Sometimes I feel like I march to the beat of a different drummer.
Manicures and Pedicures. Everyone seems to think they are not only nice, but necessary these days. They seem so frivolous to me. Never had one. Don't want one. I have funny little feet with short stubby toes. My toes look a little like fringe on a pillow. Why would I want to draw attention to them? A lady here in Ft. Worth recently died after getting a pedicure from a staff infection that she got from tools which hadn't been sanitized. They have clamped down on the shops, but I will tell you the best way to avoid infection...do your toenails yourself...if you do them at all.
Expensive cute little purses. Seems everyone buys a whole wardrobe of cute little purses and they change them with every outfit, or at least regularly. I recently spent the most I've ever spent on a purse. $32. It is black so it will be my winter purse. I usually just use one purse year round, but I recently bought a woven straw looking one that I've been using for summer for $7.50. I am particular about purses even though "cute" isn't one of my qualifications. I love the organizer purses with lots of separate compartments and a zippered section on one side that holds credit cards, etc. I want another outside pocket to hold my cell phone and a place to hook my keys. I don't like them to be too tall, it makes it too hard to see all the way to the bottom. I like a shoulder strap that isn't too long, so that the purse fits snugly just above my waist. Most straps are too long and I end up tying knots in them. It's hard to find a purse that meets even most of my expectations. I know exactly where to look for everything I carry in my purse, so why would I want to go to the trouble to change purses so often? It's not only a lot of trouble, it means I don't know where to find anything for a while. I don't think of my purse as a part of my outfit, I think of it more as a piece of luggage. It needs to be practical first. Cute is a distant second.
Slides, Mules, heels and flip flops. Go to the shoe department and see the percentage of shoes that aren't one of those. I have hard to fit feet and I will spend extra money to buy good shoes (although I still prefer a good clearance sale.) But, I personally don't have many shoes that don't have at least a heel strap. Maybe I am just klutzy, but I tend to walk right out of slides, and I get tired of trying to hold my shoes on by squeezing my toes. I do keep flip flops by the door so that they are easy to slip on when I go outside to get the mail or water plants, but I rarely wear them anywhere. I can't seem to walk without making the slapping sound, which annoys me. Heels over 2 inches make my feet and back hurt. I will wear them on special occasions, but not if I have to do much walking. I have seen plenty of women fall while trying to walk in silly shoes, and I don't want to risk it. My shoes must be comfortable first, cute second.
Jewelry. I like necklaces and earrings and my ears are pierced, but I think of jewelry more as apparel than jewels, just part of an outfit. I buy a lot of clearance jewelry, and none of it is REAL jewelry. I do have a few pair of sterling silver earrings, but it's all costume jewelry. The only REAL jewelry I own is the ring that was Merle's grandmother's. It has little flowers made of rubies and diamonds. I use it as a wedding ring since I lost the diamond out of my wedding ring years ago. It is probably not super valuable, but I still worry a lot about losing it. I take it off at night, and in the middle of the night I will feel that it's not there, and think "Oh, no! I lost my ring!" One piece of jewelry is enough to worry about, I don't want any more. One of my friends always notices if I forget to wear my ring (I don't wear it at home, so sometimes I forget to put it on when I go out.) I almost never notice other women's rings. She had to point out her new one. Another friend's husband got her a ring with lots of diamonds. It was important to her to have a "nice" piece of jewelry. She had to tell me about it because I hadn't noticed. It's not only something I am content to live without, I really don't WANT expensive jewels. I don't feel any less loved or important without them. When I lose a costume jewelry earring, or a necklace breaks, I'm sad because I liked it, but if it were expensive and that happened, I would be very upset.
