Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

45... yes 45 years ago, my parents, Leon Redman and Carol Cleaver, walked down the isle proclaimed their love before God and man and officially became the first of "the Redmans." I am sure they would say that they have seen a lot of good (and some maybe not so good) times in those 45 years, but they saw them together. 45 years is a long time. Obviously longer than I have been alive (way longer than I have been alive!) Even after all this time, my father still surprised my mom with a big vase full of roses. With the way this world is today and with so many marriages falling apart, it is refreshing to see two people still loving each other after 45 years. So kudos to you, my parents, for making it to 45 years. I am sure your four wonderful, always behaving children had a lot to do with the success of your marriage. Whatever would you have done without us??? Ok mom, there is no reason to bring up your 25th anniversary. That is waaaaaay in the past! :) Anyways, just wanted to say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD! May there be many more!

SHOWER DOORS

I know, doesn’t sound like a real catchy title for a blog post, but shower doors are what have really been on my mind lately.

For the past several years for every occasion that I could be getting a gift from my parents (birthday and Christmas typically) I have been asking my dad for new shower doors and installation. It may seem like a silly gift to ask for to some, but nonetheless practical and something that I, with all my heart, desire. While I realize that shower doors are not an absolute necessity, (one could make it through life without them) good ones sure do make life easier. They require a little maintenance and a little scrubbing from time to time, but they save you time by keeping the water in the shower so you aren’t cleaning it up off the floor everyday. Plus they don’t have those horrible plastic shower curtain hangers that never work right that cut your hands or break while you are trying to put them on, you don’t need to buy an extra shower curtain rod that inevitably never hangs straight, and if well maintained, they don’t get mold all over them like a shower curtain that you have to keep replacing, thus saving you money in the long run as well.

Having broken shower doors is not any better than a shower curtain either. They take time to try to keep them on the tracks, often not closing properly thus getting water all over the floor. Again, taking more time to clean up the mess and not to mention making more laundry to do, therefore wasting more time, more water and more money. In addition, if the hardware is broken on them you can cut yourself on a regular basis causing unnecessary pain and suffering, as well as time and money buying stock in band-aid bandages.

So you may be asking, “Why have I been asking for them for so many years now?” Well, because my father said he would give me shower doors and install them... and because he said it I believe him.

Despite my dad saying he will give me new shower doors and installation, I still have broken shower doors with an uneven shower curtain hanging in front of them. I am still mopping up water and buying entirely too many band-aids. And not a day goes by that I don’t long for my new shower doors. Side note: In case you are wondering why I don’t just do it myself it is because I have tried putting in shower doors once before and ended up basically collapsing the entire shower around me (I am not kidding about that) so I know better than to try to do it myself. I really do try to learn from my past mistakes as much as possible.

So here I am with another Christmas gone by and another birthday on the horizon... I must admit, I do get a little weary of waiting sometimes. I’m thinking I may need to start putting my request out there a little more frequently. There are a few holidays coming up. Maybe we could do gifts for Presidents’ Day and oh yes, Valentine’s Day is coming up, and Pulaski Day, and St. Patrick’s Day, and Easter and.............

And by the way... this post is not only about shower doors in case I was a little too cryptic in my analogy.

Good Ole Days, Flashback, or I Ain't as Good as I Once Was?

So today I did the same thing that I do every Thursday... go to work. But on Thursdays I don't stay at the elementary school. Midway through the day I have to go to ERHS... yes, my former High School. Now most days I just walk through the front doors and go directly to the room I do speech therapy in and just do my job and then leave, but today for some reason was different.

From the second I walked in the door today, it felt like I was back in high school again. The aroma coming from the cafeteria was the first thing I noticed... it smelled just like it did in the late 80s. I paused just for a second and then continued down the hall that now has carpet and a nice paint job, but the sound of the lockers opening and slamming shut once again just made me fondly (or not so fondly) flash back to all the stuff I crammed into the locker that I shared with Mike Kuenstler all 4 years of high school. We weren't supposed to do that ya know, but "K" names got a locker right in the middle and "R" names were always either down in Ag Hall or Home Ec Hall. We only had 4 minutes to get from class to class, so a locker in the middle was a necessity.

Instead of going to the room I usually do therapy in, I had to go upstairs. Walking up the stairs I again felt like a high schooler. I felt like I was out of class on a pass going to my locker or something. I walked back downstairs and went into the Guidance Office where I used to be a "guidance girl" and looked at the bulletin board behind the secretary's desk. So many of the past guidance workers (guys started working in there a lot more my senior year) pictures were thumbtacked behind her desk...including mine. (And my brother's picture too from a few years later.)

As I walked out to leave the school, feeling like a high schooler, a group of what I will call "farm boys" were coming in. One of them opened the door for me and said here you go ma'am. What??? Ma'am??? Hmmm.... even in my cute winter coat, sunglasses and stylish boots, I was not going to pass for a cute little high school girl anymore. My hopes of ever starring on 21 Jump Street were crushed. (The fact that I remember 21 Jump Street proves that I am no longer a cute little high school girl.) Back to reality... Back to work!