Letter Z

This is the Zebra that ate my car.

I don't know why he ate my car.
I almost died.
(Honest, he wrapped his buck teeth around my mirror and took a bite)
Natural Bridge Wildlife Park, New Braunfels, TX

And that is the end of my A-Z.  It's been super fun for me!  

What was your favorite letter?

Let's Do A Little A-Z

We've all seen it-People out in blogworld playing a little game of A-Z.  There are lots of variations, but the idea is always the same: Starting at the beginning of the English alphabet, work your way through to Z, sharing little snippets of yourself along the way.  In the past I've had little interest in jumping onto the bandwagon, but something in my mind recently said, "Hey, go ahead and give it a try!"  So for as long as it takes me to get through the 26-letters, here is A-Z, Wandering Still-style...

My last name growing up started with double-A's.  Aa.  I loved ALWAYS being the first name called on the roll-call list.  No waiting  around or worrying that I'd quit paying attention and miss someone calling my name. I had no sense of humor for substitute teachers cleverly trying to "switch things up" by calling out names in reverse, starting with "Z".  No one else was buying it were they?  If I were a Wilson or a Van Wyk or a Young I'd probably have been annoyed because I wasn't used to being first and so I did just miss you calling my name...

My married name is a good-ol' middle-of-the-alphabet name.  Not too far in to bore me, but enough in that I have to stay on my toes.  But,as I sit here thinking about it, there aren't a lot of moments in adult life that call for a long line of attending names to be called out in succession, are there? 

Huh.  Glad I had my double-A name back when it meant something.

Back In the Day-Big Sister, Little Sister

I was struggling with the right way to introduce you to Kimberly of AalbersCreations (offering my #2 prize package during next week's A Blogtastic Extravaganza).   And then it came to me...

With 8 years between us, Kimberly and I bookend the family of six girls we grew up in.  Sometime after I grew up and she became a teenager we hit a spell of absolute goofiness and practical joking.  For our lives we can't figure out what triggered it, but to this day our bellies still ache from laughing.

Our interpretation of Julie Roberts' (Runaway Bride) duck-billed platypus 

Our shenanigans almost got out of hand.  I hid a mannequin head in bed; she filled my car with a week's worth of trash. The out and out kicker?  One muddy spring day while she was studiously attending her middle school classes, I moved her bedroom out of the basement and into the backyard.  I disassembled, reassembled, and made up the bed.  Then I waited for the school bus to come down the road and watched for Kimberly's completely confused reaction.  Then, because I was always a nice girl, I stood in the dining room window snapping photos while Kimberly reversed my day of hard work.  Yes, you read that right.  I didn't lift a finger to help her "re-decorate" her room.  In hindsight that might have been taking the joke a little too far...

Eventually I left home and started my grown-up life.  While I was getting established, Kimberly started reaching towards her own dreams.  She started thinking she'd like to get into fashion design and made her first foray with an incredible duct tape dress.  Both of her prom dresses (and suits for her dates) were duct tape and led her into years of designing her own fashion sense and clothing.  It would be a complete understatement to say that she and I had different styles, but she has always been more than willing to take my measurements over the phone and create fashionably original conservative clothes for me.

Life has changed a little bit for both of since those simple joking days.  1000 miles separates us and she has two beautiful little girls keeping her busy.  A little over a year ago her 18-month old daughter was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.  And the last months have brought her sweet family other difficulties, but she keeps on smiling and her creativity has thrived through it all.

That's what makes me proud to include Kimberly in my upcoming giveaway.  With AalbersCreations she travels around the Midwest crafting hand-painted ethereal masks and fairy wings on the Renaissance Fair circuit.  Online she has branched out into baby shower gifts and other little girl accessories with new out-of-the-box ideas spilling out of her brain everyday.

Now that I've taken a trip down memory lane, I'm thinking a little long-distance practical joking needs to get underway.  For an extra entry in the #2 Prize Package in next week's giveaway, leave a comment here with an over-the-top idea to get Kimberly and I laughing like we did in the good ol' days.  

Back In the Day-Walking Through Fountains

This photo comes from the time in my life I like to call my "fountain days."  What happy memories come flooding back as I think about the free-spirit I was back then feeling the invitation of refreshing bubbling water.  And its impossible to think about fountain-hopping without also thinking of my old friend Jason.

I started college when the internet was still a novelty.  Sitting in the campus library I signed up on a Christian dating site and quickly met two fantastic people.  One of those people was Jason and it was only a matter of months before I hopped on a plane to New Jersey to meet him. My mom dropped me off at the airport a little confused and a lot scared and horrified.  I figured that out when I didn't think to call her upon arrival and she hunted me down by phone at Jason's grandmothers home.(Important clarification: Jason and I were always just friends.  Our hotel rooms always had two beds and we never even held hands.  I'm not sure my family has ever believed me.)

I learned a lot of important life lessons while cavorting around the country to meet Jason.  Here area few of the gems that stayed with me:

Always have food available for the needy.
I met Jason's grandmother that very first weekend.  In her kitchen drawer, where you and I might keep the dishtowels or utensils, she had a full stock of SPAM, just in case somebody ever stopped by collecting for the food bank.

