Monday Memories #11 #FixThePlus

Continued from the last Monday Memories #8

There was a break for Memorial Day

If you know what a dune buggy is then you know where Glamis is. 

Our family's camper got a workout going there. Whenever we were going to go on a trip my chore was to clean out the camper. 

It was the kind of camper you attached to the top of a truck which at the time I thought was pretty neat.

Living in the desert there was always sand involved getting into everything. I would wipe the inside all down and make the bed that was on top in the front. I would check to see what we needed then bring out the supplies putting them away.

Glamis is a big square desert with miles and miles of dunes. My Dad, would buy an old Volkswagon and turn it into a dune buggy. There was welding and 'don't look' cautions that just made you want to peek at the welding. I loved the welders helmet making my dad look badass. 

The garage had tools hanging on the back wall and a bench that my dad built with those big red tool chests and welder machine underneath. I used to go out and sit and talk to him while he would be working away or trying to get out of being grounded which worked 99% of the time! 

The finished dune buggy would look awesome and off we all would go to Glamis to try her out. Try and imagine 100 or more Chevy engines starting up at once and following a trail to get to the best dunes. I was in heaven. 

One camping trip I remember quite well there was a full moon around Thanksgiving. It had just gotten dark with everyone climbing into their dune buggies starting them up. With all those V-8 engines starting up all at once, the roar was deafening and my eyes would sparkle with anticipation. 

With the full moon, you could see quite clearly as if it was a cloudy day all the dune buggy's one by one started down the trail that has been traveled over thousands of times heading for the best dunes. These dunes were so big that when you are on top and look down, the people and vehicles looked like ants. This place is huge and I will never forget the weekends of endless fun we as a family had.

I found this video for you to watch.

Where was your favorite place to have fun at?

Thinking Back Tuesdays Story #7 FixThePlus

Update: With my husband's suggestion I had told him we have a very good Movie reviewest called Nik's Pics at Facebook and also has a blog called  Lavender Inspirations where you can find +Nikki DeMc .

 She is very thoughtful of all her reviews of movies so I decided I would leave those to her and I am sticking to T.V. shows where you can find them and watch for free on the internet. I'm switching up Mondays Movies and Thinking Back Tuesdays to Monday's Memories and Television Tuesdays. 

Thursdays I have started Thursdays Are For Trivia and I will start Frugal Fridays for saving, renewing old stuff into new stuff is a big interest for me.

Continued from last Tuesday...I did have two escapes, my love of art and music...

Junior High...images are flashing by for I had some very good times despite the fact I was still a loner belonging to no group of kids but trying to fit in. Nothing like I am now that’s for sure! It is said you never forget your first love. 

Now we are getting to one of many “Happy Places” in my life. I will write what I see in my minds eye for to this day which I am now 57 years old I can still see that part of my life as clearly as if it was just yesterday.

It was the normal hot sunny day in Palm Springs, California at the pool. I was now in High School. The pool water was a nice clear blue, nice and cool. I had on my first bikini that my father had given the OK for me to wear which had flowers and ties on the top and sides. These were promptly tied tight the min. I left sight of home.

I close my eyes and I can see and almost feel the warm tile beneath me which I had splashed with pool water to cool it down so I could sit. I would sit next to the lifeguard tower which I thought was the perfect job in the whole world to get a good tan going.

There were a few teenagers and smaller children splashing and playing just your average day at the pool. There's a commotion and looking up I see Paul G. kid brother of Ann G. but since my mother had to butt in, like mothers can do, into every part of my life I couldn't be friends with Ann because her mother had “too many Uncles” which much, later on, I figured out what that meant!

With him is a green eyed totally tanned boy who I fell for pretty much right away but stuck my teenage snotty nose up in the air and proceeded to ignore, ignore, ignore. It was kinda hard to ignore them two with all the yelling, splashing and diving off that huge black inner tube they were using to play with! 

They were showing off for me! To make a long story short Paul started up a conversation which I discovered that his friend liked me and I got introduced to his friend's cousins and Paul's sister who was the Ann I was supposed to stay away from. 

I love full circles when they come around and it's a good thing! We became the best of friends and I miss them all dearly. I have tried to find them on Facebook with no success. I suppose I could try harder but would not be sure of the meeting so I don't.

There was Karen, Diane, (sisters) Ann and later on Rita. We became tight, I slept over ever chance I got, the parents were like my parents and they were Italian. Well, half Josie the mother was. 

