First things first, some much sought after pictures of Zoey in her cast.
As I was looking through some of the photos on my computer, I came across these that I had scanned in from my Mom. The year is 1981 (I can tell because that’s the year the Smurfs first appeared on TV). I’ve already put these notes over on flickr, but thought I’d just copy the thoughts here also.
Picture 1: I like to think I am thanking someone for the Barbie. Really it looks like I am saying something snotty, “I already have this one.”. My brother on the other hand, looks pretty pleased. I can’t tell if it was GI Joe or Hot Wheels.
Check out the tin foil on the antenna. We needed to see those Smurfs clearly!
Picture 2: Cowboy boots! Does anyone use tinsel anymore? What a mess that must have been for our parents to clean.
Since I am a November baby, my birthday was before many of my classmates. This meant that I was one of the first to get my license. This was the big thrill for all 16 year olds. Everyone got to skip school on their birthday to become a legal driver. Here I am big bangs and a brace face. If you look close enough, you can see that the braces are alternating blue and green. If you have to have braces, you may as well have fun with it.
There are even better pictures of the bangs, they actually don’t look like they could touch the sky in this picture.
The older two kids think this picture is great, in a now we have something to giggle about sort of way. Allison likes to carry it around and pretend it is her license. Now she can drive too!
This week we have a couple of pictures of my dad. Ok, so in one you mostly see my little brother when he was almost a year old, but it’s my dad holding him.
The next picture is of my dad and one of his brothers. I’m not positive, but I think my mom had one of these coats forever. It looks like something I totally would have worn in college.
As I was searching through the old pictures, I realized that the pickings are getting slim. Almost all of the rest are of me and my brother when we were little. In another week or so, I may have to retire Old Picture day. It’s either that, or I start posting some from high school and college. I don’t know about you, but the prospect of having my high school photos out there sort of frightens me. I may just have to go back to writing actual thoughts and chronicles of events instead of relying on old photos.
To add further proof that Zoey is our resident genius and geeky girl*, last Wednesday the eye doctor told us that she needed glasses and would have to wear them full time. Between my parents and Greg, the odds were high that one of our kiddos would not have perfect vision.
We were a little worried that she would be bummed about having to wear glasses. So far that isn’t the case. On Friday afternoon after they stopped and picked up her new specs, she let us know, “”I can actually see the words at the bottom of the screen when Dad has it on ESPN!”.
It doesn’t hurt that she looks incredibly cute. The real test will be today at school. I hope no one picks on her. I don’t think they will because glasses are more common for kids then they used to be. She also seems to be pretty well-liked. Even with that, some kids can be mean. Here’s hoping that we have given her enough self-confidence to ignore the teasers.
More evidence that Zoey is a little clone of my mother.
So, this was supposed to be posted on Saturday, but the wireless network card on my laptop decided to go kaput. Sure I could have plugged it up via the ethernet port, or even used the kid’s computer but that would have made too much sense.
*I think it’s perfectly fine that she is a geeky girl. She gets it from her mother.
These pictures are from early 1975. My mother, Great-Aunt June, Great-Grandmother, and my mom’s cousin Brad made a trip from Oklahoma to California. I am about 3 months old and asleep in the RV that you can just make out in one or two of the pictures. They drove through Arizona and stopped to see the Grand Canyon on the way.
My mom says that I need to be sure and let you know a little information about my Great-grandmother. Anytime any member of her family announced that they were going on vacation, she would be there, with her bags packed and there had better have been room for her to ride with you, or you would be leaving some things behind in order to make room.
My Aunt June used to have a newspaper delivery route. One of my first jobs was helping her roll those stupid papers and put them into their (not so) waterproof plastic bags. She was one of the first people to try out new technologies. She had one of the first push button microwaves and a beta tape player. We used to hunt eggs at her house on Easter morning and everyone wanted to rare and precious money egg. I’m sure it only had 5 dollars or something, but back in the 80′s that was big money to a kid. That would buy 500 pieces of Super Bubble Bubble gum. She is also part of the reason that I like to quilt. She used to make the cutest flannel baby blankets and really beautiful quilts.
I know, these photos aren’t super old but they are appropriate. Yesterday, I asked Nathan how it felt to be a decade old. He said it was a great day, so being 10 is going to be so much fun. It was report card day and he earned all A’s. He got to play second base last night instead of catcher*. His team won their ball game by someone stealing home in the last inning (during his at bat). It was a very close game with the final score being 4-3. We had cupcakes and sodas for his team after the game. Then we went for pizza.
Too put an almost perfect end to a birthday, just as we were sitting down to our table a guy dressed like a 40′s gangster walked into the restaurant. He sat down his hat and then walked over to our table and started pulling foam balls out of Nathan’s ears. Then he did some card tricks, one where he had Zoey write her name on a card, then punched his pen through a corner, pulled the pen out and “TaDa!” the hole was gone.
As he was doing another set of tricks, Allison started heckling the guy, “Hey! I want a turn! Don’t forget me!”, but he was involved in his next setup. I hushed her and she watched entranced as he dropped some coins into an invisible change purse. Then his pizza arrived and he sat down to eat, end of show.
Or was it? As he was leaving, Allison called out to him, “Hey! Are you magic?”. Then he started to pull the foam balls from her ears and nose. She was tickled pink.
I am so glad Nathan had a good day. I can’t believe he’s ten.
My grandmother passed away when my mother was very young so I never knew very much about her.
This is my grandmother’s senior picture. At our high school they have all of the senior pictures from when the school first opened hanging in a hallway. My brother and I graduated from the same high school. Even though it is silly, I always felt like this gave me a connection with her.
I’m not sure about the dates on these pictures* but I am guessing that the oldest one is around 1968 and the more recent is about ten years later in 1978. These pictures are of my mother and two of her sisters. I really wish that I had a more recent picture (within the past 10 years or so) of the three of them together to go with this set. All three of them are intelligent, beautiful, and compassionate. I’m glad I have had them as role models.
The second picture looks a little worse for the wear. When we were little, my brother was playing with matches and burned down the apartment we lived in. I left the warped edges, it adds some character to the photo.
*Note to anyone with printed pictures; write names, dates, and maybe a description about what was taking place on the back of them so that you or whoever else looking at them will have a reference. Scrapbooks may be nice, but someday the pictures may be taken out of them.
It just didn’t seem right to start off a weekly post and then not do something with it two weeks in. I’m just barely making it in time for it to technically be considered a Thursday post, but I always did work better under pressure.
This week I have some old pictures of my Grandfather (Papa). When I was little, I used to believe that he lived with a mouse who left presents for me.
If you want to see more pictures of him, just click here (or on the picture above).
I have no idea when the first picture was taken or where. I’m pretty sure it was before the second picture which was in January of 1960. The lady in both is my Great Aunt Daisy. She is surrounded by my mom and her sisters (from left to right: Aunt Patty, Mom, Aunt Daisy, Aunt B, and Aunt Janice). Her backyard was caddy-corner to my mom’s when she was a little girl. She filled in the grandmother position for me, my brother, and my cousins. When I was very little it seemed as if one of her closets was filled with old hats, neat shoes, and very cool jackets and dresses. I remember asking her why hat pins were used. She told me a story of how she had gone to the movie theater with a girlfriend of hers and a gentleman seated next to her started to get too fresh. He kept placing his hand close to her leg and her polite requests to stop were going unheard. So she used a hat pin and stuck his hand. He left her alone the rest of the movie.
