I was confused...

I just remembered something else real quick. Not too long after I met Deanna (we were 10 years old, wow, I really feel old right now), I was at the house in Whittier, Lashburn St. I think it was, right? Anyway, Nana had to go somewhere and she asked Dee and I to get the dishes done while she was away. Well, we were having fun doing something. Probably practicing our "Purple Skies" routine, and time got away from us. We didn't get the dishes done. Nana got home and saw that the dishes were still in the sink. She went in the kitchen and was laughing hysterically as she did the dishes. I was confused. I asked Deanna if she was really laughing? She said "Nope, she is really angry". We felt so bad that we had disappointed her. I thought it was odd that she laughed like that when she was angry, but as I have had children and have been so angry for some reason or another, I find myself doing the same thing, laughing hysterically. It keeps me from killing my children and out of prison. Every time it happens, I think of Nana and how she helped me once again. She is so beautiful. Even now, when I look at the pictures of her on this blog, I think, "Beautiful".

Amish Weekend...

I remember the time in the house on Apache in Westminster when the Ward was asked (I don't remember who asked, the Bishop or the Stake President), to live for a weekend without running water, electricity, or modern conveniences. And, being the faithful person Nana was, she wanted us to do it. What an experience it was. We all had assignments. Someone was in charge of food, someone was in charge of water, etc. I don't recall who had what, but I do remember that Danny was the fire guy. It was funny because we called him "Flame". Any time we needed a candle lit or something, we would just yell "Flame" and there he'd be with the matches. It was fun at first. We had the Victrola for music and we played games. But, as the weekend went on it was more difficult. Nana was there any time someone started to complain to encourage us and keep us from going too crazy. I think the worst part was that we weren't supposed to flush the toilet unless absolutely necessary. Yuk! But we made it through. We actually did it. We were so proud of ourselves. I don't think any of us would ever want to do it again though. Once was definitely enough!

The Magic Cookie Jar

Its hard somtimes to sit alone these days. Thoughts always drift to mom. On this Sabbath day I find myself tearing up quite a bit. Sorry, but there is the sad times with the happy times. As I sat in my living room, I remembered something that brought a smile to my face. Something about mom I will never forget...
My mom could bake! She was in the kitchen quite often baking goodies of all kinds. Christmas time was a real treat! The table would be sagging with all the different cookies and candies that she would create. I remember an Easter when she tried her hand at Greek breads. Oh my gosh, soooo good.
I was in grade school and we lived in Whittier, again. I think it was fourth grade. I have this very vivid memory of coming home to the scent of fresh baked cookies nearly everyday. This was before Grammy Bears and "dunkin' donuts".::grinning::. I would drop my school things and jump up onto the counter next to the cookie jar. Opening the top, the smell of Toll House Cookies would knock me over! I would sit on that counter and start in! After a few good mouthfuls, mom would come in and pour a glass of milk and set it next to me. She would smile, put the lid back on the cookie jar after about my 3rd cookie and ask me how my day was.
I don't believe there was a day when there were no cookies in that cookie jar.

I just had another great thought! But that will wait...just a hint...Hey mom, remember my high school days?? LOL

Is this Heaven?

That's what Nana asked me this morning after I tucked her back in bed after a good shower, clean jammies, teeth & hair brushed, a small glass of strawberry cranberry juice and Perry Mason! She has been asking about Perry Mason for awhile, now. You see he's on at 10:30 at night and she hasn't been awake during that time to watch it. I kept saying I would tape it for her and I just kept forgetting. So yesterday, I stopped at Smith's Market (I've decided you can find any series you're looking for at Smith's) and sure enough I found the first season and bought it for her so she could watch it when ever she wanted!!

Nana did not have a very good day yesterday. She really didn't "wake" up much at all. As a matter of fact she had a little bit of disorientation again. Last night I went in to give her an itchy pill on time, she smiled at me and said okay. When I tried to put it in her mouth, she kept sticking her tongue out so I couldn't get it in. I asked her what she was doing. She said in a very slurred voice "You are going to overdose me with those things!" I told no I wasn't, it had been six hours and we needed to keep her on schedule so she wouldn't get too itchy. She said, again in a slurred voice, "if I let you give it to me, will you leave me alone and let me sleep?" I laughed and said "yes, I will let you sleep if you take the pill." So she said, "okay, give it to me then." But when I tried again to put it in her mouth, she stuck her tongue out again and wouldn't let me put it in. "Mom, what are you doing?" She then started to tell me about her dream, I guess I was the mom trying to give her a pill because she was sick. She didn't want to take it. She asked me if she was in Grandpa's bed. I told her she was in her own bed, in my house in Bountiful. She seemed surprised,

"I'm in Bountiful?"

"Yes, Mom, You're in Bountiful."

"Am I in Grandpa's bed, in Bountiful?"

"No, Mom you're in your own bed, in Bountiful."

"Oh."

Then it seemed she was back to where she was my mom again, she said what are you doing? I said I'm trying to give you this itchy pill and you won't let me. She said Oh, give it to me then. I asked her if she was going to let me this time she said yes. And she did. I kissed her and tucked her back in and went to bed. This morning when we were getting her in the shower we were talking and I told her about what she did last night. She didn't remember any of it, until I got to the part about the dream and grandpa's bed. I guess that seemed more reality than me trying to give her the pill!

