Interview with Great-Grandma

Interview with Great Grandma
March 4, 2007
By JJ, great-granddaughter


Jessica: What were your chores?

Grandma: I had to do the vacuuming. We had a carpet in the living room and the dining room and I had to do the vacuuming and the dusting.

Jessica: At what age did you start doing that?

Grandma: Oh, and I always had to do the dishes with my two brothers. Oh, that was aweful. What age did I start doing it? I know I was doing it when my baby sister was born because I had to stand on a chair up to the sink in order to do the dishes. That was when Marge was born. I was probably about 7 or 8 years older than she was. I was about 7 years old when I stood up on a chair to do the dishes.

Jessica: When were you born?

Grandma: I was born on October 4

Jessica: Where were you born?

Grandma: I was born in Utah

Jessica: Where did you grow up?

Grandma: I grew up in Utah. One mile from Liberty Park.
Jessica; How many brothers and sisters did you have?

Grandma: I had four brothers and sisters. I was the oldest.

Jessica: How many times did you move?

Grandma: How many times did I move? About 5 times that I remember. This was while I was a little kid that we moved that many times.

Jessica: What was your house like?

Grandma: Well, I can remember three houses that we had. We moved from one to the other to the other. The last one I was in and I was there until I got married. We moved there when my baby sister was born, that was Aunt Audrey. And she’s ten years younger than I. And we lived in this same house. I lived in the sleeping porch. We had two bedrooms in the house and then they built on two rooms on the outside of the house. We called them sleeping porches. They had windows on them, but they didn’t have any heat. They sure got cold in the winter time. I’ll tell you what my mother did. Every Christmas she made chocolate candy. Chocolates. And she’d put them in shoeboxes and stack them out in my bedroom. Before Christmas ever came, every one of those shoeboxes had broken ends on them where the kids would get in them and eat the chocolates. But they kept them out on my bedroom because it was cool out there. I didn’t have any heat out there. It was pretty cold.

Jessica: How long have you been married?

Grandma: I was married 62 years before my husband passed away. Grandpa passed away. We had been married 62 years. So I’ve been married…he passed away in 70’ didn’t he?....I mean in 2000. He passed away in 2000. I was married in 1938, I think.

Jessica: How much school did you go to?

Grandma: I graduated from High School. That’s as far as I went. You know why? Because I had two brothers I had to get a job and help put them in the University. Because my dad and mother couldn’t afford all of that. So I got a job instead to help pay for their way in the University. So I didn’t ever go to the University. I went to the University of hard knocks. Good ole life. (laughter)

Jessica: What was your profession?

Grandma: Well, let’s see. You know, I was in a lot of plays for a long time. And I loved to do acting. At my High School, I was always in all the plays and the musicals and I loved that. While I was in High School I had a job at Keith O’Briens, up in the office. I worked in the office there after school. That was a department store in Salt Lake City. And I didn’t make a lot of money. I think the going wage then…President Roosevelt was President…and I think it was $65/month. I think that was the minimum wage that I started at. I worked at Sears first, before I worked with Keith O’Briens. And then I got a job with the associated oil company, in their office, and I was making $85/month. I had a really good job.

Aunt Leslie: Tell her about your debate

Grandma: I’ll have to show you. I’ve got a lot of medals. I’m going to put them out. You guys haven’t seem them… that I’ve won for debating and oratory. I just about got to Washington D.C. I was the runner-up in that contest. It was a oratory contest. It was held in the assembly hall. That was the first time Ralph ever heard me. I saw him come in, Ralph was my boyfriend then…I had just been out with him 2 or 3 times. And he came in there and sat up in the window upstairs, he and his friend. They sat up there in the window right facing where I had to talk, you know. I was “oh no!” Made me a little nervous, yes.

Heckler from the crowd (Harold): Did you ever debate Grandpa?

Grandma: No, no. No, no. Not until after we were married. (laughter)

Jessica: How many children do you have?

