The Shyest Girl in Town

If you've never been shy, you don't know how lucky you are!  I first remember being shy in the first grade.  Luckily I had a wonderful teacher, Miss Duke, who tried to help me overcome it.  She held me on her lap when I was embarrassed because I couldn't do the arithmetic problems on the blackboard. Once I was too shy to ask permission to go to the restroom and wet clothes resulted - that was really bad.  I skipped lunch and sat outside on the playground so my skirt would dry and when the kids would ask why my dress was wet, I told them I'd spilled water on it.  My Music teacher, Miss Schultz, persecuted me because I wouldn't sing loud enough for her to hear and I think that may be why I've never felt comfortable trying to sing.  In high school I was the only girl in the small consolidated school I attended who didn't play basketball -- and that was because of my shyness too.  I didn't want anyone to see my knobby knees or see how clumsy I was at sports.  The school superintendent, Clyde Eoff, was an ogre and he gave me a hard time because I wouldn't suit up.  One time they didn't even have enough players to have a sub and when a player was injured, they had to play with only four girls so I wasn't very popular with the coach.

The shyness continued on through high school and into college and was getting worse instead of better.  Speech class was the worst of all and it was a required class so I had no choice about taking it.  I had a half-time job working in the English department and also worked for my speech teacher.  He, too, had a problem with turning red (or blushing) when he talked, so he was most sympathetic with me and I even made an A in speech.

When I went to work at IMC, I was in awe of my boss, Dick Kerner, and would turn red whenever I talked to him.  He was from the big city of Chicago and I'm sure thought I was the biggest hick he'd ever seen - he'd laugh at me for saying "po-lice" and my other Oklahoma miscues.  There would always be someone who would call attention to my red face when I was embarrassed and that made it much worse.

I've been trying to remember just when I stopped being so shy and when I stopped blushing when I'd talk to certain people -- but, thankfully, it did finally go away for the most part.  Occasionally when I'm feeling inadequate or intimidated, it will reoccur and it brings back all those old feelings of shyness that I had for so long!

No Birthday Party

Could hardly wait for our sorority's Christmas Party - which just happened to be on my birthday.  We were to have barbeque from the Red Chimney, along with vegetables, salads, and desserts provided b the members.  I'd made a Carrot Cake and two sugar-free Millionaire pies.  Bob got dressed up in his red & blue checked shirt and red vest (that I had made) and I wore my red velveteen blazer with a Christmas tree pin, a white sweater and black pants.  We left a little early so we could get a good parking place as it was cold and snowy and we didn't want to have to walk through the snow.  I drove; it wasn't very far - just to the Landsun Clubhouse and it appeared that we were the first ones there.  Then we realized that the lights were not on so began to suspect that something was wrong.  Luckily I'd taken my cell phone with me so I called my friend, Audrey, who was to bring the barbecue.  I asked if the party had been called off and she was surprised that no one had called to let me know.  So -- home we went and I knew that my birthday dinner was going to be leftover meatloaf or Chicken Noodle soup!  We were not too upset; it wasn't a good night to be out and we were afraid that it was going to get worse as it had snowed off and on all day.  Bob watched a football game and I read "The Partner" on my Kindle Fire.   I froze the desserts I'd made so hope they will be good if we reschedule the party to later this month.

The Big 80

This is the last day that I'll be 79
years old; tomorrow is my 80th birthday!  I approach it with a little sadness - I can tell that a lot of younger people just don't want to be around us "old people."  I'm guilty of that too -- just today I was impatient with a lady in her 90's who wanted to monopolize the conversation in our group.  I realize now that she is probably just lonely and, after spending most of her time alone, wanted to talk and share the events in her life.  She told of her son's illness, her money problems, tsk'd about the younger generation's failings, etc.  Hope I can remember to "keep my mouth shut" when I get that age (when I see people's eyes glazing over).
        This is my 80th "birthday picture."  Told you that there would be more wrinkles, gray hair, etc. (see former post on my 75th birthday).    I've already received lots of great birthday gifts - Bob gave me a Kindle Fire and John, Mary, Jeff, Scott & Vicky gave me everything I needed to redo my bathroom from animal prints to birds.  It turned out to be beautiful with Canton Blue bath and hand towels, washcloths, bath mat, bath rug, and a beautiful bird painting.  Cheers me up just to step in there.  Everything matches the cheerful 'teal' color. 
       Our sorority is having our Christmas Dinner tomorrow night, so that will be my birthday celebration too.  Bob invited me to go to the Stevens today for lunch but I chose to stay home and eat left-over meatloaf, potatoes and black-eyed peas.  It was delicious!  I then spent all afternoon making a carrot cake and two sugar-free pies for the sorority dinner.  I'd also made Macademia Nut cookies and brownies to take to Sunday School this morning so felt like I'd lived in the kitchen this weekend.
       I'm looking forward to Christmas music programs at our next two Tuesday Bible Studies and then our church's Christmas Cantata will be this weekend.  Last year's cantata was great; I could have attended all three.
         It is already getting very cold here and I'm already wishing for summer.  Thought I'd never say that after having such a miserable summer; especially when our heat pump went out and we spent 3 days with no air conditioning in 110 degree heat.
         Wonder if I'll still be around in 5 more years to post my "85th" ?

