Easter Picture

My sister has a scanner and sent me a picture of our matching Easter dresses and also one of matching Christmas dresses.

These were all out of gingham, same pattern, different colors.  This was at my Grandparent Neelly's house so must have been after church.

These dresses were made out of velveteen. 

Flashback Friday

The flashback topic is what Easter was like when you were growing up.

Easter was a special holiday growing up.  When we were younger, my mom made matching dresses for my sisters and myself.  Sometimes they were the same fabric in a different pattern, but usually they were the same pattern with fabric the same but a different color.  We had new underwear, socks, and shoes.  Sometimes we would wear Easter bonnets, but the elastic string underneath the chin was not very comfortable. When we went to the Byers UMC, we had a joint Easter service with the Friends church in the country SW of Byers.  There was a sunrise service and a breakfast, then back to for SS and church.  The Easter bunny would have brought a basket of candy and we dyed eggs and hid those before and after Easter.  My mom made us really count the eggs well when we hid them in the house!  We had Easter dinner at either our house or my grandparents. 

Someday I will get a scanner so I can post old pictures.  I have to say we looked pretty darn cute.  I don't remember much about what my brother wore.  I am sure he had new clothes, but my mom didn't make them.  She was probably pretty glad he was a boy or she would have been making four Easter dresses, and sometimes one for herself too. 

Random Half Dozen

The 2nd cup of coffee lady went on vacation from her own questions, so I did too.   But I came up with some of my own.  You are welcome to respond or just think about it yourself and not respond like I often do with other people's blogs. 

1.  What happened yesterday that made you go hmmmmmm?

The 8th graders made quick breads.  I also had bus duty, so I knew when I got back in the building the bread would be about done from 8th hour.  The timer went off from kitchen 2, I opened the door, no heat.  The kids had set the timer but had not pre-heated the oven.  So I went home and took my walk back to the school and took the bread out of the oven. 

2.  What is a memory you have from your FACS (Home Ec.) class? 
Our teacher took us to KSU Open House when we were seniors.  We got to spend the night and then visit all the exhibits.  That was really fun.  From actual class, I remember making our prom dresses in class.   They were totally different than today's dresses.

3.  What do you need to take to the rummage sale that won't make the trip this year? 
I need to go through my clothes again, but I don't think I will get that done.  I found some old baton trophies upstairs that might need to go and a whole collection of baseball cards. 

4.  Have you mowed your lawn?
I haven't but Kyle did it.  It looks good.

5.  Where do you get most of your news?
This is from Beth's FB.  I would say I watch the news in the morning and read the Salina Journal for national and state news.  Local news is either the radio or the Dispatch. 

6.  What did you have for school lunch that doesn't make the menus now?
We had these things called pinwheels that were bread with hamburger rolled up and cut like cinnamon rolls.  Not my favorite.  I saw the other day that some school was having bologna sandwiches.  Really???  Do the kids eat those?


This whole question thing is harder than it looks. 

How Did I Do?

Here is my list of what I was going to get done over Spring Break.  Let's see how I did.

1. Paint the wall above the cabinets in my kitchen. I will have to take down wallpaper, so hopefully it will strip easily.
Got this done.  The paper came down OK and I like the maroon color above the cabinets even though it is one of the four colors I use in my house and I maybe should branch out according to a couple of girls who feel free to offer their opinions.

2. Find curtains for the kitchen. I have looked at JC Penney and haven't found anything so I might end up making them. This is when I need my sister-in-law's skills.

I bought some gold fabric, but don't know what to do with it.  Lori is staying with us on Friday night because it is Jenna's Mom's weekend at KSU so I will get her opinion.  I am all about other people's opinions.

3. Get stuff around for the annual UMW Rummage Sale on March 27th.

I do have the stuff in one place, but didn't really look around for other things that probably should go.
4. Go to Manhattan and get things on my list. I could go as far as Topeka, but maybe not.
Went to Manhattan and got some things for school.  I wasn't in much of a shopping mood, so it was a short trip. 

5. Buy a new porch swing for the walk-out basement. The old one is a disgrace and dangerous.
Doggone it.  I could have looked in Manhattan, but forgot.

