Since it is 4-H Fair time again in Indiana, I thought it would be a good time to reminisce about out wonderful time in 4-H.  (You can't quite hear the sarcasm in those words when they are typed, I know.)  My sister and I were both in 4-H for a few years.  Long enough for me to have made enough cookies and zucchini bread to feed all of Washington Co!

My favorite part of the whole County Fair experience was hearing my mom and Aunt Martha talk about how they were in 4-H and showed cattle growing up.  Even though Kelly and I never showed cattle, we still went to the fair to watch our cousins show cattle.  I personally thought it was hot and smelly but we got to get lemon shake ups which made everything OK.  We came from a cattle showing family.  My mom went to the State Fair several years and our cousins all showed cattle as well.

Another highlight of the Fair was riding the rides.  When I was very small 3-4 and Kelly hadn't been born yet Phillip took me to the midway to ride the rides.  He was sure that it wouldn't be long before I was ready to quit riding and go do something else.  We got on the "Monkey Cages" and he told me to tell him when I was ready to get off.  Evidently I would have stayed on until tonight because Phillip was green and ready to go lose his lunch when the guy stopped the ride and I was happily along for the duration.  Obviously, kids have cast iron stomachs because I couldn't do that now!

Grandpa's Goat

By the time that I came around my grandfather was in his late 60's.  His reputation definitely preceded him when it came to his temper when he was younger.  He was always quiet and so much fun when I was around that I couldn't picture it.  There were stories about him getting so aggravated that he would go out into the barn lot and yell at the pigs.  My all time favorite story about his temper is the one about his goat.

The story goes that when my grandpa was very young he used to have a small goat and cart that  would pull him around.  This goat must have gotten quite the workout.  Well, one day when they were traveling along they came upon a mud puddle.  The goat did not want to go through this puddle no matter what my grandpa did or said.  Being the calm, cool, collected child that he was he hopped down from the cart and bit that poor goat's ear almost plumb off!  I am sure that the goat moved after that, but the only thing that I heard about this little incident from the biting point forward was that grandpa had to go home and his mother actually sewed the goat's ear back on.

Anytime someone in my family says something about having a temper I always think of this story and am happy that I never quite got to the level of anger that I have bitten a goat's ear almost off!

$5 Refrigerator

Kelly called me one afternoon with a proposition.  As the Drama Director at Mead Co. High School she is tasked with locating all appropriate props for each show.  Five or six years ago her school was doing a play that required a working refrigerator as a key prop.  She called me with the exciting news that she had actually located exactly what she needed:  a 1960's era refrigerator.  She won it on Ebay and was so excited.  Her only problem was that she needed a pick up truck to go get it.

At the time we owned a pick up truck and I told her that it was no problem to run pick it up.  Even better was that it was in Nashville which is less than an hour from my house.  When I told Kelly this she responded "It is in Nashville Tnaldjhlafd".  I said "What??"  She responded "Nashville Tnalkfkjfl".  I finally figured out that her mumbling was an attempt to let me know that she meant NASHVILLE TENNESSEE! (3.5 hours from my  house)

I said something of the effect to "You mean you bought a $5 refrigerator and you have to pick it up in Nashville TN???"  Yep, I was understanding her right and it had to be picked up that day.  My sister is so crazy.  Well, I guess we are all crazy because I loaded Alexis up, drove to Mom's house where she and Kelly jumped in the truck and we all drove down to Nashville, TN to pick up the refrigerator.
We laughed and talked all the way down there. 

When we arrived the man who was selling the fridge asked us if we were going to have some men that could help us unload it as it was really heavy.  When we told him no he couldn't believe it as it took 2 grown men to load it into the back of the pick up truck.  They loaded it and we drove it back to Mead Co. where Kelly was living at the time.  We had mom take Alexis inside Kelly's place and she and I assessed the situation on how to get this elephant out of the truck.  The entire time mom was standing in the door way fidgeting saying "Girls, girls--be careful--don't hurt yourselves".  We finally told her to be quiet and shut the door.  After much discussion we got that beast out of the truck and into her place. (Some of the drama boys that played football actually had to move it later and couldn't believe that 2 girls moved it!)

The $5 Beast

The play went off without a hitch awhile later.  It really was the key piece of scenery and even if it wasn't, it sure was to us!  Best refrigerator I have ever seen in a play!  Better yet are all of the laughs that we have shared over the $5 refrigerator that we drove to Nashville for.

That is NOT where babies come from

Alexis said her first word when she was four months old.  Since she is an only child, she has always been in the middle of adult conversations.  We didn't go the route of talking baby talk to her.  She started talking and never stopped.  My mother maintained that it was "sent on me" since I never took a breath when I was growing up.  Some would agree with that and also say that it still holds true.

When Alexis started kindergarten in Salem I was so excited and nervous for her (and me).  Guess who got into trouble the first day for talking--yep, that would be Alexis.  Was this going to be an ongoing saga?  All parents have the idea that their child will go to school on the first day and sit like a perfect angel and raise their hand to be called on.  Oh, well...