Cars. An ex relative and her sister were discussing vehicles one day and I heard them say that they wouldn't be caught dead driving mini-vans. Huh? I LOVE my mini-van!! What's not to love about it? I like sitting up high and having clear views out of my windows. I can haul plenty of people in addition to cargo. We often remove the seats and use it like a truck. Mark, our oldest is moving into an apartment this weekend. What would we do without the mini-van?? Mine is a 1998, so it will soon be 10 years old, but it runs great. Merle said recently that he'd like to get me a newer one, but I am just fine with this one. Other people may not think my car is cool, but I love it, except for maybe the missing hubcap.
Houses and furnishings. One of my friends has been looking at houses. The style of it is really important to her. Sure, I want my house to look inviting, but I care WAY MORE what the floor plan and space looks like on the inside than what style it is on the outside. My furniture is garage sale and hand me downs, and would be considered out of date, but I don't mind. I'd like to think that I have an ability to combine a lot of worthless stuff and make it welcoming and appealing. I think I have a gift of hospitality, and I'm not at all embarrassed that I don't have the latest and greatest.
I guess what it all comes down to is appearances. For the most part, appearances mean little to me. I know first impressions are important and that we probably do get a feeling about what a person is like from those initial encounters. So, I guess you would probably look at me and say "practical and thrifty." And you'd be right. Hopefully you'd also add "kind and friendly" and maybe even "attractive in her own way." You definitely wouldn't say "cool" or "sophisticated". Yes, I feel like I march to the beat of a different drummer, and I'm totally OK with that.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Other Side of the Fence
When Phil was young, he peeled off any sticker he could find. Every toy was missing sticker eyes, brand names, etc. The white paper stuck to the adhesive was all he left behind. But, NOW, you should see his laptop computer. Well, actually you can't... because it is COMPLETELY covered with stickers. "Colorado Native", "Nerds get chicks", "ubunto", stickers from some favorite bands, etc. It's as if he saved every sticker he ever peeled off in his childhood and attached them to his laptop.
I have a theory. You become the opposite of what you were as a babe. You end up on the other side of the fence.
My oldest son, Mark, was the snuggliest little love bug as a baby. When he was 5 months old he kissed me so much one day that my chin got chapped. Now he is the one who wants a hug and then it's over and he needs his personal space. He doesn't want anyone sitting close enough to touch him. My youngest, Phil, on the other hand, resisted cuddling as a babe. He would firmly place both hands on my chest and with stiff arms, he would push away. He now loves being close and being touched, needs lots of hugs and snuggles. They traded sides of the fence.
When Mark was a baby he would awaken at unearthly hours. I am a night owl, so I would stay up until 1 am and then he would wake me up very early, so I hardly got any sleep and walked around like a zombie with dark circles under my eyes for years. Once, when he was about two years old, he said to me "Did you know there is a four, zero, zero in the night too?" That particular time he didn't wake me up, so I asked him "What did you do at four, zero, zero in the night?" Mark responded "I watched TV." Oh, you can just imagine what wonderful children's programming is on at that hour! He had watched a show where a woman was jumping off of a bus! He got a quick lesson in how to use the VCR to view his children's videos. But, now, as an adult he sets his alarm and it can actually be going off for over 20 minutes and yet he doesn't even rouse, but then when he finally wakes up enough he hits the snooze, and then continues to hit it every 5 minutes for literally HOURS! So, why couldn't he sleep as a baby?? Phil on the other hand, fought going to sleep at night when he was a little guy. It took him forever to unwind enough to fall asleep. He would kick the wall (gently) beside his bed to unwind. The wall beside his bed was always dirty! Now, he's the one with farmer's blood saying "I'm tired, I'm going to bed." Just another example of them switching sides of the fence.
Reading and being read to was Mark's favorite activity as a youngster. He loved his books. He learned to read before I had a chance to even teach him. We were on our way home from preschool one day. The Scholastic book order had come in, so he had the books in his lap. He began reading one of the books out loud, The Carrot Seed. I asked, "Oh, did your teacher read that to you?" "No." I asked again "Have you ever seen this book before?" "No." My brother and I had grown up that with that story on an old LP record , which is why I had put it on the Scholastic order. But Mark had never heard it before. Here he was, reading it aloud, page after page. And it wasn't just a Dick and Jane reader. It was a story! I didn't even know he could read. Over the years we made regular trips to the library, and I bought lots and lots of books from stores and garage sales. He always had his nose in a book! These days, he rarely, if ever, reads. And even though he blames the fact that books written for adults aren't as interesting, he's on the other side of the fence.
