Motels and Parking
We have stayed at many motels in our lifetime. In the last few years that we stayed at motels we stayed mostly at Motel Sixes. We always drove until late at night and all we wanted was a place to shower and sleep. Motel 6 was perfect for that. They were always clean and reasonably priced so we took advantage of saving a little money. We didn't care about a TV or any extras.
However, I did have one big complaint about motels-- all motels. You can seldom get a parking place right by your room. We mostly had to park halfway down the row from our room. We have even have had to park around on the other side from our row where we couldn't even see our car from our room.
Would it be such a big deal for them to mark a number on the parking place right in front of your room? It would be much nicer for everyone if they would do that. I know that some people would violate the rules and park where they weren't supposed to but most people would abide by the rules.
I probably won't ever be staying in a motel again in my life time but if I ever do I hope to see that they have changed the practices and give people a parking place right outside their door.
Birthday Celebs
I always look at the little section in our newspaper that tells the birthdays of celebrities. Quite some time ago, years in fact, I remember that I usually knew all of them. For some reason, now I hardly know any of them. Do you think it is because I am getting old and senile or that maybe I just don't keep up with who the celebs are? I don't know which it is but I do know that I never heard of any of the ones in the articles above except Bob Shieffer, Paula Zahn and Sean Astin.
I feel the same about a lot of the movies. I seldom go to a movie nor do I watch many on TV. So I am really out of touch with the movie circuit.
Do you know who Tea Leoni and Abe Vigoda are? I sure don't! Maybe I had better go turn on a movie and get in step with the rest of the world!
Monsters Under the Bed!
I am not a kid anymore but some of my kid ideas still remain!
When I am in bed I still have second thoughts about letting my feet or hands hang over the side of the bed. I am mature enough to know that there is not a monster under my bed. But I think some little fragment of my childhood thoughts are still lurking somewhere back there in my mind.
I just can not let my feet or hands hang off the edge of the bed for some reason. I can not get to sleep until my feet and hands are safely away from the edges of the bed and are tucked under my covers. I am sure it is because I am remembering the thoughts from my childhood that there might be a monster under the bed just waiting to grab my feet or hands.
Does that make sense to you? That is the only explanation I have for that feeling. Because I am not crazy and I actually know that there are no monsters, at least under my bed.
There may be dust bunnies, which are monsters in a way, and there might be some bugs of some kind but I am sure that the monsters are just a figment of my imagination. Please tell me if you ever think of monsters under your bed!
The Teddy Bear Story
This teddy bear is about fifty years old. The teddy bear came with a large doll as its pet. The large doll was bought for my older daughter but somewhere along the line she gave the teddy bear to my younger daughter. That poor teddy has been slept with, slept on and just generally really has had a rough life, but very much loved by my daughter.The teddy bear is about 12 or 14 inches tall. His ears are now kind of limp and do not stand up as they used to. But otherwise it is pretty much the same as it was fifty years ago.For many years Teddy went everywhere with us and was slept with every night. It has been tossed into the washing machine and then into the dryer and even sometimes just hung out on the clothesline. It has had new eyes sewn on and many little ripped places stitched up. It just seemed to survive all that tough wear and repairs and came out looking fairly good for its age. It now has a plastic bag and is stored in my cedar chest (what a terrible way to end up!) A lot of the fuzzy finish it had in the beginning is now gone and just the smooth base material remains. But just recently my younger daughter saw it and had a nostalgic feeling for it. I would give it to her but she chose that I keep it until I die. Then she will probably get it for her grandchildren.
Whatever, I will see that poor Teddy has a good place to stay as long as I am here on this Earth.
Happy Birthday, Tony!
Today is Tony, my son-in-law's , birthday. He was born in 1962 so he is 47 years old. He is a great son-in-law. He does a lot for me and I greatly appreciate it.
Tony, I hope you have a very happy birthday and many more to come. Thanks a lot for all of the favors you have done for me!
POOR KITTY!
One morning when Ford, my husband, was going to work he went out and started the engine on the car. Suddenly, the engine thumped and was dead. He got out and lifted the hood to see what was the matter. He discovered that a kitty had been snapped into the fan belt and was in shreds. The kitty belonged to our landlady. He informed her of the accident and then went about to remove the kitty from the fan belt. He had to use pliers to pull out the pieces of the cat--after just eating breakfast! He finally got it all out and was able to start the car.
After that, when he went somewhere, he always lifted the hood or pounded on it to make sure that nothing was lying on the engine. The cat had been drawn to the warmth of the engine from the night before. He felt badly that he had caused the death of an animal but, of course, it was not his fault. The landlady should have kept her cat inside.
