Last year I wrote a post introducing my Great-Aunt Mayme and then another one in honor of her 95th birthday. When I was in the 8th grade (and there really isn’t any need to mention how many years ago that was, now is there?) Aunt Mayme made me a felt poodle skirt for a drill team performance. Although I hardly consider myself a pack rat, it’s an item with which I’ve never been able to part. Our homeschool group’s father/daughter dance this year has a sock-hop theme and my 11-year-old daughter is already dreaming of that evening and what she’ll wear. She was so excited today when I told her about the poodle skirt that I had worn when I wasn’t much older than she is. It took me less than a minute to find it.

*Revised* - I forgot to add my blue eyeshadow picture!

I thought Randi’s Let’s Get Real Monday looked like a lot of fun, but I completely missed Monday. Here’s the theme:

This week’s Let’s Get Real Monday theme is “The Outfit”! I know you have one! It is the one that you LOVE and everyone else hates. Or it may be the one that you previously loved and now you cringe at the thought of ever wearing it.

Randi posted lots of old pictures with clothing styles from different decades. I went in my basement looking for old pictures. I really need to organize them; my kids would love going through them. What I found was an old cheerleading picture from 9th grade, 1981. This definitely epitomizes “the outfit” for me during the early 80s. I was on drill team in 8th and 11th grades and cheerleading in 9th and 12th grades. With all those football and basketball games, I spent a lot of time in those uniforms.

Here are classic 80s pearls and lots of blue eyeshadow. This picture is 20 years old. I look like such a baby! I think this was from an overnight trip we took to the Queen Wilhelmina State Park Lodge. We were having a great time, but our family heard that it was going to snow, got scared, and called us to hurry home. Bummer! This was early married days; our oldest son was about 7 months old. I really loved the little Subaru we drove. It was sporty, with a sunroof–a far cry from the 15-passenger van I drive today!

I read about this “Where I’m From” contest today at Owlhaven. Entries are due by noon tomorrow. I actually wrote this when I first started blogging, so it’s emerging from the archives. There is a prize for most referrals, so if you visit Owlhaven, in the regular comments section of this post say “Hi, I’m here from Mommy Dearest!” I know this isn’t much notice for a writing contest, but I think you will enjoy this if you have the time. I still remember the evening I wrote this; it was like a walk down memory lane.

Where I’m From

I am from softballs, from Furr’s Cafeteria and ice cream with little wooden spoons.

I am from hiding in the laundry hamper, duck when a car comes, pet mice, kittens, blue glass bathroom knobs, “made in occupied Japan“ figurines, and pink shag carpet. From Lollie, Panda, and Robbie.

I am from the Caudles” attic and Grandmother Warden’s front porch swing.

I am from the mimosa tree with the concrete patch in the middle, the weeping willow and the magnolia, window boxes with red geraniums.

I am from family loyalty and ringing in New Year’s Eve on the curbside with the tambourine, from Aunt Thelma and Aunt Mayme, Grandmother and Granddad Piles, and Grandmother and Pappy. I am from real hot chocolate and homemade chocolate covered cherries on Christmas Eve.

I am from my father’s honesty and my mother’s wisdom.

From “don’t eat ice cream and go outside,” and “more can be bought.”

I am from the Old Baptists and salvation by grace. I am from annual meetings, foot washing, lunch at church, and Amazing Grace.

I’m from the South - “American by birth, but Southern by the grace of God” - biscuits dipped in sorghum and butter, cornbread in a cast iron skillet, hot brownies covered in melted butter, Mrs. Butterworth, and JIF.

From marking the “day of terror” on calendars with Blake; Skip-Bo, Taboo, and Trivial Pursuit at the kitchen table; softball tournaments; Laura falling over with her blanket; Barbies with Jamie; playing HORSE with Daddy, Blake, and Steve.

I am from Daddy’s guitar and watching him sing with Mother for hours at a time. I am from Brown-Eyed Girl, Hang on Sloopy, and Teenager in Love.

I am from Fort Smith, from Jasper and Eureka Springs and Weleetka, from riding behind Daddy on the back of a motorcycle. I am from a family with roots that time or distance can’t sever.

