August 2017- Another Day and Month!

 Hmmm, where do I begin? All of a sudden my mind goes blank.  There's so much going on up there hard to think straight some times.

This is going to be a busy month.  Lots of company coming into town.  We are going to celebrate my daughter Candace's Wedding (Commitment) to her Partner Donna.  Things are moving along. This week is the week. Have the rehearsal Dinner on Friday. Thank God, I will have my girls here to do that with me. I can't drive at night so that is where they come in. I also love the support they give me. I am not a person that is really a social bug. I am very much an introvert when it come to people outside my lovely family. I try but I guess it is just a cautious thing with me. In my life I have always minded my own business and stayed in the background. That was taking care of my family, my children. I also tried to stay away from things and people until I completely knew who and what they were about.

I had a job as HR in the work field.  Believe me, the job was very hard for me. To do a job in that field was challenging.  Of course I had to do a lot, like scheduling, time cards and other things. Hiring, firing and making sure every department was covered. But the most important thing about the job was keeping good work relations between management and employees. It was a very involved job with too much to even put down.  I loved it, as it gave me a chance to prove to myself, I had the ability to do services in that field.  The first job I had with the company was a cashier. Then I went into the Advertising dept. Making very sure that everything in the ad was available for the sale. If not, I had to call stores to see if they had extras.  If they did, I had to make sure they could get the merchandise to our store. I would sometimes have to go pick things up at warehouses.  The  floor displays had to be checked to make sure they were in the right places.  If three stores out of four had the product in stock, they would still run the ad. The only reason they wouldn't have the merchandise is because the assistant managers would not put a hold on it for the ads. They would have special "Blue Light Specials" sales, trying to get the sales up.  Of course they would use it if it wasn't  marked for a sale. But it was a fun job.  Then when the HR position became available in our store in Cherry Grove, I turned it down until one opened up in Northern Ky. That is how I moved to this area. But enough about my former employment.

My 2nd cousin, Bobby Ochs that lives in California, dropped in for a visit. He is the son of my cousin Bob who is now 89 years old and from what I hear he is doing well.  He was having some problems, but since he had the pacemaker placed in, he is doing much better.  It is great news to hear he is doing so well. I haven't talk to him since last year. So I am going to have to put that on the list!

Christina, Aunt Pearl & Norma on Cook St.

So, back in the day.......On weekends, as I had said before, we would go to Aunt Alice's house.  That was always so much fun. Of course every time we would go, Christine and I would have to make the beds, clean the dishes and dry them and sweep the floors. Where were the grown ups, you ask? Well, by the time we got up, took our baths and ate breakfast, it was afternoon. So, they would have us stay there and do the cleanup wile they could go to the neighborhood bar. The time frame, I can remember, was when they lived on Cook St, on the third floor. That was fun. We had to climb the steps up. The best part was sliding down the big banisters coming down.  We would get in trouble if we were caught. But they would already be at the bar! So who knew? Not they.

Christina and I would make a game out of everything we did.  To make the beds, we would kneel on it, put our heads down on the bed, put our hands behind our backs.  Now the rule was, if you fell over you had to make the bed.  We would be there for ten to fifteen minutes to see who would fall over first. Most the time it was me, as I was not the most balanced kid in the world. So, I would end up making that bed. Or I would try to wiggle while kneeling to make her fall. So that bed being done by me, we would go to the next one. Then the dishes. Dishes were easy to wash because we put them in the water and then you wash. Well, drying was terrible. You had to put them away. So, of course the rule was if you had to make the extra bed, (there were three, one was a fold away bed) you had to dry the dishes. So of course, I had to dry most of the time.  I always thought to myself,  I wish I was as big her so I could win.  She was two years older than me.

On top of that, we had to keep an eye on the boys. Well, they would disappear.... and go outside. Then Christina would bring them in and tie them on a chair, so they couldn't go out! Sonny would chew the rope or rag, whatever it was she used tie him, and he'd get loose. He would sneak out after loosening the tie on Dal.  It was always taking us so long that, by then, it was time for dinner. So then we would take turns on dishwashing, as the parents were around and they wouldn't stand for monkey business.  When we finished, they would give us money to go get candy. Now that I think about it. The only fun about it was being able to see Christina and playing our games. Hide and seek, kick the can,  and hopscotch.  She had a friend that lived in the building on the second floor . Her name was Virginia Cook.

Uncle Charley & Butch on Marshall

Then after a time they moved to Marshall Ave. There was a neighborhood bar on each end of her block. One corner was Spring Grove Ave and the other was Colerain Ave, the house was in the middle. There we got to go to the movies after our chores.

Aunt Alice had to get Christina a perm in her hair as she had straight hair.  So I was there and I went with them while they did her Perm and I told Aunt Alice I wanted a one too.  She said you don't need one. I told her I did too need one. So I begged her and she got me one. WELL! When my Mom saw it she threw a fit. Her and Aunt Alice got in an argument over it. I told Mom,  "I told her you wouldn't care."  So that was the one and only time I ever had a permanent in my life.  I didn't need a perm.  I have natural curly hair. But it looked like fun with all those wire things sticking out of your head. Yeah, we had some good times and some bad, but it was fun just spending time with my cousin.  Even after she married and started having children I would go over and see her. Then when I started with my family, we would go to her house. Ben was working at Proctor & Gamble and he would have samples of stuff he would give me.  He was such a kind man. Always had a good time when we would go see them.  Of course, I would have to go home and clean my house. It looked like a Tornado had hit it when trying to get four kids ready to take a day trip to the farm.  The kids all had good times together. They still do to this day.  Sure do miss that special lady. The best part of it all was she was a stay at home Mom and so was I.  That was before the kids started school and we could just put them in the car and go. Then after the school thing started we would go out on a weekend. But not as often.  Those were the good ole days.  As time went by we did keep in touch by phone or when family's got together.  One thing that came from it is the kids don't get together as often,  they however are in touch with each other at times through social media. Beth, the youngest, has a 4th of July  gathering every year and one of mine are most always there.  People are so much more busier than in the day.

So, that is my memories for this time.
Well, I hope you enjoy my babbling . . .
Hugs to all!