I had a different post scheduled for today, but. . . We won! Finally, 30 years later and we are World Series Champions once again! My post last week talked about sticking with this team through all the years, of the last championship to the consistent losing to last year’s wild run. This one will probably be a jumbled mess, but humor me.
I have always loved sports. I grew up playing them, in the backyard and officially organized. I grew up watching them, in a seat at games or glued to the TV, screaming and cheering in both instances. I am forever loyal to my teams, even when they’re at the bottom. I have lived in San Diego over 10 years, and you can ask any San Diego sports fans I’ve encountered how deep my loyalty runs. A season where the Chiefs finished 2-14, I was at Qualcomm in my red shirt rooting my team on, even though they seriously had no chance. Boy, did they stink that year, sort of like this year. I may get frustrated when my teams don’t do well, and I may be a little morose over losses, but I still love them. I get very into games and am very passionate, to the point I may alarm the people who are watching games with me. “Don’t worry about me, I’m just over here having a heart attack and needing an IV drip!”
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Before I ever started school, I would accompany my Mom and my Gramma to the grocery store to stock up on food and essentials. My Mom would throw me in the backseat (not literally) and we would drive up the road to pick my Gramma up. She would climb into the front seat, dig through her purse, and hand me a half a piece of Trident gum. There may be some debate on when to give a child gum, but that was a highlight for me. We would then drive to town to go to the only grocery store.
but completely worth it and more fun than you can imagine. Of course, I’m speaking of summer camp. If you’ve ever spent time at one in any aspect, you know what I’m talking about. I was never a camper, I probably would have never been able to make it through a night away, let alone a whole two weeks. When I was younger, I would go to a sleepover and part way through the night my parents would have to come pick me up or a friend’s parent would have to drive me to my house because I missed home. Yeah, I was that kid. However, I did have two glorious summers working at two different camps as a counselor during my college years.
2001 Staff orientation, cabin 9. That’s me laying down there in the blue sweatshirt.
Gida (1946)
With a flip of her hair, Rita Hayworth could drive scores of males wild. She was the “love goddess,” a pinup for military soldiers, and she was a presence on-screen that demanded attention.
I may get a lot of complaints, but there aren’t movie stars like her anymore. On screen she was almost always glamorous, to the point of it being unrealistic, but isn’t that what movies are about? Older movies are my favorites for a lot of different reasons, but one is because you know you’re watching a movie, it is an escape from reality, it is entertainment. In real life, Rita Hayworth was still gorgeous, but from what has been told she was very humble and shy, and not always decked out in elegant gowns and glamorous make up. It seems today, it’s the opposite with stars. In their movies they all play worn out characters, wear prosthetic noses or “ugliness,” and try and “nail reality,” but in real life they always look like an unattainable perfection. Personally, I prefer the way it was in Rita Hayworth’s time.
I mentioned in my last post that I got to visit my niece at her school. I not only got to drop her off and pick her up, but was able to eat lunch with her where I got to go to recess right after.
For the love of everything good and pleasant and sunshiny in the world– I want to be in kindergarten again!
Seriously, I remember my time in kindergarten like it 
was yesterday. It was clearly a very happy time. Though you probably wouldn’t guess it from my school photo. Yes, that’s me in kindergarten. For the first five or six years of school, I am leaning and dopey looking in every school photo. I’m not sure why exactly. Maybe my parents secretly slipped me NyQuil in my grape juice and I was doped up for much of my childhood. Then again, I’m still pretty dopey looking. So it’s anyone’s guess. But I digress.
Ask me about high school, I probably won’t be able to tell you too much. Ask me about kindergarten and I can tell you in incredible detail about people and things we did and the building where I attended it. It’s quite amazing what I can recall from that time in my life. I’m sure we all have that moment when we were kids where we wish we could go return to. Of course, I would love to have kindergarten back, but wouldn’t want to have to go through all the years that followed – ick. So there is that.
This time of the year includes so many great things. For many of us, it involves traveling to spend time with family. As in my case, it’s going back to my parents’ house where I grew up. Thankfully this year, I was able to do so again. I didn’t think it was going to happen for various reasons, but alas, my Daddy came to the rescue. There are the obvious perks to it, seeing family, the warm, fuzzy feeling from being able to spend Christmas with loved ones, and having that time to unwind in a different setting than where I actually live. It also brings out the curiosity in me to scour the basement and closets for lost items and forgotten treasures. It might be better than going to an antique store to peruse.
Most people seem to not like their birthday because they don’t want to be reminded of how they’re getting older. Maybe, it also has something to do with how not that many people care it’s your birthday when you’re older. Remember when you were little and you would get birthday parties with presents and balloons and cake? How come most of us don’t get that when we’re older?
Random bowl of ornaments.
Some people dread decorating for Christmas, buying or retrieving the Christmas tree from the garage or basement, digging through boxes to find ornaments, and having to string the lights to look the best on the tree. These things seem like quite a bit of work and may induce exasperated sighs, but I absolutely love all of it.
Since I moved to my own place over four years ago, the itch to decorate starts early in the holiday season. I, unlike others, do wait until December actually arrives though. My own home, to decorate how I please, with ornaments and festiveness of my choosing. I didn’t think it could get any better until the year I was given my Grandparents’ old ornaments.
After last week’s post on old photographs, it only seemed logical for this week to be about old cameras. (Very few things I do are logical, so take advantage.) These cameras produce those wonderful images and pieces of paper that speak more to a feeling than any contemporary photograph does. They have character and grit and substance.
Lovely Shades of Nostalgia 