thanks, mom.

i have my mother to thank for my goofiest piece of clothing. actually, it wasn't so much goofy as just hideous and utterly embarrassing. and the worst part of it all is that she made me wear it for my school pictures.

i was in the 1st grade when it happened, but i feel like it was yesterday. the big day had arrived - picture day!! the day when 'dan, dan the photo man' arrived in our grade school cafeteria to take school pictures. i will always remember school picture day and i will always remember 'dan, dan the photo man.' for all of you 80s kids out there, he looked a bit like scott bloom, except a little chubbier and older. he was boisterous. he had crystal blue eyes. and he had plastic, black, combs in a box on a desk next to the 'check-in.' we'd all take a comb and primp a bit before mugging for the camera. even at the young age of 6, we knew dan was a cute boy. heck, he looked like scott bloom, for crying out loud.

so when picture day in the first grade rolled around, i picked out an AWESOME outfit. i was going to wear blue jeans and a cute t-shirt with an iron-on of a unicorn on it and my kangaroo shoes. i don't remember when the battle with my mom began, but when it did, it was in full swing. she didn't want me to wear my t-shirt. she wanted me to wear a light purple skirt and blouse set. i don't remember much about the skirt, but i'll never forget that shirt. it was short sleeved, but was a mock turtleneck with tiny white flowers printed all over it. the kicker, however, was the white, frilly lace that went around the collar and down the middle of the shirt. yes, it was that bad.

we compromised in the end - well, sort of. i HAD to wear the purple, "little house on the prairie" shirt, and my mother "generously" allowed me to wear jeans and my roos.

i looked like a fool.
i felt like a fool.
especially when i had to say "cheeseburgers!" for dan, dan the photo man, the scott bloom of my first grade dreams.

Silliest Piece of Clothing?

Acid wash jeans, anyone?
Banana hair clips?
High tops with two pairs of socks (in contrasting colors, of course) underneath?
Hypercolors t-shirts?

This list could be quite long if I focus solely on the decade of the eighties. If I focus on my entire life? The list would be endless.

I Wonder What the Goofiest Piece of Clothing I’ve Ever Worn Was?

My last two years of college were fun years. After my initial two years of being a complete and total dork-sans-social-life, I relaxed. I decided that reading only 20 pages of my 22 page homework assignment would not result in immediate death by lightning. I tried out drinking, just a little bit (I was 20 – a real rule breaker.) I stayed up late a few times, went out with friends, learned how to make fun times instead of sitting in my room and expecting them to just happen upon me. And I also got the most acting roles I would ever have at our little college. I felt like a rock star.

One particular acting role was in a play called Beautiful Bodies. This was a play with solid leading roles for 6 women, which is unheard of. Among the characters was the well-dressed, perfectly coiffed hostess of the party . . . the bitchy New Yorker . . . the difficult and controlling lawyer . . . the totally wacky pregnant cyclist. Guess which one I was?

So yeah, I wore some odd outfits on stage for that one. I think my entrance was me in a pregnancy belly with bike shorts, a large sweatshirt, and a helmet, which I kept on my head for a large part of the first act, if I remember correctly. I won’t count stuff I’ve worn onstage for this blog post (if I did, though, I think the time I wore a wedding gown and two prosthetic noses, stuck to my face with a pair of lensless glasses, would perhaps win the contest.)

A pregnant belly really wacks up your center of gravity. It’s hard to be for real pregnant, but it was especially hard to be pretend pregnant and go from 0 months to 9 months overnight, with no chance for my back or tummy or leg or whatever muscles to learn how to handle it. In the week or so leading up to this show, we received my pregnancy-is-uncomfortable prosthesis, borrowed from some sort of teenagers-now-don't-you-have-sex-mmmmkay? type program in the area. This thing was wayyy uncomfy, with some sort of poky thing meant to squeeze your bladder, and some sort of back hurty thing, in addition to the heavy belly (and it in no way even came close to mimicking the true extreme discomfort of being nine months pregnant, but bless them, they tried to be true to life.) So I put it on and was a clumsy dolt, and our costumer decided that I needed to get some more practice in it.

Just wear it around campus this week, she said.

Wha-? I said.

Wear it. To class and stuff.

Uhhh, then people will be confused.

Yeah. Awesome, huh?

**************************

So I wore it. The young male students suddenly fell over themselves to give up their chairs for me, give me rides, open doors. Several teachers looked at me with extreme puzzlement, which they then swallowed and turned into sweet concern. I got a lot of "How you doin', hon" from the female professors. I felt a little bit like a fraud, but isn't that what acting is, after all?

To be totally honest here, I TOTALLY loved the attention. I was glad she asked me. It was super fun. But the best part? Was taking the dang thing off at the end of the day. Man, I wish I could've done that when it happened for real.

I Wonder Who's Excited That It's Friday?

Anyone?

unfortunately, i'm with rin.

both mso rin and i work in the university setting, so our schedules are rather hectic during this time of year. i'm not sure about rin, but the busiest time in my office is the entire month of august. freshmen moved in yesterday and upperclassmen are starting to knock on our doors, so i really can't take time away to post.

i'm so, so sorry.

I Wonder What I'd Relive?

The day before I realized summer was over and school was starting again.

Heaven help me. I know I should carve out time for posting, and I'm not trying to say that my life is more important than the lives of the other Wonder Women (if you think that's what I'm going for, you must not know me), but in order to keep my head above water, I ... just ... can't.

See y'all in September. Sorry!

I Wonder What Moment I Would Choose

Like g love, I too have an embarrassment of riches in the wonderful moments treasure chest of life. I am grateful that I have had such a happy life and have so many moments to choose from. In looking through my mind’s eye at the many choices I passed over for this entry, I see the night I graduated from college, the first night I spent in my very own apartment, and getting my kitten as a gift. I remember the night I met my husband and knew immediately our lives would forever be intertwined, I remember the night we got engaged, and I remember the first few moments we were married and on our own. Our romantic night in Paris during which we visited the Eiffel Tower and were citizens of a different part of the world is emblazoned in my mind. The third day of our honeymoon is also a fond memory. We sat on rafts in the pool, drinking tropical drinks and had not a care in the world. It was a glorious worry-free way to start a marriage. A trip to Vegas with two of our favorite people in the world catches my attention as I see the four of us around a table, laughing uncontrollably.

If I had to pick, though, I would have to choose a moment in which I am surrounded by everyone I love all at once. It is only a coincidence that it is my wedding day. My wedding day meant so much to me because I had moved away from Indiana only a few months before. I was navigating this new world on my own with only my soon-to-be husband’s assistance. We were building a new life together and while it was fun, it was monumentally exhausting. So, to come home to my entire family and all of my friends in one place was utterly glorious. I did not care about being “the bride” or about getting a lot of attention on this day. I only cared about marrying my Superman and about being with everyone I loved. It was a wonderful day in that I got to spend it with my closest friends, I got to repeat vows to my beloved, and I got to dance my biscuit off with everyone.

There are some days that are a little lower than others and whenever I need a little boost, I often think of my wedding day. It was a treasure in that I could squeeze my new husband’s hand, I could hug my best friend, and I could laugh at my dad’s jokes in person. I could kiss one grandmother and then the other only to then be surprised by a far-away friend who had made the trip for the event. It was wonderful to feel so loved and to feel as if life was full of possibility, adventure and excitement. Nothing was set in stone, there were no worries in the world, and there was good wine. We danced, laughed, loved and endlessly grateful. When we breathlessly left our reception, all I could remember was…joy.