November

I love this time of year! The pear tree's leaves are falling and it's fun to walk through the back yard in the red, gold, brown and green leaves. Bob hates raking them, tho.

Who would have thought that freshly washed windows, inside and out, would make the house look so nice. It all started when I was dusting the plantation shutters and saw spider webs in-between the double panes. The back windows are hard to open so had to call Bob to help me. After washing those (all six sides of the glass) just had to do the rest of them. The 2 front windows are easy to wash as they 'fold in' and you can wash the inside and outside without going outside. Bob did the big picture window in the living room and I did the kitchen window. Walked around the rest of the day looking at my clean, sparkling windows with the sunshine pouring in! I thought about what a simple thing like having clean windows can bring so much pleasure. Guess cleanliness IS next to godliness!

We're looking forward to our trip to Tulsa next Tuesday. Especially special will my my early "80th Birthday" dinner with Scott, Vicky, Jeff and G'Pa. Then we'll enjoy seeing Taylor when he gets home from KU and then Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday with Wanda, Mike and Edwina. We always enjoy being with our kids and grandkids. I'm not looking forward to flying, tho. I've written about that before and dread the long lines and pat downs, etc.

I'm making Italian Vegetable Stew and cornbread tonight and then we'll watch the Oklahoma-Baylor game (if we can get it here). Always enjoy good football games!

Something New

I bought a new Dell Inspiron computer this week and had my "computer
 guy," Paul Derby,  set it up for me. (I paid him $100 for all his work on that.)  Wouldn't you know - my printer/scanner/copier wouldn't work with it, so I had to buy a new one.  I had to install it myself and that was a problem too as they didn't list a HP Deskjet 2050 so I could just click on the name and install it.  Finally muddled through.  I had noticed that Windows 7 wasn't listed on my flash drives, so also bought an 8 GP flash drive.  Then I learned that I should back up with at least a 9 GB flash drive.  Walmart didn't have a 9 GB and the next size up was a 16 GB for around $40.  Mary told me I might as well get the small drive that plugs in to the computer and I could back up everything.  Then I got a message from McAfee that I needed to renew that protection and if I did that today could save $30.  That only cost around $60 or so.  I tell Bob that this compares to when he got Babe for a few dollars to the shelter; that was just the beginning as we've spent thousands on her since.
          I struggled at first as I didn't know anything about Windows 7 and the e-mail addresses only had the last names for some reason.  Had to go back and type in the first names for everyone.  Took a long time to find my blog and get it up -- and then I couldn't remember my password so I could post something new.  Also, I had Paul put Word Perfect on instead of getting Word and had a problem getting my money program on as it has been discontinued.  I'd backed it up so just reinstalled it but keep getting a message that it will disappear after a month or so.  I just hope this computer lasts as long as I'm able to remember how to use one as I'd have to think a long time about ever getting another one!

