Wilbur

When I was 9-years-old, my parents let me get a baby pig to take to the county fair to show for 4-H...notice I just said "to show"?!  That was my plan anyway...

I named my Yorkshire pig, Wilbur.  I'm sure you can guess why, but my pig was "SOME PIG" too.  I played with Wilbur all spring and into summer.  I learned how to train him to turn right or left.  I doused him in baby powder to make him smell good and look all pretty and white.  Yes, Wilbur and I became the best of friends...until the fair.

In 4-H, we were taught how to take care of the animal, how much to feed and water, how to clean the animal, what to use for their bedding, how to clean their pens, and we learned how to use the hog whip to tap the hindquarters to guide our animal around the arena...FOR SHOW...I thought.

I told you that I was naive back in the day and this story is no different.  I thought I was going to take Wilbur to the fair and show him, get judged on how well I trained him and if he was too fat or too skinny.  I was planning to win a ribbon, cash that ribbon in and take Wilbur home...THAT was my plan.

Saturday night of the fair came, the showing of the pigs...and the SALE of the pigs.  When I came to realize that I had to take Wilbur out into that arena to sell, I was devastated.  I started crying and didn't want to send him away to be BUTCHERED!!!!!  How could I change the way this was going to end?  The realization set in that I had no say in how this night was going to end other than to go out there, show my beloved Wilbur and hope that nobody wanted him...that was now my plan.

"NUMBER 483" the auctioneer shouted through the microphone.  Here we went, Wilbur and I.  Head hung low, tap-tap-tap on Wilbur's hip, round and round we went it seemed, but I actually only went around once and Glen Hamm bought Wilbur.  Oh, how I loved Glen and Louise Hamm.  They owned the Skelley gas station we always went to so I was going to go tell Glen how well behaved Wilbur was and ask if I could come over and visit him sometime.  After taking Wilbur out of the auction ring and back to his pen, I found Glen and went up and asked him if I could come over and see Wilbur after he got him all settled in.  He saw the tears in my eyes and told me he was sure sorry, but he and Louise were planning to send him to Polar Pantries...which was our local meat locker.  He put his arm around me and told me he was sorry and knew that some of us kids got so attached to our animals.  He gave me my check for $387.00 and told me to keep my head up that this was a great learning experience and someday I would make one fine pig farmer.  I left there with my check in hand and ran to Wilbur, crawled in the pen with him, threw my arms around him and told him how sorry I was.  We sat there talking to one another until it was time for him to go.  Watching that semi back up to the pig barn was sickening.  I really wanted to vomit.  It was one of the most awful moments of my life...and I'm being honest.  I haven't had too much grief in my life, but sending that precious little pig off to be slaughtered just about did me in.

Wilbur...he really was TERRIFIC.

Trailer Trash with Money

Never once, while I was growing up, did I experience living in a trailer house...but now...I honestly believe that everyone should try it at least once in their lives. 😂

It was January of 2003 that I met Jason.  He was quite the eccentric fellow and very frugal.  He loved old cars, vintage western wear, old things, and loved his 720 square foot 1960s single-wide trailer home!  This trailer had to have been the Cadillac of all trailers back in its prime.  This baby was decked out with amber stained plastic decorative windows between the living area and the dining room and had a stereo system as well...built right into the wall!  The trailer had matching appliances in the kitchen including a cast iron sink in the lovely avocado green and the cabinets were even built to the ceiling...which is quite a hit nowadays!  There was a full bay window in the living area making it quite the room with a view and these windows even had actual drapes (window treatments), not your average run-of-the-mill curtains.   The bathroom was state of the art containing the washer and dryer along with the stylish vanity with his/her matching avocado sinks.  Above the vanity was a full mirror the entire width of the wall that also housed two sliding mirrored medicine cabinets!  Talk about high-class!   The toilet was also avocado green and lastly the tub/shower combo with a window cut-out...ALSO in the awesome and abundant avocado green!!!  Two bedrooms down the short hallway had built-in dressers and closets.  The greatest feature was that each and every room was equipped with a speaker intercom system.  From 60 feet away or 5 feet away, you could get on the intercom system and summons anyone to whatever room you were in...now that is UPTOWN!!!

For whatever reason, Jason loved his little humble abode.  The kids and I grew to love it as well.  It was a juggling act at times for all of us to sit around the dinner table, especially with a high chair!  Watching tv and hanging out in the living room was also a way-too-cozy treat, but we managed.  I think back now and wonder how we did it.  720 square feet of space with 6 human beings milling about.  It really didn't bother me much until the tornado that went through rural Girard and Franklin while at the same time another tornado wiped out half of Carl Junction and Stockton.  It was then that I realized I did not care to be anywhere near a trailer during any type of storm...let alone a tornado...or two!  We were stuck right in the middle of these two twisters with no place to go for shelter.  This made me very uneasy, especially with four little kids in tow.

After several conversations about our future together and raising five kids between us, Jason and I decided to get married with plans to build a house for our family.  The kids and I moved in and lived in the trailer for about a year.  After about six months in, I told Jason that either we get busy and build or I was moving to a rental!!  All of our belongings were in storage and I felt like I was living in a shoe box.  At times I wanted to pull my hair out or have a freak-out, but I knew there was a light at the end of this crazy tunnel.

We finally decided to sell the trailer so we could build on the existing lot.  We got $5,000.00 for that old piece of awesomeness!! LOL  We packed our stuff and rented another storage unit and moved in with my parents while our house was being built.  It was a year and a half that we lived with my folks...mainly in their basement.  Besides having help with the kids, the best part about living with my parents was that my mom cooked supper each night and helped me with the kids!! lol  She would give baths, rock whichever kid wanted rocked and read to whoever wanted read to.  After being cooped up in that trailer for almost a year, this was heaven.

On the other hand though, aside of being inconvenienced for a short time...it was pretty amazing how much money I could stack living with my parents AND living in a small trailer that was paid for...it used very little gas, water, and electric so our bills were really cheap.  I used to cook dinner each night rather than eating out...which too saved money.  My car was paid for (you know, one of the many bondo buggies) and I only had one child left in daycare...I was living the dream... trailer trash with money!!!

