Cars

I watched an old movie yesterday that was set in 1957 and they had my first car. Here it is, a 1949 Chevrolet that I inherited from my parents when I was 16. I drove it to Haltom High School and all over Ft. Worth for 3 years. The gas gage did not work. I could not tell you how many times I ran out of gas. I had a little notebook in the glove compartment where I was supposed to write down the mileage when I put gas in it (for 19 cents a gallon), but that didn't seem to help me much. One day, I was supposed to take my little sister to a play date and my mother ask me, "Do you have enough gas?" I allowed as how I did and she answered, "Well, don't call me if you run out." When I called her, I asked, "Mama, who do you want me to call?"This was the first car Basil and I bought after we got married. It was a beauty. It was the only car we ever bought "on credit". The payments were $49 a month. Our rent was $95. I made $400 a month.
This was one of the favorite cars I ever drove. The reason: With the motor in the back,it was easy to drive on the icy streets of downtown Ft. Worth on my way to the operating room at St. Joesph Hospital every morning or in the middle of the night when I was on call. The first time I drove those icy streets, in that camero, I was more convinced than any time in my life that I was about to die. I was pregnant with Jenny. The VW was an answer to a prayer I prayed that morning. "Lord, please let me live to see this baby and raise her.

A good book and out of photos

Several weeks ago, I uploaded a new book by one of my favorite authors, Chris Bohjalean to my MP3 player. You can see it over there on my shelf. After starting it 3 times, I gave up listening and went to the library to get the real thing. Chris starts his story in the winter of 1945, then goes back to the winter of 1944, and then back to 1945 and not being able to go back and review, kept me confused. I read it last night and it was very well written and made me feel very grateful for my country and the time in history when I was born, as well as appreciate the horrible suffering in Europe during the war.

In January 1945, in the waning months of World War II, a family and a Scottish prisoner of war, who was brought from the stalag to her family’s farm as forced labor, walk away from their aristocratic lifestyle on a sugar beet farm in Prussia to reach the British and American lines in Germany and escape the merciless Russian army who are very angry at the Germans for the atrocities committed to their country and are bent on getting revenge. Along the way they meet a German soldier, who the pair know as Manfred–who is, in reality, Uri Singer, a Jew from Germany who managed to escape a train bound for Auschwitz. As they work their way west, they encounter a countryside ravaged by war and meet a young lady who is a French POW. I really didn't even know where Prussia was on the map...I thought it was part of Germany, but it was between Poland and Russia. It was once part of Germany, but in WWI, it became part of Poland, and the Germans wanted it back.

It finally happened. I ran out of pictures to scrapbook. I made some cards this week. I went through my scrap paper and made some "card kits" to use in the future and I ordered 10 copies of these photos to put in each of my grandchildren's books. Here is the first set:

My Sweet Next Door Neighbor

L is going to church camp today and she came over yesterday to show me her "Hippy Outfit". They were supposed to dress 60's or 70's and I am one of the people she knows who were alive then, so she wanted me to tell her she looked like a flower child. I'm not too sure how much like a flower child she looks, but she sure looked cute! She got her outfit at Christians in Action.
This is her big sister.
Here is the whole family from a photo shoot we did for them in June. Can you find the twins?
I read a really interesting book yesterday by the author of the book and movie, "A Perfect Stranger". You can see it on my shelf and look at the review. Even my non-reading (except for the Bible) husband picked it up and was reading it!
I am so out of photos for scrapbooking. I ordered 10 each of the Coleman family from March and one of me and Caedon at his birthday party to put in each of my grandchildren's album so I would have something to do. Maybe I will post 10 scrapbook pages, all with the same photos, but all different ....I know you are looking forward to that!

Tuesdays at the River

We took the boys for a walk on the river again today during piano lessons. Now, I know you are thinking:"That is what she blogged about last Tuesday". Well, you would be right. I do other things, but I just don't take pictures of them. It was 103 today and we went at 4. We found a lot of turtles. Papa threw mosquite beans into the river and they all came to see if it was bread.

The TurtlesWe also saw a mama duck and her two babies.

Z can do so many things that he couldn't do at the park just a few months ago. He also laughs at my jokes, which makes him very popular with me.

One of the many sheep that decorate our downtown. Other things I've been up to:

• 
  Read some good books. I added them to my shelf over there. You can click on them and see a review.
• Made some cards and some scrapbook pages. (got another Snapfish order, but I am really low on photos.)
• Had a fight with my husband today. He commented he did not enjoy the lunch I made for him. Well, it was Hamburger Helper....he was not supposed to like it.

The River Walk Today

Today is a beautiful, rainy, cloudy day in San Angelo so we headed downtown to the river this afternoon.
We were happy that Papa was off today and could go with us.

Z has our windbreakers in his backpack. He is going to be a great hiker.
Just like his Mom!
Z likes ducks. This one had some pretty red decorations around his head.
(maybe it's a disease, I don't know)We also stopped by Eggemeyers and played a big chime. We couldn't find any place to eat downtown except Miss Hatties. My friend, Terry, told me her grandson recently got a job there. He told her, "Grandma, I got a job!" Terry said, "Where?" He said, "I wash dishes in a whorehouse!"

Papa is not big on eating at a whorehouse, so we went to KFC and got Biscuit Bowls. C loved it... Z, well, he enjoyed the ice water from a paper cup.