Camp Neotez

Tonight Steve & I are going to the Neotez Dinner. I never went there as a camper (unless you count the family weekends) but I spent some time down there as a cook, counselor, and even a nurse one day. Camp Neotez is a great place to take pictues - everyone is relaxed and the scenery is great - and I have oodles of favorite pictures. I have tried to pick a few of my favorites of my kids - I have lots others to share later.
That's:
Jenny & Rachel.
Hannah, Sarah, Jennifer, & Becky
Stevie & Greg

End of March Birthdays

When I saw this bottom picture I thought how appropriate since Thursday is Edward & Paul's birthday. It's funny but I remember those two had fun being silly together at those old family get-togethers. Happy Birthday guys and a belated happy birthday to Robbie - who as a child refused to speak until he was ready and now speaks so fast I can't keep up with him.

Aunt Maude & Uncle Willard

I was thumbing through the weekend paper and I saw this article about unusual jobs. One of them was this mermaid at Florida's Weeki Wachee Springs - and I remembered I've seen that show - Aunt Maude & Uncle Willard took me there. The other picture is me and their son (my cousin) Bill Kendall. I remember Aunt Maude & Uncle Willard taking me on 3 trips - 2 to Florida and 1 to Michigan. I never really knew why I was the lucky one - was I just the right age at the right time or was I such a headache for mama that they offered to take me off her hands for a while? Either way, those trips were great fun for me and I've never forgotten them. In Florida we enjoyed a lot of time on the beach and they taught me how to play shuffleboard. I remember Uncle Willard introduced me to shrimp cocktail at this cafeteria we went to almost everyday. I think they let me get away with eating the shrimp and watermelon the whole trip. We usually stayed in St. Petersburg Beach but they did take me down to Miami once where we met up with Bill and his wife, Lorriane. I remember them taking me to see the Fountain Bleu Hotel in Miami because that was in a current James Bond movie.
I always enjoyed spending time with them and I don't ever remember them scolding me - not even when U. Willard & I broke a lamp in the motel room playing with a beachball. When they retired they moved out of St. Louis so my kids never really got to know them well before they died - but they were one of those dear sweet natured couples who loved to laugh and have a good time - and they loved kids. Memories of them always give me a quiet peaceful feeling.

Kitchen Remodeling

We are getting ready to do some kitchen remodeling - new granite countertops, new sink, and we already have the new lights - plus a bunch of holes in the walls where they needed to be wired. I was trying to remember back to our first kitchen on Friar Tuck when I found these pictures that give you an idea - everything was avacado green! Does it look like the 70's? Oh Yeah! - even Steve's outfit and my hair. On the other side of the kitchen we have Terri Ann, Sherri, and myself in the back row. Mama, Nancy, & Millie at the table. It really wasn't a bad kitchen even though it was small - at least I had a window by my sink back then. Oh well - I don't spend that much time at the sink anymore anyway.

High School Jobs

Steve & I don't go to Kentucky Fried Chicken very often but last night he had a hankering for some. As I was sitting there eating my meal I couldn't help but notice the kids who work there clowning around in the back and it reminded me that Sherri & Edward both use to work for KFC. Then I got to thinking about my first jobs - except for babysitting - I started working at 16 at Miss Hullings Cafeteria. I only worked there about a year and a half - but I had a lot of experiences there. In fact, I may have to do a series of blogs just on Miss Hullings. I started out at 75 cents an hour as a bus girl (cleaning tables), then I graduated to counter work and finally I worked as a cashier. When I quit I was up to $1.25 an hour. The next job I went to was a cashier for Bettendorf (now Schnucks) where I started out at $3.25 an hour - big jump. I know a lot of kids these days don't get those after-school and summer jobs because of all the other activities they have going on in their lives - but in a way it's kinda sad because they are missing out on a big learning experience. Not learing a skill usually - but learning how to deal with people. You have bosses to cope with, co-workers to have fun with, and customers to teach you the fine art of being patient and diplomatic (or tactful) in any number of difficult situations. Most kids didn't start working until they were 16 but I did know some guys who started out as newspaper boys when they were in about 7th grade. When I would leave high school to go catch a city bus for downtown I was with a lot of other kids who were doing the same thing. There were any number of jobs to be had - I had 2 friends (Pam & Janet) who worked at a candy store down the street from Miss Hullings. They learned how to wrap those boxes of candy without using scotch tape. I thought it might be kinda interesting to hear from some of you about other non-career jobs some of you might have had growing up so when I see some kid trying to get a job done I can smile and remember we were all there once.

