SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127j)

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127j)

To complicate matters even further on Sunday Elle got a call that she was needed to start her teaching job right away. The teacher she was to fill in for had developed complications and her doctor ordered her to bed. Elle spent the rest of the day trying to get everything organized confirming who was to look after Kaye each day and where the other two were to go after school was out. I was like part of the woodwork. She finally calmed down around supper time. She was still unsure what she should wear to make a good impression. With all the stuff going on at the bank about pants suits they were on my mind so I suggested that she wear her good wool one. I reminded her that just about everybody in the school would be sticking their heads in her door. She thought about it for a minute and agreed. That was my main contribution for the day.

She was a “wreck“ getting dressed the next morning. Her mother was coming over to get Kaye for the day and I agreed to stay and wait for her to arrive even though I knew I was facing a rough day at work. The ”busy period“ was just a week away plus I had no idea what Trish had decided to do. Of course, in the back of my mind, I was worried about how the bookkeeping machine (computer) would hold up. Because I was trying to get the older girls organized and out to the bus on time I didn’t pay any attention to what Elle had decided to wear for panties. In the past she’d usually wear at least a partial package (two pair of the Carter’s ribbed cotton panties and a sanitary pad with a pair of sanitary panties over them). The subject hadn’t come up when we were discussing what she would wear and by the time I thought of it she was on her way.

Trish was at Hobie’s desk when I walked in. I tried to look busy as I sat at my desk all the while trying to pick up on the conversation. One thing I did hear was that the Trustee who had stated the case for pants, with or without a jacket, at the Board meeting had convinced Bert (the president) to poll the other Trustees to try and get them to rescind the resolution about the length of jackets and he was due in the bank sometime that morning. As Trish walked past me I could see she still wasn’t happy but when I looked at Hobie he gave me a ”thumb’s up“.

I saw that Trustee walk across the lobby floor with three other members of the Board. I didn’t know if that was good or bad. It was almost 1pm before I saw some of them leaving the bank. As much as I wanted to know what had happened I had to wait until I was told. It was hard. When Hobie returned I gave him one of those ”what’s going on?“ looks. He put up his finger as if to tell me to have patience. I waited for about a half hour and when I saw two more Trustee’s leaving with Bert he called me to his desk.

It must’ve been quite a meeting. The net result was that the two ”fossils“ had agreed to retire immediately. Two others had indicated that they’d retire as soon as replacements for the first two were found and sworn in. I would’ve loved to have heard exactly what had transpired. That news was so shocking that I completely forgot about the pants and jacket issue. It took Trish asking Hobie if anything had been decided. When the dust had settled they had collected ”aye“ votes of a majority of the twelve remaining members to rescind the portion of the resolution concerning the length of jackets.

An all employee meeting was called for four o’clock in the lobby. The announcement about the two Trustees retiring was made first and then the news about pants and jackets followed. It was met with a smattering of applause but not from Trish or Lena. I’d decided to leave Trish alone and to get Laura’s ”read“ on her later. Even though I hadn’t done anything of a physical nature I felt exhausted by the time 5pm arrived. I got Laura’s attention as she walked by and she told me Trish was still upset. She said Trish still felt that she was taken advantage of. I couldn’t blame her but the fact that she was still there was what was important.

I got home to find Elle wasn’t in a very good mood. I thought that it had to do with her class. Substitute teachers were often faced with unruly kids and I thought that she’d been given a rough class. That wasn’t the reason. My too late thoughts about what she’d worn for panties was the reason. She was so nervous about her first day she didn’t remember to wear protection and had a major ”accident“. The restrooms were at the opposite end of the hall from where her classroom was located. By the time she got there on one of her breaks her pee was running down her legs. When she told me that she started to smile. I wondered what that was for. She immediately said that the choice of wearing the wool pants suit had saved her. The wetness never made it through the wool so it didn’t show. She said it was uncomfortable but the fact that the pants were lined kept the wool from scratching. The only thing was that she’d have to have the pants dry cleaned. I immediately thought that it was a small price to pay to avoid embarrassment.

Tuesday was Ginger’s day to watch Kaye. I was supposed to drop her off but Ginger called before I left the house. One of her kids left their lunch home and she had to take it to the school. Since she was already out it made sense to just stop by. When she arrived I had Kay all ready and was prepared to take off for work as soon as she left. However, she handed a paper bag to me and told me to give it to Elle. I really didn’t want to take the time to walk back to the house. I watched her drive down the hill and got into my car. I wasn’t thinking about what might be in the bag as I wanted to stop and see James on my way in to work. He’d left a message for me to stop by and see him. He was out at the gas pumps as I drove up. It was the best I’d seen him look since he’d brought Peggy home. He wanted to tell me that Peggy’s baby was going to be christened on Sunday and he want Elle and I to be there. Even though it wasn’t something I wanted to do it was something I knew I had to do. I made the comment that Peggy must be doing better and his face just lit up. I also asked if she was up to having visitors as Elle and I had some things for the baby. He thought for a few seconds and told me he wanted to talk with his wife first but that Thursday might be good.

As it turned out I had to go to the printer’s to get an order of deposit tickets that we needed for the ”busy period“. I’d become friends with the man and wife who owned and ran the shop so I could call in for a rush order pretty much any time i needed it. At the shop I just slid the box onto the passenger seat. As I did I saw the bag that Ginger had given me for Elle. I decided to take a peek inside. It made my day. Right on top were the ”dribble panties“ that Elle had given her and right under them were four pair of regular panties. As I pulled them out I recognized the waist elastic... Shadowline.

To be continued...

Update...

Update...

Home at last!

Status of our daughter, Jean... holding her own. Most of the tests that had her “spooked” turned out out negative. Not all the results are back (holiday delays) but the important ones showed no tumors. She started radiation while we were there and, in spite of her apprehension, she seems to have no real problems with it.

For those who said a prayer or two for her, thanks a lot!

My hope is to return to posting either tomorrow or Tuesday.
       Pantymaven

A heads up...

The plans were to go visit the daughter who recently had the breast cancer operation over Christmas but not until the day before. However, she was to start her radiation therapy tomorrow but the doctors were concerned about another potential problem that turned up following her operation. Now she’s all in a “tizzy” and wants us to come now, before Christmas. My wife, of course, said “Yes” and we fly there tomorrow morning at 8:10am. At this point I don’t know how long we’ll be there but my guess is that it’ll be through Christmas. My hope is that we'll be back home before the New Year. When I do get back I’ll continue with the blog. There’s a really interesting part coming up...

For my faithful readers... I hope you and your families have a MERRY CHRISTMAS! As you celebrate the season I’d like to ask that you say a prayer for my daughter, Jean, that she can regain some normalcy to her life. She’d had a very rough year.
   Pantymaven

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127i)

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127i)

After supper I changed and headed out to my racecar driver friend, Cliffy’s, to try and make arrangements for him to bring his father’s wrecker to the garage where we’d been working on “B’s” motor and to help us get in the car. He and his brother each had a racecar and they were both there working on them. It’d been quite a while since I’d seen him. I was kind of surprised to see two young boys (about 7 and 9 years old) with him. I’d sort of lost track of him and didn’t realize his kids were that old. We reminisced a bit before he said he could come over the next afternoon. As I drove home I was happy that something had finally gone right that week even though I knew Elle would be even more unhappy with me when I told her I’d be gone Saturday afternoon.

Things were “chilly” between us even before I told her of my upcoming plans but there was no turning back. I got in touch with “Big B” to tell him I’d made the arrangements and he sounded excited. We were both anxious to get the motor in the car and to get it running. I tried to get as many of my usual Saturday “chores” done before heading off to the garage but that didn’t help my status with Elle. However, I knew she’d eventually get over it, probably with me having to buy her something. “B” was waiting when I got there and had the garage doors open and everything cleared away from both the motor and car. When Cliffy arrived it only took a short time to move the car and to get the motor in place.

I remember now that Cliffy was a bit nostalgic when he saw the car. He explained that this was the first car that he’d actually had a hand in the  building of it. The car had been put together for his brother-in-law to race but he’d proved to be a “chicken” (Cliffy’s word) and it hadn’t been raced all that much. Cliffy had driven it for a while (and I remember racing against him when he did) and then it just sat collecting dust until “B” bought it. I fully expected him to leave once the motor was in place but he offered to hang around a bit and to see the motor actually run. We didn’t have the radiator so I was concerned about running it without water. Cliffy told us we wouldn’t hurt anything by running it for just a few minutes as long as we had oil in it. Actually, I was glad he was there because he showed us a trick or two in getting it started for the first time. I won’t say I was nervous but, when putting that many pieces together to make a whole there’s always the chance of missing something. But it sounded good. Noisy, but good. There are no mufflers on race cars so it was a good thing that there were no neighbors. We let it run for just a minute but it was enough to get broad smiles on both “B’s” and my faces.

Back at home I was mildly surprised to find Elle in  a reasonably good mood. Notice I used the qualifier, “reasonably”. For anything other than conversation I’d have been rebuffed. I quickly found the reason. Johnnie and Sandy were coming over after the kids went to bed. I didn’t get a direct answer when I asked why and chose not to pursue it so as not to upset the relative calm.

They arrived a little past 8pm. I was a bit concerned in that even though I’d promised to attend Johnnie’s last game, I hadn’t. I apologized and he brushed it off. He said it had gone like most games with the inexperience of the kids causing them to lose once again. And then... Johnnie started talking about his “plan”. As soon as he started Sandy got up and took Elle with her. I listened as he outlined his idea of how to get elementary school kids exposed to the rudiments of basketball. (A refresher... Physical Eduction for the elementary school did not prepare the kids for team sports as they arrived in Junior High School. Johnnie had started the very first junior varsity basketball team for the school and only a few kids had any experience in even handling a basketball.) He was willing to put on clinics during the Summer for 10 to 14 year olds in oredr to “get them up to speed”. However, he needed people to assist him and he was there to ask me.