When I was young, I was highly competitive. When we played a game, I was definitely playing to win. But now, it doesn't bother me at all to be at the bottom of the scoreboard. Today I just play for the fun of it, who cares who wins? I've hopped the fence.
When Phil was a baby/toddler he was a perfectionist. Every open cupboard door had to be shut. If a lid was off a jar, it had to be replaced. If he saw a scrap of paper on the floor in a store, he fussed until I picked it up and put it in a trash can. Now, you should see his room...you can't find the floor. Clean clothes and dirty ones are treated equally. It's as if someone took everything he owned and threw it all into the dryer and then opened the door and let it tumble onto the floor. Why couldn't he have just stayed on the other side of the fence?
When Mark's buddy Nick was a little guy, the last thing on his mind was food. He was far too busy to eat. His mother, Susan would try to find creative ways to con him into eating. She would make food look like faces, or animals. She would bribe him with promises or treats or whatever. Nothing she ever tried made any difference. He just wasn't interested in eating. This is the same young man who went with Mark to Red Lobster for the "All you can eat shrimp fest" and the waitress ended up bringing 12 or 13 plates of shrimp. Susan copied the receipt and it's hanging framed in Mark's room. I doubt Nick even remembers eating on the other side of the fence.
I was extremely ticklish as a child. I was always so frustrated that my mother wasn't ticklish. She had conquered it early in life because she had three older brothers who were merciless. My Dad was a little ticklish, unless he was angry, and then he wasn't at all. I realized that being ticklish was an option. About the time I got married I made a choice. I wasn't going to be ticklish any more. And guess what? I'm not. (unless I happen to be feeling very ornery... and then, just the bottoms of my feet, but then, I'm hardly ever ornery any more.)
It's as if you are born on one side and have to climb the fence at some point during your life, sometimes it's just to prove that you can. I am curious to know if others have seen my theory in action. I'd love to hear your stories about climbing the fence.
I have a theory. You become the opposite of what you were as a babe. You end up on the other side of the fence.
My oldest son, Mark, was the snuggliest little love bug as a baby. When he was 5 months old he kissed me so much one day that my chin got chapped. Now he is the one who wants a hug and then it's over and he needs his personal space. He doesn't want anyone sitting close enough to touch him. My youngest, Phil, on the other hand, resisted cuddling as a babe. He would firmly place both hands on my chest and with stiff arms, he would push away. He now loves being close and being touched, needs lots of hugs and snuggles. They traded sides of the fence.
When Mark was a baby he would awaken at unearthly hours. I am a night owl, so I would stay up until 1 am and then he would wake me up very early, so I hardly got any sleep and walked around like a zombie with dark circles under my eyes for years. Once, when he was about two years old, he said to me "Did you know there is a four, zero, zero in the night too?" That particular time he didn't wake me up, so I asked him "What did you do at four, zero, zero in the night?" Mark responded "I watched TV." Oh, you can just imagine what wonderful children's programming is on at that hour! He had watched a show where a woman was jumping off of a bus! He got a quick lesson in how to use the VCR to view his children's videos. But, now, as an adult he sets his alarm and it can actually be going off for over 20 minutes and yet he doesn't even rouse, but then when he finally wakes up enough he hits the snooze, and then continues to hit it every 5 minutes for literally HOURS! So, why couldn't he sleep as a baby?? Phil on the other hand, fought going to sleep at night when he was a little guy. It took him forever to unwind enough to fall asleep. He would kick the wall (gently) beside his bed to unwind. The wall beside his bed was always dirty! Now, he's the one with farmer's blood saying "I'm tired, I'm going to bed." Just another example of them switching sides of the fence.
