Second bathroom so Sandy won't have to save coffee cans for her own use when I'm taking too much time
A walk-in shower. I can't use the shower/potty chair we had for the father because I can't swing or lift my legs over the tub. So I take spit baths all the time. At least that's better than in the old days when folks seldom even washed and everyone stunk.
A piano. I might rarely play it, but Sandy would.
A full and finished basement with a ramp instead of stairs.
A dining room. A big one that could seat at least 12 people comfortably at a table with room left over for a card table.
An overhead bonus room (again with a ramp instead of stairs). It would be large enough for shelves for my yarn and crochet books. Also storage space and a sizeable work area for scrapbooking. And windows on all 4 sides so I could look out over the neighborhood.
I would like to visit my old home-town, but I'd like the clock to be turned back so it could look like the old days. But maybe that wouldn't be so good.
A ride on a merry-go-round again. And -a first time one for me- a ride on a roller coaster.
I'd like to visit Australia, London, and Norway.
I want to go to a New York stage show, a good musical. When my Aunt Babe lived with my mom in Portland, she would drag my mom to a lot of the touring stage musicals. But first she'd buy a copy of the play so my mom, who was very hard of hearing, could read it and know what was happening. The music was something she could hear okay. And they always got seats near the front.
And I guess that is enough for now. Wish in one hand, spit in the other, and see which one fills up first. That's something my grandfather-in-law Herrick used to say to the wishers in the family. Only he didn't say spit!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Wishes
Okay. 20 wishes, or however many as I can think of
1- to be needed.
2- new hearing aids that would work and let me join the world again.
3- to be able to live alone. I don't want to live alone, just to be able to.
4- to be able to go grocery shopping or any kind of shopping really. Computers sure are handy, though, huh?
5- to be able to sew and have someone to sew for besides myself. And that brings up the next one--
6- to be able to see clearly.
And now I'm going in a new direction.
I'd like to turn back the clock by many years so I can ask questions. I would want to know all about my Grandpa Burns. His brothers and sisters, who they were and what became of them
and their children. And I'd ask about his childhood, how his foot got crippled, who his parents were. I would want to know all about my Grandma Burns too since she died before I was 2 years old. Another one I would question is my dad. He talked a lot about his work as a pennitentiary guard and about the inmates at the reformatory and about the stage shows he and my mom saw. He sang me the songs from those shows. But--I want to ask him about his mom and dad and his first wife and his son George by that wife. I would want details! But I never asked one single question. How could I be so indifferent? He told me some of the devilment he ans his brothers got into, but that was all he told. My mom went in the other direction, and since I insisted on hearing everything from her over and over, I should have realized Iwould someday want to know about my father. Dumb! Another person I would pin down is my Grandpa Bixby. He did talk quite a bit about early days of his life, but nothing that I considered interesting. I didn't feel like I really knew him until about 35 years after he died when I came across the life story he had written. He was such an interesting and entertaining man, and I botched it! I would ask him all about Grandma Bixby too since I was only 8 when she died. And I would want to know all about Grandpa and Grandma's sisters and brothers and parents. I want to know them, and I'd like so much to know them now--or preferably many years ago!
All this makes me wonder if my grandkids and great-grandkids someday in the far future will wish they had gotten better acquainted with me when I was around to talk to! There's that old saying--now I'm old enough to know all the answers but nobody asks me the questions!
1- to be needed.
2- new hearing aids that would work and let me join the world again.
3- to be able to live alone. I don't want to live alone, just to be able to.
4- to be able to go grocery shopping or any kind of shopping really. Computers sure are handy, though, huh?
5- to be able to sew and have someone to sew for besides myself. And that brings up the next one--
6- to be able to see clearly.
And now I'm going in a new direction.
I'd like to turn back the clock by many years so I can ask questions. I would want to know all about my Grandpa Burns. His brothers and sisters, who they were and what became of them
and their children. And I'd ask about his childhood, how his foot got crippled, who his parents were. I would want to know all about my Grandma Burns too since she died before I was 2 years old. Another one I would question is my dad. He talked a lot about his work as a pennitentiary guard and about the inmates at the reformatory and about the stage shows he and my mom saw. He sang me the songs from those shows. But--I want to ask him about his mom and dad and his first wife and his son George by that wife. I would want details! But I never asked one single question. How could I be so indifferent? He told me some of the devilment he ans his brothers got into, but that was all he told. My mom went in the other direction, and since I insisted on hearing everything from her over and over, I should have realized Iwould someday want to know about my father. Dumb! Another person I would pin down is my Grandpa Bixby. He did talk quite a bit about early days of his life, but nothing that I considered interesting. I didn't feel like I really knew him until about 35 years after he died when I came across the life story he had written. He was such an interesting and entertaining man, and I botched it! I would ask him all about Grandma Bixby too since I was only 8 when she died. And I would want to know all about Grandpa and Grandma's sisters and brothers and parents. I want to know them, and I'd like so much to know them now--or preferably many years ago!