I loved playing basketball when I was in school and had even signed up for the Town team that Johnnie had tried to put together. This concept was something different and it only took me a few minutes of listening to know I wasn’t what he was looking for. Having only worked with three girls of my own (along with their friends), I had no experience working with young boys plus I already knew I wasn’t a “teacher type”. As Johnnie outlined his “plan” I could see it was also going to interfere with my own Summer plans. The clinics were to be Saturday mornings, time I needed at home to get my “chores” done so I could go off racing with “B” in the afternoons. I liked Johnnie, a lot, so it was hard to tell him “No.”

Elle and Sandy had retreated to the kitchen. When we walked in Sandy jumped up and said it was time to go. I was a bit disappointed with that but she had her mind made up. I didn’t have to explain to Elle what Johnnie and I’d been talking about as Sandy had already done so. To make conversation I asked what they’d talked about hoping the “dribble panties” might've come up. Elle gave me the usual “girl talk” answer and I chided her a bit on it. I didn’t want to go too far in that direction and was pleasantly surprised when she told me that Sandy thought she might be pregnant. That news didn’t really excite me but that was all I got.

Elle didn’t usually wear her “dribble panties” when at home but while getting undressed for bed I noticed she had a pair on. Still a bit uncertain about my “status” I refrained from going up to her to get a feel of them. I got up  the courage to ask why she was wearing them and she told me she’d been over to Ginger’s house with the kids. I felt that was enough of a “lead-in” to ask if Ginger had tried the ones she’d given her. I could see from her initial reaction that it hadn’t been a good idea but, after hesitating turning towards me, and with a somewhat exasperated tone, stated that, yes, she wanted Elle to make her up a few pair... and then emphatically said “Good night!”, climbed into bed and turned out her light.

Even though I had no details the information was enough for me to lie in bed fantasizing about working on the panties that Ginger would provide. Ever since we’d finished up the ones for Sandy I’d have a “sensual” feeling whenever I’d see her knowing that there was the possibility that she was wearing a pair that I’d  had a hand in making. Now I’d get that feeling from seeing two women. It made for some nice bedtime thoughts.

To be continued...

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127h)

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127h)

I was awake early the next morning, nervous about the prospects for both presentations. I waited to tell both Trish and Lena about what was to happen and their role in it about an hour before the meeting. We did a run through that wasn’t great but was acceptable, at least in my eyes. They were both instructed to wait to change into their pants suits until I told them to get ready. They’d both promised not to tell anyone what was going on. In reality, the service bureau presentation was really critical because, if the Board failed to act, the bank could find itself with a large problem so my focus was on that. Time dragged until 3pm when the Board convened and then, even more, as the mortgage applications were submitted, discussed and approved before we were allowed in.

Trish had chosen a green and gray wool tweed suit. The jacket was about the same length as the one on Elle’s new outfit. Lena seemed to live in varying shades of gray and this particular one was quite dark. However, the jacket didn’t go down quite as far as the one Trish was wearing. They both looked very stylish. All we had to do was wait for the call to enter the room.

As the saying goes, “The best laid plans ofttimes go astray.” When two of the Board members saw Trish and Lena walk in wearing pants they immediately objected. In spite of Bert trying to calm them down they wouldn’t stop protesting until he finally asked the women to leave. I couldn’t believe it. I felt really bad for them and wished I could have gone out to calm them down. Instead of taking up the matter of the service bureau it was the dress code that took front and center. Order was finally restored and Bert presented the dress code report I’d prepared. After about five minutes the two men, both in their 80’s, got up and walked out. At that point the Board member attorney who had spoken up in an earlier discussions about why the Board couldn’t set a specific length of skirts made an impassioned plea for common sense to prevail. He stated that it was only a matter of time until pants on females would be a standard manner of dress in all phases of the workplace. He closed by saying that in his own law office over half the women employees wore trousers... and some without a coat or jacket. I remember standing there thinking that maybe he’d be able to sway the others. He did, but only to a point. The board passed the proposal with one covenant... the women must wear a jacket that covers their buttocks, much like a man’s jacket did. I didn’t know weather to be happy or sad.

Because so much time had elapsed during this whole scene, a motion was made and passed to table the service bureau proposal until the next meeting. That really bothered me. I couldn’t believe how short sighted these supposed “pillars of the community” were. By the time I was excused from the Board room neither Lena nor Trish were still at the bank. I went looking for them but was told they had both left for the day. When I got downstairs I saw Laura and asked if she’d talked with Trish before she left. She said that she hadn’t but that she noticed that she was very, very upset and that fact upset me even more. I wondered why those two fossilized Board members were even still on the Board. At the few meetings that I’d acted as the secretary one of the men slept having to be poked awake to cast a vote. I was not in a good mood when driving home.

Elle knew better than to try and talk with me until after I’d eaten and had time alone to calm down. She wanted to know when would be a good time to go see Peggy and take the clothes she’d bought for the baby. With all that was going on in my world I’d forgotten about Peggy. I told her I’d stop by and ask Jim in the morning. At least the subject of Peggy got my mind off of the situation with the Board. I found I couldn’t concentrate on the TV as my thoughts were on her and what she was going to do. Only 18, with a baby and no husband, her future didn’t look all that bright and I pondered over just what I could do to help. I didn’t come up with an answer.

I stopped to see James on my way to work the next morning and had a good conversation with him. He promised to let me know when he and his wife felt Peggy would be ready to accept visitors. I offered to do anything I could to help her and he said he'd let me know. I hoped he wasn’t just mouthing words.

The fall-out from the pants suit debacle had made the rounds of the bank by the time I got there the next morning. In thinking about it as I write this the big surprise was how upset meek and mild Lena was. She didn’t call out the Board members by name who’d raised the fuss but, by inference, she did. Trish was waiting by Hobie’s desk for him to get in and didn’t want to talk with me. At that point I was just a spectator.

When Hobie did arrive he told Trish to go upstairs to Bert’s office and he would soon follow. I didn’t dare say a word. All I could think of was that the whole thing was so stupid. After they both had gone Laura came over to tell me that Trish was going to quit. She’d told Laura that she’d been humiliated by what had happened. The thought of Trish leaving was a scary thought. I knew there were so many things that she did in a day that weren’t noticed by others that her absence would soon create havoc. I didn’t hold my breath but it sure felt like I was. Hobie returned and stopped by to say that Trish had been excused for the rest of the day and all of the next one as well. I didn’t dare follow up on what Laura had told me. I did find an excuse to go upstairs and saw that Lena was busy at her desk. That told me that something had been worked out. I just hoped that something could be worked out with Trish as well.

By Friday night I was looking for something to do that didn’t have anything to do with the bank. I'd had a toothache on top of everything else and was able to get an appointment after 4pm. Bret said he sit in for me for the late duty to 6pm. I was in and out of the dentist chair quickly. It allowed me to get home early and as I pulled up the driveway I recognized Ginger’s station wagon. I’d been so preoccupied with things at the bank and Peggy that I’d completely forgotten that Elle had given her a pair of her “dribble panties“ after the party the previous Saturday night. Walking up the path visualized Ginger wearing them. She’d lost a fair amount of weight but I still wondered how tight they might be on her. I knew I wouldn’t get any answers until after she left. It didn’t stop me from wondering how she’d made out with them and if she’d put them to the ”test“. Unfortunately, her visit had nothing to do with the panties. Anne, my middle daughter had become close friends with Ginger’s oldest daughter and she’d come over after school. My arrival hastened their leaving. It didn’t stop me from asking though. Elle just scrunched up her face and walked away when I asked. With that I pretty much knew it was going to ”cost” me something. However, Elle wouldn’t give me any satisfaction which made me mad.

To be continued...

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127g)

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127g)

Trish, ever the opportunist and having my undivided attention, asked, again, about modeling a pants suit for the Board of Trustees at the upcoming meeting when the dress code was to be discussed. I’d given it some thought and couldn’t come up with a plausible reason not to. The unplausable ones were the stumbling block, primarily the old geezers who believed women had no place in pants of any kind. I agreed to pass the idea by Hobie. She added that Lena was to speak to Bert, the president and her boss, about it and then walked away.

My major project was getting all the materials together concerning having a service bureau do our transaction processing. I knew from previous experience that I’d need “props” to support my presentation. The only things available were large pads on easels where I'd have to use marking pens to show comparisons. The problem with using pads was the design of the Boardroom itself. A long narrow room with a long narrow table along with an aging group of men who were loosing their hearing. Any display material had to be located at one end of the table and the person making the verbal presentation had to position himself in the middle. (Remember, this was WAY before Power Point presentations) I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull it all off.

I’d only been back from lunch a short time when I got a big surprise. It was Elle. She’d come into town and had met with the school administrator about the temporary position she'd been offered. I could tell she was being “coy“ with me by the look on her face. She couldn’t hold it for long and admitted that she’d talked him into hiring her at the same rate of pay as a contract teacher. We’d gone over what it would mean at home and it was a substantial amount of money even with paying her mother to watch, Kaye, our youngest. As much as I wanted to celebrate with her it just wasn’t appropriate in a working situation. Before she left she told me that while she was in town she wanted to buy some clothes for Peggy’s new baby. When she mentioned that I suggested that she go to the new department store down the street and go to the basement where they’d just opened baby and children’s clothes section. At that point I headed back upstairs and she went out the front door.

I spent most of that afternoon creating charts and graphs on large pads. Before he left for the day I had Hobie sit in on a run through. He made some positive suggestions and when I asked about how to position myself so all the members could hear me he suggested getting Bret to come in and flip the pages for me. It seemed reasonable so we left it at that. He’d only been gone a short time when Trish popped in. She wanted to know how I’d made out with Hobie and the idea of both she and Lena modeling pants suits. I could’ve kicked myself. I immediately realized that by having Trish and Lena do the page turning in pants suits was a way to segue into the dress code issue. It was something to ponder overnight.