Did I love being "trailer trash with money"?  Kind of!  Would I go back to being "trailer trash with money"?  That's a big NO WAY!  Did I love my new home?  Definitely!

Everyone should experience living in a trailer house at least once in their life!

This is an example...Instead of the red, ours was blue.

Name that Tune

If a picture paints a thousand words
Then why can't I paint you?
The words will never show 
The you I've come to know

If a face could launch a thousand ships
Then where am I to go?
There's no one home but you
You're all that's left me too
And when my love for life is running dry
You come and pour yourself on me

If a man could be two places at one time
I'd be with you
Tomorrow and today
Beside you all the way

If the world should stop revolving
Spinning slowly down to die
I'd spend the end with you
And when the world was through
Then one by one the stars would all go out
Then you and I would simply fly away

Mrs. Estes

The years we lived in town, my dad worked nights out at P & M coal mine and mom was working on her Master's Degree and teaching Home Economics at the high school.  Dad wasn't home from the mine when mom needed to leave for work each morning so enter...Mrs. Estes.

Mrs. Estes was like another grandmother to me and my siblings.  She would come over every morning and fix us breakfast and get us off to school and then she would be waiting there, at the house, each afternoon when we arrived home from school.  Mrs. Estes was kind of like our own little Mrs. Doubtfire!!

Gertrude, as she later came to never-be-known-to-us-as, was quite a huge help to my mom.  Even as I sit here and write this, I had to text my mom, dad, sister and brother to ask what Mrs. Estes' first name was.  My dad replied with a "don't know".  My mom replied with "go look up Alice Faye Burnett's obituary, that was her daughter".  My brother responded with "Esther".  I responded back with "that was Fred Sanford's mean sister-in-law's name on the television show Sanford & Son!".  Finally, my sister, last to respond, texted "Mrs."!!!  I am cracking up because none of my family called her anything but "Mrs. Estes"!!!  Come to find out, by reading the obituary of Mrs. Estes' daughter, Alice Fay, Mrs. Estes' name was indeed...Gertrude!!

Mrs. Estes would clean our whole house while we were all gone to work and school.  She would hurry and get the vacuuming done before my dad got home from work because he would need to sleep.  Mrs. Estes would change our sheets, scrub the bathrooms, dust, do the laundry, and have our after school snacks ready for us when we got back home from school.  Sometimes she would even start supper...man, my mom sure did have it made!!  😉  We would go outside and play and she'd sit in the window and watch us as the neighborhood boys and girls would come over to start a game of kick ball, soccer, or play H.O.R.S.E. with the basketball.  We had a swingset, a playhouse, a sandbox, bicycles and tricycles, and a Big Wheel with a wagon hitch!  We loved to sit out by the huge honeysuckle bush and suck the "juice" out of the flowers.  It was a huge treat!!  Sometimes, we would climb the Pear tree and get on top of the garage...which, if you were even more brave than that...you would jump from the garage over to the playhouse roof which was about five or six feet across!  I have no idea what we were thinking...or why we were allowed to do such dangerous things...but we did...and we all survived!! LOL  Yep, we drank water from the garden hose, chewed on painted window seals and crib rails slathered with lead paint, we ran around barefoot, we put mercuricome (loaded with Mercury) on our scraped knees and elbows, and we probably ate lots of dirt with our grubby little hands we never washed prior to eating!  It sure is a wonder we're all living to tell about it!!

Back to Mrs. Estes...one of the most memorable moments I have of Mrs. Estes was that she always put my top sheet on upside-down when making my bed.  I remember every single time I got in my bed and that top sheet was upside-down...I would be totally annoyed!!  I don't even know why this bothered me, it isn't like I have OCD or anything!!  I'm pretty laid-back...normally...but for some reason, that was just something I just couldn't overlook.  I'd pull that sheet off and redo it...only to find it upside down again the next night!! lol  I would ask myself "what was wrong with Mrs. Estes?!"  "Couldn't she see that the colorful side of the sheet was facing down?!"  I later learned that the flat sheet was supposed to be like that...turned down or folded over so the pretty side WAS actually facing up once it was folded over...how was I to know that's what the ritzy people required of their bedding!!  I was only a little kid!

Oh, how I would love to have a "Mrs. Estes" in my life...and I wouldn't care one bit if the top sheet was on upside-down...or backwards...shoot, I wouldn't give a rip if the sheets didn't even match!!

RIP Mrs. Estes, we sure loved you!

The Demolition Derby

Our gang decided to go round up a car to enter into the demolition derby at the Crawford County Fair held in Girard, Kansas.  We knew the Chrysler Imperial was THE car to find for a demolition derby, but we also knew that particular car would be hard to come by.  We found the next best thing...the Chrysler Newport!!

We all worked on the car every night getting it ready for the fair.  We had to take out the glass, remove the chrome stripping, remove the gas tank and muffler amongst other things and find mud tires.  We got to paint our car, we went and got sponsors, and agreed on a number.  We had so much fun getting the car ready and determining who got to be the driver.  The guys drew straws and Kurt got to be the driver.  We had to purchase a helmet and get a trailer to haul the car over to the derby, which was about 9 miles away.  

After all the preparing and the big day finally arrived, we all headed to the fair with our demo car.  We sat there in lawn chairs all evening, some going over to the fair riding rides and others just walking around playing games or looking at all the 4-H animals.  When it was time to get ready for the derby, Kurt wasn't able to drive...and neither was Sam...neither was Junior...neither was Dummy...neither was Ralph...neither was Murray...and neither was Biancarelli!!  Who was going to drive the car in the derby?!  We had worked so hard getting the silly thing ready!  This was a guys race and all of our guys weren't able to drive!!!  Time was ticking so I threw on the helmet and hopped in the car!!  I ended up getting second place...only because my drive shaft fell off!!!  I really hated to have to break my stick signifying that my car was done. 😥

Needless-to-say, my mom wasn't a happy camper when she found out I drove the demo car!  She still gets annoyed when it gets brought up!! LOL  Fun times!