Reading and being read to was Mark's favorite activity as a youngster. He loved his books. He learned to read before I had a chance to even teach him. We were on our way home from preschool one day. The Scholastic book order had come in, so he had the books in his lap. He began reading one of the books out loud, The Carrot Seed. I asked, "Oh, did your teacher read that to you?" "No." I asked again "Have you ever seen this book before?" "No." My brother and I had grown up that with that story on an old LP record , which is why I had put it on the Scholastic order. But Mark had never heard it before. Here he was, reading it aloud, page after page. And it wasn't just a Dick and Jane reader. It was a story! I didn't even know he could read. Over the years we made regular trips to the library, and I bought lots and lots of books from stores and garage sales. He always had his nose in a book! These days, he rarely, if ever, reads. And even though he blames the fact that books written for adults aren't as interesting, he's on the other side of the fence.
When I was young, I was highly competitive. When we played a game, I was definitely playing to win. But now, it doesn't bother me at all to be at the bottom of the scoreboard. Today I just play for the fun of it, who cares who wins? I've hopped the fence.
When Phil was a baby/toddler he was a perfectionist. Every open cupboard door had to be shut. If a lid was off a jar, it had to be replaced. If he saw a scrap of paper on the floor in a store, he fussed until I picked it up and put it in a trash can. Now, you should see his room...you can't find the floor. Clean clothes and dirty ones are treated equally. It's as if someone took everything he owned and threw it all into the dryer and then opened the door and let it tumble onto the floor. Why couldn't he have just stayed on the other side of the fence?
When Mark's buddy Nick was a little guy, the last thing on his mind was food. He was far too busy to eat. His mother, Susan would try to find creative ways to con him into eating. She would make food look like faces, or animals. She would bribe him with promises or treats or whatever. Nothing she ever tried made any difference. He just wasn't interested in eating. This is the same young man who went with Mark to Red Lobster for the "All you can eat shrimp fest" and the waitress ended up bringing 12 or 13 plates of shrimp. Susan copied the receipt and it's hanging framed in Mark's room. I doubt Nick even remembers eating on the other side of the fence.
I was extremely ticklish as a child. I was always so frustrated that my mother wasn't ticklish. She had conquered it early in life because she had three older brothers who were merciless. My Dad was a little ticklish, unless he was angry, and then he wasn't at all. I realized that being ticklish was an option. About the time I got married I made a choice. I wasn't going to be ticklish any more. And guess what? I'm not. (unless I happen to be feeling very ornery... and then, just the bottoms of my feet, but then, I'm hardly ever ornery any more.)
It's as if you are born on one side and have to climb the fence at some point during your life, sometimes it's just to prove that you can. I am curious to know if others have seen my theory in action. I'd love to hear your stories about climbing the fence.
Senior Year
I took these questions from Stacy who found them on Nesa's blog.
1. Who was your best friend?
I had lots of friends, but I'm not sure I could name one as "best" during that year.
2. Did you play any sports? No, but I competed in Forensic Meets and took 7th at State in poetry. One of my friends, Jeanne, suggested that competition in poetry was less intense than comedy or debate. It was a stretch for a wallflower, but ever so good for me.
3. What kind of car did you drive? I didn't have my own car in high school. I rode the bus to school. Even though I only lived a couple of miles from school, I had an hour ride both ways. I was always first on and last off, since they routed it for the more populated areas. Then, my senior year they appropriated a small van bus for the kids in my neighborhood. We got teased constantly because it looked just like the "special ed" bus. The summer after graduation, my parents bought me a used Corvair, red with a white top, and I named him, Gus.
