Random memories of life in Georgia

We moved from Farmington, Utah to Warner Robins, Georgia when I was 5 years old. My dad was a logistics planner for the Air Force. I didn't know what that was for the longest time, but he would look at a project and figure out what needed to be done to accomplish it and who should do it. (I could use him to help plan my choir program!)

When we first moved to Georgia we rented a house. It was really ugly and had these brownish purple walls. Linda didn't come with us at first, she was finishing a semester at Weber, but I remember when she did come we shared a bedroom and a bed. I remember her telling me that she was engaged to get married and showing me her ring in bed one night.

After a while, probably 4 to 6 weeks, we moved into our house. It wasn't very big, especially compared to the lovely one my dad had built for us in Farmington. I don't think my mother ever like that house, so I'm not sure why they bought it. It had a huge yard, it probably sat on 3/4s of an acre. The house was probably not much bigger than Amy's house now. We had 3 bedrooms, 2 baths (one was off the master bedroom and it was bigger than the one Amy has, but not by a lot) a living room and a kitchen dining room. There were 4 children living there on and off, although Linda and Kurtis only lived there a little bit.

Some random memories of the house include:

Doug, Devn and Kurtis playing jokes on each other. Stuff like things falling off partially opened doors, and short sheeted beds (you take the bottom part of the top sheet and tuck it into the top of the bed then you make the bed like normal and when you go to get in, you can't because your legs don't have any place to go.) ice at the bottom of the bed, locked bedroom doors with booby traps, pajama legs sewn shut and more. I think my dad was also involved in a lot of this. Kurtis was the master though. No one could pull a prank on him, he always, dismantled them without getting caught. When Kurtis got engaged they tried to pull lost of pranks on him, but it didn't work.

We had the most wonderful "Winnie the Pooh" records that I would listen to at bedtime every night. They were read by the man who plays Samantha's Dad in the series "Bewitched." This was long before Disney corrupted the stories.

Devn used to tell the most wonderful bedtime stories. He would make them up and they were awesome!

I remember playing with Doug on our long, long driveway. We would ride bikes (I'm pretty sure some of this was teaching me to ride a bike) and we would play "King of the Mountain" on piles of pine needles that he had to rake from the yard. (These pine needles were about 6 or 8 inches long and would come in little bundles of 2 or 3).

I remember the 3 boys wrapping a package for Daddy for Christmas, it was a pair of cuff links and they put them in a box that was as tall as Kurtis and probably a foot square. They stuffed it with news paper and daddy had to dig through the whole box to find the cuff links. I thought this was hilarious!

I remember learning early on that if I wanted to be in on the jokes I had to keep quiet. It was a great privilege to be told what was going on.

I remember my first piano lessons, playing with the boy across the street, learning to shuffle cards, walking barefoot all summer, even on the pine cones. The family behind us was Catholic and they had little girl who showed me all kinds of things about being Catholic. We had a ditch in the by the street and I remember we were going to dig under the street to the other side of the road. (I think we only ever made it about 8 inches in the Georgia clay) I remember catching almost dead flies and operating on them to help them get better (weird, huh?) I remember learning to roller skate on the street (it had quite a steep hill at the top, then leveled out around my house. I remember walking through back yards and running around playing, climbing trees. I remember getting baptized and practicing in my parents bedroom with my dad. Although I had to wait several weeks to get baptized because my dad was in the stake presidency and we had to wait for a weekend when he was home. In those days, ward conferences were 2 days with 2 general meetings on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. It was a good place to be a kid and a good time. It wasn't nearly as dangerous for kids to wander around as it is now.

I remember that one day I left with my friends and we went to a park that was quite a distance away and I didn't tell anyone where I was going. When I was finally tracked down part of my punishment was to ride home in the car with Doug driving. He was learning to drive and I was terrified of riding in the car with him. Daddy spanked me and I was grounded for the rest of the day. Mother used to spank me sometimes, but it wasn't a big deal. But when daddy spanked it hurt!

I remember that we had a tree in the back yard where they had tied a rope so my brothers could climb up it. One day I climbed to the top of that rope when no one was around. I don't think anyone ever knew that I did that. It was probably a good 20 feet up. When I got to the top it scared me and I climbed down and never did it again.

We had a barbeque in the back corner of our yard and Doug and Devn used to melt lead back there and make balls about the size of marbles. Then they would build towers with the "American Bricks" that we had (precursors to Legos) but they had slanty roof pieces that they would put inside the towers to make a track for the lead balls to roll down. They played with those bricks all the time as well as with Army men.