Neither of these cars were our demolition cars...but ours looked just like these two!!!

Grand Champion

Back in my 4-H days it wasn't uncommon for me to receive high marks on whatever project I entered in the Cherokee County fair.  I'm not trying to be "boastful" (a second-grader re-taught me that word a few weeks ago), but it was what it was!!  Since my pig-raising days were over (you'll read about Wilbur tomorrow), a one and done kind of deal, my life in 4-H turned to cooking, sewing, and collecting.

I decided that I would enter a sewing project.  I was ten-years-old and knew how to sew pretty well.  My grandmothers both quilted so they would let me hand-stitch quilt blocks and my mom had her Master's Degree in Home Economics and taught me how to sew easy stuff on her machine.  I already knew how to sew Prairie Points (they go around the outer edge of a quilt), patches, extensions on my dad's overalls (he was 6'4" and the shoulder straps were never long enough) and I helped make pillows, pillow cases, a few bibs, and even simple Barbie clothes.  When it was time to decide what to make for the fair, I told my mom I didn't want to make anything to wear, I wanted to make something I could use.

One day we were up town and I saw this cute little kitty pillow pattern in the window at The Sewing Box and I really wanted to make the pillow to put on my bed...back when I was required to make my bed!  We went inside the store and had Florence (not her real name) cut a pattern off the bolt and mom had me pick out some eyelet to go all the way around the cat-shaped pillow.  She thought it would be really cute.  I was super excited and the eyelet would add to the skill-level of getting each and every stitch perfect with no kinks or fold-overs.

As we were checking out at the register, there was a sign that read "Are you in 4-H?  Receive the Grand Champion Ribbon in Sewing at the fair and win this pair of Singer Scissors".  What a motivation tactic!  If you won Grand Champion, you also got money for your ribbon, you got to take your project to the Kansas State Fair AND win this pair of sewing scissors!  I was 10-years-old, I didn't need much motivation, but I really wanted to win those scissors for my mom because she sewed all the time.

Fair week came, the projects were entered, the judges began judging.  I had a specific time to bring my project in and sit with the judge so she could make notes about my sewing and give constructive criticism.  If you made clothes, you also had to model them.  That was another reason I didn't want to make clothes.  I'm not much on parading around in front of a bunch of strangers who are judging me!! LOL

After the judge was finished with my project, they displayed it in the 4-H building.  You had to wait all day to find out how you did.  Once we caught wind that the judging was complete, we all raced to the 4-H building to find our project to see how we did.  You can only imagine the look on people's faces when they saw what project won the Grand Champion purple ribbon.  Yes, you guessed it, my cute little kitty pillow with the white eyelet!  There were some really upset kids AND their parents.  Some had made three-piece suits, dresses or jackets.  Well EXCUSE ME for being the best little seamstress this side of the Mississippi!! LOL  I was so proud and these people were taking away from me this awesome moment.  I was going to get to take my pillow to the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson!  Mom had already talked about getting "Alabama" concert tickets because they were going to be playing at the fair and now we were going to get to go and experience the KANSAS STATE FAIR for the first time!  Also, my sister had entered our grandmother's recipe for Refrigerator Cookies (I know, it's a lame name) and had won Grand Champion too so she was getting to take her cookies to the state fair as well.  We were so pumped!

Sunday came and it was time to collect our projects and ribbons from the 4-H building...and let's not forget about my scissors from The Sewing Box!  I had mom take me by on Monday and I took in my ribbon to show Florence and Sally that I had won the Grand Champion with my sewing project.  Sally told me in her snippy voice that my project was far from being a real sewing project and that my mom was the one that probably sewed it anyway and that I was absolutely NOT getting the scissors!

I left The Sewing Box crying.  My mom asked me what was wrong when I got back in the car.  I told her that Mean Sally wouldn't give me my prize and I continued to tell my mom what she told me about mom being the one who sewed my project for me.  My mom turned the car off and told me to stay in the car.  I knew she was mad...not just mad, but furious.  She marched in the store and asked for the scissors.  Mean Sally wouldn't give them to her either.  My mom is the prim and proper type of individual who rarely has an unkind word to say about anybody...but after mom got back in the car, I knew without a doubt what she thought of Sally Litchfield! (not her real name)

It has been 40 years and I still have my Grand Champion pillow...everytime I look at it I chuckle to myself and remember that old bitty who wouldn't give a 10-year-old little girl her much earned and deserved pair of stupid scissors!!

The Grand Champion Kitty Pillow

Big Brutus

Big Brutus is the largest electric shovel in the world weighing in at a whopping 11 million pounds.  Built by a company in Hallowell, Kansas, Bucyrus-Erie, Brutus stood 16 stories tall with a boom that was 150 feet long and could scoop up enough coal to fill three railroad cars at one time!  Big Brutus would never make it in NASCAR tapping out with a top speed of .22 MPH!

Have you ever visited Big Brutus?  If you have not, you might pencil it in on your bucket list!  It is located in rural West Mineral, Kansas which is about 45 minutes from Webb City, Missouri.  I grew up a "coal miner's daughter" so I've always had a special place in my heart for Big Brutus.  He put food on our table, a roof over our heads, and clothes on our backs.  My dad worked as one of the operators of Big Brutus until April of 1974.  On that very sad day in April, dad finished his shift and crawled out of the operator's booth one last time as the Pittsburg and Midway Coal Mining Company shut down the mine citing it too costly to keep it going.  The other operator climbed up in the operator's booth and walked Brutus to where he sits today.

We spent many evenings visiting dad at the mine.  Mom would cook supper, we would eat, then she would load us kids up and drive out to the mine and take dad something to eat on many occasions.  The other men working the same shift were kind of jealous of dad getting a home-cooked meal and they opening up their dinner buckets to just a sandwich and potato chips so mom started sending three separate containers of whatever we had for supper!!

