Remember When?

A Difficult Transition:
I did something today I haven't done for over a year and a half.  And it was a really hard thing for me to do.
I bought tickets to watch a local play. 
What's so hard about that, you ask?  Well, let me explain...
Our small city (40,000 people) has a playhouse that puts on fantastic plays several times a year.  It's a refurbished old church and provides hours of entertainment for the citizens of my small town.  The actors are all local talent and quite good at what they do.  My sister, Kathy, talked me into going to my first play years ago and I've enjoyed quite a few of them since.
But the thing is, we had a little ritual, a little family tradition.  My mom, my sister and I would go out to eat together, have a few laughs, and then it was on to the play. A few months later...dinner out...and a new play.
Then a couple years ago my Mom's health started deteriorating.  And finally one night she told us she didn't want to go.  So while someone stayed with her, my sister and I went together...out to eat...and to the play.  It wasn't the same but we had a good time and I truly believed Mom would go to the next one.  I'm a disgusting optimist.
A year ago last November, my Mom passed away.  I haven't been to a play since. 

But...I'm going to try it again.  My youngest daughter, Amy, is going with me.  My sister is helping behind the scenes with costume changes and says it's going to be a good one.  The play is supposed to be an emotional one, so if I cry, I can blame it on the play. 
So...on Friday, February 17th, maybe, just maybe, we can start a new family tradition.
I love you, Mom, and miss you terribly.

Remember When...
Earlier this week I got an email from a friend of mine, Karen Lynne, that brought back a lot of memories.  I'd like to share some of those memories and wonder how many of you will be taken back too.  Or maybe, how many of you will roll your eyes cause you can't believe we used to live like this.
15 of my memories:
1 - We had our milk delivered to our door by a man in a wagon pulled by a horse. 
2 - Our bread was delivered to our door too, but it was a regular box truck.
3 - Our television was a black and white box...until I was in high school and we got our first color TV.
4 - We got 2 channels on the TV and they went off the air at midnight after playing the national anthem and came back on at 6am with the local farm report.
5 - Our telephone was on a party line so when you picked up the phone to make a call, you might hear someone else talking.  You had to hang up and wait till they were done.
6 - When you could get an open line, a woman would say "Number please" and we would give an operator the phone number we wanted to call. 
7 - There wasn't any area codes then or zip codes either.
8 - Our first fast food restaurant was a Frisch's Big Boy when I was in junior high.
9 - I ate my first pizza when I was in high school and we had two pizza places to choose from.  One is still around today...a small town favorite.
10 - When I was in grade school, Mom would move the washing machine into the kitchen and hook it up to the sink to wash the clothes.  Then she had to put them through an attached wringer and turn the crank to squeeze the water out of them before hanging them on the line to dry.
11 - We had candy cigarettes that we thought made us look cool, at least until we ate them.
12 - We didn't have steam irons.  What we had was a hot iron and a bottle with a cap on it that had holes in it.  It was filled with water and was shaken on the clothes before they were ironed to produce the steam.
13 - I learned to type in high school on a manual typewriter. You really had to push down hard on the keys to make them work. 
14 - But before I graduated, we were introduced to electric typewriters.  My first attempt at this...with the super sensitive keys, looked something like thhhhiiiiiisssss.  We learned to press easy on the keys.
15 - In high school, we would drag race from one stop light to the next till they came out with a "rapid acceleration" law.  I was pretty good and won my share of races.  :)

And that's just a few of my memories.  The 50's and 60's were such a good time to live in.  It seemed so easy back then compared to now. 

Preview:
In my next post, I want to add another recipe.  This one is another favorite of my kids that I think you'll like too.  It's also one I can cut down to feed just me for a couple days.
I also want to give an update on my manuscript...the one that's finished and looking for a home.

50's & 60' Quotes of the Day:

"When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 50 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage."

"If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit.  A quarter a pack is ridiculous."

"It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet."

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. " Jimi Hendrix