4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? During the fall, I would have been at the football games with my friends. My parents (who are early to everything...what happened to me?) came early to pick me up, and were waiting in the car for the game to end...the police shined a flashlight in the windows thinking they'd caught a young couple necking. During the winter, my family went ice skating at a lake up in the mountains every Friday night . (see my Christmas quiz blog) Otherwise I was home with the family or occasionally spending the night with a friend. Often, I was probably on the phone, having long discussions with my friend, Auline. (As I was growing up we had an 8 party phone line, but sometime before my senior year we were able to obtain a private line. ) Auline and I disagreed on just about every issue, but by talking with her I learned to express myself and was forced to defend my positions.
5. Were you a party animal? Sure. You must be kidding! Far from it, as you've guessed by my other answers.
6. Were you considered a flirt? No. Innocent and naive. I didn't even know it when someone was flirting with me!
7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? Choir. Always Choir. I loved choir and I loved it when there was finally someone shorter than me (Debbie Bova, I love you!) so I didn't have to be on the end in the front row anymore. (Actually I grew 2 inches my senior year, so I topped out at 5'3.75"I learned to sing harmony which is a lifesaver since I am a low alto and can rarely sing the melody because it is too high.
8. Were you a nerd? Hmm...quiet, shy, smart enough to get reasonable grades with little effort, but nerd? don't think so, anyway, but who knows what others thought.
9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? I was DEFINITELY a rule follower, so no. In fact in JR. High I had nightmares about getting my code card taken away. (a list of rules, which we had to sign and carry with us at ALL times. If you broke a rule, your code card had the infraction written on the back and after 3 times it was taken away, which meant suspended I guess. ) I lived in fear that I would break some rule unintentionally, because if you even broke ONE you couldn't be on the honor roll for that quarter. I had that stupid dream for YEARS afterward.
10. Can you sing the fight song? That was a long time ago. uh-uh.
11. Who was your favorite teacher? NOT my art teacher, Miss Klaiber. I was straight laced, she was a hippie type. I don't think she liked me much either. She ruined my love of art. I wanted to be an art teacher until I had her. NOT my algebra 2 teacher, Mr. Irwin. Oh, wait. he was my Jr. year. He DIDN't teach, and I couldn't go on in math my senior year because I didn't get the basics I should have in his class. In his class half the grade was homework and half was tests. I got a B first quarter, based on review of Algebra I, but a C my last one (and A for homework and an F on tests.) I was handing in the homework, although I couldn't work the problems, I put them on the paper. I was turning in blank tests by the end of the year. I guess I liked my French teacher and my English teacher, no wait, I know! My science teacher!!! Yeah, Mr. Carlson. I took Basic science because I had to have a science to graduate. It was a little of each of the major sciences and I LOVED it. He taught me to love science, albeit too late. Well, that love of science did come in handy when I home schooled, I guess.
12. What was your school mascot? Knight.
13. Did you go to the Prom? No.
14. If you could go back, would you? No way. I survived it, but wouldn't want to relive it.
15. What do you remember most about graduation? We could only have 4 tickets since Mackey Auditorium at CU, where it was held was too small. I managed to get 3 extra tickets from friends so that my parents, brother, 3 grandparents and future DH could all be there. I remember my gown was white. I remember the white polyester rib knit dress, which I sewed myself and my new white pumps. Shallow, huh? The speeches? not really.
16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? At school of course. Not sure I even knew when it was, but it wouldn't have mattered.
17. Did you have a job your senior year? No. I lived out in the country, and had no car.
18. Where did you go most often for lunch? The year I was a senior we finally got open campus at lunch time. Up until then, you either bought school lunches or brought a bag lunch. One of my friends, Cindy Barrick had a VW bug. She drove barefoot. I rode shotgun. Her younger brother, Bobby, and 2 or 3 of his friends would cram into the back seat and we took a wild ride to McDonalds. Our high school was out in the country, probably 5 miles from town, so to get there and back on a lunch break was a feat in itself. Cindy and I would split the combo...the little hamburger, fries, small coke. It cost us each about 50 cents. Back then, our Mc Donalds didn't even have a dining area. You formed lines outside the order windows under the big golden arches. I remember on the way back to school the boys would throw their weight from side to side causing the VW bug to rock violently. I was certain they could tip us over.
