Memories
by Steph
I know... I know... It's been a week since I've posted. And it took me a week to finally get out the last post. I'm a bad blogger these days. But the good news is that my sister's wedding is 3 days away and then all wedding madness will be over and done with! 8 weeks of planning will have culminated into one single event that I've had nightmares about for 2 nights straight.
I've made lists upon lists so we don't forget things on the drive down there. I've been cutting, gluing, sewing, taping, painting, organizing, creating, printing, and stressing for what seems like an eternity. I've finalized with the caterer, photographer and baker.
I finally found the yellow wedges (or wedgies, as my mom calls them) that I'm supposed to wear.
My husband has found his suit and tie. That's all I'll say about that. Oh, but also that he's going to be dressed nicer for my sister's wedding than he was for his own.
And I remembered to get a Mother's Day gift for both my mom and my husband's mom.
I'll be glad when it's Monday, to say the least.
You can see that my life has been pretty centrally focused these last few weeks on the wedding stuff so I don't really have any other updates. I'm all wedding thoughts. Wedding, wedding, wedding. Wedding. Weeding. Welding. Wording. Warding. Wedding. Ding!
See? I'm going mad. Mad, I tell you!
Anyway, because I have nothing else to tell you, I'm going to reminisce about the days when a wedding consisted of dressing your Barbie in her wedding dress and driving off in her Barbie Corvette with Ken by her side. Here's some childhood memories to make you smile. Or cringe.
Really good cartoons like Darkwing Duck, Rescue Rangers, Captain Planet, Looney Tunes, Carebears, Jem and the Original Batman/Superman cartoons (by original, I mean circa 1995).
Barbies. My cousins had a Barbie massacre on a freeway once. We still drive by the Juniper exit on the 15 and there's a sad moment of silence for all those lives lost.
Swimming. Pretending you're Ariel by putting one of those rings around both your feet. Remember the rings that you'd throw in the pool and they'd sink to the bottom and you'd dive to get them? And then your ears would hurt from being too deep for too long? So you'd find another way of playing with them...aka putting them around your feet and swimming with feet together like a real live mermaid?
Anyone?
While we're on the topic of swimming, did anyone else hate the pool games we all played as kids? Marco Polo for instance. No one ever wants to be Polo. You're in a pool with your eyes closed, hoping someone makes a splash because no one ever yells back "Polo!" unless they're at the other end of the pool. And Colors. Really? Let's make a game where you have to swim for your life from one end of the pool to the other and hope you don't have a heart attack from the stress halfway through. I know it was only my cousin chasing me but it might as well have been Jaws.
Okay, back to my list.
Trips to the candy store with my Grandma. Sometimes she'd let us get ice cream and candy. Those were good days.
Speaking of Grandma... we used to play with this tin tea set she had from long times ago. And we'd go in their basement to look at old stuff. I still remember the way my Grandpa's garage/tool shed smelled. And I remember eating lots of frijoles with flour tortillas. Yum.
Road trips. I used to LOVE road trips with my family. We didn't take many vacations but there was the road trip to the Grand Canyon. I remember I loved waking up at 4am because it felt special and different. I knew we were up early for a good reason.
It's not like this morning when I woke up at 4 am and cried that I only had an hour left of sleep.
Actually, to this day I still LOVE waking up early for trips. Ask my husband. I'll plan an early flight just so we can wake up at 4am. Because waking up for a fun trip is way more exciting and motivating than waking up for work.
Books.
Books, books, books.
I loved to read as a kid. Amelia Bedelia, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, The Babysitter's Club, The Boxcar Children, oh man... the list goes on. I loved reading so much, I would blatantly disobey my parents when they told me to go to bed. Well, technically I'd obey them. I'd go to bed.
Then I'd turn my little light on and read. Then I'd hear a creak and panic, and throw my book across the room and turn the light off.
Then I'd wait for silence.
Get my book.
Turn the light back on.
And keep reading.
I loved to read.
Still do.
Disneyland. Oh Disneyland. I can't even tell you how much I enjoyed going when I was younger (and obviously still enjoy going).
I would plan my outfit the day before. Even at the ripe age of 10, I knew my outfit had to be completely cute but also logical. "Walking all day, warm weather, wet rides..." Those were the deciding factors.
And yes, in case you're wondering, I do still plan my outfits the day before.
Whenever I drive on a freeway underpass, with surrounding brush, it makes me feel just for a split second like I'm on a Disneyland ride.
Then I cry because I live a lifetime away from Disneyland now.
Okay, not that far.
But it might as well be.
Lunchboxes with matching Thermoses. It was like the coolest thing to have a matching Thermos.
Okay, here's from like Kindergarten years: LA Gear sneakers!!! With double laces! I don't know who came up with that but I absolutely adored having my pink and white gears with pink and white laces.
I thought it was cool anyway.
Making up dances for every get together with family and then performing in front of the adults.
Seriously, what were they thinking? They must have found it amusing that we thought we were the Spice Girls.
Ha... the Spice Girls movie. Yes, I've seen it. Yes, I also bought the DVD. It brings back memories!
Friendship bracelets.
Those snap bracelets that you would smack on your wrist and they'd wind around it. What were those called? Weren't those made illegal or something?
People these days.
It's strange to think about how close I am to having kids of my own. Watching them find joy in the little things in life. Watching them entertain themselves with silly games made up. Shepherding their little sinful hearts.
What an adventure.
What's your favorite childhood memory?
