Allan Family Year-End Update 2018

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 in touch-  and stop in when you are in the neighborhood!

Love from,

The Allan Family