Triple A

I"m not sure when Tripe AAA was started but remember that Ray and I were very involved with Clive Lane who I think started the Kansas branch. We would go along with him sometimes. I remmeber one time the Topeka Free Fair was going to honor Rene Gaigon who was in the picture raising the flag on Iwo Jima. We went with Clive to Kansas City and picked he and his wife up at the airport, They were very nice. Rene was in the picture but did not really raise the first flag. The photograhper asked him to pose and he did but he always gave the other soldier the credit. I kept my AAA until I gave my grandaughters my car after I ran into a building. I thought it was a great invention.

Japan

Ray and I went to Japan a couple of times and had a great trip each time. The first time we went we went with Sister Cities group from Independence, Missouri. We stayed in homes and learned a lot about Japan. The first home we stayed in had three year old twins. They are great teachers. If we did something wrong they always commented on it. One thing I thought was interesting was that the toilet seats were heated. In all the countrys we have been in that is the only place. It was nice. It seemed to be a winter thing as when I returned in the spring a few years later they were not.

One lamp

They hve invented a great lamp that you can turn on or off with a clap of your hands, Sounds great but some of us don't clap correctly and the lamp knows. We had one many years ago that minded me but my son, Scott one for me with personality that did not like my clap. My dog Buster liked the lamp because he could turn it on with his bark. He never turned it off just on. I would go back to my room and the light would be on so I watched and he would stand at the door and bark and then when it went on he would turn with a smug grin (my dog grins when he wins) and leave. Cindy finally had to put a button connection that I could just turn off and lies by my pillow. That works fine and it no longer responds to Buster's bark. He has given up trying as it only minds me.

Love letters

When my husband went into the army. He was in four months in the Field artillery in Oklahoma he wrote me everyday. Sitting in my wheelchair now as I look into my closet I can see a box. I think it is the letters he sent me along with the ones to his parents. I wonder what they say. I remember how pleased I was to receive them. I remmeber one class I was in in college that the professor said "Old lady Burkhardt seems happy today. She must have received another letter from Private Morgan". His asthma got him out of the army. I always loved the comment that the comedian , George Gobel said. "The Japaneses never conquered Oklahoma while I was stationed there." In my writing class people mention finding old letters of their grandparents and I wonder what we said and if I even want other people to read them.I havwe a nice feeling looking at the box.

My Flag

I have always loved hanging the flag out for special days. However since I have grown up the country has added a few states. A few years back I realized I was out of date. I always hoped the wind did not blow too much to expose my flag. One year I helped in the office of Congressman Larry Winn and after he was reelected he gave me a flag that flew over the country's capitol building and had 50 stars. I had a hole in the front yard and put up my flag proudly. Martin Luther King day is coming up this week but with the snow piled over the flag pole hole it will stay in the front closet and stay warm. Maybe it will be nicer on President's Day. Of course how do I get the flag in the hole from my wheelchair? I think it will stay in the house. The neighbors have the flag up everyday and I will admire theirs.

1940

I found a notebook in my stuff. it was 1940 and my list of money keeping. I started out with .15 cents I borrowed some money from my mother=$7.09. I paid 19 cents for buttons. I went to a movie for 16 cents. I bought some peanuts for 37 cents. I was working for my Dasd in the office and was paid $6.00 a week. I went to the Topeka Free fair and spent $1.26. I bought a notebook for sewing for ten cents. I gave the church 40 cents. I paid aregistration fee of $2.00, I spilled a coker and had to pay 49 cents to have it cleaned, I had joined a sority so had to pay $5.00. I bought some notebook paper for ten cents. The list of things goes on. I even put in what movies I went to. I went to a lot of Deanna Durbin shows.
and seem to eat a lot of peanuts.I was also buying war bonds. I shall -probably come back to thias as I discover more things in the book but I will let it rest now. Budgets were a necessity when you are a Freshman in college

Christmas trees

The snow reminds me of the Christmas trees when I was young. My parents never bought a tree. We had a family in our church who decorated the santuary with live trees. After the Christmas service on Fridays before Christmas you could take a tree if you wanted. We always took a tree. The family owned a seed company and sold the trees. One year we had blue trees. That year my oldest sister who was in college Sorority, The Zeta Tau Alpha, and whose colors were blue and silver for their Christmas dance they had sprayed small trees with silver and blue. I really did not care for blue trees. Silver is not bad. I think we had two and they sat in front of the fireplace. Since my mother always removed things early we did not have them too long. I think I'll let Christmas past alone for awhile and take on January 2010.