So if you leave your car outside make sure you pound on the hood before you start your car to scare out any cats or other animals that could be sleeping on the engine.
Drying Clothes on a Clothesline Outside
I long for a smell of freshly washed clothing that has been dried outside on a sunny day. I know that you can get dryer sheets that are supposed to make your clothes smell good but none of them has even come close to matching the smell of sheets and pillowcases dried outside on a sunny day.
Even though I had an old washer like the one in the picture above my clothes smelled so much better then than they do now. It was the sun and wind that did it! On wash day I could hardly wait until time to get into that fresh made bed with the clean delicious smelling sheets and pillowcases. I slept like a baby!
I don't even have a clothesline in my back yard now. I have thought of putting one up and drying just my sheets and bedding on it for that good old time smell. But progress has made washing and drying things inside so convenient and easy that I have let it take over!
If anyone ever comes out with a dryer sheet that smells even remotely like that old time sunny outdoorsy smell I will certainly stock up on them!
I Gotcha!
Aunt Irene, Harold Wayne & Uncle Tony
When I was about seven years old my Aunt Irene died. She was the mother of my cousin, Harold Wayne. Harold Wayne and I played together a lot when we were little and we were the same age.
His mother 's death hit him hard. We went to the funeral. At the funeral home I was near the coffin just looking at my aunt and I decided that I wanted to go around to the back of the coffin. I walked around to the back and looked in the casket. As I was walking away, a leaf of a fern from the spray on the coffin brushed against my face and neck. I was aghast with fear. I looked around and then saw that it was just a fern that had touched me and not Aunt Irene. I got myself back around to the front of the coffin and I stayed away from the back of it. That scared me to death.
Since that time I have never gone near the back side of a coffin even though I know that a dead person can't hurt or touch me!
Church Revivals
Years ago when I was just a kid I remember our church, and other churches too, having revivals. A church would locate a vacant lot, or sometimes if they had space on their church lot, and they would pitch a huge tent and have church meetings. Usually the meetings would be every night for about a week or sometimes two weeks. They would have a stage set up and move in pianos and chairs for the choir and have a regular church service out side.
I think they thought that this would revive peoples religion. Sometimes they would have guest preachers come and speak and they might also have musicians present special songs and programs.
We did not go to the revivals every night but usually we would go a couple of nights. It wasn't always easy to get there because we didn't have a car a lot of the time.
I have not seen a revival advertised in years I am sure that some churches, especially the Baptists and other southern churches, still have them. I am now a Lutheran and our church has never had a revival since I have been a member. The same with Wednesday night prayer meetings. We always had prayer meetings on Wednesday night when I was a kid. I think some churches still do. They may be called midweek meetings or some other name but they do have them on Wednesdays at some churches.
Maybe we need to go back to more church meetings. It might make the world a little better. However, I doubt that many people would go because the world has become so busy that they wouldn't have time for it! We do need something to revive us from all of the crime, and sin going on in these times!
My Chicken Pot Holder
Pot holder
My Grandma
Back when I first got married (in 1943) my Grandma, my Dad's mother, made me a little chicken pot holder. It was so cute that I put it away and saved it for a keepsake instead of using it.
That has been sixty five years ago. I still have not, to this day, used that pot holder. I am glad that I didn't because if I had used it I wouldn't have it now. I have had it put away in my cedar chest. Now I am going to put it in my china closet with the glass doors so that it can be seen.
My grandma has been gone many years but I can still remember her every time I look at that pot holder.
Rubix's Cube
Did you try to solve the Rubix's Cube puzzle back when they first came out? I drove myself crazy fiddling with that thing!
Finally, I gave it up and decided I had more important things to waste my time on.
I looked on Google and found that there was one place where they showed you how to solve it. But you would have to be a genius to even do it that way.
So I stopped even thinking about it. I figured that even if I could do it what would it get me--any money, or prizes or recognition?
None of those for sure.
So now, I think I may still have my old rubix's cube somewhere around here but I have lost my fascination for it and I never touch it. I'll leave that for the geniuses to work on.
Brett--February 17th
Brett at about six years
Brett at three months
Today is Brett's birthday. Brett is my grandson. He is 36 years old. As I always say, I would like to say he is my favorite grandson but I have two others so I can't say that--but he is one of my favorite grandsons.
Brett works at Target and has for many years. That is the only job he has ever had, so I think they must like him!
