Wowser! Check out those two bathing pre-teen bombshells. That’s Dorothy Hamill on the left and her sidekick, Pocahontas.

This picture was taken at “The Pit”, aka The Sheridan Rod and Gun Club. Where I grew up, this was the place to be during the hot summer months. Unless you were lucky enough to know somebody with a chlorinated pool. Which we obviously did not.

I hadn’t thought about “The Pit” in years until the other day when I was watching my kids and their friends swim in Papa’s pond behind the house. I can imagine that their memories will be similar to mine as they think back over these years when they’re adults. “Boy, that sure was fun when I was little, but you couldn’t pay me a million bucks to get me to stick my head in that water now!”

When my sister and I were growing up, we had a Friday night tradition. It centered around my mom’s homemade pizza, The Dukes of Hazzard, and sleeping bags in the middle of the living room floor.

Oh Man, how we lived for Friday nights!!! I can remember getting off the school bus in the afternoon, anticipating the pizza dough rising on the stove. After dinner we’d lay the couch cushions all over the floor, put our sleeping bags on top, awaiting the first sound of Waylon Jennings’ “Good Ole Boys”.

These days my kids are making their own traditions. Among them is sleeping in Emery’s closet. They ask me to move the toy boxes out and then they move in every blanket and quilt they can find. Next are the pillows and stuffed animals that accompany them during closet sleepovers. And last but not least, the books and flashlights that keep them up talking and laughing until way past their bedtime!

As aggravating as it can be sometimes to take his closet apart at 9:00 at night, only to put it all back together the next morning, I just love seeing them bonding like that. And who am I kidding? It’s fun when I get in there with them too!

It still amazes me that this much snow can cancel school. But as I snapped this picture of my friendly little snowman, kids were shutting off alarm clocks all over the southeast.

Growing up in Illinois I saw this much accumulation by Thanksgiving and it didn’t leave our sights until sometime around Easter! For my kids, this may be their only chance to see snow this YEAR! So, at 10:30 tonight, we made the decision to wake ‘em up, get ‘em dressed, and let ‘em play.

I know…I’m living on the parental edge these days.

Unfortunately, it was like trying to rouse limp lettuce. Neither one of them “came to” long enough to be aware of what we were saying. As soon as they both crawled back under their covers, Jeremy and I went outside to build a snowman.

Isn’t he a beauty? You can still see the snow falling in the background. And what’s even more amazing is that we were able to build him without so much as a footprint in the snow!

So much for our great idea to make a mini-man and capture the shot in such a way that makes it look like a big one in our yard. Details. Details.

I really don’t remember the last time we’ve had enough snow to build a real life size snowman. Usually we can barely scrape up a few slush balls before everything freezes over or melts. For right now, I’m just hoping it stays cold enough overnight that Savannah and Emery will be able to play in it in the morning.

~I’m thankful I took a job working for your dad, even though I took a pay cut to do it

~I’m thankful you fired a guy on your crew, even if you were afraid he was going to come and steal your check before you could get to the office and pick it up

~I’m thankful for flirtatious phone calls in which you offered to buy me dinner if I would bring you the check

~I’m thankful you didn’t have plans the rest of that night or the wee hours of the morning as we sat and talked in the parking lot of my apartment building

~I’m thankful for quick engagments and rainy outdoor weddings

~I’m thankful for surprise pregnancies

~I’m thankful we’re in this together because I could never do it on my own

But mostly, I’m thankful for YOU! Happy Anniversary!!!

Okay, so maybe we weren’t as far north as Chicago, but still, it WAS windy! Despite the gusty weather and the whole reason I went to Illinois to begin with, I really enjoyed my weekend back “home”.

It’s been 4 years since my last visit to my parents hometown. Some things have really changed. Like the house my dad was raised in. The same house we spent numerous holidays crammed into, enjoying Gram’s homemade cooking. Nothing is left there except for a gravel lot. So sad.

But other things have not changed. The city park where I played many, many times during my childhood is still a beautiful centerpiece in downtown Streator. Jeremy and I took the kids there one night to play and I was pleasantly surprised to see all the lightning bugs. Oh, I had forgotten about how many lightning bugs come out at night! We had so much fun catching them and letting them light up in our hands.

After the memorial service we headed out to the cemetary. My Grandma Lou was buried next to my Grandpa and so we visited his gravesite. I immediately thought of all the times Gram took me there with her to put flowers or flags on Gramp’s marker. She took such good care of it for so long. This time there were no flowers. No flags.

