Friday, August 31, 2007

YOU'RE AS OLD AS I AM IF....


I read this on Tami's Blog and had to copy it. Unbelievable!

YOU'RE AS OLD AS I AM IF....

1. You’ve ever ended a sentence with the word “PSYCHE.”
2. You can sing the rap to the “Fresh Prince of Belair.”
3. You wore biker shorts under your skirts and felt stylish.
4. You ever watched “Fraggle Rock.”
5. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars.
6. You wore a pony tail on the side of your head.
7. You played the game “M.A.S.H.” (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House) with friends at school.
8. You know the profound meaning of “WAX ON, WAX OFF.”
9. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off.
10. You thought Thriller was the most awesome song (and video!) ever.
11. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
12. You remember the CRAZE - then the BANNING - of slap bracelets.
13. You still get the urge to say “NOT” after every sentence.
14. You believed the “By the power of Greyskull,” you had the power.
15. After you saw “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” you kept saying “I know you are, but what am I?”
16. You wore, like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high-top Reeboks.
17. You owned a bicyle with a banana seat and a basket.
18. Your roller skates had metal wheels.
19. You begged Santa for the electronic game Simon.
20. You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color.
21. You wore the Little House on the Prairie inspired high neck, ruffled, plaid shirt in at least one school picture.
22. You can sing at least one song from “Annie” by heart.
23. You would tape songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.
24. You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes.
25. You had the shoelaces with the rainbow or heart designs.
26. You wore a banana clip at some point in your youth.
27. You know who Max Headroom is.
28. You ever wore fluorescent or neon clothing.
29. You could breakdance or wished you could.
30. When somone mentions two consecutive days of the week, the Happy Days theme is stuck in your head for hours on end.
31. Partying “like it was 1999″ seemed sooo far away.
32. You thought that Transformers were more than meets the eye.
33. You wanted to be on Star Search.
34. Your first Walkman weighed about as much as a brick.
35. You HAD to have your MTV.
36. You know where to go if you “wanna go where everybody knows your name.”
37. You actually thought “Dirty Dancing” was a REALLY good movie.
38. You got a Little Professor calculator for Christmas.
39. You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game.
40. You own any cassettes or records.
41. You thought by the year 2000 we’d all be living on the moon.
42. You ever had a Swatch Watch, and a Swatch Guard for it.
43. You had to stay after class to scrub your desk because your silver Outliner pen leaked through.
44. You ever rang someone’s doorbell and said, “Landshark.”
45. You thought eating Reeses Pieces would attract your own alien.
46. You have ever called 867-5309.
47. You held the top score on PacMan.
48. You owned a T-shirt that said, “I shot J. R. ” or know someone who did.
49. You ever said “I pity the fool”.
50. Your dream car was either: the A-team van, KITT or The General Lee.
51. You were sad when the “Where’s the Beef” lady died.
52. You remember when Ricky Martin was a member of Menudo.
53. You remember when cellular phones weighed 15 lbs. and had to be carried over your shoulder.
54. You still know the Big Mac song. “Two all beef patties, special sauce…”
55. You owned a real Rubik’s Cube
56. You used to own a Snoopy Sno Cone Machine.
57. You have a tendency to turn the collar up on your Polo shirts.
58. You remember exactly where you were when you heard the space shuttle Challenger had exploded.
59. You know all of the words to at least one of the Schoolhouse Rock songs.
60. Your first computer was a Commodore 64 or an Atari 800.
61. You thought being a latch key kid was completely normal.
62. There were days that the homework just had to wait until the ABC Afterschool Special was over.
63. You know what movie the phrase, “Number 5 is alive!” is from.
64. You remember when Molly Ringwald was on Facts of Life.
65. You wore the little bootie socks with the colored balls on the back.
66. You just had to have a Trapper Keeper to stay organized at school.
67. You remember when McDonald’s served their burgers in styrofoam boxes.
68. You were afraid of the Sleestacks on Land of The Lost.
69. You never thought they’d be able to top the special effects in TRON.
70. You played with Lego’s when they were just blocks of various sizes, not any of the special little parts.
71. You made shrinky dinks in your oven.
72. Pierce Brosnon will always be Remington Steele, not James Bond.
73. You owned at least one Choose Your Own Adventure book.
74. You watched Mary Lou Retton win the gold.
75. The Dark Crystal is still one of your favorite movies.
76. In many of your childhood photos you are wearing something plaid.
77. You still love to play Pong!
78. Two words: The Clapper.
79. Six words: “This is your brain on drugs.”
80. You can sing all the words to “One Night in Bangkok” by Murray Head, and now you understand that it is about chess.
81. You had an entire wardrobe of Esprit clothing (or coveted one.)
82. Your bangs were teased perfectly to 7 inches above the rest of your hair.
83. You had multi-colored earrings that touch your shoulders.
84. You’re still bitter that WHAM broke up
85. You can feel St. Elmo’s fire burnin’ in you.
86. You still can’t believe that Milli Vanilli was deceiving you all that time
87. Every now and then, you blurt out: “Ooh noo, Mr. Bill!!!”
88. You used to watch things on Beta tapes
89. You know who Martha Quinn is.
90. You carried your boom box on your shoulder
91. You remember Bruce Willis from Moonlighting, not Die Hard
92. You had ringside seats for Luke and Laura’s wedding
93. War Games had you wondering if you could really start Armageddon using your crummy TRS-80.
94. You can name at least three members of the Brat Pack
95. You wore a “Members Only” jacket.
96. You ever used Lee Press-On Nails
97. You believed drinking soda and eating Pop Rocks would make your stomach explode
98. You still argue over who was better: Tiffany or Debbie Gibson
99. Every time you hear the “OH YEAH…” song you think of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”
100. You know how to use a rotary phone.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Try Not to Smile

