Friday, I have lived through the work week,

     I had two great things happen yesterday.  My hip-hop teacher came back from basic training.  She has been gone 6 months.  The kids were so excited.  I have been teaching her classes, but I do not do hip-hop. I do Fossi, style cold Jazz or Broadway.  They endured me, but you should have seen the whooping and hollering when she walked in, I made her go to work right then.  Now I only have to teach 2.5 hours on Thursday instead of 5.  My daughter came home and she had bought me a lovely designer purse in scrumptious black leather in Los Vegas.   So nice.  It was like early Christmas.

     I also have taken in $465 toward the house payment this week.  The shop is still not quite caught up but it will get there.  Mother ginger costume parts arrived, I think the base might be to tall, but we can cut it down.  Pointe shoes are all in, I will make someone else sear all the ribbons:)

     I did a quick run through of the house last night, just a pick up as the house keeper is coming today to do the wipe down and scrubbing.   I have an almond cake in the oven and plan to do 4 today, as I sew.  Hubs Christmas party is tonight so we will drive to Orophino and then home.  I have an all day rehearsal tomorrow that starts at 8 and goes until 3.  Then I must be at the Church at 4 to set up a display of Swedish Christmas.  I also have to pull all the costumes for the nativity tomorrow and the set pieces as I have 60 children in a Nativity program at the church.  So I have nothing to do in the next two days.  I am telling you I will collapse on Sunday.

     I plan on getting all the dancers costumed tomorrow this will really tell me what needs to be fixed and what does not.  Also what I need to make.  I know there will be a lot of alterations, but very little making of new which is great as it will save me money.  Actually this year we seem to be getting away with not spending a ton of money.  Hopefully it will show on the bottom line.

     Cont:

          Mom and Dad and Grandparents worked hard to finish the last of four houses my grandmother built up the Rattlesnake.  She would buy a section of land  and then build and sell and move on.  She was a hard worker.  I remember so clearly her getting out of her little Volkswagen and climbing a ladder on one of the houses to show a young man how to shingle properly.  She was tiny and in her restaurant uniform with her hair net and support stocking complete with garters; a force to behold.  She owned several restaurants over the years.  She was also very good at playing the stock market.

     We moved into a large house on a quarter acre lot.  Across the street was a very steep hill/mountain.  There were beautiful homes on either side of us.  Our family had the downstairs, and Grandma and Pa the upstairs.  It was a great house.  We were so excited to be close to more nature and outdoors and we also were able to have a piano.  Mom had sorely missed her piano.  I remember being so shocked because my Grandmother sat down and played this beautiful Waltz and I had no idea she could play.

     Mom and Dad had a nice size bedroom and sis and I shared and lil bro and lil sis shared.  We had a big bathroom with washer and dryer.  The other large bedroom had been turned into a kitchen.  There was a large living room with a beautiful rock fireplace.  We were happy in our new house.  However the neighbors were not happy that grandma had essentially built a duplex and this was a two family dwelling.  Things got nasty very quickly.

     The biggest change for sis and I was that the Rattlesnake school being a rural school only had one 3rd grade classroom.  Mom was not going to ever put us into a classroom together again.  It had caused way to much trouble.  This was a dilemma.  Mom was a teacher and a good one she was able to go to the school district and explain the problem.  There was another school farther away from our house but still in the Rattlesnake.  If mom guaranteed travel one of us would go there.  The fight was on, of course we both wanted to go to the newer school that was closer.  We had neighborhood friends that went there.  How would this be decided?

     We had an old purple Dodge Sedan, one of those that looked like a big old bug.  I realize now it was very old fashioned and ugly.  The neighbors didn't like that car either.   It had brake problems and you had to set the parking break.  Mom would forget and there would go the car.  Here however everything was on hills.  We were unpacking the car and it started to roll, mom ran to stop it, but in her excited state she ran in front of the car that was picking up speed.  It ran over her foot and continued down the steep slope.  Us kids were following it and screaming.  Luckily mom had been able to slightly turn the wheel so the car took the steep curved road  at the right turn and crashed at the bottom of the hill into a horse pasture taking out a good section of the fence.  It could have hit a house and really done some damage.  Mom's foot was broken and she had to limp through the rest of the move.  What a way to introduce yourself to a neighborhood that does not like you already.

