via email:
Howdy from Arlington, Texas! This is Betty Michelle and I've been a lurker on your blog for over a year. I live in the shadow of Cowboys Stadium and we're trying to survive the Superbowl frenzy. I apologize to our football guests for the wretched winter weather we've had, although I'm sure Betty would approve. The cold, wind, rain and snow never stopped any of her heroines from saving kittens or whipping up a tasty omelette.
Thanks for your wonderful blog!
Betty Michelle
Dear Betty Michelle,
First of all, welcome! And wow! L.O.V.E. your picture...and your choice of Neels - hilariously suitable. I immediately called Betty Keira so that we could have a collective squeal of delight over your submission. Your email made our day.
Love and lardy cakes,
The Founding Bettys
Editor's Note: For those of our foreign readers who may not be familiar with the term "Super Bowl"...it is to American football what the World Cup is to soccer (non-American football). Oh, and it's tomorrow.
Wow. Just when I thought Betty in the Wild couldn't get any better...Awe. Some.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the party, Betty Michelle, don't be a stranger...
Oh, this may be the best one ever. As a misplaced Texan (as in, born, raised, lived well in adulthood, a scholar of Texas history, until Prof. van der Hertenzoon spirited me away--only love etc...), I especially appreciate the shot. Living in Pennsylvania, my bio-sisters (as opposed to SIBs--Sisters in Betty) and I have a deal--they don't talk about the weather in winter and I don't talk weather in summer. This week, however, the shoe has been on the other foot. The locals are all gaga over the Super Bowl. I'm making chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips for church tomorrow for sorta-Steelers cookies. (But I'm still harboring resentment over the Steelers over Roger Staubach and the Cowboys in Super BOwl XIII. Hate Jerry Jones after the firing of Coach Landry so don't care about the new ones, hence the willingness to bake the cookies.)
ReplyDeletePerfect title selection. How clever!
As a born, bred and never lived anywhere else Pennsylvanian, I'm beyond stoked about tomorrow's game. SEVEN - Steelers are gonna get their 7th ring! Yeehah!
ReplyDeleteOk, got that out of my system. Betty Michelle, that's a fantastic choice for the Betty in the Wild shot. Welcome. You've started on an extreme high, you know - we expect more fantastically witty and creative things from you! ;-)
me<>< (aka Betty Cindy. I simply must change my user name on blogspot. The kid doesn't even call me that anymore. It was just so cute! :) )
Betty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteLifetime Cowboys fan. Imagine the chagrin when I find myself pulling for the PACKERS!! But I can never, ever cheer for the Steelers. NEVER!!
FYI, Mijnheer van der Tarheelin and I entered into a 'mixed marriage". He's a Redskins fan and I'm a Cowboys fan. Church religion has nothing to do with it!!
Betty Michelle-- Great!Absolutely great, Betty in the Wild picture! Thank you!!
Dear Betty Barbara,
ReplyDeleteAs a Redskins fan, I am impressed with your "mixed marriage." The chartered accountant is also a Redskins guy, so no friction here, but I can imagine it must be tough sometimes! This year was not great for either of our teams. Here's to better times next year. Meanwhile, I'm pulling for the Packers tomorrow as well. Go NFC!
Ooh, Betty Barbara, Mijnheer van der Tarheelin a Redskins fan--I can only assume he had a great socking Bentley.
ReplyDeleteUh oh, I re-read my comment, and it sounds like something exposed in Brighton--or is Betty Magdalen making me paranoid?
ReplyDeleteIf I am, Betty JoDee, then my work is done! ::evil cackle::
ReplyDeleteBetty JoDee--
ReplyDeletePay no mind to the cackling you hear from Betty Magdalen. Your remark was innocent. Do not let Betty Magdalen make you paranoid.
Yes, he had a socking great Bentley, cleverly disguised as a VW Super Beetle. This made him very desirable, as yours truly had no car at all!!
THAT'S something to talk about!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of car did your RDD (or whatever your personal equivalent is) court you in?
Mine had first, a 1973 Dodge Challenger - cool car. Then he got rid of that and got a 1974 F-100 pickup - candy apple red and Wimbledon white. Very cool - hey, it WAS 1974!!
Thing was a terrible gas hog, though - big V-8. We ended up having to sell it to survive after we got married in 1975. We got a Honda Civic Hatchback.
me<><
My husband's rust-orange 70s Chevy Citation (whose heater had to be engaged to avoid over-heating) blew up forever on the night he drove to the airport to pick me up to propose (in 1998). He was hours late and I was sure he was dead.
ReplyDeleteAh, good memories...
Betty Henry had a Fiat Panda in London he called Fifi. When we were "dating" by transatlantic phone call, he called me up, mildly hysterical, because as he was getting ready to drive to Sussex and visit his family for Easter, the gear shift lever had come off in his hand.
ReplyDeleteBetty Ross had no car, but as soon as I showed up on his radar, he bought a Citroën C-3 Desire, which we called Desireé -- he sold it to his sister when he emigrated.