Brett, many more happy birthdays to you and remember that I love you!
A Clifton Headache
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Clifton O'Dea
A Clifton headache can be a Tom headache, a Dick headache or a Harry headache--or even a Jane headache for that matter. It is a headache you get from being around someone who is so nice they drive you up the wall!
My niece worked for our uncle for some time. He owned a lawn mower repair shop and she worked in his office, doing general office work.
She invented the name for the Clifton headache after she had worked there for a while and discovered what a nice man he was--too nice, in fact. Even when he was reprimanding you you felt like he was being so nice!
We loved our uncle but it was a fact that he could drive you up the wall being nice. He talked right in your face and you didn't dare look away while he was talking. You didn't know whether to think you were being yelled at or were being praised!
So Nancy came up with the Clifton headache. She had them quite often until she finally quit the job. I am sure many of you know someone just like Clifton. He was a lovable uncle but just too nice!
Clifton has been gone for some time. I am sure he is in Heaven just being nice to everyone!
The Baseball Great!
Many years ago when Ford worked on the railroad he played baseball. The Pennsylvania Railroad had a baseball team and they played with other teams.I really can't remember the teams they played but I assume it was other factories and companies from our area.
He played on a certain night of the week. I went to some of the games but since I am not a sports fan, I did not become too involved with their games. He did that for several years but then our lives became more involved and he dropped out of the baseball team.
I can remember how handsome I thought he looked in his baseball suit. He is second from the right end in the front row.
I wonder if they have baseball in Heaven? If they do I am sure he may be on one of the teams!
Happy Valentine's Day to You
I thought about sending all of my family and friends a box of chocolates for Valentine's Day, then I decided that I don't want all of you to look like the girl in the picture above--who's obviously had too many chocolates.
So forget the chocolates! just look at the sweet little teddy bears above and remember that I do love you all even if I didn't send the chocolates. Once again, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Liberace
Back in the 1970's we went to Las Vegas and visited the liberace Museum. We also saw a Liberace's show at one of the casinos there.
Liberace had a home in Las Vegas near his museum. We drove by his house many times but were never lucky enough to see him there. It was not really an extra pretentious home but was nice.
The first time I ever saw Liberace was on TV when we got our first TV (in the 1950's). He was on a late night program and I was really enthralled with his piano playing. I had never even heard of Liberace then. But soon he was very popular and even did a concert in Fort Wayne. My neighbor and I went to see his show.
There was something about him that enticed me to like him but something else made me sort of dislike him. I can't explain what the things were. But nothing was bad about his piano playing. I really enjoyed hearing him play and also enjoyed his singing.
Liberace was born on May 16th, 1919--one day short of my husband's birthday which was May 17th, 1919. He died on February 4th, 1987, at 68 years of age.
What's That Smell?
I vividly remember one girl that I went to school with. Her name was Virginia Williams. We were in the same grade for most of our school years. After all of these years I can still remember the smell that was about her when we were playing. I don't know if it was her soap, her talcum powder or maybe some perfume that she used but it was a delicious, extremely good smell. It must have been, because after some 75 years I still have a very good memory of it.
I have posted her picture above. This picture was from high school but my memories of her go back to grade school.
On the other hand, I also have some memories of other kids that were not as good as Virginia's were. One boy must have eaten garlic every day of his life because He always smelled like it. You didn't even have to get very close to him to smell it.
Then there was the boy who had dyspepsia, he always smelled like vomit! He ate crayons and paste all the time so I am not surprised that he had dyspepsia!
Next there was a girl who must have been a bed wetter because she smelled of urine all the time. She probably wet the bed and then didn't take a bath before she came to school.
Finally, lowest on the totem Pole, was the boy who must have had beans for dinner every night. He passed gas all the time and if you smelled gas you only had to look around and there he was!
Obviously, you can understand why I only put Virginia's picture above and gave her a name and not the rest of them. Would you want your picture and name posted as any of these four? I won't even divulge their names and in fact, I really can't remember all of their names, just their bad smells!
I hope that I never left a bad impression with my friends at school, one so bad that people remember it for 75 years! I hope I left the kind Virginia Williams left with me.
Dixie Cup Ice Cream
Many years ago we used to be able to buy Dixie Cups of ice cream. They were little paper cups about 2 1/2 or 3 ounce sizes and sold for 5 cents in the beginning.
Not only did you get ice cream but you got pictures of celebrities on the lids. My sister had almost a whole set of the lids and was always on the look out for new ones. I never saved the lids but I did eat the ice cream. The cups came with a small wooden spoon so you ate the ice cream and then the cup and spoon were disposable and required no clean up.
