What a Sweetie!!!

Yesterday, I was at Swimminginlaundry's house. I was watching BigWeld look for something in a drawer. He found a piece of gum still in a wrapper. He brought it to me and asked me to take it home so he could have it the next time he came to my house. He came back a few minutes later and wanted it. I handed it to him and he carefully tore it in half and gave it back saying "that piece is for Herbie". It was just too cute!!!

Too familiar? I think so...

Sometimes I think I must have a note on my forehead that says talk to me. I have had some weird conversations with complete strangers. Someone at Starbucks told me he now had heart problems and had to have soy in his drink instead of whole milk. I was in the hardware store one day when a man told me he was rerouting all the water/sewer pipes under his house. At the grocery store when I reached for my favorite brand of chocolate chips, a woman told me not to get those they were more expensive than the house brand and she also asked me if I had a good cookie recipe. I've heard about bypass surgery; not liking the daughter's boyfriend - People have talked to me about anything and everything. The weirdest conversation was yesterday at the grocery store. I was driving the Mustang. I drove past the outdoor cafe where several police officers were sitting taking a break. I parked and walked past the police on my way into the store. Just as I was passing one of the officers said "Hey, red Mustang, I havent see you around town much this summer". I was so surprised I don't even remember what I said but I thought that just may be too familiar.

I' m so extra

lonesome today. Herbie and Big Weld are out of town visiting their other Grandma.

I Miss You

42 years today!!!!

What a Disgusting World.....

Violet and Mayberry experienced their first real "lockdown" today. Luckily, the teachers just let the kids think it was an extended drill. Sad Sad Sad.

Sooooo Cute!!!

Yesterday, I saw two of the cutest things. I watched Violet at her first "track meet". It really was a jog-a-thon to raise money for a new sign at her school. I can tell she is going to be a track star when she is older. I walked Herbie and Big Weld to the ice cream store. It didn't take them long to decide what flavor they wanted. They were so cute walking on the sidewalk looking like two peas in a pod, walking side-by-side talking and eating their bubblegum ice cream cones.

The poor milk cow

I was talking to The Pilot and Swimming in Laundry. They were talking about setting up college funds for their 3 kids. Their discussion made me think about how I got through business school. I started business school right after HS graduation so I didn't have a chance to work the summer first. That year Dad and Mom were counting on a new field of strawberries and the caneberries to help with my tuition and buy books. The strawberries didn't do well that year; the farmers couldn't get pickers so Dad disked his up before getting across the field the first picking. The caneberries didn't do much better. Dad had been driving school bus for a lot of years and he got $100.00 a month. When I signed up for business school, they signed up to pay $25.oo a month. They also sponsored a missionary in the Philippines for $25.00 a month. Every 3 months, they had to come up with money for books. So, Dad and Mom did whatever they had to do to get the money. It meant Dad had to go to a loan office and use the milk cow for collateral. I walked the payment in to the loan office every month. The loan wasn't quite paid off when we had to borrow some more but my parents just figured it had to be done. The milk cow was mortgaged the whole year I was in school. The real estate taxes didn't get paid that year but they made sure I graduated from business school with my diploma as a legal secretary. Training or college after HS was very important to my parents. Dad quit school during 6th grade when he was riding his horse to school and a rancher asked him to work for him. Mom got half way through her sophomore year of HS. Dad was sick for 2 years when us 5 kids were little. Mom had no training to get a job to help out. She always said her girls were going to get an education so we could take care of ourselves. Mom and Dad put 5 kids through technical schools, business school, nursing school and college with a small berry farm, a school bus driving job, a lot of hard work and determination. They got married in 1938 and they were finally able to buy their very first brand new vehicle in 1972. A little yellow Chevy Luv pick up that The Pilot eventually inherited.

One Year Today

I miss ya partner!!! I love you.

An hour of fun....

Tonight I went to Swimminginlaundry's for supper. After supper, everyone wanted to go to Super Gramma's house. Well, except for Swimminginlaundry. She wanted the house to herself for a couple of minutes of quite time. We ended up at RF school in Mayberry. The school has a nice playground and lots of things to entertain Violet, Herbie and Big Weld. I tried to help Violet learn to stand on her hands. Herbie and Big Weld wanted to walk on the balance beam. At the back of the school ground there is a big area that is overgrown with trees and shrubs that were planted in the late 70's. There are trails through it and we explored all over. Then we went back up by the school. We layed on the ground and did the bicycle exercise and laughed so hard. Then we layed on the ground and looked for stars and talked about the different shapes of clouds. A big flock of noisy geese went over and Herbie said the birds were having a party. I said the moon looked like it was smiling but Big Weld said it looked like a toe nail. We laughed alot and had a lot of fun. On the way back to the car we found a spot where you could make all kinds of sounds and there was an echo. Finally, after so much laughing and being so loud we got into the car. I was afraid someone would report us to the police for being so noisy. I was pretty tired after that but I don't think the kids even slowed down. It was late by then but we were headed to the DQ for ice cream. Swimminginlaundry found us before we got there. The kids weren't ready to go home but we all agreed we had a great time.

Note to self

If you hide a key outside so you wont get locked out of the house put it back after you use it. It doesn't do you any good if it is locked in the house with your other set of keys.

A strange day!