6. Change the picture on my blog. I hope we are done with the snow.
I did change my blog look.  The header picture was in Skagway, Alaska last summer.  After I saw how pretty the colors were, I wished I hadn't played "Where's Waldo" with Kyle in the picture.

7. Finish up my portfolio for class. I still will have an on-line class, but it doesn't have to be included.
Zippedee doodah!  I did finish this up.  I also decided to not do the on-line class but continue to go to Riley the next six weeks and just be done.  But the portfolio didn't need to include anything but the core classes, so I'm done with that.

8. Continue to work on eating out of the freezer. Why can't I make good progress on this? Too much goat?

We are still doing this.  Yesterday I served the family freezer burned tater tots.
9. Cleaning I don't usually do like baseboards.
Didn't do so well with this.  Oh well, it is still waiting for me.


10. Let's be real. I am going to spend time reading, watching TV, and surfing the Internet.
I did this and watched a lot of basketball.  It was a great weekend to be a Wildcat fan.  My bracket at school looks a little tough, but I am imagining that are several holes in many people's brackets.

Now back to school!

Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday this week is about your first date.  Now it could have been your very first date, or your first date with your spouse.  I decided to go with Kyle and my first date because it was way more interesting and I'm not sure I really remember the other.

This would have been in Sept. of our junior year at KSU.  I was Kyle's "Big Sister" at FarmHouse which didn't mean anything and there was another guy who was also my 'brother".  Kyle joined the fraternity as a sophomore and I had joined the now defunct Little Sister program as a freshman at the request of my grandpa.  Kyle had called "several" girls to go to a Catholic wedding dance in Clifton and they couldn't go.  So he called me and I agreed.  It was not unusual for a FH guy to call a Little Sister in a pinch.  So after the football game, sunburned from sitting on the east side of the stadium, we headed to Clifton. 

Now when we got there, of course Kyle knew everyone and I knew no one unless Lori was there which I can't remember.  I had never been to Clay Center, Morganville, or Clifton.  I had never been to a wedding dance or seen the dollar dances for the bride and groom.  Those were the days of  cake receptions in my part of the world.  There were some memorable characters who I will never forget from that night.  I also met his folks and danced with his dad.  After we left the dance, we went to his house and he ate a meatloaf sandwich and turned the rotor on the antennae so he could watch a channel from Nebraska.  Also something I had never seen before.  By the way, we were in the brown Monte Carlo from the last Flashback Friday.

We made it back to Manhattan, and I never dated anyone else. 
The end.

Irish Randomness

1. On a scale of 1-10, how superstitious are you, honestly?


Not very, or not at all. I can't think of an example where I have to do something just because.

2. Julius Caesar is quoted as saying, "I came, I saw, I conquered." Which circumstance or experience of yours does this saying best describe?

My kitchen project.  We selected flooring, rugs, and yesterday I painted above the cabinets.  Now I need my sister-in-law to help me with window treatments.  I think I will wait until she is here on March 26 and get an expert opinion.

3. If I peeked in on your day like a mischievous little leprechaun, at what time would I most likely find you blogging?
Usually early morning.
4. Re springing forward for Daylight Saving Time, is there anything you've ever been really early or really late for?

I tried to think of either one, but came up with nothing.
5. What are you most looking forward to concerning Spring?

Warmer weather, green grass,  planting the garden,and mowing.

6. Shamrocks are the national flower of Ireland and are picked on St. Patrick's Day and worn on the lapel or shoulder. Do you wear green on St. Patty's Day?

Sure do.  I have on my green K-State t-shirt. 
7. One of Caesar's assassins, Casca, said, "But, for my own part, it was Greek to me," which of course means he didn't understand something. Probably his own lines in the play. Anyway, what is something that is "Greek to you," something incomprehensible or indecipherable?

Backing a trailer.   I have tried, and am terrible at it.  Probably just needed to practice more, but no one had the patience to really live through that experience. 
8. Is March behaving more like a lion or a lamb where you live?

It really isn't a lion, but is still so cool I wouldn't call it a lamb.

