The New Year was always the time to pass out and receive the little plastic bags that contained what would be your costumes for the ice show once you got them made. This year's opening number was Sun Valley Holiday, a take off of the old Sonja Heine movies. Ron, the director, must have worked overtime coming up with this one. The set was complete with huge pine trees and a teflon ramp for the skaters to fly down. Thankfully I did not have to do that in this costume. Standing up was problem enough with the four foot tall fur covered dunce hat on. Note to self: Practice more so you can wear the flattering, sexy costumes in the main numbers next year. At least I could dream about it.
Since he was nice enough to have me be the costume chairman for two of the numbers, the boy's 50's and the showgirl costumes for the Bedazzle number, that kept me busy for the next two months getting everyone lined out and making sure they all did what he wanted. Not an easy trick. The boy's 50's costume was pretty easy and all but one of the twelve men could sew or had some one to do it for them. I did not trust Kevin, the one who thought you could hot glue zippers in pants, so I made his costume as the sample. The orange dresses were a nightmare. They started out pretty simple and every time Ron looked at them he wanted more sashes or frilly stuff plus everyone was a completely different size.
Mother popped in for a two day visit on her way to the Olympics in Calgary, Canada. Now sporting events were not Mother's favorite thing to go to but she had met some people from Calgary on a trip to California and they invited her to come. Two days was about the right time limit for her to visit as she did not have enough time to tell me what I was doing wrong as far as work, ice show, Wes and Wally. I think that was the year when it was not very cold in Calgary but I never had the guts to ask her how often she got the wear the full length white Ermine coat she arrived in.
Time to get serious about work since the phone was ringing off the hook. Charles sort of came to rescue when I mentioned I needed help with the wallpaper. His business partner had an eighteen year old daughter who was not interested in going to college or in having a full time job. Michelle was a bit spoiled but fun to be around at times. I never quit for lunch as once you took that brake it was hard to get back
in the working mode. My deal with Michelle was that I would take her to McDonald's on the way home so she tended to work harder the more hungry she got. Since most of the clients were not home when we wallpapered as a last resort she would prowl through the refrigerator to find something. After a case of food poisoning she gave up on the refrigerator prowling. But with her help I managed to cut the wallpaper time in half.
Having Wes live with us really was a lot easier than I had thought. They got along very well except for the usual brotherly little bouts. Wes did increase my stress level a bit as his high school was twenty-one miles across town as well as the skating rink where he worked. He had the dream job of being the DJ at the rink and worked three or four nights a week. Friday and Saturday nights when he worked it would be midnight before he got home. I always tried to wait up for him even if it meant watching television with my eyes closed. I guess when I was in high school and came home it was nice to have someone there. The rink was also good to give him time off if he had a hot date or some school activity.
Wes and his Dad still had the beginnings of a race car. It was the same unfinished car that we drug around from Kansas City to Riverton to Detroit to Cleveland. Dennis must have been waiting for Wes to turn eighteen and be old enough to drive it. There were weekends when the boys would go to Cleveland or or to a drag race some place.
Speaking about their Dad, Dennis. When the divorce was final I was granted child support for Wally and alimony. I did not want alimony but my attorney said I had to take it since I was not employed and I would probably need it. From day one the alimony was a huge point of contention with Dennis. I knew what he made and did realize that it was a big chunk to pay out each month. Most of his animosity towards me was due to that. When Wes came to live with me I certainly did not ask for child support since Wes had a job and his Dad did give him spending money or bought clothes or fixed his car. Even with my not asking for more money for Wes Dennis still could not carry on a civil conversation with me. Oh, I guess we did not have civil conversations for years when we were married.
I think I wrote that renting the apartment in the Dearborn house would prove to be a mistake. What an understatement! It did not take long for the phone calls to start coming from both of the two gals. One night at 2:00 Hailey called to tell me that the girl downstairs was a screamer during sex. I think she even tried to get the phone some place where I could hear. Then there were calls over whose turn it was to mow the lawn, they divided the basement into halves up to the washer driver and Hailey was not too good about paying rent. When I took the time to drive twenty-four miles to settle some argument about something stupid all would be quiet for awhile. Maybe being a landlord was not my calling in life. Maybe I am too nice for this sort of endeavor.
Much to the dismay of the boys, especially Wes, we got through the winter without a single day of school being closed due to snow. It snowed several days a week and we all got practice shoveling. Actually I thought it was good exercise but no one else agreed with that. It was really nice when spring came. At the first hint of warm weather and no snow Wally and I sort of found a Volkswagon convertible that we could not live without. It ran very well but certainly had some body issues. It was a little rusty in places which is not unusual for Michigan and then there was not exactly much of a floor in it that did not have huge holes.
We would put Bowser in the back seat, put the top down and carefully place our feet someplace where they did not drag on the pavement and go for rides. The only time I worried about not having a current license,
inspection, all the brake lights or insurance was one time when we were at a Dunkin' Donuts enjoying some sweets when two police cars pulled up and the officers came into the store. We could have left the building and walked down the street like it was not our car but there poor Bowser sat in the backseat waiting for us. So we finished our donuts while happily watching the police officers order some for themselves then we made a break for it. Maybe the officers only had donuts on their mind and not looking for criminals with a completely illegal vehicle. Years later Wally developed the theory that you should only buy a $400.00 car and drive it until it dies and then go get another one.
Wes was always driving a new Capri, Mustang, Bronco or something thanks to his Dad but Wally was always happy with a car that would start and four wheels that would roll. Smart Boy!
Half way through Wes senior year there had not been an major problems. Actually I can remember lots of laughter and fun. I was blessed with two pretty good kids and each very talented in their own way.
Could I possibly be so lucky to have the second half of the school year go so well?
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