Grandma: I had 2 children. And that’s my baby (pointing to Uncle Bry) and Carolyn. You know that. Grandma Carolyn. Your grandma. Was my only daughter. But we did have a foster daughter, Lois. And she stayed with us for quite a number of years. And I just talked to Lois the other day. She lives down in Reno. She is 68 years old. 69 nearly. All of her children live in Reno. She had 4 children. And a crazy husband.
Grandma: Is that it? Do you know enough about me now? Is there anything else you’d like to know?

Jessica: No.

Susan: How about your testimony?

Grandma: My testimony. I guess the most precious thing I have is my testimony of the gospel. Because that made it possible for me to have an eternal marriage for time and all eternity. And I know that my husband is waiting for me. So, that’s why the gospel is really important to me too. And because you love it, too. The fact that all my family are part of the gospel of Jesus Christ makes me happy. That all of you are active in the church, doing the things you’re supposed to do. That makes me really happy.

Birthday Girl

JJ LOVES her new scriptures from Grandma and Grandpa. She couldn't wait until her baptism day to open them. She has been waiting for so long and she really really wanted to open them, so I told her she could. I figured Mom would have let her if she were here. I mean, it's the scriptures. How can you say NO to a child opening the scriptures?

You should have seen her beaming when she was looking at them. You would have thought she just won a million dollars. It was priceless.

She had a fun day and a fun party. She had the theme of "High School Musical." We made a bunch of posters that said, 'GO WILDCATS" and "I LOVE TROY" and "WE LOVE HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL" and other pre-teen girl stuff with pictures of the cast memebers, etc. She invited 3 of her friends (Rachel, Maggie, and Krista) plus Montana and Rachel's little sister, Carly who is in Katie's kindergarten class.

They came over after school. They made a little craft when they first arrived. It was a picture frame made with foamie stuff. We took a group picture and put it in their individual frames to take home. They turned out really cute.

Then they watched the sing-along version of High School Musical. Well, most of them watched it most of the time. The others were floating around between the movie and the upstairs play room.

We had pizza, cake, and ice cream. The cake was definitely not my best masterpiece, but Jessi liked it so I guess that's what counts. She opened her presents and then they did karaoke until their parents came to pick them up around 6:30 p.m.

When I tucked her in tonight, she said she wished tomorrow was her birthday, too.

I'm glad birthdays only come around once a year.

All I want is 10 Minutes!!!

Why is it that the minute I step into the shower and get completely wet, the entire world (my children, in particular) suddenly needs to speak with me URGENTLY. I'm serious. It happens on a daily basis. Without fail. I'm just looking for a peaceful, private 10 minute shower.
I used to lock my bedroom door, but I had to stop that because in their desperate attempt to knock loud enough for me to hear, my children would practically knock the door down. And possibly the entire house.
Now I only lock the bathroom door so that I am able to hear the muffled sounds coming from the other side.

Child: KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK MOM????
Me: What?
Child: mpfhfjdksle;lk fjkds jklapslekj j ejwk ;lskdfj !!!!!!!
Me: What??!! Can you say that again louder?
Child: MPFHJASKDLP DJFKEL FJDKLPS JKL;LASKDJ !!!!!!!
Me: You. have. to. YELL. I'm. in. the. SHOWER!!
Child: MOM, MY TOAST POPPED UP!!! (or something equally as earth shattering)

Since this happens so often, I've decided to make it fun. Rather than seeing this as the completely irritating and crazy-making experience that it is, I think I'll keep track of these unimportant and frivilous interruptions and think of them as potential blog material.

There have been many, many blog-worthy shower interruptions in the past, but to keep it simple, I'll just start with today's.

Montana: KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK MOM????(frantically)
Me: What?
Montana: as;dlke jfkelp jkl jk ;ela;slje
Me: I can't hear you! I'm in the shower!
Montana: ase j jksls ANTS sdkl jkels ejkl!!
Me: Say it LOUDER!!!
Montana: MOM, THE ANT TRAP ISN'T WORKING...THE ANTS AREN'T GOING IN THERE!
Me: That's ok.

