Pow Wow Time at the University!

Yesterday, Livie, Andrew, and I went to the 18th Annual Pow Wow at the University of Iowa. It was a BLAST! (Just a note: I took some photos and videos, but it was with my little point 'n' shoot Kodak Easyshare C340, so they're not the best photos. But they're good enough to give you an idea.)

We first went out for breakfast; we'd gone to Hy-Vee (a grocery store chain in the area), because they had a cafeteria. Liv and I had gotten pancakes (I had no idea they'd be the size of dinner plates!) and bacon, plus mine came with a side of eggs (scrambled). Andrew got eggs, toast, hash browns. The portions were HUGE (I didn't know they'd be so gigantic), so we walked out of there well fed.

After our commute down to the university (about 45 minutes), we found the Rec Building. Doors opened at 10 AM, but we'd gotten there around 11:30 AM. It worked out just right, because that's the time I'd wanted to arrive. The "Grand Entrance" was scheduled for noon, and I didn't want to miss it; by arriving 30 minutes early, I wanted to be sure we had time to park, buy our tickets, go potty, and take a look around.

Anyway, the "Grand Entrance" is where all the pow wow participants line up and dance into the dance area - all done up in their regalia - while the drummers and singers provide the music.

Well, I guess there was a technical issue with the loudspeaker equipment, so the emcee kept us up-to-date and entertained (with lots of talking and stories) while the issue was resolved. (Half the center could hear and understand him, loud and clear. The other half? While the volume was fine, the clarity was not - he sounded really garbled.

 Here's a shot of the Rec Building about 15 minutes before the festivities started.

After working on the equipment for about 20-25 minutes, the Grand Entrance finally started around 12:30. That made me remember something my Native American Literature professor had said: it's rare for a pow wow to start on time, since there's usually a glitch. He was right, at least for this pow wow!

The Grand Entrance was awesome to watch and to feel - the drums caused this great vibration, and you could feel it in your core. Yes, putting it that way kinda sounds spiritual, but it was, in a sense. I was totally absorbed.

Here's a shot of the Grand Entrance.

After a song about victory, and another thanking veterans for serving our country (which was awesome - I got a little teary-eyed), the dancing, singing, and drumming started.

Livie couldn't sit still; she kept getting up and dancing to the beat. It was hard not to - the beat was mesmerizing. Since it was in the "rec" center, there was an indoor track in the building. Inside the track oval, was the tennis (and volleyball?) area, which is where the dancing occurred, sans nets, of course. Livie couldn't sit still, so we'd get up and walk around the track, and we were still able to watch the dancing. She'd dance along beside me as we walked around.

Our full bellies eventually digested our breakfast, leaving us hungry again. There were food vendors, so we went and got a couple fry breads. These are akin to sopaipillas or funnel cakes. They can be sweet or savory, depending on the toppings. For instance, you could order a taco, with the fry bread as the "tortilla." Or you could get one with a bit of honey on it, or even powdered sugar.

Livie and I ordered ours plain, because I like to savor the taste of it, and I wanted to see how Liv liked it before we got one with stuff loaded onto it. No photo - we gobbled 'em up too fast! Oh, and some time later, Andrew bought some bison jerky. It was really good - some of it was regular, and some was super spicy. We at a little, and the rest we saved for later.

At one point, I ran into a professor who is also the adviser for the American Indian Studies Program at UI.  She and I spoke for a few minutes, and I introduced her to Andrew and Livie. (I mispronounced her name and was so embarrassed; she was so gracious, though, about helping me pronounce it correctly.) I'd mentioned that Livie really enjoyed dancing to the drumming/singing. She said that later on, if time permitted, there'd be an "Inter-tribal" dance, where anybody could go in the middle to dance. She said if that occurred, we could go in and have fun.

I hoped that we'd be able to take part, and hoped that Livie would not get too pooped/crabby and want to leave before the Inter-tribal dance took place.

Well, thankfully, she did a great job the whole day! And we were there for a while! But the whole atmosphere was amazing, so we really did have a lot of fun.

Buying her this purple butterfly/feather hair clip helped keep her chipper!

 The gentleman in the yellow regalia was a spectacular dancer; I enjoyed watching him. But all the dancers were absolutely amazing!

