a meme n (mëm): is an idea that is shared and passed from blog to blog, like a question posted in one blog and answered in many other blogs.
Got a challenge from Two Peas to blog about 10 memories from my school years, so here goes.
1. Plaid uniform
From first through eighth grade, I attended Holy Spirit Catholic school in a hideous plaid uniform. We didn’t have the nice blue and white plaid like so many Catholic schools. Our plaid was rusty red, dark green, brown, black and navy blue. There were so many stripes and criss-crosses of different sizes that you couldn’t tell which was the background color. Was it the rusty red (which faded to an unusual shade of burnt orange after a solid years’ wear!), the brown, the green? During the younger grades we wore the skirt with the two suspenders that criss-crossed in the back. By fourth grade, we were lucky enough to have drop waisted jumpers and even pants that we could wear under them. When we got to 6th grade, we had red vests and skirts that pleated from the waist. All years, a red tie (like the girl scouts used to wear) and a white shirt.
To this day, I can’t wear plaid. Every year, there’s some zippy tartan number that’s the “must have” for the new fall season, and each year I think “This year it will be different!”
But then I try it on … and it’s just plaid. Yuck.
2. Shortest girl in the class
I was the shortest girl in the class from 1st through 5th grade. We lined up two-by-two from shortest boy to tallest boy, shortest girl to tallest girl. There was always an odd number of boys, so I had to HOLD HANDS with a boy when we walked in line to recess etc. In 6th grade, a new girl came to school. She was 1/4 inch shorter than me and instantly became my best friend. She’s still my best friend almost 30 years later. But in 6th grade, when we finally WANTED to hold hands with a boy … that’s when they wouldn’t let us anymore!
3. We are the Trojans!
So there I am, a cheerleader for my little Catholic school, yelling things like “We are the Trojans! The mighty, mighty Trojans! Everywhere we go-oh, people want to know-oh, who we are, so we tell them … We are the Trojans!” etc. A Catholic school, with TROJANS as the mascot?!!! We were too naive to know about Trojans, and it’s only funny in hindsight.
4. Prepositions
My 6th grade English teacher made us learn our prepositions in alphabetical order. I still know them. About, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at …
5. My favorite books
I loved the Little House on the Prairie books, Louisa May Alcott, Nancy Drew, The Bobbsey Twins, Black Beauty, Misty of Chincoteague, and Judy Blume.
6. The Farrah
It was the height of fashion to have the Farrah Fawcett hairdo when I was in high school. Many could achieve it, and on rare good days, I could have those perfect little rolls of hair down the side of my face. We only did the sides, never the back. But usually the humidity of my beach community ruined my Farrah, especially because I did not understand the wonders of Rave hairspray at first. My hair did “feather” nicely, though, so all was not lost.
7. Mousse
Mousse was invented just in time for me to avoid hari kari due to my non-holding Farrah. The Farrah was over, but it was handy for big hair of the 80’s.
8. The Preppy Look
Okay, I admit it. I had button-on bermuda bags, strawberry wrap skirts, and those little colored leather belts with the interchangeable goldtone buckles. I think I had a train, ladybugs and something else. I wore brightly colored polo shirts, baggy jeans and parachute pants. I stopped short of the add-a-bead necklace.
9. Journalism class
I loved being on the yearbook committee my junior year and also did a radio show for our school. It sparked a career for me and I’ll always be grateful for the experience.
10. Cootie Catchers
We called them fortune tellers, but nowadays they call them cootie catchers. These go back to elementary school, not high school. But we used to love to make them out of paper to tell each other’s fortunes, the more elaborate, the better. Do you remember how to fold, number and color them? You can click here for a website that will show you how. My daughter saw them on Nickelodeon the other day and I got big points for remembering how to make one so I could tell her fortune. She’s saved it next to her bed, near her rock collection and CD’s.