Yesterday morning while Swimminginlaundry was taking a shower, I decided I would dress Herbie and Bigweld. Their Mom had already put out their clothes except for the socks. I got Bigweld dressed but he was very specific about the socks. He wanted the green and blue striped ones with his tie shoes. I found those and finally got them on his feet. Then I got Herbie dressed. Then I looked in the sock drawer for matching socks. I couldn't find any that matched. I found one sock with dinosaurs and one with red and blue stripes. I said hey Herbie are these OK? He said sure so it wasn't long before I had him in his socks. I could only find one of his tie shoes so I found a pair he could slip on. When I held them up and said Herbie are these OK? He said sure. I guess it was kind of a shock to Mom when she saw what he was wearing but it didn't matter to him that his socks didn't match. It still makes me smile. I like to be spontaneous. (I can get depressed if I have to plan 30 minutes ahead). She says how can you be spontaneous with 3 kids. I had finally talked Swimminginlaundry into going to the coast. She had to go sometime. It was hard for her. It's hard for me. We got rained on, the wind blew and the sun came out. Sometimes all at the same time. We sat on a wet log and had lunch. Bigweld fell in the water and got soaked. Herbie got pooped on by the sea gulls we were feeding and Violet just wanted to go to the car because she was missing Grandpa and was cold. Everyone got their own bag of salt water taffy. It wasn't a normal trip to the coast but I think we did alright considering the year we had.

What a mess....

The floor in the wash room has been wet for several weeks. I did the best I could to ignore it by flying to North Carolina for a few days and then to Las Vegas for a week end and generally just not being home. But, the floor just got wetter. I thought the drain for the washer was plugged up so I got the drain snake from the Pilot. (He said he would come over but I said no I have to learn to deal with this stuff). I took it home and stuffed it into the pipe; the snake came off the handle and I almost lost it down the drain but I managed to catch it. One pipe I couldn't get it into so after alhoooot of ##$%$# not nice words, I called the Pilot back crying into the phone to please come over and fix the @#$# pipes. He came right over. After using the snake and making a call to a cousin who is a retired plumber he found out that the house is old with too small pipes and the pipes cant handle all the water from the new washers. So, the Pilot figured out what to do and we went to the hardware store to get the parts. By then it was late so he said he would be back in the morning. Turns out there were two reasons the floor was wet. The hot water tank apparently had been on its last legs for several weeks and finally rusted through and leaked all over the floor. So, before the pilot could start on the washer problem, he had to install a new water heater. This was the first time he had to do this kind of stuff without his Dad but he made it look easy. I'm glad he took after his Dad and can do this stuff because I have a feeling this wont be the only time I have to call him. He took it all in stride while I had to have a Starbucks Vinti caramel moccha with whip AND a maple bar. Thanks Pilot and thanks Swimminginlaundry; I know you have projects of your own.

Got the Mustang

on the road today. I washed it a few days ago and it is bright and shiny. I was headed to town to get coffee. It was a nice day so I had the windows down and the music up. I parked beside a newer Mustang in the lot and I watched as a kid came toward me all smiles. When I got out, he said I love your Mustang. I said "Thanks, I like yours". As he drove away, I thought "18 years old, 285,000 miles but baby, you've still got it" and went in and got my coffee.

February 14, 1966 - Did You Know

Sherrie

Did you know that the birds in the trees sing especially sweet melodies?

And did you know that the flowers in the meadow lightly glow as the breeze gently blows?

Did you know that the brook seems to play as it sweeps beneath the sun of any beautiful day?

And did you know that I saw none of these things - no not one - until I met a certain someone?

And did you know that you are that certain very special one?

Happy Valentine's Day

I love you

Larry

45 years!!!

I met my Sweetie 45 years ago this month. He sat behind me in senior English class. We had just returned from Christmas break. He said hello; I said hello. We kept that up for a while. Then one day he asked me to stay and watch practice and he would drive me home. I said OK!!! After that we spent all our time together at school. We had matching shirts and always wore them on Friday. Sometimes I would walk home with him for lunch. He was my date for the senior prom. At the May day program, the senior girls had to wind the may pole. He was my partner. After we graduated, we separated for a while. I went to business school and he took a job at a local furniture store. We went out on and off for the next couple of years. He had become really good friends with my brother so my Sweetie was at the house a lot. I mostly thought of him as a brother. One day my brother came home and said "Larry is leaving for boot camp". At that moment, I knew I loved him but by then he was going with someone. I wrote to him; he wrote back. We continued writing. One day I wrote in shorthand "I like you". He could read that from our high school days and in his next letter he wrote it in shorthand too. By the time he came home from boot camp we were back together. He gave me my engagement ring the first Sunday in June of 1966 and we were married July 31, 1966. After 40 years of marriage we couldn't stand beside each other without holding hands. Beside missing him very much and among so many things I miss, I miss holding his hand.

Too much information....

Friday night has become a girls night only for Violet and me. Last night when she was here we got into our pj's and talked about her friends and a boy but not a boyfriend that she enjoyed talking to. They talk about trading cards. She said she hadn't told him yet that she owns a Mustang. I was sworn to secrecy about the little boy. We talked and played our usual games and she decided we should play school. She was the teacher's assistant. She went around to the different rooms and showed the kids how to do the fire drill, earthquake drill and the lock down drill. When I heard lock down I said do you really practice that? She said yes and very calmly explained that if you are the closet to the door you are supposed to lock the door and get under a table or desk. If the teacher is closest to the door, she has to lock it and then get under her desk. It made me think of a lot of questions but I didn't know how much she knew and didn't want to scare her. I was kinda depressed the rest of the evening thinking that was too much information for a little 6 year old to have.