Continuation of B&T

SO FAR BEHIND..... Urghhh.  The goal was to complete 1600 words a day, that is so not happening.  I have a writers workshop from 9- Noon today and going with high hopes, high hopes I tell you.

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More about Theresa and Joe in a minute, first, I need to talk about the Mil-dude ranch.

I love this photo, my Great uncle Jack is riding on the mule backwards and my Grandfather, ever the optimist is coaxing the mule to move toward him.  This photo is taken at the mil-dude ranch, I am not sure who came up with the name but the two boys lived there with their mom, Alice.  The ranch is located less than a mile from the cemetery where my Grandpa is buried so his life has really come full circle here in California.   This was a place of great adventure for them both, my grandfather would often speak about all the animals and fun times they came across.  I love the contrast shown between the tree falling forward and my Grandpa Joe leaning back.

Jack McGee is two years older than Joe, lives in Del Mar and I really don't know him because he and my Grandfather had a huge falling out or as we like to call it  a case of  Irish Amnesia, where you forget everything but the grudge your holding against the other person.  I have only met him once, briefly, and was hoping to see him at the funeral.  I was both saddened and heartbroken to learn that he was so upset with my Grandfather's passing that he simply couldn't attend the services.  

Joe has completed a tour of duty with the Sea bees, he is not really interested in going to college so when he meets a young Theresa Lemire, he is happy to start creating a life with her.  These two young Catholic lovebirds marry shortly after learning she is pregnant. 

 This is the only photo I have ever seen of them together and oddly enough they might as well be two characters in a movie.  The few times I have seen them together can be counted on one hand and I can safely say that they were never this happy when I saw them together and the events were pretty joyous occasions - weddings, including my own.  

They started their life in Lemon Grove, a San Diego suburb.  I don't know much about their life at this time except that they are starting to build their family.  My dad recalls visiting Mercy hospital numerous times for the births of his siblings and how his dad would treat them to a special roast beef sandwich from a shop in the Hillcrest area located adjacently to the hospital, after each visit.

My dad is number two in the lineup of ten kids and like most of us, he has specific and few memories of his childhood.  He recalls how his Grandmother Alice (his Dad's mom) would bring over piles of new clothes for the four boys and nothing ever seemed to fit anyone, you either got clothes that were too big or too small, this is evidenced in the photos taken during that time.  

Kathleen is born, the first girl, and they move from San Diego to LA, what is now known as the Watts area.  When they moved to Los Angeles, the Watts area was a typical working middle class neighborhood filled with kids riding bikes to the store on the corner and an all feeling of a tight knit community.  The McGee boys, who attended Catholic school at St. Anselm lived close by and were on the constant rotation of the altar boy schedule.   The church was happy to have four willing and easily guilted souls within their firm grip.

Black and Tan

First - I have no *logical* business doing this however..... I am going to do THIS. I might be crazy, there is a really good possibility. My main goal, is to get back to writing daily. If I can get back to writing half way decent, daily - I will be thrilled. So here it goes.... I am already behind, gotta love it.

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Also - it's going to be HEAVY on the Grandpa Joe, as he just passed away and funeral is this Saturday. I think I am writing more for therapeutic purposes, luckily, my family (combined with my imagination) gives me/inspires a wealth of material to write about.

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Black and Tan


He is a young boy from Dubois, Pennsylvania and the picture I hold in my hand shows him holding a cat in his. The backdrop is a standard 1930’s neighborhood and he looks somewhere between seven and ten years old. His small, pale, peach tinted hands so similar to my own that even though it’s a black and white photo I can still see the similarities in our skin tone.


His parents met in front of the Met life building in New York City, both were children of Irish immigrants and his mom had red hair, just like mine. I would be the only red head in the family for thirty eight years until my newest niece was born seven months ago and to our surprise and my profound delight it looks there will be another member of the red head club inside the McGee clan. I can feel the pride he felt when he noticed my red hair every time I look at my niece and see the reddish fuzz growing atop her head. Only time will tell if it will continue into long red hair that she will hate as a child and adore as an adult.


His dad, John, was a snake charmer and wild man constantly pushing the envelope. Though I have never seen any photos, I can imagine what he looks like. In my mind he is one of those buff, handsome, dark haired, pale skinned, 1920’s boxer type guys like Russell Crow in Cinderella man. Isn’t the imagination a wonderful thing? I know this can’t possibly be true from looking at the build of my Grandfather and his brother Jack, both with the same frame of a string bean. My father, most uncles and my brother would have this same exact build until their thirties. I imagine my nephew will have this same body shape as well but at age seven he walks with the bravado of John Wayne as only the big brother of two little sisters would, always keeping an eye on them, making sure they are safe. Ahh, family loyalty, you won’t find a group of people more loyal to their family than this crazy bunch, almost to a default and more loyal than a dog.