I ran into my Native American Literature professor late in the afternoon. I was hoping to introduce Livie to him, but she and Andrew were off looking at something while I was getting some bottled waters. My professor and I talked for a few minutes, and I told him how one thing or another reminded me of stuff we talked about in class. We laughed about some funny stuff we'd talked about and I suddenly missed my Uncle Hector. It was just that kind of conversation "UH" and I would've had. Before we parted ways with a "see you later," he reminded me to have Livie dance in the Inter-tribal, to which I agreed.

Livie was about to explode with excitement. Andrew backed away, refusing to take part. I told her to go ahead and I'd take photos. But when she gave me the pouty lip look, I went in with her. I was a bit nervous at first, but then got into it, again being mesmerized by the drumming and singing. This was a blast, even though Livie suddenly got really shy partway through, and made me carry her, all 37.6 pounds of her.

For me, "dancing" in the Inter-tribal was the highlight.

Here are a couple video clips of the dancing. 

The gentleman in the yellow (on the far side of the dance area), with all the yellow fringe swinging about - I loved watching him dance. When Livie and I were out "dancing," he was out there, near us, and it was so incredibly cool seeing him dance up close. But they were ALL incredible to watch.

Video ©Sonya Heilmann April 2011

Liv and I enjoyed watching these girls performing a "jingle dance" in their "jingle" dresses. They had these metal (aluminum?) cones sewn onto their dresses. These conical bells would jingle when they moved.

Video ©Sonya Heilmann April 2011

Whoooo whooo whooo is that?

Livie and I are currently at my parents' house, which is about 140 miles (approximately a 2:30 hour drive) from our house. We got here Thursday evening, after an already long day for me. My schedule?

• Up at 5:15 AM to study a little, 
• At 6:30, I get ready, 
• At 7, I get Livie ready, get my travel mug of coffee in the car, eat a yogurt or have a whey protein drink
• At 7:30, take Livie to Pre-K then drive nearly an hour to the U of I for two classes back-to-back,
• 9:30 AM - 12:10 PM, Native American Literature and Early American Literature
• 12:30 - drive home (it takes a bit to walk about 0.65 mi to the parking garage, lugging a ton of books)
• 1:30 - Lunch and load up the overnight bags, portable DVD player, DVDs, 2-3 of Liv's stuffed animals
• 2:30 - Pick up Liv and drive the 2 1/2 hours to Abuelita's

So . . . when Andrew is doing his Reserve weekend, we head to Abuelita and Nonno's house so Livie can spend time with them while I goof off on my laptop at the local library study. Yesterday, Abuelita took Livie to get a manicure (a new monthly "tradition" for them) and went to see a movie. Today they're making a cake.

My parents live in a really wooded area. There is quite a bit of "wild" life around here. Lots of deer, some raccoons (the word raccoon, by the way, has its origin in the Powhatan tribe's Algonquian language), possums, birds native to Iowa, and the next door neighbors' chocolate lab, Bentley (or Bailey, or boo boo, or some other two-syllable name starting with B). I should know his name by now, because they're always yelling it when he runs over to jump on me.

Well, anyway . . . yesterday morning, while we were in the kitchen, my dad comes over and points out the window above the sink. He asks me if I see the white tree down the hill a way, with the huge nest in the high branches. Why, yes, I see it. Why?

He hands me a pair of binoculars and has me look closely.

There's a HUGE owl in the nest. This bird is MASSIVE!!

Its back was to us at the time, but I could easily see the two tufted "ears" poking up on the top of its head.

I couldn't stop watching it. It sat there, occasionally swiveling its head around. It was so cool to look at.

At some point I headed to the library to study, but when I headed back for lunch, I grabbed the binoculars and looked again. It was still there. I then remembered they're nocturnal, right? No wonder it was still there.

Then later in the evening, around dusk, I looked at it again, thinking it might be heading out soon, if it hadn't already gone. But it was still there. It looked like it was trying to get comfortable, doing an intricate "dance," lifting a gigantic wing, putting its head down, shifting its weight, and then repeating with the other wing.

It dawned on me that perhaps it's incubating eggs! Because it was still there as I watched through the binoculars in the fading light.

