Kill The Competition

August 1st already?  

Time has slipped away and summer seems to be winding down early for some reason.  The hot, dry days have killed off our wildflowers and the grass has turned a burnt brown.  The grapes that we were so excited about, have gotten to the point where it is too late to do anything with them.  Gary ordered a wine making kit online, found some big jugs, and purchased Sure Jell for jelly.  But the bees have taken over the grapes - that quickly.  Thank you Sharon, for sending me to Teresa who sent me somewhere else and I did get a good wine recipe.  Next year we will be ready!

This weekend we were able to get away and have dinner and a movie.  It was a great day!

It's a beautiful Monday morning with a new week of challenges.  Hopefully our newspaper ad will bring in lots of new customers in spite of our many competitors that are trying to 'kill us'.  

Yesterday at Church the Youth was in charge of the service and what a blessing that was.  The music... the message...  the commitment that the young people have for spreading God's Word.  My heart was blessed! 

"Is this what they call Dog Daze of summer? "

Women and Work. Job #2

 Factory Worker

Mom's in the back, circled

After A few months of waiting tables and spilling drinks,  I was called in for an interview at the Pajama Factory where my Mom worked as a seamstress most of her adult life.  Above is a photo of her way back B/B (before bobbi).  

 I was about to get the job of my dreams - I'd be a factory worker!!  Full time work making more money meant I could buy a new car, new clothes, shoes...  well...  you get the picture.  At eighteen it was all about 'me'!  One of the first things I purchased was a new coat (above). 

Now it was Mom's turn to be proud of me.  All of her factory friends were amazed at how fast and efficiently I worked.  The supervisor was not sorry that Mom recommended me for the job.  I was on piece work and the faster I worked, the more money I made.  I was a working machine!

Being very shy, I found that the best thing about working in the sewing factory was, I could put on my headphones and listen to my favorite radio station drowning out all of the machinery and gossip that was happening around me.

 

To Be Continued....

Women and Work. Job #1

  I think many women do enjoy working outside of the home... but not me.  Give me Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a box Godiva chocolates, and a vacuum cleaner... and I'll be in seventh heaven while keeping my abode fresh and clean.  Being a housewife was not my lot in life, though. 
 So much for the American dream.

Directly out of high school I spent a few days in Ocean City Md. with some friends, where I got the worse case of sun poisoning I'd ever witnessed.  I'd never been to the beach before and felt so small standing beside the mystical body of larger-than-life raging ocean waves.  

Day #1 I laid on my back.  

Day #2 I laid on my stomach.  

Day #3 I visited the Emergency Medical Office for sunburn treatment.  

My front and back were beet red.  A white line showed undamaged skin all the way up the sides of my legs and into my arms.  I was a geek so as it was... this did not help my image.  A week later, at home, my dad looked at me one day kind of weird... "Why are you all purple?" he asked.  "And Why are you all puffy?"  After another trip to the doctor, I found out I had sun poisoning.  Not fun.  

So that was my introduction to adulthood.  Ah... the joys of freedom.  But...  now my vacation was over it was time to find a job.  My brother knew the manager of the White Coffee Pot restaurant in LaVale.  Soon I was in like flint!  

Job #1.  Waitress.  

Fifty cents was considered a great tip back in those days.  My first great tip came from a relative in spite of the glass of water she wore home.  

My dad would come to pick me up at 11 PM.  He'd sit on a bar stool and order coffee while waiting for me to wrap it up.  I could tell he was extremely proud of me.  Walking out into the balmy summer night air, I'd empty my pockets and begin counting my tips.  I can still remember Dad's smile as I hopped up into the trucks cab....  "Five dollars and twenty five cents!" I said.  I breathed in deep to savor his Old Spice smell, mingled with the faint odor of gasoline.  I thought to myself...  nobody should ever have to be without a dad in their life.  Life doesn't get any better...  I felt a love that only a father can provide.  

To be continued....