     Every small neighborhood had a little store.  We had the Rattlesnake market.  It was probably 1.5 miles away from our house.  We would often be sent on our bikes to the store for a loaf of bread or a 1/2 gallon of milk.  We were always anxious to go because we would get a dime to by candy for our trouble.  I was outside playing and Grandma called down and asked me to go get her some milk.  I was thrilled as she would give me a quarter and sis was not with  me and I could go alone and pick out what I wanted.  Nothing made you more popular with the local children than a bag full of penny candy.  I took off on my bike and bought my milk and picked out my candy.  I remember digging through the sack and choosing a piece but when I got it in my mouth is kind of made me sick.  As I was riding over the Rattlesnake creek bridge, I spit the candy out it just did not taste good.  By the time I had ridden 1/2 mile to the major road turn off to home I was getting terribly sick.  So I got off my bike and started to push it.  Peddling was just too painful. I had probably gone 2 blocks when I saw a sprinkler in a front yard I thought if I can get to that sprinkler and wet my face I will feel better.  I was so hot and sweaty.  I put my bike down on the edge of the road and went to the sprinkler.  The next thing I remember was an elderly lady waking me up.  I was soaking wet, like I had been under the sprinkler for some time.  I was disoriented and embarrassed.  She asked me if I needed help and I said no I just did not feel good.  I picked up my bike and slowly trudged the last two blocks.  When I looked at the hill I wold have to climb to our house I knew I could not do it.  I was just in so much pain.  So I walked my bike to the dreaded house of the one eyed witch Martha and her mean son Robby.

     Robby Reasmon was a mean little boy and he was to be avoided.  Not only that, his mom was a police dispatcher and she only had one eye.  She wore a black patch over her eye like a pirate.  Actually she was a beautiful red haired woman with a nice figure and she would sun her self on her days off in her bikini.  She was just very taciturn and strict.  She needed to be stricter with Robby.  The Reasmon's back yard connected to our back yard.  I did not care about Robby, I did not care if he beat me up.  I did not care if Mrs. Reasmon yelled at me for being on her property I knew the shortest way to my mother was through our adjoining backyards.  I pushed my bike into the Reasmon driveway and of course Robby protecting his turf came toward me.  I looked into his mean bully eyes and ,"I said Robby, something is really, really wrong with me and I am sick, you have to take this milk and my bike to my house, I cannot."  Then I remember screaming, Mrs. Reasmon came out.  I am sure to see what Robby had done now.  Here I was doubled over in pain and screaming and Robby was holding my milk and my candy and my bike.  I tried to tell Mrs. Reasmon that it was okay I just needed help and then I was running up the hill screaming. She followed me and Mom came out of the back door.  She immediately took me to the doctor.

     Blood was drawn and I did not even care.  The doctor gave mom some awful green medicine that would make me sleep and I was taken home.  But when I woke up I was screaming again.  So mom and dad took me to the hospital.  There was much talk about what to do.  They did not think is was appendicitis as I didn't have pain in the right area and I had no elevated white blood count.  A new pediatrician who was a foreigner from India was called in and he wanted an x-ray.  My stomach showed backed up gas at a high level and he prepped me for emergency exploratory surgery at mid-night.  I was poked and prodded and it hurt like hell but I did not care, I was just too sick.  I remember being wheeled into the operating room and I was worried I would wake up during the surgery.  The doctor leaned over and asked if I wanted to ask him anything?  I, said,"Will I wake up during the operation?"  He said ,"No."  His voice was soft and muffled behind his green hospital mask.  He had dark brown skin and the darkest eyes I had ever seen, he squeezed my hand and that is all I remember.

     Cont:

Out My Window:  Still beastly cold and trying to snow.

Have a great and productive day.

Kim