hen parties

On those rare occasions when my dad and brother would be gone at the same time my mom used to have what she called "hen parties". We would have tv dinners(remember when they were in a foil tray with an aluminum foil top and you had to cook them in the oven for 30 minutes) and leave the dishes in the sink afterwards. Leaving dishes in the sink was a big deal to my mom.

Then we would pop popcorn and watch tv. Knowing my mom we probably did our hair and nails and stuff like that but I really don't remember that part. That kind of thing was always important to her and it still is. My sister and I are kind of dumpy. I know on my part it was because I swore to myself that it was absolutely retarded to take 3 hours to get ready to go somewhere - no matter how many times a day you needed to go. To this day I am more of a wash and wear kind of gal.

We lived about 50 yards from the store. No matter how many times a day we went to the store we would ask for a nickel for "goin' to the store". This was our candy money. I know on my part I was never able to use enough willpower to save the money for something good. I would spend it every time I went to the store.

Back then the whole family would go to the local drive-in theatre. I remember seeing "Jeremy" with Robby Benson and "Bonnie and Clyde" with Faye Dunaway. I thought I was so cool because when Jeremy and his girlfriend (Glynnis O'Connell - I thought she was beautiful) were making out my mom made my brother and sister hide behind the back seat and I was allowed to watch. We saw lots of movies but those were the 2 I remember.

Between movies there would be Mr. Magoo cartoons and a countdown clock reminding you to go get popcorn and stuff at the concession stand. We didn't do that though because my mom would pop popcorn at home and we would stop and buy 10 hotdogs for a dollar on the way.