Beneath the Wraps

          When Jenna was three, we would walk hand in hand over to the public school twice a week for a preschool class that was offered.  At age four she went for four days.  At age five we enrolled her in kindergarten.  All day kindergarten to be exact. We were also in year round school.           I would volunteer in the class room once a week. We were both happy. She loved learning.  I loved her teachers. I never had any reason to look into another school.           Her preschool teacher was great.  She loved those she taught.  And Jenna was forever learning – and socializing.  Jenna was quite popular in her class. Holding hands with Paul the first day of school.  Soaking things in like a sponge.           Her kindergarten teacher was amazing....

          I’m not saying that Jenna has it easier than I did.   But I certainly didn’t have the modern conveniences that she doesn’t yet appreciate.   After all most (if not all) of them are older than she is.   Take computers, for example.           Back in the dark ages when I went to school, number 2 pencils were required for taking tests.   We were to pick a letter from A-E and fill in the circle COMPLETELY.   If any student was just one answer off (and had marked “C” for answer 4 instead of answer 3) every answer which followed was also marked incorrectly – and so even if I did know many of the answers – I didn’t get the credit for it.           Today (at least in her current situation) questions are given one at a time.   I suppose there is room for error with hitting the wrong button – but I don’t think th...

Often times I will come up with ideas for posts and write down words and toy around with sentences and structure until I am satisfied enough to post them to my Blog.             I had a thought about education – Jenna’s to be specific.   I suppose I had a complete short Blog post but thought I might add to it later on.   I did add to it.   I added a lot – making for a very long post.           Posts don’t always need to be long.   Often short posts just seem more inviting.   And so I have decided to split up my post on education.   I will dedicate the entire week to educational themed posts.   Enjoy.

I have saved many things over the years due to sentimental reasons: “my friend gave me this” or “my cousin gave me that” or “this was sent to me from Germany”   I apparently did not build up any sentimental attachment to the Barbie doll, any of her friends or the doll clothes that mom must have spent hours making.           I was never into Barbie as much as my friend, Julie, for example.   She had the Barbie dream house and the lush convertible, and all the latest accessories.   Not all of my friends were into Barbie as much as Julie was, but a lot of girls were.   Barbie, Barbie, Barbie.             Even back then Barbie just seemed too high maintenance for me.   I had a Francie doll.   Francine fell somewhere between Barbie and Barbie’s little sister, Skipper.   Francie’s hair was shorter than I liked.   She wasn’t near as popular as Barbie –...

Many people see the world as black and white.   No shades of grey.   Definitely no color.   Everything is absolutely wrong or absolutely right – there is no room for individualism.   We all need to be these perfect cookie cutter molds that would never dare venture out of the box.           Dr. Laura – to me- sounds like a very black and white person.   And of course her way is the correct way.   No ifs, ands or buts.   Why is it that folks even call into her program?   Is it their wish to be humiliated on the air and given a “duh” speech and still not understand that they’ve been slammed?           I don’t actually listen to her program intentionally.   Roland always tunes the car radio onto talk radio, and sometimes I just happen to be in the car when Dr. Laura gives common sense advice to her mostly pathetic callers. For the most part I do...

My mother was raised in an apartment.   Both of her parents smoked.   As a result, my mother lost her sense of smell.   So it can’t be genetic.   Not that I’ve ever had the most spectacular smelling senses.   But now I don’t seem to have any.   And I actually feel blessed that I don’t. At least at the moment.                        I love the smell of fresh baked bread.   Gingerbread.   My husband’s cooking.   I sneeze at the very sight of a candle – although I have enjoyed many fragrances – I do have allergies.   Perfumes, plants . . . don’t even get me started. I wonder if my allergies have dulled my sense of smell over the years and have finally killed it.           But there’s a lot of smells I don’t miss:   I understand the dog stinks.   I’ll bathe him today.   Bu...

