How do you tell the difference between a cold and allergies? I have never had allergies. The television says that ragweed is high and mold is high. I have been sneezing and now coughing all day.
I asked Fran if we could go get me some Kleenex and he said,"Do you think you could wait 'til tomorrow?" I couldn't believe the sympathy he gave me. lol On twitter, I said," I walk so slow, how in the world can I catch a cold."
Any way, I am sure you all will have a lot of sympathy for me, so thank you in advance!
There are some odd things that come along with Multiple Sclerosis for some folks. Vison oddities are especially troublesome. Just one of the vision "things" is that I cannot see black. Odd isn't it? If I drop a black remote on a dark carpet I can't see it unless the buttons are on the top.
This week I got the cutest walker, it is pink and black. The seat is black with a pink insignia for breast cancer research. The front rod is black with the same insignia. My therapist laughed today when I told her I kept trying to pick up the pink ribbon and flick off the little one on the front rod. I have to laugh, but I continue to do it, I just can't help it.
I want to tell you also, that half of the money for the walker was donated to breast cancer research. Every little bit helps, I am sure.
When I was little, about four or five, my goal in life was to be just like my mama. My mom must have had the patience of Job. I constantly chattered and asked hundreds of questions.
However, mom loved having children spaced four or five years apart so she always had a child at home with her.
She taught me how to iron when I was about four, she taught me how to stomp clothes when I was about five. She taught me how to set a nice table when I was also about five years old. The ironing was of pillowcases and dad's handerkerchiefs. The stomping was probably something quite delicate compared to sheets and overhalls etc. She taught me how to stem and snap beans, shells peas and make cookies.
The cookies she taught me how to make were very special just for a little girl to make her dad smile.
Mom did a lot of baking to pay for my sister's nursing training. So inevitably there was frosting left over from cakes, cinnamon rolls etc. Nothing was wasted at our house, but I knew nothing of that. I just knew mama made things that tasted wonderful.
One day she said,"Lu Anne, would you like to make some cookies?"What child in their right mind wouldn't say, "Yes!"
She got out a small dish of left over frosting and a package of graham crackers. She taught me how to hold the cracker in my left hand just so, so that the frosting wouldn't break it. She gave me a small spoon to spread the frosting. Then put another cracker on the top, so it ended up being a cookie like an oreo without the chocolate. Oh, how delicious! Some days the cookies were pink, some were white, some chocolate etc.
Today I was eating a graham cracker. Of course, I thought about my five year old housewife days!
We went to Wal Mart the other day and as we walked in there was a huge crayon, red of course, and all the way around there were slits in it filled with pages of supplies needed for each area school and each grade.
I was the old fashioned mom who loved the thought of the kids going back to school except for the cost of all the supplies and clothes, and of course pictures and school lunch tickets and on and on. It seemed if I didn't have a check book I would not have been able to send my children to school at all!
My boys were so easy to clothe. They actually liked Penny's plain pocket jeans and different t-shirts and shoes that fit. That was it!
However, they absolutely loved their new tennies. They would say, "Hey mom, look how high they can jump!" I always smiled and told them I thought they could jump higher than the ones they got last year. Big smiles for the year. My daughter by that time was able to pick out her own clothes. For a while, I had lost out with the fashion with the other girls, so I needed "help" from her. Then all was well.
Then there was me when I was school age, elementary. I was such a strange child, I didn't like change at all. I had a pair of sandels that were beautiful. I have written about them before. They were, red, yellow, and green. It was all that mom could do to not let me wear them when they were about 4 sizes too small! My dresses wouldn't fit me at some point. I would stand in front of my closet and cry because my mean ol' mom wouldn't let me wear them.
School supplies were so simple: 2 number 2 pencils, an eraser, a ruler, and a small package of Kleenex. However, the main thing was a huge tablet called The Big Chief. Many of you may remember this thing. It was perfect for penmanship. The paper was so soft that if you erased the paper would tear and your teacher was sure to see that you had a messy paper and had made a mistake.
The paper had solid lines on the top, then lines with - - - - - - -
then solid below the hyphens. This was supposed to create perfect writing to please even the most critical teachers.
The Big Chief was so heavy that if I had to guess it had about 200 pages in it. My favorite thing to do was to use my ink pen (another story) on this paper. If a little girl would do this unthinkable thing to amuse herself, the ink would act like a blotter and the ink would make almost a picture by itself. It so sad to see that that company is out of business.
There were no checks for my parents to send to school for pictures however, mom would send thirty five cents occasionally for my hot lunch or send me a cold lunch, which ever was most convenient for her. Mother always made my dresses so no shopping.
Good luck parents as you do your shopping for your children to attend the free school that our government makes sure is provided for our children.
One hot summer afternoon Marie got home from work. She told the kids that for once she would like them to stay out of trouble while she went outside and sat underneath a shade tree.
This story began while Fran and I were visiting her during a break from her therapy. When she was through telling the story I asked her if I could put it on the internet and she said she didn't care.
Okay, back to the story, so she had just sat down to relax and crash a sound alerted her that one of her children had not heard her to stay out of trouble!
Of course, screaming and scrambling occured when she found the youngest child with blood running down his arm. He innocently had been playing basketball and went to catch it and ran his arm through the window! Well, another trip to the hospital.
She did smile when I said, "Boy, I bet you are glad you didn't have ten children!. She agreed, and said, "but you know I am one of a very large family. And there are a lot more stories, I am sure.
