um meme?

ok according to katie, i'm supposed to be listing five things that i miss from my childhood.. this is gonna be difficult.. i mean, i miss being a kid, but i like who i am now a lot better than the dork i was back then.. but i'll give it my best shot.

a. my grandma's field peas and salmon patties..
yes, salmon patties. i was born in bradenton, florida and lived there til the age of six. it was cool because that's where my dad's entire family was. my grandparents house was just a short drive away. we'd go there every sunday after church (well, after they got out of church). my grandma was and may still be a great cook. her best meal, and my all time favorite of hers, is field peas (hand picked from their garden), and salmon patties, hand squished. yes, believe it or not, i used to eat seafood. it is the only seafood in my whole life that i have ever enjoyed. i couldn't wait for that supper.. of course she would spend hours in the kitchen making lunch, with other things to go with it, biscuits, fried okra, etc. the smell would radiate through the whole house and outside into the yard where my brothers and i would be chasing frogs, armadillos, and rabbits. that smell still haunts me when i think about it.. so good... and then FINALLY supper would be on the table. but of course, before we could eat, we had to pray.. this would usually consist of a regular prayer, and then a 20 MINUTE reading out of some bible handbook, and then a few passages from the actual bible. it always seemed to take FOREVER. and then finally, we got to sink our teeth into the salty, yummy goodness.
of course, now my grandma rarely cooks. she and grandpa live in georgia, and she is too busy taking care of a house, and a sick grandpa to be able to cook big meals. plus, there's no one really to cook for anymore.. seems like everyone has moved away.
i'm not sure i'd be able to enjoy the salmon patties anymore anyways.. i haven't eaten seafood in years.
that one was kinda long i guess..

b. the creek
when we lived on billy st. in kannapolis, down at the end, where the road dead ends into the woods, there was the entrance to a trail. at the end of this trail was a creek.. a pretty little creek. and at the creek was a cabin. although it wasn't deserted, i NEVER saw a human at this cabin, and never saw a car, in fact i don't even know how a car would get to it. it was nice though, with a little bridge, a rock wall, and a picnic table. this was a favorite place to go for all of us neighborhood kids. anytime we wanted to escape our parents or siblings, or to have imaginary soap operas, me and my best friend marissa would go down to the creek. my eighth grade birthday party (the first one with BOYS) happened mostly here. we played spin the bottle and i got my first french kiss from rory miller (who unfortunately passed away a few years ago).
but this wasn't the end of the creek's coolness. there was another trail, from the creek, that led to a deserted skeet shooting range.. there were several buildings, all delapitated, perfect for kids and wasps. most of the buildings were blue and for some reason they were really small, but they were so cool. one year the mostly absent owners of this farm had a haunted hayride trail through the range for halloween. when it was over, my brother and me and all of our friends had and even greater time, due to the fact that they just left all of the props laying around the area..

now the beginning of the trail to the creek is closed off. the owner of the house at the end must have gotten tired of all the kids cutting through his yard. but one day, i swear i'm gonna go back there and see what it looks like now.

c. the wizard of oz as performed by a and a suggs
when we were wee lads and lasses, my brother alan and i would watch the wizard of oz over and over and OVER again.. we knew every word. we would act out the scenes, using our cats, my parents, and occassionally my oldest brother scott, as other characters. i, of course, was always dorothy.. and alan was usually the lion. my cat mayonnaise was toto. my mom even bought me a plaid dress similar to dorothy's. we had so much fun...

d. family vacations.
my family was hardcore into road trips. we went on road trips all the time. when we lived in florida we would take weekend trips up to north carolina to see the mountains and the "snow" during the summer months (yes, summer, it's 900 degrees in florida during the summer). when we moved up here, we would take day trips to the mountains, since it was only a 2 hour drive from k-town. at the grand old age of 9, my family, including my mom, dad, two brothers, and nana (other grandma) went to new england. we took a two week trip driving all the way up to maine and back.. we saw new york, maryland, rhode island, boston and everything in between. i'd say my favorite part was the whale watching in cape cod. another cool part, which i didn't appreciate at the time, was that we got to see the twin towers and go inside. there is actually a picture of my bros and i inside looking out from the top floor of one of the towers.

when i was 11, we took a month long trip across country, all the way to california and back. my family, my cousin alicia, and my grandma and grandpa. a van, a truck, and two campers. it was awesome.. got sick in vegas, saw seals in cali, saw yellowstone, yosemite, mesa verde, grand canyon, devil's tower, mt. rushmore, and EVERYTHING in between. i have been to 44 u.s. states because of these two road trips alone.
these weren't the only ones, just the best. we also went on a cruise to mexico, and other various vacations.. i miss that..

e. let's see.. i guess this last one should be the most important.. um... i miss... naps!
naps!! the most important and stupendous thing ever invented. i was never one of those kids who fought to stay awake in kindergarden at naptime.. i always warmly welcomed my favorite part of the day. the soft towel and pillow, the dark room, the back of my eyelids... this tradition carried on to the afternoons all through elementary school, and yes, even in middle school my mother would often come home to find me asleep watching animaniacs and tiny toon adventures. those rocked. in high school, i had to get a stupid job, so the naps had to end. every once in a while i'd be able to catch one.. who am i kidding, i napped everyday, during class!! especially when we'd watch a video, i'd be out like that.. . but then of course in college, i had a job too. but in college, you can't sleep during class, or you're fucked. i tried a couple times my freshman year, but it never worked. my naptimes officially stopped for good.
now i have a regular daytime job.. and my nights free. i could take naps if i wanted. of course i want to.. but now if i take a nap in the afternoon, i can't fall asleep at night.. which totally blows. so... no more naptimes for ally.

wow, that was a LOT of rambling.. sorry..