I remember going to elementary school and I remember when one little black girl came to our school when I was in first grade. She was older than I was, but I remember seeing her in the playground and no one would talk to her because she was black (schools were segregated at that time.) I was too scared to talk to her. She didn't stay at our school very long.

I also remember that our principal had a paddle with holes in it like a peg board. I was scared to death he would use it on me. I would never have broken a rule though, but I knew some kids who did get "paddled."

I remember that the high school kids came and performed "The Fantastics" and that Devn was in it. They did it in the cafeteria. He was also in "The Music Man" in High School, I think he was one of the traveling salesmen and he also might have been part of the quartet in the town.

I remember a lot of scouting activities, my dad was the scout master and I always wanted to go with them. It never seemed fair to me that the boys got to do scouting and the girls didn't. I was a girl scout for a couple of years, but the program was never as good.

I remember my brothers making the most amazing Halloween costumes from stuff around the house. Headless men like Icabod Crane and scary monsters. They were very creative! I also remember them doing "Smother's Brothers" routines for ward parties. We listened to the "Smother's Brothers" records a lot. We also listened to "The Messiah" a lot.

I remember Kurtis playing the first movement of "Moonlight Sonata" a lot and VERY loud.

I remember that when we first moved there we had a maid, because that's what all the officers wives had at the Air Force base and my dad worked for a general so of course we had to have one too. She was a black woman named "Annie" and I thought she was really cool. She would come once or twice a week to do ironing and laundry, I don't know what else. I remember a couple of time she smoked in the house and I kind of liked it. My mother was furious though and pretty soon she stopped coming. I don't think my mother ever liked having a maid anyway, she liked taking care of the house herself. Annie had a very strong southern accent and she and mother had difficulty communicating at times.

I know mother and daddy went to a couple of things at the officers club on base and that mother hated that kind of thing, but they felt they had to. I know there was a cocktail party or two and I remember watching mother dress for those. Years later when I had to go to some of those I understood better why mother hated them so much.

Wow, lots of random memories. It's okay if you got bored. I was going to tell the story of the flying squirrels, but it seemed that I needed to set the stage first. It's coming.....

Random Thoughts

Sorry, no flying squirrels today, that will take longer than I have this morning.

Family, if I read your blog and you read mine, does that count as keeping in touch?

I love general conference weekend! Wahoo! I'm sorry, I loved the relaxed feel of listening to conference in my pj's. That has become somewhat of a "no, no" but I still like it!

I like that I don't have to do any church callings on Conference weekend.

I got my hair cut and colored yesterday. My salon is pricey, but they do such an amazing job. I feel like it is worth the price to get a really good job. Yesterday, I also got 2 weaves - dark blue. Kind of a shock, but I love it!

I think Molly may be the best dog I ever had.

I've been telling Amy's marathon/ port-a-potty incident all week. It's 4th quarter and my students are running out of energy for the school year - especially the seniors. We sing at graduation, so they can't quit yet.

Next Wednesday we get on a bus to drive all night to Disneyland for choir tour! I hope I get all the paperwork done by then. Once we get on the bus, the rest is up to the chaperons and the tour company.

I think I'll take an ASL class in May and June. I'm also thinking about taking a Chinese class this fall. I really want to learn other languages!

I had one of the best massages of my life on Saturday!

If I were rich, I would hire someone to come clean my bathrooms and wash/ vacuum my floors every week.

I need to find some time and energy to put some of my story ideas on paper!

For my birthday, I want pictures (5 x 7s) of my children and grandchildren for my office and/or bedroom.

I LOVE cuddling my grandchildren and I miss them.

I pray for my family every day. I pray that they will be safe and protected, that they will know how much I love them, and that they will gain a strong testimony of Jesus Christ. Really, that's all I need.

I love you all! I enjoy spending time with each one of you! I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He loves us and knows us personally.

Georgia: Magnolias, Turtles and Dogwood

When I was around 5 years old we moved from Farmington Utah to Warner Robbins Georgia. I remember asking my mom if I would have to learn a new language and she told me no. She was wrong, by the way, but that is a different story. At this time, Anne was already married, Kurtis and Linda were at college (I think Kurtis was at college, but he might have been on his mission) and Doug, Devn and I were at home.

