Is Mariah Carey playing ball the cutest thing you've ever seen?

More memories of my grandma

I've been jogging my memory since I made my last post about grandma for more memories:

She used to sit in her chair in the kitchen- and only she could sit in it.

She used to sit in her chair rock my sister and I singing "to market, to market to buy a fat hog" or "this little piggy"

I remember grandma used to sit in her chair in the kitchen and Steph and I would run around for her to catch us, then she'd pull us up over her legs and blow on our backs.

Grandma always wanted to be sure Steph and I didn't have gaposis.

We used to sit outside on the brown swing and my grandma would sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

We would often sit outside on the swing around 10:30 in the morning and watch the cars go by on her street and wait for the mailman

Grandma would also sing the following songs:
Why Haven't I Heard From You- Reba McEntire
Ocean Front Property- George Strait
All My Exes Live in Texas- George Strait
Achey Breaky Heart- Billy Ray Cyrus
Pretty Little Adrianna- Vince Gill
Just Another Woman in Love- Anne Murray
Passionate Kisses- Mary Chapin Carpenter
Born Country & Mountain Music- Alabama
She's in Love With A Boy- Trisha Yearwood
Queen of Hearts- Juice Newton
Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses- Kathy Mattea
My Kind of Girl- Collin Raye

Grandma always played country music when my sister and I got to her house in the mornings. She'd claim it helps us sleep and she'd walk through the house singing it. Her other justification was she had to because otherwise when she'd go square dancing she wouldn't know the dances.

She'd listen to KFROG for the birthday wheel at 6:40a.m. for Scott and Bo, The Frogmen, to call out her birthdate so she could call in and win. She never won.

I remember my grandma complaining when Earl Pitts came on KFROG about 7:40 every morning and he'd ask "you know what makes me sick?" and she'd say something along the lines of he's always sick, and then turn him off.

The truck's name was Jenny. Jenny always needed oil or a tune up. Every morning before she'd take my sister and I to school, she'd go out and check that Jenny had enough oil. EVERY MORNING.

If the truck was acting up, it needed a tune up. I recall many Thursdays when she'd go bowling, then leave the car with Mert at S&S Garage for a tune up.

I remember her leaving for bowling at 8:30a.m. on Thursdays and me watching her pull out of the driveway in her truck, then running up through the house to get to the kitchen window to see if I beat her truck. Often, I did.

Grandma would only wear jeans going across the street. She'd claim she has to get dressed up to go everywhere because otherwise she'd see someone she knew if she were dressed down and would be embarrassed to be dressed down. She always saw someone she knew when she was dressed down.

I remember my grandma used to like to watch KTLA in the mornings to see the "teddy bear lady," Jennifer York, the helicopter traffic reporter who decorated the copter with teddy bears viewers sent in.

I remember we used to watch Jillian Barberie on Good Day LA and my grandma always commented on her different outfits and liking to tune in for that.



I remember my grandma used to always tell us we should go to the bathroom, take a book, read with our books on the stool, then she'd come in and check us. If we didn't have a big BM (bowel movement), she'd tell us we need to try harder, then say we could wipe. Then when my parents would come, both her and my grandpa were eager to tell my parents that we did or didn't go to the bathroom that day.

I remember my grandma always liked to ride the exercise bike in her bedroom in the evenings. If she was in pain during the day, she said she was going to ride the bike in her room for 45 minutes. She would often read while she did that. I remember the bike had a feature that let the handlebars go forward and backward and she'd often push them forward and backward when she was on it.

Mr. Rogers always used to sing "won't you please, please won't you be my neighbor?" Grandma's response was always no. She doesn't want a man wearing sweater vests to be her neighbor or a crazy man who has to change his shoes when he enters a room.

Grandma cut coupons religiously. I remember she'd have a huge envelope full and when I'd go to the commissary with her, we'd pull the carts aside before we got in line to go through and see what she bought that was on sale. I also remember going through the big coupon bin at the commissary and rarely finding anything.

I remember packing groceries in the back of the truck at the commissary as she'd stand and watch and tell me to pack the heavy things on the outside so nothing would fly away.

She would tip the baggers who bagged and took the groceries out to the car at the commissary $1.00, then she'd complain on the way home if they bagged the groceries badly or didn't put them in the truck right that she shouldn't have tipped them.

Grandma bought Super Lotto tickets on Whensdee and Sardee nights. She'd then write down the numbers on a piece of paper to check her tickets, then call us at home to give us the lotto numbers at about 8p.m. on those nights.

Grandma loved to play Fantasy 5 lotto on Tuesdays and often won $20 or free tickets. If you matched 2 lotto numbers you got a free ticket for the next night.

Grandma used to love to talk to Goldie over at the liquor store or the tall guy with blue eyes.

Grandma was always buying 3 lotto scratchers- Big Spin or any new game that was out. She would scratch a ticket, then my sister and I would.

Taking chances

Sometimes I feel like I'm limiting myself by being afraid to take chances.
Sometimes I am worried about the effects of the outcome more than anything.
Sometimes fear of the unknown scares me more than anything.