Today's been kind of a "blah" day on Fark, so I figured I'd give y'all the opportunity to think about some of the good things in life.

I'll start:

The two childhood memories that really stand out with me involve my mom in one, and my dad in another.

I remember that my mom and I used to watch the Dukes of Hazzard every week when it came on. She'd wheel a little tiny black and white TV into my room, and we'd watch it in there. It was very cozy.

The second one involved my dad. He'd let me jump on the bed when I was a little kid, and he'd sing this song about "no more little monkeys jumpin on the bed" It was a blast.

Yeah, I'm feeling nostalgiac. So shoot me :)

My father and I used to watch hockey together on the Black and White TV upstairs. I had a little (maybe 2 oz.) A&W mug and he had a big one. We would split a beer, and I'd be very careful to try to keep the pace we drank them the same. I was probably about 5.

I was in kindergarten and Santa Claus came to our school to see us. He rode up on his snowmobile and we all got a chance to talk to him once he came inside and had cocoa and cookies that we had made. When it was my turn, I sat in Santa's lap and told him I wanted Fashion Plates. I got home totally excited to let my Dad know that Santa Claus had the EXACT same Ski-Doo and mittens that my dad had. I thought it was the coolest thing. :)

/I got the Fashion Plates AND the Fresh and Fancy make-up maker!!

See : http://www.bungojungo.com/?p=13(pops)

Racing 1/4 midget race cars with my brothers. A really great bit of fun.

Going to South Padre Island every summer. My brother and I would plan for weeks. I would sketch out the sand castles I was going to build...diagrams on the church bulletin. Even the plan ride was a topic of discussion for hours. GO BRANIFF!!

I like being an adult better than being a kid. Is that wrong?

I also have fond memories of my twin sister and I waking up super early when we would stay at my grandparents house. Grandpa would get up at 4 and fix us coffee (we were like 6) and he'd make us fried bread dough and fried eggs. Then we'd head out to the garden (1/4 acre) and pull fresh cukes and tomatoes for lunch. We didn't say a dozen words the entire time, but I would give anything to go back in time and share the quiet with those two.

The same grandpa used to wake us up in the middle of the night to give us Black Raspberry ice cream that he'd get from Schwann's. We felt so sneaky!

One year I went shopping for gifts for my stepfamily with my father. We saw a display of stuffed animals; there were two that I was particularly interested in - a stuffed dinosaur and a stuffed foal. My father asked me which one I would like if I could have one and I said, after a lot of thought, that I would rather have the horse. Anyway, we went and we shopped and went home. Mind you, this was Christmas Eve. Anyway, I wake up the next morning - my stepsiblings actually had to wake me, even though I was the youngest - and I discovered that foal sitting with the rest of my presents from Santa. I realized that my father had gone back to the store after I had gone to bed and bought that horse for me, fighting the crowds. I've treasured that horse since then; I'm now in my 30s.

Making Creepy Crawlies on rainy days, the rubber worms and bugs toy. I had every mold they ever made, I think. Remember those, with the 500-degree open hotplate that would spawn a million lawsuits if you tried to sell them these days?

when I was in kindergarden I was in the school play with the rest of the class. I stood in the wrong spot and the teacher yanked my hair and moved me to the right spot. she also told my parents that I might be retarded because I couldnt zipper my coat. good times. good times.

I was really happy when my uncle stopped molesting me and was sent to prison. Good times.

I used to spend entire summers over at my grandmothers house in Washington DC. I always took the smallest room with the yellow comforter with the small blue flowers that I loved (yes, I have a vagina). Every day we would just hang out, maybe hit up the ice cream man when he stopped by the park across the street. Watch Jeopardy, eat dinner, and listen to classical music. It was by far the safest and most loved I've ever felt. Makes me sad that my mother is a crack whore and my kids will miss out on the grandma goodness.

verymuchly: Makes me sad that my mother is a crack whore and my kids will miss out on the grandma goodness.

Rent one from the local senior's home.