After the mine shut down, dad went to work for a friend that owned a construction company.  There he worked for several years and learned to be a master concrete pourer and finisher.  When dad heard that P & M had bought the Asbury, Missouri plant, he was able to go back to work as a coal miner once again.  He worked out at the Asbury plant until it closed in the 90's and was given a choice to move his family to Wyoming or New Mexico and work for P & M at either of those locations.  My dad didn't want to take his family clear across the country so we stayed and mom took a higher paying job transferring from teaching High School Home Economics at the Vocational-Technical School to teaching High School English.  Dad went to work for Empire swabbing toilets in the administrative building...low man on the totem pole.  After a year there, he was able to go right back out to the Asbury power plant doing the same thing he was doing before only making more money and eventually moving up the ladder to plant operator until his retirement.

Each year, Big Brutus has a reunion for former employees.  Dad never went in his earlier retirement years, but since life has moved on and probably wounds have healed, he has taken our family and his grandchildren out to Brutus to show us what he did and how Brutus worked.  One of the funniest things that one of the kids asked was "hey Grandpa, where'd you go to the bathroom at!?"  That was a good question because there was no bathroom on Brutus. 

When you walk into my parents home, the first thing you see in the entryway is a beautiful picture of Big Brutus sitting in front of the sun setting in the west.  Throughout the years, dad was given gifts for each accomplishment or big year of employment.  These gifts are scattered throughout the house on display or put up in a cabinet.  Big Brutus was good to our family and I think it is pretty awesome knowing that my dad's name is on the plaque in the Operator's Room as being one of the two operators of that giant beast that is known by many across the country as Big Brutus.

Muzzleloading Maniac

It's almost Easter everyone!  I used to date a guy that would buy me the most thoughtful gifts on holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions.  His name was Sam.

Who wouldn't love a guy that bought you gifts...right?!  Well, let me just say...I loved Sam for many reasons...but his creativity when purchasing gifts was just beyond!   I got a fancy Buck brand pocket knife, a Buck filleting knife, a knife sharpening kit with all the oils and stuff, an awesome sharpening stone, a Zebco 33 fishing rod and reel, too many fishing lures to mention, a camping lantern, a fly rod with many flies, a light-up Bobber for night-time fishing, a registered lop-eared rabbit I named Patrick that I trained to go in the litter box, huge Cerwin Vega speakers for our stereo and television (way before Bose surround sound became a thing), a Siberian Husky we named Zack, a Honda Odyssey, a Siamese cat we named Kitty, and last but not least...a muzzleloader! (Yes, I knew deep down that these gifts were all things that he really wanted...but I didn't care!!)

It was super fun to learn how to load the muzzle...loader.  Is it still a muzzleloader if you are loading it or just a muzzle?  I have no idea, but it was fun to wrap the silver ball in the cloth and measure out the black powder from the flask and try to aim and hit your target...then you had to do it all over again...one ball, one cloth, and one powder pour at a time.  I would often think of the Pilgrims trying to hunt with their blunderbusses or the matchlock muskets and try and bring back a turkey or a deer or some wild animal to feed their family.  It's a one and done deal with a muzzleloader...nail your target or head back to the house empty-handed!

After learning how to use the muzzleloader, we took it to the woods at my parents' house.  I climbed up in the tree next to Sam and waited...and waited...and waited for that big thirty-point buck to walk under our stand.  I secretly hoped...and hoped...and hoped that one wouldn't come.  I'm an animal lover and I just didn't want to shoot a beautiful deer.  I don't care if I was going to get to eat all the jerky a girl could ever want or the deer steaks or the deer chili...I did not want to kill a deer...and we didn't.

Several hours passed by and HE finally gave up!  I was smiling inside because my hopes were fulfilled.  I got to go back home empty-handed.  Take me back to the chat pile for target practice any day of the week, but sitting up in the tree stand...that wasn't for me.

                                      The Muzzleloading Maniac wearing hightop Reeboks!

The Froggin' and Catfishing Queen

Back in my college days, there were about twenty of us guys and gals that hung out together.  We would all meet at Dummy, Ralph and Junior's house after class or work and decide what we were going to do for the day, evening or night!  One big decision was dinner.  Sometimes we would all go out and other times we would all fix something and bring it over...like potluck.

We all went to concerts together, watched Chiefs football together back when they stunk themselves out of Kansas City, and we always went to the lake together.  My old boyfriend, Sam, had a 29' travel trailer that he pulled to jobs because he was a Union pipefitter.  I couldn't leave out the "Union" part because back then I wasn't allowed to purchase things that were not American-made and certainly couldn't associate with any "Scabs"!! LOL  Going to the lake on the weekends was great fun.  We would ski and fish throughout the daytime hours, sit around the campfire during the nighttime hours and come bedtime everyone would pile in the travel trailer to sleep, sleep in our cars or trucks, sleep around the campfire or bring tents of their own and sleep in them.  We bled the lake life on the weekends!

We took part in many activities together, way too many to mention.  One of many memorable moments was when we got to go froggin' and catfishing.  Why?  Because I was the queen at froggin' and catfishing!  Ralph and Junior had Jon boats and Sam had a Water Scamp.  We would go fishing quite often during the day, but catfishing and froggin' only took place at night.  It is funny to think back because anytime anyone wanted to go do something such as froggin' or catfishing, you just said the word and boom...everyone had the gear thrown in the vehicles and we were headed to the pits!  There was none of this "take several hours" to get ready stuff...ten minutes or less and we were in the vehicles headed to the "honey" spot!