As soon as I walked in the door at home that night Elle ”attacked” me by asking if I’d seen any of the new Spring clothes at the department store. I had, but I hadn’t paid much attention to them. When the manager had taken me back to the store after the Chamber meeting to open an account I’d given a cursory look at everything but, as you would suspect, focused on the lingerie department. Elle wasted no time on reminding me what I’d promised for giving up information on Sandy and Ginger back after the party as well as the incident with Sandy at the basketball game. Before I could utter a sound she told me she’d seen the most beautiful velour outfit and I could pay off my “debt” if I’d let her have it. When I asked how much it cost she just shrugged her shoulders and gave me an innocent smile. I knew I was “hooked“. She told me she’d had them put it away for her and that told me it was all over.

I had to wait all the next day for the right opportunity to broach the subject of Trish and Lena doing the page turning and modeling at the same time. Hobie’s initial reaction was negative until I told him about Lena being a part of it. All the Trustees liked Lena and, when Hobie heard her name mentioned, he headed straight for Bert’s office. He was only gone but for a few minutes and gave me a ”thumbs up” signal as he walked back through the door. I was relieved when he told me that Bert would be the one to present the dress code to the Board after my presentation. I was happy about that as it wasn’t something I was looking forward to.

However, I knew I’d have to do another run through with the service bureau presentation using both Trish and Lena. Not wanting to let “the cat out of the bag” I decided to not fully tell them about their roll in it and why. Before leaving that night I told them that nothing had been decided about them modeling but to bring their “suits” and to be prepared to go before the Board. All in all I was pleased with my service bureau “pitch” and with both Hobie and Bert behind having the two women model pants suits, that gave me hope that the Board would approve the new dress code as well.

The last thing on my agenda for the day was to go get the outfit Elle had picked out. I will admit it was stunning, just on the hanger. It was robin’s egg blue with pants, skirt and jacket... and over $40. I about choked. I’d figured (hoped) it would be maybe $25 at the most as that was all the cash I had. I was about to head home without it when I saw the store manager and remembered that I’d opened an account with him. A few minutes later I was on my way home. I made Elle model it before she served supper and, in spite of the price, I loved it! The pants were snug, but not tight. I got a very nice VPL when she turned around. When she put the jacket on it came to to her hip bone and didn’t cover the VPL. I couldn’t wait for her to wear it.

I got an unexpected reward right after dinner. Elle cleared the dishes from the table and sent the kids to the basement to play, a rare treat for them. Then she took me by the hand and I followed her into the bathroom where she proceeded to sit on the toilet and pee through her panties with my hand nestled right up into her crotch. As I remember it, It had been a while since we’d done that. We both knew there wasn’t enough time for a ”quickie“ but I did persuade Elle to leave the wet panties on but with a pair of dribble panties over them, knowing I’d be back at her once the kids were in bed.

To be continued...

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127f)

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127f)

Elle told me she didn’t know what to say as Sandy and Ginger weren’t really close as their only interaction had been at the “group” parties. Sandy, with no kids, really didn’t have much in common with Ginger who had four. As Elle was was relating her observations I thought back to Ginger’s “accident” on our sofa and remembered that Elle and I didn’t even get to meet Sandy and her husband until later that Summer so there was no connection from that. Elle said she was in sort of a quandary because she didn’t want to say anything that would embarrass Sandy and yet couldn’t let the question go unanswered. She said the three of them stood there in the kitchen just looking at each other. Elle said it was Sandy who finally spoke and sort of somewhat drunkenly stated that she often “dribbled” and that Elle (and thankfully didn’t mention me) had come up with a solution to her problem. When Ginger asked what it was Elle, seizing the moment, said it would be easier to show her than to describe it. To avoid the possibility of Jon and Johnnie seeing the panties, she suggested they go up to our bedroom. And that was her explanation of why she (and the others) were up there.

As you can imagine, I wanted more than that and asked what Ginger’s reaction to the panties was. Elle wasn’t about to tell me and answered “it was between us girls and none of your business”.. After a little ”bartering“ (Spring was coming and she’d been angling for new clothes.) she relented and said that after showing Ginger a pair Ginger asked if Elle could make up a pair for her to try. With Ginger holding a pair in her hands she told her to just go ahead and try them. Elle then said that was the end of the story but I knew her well enough that the look on her face said there was more. There was, but the question for me was just how much was it going to ”cost“ to get it.

Even though Sandy and Ginger didn’t really know each other. because they had been drinking Elle said they both were very candid about their problems. In so doing Ginger admitted that she had just dribbled a bit when using the bathroom downstairs and was a bit wet as they stood there. Sandy then said she should go and put the panties on as there was no better time to try them... and she did just that, going into the upstairs bathroom. But that was all Elle was going to say on the matter and she made it clear that I’d gotten way more information than I should’ve. Later on, lying in bed, I went to sleep having a fantasy of the three of them, all wearing ”dribble panties“ with me in a position to observe them. As I said, it was definitely a fantasy!

On Sunday, ”B“ came by to pick up the folding chairs he’d loaned me and then we headed out to work on the racecar. I’d come up with what I hoped would be the solution to get the motor into the car without using the chain hoist and taking a chance on the beam in the garage breaking. That was to contact my racecar driver friend, Cliffy, and ask if he could bring his father’s tow truck to the garage and use it to hoist the motor up so we could install it. If that didn’t come off then we’d have to chance using the hoist. We were discussing that scenario when we headed up the driveway towards the garage. As we did we could see two vehicles pulled up by the house and by the back door. ”B“ recognized one as belonging to Jon and Rob’s parents but he didn’t recognize the other one, a Thunderbird. I didn’t know the parents so stayed at the garage as ”B“ went up to the house.

I'd not had any success building a fire in the pot bellied stove we used for heat so left it for "B" to handle. By the time I saw him returning I was cold to the bone. Before I could say anything he told me that we were going to have ”visitors“ and warned me that Jon’s father was going to make a scene about our stove so to be prepared. Jon had told us it was OK but when the father saw the stove pipe coming out of the window he was quit upset. I saw a tall, thin man wearing a long tweed overcoat heading in our direction. I also noted a female with short hair, a short coat and short skirt following right behind him. ”“B” introduced the man who, in turn, introduced the female... Leigh, Jon and Rob’s sister. As I’ve posted many times before, I always wanted to see the face of any female who’s panties I’d seen and in this case I actually had a pair of hers. It was a bit of a disappointment.

I have one outstanding memory of my first sighting of her... she had the biggest, widest mouth I’d ever seen. In looking at her face it was hard to see anything but that mouth. The father and daughter didn’t stay long with the daughter driving off first in the T-bird. The father made it clear that we were not to use the stove again and wanted it removed by the next weekend when he’d be back. As he drove away “B” looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. We did a few more things to prepare the motor to go into the car and then left for the day. On the way back to my house “B” surmised that the father had come out to follow up on what “B” had told Jon about the use of the house and had brought the daughter out to confront her. He noted that she never said a word but just stood there looking at the ground.

On the way into work Monday morning I decided to stop to see James at his service station and to find out how Peggy was adjusting to the whole situation. I remember looking at him and thinking that he’d aged in the little over a week since I’d last seen him. He reported that they’d had an uneventful trip back and that the baby was doing well. He didn’t say anything about Peggy and I decided to let that go. He told me he and his wife were truly surprised to find that Laura and all her things were gone when they arrived. I told him that Laura had found a new place to stay and that Trish (who James had come to know over the months Laura had lived there) and her boyfriend helped her move out. I remember James making a comment along the lines that he and his wife were going to miss her.

I’d become concerned about spending too much time talking with Laura especially since she wasn’t under my supervision so made a point of avoiding her that morning. Trish filled me in on moving her things and getting her settled. She said that she and her mother would feed Laura until the combo stove, sink, refrigerator unit was installed and that she would be fine. The only thing Trish added was that in moving her clothes she could see that Laura desperately needed some new ones.

To be continued...
    

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127e)

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127e)

Saturday was basically taken up with preparing for the so called party with the ”group“. Everybody had indicated that they were coming and that meant having to borrow some folding chairs. It was now up to eighteen people if everyone came. We could accommodate up to twelve with chairs we had so it meant tracking down six more. I was in the process of doing that when I got a call from ”Big B“ about the racecar. We were almost ready to put the motor in and he’d borrowed a chain hoist. He’d gone to the garage where we’d been working on it to see how to get it hung. When he did he was concerned that the beams wouldn’t be able to hold the weight of it and wondered what we were going to do. Neither of us had thought about that when putting the motor together. It was on a a dolly that we could roll around on the floor but that was it. It was just another thing to add to the list of problems. I told him that I couldn’t think about it at the moment as I was trying to locate chairs. ”How many? was his response. Within the hour I had eight folding chairs.

I was putting the liquor I'd borrowed from my father on the kitchen counter while Elle was getting dressed when the kitchen door opened. It was only a little after 7pm and the party wasn't to start until 7:30pm. In stumbled Rob, obviously drunk. I asked where his wife Lisa was and all he did was to shrug his shoulders. He made straight for the bourbon and I tried to intercept him. He was almost 100 pounds heavier than I was so that didn’t work. I pleaded with him to wait until the others got there hoping his brother Jon could control him. He promised that he’d only have one so I agreed. But that one was a high ball glass half filled with Jim Beam. I shuttled him into the den and into my recliner, turning on the TV and wondering what the rest of the night would be like.

