Talent Show - Last Day at the Park

Jill and her partner sang and danced to "Can't Touch This" by M C Hammer

The judges liked it!

Jill and her partner won second place.

Good bye. Last day of 2011 park summer program. After more than 30 years of talent shows, there may not be a summer program at our park next year. The after school care program has already been cancelled.

For the last few years, Jonah and Jill have gone to the park after school and in the summer. They have gone skating, swimming, bowling, played basketball and football and taken cheerleading lessons. They have had art projects, dinners, dances, Halloween parties and all sorts of other activities. Today they had a talent show. Russell, the recreation program director, has become a friend of our family. He and my son have played golf several times. He announced today that there has been a talent show at this park almost every year since the 1970's. But now the county government has decided the program is too expensive. The staff have been given their notices. A few Tampa parks will continue offering after school and summer programs, but not our park. It is a shame. I'm not sure what all these kids are going to do after school now. I know that Jill and Jonah and their parents and their grandma will never forget the friends they made here and all the fun they had here.

The Help - Childhood memories

My mother didn't like this portrait of my brother and me because Mrs. Patilla fixed our hair in such an old fashioned way.

My sister-in-law and I went to see the movie The Help the other day. I loved it. I haven't read the book yet but Mary said it was great. We go to the movies together sometimes and occasionally we take my granddaughter, Jill, too, on a girls' outing to the mall. Seeing the movie brought back some of my earliest memories.

My mother was a working mom way back in the 50's. We had an older lady who came to our house to watch my brother and me. She cooked and cleaned and ironed for us as well as baby sitting. I know my mother didn't pay her very much. She was such a great help to my mom. I think it was when we lived in Russellville, Arkansas before we moved to Oklahoma when I was 7 years old.

She used to take us to her church which was across the street from our little rental house. I have a few old pictures of us when she took us to her house one time to meet her grandchildren. Her granddaughter's name was Naomi. Once she took my brother and me to a photograher appointment because my mother had to work. Mom was upset because she fixed our hair in such an old fashioned way.

I have two very clear memories of her cooking. One was a pecan pie and the other was rice pudding. She made it in the oven with a thick layer of cinnamon on top. My first experience with cinnamon. I remembering it bubbling in the oven and the aroma that filled the kitchen was amazing. I have never tasted rice pudding like that since and have never been able to duplicate the recipe. I loved you Mrs. Patilla!

Later on we had a teenage baby sitter in Oklahoma. Her name was Twila. She watched us in the summer. I don't think my mother knew that Twila's boyfriend used to come to the house sometimes. I remember bologna sandwiches or beanie weinies and Kool Aid for lunch. Twila was kind of mean. She made me watch American Bandstand every afternoon instead of cartoons. Thank you, Twila!

Cuchina

Jaime dropped by the other day. She was in a hurry, but I reminded her that I had a few little chores saved up for her when she had time. She hopped up on the sink with her boots on and started hanging up a little kitchen sign for me. She asked for a level, she asked if it was in the right place, but I just eyeballed it. It turned out that hammering the little nails into my old pine cabinets was difficult. Of course, after it was hung, we saw that it was a little off center and a little lopsided. Story of my life. Jaime says she will come back and fix it. I'm thinking maybe I should leave it that way to match all the other slightly crooked items hanging on my walls. I think there is a life lesson here about planning and doing something carefully.

A friend of mine admired two new plaques I hung myself and said, "They are crooked, but they are cute." Even my smallest granddaughter admired a picture in my bedroom the other day and said, "It's crooked." Is it just me? I would never tell my friend something was crooked. Children, on the other hand, what are you going to do? Anyway, the sign is cute.

Playhouse

August 2011

Playhouse and slide at Jaime's old apartment - 2009

Mia - Thanksgiving 2009

Jill and Jonah on the old swing set. I think this was about 2005.

The playhouse and swing when they were new. It turned out that this pretty corner of the yard was a haven for mosquitoes.

Jill's first sight of the second hand little playhouse that her dad brought home as a surprise.

I was struck by the morning light on the little playhouse the other day after all the dark stormy weather we have had lately. It is just a home for wasps now. We need to carry it over to Jaime's house where Mia can actually play with it. I have found that children are like puppies. They don't really like to "play" in the back yard all by themselves. It doesn't help that I no longer have a swing she can use.

Slice of Life - Turn Back Time

Yep, it's me! A long time ago. I thought I was too fat even then, but doesn't seem so bad to me now. (Ha Ha)

Slice of Life is a weekly prompt to encourage writers to tell personal history stories. Click on the link to participate.

If I could turn back time - I have given a little thought to that idea. I have done more than one "searching and fearless moral inventory" of my life. I have a few regrets. I wish I had finished my education. I wish I had been more loving and less angry. I wish I had concentrated more on my life and not just my love life. I wish I would have bought Microsoft stock when it was cheap. (Ha Ha) But I've made peace with my past and I am focused on the present these days.

I do like the idea of taking a time travel vacation though. I would go back and see my mother as a child. I would relive a childhood Christmas of my own. I would hop in my 57 Chevy and head to the Sonic for lunch with my friends. I would relive a romance or two, especially a few very special kisses. I would walk on the beach again back when I could still wear a bikini. I would relive a few of my haydays at Alphatype and Florida Trend Magazine when everything was going my way at work. I would go back and hold my babies again when they were small. Then I'd like to skip ahead a few years and see how everything turns out with the grandkids. Then maybe 100 years from now, I would see if we humans are still around and take a look at the new inventions and find out if we ever discovered life on other planets. What a trip that would be!

Piano

Jaime's piano is finally home. It made the trip from my garage to her living room this morning.

Jonah's Home - Boy and Dog Reunion

No amount of editing can make these pictures anything but what they are - an attempt to capture the blur of boy and dog joyously renewing their friendship. Tusseling, running, jumping and racing around the house and yard. Family and friends showed up to welcome Jonah home. We had food, but he was busy riding Aaron's big bike to see his friend, Seth, setting off some firecrackers he found, hugging Mia and Brody. Mia was so convinced that he would "never come home" because the airport was "too far away." Jill and Mia had made him some "letters" for his homecoming. He tore into them with great anticipation. I thought that was so sweet until I realized he thought there might be money inside. Jonah and his mom went to a last minute music concert with Daniel and Amanda. I suspect they are both sleeping late this morning. Welcome home, Jonah! P.S. The house looked very pretty. Jaime and Aaron moved some things around to make room for the piano.