Taking down the Tree and reliving the memories

It's time, again, to take Christmas and wrap it back up in the boxes until next time.  Our tree is filled with ornaments that were handmade or have sentimental value.  We also have an ornament for each year...we are missing a few but for the most part they are there. I have several that the girls made throughout their childhood and in girls scouts, each one reminding me of them at that particular age.  Others were made my mother when she was big into cross stitching on plastic canvas.  I also have quite a few that were my grandparents that hung on my parent's tree when I was I growing up...makes me remember the times with them.  Of course, there are new ones that we have acquired over the years and from gifts.  Each one has a memory and when I put them up I recall those memories and smile.

Today, when I was taking the ornaments off the tree I held each one and thought of all the memories they had and wondered if my girls would do that when they have homes and trees of their own. They don't seem interested in assisting in the decorating of the tree or house and when I remind them of an ornament, they tend to listen but their mind is not there.

Does their generation not care about the history of their family or the memories of it all?  Are they too into their technology to stop and think about the past?

I guess I am being sentimental today.  Heck, I have been that way since Valerie started college.  Empty nest is still in full swing.

Later this month, I will be taking on the task of clearing out some boxes of items that I saved from their school years.  Organizing them and protecting them a bit better than they are.  I guarantee I will be using some tissues and will be texting or calling the girls to say...Remember this....OR...I can't believe we saved this...

Reliving memories is what keeps our history alive...I hope my girls do the same to their families in the future.

Taking down the Tree and reliving the memories

It's time, again, to take Christmas and wrap it back up in the boxes until next time.  Our tree is filled with ornaments that were handmade or have sentimental value.  We also have an ornament for each year...we are missing a few but for the most part they are there. I have several that the girls made throughout their childhood and in girls scouts, each one reminding me of them at that particular age.  Others were made my mother when she was big into cross stitching on plastic canvas.  I also have quite a few that were my grandparents that hung on my parent's tree when I was I growing up...makes me remember the times with them.  Of course, there are new ones that we have acquired over the years and from gifts.  Each one has a memory and when I put them up I recall those memories and smile.

Today, when I was taking the ornaments off the tree I held each one and thought of all the memories they had and wondered if my girls would do that when they have homes and trees of their own. They don't seem interested in assisting in the decorating of the tree or house and when I remind them of an ornament, they tend to listen but their mind is not there. At least that is what I think.  I have to admit throughout the years they have listened and even brought up memories on their own.

Treasure your memories and share them often....they do listen.

Does their generation not care about the history of their family or the memories of it all?  Are they too into their technology to stop and think about the past?

I guess I am being sentimental today.  Heck, I have been that way since Valerie started college.  Empty nest is still in full swing.

Later this month, I will be taking on the task of clearing out some boxes of items that I saved from their school years.  Organizing them and protecting them a bit better than they are.  I guarantee I will be using some tissues and will be texting or calling the girls to say...Remember this....OR...I can't believe we saved this...

There is something about taking the tree down that reminds me

The day the Opossum came to visit

Time for a good laugh.

Go back to about 1988 and in Blytheville, Arkansas....

Mark and I were married about 3 years at this time and he was stationed at the Air Force base there and at this time we were living in a trailer...it was a very nice one...it actually had the prefab curtains (very very nice ones!) and it came mostly furnished.  We had our own stuff so whatever we didn't need the landlord removed.  The trailer was a 3 bedroom and it was just us two but the price was perfect for us.  The master bedroom was at the front of the trailer with the living room and front door next to that and then the kitchen and the rest of the place.  At this particular time, Mark was working swing shift and usually went to the gym afterwards and would be home about 1:00 am.  I was in college at the time and had exams the next day so I went to bed.  I don't know what time it was but I woke to hearing this scratching noise and thought it was Mark coming in scratching the wall to find the light switch.  When I called out "Hey you're home early" and got no response except for more scratching I got out of bed and went to the bedroom door and turned the light on in the living room....saw this HUGE Fuzzy Thing...did I mention HUGE! I screamed and it just looked at me from the middle of the living room.  I jumped on the couch which was two feet from where I was standing.  I screamed more.  The Fuzzy thing looked at me more intensely.  I screamed and saw the phone...way way way WAY across the room. I jumped on the coffee table...and screamed again.  The Fuzzy Thing now looked at me and I swear it was smiling and it was saying "See my sharp teeth" I knew I did not want to touch the floor at all costs.  I was much skinnier in those days and more apt to be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Ok...it was a leap over the other side of the room to the chair.  I did just that.  The Fuzzy Thing ran to my bedroom.  OMG I was dying.  I called the gym and asked to speak to Airman Kerhin, I told them he was probably in the racketball courts.  He comes on the phone and below is the conversation we had (yes I remember this VERBATIM):

Mark:  Hello

Me; YOU NEED TO COME HOME NOW.  THERE IS A FUZZY HUGE THING IN MY HOUSE AND I WANT IT GONE NOW

Mark: Calm down, it's just a mouse

(we have had field mice in the house, I know what one looks like and I have caught several)

Me: IT IS NOT A MOUSE.  COME HOME NOW. ITS HUGE.  BIG. GET IT OUT.

