Do kids do that anymore?

The other night about 7:00 I decided to cruise town in the Mustang. I had just washed it and it was bright and shiny red. I put the windows down, turned up the music and headed downtown. Just as I turned the corner and went past the big windows of the bank building I looked at the reflection of the car in the window. I hadn't thought of doing that in years. There was a time though when My sister and I would wash and wax our Dad's 56 4 door Chevy and do just that. We would spend hours washing and waxing and spraying the wheel wells white and then we would head to Salem to cruise town and watch for our reflection in the windows. A 56 Chevy 4 door post and a 3 speed on the column might not sound like much but we couldn't have been happier. Those were the days of the 4 on the floor. My sister, Sue, got quite good at faking a 4 on the floor with the 3 on the column....well, you had to be there. BFF.

Memories from happier days!

I just sold our truck on Thursday morning and it broke my heart to see it drive away. So, since I always feel better if I am driving, I grabbed my keys and my money and left in the pickup. I drove east on I-84 until I was an hour from Boise and it was 12:30A before I could face stopping. But, going through the Blue Mountains, I saw a sign for Immigrant Springs State Park and it made me think of a happy memory. When we were very young, my brother Norm, my Sweetie and I would go on weekend drives. My brother had a little car called a Midget. It was a tight fit for all three of us, but we were alot skinnier in those days. One night we camped at Immigrant Springs. In those days, all we used was sleeping bags and slept on the ground under the stars. I always remember how safe and happy I was to be sleeping so close to my Sweetie. We would get in the sleeping bag and he would snap it up; we fit into one single sleeping bag very comfortably.

Holidays and weekends - Yuk

When I worked for the State of Oregon, I always looked forward to the holidays and weekends; but things change and not always for the good. Since March 17th, I have begun to hate holidays and weekends. Some holidays you think about more than others but holidays are holidays. Now, I'm just trying to get through all the firsts without my sweetie. I got through Palm Sunday and Easter. Then there was Mother's day and Memorial Day. Now we are in June and I had to get through the first Sunday of June when I got my engagement ring and then June 7th - Larry's birthday and then Father's day. I still have to get through July 4th and July birthdays on the 14th and 19th and our anniversary on July 31 then on to Labor day, Columbus day, Veterans day,Thanksgiving, a December 7th birthday then Christmas and January 1, January 9th and Martin Luther King's birthday. Then February comes along with Valentines day and Presidents' day and that brings us to March and we are back to St Patrick's day - one whole year of firsts. I cant wait to get it over with.

The Little House on the Corner

I went by the house today (it was the first house we bought 8 months after we were married). Whenever I go by, I think about this story. When my Sweetie and I were very young, we bought a little house out in the country. The little house was on a little piece of ground on a corner of the highway. On one end of the acre was a small creek with a spring and 3 very old tall willow trees. My Sweetie hung bag swings from high up in the limbs of one of the trees. It seemed like you could swing forever before you started back the other way. For some reason, whenever we were down swinging, our 2 horses always wanted to walk through and stand in the corner of the pasture while we were swinging. One day, I was just sitting on my swing and the horses came through kind-of-fast and I and my swing got caught on one of the horse's chest and he pushed me high into the limbs of the tree and then my swing slid off and I went very fast and very high in the other direction. Suddenly, I was headed back and going straight for the horse's back feet. He would have kicked me half way to the moon. I was screaming and so scared I couldn't think but my Sweetie jumped and caught my swing and stopped me just before I collided with the horse. I still think about how scared I was and how my hero saved me.

Violet, Herbie, Big Weld and Grandpa

The kids have their different ways of getting along without Grandpa. Violet is sad and sometimes will mention sitting in the chair and watching Star Wars or other movies with Grandpa or driving Grandpa's tractor. When you say who loves Grandma, Big Weld always says "love Grandpa". Herbie thinks a little deeper. Once when my DIL was crying Herbie asked why she was crying. When she said she was sad about Grandpa, Herbie said once he held on to Grandpa's hands and walked up him and touched the ceiling. "That's funny Mom". Another time, Herbie and Big Weld had tried to flush a comb down the tolet and Grandpa went to their house to get it out. Just the other day, Herbie told Mom that Grandpa said "no, no, no, dont flush a comb down the tolet". They all know Grandpa is in Heaven and they are keeping his memory in their own ways.