearing with the Fullerton Planning Commission on May 14. After a brief discussion including an objection raised by a "neighbor" around the corner, eight houses away, who didn't want to see a 2nd story structure from his house (he won't unless he uses a ladder), the commission voted 5-0 to approve our request for a zoning variance. After a 10-day (city business days) window to allow formal appeals of the decision to be filed, we should finally be able to pick up the building permits on June 3 -- exactly 4 months after the original date for the start of work.

Due to a lack of venue during our homeless period, the family gathered in a park near our house last Sunday to celebrate my birthday. For those of you who may not have been paying real close attention, the age counter in my profile updated automatically on May 19. It was unusually hot for mid-May in these parts that weekend, but we still managed to have a good time. My parents, wife, kids and grandkids were all there along with Melissa's homemade key lime pie. It was a simple, pleasant time and I took photos.

John's Fundraising Hair Raiser

The boy did something remarkable this past Sunday. He's been growing his hair for the past two years. Perhaps the notion entered his head when his sister donated her long brown hair to Locks of Love with several of her sixth grade friends. He's two years younger and now it became his time and for the past couple months he's been looking forward to the day when his hair reached the necessary 10" in length for it to qualify as a donation.

Before going to church, his Mom put it up into 24 ponytails and he went to church like that. The kids in the youth group were having a fundraiser immediately after the service to to raise donations for the Fullerton CROP Walk coming up on April 27. John managed to make his donation do double duty. He sold opportunities to cut off a ponytail for a suggested $1.00 donation, although the total reached $103 after all 24 were snipped off. A No. 2 buzz completed the job immediately after lunch.

Photographs of the Walk

My Nephew Nathan

Nathan (my brother Glenn's son) is in his last year of high school and has been quietly turning himself into an excellent photographer. Considering the fact that I was a few years removed from high school, before I began taking photography seriously, I'm afraid that my days as the best photographer in our family may be numbered.

Witness the fact that this image is Kodak's "Picture of the Day" in New York's Times Square today. It's a clever shot to be sure, but I'm even more impressed with his whole body of work . His family is quite proud of him, and justifiably so. Me? I am too, but I'm keeping an eye on him just the same.

It reminds me of the old joke: "How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? One. And 24 more to say 'I could have done that.'"

Photograph by Nathan Styffe

Staying Young, Gracefully

We had a family birthday party for my daughter Jennifer last Saturday morning. She has loved my Mother's blueberry pancakes since she was a wee child and consequently, we tend to have her birthday celebrations in the morning.

As things were wrapping up, both my Mom and Dad had things that they wished to show me on their computers. Yes, computers…plural. They have adapted themselves to the digital age so enthusiastically, that sharing one computer just didn't work. It finally occurred to me that I should photograph this scene and share a bit of their story. Their full stories take up about 600 pages worth of autobiographies which they have both created for their family and friends.

Last year, they both turned 80 and next year they will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Although they have both "retired" from their life-long professions, Dad as a printer, Mom as a school teacher, they both continue to be amazingly active. Last year they went to Thailand and Rwanda to help in missionary efforts and continue to serve the Lord and their fellow travelers through their church and other organizations.

So here is that photograph taken on Saturday, March 15, 2008 in the study of their home. The paper sign stuck on the wall over their desks reads "A Creative Mess is Better than Tidy Idleness." 

I would be inclined to agree.

First Night

Last night, the city of Fullerton put on its 17th annual First Night in Fullerton event. I attended the first one which occurred only two weeks before I moved to the city in January of 1992. The entire downtown area is closed to vehicular traffic and  a number of entertainment venues are set up throughout the area. Our church is located in the downtown area and always donates the use of the fellowship hall to host one of the performing acts and also sells food from the kitchen to help raise money for the hot meals which are served to the hungry every Wednesday evening from that same kitchen. 

This time, Amy and I got wind that our daughter Emily was headed for the karaoke stage around the corner on Harbor Blvd. Emily takes after her Mother in that she doesn't mind grabbing a microphone and singing in front of an audience. 

Until now, I've seen this happen in church or in one of her school concerts which are both venues guaranteed to have a sympathetic audience. Not that this girl needs one as things turn out. Several of the preceding acts consisted of 2 or 3 of her petrified schoolmates or older, highly lubricated divas from one of the bars along the street. Emily had them cue up Avril Lavigne's "Skater Boy," took her turn solo and just owned the place for the next three minutes.

Reminded me of Belinda Carlisle if you ask me.

