A LITTLE FAMILY HISTORY

Here are pictures of my Dad, Lt. Col. Robert Y. Price, and my little sister, Dixie. These pics are from the 1977 year book of London Central American High School. My Dad taught ROTC there from 1972 until 1977 and my sister attended and graduated in 1977. That summer Daddy, Mama and Dixie returned to the U.S.A. I was able to find the year books on one of the web sites for Bushy Park, which was later changed to London Central. The School closed totally within the last couple of years. My Dad passed away in January, 1995, and is buried in the Veteran's cemetery in Biloxi, Mississippi. Dixie and Mama live on in the U.S.

WHO IS THE GIRL IN THE MIDDLE?

The girl in the middle is Priscilla Beaulieu Presley.
This is a picture from page 558 of the 1961 "Vapor Trails". Priscilla attended the Wiesbaden military base school and this was the Sophomore class section of the year book.
This picture was taken early in the year prior to her transformation while she was dating Elvis in Germany. To verify read her book, "Elvis and Me," in which she talks about her life on the base.
When I met her my school from Bitburg Military Base was on a production tour to several other bases in Germany. Everyone knew she was the girl dating the most popular Rock 'n Roll star.
My family was shipped out to England in Oct., 1958, from New York City and Elvis was on the boat that left the day before us. We followed his "enlistment" activities until we returned to the States in 1961, the year the Berlin wall went up. We were transferred to Germany in Jan., 1959.
More historical "gems" to follow in the future.

TENNIS REPEATS ITSELF IN ENGLAND

Well, I see that the Williams sisters are fighting it out again at the end of Wimbledon for, like the 8th time. Snore. Even their Dad can't stand to watch it so he is leaving early - so says the local paper. Hey, wait there's another one in Tiger Woods' family coming up, what about sudden death on the golf course? I shall be watching during the winter Olympics to see if there are any competing relatives. See how many you can find. I think ice skating has had a few sets..........

A PROJECT FINISHED

This is my back door entry with the stained glass.

This is the outside view of my back door window with the finished faux stained glass painting.


This next picture is the view from the inside of the door with the daylight shining through it.


This was my first experiment with the stained glass paints.

Here I am working with the paints. I put a pattern under a piece of glass and then put the paints on top. After making a small section I let it set and then after a couple of days I slowly peeled it off and put it in place on the window. The pattern must be done in small sections at a time. I plan to make a design on the bay window in my living room.

This is the inside of my bay window. The sides have narrow panels so I hope to have the stained glass design on each panel on the sides.


Wish me luck.

END OF MAY UP-DATE

I waited to post an update as it was still cold until the middle of May and I wanted to post a picture of all of my bulbs blooming, etc. They are just part way up so in a couple of weeks I will have an updated picture. It's been pleasant for about two weeks so I put in some flower seeds today. I have found in cold years past that even if the flowers are late starting they catch up to where they would have been anyway about the end of June - go figure.
I have been keeping to my new eating plan diligently for about 4 months. What is that, you ask? I have combined the rice diet and nutrition info from Adelle Davis' books and NO SALT. Reducing salt is actually the basis of the rice diet and I have found that not adding salt reduced cravings for sweets (my biggest vice). The other parts of the rice diet are essentially a waste of time as it's eating the rice that provides the protein and slow carb digestion that keeps one's system really humming. All of my clothes are looser and I go by the tape measure instead of the scale. I feel like a different person, energy wise. I have tried weight watchers, LA, nutrisystem and a couple of other real involved programs. After two weeks at LA I discovered they give you chemicals disguised as "juice" and I ended up in the hospital with a ruptured colon and had to have the "big" test that you do not ever want to have(that was the Spring of 2008)- I got most of my money back. After three months on nutrisystem I had a ruptured appendix (in 1990).
I decided last Fall to research the most nutritional way to get more energy, thereby using more calories and getting healthier. If you want more details of Adelle Davis' recommendations for energy boosts just e-mail me and I'll respond. No use padding this blog with stuff no one wants.
I am planning to visit my relatives in Louisiana in the Fall so I will post a progress picture at that time. I figure it will take most of two years to get to the proper size for me.
My other activities have been painting, woodworking and decorating so I will post before and after pictures during the summer. If I say this, it will motivate me to get it done.
I have spent a good deal of time planning my decorating projects, searching for materials and drawing diagrams and am ready to start, cutting, caulking and painting. I understand why it takes forever to get a reno done even if you hire a contractor. It can take forever to find the proper supplies and several trips back and forth to the store with exchanges and testing of materials. Some things I have to order over the internet so the delivery can take time. I have had electricians, plumbers and upholsterers coming to the house for about two months. The projects for them are small but you have to get estimates and arrange your schedule to get it all finished. I would never add on to a house - total disruption of your life! I can see that you would have to move out to a hotel for that kind of thing. And you can be it is not as smooth as on the TV shows.
I'll try to post more info in a timely fashion.
You all have a great summer - ahhhhh summer.

