Monday Memories

Did you ever play with these?
Colorforms were one of my most favorite toys ever! I have no idea why but something about the new plastic smell, peeling the pictures off the black, slick sheet they came on and placing them on the little scene gave me all kinds of thrills. This provided hours of entertainment. Today a child might look at the colorform board and ask, but what does it do? That was the beauty. It didn't DO anything, it made my imagination do all the work. I created the story, the dialogue and took it wherever I wanted it to go. How many games can you say that about nowadays?

Monday Memories

Do any of you remember this:

I loved this cereal. Well, I loved the idea of this cereal. I love the color blue. I always wanted to eat blue things. Do you know how hard it is to find blue things to eat? When this commercial came on I was filled with anticipation. I loved Smurfs, I loved blue food, so what could be better? Well, most anything would be better I guess. As you can see from the picture there is hardly any blue. The blue that is there is more purplish black. The cereal was ok I guess. It tasted like crunch berries, if I remember correctly. I still find most new things are better to anticipate than try.

Monday Memories

Every Mother's Day in our ward (church term = church family) the men would pass out roses for all the mothers. Eventually this tradition expanded to all the adult women because they all, in one way or another, touched a child's life. I only ever wanted to be a mother. I had a great mother and I wanted to be just like her. Mother's Day has always been a very special day to me to honor my mother and I looked forward to the Mother's Day where I would be a mother myself. My first official mother's day I was able to spend at my childhood home with my parents and my sister. My mother bought a dress for Brooklyn that matched one I had and we all stood together, in front of the house for the traditional shot for Mother's Day. I remember standing out in front of the tree, trying to keep Brooklyn still and looking at the camera. Not an easy task. I remember my mother standing in the middle. I remember how she smelled and I remember her laughter. She only ever wanted to be a Grandma. I love finding pictures of my mother with my kids. There aren't many. I love it even more when I am in them too!

Monday Memories

There was a time that I was cute. When driving in my car with the windows rolled down, music blasting on the radio, a boy in the car next to mine at a red light would smile flirtatiously. I would smile back then figure he just liked the song I was listening to. See, I didn't think I was cute or pretty or smart or thin. I was all of those things! Now I see teens flirting from car to car and I feel a little pang. I don't have a name for the pang because it isn't really envy. I am so happy to be finished with that stage of my life. But there is a pang. Maybe the pang is regret that I didn't enjoy it more or have more confidence at the time.

(From left: Denise, Amy, Me!)

See those hot girls? See the one on the right? That was me in my very early 20's. See the hot girl in the middle? That is my oldest, dearest friend Amy. When we were in high school she had the coolest Jeep Renegade. It had a hard top and a bikini top. One day she picked me up in her jeep (with the bikini top) at my boyfriend's house. We were heading to the mall. I got in, put on my seat belt and saw him cringe, noticeably. I asked him what was up.

He told me, "Wow, you look so cute sitting in that Jeep. Just be really careful and watch out for strange guys."

*Eyeroll* Whatever that was supposed to mean. Now I have a daughter and I think I know what he meant. We looked hot and he was worried about the competition!

I miss those days, but more than that, I miss enjoying those days. What do you miss?

It's your day Dad!

My dad has to be one of the hardest workers I know and one of the smartest guys around. He filled my head with more information than I could process from the time I was old enough to ask questions. Once I asked how the light switch turned on the lights and he brought out a book that showed pictures of conductors and switches and a bunch of other stuff I couldn't comprehend. It is from my father that I developed a love of learning. By his example I learned to love reading and figured out that I could glean much knowledge on my own by studying it for myself. As hard as he works he plays just as hard and there were many of his days off that I spent, by his side, going to parks, the mall, to a movie and various other places. He took me everywhere. I have fond memories of riding with him to collect money from his video games. It made me feel so special to have that one-on-one time with him. He listened to every question I had, tried to answer them all and never shushed me but instead, seemed pleased that I asked. I remember other mornings waking up to the sound of his voice and his guitar. He sounded better to me than Elvis, the Beatles and Buddy Holly combined - he still does. When I went away to school in Austin it was my dad that would drive me back to school from Houston at least once a month, I was so homesick. He never complained about the five hours he had to spend on the road taking me there and back. Instead, we'd visit and enjoy pork tenders from the La Grange smoke house. Once I had my own car I missed those car trips with him on Sunday evenings. I miss singing with him, talking to him, camping with him, car rides with him and his big bear hugs. I wish I had more current pictures but my dad is usually the one behind the camera or taking pictures of wildlife! If my scanner was hooked up I have some great ones. I'll have to do those on his birthday. I love you dad! You're the best! I hope I can see you soon.