2 minutes later...

Montana: KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK MOM???? (desperately)
Me: What?
Montana: Can I have a piece of candy?

OK. So those weren't that funny. But when it happens day after day after day after day, it actually becomes quite humorous. Like a game. What can they possibly think of to say to me this time? What is so dang important that it can't wait until I get out?

And then the phone rings.

Clothes Junkie

I admit it. I'm addicted to old, outdated clothes. I have an entire closet full of clothes that I never wear, most of which I've had since 2nd grade. And shoes. Oh, the shoes. I went through my walk-in closet last night in an attempt to make room for a person to actually walk in. I counted 35 pair. And those are the ones I'm keeping. But will still never wear. (You never know when you might need those old, now-yellowish, white pumps that you wore on your wedding day 17 years ago.)

One would think that with all these many many many clothes (and shoes....don't forget the shoes,) that I would be a fashion icon and sport something new each day for 365 days. But no. Instead I wear pretty much the same thing every day for 365 days. And the other clothes just hang there day after day. I think it's time to do something about that. And, no, I don't mean start wearing them. I need to cleanse the inner closet. Take a trip to Goodwill. Just do it.

Maybe tomorrow.

Mission Accomplished

Well, the little roomer did it. She finished up just before it was time to leave for basketball last night. I guess we know what motivates her now. And we know what doesn't. She was so proud of herself and was so excited to go to her basketball practice.

The irony is she woke up this morning with a fever of 101*, so it looks like she'll be doing some more room time during the next few days...

Messy Roomer Day 6

Well, we're on to day 6 of room wars. She's actually been working on it a little bit the past few days. I would say it's about half-way done. She has basketball tonight and REALLY REALLY wants to go, so I'm guessing she'll do what it takes. She knows she won't be going if the room's not clean by 5:45 p.m. It's now 5:00 p.m. tick, tock, tick, tock...

Messy Roomer Day 3

Today was the 3rd full day of the stand-off. Actually, I've been thinking about what Sally said in the comments about procrastination vs. power struggle. You may have a point, Sal. I do think there's a subtle underlying power struggle going on. It's kind of a "I"ll do what I want when I want and you can't make me" thing. But the overall feeling is more one of procrastination and distraction. She has so much stuff in there that it could be WEEKS before she gets bored.
Today she made her bed and layed out a pink fuzzy blanket. On top of the blanket she had arranged about 15 different items (polly pockets, my little ponies, etc) I asked her what the blanket was for and she said, "Oh, that's just my little play area I made." She's too cute for words sometimes.
Mealtimes are definitely the hardest for her. She wants to be with us. (and we want her to be with us!) She was a little upset that she couldn't go to JJ's piano lesson today, but she got over it soon enough.
Tomorrow may be more of a challenge because Carter is coming over for the day. She's going to want to play with him. Maybe that will motivate her??

Headstrong

Montana is our little messy roomer. She can have her room perfectly clean one morning and a complete disaster by the afternoon. I know most kids have messy rooms at one time or another, but Montana takes it to a different level. She throws anything and everything on the floor so that you can't even find any carpet to walk on. She has books, toys, dirty clothes, clean used-to-be-folded clothes, paper cut into 1 million pieces, pictures, taken-apart frames, blankets, pillows, shoes, stickers, and so on and so on and so on.

Monday the kids didn't have school, thanks to Mr. King. So I issued the verdict. Everyone go to your room and feel free to come out whenever it's clean. A few minutes later, Reed and JJ emerge. No Montana. I go up to check on her and she is sitting on her bed coloring. Room still a total disaster.

I told her I was going to the gym and maybe she would have it clean when I came home. An hour or so later, I was back from the gym. Still no progress on the room.

By lunch, I figured we were in for a little power struggle. So I took her lunch up to her and she ate in her room. I think she actually liked it. She had a cute little smile on her face and it was like a little picnic adventure for her.

By dinner, I realized this wasn't ending anytime soon. She still hadn't done a thing to clean her room and she was busy cutting up little pieces of colored foam. She had dinner in her room. It was still kind of cool.

