Itchy Leggins and Kickerinos

From first grade to fourth grade I lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was GREAT. My Dad would tamp down the snow in the back yard, lay down black plastic, mound snow around the edges, and go out at night with the water hose and "flood" it to make our ice rink. From time to time he would go out at night and add another layer. We had two clothes line poles inside our ice rink, so we would hold on to the pole (mittens, of course) and go round and round and skate to the other pole and do the same! I loved to ice skate and each winter I had to make new pom-poms for my skates.

To dress for the walk to school, I had to wear my dress (of course! girls could not wear slacks to school back then), and itchy leggins. In fact, I remember one time I had to go back home and put those itchy things on. I did not like to wear them, but my legs got too cold without them. I also had to wear my Kickerinos, which I loved to wear. Kickerinos were not just snow boots - they were cool snow boots. My old snow boots I had to put on over my shoes (overshoes). My Kickerinos were real boots; they had a furry collar and zipped up. I could fold the collar up or down.
(updated with a photo!)

Pot Roast, Green Beans, and Chocolate Cake

I would always ask for the same meal on my birthday: pot roast, green beans, and chocolate cake. Of course, all I really wanted was the chocolate cake. Mom made it from scratch using Hershey's cocoa. I use to eat the cake first and leave the frosting for last (chocolate frosting, of course). Sometimes my Dad would try to take my frosting! But after the first time he tried and did it, I was very careful to protect it!

Pineapple Upset

Years ago I worked for Continental Oil Company. My first day there I stamped their return address on envelopes. Later I graduated to looking for duplicate accounts. Back in the late 60's credit card gas purchases were run through machines that embossed the card number and owner's name (and address!) on the credit card slip. Sometimes these slips were not very readable which led to confusion for everyone.

One day I came to work and discovered that all of our desks had been moved around. The long-timers referred to it as "pineapple upset". It seems that management thought that it was time to reorganize. There were no cubicles, just rows of big metal desks. When they reorganized, they just rearranged the desks.

I found my Gene B. Stookey award in a box with photos. It was for figuring out a very convoluted and duplicated account. It is just a piece of paper with the company logo pasted on and a few words given to me by my supervisor, but I have kept it for over thirty years! Kind words for a job well done are never forgotten.

(updated with the award!)

My Dad's Hair

It just occurred to me. My hair is now as white as my Dad's was. This isn't the greatest picture, but it is hard to find photos of my Dad. He was always the one taking the pictures.

When I was in the third grade, he had some kind of problem with his teeth; Mom put a record on the record player and turned it up loud, so we couldn't hear him yell (and swear) in pain. Almost overnight, his hair was white!

I stopped coloring my hair last summer. Now, my hair is white, just like I remember my Dad's - except he had nice waves and mine is oh so straight. Thankfully, my hair lost its nice dark brown color over the years and not from pain.
(updated with photo)

I love you Mommy!

I saved boxes and boxes of school work (most elementary) from my two children. Since they are both out of college now, I decided it might be time to go through the boxes. I tossed the trash and saved the treasures. I now have one box full of treasures to scan.

It was so fun! I enjoyed their "kid art" and school work again and read maybe a hundred times: "I Love You Mommy".