1. Saturday night at our house was pizza night. I'm sure there were one or two Saturdays a year that were skipped, but from as young as I can remember through high school, we had pizza on Saturday nights -- either from Ken's Pizza or Mazzio's. And as a family we would gather around the TV and watch "The Muppet Show", "Solid Gold", "The Love Boat", "The Mandrell Sisters", and "Hunter". Oh, and "Knight Rider". (I bet you have the theme song from "The Love Boat" stuck in your head now, don't you. Haha.)
And here is a YouTube clip of Marilyn McCoo singing a duet with Peter Noone on "Solid Gold". Totally makes me laugh remembering that show...
Occasionally we would have the rare treat of going out for pizza to Crystal's. It was this awesome restaurant that had great pizza, tons of games for the kids like skeeball and such and prizes you could get with your tickets, and the decor was really fun. There were lots of rooms and different nooks and crannies to eat in -- my favorites were the little movie theater where they showed classic cartoons and the main room where the live pianist played.
2. Sunday morning breakfast was always Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. To this day I really don't like any other cinnamon rolls because without that trademark cream cheese icing, they just don't taste right to me. But none of those orange variety ones, gross.
3. I'm not sure why, but at some point during my elementary school years, my parents put a little black and white TV in my room for me to watch. I didn't get to watch it a lot, and we didn't have cable, but I really remember watching reruns of The Real McCoy's. I used to love that show!
4. My dad killed several rattlesnakes on different occasions in our backyard. I remember one in particular was discovered when my brother was kicking around the soccer ball and heard something shake. It's amazing we never got bit, I suppose.
5. We lived a few blocks away from a national art museum (Native American and cowboy art), and in the summers, my dad would take us every week to see the movies they would play in their auditorium for free. I loved the quiet cold galleries, the smell of the auditorium, and the fact that it was just me, my brother, and my dad. They were always old Disney movies, even some black and white old movies, and that was so magical to me. I remember seeing so many movies there, but only a few I can remember the titles of -- "That Darn Cat", "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", "Tron" (haha), etc.
6. I grew up with two grandmothers, a grandfather, and a great-grandmother all very much involved in my life from birth until college, when they all started passing away. I got to see them all probably at least once every week or two, and I know I am super blessed to have had so many grandparents in my life. It makes me sad that my boy has only one grandparent that lives close because I know those relationships are so important.
7. We weren't rich growing up, but my parents really made an effort in so many areas to give us opportunities. We had piano lessons (and violin lessons for my brother) every week from age 5 until 18 (minus the summers), we went on one family vacation a year, and my mom took us to shop at Dillard's (a nice department store) for our clothes when she could. Looking back I am amazed at these opportunities we were afforded since my parent's combined income was not a lot, and I am eternally grateful for the fact that they made sure we had these experiences.
8. One of my favorite memories at my grandma's house (my dad's mom) was dragging a little wooden table and chairs out to the driveway and eating donuts outside in the mornings on her driveway. Proof that it is the little things in life that kids usually love the best and they often don't require much money.
9. My grandmother (the same one) would give us silver dollars or silver half dollars every year at Christmas (along with other presents). I still have all of them in a little tin box.
10. To this day I absolutely love love love the smell of freshly cut grass due to it reminding me of my dad. It seems like he was always mowing the lawn in the summer (although I know he was doing much more besides just that), and I used to love helping him bag up the grass. He always wore a white undershirt (short-sleeve, not the wife beater ones, and sorry, that's what people call those around here) and the same pair of old raggedy jeans or shorts to mow in. What a creature of habit, my dad. He also had a particular navy plaid corduroy button down shirt (raggedy as well) that was the "dog-washing" shirt. And a particular plastic cup that he always ate his nightly serving of ice cream in. That cup currently resides in my kitchen and is a prized possession of mine.
2 comments:
LOVE your list! I'll have to come up with some of my own. It may take a few days, but I like this idea.
Ok, I'm laughing because you are the only other person I've ever heard talk about cinnamon rolls that way. I'm addicted to the pillsbury ones and don't like any of the others!
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