This morning after family prayer, she had to go back up again. She was not happy about it this time. Especially since it was another snow day and the kids were on a 2 hour delay and Reed was making pancakes for breakfast. But she got over it soon enough and happily ate her pancakes and bacon up in her room (maybe I should bring her bread and water instead!)

By lunch, she had picked up a few books and put them back in her book basket. I considered keeping her home from school, but decided that was more of a inconvenience for me since I had some errands I needed to run. So she went to school and then came home and went straight back up.

Montana is such a social little being and it was killing her to have to eat by herself again. She started crying and said she didn't want to eat alone. Be still my aching heart. That was hard to take. I wanted to cry right along with her. I'm not being mean, right? This is simply a natural consequence. She knows exactly what she needs to do and she is fully capable. I have to keep reminding myself of that. Because right now it just feels mean.

We'll see how the saga continues tomorrow...

Last child syndrome

I always think that I'll remember the funny things my kids say, but the truth is...I don't. So maybe I'll start blogging some of them. Here are a few recent ones from Montana:

Montana drew a picture of the scripture she read during primary. It was John 3:16. She drew a picture of Heavenly Father and Jesus and labled them. Only Heavenly Father was labled "Hemle Father" I thought maybe she just wrote it wrong, so I asked her about it. She insisted that was his name. Hemle Father. So I explained to her that it was Heaven-ly Father, like in Heaven. She got a big smile on her face and said, "Oh! Heaven! I get it."

Tonight after her prayer, she asked me, "Mom, why do you say inna-nama Jesus Christ amen?" I told her it was "In the name of ......" She was again, like, "Oh, in-the-name-of-....I get it"

It took 5 years for us to teach her this?? I guess that's part of the last child syndrome...you just assume they know what they're saying because they've been copying their older siblings for so long.

USAphoto(crap)nation

OK. This is not really a ramble, this is a vent. I have been researching digital cameras because I wanted a nice one to take sport photos. Something that has a continuous shooting mode without the expense of an SLR. I found the perfect one...a Canon Powershot Pro Series S3 IS 6MP.

The best price I could find was on USAphotonation.com. I had been watching several auctions on ebay, but they always ended higher than the price I found at the other website. So, after a week of looking and waiting and deciding, I finally placed my order today. I was so excited.

First, I called the 800 number to make sure the camera I wanted wasn't a refurbished one. It was brand new, they said. And, by the way, they said, the batteries in this camera will only last for about 20-minutes of shooting time. So why don't you buy this (million dollar) battery pack that just happens to be on sale (for a half a million). And, you also need this spectacular SD card with (4 gazillion) MG. It also just happens to be on sale for cheaper than you could ever dream of buying it anywhere in the entire nation (except the office depot down the street, as well as any website you want to look at other than ours)

After the hard sell, I hung up and checked around to see how overpriced their battery pack and sd card were. Holy cow. I then understood their gig. It was to sell cameras at a lower price and then GAUGE your eyeballs out with the prices of their accessories.

Fortunately, I hadn't ordered yet. So I went online, ordered the camera only, and was done. Or so I thought. Later in the day, I received an email from said company stating there was a problem with my order and to please call this number, blah blah blah. So I called and they said I had entered my credit card as a mastercard instead of a visa. Lie. I'm very meticulous about credit card orders over the internet.

Then they started into the hard sell again about the batteries, SD card, etc. The salesman became very patronizing and belligerent. So I did the back atcha. He asked me what my problem was. I asked him what HIS problem was. And so on. Finally, he told me if I was going to be "like that" then he would just cancel my order. I said that was great, I would just call back and order from someone else. He countered with yeah, well, I'm going to cancel your order and make sure you can't order from this company again. I told him he was a (blank) and hung up on him.

So, who really won here? Not me. I'm still sans camera. But at least I didn't give him a commision! Ha.

P.S. Afterwards, I checked out the company with the better business bureau. Memo to self: check the bbb before ordering from an online company.