"E" Is For...

earrings..... 

I love earrings! I've always loved them.  One of the things I missed when I quit working in my office - was not being able to wear all my pretty ones.  They were just too dressy for my part-time job at the library - shelving books...  So I just mainly wore the same ones each day - just small hoops - ones that I wouldn't be too upset over if they fell off without me noticing it and got lost somewhere in the building...  I actually lost the sapphire out of my ring one day and never did find it! 

I won't even tell you how many earrings I used to have - but let me just say it was in the hundreds... Yes, the hundreds.  I went through a dislike of my body image years ago - and I never felt like shopping for clothes.  My statement was - earrings are the one thing I knew would fit - LOL! So I kept buying them and buying them.  I gave a bunch away to various people - I threw out some that were broken, or where I'd lost one of them. I still have tons left - don't worry - ha!  I still, because I'm not working at all now - wear only certain pairs each time I go somewhere.  But that doesn't keep me from still looking at them or buying them from time to time!!  That love will never go away.

My other "E" is for Ehrhardt. That is my maiden name.   I can still remember - whenever I had to give someone my name and address - going through the same refrain - E h r h a r d t - and I live at W i n n e b a g o Drive....  When I married the first time - my last name became Michels - pronounced like Michaels.  So again - spelling it out each time I had to tell someone my name.  And then when I married the second time, my name became Huson.  Again - spelling it out...  I get called Hudson, Huston, even Hufon!  I think the next time I get married, I'll pick an easier name (just kidding)...

"D" Is For...

"drive" - learning to drive that is!  I didn't learn how until I was at least 19 or 20.  It wouldn't have mattered if I knew how to drive before then, because I wouldn't have had a car to drive!  My first husband taught me in his 3 speed (on the column).... To say trying to figure out how to shift and drive at the same time was a challenge for me!  But I eventually caught on and went to take my test.  I can remember doing the parallel parking part of the testing (do they still make kids do that now?) and getting into the spot. I started to correct it all and the instructor yelled out - leave it - leave it - it is fine!  And he passed me!  I know if he hadn't said that to me, I would have overcorrected - messed it all up - and flunked big time - LOL!  I can remember the joy of driving over to my parents' house - a licensed driver!
I got my own car not long after that - a 1969 Chevy Chevelle. It was gold, with black interior. I loved that car! It drove so well.  Then it got creamed by a school bus.  Totally deemed "totaled".  I cried - alot.  Then moved on and got my next car - a white Camaro (or it might have been a Firebird) - with red interior. I can never remember which - whatever I had, my sister had the other one. 
What about you? When did you learn how to drive? What was your first car?

"C" is for....

Collecting....

I never really collected anything (that I remember anyway) - until I was in my 30's...   And that first item - was teddy bears. I think I was using them as a way to comfort myself because I was so far from my family after I moved to Virginia from Ohio. Once people found out I collected them, of course, I got them constantly for gifts!  Which was fine with me. But eventually I had to tell people to stop!!  I actually had names for all my bears too. Don't ask me to tell you now what they are - because all of these years later, my memory would fail me big time.

After that, I started going to antique stores and my collections veered off into silver baby cups with names and dates on them.  Two I found have my Mom's middle name "Jean" and my middle name "Sue" on them. That was fun!  I also loved collecting Avon bottles that were in the shape of women.  Their heads are what you turn to open the bottle!  I eventually, over time, found an entire bridal set (well minus the groom) - but still - all the flower girls and then the bride...  I have collected primitive santas and snowmen - little glass jars with silver tops - that women used to keep their rouge and powder in.  One has the letter "L" in the top.  That was the first one I bought. I saw some lady looking at it and I coveted it so much I could barely stand it. I tried really hard to act uninterested - while saying in my head - don't buy it - don't buy it! When she walked away - I ran over - and said - I want it!! And that was the beginning of that collection!  And little perfume bottles have also been another favorite of mine to collect. My first one came from a guy I used to work with at General Electric back in Ohio.  He had brought it back from France and gave it to me!!  And that began that collection!

 All of the antique places I used to go to around here are gone now...  Which saddens me as I so enjoyed going to them to see what gems I could discover.

Oh, I also have a collection of different editions of "Little Women".

Nowadays, my collections run more towards the useful - coffee mugs and umbrellas.  I have tons of both!  Doesn't matter to me though - if I see one of either that I love, I get it!  I just keep saying - but hey, I can use this and it doesn't collect dust!

What about you? What do you collect?

"B" is for Bicycle....

Do you remember when you learned how to ride a bike?  I do! Maybe not the age I was at that time.  But just the whole feeling/experience of it all.  I know it was my Mom out there for a bit trying to help me get the hang of it. And then for awhile, it was my Dad trying to help out - over and over.  He finally tired of it one evening and went back inside.  And then not long after that, my mind and my body got it all in sync and off I went.  I ran into the house screaming out that I was able to do it.  I was happy - but they were happier - I think mainly because they didn't have to keep trying to hold me up on the bike - LOL!! 

And do you remember your first bike?  This one that I learned to ride on was an old one - a hand me down from my older sister. And the color?  Can't remember the original color. But the color when I started riding it was black and pink! Why??  Because by the time my sister got done with it, it was really used up and rusty...  My Dad had some paint in the garage...  I think the black may have been in a spray can - something he used for some project or other. And the pink was wall paint that had been used on our bedroom wall at some point!!  I still love black and pink together!

A Poem in the Pocket....

I love many of the poems by Edgar A. Guest.  Here is one for you to enjoy...

There was weepin' by the women that the crowd could plainly see,
An' old William's throat was chokin' an' his eyes were watery,
An' he couldn't hardly answer when the parson made him say
Who it was on that occasion was to give the girl away.

I detest tears at a weddin', an' I didn't like 'em then,
An' I couldn't see the reason for the lips that trembled when
Reverend Goodly looked about him ere he tied the knot to stay
An' said: 'Which of you assembled here now gives this girl away?'

I shall not forget old William an' the solemn look he wore,
Though he tried his best at smilin' I could tell his heart was sore;
I could see the tear drops startin' as he looked at little May,
An' I knew the wrench it caused him when he gave his girl away.

I could hear the women sobbin', an' I didn't dare to look,
I jes' kep' my face straight forward till the parson closed his book.
For the heart of me was beatin' not in sadness, but in glee;
I had reason to be happy. He was givin' her to me.                         

"A" Is For Alzeheimer's Disease....

 

 

 

 

 

My Mommy is the one on the right - in the leopard top. She always has loved animal prints!(the one on the left is my Aunt - my Mom's sister)...  My Mom has been dealing with the ravages of Alzeheimer's disease for the past 9 years or so.  It slowly has gotten worse as time goes by.

It has robbed her of so many things - her memories - of her previous life - of us kids - her love of reading....  My Dad (who turns 90 this year) - is still taking care of her.  I wish I lived back in Ohio so I could help him out - and of course - see my Mom more... because even if she no longer knows who I am - I still know who she is....

OTN....

This is my small "restart" on Good Vibrations (pattern free on Ravelry). This pattern uses German Short Rows which I find sooo much easier than wraps and turns.  I had a lot of this pattern done in another yarn, but just wasn't feeling it. Liking this yarn much better! 
The book is by an author I like a lot.  Only a chapter in - but so far - so good!