This morning it was still there, but it had turned itself around at some point and was now facing the house. I was still looking at it, absolutely fascinated, when my dad came into the kitchen. I asked, "Do you think it has eggs in that nest?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure it does."

"I can't stop looking at it. It was doing a 'dance' last night at dusk, like it was trying to get comfortable, rearranging eggs, maybe?"

"I'm sure it has eggs. I've been trying to see it during a 'shift change.' You see, there has to be a pair of them. They take turns with the eggs. . .the owl will abandon the eggs if there isn't a mate."

Huh. I didn't know that. Then he described how they arrange the eggs and "sit" on them while they're incubating them, and said it's similar to how pigeons "sit" on and incubate their eggs. (He used to breed and race homing pigeons, so that's how he knows about pigeons).

I like these unexpected learning moments.

And now enough procrastination. I have to get back to my school work.

Memory Lane Friday - A Favorite Holiday Movie

This week's Memory Lane Friday theme is "A Favorite Holiday Movie."

Okay, so I don't remember having a specific holiday movie I absolutely had to see every year when I was younger. Sure, my brothers enjoyed A Christmas Story most years, and I'd watch it with them, once in a blue moon.

But as far as my favorite holiday movie goes? Hmmm. I would have to say my favorite one in recent years has become Miracle on 34th Street, the 1994 version starring Richard Attenborough as Santa, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, and Mara Wilson as Susan.

Now I've only seen bits and pieces of the 1947 one. Maybe I should put it on my Netflix queue. But the 1994 version? I've seen it all the way through, at least once, and then I'll occasionally catch bits of it now and then, when it's shown on TV.

The reason why this has become my favorite holiday movie? I really like the actress, Mara Wilson, and how she portrays the character, Susan.

And, in general, I really enjoy how the movie "proves" the existence of Santa. It just seems like magic, just the way Santa should be.

Miracle on 34th Street (1994) movie poster

Please come back next week, when the Memory Lane Friday topic is "Holiday Traditions."

Memory Lane Friday is hosted by Two Bears Farm and the Three Cubs. Please click on the box below to read her Memory Lane Friday post, as well as posts from other Memory Lane Friday participants.

Happy 2nd Eighth Anniversary!!

Andrew and I got married by a justice of the peace on Friday 21 Jun 2002, while we were still on active duty . . . that way we could get orders for a "join-spouse" assignment and be at the same base at the same time. Otherwise, I would've moved on to a new assignment while he remained at his for another 2-3 years. We'd have no guarantee that he'd ever be assigned at my new base any time in the future.

At our justice of the peace ceremony that hot, humid June morning in Fayetteville, NC, we had a few of the guys from Andrew's current unit come out to the courthouse to act as our witnesses. I wore "business" attire - a nice blouse, khaki pants, a black blazer, and black leather shoes. Andrew? He wore jeans and a t-shirt.

After a brief ceremony (it took only minutes), we were officially married; he and I were then off to spend the weekend in the Raleigh-Durham area. We'd window shopped at the nice outdoor shopping area, then went out for a big HUGE Italian dinner at the Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant in Durham. Afterward, we saw a movie, "Lilo and Stitch" (still one of my all-time favorite Disney movies, by the way).

The justice of the peace ceremony, by the way, made the "join-spouse" assignment (same base/same time) a reality after the appropriate personnel received the official marriage certificate. As soon as I got back to my base in Tucson - which means the very next day - the marriage certificate went its merry way to the aforementioned "appropriate personnel."

A few months later, we both got orders to move from our current assignments (mine in Tucson, his in Fayetteville) to our new ones in New England, together -same base, same time frame, but different units.

Later that year, about 3 months after we both settled into the Boston area for our new assignments, we did the "official" church wedding, on Saturday 14 Dec 2002 at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. This time we had the guests, the cake, the party . . .

Speaking of cake:

Photo ©2002 - Brad Baskin

My mom and I had been planning the December shin-dig since February 2002, well before the aforementioned justice of the peace ceremony in June.

This time, though I was in the big, fancy, fru-fru dress and veil, and Andrew was finally dressed appropriately in his Mess Dress (the Air Force's formal, fancy tux-like uniform).

