First, looking at the craft sale pictures. Back in the early to mid-eighties my mom would transform our little house into a craft store for a weekend. The bedrooms, the living room, the kitchen, the added on part of the house: all transformed into a walk-in craft sale. During that time, we'd live in the basement. Apparently we ate off TV trays, and lived like moles. hehe... I don't remember those times all that well because I was just a kid, but I do remember a few things.

Ya know how looking at photos brings back memories? Well, the craft sale photos brought back some memories, but not necessarily of the events that took place. I wasn't involved much with the craft making or the craft set-up or the craft-selling, but I did remember seeing a lot of these crafts throughout the years in our house, even after the craft sales were over.

I remember what the house looked like long ago. I remember playing with some doorknob hangings to occupy my time. I remember looking into my room when all the area was made into a craft room. All the dolls and "toys" were placed in that room. At least, that's what I remember. So many things go unnoticed as time passes. Even Mom had some trouble recalling the names of a few crafters in the pictures.

The second thing we looked at was the photo album from our family trip to Florida. That was February 1994. Wow... how time passes so quickly! I was a freshman in high school. I remember some of my classmates being jealous that I was getting two weeks off from school. But I knew that it was a really big thing, and I'd waited my whole life (up till that point anyways!) to go to Disney World. I was so excited because I knew it was costing my parents a lot of money. I was also very excited because I knew I'd be old enough to remember most of the trip, instead of if they would have taken me when I was in the single-digits for age.

The pictures started out how I remember them. Smiling faces all around. Mom barely in any of the pictures (because she was our unofficial trip photographer). Me doing cheesy poses. Erich with his dorky flip-top glasses. Dad with his big gut hanging over his fanny pack. Ahh... how my memory served me well. I was glad that we went on our last family vacation to such a memorable place, and I was old enough to remember, but still young enough to "be a kid".

Oh... the pictures of Epcot Center. I commented to Mom about how I knew what size my shorts were that I was wearing that day. I always wanted to fit in those again, but that's highly unlikely since I have hips now! Ahh... I don't think I really remember the rides, so much as a few things and especially the things that were photographed. Later in the trip, we visited Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, MGM Studios, and my cousin Kristy's. There are these pictures that we had taken... Kristy had a pet snake at the time and Erich, Dad, and I all wanted our pictures taken holding the snake. Mom didn't want to be left out and called a wuss or something (I forget how the story goes exactly), but she claimed she needed her picture taken holding the snake. I was behind the camera, Kristy handed the snake over to Mom, Mom screamed and I took the picture. Ohh... how Mom claims that she was laughing, but the rest of us all know the story. Mom was screaming! Hehe...

The rest of the trip, via pictures, was just how I remembered it. Erich and I laying by the side of the pool one day "working on our tans"! Now that's a joke and a half! Erich and I couldn't be tan if we were placed in the oven on broil for a couple days! Ok... maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but you get the point. We are white. Sometimes whiter than white! hehe.

My cheesy grins continued throughout the pics. I hammed it up for the camera, while Dad was off ahead of the "pack", and Erich was moping about not being able to stay in the hotel watching TV. Ahh... the truth of the trip comes out. But, ya know, I wouldn't have traded it for 2 weeks of school, that's for sure.

After the Florida trip album, we whipped out the very first videotape recorded. The beginning was great, if you can stand listening to a young me begging Dad to tape me, tape me, tape me. Dad tape me. Daaaaad. Dad. Tape me. Dad, dad, DAD! Tape me. Dad, tape me. Tape me. Dad, tape me. (if only he'd have listened for one second, we wouldn't have had that annoying 3 minutes or more of me begging to be taped).

I remember my parents used to watch one channel in particular's news. Probably because Muffy, our dog, had been featured on this channel before. Who knows. Anyways. I would prance around in the video saying, "Reporting from Newscenter 11" numerous times. Well, since my brother was much younger, he copied me a lot and well... at that point, actually could LOOK up to me (in more way than one!), so he walked around "reporting from Newscenter 11" as well.

In fact, he "reported" that there were some "cookies o'er dere". This little kid, only six years old, pretending to drink space water, and "report" for a news channel.. All too funny. And then...

There was X-mas...

Me, Erich, and my cousin Brianna (who was 4 at the time) were playing in the snow pile outside Grandma's house. Dad videotaped us falling and "sliding" down the "hill". Oh, to hear Erich say, "watch me" and then he scoots down the "hill" for about 1.5 feet... you can't put a price-tag on that sorta humor! Ahh... funny, when the closest person was about five or six feet away from him and he yells, "Watch Out!" as he slides... ever-so-slowly down the hill on his stomach. Mom and I were laughing so hard we were crying! Too cute. Too funny... glad it's on video.

And later, X-mas morning... Carisa getting away with wearing some very short sleepwear. So short, you could see my underwear out the bottom... Oh my! What a crazy, unfashionable child I was. The things we remember as we age aren't exactly the same as the way things actually happened. It's nice to have some video and photos to look back on. :-)

Carisa