A little later on Saturday afternoon we took the kids to the Majestic theater to see WALL.E. Just walking in that place brought back even more memories. This is one of those old theaters. The kinds with a balcony and 3 aisles. Where the seats are in a semi-circle facing the screen that sits on a stage. WALL.E wasn’t in that particular room of the theater, I think they must have added on another, but I distinctly remember it from the day my Grandma took me to see E.T. over 20 years ago!

We finished off our trip with lunch at Twin Creeks, the golf course where my Grandma was a member for many years. She would drag me out there, a reluctant teenager too “cool” for golf, to play 9 holes. I never really enjoyed it at the time, but grew to like the game, in part thanks to her. I think going out there Sunday morning for a round of 18 was the perfect way to end a weekend memorial just for her.

Let’s not dwell on that, shall we? Let’s just reminisce.

1. Who was your best friend? Tiffany Thompson. We went to school together from K-12. We are now 750 miles apart, but we still manage to keep in contact. She tells me she reads my blog, but she never leaves a comment. (eh, hem)

2. Did you play any sports? Yep, I played volleyball and softball, and I danced during half time at the boys basketball games. Not sure if that’s considered a sport, but seeing as ESPN dedicated air time to the Rock, Paper, Scissors World Champsionship a few weeks ago, I think it now qualifies.

3. What kind of car did you drive? I didn’t have my own car. I rode the bus. I can still hear my mom: “there’s perfectly good transportation that comes right to our doorstep…” If for some reason I did need to drive myself to school I opted to borrow my dad’s Ford pick up truck with no power steering, no power brakes, and a 3 speed on the column. The only other option was my mom’s minivan and come on, I had a reputation to uphold!

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? Cruisin’ with my friends or watching a movie at somebody’s house.

5. Were you a party animal? Not even a little bit.

6. Were you considered a flirt? Not that I’m aware of.

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? I played the trumpet in the school band from grades 4-10. I originally picked the trumpet because my 2 other friends were going to play it too. They dropped out of band the first year and I was stuck playing it by myself. I really always wanted to play the clarinet.

8. Were you a nerd? In retrospect, probably not. But I always thought I was. Still do sometimes.

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? OMG, no! I would have died!

10. Can you sing the fight song? I never learned the words. Only the notes.

11. Favorite teacher? Mrs. Martin. I should do a blog post on her. We did some cool things in there.

12. What was your school mascot? Are you ready for this? An ear of corn. In a husk. We were the Serena Huskers. Don’t mess with us…we’ll “cream” you! (Have I mentioned my high school was in the middle of a corn field?)

13. Did you go to the Prom? Yes, 4 of them. My boyfriend was from a different school so we went to 2 of his and 2 of mine together.

14. If you could go back, would you? Only if I could take with me the knowledge I’ve accumulated since that time.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? This is so silly, but I remember that we had all gone to Six Flags Great America that day (or maybe the day before) and I had worn a short sleeve t-shirt and gotten sunburned on my arms. My graduation dress was sleeveless so I had a ridiculous looking “farmer tan” going into the evening. It was embarassing.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? We didn’t have a designated “skip day” but I decided before I graduated that by god I would do something daring, because I was the most boring kid I knew. So one day I faked a note from my dad that I had a dental appointment and my boyfriend picked me up at lunch. We went to Starved Rock State Park for the afternoon. I know that’s not a huge deal, but for me it was. Besides, my mom worked in the school system. (Dying to know what my mom is thinking right now.)

17. Did you have a job your senior year? No. I kept so busy with school and after school activities that my parents didn’t ask me to work. Besides I didn’t have a car, so I didn’t money for gas or anything.

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? The student lounge.

19. Have you gained weight since then? A little bit.

20. What did you do after graduation? I began packing boxes. My family moved 750 miles away to the great state of Georgia 6 weeks later.

21. What year did you graduate? 1990.

22. Who was your Senior Prom Date? My ex-husband. We weren’t married at the time. :)

23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? We didn’t have one that I’m aware of. I went to my husband’s and it was fun. I didn’t know a soul.

And there you have it. My senior year, all wrapped up and in a nutshell. Anyone else want to play? Leave me a comment and let me know when your meme is up and ready.

Remember my struggle with Savannah and Pull Ups? Has that only been a year ago??? If you were not an avid reader of mine last year, ya might wanna check it out. It’s my mom’s favorite post! :)