My grandma taught my Mom who repeated it to me, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all!" and... "If you look hard enough, you can find some good in every one." My Grandma (her pet name for me was "Obbie"...for some reason, I didn't pronouce "Grandma" and "Awe-bee" was the name she answered to when I was a small child. Even her neighbors & lots of friends called her "Obbie" throughout the years of my growing up. She was a "hired girl" on farms when she was a teenager...she was married and divorced at a young age...she was widowed after another marriage to my grandpa of 26 yrs...she worked in a bakery, she operated a cafe, she ironed clothes in her home for other families...she was always a HARD worker!...she passed that on to her 3 daughters & family. Here are some of my precious memories of my Grandma, Obbie that I wrote back in 1984 for a genealogy book my Mom created: In the back yard, Obbie had lots of flower gardens. I once found the cactus garden with my bare feet when I jumped a fence playing (where I shouldn't have been)! There were also lots of sour grapes, good ripe strawbeeries and lots of green apples. We were never without homegrown food at Obbie's. And, oh, that homemade jar of strawberry jam. Of course, inside the house, there were always homemade chocolate chip cookies. And on Sundays, the smell of Obbie frying chicken (that my 'grandpa butchered). Anyone was welcome to show up for Sunday dinner! Obbie taught me a few of the things every woman was supposed to know before growing up. The ol' treadle sewing machine put out lots of doll clothes and pin cushions. Crocheting chain stitches (by the miles). Obbie crocheted each grandchild an afghan for graduation. Never being bored at Obbie's, there were always old catalogs for cutting out paper dolls and clothes. (Ok, Gjers, I could go on & on...but I just want you to know that I was very blessed...I was a "crouper" as a child and finally outgrew it at 12 yrs. old...but my Obbie would always come running when I got sick...with "warm 7-up" and hugs. Anyway, I will end this post with a poem I wrote for this genealogy book (she died when my first grandchild was 4 mos. old): "My grandma, Obbie, always had time for her grandchildren. She was never too busy to forget us. I am the lucky one even to have had Obbie for my grandma... If I can be as strong, as you were strong, If I can give, as you have given, If I can be kind, as you always were kind, If I am loved, as you are loved, If I am cherised, as you are cherished, If I am mourned, as you are mourned, Then I can say..my life is truly blessed. Obbie passed on her love for gardening & flowers to me...as my grandpa did also...and my Dad. Here is a pic that I am so fortunate to have of my Grandma holding me in her backyard...I lived in the same household the first 2 yrs. of my life...and her LOVE shaped my life. Ahhh, pretty sentimental stuff...but I enjoyed all of your sharing and wanted to share a bit of this special lady! Thanks, Jeanne S.

Sounds like your perm turned out great!! I permed my own hair about 6 wks ago I guess....was going to go get it done...but it would have been about 60 and I knew that getting the kids ready for school was more important...of course having done hair for 20 years I knew what to do but trust me doing other peoples hair is a heck of alot easier then doing your own...my arms were soo tired when I finished but I wanted to make sure i got all the ends smooth so no fishhooks so really took my time.....Thursday was the first day I straightened and was very please witht hat also....made it not go near as flat as it ususally does.....STacy

Maybe hair styles are like politics: Local. That comes to mind because we just flew to and from Maui via Dallas. We saw a wide range of hair and dress styles on our flights and in the airports. I agree with Elmer in liking a 'whole-person' look that is simple, neat, smooth, and not 'fussy' -- on men and on women. It's sometimes called looking 'put together'. HS boys sport sparse whiskers to 'look manly'. HS girls buy every 'beauty' product in the drugstore to needlessly decorate their beautiful young selves. The same insecurities often result in balding men who add facial hair and 'locks' down the backs of their necks -- and ladies with flowing manes who turn their heads and shock you with their surgically stretched faces. 'Simple' doesn't mean childish-- like the haggard country and western singer in a full skirt with her hair hanging down her back, a caricature of the weepy girls in her songs. There is such a thing as the general perception of 'age appropriate' and 'occasion appropriate' in hair styles as well as clothing. Hair styling is one way to 'age' an actresses in a story. In "Victoria", the unformed girl is presented with long hair held back with an Alice band...and she skips and runs. Ah, but to be perceived as more than a child, she 'puts her hair up'...and she walks with poise. Women didn't cut their hair in that time, but today they still 'put their hair up', by sleeking it close to the head. The high 'pony tail' that flips around in youth is fastened at the nape, becomes a chignon -- or is cut. The visual is no longer childish, *girlish*, but adult -- often adult in the workplace. How a woman wears her hair in bed is a whole 'nother story. Were I a man, I'd hope my lover would save her most *attractive* style for me.

All. The. Time. Yesterday, I lost my navy laundry bag. I have a few and the colors represent what is in the bag. I keep all of the bags at the bottom of my closet and sort the laundry into the appropriate bag. Last night I went to put a dark item in my navy bag, and it was missing. I looked in all the logical places. After looking everywhere three times, I found it. It was in my DH's closet behind his shirts. I think that as I was hanging his jogging pants, the bag was stuck to one of the pants. Then, it fell and slipped behind the bottom rack of shirts. (Yes, static cling) Okay so phew.....it was in a logical place....but.....why didn't I notice the laundry bag clinging to the pants. I walked from the bed, where I fold the clothes to the closet where I take a hanger and then hang the garment. Gray, if you are 60 or over you are not alone. I don't remember these things happening in my 50's.