Tuesday, November 04, 2008

An Amazing Christmas.

Post 530 ~ ~ ~ Wednesday, 5th November, 2008.

Hello My Friends ~~ Still waiting for the arrival of Peter and Warren, so I guess they must have found
some place they wanted to see and are busy having adventures along the way. So I will try to get this
post on its way. I hope you have all recovered from Halloween and the left-overs, and are now waiting
for the election results. It has been a fiercely fought campaign.

The story tonight was sent to me from my dear niece Vicki, Peter's daughhter. Thank you Vicki.

In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket.
Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two.
Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared. Whenever they heard his tyres crunch
on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds.

He did manage to leave $15 a week to buy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either. If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time,
I certainly knew nothing about it, I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress, loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevvy and drove off to find a job.

The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town. No luck. The kids stayed crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince whomever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job.

Still no luck. The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that had been converted to a truck stop. It was called the Big Wheel.

An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peaked out of the window from time to time at all
those kids. She needed someone on graveyard shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65 cents an hour, and I could start that night.

I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people. I bargained with her to
come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would
already be asleep. This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal.

That night when the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers, we all thanked God for finding Mommy a job.
And so I started at the Big Wheel. When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money -- fully half of what I averaged every night. As the weeks went by, heating bills added a strain to my meager wage. The tires on the old Chevvy had the consistency of penny balloons and began to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home.

One bleak morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four new tires in the back seat.
New tires! There was no note, no nothing, just those beautiful brand new tires. Had angels taken up residence in Indiana? I wondered. I made a deak with the local service statin. In exchange for his mounting the new tires,I would clean up his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor
than it did for him to do the tires.

I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't enough. Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a tin of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boy's pants
and soon they would be too far gone to repair.

On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. These were the truckers, Les, Frank, and Jim, and a state trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee small hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up.

When it was time for me to go home at seven o;clock on Christmas morning, to my amazement, my old battered Chevvy was filled to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes. I qiockly opened the driver's side door, crawled inside and knelt in the front facing the back seat. Reaching back, I pulled the lid off one box
Inside was a whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2 - 10. I looked into another box which held shirts to go with the jeans. I peaked into another box. There was candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries.

There was an enormous ham for baking and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was also huge bag of Laundry supplies and cleaning items.
And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful litte doll.

As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious
morning.

Yes there were angels in Indiana that long ago December. And they all hung out at the Big Wheel.
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First two jokes today are from my good friend Linda L. Thank you Linda.

Justice ~~ She'd been taught, "Housework is a woman's job," but one evening Joan arrived home from work to find the children bathed, one load of laundry in the washer and another in the dryer. Dinner was on the stove, and the table was set. She was astonished!!

It turned out that Ralph had read an article that said, "Wives who worked full time and then had to do their own housework were too tired to have sex. The night went very well.

The next day, she told her office friends all about it. "We had a great dinner. Ralph even cleaned up the kitchen. He helped the kids with their homework, folded all the laundry and put it away. I really enjoyed the evening."

"But what about afterward? asked her friends.
"Oh, that ...., Ralph was too tired." God is good.
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BBQ RULES. We are about to enter the BBQ
season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity.
When a man volunteers to do the BBQ, the following chain of events are put into motion :
Routine . . .
(1) The woman buys the food.
(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
(3)
The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessay cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand.
(4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.

Here comes the important part :
(5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL>
More routine . . .
(6) The woman goes inside to organise the plates annd the cutlery.
(7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he flips the meat.

Important again :
(8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN>
More routine . . .
(9) The woman prepares the plates, the salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.
(10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all :
(11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
(12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed 'her night off.'
And seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women.
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Next one is called "Resimay." and my friends Gina and Jeanette sent this one. Thanks girls.

To hoom it mae cunsern. I waunt to apply for the job what I saw in the paper.

I can Type realee quik wit one fingger and do sum a counting..
I think I am good on the phone and I no I am a pepole person,
Pepole really seam to respond to me well. Certain men and all the ladies.

I no my spelling is not to good but find that I Offen can get a job thru my persinalety.
My salerery is open so we can discus wat you want to pay me and wat you think I am werth. I can start emeditely. Thank you in advanse fore yore anser.
hopefully Yore best aplicant so farr, Sinseerly, Bryan.

Employer's response : Dear Bryan, It's OK honey, we've got spell check.
See you Monday.
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Next one I found myself. Yay! It's called "Shoe Problems."
One night a fellow drove his secretary home after she had imbibed a little too much at an office reception. Although this was an innocent gesture, he decided not to mention it to
his wife, who tended to get jealous easily.

The next night the man and his wife were driving to a restaurant. Suddenly, he looked down and spotted a high- heel half hidden under the passenger seat. Not wanting to be conspicuous, he waited until his wife was looking out her window before he scooped up the shoe and tossed it out of the car.

