Well, another year is in the books, and what a year 2018
turned out to be. We accomplished quite a bit here in Pine Grove on the house
project, and the girls accomplished a good deal in their lives back in the Southland.
The seemingly unending process to get the house permits
approved finally ran its course by the beginning of the spring. At that point
Rita started with the digging of footings for the house slab, and three
concrete pours later, we were ready for the house kit to be shipped. The panel
kit was shipped from Indiana in late June. Arriving three days earlier than we
planned, we had to scramble to bring in forklifts and hire the local tow
company to bring in the panels as there is no way of getting a big rig onto our
property. Dealing with logistics that day and the overly grumpy truck driver
made for a long process. Nevertheless,
day by day, with the help of family and friends, including Mike and Patria
Rhodes, our next-door neighbors, and Chris’ friends Roger S., Roger C3, and Paul, the Tyvek-wrapped
shell of our house stands as a testament to our perseverance. At the time of
this writing windows are being installed, with hopes of getting some siding in
place before the end of the year. Chris hopes to move in sometime before he and
Rita turn sixty, four years hence.
Rita continues working out of the barn in the meantime. She
has taken a volunteer position with the local Girl Scout Service Unit as a
treasurer. Between that, house building, and the regular prowling around at
estate sales in the county she is keeping busy.
Much the same for Chris. Lots of house building, not much
time for model railroading, etc. He has been helping out from time to time
volunteering to raise some funding for the Amador Central Railroad group. They
have a 10-mile shortline railroad here in the county that volunteers are
working to preserve.
Anne and her boyfriend Jack have moved into a snazzy
apartment in the greater Sunland/Tujunga area of Los Angeles in October. This enabled
Anne to move out of our friends Billy and Marie’s house in Norwalk, saving her a
great deal of stress in her commute to Burbank, where she works as a Production
Assistant at Cartoon Network. Mom and Dad got to drive down to help them move
in and get situated, the first time they have been back to LA in 2 ½ years.
Emily continues her studies at Fullerton State. She is
taking a heavy class load so as to finish up her degree next year. In her spare
time, she works evenings and weekends at Disneyland, in and around the Fantasyland
section of the park. She also coaches track and field at her old high school in
Cerritos as well. Emily had a bit of an auto accident this past year, but she
took it in stride and learned a bit about the ins and outs of auto ownership in
the process. Luckily she was not injured.
Kona, our Akita dog, still seems to like us, and looks
forward to her “talks” with the neighbor dogs through the fence, and getting
treats several times a day.
All the best to everyone, happy
holidays, and remember to keep
Love from,
The Allan Family