Once everybody was there Pat took over and it became a full blown meeting and anything but a party. Fritz, who she’d been trying to recruit to run for the other school board position, was officially “off the hook” as Pat reported that a “local” had filed for it. When she announced who it was I shuddered. “Wally” was a plumber, in business with his father. I knew him because they’d done all the plumbing work for my father. Wally was one of the most negative people I’d ever met. No matter what position you took on a subject, he’d take the opposite one. But Pat proceeded to list all the reasons why he was going to be good for what we all wanted to accomplish. Her main points were that he had a son who was in the junior high school and had vocally made known that he was dissatisfied with his progress and he was a “local”. With Bob, from the “group“, already running and considered to be an ”outlander“, having Fritz run would just dilute our chances. She said two outsiders might be too much to overcome. There wasn’t much discussion (not that there ever was when she was talking) but she didn’t stop there.

The PTA needed to raise money. She'd come up with an idea and we, the ”group”, were the key to it. What she wanted to do was geared to getting kids from the school to promote a Parents versus Teacher event. She wanted us to come up with ideas for different types of competitions that could be used. In looking back on it now, the rest of the night proved to be pretty interesting. Although there were no "fun and games" as in the past, time flew by. Because the “group” had a total of 23 kids (20 of them girls) and none older than 10, baby sitters were always needed so 10:30pm became the “witching hour” to keep costs down. Rob had passed out in my recliner and we had all been happy to just leave him there. However, I wasn’t about to let him sleep it off there. Jon volunteered to drive him home but needed help in getting him out to his car and Johnnie volunteered to help.

I held the storm door open as the two of them struggled to get Rob out and down the two steps to the patio. As Jon passed me by he asked if I’d seen his wife, Ginger. When at a party with Ginger I always had an eye peeled for her as I’d usually glean a few “peeks”. The last I’d seen of her was just before they got Rob out of the chair and she was headed into the bathroom. The window for it was right there and I pointed to it and Jon acknowledged. It took some “doing” but the three of us managed to stuff Rob and his 200+ pounds into Jon's back seat. I remember asking Jon what he was going to do with him once he got to Rob’s house. I couldn’t see his face when he answered “Just dump him!” so I didn’t know if he was kidding or not.

Since neither Ginger or Sandy had followed us outside we all made our way back into the kitchen. I fully expected to see the three women waiting for us but no one was there. The door to the cellar was partially opened so I called down to see if, for some unknown reason, they’d gone down there. I saw there was a light on but no one answered. That left me to call upstairs. On the third try I saw Elle stick her head out from our bedroom door and heard her say that it’d only be a minute. I was puzzled. What were they doing in my (our) bedroom?

I waited at the foot of the stairs for all three to come down. For some reason Ginger looked a bit embarrassed as she walked past me. Good nights were said leaving Elle and I to pick up the residue from the party. That was the one thing  hated the most after hosting... the clean up. Elle insisted that it be done before going to bed as she didn’t want to face it in the morning. However, on this occasion I realized that it would give me the time to inquire about the women's visit to out bedroom. As usual, Elle didn’t want to go into detail trying to get out of answering by saying it was “girly stuff” or something like that. I wasn’t buying! I told her I wanted the whole story or she was going to face the clean up by herself. I got a pouty look in return but when I started to leave she called me back.

I don’t remember everything she told me and I’m not sure of the sequence but, basically, this is what had happened... Ginger, with four kids, one right after another was left with a bit of an incontinence problem, exacerbated by alcohol. She’d full out wet herself on our couch at the first “group” party we’d hosted. I’d seen other instances of it and had, from time to time talked with Elle about it. Then, if you’ve been reading more recent posts, you're probably aware of Sandy’s “dribble” problem and how, between Elle, Sandy and I, had created what, for lack of a better description, we called “dribble panties” for her (and for Elle). When all the other people were leaving Elle and Sandy had chatted a bit and Elle asked her if she’d gotten her medications straightened out (referring to her “situation” at the last basketball game). Not really thinking, (probably because of the alcohol) Sandy announced that her “dribble panties” had been sufficient that night. Ginger overheard her comment and wanted to know what she was referring to.

To be continued...

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127d)

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127d)

I was to visit another of the service bureaus at the end of the week and really didn’t want to do it after seeing the first one... but I had to go through with it as one of our Board members was a friend of that bank’s president. When Laura came in to work on Wednesday she’d heard from James and he and his wife were bringing Peggy and her baby home on the weekend. The one thing she didn’t want to do was to go back to living at home full time. Being there on the weekends was hard enough. She’d met a boy she liked and even though she was over 18 years old her father prohibited her from dating. Hobie, the vice president and my boss, overheard me talking with her and her concerns with renting the quarters that Betsy had offered. Hobie’s wife and Betsy were close friends. After hearing Laura explain the situation he said he'd speak to Betsy and see what he could do. At that point, thankfully, the matter was out of my hands.

Elle had received a phone call from the principal of the first school she’d taught at after I’d given up racing horses and moved back to the area. He was now an administrator for the school district where the bank was located. He was faced with finding a substitute teacher to finish out the school year for a woman who was pregnant and having difficulties. At one time Elle and I had talked about such a situation that had occurred in our own school district. She felt it was unfair for a substitute to have to do all the duties of a salaried teacher while only being paid about 40% of what that teacher was paid. She was also aware that if she were to turn down an opportunity that she’d go to the bottom of the call list so she called and asked what she should do. I was up to my eyeballs with everything I was involved in and didn’t have the time to go over what we’d already discussed so, more or less, blew her off by telling her to go see the administrator and tell him how she felt. She wasn’t happy with me when I hung up.

The appointment with the other service bureau was geared to a luncheon so I'd had time to go in to work before heading out. When I looked over at Laura she was wearing a smile, something that had been missing all week. I didn’t want to be too obvious so waited to ask Trish what was up. Hobie had done what he said he’d do and had spoken not only to Betsy but to her husband as well. He'd talked them into lowering the rent but had also persuaded them to buy a “combo” unit with a sink, small refrigerator and stove. It seemed like one of my “problems” was well on the way to being solved. At least I didn’t have that on my mind as I drove to the appointment.

The man in charge of this service bureau was very definitely Swedish, from the blond hair, his accent and his name, Sven. I was a bit concerned as we ate lunch because he spoke as if it was a done deal between his bank and mine. I let it slide as him being an optimist. My real concern came when viewing the facilities. The operations center was located in the basement of the main office and definitely an afterthought. There was absolutely no room for expansion. When I asked about that, Sven said they’d address it when it became necessary. The other service bureau had been located in a stand alone building with room for at least two more computers. As the afternoon progressed, I began to have more and more doubts about the viability of doing business with them. Without going into details, we (my bank) would be nothing more than like a branch of their bank, only able to offer the same services, products and rates they offered. There was no customization of any of their programs allowed. Their cost per transaction was lower but there were other expenses that wouldn’t be covered like the messenger service to deliver the daily reports. Each of the two service bureaus used a different equipment manufacturer and the purchase cost was basically the same for each. My first attempt at bringing the bank into the present (using electronics) had been shot down by the cost of the equipment we’d need but the Board had somewhat come to grips with that. As I left for home I knew I’d have to “sell” the idea based upon our need to be competitive with other financial institutions. I didn’t “know” many of the Board members but what little I did know about them was that they enjoyed living in the past. It was going to be difficult.

I went straight home only to find Elle still mad at me for not taking time to fully listen to her about the job offer. She, rather curtly, told me she’d made an appointment to go in and see the administrator the following week. All I could say was that I agreed with her position. Even though it had been primarily me who had negative feelings about Pat (the PTA lady), I found that part of Elle’s anger was derived from a call Pat had made to her that afternoon. I’d seen her as a “control freak“ for quite a while but Elle had pretty much defended her. Pat had called to tell Elle what she (Pat) wanted served at the party we were hosting for the group on Saturday evening. So, needless to say it was a ”chilly“ meal and evening for me.

My goal was to be at work early the next day to try and intercept Hobie before he got too involved. The reason was to find out just how ”tight“ the Board member was with the president of the bank with the service bureau that I’d just visited. The one thing I didn’t want was to create friction by knocking that service bureau if it really was a ”done deal“ with them. Hobie was somewhat distressed but asked me to give him my unbiased comparison of the two. When finished I could see he foresaw a problem. He thanked me for being honest with him and told me that he’d get back to me as far as how to proceed with my presentation at the full Board meeting the next week. That meant I’d have to worry about it over the weekend.

When I got back to my desk Trish was waiting with the typed report on the dress code project I’d been working on. That, too, was to be presented at the upcoming Board meeting. Trish, not knowing the pressure I was under concerning the service bureaus, asked if I thought it would be appropriate if she ”modeled“ a pants suit for the Board since they were the basis for the whole dress code project. Like the day before, with Elle, I didn’t have the patience for a discussion on the matter right them and there and tried to defer her. But, Trish, as usual, ”pushed“ and said that Lena, the secretary for Bert, the president, had come up with the idea and was willing to do it if she had someone to join her. Lena, as I’ve described way earlier, was an unmarried, somewhat plain, woman, now in her late 30’s. Of all the females at the bank she was probably the most fashion conscious and best dressed. As the skirt hems went up so did hers but not to the extent of Katie and Jerena, the tellers that some of the Board members wanted to censure. The fact that she thought it was a good idea made me back off so I told Trish that I’d give it some thought.

To be continued... 