There really is a wrong side of the tracks.
On a business trip in Baltimore, Jason's company put us up in the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in .  One night while out on a walk we crossed a bridge and immediately found ourselves in the most run-down neighborhood I've ever been in.  I was terrified and even Jason gave pause as we walked in one block, over one block, and out one block.  A girl followed two steps behind singing the theme from "Reading Rainbow" until we reached the bridge where she stopped and we high-tailed it back to luxury.

Security guards do a lot of looking at you funny, not much anything else.
Washington D.C. is fountain mecca and where I took my first wet foray.  (Don't panic, I never got up the nerve to actually walk through the reflecting pool on the National Mall!) This is where I also learned that the Benjamin Franklin monument is very slippery and that getting on a subway train while soaking wet is a freezing cold terrible idea.

I don't know why I eat the way I do.
Slipping into a local diner and sharing an order of fries, Jason looked perplexed when I quit eating halfway through.  When he asked why I answered without thinking, "Those ones don't have ketchup on them."  Only then did I realize I had that little oddity.  I pour ketchup all over the top of my fries and quit eating as soon as the ketchup-ed fries are gone.

Any place can be interesting.
Several times Jason's work took him to Killeen, TX, and I'd meet him down there.   Killeen, TX, is to pawn shops what Washington D.C. is to water fountains.  Aside from the military base there is no reason to go there.  South of Killeen, however, is Georgetown, TX, and a beautiful bed and breakfast with rooms in the carriage house.  Heading north halfway to my home in Iowa you'll find Wichita, KS-also a very boring city.  But if you're their on the right night you'll witness the most incredible lightening storm and then have the adventure of getting stuck in flash flooding.

Criminals can look just like you and me.
Jason always told me his older brother had been exiled from the country for bank embezzling.  Once while on a country drive he nonchalantly asked if I'd ever done anything illegal and then told me the details of his entrepreneurial side business producing fake credit cards for teenagers.  One of the last times I saw him he got notice that he was to have a meeting at the Pentagon and shortly after that a letter letting me know he wouldn't be contacting me anymore.  Either the most elaborate "Hey, I don't want to see you anymore" I've ever received, or a guy who got himself into some big trouble.  I'm still leaning towards the later.

And that's a shame.  I will forever look back on that relationship as one of the truest and most free of my lifetime.  The adventures we had and experiences I gained still make my happy heart leap.  We all need that one moment in time where the person we're with and the places we are fit magically into place and continue making us feel giddy, happy, goofy, and free no matter how it ended or where it led.

Now you're heard mine, so tell me, when were your "fountain days?" 

Idea For Something New

I got my first scanner recently and have been excitedly digging through boxes of photos and momentos looking for items to give a renewed online life.  One of the things I've found are Ziploc bags full of magazine cut-outs that once upon a time I used in my scrapbooking; so many cute sayings and moving illustrations that aren't doing me much good in a drawer.

Sorting through the piles I found this cute cut-out and thought it would make a great banner for my blog.  So, combining it with random photos I've unearthed, welcome to my new feature, Back in the day;).  Let me know what you think!

This photo invoked a belly-aching fit of laughter from my husband once I explained that the very professional looking clowns were my mom, my sisters, and me (that's me on the tricycle).  

He's hardly one to be surprised at the things our parents make us do-he grew up performing in his own eclectic line of "family shows."  But, nonetheless, he thought it was pretty funny.

My mom was a creative and motivated lady when her girls were little.  There were always craft projects in progress and new ideas brewing.  My five sisters and I always knew she was a great artist and her most impressive talent was being able to use her beautiful handwriting completely backwards.  I don't know how or when she honed that skill, but little girls don't think there's anything much cooler than seing their names written in reverse cursive.

Our hometown held an annual summer "Old Settlers" celebration with a special morning parade.  These were where I remember my mom's biggest ideas coming forth, as can be witnessed in the photo above.  There was no special reason for us to be in the parade.  We weren't promoting a cause or advertising a business.  My mom just set to work making each of us our very own clown costume and put us in the parade.  Naturally.  Why wouldn't your family parade in front of the entire town and half the county for the fun of it?

I'm sure there were other times we entered the parade as a family.  I don't remember.  When I was older I do remember my mom being in charge of the PTA float.  She dressed all the neighborhood kids (including my sisters still in elementary) in different occupational uniforms and spent hours dubbing a cassette tape (that's right, I said dubbing a cassette tape) with the opening lines of Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All" to play as they proceeded past the crowds.

I feel my mom's influences in my life nearly everyday.  Often it's in the times I'm wondering why I struggle so much with being a fun and loving parent, wondering where my anger and quickness to punish come from.  My husband looks at me peculiarly each time he comes home to find a brand new craft project splayed across our dining table.  He completely doesn't understand the fun in working side by side my sisters at a weekend craft show.  Or why I get so excited about our children winning cheesy baby contests so we can decorate a "float" and be in the parade. 

This photo of my family "clowning" around is a joyful reminder that my creative and positive quirks come from my mom as well.