9. "An extra yawn one morning in the springtime, an extra snooze one night in the autumn is all that we ask in return for dazzling gifts. We borrow an hour one night in April; we pay it back with golden interest five months later." -Winston Churchill. If you had one extra hour per day every day, what would you do with it?

Read.
10. Legend says that every Leprechaun has a pot of gold hidden deep in the Irish countryside. Aside from real gold or money, what material item would be in your dream pot of gold?

I keep thinking it would be fun to have a pool, but then I would also want a pool boy.

11. "The best things are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you." Robert Louis Stevenson. Look around you right now and tell us about something essential or beautiful very near you that you take for granted every day.

We have a beautiful sunset here from out back view almost every day, but I don't appreciate it every day.  Of course, that would mean the sun was shining.  A rare commodity.
12. Just for a bit o' fun, click here (www.blogthings.com/irishnamegenerator/) and then report your Irish name. Mine is "Zoe O'Sullivan."
 
Mine was Kayleigh Murray.  Who knows how they get this stuff.  Then below it was the quote, "What butter or whiskey does not cure cannot be cured."  Now there is some Irish thinking.

My First Ride

I saw a post on another blog about "Your First Ride", so I looked for pictures for what we drove in high school.  I have a sister a year older, and one three years younger, so I always shared a car and if we didn't have anything after school we were on the bus.  We had an El Camino to drive for a while.  It was a good car, but hard to get a lot of friends into your vehicle.  Could have been my parent's plan. 

It was a two toned green but this is as close as I could find.  It met a bad end when Darci was rear ended by a semi while waiting for construction.

I think I was a sophomore, maybe a junior, when Kim and I got a Cutlass Supreme to share.  It was eventually the car she took to college and then we shared in Manhattan.  This picture is close to what it looked like.  Then Darci came to Manhattan and we shared another Cutlass, and then I got married and we had a Monte Carlo.  I remember the hood on it was really long.

Now there is a little family history, kids.

Random Dozen

1.  How old is the oldest pair of shoes in your closet?


I would say about six years old.  I have a pair of Reebok flip flops I bought I don't really remember when that I haven't been able to give up.  They don't make it out it public anymore, but a couple of years after I bought the original pair, I bought some just like them, so I wear them out and about.

2. Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year? If so, what variety?

We had plenty.  I bought two boxes at school, thin mints and lemon whatevers.   Then I had a former student show up at my door and I thought anyone who is working the streets, so to speak, needs rewarded, so I bought two more boxes, and then another GS showed up at our door, talked to Kyle and he bought two more boxes.  Next year I am sending them to my friend Jackie who bought some out of the back of a minivan at the KSU/OU game at OU because no one had visitied her.  It's just a hazard of my profession.

3. Do you know how to ballroom dance? If not, would you like to?

No, I don't know how and it might be kind of fun.  My daughter-in-law is going to dance in "Dancing With the Stars" at KSU later this month so she might be our fine dancing representative.  Go Tamara!
4. Were you a responsible child/teenager.

Very responsible and you can even ask my parents.  Model child.  Middle child.  Actually we were all responsible.  That's just the way you were supposed to be.
5. How many of this year's Oscar-nominated movies did you see?

I have seen Up, Blind Side, and Julie and Julia. This year there seems to be more that I would still like to see.

6. If you're going to have a medical procedure done, such as having blood drawn, is it easier for you to watch someone else having the procedure done or have it done yourself?

Neither one really bothers me. I always watch when they stick my arm at the Bloodmobile.
7. What is your favorite day of the week and why?

Saturday.  Long breakfast, running errands, ballgames.  Maybe even out with friends.
8. Do you miss anyone right now?

Kyle was gone last night visiting sale barns in western Kansas.  I miss that he usually takes care of the dog and I will have to do it today. 
9. Do hospitals make you queasy?

No

10. At which store would you like to max-out your credit card. Not that you ever would, you responsible person, you.

Max out??  Last time I checked I had a $12,500 limit just on one card. 