Anyway, when the following June 21st approached (the justice of the peace anniversary), I'd made a comment about celebrating our 1st Anniversary (the justice of the peace one). Andrew had already decided we'd just celebrate the church wedding in December. I said no, we'd celebrate both.

The mom of one of our neighbors said, "You'll celebrate both. You never make a woman choose between two anniversaries!"  Her daughter and son-in-law (our neighbors) had done the same thing as we did, and for similar reasons - a quiet, very low-key justice of the peace ceremony first (with just a couple witnesses), and then a few months later the big church wedding with the dress, the Mess Dress, the guests, the church, the cake, etc.

Anyway, here are a few of our many church wedding photos:

Photo ©2002 - Brad Baskin

Me and my 3 awesome bridesmaids! L to R: Dianne, Brenda, me, obviously, and Candi

Photo ©2002 - Brad Baskin

Andrew and his Best Man and the Groomsmen! L to R: Adam (the Best Man), P.J., Andrew, David, Keith

Photo ©2002 - Brad Baskin

During the ceremony, inside the Cathedral:

Photo ©2002 - Brad Baskin

So, there you have it. That's how, with the justice of the peace ceremony and the church wedding, Andrew and I have two anniversaries per year.

And since today's the church anniversary, it's the "2nd Eighth" Anniversary  (the "1st Eighth" Anniversary obviously having been in June).

Most importantly, here is where I'd like to say, "Happy '2nd Eighth' Anniversary, Andrew! Love and kisses!"

Here's a video that I think fits us (make sure your volume's on):


The song is by Ingrid Michaelson, and is called "The Way I Am." (The song/slideshow is off of YouTube.)



And here's the song Andrew and I used for our first dance at our wedding reception:

It's called "You Are My Home," sung by Vanessa Williams and Chayanne.

(This is a fitting video because we took ballroom dancing lessons for nearly 4 years while stationed in the Boston area. This song is from a ballroom dancing movie called "Dance with Me.")

Memory Lane Friday - It Was My Friend's Idea

This week's Memory Lane Friday topic is "It Was My Friend's Idea."

I've been having a hard time coming up with a story for this one; I don't want it to sound like some forgotten Animal House scene. So, ever since last week, I've been thinking and thinking about what to write for this week's topic.

Now I know that in past weeks, I've said that one Memory Lane Friday topic or another was a "hard" topic to write about. That was because I probably had a bunch of great anecdotes per topic, and had trouble choosing just one or two.

But this one is seriously hard to think of a story, because I want it to be a more family-friendly tale, and less like my recollections of somewhat embarrassing college high jinx. 

So the one thing that came to mind was something my family's au pair, Minna, and I did together.

This must've been in the early '80s, when Minna, from Helsinki, Finland, was living at our house as our au pair.

Minna was a lot of fun to be around. She'd take me to my riding lessons, sometimes taking lessons herself. She and I would go around doing stuff, sometimes with my siblings, sometimes with just me.

Anyway, I remember wanting to see the movie Beverly Hills Cop, starring Eddie Murphy, which came out in 1984. That means I was almost 14 years old. And it's an R-rated movie. So I definitely wasn't going to get into that movie by myself, right?

But Minna was old enough (having been college-aged at the time), and somehow my mom agreed to let Minna take me to see that movie. It was a comedy movie, not just pure action, so maybe that's why she said yes. But she said yes, and I was excited to go see an R-rated movie with Minna, especially this one. For some reason it seemed like a really funny movie, which is why I think I must've wanted to go see it. That and actually having permission to see an R-RATED MOVIE!!

So we headed to the movie theater, which was just a few minutes' drive from the house. We got to the counter and she asked for two tickets for the movie. Well, since it was R, and since I wasn't with a parent or guardian, they wouldn't sell her the tickets, since one was for me.

I suppose they knew she wasn't my mom, because she's blonde and very Finnish-looking, and I'm brunette, and definitely not Finnish-looking. Plus, she probably looked just a little too young to be my mom or guardian.

Well, here we were at the movie theater, without tickets to see Beverly Hills Cop. I think there must've been another movie - a PG movie - starting at about the same time, so we went to see that one, instead, both of us a bit disappointed.