I am sure Great – Grandpa John was loyal as well, that’s the great thing with no documentation of our past. If there is an unknown, we can simply make it up. Surely, Alice, his wife had a list of likes and dislikes a mile long. Don’t all women? We know she didn’t cook well from the stories my dad tells. Her signature dish was boiled ground beef. John died from a snake bite so apparently he hadn’t built up a complete resistance. I heard the snake story when I was a teenager and too this day I get a major case of the creeps when I see a snake on TV or a picture of one. To see one in real life makes me want to run in the opposite direction.


So Alice packed up her two sons, Jack and his younger brother Joe placed them and their belongings in the car and headed west. For months, during a harsh winter, they lived in an abandon warehouse that was in close proximity of a farm. The brothers McGee were good for the most part and enjoyed sneaking through Mr. and Mrs. Clinton’s property. Sunday was their favorite day to visit the farm. The smell of fresh, baked bread wafted out of the kitchen window teasing and tormenting the brother’s noses. The fact that she baked two loaves helped the ethical dilemma, in their minds when they only took one of the loaves. They ate that bread for the rest of the week and the smell of fresh baked bread was always one of Grandpa’s favorite smells.


While Alice worked and the boys attended a local school, she was able to save up enough money to pack up the boys and belongings to head further west to sunny San Diego. They arrived in a San Diego suburb named Lemon Grove, and attended schools in the area. Jack, at some point, moved to the Del Mar area and Joe went into the United States Navy as a Seabee. Upon his return from duty, he met and fell in love with Theresa Lemere a transplant from Duluth, Minnesota.


Theresa had sharp cheekbones, beautiful soft eyes and a smile that would light up a room. She moved from Duluth to San Diego at a time when a doctor prescribed a warmer climate as part of a diagnosis for any popular ailment at the time. Opposite of Joe, she came from a large family and relished in taking care of her younger brothers and sisters. Though she found advances for women exciting, she knew in her heart that she was always meant to be a mom of many children. Little did she know, she would give birth to ten children and raise several grandchildren.

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Rosh Hashanah

Happy New Year!

Or.... it's Rosh Hashanah so happy Jewish New Year (at Sundown)!

Handsome is Jewish, I am a Catholic contemplating conversion to Judaism so learning about the high holidays is exceptionally intriguing to me.  One of the things I love most about Judaism is the openness they celebrate their holidays with.  Though it's a Jewish holiday, the focus is on not just people of that faith but people all around the world to make our lives more fulfilling, happier and more productive.

While there is a sense of renewal about celebrating any New Year- it's that promise of a new beginning and the hope that the change you hope to see in the world or yourself becomes the light of your focus.... at least for one day. 

There is a great article here that speaks about Rosh Hashanah in a much more articulate and educated manner.

Quick Update

Are you still waiting around for Part II of DC, are you still reading? Anyone, Anyone, Bueller?

This blog is on the brink of not making the cut, sadly.  I think about the time I spend on Facebook and it saddens me.  I don't write as much as I would like to - either in a real journal or blog due to time restraints.  So - here is a quick update.

Made it through my Dad's 60th Birthday and successfully completed a slide show....with music.  Sadly, I balled the entire way through the speech at the party (not my finest moment) and thankfully my articulate Uncle was able to do damage control.

Missed the 20th year high school reunion... Alan was out of town and like it or not... I am still a fragile flower.  

Still have not passed the CSET (next test date 09/11)

Job is killing me....now working a 4/10 schedule and it BITES

Alan and I recently celebrated our 10 month anniversary- Seriously, that's almost a year?  

I am a girl scout leader for a troop in our community and LOVE IT!

Subbing for three districts now- YAY

So, here's hoping that I can make it through DC- Part II and actually post more pix, because honestly, that was the best part of the trip.  Ok, there's your hook.  Keep checking on me because I might just get this blog back on track....might.

Ms. McGee goes to DC- Part One

Last February, handsome and I were discussing Washington DC and how we both always wanted to visit, the rich historical factor that we were both completely drawn to, the museums, the White House and everything in between. A few minutes later he looked up from his computer and said "Could you get a few days off in June"? I said, sure. He then turned and looked at me and said - Great, because we are going to Washington DC!!! Um...., Ok...., well...., wait.... this is just something that I cannot even begin to afford to do. He had already purchased the smoking hot deal on the airfare and got us really inexpensive hotel rooms for the four nights we would be there.... and we didn't have to stay at the Holiday Inn Express either.

Travel can bring two people together in a very close way while being the ultimate test to a relationship. We were booked to fly out of LAX and was thanking God that the flight was delayed because we flew from Murrieta to LA and then flew from the long term parking lot to the check-in counter to which we ran threw security where I think they are now hiring people who maybe look 13 years old. We actually got to use the restroom before I jaunted to the departure gate got on the plane and was.so. exhausted. I mean, eyelids heavier than a pallet of bricks and yet so tired that I was wired. Has that ever happened to you. I think it would be a fair assessment to say that I napped.