I know... I know... It's been a week since I've posted. And it took me a week to finally get out the last post. I'm a bad blogger these days. But the good news is that my sister's wedding is 3 days away and then all wedding madness will be over and done with! 8 weeks of planning will have culminated into one single event that I've had nightmares about for 2 nights straight.
I've made lists upon lists so we don't forget things on the drive down there. I've been cutting, gluing, sewing, taping, painting, organizing, creating, printing, and stressing for what seems like an eternity. I've finalized with the caterer, photographer and baker.
I finally found the yellow wedges (or wedgies, as my mom calls them) that I'm supposed to wear.
My husband has found his suit and tie. That's all I'll say about that. Oh, but also that he's going to be dressed nicer for my sister's wedding than he was for his own.
And I remembered to get a Mother's Day gift for both my mom and my husband's mom.
I'll be glad when it's Monday, to say the least.
You can see that my life has been pretty centrally focused these last few weeks on the wedding stuff so I don't really have any other updates. I'm all wedding thoughts. Wedding, wedding, wedding. Wedding. Weeding. Welding. Wording. Warding. Wedding. Ding!
See? I'm going mad. Mad, I tell you!
Anyway, because I have nothing else to tell you, I'm going to reminisce about the days when a wedding consisted of dressing your Barbie in her wedding dress and driving off in her Barbie Corvette with Ken by her side. Here's some childhood memories to make you smile. Or cringe.
Really good cartoons like Darkwing Duck, Rescue Rangers, Captain Planet, Looney Tunes, Carebears, Jem and the Original Batman/Superman cartoons (by original, I mean circa 1995).
Barbies. My cousins had a Barbie massacre on a freeway once. We still drive by the Juniper exit on the 15 and there's a sad moment of silence for all those lives lost.
Swimming. Pretending you're Ariel by putting one of those rings around both your feet. Remember the rings that you'd throw in the pool and they'd sink to the bottom and you'd dive to get them? And then your ears would hurt from being too deep for too long? So you'd find another way of playing with them...aka putting them around your feet and swimming with feet together like a real live mermaid?
Anyone?
While we're on the topic of swimming, did anyone else hate the pool games we all played as kids? Marco Polo for instance. No one ever wants to be Polo. You're in a pool with your eyes closed, hoping someone makes a splash because no one ever yells back "Polo!" unless they're at the other end of the pool. And Colors. Really? Let's make a game where you have to swim for your life from one end of the pool to the other and hope you don't have a heart attack from the stress halfway through. I know it was only my cousin chasing me but it might as well have been Jaws.
Okay, back to my list.
Trips to the candy store with my Grandma. Sometimes she'd let us get ice cream and candy. Those were good days.
Speaking of Grandma... we used to play with this tin tea set she had from long times ago. And we'd go in their basement to look at old stuff. I still remember the way my Grandpa's garage/tool shed smelled. And I remember eating lots of frijoles with flour tortillas. Yum.
Road trips. I used to LOVE road trips with my family. We didn't take many vacations but there was the road trip to the Grand Canyon. I remember I loved waking up at 4am because it felt special and different. I knew we were up early for a good reason.
It's not like this morning when I woke up at 4 am and cried that I only had an hour left of sleep.
Actually, to this day I still LOVE waking up early for trips. Ask my husband. I'll plan an early flight just so we can wake up at 4am. Because waking up for a fun trip is way more exciting and motivating than waking up for work.
Books.
Books, books, books.
I loved to read as a kid. Amelia Bedelia, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, The Babysitter's Club, The Boxcar Children, oh man... the list goes on. I loved reading so much, I would blatantly disobey my parents when they told me to go to bed. Well, technically I'd obey them. I'd go to bed.
Then I'd turn my little light on and read. Then I'd hear a creak and panic, and throw my book across the room and turn the light off.
Then I'd wait for silence.
Get my book.
Turn the light back on.
And keep reading.
I loved to read.
Still do.
Disneyland. Oh Disneyland. I can't even tell you how much I enjoyed going when I was younger (and obviously still enjoy going).
I would plan my outfit the day before. Even at the ripe age of 10, I knew my outfit had to be completely cute but also logical. "Walking all day, warm weather, wet rides..." Those were the deciding factors.
And yes, in case you're wondering, I do still plan my outfits the day before.
Whenever I drive on a freeway underpass, with surrounding brush, it makes me feel just for a split second like I'm on a Disneyland ride.
Then I cry because I live a lifetime away from Disneyland now.
Okay, not that far.
But it might as well be.
Lunchboxes with matching Thermoses. It was like the coolest thing to have a matching Thermos.
Okay, here's from like Kindergarten years: LA Gear sneakers!!! With double laces! I don't know who came up with that but I absolutely adored having my pink and white gears with pink and white laces.
I thought it was cool anyway.
Making up dances for every get together with family and then performing in front of the adults.
Seriously, what were they thinking? They must have found it amusing that we thought we were the Spice Girls.
Ha... the Spice Girls movie. Yes, I've seen it. Yes, I also bought the DVD. It brings back memories!
Friendship bracelets.
Those snap bracelets that you would smack on your wrist and they'd wind around it. What were those called? Weren't those made illegal or something?
People these days.
It's strange to think about how close I am to having kids of my own. Watching them find joy in the little things in life. Watching them entertain themselves with silly games made up. Shepherding their little sinful hearts.
What an adventure.
What's your favorite childhood memory?