Definitely living with my grandmother from the ages of 6-9. I had so much fun.

My brother and I used to climb the magnolia tree in our backyard regularly. One day, he fell from the very top. Just as I thought he was going to be squished, his legs caught a branch and he hung there, inches from the ground, safe with no more than a couple of scratches. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen at that point in my life.

Going upstate (NY) every summer to my aunt's house. We spent weeks at a time there, swimming in the gross lake, catching frogs and snakes, hiking in the woods. I went back last summer and did the same things with my kids. It was great.

My maternal grandfather was a very talented woodworker. He made all of his grandchildren twin sized bed and beautiful cedar chests.

I have always love baseball and he and I turned a couple of baseball bats out of ash.

I remember my dad calling me into the house once. It was getting "too dark" and Bride of Frankenstein was going to come on the TV. Cool. Even better, my uncle was just getting home and he had a bag. He tilted it forward and I instinctively reached inside. My first plum ever. It was delicious.

Oh, and I have some great memories of doing stuff with our best family friends. Our moms were best friends so we grew up together. We lived in the boonies so we went to their house every year to trick or treat. We also went crosscountry skiing with them when we were young. My friend's dad taught us all how to play poker for match sticks. We still laugh about those trips 20 years later.

Ridding my bike for hours on end, looking for things to jump.

Dom Roark

Racing 1/4 midget race cars with my brothers. A really great bit of fun.

That had to be a blast. I had an opportunity a few years ago to race my own car for a couple of years, I really miss that.

/still a kid.

I learned how to count playing blackjack at Griswold Lake with my extended family. Was 3, and could compete, which made my (Italian) Uncle Michael very happy...we played for pennies which for a 3 year old in 1958 was very high stakes.

My favorite memories are of Uncle Noah and all those animals.
Yes, I am old.
You kids get off my lawn.

Manta537: Riding my bike for hours on end, looking for things to jump.

We lived at the bottom of a really big hill. I'm talking a 4-roller (it had 4 different rolls to the hill). All of us would get on our bikes and play this game we called "No Brakes Nelly" which was basically,pedal fast as shiat until you hit the first roll, then coast down, using only the tips of your shoes to slow you down. You can imagine how much our parents loved that. The summer I was 8, I got flying down the hill and lost control at the bottom and wound up slamming myself (cooter first) into the stem of my handlebars. I experienced pain then like I never have before (and I've birthed two children AND been bit by a shark) Took a long time to get me back on that banana seat. :P

Manta537: That had to be a blast.

It was. We each had a car plus one spare. Dad did all the work on them, and he and my uncle gave them matching custom paint jobs. Definitely kick ass.

Oh, and I can't forget Senior Prom. I have three much older brothers who had all completed their 4 years in the army by the time I was a senior. My prom date came to get me and it took an awfully long time for him to get from the driveway my livingroom. Seems that my three brothers were waiting there for him. They gave him a hollow-point bullet and told him "Be careful with our sister. There are more of those where that came from." They had been planning that for ages! Poor Matt came upstairs white as a ghost. LOL Good times.

SpinStopper: and watch him make violins, violas, cellos, and the like.


That is very cool.

SpinStopper,

I used to sit, very quietly, in my grandfather's basement shop and watch him make violins, violas, cellos, and the like. He was one of the best luthiers of the last century.

Did he teach you anything or let you help?

My grandfather was a sheet metal worker, and he had a small machine shop in the basement. He'd let me carry parts around for him. His hands were tougher than leather. He could pick up sheet metal and carry it around like it was nothing. I tried it one time and sliced my hands open :)

When I was four, I had heart surgery. A dentist at my church sent a little stuffed animal with "Kirby Loves Hope" (Hope is my real name) written on his shirt. I'm 25 now, and still have Kirby. After I moved from home, I left him there, figuring I'd have more then enough time to get him. I moved from Pittsburgh to NH, and didn't have a chance to get him. I was pretty upset. My brother's fiancee tore the house apart looking for him and shipped him to me. He's got a spot of honor above the tv.

