7.18.2008

Corners of my Mind

The strangest things will pop into my head at the oddest times. I'm talking about things from your past, for better or worse, that have stuck with you for life.

Here a few of mine:

My mother explaining how they had to drop chlorine in their drinking water while vacationing in Egypt.

My 9th grade Home Ec teachers telling us not to put wet dishes back into the cupboards.



Allison making color charts from of her eye shadows and lip gloss.

The smell of my Grandparents kitchen drawers, where the licorice was stored.

A guest speaker in my Mia Maid class, speaking on “Womanhood.” She was a newlywed and explained to us how instead of going to bed without make up, she would wear just a hint of mascara for her husband. My little 15 yr old head absorbed this information up like a sea sponge.

Being taught how to properly wrap a present by Irene Hays in MIA.

My dad losing his testimony while teaching me the secrets of the vehicle clutch. I told him shouting at me would not make me learn any quicker.

The mind numbingly pompous religion teachers at BYU. This is what I heard: “and then the Nephites and the Lamplights blah blah blah, fought for effing ever waah waah waah, and evil King Kryptonite cut off the head of Cronkite, (I need a Diet Coke) and all the tribes of Pillowfight died at the hill Fedora (why does every G.D. word end in –ite?) blah blah blah …and then King Formica cut off the arm of Willy Wonka-ite…blah blah… I want each of you to continue your reading in ALPHA AND OMEGA 15:1123-59890 through MACARONI 45:567-9000009…class dismissed”


Watching my mother swearing under her breath as she canned her 59th bottle of peaches.

Trying to get those tight pants onto my sticky rubber legged Barbie.


The smell of crayons and my own fear on my first day of Kindergarten.

The bottle of Tabu my grandmother kept on her dresser.


The big plastic blue treasure chest I chose a toy from, after having my teeth drilled.

My 7th grade Spanish teacher using the word “debris” instead of trash, “class please remove the debris from your isle and desks before you leave.”

The smell of cafeteria.

The feel of Dave Peckham's springy brown hair.

Playing kissing train at the Monte Cristo clubhouse.

What are some of your embedded thoughts?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG and holy she-ite, we had the same religion teacher at BYZoo!
Seriously, that's what it sounded like to me too. I cheated on my Mormony friend's tests to get through that class. Ironically, the only time I ever cheated in college. Hmmmm.

I don't want to look in the 'corners of my mind', too scary.

Anonymous said...

This is a fun post :)

A few of mine:

The smell and taste of my grandma's deep freezer in the back room - opened to get one of the treats she always had ready for us. I can taste the frozen home-made chocolate chip cookie right now.

Making "Magic Mini Makers" in your kitchen, as well as mine.

The wonderful french fries sold at the Salt Lake Country Club, where I was taking diving lessons one summer (probably under age 10)

The smell of melted wax and watching my mother de-mustache my grandmother...

Brad's sarcastic "Who put a quarter in you" said when teaching our sunday school class

The weird taste of Paul's kisses (boyfriend briefly in 8th grade)

The musty smell of my grandmother's basement.

The sound and smell of the rain as I happiily hid in the small "fort" fashioned in old lilac bushes in my grandma's back yard.

The wonderful smell of hawaii that hits the moment you step into the airport.


And Michelle, how did you ever survive BYU????

Anonymous said...

btw, what is 'kissing train'??

Anonymous said...

Holy smokes... I believe you channeled that BYU lecture straight from my notes from Br Pace's class...

EEK said...

"Papa Don't Preach" home video staring Machelledona and Grandpa G's campaign poster. Classic!

Michelle said...

It's nice to read that many of you took my same religion class.

Kissing Train was some sorry excuse of a reason to kiss the guy in front and behind you, I don't recall the rules, I just remember I "had" to kiss Dave Peckham many many times.

Alli do you remember the particulars?

Karen, I hope that video has been burned at the stake, lol.

Momo-Xoxo said...

A few of mine:

The taste of my grandma’s Pecan pie and Carmel pie

Learning never to say “I won’t” when my grandma said not to do something…. If you said you wouldn’t you would.

Learning my dad’s family weekend road trips never turned out well.

Jimmy Buffet playing when my dad went on his house cleaning sprees

And my brother, sister and I NEVER making it through a Christmas Eve service with out one of us having to leave because we are laughing too hard (and my grandma being so mad about it).

Erica said...

Those barbie pants were impossible. I remember bringing them to you in my frustration and you would put baby powder on Barbie's legs, and then easily slide the pants on. And it was such a relief.

Embedded thoughts:
-talking to Malia in my walk-in closet in a whisper because you told me no phone.

-the way Griffin spent entire weekends at dad's in nothing but a pair of dad's gym shorts

-the smell of the old jetta

-Being terrified to "dress out" in junior high PE. Being amazed by Jennifer Burelson's bra that had FIVE clasps

-Softball in Holbrook. Worst summer of my life.

Michelle said...

lol lol lol

Anonymous said...

Kissing Train game:

Everyone at the party is put into another room, except for two people, or anyone else that already knows the game. One person is in charge of music, and the people. The other person leads the train.

The music person puts on music, and gets a person of the opposite sex, to be the last person on the train, to come out of the room and hook on to the back of the train. Everyone dances around the room in a train, then the music person stops the music and says "train is kissing!" The train should be boy-girl-boy-girl, and each person turns around and gives the person behind them a kiss. When you get to the last person in the train, you slap them instead of kissing them. This usually causes a surprise reaction. That person gets to slap the next member of the train, and gets their kiss this time around.

Continue the game until there is no one left.

Malia said...

Lol Erica, and THANK YOU for bringing up the days of the whisper phone calls, and inevitably there would be a breech of security and you would ubruptly hang up the phone.

The smell of Arizona in the summer, and the sound of the locust after getting out of the car from a 12 hour drive from Utah.

Richard chasing us with a cockaroach around the house.

Throwing up in my shirt in the 4th grade. Same year, saying "orchestra will f*** you" in front of my orchestra class. Then for the rest of my elementary career having Sean Fowler sparatically repeating what I said.

Getting into Erica's hot car after class in high school and being pissed when she didn't move her books off my seat.

The night that I went to Tiffany's house and my mom said that I couldn't leave the house. In a moment of weakness I strapped on my rollerblades and followed Tiffany to the local grocery store, coming home with a bag full of goodies, laughing and carrying on, only to find upon arrival that my Mom was waiting in the driveway...I could have died.

Sixth grade when Tracy slapped my back and said "you don't wear a bra??"

Michelle said...

lol to all embedded thoughts...."breach of security" oh for the days when I thought Erica talking on the phone passed ten was earth shattering...I have a new world view of the sins of children, but that is another post altogether.

Lana M. said...

Wearing a green shirt in 6th Grade and Miles Baxter saying, "Did you know that wearing green means your "horny?", Are you horny?"

My little naive, almost YW-going brain had NO CLUE what the hell that meant! Later in the day, a girl whose mother was a Hell's Angel groupie explained it all to me. I was MORTIFIED!

To this day, if I spot a cute green article of clothing, this whole moment in time flashes through my mind, and I ALWAYS put it back. I don't want to go around throwing off "Horny Signals" to strangers!