Birthdays

Today, 50 years ago, August 2, 1961, our daughter, Diana Jean, was born. She was a month premature and weighed just a little over 4 pounds. I remember how beautiful she was, with dark, curly hair and a pretty face. She had to stay in the hospital nursery for two and a half weeks and, in those days, they wouldn't even let you touch or hold the babies. Sometimes when I'd go to look at her through the glass, they wouldn't even open the curtains for me and I'd leave crying. We got to bring her home when she weighed 5 lbs. I'd only had experience with boys and had to learn how to take care of little girls. She hated bath time and would cry the whole time. John started first grade around the end of August and, because I didn't have anyone to leave Diana Jean, took her with me to Sunset School to get John enrolled. I learned later that a virus was going around and both John and Diana Jean caught it. She was sick all of the Labor Day weekend and had a high temperature. I took her to the doctor on Friday and he wasn't very concerned; just gave her a shot and told me to bring her back the next Tuesday. She was fussy and crying on Monday night but finally went to sleep around midnight. I put her in the little bassinet next to our bed and went to sleep myself. When I woke the next morning, the first thing I did was check on her and to my horror, found that she had stopped breathing sometime in the night. We called the ambulance and they tried to resuccitate her but had no luck. Bob went with them to the hospital, leaving me at home with John (6 years old) and Scott (2 & 1/2). I walked the floor, crying all the time as I had no hope that she would be okay. Dr. Miner came back home with Bob and sat with me at the kitchen table. He blamed himself, saying he should have put her in the hospital when he saw her the week before. He and another doctor did an autopsy and found that she had the Coxsackie Virus and pneumonia which overwhelmed her and caused her death. I can remember being at the cemetery surrounded by friends and family and the hot sun bearing down on all of us and how hard it was to get through the service. It takes a long time to get over losing someone you love and you wonder "why" it had to happen. Eventually the bad memories go away and you have only the good and sweet memories of your little one. Today I realized that President Obama was born near the same day (he was born on August 4, 1961) as Diana Jean and is the same age as she would have been - 50. How different all our lives would have been had she lived and he had not!!!

More Things I Hate - Growing Older

This is a picture taken on my 75th birthday. I'll be 80 in a few more months and dread to see a new picture with the wrinkles and gray hairs that I've added in the last five years. Worse than that are the new ailments that I have and the pills that I have to take for high cholesterol, atrial fibrilation, allergies, blood thinner, glaucoma, osteoporosis, etc. I know I should be more thankful that I'm still in fairly good health and able to stay active and stop worrying about "growing older."

Things I Love

There are more things that I love than things that I hate. I love remembering about Bob's and my courtship, brief as it was. Just thinking about the odds of our getting together again after a blind date 5 years before is mind-boggling. God had to have had a hand in it -- his mother and step-dad even lived across the street from me at one time; his friend who suggested that he call me while he was home on leave was someone I didn't know -- he worked in the post office and would see me come in to pick up my mail from my post office box. Just the fact that Bob did call me for that second blind date is a miracle as he didn't remember ever having the first blind date and didn't even know what I looked like.
Other things I love remembering are flashbacks of my sons' early years -- I can still see John's excitement when he'd see the leaves on trees blowing in the wind when I'd push him down the sidewalk in his "buggy." Or when he'd see the "bubble-lights" on a Christmas tree. And what a smart and cute little toddler he was. He could name all the parts of a car motor when he was only two years old (bet he can't do it now!) His dad taught him that. He was so grown up and always wanted to do what was right. One time when he was only 4 or 5, he was going to spend the night in his little tent under the big tree in our front yard. I had told him that he could come in anytime he wanted to but guess he didn't remember that or hear me tell him that. It came up a big storm during the night, so we got him and his tent in. He later told me that he knew it was going to storm because he had gotten scared in the night and prayed that it would storm so he'd have to get back in the house.
Have lots of fun memories of Scott too. He was little and fast and could get away from you before you knew it. If he heard the music from the ice cream truck, he'd run toward it as fast as he could go. He had a friend who was bullied by the other kids and he'd happily do the fighting back for him. He always (and still does) liked to do the more dangerous things that moms don't want their little ones doing - I hated it when Bob and the boys would go hunting, when he'd ride his Honda Mini-Trail motor bike when he was a 5th grader, playing football, gymnastics, diving and all the other things that were scary. He still hasn't forgiven me for calling the school when he was in either jr. hi or mid-hi to tell them that I didn't want them to play dodge ball in PE as I was afraid he'd get hit in the eye (he'd had a bad eye injury when he was two so we were always watchful after that). He is a very loving and attentive son and I look forward to his weekly phone calls.
I love my daughter-in-laws very much and feel blessed to have Mary and Vicky in the family. I hear my friends make remarks about problems with their son's wives and know that I am lucky that we love one another and are always happy to spend time together. They are both wise and loving mothers who have done a great job raising my grandchildren.
I love remembering growing up with my five brothers and sisters. We always had to work hard; I envied the kids who didn't have to do chores and had plenty of time to study and do their homework. Loys was the grown-up one (I've always wondered if she ever did anything wrong in her whole life!) Jack was my protector, Bud was my tormenter, Doris was my friend (most of the time) and Frank was my responsibility much of the time when he was small. I had lots of cats and dogs to play with, horses to ride, tractors and farm equipment to play on, trees to climb and housework to do (which I enjoyed). I can remember cleaning the whole house on Saturday mornings while listening to "Let's Pretend" and "Route 66" on the radio. The whole family would gather around in the evening to listen to "Inner Sanctum Mysteries," "Green Lantern," and other fascinating stories on the radio. I loved to read but we didn't have a lot of books and magazines or access to the library. Our grandparents had lots of farm magazines and the "Look" magazine in their window seat and I liked to rummage through it when we visited them on Sunday afternoons. They also had the first air conditioner I'd ever seen; my granddad made it himself with wood, screen, excelsior and a fan and installed it in a window. (I thought he was wonderful and that he probably looked a lot like God does.)
I'm thankful that I had good, hard-working, God-fearing parents. They made sure that we were honest, knew the value of hard work and saving money and were truthful. I miss them very much.
I love mornings; guess most would think it's boring, but I love time spent having breakfast and coffee with Bob, working the cross word puzzle, sitting on the patio in the mornings when it's cool, watching the beautiful robins in the back yard and just doing what I like to do for a couple of hours.
Sometimes I think I'm the luckiest person in the whole world!

