Childhood Dreams

Yeah, so I know most little girls dream of things like becoming an actress, or an artist, or the president or whatever.  But when I was little, my dreams were different.  I guess this should come as no surprise, considering my childhood swoonhearts were Burl Ives and the judge on the old Perry Mason shows (one of which I loved because he had more hair up his nose than he had on his head).  I dreamt of being a school teacher...That's not so odd, you say.  I also dreamt of being a secretary.  The school teacher fantasy I blame on my insane hunger to learn, and on the fact that I was secretly a bit bossy ('A bit' by my measurements only.  Other people...sisters, for example, might choose terms like, 'quite bossy' or 'holy terror').  As for wanting to be a secretary, I think it's because one summer vacation after 2nd or 3rd grade, I discovered an antique typewriter inherited by my mom.  That typewriter and I lived at my one-armed, wooden school desk for the entire summer, plunking out reports from encyclopedia articles that I read for fun.  I remember handing over my complete volume of reports on all 50 states to my at-a-loss-for-words mom.  She probably asked me if it was for school, and I probably said No, it's for fun!, and it was probably after that summer that I was moved to a smaller school with a slightly smaller social pool in which to inevitably be devoured.  Another reason for my penchant for all things secretarial was perhaps the viewing of one too many black-and-white movies in which somebody's girl Friday wore smart-looking pencil skirts, cardigans and horn-rimmed glasses (to disguise how beautiful she was, of course...that is, until the last act when she removed her glasses and promptly eloped with her handsome boss).

These dreams drifted a little over time (although my fashion sense remains very much black-and-white film secretary), but there was one odd childhood dream which lasted me through adulthood.  For some peculiar reason, I always wanted to be the person on the other side of the glass in a retail store's window display...Setting the display up, or maybe just sitting there waiting to see if anyone would notice my presence.  I have multiple theories on the existence of this fantasy:  Rhoda Morgenstern, Mary Tyler Moore's window-dressing best friend...the scene with Bob Hope and the mannequin in Lemon Drop Kid...the time my oldest sister modeled a snowsuit (or was it a snowmobile?) at a department store in the mall and no one in my family recognized her...

Anyway, the point of this long-winded story is that last week, I finally achieved a childhood dream.  I had a temporary job setting up a brand new store downtown.  And guess what I got to do?  That's right!  I got to cozily wedge myself in between the display and the window and set-up/straighten/clean away.  I even smiled at a stranger passing by and had a conversation with my handsome husband through the glass. 

There are those childhood dreams, I am told, that once fulfilled are quickly dismissed as being not nearly as cool as you thought they would be.  This is not one of them...or else...I'm just a contented soul.  Judging from the look of glee on my face at 4 or 5 years old (see above), maybe I was just made to unwrap furniture.

A History Lesson

Well, it seemed appropriate for the first post.  Pictures of Mac and me from 4th grade, the year we met.   People ask us if we were sweet on each other back then ("back then" being grades 4 through 12), and whether we have any memories of each other.  Well, to satisfy curiosity:  Mac says he liked me in 4th grade.  I say I liked him off and on throughout the years, but confess I had crushes on practically everyone at some point.  (He did too, he just won't say that).  At any rate, there was never a time when I didn't like him, because I think he has the rare gift of universal likeability.  Here are a few memories we have of each other.

1. Mac remembers going to a basketball game in 4th grade and me eagerly grabbing him by the hand when I saw him and saying "Come sit with us!"  This evidently was before I turned all shy and awkward. 
2. I remember one time in 5th grade when Mac saw the pointy shoes I was wearing and asked to try them on.  He attempted to walk in them and fell into a backwards pratfall, legs and arms flailing.  He asked me, "How can you even walk in these things!?"   
3. I remember Mac asking me on the playground to marry his best friend.  I also remember him calling me a name on the playground when I was being a tease (again not shy?), but I'm not allowed to bring this story up.
4. We both remember going to the Sizzler buffet in 4th or 6th grade and him getting ice cream from the machine.  At first he couldn't figure out how to make it stop, and once he did, he just kept it going because everyone was laughing at him and his 2 foot tower of swirly vanilla ice cream.
5. I remember having a discussion at a basketball game in 4th (?) grade about candy hearts, and whether the sayings on the hearts contained in each valentine I gave out were intentional or accidental.  I lied and said they were accidental (because I was embarrassed at how seriously I took the messages and amazed that someone had found me out).  I seem to remember asking Mac why he would worry, because the candy heart message I gave him was good...which sort of blew my whole 'accidental' routine.  I think the heart I gave him said something like "Why not?" 
6. I remember Mac's older sister staying at our house because she and my sister played 6th grade basketball together.  I have a very vague memory of her standing in the doorway and telling me her brother liked me.  That was in 4th grade. 
7. I remember making a group video project for a high school history class.  Mac was in my group, and we did a scene in a 'restaurant' (which was really the teacher's lounge).  All we had for food in the scene was raw hot dogs.  I ate one in an attempt to impress Mac and make him laugh.  I don't remember if it worked. 
8. A favorite memory:  In 5th grade, Mac decided to take a fist-sized rubber ball that had been cut in half and suction it to his forehead.  He had a nice, fist-sized, bright red hickey on his forehead for about a week. 
9. This makes Mac laugh:  I distinctly remember in 5th grade or so, when he began to transition from quiet guy to class comedian, and I remember the most popular guy in class taking note of it.  I said to myself in all earnestness, "Oh no, we've lost him for good."  ("We" being the quiet, unpopular kids...or probably just me).
10. This makes me cry:  Mac distinctly remembers when I began to transition from fun, talkative, happy, flirty 4th grader to silent, inward and morose.  When we met again at 30 years old...he asked me what happened back then, and told me it had always bothered him.  That little conversation is probably a good chunk of the reason why we're together today.

So, there you have it.  Hope that makes you as happy as it does me.