I can't tell you what that other movie was, because I just can't remember.

When we got home, my mom asked us how the movie was, and we gave her an abbreviated account of what had happened.

But another day when she and I had the opportunity to see a movie, just the two of us, Minna had one of those "light bulb over her head" moments. She decided, "We're going to see Beverly Hills Cop. I will get us both tickets for it!" 

I was surprised, but excited.

She marched herself up to the ticket booth, very I-know-what-I'm-doing,  and said in a very authoritative manner, "Two tickets for Beverly Hills Cop, please!" Without even blinking, the person behind the counter sold Minna two tickets, and into the theater we went!

I think Minna was very surprised. After a moment, we recovered from our shock and started laughing. She couldn't believe she'd actually gotten a ticket for both of us, and figured it must've been her no-nonsense attitude when she walked up to the ticket counter, like she just knew what she was doing.

It was a funny memory, and we would occasionally laugh about her sudden super-bossy attitude at the ticket counter that night!

Anyway, here's a photo of Minna when she got married in 1990.

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Check back next Friday, when the topic will be: Pictures Tell a Story.

Memory Lane Friday - My Dad

This week's Memory Lane Friday topic is about "My Dad."

He's the guy that my brother Alex and I think of when watching The Lion King. There's a part where Simba has gotten into trouble with the hyenas, and Mufasa has to come in and rescue him. Later, Simba mentions that the hyenas were pretty scared of Mufasa. And Mufasa says, "Nobody messes with your Dad!" That reminds Alex and me of the kind of guy our dad is.

So what do I say about my dad? Well, I have a lot of stories, so I'll just have to narrow them down to just a few.

 Here's a picture of the two of us. I must've been around 4.

 This must've been about the time we moved to Wilmette, IL.

 Here's a funny photo of Dad as he's floating at the lake house, Lake Ozark, MO, circa mid-90s.

First, as you can see in the photo above . . . I have to say that he's the kind of guy who would be the instigator in something super fun . . . but this thing (whatever it might be) would also be high on the list of "Mom won't like this!" activities.

For instance, in a previous Memory Lane Friday about A Family Vacation, I recalled that he served us ice cream, M&Ms, and Twizzlers for breakfast one morning before skiing. That same trip, he took us to eat nothing but cookies and milk for lunch one day. And then to top it off, we went to this funky, weird place called "The Irish Camel" that served awful Mexican food!

He is also the guy who is up for seeing movies - action, adventure, space - anything fun, fast, and loud. I remember seeing the original 3 Star Wars movies, Jaws 3D, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Terminator 2, probably a couple Star Trek movies, stuff like that. Anytime a fun movie was out, we could count on Dad to take us to it.

At the movie theater, he always used to get the HUGE vat container of popcorn - the biggest one - with butter, and one huge soda. He'd have us all share it, though we always complained that we wanted our own individual sodas. Nope. That wasn't going to happen. One big popcorn and one big soda (with one straw) to share among all of us.

One time, he'd gone to get the popcorn and soda, and when he got back to the aisle where we were sitting, he tripped and dumped the whole container of popcorn on my sister's head. She was SO mad! She must've been around 8 years old, and would not stop complaining the entire movie, but the rest of us thought it was hilarious. We couldn't stop snickering about it, and that made her angrier!

Then there's the side of him that gives good (or tries to give good) advice.

When I was a student at Culver Girls Academy, in Culver, IN, I was a member of the Culver Equestriennes. This team does mounted drills to music.

To be a member of this organization, a rider must be enrolled in the Horsemanship department, and must meet or exceed a certain GPA, maintain a high level of horsemanship, and maintain a "citizenship grade" of B or higher. Riders may try out for the team after a semester in the Horsemanship department.

 The Culver Equestriennes. I'm in the line closest to the camera, third from the right.

Well, my friend Rosann and I had been members of the Equestriennes since the second semester of our Freshman year. At the end of our Junior year, just before the final ride the week of graduation, it was time to elect the new senior captain (out of the current juniors) for our Senior year on the team.

Since we'd been teammates since our freshman year (as were only one or two other teammates), Rosann and I wanted to run as co-captains. Our Freshman year, we had co-captains lead the team. We just knew we could run the team effectively as co-captains. But the coach said no, without reason. We pressured her to tell us why we couldn't and the answer was basically, "Because I said so. End of conversation."