I had a Ford Probe -- which is on the list of all-time worst car names, as it evokes the image of a space-age bit of gynecological equipment -- called Sparky. Then Betty Henry and I got a VW Passat ("Happy") and eventually a Subaru Forester (a funny yellow-green color, so it was the "melon-color baby" or "Baby" for short.) The license plate on Happy was "1N HRMNY" because our house address in the mountains was 1 North Harmony Road. He kept that even when we divorced, and although he's since bought a new car, he's kept the license plate. Kind of describes our relationship with him.
Betty Ross and I have now a bright blue Honda Civic with the license plate XWRD MAN. If you're driving in Pennsylvania and see it (there's a banner across the top too: WWW.CROSSWORDMAN.COM), honk!
Alas, the cute names have died away -- all existing cars are known by their color: "the white car" (Henry's), "the blue car" (Xwrd Man's) and "the yellow car" (the Subaru).
Thanks everyone, for your kind and welcoming comments. It's wonderful to find kindred spirits. I'm so glad you enjoyed the picture. Some of the other Neels book possibilities would have been "When Two Paths Meet" or "Paradise for Two(Teams)" or for you Packers fans... "Damsel in Green(and Yellow)"
ReplyDeleteSilly 'Ma, I was courted in a 1972 El Camino. It was the early 1990's and the car was tattered and had no muffler. My dear "RDD" soon traded it in for something more comfortable. I should have realized that he meant business at that point.
Betty Michelle
I was courted in a Porsche 911 by the RDD -- we loved that car! It was garaged, always, and lovingly washed every weekend in the summer -- never driven in the rain or snow. He also had an Audi A4 -- he was rolling in the dough before I came along, LOL! I had a lipstick red Honda Civic at the time, that I loved too (45+ mpg)! But, around the time of baby #1, the Porsche and Honda were sold and a Subaru Outback station wagon was purchased -- VT winters, large dog, many road trips to NJ and SC to visit the grandparents, etc. And when baby #2 announced his pending arrival, a minivan was acquired. We are no longer rolling in the dough -- several years as a stay-at-home mom, now only part-time work for me, children who play expensive sports and musical instruments, and need new shoes every other week........! But we did love our cars back in the days!
ReplyDeleteProfessor van der Hertenzoon had a 1974 International Scout courting me.
ReplyDeleteIt was 1992.
Dr. van der Stevejinck courted me in a white 1963 Rambler! It was a hand-me-down from his grandmother - who had taken good care of it. Alas, it only had a year or two to go. The speedometer didn't work, so we adjusted our speed according to other vehicles on the road. The worst single experience we had in it was the time the hood(or bonnet) popped up while we we driving about 50 mph down the highway. Yikes. That was before the radiator developed the holding capacity of a leaky sieve. We nursed that car along by always carrying several gallons of water with us and pouring it in the thirsty radiator every fifteen to twenty miles.
ReplyDeleteBetty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteThat VW Super Beetle was Brand New in 1970, when Mijnheer van der Tarheelin started our romance. It replaced this 1950-something hand-me-down Ford, fondly known as Old Paint.
Alas, the VW proved to be a jealous mistress-it and I did not always get along. We traded in said VW for a Brand New Toyota Celica in 1973. Then Son and Heir came along in 1975, and a sedate Datsun(now known as Nissan)sedan took its place. Followed over the years by 4 Chrysler mini-vans as family cars. I'm on my second Saturn as "my" car.
Betty Aimee here--
ReplyDeleteBetty JoDee, I learned to drive a stick shift(circa 1982-83) on a 1970 International Scout -- 3 speeds! Omigoodness, I remember my father sitting there stoically, (he was/is always a quiet man) but my mother says that he was actually grinding his teeth quite hard (I couldn't hear him myself over the grinding of the gears....)
Our courtship was done primarily on European tour buses when the Prof.Vue de Plane was still Airman Kar-Mann der Ghia. When we married I met the beat up blue one seater, but since you had to start it by pushing it down the hill, I usually drove his dearly departed Grandma's '61 Bel Air (of lost watch fame). Then six months later, we moved to Spain. There we bought what looked to me like a miniature VW Bug from his Sergeant. It was called a Seat 600 (pronounced Say Ott and older and whiter than the car show) and was a stick, which I'd never driven. So here is Betty Mary, 3 months pregnant, in Spain, trying to learn to drive a stick shift so that I won't be stranded many KiloMeters from the Basé Arëä.(Air Base). Good Thing, because when Mijnheer Vue ND Domer was ready to make his appearance I had to drive that tiny Seat into the Basé all alone in labor.
ReplyDeleteFast forward 15 years, we see Capt. Satúrn der Pláne, and 10 more ÿears the matured Prof. Vúë der Plane appears.
It tÖók awhïle bÿ I finally föúnd how tö do that daÑged accent¿¡¡ Ääárrrggg
Betty Aimee, I learned a stick on a Army surplus WWII Willys Jeep. My dad had me out in a field with dirt tracks on it and one lone water tank in the entire area. I was supposed to drive around to the left of the tank on the track. I managed to scrape the tank from the front bumper all the way down the side to the back bumper, then promptly stomp the brake, pop out the clutch, and stall the engine. Ending the subsequent deafening silence, my father deadpanned, "I can't hardly believe you did that."
ReplyDeleteIt's a quotation that lives in family quotation history infamy.