SPRINGING AHEAD... a busy time (Part 127c)

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127c)

I knew I had to be patient when asking Elle about Sandy but it was hard. The smile that had been on her face was one that I’d come to know was going to cost me something. After a little ”bartering“ (the cost of which was for a new Spring outfit) she started in to tell me. Since the middle of February she said Sandy had told her she’d been very ”uptight“ and hadn’t been feeling all that well. She went to her regular doctor who prescribed a tranquilizer to calm her down. She was supposed to take one first thing in the morning but had a hard time remembering to do it and, on this day, mistakenly, had taken two. She told Elle she felt like she was drunk and that her legs were like rubber but she insisted on being at the game. Johnnie was concerned but got her to her regular seat behind the bench but she hadn’t remembered to visit the rest room. When she tried to get up to go her legs wouldn’t hold her up so she sat back down. Johnnie had to be there an hour before the game and there were no people there to help her so she proceeded to just sit there and wet herself. Between the tranquilizers and her embarrassment she wasn’t the usual hyperactive Sandy that we were used to see at the games. We were in bed with the lights out and under the covers when Elle told me this. It always bothered Elle when I’d show ”excitement“ when I’d see the panties of another female or to see (or hear) about a wetting ”accident“ so I had to be especially careful what with she and Sandy being such good friends. When I didn’t comment I think Elle might've asked if I was still awake. I don’t remember how I responded but I do remember thinking that I’d just spent almost two hours sitting next to a woman in wet pants and hadn’t even known it. That upset me!

One thing for sure was that the incident with Sandy had taken my mind off Peggy and Laura’s problems... until the morning. I had a meeting with one of the service bureaus who the bank was considering to process our deposits and withdrawals. I should’ve been thinking about that but was consumed with thoughts of what was soon to happen with Peggy's return. The meeting was with with a regional commercial bank who maintained their own operations center. I met with the two men who oversaw the center, Alan and Bruce. I liked them right from the first handshake and, without taking you through the whole process, was ready to sign a contract before I left, but it was not my decision. If there was one piece of positive information that I was able to glean from my day was that if the bank was truly going ahead with plans for a branch, there was no way it could process the added transactions with the processing equipment we were presently using. I’d spent way more time than I anticipated so by the time I was back at the bank the employees were on their way home. Trish was still there and the look on her face told me she had some good news.

There were any number of people at work who knew James and his family. It didn’t take long for the news of the tragedy to spread and for the word that Laura would also soon need a place to live. The mother-in-law of the lady who was in charge of the accounting department, Betsy, had died right around the Christmas holiday. She’d lived in a converted garage out behind Betsy’s house. Her sister worked in the mortgage department and, after the death, had asked if Betsy would let her oldest daughter live there for a few months while her husband was waiting to be reassigned. The assignment came a lot sooner than expected and Betsy wasn’t in any rush to do anything with the space until she heard about Laura. The two of them had left early so Laura could see the space. I remember Trish holding up her crossed fingers.

At home, Elle had agreed to host the upcoming party for the ”group” on that Saturday. I was not looking forward to it. Since neither Elle nor I drank I had to “borrow” the liquor from my father. He’d been good about it in the past but I knew he’d be looking for replenishments in the not too distant future. After a call to him it was agreed he’d deliver it to the house, saving me a trip. As I was talking to him I saw lights on in the house next door. Concerned, I put on my coat to go take a look. I knew workmen had been there on a “hit or miss” basis for a few weeks but hadn’t taken the time to see, up close, what they were doing. Peering in from the back porch I didn’t recognize the kitchen. All new white cabinets rimmed the three walls I could see. There were florescent lights on the ceiling and, although no walls were moved, the space looked a lot bigger than it had when I’d been there when Celia lived there. On my way back to the house I wondered who would end up living there and if we’d like them.

When Laura went to see the space that Betsy showed her there was on major problem. There was no provision for cooking. When the mother-in-law lived in it she ate with Betsy and her family. Laura, on the other hand, had been fed by Trish’s family when she lived there and, presently, by Peggy’s parents. Betsy wasn’t interested in doing that so things were up in the air. At Peggy’s, Laura wasn’t paying rent because she was doing the bookkeeping for James’ business. Betsy wanted $20 a week rent but utilities were included. At that time Laura was making around $65 a week (gross). Trish had told me that she’d just started to put money in the bank and rent was going to be a hardship. We just didn’t know what to do.

At the Chamber of Commerce luncheon meeting that week I ended up sitting next to the manager of the new department store that had opened on Main Street the previous Fall. In the course of conversation he offered to open a charge account with the store for me. Up to that time I’d avoided getting credit cards with the exception of a Sears card. He was a good salesman. As soon as the meeting broke up we walked over to the store. I’d only been in there a few times and never to buy anything. They had just expanded into an adjacent building and moved the furniture and appliance section. That freed up the basement of the original space where they’d added kids and teen clothing as well as a large lingerie section. The manager’s office was down there as well and as we made our way to it I couldn’t help but notice all the panties they had displayed. There was one brand that I recognized but hadn’t seen in any local store... Shadowline. They were available at department stores in near the city and I’d bought a few pair for Elle but, because they were “fancy panties” with lace and appliques, she wouldn’t wear them all that often. They were made almost entirely of nylon satin tricot, my favorite material, and were a bit expensive. I still made a note of the fact that they were now readily available.

When filling out the papers for the charge account  I found out that I was to be deemed a “VSC”, a Very Special  Customer and would get a 5% discount on all my purchases. I was tempted to take a look around before going back to work but I’d been gone for over two hours by then. I do remember making a point of not telling Elle about the card though.

To be continued...    

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127b)

SPRINGING AHEAD... A busy time (Part 127b)

When I walked across the lobby on my way to my desk that first Friday of the month Trish intercepted me. She had a concerned look on her face which telegraphed that she had some bad news. It didn’t seem so bad at first when she told me Laura wouldn’t be in. Her absence didn’t affect the work I was responsible for so, for a second, wondered why she was informing me about it. Then she gave me the really bad news.

Laura had been living with the parents of my friend, James, who owned a local gas station that I patronized. His daughter, Peggy, had been a babysitter for Elle and I when we lived in the mobile home park in town. Peggy had gotten married, much to her parents dismay, right after graduating from high school. The boy was in the Coast Guard and was assigned to a station in North Carolina. Right after their wedding they moved there which opened up the opportunity for Laura to move in with Peggy’s parents. Over time she’d become a “surrogate daughter" to them, filling Peggy’s the void Peggy's hasty departure created. Added to the situation was the fact that Peggy was pregnant. James had gotten over his ”hurt“ and he and his wife had driven down to see Peggy and her husband over Christmas. The last I’d heard from James was that Peggy’s baby was due the end of February.

Trish didn’t know all the details but she did know that Peggy’s husband had been killed in a car accident while on his way to the hospital to see Peggy and the new baby. Peggy’s mother received the sad news the previous evening while James was out but Laura had been at the home. The mother fainted at the news and Laura found her on the floor. When Laura got her up the woman grabbed hold of her and just held on to her. She'd pleaded with Laura to stay with her that morning while James made arrangements to go to North Carolina.

I still had my coat on while Trish was telling me all this. It was like someone had made up a horror story. I knew that Hobie knew James so I gave him my version of it and when I finally sat down it was after 9am and the customers were filing into the bank. I really don’t remember the rest of the day until it was time to drive home. That was when all the ”moving parts“ seemed to come together and I came to the realization the Peggy would have to come home with her baby and that would mean Laura would have to find another place to stay. Elle was upset with the news about Peggy and, like me, wanted to do something to help James, his wife and, of course, Peggy and her new baby but we didn’t know where to start.

On top of everything else, there were home basketball games scheduled for that night. I’d half heartedly promised Johnnie that I’d go to the last two games of the season but had absolutely no desire to go that night. Elle thought it would be a good idea for all of us to go if for no other reason than to get our minds off the tragedy. Walking into the gym I recognized the opposing school as being the smallest in our league. Johnnie had mentioned them as being the best hope for a win so I managed to focus on that. As usual, we sat with Sandy. She and Elle soon got into a deep conversation and I was left to handle the kids. My oldest daughter, Jean, had become quite a fan especially with the brother of one of her best friends on the team. That made at least one of my ”charges“ visually occupied. With Elle by her side Sandy seemed much more reserved than usual but I was too occupied with the kids to comment on it.

With less than a minute to play Johnnie’s team was ahead by a few points. Johnnie’s kids were obviously looking at the scoreboard and not paying attention to the game because the other team scored and immediately got the ball back. I thought Johnnie would have an apoplectic fit. But, in the end, the other team made the last mistake and, finally, Johnnie and the team were winners. When I looked over at Sandy she was crying.

By then Kaye, our youngest, was more than ready to go home. The older two wanted to stay and see Susan, the cheerleader who’d babysat them a few times. Elle won out and we headed home. I commented on Sandy's calmness and Elle just smiled back at me with one of those looks that she'd get when she had something "interesting" to tell me. But, with the kids right there she wasn't about to tell me right there.  She had been right with the thought that the game would get our minds off Peggy and her folks and by the time we had the kids in bed all I could concentrate on was what "juicy" (pun intended) news Elle had for me about Sandy.

To be continued...

SPRINGING AHEAD... A Busy Time (Part 127a)

SPRINGING AHEAD... A Busy Time (Part 127a)

March was shaping up to be a hectic one both at work and at home. If there was one thing that I was looking forward to it was what was happening to the house next door. Celia, the owner, had moved to live with her sister and put the house up for sale. The house had been vacant since just before the end of the year and every so often I’d see some indication that someone had been looking at it, usually by a light left on. The first indication that something positive had happened was seeing a couple of trucks over in the driveway. On the way to work I stopped at the realty office to ask Vic, the salesperson, what was happening. I was hoping that he’d been able to sell it for Celia. But, he hadn’t. Celia hadn’t paid the property taxes in a few years and it had been sold at a tax sale. All I could think of was poor Celia and her daughter not getting anything for it. Vic told me that he thought it was being taken over by a developer from up West who was going to modernize it to sell. Selfishly, I was glad that we might soon get a new neighbor.