Rosann and I were understandably upset, but ran as individuals.

When it was finally time to vote (right before we were to go out to the stables to mount up for the final ride of our junior year), we nervously voted.

And then just before we entered the arena as a team, the coach told us the results. It was a third girl who had won. She had gotten 6 votes, Rosann and I each got 4 votes, and then other girls got the remaining votes. Rosann and I were so upset. If we had run as co-captains, we could've gotten 8 votes (possibly more) and would've won!

But we had a performance to ride. I put on my best and biggest smile (we were always encouraged to smile big for all performances . . . besides, it was fun!), even though I just wanted to cry.

After the performance, we had to quickly get the horses ready for the Culver Lancers (the boys' mounted drill team). Then we could go up to the balcony to meet our families.

I'm pretty sure I forced out a half-hearted "Congratulations!" to the girl who became captain, a classmate of Rosann's and mine, with as big a smile as I could forcefully plaster on my face. I'd been trying to avoid her, but we were in the stables together, so it was inevitable.

One of my friends, Debra, who a classmate of mine and also on the team, said, "You should've won. If it makes you feel any better, I voted for you." So did my friend, Brenda, a senior who'd be graduating in a couple days, also a teammate.


Then I headed up to the balcony to find my parents. I think I gave them a short, snippy, "So-'n'-so won. She's captain," as we watched the other teams perform.

But in the car, as my parents drove me back to my dorm, I couldn't hold back the flood anymore and I burst into tears. I was so heartbroken (and mad). I explained how Rosann and I wanted to be co-captains, but the coach said no, and then I explained all the rest of the drama.

My dad then tried to explain that it's usually not the best riders (or football/hockey/soccer players, or whatever sport it is) that get to be captain . . . it's the most popular ones. He went on to tell me I had a gift - I was such an accomplished equestrian, having won awards (which was just the icing on the cake), that I could practically ride in my sleep, that it was so effortless for me. This was more important than holding a "captain" title for a year.

Then he explained that when he was on the football team, he was considered to be a talented football player. But when he ran for the captain position, he didn't get it. It went to the most popular guy on the team who was just an average player, at best. So he knew what it felt like, and wanted me to understand it had nothing to do with my horsemanship ability.

I didn't believe him at the time, thinking he was just saying that to get me to stop crying. But as time wore on, and the sting wore off, I could see his point. I found out later, after talking with Rosann, that a similar event happened with her and her parents, and that her dad gave her a very similar story.

Well, then there's how my dad leads by example. He'd received a commission in the Army back in the day. He was the only one in my family with a commission. All the rest of my family members served honorably and bravely as a part of the enlisted corps.

But since I'd be going to college and since I had a strong urge to join the military and serve my country, I knew I'd follow in his footsteps and get a commission, too. But I went Air Force, not Army (or Navy) like all my relatives before me.

Since my dad had been a Major in the Army, I decided that when it was time for me to graduate from Officer Training School, I wanted him to administer my oath of office. It was the same one that recited when he raised his right hand and accepted his commission. It's the same one Andrew took when he was commissioned. It's actually very similar to the one that each U.S. President recites on Inauguration Day.

Here's my dad as he administers my oath on 19 Nov 1999.

 My mom took this photo of us.

Here he is as he pins on my Second Lieutenant rank.

So my dad, the Army Major, administered my oath of office, and pinned on my new rank (which he also did at each of my promotion ceremonies).

This is a common bond that he and I share. He's said on occasion that none of his other kids ever followed this example of his . . . and he's said this with a grin on his face. So I'm the only family member to share this common bond.

So there you have it . . . a not-so-brief snapshot of my dad. But before I sign off . . . check out a couple photos of my dad when he was much younger.

 Here he is as a little boy, less than a year old.

 Here he is when he was about 17 in Auburn, NY.

And here is one more from when I got married in 2002:

Wedding photo © 2002 Brad Baskin

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Memory Lane Friday - A Favorite Movie

Okay, I took a break from Memory Lane Friday last week due to the long weekend when Andrew, Livie, and I were at my parents' place.