My dad loved to explore and go out in the wild areas. He loved to watch birds, learn about nature and often took my brothers camping. (Hunting too when they lived in Utah.) I remember one day daddy, Doug, Devn and I went out in the "wilds" of Georgia. I honestly have no idea where we went but we parked the car on the road and got our and walked. I think we stopped to look at a large magnolia tree, then we wandered deeper into the woods and looked around. I remember that there was a stream and we found turtles. Some were large snapping turtles and I think my brothers took a stick and made the turtle snap at it. Not tormenting it, but to watch it snap at the stick. By large I really mean the turtle was about the size of a small dinner plate. But of course, that was large to me.


Daddy found a smaller turtle which was NOT a snapping turtle and we took it home to be my pet. I wasn't very good at taking care of the turtle, it was about 2 inches in diameter and quite friendly. I kept it inside for a while, but I would take it outside to play and I lost it. Later I remember finding it in the yard and I played with it for a while and then put it back. I don't remember ever seeing it again. It was fun for a while, but I lost interest quickly.

So back to our outing, we walked around a little more and looked at the woods. Daddy grew up in Colorado and Doug and Devn in Utah, so the woods in Georgia were quite amazing to us, well to them, I didn't really understand the difference. When we were done, we walked back to the car. We stopped at the magnolia tree and daddy found a large blossom that we took home to mother. I believe that particular tree had white blossoms on it. I remember that mother put it in a large soup bowl of water and it lasted for several days. It was beautiful and smelled wonderful.

Speaking of flowers, I remember that Georgia had many Dogwood trees. There were new to us and quite beautiful. Of course, there were many beautiful flowers in Georgia that we didn't have in Utah. These trees grow abundantly there. They aren't as fragrant as magnolias, nor are the blossoms as big, but there is a legend about these trees that I think is kind of cool. The legend is that the wood of this tree was used to make Jesus' cross. The tree was so sad that is was used for this that it never again grew big enough for its wood to be used in this way. Also, if you look at the blossom you can see that it is in the shape of a cross and that the tip of each blossom has a sort of cut hole with pink around it. This is to symbolize the blood that Jesus shed for us. Like I said, cool!

Next up - flying squirrels!

Frustration?!!

The good news - I went running this morning.

The bad news - I set my interval timer all wrong. First the sound was off, then it started over, then I set a rest interval accidentally and I was supposed to up my running time and shorten my walking time. I ran and walked the right number of intervals - I think, but not the right lengths - I'm pretty sure. All messed up.

The bad news - I almost quit half way through because I was tired and frustrated.

The good news- I didn't!

More good news - I think I ran enough that I can feel happy about my run. I'm finding I don't really enjoy running - but I am so proud of myself that I ran. I bring it up in conversations all day long. "Yes, I went running at 5 am this morning...." amazing how cogent that is to every conversation. So, yes, I'm proud of myself - even though I realize in the world of running I'm a little tiny shrimp in a very large ocean - at least I am now in the ocean.

Have a great day all of you wonderful people!

Mom

Run Away!

One of the bad thing about blogging is that you can't hear the tone of voice in which I said/ thought the title. So you have to imagine that you read it as if you were telling someone playing a game to "run away" before they get caught.

So, Ansje had a birthday the beginning of March and I thought it would be fun to go to Mesquite and do one of their spa/golf deals - you get to choose one or the other not both. Of course, you know which one I'm thinking about..... Anyway, we finally both have a weekend free and it seems that the whole world is going to Mesquite and/or St. George. I think we booked the last hotel room in St. George. I couldn't find anything in Mesquite, but I know St. George better so that's probably why I was more successful there. We haven't had much time together lately. I've been a cave dweller for the darkest part of the winter. Working, going home and vegging because it's dark and cold outside and I don't feel like doing anything. Lots of the working part. And Ansje has been spending a lot of time with Kristin. She really missed Kristin when she was on her mission and they have had so much fun doing things together after she got home. Now Kristin is engaged to a nice young man, Dan and there is lots of wedding stuff to do. So, we haven't seen each other much lately.

Yesterday, after a crazy day at work, doing boring Accreditation stuff (that's the hoops that schools have to jump through to make it so your diploma is worth something) and trying to get my end of the quarter grades done (always a day of craziness) we left cold, cold Salt Lake County and drove to St. George. We stopped at one of our favorite restaurants in Springville, The Cracker Barrel and ate a wonderful dinner. Our waitress was probably in her late 60s and you could tell she has worked hard every day of her life. She looked like she probably milked the cows, collected the eggs and fed the pigs before coming to work. A genuine farm women. Or at least that's how she looked to us.