I’ve really come to love blogging and my personal blogging community since I started this in May. To hold with tradition (as much tradition as there can be in something as relatively new as blogging) here is my 100th post, 100 Things About Me. Hopefully I’ve come up with something to enlighten even my closest friends:

1. When I graduated from high school, I wanted to be a psychiatrist. I changed my mind because I didn’t want to go through all of the anatomy stuff in med school (I only wanted to analyze brains, not dissect them).
2. When I graduated from college, I wanted to work for a clandestine branch of the government. My interview process was stalled by a major political event, and during that time I realized that what I really wanted to be was a mommy. I could tell you more, but then I’d have to kill you.
3. I love Sherlock Holmes. Oh, to be so logical! It’s a miracle (and a blessing to the kids) that I didn’t try to name one of them after him.
4. I’m a Daddy’s girl.
5. My Daddy and I went on lots of motorcycle rides when I was a teenager. We would leave early - and I never have been a morning person - so I would have him use bungee cords to tie me to the backrest in case I fell asleep.
6. My favorite vacation spot: Eureka Springs, Arkansas (preferably at the Crescent Hotel).
7. I attended three different colleges - Dartmouth College, Westark Community College (now University of Arkansas - Fort Smith), and Emory University.
8. I was a Russian major in college.
9. I minored in Soviet Studies, and lacked one course having enough credits for another minor in history.
10. I set the curve in my high school biology class.
11. I was a cheerleader in the 9th and 12th grades, and on drill team in 8th and 11th.
12. I have bowed legs. I was horribly embarrassed by this in school, especially in cheerleading and drill team.
13. I am not superstitious.
14. When my husband and I married, he wanted one child and I wanted three. We have eight.
15. I love surprises. Getting them, giving them, whatever.
16. I was named after a Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback (my mom didn’t realize it until after the fact). Can you guess which one?
17. I am a member of CAPPA (Childbirth and Postpartum Professionals Association) seeking certification as a childbirth educator, and hopefully eventually a birth doula.
18. I was good friends with my husband’s brother for two years before I met my husband.
19. I am one year and five days older than my husband.
20. I always said I would marry a blue-eyed blonde; my husband has brown hair and green eyes.
21. We were married in Rollins Chapel at Dartmouth College.
22. I drove my Daddy’s ‘73 Mustang convertible with a 351 Cleveland engine (all the guys wanted to know what kind of engine I had, so I learned that one immediately) in high school.
23. My high school had open campus for lunch, so we could go out to eat; I usually drove.
24. When we wanted to put the top down on the convertible without messing up our hair too much, we left the windows up and called it “bat wings.”
25. My obsession love of gummy bears started in high school. Unfortunately, you couldn’t buy them in stores at that time. I bought them by the pound from a candy and nut specialty shop in the mall. I made us late from lunch a lot because I had to run in the mall for gummies.
26. My softball team went to nationals my junior year in high school and we tied for something like 11th place (my dad, the coach, would remember our exact position).
27. I played a mean left field.
28. Every spring, I dream of playing softball again.
29. I think fast pitch is for the birds. Slow pitch is a hitter’s game, with much more action. Fast pitch is just a pitcher’s game like baseball. My dad always said he could take our girls (slow pitch) team and beat a bunch of boys any day - we were better fielders.
30. I am highly competitive. A baseball coach was giving my son’s team the spiel about how they weren’t there to win, just to have fun. I looked at my dad and whispered, “What he didn’t tell them is that it isn’t fun if you don’t win.” My dad agreed, which is probably where I got it in the first place.
31. Of my eight children, I had three in my twenties and five in my thirties.
32. I have four girls and four boys.
33. Every year on my birthday I wished for a horse while blowing out the candles.
34. As a child, I thought I would grow up to have a daughter named Kathy and a son named Beau; I have neither.
35. I prefer the mountains to the beach.
36. I’m hooked on Smallville. I’ve watched the first four seasons on DVD, and now I’m watching the fifth season while they re-run it this summer. I’ve really loved the Lex Luther character, dreading the day when he would have to “go bad,” which is happening in the fifth season!
37. I have read Crime and Punishment twice and wish I had time to read it again.
38. I drive a 15-passenger van; I was determined not to buy a white one, which would look like it was just waiting for someone to slap a company logo on the side.
39. Of the ten members of our family, there is only one child who has his “own” birthday. Everyone else has another family member’s birthday within six days (there are actually three of us within one six day period).
40. I was president of a homeschool support group for three years.
41. I am told that my first word was “Batman.” The old TV series came out the year I was born. When I was in my mid-twenties, they started running the old episodes again and I recorded them for my kids.
42. I have to be completely dressed, with full hair and make-up, before I can “start” my day.
43. I am not afraid of tame, pet store rodents. We’ve had pet mice, rats, and guinea pigs.
44. In elementary school I always got “S -” in penmanship, meaning it was less than satisfactory. As a result, I used to practice handwriting constantly, “borrowing” letters from greeting cards, or anywhere else I saw one I liked. As a result, I now have fairly elaborate handwriting, and my cousin says I should try to get work addressing wedding invitations. My husband has told me, however, that I write “for myself” and other people can’t read it.
