"It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." A.Holmes

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Snakes, Professional Rest Stops, and Mary Poppins

~My baby sister Tricia is taking pictures of us at the bowling alley in Ocean Shores. They have Rock n' Roll night with flashing lights, fog, and music. The fun begins at 10:00 p.m. It is a small bowling alley and we were all wearing the shirts our sister Joni bought for us....the shirts say 'group therapy' and have 3 wine glasses on the front..the shirts are pretty and sparkly.See ? ( below ) ~Sister Tricia is in pretty good spirits even though she is terrified of snakes and creepy crawlies, even PLASTIC creepy crawlies, and that 2 of my sisters were continually leaving the creepy crawlies in various places to startle Tricia and entertain us no end as she shrieked and screamed off and on throughout our weekend. At the bowling alley she was surprised to find the little snake in various places she stuck her hands into...bowling balls, purses, poor sister. ~We ( meaning especially me ) did not bowl well. I realized quite soon that a prior bowling adventure with my grandson might just have been the beginning of my back problem as my back began to get the painful twinges very soon after the first few frames of bowling. My 2 youngest sisters also said they think their bowling days are behind them as they began to suffer. Ahh, all 4 of us are a scant few years older or younger than half a century, leave it to a bit of bowling to make this very clear. ~I taught my sisters how to locker hook ( above) and they caught on quickly. Our youngest sister gave us pedicures. We played board games and talked. We sang a lot of the old family songs we sang together as we grew up. Songs our dad would strum on his guitar with us, songs that were popular as we grew up, songs on albums played over and over. ~Here ( above ) are sisters Karen and Tricia at our stop at a "professional rest stop" ! Those are Karen's very words. Now what is a professional rest stop you might ask, or not ? Why, a PROFESSIONAL REST STOP is NOT a Shell gas station rest room with an outside entrance.Yup, that's right. Karen announced it was time for a stop at a rest room on our way to Ocean Shores and sister Joni, very familiar with the whole route directed us to this stop. Clean, convenient, on the way...as we pulled in to the gas station sister Karen was adamant this was NOT a " professional rest stop" and that she wanted to drive on until she found one. I have never heard this term before and will always use it from now on. Anyway, the picture above was taken at such a place on our drive home. While Karen and Tricia were taking a break sister Joni pulled the last creepy crawlie stunt. ~Take one plastic snake and insert it into the malt balls carton sister Tricia was eating out of prior to stopping. Then place the candy carton back in the front seat. Then pause and reflect that if she finds the snake while Karen is driving and reacts predictably, we four sisters just might find ourselves careening off the freeway into oncoming traffic or worse...so , revise plan. Inform sister Karen, before driving away, that we have a trick to pull on Tricia. Tricia gets into the car and we ask for some malt balls in the back seat. She tips the carton, sees the snake, literally hits the roof as she screams and then she jerks sideways while screaming. Ha ha. And yes, if we had been driving when she discovered the snake we would have probably had an accident. ~After this stunt, we assure Tricia there will be no more snake appearances. ( I mean , she has found the snake in her bed, purse, toilet, all kinds of places the whole weekend) I put the snake in my purse to return to my grandchildren. And Tricia, if there were any more snake events...my snake is innocent ! ~This video was taken as we all were singing the Mary Poppins songs we realized we all 4 remembered and were singing. I could have titled this " This Is What Happens When you Have Mimosas For Breakfast", but the truth is, no alcohol consumption is necessary for having a good time with my sisters. Thanks sisters. " Sisters are part of the treasures of life " I had a wonderful time this weekend and a treasure trove of memories !

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the video!!! Sounds like a great time. I'll have to remember the professional rest stop line. One year on vacation, Nalley photographed Mother and me at each and every rest stop! So glad you sisters had an opportunity to be together and I hope your back is still improving.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Shelley said...

You and your sisters certainly know how to have fun!! And now "professional rest stop" is in my vocabulary!

Thistle Cove Farm said...

So much fun and so many memories! Be careful about using pro rest areas after dark or when there's no one around...much safer to use facilities at fast food restaurants, etc.

Anonymous said...

Loved the video and it sounds like you had a wonderful weekend with your sisters!

Lanny said...

Too cute. Too fun.

Mary Humphrey said...

I have enjoyed these sister-event posts!

I, too, have a great disdain for the creepy crawlies. My boys used to hide the rubber ones between my shoes and under my car seat.

I am glad you had a good time. :)

Anonymous said...

I had to laugh about this, but really--what you did to poor Tricia was just mean!!! LOL!! I don't know why (I really don't), but people just LOVE to play tricks like that on me. Tell your dear sister that I sympathize with her. And I hope the concussion she probably received from hitting the car roof heals soon!

KathyB. said...

Mildred, Tricia is pretty good at singing and dancing . So..you have a photograph album full of pictures of you and your Mom at rest stops. Maybe you can do a post about those ! They would be fun!

Shellmo, my sisters know how to have fun. I must confess I am the dud as far as humor and entertainment go. I was floored by the 'professional rest stop" tag too ! I caught myself using it too.

Thistle Cove Farm, your point was exactly one of my sister's points.....roadside rest stops are not safe, etc...I think with the 4 of us we were safe, but I agree with you. When I am on my own I look for a clean and busy restaurant.

Amy and Lanny, we did have fun!

Mary Ann, your boys are a lot like my sister Joni then! Funny thing though, she hides the creepy crawlies to scare Tricia, who then hides them to scare Joni...and it works every time . They get no reaction from me because I am not scared of reptiles, amphibians, rats or mice...spiders scare me but if I know where they are I can cope!(avoidance )

Miss Linda, I too feel sorry for my baby sister, but she really did have fun!I think her head is O.K. too.

Anonymous said...

I just have one question:

Did you WASH the snake after it came out of the toilet and before it made its appearance in the malt ball box??? ;-p

A. Joy said...

We watched the video 9 times in a row. Will she be going on tour?

KathyB. said...

Bil n' Meg...hmm, never thought about that ! Good thing I didn't eat any after that stunt !

A.Joy, she's pretty good at dancing isn't she? I think the least she should do is perform for us the next time she's in Washington!

Connie said...

Kathy, I so enjoyed reading these posts about you and your sisters! Made me smile from ear to ear. Poor Tricia with the snakes--ha ha! It sounds like you had such a marvelous time. I know all the Mary Poppins songs, too. In fact I have the CD of the soundtrack from the movie. :D