Beneath the Wraps

                 During the course of our blogs, my brother and I have both mentioned how our growing up years may have seemed idealistic – how our share of problems pale in comparison to countless others.  I don’t relate to dysfunctional families and am highly grateful for that.  As I looked around the room during Relief Society yesterday I noticed each one of the sisters (or most of them) had been a part of a dysfunctional family either in childhood or parenthood – sometimes both I felt a sense of sadness.  I don’t/didn’t wish to appear like I was boasting with my “unexpected answer to prayer” example compared to great struggles and hardships of others.          I am GRATEFUL to be an oddball.   The closest I have come to experiencing the dysfunctional thing has been on the outside seeing a glimpse of Biff’s challenges and his in-laws.   I hadn’t thought of them as dysfunctional but there ...

               When I was in seminary each student received a package of 40 scripture cards for at least three years. I managed to save 120 of the cards.   The red cards were part of a package I had received in my freshman year, green doctrine and covenants cards recived in my sophomore year and blue Book of Mormon cards in my junior year.   I don’t have old testament cards.   That doesn’t mean that they didn’t exist.   I really don’t remember one way or the other.             Cards offered key words for reference and memorization.   I hadn’t memorized them all.   There are some I still remember.   Sometimes we were challenged to carry our scriptures to all of our classes.   Sometimes we were told the scripture cards would be sufficient.   Thus I started punching holes to carry on a large ring binder.   I don’t know how I was able to save the...

             I continue to receive emails from a booster program that prepares young mind to navigate into the real world.   I created a post for it 10 years ago and notice that some of my links are now obsolete. Our time spent at JA City ( here ) took place approximately six months before our move to Oregon.   Thus not only do I live in another state than the said activities but my child is now 20 years old.   I finally hit the unsubscribe button.   Hopefully it worked.

                 We passed a horrific accident returning home from the ward luncheon.  I don’t know how many people were involved or how many hurt.  I saw a stretcher out by a car in the ditch.  Ahead was a van all smashed up.  It had to have been going pretty fast to have been that smashed up – or perhaps it had been the other car that hit on the way to the ditch (I guess I don’t even know what direction the ditch car was facing)             We had to slow down as we passed.   Tears formed in my eyes.   I don’t know what happened.   I would guess it could have been prevented.   I feel bad for the victims.   I hope things will be resolved and health will be restored.

                 Doris Day and Rock Hudson made a few movies together including “Send Me No Flowers” which I had mentioned in my last post and “Pillow Talk” which is the segue into the topic of this post. 20 Things From The 1960s, Kids Today Will Never Understand! #16 mentions the party line which is not something that took place in our home but I did know of neighbors who had party lines.  I don’t know why some neighbors had them and some didn’t.  “Pillow Talk” gave me the impression that it was more common than not and yet I really didn’t know that many people who had them.           In “Pillow Talk” the solution worked out by the characters was to make or accept phone calls within a half hour time.   One could take the hour until half past while the other used the phone half past until the hour.   I don’t know that either of our neighbors had worked out anything.   I ...

  Dave Willock played the part of a milk man in 1964’s “Send Me No Flowers”.   I’d forgotten the now obsolete profession.   I don’t remember the milk man but I do remember the milk box that lived outside our door for years.   Once a week it was magically filled with four quarts of milk that we would take from box to fridge.   I remember having pulled out the heavy glass bottles and placing them in our fridge.   I think it had been delivered by Winder Dairy.   When we finished our milk we would return the empty milk drop container and they would be picked up when the next delivery was made.   I don’t know how old I was when we started picking up plastic jugs of milk because the four quarts were no longer enough.   Eventually the delivery stopped and the milk man was gone.   You can read more history at this site .

  In the 20 Things From The 1960s, Kids Today Will Never Understand! YouTube video there was mention of a record player and the speeds features for various record players.   I remember the different speeds mentioned and the record sizes.   I also remember a 16 speed (not mentioned) but never saw a record for that speed.   I barely remember the 78, 33 and 78 records had holes in the middle to fit over the piece in the middle of the turn table. But the 45 speed or singles had a larger hole which required an adapter.     I remember having red plastic circles but did not use myself as someone had brilliantly invented an entire tube to fit over the stem and so the hold would fit in place over the tube.   I had created this post in 2015 and thought there was another that gave indication to my first phonograph and stereo.   Must have been a page I had created for a memory scrapbook. Perhaps an entry for another post?  