You know how there's the Gunnery Sergeant of the Marines?  Well, I was the "Gunny" Sargeant of the Pits!  I didn't get to steer the trolling motor nor did I get to use the spotlight to blind the frogs and sneak grab them from behind...I was the "gunny" sack holder...the keeper of the frogs.  Oh, don't get me wrong, it was an important job...but I really wanted to move up the rankings to Spotlight Sergeant.  That desire didn't last long because the front man who held the spotlight was always the one getting rammed into the brush, skirted through the low-lying tree branches full of spider webs, AND the one time he mistakenly picked up a snake for a frog.  That was the straw that broke the camels back for me!  I don't do snakes.   Since I was the "Gunny" Sergeant, I was usually the one to bark out orders and directions (actually it was in a whisper so we wouldn't scare the frogs away) when it came to seeing frog eyes.  We would creep in with the spotlight directly on the frog.  Any movement or noise and you lose your frog to the pit.  Once we caught one, I would open the gunny sack and yell "INCOMING" because the frogs already caught in the bag would just sit there, quiet, with no movement whatsoever...but once a newcomer joined them, the bag would just get to hopping and stirring about like crazy lunatics...then they would settle down once again!  Going froggin' was a blast and writing about it makes me want to take my kids sometime and show them what fun it is.  Cleaning the frogs wasn't a blast at all.  I would go in the house when we got home and wait.  I didn't want to hear the "thud" of them beating the frog heads on the board and I didn't want to watch them cut the legs off and skin them.  Yes, I ate them...and yes,  frog legs taste like chicken.

Going catfishing was quite different than froggin'.  You didn't need the boats, but you did need bait...nasty bait.  Stink bait or chicken livers were what we used and they weren't lying when they named that nasty stuff stink bait because it stunk something terrible.  There could be no other name for stink bait other than stink bait!!  I would get the lanterns ready with the lantern oil and we would take snacks and drinks and lawnchairs and sit there and catfish til the wee hours of the morning.  We would line up our chairs on the banks of the pit.  I would try to NOT sit next to someone that couldn't cast their line.  I got whacked a time or two with a pole and that isn't any fun so I would always stand back and watch and then I would place my chair and snacks and bait because I learned...who NOT to sit by!!

Bringing home the catfish was exactly like the frogs...I would run in the house and wait for the guys to fillet them and pack them with salt and water in Ziploc bags and then we would freeze them until we decided to have a fish fry some other evening.

You've probably heard of the Carribean Queen...well, I was the "Crawford County Pits Froggin' and Catfishing Queen"...that has a better ring to it I think!  Anybody want to go catfishing or froggin'?!

Wisdom Teeth Woes

I need to get my wisdom teeth taken out, but I cannot bring myself to go get it done...everyone that reads my blog or knows me well should know why.  It will be a given that I will faint!

I have needed to get my wisdom teeth out for quite some time.  I know that when I had a car wreck in 1986 my dentist told my mom that I should think about having that done...it's been 32 years of thinking and my bottom teeth are crooked now so I'm thinking it's time.  What is stopping me you might ask?  Here are all the reasons:

1.  I will have to bite down gently but firmly on the gauze packs...I can just hear the gristle of my flapping gums.  Oh dear.

2.  I'm not supposed to disturb the surgical area on the first day. I should NOT rinse vigorously or PROBE the area with any OBJECTS. (Who would do this?!) I may brush my teeth gently. Smoking will retard healing, causing increased discomfort and increased chance of dry sockets.  I don't even smoke, but just the word, sockets, makes me cringe...sockets....Lord help me!

3.  I should brush my teeth the night of surgery...are you kidding me?!  Aren't there stitches and swelling and painful stuff going on back there?

4.  I should be careful going from the lying down position to standing. I could get light headed when I stand up suddenly.  Here we go...gonna pass out again.  If they have to tell you about it, then it's going to happen!

5.  Bleeding will occur after surgery, and it is not uncommon to ooze blood for 24-48 hours after surgery. Keep in mind that oral bleeding represents a little blood and a lot of saliva. Placing a gauze pack over the area and biting firmly will control bleeding. If oozing is still active, replace gauze as needed every 30-45 minutes.  I CANNOT do this. Period.  Gag.

6.  Bleeding should never be severe. If bleeding remains uncontrolled, please call our office.  I might as well just die.

7.  Swelling.  I'm going to look like I have the mumps or even elephantiasis!! 

8.  You should fill two zipper-lock bags with crushed ice. Cut a pair of pantyhose at the thigh and slide both ice bags halfway down the leg (to the knee area). Tie the ends of the pantyhose on top of the patients head and adjust ice to sides of face over surgical sites.  I can't see doing this AT ALL.  I got lost after reading the word pantyhose.

9.  Unfortunately most Wisdom Teeth Removal is accompanied by some degree of discomfort. You will usually have a prescription for pain medication. I don't do pills and the word discomfort is scary.  

10.  Confine the first days intake to liquids or pureed foods (soups, puddings, yogurt, milkshakes, etc.) Avoid chewing food until tongue sensation has returned. What?!!  My tongue will be dead?  It is best to avoid foods like rice, nuts, sunflower seeds, popcorn, etc., which may get lodged in the socket areas. Here we are with the socket talk again!  

11.  Nausea and vomiting can occur as a result of swallowed blood, discomfort, anesthesia or pain medicines. Ugh! I might as well start vomiting right now.

12.   The development of black, blue, green or yellow bruising.  Beginning 36 hours after the surgery, moist heat applied to the area may speed up resolution of the discoloration.  I'm going to look like an overly-ripe banana.

13.  If I feel something hard or sharp edges in the surgical areas, it is likely I am feeling the bony walls which once supported the extracted teeth. Occasionally small slivers of bone may work themselves out during the following week or so.   I CAN'T.  I am already sick to my stomach and woozy thinking this could even happen to me.

So, the biggest question of the day...who is going to volunteer to go with me and hold my hand and pick me up off the floor when I pass out?  These above reasons are maybe all of the reasons I have for putting off having my wisdom teeth taken out...not to mention when they gas you, total ridiculousness comes out of your mouth...I have no idea what I might say...maybe that is my biggest worry!! Who knows!?!

One of these days I will quit being a big baby and go have this procedure done...until then I'm up for any suggestions, opinions, Do's and Don'ts, etc.

