The End of Reel 5

I am posting the last events captured on Reel #5 of the slides.  This is kind of sad because it is the last reel that is full.  Though slides have been pulled and misplaced throughout the years, each of the five reels was originally filled to its 100 slide capacity.  So while I'm glad to have these all converted, I will miss this project because it has been such fun to remember so much of my childhood.

Most of these remaining pictures were taken June 6, 1965 on the occasion of my and Cousin Sue's confirmation.

Me with Dad and Mom in the backyard of the Bartlett Lane house.

After church we had a party at my Uncle Paul's house where there was a pool.

Bathing beauties : Cousin Paula, me, Cousins Sue and Carol (and an unidentified friend).

Here is my sister Karen at the party.  I'm sure this was very fashionable in 1965 though it looks like the slightest wind would take her flying.

And the last photo in Reel #5 is of my Mom's parents, my Grandma and Grandpa Heimburge.  This was taken in the backyard of Bartlett Lane on June 26, 1965.  (There is nothing  to identify the occasion.)

Sunday Skyping with Rosie

Rosie started Skyping with her hat on, then she showed me her baby pumpkin, then the hat came off, and then she came close to the screen so we could have a little chat.  And then she showed me a new Skyping  first -- you'll have to see the last photo to know what that was.  

Rosie waved Goodbye!!

Sunday Skyping with Rosie

Rosie (and by consequence her Mom and Dad) didn't get a lot of sleep last night.  She was pretty tired  -- I'm sure she'll be happy for nap time today.  She did rally towards the end of our Skyping; she did a little reading about babies, played with the green car, and then we had a nice long Rosie version of a conversation.

So sweet.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

If you have been following the progression of my old family slides, you may have noticed that I have a somewhat tortured past when it comes to my hair.  For most of my early years my mother kept my hair short -- she favored the pixie cut but as long as it was short she was happy.

May 1959, Age 6

May 1960, Aged 7 (In my best future-game-show-hostess pose.)

April 1961, Aged 8

January 1962, My 9th Birthday (There must have been a temporary lapse in Mom's diligence to 'keep my hair out of my eyes'.)

July 1962, Aged 9&1/2 (Scalped for the summer.)

December 1962, Almost 10 (Scalped through the winter.)

September 1963, Aged 10&1/2 (The Ugly Perm.  Thanx, Mom.)

May 1964, Aged 11 (Very slowly recovering from the perm.)

June 1965, Aged 12 ( I think I did this to myself with curlers --no excuse except that it was the style)

July 1966, Aged 13 (Finally my hair is long which makes me wonder why I was about to get it cut.)

July 1966 (The next day, after the haircut -- at least it wasn't extreme.)

And from 1966 on my hair was long and straight for many, many years, as represented here, August 1972 when I was 19.

There were a few more haircuts when Gus was young.  Never too short or severe.  Except for one more horrible perm in 1985.  I can't believe I did it -- again my only excuse is that it was the style -- really, even men got perms in the 80's.  (I am so happy to say there are no digitalized photos of that perm; even if there were I would not admit to it.)  And then in 1993 I turned 40 with long, straight hair.  On my 40th birthday I was quietly sitting at my desk and one of the women I worked with approached me.  This was one of my least favorite co-workers (and I'm sure that feeling was reciprocated) so I knew I was not going to get a simple Happy Birthday greeting.  I didn't.  Instead she said "Thank God you're 40.  Now you'll have to get your hair cut because you are way too old to leave it long."  Needless to say I did not take her advice.  Other than some trims through the last 20 years, my hair has remained long and straight.  I just looked for some recent photos of my hair but it occurred to me that I have, for most photo-worthy opportunities in the last few years, worn my hair pulled back and up.  As in this photo with Rosie, taken this past August.

The best I could find is a photo from last October.  This was taken at my 40th high school reunion.  The photo was taken with other people at the reunion and I avoid posting pictures without permission so this is a cropped version.  My hair was long and I was at least 35 pounds heavier than I am this October -- (I am giving myself permission to be proud of that fact).

So if you're wondering what inspired me to write this history of my hair, it's because yesterday I got my hair cut ... for the first time in well over 20 years.  It's always been cut because my Mom had control or because I caved-in to trends.  But this time I got my hair cut just because I wanted to.  And it only took 59 years.     

Sunday Skyping with Rosie

As soon as I saw Rosie this morning I noticed she is wearing a dress and leggings I gave her for Christmas last year.  So here is Rosie December 31, 2011 when she was 5 months old.

 And here is Rosie today at 15 months old.

Rosie got a book for us to read.

Here she is reading 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'.  She is pointing out where each fruit is as Gus reads.

No wonder this book is always popular with kids.

And now she is reading 'Busy Bear Cubs'.  I wish I could capture sound with these pictures. She chatters constantly as if having a perfectly normal conversation.  It's obvious that she knows exactly what she is talking about.  Also, whenever she gets to a page where something in the picture is up-side-down, she turns the book around so that the picture is in what she considers to be the right direction.  Yes, she is the smartest baby ever.  

Everyone is waving and saying 'Bye', except of course Rosie.  Gus said she always says Bye after the screen goes dark.

Trying to trick her, he minimized the screen so that Rosie couldn't see me but I could see her.  Still no 'bye' from Rosie.

I finally hung up and just as my view of Rosie went dark, sure enough I heard a little 'Bye'!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Easter 1965 was unique for a lot of reasons.  Not the least of which is now, 47 years later, I have a reason to title this blog post 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'.  Here is a photo of Karen, my Mom, me and Freddie taken in front of our Bartlett Lane house just after church April 18, 1965.    We are each dressed in such iconic fashion this looks like a page out of the Spring 1965  J.C. Penney catalog.  Karen's pale green cloche hat (which coordinates with her white coat and green suit), Mom's pink mohair suit and white gloves, Freddie's madras jacket ... all so very perfect for the time.  And then of course there is my Mary Poppins hat.  The movie premiered in late August 1964 so by 1965 it seemed like everything was Mary Poppins inspired.

All of the previous pictures were taken before company arrived, probably late morning.  We would have had an early afternoon supper, and while we were eating, this happened :

    

If this happened in today's alarmist world of weather we would likely have been told to stay home and avoid all travel except for emergencies.  I often wish for the days when the only news was on at 6:00 pm, and weekends were news free.