MARCH-SO FAR BUSY

WOW. So far March has been busy. At the end of February I was having problems with my car. Spent a week trying to figure out why I couldn't start it with the remote thingy from inside the house. Short version, I took the car in (Hyndai Accent 2002) and it needed a new battery, new front brakes, a cord to the block heater (no heat overnight) and a new fan belt. All of these were working at 5% capacity and the car WAS STILL RUNNING great. It should be super now. I bought this little baby in 2001 and I swear it gets 45 miles to the gallon. I haven't even gotten to the first level for major parts check and the tires still look good!!!!! I also had a new house furnace installed on Wed. That procedure took about two weeks of prep to make sure the basement was totally clear and they had plenty of room to work. Boy what a difference in the comfort level of the house. The old furnace was easily 30 years old and I had the fan motor rebuilt twice - I knew it was time and there is some kind of tax break this year, so voila, new furnace. I have been cleaning up after the install for the past few days.
Since I had to clear the basement I went for an all out throw away and once in a lifetime cleaning. I bought floor paint and dri-core tiles to put in a new floor and plan to put the shop vac to work from ceiling to floor next week. I finally located a charity that would pick up the load I had to get rid of - believe it or not the charities are picky about what they want. Goodwill is coming Thurs. to cart away my stuff. Just so you know, if you call "I got junk" they charge $80 minimum and still give the stuff away! The world is a funny place.
I drove to the North End of the city Fri. to meet a girl friend for coffee as she is working in a hospital there. Both of us have limited time so that worked out well just for a catch up conversation.
The big Curling championships are on TV currently and I enjoy watching them. When I moved to Manitoba in 1977 I learned how to curl and have loved it ever since. In the Fall I follow college football - my former schools, Louisiana State University and The University of South Florida. Remember to turn your clocks forward, you all.

MIDWAY THROUGH FEBRUARY

Made it half way through February. The weather has been extremely weird this year. Mostly very cold with a few days of a melt-down with rain, then it all froze over. Locals were actually skating on the sidewalks and roads all over town. Luckily we had some more snow on top of that so we could get some traction. When I first moved here in 1977, I couldn't understand why the weather was the number topic of conversation, now I understand. In the winter it really dictates what you can do and when it's not winter everyone is so damned happy about it they talk about it with glee! Sun is up around 7:30 a.m. now and is giving us a whole day until about 6:00. The daylight increases about two hours each month until June 21 when the sun is up about 4:15 and sets about 11:00 p.m. - love those long days.
I took a one year break from this climate during the school year 81-82 and taught some classes at Louisiana State University in the Speech department. Then in June of '82 I returned to Manitoba. Have been here ever since. I travel often to the South to visit relatives in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. I retired in Jan. 2005 and walked away from the profession (Speech/Language Pathology). I haven't missed it one bit.
I have been using the internet to search for former classmates and colleagues and have located a good many of them. As a military brat, I have searched for people is the U.S. and overseas. Still looking for many of them. I had hoped posting a blog might draw out some of them if they remember my name - this blog is in my maiden name.
My son and his family, wife and three kids, live just north of Jacksonville, Fla. actually in Georgia. My other relatives are in Louisiana and Mississippi. My mom and my sisters are gearing up for Mardis Gras next week - the parties and parades have already been in full swing. My parents took my sister and me to our first Mardis Gras parade when I was three years old, so we had a long history of visiting or living in and around Louisiana over the years.
I'll log onto one of the many web sites in New Orleans and watch the festivities.
Here's hoping for an early meltdown this year.