Killing Snakes is NOT ALLOWED!!!

I had a dream the other night...unfortunately it was about a spitting Cobra snake and it was red.  Not your average burnt red color you would normally find on a reptile, but fire engine red.

We were somewhere near a creek or small river with trees lining the banks on one side.  I don't even know who "we" are because I really never saw who I was with in my dream.  The other side of the small river or creek had something similar to river rocks where you could drive or walk.  Some pebbles of some sort.  People could also have picnics along the bank because there were plenty of tables scattered here and there.  Also, many people just seemed to be laying out in the sun in chaise lounge chairs...kind of like a beach.

We were buzzing along the bank in our truck when all of a sudden this big, huge, gigantic (it was really large) red snake that was as big as an anaconda or python raised up off the branches of several trees where it had been basking in the sun.  It started thrashing this way and that, striking anything that moved down and wrapping itself around cars and people and squeezing.  It was like it had tentacles...many tentacles like an octopus, but this was a cobra snake like no one had ever seen and it was irate!

That's all I remember!

Speaking of snakes...did you know it is illegal in Kansas and Missouri to kill a snake?  Yes, it most certainly is.  Snakes are protected...no matter the kind...venomous or not.  A person must feel threatened with their life in order to be able to legally kill a snake.  Go ahead, look it up!  I learned this fact from the ranger at the Missouri Conservation Nature Center in Springfield and from the ranger at the Kansas Conservation Nature Center in Galena.

So, the moral to the story is...if a fire engine red spitting cobra with tentacles starts squeezing you to death...you have permission to kill it.  But, if you just happen to SEE the fire engine red spitting cobra basking in the sun on some tree branches, you must leave it alone!

Happy snakey dreams!

Arthur Fonzarelli

I have always been a Happy Days fan and probably watched every episode more than once over the years. The show aired from 1974-1984 which would have been from the time I was 7 to 17 years old...my prime years of watching family sitcoms. I fell in love with the Happy Days because of Arthur Fonzarelli and his younger cousin, Chachi. Anson Williams wasn’t all that bad, but the name “Potsie” just did’t ever settle well with me!! LOL I used to purchase Teen Beat and Tiger Beat magazines so I could pull out the posters of Scott Baio, who played Chachi, and tape them to my wall amongst many other teen heartthrobs at that time...Shaun Cassidy, Andy Gibb of the Bee Gees, Parker Stevenson, Leif Garrett, and Willie Aames to name a few.

Arthur Fonzarelli had a few nicknames such as “The Fonz” or “Fonzie”. We’ve even had a custodian who had the nickname of “Fonz” because he had really nice 80’s-style feathered hair! Fonzie was cool, he rode a motorcycle, he would never admit to being wrong, and he would always greet you with a “Heeeeyyyyyyy” and two thumbs up! The actor who played Fonzie is Henry Winkler.

Henry Winkler has performed in many movies...Waterboy, Click, and Holes (based on the book by Louis Sachar) to name a few. He also produced the 80’s favorite, MacGyver.

Not only was the Fonz an excellent actor, but he has also written books for children. If you’ve never picked up one of his books, try the Hank Zipzer series about a boy who has dyslexia. Winkler is also dyslexic, but he was not diagnosed until he was 31 years old!

Soooo, “Sit on it” guys and gals...and have a “Perfectamundo” kind of day!

Symphony in the Flint Hills

Have you ever driven through the Flint Hills of Kansas?  If you haven't, you are missing out.  The largest area is in and around Manhattan.  For being called "flatlanders", Kansas really does have some beautiful areas that can take your breath away.  This particular area, called the Flint Hills or historically known as the Blue Stem Pastures, is named for the abundant residual flint eroded from the bedrock that lies near or at the surface.

Symphony in the Hills is a huge event that takes place in June each year.  It originated as a birthday celebration for the rancher of the Matfield Green to heighten the appreciation and knowledge of the tallgrass prairie.   She invited the public to her celebration event where she had a symphony concert out on the prairie hoping for a magical union of the symphonic music and the prairie landscape.  Over 3,000 guests attended.  Now, getting ready for the 2018 event, over 7,000 guests from all over the world are expected to be in attendance.

I have wanted to attend this unique event for several years.  I just can't imagine how beautiful and how peaceful this event must be.  It is in Rosalia, which is about 2 hours from where I live.

                                      

Yellow Isn't So Mellow

I don't know why, but I have never EVER liked the color YELLOW!  I don't know what there is about it that I don't like.  It is my sister's favorite color...her bedroom was even yellow.  Mom would buy us clothes and it would never fail...she would buy my sister a purple shirt and me a yellow one!  Ugh.  She knows my favorite color is purple...why was my room purple and my sister's yellow???

Yellow reminds me of urine.  I don't care for yellow cars...I really get annoyed just looking at them on the roadways.  Sorry if you own a yellow car...I don't care for yellow houses, yellow dogs or yellow cats.  I've tried to like them, but yellow is simply unsuitable.  I used to always choose red apples over yellow ones and pink lemonade over regular.  I would never buy a yellow toothbrush, comb or soap and certainly never a yellow bottle of shampoo!

Yellow squash makes me turn up my nose and so do yellow peppers.  I love corn and pineapple though.

Yellow signifies a coward or deceit.  Yellow-bellied also means a coward.  Here are other words that are associated with yellow:

lemon
yellow ocher
golden
cream
mustard
mellow yellow

Do any of the words above even sound half-way cool?  Only one.  It is definitely only half-way cool...Mellow Yellow is a pretty laid-back term, but I just can't like it because yellow is attached!  Yellow ocher?  That sounds hideous.  Cream?  Ew!  Mustard is just a gross-sounding word even though I like mustard on my hotdog.  Yellow.  What if the Beatles sang about living in a Purple Submarine?  Wouldn't that have been better?!  Yellow.  I dislike yellow.  Yellow is oh so smelly-O and ugly-O!

Life in the Self-Checkout Lane

Do you think the online shopping companies are looking more and more inviting? Maybe?

