Funny How Things Change.....Yet Stay Much The Same

This may have been nearer 3rd grade but no matter when it was taken, tell me you had a cooler SATIN roller derby jacket & I'll KNOW you are lying. I swear I was a happy child. You just can't tell. And if you could see my ass in this photo, the jean pockets matched the jacket. Brooks would say, "DUDE, that is BOSS!"

I found many a treasure when I helped go through the things in my grandma's home last year, right before we sold it. The other day, I was going through one of the boxes I brought back & many of the things that I just had to keep back in December seemed much less important when taken out of the box the second time around. Like my paisley underwear & a cast iron cow. But there were several things that I kept, one of them being my "Book About Me" that I filled out in 2nd grade. It was fun to look back & remember the person I was then. And it was also funny to see that some things never change. Some do. I'm no longer in love with Bryan Bates. I'm no longer "best friends" with Stephanie Smee, but we've reconnected through Facebook & we are good friends again. (One of my favorite things about Facebook, finding people I never would have found.) And I thought I would share with you a glimpse of the girl I was then. There are similarities galore.

I am 8 (7 1/2). (Now just multiply x5.)

My hair is brunette.

My eyes are blue.

My name backwards is Elleon. (I found this to be much cooler than I should have. Nerd.)

My special magic word is hocus-pocus. (You have no idea the magic that word has brought to my life ;-) It's so much more "boss" than abracadabra, no matter how much you love The Steve Miller Band.)

I wish I had a flying balloon to ride. (I actually had an appointment to fly in one over Steamboat Springs, CO & it was cancelled due to weather. Some dreams were meant to die :-( )

I would fly to Timbuktu. (Timbuktu was fascinating to me then. I remember wondering all the time if it existed. And I may have driven my dad crazy talking about it. It fascinated me more than Santa. I never said I wasn't weird.)

I would fly to Greece, Germany & Holland. (Amazingly, along with Slovakia & Sweden, those are still my three picks.)

Words I know in a different language are loco, quatro, uno. (Of course I knew loco!)

I do not like to be tickled at all except on my neck. (A rather odd question for a memory book, don't you think? I cannot believe I didn't mention my awesome cousin, Randy, who could tickle you 'til you peed. All in fun, people. All in fun.)

I want to be alone when I'm mad. (No change there.)

When I am alone I often think about trips. (Again, no change.)

If I had a store I would sell things to wear like dresses, shirts, rings & necklaces. (Actually owning a store is something I still think about often.)

I would make a lot of money like $40.00. (Very close estimate to my current monthly earnings! JK.)

My favorite foods were spaghetti, jell-o, grape Hi-C & birthday cake. (Lost the jell-o love & the bastards changed grape Hi-C's flavor, but I still love some spaghetti & cake!)

In the summer I swim. (Shocking, I know.)

My favorite time of year is summer so I can be out of school & swim. (YES!)

I love to wear my Wonder Woman bikini. (Some things never change. Now, I just don't wear mine in public.)

I wish I never had to wear a coat. (So that's where my kids get it.)

If I had a million dollars I would buy anything I wanted, MAYBE. (Good to know I was hesitant.)

I would give some of it to friends, my dad, the rest of my family. (The strikethrough was from 2nd grade. I must have been pissed. Except at dad.)

I would save most of it for ME (duh) and I might build a McDonald's. (What can I say? Dexter had JUST gotten one & it was my cuisine of choice, after donuts.)

My favorite subject is math. (That has definitely changed but I was regularly the math match champion at this point in my life. Aaaaah, the glory days.)

When I grow up I might be an airline stewardess (I now hate to fly & stewardesses were much more glamorous then but I distinctly remember this being my goal), lawyer (started down that path & chose to be a good wife instead of a kickass criminal attorney), or a baker. (I do still love to cook but not professionally.)

I would like to learn how to cheerlead. (Thank God I fulfilled some dreams. Thanks to whoever overlooked my clumsiness in 7th & 8th grade & went with, "those stick legs will look killer in some royal blue BHS knit knee-highs & saddle oxfords" I will be forever grateful.)

Thinking about wanting to be a stewardess, as they were known way back then, got me thinking about the short-lived show "Flying High", about a few stewardesses who lived together in a city, one of whom was Connie Sellecca. I loved it & I thought she was the epitome of beauty. Of course, like my other short-lived favorite, "The Kalikaks", it was cancelled. Of all people, Connie married John Tesh. I was rooting for my dad at the time, I think. And that got me thinking about the series "Hotel" that she starred in with James Brolin, who was one of my huge crushes at the time before he went all loco and married Yentl herself, Barbra Streisand. ( At least he gave us Josh so we could continue to lust within his gene pool.) Aaaand, the word "hotel" got me to thinking that I need to get off my rear & pack for our vacation.

And I wonder why my middle child suffers from distraction issues?

Maybe I'll miss you guys so much that I blog from the road. If not, see you in a week or so.