At work, all the “chatter” was about Cassie, the teller who was getting married on the upcoming weekend. Two of the other tellers were asked to be in the wedding party. The dresses for the bridesmaids had been bought out of a catalog and the ones for the two girls had been delivered to the bank. All the females wanted to see what they looked like so, as soon as the doors were closed to the public all the women clamored to see them. I wasn’t happy about it but let them have some fun before getting them back to work and proving up for the day.

The woman I’d hired to replace Cassie, Donna, had picked up on the duties of a teller very rapidly. She was 40 years old and had no previous experience. In fact she hadn’t worked since her son was born some 15 years earlier. She’d held some sort of low level supervisory position for a big company in the city. Well dressed and well spoken, she won me over right from the start of her interview. It didn’t hurt that she was attractive. Initial feedback on her was that she was very good with the customers. However, I was also getting some “rumblings” that the other tellers found her to be somewhat “haughty” in the dealings with her.  The report was that she thought some of her duties were a bit beneath her. I called her over to discuss it and quickly found that she was, very much, a flirt and adept at diverting the conversation from the topic at hand. I picked up on it right away and told her that she was to follow the job description and direction from Cara, the teller training her. I told her that after she’d proven she could do the job that we’d listen to her “suggestions”. The whole while I was talking she had a somewhat smirky smile on her face and kept batting her eyelashes. She’d been sitting at the side chair along side my desk with her legs crossed. As the conversation went on she’d managed to hike the hem of her skirt up about halfway up her her thigh. Then, when she got up to leave, very slowly uncrossed her legs while spreading her knees. It caused me to swallow hard. There was no way not to see right up to her crotch. She was wearing red panties. That was a first for me. I’d seen them in the stores but never on a living, breathing woman. As she walked away I began to wonder what my facial expression had been. I also wondered if it wasn’t I who was being “schooled”.

I’d started collecting data on dress codes at other banks and found they were pretty much in the same situation as we were. One of the banks I contacted had been taken to court by a female employee who had been sent home because her skirt was too high. It got settled out of court but the bank was still struggling on how to police it. A while back, Trish, representing the “Polish Mafia” and some other females at the bank, approached me about the possibility of wearing pants/trousers to work. I told her I’d work on it and, in making the calls, broached that subject with them. One bank told me they had allowed it and used it as a “carrot” to get the females with short skirts and hemlines to “tone it down”. Hearing that, I pretty much felt had a solution that the Board of Trustees might go for.

The Board of Trustees maintained any number of sub committees to consider various bank related topics. There were three members who seemed to be on most of them because they were always coming and going, usually meeting with Bert, the president. Following one of those meetings I got a call from J J, the mortgage officer. For some reason they had convened right outside his office door and he’d overheard them talking about the possibility of opening a branch office and he though I might like to know about it. I’d not heard anything about it but knew that they (the Board) were concerned about the inroads a new Savings and Loan that had opened West of our town had been making due to an aggressive ad campaign. When I heard J J mention a branch I put the two together. My first thought was that it would mean more work for me and my days were already full. I couldn’t dwell on the subject with only J J’s word to go on but it was something I had to keep in mind..

Another project that I had to have finished by the end of the month was gathering empirical data concerning the bank using and outside service bureau to process our banking transactions. I’d started on it a few times in the past and when I’d provided a guesstimate on the costs of just the new equipment  I was told to stop. Being just a junior officer didn’t give me much standing to protest the shortsightedness of their thinking. I knew we were just one equipment breakdown from a public relations disaster but they were only thinking of the capital expenditure. At least this time the direction had come from the president at the last Board meeting so I felt a little better as I set about gathering up the information on options the bank could take.

Certainly not far from my thoughts was “B’s” racecar. He’d called me about midweek to confirm that I’d be available to work on putting the motor together. It was a lot easier to take one apart than putting one together. Actually, my primary interest was in finding out what happened when “B” told Jon about Jon’s sister, Leigh, using their Summer house for a tryst (or two) but with Elle nearby decided to wait.

At the very end of my priority list was the party Elle and I were to host for the “group”. I truly believed in the “cause”, that of changing the members of the Board of Education who seemed to live in the past. However, Pat (the PTA lady), with her controlling ways, had worn her welcome out with me. I wasn’t looking forward to the gathering as they’d become more of a meeting than a party. I rather enjoyed the way they’d been when Elle and I had been asked to join in. I knew she’d coerced Bob into running for one of the two positions and was now badgering Fritz to run for the other. I wasn’t looking forward to our “party”.

To be continued...

WINTER DOLDRUMS... February (Part 126g)

WINTER DOLDRUMS... February (Part 126g)

When “B” was shown the dish with the cigarette butts he picked one up, studied it, and then started to laugh. I couldn’t think of anything funny about a cigarette butt so asked what was so funny. I remember his exact words... “The mystery is solved! It’s Leigh!” The name seemed a bit familiar but I wasn’t sure so I questioned him. Leigh was Jon (the milkman) and Rob’s sister, whose parents owned the house. “B” said it’d been a few years since he’d seen her but she smoked like a chimney and only Virginia Slims cigarettes. He said she was somewhat of a “kook” and didn’t get along with her brothers or her father and that’s why she hadn’t been around. After looking at the condition of the bed he laughed again saying that she must’ve been “pretty desperate” to drive some 90 miles to get a lay.  All I could do was to listen... and start to wonder about the panties in my pocket. I briefly thought about telling “B” about them but quickly decided against it.

As we headed back to the garage I asked “B” what he was going to tell Jon or his father. He had a big grin on his face and told me the first place he was headed for when we left for the day was to Jon’s house. I could see he was anxious to tell him but we’d started the fire in the stove. I wanted to get at the rear end that “B” had bought to see if he’d lucked out and actually gotten the one with the gear ratio I was looking for. It took about an hour to get it apart and when I found it was the right one “B” said it was time to go. It didn’t bother me as I was cold even with the fire in the pot bellied stove... plus I was anxious to look at the panties still in my coat pocket.

As “B” drove me home he told me a bit about the girl. One word pretty much summed her up... spoiled. She pretty much got whatever she wanted as she had her mother wrapped around her little finger. Nice clothes, expensive car and... a bad attitude. When he dropped me off I could tell he was relishing the thought of being the one to “rat her out” to her brother, Jon.

Being almost dark and knowing Elle was waiting for me I had to hold off checking out the panties I’d found in the house under the bed when “B” and I were checking it out. You’ve heard the statement about money burning a hole in a person’s pocket... well these panties were doing sort of the same thing. I knew I’d only have a quick minute to check them out when I used the toilet and washed up but it meant having to stuff them back in my pocket. Elle didn’t like having me wearing my dirty, oily clothes in the house so I’d usually strip out of them and throw them in the wash basket at the bottom of the cellar stairs. I wasn’t real happy with that but it was the best I could come up with.

I’d only really felt them when I stuffed them in my pocket and was a bit surprised when I actually pulled them out. A much thinner nylon material that the satin tricot ones I held them up in front of me and could see right through both the front and back layers of the material. Knowing I only had a few seconds for my “inspection”, I searched out the label. I wasn’t surprised when I read it especially after hearing “B” describe the woman... Vanity Fair. I’d come to the conclusion that rich women chose that brand . I’d only bought Elle a few pair and remembered that they were somewhat expensive. Turning the label over I saw the word “Pechglo” and had no idea what it meant. The panties were size 6 and seemed to be well worn with some of the threads holding the waist elastic broken with the loose threads just hanging there. As interesting as that was it was what I found in the crotch area that really got me. It was obviously dried cum covering a good part of the crotch. I didn’t have to to dwell on it though because Elle was calling out to me asking if I was OK.

The panties went back in my pocket and the trousers ended up down in the basement. My main thoughts were to come up with an excuse to go down there after supper to retrieve them. I thought I’d come up one but before I could act on it the phone rang. It was Pat (the PTA lady) who wanted to speak to me. I’d gotten to the point of almost disliking her and tried to avoid her as much as possible. So, having her call, specifically to me, was a bit of a shock. She’d already persuaded Bob, a member of our “group” to run for the School Board. She’d engineered getting Jon (the milkman) elected as a start and was now focusing on getting more changes made. She wanted me to put pressure on Fritz, another member of the “group”, to run for the other position up for election. She was hard to deal with but I absolutely agreed with what she was attempting to accomplish so agreed. She also reminded me that it was Elle’s and my turn to host the monthly party.

By the time I was done explaining the reason for the call to Elle, Sunday night TV was on and my reason for going down to the basement was no longer valid. However, my thoughts never strayed far from them. While watch TV I kept wondering why there was so much cum in the panties if I’d found them on the floor just under the edge of the bed. Elle and I’d had sex with her still wearing her panties and knew they’d be filled with cum as soon as she got up. The only thing I could come up with was that she’d had sex before getting to the house and into bed... possibly in the car. It just seemed strange to me.

I was able to get the panties out of the work pants by getting up early the next morning to take my shower. I wasn’t happy with where I ended up hiding them and knew they’d have to be moved. Plus, I wanted to take a much closer look at them. It almost seemed like a conspiracy to keep me from doing it as it ended up being the end of the week before I got to them. Definitely a different type of nylon that I’d seen or held before I decided I didn’t really like it. At least it was something learned for the future. In looking at them I reminded myself that I had always wanted to see the female who went with panties I’d seen or touched. In spite of “B” appraisal of the woman, I still wanted to see what she looked like.

To be continued...
  

Update #8

Update #8

We’re back from our daughter’s with a lot of hope. A meeting with the doctors who performed the surgery coupled with the pathology reports indicated that they got the cancer. At the present time she will only have to deal with radiation and not chemotherapy. That’s very good news!. It will be a little longer until she knows just when the radiation will start.

It’s good to be back at our new home. Since we moved in we’ve only been here for about half the time. For those of you who’ve hung in there waiting for more posts at Fancy Panties. there’s good news. I’ve got an outline and am ready to start writing tomorrow. So... check back in a day or two.