19. Have you gained weight since then? Mucho, unfortunately.
20. What did you do after high school? I thought maybe I would like to be a teacher, so I applied to be a teacher's aide. I was too young to be an aide for anything but elementary. They weren't sure they'd have enough funds to have aides in elementary. "Come back next month. " Next month, same story. Then the next..."Oh, we've already hired." By then it was too late to get into college classes, so my mom drove me around and I beat the streets looking for a job. I remember just before going into a flower shop (Hartman Floral, BaseMar Shopping center) that I said to my mom "I would REALLY like to get a job here." I did. I think I started at $1.25 an hour and ended at $1.40. Since I was working instead of going to college, my parents bought me the Corvair. I loved working at the flower shop even though Mrs. Hartman could be a bit intense. Merle and I got married the following summer and I began working as a floral designer at another flower shop, Golden Floral, while he went to Colorado School of Mines. Merle worked after class and on Saturdays delivering flowers. My employers, Ron and Betty Stapp were WONDERFUL to us. I wish I could find them again to say thank you.
OTHER: (added just because...)
School has changed so much since I was in high school. Girls wore dresses (except the ONE day a year when we had "slacks" day.) Boys wore slacks and collared shirts. Yes, this was PUBLIC school.
Only a few kids smoked (the BAD kids, for the most part) and they gathered on the OTHER side of the fence before and after school, so they could smoke and not be on school property.
We were required to take PE every year except our senior year. We had to wear these stupid royal blue, one piece gym suits. The girls acceptable rebellion was to remove the cuffs in the shorts which essentially turned them into bloomers. For some reason, we thought that looked better??? I HATED PE WITH. A. PASSION. I was not athletic. I couldn't wait to be a senior so I didn't have to take PE anymore. Imagine my mom's reaction when I actually signed up for it my senior year! I had learned to like gymnastics, specifically the uneven parallel bars and the balance beam.
1. Who was your best friend?
I had lots of friends, but I'm not sure I could name one as "best" during that year.
2. Did you play any sports? No, but I competed in Forensic Meets and took 7th at State in poetry. One of my friends, Jeanne, suggested that competition in poetry was less intense than comedy or debate. It was a stretch for a wallflower, but ever so good for me.
3. What kind of car did you drive? I didn't have my own car in high school. I rode the bus to school. Even though I only lived a couple of miles from school, I had an hour ride both ways. I was always first on and last off, since they routed it for the more populated areas. Then, my senior year they appropriated a small van bus for the kids in my neighborhood. We got teased constantly because it looked just like the "special ed" bus. The summer after graduation, my parents bought me a used Corvair, red with a white top, and I named him, Gus.
4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? During the fall, I would have been at the football games with my friends. My parents (who are early to everything...what happened to me?) came early to pick me up, and were waiting in the car for the game to end...the police shined a flashlight in the windows thinking they'd caught a young couple necking. During the winter, my family went ice skating at a lake up in the mountains every Friday night . (see my Christmas quiz blog) Otherwise I was home with the family or occasionally spending the night with a friend. Often, I was probably on the phone, having long discussions with my friend, Auline. (As I was growing up we had an 8 party phone line, but sometime before my senior year we were able to obtain a private line. ) Auline and I disagreed on just about every issue, but by talking with her I learned to express myself and was forced to defend my positions.
5. Were you a party animal? Sure. You must be kidding! Far from it, as you've guessed by my other answers.
6. Were you considered a flirt? No. Innocent and naive. I didn't even know it when someone was flirting with me!
7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? Choir. Always Choir. I loved choir and I loved it when there was finally someone shorter than me (Debbie Bova, I love you!) so I didn't have to be on the end in the front row anymore. (Actually I grew 2 inches my senior year, so I topped out at 5'3.75"I learned to sing harmony which is a lifesaver since I am a low alto and can rarely sing the melody because it is too high.
