If I Could Only Place Time in A Bottle.....

BETWEEN 32 and 28 Yrs AGO!!!

Me and My Uncle Bruce on the Three-Wheeler up in Flagstaff, AZ 1980

Up On the Stagecoach At "Rawhide" With My Cousins in AZ 1980

Me with Baby Cody and little Jamie in 1980-Arizona HS trip~

Me at the "Easter Egg Hunt"@ Aunt Norma's House w/ Jamie 1980

Me with My Hearing Impaired preschool students at the Elementary School

this is me in the middle in 1983-Easter, with my AZ cousins: Lto R =Denise,
Jamie, Me holding Travis, Jason and Cody

Hello Luvs,
      Wow...I've been reminiscing lately. Most likely due to the fact that I've been catching up with many relatives from my father's side of the family. It is a good feeling having at least one side of my family care about me, talk to me, believe in me and even make friends with me...even on facebook! My guy cousins' on my dad's side of the family have even gone so far as to invite my husband, Craig (who's been treated like Poriah by my immediate family,my mom's family & the rest; for years & without any rhyme or reason) to a Detroit Red Wings Game in Detroit against the Chicago BlackHawks! My one cousin,Tom (who lives in Chicago) got 4 free tickets somehow and he called and invited his brother,Tim and his son Bryan and then called Craig and asked him if he'd like to go. It was definitely a "no brainer" for Craig! He jumped at the chance to attend a hockey game with "the guys"- knowing he'd have a great time!
    The story of the tickets is just too funny to pass up telling you how it all went down!  The phone rang at our home and it was my cousin from Chicago, Tom. He told Craig that he had gotten 4 free tickets to the Detroit Red Wings against the Chicago BlackHawks game in Detroit. He proceeded to invite Craig to join him and his brother, Tim and Tim's son, Bryan at the event being held on a Saturday at the end of the month.
     The funny part is still to come! LOL...When Craig called me to tell me all about it, he worded it in such a way that I thought that Tom got 4 tickets and he and his wife were going and they were inviting Craig and me! Mostly because Craig said it to me like this:"Hi Honey! Guess What? Your cousin, Tom called  and he got 4 free tickets to the Red Wings game  this month and he invited me to go along...they have box seats and food and everything!! What do you think?"  LOL...I'm still chuckling as I am writing this because in my own mind I thought all I heard was "your cousin Tom won 4 tickets to the Redwings Hockey game and he invited "US"! OMGOSH...I'm so embarrassed now...I wouldn't ever begrudge my beautiful husband a chance to have "guy time" with my wonderful and excellent cousins!! As soon as I settled down and understood the true facts; then I felt really guilty and silly and I just kept telling him that I was "really happy and excited" for him! He started feeling so bad he said to me "You can have my ticket and go with them instead honey"! OH MY Goodnes...NO NO NO....I would NEVER do that...!! I just told him how excited I was and happy I am that he gets to go and have some fun with "the guys"!
    Now that is the funny story of the day! But the rest of my blog today is still about that same side of the family. I have been treated lovingly and kindly by them and they have loved me when everyone else has gone away and listened only to my parents who's main goal is to "get pleasure from my pain". My mother has passed away now (God rest her soul)..but my father and brothers have made my life a living Hell since my mom's been gone in 2002,December 22nd. I will not get into that stuff here because this is a "fun" and  happier blog and I want to keep it that way when at all possible!!
     I have such great memories of spending time with my Arizona family. The very first time I went there was during my Senior year of High school. Everyone else (or what I thought was "everyone else) was going on the Senior trip to the Virgin Islands and I really wanted to go. My parents allowed me to go instead, to Arizona to meet some of my dads family that I'd never met before and have a little "Senior trip" of my own. I was very excited to go and meet everyone. I had always loved my Aunt Norma and Uncle Bruce from Arizona. They came to visit us the most, I guess; so I got to know them and love them. My aunt Norma always loved to have attention lavished upon her and I was just the kid to give it to her! We always got along well and my Uncle Bruce was my most favorite Uncle ever! I had a wonderful time meeting everyone, all of my cousins and their wives and their children.  I remember spending alot of time in my aunt and uncles backyard pool. I remember feeling like "this is the life", while sunning in the yard for hours. About every 1/2 hour or so my aunt Norma would come to the door and tell me to get out of the sun because I "didnt know the Arizona sun and how hot it really is there". Well, I was 17 1/2 and I knew almost everything...right?? Don't we all know just about everything when we are 17 yrs old? I remember that trip well and the 3 hour drive when they took me up to Northern Arizona, Flagstaff. My aunt and uncle had a "A-frame" cabin up in "Pinewood". But the thing I remember most is asking to just lie down on top of a bed with cold wash cloths all over my arms, legs and face...because "smarty pants"/me...got sun poisoning!!! Geee...ya think??? After that I was a little more careful about getting sunburns when I was in Arizona....Ok..well...a little bit more careful anyway!!
