I Miss REAL Letters

I've never been much of a telephone chatter person. I use the phone for making appointments or for a short conversation with someone that lives nearby and I'm more likely to see a little more often- like Stevie who refuses to answer emails.
I know that email is a good way to keep in touch and I do use it often. When I have some quick question late at night (at my age I'm always afraid I may forget it by morning), or I don't really have much to say but just want to 'touch base' with someone. It's great when you would have to make multiple phone calls for the same message to a group or you just want to hear from someone as often as possible - like your kids. Becky was great at emailing almost everyday while she was in Nashville, Jen wasn't too bad - she usually answered about every fifth or sixth one of mine. Getting an email from Stevie was almost too good to be true. I think I've gotten maybe half a dozen emails from him ever - maybe it's a guy thing. He was always good about calling though.
But I really miss walking out to the mailbox and getting a good old fashioned letter from someone you haven't heard from in months. The closest we ever get to that anymore is from a friend of Steve's -Bill Walker - who very kindly includes me in his greetings. We usually get postcards from him - from all over the world. And I love that kind of mail and really miss it. When I was a kid we use to have penpals or I had a friend who moved away that would write for awhile. I can remember when I was at OCC the highest point in the day was checking the mailbox. Mama wrote me at least once a week and my brother Joe would write now and then. For years after high school I would often get letters from old friends or some of the new ones I had made in Oklahoma. After I was married I still had several friends and one big brother that would write now and then. I was looking through some old pictues and stuff from my younger years and I found a few letters I had kept - if I had known they were going to be a thing of the past I probably would have kept a lot more of them! Now I know what you're going to say - I should write letters to some old friends so they will write me back - I've tried that. I've either been ignored completely or they email me - which isn't bad but I really would like to find a letter in my mailbox sometimes! Well, I don't know what I think whining to those who read my blog will do - but I'm curious - do you guys get real mail or is it truly a thing of the past?
Maybe I should write a bunch of letters and see if I can start a new fad.

Flotkens Market

Steve has been on a health kick lately which includes a lot of walking. He's been very diligent about taking a walk everyday. It's still too hot & humid out there for me so I do the treadmill - I probably wouldn't be able to keep up with his long legs anyway.
Anyway, the last few times we've needed a few items from the grocery store he's been walking up to the Farmer's Market up on Watson and it brought back memories of walking down to Flotkens Market where Daddy worked when we were kids. I remember when we were too young to go on our own we would walk down there with Mama. She had it timed so she could do her shopping during the last hour of his shift so he could drive us and all the groceries home (mama didn't drive).
While she did the shopping I (and probably Jimmy) would follow daddy around as he worked in the produce. I loved going back to the huge refrigerator and watching him sort out any bad produce before he'd come out and restock the bins. I can remember a lot of the customers stopping to chat with him and ask for his help picking out produce. He really spoiled us - he always brought home the best fruit & veggies. Sometimes he would charmingly tease one of his regulars - usually an older lady who loved the attention- and after they were out of earshot he'd tell us he did that cause they were such old crabs. If he was really busy and we were underfoot he'd send us over to visit the bakery where the ladies would give us a free sugar donut and we'd visit there until mama was ready to check out.
The store was one of those little friendly family owned stores and the owners treated us like family. When I was a bit older I would sometimes go down there just to stop and chat with daddy. Mr. Flotkens helped me set up a stand in his store to sell my product from Junior Achievment and he came to my wedding - I still have their wedding gift.
At some point they moved the store out to Olivette. The Flotkens were Jewish and they could cater more to that clientel out there. I do remember daddy complaining that they all took off for the Jewish holidays and the Christiam holidays. Jimmy worked for them there (that was how he avoided Miss Hullings) so he probably has a more mature memory of the store and family. But walking down on 'grocery shopping day' was always a treat to me - as was walking to the library, Famous-Barr, Hampton Village or taking the bus to Cherokee street. I guess if gas gets too high we may have to start having those types of adventures again.

Weekend Theme

I just finished reading a good book, "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. It was a memoir of her life starting when she was 3. Jeannette was one of four children raised by seemingly intelligent but unresponsible, lazy, and selfish parents. She knew what it was like to have food on the table one day and to dig in the trash for food for weeks. She did a really good job of not dwelling on some of the misery she went through - she gave you enough to get the idea without making you feel real depressed and she gave you reason to cheer now and then. It was a quick read and well written - but about hard times.
This morning Steve & I went down to Kimmswick to check out the shops and (of course) to eat lunch at the Blue Owl. Kimmswick looks like it has really fallen on hard times. A lot of shops were closed, some were vacant, and the ones that were open had very little business. Blue Owl was doing a good business though. We didn't indulge in any of their famous pies but they sure looked good.
This afternoon we went to see a movie that has been out for months, Prairie Home Companion. It was a cute movie - but again it was about old days and the closing down of a radio show - hard times.
Tonight I watched a Miami CSI repeat - and wouldn't you know it was about IRS agents getting killed for turning people out into the street - more hard times.
Are you seeing the theme of my weekend so far? I'm not sure if I want to go watch the news! But really, I'd recommend the book, the movie, and CSI is always good even if it is a repeat - however, I'd only go to Kimmswick if you want to eat at the Blue Owl - the rest of the town is rather sad. I already know tomorrow will be more cheerful - worship with family & friends is always good times. Hope your weekend has been full of very good times!

Stevie's birthday party

We celebrated Stevie's 25th birthday last night by going to Sam's Steakhouse where Stevie got a HUGE steak (see Becky's blog) and then to the old homestead where we had cheesecake or brownies. I think he had a good birthday - next thing on his list is a wedding.

Stevie's Birthday is coming up!

Thursday, August 17 is the birthday of my baby boy – Stevie. He’s going to be 25 years old! At this post he has not yet decided how we are going to celebrate his birthday. As these pics show, he always went with the ‘superhero’ or ‘sports’ theme as a kid – but since he’s a mature adult now (sorta) he thinks more in terms of a good steak. Stevie has always been good to his momma and he gives the best hugs! HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVIE – I LOVE YOU!

Super Sleuth

Tonight is our anniversary and we were just going to go see a good movie and out to eat. However, there are not any movies out that I cared anything about seeing. So my next idea was just to go out to a nice dinner to someplace we haven't been before. I've always wanted to go to the Lemp Mansion and so Steve was going to call to make reservations - I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Turns out we were at one of those "murder mystery audience participation dinners". Somehow I got lucky and didn't get picked on (which would have been really bad because my bio said I loved to sing) but Steve had to perform- but I think he liked it. I was Helen Rump and he was Roswell somebody. Out of all of us who guessed the right perpetrator - Steve got the trophy - hurrah!!

It was an interesting evening. The 2 actors were fun - of course it was all corny but we had a good time. The food wasn't bad - but not excellent either. An appetizer plate had an ok selection. (One strawberry, one melon bite, one chicken strip, one cabbage roll, one tostito, and 2 cubes of cheese.) The salads had that Mayfair dressing with the anchovies - yuck! But the chicken was good with cheesey potatoes, a glass of wine, one roll and one pat of butter -and they gave you a generous slice of cheesecake for dessert. The other entree choices were prime rib or tilapia.

The house itself is pretty interesting - it's suppose to be haunted but we didn't see any ghosts - we did see a wedding party though (I wouldn't recommend a reception there - you're in about 6 different rooms)
A very different type of anniversary dinner for me but it was fun and now I can say I've been to Lemp Mansion. Maybe I'll go back for lunch someday - without the mystery theater.