Things I Hate

I hate to see people doing things that don't help them in any way but have the possibility of doing much harm - for instance, drinking (loss of money, job, friends, reputation, drivers license, etc., etc.). In my relationships and jobs I've seen this happen over and over. What starts out as "cool" can become a habit that is hard to overcome. Friends should be chosen carefully; if they have bad habits and encourage you to join in, then you need new and different friends. I guess I'm old fashioned but to see beautiful young women intent on "partying" and then how it affects their image of purity and honoring the Lord makes me recoil. I mentioned my opinion on drinking to someone recently and was told "Everyone does it!" That doesn't mean that it's the right or smart thing to do. Again, risking being considered "old fashioned," I think girls and women should be "lady-like" and stay away from beer (over a time, it makes you have a big protruding belly too) and any kind of drink that can make you lose your resolve. (For the record, I also think it is stupid for guys to drink too!)

The Year Without Christmas

When we visited Scott, Vicky and Taylor in 1996 at Christmas time, I mentioned that my family had no Christmas when I was 9 years old. (My mother was expecting her sixth child at age 39 and wasn't happy about it at -- so we all had to suffer when she just skipped Christmas.) I had almost worn out the Sears Roebuck catalog and had high hopes that Santa would bring the small toy refrigerator with the play food that I wanted so badly. Taylor was astounded that we had no Christmas then and wanted to know why Santa didn't leave toys for all of us. I told him that I'd write to Santa and ask him to explain. He answered (looks like Scott's handwriting) with the poem that's below my letter.

December 24, 1996

Dear Santa, When I was a little girl, 9 years old, I hung my stocking on a chair (because we had no fireplace). I wanted you to bring a little toy refrigerator with 'play' food in it. When I got up Christmas morning and ran to my stocking, there was nothing in it -- I did not get anything at all for Christmas (and neither did any of my brothers and sisters)! Please tell me why you did not leave anythng for me that year. Jean (Peters) Moss

Dear Jean,

Rudolph had his bulb burn out;
Dasher caught the flu;
Dancer must have overslept;
Prancer lost his shoes.

Comet forgot his glasses, Donner and Blitzen drank too much beer;
They were always wanting to stop and pee;
So I said, "Forget it - we'll catch you next year!"

Santa

Just in the Nick of Time!
Today, September 28, 2006, I called my sister, Doris Ann Harp, to wish her a happy 78th birthday. As we were talking, she told me two stories about our dad, Walter A. Peters, that I'd never heard.