45. My cousin, Blake, and I used to have foods that we would eat and call “punishment food” when we were kids. This included things like unpopped popcorn, plain lettuce, and Fresca.
46. We tasted our cats’ food and let them lick our popsicles.
47. We “published” a newspaper in the attic of my great-aunts’ house and sold ads to my dad and granddad’s business.
48. We picked blackberries at my great-aunts’ house and then sold them door-to-door in their neighborhood. We would go to one older couple’s house, sell them blackberries, and then sit down at the table and have them fix them for us with milk and sugar.
49. I don’t eat shrimp, or most seafood. I try every now and then, but it makes me queasy. It’s a mental thing.
50. I wish I could relive the first time I saw Raising Arizona. That’s possibly the most I’ve ever laughed during a movie.
51. I am tinkering with blog template design at Barefoot Blog Designs; I’m really interested in web design. I have worked with some programs which are becoming outdated, so I’m in the process of learning new ones.
52. I have a blog called Baby Basics with interesting articles about pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and newborns.
53. My granddad would always say, “Poor old ______” to the grandkids, and we would fill in the blank with, “Granddad.” If you walked up to me now and said, “Poor old,” and paused, I would probably say “Granddad” by reflex. I’m conditioned like Pavlov’s dog.
54. I have only had one epidural and I wouldn’t want one again.
55. I get “So, are you going to have any more kids?” a lot.
56. I make a great pecan pie.
57. I would love to take ballroom dance and karate lessons.
58. I was a whiz at the Rally X arcade game; I could usually set the high score.
59. My ultimate chocolate fix is the molten lava cake at Chili’s or hot brownies covered in melted butter.
60. My mother was a voice major, my dad had a recording contract at one time; my sister and I can barely carry a tune (but we really want to).
61. I can’t whistle.
62. As a child, I always asked if my sister and I were twins (I’m 3 1/2 years older) and if I had naturally curly hair (NOT!). This helps me keep perspective sometimes when I think my kids are crazy.
63. I sewed with my great-grandmother and great-aunts. One of my aunts said that you could always tell which parts of a quilt I had sewn. If I wasn’t happy with a row of stitches, I would just sew another one beside it.
64. I named all of my cats Susie, except one named Cinder after a book about a cat who rescued her kittens from a burning building.
65. Now I am allergic to cats.
66. I have never been out of the U.S.
67. I like those online tests that show how many words per minute you can type. I just tried one that said I type 75 words per minute. My mother would be proud.
68. Both of my maternal great-grandmothers had nine children. They had all of the boys first, then all of the girls. Other than one boy sitting in the middle of my four girls, I had all of my boys first and then the girls, also.
69. I still have my original Nancy Drew books, including the Nancy Drew Cookbook.
70. I have the original blue LP of Elvis’s Moody Blue.
71. When I’m alone in the car (not often) I drive through McDonald’s and get a hot fudge sundae.
72. I’m a peacemaker; I hate arguments, but I’ll stick to my guns with an unpopular opinion if I believe in it.
73. I worked for Blockbuster Video during college.
74. 316 is my lucky number.
75. I am a visual learner.
76. My favorite fragrance is Victoria’s Secret Love Spell.
77. My mother passed away in 2004 on my birthday.
78. I have a major obsession with clip art, especially photos. One of my favorite things about blogging is using them to enhance a post.
79. I would love a definitive answer as to whether the plurals of acronyms, single capital letters, and numbers should be formed with or without an apostrophe before the “s” (ATMs or ATM’s; “Zs” or “Z’s”; 7s or 7’s?).
80. I enjoy painting (not pictures, but walls).
81. One of my prized possessions is my OKI color laser printer.
82. I have taken thousands of digital photos, but I rarely print them.
83. I have been blessed with really good genes in the weight department. After 8 children, I am within 5 pounds of my high school weight, and it’s certainly not from working-out or dieting.
84. I love books, but it’s really difficult to go to the library with so many kids. As a result, I have amassed a huge reference library. Our bookcases are divided into categories like history, science, art, religion, homeschooling theory, homeschooling curricula, Russian (language and lit.), and literature (classic and children’s).
85. I have read War and Peace; to tell the truth, it didn’t make much of an impression on me. I don’t remember it. I prefer Dostoevsky to Tolstoy.
86. One of my fondest childhood memories is going to Furr’s Cafeteria after church and ordering macaroni and cheese, chopped steak, and apple dumplings.
87. I own over 90 Pampered Chef items.
88. I think of numbers as being masculine or feminine.
89. I have never been in anyone’s wedding. Unfortunately, in my mind this is indicative of some huge character flaw which I must possess that prohibits me from being considered bridesmaid material.
90. I cut all of the hair in our house - even the dog’s - except mine. Occasionally I’ll take one of the girls to get theirs cut if we want to try something new and I can’t do it.
91. Clowns disturb me.
92. My claim to fame: Carrie Underwood is my cousin; she doesn’t know I exist, but her grandfather has been to my house.
93. My favorite childhood toys were three teddy bears: Robbie (named after Robert Redford) was the big one, Panda (an original name) was the middle, and Lolly was the little one. Robbie and Panda are in our basement; I don’t know what happened to Lolly.
94. I wanted to name a girl Hastings, but just didn’t have the nerve to do it.
95. Only two of my kids don’t have family names for their middle names.
96. I could never speak Pig Latin.
97. My mother always gave butterfly and Eskimo kisses; my girls like them, too.
98. My kids and I like to have afternoon tea occasionally, although I suspect some of them are just in it for the cookies.
99. I don’t drink coffee.
100. I had no idea how incredibly difficult it would be to come up with 100 things!

