December was a wild ride at my house. Between the decorating, gift buying, party attending, and work, I met myself coming in the door a couple of times as I was running out of it.
Honestly, I had been feeling tired for a couple of years, and by the middle of December, I hit a wall that I could neither tunnel under nor climb over, and I knew it was time for a visit to my doctor.

Hi- I was just listening to some Big Bands, like Tommy Dorsey, Guy Lumbardo, Jan Garbor, etc. playing music from the 40's and 50's; and it took me back to years ago, when I was in my early twenties, and still single.
There was a band that played every night at Rendezvous Night Club. I used to go to those dances with my sisters and friends, and we always had a very good time, dancing to their music.

Hi,
I've been thinking about the high prices today. I can remember years go when I could go to the grocery store and spend $5 and have a big bag of groceries.
But now a days $5 doesn't go very far. And eating out costs a lot, too. I can remember some of the prices of 1933. A first class postage stamp was 3 cents. Bananas were 15 cents for one pound. Eggs were 15 cents a dozen. Coffee was 19 cents a pound. Kellogg's Bran Flakes (25 oz.) were 10 cents a box. A man's haircut cost 25 cents, and a few other items, like bread, were 10 cents a load.

Hi,
Tis the season coming up. I want to wish you all a very Happy and Merry Christmas, and a new year of good health and happiness.
I remember years ago when my family always got together. We'd draw names for Christmas presents. There were seven girls and three boys, and we'd all gather at Mom and Dad's home, where we all lived while we were growing up. We always had a bountiful, delicious, dinner, exchanged gifts, and had a wonderful time.

Hi,
We held our Christmas Party at the Senior Citizen Center on Dec. 5. After a delicious pot-luck dinner we played Bunco. We want to thank Kroger for the delicious cake they provided for us.
Our winners in Bunco were Ann Moniger (most games won), Betty Jackson (second for most games won, and most Buncos), and the booby prize went to Joan Butz. Each member was given a candle (a symbol of the Christmas season).

Hi,
I hope you all a happy Thanksgiving. I know I did.
I had a houseful on Thursday and Friday, and we all enjoyed the days with each other. Most of them were from out of town, including my three daughters and their husbands, great grandchildren, grand daughters, one grandson, and nieces. We had turkey and dressing, and the rest of the works on Thursday. On Friday, we had ham, vegetables, and more desserts. The girls and I went out of town on Saturday and enjoyed a visit with my son.

Hi,
I was thinking of things that happened years ago during my lifetime.
I grew up in a large family. My mom and dad had 10 children, seven girls and three boys (there are only three of us left). We were a happy bunch. I graduated from St. Andrew's School in 1932, which was during Herbert Hoover's days and during the depression. I went to work at Brown Shoe Factory at 14 years old. They didn't ask for a birth certificate at that time. I worked for 11 years, and married Ernest Boyer, who was in the U.S. Navy,  in 1944.

Hi,
Hooray! The Cardinals won!
And wasn't that last game of the World Series a thriller! I've been a Cardinal fan all of my life, and I'd like to congratulate each and every player on that team!

News from Nettie (by my daughter Frances) Mystery Plant Revealed!
A couple of columns ago, I wrote about a "mysterious" vine growing in my flower bed. I can now reveal that it is a "pumpkin plant!"
So far, I have one pumpkin growing and several more ready to bloom. I guess time will tell how many more pumpkins the plant will yield.
Now, while we now know what the plant is, we'll never know how the seed was transported to the flower bed. My guess is a bird dropped it there, or it "rode" along with the begonia my daughter planted.

A few columns ago I wrote about my top 10 favorite sports movies, lines from sports movies, etc... This time around I thought I'd do something similar.

Hi,
You know sometimes we just think of all the bad things happening in our life. But how about the good things, like your good health, your family and friends, getting around as good as you're able to, and being able to go places and see things?
I know I get happy thinking about having four children and numerous grandchildren and being around them once in a while. I have a great grandson, and a great grand daughter who live here. Most of my family live out of town, but they come to see me pretty often or we get together at different times and enjoy our visits. So look at the good side of your life, and it will help you a lot.

Hi,
I've been reading about Dr. George Gallop's years of researching the typical American.
So, according to the Gallop Poll, the following are some of his findings" 96 percent of the American people believe in God; 76 percent believe in life after death; half go to church; one-third say grace before meals; 38 percent are very happy; 4 percent unhappy; and one percent haven't been able to decide if they are happy or not.

Hi,
At the this year's Apple Festival, we enjoyed the usual activities of Senior Day, the Pet & Hobby Parade, apple pie at the Senior Center, and the Grand Parade on Saturday.
However, on Thursday and Friday, we were able to watch the 1926 and 1938 movies at the Liberty, which took me on a trip down memory lane.

Hi,
How many of you out there remember the guy who used to come around in the evenings with his wagon shouting, "Hot Tamales - Red Hot Tamales For Sale!!!"
I know we always looked forward to buying hot tamales from him. They were 10 cents each, and so delicious! My mother used to make them once in a while, and they were also very good.

Hi,
You know, Grandma's ordinarily have very few places to go for a little past-time and recreation.
Most of them like to play Bingo, and we meet a lot of people that way. We used to have Bingo at several places in Murphysboro, but since the American Legion, K.C.'s, and the V.F.W. clubs don't have Bingo anymore. Only one club in town, the Elk's, has Bingo. They play on Monday nights, and we really appreciate them a lot!

Hi,
I was sitting here this morning and thinking of days gone by, when as small children we used to play with simple things like paper dolls that we cut out of Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogues, hop scotch, and marbles that you could buy at a small price.
We went to the shows for 10 cents, and we'd look forward to going each week to watch the serials that went on for weeks.
These days, kids have their own computers and telephones at an early age and learn to use them. They also have their own bikes, watches, radios, etc...

Hi,
Do any of you out there remember the Calandro Sisters? They entertained around Murphysboro and places in southern Illinois. In fact, we had a spot on radio station WJPF in Herrin for a while.
That was all some time ago. I remember when my sister, Josie, and I first started singing together. There were 10 kids in our family, and our daily job was doing the dishes after every meal. While we were busy we'd sing, and we learned to harmonize. Our oldest brother was a musician who played the accordion, guitar, and the violin. He told us to buy a guitar and he would teach us to play it.

I had my heart set on a big Southern style breakfast the first day of a recent visit to my daddy and mama's house in Mississippi. I spent days -- yes, even weeks -- dreaming of eggs over easy, Southern style grits, bacon, homemade biscuits, the works. I awoke that first day in Mississippi to the promise of a little cafe right down the road that makes the best breakfast around the clock.
As often happens in the South, we meandered around all morning, answering the phone, talking about the weather, sitting in the swing positioned perfectly beneath the shade trees, sipping morning coffee. Time passed. My hunger awoke. My cousin called and said she would be joining us for breakfast.

Hi,
June 6, 1944 - D Day. How well I remember that day!
I was in New York at the time, where my first late husband, Ernie Boyer, was in the Navy. He was assigned to a transportation ship that took servicemen to Europe during the war, and he'd be gone 3-4 weeks at a time, and then he'd be back in port for one to two weeks. We lived in an apartment at the time, and there were three other ladies that had husbands on the same ship and we used to get together while the ship was gone to see interesting sites in New York.

Hi,
I enjoyed spending the last weekend with two of my daughters. We did a lot of running around and visiting with some of our folks.
My kids were all born, and grew up, in Murphysboro, so they still have a lot of friends here and know a lot of people. We have a lot of good memories of the times they had, and the things they did.