I was reading about some of
AJ's memories and it got me to thinking about some of my own. So here are my answers to Friday's edition of
Daily Dirt.
1. Earliest childhood memory
One of the earliest memories I have, I was with my parents at some party. I don't know how old I was, but I know it was before I was five. I remember being in a really pretty dress, and riding around on a big toy car you sit on like it’s a horse, and you move it by pushing with your feet, and you steer with a big steering wheel protruding from the top of it. Only it wasn't a car. It was a plastic tennis shoe. Yep. I was riding a big plastic shoe in my pretty party dress.
2. Worst memory
First thing that comes to mind is my great grandmother's funeral. I was sitting between my mother, who was clutching my hand, and my brother, who was trying hard not to cry. I remember feeling fuzzy. Like the whole experience was surreal. The worst part of it though was sitting right behind my grandmother, my great grandmother's daughter. The priest kept messing up my g.gma's name, which terribly upset my grandmother. She kept going on about how he was messing it up and kept correcting him. And she was shaking all over and... well, it was just horrible.
3. Embarassing memory
I don't embarrass easily. Which comes in handy when I have the urge to burst out in song in public places. But I've got a few good embarrassing moments in my memory banks.
Okay, picture this: I'm a senior in high school. Which means I'm supposed to be at least semi cool, right? Cooler than the freshmen, at least. That's by default. A privilege earned just by being alive longer and sticking out the whole high school thing for a couple years.
Okay. Now picture this: my high school campus was like a college campus, with several class buildings spread out all over the place, not like one great big building you see a lot on tv and in movies. There was an open area near the front that was called Campus Circle because, well, it was in the shape of a big circle. A big grassy circle that was lower than the surrounding cement walkways, meaning you had to walk down two or three steps to get there. In some places there were cement stairs, in other places it was just a three foot drop. At the north end there was a row of class rooms. At the east end there was a long stretch of cement, then the library, and a bunch of other classroom buildings beyond that. At the south end of the Circle was the cafeteria, with more buildings beyond that as well. At the west end of the Circle was the front offices, and beyond was the parking lot. So the Circle was surrounded on two sides by classrooms, and was pretty much in front of the whole entire school.
That part is key. It was IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE ENTIRE SCHOOL. Got that?
I had last period with
AJ and my brother (he's not my age, it was an elective class) and our class room was in the building right to the north of Campus Circle. So the bell rings, its time to go home, and the whole student body starts pouring out of their classrooms. Me, AJ, and my bro make a beeline for the parking lot, which meant we cut across Campus Circle. We walked down the set of stairs, walked across the grass, and approached the other side. Now remember, classes just let out, and most of the classes were behind us, so that meant there were MANY of my peers behind us. MANY in clear view of us.
Normally, instead of detouring a little towards the stairs, we would just step up to the higher level and continue on to the parking lot. See where I'm going with this? Do you? Well,
normally this is what would happen. And had happened quite a few times before The Incident. You'd think I would have had enough practice at it. But noooooo. Not this time (and one time is all it takes to make a fool out of yourself). I didn't quite have my mind on the task at hand, which is vital to a klutz like me, so when I performed my little hop up to the upper level, which wasn't even knee level as I recall, I didn't quite bring my foot all the way up. Instead of landing
on the cement, like I was supposed to, my foot hit the
side of it, which caused my legs to stay where they were. My upper body was in motion, and very impatient, and wasn't going to wait for my lower body to catch up it. So I flew forward like the spaz I am and landed on the ground. Sprawled out on the ground like a big dork. FOR THE WHOLE STUDENT BODY TO SEE!
Okay, not the whole student body. But a lot of them. I didn't turn around and take inventory (I was busy experiencing a painful moment of embarrassment and a quick dash of hope that a flying elvis was spotted overhead, drawing everyone's attention away from what/who was crash landing in front of them) but I'm sure there were a couple crushes back there, a few people I looked up to and thought were the ult, a few I disliked and didn't want to show weakness in front of, and a bunch of freshmen I was supposed to be cooler than.
I took a dive in front of all those people and more. Me. A senior. Flying threw the air like some kind of flying thing. I was only on the ground for a millisecond though, because as soon as I landed I jumped up like nothing had happened.
Meant to do that. Yep. No, no. I'm fine. Blood? What blood? Oh that. It's just a scratch. It's nothing. Meant to do that you know. Buh-bye now.
I lost so many coolness points that day. And I was seriously lacking in that department to begin with. :)
4. Romantic memory
It was spring break, and a few months after the HB and I had started dating. We were both staying at our parent's houses during the college break, and were only about an hour away from each other. We were both busy during the week, but had planned on getting together over the weekend. We called each other ever day though and chatted. Wednesday afternoon we talked for a couple minutes, then he said he'd call me back later that night at 10pm. 'Okay,' I thought.
'Whatever'. At 10pm he called, but he said he was in the middle of something and would call me back in an hour.
What I said: Okay.
What I was thinking: WHATEVER! @#$%&
So 11pm rolled around. No call. A few minutes later, still no call, so I tried calling
him. All I got was a weird 'cell phone out of range' message. I was getting all kinds of ticked off. At around 11:30pm he called, and we started talking. He sounded kind of funny and I picked up on it by the second or third sentence out of his mouth. I didn't know what to make of it. He sounded like he was grinning like the Chesire cat. What was he so pleased with? Then he said something about walking outside. 'Why?' I asked. 'Because' he said. It took me a couple 'Why?'s to finally click on to it. I walked outside in the middle of the night and found the HB leaning against his car, which was parked across the street from my parent's house. He was standing there with a dozen roses. Just for lil' ol me. Awwwwwwwe.
He was late in calling me because he was pulled over for speeding. It took a bit longer getting the roses than he thought it would so he was trying to make up for lost time. The cop liked his 'delivering roses story' so only gave him a warning. Otherwise those would have been really expensive roses. I gave him a great big kiss, then he jumped back in his car, drove an hour back home so he could get up in a couple hours for some family thing he had to go to. All that time and effort for a flower delivery, five minute stay, and a kiss. :) :)
5. Grossest memory
Um...
AJ puking on the side of the house? Heh heh heh. Just kidding AJ. :)
Okay, grossest memory... I was in the sixth grade, and my family and I were visiting relatives and friends in New Zealand. We were riding the ferry between the two islands, standing outside on the deck to watch the scenery as we approached our destination. The scenery included a couple of seagulls. I was watching one seagull in particular and I saw
exactly when it pooped. And it didn't let just on poop drop go. Ohhhhh no. It let loose SEVERAL BIRD POOP BOMBS. And I stood there, paralyzed with fear as I watched the poop bombs spread out to reach their many targets, and could not move a muscle. Even though I knew one of those poop bombs was heading towards me. It was like time slowed down. The poop bomb came every so slowly towards me. And I was helpless to do anything about it. Even if I had been able to move, I wouldn't have been fast enough. That sucker was flying nearly at the speed of light. Even in slow motion.
So my pretty purple jacket was splattered with bird poop. I was soooo grossed out. Damn seagulls.
Damn. That was kind of a long post. Bonus brownie points to anyone still with me here. :)
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