Again, thanks for the support and I hope you’ll continue to follow “Fancy Panties”.

 Pantymaven

Update #7

Update # 7

I feel badly that I haven’t posted and update in so long... any number of reasons could be used but the bottom line is I didn’t. My daughter had a lumpectomy that removed two nodules and the preliminary pathology showed that they got it all. However, we’re still awaiting the full report. That’s the good news. The less than good news is that, psychologically, she is still a “basket case”. That’s the part that we’ve been working on... trying to get her spirits up. I flew home to take care of “business” (paying the bills and all that kind of stuff) on Wednesday and am flying back at noon today. I still have the intention of continuing the blog and have located the missing paperwork (the thread keeper) as well as the rest of the notes I’d made. Because there are so many people coming and going at my daughter’s house I just haven’t felt comfortable working on it there. So... it’ll be a little longer until I’m back.
     The Pantymaven 

Update # 6

... a few "bumps in the road"...

First... I still haven't located a very important part of this blog... It's what I call the "thread keeper" and it's supposed to keep me headed in the right direction. With the interruption for the move and all that went with it I've lost track of where I was and where I was headed. I know it's here... somewhere. My office was the last thing to be packed and it got very hectic that day. If I could go back in time I could take you right to where it was. I'm thinking (hoping) that it and all the papers in that pile got swept up into a "catchall" box and is still in the storage locker. But, right now it's the least of my problems...

Right after the move I found a pimple right next to my nose that wouldn't go away. At the urging of my wife (Elle) I made an appointment with the dermotologist. Long story short... it was skin cancer (a squamus{sp} cell carcinoma), not good but not all that bad. The trouble is the bandage that I have to wear because it blocks the vision in my left (good) eye.

Then, on Saturday, we got a call from our oldest daughter... breast cancer. We won't know the extent of it until the operation, the date of which is still to be determined. This, for her (and for us) could not have come at a worse time. I won't go into the details but less that a year ago she had a major operation to remove a cyst from her brain right behind her right eye. The operation was successful and her initial recovery exceeded expectations but she hit a plateau this Summer and the neurologist wouldn't clear her to go back to work. She, an award winning elementary school teacher, used up all of her accumulated sick leave and, due to some quirky rules in her state/school district was to be, of all things, terminated if she didn't retire. This was a complete blind side to her and was really upsetting. the details of her undesired retirement were in the process of being worked out when the news of the cancer came in.

To say that she is a mental wreck is putting it mildly, so, my wife and I headed North yesterday to help her through the situation. I have no idea how long we'll be there but it will definitely be until we all have an idea what lies ahead for her. I still have hope to continue and will, from time to time, post an update. Until then, thanks for stopping by.
    The Pantymaven

Update #5

Update #5
 Had the first bad experience since starting (and completing) the move. The complex we moved to only has Comcast and although I was wary of it when told about it, knew I didn’t have a choice so swallowed hard. It took a little over two weeks before the problems started. I won’t bore you with much detail but after almost three weeks of severe problems I finally have access to the internet. They ran a whole new cable into our unit and I’ve been on (and uninterrupted) since about noon. The problem included TV as well. Hopefully the new cable will solve ALL the problems.

OB... your last comment is sooooooo true! Boxes on top of boxes and wondering where to put the stuff. I’m asking myself why I brought some of it in the first place. Had one funny moment though. Opened one box, clearly marked as mine, only to find it filled with stuff that was to be recycled. I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote on it. Maybe it was because it was well after midnight (or at least that’s the excuse I used) when I wrote on the box. I wasn't the only one as my wife discovered a storage tub over the weekend filled with coats and jackets that she'd forgotten about. Up to then she was so proud of herself for having enough room for all her clothes.

The target for getting back to regular posting is the latter part of next week. The only real “chore” I have left is to get my office fully organized. I’m still missing some things that I need but I’m confident that I’ll find them. To my loyal followers... I appreciate the patience.
    The Pantymaven

Update #4

Update #4
What a month!!!

We are living in our new "digs" but far, far from settled. The closing on the old house took place yesterday but what an experience to get to that point. It came VERY close to not happening at all. Long story short... when I paid off the mortgage, some 17 years ago, the bank that held the mortgage never recorded it so when they were doing the title search the old mortgage showed up as being unpaid. It would take me an hour to tell you what took place to get it resolved... but it was with only hours to go before settlement. Briefly, the original bank that I got the mortgage from sold it to another bank who then merged with another bank who then merged with yet another bank. Somewhere, over the course of time, the records for my loan got lost. To start with, I'd like to have back time I spent on trying to prove that I'd paid the loan. That was time I desperately needed to pack up our things and get moved but that all had to wait. Needless to say there was no time for writing during that ordeal. Now I'm faced with sorting though all the hastily packed boxes trying to find things... so it'll be a little longer until I can get back to writing... but I will! For those of you who still stop by... THANKS!!!

Update #3

Update #3

We’re making progress... although it’s agonizingly slow. The past week was especially hectic and I rarely had a free moment to check on-line. Was finally approved for a “bridge loan” and after settling on that made arrangements for the settlement on the condo... all the while meeting with people who were purchasing various household components that we had designated to sell (memorabilia, collections, etc). On top of that I had to meet with contractors to do work on the condo itself (painting, remodeling and the like), potential movers and, the most time consuming boxing the things we’re going to take with us. I truly haven’t forgotten “Fancy Panties” but my conscience has me focused on the goal of getting out of here, (settlement is the last week in August) and into the condo. If I find a free hour or two I’ll write some more. I do hope those of you who read “Fancy Panties” will continue to have patience... and again, thanks for the favorable comments.

WINTER DOLDRUMS... February (Part 126f)

WINTER DOLDRUMS... February (Part 126f)

I had to wait quite a while for Elle to  reappear from the locker room. With most of the people who showed up being female the lines for the toilets were long. I dared to ask her how she made out and her answer somewhat surprised me... ”just a bit damp... and I didn’t change...“. With us being with Sandy and Johnnie I figured that she would’ve, for sure, changed so I asked her if she did it for me. She gave me a ”look“ and said it would’ve been more embarrassing to attempt to change into dry panties. Then I asked if she’d seen Sandy and she said she did but not to speak too... the lines and crowd of people in the locker room were just too much to bother with. We had to wait for a short while for Johnnie and Sandy to show up and by then our parking ”advantage“ was lost. Sandy seemed perturbed as she arrived and Elle decided to get in the back seat with her. That was OK with me because I knew Johnnie would be more talkative than Elle.

From way back when my boarding school friend, Fred, and I first became friends he’d exposed me to a local diner that had a very good reputation. I suggested that we go there to get a bite to eat. Elle protested right away saying that we’d stick out like sore thumbs dressed as we were. I could see Sandy shaking her head in the rear view mirror as well.  Johnnie was all for it so I made the turn into into the parking lot. We did offer to bring the women some food if they wished but, both were being stubborn, and declined. While waiting to be served I asked Johnnie what was bothering Sandy. He made a ”face“ and said something along the lines was that she was just being ”ultra sensitive“. We were just about to be served when they walked in. Sandy was definitely in a better mood.

The trip home was easy. I left them off and we went to pick up the kids from Elle’s mother. On the way I asked what had made them change their mind about eating. She wasn’t about to tell me without getting something in return from me. She said the first Spring catalog had arrived from Sears and she’d already turned down a page. That was my cue to say ”OK!“, and hope that she’d explain.

Basically, Sandy had ”dribbled” before leaving for the clinic that morning and then, again, right before the clinic began. Hearing that I realized that Sandy had been at least damp when we were taking the instruction and that started a bit of a bulge. She’d brought dry panties and changed into them befor the exhibition. That was why she was late getting a seat. Expecting a two hour trip home she went into the locker room to use the toilet but... like Elle, found a lot other women in line. By the time she got into a stall she ended up being more than damp and didn’t want to go into the diner that way. Elle, not having used her spare panties gave them to Sandy and she slipped them on over her damp panties. That meant that she was sort of wet when she came into the diner and then on the trip home. Verrrry interesting... Back at home I found the “cost“ for the information about Sandy to be a halter shorts set. I actually liked it as soon as I saw it... a small price to pay.

Nothing of importance happened from then right up to the end of the month. Big ”B“ and I had continued to work on his racecar on Sunday afternoons, spending more time talking than working. One thing I’d wanted right from the time I’d gotten back into racing again was a special gear ratio for the rear end... a 9/41. I wont bore you with an explanation other than to say they were incredibly rare. I’d mentioned it to ”B“ a few times, not expecting him to follow up on it. Being an ”over the road“ salesman he covered a lot of territory that featured stock car racing. Being gregarious by nature, ”B“ made a lot of friends and they, upon hearing of his new found interest in racing, was introduced to others with the same interests. I think it was a Thursday night and I’d just gotten home when I saw headlights in the driveway. Not expecting anyone I was really curious. Turning on the floodlight out by the garage I recognized ”B’s“ black Ford sedan. But what caught my attention was what was on the trunk of the car. It was a full rear end for a car.

I saw ”B“ head up the walk to the house, without his coat. It had to be in the 20’s and when I opened the door he called for me to come on out. However, there was no way that I was venturing out there without a coat. Joining him, he was obviously exited. ”It’s a 9/41!“. I wasn’t so sure, having been ”burned“ once on what was supposedly a 9/41. There was only one way to know for sure and that was to take it apart. I certainly wasn’t going to do it right there and told ”B“ I’d help him take it off his car... over at the place where we kept the racecar.

