Another Meme

Friends - I am making this an optional meme, since we have all been hit lately. . .


INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

1) Mom of 2 and Wife of 1
2) BlondeMomBlog
3) It's A Schmitty Life
4) Life is short, buy the shoes
5) Ponderosa Pinings


Next select five people to tag:

1) Kellogg Bloggin'
2) Silver Valley Stories
3) Gathering Around the Table
4) Myrtle Beach Ramblings
5) Scrapping Servant

Answer the following questions:


What were you doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago, I was working at Baskin-Robbins and realizing that I needed to go back to school and finish my degree. With much persuasion from my husband, I went back to school in the fall of '97.


What were you doing 1 year ago?

One year ago, I was recovering from job trauma. I had worked 12 hour shifts at the INL (plus 1 hour travel each way) for 8 months. I was "low man," treated badly, and nearly had a nervous breakdown.

Five snacks you enjoy:

M&Ms (plain)
Bridge Mix
Lays Potato Chips with homemade Avocado Dip
Cookies (any kind, but lately love Macadamia & white chocolate chip cookies)
Mixed Nuts


Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:

Only five? . . . song lyrics pop into my head for all occasions. . .I'll do the Beatles . . .

Yesterday
Hold Me Tight
Twist n Shout
Till There Was You - (found out this was originally from The Music Man)
Fool on the Hill

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

Give more to God's work.
Upgrade our home & sell it.
Buy land - build a home on part of the land with a father-in-laws' quarters for my Dad.
Hire a gardener to weed & plant big stuff, like trees - and a housekeeper to clean.
Try something entrepreneurial - like a whatnot shop with tons of ambience and tables to serve tea and goodies.


Five bad habits:

Staying up too late.
Procrastination.

Trying to do everything at the last minute.
Eating too much junk.
Making excuses not to exercise more.


Five things you like doing:

Reading
Playing computer games
Painting (watercolor)
Organizing (buttons, beads, etc)
Selling Mary Kay Products


Five things you would never wear again:

Bikini
Mini-skirt
Hot Pants
Anything double knit polyester - particularly pants.
Flip-flops


Five favorite toys:

Computer
Sewing Machine
Scanner
Tea set
Watercolor Paints

Pinehurst: Snippets of '64

Piano Lessons

I took piano lessons for two years, but didn't get very far. In fourth grade I took lessons from a High School guy who lived down the street. I didn't like taking lessons from him. In fifth grade, I took lessons from a lady who lived on 3rd street across from the Pinehurst school annex. I liked her a lot better, but since I played by ear, I had trouble "counting" the beat. When it came to both hands doing different things at the same time, I dropped out.

My parents either bought a piano from, or had been given a piano by Schaffer's. It was a beautiful, dark carved wood upright. Some of the keys were missing their ivory, but otherwise it was in good shape. I was so sad to see it go, when I quit my lessons.

Barbie clothes

Early in '64, when I had my 10th birthday, Dorothy Caldwell had Shirley Edwards sew some Barbie outfits for my doll. There were probably 10 outfits, and one was my very favoite. It was a green satin circle skirt with white fur trim, and a top out of the same material. (Think "White Christmas" outfit - but dark green instead of red, and satin rather than velvet.) My Barbie was so beautiful in it. (And since she was my alter-ego, it made me feel good when she wore it.)

Beatle Songs

The Beatles came on the scene in 1963, and by '64 they were the hottest group around. I used to listen to their songs on the radio and at friends' homes. I memorized a ton of them. I was in love with Paul McCartney, but I knew he was too old for me. (I also figured we would never meet, so I'd have to wait until I grew up to marry someone who was as good looking and talented.)

Bowling Tournament Weekends with C. Clemens

My parents were bowling on a Mixed League - mixed meaning men & women, not diverse in the modern sense. They bowled with T & D Clemens and a couple of other people. One time they went on a tournament to Cheney, and my sister and I went. I think C. Clemens may have been there also. The biggest thing I remember about the trip was the "teen" magazine I read that gave me all the info on the Beatles and introduced me to the term "Beatlemania. I determined I was definitely a Beatlemaniac - but I wouldn't faint if I saw them in concert. (That was just too dumb).