One of my favorite parts of flying is the take off and the landing and though I was WIDE AWAKE for the landing, I started to fade into oblivion very shortly after we walked to the airport shuttle counter and next remember Handsome nudging my shoulder and saying wake up, sweetie we are at the hotel. I swear, I think, no- I know I must have looked like I was on something or multiple things but really I was just ready to roll into bed and take a nine hour nap. We both slept for about 2 hours and then WOKE UP- WIDE AWAKE again. Folks, it was like that for 5 days - completely exhausted or WIDE AWAKE.

So our first day we went to the Kennedy Center and WOW, loved it in so many ways that I cannot even begin to tell you about all of the decor except everything in the place is a gift from another country. The chandelier in one room is from Ireland and it was just amazing. The best part was that we had an amazing tour guide to which we basically set the bar for all other tour guides to whom NONE could come close to filling her shoes. The gift store was reasonably priced with some of the most unique gifts imaginable.

Loved that cute bag and was so proud of myself that I didn't purchase it... my family nickname is "the bag lady". Ok, it's one of my nicknames. So, we were floored, got to see where POTUS + family sits during "Kennedy Center Presents" and attending performances, got super weepy when we walked outside and looked at the proximity of the Pentagon to where we were standing and how close to the White House is and 9/11 and ok, breathe, breathe, breathe. Very sad though.

Long story short- my Grandfather used to own a political memorabilia museum which is a nice way of saying he was a total HOARDER of political crap and by crap I mean probably 75% was some pretty odd stuff but there was some really cool stuff though (another post completely). In this museum, there was a huge bust of JFK and when my eyes came across this one at the center I was near tears realizing my Grandpa had never been to the Kennedy center, how much I love him, how much he loved JKF and anything Kennedy related... etc. The bust has a rough unfinished look to reflect his presidency which was considered unfinished (as our tour guide so eloquently put it). Yep, she pretty much had us both on the verge of tears the entire time with these pearls of wisdom and eloquence.

Day II

We hit the ground running, lots do to - The Capital (sat in both Congress and Senate chambers), Library of congress, Supreme Court, took a nap, walked from hotel to Legal Seafood, walked to the White House and then walked to The W.

The Capital was......air-conditioned. I have to say it was neat but the thing I remember most was the humidity that managed to SUCK THE LIFE out of us and after walking a very short distance we were completely deflated. I was trying to find gratitude and reminded myself that it could be worse - we could be visiting in February and have snow up to our ankles but it was just bloody humid and miserable. So, we went through the Capital tour which sucked monkey butt. The tour guide had a difficult time finding *anything* to be excited about and I can see that giving the same tour every day might be a little monotonous... but this was our first time and she made us want to poke our eyeballs out with our tour issued headphone set.

Just one of the many ornate hallways and the history is amazing and if some of those walls could talk.

After the Capital, we did everything we could to avoid going outside including going to the souvenir shops, eating lunch, used the restroom and happily came across a hallway that led us to The Library of Congress. LIC was not on our tour list and we had a few hours to kill before our scheduled visit to the Supreme Court so we joined a tour that had just started by Awesome tour guide #2 and came real close to beating out the amazing tour guide at the Kennedy Center.

everyone's must see list when going to DC. One can very easily get a library card for a daily use, check out any book and use the research room however you can't go wandering through the books - you have the book brought to you.

It was at the Library of Congress where we learned about the congressional page system which is now open to both boys and girls who are Junior's in high school. They come to DC, work for a member of Congress and complete their studies in between sessions. How freaking cool is that???? I would love to do that- sadly the 16 year old Kara would have not even considered the page experience....unless it involved Duran Duran.

Happy Kara at the Library of Congress.

And as I walked through being inspired left and right by the magnificent art, architecture, the neatly organized stacks of books and beautiful inscriptions everywhere - including the ceiling and as if it was sent from Heaven above... a sign, an affirmation that yes, I will pass the math/science portion of the CSET one day a become a member of the Education profession.

To be continued.....

So hip, it hurts

Someone, anyone, please buy this.

We were in Lowe's yesterday when this lovely caught my eye.

Screaming SUMMER IS HERE!!!!!!!

Three

With the kids leaving in three short days, I am squeezing every spare moment out of the day to KEEP.THEM.ENTERTAINED. watching me write or edit photos for my blog is not one of their favorite activities I discovered.

So, attached are three photos that put a smile on my face and remind me about our great DC adventure.

Beautiful, stunning and somewhat phallic monuments -It's in an Austin Powers movie right? 

Handsome and I discovered the most amazing burger place EVER.... We ate there three times in 5 days.  

Sadly, it doesn't matter how much walking you do around DC after you reach a certain age -three burgers in one week=can't fit into my favorite jeans right now.

The History of our great nation.  I LOVE this photo.