But now I'm back for the favorite movie topic. This is another tough one to try and narrow down. So I'm going to talk about two in particular.

I'd have to say that my favorite movie growing up was International Velvet, the 1978 sequel to National Velvet (with Elizabeth Taylor as Velvet Brown). Surprise, surprise, an equestrian movie!

International Velvet, by the way, starred the great Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Plummer, and Tatum O'Neal as young Sara Brown, Velvet Brown's niece.

How I desperately wanted to be Sara Brown from Cave Creek, AZ, riding on the Olympic Eventing team and winning the gold (but for the U.S., not for Britain, obviously)! One of my friends, Leslie, and I would watch International Velvet at my house the night before a horse show, without fail, and we'd go for pizza with her parents at the end of the day, after we wrapped up at the show. It was our tradition. We practically knew the lines by heart. If I watched it today, I'd probably still remember many of them!

Here's a clip of International Velvet. It's kind of a long one, but FYI: the part I always wanted to re-create starts around 4:10.

Of course, during the fictional movie Olympics when Sara is riding, she falls and hurts her shoulder (in the clip above, it's around 5:20). Back in May 1983 (I was 12.5 years old), I actually fell off my horse Chico as we were jumping, and I broke my right collar-bone.

Now I don't remember this part (due to concussion), but apparently I was repeating to my riding coach, Debbie, and my friend Leslie, "This is just like International Velvet! That was just like the bogey fence!" (They refer to the jump she fell at as a "bogey fence" at some point in the movie because other riders had problems with it, too.) Man-o-man, what the brain will think when it's in a jumble.

Then when I was in college, I remember seeing posters for The Cutting Edge (the original one from 1992) at the movie theater, but for some reason, I never got around to seeing it . . . 

. . . until spending some time at my parents' lake house, that is. My brothers had rented it from the local video store because there were thunderstorms rolling through and we couldn't do water sports out on the lake.

And we watched it and watched it . . . and watched it a million times, or so it seemed. But it was such a fun movie to watch! Every so often - ever since those few days that summer - I try to watch it, just because it IS fun. And Doug Dorsey (the hockey-player-turned- finger painter figure-skater) wears a Chicago Blackhawks jersey. Can't go wrong with THAT, right? They have been my favorite team for YEARS, and are now in the Stanley Cup Finals. Woo hoo!! Okay, but I'm off track now, aren't I? Hahaha!

Anyway, here's the trailer for The Cutting Edge:

Boy, that was fun reminiscing about favorite movies growing up. Of course, now I'm going to have to find International Velvet on DVD. My VHS copy got ruined long ago. And I have to see if I can get The Cutting Edge on my Netflix queue. I'll bet I'll still think they're fun to watch.

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Memory Lane Friday - A Time You Got in Trouble

Okay, I know this week's theme is "A Time You Got in Trouble" but I'm going to go with a time my youngest brother and I could have gotten into trouble . . . if we had not been quick to hide the "evidence."

This was back a number of years, maybe late-'80s or early-'90s. We were still living in the house on Casady Drive.

 Here's the Casady house, circa early '80s:

I think I must've been getting ready to head back to college at the time this event occurred. It was the end of summer, with Labor Day fast approaching.

My parents were planning the family's last trip to the lake house in Lake Ozark, MO. However, for one reason or another, my youngest brother and I had decided that neither one of us wanted to spend another weekend at the lake house that summer. I don't really know his reason, but I think I wanted my last weekend to be at home before heading back out to college.

Anyway, my mom had no problem with my staying home, and said that if I were willing to take care of Alex, he could stay home, too. I agreed to the task.

When the 3-day-weekend finally arrived, we watched the rest of the family pull out of the driveway that Friday afternoon with excited grins on our faces.

The first thing we did was get into my car and head to the video store. As we browsed through the hundreds of VHS titles, Alex said to me, "Can I get 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'? I've never seen it and it's not really something Mom would let me watch. Would you mind if I got it?" Keep in mind that he was in middle school at the time (I'm a number of years his senior). But being the cool sister that I am, I said, "Why the heck not?"