8. Were you a nerd? Hmm...quiet, shy, smart enough to get reasonable grades with little effort, but nerd? don't think so, anyway, but who knows what others thought.
9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? I was DEFINITELY a rule follower, so no. In fact in JR. High I had nightmares about getting my code card taken away. (a list of rules, which we had to sign and carry with us at ALL times. If you broke a rule, your code card had the infraction written on the back and after 3 times it was taken away, which meant suspended I guess. ) I lived in fear that I would break some rule unintentionally, because if you even broke ONE you couldn't be on the honor roll for that quarter. I had that stupid dream for YEARS afterward.
10. Can you sing the fight song? That was a long time ago. uh-uh.
11. Who was your favorite teacher? NOT my art teacher, Miss Klaiber. I was straight laced, she was a hippie type. I don't think she liked me much either. She ruined my love of art. I wanted to be an art teacher until I had her. NOT my algebra 2 teacher, Mr. Irwin. Oh, wait. he was my Jr. year. He DIDN't teach, and I couldn't go on in math my senior year because I didn't get the basics I should have in his class. In his class half the grade was homework and half was tests. I got a B first quarter, based on review of Algebra I, but a C my last one (and A for homework and an F on tests.) I was handing in the homework, although I couldn't work the problems, I put them on the paper. I was turning in blank tests by the end of the year. I guess I liked my French teacher and my English teacher, no wait, I know! My science teacher!!! Yeah, Mr. Carlson. I took Basic science because I had to have a science to graduate. It was a little of each of the major sciences and I LOVED it. He taught me to love science, albeit too late. Well, that love of science did come in handy when I home schooled, I guess.
12. What was your school mascot? Knight.
13. Did you go to the Prom? No.
14. If you could go back, would you? No way. I survived it, but wouldn't want to relive it.
15. What do you remember most about graduation? We could only have 4 tickets since Mackey Auditorium at CU, where it was held was too small. I managed to get 3 extra tickets from friends so that my parents, brother, 3 grandparents and future DH could all be there. I remember my gown was white. I remember the white polyester rib knit dress, which I sewed myself and my new white pumps. Shallow, huh? The speeches? not really.
16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? At school of course. Not sure I even knew when it was, but it wouldn't have mattered.
17. Did you have a job your senior year? No. I lived out in the country, and had no car.
18. Where did you go most often for lunch? The year I was a senior we finally got open campus at lunch time. Up until then, you either bought school lunches or brought a bag lunch. One of my friends, Cindy Barrick had a VW bug. She drove barefoot. I rode shotgun. Her younger brother, Bobby, and 2 or 3 of his friends would cram into the back seat and we took a wild ride to McDonalds. Our high school was out in the country, probably 5 miles from town, so to get there and back on a lunch break was a feat in itself. Cindy and I would split the combo...the little hamburger, fries, small coke. It cost us each about 50 cents. Back then, our Mc Donalds didn't even have a dining area. You formed lines outside the order windows under the big golden arches. I remember on the way back to school the boys would throw their weight from side to side causing the VW bug to rock violently. I was certain they could tip us over.
19. Have you gained weight since then? Mucho, unfortunately.
20. What did you do after high school? I thought maybe I would like to be a teacher, so I applied to be a teacher's aide. I was too young to be an aide for anything but elementary. They weren't sure they'd have enough funds to have aides in elementary. "Come back next month. " Next month, same story. Then the next..."Oh, we've already hired." By then it was too late to get into college classes, so my mom drove me around and I beat the streets looking for a job. I remember just before going into a flower shop (Hartman Floral, BaseMar Shopping center) that I said to my mom "I would REALLY like to get a job here." I did. I think I started at $1.25 an hour and ended at $1.40. Since I was working instead of going to college, my parents bought me the Corvair. I loved working at the flower shop even though Mrs. Hartman could be a bit intense. Merle and I got married the following summer and I began working as a floral designer at another flower shop, Golden Floral, while he went to Colorado School of Mines. Merle worked after class and on Saturdays delivering flowers. My employers, Ron and Betty Stapp were WONDERFUL to us. I wish I could find them again to say thank you.
