Saturday, May 31, 2008

When Grandma was a little girl-cont'd

Scary monsters under my bed! … Story #4
Have you ever been frightened and thought monsters lived under your bed?

Well, when I was a little girl I was sure that monsters lived under my bed! I did not have a night-light in my bedroom. I would tell my mom that I was scared at night and monsters lived under my bed. Well, she would look under my bed and then have me look under my bed and sure enough there were no monsters. It was perfectly clear under my bed. But somehow when the light switch went OFF I knew they just magically appeared under there! I wouldn’t even let one toe of my foot hang over the edge for fear that a furry monster’s hand would grab it and pull me under the bed and I’d be dead and gone forever! My parents wouldn’t find me in the morning and they’d wonder what happened to me. Many times I pleaded for a light to be left on and my mom would say, ‘There’s no monsters under you bed, now go to sleep and shut off that over active imagination of yours!’ Well, that just wasn’t any comfort what so ever to me! ‘I just KNEW that there WERE monsters living UNDER my bed!’ So there!

Well, I started wetting my bed a few times a week and for punishment, I had to strip off the sheets and take them to the washer. I was scolded for wetting my bed. I was not allowed to have anything to drink after 7:00p.m. That helped some, but I still wet the bed a couple of times. My mom was so upset with me for doing that! Now that I am a mom, I realize how much work that is to strip the bed, wash the sheets, dry them and remake the bed! Out of frustration one day, my mom asked me, ‘Why do you keep wetting your bed? Why can’t you just wake yourself up and go to the bathroom?’ I very clearly explained to her, “Mom, monsters live under my bed and I am too scared to get out of my bed and go through the kitchen, through the dining room, then down the little short hall and finally into the bathroom. No matter ‘how fast I run’ from my bedroom and the long way it is to get to the bathroom, I would never make it to the bathroom. I would be eaten! There wouldn’t be anymore Diana!” Why was it so hard for her to see that? Good grief! I was scared spitless! Yes, I knew I was wetting the bed fully awake and I had a good reason! I think the light bulb in mom’s brain FINALLY went ON! Wow! My daughter Diana has a real fear of monsters and I think I better fix this.

So, what do you think happened next?

My mom got a ‘night-light’ for my bedroom and a small light was left ON from the kitchen and family room and in the little hall and in the bathroom! I never wet the bed again! Problem solved. AND, with the night light ON in my bedroom the monsters couldn’t come out. You see, monsters don’t like the light. They only come out in the DARK! Although I can clearly remember it took a lot of courage that first night to test the ‘lights on theory’ and not see any monsters come after me! I ran pretty fast to the bathroom. Guess what? I never saw any monsters and none ever came after me!

A little note here---
Back in those days, pull-ups and disposable diapers had not been invented yet. Also, I realized when I was older, about 10 years old, that no monsters lived under the bed and it was all in my imagination. But to a very young child, monsters were real. Sometimes as a parent, we do not take the time to ‘ask’ why our children have certain fears. We sometimes pass judgment and pronounce a sentence of punishment. I was grateful my mother finally listened to my fear and had lights left on for me. That’s all I ever wanted from the beginning, to leave a light ON. As a little girl that light left on made me feel so much better and safer.

Flickr post


The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Diana
2. What is your favorite food? Salad
3. What high school did you go to? Tularosa HS (New Mexico)
4. What is your favorite color? Pink
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Sean Connery
6. Favorite drink? Fruit Punch
7. Dream vacation? Scotland
8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate!
9. What you want to be when you grow up? A Grandmother
10. What do you love most in life? Joy!
11. One word to describe you. Nutty!
12. Your flickr name. Guppy
Thank you Julie for walking me through this! That was a lot of work! You're too good to me!
Enjoy!
Mom :o)

Friday, May 30, 2008

Doug's Engaged!

Douglas Guptill and Ashley Galbreath

Engagement Announcement!
As of tonight, Friday-May 30th- Douglas and Ashley are engaged! Hurray! :o)

We're so excited for both of them! We have met Ashley and she is a sweetheart!
She is petite in size, just like David's fiancee Angela. Both girls are petite and oh so sweet! My sons are tall! David is 6'4" and Angela is 5'1". Douglas is 6'1" and Ashley is 5'2". We're excited for both our sons and we love their sweethearts! :o) We are so blessed to have 3 wonderful sons-in-law whom we love so much! Now we are blessed to have two wonderful daughters-in-law! Life is beautiful!

