50 THINGS TURNING 50 THIS YEAR

1. My Fair Lady
2. The Interstate Highway System
3. Doris Day's "Que Sera, Sera"
4. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
5. The Hermes "Kelly bag" (inspired by Grace Kelly)
6. Yahtzee
7. Colo, the first gorilla born in captivity
8. Plymouth Fury car (the star of Stephen King's Christine)
9. The Wizard of Oz on TV
10. Masters Tournament on TV
11. Jif peanut butter
12. Artificial intelligence
13. "In God We Trust" as our national motto
14. Elvis's hit "Heartbreak Hotel"
15. Pampers
16. Cytogenetics (look it up)
17. First hard disk drive (from IBM)
18. "Dear Abby"
19. The Hundred and One Dalmatians (the book)
20. Kim Cattrall
21. Toaster Ovens
22. Peyton Place (the book)
23. First climate-controlled shopping mall
24. Queen for a Day
25. Mel Gibson
26. Certs
27. Transatlantic phone cable
28. Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line"
29. Battery-run watches
30. Uncle Milton's Ant Farm
31. As the World Turns
32. First wireless remote control
33. Isolation of human growth hormone
34. Godzilla (U.S. version)
35. Martina Navratilova
36. The Hungarian Revolution
37. Pop art
38. Profiles in Courage
39. Four basic food groups
40. Tom Hanks
41. The Price Is Right
42. Videotape recorder
43. Nonstick frying pan
44. Chuck Berry's "duck walk"
45. The King and I (the movie)
46. NBC's Ann Curry
47. Scotchgard
48. Do-it-yourself haircolor
49. Play-Doh
50. RANDY PHILLIPS

Stranger at my door

I finally have something interesting to report. This morning at 4:00am I was woke up by a pounding on my front door. It really frightened me and I just laid in bed hoping whoever it was would leave. Then there was pounding again on my door. I still stayed in bed. Then the doorbell rang. Then I got and went to the door and asked who it was. The response was "The police". I said "about what"? He said that Bear Creek was overflowing and they were going around advising to evacuate. Well, that made me a little nervous. I was pretty sure that I was okay in the area where I live, but decided to get out anyway. He said after a while we wouldn't be able to get out. I called Donna and she said to come on over. So I grabbed a few things, my morning medicine, my cell phone (and charger) and took off. I got over there and went to bed but was so stressed I had a hard time going back to sleep. I had to set an alarm for 7:00 to call the girl who cleans for me because she was supposed to come this pm. After that I went back to bed and slept until 10:30. I had previously made a plan to go to lunch with another friend, so after lunch I thought I would drive by the park. Most of the water at the entrance to the park was gone and there was never any standing water on my street. So I talked to the manager and she said if I wanted to come back in it was okay. People were coming and going. So I went to Donna's and got my stuff and came home. I just talked to the police and they said the creek was going down so I guess I'll be okay tonight. It's been quite a day

What a Klutz

Continuing on with memories from my childhood. These were painful at the time. I had a girlfriend who had a stairstep fence between her house and the neighbor. They were long areas that went up to the top level that was as high as the roof on her house. Yep...you probably guessed. I fell off and broke my collar bone. I guess I was lucky now that I think about it because it could have been a lot worse.

I didn't do too well with fences. I was staying with a friend while my parents were out of town. We were walking along a picket fence on the flat board. Yep...I fell off, but this time I got stuck on a picket and was just hanging there. That makes my stomach turn summersalts just thinking. (I guess this wasn't a pleasant memory) Anyway the mother took me to her doctor, but he wouldn't do anything until they could get hold of my parents. They just let me lay there.Someone got in touch with my grandmother and she came in and they still wouldn't do anything. So she just picked me up and marched out of there and took me to her doctor. He was cleaning the wound and trying to calm me down. I was so scared. In the meantime every one was trying desperately to find my parents. I remember they finally got me calm and my mother walked in all hysterical and there I went again. They stiched the deep gash up, but it never stayed closed due to the area. On the inside of my thigh. I still have a wide scar there.

I have a couple more but I'll save them for later.

Happiness

I read recently that recalling pleasant childhood memories could make you feel happier. So I dug deep in the recesses of my mind and came up with a few. The first one was when I was about 5 or 6. I used to just love roller skating. The skates I had were the old fashioned ones you strapped on over your shoes and used a skate key to tighten. I would skate for hours on the sidewalk around our neighborhood. The wheels were metal and would wear out periodically on the sidewalk and I remember my skates being replaced quite often. The next memorable skating occasion I remember quite plainly was during high school at the skating rink where I skated with the love of my life.

The next childhood memory was around the time when I was beginning to question Santa Claus. I remember on one Christmas eve my parents and I went to the movies. We lived in Delano which was a very small town at that time and every one knew every one else. At the movies I would sit down in front and my parents would sit toward the back. After the movie I would walk up the aisle where they were sitting and we would go home. This particular night when we got home and walked in the door, there were all these presents under our Christmas tree that were not there when we left. That really got me wondering. Santa came to our house while we were at the movies. Wow! I learned several years later that my Dad had left the theater and gone home to place the presents and was back by the time the movie was over. I never realized he had left. Pretty clever.

Another thing was that I wanted a bicycle but they were very hard to get due to WW2. My great Aunt and Uncle had put their name on a waiting list at a Western Auto store for a bicycle. When I was 10 years old I got my bicycle. But I was not allowed to ride it in town. Instead, it was kept at my grandparent's ranch in McFarland. Eventually I was allowed to bring it home and rode it all over town.

That is enough memories for now. They do bring a smile to my face as I remember them.

Famous football player

Since Karen doesn't post on her blog,it falls upon me to tell news in their life. Since this is such good news, I feel I must share it. Nick had his football awards party Friday night and he was picked as the BEST DEFENSIVE LINEMAN and received a plaque. I guess he was really surprised and he said the other kids cheered when they called his name. I think that is so great and so good for his self esteem, because he did play hard. That was actually better than getting picked for the allstar game.

The coach's wife who has been battling cancer, got up and thanked everyone for their support and then her daughter pulled her wig off and she daid "I may have lost my hair, but I have not lost my spirit". Then she turned around and on the back of her bald head was written "GO SABERS".

I hope I got this all right because I got it second hand from Karen and Nick.

Do you know why?

Daylight saving time (note no "s") is not really daylight saving time, but daylight switching time. In the summer months it takes an hour of daylight from the morning and swithches it to the evening. Supposedly it is meant to save electricity but only saves about 1%. Most people like it because its light later in the evening so they can do more things. President Bush has signed legislation to have it start on the second Sunday in March and end on the 1st Sunday in November in 2007. I know my body does not adjust easily with the time changes. I would like daylight saving time to be all year round. But, I guess that would mean some people would have to get up and go to work or school in the dark. It wouldn't bother me though. (I don't get up that early as a rule)

Reuniting with an old friend

I am so excited!! An old friend from high school is coming Tuesday. We graduated together and she was maid of honor at my wedding. We have completely lost touch for many years. We found each other through classmates.com. I am so glad I registered and she registered. We have so much to talk about, I hope we can reminesce (spelling) about old times. She lives in Valley Springs. I am not sure where that is but I think it is somewhere around Lodi. It's so strange that Karen and Roy have taken their little dog to someone up there for training. When they go to pick her up, I might go with them and meet up with Fran again. We have so much to catch up on. I will write more after the visit.