I don’t care if I’m shopping for groceries, shoes, birthday gifts, clothes, cars, or through the entire mall full of variety...I just cannot seem to find the love for shopping. A bookstore is different so no comparisons. I don’t “shop” for books, I touch them, smell them, read some blurbs, and douse myself into the world of books...unlike shopping.

I was quite fascinated one day...not while at work though😜...when Abbi ordered her groceries at Wal-Mart through an app. She just pulled up to the Neighborhood at Stone’s Corner and parked and they brought her bags of groceries to her...WOW! I also had my interests peaked when Jodi bought some clothes through Stitch Fix...SIGN ME UP!!! I was also in wonder when I first saw the Wayfair commercial...I do need a new couch I said to myself as the commercial finished playing in its entirety...I’m still searching for the perfect couch for my front living room that nobody hangs out in...but hey, I painted the room and redecorated so I feel obligated to purchase a new couch! Amazon is just simply amazing and has almost everything anyone could ever ask for...except for the Lisa Frank Reeboks I thought I wanted because of Nellie having a Lisa Frank sweatshirt...and I do have Prime making it a total “shopping” experience. But then this happened...

SELF CHECKOUTS!!!!  I’m almost sorry to admit that I did feel a hint of a thrill...almost pure ‘ecstaticness’ (is ecstaticness even a word) when Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Dillons (in Pittsburg) installed the “self-checkout” stations! I was so pumped to march in and use those self-checkout stations because I used to work at a grocery store and a convenience store during my college days and I absolutely LOVED checking out people! Beep, beep, beep...the lovely sound of the scanner...I was THE Master in the checkout stand!! If there was an "Employee of the Week", month or year back then...this girl would have gotten that plaque!  I was the fastest and friendliest and could even beat the bag boy sacking up all the groceries!  I couldn’t wait to reminisce down memory lane during each trip to one of these three stores...I was going to “GET” to check my own self out!

Hold up...wait just one minute...I was going to “GET” to check my own SELF out...hmmmmm, let us think on that statement for just a moment…

1. Last I checked, I work for the school system. I am paid by Webb City R-7 Schools.

2. I do not receive a paycheck or any kind of compensation from Wal-Mart or Dillons or Home Depot. Checking out my own groceries AND sacking them up are jobs their employees get paid to do. Why would I work for free?!

3. By these stores installing “self-checkout” stations, they have gotten rid of approximately 20 check-out aisles and probably the people that used to be operating the cash registers in those 20 check-out aisles because they are no longer needed. Positions are being “phased out” and they are replacing the former employees with people who work for free...you and I!!

4. “But I only have two or three items”...they say...that’s the “hook” or the gimmick...people are so impatient these days they will work for free.

NO THANK YOU! I will stand in line instead. There are enough jobless and homeless people in our world and I refuse to contribute to the cause.

Standing down now.

Bubba Gump Pumpkin

I don't know about you, but Forrest Gump is one of my all-time favorite movies.  It isn't my number one movie, but it ranks way up towards the top on my MOVIE list.

Another thing that ranks way up towards the top of a list and that would be my FLAVOR list is PUMPKIN!  And in the words of Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue..."Shrimp is the Fruit of the Sea"sooooo...in the words of Julie Suzanne "Stover" King... "Pumpkin is the Vegetable of the Garden"!!!

There are so many ways to eat or drink pumpkin just as Bubba said there was of fixing shrimp...  

"You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it."  

Let's see now...I've never barbecued pumpkin, nor have I boiled or broiled pumpkin.  I have, however, toasted pumpkin SEEDS!! I've baked pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cake and pumpkin pie.  I do love me some pumpkin cheesecake.  

There are pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bars, pumpkin swirl loaf and pumpkin tarts.  Pumpkin spice lattes are sure tasty, especially with a pumpkin spice waffle.  Pumpkin pie concretes, shakes, malts, blizzards, blasts and even a pumpkin freeze would be delish! 

Pumpkin yogurt and pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin breakfast bake topped with pumpkin butter.  Pumpkin pudding, pumpkin custard, pumpkin dip, pumpkin Rice Krispy treats, pumpkin candy, pumpkin ice-cream, pumpkin sherbet, pumpkin spice coffee cream and yummy pumpkin fudge. 

Pumpkin candles, pumpkin diffusers, pumpkin Scentsy, pumpkin waxes, pumpkin air fresheners, pumpkin oils, pumpkin wallflowers, pumpkin spray, pumpkin sachets...that, that's about it...

Wait...wouldn't pumpkin scented trash bags be all the craze?  I'd buy like 35 boxes...I shall write to Hefty and Glad 💁

Pumpkin and Spice and more Pumpkin makes everything oh so nice!

Fainting and Goats

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been prone to fainting and blacking out!  The first time I fainted was when I went to Dr. Ruth Wilcox, our pediatrician, and she pricked my finger to test the iron in my blood.  Plop!  There I went, straight to the floor!  After several trips to the pediatrician and anytime there was blood involved or any visits to the hospital, I was always being shaken and awakened by patting of my cheeks and a cold compress to the forehead.  Yep, welcome to my life as a fainter!

As I got a little older, maybe 8 years old through 10, I used to black out each time I caught wind that my mom was leaving town for a conference.  I am laughing as I write this because I was never emotionally bothered by the fact that my mom was going out of town without us.  As you read in a previous blog, my grandmas were awesome and I loved going to stay with them so there was no reason for me to be "blacking out"!  None of us knew why at the time, but as I got older, the fainting and blacking out persisted.  My mom thought I was anemic so she took me to "Dr. Ruth" again and they pricked my finger, once again, and there you have it...I was lying on the floor.  It took years and many experiences to control my fainting.  I can laugh about it now, but at the time, it wasn't funny.  It was serious and very scary!  If I were the dramatic type, my parents would have probably gone bonkers because the fainting happened so frequently.  I didn't know what was causing my fainting or why it was happening, but we just thought it was part of me like my hand or foot!!  We tried to narrow down the causes and figured out that most of the fainting was caused by the sight of blood, trauma, accidents, anything where I tried to imagine in my mind how the accident happened and all the gory details which in turn threw me into a panic and then, it would never fail, I would faint. 

