childhood strangeness

as more and more people I know are succumbing to the vortex that is 30, I notice that my thoughts lately are turning to childhood memories. here are some of my favorite reminscences from ye good ole days:

* I wanted to have a smile like laura ingalls on Little House on the Prairie; that rectangular smile with all the teeth showing.

* Airwolf, Buck Rogers, MacGyver and Knight Rider -- where to find men of action

* Taking the infamous blue 1-speed bike on a 7-mile sunday school class bike trip; the teacher made sure everyone took turns suffering on it when we realized that it defied the laws of physics and would have taken me DAYS to bike 7 miles.

* a favorite lisa quote, stated while holding up a bag of candy in the car for all to see: "tasty mortals!"

* naming a pet cat "Pickleface".

* a bully putting gum in my already curly and tangly hair...right before I got off the bus

* turning on to the dirt road that meant we were just moments from grandma's house.

* getting up in the middle of the night so I could sneak into the kitchen for a pudding pop (sorry, mom!)

* while dad practiced at the church for his sunday "special music" performance the next day, lisa and I were endlessly delighted to be able to crawl under the pews from the front of the church to the back of the church...and the back of the church to the front of the church...and the -- you get the idea.

* the school bus dad bought for us to use as a playroom. he later sold it to a pig farmer.

* weekly trips to the library every summer. otherwise I was supremely bored and couldn't wait for school to start.

* chugging a sprite after tennis lessons; gone before we pulled out of the gas station parking lot.

* participating in the original competitive sport of throwing a stuffed frog named "golden rug" over the telephone wire.



this is pretty irrefutable proof that my future children are doomed. (not to mention the other half of the equation!)

It's been a crazy week; lots of visiting of old friends. I'm going to post about it at the beginning of next week...along with some old pictures that are always fun to reminisce over...it's a shame i don't have any mascot photos, Budget!