The lull between the storms..

It is windy and otherwise quiet outdoors this morning.  We got a couple of inches of snow last night and now we are bracing for the heavy snow which is to start this afternoon with total accumulation of 20 or more inches.  The wind is to pick up to 50 – 60 miles per hour and so we are under a blizzard warning.  All schools are closed.  I am in the house for the duration, praying that we don’t lose power.
I have a pound of butter on the kitchen counter softening.  I think I will make some oatmeal/cherry cookies  made with dried cherries.  No telling what else I will make or cook.  I have the iPod hooked to the Bose speaker and I will turn off the scanner and ignore what’s happening outside.  My daughter gave me strict orders  to not try to clean my car off as she will do it as soon as she can get here.  We are under a city wide parking ban until Thursday afternoon.  That means no parking in the street.  I have parking behind my building just a few feet from my door so I am good there.
Bee , my blogging friend, has graciously given me the Stylish Blogger Award.  I told her I was already  a recipient of this same award but I will try to tell 7 more things about me.

1. As a child in a large family that was very poor, there wasn’t a lot of things that I remember from my childhood that were really happy.  I do remember running barefoot all summer long and playing softball in the street with bases made up of anything,  What fun.  To this day I think that is why I am such a baseball fan.  In those days I was a Brooklyn Dodger fan and I had this huge crush on Pee Wee Reese.  My sister Rae, liked Gil Hodges.  After they became the Los Angeles Dodgers it wasn’t the same and I shifted my loyalty to the St. Louis Cardinals, and why not?  My dad was a Cardinal fan and the games were on the radio all of the time.
2. I had an aunt on my dad’s side.  Her name was Alice and I was a favorite of hers when I was a small child.  She would bake a birthday cake for me on my birthday and it would be beautiful with lots of frosting.  I really felt special because none of my siblings received a cake from her on their birthday.  Of course, Aunt Alice has been gone now for many years but I count those birthday cakes as another happy memory of my childhood.
3. Growing older, I remember my teacher from the 5th grade.  Her name was Miss Keithly.  To this day, she is the only teacher from my grade school years that I remember.  She was always so kind to me and praised me for everything that I did right.  I count her as an influence on me that helped me to be the person I am today.
4. Wait, just a minute, I want to go back to the first grade.  That was the time of my first boyfriend.  His name was Harold and he was a preacher’s son.  He was a nice chubby little guy and he had this big crush on me.  He would occasionally bring me a candy bar to school.  I would keep it in my desk and eat just a bite every day.  I didn’t take the candy home with me because I didn’t want to share. Shame on me. 
5. I remember when I was a freshman in high school that my grandmother on my mom’s side passed away in Missouri.  I remember her lying in state in the living room.  To this day that memory is so vivid that I can recall all events from that day.  I really wish I couldn’t remember them so vividly but I do.
6. On to the summer before my senior year in high school. I got a job at the telephone company.  My very first job and the pay was 25 cents an hour.  During my senior year I worked 4 – 9 each evening after school and all day long on Saturday and Sunday.  Yes, you are reading this right, I worked 41 hours each week and still managed to finish near the top of my graduating class.  It was fun though, I finally had money to spend.  One of the first things I bought was a lovely set of dishes for my mom from the Sears store there in town.  Oh my, my mom was so proud of those dishes.
7. I met Jim through a co-worker at the telephone company.  Her brother in law was home from Korea and would I introduce him around to my friends.  I have told this story 100 times or more in my blog.  Long story short, met in July, engaged in September, married on Dec 2nd to the nicest guy I have ever met.

And that is all of the reminiscing for today.  I will visit you all and then I am off to the kitchen to keep myself busy.
  Beth