For most of the others attending the event, the evening's highlight was the fireworks show scheduled for the stroke of midnight. Since Southern California was experiencing a "wind event" (in the current parlance of weather service), the fireworks show was somewhat subdued. The big aerial items stayed in the can this year and we all settled for some smaller, noisier ones. Still, there's something about big noisy fireworks that makes for a good way to bring in the new year. And during the last seven times, it's been nice to lean over and give Amy her first kiss of the new year.

This morning, the winds continue. Downtown Fullerton, the scene of last night's festivities is a deserted ghost town. The town plaza's main stage where rockabilly / country artist James Intveld held forth just a few hours earlier still has a few lights on, but now the only sounds come from the winds howling through the palm trees.

From me and my family to you and yours, I wish you a "RAEY WEN YPPAH"

My Name

It's only taken me 50 years or so to come to terms with it. When someone sees it, they don't know how to pronounce it, and when someone hears it, they don't know how to spell it. When I'm asked how it's pronounced, the smartass in me often is tempted to say "just the way it sounds." and occasionally, I've yielded to that dark side of my personality and actually done so.

For the record it's pronounced Stié-fee. At least on the west coast. Back in Worchester, Massachusetts, it's "Stíff-ee." I owe my grandfather a debt of gratitude for letting the pronunciation evolve when he moved to California around 1917 or so. In Sweden, where the family's roots are, I understand it's "Steef." Teriffic! My name caused me enough grief on the playground as it was!

I've googled my name a number of times. I've discovered that there is a well-known jazz saxophone player in Canada named Roy Styffe and a bassist in the Olso Philharmonic with the name of Dan Styffe. I have no idea how either pronounces it. 

And it is quite possible that I'm related to the two characters which appear on this vintage postcard which I own. On a trip through Nevada in the 1930s, my grandfather stopped at their motel/gas station in Lovelock and it was determined that they had simply kept the Swedish pronunciation and our branch of the family had kept the spelling and let the phonetics fall where they may.

When I was a kid, I envied the Wilsons, Carters, Smiths and anyone else with a more generic name. I dreaded the first day of school, when I'd hear it mangled by the teacher. Now, I appreciate its uniqueness and I've made my peace with it.

I'm just glad I didn't grow up in Lovelock, Nevada!

The Christmas Egg Scam

I should preface this to say that we had a lovely Christmas Eve service at church last night. A ladies quartet which included my wife Amy and her sister Luanne sounded like a choir of Angels in "The Star Carol" and the service ended with everyone joining hands around the candlelit sanctuary singing "Silent Night."

The actual Christmas festivities in our household came and went pretty quickly this morning. John, who had been up since 3:30am staring at the Christmas tree, tried to rouse us at 6:00 and was told to wait another hour. After that, it was a half-hour of flying shreds of gift wrap, shrieks of delight and the realization that we had only two eggs in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, I received a heads-up that there was a train in Riverside headed my way with a pair of those new Kansas City Southern "Southern Belle" SD70ACe's in the consist.

Knowing the local supermarkets were closed, I volunteered, "Honey, I'll go find some eggs, but it may take a while."

Don't tell Amy, but a dozen eggs were found at the Walgreens two blocks away…on the way home from Fullerton Jct.

Merry Christmas.

Let's get this show on the road!

It's the day before Christmas Eve. It's the day that I start getting revved up for the holiday. The day that I realize I'm running out of time to get an early start on my shopping. 

It is also the cusp of a year that should be trying. Amy and I are well into the process of starting a whole house remodel. Essentially we will be jacking up the doorknob of our little place and attaching a new house to it. Sometime, six months following the start of construction, we'll have a new place to live. That project will certainly provide some of the material for this exercise. So far the plans are finished and survived the city's plan check with the need for some minor changes. We've selected a contractor, and once we've hammered out the agreement and found temporary living quarters, we'll put the hammer down (so to speak).

While I don't intend to turn this into a family photo album, I thought I'd throw in this image from last Sunday's trip to the "Photos with Santa" shop that my friend Ben Stuart is running this season. 

First up were the grandkids, Jamie and Finn. Finn was no problem, he just snuggled up on Santa's lap and some good pictures were captured immediately. Next, Jamie was asked to join his brother. He was asked again. And again. And again after that. By this point Mom (my daughter Melissa) had put on her frownie face and started speaking in a voice that began raising dark memories from my nearly forgotten past. In their formative years, both Melissa and Jennie learned early on that if they could crack Dad up, they were pretty much off the hook. It's a tradition that seems to have been passed along to the next generation. This is the last shot that I got off before I collapsed in laughter. Mom, who deserves such a son, thought it was pretty funny too. Jamie, having made his point, climbed up on Santa's lap and Ben fired off some good shots. But I like this one better.