11. Are you true to the brand names of products/items?

I always buy Tide and Downy.  When the kids were home, I couldn't get by with off brand cereals, but I eat them.  I still have Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch for when they are home.
12. Which is more difficult: looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when he/she is telling you how he/she feels?

Weird question.  I guess Door number 1, Monte Hall.

10 on the 10th

Next week is Spring Break.  I don't have any place I am traveling to, but I do have some things I want to accomplish.
1.  Paint the wall above the cabinets in my kitchen.  I will have to take down wallpaper, so hopefully it will strip easily. 
2.  Find curtains for the kitchen.  I have looked at JC Penney and haven't found anything so I might end up making them.  This is when I need my sister-in-law's skills.
3.  Get stuff around for the annual UMW Rummage Sale on March 27th.
4.  Go to Manhattan and get things on my list.  I could go as far as Topeka, but maybe not.
5.  Buy a  new porch swing for the walk-out basement.  The old one is a disgrace and dangerous.
6.  Change the picture on my blog.  I hope we are done with the snow.
7.  Finish up my portfolio for class.  I still will have an on-line class, but it doesn't have to be included.
8.  Continue to work on eating out of the freezer.  Why can't I make good progress on this?  Too much goat?
9.  Cleaning I don't usually do like baseboards. 
10.  Let's be real.  I am going to spend time reading, watching TV, and surfing the Internet.

March into March

1. Do you prefer even or odd numbers? Any particular reason?

I prefer even numbers.  Kyle, I, and all the kids were all born on even years and we got married on an even year.


2. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being "not at all" and 10 being Carly Simon-worthy, how vain are you?

I don't think I am very vain about anything.  This song does remind me of high school because it so aptly described a guy.

3. Among these Irish stereotypes, with which do you identify most closely? Talkative, Proud, Inquisitive, Love to party, Hot-tempered

Inquisitive - I love the internet because I can look stuff up so quickly.

4. How lucky do you consider yourself?

I am lucky in that I have a good life, but as far as winning the lottery or even a free gallon of milk at Ray's Apple Market I'm not so lucky. 

5. What is the subject of your favorite post that you've written?

Oh, I should ask all my fans that question.  I think I have more comments of my self diagnosis of tennis elbow.

6. Describe March weather where you live in three words.

Windy, windy, windy.

7. How apt are you at detecting blarney when you hear it? (Smooth talk, flattery)

Pretty good.  A mother of three and a teacher can pick through the lies.

8. How "green" are you, environmentally speaking?

We are pretty proud of ourselves here, well actually it is all me but Kyle carries it to the curb.  Since CC has had curbside recycling I have been saving cardboard, plastics, paper, and now glass.  I have always contributed aluminum cans to our church's trailer where the proceeds help kids go to church camp.

9. What is your favorite song this week?

Haven't Met You Yet by Michale Buble.  Uncharacteristically for me, I bought the Crazy Love CD.

10. You are walking along and see a coin on the ground. What denomination does it have to be before you will stop to pick it up?

"See a penny pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck.  See a penny let it lay, no good luck will come your way."

11. Complete the sentence: "Every time I look outside my window ...."

I wonder, "Who is that driving by?"  A holdover from living in the country.

12. What was the #1 song on the day you were born? See this site to find out.

It's All in the Game
Tommy Edwards

Pawn Star

Last night at 9pm the show we usually watch, Castle, was preempted by Bachelor - Wings of Love (gag, and I watched the very end because we thought Castle was going to be on.  Really, was she the prettiest girl out there?  She must be nice.)  So we had to look for something else.  We tried Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, but that always makes Kyle hungry.  So he said, "Let's watch Pawn Star."  I said, "OK, but I have watched it once and all they did was sell guns and I am not interested in watching that."  He said, "You must have been watching something else.  They don't sell guns." 

First item up for them to purchase - a flame thrower from the Vietnam war.  OK, maybe not a gun, but close enough.  Second item up - a gun that this guy wanted to sell because he was getting married and needed money for the honeymoon. 

Channel changed. 

We ended up watching Cake Boss.  Since we have purchased a wedding cake in the past 18 months and know how much it costs, how much would a Leaning Tower of Pisa cake cost?