show me, don't tell me

 

A girl shall be two things, who and what she wants. This is my mom in the 1950s. Dang, she is working that "look". Even in this photo, I can see her strong personality coming through. She always told us girls "do it right, or don't do it at all" or the classic Golden Rule "Do onto others as you'd have done to you". The general vibe was, if you want it... get it. No one is going to do it for you.

  

 Joy happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are. My mom was an only child and her parents would have done anything for her. My grandparents didn't have an easy simple childhood and therefore they did anything they could to ensure joy in their daughter's life. Sometimes we all just need to take a moment to accept when life is really good.

 

My mom is in the photo above, just right of the triangle shape. I was also a girl scout in the 1980s. I loved getting together to make crafts, learn things, sing a few songs and drink some orange fruit drink (never allowed at our house). I also loved getting new badges! 

Make new friends,

but keep the old.

One is silver,

the other is gold.

A circle is round,

it has no end.

That's how long,

I will be your friend.

Did you know that Girls Scouts began in 1912? Click here to read all about the founder Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low. She has a remarkable story. The first Girl Scout meeting of 18 girls was on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia. The sale of cookies began as a way to finance troop activities began as early as 1917 when the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, baked cookies and sold them in its high school cafeteria as a service project. By 1920, there were nearly 70,000 Girl Scouts nationwide, including the territory of Hawaii.

  

 Eventually everything connects. How adorable is this? My mom in her first snowsuit. They lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota therefore a snowsuit is a total must-have item. I love that she is sitting in a tiny little kid chair too. So adorable.

Okay, Aunt Betsy just back off... the majority of the Macfarlane cousins absolutely loved Grandma Winnie's wacky pattern sense in her kitchen. I know I did. I loved that kitchen. Look at the paisley patterned vinyl chairs paired with the lattice floral wallpaper and the dark wood. You cannot see it in this photo, but the carpet had a "crazy-quilt" like pattern with even more colors. It was that carpet that looked like it belonged in a casino hotel hallway. It had a low pile height which was perfect for driving Hot Wheel cars and throwing treats to Grandma's dog, Muffy.

That pattern play is long gone. Aunt Betsy now owns grandma's house and that wallpaper is toast. C'est la vie. A very kind family member did find some old rolls of Grandma's wallpaper in the basement and gave them to me. I bounced around and immediately brought them to my car for safe keeping. That will be a craft project someday.

My favorite place in the world growing up was at my Grandparent's lake house, Lake Sarah. They had one glorious willow tree right near the beach. My sister and I would dance beneath the long branches in a secret willow tree world. Swimsuits, sand, sunfish and Grandma's geraniums. Taking mandatory naps (I think it was the only way Grandma could survive us) and eating Eskimo pies from the vintage white freezer.

Whoa baby. 1980s style hot tub on a truck, in your driveway kind of a party documented above. What were my parents thinking? Does anyone even do hot tub trucks anymore? I am not even sure who the fellow is next to me in the photo. This was taken long before the Movember movement. I am fairly certain the yellow mug in the upper left says "DeLorean". I do remember thinking that my parents were super awesome, ran around all night in my bikini jumping in the hot tub, chasing fireflies with my sister and negotiating a later and later bedtime.

Do you wonder where this all started from? click here.