I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California in the town of Sherman Oaks - wow, that was more complicated than I thought it was going to be! Growing up we didn’t have a lot of money and I don’t know if that made us appreciate certain things in life or not, but it seemed to be the logical reason. There was this hot dog joint in Sherman Oaks (on the corner of Ventura Blv. and Kester) that was the bomb! We loved it and when we moved that was one place that was highly missed. I would always try and stop in when visiting old friends, but as time went on and friends moved away as well, visits to the Valley happened less and less… So, my trips to the good old Wiener Factory became less and less… Until I just didn’t make the side trip for a dog any longer. I would drive past and point, “That’s the Wiener Factory where my mother, brother and I loved to eat!”

Recently my brother heard from his childhood pal, Anthony, who still lives in southern California - that our treasure that was the Wiener Factory had closed. Our hearts sank as our childhood memory of the best hot dogs on earth was gone… All the feelings came flooding back as I gave remembrance to the Wiener factory. How so excited we would be when our mother would say, “Let’s go to the Wiener Factory.” The power and joy of growing up and being able to take ourselves to grab a dog. The fuzzy childhood blanket of comfort food had been ripped off and even though we didn’t visit our old friend the Wiener Factory, we still held a love and a passion for everything that once was.

Pinkberry - a fancy new hip frozen yogurt joint with a ton of extra money totally raped the Wiener Factory of its land! The Wiener Factory had only leased the land, and the Pinkberry Gods outbid Wiener Factory for the land… kicking the Wiener Factory’s ass out! Sadness grew over the valley as Wiener Factory closed their doors on December 31, 2007 at 6pm, never to serve another hot dog again… The kick in the teeth was after all was said and done, goddamn Pinkberry decided the lot was too small and there was not enough parking! What?! You buy land and then figure these things out after??? What the hell is wrong with people?! Shoving out an awesome hot dog joint that had been there since 1971 -  before I was born! Not fair and I hope Pinkberry chokes on a berry!

A recent trip back to the old stomping grounds, we decided to hit Pink’s and see what all the noise was about… It just made me want to cry, because it was nothing special and we had to wait in line for thirty minutes before getting to order. I was hot and by the time I got my food I didn’t want to eat anymore. Plus, it just made me sad because Wiener Factory was SO much better and I couldn’t go have an awesome chili, cheese and onion dog… *pout*

My brother and I would love to have the money to buy the land, buy the Factory and get schooled on the ways of the Wiener from the previous owners - then reopen her as the sweet little hot dog stand that everyone knew and loved.

I sent my brother a picture while visiting the abandoned Factory and he asked me to go back and get part of the building. I went back but there was nothing I could simply rip off, so I called him with the sad news there was nothing - without serious toolage anyhow. While I was chatting with him I realized a little bit of stucco wall that was cracked and I told him to hold on while I got out of the car and broke it off the building! I got a piece of the Wiener Factory! Though it will never be the same, we will have the memory of the best Wieners on earth!  Thank you Wiener Factory for all the thirty-six years of awesomeness - you guys were truly the best!

*I Love You* Wiener Factory!

I got a piece of the building!

It’s not the size that matters - it’s the memory within.

Good-bye Wiener Factory… Good-bye…

One of the pampering perks of working for a school are the many vacations we get! We are in the middle of summer vacation and even though I haven’t had much of a break, we were able to escape to a nine day Southern California/Disneyland trip! There isn’t a perfect word in the English dictionary to express the awesomeness we experienced while away from life. Life is fast paced, crazy and you feel time slipping away with each breath. Vacation is fast paced, crazy and you feel time slipping away with each breath. The difference? It’s vacation! We were doing things we want to be doing. The fast pace and crazy is by choice and that makes the world of difference! We woke up early simply because we wanted to and we dashed out of the hotel and ran across the street to Disneyland simply because we wanted to. Sure we were all stressed by the end, especially the Boyz, but the beauty of that was when we got home to our fast paced, crazy lives - we felt like we were relaxing.

Though out our nine day venture in southern California I was texting my cousin who was at home “chillaxing” after her vacation trip to Colorado. I would text her where I was, what I was doing and send pictures of where we were - she had done the same on her trip. We are two goofy gals - and love it, by the way! My cousin is a CODA (child of a Deaf adult), so I am always sending her an “I Love You” sign (sign language - there was someone who seemed confused and mistook the “I love you” sign for the devil horns you see mainly at rock concerts). Our first day in southern California I was taking pictures and all of a sudden got an idea for themed pictures! Every picture I was going to take and send my cousin would have the “I love you” sign in it - just so she knew I love her no matter where we are or what we are doing! So, it began… I was only sorry I had not thought of it earlier. My first, and most important, stop our first morning there was my first *I love you* (sign) shot…

*I love you* (sign) Starbucks Anaheim! This was really fun for me - reasons unknown. I had a blast stopping and whipping out my cell phone to get my hand in front of something. Some days there was more thought into it as I snapped all over the place, while other days went by with maybe one or two shots, and others with none. Somethings I didn’t get and I so wish we could simply go back and get the shot - but without a time machine it seems a little difficult. I am still proud of my hand shots and some came out pretty artistic… I mean, to me anyhow. *smile*

*I love you* (sign) nighty-night! This has to be my favorite of all! How yummy and inviting does that look? Sammy also got the bug and wanted to display his sign with different things.

Like his morning breakfast of banana - he told me to take his *I love you* hand with his food. You can only imagine how proud I was that my little boy wanted to join in my silly little past time - what became “our” silly little past time. Sam and I had so much fun with our *I love you* signs!

*I love you* (sign) High Five! We had a mission and we were going to have a ton of fun! My student taught me this high five - it has has rules you need to follow for optima high five love. All four points of each hand need to touch and you need to high five slowly in order to feel the love… Now that you’ve been schooled in the *I love you* (sign) high five - go forth and enjoy!

Growing up in Southern California was a blast! I grew up in this apartment building - for 18 years of my life I lived here. Then life moved us out and into the middle of effing nowhere - I don’t want to talk about it. I am glad I moved out of Southern California but I love going back to visit!

We visited a few of my old stomping grounds - Universal City Walk was the best! Almost every Friday and Saturday night my friends and I would pile into a car and go see a movie and walk around… Yeah - good times.

My good old buddy Lita had a brand new baby girl, Emily! She is super cute and only ten days old! Sorry the picture is so dark but sweet little baby eyes… I just had to get an *I love you* (sign) with this little girl.

Disneyland was awesome! The Boyz had a blast going on rides and walking around visiting the different attractions. Vacation was the best! I wish we were there again, but sadly real life and a draining bank account called us back home. I would equally love to share all my *I love you* (sign) pictures, but there are too many - so please head over to Scott’s Flickr.com site and enjoy them all.

Gosh, I love my Boyz - and that’s simply because they are the best in every way! Sure they drive me nuts, but really what kid doesn’t drive their parents nuts? Just look at those little goofy guys there - yeah that deserves a big fat *I Love You* (sign)!

~With *I love you* fingers in just the right places.~