Mark: ok ok I am on my way.

 

So I jump my way back to the couch and to the front door.  I grabbed Mark's jacket and tennis shoes (size 10) and sat outside in the chilly winter Arkansas air...it was about 35 lol.

About 20 min later, Mark comes home and asks why I am outside in the cold.  I said, "cause there is a HUGE FREAKIN FUZZY THING IN MY HOUSE"

He slowly opens the door and the words from his mouth were "oh shit, what the hell"

Uh huh, tell me it is a field mouse now.

He comes out about 5 min later with this Huge Fuzzy Thing in a laundry basket and by this time I am now sitting in the car with the doors locked LOL.

He takes the Thing over and lets him loose behind the fenced in field.  I get out of the car and asked him what it was ...he tells me it was an opossum.  I said Holy crap!  Upon our investigation, we found were it came in.  The landlord was working on our bathtub piped earlier and had taken the skirt off of the trailer.  If you know how trailers are set up, you know that in one of the bedroom closets near the bathroom was a panel and behind it was the pipes...the pipe that comes in from outside was not covered and you could see outside...and it was big enough for the Huge Fuzzy Thing to get in and visit me.  Also, if you know anything about trailers, they have huge storm windows that you place over the windows in the colder weather.  Well, we took one and barricaded us in so to speak.

The next day, Mark was due to go TDY for the Air Force, he would be gone for a couple of weeks.  I was not going to spend another night in this place until the landlord fixed the hole and put the skirt back on.  So that day and night, I stayed at our friends' house.  The landlord fixed everything and I was back in...but you can bet I barricaded myself in at night until Mark came home LOL.

Tell me about a critter you have had in your house!

 

Favorite Teacher

With the upcoming Graduation at the college I work for some of the graduates came to pick up their cap & gowns and they always ask if their teacher is there.  They want to thank them, hug them, show them the cap & gown and just listen to the teacher (or anyone there) say "Way to Go!" They are ecstatic to be graduating.  For some, it has been a very long and challenging road, others not so much.  All of this has made me think of some of the teachers that made an impact on my life over the years.

My really first teacher that I remember was Mrs. Ridenour  from Hooverville Elementary...she really didn't start out to be a favorite but in the end she was pretty cool.  I remember her yelling at me for "talking" all. the.time.  Back in the elementary school day, you got O, S, or N on your report card.  I always got a N for talking too much and a N for Gets along with others.  She explained to me one day that if I kept talking all the time I would miss something she was teaching and it may be something I need in third grade or on a test.  By the end of the year I deemed her the "bestest teacher, ever!"

I moved after that year and had to go to a new Elementary school and would be in Summitview until I was ready to enter the world of junior high.  I remember this next teacher, not because she was my favorite, but because she told my parents something that I got into major trouble for.  I remember not many liked this teacher and I was no exception!  Mrs. Snowberger.  Man, she busted me at a parent/teacher conference.  You see, I told the class and her, that I had a sister that lived in Japan. So at said conference she asked my parents how their daughter was doing.  They looked at me, at her and each other and said to Mrs. Snowberger, "You tell us!"  The teacher, simply said this - "No, I mean your daughter that lives in Japan." Well, the look I got from my mother was the one you dread...you know the one..."wait till I get you home, you won't sit down for a week" look.  I had to come clean.  In the end, Mrs. Snowberger did me a favor. I wanted a brother or sister so my parents thought on this - and - got me a cat. Twinkles was with me till I moved and got married.  She hated me when I came home to visit after that, I left her after all. Bet my sister in Japan wouldn't hate me for leaving.

Mr. Porter was  next.  Sixth grade.  He taught me a life lesson with math.  Also had the biggest afro ever. I hated math. Word problems especially.  He enthusiastically told me, "Lisa, if you don't know how to do simple word problems, you will NOT succeed in life. Life is one BIG word problem." What the heck! I was 12!  Crushed me.  BUT I proved him wrong.  I learned those stupid problems and have succeeded in life pretty darn well. He was also the only elementary teacher I ever saw use the holy paddles on a kid in class.  Another life lesson learned there too.

Junior high, there were several that I have fond memories of...yep can't remember their names. Junior high wasn't fun.  Although, it is where I met my husband hehehe.  Oh one teacher, who I can't recall but taught science, taught me to say the word aluminum..up until that point, it was tin foil to me.

High school - Wow..this is tough.  No real top favorites but several ties.  The coolest, weirdest teacher had to be Mrs. McCormick, Spanish.  She taught us to curse in Spanish.  Mr. Ireland, well biology was fun as he was nice to look at!  Mrs. Glover was tough...she taught Marketing and Typing. My neck still hurts from her twisting my head to the "type" not the typewriter.  "Look at the print, not the machine."  I still catch myself hearing her say that in my head when I am typing.  Ms. White had me loving accounting so much that I wanted to be an accountant and did major in it in college at first too. Mrs. Hammond caught my attention every day in math...still hated the subject but she made it tolerable.   There are several more but I will stop boring you.

This was a fun trip down memory lane, well for me anyway.  If you stuck with me, you are wonderful!