Nov 09 2008
Flashback Tags - Was It Really That Long Ago?
I was recently tagged for a couple of memes somewhat similar in nature. They both require me to delve deep in to my memory stores and share those somewhat unsavory images with the rest of blog-dom. As if I don’t reveal enough already…
But I figured I can comply, since I’ve really got muffin nothin else going on. Let’s take a walk down memory lane, shall we?
Starting with my friend Elizabeth’s tag which demands I share seven truths regarding my high school experience, as if it wasn’t painful enough, let’s relive the gory details.
1. Career Choices - My very first job was as a sandwich artist at a local Subway shop. I applied because I figured it was cleaner than McDonald’s although I ended up coming home reeking of pickles and onions for the entire two years that I worked there. For years after I got canned, I couldn’t even step in to a sandwich shop without gagging involuntarily.
2. The Beau - My first boyfriend was a co-worker I met my sophomore year. He was a skinny, chinless bully that slaughtered my self-esteem, then went on to date my best friend. Coincidentally, having a crappy boyfriend is the best diet ever because I lost like 20 lbs during the course of the two years we dated.
3. The Getaway Car - My first vehicle was bestowed upon me my senior year of high school by my absentee dad who apparently felt he had stuff to make up for. It was a gray 10 year old Buick Regal, which my friends dubbed The Illegal Regal. Needless to say after I acquired ownership, it was far too easy to skip classes, and skip we did. Often. To have breakfast at Denny’s, among other things.
4. Bad Habits - I picked up smoking Marlboro Reds my senior year of high school, honestly, just to look cool. I think I nailed it. It was disgusting, I know and I quit several years later, but sometimes I still miss it.
5. Body Art - When I was 17 I got a tattoo on my upper thigh, it’s a two inch black ink drawing of a Chinese dragon. It’s fabulously bad and I did not have parental consent. It was actually done in the back room of a comic book store by some dude with a penis piercing. Strangely enough, it was here that I met my husband.
6. Underage Drinking - Because on average, we lacked adult supervision (and my friend’s dad worked for an airline caterer and had tons of mini booze bottles at her disposal), we collectively did a lot of underage drinking. More than once I hurled or passed out, much to my humiliation. I needed a serious ass kicking, truth be known, but I turned out alright. I do not drink any more.
7. Class of ‘93 - Despite all my fooling around, I actually graduated in the top ten percent. Even though I ended up failing several of my courses senior year, I had already accumulated enough credits to graduate half way through. One of the classes I failed was Psychology, not because it didn’t interest me, but because the teacher was a douche bag who in lieu of actual instruction preferred to sit the class in a circle to participate in confessional type forums and debates. It was way creepy.
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The second tag comes from another bloggy pal Lydia, who wants me to divulge seven things about the first month of being a mom. Being that this would be 14 years ago, I’ll have to exert some actual effort in recalling those conflicted moments.
1. I was a little preoccupied those first few days because I honestly thought my guts were going to spill out my c-section scar. I didn’t even want to sneeze or laugh. I will never have surgery again if I can avoid it.
2. I thought my funny looking little newborn was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, even though I did not immediately like her…mostly because she kept giving me the stink eye. She still gives me the stink eye.
3. I never thought I could be so tired. Even the espresso I drank in the morning made me drowsy. Getting up in the middle of the night for feedings was like trying to wake yourself from a coma.
4. Everything I thought I knew from reading baby books was completely useless. Once the panic of “oh-geez-I-don’t-know-what-the-hell-I’m-doing” set in, every logical bone in my body turned to gelatinous quivering mass.
5. My colicky baby cried non-stop around the clock, from one feeding to the next. When she cried, I cried, and I was convinced I was doing irreparable damage to her fragile infant psyche.
6. I was afraid my baby would not love me.
7. Seriously, it was one of the longest months of my life. It was a dark period for me, that I am grateful I emerged from. Even now, those memories are not very happy ones. It was quite a shock to my system, lemme tell you.
—–
Okay, walk it off. I’m older now, wiser, my scars have all healed and I almost never pick at the scabs.
Want to lay it bare? Want to volunteer some of your history?
I invite you to.
I won’t tag anyone specific, since I’m a slow runner and I don’t want to embarrass myself, but if you’ve been inspired by my frankness, then by all means join in. The more the madder merrier.