Dixie cups became available about in 1923 but at the beginning they were a larger cup and sold for ten cents. That was a disaster so then they developed the smaller more rigid cups and sold them for 5 cents and they did much better. Then in 1930 they began putting the celebrities on the lids and the idea really took off.
I do not know if Dixie cups are still available but I have not seen them for years. I am sure they do not sell for 5 cents if they are available!
Another one of my Treasures
This painting is one that we bought just after we moved to this house in 1976. As you can see the colors match perfectly to the colors in my love seat that is right below it.
We bought this painting at an art showing at our mall where many artists were displaying their work. I fell in love with it immediately because of the perfect colors.
The artist is not one of any great fame, or wasn't at that time. Maybe she is now! It would be great to have a painting that an artist painted and then became famous. However, I bought the painting because I liked it and it matched my needs. So if the artist never becomes famous, I have at least had my picture to enjoy for all of these years. We did see and talk to the artist when we bought the painting, but have never seen anything relevant to her since then.
Another Puzzle for You
Here is another time waster for me! I have worked on this one many times and have never been able to solve it either. You start with a pencil line and cross each section of the boxes just once and only once (there are sixteen lines to cross). Try to cross every section of the boxes with the pencil line without lifting your pencil or crossing any line twice--It can't be done!
A Puzzle for You
This is a puzzle that I used to work on at off times in school--sometimes when it wasn't an off time. I worked at it for many years and I was never able to come up with a solution. See if you can!
Start at any corner of the square, where an arrow is shown, with a line and go over each line once in a continuous manner without going over any line more than once. I don't think it can be done. You will be able to go over all the lines except one or maybe more no matter where you start.
Now you know why I am not any smarter than I am! I wasted too much time on things like this!
Mickey Gilley
Mickey Gilley
Gilley's Club, Pasadena,Texas
We had the fun of seeing Mickey Gilley in Las Vegas back in the 1970's. I do not remember which casino we saw him in but I do remember the exciting show he performed. I love his singing and I have several of his records that I listen to every once in a while.
Mickey Gilley was born in Nachez, Mississippi on March 9, 1936. He was raised mostly in Ferriday, Louisana. He married and moved to Houston, Texas in his teens. He managed to get some work there playing the piano and began playing in local clubs.
Mickey Gilley is a cousin to Jerry Lee Lewis and evangelist, Jimmy Swaggert. All three are into music.
In 1974 he had a hit record, "Room full of Roses." After that he had 17 number one hits. He continues to produce albums. In all he has 15 albums. His club in Pasadena was called the world's largest honky-tonk . It burned in down in 1990. Now he performs primarily in Branson, Missouri and says he will play and sing as long as he is healthy.
Mickey Gilley is one of my favorite country singers and I play his records quite often and enjoy his singing.
February 6th--Ron Reagan and Us.
Our first year of marriage
Ronald Reagan
Today is not only Ronald Reagan's birthdate but it is also our 66th years of marriage anniversary. We were married on February 6th, 1943. I am not sure which year Ronald Reagan was born, but it was on February 6th.
The picture of us was made during the summer of 1943 in Taylor, Texas.
We would be celebrating 66 years of marriage--I might add, 66 beautiful years of marriage. Ford has been dead for 8 years so we did have 57 years together.
I have many years of memories of our life together and I do take advantage of reliving them every day in my memories.
The Contest
Lana Kay
Steve
Back years ago when we visited my sister in Texas, her son, Steve, and my daughter, Lana, were sort of in a contest to see who could do the best with their weight problems; she wanted to lose weight and he wanted to gain weight. Steve played football and needed to gain some weight for a more ideal size for the game. She really didn't have a weight problem but she thought she needed to lose a few pounds.
She would complain to me that no matter how little she ate she just couldn't lose a pound. But Steve, her cousin could eat ice cream, sundaes, candy or what ever he wanted and he would gain very little , if any, weight at all.
She would sit and watch him eat all he wanted while she nibbled and tried to not eat very much at all.
It was a disgusting situation for her. However, after some time and they were not together much since we lived in Indiana and he lived in Texas, she sort of forgot the problem. She realized that she was not getting any fatter and Steve was still playing football.
Steve is still slim and trim at the age of 59 (but he doesn't still play football!) and she is not really overweight at the age of 57 so that it was all not worth the worry she had put into it.
The Queen Mary II
The Queen Mary at Long Beach, California.