"The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and a couple other titles later, we headed down the strip mall's sidewalk to the Dahl's grocery store, just a few doors down from the video store. Were we getting stuff for dinner? Noooo . . . of course not! We went in and got a few pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Once back home, we immediately went to the den to start movie night and order a pizza! Just about 30 minutes into our first movie (it may have been "Rocky Horror" or something like "Flash Gordon" - I can't remember), we got our pizza (and a couple sodas) - which we ate in the den! This is definitely something that would NOT have been allowed if our mother had been home!

Later on after our pizza started digesting during our "weird movies" movie night, we dug into the ice cream. In the den, of course!

Then after the last of our movies it was off to bed, leaving an empty pizza box, some soda cans, and an empty ice cream container (with dirty spoons) where they lay. Luckily Alex hadn't fallen asleep in the den that night - I didn't want him sleeping in there all night, and I wouldn't have been able to carry him to his room. 

The next day - that Saturday of Labor Day weekend - after sleeping in late, and leaving a mess of dirty cereal bowls in the kitchen - the two of us headed to the zoo! I don't recall whose idea it was, but it was a fun outing - until it started raining! I think we ended up heading to the Science Center for something fun indoors, but when we got there, it was closed!

Ah, well. That meant more time at the video store returning our previous rentals and getting 3 more movies. I don't remember the titles, but D.B. Sweeney, Marlee Matlin, Jeff Bridges were among the actors. I vaguely remember renting "Starman" and "The Vanishing" sometime that weekend.

Of course, that also meant more Ben & Jerry's being picked up at the grocery store before heading home, and another pizza delivery that evening. And yet another late night watching movies, and pigging out on junk food.

But this time, we piled up two day's worth of pizza boxes and ice cream containers in the kitchen before going to sleep that night.

I don't remember what we did on Sunday, but Sunday night was more of the same - movies, pizza, and ice cream. Somehow we hadn't finished watching all our rentals Sunday night before hitting the hay. But we did get a chance to clear the den of all junk food evidence. However, it was now all piled up in the kitchen . . . okay, not the soda cans, but the pizza boxes. I still can't believe we ate pizza three nights in a row.

Well, Monday arrived, and since we hadn't finished watching our videos from the night before, that's what we did - we watched the remaining movie. I think we ended up going through the drive-thru at McDonald's for lunch before settling into our comfy chairs in the den and starting the movie - with our bags of fast food in the den.

At some point, we got a call from our mom, stating that they were leaving, and what time she and the rest of the family would be back. It was sometime late afternoon or early evening - around dinner time.

No problem! Alex and I had plenty of time to finish our movie and get rid of the evidence.

That is, we thought we had enough time . . . until early that afternoon, when we were both standing in the kitchen (overlooking the driveway, garage, and extra parking area), and we saw that familiar van heading up the street, and turning into the driveway!!!

Oh, no! We both panicked! We had pizza boxes strewn about the kitchen, empty McDonald's bags from that day's lunch, dirty cereal bowls from three mornings of breakfasts, empty soda cans . . . what were we gonna do? How were we gonna explain this?!

We both grabbed a couple big garbage bags and started filling them with the trash we'd accumulated over the 3-day-weekend. Once we did that, I started quickly rinsing off the breakfast dishes and filling the dishwasher. As I did that, I sent Alex to the den to make sure we'd gotten all the trash picked up and thrown into one of the garbage bags we'd been using.

A quick look outside and we saw the rest of the family as they were getting out of the van, unloading their bags from the very back, and off the roof rack, and gathering any accumulated trash from the passenger area of the van.

Okay, a quick survey of the kitchen. Seemed clean enough . . . now what to do about the garbage bags?! The dumpster was outside near the garage . . . but we'd have to go past the family with trash bags in tow, to get to the dumpster!

I sent Alex with the trash bags to the back yard, hiding behind some shrubbery, and listening for the all clear. I went out the side door to greet the family as they came in, and I stayed out there after the last one walked in the door. Then I called to Alex and told him to hurry up and dump the trash bags into the dumpster, which he did.

Then we both went inside with angelic looks on our faces. Aside from a "you could've gotten this kitchen a little bit cleaner" from my mom, no one ever suspected that our Movie, Pizza, and Ben & Jerry's weekend was just that - a fun, movie-filled weekend with lots of junk food!

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