What story should I tell today? You know I have to admit, this is already harder than I thought it would be. Writing a story from your life is definitely not as easy as you think it is, let alone doing it every single time you publish an entry, but it would be silly to give up now. So let me think......
Maybe I should tell you about Bitey Boy a.k.a. our dog Toby who we used to lure down the basement stairs with Oreos until he would sprint after us, jaws snapping for the cookies in our hands, and leap on the mattress we so subtly had scooted off the edge of the bed. I'm sure you can imagine that poor dog's face as his world flipped upside down, but I talk about dogs too much.
So maybe I should talk about going sledding on the huge snow hill during the winter time, zipping down the small slope only to straighten out and then drop furiously again until we had reached the end of the run. Nate always waiting at the end to ram us with his own tube. But again, I'm mentioning Nate. Got to think of someone else.
How about the fort Erin and I built in the basement? That's interesting, though we didn't really build it, it was already there.
For some reason my parents had this section of wall where a bunch of mattresses were stacked on their sides in a row. There was at least six of them, nestled in that far corner of the basement, hidden away from everything else. Not long after we moved there, Erin and I discovered this wonderful hideaway.
By pushing our backs against one mattress and planting both feet on the other one, we figured out a way to walk up them so that we could sit on the tops, hidden from everyone else's view. Now at the time, we didn't realize that by sitting on them we were slowly breaking the box frame, so it was all innocent fun. We went up there to make Christmas presents for people, tell secrets, plan pranks, and vent about getting in trouble since we always did. It was the perfect hideaway and it was all ours.
Until my parents threw out the old mattresses.
But I think the main point of these ideas is that they all happened in the same place, the Kansas House, which we call our old home. We lived there for only nine months, but they were fun and adventurous. My mother grew up in the same house and when my grandparents could no longer take care of it, we all packed up and moved there to save the family home. It was a great old house, wood floors and a big stone fireplace. It had that mothball, homey smell to it that reminds you of all your best memories. It was warm in winter and cool in summer, and looked out on seven beautiful acres. Unfortunately it was Kansas and none of us could deny that we were Texas people deep down.
So we upped and moved back to the exact same house we'd lived in before. And seeing the neighbors faces when we showed up again almost made paying two mortgages worth it. I'm a big fan of the slack jawed, big eyed look. It's so entertaining.
So in the end, I was still a Texas girl (despite the fact that I was born in the north) and it shone through. Who cares where I was born though right? The point was that I got here (to Texas) as fast as I could. (Took that right off a bumper sticker hanging in my room)
I realize that this entry isn't exactly the thigh-slapper, but maybe it's okay to occasionally calm down on the humor.
And of course, I can always mention the one time when the whole "Bitey Boy" thing didn't exactly go quite as planned. We did the whole standard Oreo lure, but for some reason Toby was exceptionally eager. So of course, he took off way too early and made our plan go completely askew.
What I remember is Meghan and Erin flying past me in a blur, screaming at the top of their lungs, while Nate practically shoved me over he was fleeing the scene so quickly and Toby was right behind him, jaws snapping and eyes wildly crazy. I also remember thinking, as my three older siblings slowly grew smaller as they sprinted down the hall, that I was going to die. So as a last effort to save myself, I jumped onto the pool table, just as I felt Toby zoom past me, his fur brushing my feet.
It had been way too close and of course, I loved every second of it. But the best part to me was watching Nate wipe out on the floor carpet, since he'd hit it running and naturally it slid out from under him. THAT is the part I remember the most, probably because someone else had fallen victim to Bitey Boy instead of me.
Besides, it's always WAY funnier when someone else eats it.
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