OTHER: (added just because...)
School has changed so much since I was in high school. Girls wore dresses (except the ONE day a year when we had "slacks" day.) Boys wore slacks and collared shirts. Yes, this was PUBLIC school.
Only a few kids smoked (the BAD kids, for the most part) and they gathered on the OTHER side of the fence before and after school, so they could smoke and not be on school property.
We were required to take PE every year except our senior year. We had to wear these stupid royal blue, one piece gym suits. The girls acceptable rebellion was to remove the cuffs in the shorts which essentially turned them into bloomers. For some reason, we thought that looked better??? I HATED PE WITH. A. PASSION. I was not athletic. I couldn't wait to be a senior so I didn't have to take PE anymore. Imagine my mom's reaction when I actually signed up for it my senior year! I had learned to like gymnastics, specifically the uneven parallel bars and the balance beam.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Miracles! and such
Stacy's August 8th blog http://cowtownstacy.blogspot.com/2007/08/is-that-our-tire.html about their tire coming off and rolling down the highway made me realize that I may have never written down some of our experiences…the times we felt the HAND OF GOD.
Stacy’s story brings back a memory from LONG ago. January 1976. We had sold our house in
On down the road a bit farther, we began talking about driving through
But, now what were we going to do? We were smack in the middle of the Bible Belt. In those days, basically NOTHING was open on Sunday mornings. But, we HAD to get it repaired before we could go any further. It wasn’t going to be a simple fix either. We knew it would have to be welded, and we couldn’t do anything to repair it ourselves. Then Vickie announced that her father owns a welding shop and he could weld it back on for us! She called him and he met us at the shop and did just that. Early on a Sunday morning in the Bible Belt. On top of that, he did it for FREE, wouldn't even take a dollar.
If we hadn't grown sleepy and slept precisely that amount of time, we wouldn't have made a connection with the Buxkempers, since they would have been at church later. And if it had been earlier, we wouldn't have even called them. If Merle hadn't been showing Mike how the trailer attached, we would never have known that the bumper was being pulled off. Vickie’s Dad just happened to own a welding shop…God's perfect timing. Reassuring us that yes, HE was indeed with us.
Well, maybe I need to back up just a little now. We had been living in a small town on the prairie,
At some point his work hours were becoming unbearable (often 80 to 100 hours a week), with no relief in sight. We decided that he would quit his job and we would go to
We packed up some of our stuff to store at my parents’ house, and then spent the holidays with our families. Two days before we left, we bought an older used car to take to
So, you would think that we would be FULLY assured. that we were INDEED going where God wanted us to be. After three miracles of sorts….selling our house so quickly, the lights which vanished so that we would drive slowly enough to hear the sheared off lug nuts, and the newly welded bumper…Yes, surely we would know…yet just two days later, I found myself sprawled across a sheet-less bed, crying my eyes out and wailing that I wanted to go back home….
What happened?
We found the campus and pulled in with our U-Haul trailing along behind. The beach was directly behind the college buildings and there was a large sign saying not to go one direction, but we misunderstood which direction that was, and we ended up driving down the boardwalk. Since it was just after New Years, there were lots of people on the beach. They were all staring at us. We realized that we’d made a mistake and needed to get back to the main road, so we drove on, looking for the next opportunity to go out, surely there would be an exit down just a little further. We were a couple of blocks down the street when everyone on the beach started flailing their arms back and forth over their heads and yelling “GO BACK, THERE’S NO WAY OUT!” Ever tried to back a U-Haul 2 blocks?? NOT an easy task…and how embarrassing to have the whole beach watching and shaking their heads at our idiocy.
We planned our arrival to be a couple of days earlier than most of the student body would be returning, knowing that we’d need to get settled in. As a result, there weren’t many people around. I can’t even remember all the p
And thus began two of the happiest years of my life.
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