Throwback Thursday

Night before last I was staying at my Grandma's house. I wasn't able to get on the treadmill, and since one of my new year's goals is to get 10,000 steps a day, I decided to walk in the house.

Not my favorite way to exercise. So I circled the kitchen table and walked between the bathroom and the living room, and then decided to venture upstairs.

The upstairs of my Grandma's Bert's house used to be our hiding place. Brandon and I spent many hours up there, playing detective, investigating murders. The collection of books Grandma kept from her teaching always kept me occupied, and the small desk under the window gave me the perfect view of my favorite climbing tree.

It was always piled high with old toys and picture albums and other treasures that have absolutely no value other than sentiment.

That night, it did not disappoint.

Stowed away in the bookshelf, there was a stack of old movies. Two piqued my curiosity. One was an old family movie. Another had "David Kyle" written on it. David Kyle is Wallace's assistant coach and his family were close friends with my Uncle Dennis. I thought it might have been some good stuff to show after ball practice one day.

What I discovered was four hours of cartoons, probably taped to occupy David Kyle as Carol worked at the office.

That got me thinking of all of the great cartoons when I was little... like He-Man and She-Ra. The Smurfs, of course. The Snorkels. Pound Puppies. My Little Pony. Rainbow Brite. Care Bears. Strawberry Shortcake.  And some show that I can't remember the name of that had a dog dressed as a cheerleader with a D on the sweater and a moose. (I can remember that because I had the playset and I loved it).

So that got me thinking of some of the things I loved as a kid.

1. I loved books. Obviously.
Sweet Valley High. The Babysitters Club. Fear Street. I collected them and read them voraciously, then read them again.

2. A Cabbage Patch General Hospital playset that I had. I don't remember if it had figures or what, but I do vaguely remember playing with it in the living room at my Grandma Bert's house.

3. Singing. Loudly. With a wooden microphone or a hairbrush in front of my mirror.

4. My caboodle. I didn't even like makeup but I sure liked that thing. Mine was peach and was full of Bonnie Bell lip smackers lip gloss.

5. The telephone my cousin Jennifer had that was clear, showing the insides of the phone, which were made of neon parts. It lit up when it rang, too.

6. Garbage Pail Kids... and the stickers. Everywhere. On all of my folders and notebooks.

7. Colorforms.  You know... the clingy things that you could rearrange over and over until they lost their cling.

8. New Kids on the Block.  As in I really loved them.

9. Going to Pizza Hut and feeding quarters into the juke box to listen to Bon Jovi, Poison, and Guns n Roses.

10. Mint chocolate chip ice cream from the ice cream store in North Jackson Plaza. I don't remember the name, nor do I remember how long it was there, but I do remember walking over from Dad's office and making the purchase.

11. Icees from the Dime Store.

12. Running down the ramp at Rose Bros. and walking down the steps into the basement at Martins' Department Store.

13. Also running down the ramp at Maloney's.

14. Playing Wheel of Fortune and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiago on my computer at home.

Sometimes it's good to look back on a simpler time.  Funny, though, when you're a kid or a teenager, you can't wait to grow up... and then you get there and realize it really wasn't so bad.

So, what's some of your favorites growing up?