The next time my parents went on a tournament with the Clemens' I got to stay with C. Clemens at her home with her and her brother. (He was older, and didn't bug us.) We listened and danced to all the Beatle songs she had on 45 rpms (Forty-five revolutions per minute records) for hours.

Since she was only two years older than I, we got along famously! We were able to eat what we wanted, too. I had asked my parents for a package of chocolate stars, because I looooved chocolate. (Still do.) Anyway, I started eating the stars and they tasted so good, I ate the entire bag. Next thing I knew, I felt really sick. Not exactly nauseous, but just full and yucky feeling. I thought, I'll never eat chocolate again. (That only lasted a day.)

I think we ate macaroni and cheese with hot dogs for dinner. Can't remember much else about that day. I do remember that C.C. introduced me to cinnamon toast. I liked it so much, I made it for snacks a lot of the time at home. (I even blamed my weight gain on the cinnamon toast with butter, but actually, I was growing.)

Pinehurst: Fourth Grade (2)

I was upset about one thing about fourth grade when I moved to Pinehurst. Mrs. Smith put me in the middle reading group! Now I was only in the fourth grade, but I already knew that I really belonged in the "high" reading group. I must have had a bit of pride about my reading ability. . .or the fact it was the fast reading group. It didn't take too long for her to switch me, but I was a bit traumatized at first I guess I didn't want the other kids would think I was just average. It was bad enough being "new."

For the first three years of grade school, I had ridden a bus, but at Pinehurst I walked to school. The walk wasn't that far, but I didn't like it when the wind blew. On windy days the trees would swish and roar. Because the wind blew from the west, it blew in my face on the way home, and I thought it might take my breath away. I didn't remember ever being afraid of the wind when I was younger, but then I always rode the bus. How I wished I could ride the bus on the windy days.

I started having stomach aches again that year. I don't know if they were caused by the move, change in schools, change in friends, the wind in my face on the walk home, or a combination of all of these. My mom got so concerned, she took me to Dr. Scott, and he put me in the hospital. I was really scared to stay in the hospital, but after I got settled in, I was fine. They did a bunch of tests on me, including putting a tube up my nose & down into my stomach to check on the fluids there. (Wasn't too keen on that.) They took chest x-rays, and who knows what else. They even tested me for tuberculosis. (They thought I had a tiny spot of tuberculosis on my lungs, so they gave me another patch test, and it was okay.) They really didn't find anything wrong.

Someone gave me a loom to make hotpads. It is a square metal object with teeth to stretch elastic bands across. I stretched the bands over the teeth across the loom in one direction, then I wove some bands the other direction - in and out of the original bands. When I had the loom filled, I removed the ends that were looped over the teeth by slipping the second through the first, third through the second, all the way around. The last end piece is slipped through the first one, tied in a knot, and becomes the loop used to hang the potholder.

I went through 2 bags of bands during the two days I was in the hospital. One bag had primarily cotton bands of black with blues, pinks, and whites - maybe other pastels or reds. The other bag was full of polyester green bands, with oranges, yellows and who knows what. I made hotpads for everyone who came to visit me, including Dr. Scott.

Fourth grade was the year we took a field trip to the Cataldo Mission for Idaho history. I thought it was a long way from Pinehurst, and in those days, you had to take the old road, as the freeway wasn't built from Pinehurst to the west, yet. We packed sack lunches and all the fourth grade classes went to the Mission in several school busses. It was cool to see the hand prints still in the mud of the walls, and to know that the entire structure was made without nails. (They used hand-made wooden pegs). We ate our lunches on the lawn. We might have toured the White's house next to the Mission, but I can't remember. I know I was in there one time, but it may have been years later with Mary Jo White. At the time we went, there was no visitor center.

The Beatles came on the scene in 1963, and we were all crazy about the Beatles and their music. There were four boys in Mrs. Wright's class who dressed up like the Beatles and "performed" some of their songs. I think it was just in her class, but all the fourth graders thought it was the most cool thing ever. I wish I could remember for sure who they were, but I think E. Hanson may have been one of them.