Flashback to High School...

On Thursdays I always try to participate in Kat's Writer's Workshop. It not only gives me writing prompts when I am having writer's block (like last week), it also sometimes gives me ideas that hadn't come to mind to write about. This week I chose the writing prompt about what I was like in high school.Back in September I celebrated my 20 year reunion from high school. I wrote about it back when my blog was only a few weeks old. I got one comment and it was from the friend that MADE me go to the reunion.

For this writing prompt, I decided I wanted to do things a little differently and instead of writing about what I thought I was like, I would go on Facebook and ask people from high school what they thought I was like.

I opened myself up for any kind of response. My only rule...that people should remember I have two daughters and keep it G-rated (hey, you never know).

Anyway, the results came back better than expected. Sometimes, we are all just too hard on ourselves and our memories.

Here are the results. They are in random order. I have not embellished them.

• I was the person who stood up for my friends (sometimes without thinking first).
• I had a big heart (that sometimes got stomped on).
•  Almost every response I got said that I smiled a lot, laughed a lot and made people laugh a lot too. I also got a few that said I was quick witted and could throw some serious sarcasm (maybe all of those things combined is why I was voted class clown my senior year).
• I was a field hockey junkie and VERY team spirited (that sure stuck like crazy glue 20 years later).
• I was one of those girls that went to a lot of parties and was a lot of fun to hang out with(my apologies to all of the parents' lawns that we all trampled back in the day).

The one characteristic that stood out the most and definitely means the most to me now is that I was "genuine". More people wrote that about me than anything else. Some said that I always said what I felt (sometimes without a filter...but that I was always honest). Others said I told it like I saw it or that I didn't sugar coat things. Several people even wrote that they admired that I was that way in high school. One friend was a total skate rat turned Dead Head and said that I proved you couldn't judge a book by its cover (meaning I was the preppy girl and I picked my friends by who they were, not what they wore).

I guess all in all, I haven't changed much. I've only matured. I am still that person that sticks up for my friends (I just think first and don't have a knee jerk reaction like I used to. Okay, sometimes I still have a knee jerk reaction. They are my friends and if you cross them...well, just watch out!) I still have a big heart (that still gets stomped on sometimes). I still smile and laugh a lot. I'm pretty sure I still make other people laugh (probably more at me than with me). I can still throw out some wicked sarcasm. I am still a huge field hockey junkie who wishes it was a year round sport and love the team(s) I coach very much. I am still one of those girls who loves a good party with friends.

Now that you can look back on things, what would you think was your strongest characteristic when you were in high school?

The Writer's Storm...

I wasn't going to write today. As some of you know, I have been in sort of a writing rut. Then before I went to bed last night I saw a tweet from Mama Kat about her weekly writer's workshop. I scrolled through the list of five prompts and one of them hit me right away.

The prompt was to write a poem inspired by a storm. Here is my take on that...

The Writer's Storm

I can feel the storm that is headed my way

Words that were once strung together so easily have

gone a stray

I reach out to grab and save them from the twisting cloud

I plead for them to come back out loud

I can see them swirling round and round

I just can't stop them and pull them back down

The harder I try to reach the faster they spin

I can feel the angst rising within

I need this storm to settle and let my words shine through to their best

Without them, I don't feel I can rest

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Weekend Breakfast at Our House...

For the most part, on Saturdays my husband and I try to sleep in a bit and catch up from the week. We can hear the girls playing down the hall in either of their bedrooms. Sometimes they play Littlest Pet Shop (okay, most of the time it is Littlest Pet Shop), other times it is school for their AG dolls and stuffed animals and other times it is just pure imagination without any props.

After a while, they become hungry though and since it is the weekend...they want Daddy's pancakes.

I listen from upstairs (because I still haven't gotten my lazy bum out of bed) to a Daddy and his two girls playing chef. He gives sweet instructions on where to find everything that they will need from mixing bowls to ingredients. I hear them giggle every once in a while because Daddy is doing something silly. Very soon I am aware of the wonderful smell of pancakes making their way up the stairs and shortly thereafter I hear, "Mommy, breakfast is ready."

This is when I finally get out of bed and go downstairs to usually something like this...

This a breakfast morning from 2006
on Bean's 2nd birthday
and the fun with their Daddy still continues

P.S. I love their Daddy's pancakes too...especially when he adds cinnamon!
 

This One Time, I Was Startled...

Let me set the scene for you...

About six months ago I tucked myself into bed. I was exhausted. My husband was already asleep. I snuggled in and drifted off to sleep. A few hours later I was startled out of my sleep by the sound of the door to our basement slamming and shoes walking across our hardwood floor towards our great room.

I sat straight up and gripped my husband's arm so tightly that I am sure he can still feel it to this day. He asked me what was going on and I told him I thought someone was in our house. I was whispering so no one would hear us. In my mind, I was trying to find an escape route for us to get to our girls' bedrooms and get them out of the house without being noticed.

We sat quietly, for what seemed like forever, listening to see if we could hear any further noises. My heart was beating so loudly that I couldn't hear much else. My husband got up and looked for something that he could possibly use as a weapon if needed. We didn't have anything. (Note to anyone out there who has any bad intentions...we do now!)

I got up and followed my husband with the phone in my hand. We snuck quietly down the stairs. There was not a single light on in our house. It's not the easiest to navigate in the dark for someone who lives here, let alone someone who has never been in it before. I started to duck, bob & weave like you see police officers do in the movies. My husband, meanwhile, walked on big & brave, turning lights on as we scanned the house.

We turned up absolutely nothing! Not one door in our house was open...let alone unlocked. (I am a stickler for locked doors.) Not one thing was out of place...besides the things that I had knocked over while trying to be all spy like.

So, either I took a dream and brought it into my reality or we have a ghost. I'm just thankful that is all it was. As for that night, I never went back to sleep.

Have you ever been startled by a bump in the night?

Top Trends of 2011 That I Want Erased From my Memory...

The year of 2011 was full of wonderful memories with family and friends but I wish I could erase a few trends from 2011 to make sure that there is plenty of room for the more important things I want to remember.

Those 2011 Trends would consist of:

1. Anything to do with The Kardashians. I don't watch any of their shows, listen to any of their interviews on the radio or buy magazines with any of them on the cover but they have still somehow invaded my brain. Why would we do anything to support people who behave like this?! Those children (yes, some of them are adults but they still act like children) behave the exact opposite of how I teach my girls to behave and to think that they are making tons of money off of that very same behavior makes me sick!

2. Those flannel pajama bottoms with Ugg boots. I'm sorry but this does not look cute on college girls, high school girls, teens, tweens and/or toddlers. I love pajamas as much as the next girl but seriously, you couldn't at least throw on a pair of sweats or jeans?! I mean really, you are out of your house.

3. Speaking of bottoms...I don't want to see yours! Pull up your pants! This trend of pants hanging low has been sticking around long enough. I don't even understand how they stay where they are. Do people staple them into their legs?! It is time to send this trend packing!

4. Cupcakes. They are EVERYWHERE! They are DELICIOUS! They are WAY TOO TEMPTING! Will someone please make carrot sticks a trend in 2012 please?!

5. Low carb beer. YUCK! Need I say more?!

What trend are you hoping will stay back in 2011 where it belongs?

"Top Trends of 2011 That I Want To Forget” (inspired by A Closet Writer).