David and Angela are getting married on August 8th. I'm not sure when Douglas and Ashely are getting married. I think he wants to make it late August before he has to go back to school on Sept. 8th. I guess they'll figure out a date pretty soon. We just go with the flow! Whatever date they decide will be fine. I just have one word of advise for Ashley's mom, 'be flexible!' We had 3 daughters get married and we had between 2 and 3 months to prepare for weddings! :o)

Love,
Mom :o)

Thursday, May 29, 2008

When Grandma was a little girl...My worst childhood memory...

My worst childhood memory …Story #3
(I hope my children remember to read these stories to their children.)
Well we all have them. Someday when you grandchildren are all grown and are adults, you will look back and there will be one moment that you will recall when you were a child and something happened you did not like.

It happened in 1st Grade…
I was so painfully shy when I was a little girl in school. It seemed like I was afraid of everything. I only recall having one friend in my class. I guess you could say we were labeled (yes-label means when you call someone a name) the two homeliest kids in our class. Homeliest meant you were ugly, not pretty at all. At the time I did not know why they called us names. Kids can be so cruel when then call kids names and make fun of them. Everyone does it, so they join in thinking it is cool to do that when in reality, it’s not cool at all. Anyway, my 1st Grade teacher was very strict. If we had to go to the bathroom, we had to do it while at recess. Well, this other little girl I was a friend with often smelled like pee when she came to school. Yes, she was a bed wetter. Somehow I felt sorry for her because no one would play with her. Well, because I played with her - no one would play with me. Sad, isn’t it, but true.

Well, here comes my worst memory---I had gone out to recess and forgot to go to the bathroom so when I got back to class, I had to go. Well I tried so hard to hold it. School was going to be out in half an hour and I timidly raised my hand. In front of the whole class my teacher asked me what I needed. I asked if I could go to the bathroom. She said, ‘No. You should have taken care of that at recess.’ I tried to hold it and finally I just couldn’t, so I peed my pants in class. I was so embarrassed. It leaked off my seat and down onto the floor and made a little puddle. Kids looked down and started to tease, ‘someone wet their pants!’ They saw it came from my seat. I had taken paper from my red Big Chief Writing Tablet and wadded it up and was stuffing it under my bottom so it wouldn’t leak, but it failed. The pee trickled down my seat onto the floor. I was soooo embarrassed and humiliated. To make things worse, the teacher ignored it. Then when school was out I tried to scoot along the side of the walls and outside so no one would see my wet pants. Kids laughed at me, pointed their fingers at me and I had to walk all the way home. Fortunately, a wonderful person by the name of Carol Thomas, who was in high school and lived behind my house, saw me and came to my rescue and walked by my side and scolded the naughty boys teasing me. I felt relieved and so thankful she came to my rescue. When I got home I was crying and my mother wanted to know what was wrong. I told her my sad little story and she hugged me and told me it was okay. But, I never - ever - wet my pants at school ever again!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Story #2-When Grandma was a little girl

Where was Grandma born? …Story #2
All of our 6 children were born in a hospital. All of you grandchildren were also born in a hospital. I was not born in a hospital or a clinic. I was born at home! I was born in Tularosa, New Mexico. Let’s take a step back in this story. My parents, your great grandparents-Douglas and Jane Bates, were born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You may wonder how did they end up in New Mexico? When my mother had my 2nd brother, Douglas, Penicillin had just been discovered and was used as an antibiotic. They pretty much tried it out on everyone. Unfortunately my mother was allergic to it. She had just given birth to her 2nd baby, Douglas, and they gave her that shot. She got very sick. She had dormant asthma and the penicillin brought it to life, so to speak. Back then the cure for asthma was to ‘Go West’ where the climate was dry. So, they sold their home and most of their household goods. My father bought a little pickup truck and they put their goods in it and packed up their little family, their 2 boys Geoffrey and Douglas, and went west. The year was 1947. This will be another story later…

My mother was expecting a baby around my father’s birthday, October 7th. My mom was 5’5” tall and Dr. John Klump thought she was getting awfully big in her belly. She could hardly see her own feet! He decided she needed an x-ray. So she had an x-ray and things looked fine. When the doctor took a closer look he noticed a ‘2nd little spine’ in the top of the x-ray. She was going to have twins! She did not know this until one month before she was due to have her baby. It was a shock to both her and my father! Twins were quite an exciting event in that little town! Only one other person had had twins. My mom was the 2nd person to have twins! Dr. Klump was worried about how big my mom was and told her not to leave the house or go too far. He even slept in his car outside where my parents lived! He got called away on business, a doctor convention, and so he had Dr. Clapp, from the next town of Alamogordo, cover for him and take care of my mother if she should deliver early. Well, we came 3 weeks early. I was born on September 16th at 1:00p.m. My twin brother was born half an hour later, at 1:30p.m. We each weighed 6 pounds. My twin brother was quite happy being inside my mother and was not anxious to come out. He was born breach, feet first. (My mother had gained almost 50 pounds while she was pregnant and within a month she lost all that weight.) Dr. Klump was quite disappointed he was not there when the twins were born, but Dr. Clapp did an excellent job!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Grandma's Childhood Memories

