Me Times Eight
Friday, June 15, 2007 at 3:31 PM This afternoon I started to do Tess' Me Times Eight meme and found that my first five thoughts had to do with things I'm not sure I want to make public today. The "facts" generally read like something out of a teenager's diary. (Oh, I guess that would be MY teenage diary which I shall save for now). So, there's fact #1--I have a teenage diary rattling around in my not-so-teenage head.
#2 My mother was an Avon lady from the time I was four years old until I went to college at 18. With this vocation and her Southern upbringing, she instilled in me a love of lipstick. Never leave home without it.
#3 Wild as I feel inside sometimes, I often am described as "sweet" or "uptight." What's up with that?!?!? (Lucy gets a little crabby about the uptight comment.)
#4 When I was about 5 years old, I took tap dance lessons for about 2 weeks. I loved the shiny black shoes, but much preferred to stay home and watch "The Three Stooges" or was it Johnny Weismiller's "Tarzan"?
#5 At the age of forty, I decided I could do a triathlon after watching my husband complete many. It was quite a feat for me to accomplish the 1/2 mile open water swim, since oops...I Don't Swim! I am certain I was accompanied by an angel in bodily form who came alongside me, said, "what's your name?" and then, "o.k. we'll do this together." I honestly think I might have drowned or at least been pulled out of the water by the lifeguards if she had not talked me through it.
#6 In eighth grade I was very proud to read and complete "Gone with the Wind." I loved the book and hated the movie (not a popular opinion) because they left out too much. I still haven't figured out if it qualified as classic literature or an early romance novel. Any thoughts?
#7 One of my favorite childhood memories is of sitting on the stoop at my kindergarten teacher's house sharing an ice cream cone with her dog. I'd take a lick. Then he would take a lick. There is something so delightful about children's instincts before someone tells them they are doing something "wrong."
#8 My dad was a truck driver and I used to love to play Barbie's in his sleeper cab. One of my best memories was going on a trip with him to Tulsa (90 miles away from our home in Oklahoma City). I thought it was a serious road trip made all the more special by milkshakes and lemon drops along the way.
Well, that was some memorable randomness for a Friday afternoon. I, too, am going to break the rules and not tag anyone else, but if you'd like to play along just let me know. I'd love to hear some of your random silliness or seriousness.
Meme
Reader Comments (8)
Oh I think we definitely want to read your teenage diary!
Thinking of your mother, have you ever read "Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady" by Florence King. If not, you should...
lucy, not sure why but your comment got me all choked up. :) probably that bit about your youngest graduating from 8th grade. so good to hear from you. i ask rich about you guys from time to time. time seriously flies! blessings to you and your family.
I love your memory of sharing the ice cream with the dog. It made me giggle. Which isn't a bad way to start out a Monday.
Well, I can't leave your MEME w/o noting how much you and I have in common - hmmmm.
#1 - I have 2 teenage diaries by my bedside, uncovered when "cleaning out" our mother's house. They are tough to read because they speak of little except the way "boys kiss" - I seemed to think I was an expert. I was - an expert in boredom!
#2 - You know my mother was an Avon Lady too and the love of lipstick led me to 26 years at the Estee Lauder Companies - think so?
#3 - "Sweet and uptight" - well, I don't think I hear sweet too much but I do "feel" (not necessarily hear, I have nice friends) terribly opinionated and insecure a bit of the time - less and less insecure as I age and feel the strenth of life experience.
#4 - When I was 5, I wanted desperately to be an artist - still do, but the desperation wanes and more and more I believe I'm called to a written tune instead of a drawn line. And, of course, being an artist, or a writer, would never have been considered anything but a luxury in our family - huh - your family too?
#5 For me, I think more in terms of a marathon rather than a triathalon. Why don't I remember you doing that - what were you crazy or something? I remember your 100 mile bike ride though, don't I? And, dang, I'm glad you didn't drown!
#6 "Gone with the Wind" was good but the paperback copy of "Peyton Place" I found walking home from school one day totally shaped some of my early and later sexual fantasy.
#7 I still cannot knowingly ask for a puppy lick on the lips - yuk! but I do actually know several family memories who think that is the greatest. It is sweet to watch.....but share an ice cream cone with a puppy, no I like ice cream too much, I don't like sharing a cone with anyone, although I seldom allow myself that pleasure; the calorie content is just too dangerous.
and finally #8 - my dad was a truck driver too. He really seemed to like that big truck but it was never much of a poignant memory for me. I think it was a time when I had really grown up and gone away from home. I think my lil' sis has fonder memories of that than I.
See, I told you we had lots in common! SS
tess--"confessions" is now in the pile of reading next to my bed. i look forward to diving in.
deena--great to hear from you!
marti--glad you got a giggle. thanks for stopping by.
ss--oh my, we do have lots in common, don't we????
Hmmmm, no guy comments on the meme comments - meme performances are sort of magical, fantasy, suspension in time confessions that maybe only women connect to?
SS--who knows about guys?!?!?
Love these, Lucy. I took tap at that age too. We did Alley Cat in front of an audience, but for some reason they didn't have a costume for me (my mom made me go up and perform anyway, ugh!), but I loved tapdancing. It's so true (your ice-cream licking dog memory) that we didn't really have a sense of what was "wrong", ha ha. When I was little, our neightbour's bulldog Rusty used to crawl under the car for shade and to cool off, so I would crawl right under the car with him, and we'd just relax!