I was tagged by Brenda, was tagged by Kelli, for this meme adapted by Code Yellow Mom from a game she saw on a pizza box.

What was your favorite thing about being a kid?
My family was really close, both emotionally and geographically. My father and maternal grandfather were in business together and my mother did the bookkeeping. The business was on my grandparents’ property, so I went to my grandparents’ house after school and my parents were there, too. My great-aunts lived across the street.

My paternal grandfather helped my dad coach my softball team, and we were always around them, too.

I was really close to my first cousin, who was like the brother I never had, and I hate that I don’t get to see him often now. I am really close to my other first cousin who was only eight years old when I left for college!

What was your favorite subject in school?
I liked anything literature-oriented, and biology/physiology. I also took a lot of history in college. My major was in Russian, and I love Russian literature (Ã la Dostoevsky, not that %&#$ Soviet stuff).

Who was your best friend when you were 10?
Laura Davenport. I met her in first grade and we were in the same class every year of elementary school. We never had another class together in jr. and sr. high school, and were never as close.

If you could be any animal what would you be?
As a child, I was fascinated by the lynx. As an adult, I’m probably more of a marsupial-type, like a koala or a kangaroo. I’m very attached to my babies and like the idea of toting them around in a pouch with me.

What would you change about your school, occupation, life right now?
I would take some classes: Photoshop, web design, and maybe a cooking class. I would love to make some money from home designing blog templates; it’s a work in progress, but so am I. I wish I didn’t require sleep because there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get around to all the projects I want to tackle.

What’s your favorite color?
I inherited a love of pastels from my mother and grandmother. I also like apple green (both color and flavor!) and periwinkle blue.

What’s your favorite type of crust and favorite topping on a pizza?
I like thick crust and lots of cheese. I loved Godfather’s Pizza as a child, but haven’t had one in years (they aren’t local). Stuffed crust is heavenly. As for toppings: mushrooms, diced tomatoes, pepperoni, spinach. I had a great Hawaiian barbecue chicken pizza last week from Papa John’s - love that garlic sauce! The more garlic, the merrier!

I’m tagging:
Melissa @ Silly Pizza
Amber @ Luvinmygirls
Melanie@ This Ain’t New York
You’re it!