Swirly’s Time Line William was born on May 25th. He was brought home late that afternoon. Lisa and I had to stay with Grandpa and Grandma that night. I took it as a bad sign. We were already being replaced. I was worried about Mom being alone with Paul, too. The next day we got to meet the baby. He was bigger than I had expected but he was adorable. I wanted to hold him but wasn’t allowed to until he was a month old. Things around the house changed. Paul was a little less loud and vile and Mom seemed really happy. School ended for the year and we started our first summer vacation with Mom. I read lots of book in the back yard and chased Lisa around with snakes I had killed. I spent a decent amount of time ogling the boys whose great-grandma lived next door. The Whitaker boys, Travis and Shane, were a source of amazement for me. There were massively attractive and Travis was my age. They had started at our school that year and were instantly popular. We spent the summer climbing trees, playing kickball, giving each other rides in wheelbarrows and riding our bikes. Mom seemed to be totally wrapped up in the baby and Lisa spent a lot of time with Grandma, who amazingly didn’t lock her outside during the day. Paul was always at work and still came home late from time to time. The fights were almost over it seemed. He told us to start calling him “daddy” even though I felt a little funny about it. I just wanted us to be one big happy family, so I tried. I also tried to impress him with my scrapes and bruises and my stories of trees conquered in the area. He seemed rather nonplused but I knew that eventually I’d outdo myself and he would be thrilled, so I kept trying.
late May 1986 – late August 1986
Category: Uncategorized
Swirly’s Six
Names I Like For Girls
1 Violet Paige
2 Indigo
3 Sienna
4 Azure
5 Jane
6 Sage
Emailed Joke
Wines At Wal-Mart?
BENTONVILLE, ARK (AP) – Some Wal-Mart customers soon will be able to sample a new discount item – Wal-Mart’s own brand of wine. The world’s largest retail chain is teaming up with E&J Gallo Winery of Modesto, Calif., to produce the spirits at an affordable price; in the $6-8 range.
While wine connoisseurs may not be inclined to throw a bottle of
Wal-Mart brand wine into their shopping carts, there is a market for inexpensive wine, said Kathy Micken, professor of marketing at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. She said: “The right name is important.”
So, with that in mind, here are the top 12 suggested names for Wal-Mart Wine:
12. Chateau Traileur Doublewide
11. White Trashfindel
10. Big Red Gulp
9. Grape Expectations
8. Domaine Wal-Mart “Merde du Pays”
7. NASCARbernet
6. Chef Boyardeaux
5. Peanut Noir
4. Chateau des Moines
3. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Vinegar!
2. World Championship Wriesling
1. Nasti Spumante
The Best Of
Swirly’s Six
most recent to oldest
Things I Want To Do Before Dying
Things I Have Brand Loyalty To
Things I Did This Past Weekend With My Mother-in-Law
Books Not On My Summer Reading List
Six Things I Looked At On eBay Today
Swirly’s Six
Snacks I Enjoy
1 bananas
2 pretzels
3 Ben & Jerry’s Karmel Sutra
4 baby carrots
5 Bistro Gourmet chips
6 popcorn
Ways To Kill Time Online
Torture coworkers and family members with tunes from Miserable Melodies. This site is full of horrible attempts by celebs at singing. Enjoy!
Swirly’s Six
Six Things I Looked At On eBay Today
1 silver trumpet
2 tiki totem
3 silver Aladdin lamp
4 kimono fabric
5 lilac Fiesta ware
6 Green Man plaque
Swirly’s Time Line
April – early May 1986
Paul and my mom fought a lot. Lisa and I had to go to bed early several nights so that they could “talk.” Often the sun was still hovering above the horizon when we were sent to our room. We would lay in our bunk beds, me on the top and her down below, and whisper about things to try to block out the sounds of their arguments.
Their “talks” were so loud we couldn’t help but overhear them. Paul would yell at mom about something and she would retort, “Go tell it to a tree.” Lisa and I would giggle and try to stay quiet so we wouldn’t get in trouble. We passed toys back and forth between the edge of the bed and the wall and tried to otherwise occupy ourselves.
Once Mom yelled at Paul for leaving a “foot-long turd/terd” in the toilet. Again, we were arrested with laughter and tried to not burst into high pitched little girl squeals. Even years later we would quote those things in tense moments and laugh – sometimes to remember and smile, sometimes to keep from crying.
Paul seemed to come home late on Friday nights. On one such night I was awoken by the sounds of yet another argument between Carol and Paul. She was shrieking and crying and I thought I made out the words, “Put down the knife!”
I strained to hear, sure I had mistaken what Mom said. I then heard Paul’s voice boom out, “I’ll kill you and that baby!” I sat straight up in bed and felt tears run down my cheeks.
I crawled down the ladder from the top bunk and snuck to the corner of the living room so that I could make sure Mom was okay. She was still crying and I got there just in time to see her pull a long kitchen knife from Paul’s hand. She told him to take his “drunk ass” to bed before she called the police. Brave words that were betrayed by her trembling hands and shaky knees.
They both went to their bedroom on the opposite end of the trailer from Lisa’s and mine. I went back to bed and shivered myself to sleep. I wondered if the baby would ever get to be born. I wondered why she brought two more kids into this situation. Mostly, I wondered if this man who yelled at me if I didn’t call him ‘daddy’ would be the demise of us all.
… previous post …
Swirly’s Six
Things I Imagined Yesterday
1 swimming in a huge pool at night, lit up with candles all around the edges, without the anxiety I get when I have water surrounding me
2 what I would look like with long flowing hair
3 that it was actually winter instead of the first of summer
4 what the look on my friend Shelly’s face was when Jim proposed to her last Saturday
5 what my little boy’s first word will be
6 eating cake on my 10th anniversary with Gray
Ways To Kill Time Online
Identify your coworkers, neighbors or *gasp* friends on the Mullets Galore website. Be sure to scope out the Mullet Of The Week (MOTW), the classifications page and the glossary of mullet terms.