As I just posted about the Spruce Goose I will now post about the Queen Mary ship which was along side the Spruce Goose for many years at Long Beach, California until the Spruce Goose was
moved to a Seattle, Washington aviation museum. We toured the Queen Mary at the same time we toured the Spruce Goose.
The Queen Mary ship is one of the most popular attractions in southern California. Permanently anchored at a Long Beach dock she offers tours of her interior, fabulous parties and a picture perfect spot for special occasions. Admission to the museum has fluctuated between free and $7 a person over the past few years. A wedding reception can be held there at prices starting at $54 a person. I do not remember what we paid for our tour but I am sure it was a reasonable fee or we wouldn't have done it.
The hotel is of finer sorts and it costs quite a bit to stay there. Some say the top floor is haunted. You can be the judge!
The Queen Mary sailed the Atlantic from 1936 to 1967. It carried many troops during WWII before being permanently docked at Long Beach as an attraction and hotel.
We toured the ship including down in the engine rooms and the hotel rooms but we did not stay there. Here again I can say, "I've been there and done that!"
Spruce Goose--Howard Hughes
The Spruce Goose
Howard Hughes
In about 1977 we went to California with friends and visited the museum where the Spruce Goose (Howard Hughes' plane) and The Queen Mary ship were displayed in Long Beach, California. The Spruce Goose has since been moved to McMinnville, Oregon as part of the Evergreen Aviation Museum.
The plane is a huge one but not very spectacular in my opinion. We could walk inside the plane and look around. It was sort of crude and ugly but very big inside. The Spruce Goose made only one flight in its beginning, about a mile in less than a minute. Hughes detected something that made him wary of the plane's safety and decided to set it back down rather than take a big risk. It was never flown again after that.
Howard Hughes was a very strange man. Eccentric is how they describe it and it was believed to have been the result of bipolar disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder.
He was a brilliant man and did many great things: He was a movie director, aviator, plane builder, playboy and an eccentric. He was also one of the richest men in the world. His father founded Hughes tool Company which is how Hughes got his fortune.
Howard Hughes died April 5, 1976 at the age of 70 leaving an estate worth $2 billion. As they said about him; He may have been crazy but he was no fool!
Bacon Grease on Lettuce
Leaf Lettuce My Grandma used to fix a plate of leaf lettuce for her lunch, or dinner. She would chop up the lettuce leaves and a few green onions along with it and then she would sprinkle some salt and pepper on it and pour a generous amount of bacon grease on the whole pile and stir it up. Sometimes she would pour a little bit of vinegar on also. I copied her a lot and believe me, it was GOOD! Maybe not so good for me but it was delicious.
It was a type of salad and probably would have been very healthful--without the bacon grease. But that bacon grease was what made it so good.
Back in those days they didn't worry, or even know about bacon being bad for you.I see leaf lettuce sometimes at the grocery store but the price of it turns me off! Sometime I may splurge and buy a bunch of it and copy my dear old Grandmother's style of making a salad.
Vinegar--Name Brand vs. Off Brand
White Vinegar
yellow Vinegar
We had friends that we used to camp with a lot. The man was a Heinz salesman.
I always had my trusty bottle of vinegar with us when we camped because I use a lot of vinegar when I make certain foods. I never bought the top brand of vinegar, which was Heinz, because the off brands were a lot cheaper--and I thought tasted just as good.
Tom, the friend who was the Heinz salesman, would always taunt me about using the off brand. He said Heinz was much better. I would tell him that vinegar was vinegar and it didn't matter what brand it was. It was much the same as with aspirin. Any brand of aspirin is just aspirin and it doesn't matter about the brand name.
We often discussed the matter about vinegar and he never convinced me that Heinz was any better than my off brand.
Later when we were on a camping trip and I had my bottle of off brand vinegar out using it, he said to me, "You know, I checked with some of the top Heinz people and they told me that what you said is true, vinegar is vinegar and it is the same no matter what the brand.
I was shocked at his honesty about it. He was a very stubborn guy and I couldn't believe that he would confess to me that I was right about the vinegar.
So since that time I always buy the cheapest brand of vinegar I can find. I do like the yellow, or apple cider, vinegar better than the white vinegar. White vinegar is good if you are using it in laundry but yellow is best for cooking. However, I recently was out of yellow vinegar and I have been using some white that I had on hand. I have to admit that I really couldn't tell the difference between the white and yellow. Some brands may have fancier labels and seem to be better than others but actually they are all the same!
So save yourself a little change and buy cheap vinegar and cheap aspirin, you'll never know the difference!
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