I remember big tall shining pots of bubbling homemade spaghetti sauce with homemade bread dipping a piece into the pot and being scolded told to stay out of it; a smokey kitchen at night while the adults played cards and smoked. 

Trips to Cherry valley to their relatives who were 100% Italian to the point of stone wall oven with the delicious smells of baking bread coming out. I loved it. I often regret the path that took me away from them but all the memories are priceless.  

Do you have childhood memories that you love?

100 Exquisite Adjectives by Mark Nichol

I love learning new words or being reintroduced to one. I ran across a list of them and will add a word a day.

Word#57 Meretricious: whorish, superficially appealing, pretentious

In a sentence: If my friend didn’t decorate her house with so many meretricious knickknacks, it would be a more comfortable place to visit.

Thinking Back Tuesdays My Story #4

So we would stay the weekend and then the dreaded 3-hour drive home with my parents bickering and arguing all the way with my father driving like a maniac passing cars on hills that I would have a nice upset stomach by the time we got home.
Looking back I remember long summer days and my favorite time was just as the sun was disappearing over the mountain. That's when I started sunbathing my tan looked the darkest.
I was such a prankster and still am.

This one Easter I blew out eggs to painstakingly fill up with confetti and smashing them over someone's head, getting on the roof of our house and dropping a water balloon on my dad's head; jumping down out of our front yard tree and scaring the crap out of someone.

 Spending time with my friends up the street was so nice. We would take a blanket and lay down on our backs and look up at the stars and try to see a UFO which we would see an airplane and say there's one! The big fig bush that we would pick figs right there and eat them until we were stuffed.

 Standing next to my friend's mom while she was cooking and getting me to take a taste, which I promptly spit out. Surprise it was an octopus! Yuck! We had fun going downtown which my mother wouldn't of let me go but my friend's mom worked at one of the places and we would go into those fancy dress shops talking back and forth about “mother giving us her Visa card” and trying on $100 dresses. Palm Springs has a lot of fancy shops that I loved to go into.

Growing up in the Dream Homes I should have had more friends than I did. But my mother seemed to know about people although thinking about it now seems a little puzzling because she didn't make friends easily. I remember one of her friends going to her house was an adventure. It was as messy as my house was squeaky clean. I don't remember much but throwing frogs as high as you could in the air and letting them splat I seem to remember. Her kids were animals. But I liked going over there...

To be continued next Thinking Back Tuesday My Story

Easter In Vermont

Easter is coming on the 27th.  I have been doing a lot of thinking about past Easter's. Growing up in Palm Springs, California the Easter's of my childhood were always hot and sunny. Here in the East, you may still see snow on the ground, melting, or it could actually snow.

I will never forget when my first-born, Amy was a toddler. My mother and I had taken her to this big park with rolling hills of green grass hiding our brightly colored eggs all around making them easily accessible for a small child to find.

Amy was looking for eggs at my mother's and I prompting where there was an egg that was nestled at the top of an empty pole hole. When she bent over to pick up her Easter egg it disappeared from sight. It had fallen straight down that hole! The look on Amy's face was priceless. I burst out laughing going over to see where the egg went. That memory is stuck in my mind.

When my son was born so did my love for all holidays only now I got to see them through my children's eyes. Since I was living in Maine by now most of the egg hunting were inside the house starting out easy to find then getting a little harder as my son got older.

I loved making the Easter baskets. I would find discount baskets, fill them with small toys, some chocolate, sprinkling jelly beans all through the grass. Then I would wrap up the whole basket with colored Suran Wrap, stand back to admire, then placed where my son could find it.

There is nothing like the excited gleam in your child's eyes as each treasure was found. I had also filled plastic eggs with small goodies maybe going a little overboard but I was filling in what I had always wanted to do, had the money at the time, so I took advantage of that curious, fun-loving inner-child of mine.

Four years later I had a daughter. The Little Mermaid was big when she was born and she was named Ariel. I just loved the movie watching it over and over again with my little son who was into all the cartoons and animated movies. Teenage Turtles was one of my favorites. Lion King was made just for me, I just knew it!

Then Easter turned into Easter for two which became a whole new ballgame balancing the 'first-timers' with an older sibling who wanted nothing more than to help his little sister. My son was a loving, bouncy, animated child while my daughter was very somber, mulling over a question, then answering it thoughtfully.

There were times at the park where I remember one-time big brother had to protect little sister from some of the most rambunctious children so she could find her own eggs. There were the egg toss and egg drop games. It was a lot of fun trying to figure out how to drop an egg and not break it from a very long height.