The first story was about a time that Dad was living alone on the home place (after our mother had passed away). It was Saturday, and her husband, Hubert, asked her if she was going to Davidson, OK to see Dad. Doris said, "No, I'll just go tomorrow. As she was driving downtown, she said for some unknown reason she turned onto Wilbarger Street and then on to the highway from Vernon, TX to Davidson, Ok. She said she didn't know why she went on to Dad's house as she hadn't planned to. As she topped a hill near Dad's house, she saw a large fire behind his house. She hurried on, parked next to his house, and then ran to where the back yard was on fire. She saw Dad lying on the ground, exhausted from trying to put the fire out with buckets of water from the hydrant next to the house. She said the fire was all around him. Quickly she grabbed the bucket and started dousing the fire; then got him up and out of danger. Afterwards he told her that he had prayed that she would come! He'd been burning trash and somehow the fire got away from him and set the yard on fire. He'd tried to put it out with the buckets of water but wasn't able to and then collapsed from exhaustion. The fire continued to burn all around him. Talk about answered prayer!!!!! I'm sure that she saved his life that day.

Another story was one that I had heard part of - but not all. She said that when Dad got sick the final time and had to go to the hospital, she was in the room with him. He told her to look at that picture on the wall (a scene with a road going off into the distance). He said, "I'm going down that road; I can hear them singing and I'm going to church there." I'd only known of him going to church a few times -- to funerals, and once to a revival where he was very uncomfortable because of the flambouyant preaching and collection of offerings in large ice cream buckets by the revival team. He was a Christian but didn't care much for preachers as their small church's pastor often ate Sunday dinner at their house and would always tell him to go feed his horse (he thought the pastor took advantage of his parents' generosity).

While Doris was there, he asked her to cut off that light as it was so bright. She started to flip it off at the switch and he said, "No, it's up higher and it's too bright." We wondered if he was being ushered into Heaven with the music and the light. My brother, Jack, also told this story of his last few hours with him in the hospital. Dad told Jack to look out the window at that man on a horse. Jack said he didn't see anyone or a horse and told him that. Dad said, "That man is on the most beautiful horse I've ever seen and he's coming to take me with him!" He passed away shortly after that. (I hope that is the way I go up to Heaven as I've always loved horses and used to help my dad round up and move cattle.)

I Hate Flying

First of all, I nearly always have severe ear pain when flying. One of my doctors suggested that I use a nasal spray so I do and that has helped. I also take a Tylenol Extra and use wax ear plugs that completely cover the ear canal just before the plane departs and have not noticed as much pain as I had before doing this. Then, too, it seems that Bob and I always end up in the wrong line and have to be directed to the correct one. I find that I'm always the one who is in line for expanded security checks of some kind; must have a target on my back or something. Even when I flew from Tulsa to Lubbock after having gall bladder surgery and was in a wheel chair - yep, they went thru my carry-on bag, checking my lingerie carefully! I was scanned and patted down in Tulsa last Thanksgiving. Guess grandmas are suspect. Next month we'll fly American Eagle from Roswell to DFW and then have to change terminals there to change planes and fly on to Colorado Springs. It really stresses me out to not know what tasks I have before me and to not be familiar with my surroundings in any situation. I searched for a link to the DFW airport and the terminals this morning and learned a lot about Skylink, which terminals AA uses, security, etc. There were videos of each terminal and it was almost like being there to take the tour which showed the gates, Skylink entrances, etc. I hope that with all this information we won't seem like such country bumpkins when trying to change terminals and planes. We're looking forward to Brandon's and Lisa's wedding and to seeing John, Mary, Scott, Vicky and Taylor, as well as Brandon and Lisa and meeting her family. 'Til next time, G'Ma

Changing Times

How can an event make you so happy and so sad at the same time. Last weekend our only granddaughter graduated from Baylor University. We were so proud of her excellent grades, honors, beauty, morals and just the sweet young lady she has turned out to be. She is one of the fortunate who has a job waiting - with Unitrends in Boston, MA and she is excited to be moving there in just a few days. I was sad when I read that she "has a one-way ticket to Boston!" That sounds like she's never coming back home to Irving. Right now she thinks it's great to leave home, have her own apartment (in the same city where her boyfriend, Paul, lives), and be independent. We know that she will eventually realize that she misses the whole family she leaves behind - her mom and dad, brothers and even Goldie, the cat! Plus us - the grandparents in New Mexico - just 8 hours away from her old home in Irving. I remember when I left my job and family in Oklahoma, also at age 22, to marry the love of my life in Albuquerque, NM. Thought I'd never look back. That changed when, just a week later, Mothers Day rolled around. Tho Bob never knew it, I cried most of that weekend when I'd think of my family gathering to honor my mother without me for the first time in my life. I hope, tho, that Kathleen finds, just as I did, happiness, love, success, and many precious memories of the first 22 years of her life.