Cheryl took the challenge to ask me anything. Her question was actually somewhat hard for me, which I suppose is odd. She asked what my favorite childhood memories were.

I have honestly been thinking about this for a few days. I am the type of person who remembers completely useless and random things but then drives my friends and family nuts when they say, "Remember so & so?" and I have to say, "Um, no." "But he was in your class every year from kindergarten on up!" Still a no. Or like when I told my mom I was thinking of visiting Sea World while in Orlando because I couldn't remember anything about it except that I was in a VERY bad mood that day, she couldn't believe that I didn't remember the behind the scenes tour we took where apparently Shamu landed himself RIGHT NEXT TO US on a platform. Nope, don't recall that at all. (She was highly irritated about THAT one!)

So, back to the childhood memories. Some things I think I remember but they may be memories based on stories being told to me by others, because I was very little. I have great memories of our very first dog, a beautiful Belgian Sheepdog named Prince. Prince was my buddy. He went everywhere with me and put up with everything from me. I would swing him on the swingset. I buried him in the sandbox (forever dooming the poor fellow to ear infections from there on out). I remember when I was older and we moved to a more rural area that he would chase the geese (until one chased back!) and he liked to try to hide behind stick trees. He was probably my first friend in life and was forever loving and loyal to me.

It bothered me though that this was the only thing that came to mind so I thought some more. I had friends who lived in the same trailer park (yep, I grew up in a trailer park!) as me but very little stands out as a really favorite memory. I remember spending ALL DAY long at the pool with my friends, even though I could barely swim. I remember spending evenings taking walks with a whole group of them and hanging out. I remember trying to "camp" out in my friend Jessica's backyard and getting scared within about an hour and coming in the house instead for the night! I also remember walking home from the bus with my friends after school. It wasn't too far - just far enough to talk and laugh and have some fun. I was really blessed to live somewhere where it was safe for kids and where there were a lot of kids my age or just about. We lived there for most of my childhood; we bought land and built a house about two or three miles away when I was 15, which was also the year I had back surgery and had a rod implanted in my spine. It was a rough year. And I think because it was not a "neighborhood" per se like the other one, I didn't really make any real friends nearby (and luckily, I was soon driving and that wasn't an issue!) But a lot of things did change because of that move....