34...

I'm 34 today, so I present to you 34 random memories from my childhood in no particular order.

1. I met my very best friend in the whole world in the fifth grade. She and I still marvel that we've been friends for "over 20 years". We always made fun of our moms for saying that. Now we are that old.

2. I worshipped my first grade teacher. I thought she was the prettiest, smartest, & nicest woman in the whole world, AND she lived in my neighborhood. She invited me to eat lunch with her at her house on a Saturday afternoon. I was delighted to spend my Saturday lunch eating a PB & J with her. I wrote (and mailed) her letters all through the summer after first grade.

3. For as long as I can remember, my dream job was to be a wife and stay-at-home mom. I never had those lofty career goals of being a doctor, nurse, or lawyer, and today, I'm blessed to have my dream job.

4. I failed my first test in the second grade. It was a math test on fractions. I was devastated.

5. I was chosen to say the Pledge of Allegiance over the loudspeaker morning announcements during American Education Week, and I was on cloud nine.

6. I played Barbies for hours and hours all by myself all the time, and I was perfectly content to spend my days doing just that.

7. My oldest brother, Pat, was a freshman in college when I was in the fifth grade, and I thought that I was so cool because of it.

8. I got glasses in the third grade because my teacher, Mrs. Rozier, had to call my mom to tell her that I couldn't read the board. I knew I couldn't read the board, but I thought I would get in trouble with my parents. I didn't realize that it wasn't my fault that I couldn't see far away.

9. I was a total rule follower, and my worst nightmare was getting in trouble with anyone.

10. My dad had to poke all my insects into the Styrofoam for my seventh grade bug collection, and I was just disgusted by the whole project. That's the only time my parents ever did anything on a school project for me instead of me doing it all by myself. My brothers were furious and said it wasn't fair that I got special help "because I was a girl."

11. Before we moved to South Carolina, we lived close to my relatives in Pennsylvania. We spent a lot of time there, and my cousin, Karla, and I played Barbies all the time in her room. We dropped our Barbie dolls out of the second story window one time, and I thought I was being such a rebel.

12. I got my braces off on my birthday when I was in the eighth grade. It was the BEST birthday present EVER!

13. Every year for Christmas I received one of those Lifesaver books in my stocking, and my "big" present was a new pair of roller skates (until I got my pink 10 speed).

14. I loved to read, and I read all of V.C. Andrews Flowers in the Attic series. The Sweet Valley High books were my favorite "young adult" books that I read entirely too young.

15. Pat had to come home from college one weekend to babysit me while my parents took my other brother, Greg, to a wrestling tournament. Pat took me on a "date" to Annabelle's Restaurant in Columbia Mall. I ate a French dip sandwich for the first time. Then he took me to Sandy's for ice cream. I'm pretty sure he was using me to get girls...

16. I never received a spanking from my parents. All my mom had to do was raise her voice or raise her spanking spoon at me, and I started to cry. If my dad even looked at me cross, I would straighten right up.

17. My mom, two brothers, and I went to my Grandma and Grandpa Folz's (my mom's parents) house in Evansville, Indiana every year for spring break. I hated it because they were the "boring" grandparents, and now I realize how many fond memories I have of those trips...we drove the 10 hours to Evansville, and my mom always let us roll all the windows down on the highway. (My dad never let us roll the windows down on long car trips for some reason.)

18. Only at Grandma Folz's was I allowed to eat fluffy cheesecake with cherry topping for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She was a brilliant cook!

19. I was Red Cross certified in babysitting, and I was "the babysitter" in the neighborhood to use. I loved it, and I charged $2 an hour. My New Year's Eve & Carolina football game jobs were always booked at least one year in advance. My babysitting schedule required me to have my own calendar to organize my jobs and time.

20. I stayed with my Grandma and Grandpa McCarthy for a whole week while my parents went to Iowa with my brother Greg for the Nationals wrestling tournament. While I was there, my Grandma took me to see Batman in the movie theater, and my Grandpa let me in on his "secret" Snicker bar stash.

21. I spent a lot, I mean A LOT, of time in a gym watching my brothers in their wrestling matches and tournaments. And, in return, I would torture them by eating cookies and other goodies in front of them knowing they were dieting to make weight.

22. I got the chicken pox in the fifth grade, and I missed our class Book-It Pizza Hut pizza party. My world had pretty much come crashing down on me. I had perfect attendance all through elementary school up until that point. Just kick me while I was down already!

23. I received the Woodmen of the World award for being the best Social Studies student in the seventh grade. The funny part about this award --- while the teacher was giving the background on what this award was all about, I was totally making fun of it to my parents saying things like, "What a nerdy award! Who would get that?" The next thing I know, she was calling my name. My parents still joke about me receiving that award.

24. Only when my dad would go out of town, we would have scrambled eggs with buttered egg noodles for dinner. Loved that.

25. My family took a summer vacation every summer to a different state. One summer we went to New Orleans, and I was completely fascinated with the homeless people eating out of the trash cans. My parents were annoyed that was the one memory I took from the whole New Orleans experience.

26. I got a perm every October. (Yikes!)

27. I had 8 baby teeth pulled at one dental visit, and I only had Novocaine. My mom wouldn't let me be put under at such a young age. Dr. Watson was the most patient, kind dentist during that procedure.

28. I got my pink 10 speed bicycle for Christmas, and I was so beside myself. You would've thought I had won the lottery.

29. I wanted a telephone in my room, but my parents wouldn't pay to have a phone jack installed. I saved my babysitting money to have the jack installed, and I got my pink Conair phone for my birthday. Total preteen bliss.

30. I always wanted one of those Barbie dream houses, and I never got one. So, my brother, Greg, built me all of my Barbie's furniture and a garage for my Corvette out of scrap wood. He then helped me rearrange the entire playroom, so I could use the built in bookshelves as my Barbie dream home. It was actually way better than the dream house.

31. My artwork was entered into the SC State Fair art show. I didn't win, but I didn't really care because I thought it was pretty special to have something entered into the fair.

33. My dad always tried to get me to play sports more for the character building than the actual playing part. He and I were going to practice softball one day in the yard. He threw me the first pitch, and I caught the ball with my hand that was not wearing the glove. I broke my pinkie finger, and that was that. He moved onto another sport after that, and eventually gave up on the sports thing. My parents decided I was going to have to build those skills in a different fashion (and I did).

34. I always wanted to invent windshield wipers for my glasses' lenses because I hated getting raindrops on them at the bus stop.

So, there you have it, 34 random childhood memories on my 34th birthday. I wonder what Madeline will remember about her childhood?