Another memory just flashed through my mind of when I had joined The Salvation Army church services where on Easter Sunday my kids were in a play. Thank goodness I have it all recorded on tape, making plans to convert them all to disks.

Now I have a grandson with another on the way and can watch them enjoy the holidays. Well, one this year anyways. I would never trade my kids successes and accomplishments or ask them to come nearer to me. Both are thriving adults and I thank God for that, but I don't think I will ever shake the sadness that is lodged deep in me for not being able to actually be there all the time.

My heart goes out to all the Grandparents and parents who are feeling the same thing. And you never know about the future do you. Here are some free printables I found with no copyright issues.

https://www.pinterest.com/readyteacher/
Thank you www.readyteacher.com

What are your plans for Easter?

My Love For Pitbulls

She was bouncing around with her tail wagging which got me in the face a couple of times! Meet this white female dog with a big brown spot over one eye and on her body. I really grew to love this dog. She was a big pain in the butt as far as hating all the other dogs of the world, but I loved her anyway. She certainly kept me on my toes! She wasn't mine, but I loved her like she was.

Oh boy, the day she had her puppies. A friend  was over visiting and there was a place in the closet for her. As she began to go into labor, he led her into the next room where the closet was. I'm sitting on the couch  all excited and here comes she comes in running with a puppy hanging out and she jumps on the couch with me. Ut-oh. I'm like “Crap”, what are you doing??! Quickly my friend and I mutually agree I should be in the bedroom by the closet so she will continue to birth her puppies...in the closet...not in the air!

So one by one here they come. I think 8 in all but one was stillborn. I spotted this all black puppy and claimed it...Mine!!!

After a couple of months went by I ended up moving to this big roomy house. But disaster struck and all the puppies got very sick. The poor little dears had fevers and wouldn't stop crying and I didn't have the money to get them help so I did the best I could with what I had. Every day I would give all the puppies cool baths and I was  spoon feeding them raw eggs and cottage cheese. A little water. 

I had asked my biker friend's 12-year-old boy earlier what I should name my puppy and without missing a beat he replied, “Damion”. 

That puppy flu is a horrible disease and out of all those puppies I saved two or three of them, but Damion didn't make it poor little dear. My biker brother, dug a deep hole and when he dropped Damion in it, I heard an airy ~woof~ sound. 

I'm all excited thinking puppy is all right, but my bro explained it was just air releasing. I must have cried a million tears I was so sad. At the same time, I was proud of myself for saving some of them at least and we named this really goofy puppy Panhead. He once ate half an onion...had bad breath for a while lol!

The last I saw of Crystal  I  had to move and had to leave her with some people. That was a very sad day.

Have you ever lost a pet you loved?

How To Handle A Rebound, The Wrong Way #FixThePlus *

 I have always wanted to embrace life and all it had to offer. I have the curiosity and wonderment of a small child. I want to live! To enjoy the beauty that life has to offer. And I love helping out people. My friend says "I follow my heart."I wish my heart had better sense!

 Little did I know it can get out of control and blow up in your face causing great pain but I have and did use my mistakes for the good. All I can do is hopefully give the person reading this a kinship and comfort that you are not alone. And faith that better days will come.As I grow older I'm learning how to forgive myself. Some things I have. Some things I still struggle with. 

 We're Going To The Chapel. 

I stood in blue jeans and a cool blouse quietly saying, "I do" in front of the Justice of the Peace at the City Hall in Los Vegas, Nevada.

It was 1977 and looking at that date it seems so long ago. I was eighteen and my soon to be husband was 20 years of age. I had known him all of a few months. I had just had my heart broken by a boy and instead of wallowing in pain I latched on to this young man. 

I was eloping in defiance of being told what to do all the time and all my life by my mother. My new found freedom I had been waiting years and years for wasn't complete yet. I still lived at home and had to listen to a mother who thought she knew the right way for everything. 

Her way was the right way and she would not let it go. Plus insisting that "shacking up" was bad.I was going to burn in the fires of hell. Getting married THEN having sex was good. So to shut her up and plus even though I disagreed with almost everything she said, I still loved and wanted her approval.  

I should have listened to my inner intuition when on the way there my future husband's brother's car had broken down on the way to Los Vegas, Nevada  making us all nice and hot and sweaty.

But it was done my new husband and I came down the steps only to get rice slammed in our faces by my new brother-in-law. Another sign? It was very surreal, but I embraced it as a new adventure and was ready for action!

Got on the phone and announced,"Guess what mom I got married." What a wonderful daughter I was! 

Ever do something impulsive and want to take it back?