I thought we were going to have another bad day today, because when I went in this morning her eyes were open. I greeted her and she was looking around as though she wasn't sure where she was. I greeted her again, "You're awake! How are you this morning?" She looked at me like she didn't know who I was. So I asked her if she knew who I was, she just looked at me and didn't answer, so I told her I was Donna, her daughter. She said,

"Donna????"

"Yes, Donna, you're daughter."

"My daughter???"

"Yes, you're at my house in Bountiful."

"I am??"

She looked around and seemed to come out of the fog, then knew who I was and where she was. It never ceases to amaze me how she can come in and out of the confusion, so easily.

She's sleepy, now, but seems to be coherent. She didn't know who Jenn and Charlotte were by sight, but once I explained who they were, she seemed to recognize them. She asked me to take a picture of them.

A Couple of Disney Princesses

Mom and I love Disneyland! We would go whenever time and money permitted. Our favorite thing to do was to "people watch". Can you imagine spending 25.00 a ticket (Now, remember folks, this was back in the 80's) to sit on a shade covered bench in New Orleans Square just to watch people! Anyway, I believe it was our last time there before we moved to Utah and we decided to have a quiet peaceful lunch at the Disneyland Hotel. We discovered a very nice restaurant with outdoor seating. We ordered our sandwiches and began chatting about any ol' thing. I was single again and always gussied up when I went out. Keep this in mind. Our sandwiches came and the food was delicious. As we were eating, I noticed a young man with a group of friends had taken a table outside as well. He was very good looking and my eye kept drifting to him as his eye kept drifting to me. Of course, mom noticed and pointed out to me that a pretty young woman was sitting next to him. I just smiled and continued my flirting. After some time and to my surprise, mom reached over and with a very royal air, flicked my nose. Yes, she flicked my nose. I looked at her, took on an equally royal air and said, "Why did you do that?". Now we were talking in very thick British accents and she replied "There was a crumb on your nose."

"And how long had the crumb been there?" I asked, a bit nervously but maintaining my proper posture and character.

"About 3 (now here was when I was sincerely praying she was about to say minutes) quarters of an hour." Was her queenly reply.

My eyes got wide and I quickly glanced at the young man I had shamelessly been flirting with. He had a great big beautiful smile on his face and with a quick wink I knew he had seen "the crumb".

I turned my head back to mom and, holding in my chagrin asked, "Why did you wait so long to let me know?"

She sat back and smiled at me ever so sweetly and said, "Well, my dear, you were having so much fun flirting with that nice boy, I did not want to interupt you."

Suddenly, we both started laughing....and laughing...and laughing until we had to get up and rush to the woman's restroom. Mom really needed to get to the restroom!. In there, we continued our outloud bursts of laughter. Imagine our surprise when a woman came out of one the stalls, looked at us rather funny, then started to laugh to! She was laughing as insanely as we were as she tried to ask why we were laughing. Now we were really going, all three of us! We couldn't answer her! My stomache, face and sides were hurting!

Anyway...after that, whenever we went out to eat, I would always ask her if I had any crumbs on my nose. The answer I usually got was just a smile.

Taking a Drive

I remember one day we were really bored and couldn't think of anything to do. Nana came up with this great idea to choose a street and see where it began and ended. Nana, Dee, David, Donna, Denise and I pretty much folded ourselves up and to our amazement we all fit into this tiny little blue and white car and off we went. We chose Lambert Rd. It seemed like it went on forever. I don't know how long it really is, but I'm sure the fact that we no longer had any feeling left in our bodies due to being so crammed into the car had something to do with how long the road felt. We were so glad to reach the end on a dirt road with a wooden road block. We turned around and when we got home, we almost couldn't get out of the car. It was wonderful when the feeling came back to our arms and legs! It was a fun adventure and we laughed a lot, but it would be a long time before we thought about doing it again.

The Mystery Box

It was the most wonderful time of the year! The streets were covered in snow, the lights and ornaments were beautifully hung on the tree and we were snuggled up warm under the blankets, sipping on our steaming hot chocolate. (This is still a favorite Christmas pastime for me! I cant think of anything more wonderful!) We were definitely enjoying the sights, smells (Nana used to have a home air freshener that smelled EXACTLY like homemade gingerbread! Nothing I have found since has had near that delicious smell!) and songs of the season.

Mom was out with Troy and Nana was babysitting. We were reminiscing about past Christmas's when Nana suddenly spotted an oddly shaped package under the tree. What was it? We picked it up for examination! It was to me! It was one of the gifts our Grandma Francis had sent so it had to be good! (Grandma had great taste when it came to toys- not so great when it came to clothes.) We shook it. Not too much noise. Whatever it was stayed pretty stationary. We squeezed it. The box was definitely plastic. It had to be a doll! But could it be? We all knew that Barbie had started a holiday collection. It couldn't be? Could it?

Nana could take it no more! She swore us to secrecy (Sorry Nana) and than she taught me the most useful technique. You see, with the magic of a butter knife you can cut the tape on one end of the package in just the right spot and actually slide the gift right out! No tearing of the paper! No evidence! Perfect!

We held our breath as she slid the doll right out of it's wrapping! And guess what!? It was her! The most beautiful doll we had ever seen! She had beautiful blond curls and a stunning dark green velvet gown. We stared at her for what seemed like ages.

Than it was time for Mom and Troy to return. We must put her back. Was it possible? You betcha!! Just slide the doll back into the wrapping, put a new piece of tape over the old and TADA!!!

Thanks for the tip Nana! It definitely helped out every year since!