With a sigh of relief, he pulled into the restaurant parking lot. That's when he noticed his wife squirming around in her seat. "Honey," she asked, "have you seen my other shoe?"
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Three friends who always argued about who was the smartest are sitting on death row. The first one's number came up, but when he sits down in the electric chair, nothing happens. The warden commutes his sentence on the spot and releases him.

Same thing happens with the second friend and he's let go also. Then the third guy steps up to the platform and sits down. The switch is pulled and again there's no charge. But before the warden can say anything, the prisoner starts pointing excitedly.

"You know," he says, "If you just cross that black wire with the yellow one . . . ."
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Q. Why is a modem better than a woman?
A. A modem doesn't complain if you sit and play at the computer all night. A modem doesn't mind if you talk to other modems. A modem will sit patiently and wait by the phone. A modem comes with an INSTRUCTION MANUAL
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While hunting, Larry and Frank got lost in the woods. Trying to reassure his friend, Larry said, "Don't worry. All we have to do is shoot into the air three times, stay where we are, and someone will find us."

They shot in the air three times, but no one came. After a while they tried it again.
Still no response. When they decided to try onece more, Frank said, "It better work this time. We are down to our last three arrows."
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Well that is enough for this post. Hope you found something of interest. Take great care of each other and yourselves. Love and best wishes to you all. Cheers, Merle.

Post 530 ~ ~ ~ Wednesday, 5th November, 2008.
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16 comments:

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Merle,

I voted this morning and this evening its already over, we have our first black president. I wish him well.

Your post about the Big Wheel cafe had me in tears, what a wonderful story you have it post it again this Christmas time.

Janice~

Anonymous said...

This comment is just to prove I read to the end of this very long post.

Anonymous said...

This comment is just to prove I read to the end of this very long post.

audrey` said...

Hi Merle my new Facebook Friend =)

The story on Big Wheel cafe is so touching. Bless the angel.

See you on Facebook.
Take care.
Love and blessings.

Dave said...

Excellent post as always Merle... especially Vicki's story! *S*

Have a wonderful day.

Gigi Ann said...

Hi Merle,

I enjoyed your joke that was all your own "Shoe Troubles" and the "shooting 3 times in the air" was funny too. As always, you know how to bring a tear to my eyes and also throw in a few chuckles.

Have a nice rest of the week and I hope your family soon arrives for the visit...actually the waiting is the hard part, once they arrive time flies by~~~~

Gramma Ann

Patty said...

Dear Merle,
Once again, great post. The story of the young Mother at Christmas is a tear jerker.

Love the jokes, the man helping the wife and was too tired for later activities. Thought that was really funny.

And that BBQ comment, that's so true. I guess that's why I don't like cooking out. But in our case, husband does not do the grill, our one daughter does. I still have to make sure everything is ready for when the meat is brought in, but thank goodness I don't have to watch it or remind her about when to turn it or take her a beer. LOL

Yes our election is over, we're happy with the new man in town. I just hope he can pull things together. I'm afraid old George and all of his cronies have got us in such a mess nothing will work.

Have a great evening, sleep well.
Love,
Patty

Christina said...

What a lovely Christmas story!!! LOL @ the BBQ thing and 'shoe troubles'.

Gill - That British Woman said...

That is a wonderful Christmas story.

Gill in Canada

Jeanette said...

Dear Merle,Im sure Peter and Warren are out sightseeing on there way down. A beautiful Christmas story with a happy ending with a tear,,
Hehehe, the BBQ that happened here on the weekend,Praise to the cook,the Girls prepared the salads and cleaned.
great jokes.
Take care get some rest cause you will have a few late nights one Peter and Warren Arrive.. Love to alll Janxxxxxxxxx. Ill try get a post up soon .

mreddie said...

Hopefully Peter and Warren arrived safely. I chuckled much at "justice" (too tired). :) ec

linda may said...

Hey a watched pot never boils... does that apply to travellers too?
I had a laugh at the shoe joke.Sprung!

Hootin Anni said...

G'day Merle. I was just over at Jen's Chronicles and she posted the wonderful temps you are having "Down Under". That sounds so terrific, here I am sitting inside, on a gloomy dark rainy day....and you all are enjoying Summer.!!!

Love the Christmas Story, and the BBQ. Great stuff you posted, as always.

Have a super weekend.

Carole Burant said...

Hello dear Merle:-)

I hope your visitors have arrived by now! Hopefully they're safe and just playing tourist along the way!!

I so loved that Christmas story...I had tears picturing it all in my mind. Thank God for people who are angels at heart and make sure that those less fortunate have a happy Christmas!!

Thank you for the chuckles as well! lol

I'm packing today so that I can leave bright and early tomorrow morning to go meet my new grandbaby:-) I'm sooo excited, not sure if I'll be able to sleep tonight! lol

Take care my friend. xoxo

Lady Di Tn said...

Merle
It was fun catching up. Love the BBQ rules. LOL. Come visit and see TN fall colors. Peace

Anonymous said...

Tears and laughter Merle. You certainly give us a bit of everything.
Glad Bryan got the job! haha.
xxx