When I was nine, a small black cat wondered into my life. I adored Oreo. He was my best friend. I buried him when I was 18. At 20, I got his likeness tattooed on me.

GirTheGecko: My brother's fiancee tore the house apart looking for him and shipped him to me.

That was sweet of her!

Greg Rebellion

Yea, she was determine to find him after she found out why I was so attached to him. She sent me a text message at one am one morning telling me the good news. I was beside myself with joy when he finally made it here. I definately owe her a drink the next time I see her.

RoguePixie: We lived at the bottom of a really big hill. I'm talking a 4-roller (it had 4 different rolls to the hill). All of us would get on our bikes and play this game we called "No Brakes Nelly" which was basically,pedal fast as shiat until you hit the first roll, then coast down, using only the tips of your shoes to slow you down. You can imagine how much our parents loved that. The summer I was 8, I got flying down the hill and lost control at the bottom and wound up slamming myself (cooter first) into the stem of my handlebars. I experienced pain then like I never have before (and I've birthed two children AND been bit by a shark) Took a long time to get me back on that banana seat. :P

That reminds me of when I was in 3rd grade or so. We lived at the top of a big hill, which naturally screams for bikes in elementary school. I had one of those great bikes where you push back on the pedals to use the brakes. Anyway, one day I was riding down, started pushing back on the pedals, and realized I wasn't slowing down (simple case of being an idiot and not pushing back hard enough). Well, this was quite the dilemma as the hill ended at a cul-de-sac and I was going at a pretty good speed at this point. I decided the only way I could stop myself would be to hit something. Car? Telephone pole? (yes, I did actually briefly consider both of those) There it is! A For Sale sign! So, soon as I enter the cul-de-sac. I aim directly for the "For Sale" sign. Boy did I hit it. At least, cased on what eye witnesses have told me and the the physical evidence I looked at in a daze. All I know is that I came too and the people who were trying to sell the house were standing over me staring at me with a look of total horror. I get up, look for my bike (it landed 10 feet past me after I nailed the curb), and then looked at the sign, which they never successfully got back up again since it was bent and had a strange "me shaped" dent in it. Good times

Playing catch with my dad, and after that, going to Dairy Queen.

When I was about 9 my cousins would come down fron upstate New York for the summer. While they ere down we would play Itsie football the older boy cousins 8 yrs our senior vs my cousin Megan and my self. Man that was awesome.

/Thanks for the great 10 min I just spent on everyone elses postive vibe.

My childhood is filled with lots and lots of sad memories of being alone. And a lot of moving.

However, one of my better memories is from when I lived in Louisiana and went to private school. There was a guy, who I guess went to our church, and he was something like 60. I still don't know how it all got set up, but for about half of one school year in third grade or so I'd go to his house. He'd have cut up PB& J sandwiches, but in fours, and I'd munch on a few. Then we'd go up to his work room and play a text adventure game (actually, I played, and he coached me.) I wasn't very good, but I always looked forward to that. I think it's probably what got me into computers. I looked forward to that every day.

Now that I think about it, I have no idea how I got to my house from his. Just flashes of a tray of PB&J and trying to find the instructions for the game. This was back in... '94 or so.

I also remember a friend back when I was in 5th and 6th grade. We would be at one another's house each day we could. We would play video games, and run around pretending we were each rulers of half a planet made of fire and ice (equally.) We had big sheets of paper with drawings of all our ships.

I can remember that so well. My species was called Firebreathers, and his species was called Snowstealers. Oh man, these are such awesome memories. Best friend I ever had. We talk maybe once a year...

I miss him so much now... [sniff]

RoguePixie: I experienced pain then like I never have before (and I've birthed two children AND been bit by a shark)

You know, I don't think I've ever said it before, but I just have to say that you are hardcore.

My sisters tying me up with duct-tape and giving me a swirly, all because I didn't put the toilet seat down, when I was five.

Sigh, memories. :)

Off to see my therapist.