But Call Me Betsy

I keep meaning to post more of these older photographs. But because I have a bad memory, two things make this a problem (1). I forget I have them; (2). I remember I have them but can't recall which ones I've already posted. So, you'll have to forgive me in advance if you've seen these already. Here we have my mother and two of the her brothers--I think it's Jodie and maybe David? They look like Jersey boys stuck in the middle of the Midwest.   Mother with cat-eye glasses and beehive hairdo with my two uncles, Jeff and Frannie. Curtains are closed.   Mom, younger, before classes--on a horse. I'm not sure if they owned this horse or if they just rented out space for it. I know they had one horse named Strata.   Mom, holy. This must be her first communion. She is a little bride to God.   More holiness and a family dog who likely got run over by a truck or shot by one of the neighbors for terrorizing their chickens.   I may have posted this one before. My mom sq...

Here you have my Grandma, who was born on December 3, 1918, which I suppose makes her 91 years old or so (if only I could do math). She lives in a retirement community in a two bedroom/two bath apartment. She still has a good sense of humor and says things like, Well, now we're in a pickle! And this is my mother and her mother. Mom is making a tuna casserole with whole wheat noodles for my Uncle Francis. She can whip up these meals lickety-split. It is not a genetic trait, nor is her sewing ability. Me and my Aunt JoAnne. I'm staying at her house and Mom is at Grandma's. JoAnne has this great guest bedroom that gets really, really dark so you feel all safe and secure. It also has a ceiling fan. I like to sleep with the sound of the fan whirring. Even if I'm cold, I will still put it on. You'll notice from this photo that I am having a patch of white hair on my forehead. I'm trying to resist pulling out those hairs because I'm going to go for a Stacey fro...

And mom will be there too! So here are a few photographs to prepare you for that visit. I am certain grandma will not approve of the one of her in her brassiere with a cigarette. Here she is as a young mom. Four more kids and countless grandchildren to follow.

My mom recently mailed me a bunch of old photographs that I need to scan and send back to her. Here is one--I'm about 5 or 6. This is at my grandpa and grandma's house in Nebraska, where we used to live. I do not know what I am holding. A beer pong? Grandma looks crabby in the background, but that's probably mostly because she never liked getting her picture done. It does look as though she's recently been to the beauty parlor to get her hair shaped into its Sunday best. We looked at more houses yesterday and saw one or two with this same paneling on the walls as shown in the photo. Only really one old person house, and it was well-maintained. The houses all start to look the same after awhile. Stairs to the left, narrow hallways, three bedrooms in a row upstairs. Saw one house I like a lot, but I'm not going to mention anything about it because I don't want to jinx it. Jeanne showed me a great house with lots of original detail--little built in cupboards and gl...

I'm staying at my Aunt JoAnne's and she has some of the best food that I never get to eat such as Cheetos. I don't know how much actual cheese or real food are incorporated into Cheetos (I believe it's 1% cheese powder and 99% chemicals), but I really don't care because they are so good. I am leaving orange fingerprints everywhere I go. I must be careful not to commit a crime before I shower as they will surely be able to track me down. Yesterday, we went to the mall and Best Buy and got my Christmas present. Can you guess what it is? Are you wondering if from here on out you might be inundated by various photos of the cats doing really nothing exceptional? Over and over? You will. Pictured above, you will see a lovely photograph of my one and only mother. Below, please find my most artistic photo to date. Those are the legs of my grandmother. As you can see, I am a natural with the digital camera. Please note that it is 3 degrees above zero and she's wearing sa...