Barber in Training

Paul David, fourth child out of nine, third boy, born on December 11, 1966--an early Christmas present for my parents.

Paul and I always seemed to get along, have fun, and occasionally get into trouble.


<<--Always smiling! Paul, three months old.

My parents didn't go out that often due to time and finances, but one time stands out in my memory. A teenage neighbor girl was babysitting us; I believe Paul and I were maybe 11 and 12 years old, but probably younger. Being some of the older children Paul and I were to help the sitter with our younger siblings, including the youngest, a baby at the time.

12th birthday

So, of course a bit of a drama occurred. Paul was chewing gum and somehow managed to get some in his hair, no big deal right? Wrong! Paul tried to get the gum out on his own by using scissors! Paul gave himself a very creative haircut--jagged and missing chunks.

Happy Birthday Paul David "Fruit Loops", Polly-wogs, Pablo, brother, friend, and partner in crime, enjoy!

Word Power

My brother Scott asked if I wanted to play Scrabble last night. Big deal, you might say. But in my competitive family it is a big deal, and I have a bit of a way with words, and I have won many Scrabble games. So my uber-competitive brothers started to say that I cheat at Scrabble. (gasp!)

My mom, sister-in-law, and several of my brothers are all good Scrabble players. We enjoy bantering about the easy words or interesting words that each other manages to play. But when I am lucky enough to get some good tiles and I am fortunate enough to play a high scoring word on a Triple Word Score...well...my brothers will begin saying, "Sue cheats!" or call out, "Mom! Sue's cheating again!". Suddenly, the taunts of childhood play are renewed. As a mature adult, I eloquently respond, "Am not!"

So it was quite lovely when Scott asked me to play Scrabble, just the two of us. I started out strong with several good words and utilized extra point squares. Unfortunately, Scott floundered, bemoaning his poor tile acquisitions. At one point, I had a 100 point lead. Scott made a comeback, closing the points gap. However, in the end the comeback was not enough and "the cheater" won again! Scrabble anyone?

Brothers

It has been quite a while since I played a game of "Telephone", one of the funniest times was with my family on Christmas day, 1985. I have no idea what the message was when I received it, but as I tried to pass it on to my brother Greg, he broke up into hysterical laughter. The rest of the family started laughing as I repeatedly tried to pass on the message. I think the message died with me, but the memory of that day and this picture still make me smile.

I have always loved Halloween, especially creating costumes! When I was older, my three youngest siblings became my personal Halloween models. Some of my creations were an Ewok, Mark from Ark (a take-off on Mork for Ork), a vampire, a mummy. The most memorable Halloween was in 1982 when I dressed my sister Renee as a bobby-soxer with a poodle skirt, my brother Glenn as a clown, and the best, my 10-year old brother Scott as a girl, including a padded bra and make-up! Now, tell me, how many little brothers would let their sister dress them up in girl's clothes!

Happy Birthday Greg and Scott!