Thursday Thirteen #1

I heard about the apparently famous Thursday Thirteen from Caffeinated Librarian a while back. I thought it might be fun to give it a go, despite my late arrival to the party (yet again). It might be just what I need to get my creative blogging juices flowing again. So without further ado...

Thirteen Childhood Memories

1. In the spring and summer, on days when my Grandmother would babysit my sister and I, we would walk to a nearby farmer's market and enjoy the sights and sounds. I still remember the smell of fresh baked bread; the piles of ripe, red tomatoes; the friendly faces of the vendors, who would slip a piece of candy or other treat my way while my Grandmother tested the firmness of some vegetable or another.

2. My sister once lost my favorite baby doll during the walk back to Grandma's house from the market. We retraced our steps for what seemed like hours, but never found my Yawny Baby.

3. When I was growing up, I owned the Barbie Dream House complete with an elevator on a pull string and little plastic furniture. It wasn't the super-expensive wooden Dream House; it was the one made of plastic with the cardboard backing that had room scenes printed on it. I didn't care, though. My sister and I played with it for hours at a time.

4. I had a pink, banana-seat bike that my mom won in a raffle. It was the coolest! It had white rubber handle covers with pink and white streamers hanging from them.

5. We got an above-ground pool one summer when I was in junior-high. That summer it rained endlessly.

6. When it wasn't raining, I would spend as much time as possible in the water, where I was finally weightless.

7. Hot summer night rainstorms were the perfect excuse to play in the rain and skip in the puddles in our crumbling sidewalk.

8. Feet of snow in the winter meant building "igloos" and caves in the drifts. Who says you have to put away your sand buckets in the winter?

9. On New Year's Eve, my sister and I (and whatever babysitter was watching us) would have a mini-party, complete with noise makers, cardboard tiarras sparkling with glitter and glue, and enough snacks and soda to make us sick. We'd stuff ourselves and hope we could keep our eyes open for the ball-drop at midnight.

10. We had bunnies for a while and they would always get out of their cages and fenced-in running (or rather hopping) area. We would chase them around like mad kids, trying to catch them before our cat did.

11. We bought our first VCR, a Beta, at BJs in the nearest big city, along with huge packages of toilet paper, paper plates, paper towels and the like. If I remember correctly, going to BJs was a major outing for our family. Very exciting stuff!

12. Reading a complete book in a single day was a regular occurrence. I miss those days.

13. My family's cat gave birth to a litter of kittens just weeks after we took her in. I remember watching those helpless little babies, rooting around for their Mama's milk, so tiny and soft and adorable. Having to give them all away was very hard for me. I didn't understand why we couldn't keep all 5 of them. It's not like they took up much room. They all fit in a little box.

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