    I remember that we brought my little cousin, Denise who was about 11 yrs old maybe? I think she was 11 or 10 yrs old, I'm not quite sure. But once I got over the initial "sun poisoning ordeal"; I had a great time up north riding through the back and front woods of the cabin with my uncle Bruce on their three-wheelers!! One time I took Denise on the three-wheeler with me for a ride. Once again, I knew what I was doing because I was 17 and already a "pro" at driving those RV's...right?? WRONG!!! LOL....we headed down the driveway and I lost control of it and we went  knees first into the mailbox at the end of the driveway! Luckily Denise wasn't hurt too bad. I had a skinned knee and ego! My uncle couldn't get to us fast enough to make sure we were OK. We were OK, just a bit shaken and achy for a day or so..LOL.
   I remember babysitting for Denise and her brother, Jason and they had a huge Lab named "Tiger" too!  I loved their dad, my cousin Denny (God rest his soul also, as he passed away a few years ago and he was only in his early 60's or late 50's?). He and his wife went out and I loved babysitting for Denise and Jason. I tried so hard to make Jason like me but he was a little boy who wanted to do little boy things and I  knew nothing about that! I can't remember what he did but he did something and I had to give him a "time out" in his room.  The little stinker broke the screen away from the window and he got out!!!!!!! I went to check on him and he was gone! OH NO!!!! I was the worst babysitter ever, or so I thought...how could I lose my cousin's child?  I remeber calling someone (no cell phones back then ..LOL) and they came to help us find him and he was fine...but..they were a bit upset with him and with me! I felt horrible but they didn't hold a grudge!
   Later on I went back to Arizona in 1982 -83 to live there with my aunt and uncle for a whole year! I lived with them for 1/2 of the time and then my other aunt, Gladys for the rest of my stay there. I paid $20.00 a week to my aunt Gladys and I was working part time for a dentist in Scottsdale and part time at a schoool for Deaf pre-schoolers, ages 3 and 4 years old. I loved my jobs and had a wonderful time there.  I went dancing on weekends with my friends from the dental office and the youth group at my church. I taught  a sign language class at the church and was in two different performing groups, performing Sign language to songs/choreographed etc.! One of the groups was called "Silent Praise and we performed Christian songs to American Sign Language and did interpretive dance for live audiences at the Neumann Center at ASU. The other group I was in was called " Silent Impressions Productions". In that group we learned dance with sign from a choreographer and put on "BIG" shows at ASU and people came and paid to see them! The people in that group had been practicing for 9 months for this big show called "Nights On Broadway". The different people in the group were doing Sign language and choreography to Broadway songs such as "Annie", "New York, New York, "Hello Dolly" and the one I was in was called "One" from "Chorus Line". But someone got ill and they asked me to take over that spot and I had only 3 weeks to learn all of it!! OMGosh...that was very stressful, but probably one of the most fun things I've ever done in my life! My Aunts and my Uncle and some relatives came to see me perform and it was awesome! I had a royal blue pant suit with silver sequence on the vest and then a sequence  top hat also. I had a wonderful time and still think about it to this day and only have a couple of pictures, but the memories are still there, thank goodness!
    That same trip, for the year of 1982-83, I got to babysit my other cousins and get very close to my cousin Randy and his wife, Sally. I adored their children too: Jamie, Cody and Travis. I remember Sally teaching me to cook and showing me something called "Lavosh" that we made for dinner together. I remember their adorable kids and I couldn't get enough of all three of them. Jamie was the cutest, sweetest and most adorable little girl of about 6yrs old.. maybe or so? She liked to walk around in tiara's and look at Princess Diana books with me and Cody would run and laugh and play tricks as little boys do. The baby, Travis...well I couldn't get enough of holding him and "mothering" all 3 of the kids. I adored them and to this day I still adored them and love them ...I have a special place in my heart for my Arizona family.  The grown up "children"  don't know me very well now because we don't get to visit Arizona very often with prices so high these days and everything else going on. But whether they know it or not, they are very near and dear to my heart and always will be.
    I think if I could put time in a bottle and keep it so I could do it over again; except for having my two little girls be born and my raising them mostly alone; my Arizona time would be my 2nd best time in my life. I would love to be like "scrooge" in the "Christmas Carol" book and travel back to that time and watch myself having fun with my cousins and/or my friends from the youth group at church!

Me, the Assistant teacher with my Hard of Hearing/Deaf Pre-school kids
in 1982 *29 yrs ago!!

This is ME in 1982/83 Doing Interpretive Sign/Dance to Christian Music
at the Neumann CTR In Arizona, with my Drama club
"Silent Praise"

This is me with one of my deaf pre-school students,"Bobby",

in Mesa,AZ 1982/83..at the school for Deaf...Add caption

Me in the Middle long hair and my St. Theresa's Youth group friends
IN 1983 almost 30 YRS AGO

this is me on 2nd from left at end in a Choreagraphed dance/sign language routine
called "One" from "Nights on Broadway" and this was my Sign Language Drama Club
"Silent Impression" from 1982-83***

This is me with my little cousin, Jamie in 1980 in AZ

This me at my "going away party" with my AZ friends! *IN 1983 **28 yrs ago!

My Uncle Bruce and Me in 1980 (& he's deceased now )*

going "THREE WHEELIN" with my Uncle and cousin IN AZ 1980!!*He's deceased :(

me on the backyard swing in AZ 1980 with Sable the dog!!