I don’t much care for reality shows.   As a whole, I think so many started out as bogus – though there are some really good ones now.   I don’t watch the Biggest Loser, but that is at least believable as being real. So many of the first reality shows introduced were “staged”.           Over five years ago TBS advertised one called “He’s a Lady”.   I would roll my eyes every time I saw the commercial.   And yet, I must have been intrigued.   Must have had some sense of morbid curiosity.   Why would a guy subject himself to follow in a woman’s footsteps for 6 weeks or two months or whatever it was.   How about a quarter of a million prize money?   Or the “false” advertisement which drew them to enter in the first place?           There were at least eleven candidates who had applied for “The All American Man” contest – prove to the nation just who w...

          I started reading to Jenna when she was still inside of my womb.   I would place earphones on my stomach and play Classical music for her.   I would hold a flashlight over my belly and turn it off and on and explain to her weather it was dark or light.           Roland read to her and her brothers read to her from newborn to preschool.   Jenna grew up reading books and has loved books ever since.   She especially likes books that encourage imagination or anything non-fiction that helps her learn.   I think that is SO AWESOME!           Of course I have to thank the library system for setting up the Beehive Nominee’s incentive program (or summer reading or whatever else is offered) as Jenna is always on a mission to complete the program and have her card filled ASAP.        ...

Roland and I had been married a couple of months before we met Bill Jolly – who totally lived up to his last name as he was always smiling and joking and overall really did appear to be happy.           He’d come to choir practice and often joke with the chorister.  It was rare that he presented himself as a person who was ever serious.           Overall he didn’t seem like my sister’s type, but I liked him and wondered if she would too.  Yet in the back of my mind it seemed like he had a wife.  I’m not sure why I thought that.  I never saw him with anyone.  It wasn’t until much later on that I learned his wife was homebound for much of the time due to failing health.  When she did leave the house it was usually to go to the doctor or hospital.  I would visit her periodically. It was disheartening to see her in such poor health as she was younger ...

Jenna and I went downtown to meet our new in-laws at a Bridal display.  While we were waiting, Jenna stood over the air vent and let the air blow under her dress.  She held it down as the air blowing had revealed a little too much.  So her dress would puff up making her appear round in the middle - like a nesting doll sort of.  When she left the air vent, she was back to her normal skinny shape.  And I thought: "How cool would that be if we could just stand over something and when we walk away all of the rounded middle of ourselves could simply vanish away?"  How wonderful it would be to lose weight the instant we put it in.

          I am younger than the rotary phone though older than the cordless and definitely older than the cell phone.   Roland often used to get unwanted possessions from his clients – one being an old rotary phone.   He brought it home one day and called the boys together.   There was an extra jack in Tony’s room and Roland hooked the phone up and brought it out into the hall and told the boys that they could leave it in the hall so that they would all have access to it and wouldn’t have to run into the kitchen every time. I remember the three boys standing around the phone – first with their eyes on the phone and then exchanging puzzled looks with one another until finally one of them asked, “How does it work?”   Until then it hadn’t even dawned on me that what had been very routine for me growing up really was a foreign object to these boys who were not much younger than the cell phone.   How would...

I was thirteen when I got my first period.   I was with my family – on vacation.   Ugh!   I told my mom that there was blood in my pants.   She explained what was taking place inside my body and how I could look forward to this special gift each month.   Yuck!   Seriously.   Wasn’t at all excited about having this piece of womanhood.           I didn’t receive my second period until two and a half years later.   I was at school thinking, “Okay, this is not so bad.   Every two and a half years.   I can handle that”   But there was no two and a half year wait for my next one.   They started coming in perhaps every five or six weeks.   Soft.   If it weren’t for the disgusting smell, I could have probably gotten away with just a band-aid for my entire period.   I have never been a heavy bleeder.   I have never been regular.      ...

                   Aside from disposable dishes, I am really quite grateful to the inventor of the Crock Pot.   What an awesome invention!   To be able to throw in food and have it done by dinner time!   And the meat is always tender and juicy and oh, so good.   So much better than the oven.           The first crock pot that I have recollection of was a red orange one my mom had purchased shortly after this wonderful item was introduced to the market.   We didn’t have the option of removing the incert as we have today.   There was no insert.   It was just one unit.   The cord went in the sink as we attempted to clean it without getting the cord wet.   (What a chore that was)           Today crock pots come in assorted styles and gadgets.   Roland and I ...