All this makes me wonder if my grandkids and great-grandkids someday in the far future will wish they had gotten better acquainted with me when I was around to talk to! There's that old saying--now I'm old enough to know all the answers but nobody asks me the questions!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Into the Garbage With Them!
Okay, Smellnell, I did what you -- and others -- suggested! And I found out I should have listened to old Benson. The restless leg crap began the moment I hit the sack a few nights ago, so I took one of those PILLS, and that's when the restless crap really hit the jackpot. Always I have been able to stop the problem by sitting up, but not that night. My legs were doing a jitterbug dance -- had to do so -- whether I was sitting or standing on my head. And I didn't think it was ever again going to stop! I hip-hopped from one end of the house to the other, back and forth, tried to use the computer to get my mind off it, and several hours later it all slowed down and finally ended. Since that night I have found getting up and reading or doing stuff on the computer quite pleasurable. Leaving my "ears" in the bedroom keeps me from hearing all the bumps and thumps from the Undead Room, and those ghostly things I see floating about are quite friendly--so far. And so far I haven't been able to sneak out an ice cream bar from the freezer -- in the dark even -- without alerting the cat. She insists on my leaving a bit of ice cream on the stick so she can lick it off. Then she heads back to Sandy's bed.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
You stirred up my memories, Kris
It seemed like our dog Trixie was always having puppies so I never ran out of little dogs chasing at my heels all summer long during the years we lived in the country. Trixie didn't care how much I handled them.
All summer there were cicadas making their noise in the trees by our house. They were very large beetles that I wouldn't touch even with a stick. Sometimes in the late afternoons their chirping(?) made me feel lonesome and sad.
The walk to the country school in the fall was absolutely beautiful! The early morning sunshine was slanted across some of the farm fields I passed. I wanted to just stand and stare.
In the spring the huge lilac bush north of our house was a highly perfumed place to play house and was likely about the only time I would play with my dolls. No wonder lilacs are my favorite flower. We had some cherry trees too whose blossoms were beautiful to look at and so good to smell. One afternoon I picked a few that I could reach from the ground (I was under 8 years old), put them in a glass of water, and decorated our dining room table with them. I was very pleased with what I had done, but my Mom chewed me out but good. The blossoms become cherries!!! She never did scold me for gobbling up peas or tomatoes or carrots from her garden whenever the spirit moved me.
During warm weather at the beginning and ending of the country schools years, all of us took off our shoes and socks as soon as we got to school and didn't put them on again till it was time to go home.
Way back then nothing tasted better than minced ham sandwiches. Especially if they were combined with pork and beans and "cabbage salad," better known to me now as cole slaw.
One of Margaret's friends used to mix up all kinds of stuff to "treat" her brother and me. We had jello with hard candies dissolved together with ice chips and soda pop. Good! My mom didn't know. That girl and her brother and sister were the children of the man who rented the store close to our house---by the state Pen. They lived in town with their mom and spent week-ends with their dad. He
All summer there were cicadas making their noise in the trees by our house. They were very large beetles that I wouldn't touch even with a stick. Sometimes in the late afternoons their chirping(?) made me feel lonesome and sad.
The walk to the country school in the fall was absolutely beautiful! The early morning sunshine was slanted across some of the farm fields I passed. I wanted to just stand and stare.
In the spring the huge lilac bush north of our house was a highly perfumed place to play house and was likely about the only time I would play with my dolls. No wonder lilacs are my favorite flower. We had some cherry trees too whose blossoms were beautiful to look at and so good to smell. One afternoon I picked a few that I could reach from the ground (I was under 8 years old), put them in a glass of water, and decorated our dining room table with them. I was very pleased with what I had done, but my Mom chewed me out but good. The blossoms become cherries!!! She never did scold me for gobbling up peas or tomatoes or carrots from her garden whenever the spirit moved me.
During warm weather at the beginning and ending of the country schools years, all of us took off our shoes and socks as soon as we got to school and didn't put them on again till it was time to go home.
Way back then nothing tasted better than minced ham sandwiches. Especially if they were combined with pork and beans and "cabbage salad," better known to me now as cole slaw.
One of Margaret's friends used to mix up all kinds of stuff to "treat" her brother and me. We had jello with hard candies dissolved together with ice chips and soda pop. Good! My mom didn't know. That girl and her brother and sister were the children of the man who rented the store close to our house---by the state Pen. They lived in town with their mom and spent week-ends with their dad. He
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)