Oklahoma Christian

Last night we kept a couple of girls from the OCU choir group and it made me start thinking about my one year (8 months to be exact) at the college. I don't know if they still do, but they worked on a trimester schedule then so we got out of school in April.
The pictures above are from way back then - I'm sure things have changed. Notice in the campus picture how the trees are all leaning - it was a VERY rare day that the wind wasn't constantly blowing there. You use to see all these girls with their 60's puffy hairdos and a thin headscarf wrapped around their entire head - I just let mine get blown around. I threw in the picture of me so you could have a good laugh at the 'fashion' of the time. I was actually just on campus for a visit (I visited at the beginning of the year for 2 years after I had left). The other two pictures are the kids I hung around with. The pj girls were my dorm friends - Claudia (1st from the left) also lived in St. Louis and we stayed in touch for awhile - she was actually a bridesmaid in my wedding. The other girls are Kris, Di, Glenda, & Sue. The picture of the boy & girls is Rex, Deb, & Donna (also called Duck for some reason) - they were my study carrol friends. (We were assigned certain study carrols for a place to study - yeah right!) The three of them were real tight and Rex & Deb got married - they were neat kids - wish I knew where they were now.
I only stayed there for one year because that's all I could afford. My parents grew up when it was a great accomplishment to stay in school through high school -which they both did. I guess maybe the depression had something to do with most of their peers dropping out early. When my older sister graduated high school it was common for a girl to get married or get a job - but between her and I there was the revolution of the 60's - and even though I was female I wanted to go to college. However, daddy didn't see it my way so I was on my own and I had never even heard of school loans.
I also can't help thinking about the dress code differences. You'll notice Deb & Donna are wearing dresses - anywhere on campus outside of the dorm a dress no shorter than an inch above the knee (Deb's is a little short there) was required except for gym class. The big problem was that this was the 60's and the hemlines were SHORT! Mom had to make a lot of my dresses cause it was near impossible to find a suitable length off the rack.
Oklahoma Christian was an experience for me that I'll never forget and I'm really glad I had - I only wish I had done a better job of keeping in touch with the people there -at least I will get to see them in heaven someday.

Happy Birthday to ME

I'm not sure it's such a good idea to blog about my birthday - but then again, why not?
I was born on March 14, 1951 - that was a loooong time ago! Mama always told me that there was a terrible ice storm the night they went to the hospital to deliver me - so when people start saying that spring is here - I always figure we have to get past March 14 to be sure. I don't really remember birthdays being that big a deal except mama would make your choice for dinner and dessert - mine was always banana pudding! There were very few kids that had parties back then so it was mostly just a simple family thing. At least until I got older and did a little celebrating sometimes with friends. This picture is from my 16th birthday - my first surprise party. We all know about my other surprise party (# 40) - and that everyone thinks I was angry. Although that is not really true - the whole truth is too complicated to explain - so think whatever you wish but I do wish I could quit hearing about it. My 16th birthday was lots of fun though and a real surprise. Cathy Lewis (now Cathy Topp) threw the party for me and I still have the charm bracelet I received from one of my friends.
Now I celebrate my birthday with my hubby & kids. This year Nate & I celebrated ours together - and we went out to dinner and had dessert (Becky's yum yum banana pudding!) The kids that don't leave town (Jen, Karl, Stevie, & Jessie) on my birthday (just teasing Becky & Nate) - decided I should have something on my actual birthday so we are doing dinner again - plus Miss Sue is going out to breakfast with me - sounds like a great birthday to me. Hope everyone else has a great day too!!

Two Birthday Boys

March 12 is the birthday of my nephew, David McCoy (often still fondly referred to as Baby David) and my son-in-law, Nate Kelley.
Hard to believe that David is old enough to be getting married this June - you'll have to bring Lindsey down to Reelfoot for the next family reunion so she can fish off the dock. (ha ha)
Nate and Becky have been married for over 3 years now and he has always tried to be good natured about Becky's "take our picture" moments - but as you can see, sometimes they both just like to ham it up a bit.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE AND DAVID!! - hope it's a great day for you both!

Happy Birthday Big Brother

Tuesday, March 7, is my big (and older) brother's birthday. Joe is 7 years older than me so that should make him about 32 - right? These pictures are of course of Joe - (except I'm the little girl). The house is a picture of the house in Ridgley that he was born in - but it had been torn down the last time we went to the family reunion. I love the rare visits we get from Joe & Sandi and they always make for fun memories but I have a few memories of Joe that helped make me what I am today. I'm sure I must have been a real nuisance for an older brother - but except for the time I gave him and Nancy the mumps - I really don't remember him ever getting angry with me.
However, I do remember all the teasing he could dish out. When I was very young he was the one that was always trying to sit on my friend Roy (he was imaginary - but still!) or else he'd lock him outside and not let him in. I have a vivid memory of Joe laughing at me while I'm trying to open the back door he's holding closed. As I got older I can remember him walking in the door and just saying things like, "you look like you've been hit with the ugly stick." One of his favorite ways to antagonize me was to grab the phone when he knew I was waiting for a call and say, "City Morgue. You stab 'em - we slab 'em." Of course my caller would just hang up. I also remember a time when Jimmy and I were dying easter eggs and somehow when we weren't paying attention, Joe managed to write goofy things in white crayon on the eggs which showed up only after they were colored.
But for all his teasing, I always knew he really loved me. It's kinds like that old saying, "It's ok for me to tease her cause she's my sister, but you better not mess with her." I remember Joe was the one that scooped me up off the sidewalk when I split my head open and he was the one that chased those big mean birds out of my room. I have always known he's there for me even if it was only in thought. So what contribution has Joe made to my personality? He's given me the gift of how to laugh at myself and not take myself or anybody else too seriously . Tease me all you want -you might be able to make me blush but you will have a tough time making me mad -I've been trained by the best.

Joe, you're a wonderful big brother and I love you very much and I hope you have a FANTASTIC HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!