              This morning I watched a couple of “remembrance” videos found on YouTube starting with 20 Things From The 1960s, Kids Today Will Never Understand! found here . As I watched I smiled at some things I remembered and laughed at others.  Most I could remember first hand such as Sunday drives and record players.  There were only a couple that I either couldn’t remember or dared to try myself.  I do remember trying the pogo stick but only a try.  I never owned my own pogo stick.  I never gave myself the opportunity of perfecting it.           I remember green stamps.   I remember having watched them dissolve – not that I was ever attached to them.   I was a kid.   I didn’t care about their existence or what could be purchased with them.             Though I have done “remembrance” and “evolution” posts befo...

                 I have only one dose left of the nasty mouth wash I will swish around after my next meal.  I have five pills left from what I told was a day’s worth of what I thought to be pain killers.  They are actually “knock-me-into-a-coma-so-I-forget-the-pain” pills.  I found that out one evening when I took the one pill at 5:00 p.m. instead of my usual 8:00 when I am ready to retire to bed anyway.                I bet I could cut the remaining 5 pills in half and they would still be as effective.   I wish they were memory pills.

                 I fell asleep early.   I got up at 2:00 quite warm and decided to take a shower.   I did not return to bed as I had had six hours of sleep. I took my kindle into another room to pass the time.   If I had thought about it I would have cleaned the carpet in Richard’s office.   Of course I did not think about it.   I returned to bed at 4:00.   Sometime between 4:00 a.m. and 5:30 I had a really hard sleep.   I know that I was sleeping hard as I had another really bizarre dream with no connections to anything.                  I was driving down a road that leads to downtown Myrtle Creek.   A deer zoomed in front of me.   I think I stopped hard to let it pass.   And then I saw a woman slowly moseying down the middle of the road.   She was wearing a c...

                 In my last post I mentioned a nasty mouthwash that the dentist gave me to rinse my mouth three times a day – I guess until it’s gone.   I am supposed to swish for 45 seconds and not eat or drink for 20-30 minutes after I spit.   It isn’t terrible swishing it in my mouth, but once I spit it does leave a horrible after taste – and then my teeth hurt.           I have learned to take the pain killers before I swish.   I am glad I waited on the “one-day” dosage of pain killers.   Thus far I have taken three.   The mar above my lip and cheek that I posted five days ago has faded but I seem to have a small bruise close to my left chin.   (Well there's an grammatically incorrect sentence that Would hurt an English grade)  What is up with that?   All the teeth that were extracted were on top.         ...

  My mom said that I had mumps on one side of my mouth.   I don’t remember. I wonder if that is what my left cheek has felt like since my dental incident on Tuesday.     I picked up my prescriptions yesterday.   One was for a nasty mouthwash that is to get rid of whatever germs have built up.   The other was for a pain killer that could send me into a coma if I’m not careful.   I am too scared to take it.   And really, the pain is not as bad as I had predicted.   I was given only one day’s worth and so will save it for a time when the pain is more severe.   But I will also pray about my decision in the event that my pain does get that bad.   And it doesn’t have to be my face that is hurting.   The outward appearance indicates that I am in a lot more pain than I am.

  I have always had a low pain threshold.   I have also been a drama queen exaggerating the results of my pain thus I didn’t always get the sympathy that I sought.   On Tuesday I had three teeth extracted from my mouth.   I was certain I would have to have surgery with at least one – being lost in the gum line and have to be removed in pieces.   That is how it was for my mom.   But then again that was over 60 years ago.   Technology has made things so much easier since then.              All three teeth were removed within half an hour.   I thought I would be in the dentist chair for at least two hours – or close to it anyway.   I don’t hurt nearly as much as I had expected.   In fact, it only hurts on one side – mostly in the cheek area on my left side.   In time the pain will go away and I will be back to eating solid foods. But as of right now it’s been mashed potatoes, pudding and Jell-o. ...

          I don’t know which Easter – two years ago I think – when I learned the resurrection rolls (some call them tomb rolls) from Emily Belle Freeman (In one of the Easter videos that she did with David Butler)   Neither David Butler nor I had ever heard of the disappearing marshmallow treat.   They souned good along with symbolic message and I tried them.             I vaguely remember explained the symbols as I held up the marshmallow and said that it would represent Jesus’ body and that we would symbolically prepare the body in oil (melted butter) and fine spices (cinnamon and sugar) and dress His body (the crescent roll or biscuit or whatever I happened to use) and when we opened the oven His body would no longer be inside.   I don’t know what recipe I used.             Yesterday I decided that I would surprise the other two as they ...