last post of the year

2016 is coming to a close. It has been a wild year for most of o the people I know. I hope 2017 will be a new start or at least get better. We have added a new dog to our family Rosie and said a tearful good bye to one dog too Dory. Scott started a new job and is doing well at it. Our health is good overall and we continue to take care of ourselves. My nieces are growing up fast and have applied to colleges. Our house is still the prettiest on the block and we try to maintain it. Merry Christmas and A Happy New year to you all. 

a memory

I was in second grade we were split into small groups of five each.  We had to make a sports poster.  we decided to make a basket ball player.  So I was picked to be the model. Perhaps because I was tall.  I laid down on white paper and the others traced around me with pencil.  I posed like I was making a lay-up with one foot off the ground and an arm extended up like i was pushing the ball into the air.  We drew a circle for the ball. We then painted a uniform on our basketball man and even up a number on his back as if he was on a team. we gave him white sock with painted red stripes.  Those were popular during the time. after we got our project done we were so proud of it.  It hung on the wall of our class all year.

new shows.

Well so much has happened over the last few months.  I have been traveling and performing at local clubs.  It has really been fun being involved in Drag bingo and the new comedy show in Ft Worth.   I have been able to make several creative costumes because the show is about humor and sometimes parody songs. It has really allowed me to use my costuming skills to create over the top out fits.  I hope to continue pushing myself at other shows as well.  I am feeling like I have a new avenue to be creative again.  I have also been asked to sew some costumes for duets I am doing with the show host, Korina.  She has become a good friend.  We have also worked together for Drag Bingo on Mondays.  She host every week and books a guest to perform two numbers and co-host the bingo games.  I’ve made several new friends and enjoy being funny with the patrons.  

tied my shoes

I remember learning to tie my shoe.  I was about four, and I was with my mom.  She had been trying to show me for some time before. But it seemed too hard.  I was wearing a pair of athletic shoes.  They were blue with a white strip on the side. They tied with big white laces.  That is the image in my memory. We were sitting in the parking lot of a small auto garage; they did repairs and sold gas at their two pumps. My mom had an old car and the battery needed to be charges occasionally. This was in the late 70’s and I remember the attendant cleaning our windshield while pumping the gas whenever we stopped in.  It was an old wood frame building with bars on the windows.  I remember sitting in the car, and my mom showing me again how to tie my shoes.  I sat forward on the edge of the seat and my foot up on the center dash.  She talked me through the steps and I finally got it! I did it again.  And yes, I was successful.  I learned to do something on my own. 

For my brother

When I was a kid about 10, my brother and I would go fishing or hunting with BB guns.  There was a stock tank in the pasture behind out house.  If you crossed the road and walked about a quarter of a mile, the pond was hidden in some tree.  It was built for the cows to have water and it was stocked with fish.  We would hold the barbed wire up so the other brother could safely pass through the fence without ripping the back of our shirts.  We were not supposed to be on some one else’s property but we never saw anyone there, only cows.  We didn’t even know who the property belonged to. We often talked about trying to camp over night, but we never did.  It was probably best that we did not.  There could have been coyotes at night.  We would walk through the field of mesquite brush and wild grass all while avoiding the cactus. We would carry or BB guns or fishing poles.   We would walk up the embankment to the pond and survey to make sure it was safe.  The cows had left hoof prints along the muddy red shore and you could see the beat down trails down to the water’s edge.  The water was  clear as it got deeper.  In the shallow, you could see minnows and small fish. The large willow trees gave shade over parts of the water.  This was a perfect spot to fish.   We caught bass or perch using the worms we has dug at home.   A few times, we would reel in a snapping turtle who had taken the baited hook.  They could be mean when pulled out of the water, and it was often better to just cut the line rather than battle over the hook.  The turtle would return the water.

We used our BB guns to shoot cans, or trees across the pond.  My mother told us never to shoot birds.  It was fun and being with my brother made me feel like someone liked me. We would spend hours there. We would walk home if it got too hot or if the sun was going down.

For my brother who passed away in Dec 8th. 2015.  

My great grandparents

Alice Verdin and Antonio Verdin 1950 Oxnard CA

I was lucky to vist my Aunt and find so many family photos.  Some I had never seen before.  I hope to post more soon.  I have a huge folder of them, I just need to organize them.

just an interesting idea

The Back Forty

My mother worked cooking in restaurants and would later work cooking at the local Jr high school.  But to supplement her income in the mid 1980’s, she would make extra cash cleaning.  She has a few long term jobs where she would clean once or twice a week.  Each time making 20 or 30 dollars for a few hours of cleaning. She worked for Barry Jones, who ran the local grocery store in town. He and his wife Linda were easy to clean, because their children were grown and they kept the house tidy. Still they paid for my mother to clean once a week.  And she did.

She also cleaned for the local two doctors for a few years.   They were married doctors who lived in a big two story home, Dr Alberto and Dr Eloisa Banez. They were nice people, and very intelligent.  I would often ride the bus across town after school, and walk to the Banez house. I help with small chores or often time watch the big screen TV while my mom finished her cleaning. We didn’t have cable, so watching TV after school was a treat.  Sometimes I would play with their dog Blondie, the most beautiful cocker spaniel.  She loved tennis balls, probably because mister Dr Alberto Banez enjoyed tennis.  I saw his equipment and gear when dusting in his office just off the den.  My mother would clean for different people over the years, even people she did not like, if the money was good.   She was trusted to perform a job and from what I know, she was good at. 

She cleaned homes, offices and for while she cleaned at one of the local bars.  My mother was not a patron and going to bars was not something she did.  (Only once I remember her having a girl’s night out with friends at a night club in Wichita Falls)  My mother enjoyed life but was not a party animal. Yes, after a weekend of business, she would clean The Back Forty Lounge. 

Her friend was running the place and need someone to clean after hours.  The Back Forty was on the outskirts of town north of Electra.  It was a cinder block building with a metal roof. It wasn’t much to look at when you pulled into the gravel parking lot.  It was big inside and had a wood dance floor and a band stand for live music on Saturday nights.  There was also an old piano what was hopelessly out of tune. There was also a juke box along the wall and two tiny bathrooms just across from the long bar.  My mother’s  job would be to clean it all.  I remember my mom unlocking the coin slot on the juke box. She enjoyed music while we cleaned.  We would drop the same quarter over and over and play songs we liked without really spending any money.  She would start behind the bar cleaning. Then I would wipe the tables and sweep while mom cleaned the store room and restock everything. Then she would clean the bathrooms.   The smell of cigarettes and beer would soon be drowned out by the smell of Pinesol and water.  Nothing was worse than the men’s room after drunken men have used it.  Those long yellow cleaning gloves really came in handy.  When all the work was done, the tables and chairs were reset, and the floors swept and mopped.  The last thing we would do is lock up the coin box and turn off the juke box.  It would be ready for another night of business.  Mom would get her money and we would go home. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  2016.  I hope everyone has had a great start to the new year.