Elle wasn’t happy but at that moment I didn’t care. On the way over I suggested that we wait to inspect his purchase until the weekend where we had daylight as there was no electric power to the garage. While untying the rear end from the car I happened to look over at the house. I thought I saw  the glow of a cigarette from an upstairs window. I mentioned it to ”B“. We walked towards the house but the” glow” had disappeared by the time we got under the window. I asked if he wanted to go and check inside but he declined saying I'd imagined it and we could do it on Sunday. That was OK by me because I, even with my Winter coat on, was now cold. I knew “B” was disappointed that I wasn’t as excited about the rear end as he was but we didn’t need to know if it was what we wanted right away.

Sunday came soon enough. We started the fire in the stove and then headed over to the house to do the weekly inspection. Only a few steps inside were necessary to smell stale cigarette smoke. “B” looked at me and shrugged his shoulders saying that it looked like I was right. We found a cigarette butt in the sink but what was interesting was that there was lipstick on it. As we walked around the first floor we hypothesized who it could’ve been with neither of us having any idea at all. The door was locked when we entered so whoever it was must’ve had a key. On the second floor we split up with “B” taking one side of the hall and me the other. I knew that I was on the side closest to the garage and when I walked into the room where I’d thought I’d seen the “glow” I knew for sure that I’d been right. It was obvious that someone had been in or on the bed. I walked around to the window side of it and saw a dish on the floor and in it was a bunch of cigarette butts. When I bent down to see if they had lipstick on them I saw something that caught my eye. I reached for it and pulled out a pair of panties. I remember thinking that I didn’t want “B” to see them and quickly stuffed them in my coat pocket. It was then that I called for “B” to come into the room.

To be continued...

Update #2...

Update #2...

First of all I’d like to thank those who took the time to comment and to encourage me to continue to write. It is my intention to do so but there will be an interruption. Let me explain...

As those of you who have been following this blog know, one of my wife’s closest and dearest friends recently died. Her death was very traumatic for my wife and seeing the results of it on her family got her to thinking about seriously planning for our future. We’d given some casual thought to “downsizing” in the past but our time with my wife’s friend’s family kicked that up a whole lot. Right before we received word of her death we saw that a house in our community (same size and model) had sold for what I considered an unbelievable price. Upon our return I contacted a realtor friend who also lives in the community and asked her what she thought our house was worth. Her first response was to ask if we were serious as she had a ready buyer for this particular model house. When she told me she thought I could get more money than the house I’d seen as being sold it got my attention. When I said we were serious she asked if she could bring her buyer over to look at the house. We said yes and, long story short, the buyer not only liked it but made a cash offer. Totally unprepared for it we hesitated, but only for a day. The buyer signed a contract and we have until August 29th to close on it. Talk about a change!

So, since then we have found a very nice condo and have been “downsizing” from about 6am until about 11pm, daily. It has been a daunting task going through all the things we’ve collected in the 30 years we’ve lived in this house. However, we’re committed now and have no choice but to make some hard decisions on what to keep, what to sell and what to throw away. Because of the time constraints I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to posting on a regular basis. However, I do plan on returning. Please check back from time to time because I’m hoping to be able to post more to "Fancy Panties“ before our move. After that will be the ”period of adjustment“, getting all systems in place and settled in and I probably will not have the ability to write for a few weeks. Again, thanks for the encouragement and comments. It is really appreciated!

Update...

Looks like lean times have arrived for "Fancy Panties"... only two "hits" on the Heads Up posting.
In any case... I (we) are back from the West coast. Arrived Thursday night to find our car had been  vandalized. By the time the authorities were contacted, all the reports were filed and we got a taxi ride home it was almost 4am... on the 4th of July. Try to get anything done on the 4th!... lotsa luck. In any case, I (we) now have a rental car courtesy of the insurance company. It may be a few days until I'm able to get caught up and back to writing... if anyone cares...

A Heads Up...

To all that take the time to read this tome... I'll be away for  a short while. My wife's college roommate (4 years) died in her sleep Thursday night. The funeral is on Monday and we're flying out to Seattle in a short while. I'm not sure when I'll be able to resume posting as I'm leaving with a lot of things up in the air (month end). In any case, I WILL return!

WINTER DOLDRUMS... February (Part 126e)

WINTER DOLDRUMS... February (Part 126e)

When we pulled into the academy parking lot we were early enough to find a space right in front. The bulk of the parking spaces were out behind the building and ingress and egress was difficult. I remembered back to the grand opening and it took almost a half hour to get off the property. Our plan was to experience the clinic, watch the exhibition between the two girls and be on our way home, trying to salvage some daylight in the process. I quickly found Shelly and introduced her to Sandy and Johnnie. Seeing us dressed in tennis clothes she smiled and said it was a wise decision pointing to all the people headed for the locker rooms. She gave us one bit of surprising news. She told us that she always tried to split up husbands and wives in theses sort of affairs saying that there should only be one ”coach“ and that should be the person running the clinic. She had a bit of a smile when she said it. Then she told Sandy and I to head for court one where we’d be working with a girl named Kerry. It didn’t bother me but it seemed like Sandy was a bit upset. Elle and Johnnie were sent to court three to work with a girl named Karen.

I remember standing there waiting with trepidation as I watched the others in our group file in. Mostly middle aged women, I did see one with a very short dress on that I decided would be my ”target“ for watching. A cute dark haired girl appeared from the other side of the court and she introduced herself saying that there would be two parts to the clinic. The first was to be her demonstrating various type shots and then the participants would get a chance to try the same shot. That would last approximately an hour and a half, give or take. The second part was to be the participants hitting balls to her and then returning them. It sounded good to me... until she started. It was obvious that I was definitely out of my element.

I’m sure that, inwardly, Kerry was laughing during my turn. She started with the serve. She was wearing a white dress with lace appliques on it. It didn’t look all that short when she was just standing there but when she tossed the ball up in the air and went to swing at it I was amazed at how much of her panties (fancy) showed. There were a few participants ahead of me that seemed to know what they were doing. When it was my turn the only thing that I did right was to have worn ”tennis whites”. After my turn I rotated to the rear of the group, trying to hide. I watched Sandy and, although not as good as the others that had preceded us, didn’t embarrass herself. The last to go was the woman I’d noted earlier with the really short dress. She had my attention because of the dress but quickly showed that she was as inept as I was as far as the tennis was concerned. Weirdly, that made me feel better. But the attention getter was when she tossed a ball in the air to hit it for her serve and missed it completely. When she went to pick it up she bent over at the waist and exposed her whole backside. I know my eyes bugged out of my head. I’d been hoping for a “peek” but I got a full blown “look”. The two definite crotch lines was the real attention getter for me, enough for me to feel a “stirring“. Now the woman had a two fold interest for me.

Our group had no interaction with the other group at all. Because people were gathering for the exhibition I couldn’t even see that court. I survived the next two parts, forehand and backhand, and felt a little better about myself. I actually still remember some of what Kerry had demonstrated. She actually came out onto the court and not only stood behind me but she came right up into my back and took my arm to show me how I should get ready for an oncoming ball and then how to hit it... turn, step in, follow the ball to the racquet, swing and follow through. That was a thrill in itself.

When that part was over we were told that we would all get a chance to hit balls with her. Our ”job“ was to hit the ball back to her and if we did we could continue to do it up to a dozen ”hits“. The lady with the short dress was first and, as I remember it, didn’t even get her first ball over the net. She was then asked to be the ”ball girl“ and to collect the balls that the participants hit into the net or right on past Kerry. I swear that for the next ten or so minutes my eyes never left her. It was a voyeur’s delight. When my turn came Kerry reminded me of all the things I had to do with each ball she returned to me... ”turn, step in, eye on the ball, swing and follow through“. I was so nervous, with so many people watching me, that I don’t remember how many times I was successful. Because there were so many ”good“ players there that were able to keep the ball in play, the half hour passed quickly and I never got another chance. There was a half hour ”break“ for the girls to take a rest before actually playing. I caught up with Elle but she wasn't smiling as she approached which was not a good sign. She didn’t stay long and headed straight for the locker room. I lost track of Sandy and never dis see Johnnie. The lobby area was crawling with activity as I withed for Elle.

When she reappeared I asked if she was OK and I didn't get an answer. Those of us who were the 9am participants were told to go on into to the main court and takes seats. There were four rows of bleacher type seats on each side of the court and we could sit wherever we chose to. Then another group came and joined us, filling up most of the seats. I figured they were the next group for the clinic. Johnnie and Sandy came in with the last group and I wondered what had happened to them. We’d tried to save seats for them but the people around us kept squeezing over into the space we were trying to save. I saw Johnnie standing at the end of the seats on the opposite side from us but couldn’t find where Sandy was. Once the girls came onto the court to warm up I forgot about her and concentrated on them. Being among the first to get to the seats Elle wanted to sit in the middle. I would’ve chosen one end or the other (and you probably know why.)

After the warm-ups were over, Shelly came out and gave the audience the girl's backgrounds. They were both from Australia and here in the States to hone their skills at the academy. Both had played in numerous tournaments even though Kerry was only 19 years old and Karen was 21. Karen was tall... very tall, while Kerry seemed small in comparison. I give them both credit for being somewhat cute, especially Kerry. They had been doubles partners going back to when they were both in their mid teens and were preparing to do a lot of touring during the upcoming season playing both singles and doubles.

I have to admit that I was impressed with just how good they were. It only took a few minutes for me to concentrate on the tennis and not the girl’s backsides. I did get a few good peeks when they would make a diving stab at a ball but nothing really exciting. Kerry’s dress allowed a pretty good ”view“ but Karen’s didn’t ride up all that much. The exhibition lasted for about forty five minutes. Elle and I had hoped that they would stick around after the match but they had to eat and get ready for the next clinic. As we were leaving courtside I told Elle that I was finally getting interested about playing tennis. That drew a good smile from her.
         

Karen Krantczke

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Kerry Melville

To be continued...