When Grandma was a little girl. . .
When Michelle and Julie and I were at Women’s Conference this past May 1st and 2nd, Julie and I attended a class on ‘Family Reunions.’ They had 2 speakers. The first lady spoke on
‘Blogging.’ I felt so pleased as I had just created a blog, with the help of Michelle, two weeks or so earlier. She also spoke about writing stories about her childhood for her grandchildren to read. A sudden realization came to me that I am Michelle’s children’s only surviving grandmother. That was sobering! They lost their other grandmother Jenna almost a year ago. Jenna was a wonderful grandmother and loved her grandchildren! They loved her too! I realized that none of my grandchildren know anything about my childhood and I should ‘blog’ some stories that they may enjoy.

Here goes…Story #1
Dearest Granchildren-Tyler, Lauren, McKenna, Brooklynn and Quintin, Brynnly, Zachary, Braxton and LaRue and Matilda-this is for you!

What is the ‘earliest childhood memory’ I can remember?

Well, since I’m only 57 years old, I can remember back when I was not quite 2 years old. To you grandchildren 57 years old may seem like I am ancient! You know that your Uncle Gayle Bates and I are twins! My father had built a fenced chicken yard with a chicken coop so that they could raise a few chickens and have the eggs. My mom (your great grandmother Jane Bates) said when we got to be a handful she would put my twin brother and I out in the chicken yard. We couldn’t get into any trouble out there and she could have a little bit of peace and quiet and get a few things done with us ‘out of her hair.’ I can remember her telling us that we were ‘little stinkers’!

I can actually ‘remember’ being in that fenced chicken yard. I remember putting my chubby little fingers in the chicken wire looking outside wondering …’Why am I locked up in here?’ I did not like it! My twin brother didn’t seem to mind. He played in the dirt. A few years later, I was probably 4, I remember making a sandwich and I was going to make a good sandwich and make it creative. I put molasses and peanut butter and salt and pepper and mustard on a piece of bread. After looking at the bread, it did not look so good anymore. I did not add the second piece of bread to it to make the sandwich. Well, if my mother found the bread in the trash, I knew I would get in trouble. We did not have a lot of money and that would be wasteful. So, I took the bread outside to the chickens. I remember putting it under the chicken fence and the chickens came running over to the bread. They actually pecked at it and ate it! My only thought was…'Yuck! That must taste awful!' I’m glad they liked it. My mom never found out I did that! At least I don’t think she ever knew because I never I told her! I did not particularly enjoy getting spankings as they hurt! She didn't know and I didn't get spanked! Although, I probably deserved it!

I love you!
Grandma Guptill
(in Washington)

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Our home is on the market!

Shock! Shock! I actually have a 'new post!'
This is a picture of me in front of our house. Yes! It's finally on the market! Between David, Dad and I, we have worked liked Trojans to get it ready! David's name should be on the RE sign, but the sign maker they use keeps making mistakes and taking forever, so 'David's name' isn't on it yet. David is having a broker's open house this Wednesday and an open house this next weekend. We would be ever so grateful if everyone 'kept us in their prayers' that it sells very quickly! We can always hope! :o)

We have been looking at houses in the past few days and haven't had a lot of time to look. So now that we can relax a little bit we will have more time to look. We did look at a new housing development today and I really liked one of the homes we saw. We have some time to look.
Other than working on getting the 'outside' of the house ready and taking 35% of our house goods and putting it into storage and staging the 'inside' of the house, that has consumed most of our time. I have to say I'm glad we're done. We're tired! It sure looks so nice though.
I guess our next exciting news will be when I can post "Sold!' and 'We're in a new home!' Then it will be time for David's wedding.

If I forgot to mention 'why' we're selling our home, it is because we need to get away from stairs and into a ranch style home, one level. Neil and I are not getting any younger and carrying Kirsten up and down stairs is taking its toll on me. I have arthritis in my knees and hips and it's getting challenging carrying her up and down stairs. It will be far easier with 'no stairs!' One of our daughters asked me the other day if we had talked to Kirsten about selling our home and how she took it. Well, yesterday, Saturday, I talked to her about it and she had the 'biggest' smile on her face and accepted it very well! :o) She's happy as long as she can be with her mommy and daddy. Ditto for us! :o)
Tah, tah for now until the next post! :o)
Diana