 

One day Alexis was riding in the backseat as I was driving the both of us home.  She said "John (not his real name) said that if you swallow a watermelon seed that a baby will grow in your belly and that you poop it out! I told him HUH-UH, that is not where babies come from!"  I automatically broke out into a sweat and had a sinking feeling in my stomach.  "What did you say to him?"  She proudly answered, "I told him that you go to a hospital and they cut the baby out and then you take the baby home."  My automatic response was "You are exactly right!"

I am sure that we made it home safe and sound but for the life of me I can't remember anything else after her "that is where babies come from" proclamation.  My phone didn't ring with a call from an angry parent or the teacher.  Thank goodness....

"She's a pretty good shot with that thing!"

As usual, we were all down at my grandparent's farm on the other side of Livonia.  I must have been about three years old and was out playing with the water hose in the back yard.  My grandfather stepped out the back door and I nailed him right in the face with that water hose.  He turned around and walked back into the house with water dripping from the front of his Stetson hat.  Now, at this time my grandfather was somewhere around 69ish years old and was famous for his quick temper when he was young.  We must remember that it was me (the baby of the family since Kelly wasn't born yet--who never did anything wrong).  The only thing he had to say was "She's a pretty good shot with that thing!" as he wiped his face with his handkerchief.

My cousin Scott said "I bet she won't get me" and headed out the door.  He was 16 at the time and started running backward so that I couldn't hit him.  All of a sudden he turned around and ran smack into a light pole, allowing me the opportunity to completely soak him!  Everyone in the house was watching and dying laughing.  Guess they were right--I was a pretty good shot with that thing.  After almost 40 years they are still telling that story and laughing.

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time in a land far far away called Salem, Indiana there lived a very very average girl named Stacy.  Ok, that is enough of that.  I made the very unfortunate decision to try out for the Salem High School play my senior year.  The play was Cinderella and I got the lead! (Don't be too impressed because it was standard procedure that a senior gets the lead.)  Looking back I have to say that it would be painfully obvious to any person that an almost 6 foot tall, brunette--extremely clumsy--Cinderella would not be the perfect choice.

The part of Cinderella that everyone remembers is where she runs off at midnight and leaves her glass slipper at the ball.  It is very difficult to find a glass slipper these days--let alone one in a size 10!  The answer to this problem was to take silver sequins and cover dance heels.  In our production of Cinderella this is how it went:

1.  The clock struck midnight.
2.  Cinderella (me) dashes off the stage.
3.  The shoes doesn't fall off my foot.
4.  I realize this very significant issue when I am already off the stage.
5.  I take the shoe off and throw the gigantic sequined missile onto the stage.
6.  I did not win any Tony awards for this performance.

After 22 years my family still laughs about that shoe sailing across the stage.  Not only were my mom and sister there but the Aunts, Uncles, my grandmother and cousins saw my theatrical masterpiece as well.  We found a copy of the video tape of my shining moment not too long ago at Diane's house.  Of course they had to put the tape in to see how funny the show was.  Diane's daughters, Liz & Allie, and my daughter, Alexis all watched.   I can honestly say that we were party to exposing an entirely new generation to the horror of Salem High School theater. 

Spoiled?

My Uncle Marvin was the first (and only) person to take me fishing.  He had to sit there while I talked incessantly and dropped the worms in the rocks when I tried to pick them up.  He was the person who took us Christmas tree hunting, mushroom hunting and let us run around his house acting like grand kids even when we were his nieces.  I guess that you could say that we were spoiled rotten.  It used to make me so mad when my family would say that because I thought spoiled meant "brat".  Now I know that "spoiled" means lucky.  The most memorable "spoiled rotten" thing that Uncle Marvin ever did for me was to bring the family and Thanksgiving to Minot, North Dakota when we lived there.

When Keith and I were first married, we lived in the tiniest apartment in Minot, North Dakota because he was stationed there in the Air Force.  Minot was 19 1/2 hours away from home and seemed like the other side of the world.  My first Thanksgiving away from home and the family looked like it was going to be terrible until my wonderful family said that they would drive and fly out to spend it in our tiny shoebox apartment. 

I think it is worth mentioning that Minot has terrible, I mean terrible, winters.  This picture is what our winters looked like:

 

YUCK.  This is the point where I get to tell you just exactly how spoiled I am.

 

Uncle Marvin and Aunt Martha drove out to Minot for Thanksgiving, in the winter during a snowstorm.  Mom, Opal & Kelly were all there too.  We all stayed in the tiny apartment.  Yup, that would be spoiled.  I am not proud of being spoiled just very happy that my family loves me enough to do things like going out of their way to be together for the holidays.  Poor Uncle Marvin, however, still says: "I don't know what I was smoking--driving to North Dakota in the snow"! 

 

 

I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family!