Anyway, we drove on to St. George and here we'll stay and play for the weekend. Of course, I was feeling bad that we didn't get a spa package so I found a place to go get a message. I haven't had one in over a year and I miss it. So we will do that this morning. We don't have any definite plans for the rest of our time, but we bought a puzzle and started that last night.

So, hurray for running away! Monday will be the beginning of the last quarter of the year. At the beginning of the school year it always seems like it's going to last FOREVER, but here at the end of 3rd quarter it seems to have sped by. We're already planning for next year and before we know it, summer will be here. YEAH!!! So I'm making my summer plans, visit Amy, visit her again with Molly. Go to England and see Mark and Stephanie. Fit in an ASL class in May and June. Play a little. I'm never going to get rich as a school teacher, but at least I get my summer off! Everyone needs some play time in their life!

Love to you all!

Just a few observations!

So, yes, I'm proud of myself. I have now finished my first week of running on the Couch potato to 5 k plan. Now, while I can't say I enjoy running, I do enjoy how proud I am of myself when I finish running.

Picture me: it's 5 am, still dark outside, I'm running around and around the park in the neighborhood, because I'm too chicken to run any where else because it's dark and the park is well lit and surrounded by homes. Molly and I head out, my i phone in my pocked with my interval app ready to go. I'm wearing the wonderful shoes that I got from Vaughn and Amy (that fit really well and are incredibly comfortable - Thank You!) It is windy enough today that trash cans are moving around on the curb side. I have my hands pulled up into the sleeves of my coat and I wish that my hat covered my ears more. My pants are long, but definitely not wind proof. I have the retractable dog leash in my right hand and it's a little tricky to get up in my sleeve. My dog is definitely ADHD, she is distracted by every little thing. Does pulling the dog away from all of her distractions count as exercise? It's got to be easier than pushing Amy's boys around. There is a little hill, the park is not completely level. Why do all the running intervals end up including the hill?

But the important thing is I did it. Three days in a row. Not a great accomplishment, but a start. Just another start. I have started so many exercise programs.

I don't think I will ever be a runner like Amy or Stephanie. But maybe I can be more healthy and have more stamina. It's a little scary when I start thinking, "well, if I'm going to run, I should buy......." No, new stuff until I've done it for a month. But, I need a better hat and it would be nice to have pants that were wind proof. I have to tell myself no.

Question - do you run heel to toe like you walk or do you run toe - heel? It's like I can't remember "how" to run, something I've done without thought so many times. Also, Amy, how do you find time to think and ponder while you are running? I'm just thinking when is this running part going to end so I can walk again.

Thanks to Amy, Stephanie and Scott for teaching me that I can run too!

I Blame Amy!

Ok, so this blog is a little different than my others. And yes, it is Amy's fault! As a mom I hope that I have taught my children many good things, but they also teach me things. Amy has been teaching me how to dress. So here are a couple of pictures of me in my Sunday clothes.

This is a new skirt that I got at Ann Taylor. I wish it wasn't wrinkled in this picture, but it is a really nice skirt. (It is a good thing I took this picture before church because I spilled bubble fluid all down the front during nursery. Yes, I know I shouldn't have worn it to nursery, but if I only wear things appropriate for nursery I never get to wear anything fun!)
















I also bought this dress at Ann Taylor. I like it a lot! Isn't it great that I have such a wonderful scarf to go with it? These sleeves are the type that when I life my arms my garments show. Also, I think the scar adds a little pattern to an other wise plain dress.


And just because I can, here is a picture of Molly and I that I took this morning.

And in other news that I blame on Amy, I actually went running yesterday morning. I'm following this plan that she suggested from www.coolrunning.com (I'm sorry I don't know how to do links!) It is called from Couch Potato to 5k, one of many such plans available on the internet. I am posting my morning's exercise so that I have to report my running. Anyway, here is what I did yesterday morning (at 5:30 am thank you very much!) Molly went with me, so she got some exercise too! I'm proud to say that a couple of times she actually had to run too!

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds
of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

I'm only need to run 3 days a week, so the plan is to go again tomorrow morning. Wahoo! It should be a little easier now that the weather is getting better.

So, Amy, thanks for having such a good influence on your mom!