Throwback Thursday

For this Throwback Thursday I remember Mr. Hultgren.  He was my 6th grade teacher.  He was an old but long and lean glass of water.  His voice was deep and thunderous with an old man scratch to it. He taught me the words gestalt!  And gesundheit!  He loved to use German words in class. 

Edgewood Elementary is where I spent 5th and 6th grades.  It was a nice school in a great neighborhood.  We had a lot of cool playground toys.  And yes we had a cement playground area not the rubber ones or wood-chipped ones of today. We had this one really cool apparatus.  It was a huge round metal swing set with a great big blue ball that hung from the top center beam on a chain. That was the toy of choice.  We had to have a sign up list to get to play on it.  Everyone would swing and kick that ball around.  It was GREAT!  Then someone stole it...  We didn't need a sign up list after that. Mr. Hultgren would say that they must have needed it more than we did.  

I met some memorable kids that year, Dotty Linsemeyer, Joy Buckingham, Lori Marriott, and Mark.  I don't remember Mark's last name, but he was one of those boys who had facial hair already.  I stayed away from him.  I can still feel his eyes looking at me.  Made you feel dirty.  I think he had a lot of sex, even at 12. 

Sixth grade was one of my favorites.  Ah, Throwback Thursday, remembering the good ol' days.

Aunt Thelma rides again

Emmy is working on her photography project and has our dining room all askew.  And funny enough Aunt Thelma is here.  How do you say? It's a fruit themed project. Each photo has to have a word associated with it. Em picked strawberries. And everyone knows Strawberries = Jello = Family.  Every holiday; every year. 

I still remember the crying when she came flying down the hallway at my grandma's house without her wiglet on and scared us.  She didn't have a lot of hair and we didn't recognize her.  She was so ahead of her time.  Now wigs are all the rage. 

I am sure Aunt Thelma is smiling.  She lives on through her great, great niece's artwork. 

Penance

Sometimes you are given certain opportunities to help you see things you didn't before.  If you are lucky enough, you realize it and use it to make yourself a better person. 

Lets hope I am seeing the signs properly and will use this information to not only improve myself, but to give back to others. 

As the water falls from the sky, I am learning to dance in the rain. 

Peace out my homies 

Please put my teeth back

I had braces when I was 12.  And I haves braces again. My orthodontist used to be a professional football player.  He is a great guy. 

Today he asked me when I wanted them off.  Since I can't hit my daughter's wedding, I said by Christmas. This is well ahead of schedule, but he said "okay."

I should have more fully evaluated the impact of my response.  I am certain he used all his strength to pull my teeth out of my head and replace them with straighter ones. 

Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration, but I would like my previous teeth returned.  I can't even eat jello with these. 

Christmas better be f$@&ing amazing...

Uncle Wilmer

I received a call this week that my cousin Chris passed away.  I hadn't seen him in many years, but instantly thoughts of his father came to my mind - Uncle Wilmer.

Uncle Wilmer was an interesting man.  He never showed up to dinner on time and always left as dessert began...but he never left without a piece of cake in his hand.

His favorite was my little brother Darren.  Uncle Wilmer didn't know sign language but they could always communicate.  They had their own personal language.  He visited Darren on the night of his death, that I know for sure.

He was the original Leroy Jethro Gibbs.  By that I mean he was building a boat in his basement.  I always wondered how he would get it out and to this day I don't know the answer to that.  

He worked years at Carson Pirie Scott and there was a place downtown too.  He sold suits.  He always wore a suit.  He had many very expensive suits.  He was a well dressed man.  I remember visiting him and my Aunt Dorothy was a seamstress there.  

Rest In Peace Chris and I hope you have already seen Uncle Wilmer.

Look at that tongue

That is the tongue of a happy dog.  Isn't it fun to see how a simple little walk makes a dog so happy.  I wish we could all be satisfied so easily.  

This has been a long week.  It started really rough, but by the grace of God it has ended really strong. I was asked early this week if I appreciated a certain something from my past.  After having that conversation, I had the strength to do the things I needed to and I have made some great connections with people.  I have experienced the best of people for the last several days.  I guess you could say I have a happy tongue too.  

Let the weekend begin,  Junior has already left to go enjoy it.

You wanna do what?!

So when you have 5 weeks until your daughter's wedding, the last thing I think of doing is hand creating wedding invitations.  However the gene pool created by my husband and I, meaning our kids, clearly believe that is what you should do.

Erica said what she was thinking and Em created the look.  Then came the putting together of the pieces.

That's when, as my friend Vashti says, they were in a fight.

Nothing like the pressure of a wedding to bring sisters together (that was sarcasm).

Well tonight all seems back to normal.  I hope we don't all freak out before the magical date.

Stay tuned my friends....