My senior year of high school, I took Government which was taught by Mr. Tom Goettel.  He was a huge believer in taking his 18-year-old students to sign up to vote.  We walked down to the courthouse twice.  Once in the fall and once in the spring so that we who turned 18 years old could register to vote.  He was also a huge believer in donating blood when the blood mobile was in town.  I could never donate blood and still to this day have never donated blood because I know what will happen.  I'm starting to get worked up thinking about it.  It is a wonder that I was able to give birth to four children without passing out!!

Fainting is just bazaar...I had to throw "bazaar" into my blog because it is my chosen word of the week!  Bazaar is fainting...how does a person just pass out and not die?  That was the question I so often wondered when I was younger.  These fainting episodes were sometimes funny...after I was older and could tell whomever ahead of time that there was a possibility that I would faint...the looks I would get and the reactions were priceless!  Like that one time...at the eye doctor...when I fainted the first time I got contacts.  And that one time I fainted when I took my dog to the vet and I made the mistake of watching the needle go into her body when she was getting her shots and Boom...on the floor I went!  And how about that one time I fainted because I watched a colt being born.  Yikes!  And the one time I fainted when my niece was in a horrible head-on car accident because the other driver was texting.  I was helping my sister take care of Bethany, her daughter, at Children's Mercy because her husband was in the Overland Park hospital and her son, Will, was in another room at Children's Mercy.   Bethany was getting ready to take a breathing treatment because one of her lungs had collapsed and she wanted me to hold her hand while she took her treatment as it was very painful.  I started out doing well, but eventually had to kneel down beside her bed as my neck became all clammy...still holding her hand though...then I had to put my head down on her bed while kneeling...and then, the moment you have all been waiting for...I was gone!  I felt like a weak, weak aunt let me tell ya!  Not the rock star demeanor I was used to displaying!  How about the time I was washing dishes at my grandmother's house.  She had to place a step stool in front of the sink so I could actually reach the dishes to wash them...for whatever reason...thud!  Down I went!  Heck, I even try to faint when someone is telling a story about something bloody or some medical procedure...I have to ask them to stop or simply walk away.  I know, I'm a wimp! 

But then there was this other time I got sent to the principal's office as a sophomore in high school during Biology class because I wouldn't let my teacher prick my finger.  We were studying blood types.  I told him I would pass out and he didn't believe me.  He told me I would get an F and I told him I didn't care so he sent me to the office.  The principal called my mom over the intercom...yes, my mom taught Home Economics in high school at that time...and he asked my mom if she could come to the office that there was a little problem with Julie.  Mom came right over and the principal told her I wasn't cooperating with Mr. Young in Biology.  She asked him what I was doing and he told her it wasn't what I was doing, it was what I refused to do.  Mr. Leake, our principal, told her that Mr. Young was pricking fingers determining blood types and that I told Mr. Young he couldn't prick mine or I would pass out.  My mom had my back because she knew that would be EXACTLY what would happen.  She told Mr. Leake..."if you want to pick her up off the floor, go ahead and prick her finger!"  Needless-to-say, Mr. Leake sent me back to class with a note excusing me from that finger-pricking activity.  I don't think Mr. Young was very happy with me, but I was not going to embarrass myself and pass out in front of my classmates like a fainting goat does when they panic!

I haven't passed out in many years, but I have had "near misses" many times!  I have had to "suit up" and face some of the things that trigger a black out or fainting episode!!  I've learned what to do when I feel my neck start to become clammy and my stomach starts having the butterfly feelings floating about.  I have come to the conclusion that I have anxiety and/or panic attacks.  I've never been to the doctor to be diagnosed officially so I guess you could say that I self-diagnosed!  I am glad it seems my anxiety and/or panic attacks are very mild. I mean, I'd hate to be mistaken for a fainting goat...but then again, being a G.O.A.T. isn't quite so bad. (Greatest of all time) 😜

Fainting Goat

Another Fainting Goat

Dr. Ruth Wilcox...the only female doctor in her class!

G.O.A.T.

Tony the Tiger

TONY THE TIGER

Planning for our Summer School session is happening...right now...where teachers get together and plan out what we feel are the best classes ever and the most fun field trips.  Creating fun classes isn't a hard feat, but planning out the field trip is like a nightmare!  We sit around our planning circle and beat our heads against the wall trying to come up with an inexpensive AND fun day for our students.  Lots of questions buzz around the room like: "What do kids like to do for fun?"  "Would they think this field trip would be fun because I think it would be fun?"  "I think this would be lame, do you think it's lame?"  "How much would it cost us to take 300 kids to this place or that place?"  The questions are endless and as we narrow down the one place we would like to take our students, we STILL HAVE TO GET IT APPROVED!!!!  

Tuesday was the big meeting after school and I think we have our classes and field trip decided upon and we are so hoping our trip is approved. We want to take our students to The Planetarium at Pittsburg State University!  I cannot wait!  I haven't been to the planetarium since I was in grade school!

Back when I first started teaching summer school, the fieldtrips were planned out for us.  We didn't have to do anything but create the most awesome lesson plans ever and show up for the month of summer school and teach them!!  

One year, our theme was "Biomes".  Our group chose 'The Grasslands' while other groups chose the rainforest or the prairie and so forth.  We taught anything and everything there was to know about the Grasslands in a week's time. The most awesome treat that summer school session was that Tony the Tiger came to school for a special visit.  Looking back, I have no idea how Dr. Cooper pulled this off, but it was the most fascinating experience we could have ever had with our students.  Nobody got to touch Tony, but the students did get to ask as many questions about Tony and tigers as they wanted. I imagine Tony's owner was happy to get the heck out of Webb City!!

Thank you Dr. Cooper for giving me this experience...I've never forgotten it.

Me and Tony