Change is Good

I know we've been MIA recently. The children started school this week and I wanted to give them my undivided attention as they made the transition. When I left my job in May, I committed to meeting the needs of my kids on a different level than I could when I was working. All four of them started new schools and I was a little anxious over how they would adjust. God knew I needed affirmation over our school decision. A few days before school started, we attended orientation so the kids could meet their teachers and classmates. As we were looking over the schedules, a woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked what school the children had formerly attended. When I told her, she broke into a wide smile and shared that her daughter had been in class with my boys at one point. She went on to share the wonderful experience school has been in the last few years for all of their children and how God had blessed them with Christian teachers. Its amazing how God meets our smallest needs. With a week under our belts, everyone is very happy and doing very well. I can't begin to tell you the difference this change has made in our household. Its as if we're all connected again, like we should have been all along.

We've also been attending a great new church. Robert and the boys went boating on the St John's River with the youth group Saturday.
After several hours of super soaker wars, manatee spotting, and swimming in the springs, they returned sunburned and full of stories.

What else has been happening? Oh! We added one more to our dinner party last week. A welcomed newcomer who I immediately felt at ease with, so much so that perhaps our new friend blended in a little too much. The friendship that Kim, Cindy, and I share is second nature. We don't have to think too hard about what the others need. We've made three road trips together and lived to tell about it. Our conversations are continuous and no amount of time apart causes us to miss a step. Its as if we've always been friends. So I wondered how adding one more would change our dynamic.

An hour past another amazing meal, swirling the trace amounts of wine left in our glasses, and regretting that Kim hadn't made more Creme Brulee, I realized that our chameleon friend sat in the midst of our laughter observing it all. And I felt very selfish for not making more of an effort to change the dynamic myself. This is my public apology for not stepping out of my comfort zone.

So change is not so bad. In fact, I think I'm starting to welcome it. It has brought such blessings upon our family in the last three months.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Boys 2 Men




When the children were young (like four of them still in diapers young) and I would feel overwhelmed, Robert would remind me that they wouldn't always be in this phase of life. He looked forward wistfully to the time that they could "be worth their salt" around the house. Well, that time has come. Its been a summer of many changes for my two oldest. They have been going to work with their father and making him very proud. In addition, they have become adept at lawn care and car maintenance. Anybody out there has a flat tire, you call Three Brothers Car Care and they'll take care of you. As quickly as the younger years went by, these years seem to be going even faster. Bought new shoes for Sam and Nathanael and they wear a men's size 10! I have to shop in the men's section for clothing. Somebody make it stop!

Monday, August 06, 2007

The Reason I Ride



It seems much of my friendship gathering time this summer has been spent over a meal. Whether its dinner with K & C (Kim cooked an amazing dinner for Cindy and I once again. I forgot my camera, but my cell phone camera caught the above pics of Kim igniting the bourbon as she flambe pineapples to put over freshly made crepes with ice cream. I'm going to have to up my mileage just to attend dinner each week!), pizza and a movie with the girls, or a reunion lunch with old friends, food seems to be at the center of everything.

Recently, I had the opportunity to lunch with three of the greatest English teachers around. Kathy, Amy, Noell and I all taught together several years ago. Since then, God has carried our paths in different directions. It was a blessing to sit around and laugh about old times and reflect on where we are now. As different as the four of us are, there is a common thread that binds us together. I appreciate the strength of each of these women and regret that we're not able to get together more often. Amy made an incredible Orzo Salad (thanks for the recipe!) that made me rethink my usual palette.

I enjoy the opportunity to share a meal with friends, no matter how informal the occasion. I don't want to think about calories or sodium intake. I want to find a balance between healthy living and joyful eating. With that in mind, we've broken our distance record. Robert decided it was a "waste" to drive to the trail head before starting our journey up the Seminole Wekiva Trail. Instead, we biked from the house to the trail head, adding a little more than five miles for a total of just over 20 miles round trip! The kids were such troopers for the journey. Hannah has a new bike and that has made a world of difference. We actually had to keep up with her. She was smokin' us!

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Here Comes the Bride




Last August I had dinner with "the girls" in celebration of Kristen's birthday. One of my former students, Sarah Jones, joined us and went on and on about this fabulous guy she had been dating. Apart from his being a gorgeous Navy officer, she was enamoured with the depth of his relationship with God. It was the one trait that she continually focused on; she sounded as if she had won the lottery. Over the weekend she married this wonderful man and I was honored to be invited to the festivities. It was a beautiful ceremony and their joy was impossible to hide. I love to see how God grows former students into incredible men and women of faith!