Tag Archives: family

Feeling medeom: pages from my weird little 6-year-old brain

Good morning everyone!

Today I’d like to jump into one of the funniest books on the shelf: my 6-year-old journal (sorry Terry Pratchett–your status has been demoted to 2nd funniest author in the house).

I alluded to the nature of my entries in this post, when I shared a fantastic little poem written about my younger sister Erica:

“Erica is stupid, Erica I hate/Erica is nothing but a little bit of bait.”

And if that doesn’t sum up our relationship as children in a wonderfully concise and precise way, I don’t know what does.

In my defense, we got off to a rocky start when (years prior) she wore this adorable little bear suit–I guess I couldn’t stand living in the shadow of all that cuteness.

I think it’s fascinating to get this unedited insight into a child’s brain–my brain–my obsession with lists (of names, of books, of songs, etc.), my strong emotional love/hate language, my focus on how I felt each day, my need to make an entry every single day that filled exactly one page (on desperate days, this space could be filled with anything from a big heart with a list of animals inside, to a list of songs, to the lyrics of whatever we were singing in church at the time).

One of the things that always strikes me is that for at least a year, I felt compelled to share a one-sentence summary of my feelings at the end of almost every entry. The choices were (apparently) three:

“I feel good”

“I feel bad”

“I feel medeom”

Medeom. Heh heh. Hunh hunh. Someone didn’t know how to spell.

I’d be writing about something completely random, like how much I hated my parents, and suddenly end with “I feel good.” It makes no sense unless you see this pattern of strict self-evaluation played through the entire journal. Because at the end of the day, it was all about how I felt. Yeah. And it . . . um . . . still is? Yeah.

I was a little hedonist. And I (maybe, perhaps, who knows) still am a little hedonist.

What can I say in my defense? Is it a crime to have fun? Is it wrong to want to feel good? Is it??

Anyway, for your reading pleasure I am inserting some pages from this journal. I will translate them below (with the original spelling) in case you have trouble interpreting my somewhat unskilled penmanship–I was in the throes of first grade and I didn’t have time to shape all my letters with utmost care. The pages I picked are right before our move from Indianapolis, Indiana to Madrid, Spain. Mom, Dad, Erica, Heidi–I hope you are not too shocked at my sometimes violent feelings of love and hate towards all y’all.

(Page 1)

Today is  Friday Jan. 10, no Jan. 11, 1990. Heidi is the littlelest is so very very very very very cute. I prably said but just is case I am moveing to Spain. I am not exited. but I heard that they are cleanig the place. Hear is my hole clas first, School #84 1990 5 girls 10 boys, Girls Jenna Leslie Kimmy Emily Sarah, boys David Ben Allen Brian Cory Alex Rob Ryan O Mrs Detzler But 10 Boys, Jonathan John

(Page 2)

Today is Saturday Jan. 12 1990. Specal Books, Anne of Green Gabeles, Black Butey, Shakespeare, Tales from the Arabian nithts, those are good books & A Littel prinsess, I love that book. I want my own room When we are in Spain. Dad is a softy Mom is a hardy! I fell Good.

(Page 1)

Today is Friday, Feb. 9, 1990. Friday is the favorite day in the world for me. Erica is gon like always. When I was in kindergarten I thought I was so great just beacouse I was in shool. Also when I was in kindergarten I saw a note it said, Jennifer no Jenna go to the Jahn’s house there family is, Mr. & Mrs. Janh Tim Amy & Rachel

I hate mom today

I feel medeom.

(Page 2)

Today is Sat. Feb. 10, 1990. I hate mom today. today Jennifer came ovor to my house. I found out that Mrs. Stumt nows the Lord. it was enberessing. I may have menchend this But When we go to Spain I want my own room with a key cous I could put the key in the room and put one key in my pocket then my sisters could’nt get in. I would alsoe want a harp. I feel medeom.

And that’s it for today. If you want to see my very early attempts at novel-writing and maybe squeeze out a guffaw or two, I refer you to this post–it’s a good ‘un.

Not a garage sale

And now to share a few finds from this year’s Rummage, and to illustrate the fact that this is no mere garage sale. Check out this king-size blanket for our bed:

I love that kind of dusty, subdued blue. It’s not too girly or too manly.

Here is the whole pile of bedding I purchased from Linens, which includes a lovely white queen-size blanket:

Not to mention these fabulous pillows:

I’m told they’re hard core, made to last, and can be hosed down if necessary.

It’s time to begin our bedroom make-over and turn it from a hideous, mismatched pile into some kind of peaceful haven. Of course, this may take years–but this is a good start. If I can bring myself to lug all these goodies down to the laundromat, of course. It’s not a task for the fainthearted.

I made the decision to become more of a bracelet person when I encountered this:

And this–I love the inlaid pearly-colored stuff:

And finally, these–these final two were $1.75 all together:

I also snagged these delicate little earrings for $2:

Another area that I hit hard was the handbags/purses/wallets department. This purse was $6–or was it $4?

Considering my current purse is on its second round of superglue where the straps keep falling apart, I believe this was totally justified. Of course, it doesn’t help that I carry multiple books, sheet music, paper, pens, sunglasses, a wallet, a camera and about a million other things in it on a daily basis. I am not gentle on my purses.

This purse was $8. It’s yellow! I love the lining inside:

Soon these handbags will learn that their job is to carry any and every possession I may or may not need during my day out in the city. These bags ain’t no ‘accessory’–they’re my workhorses, man.

Of course, I can’t even attempt to show you all the clothes–blouses, dresses, shorts, cardigans. But here are a few things I absolutely love:

For a couple bucks, you can’t go wrong. Especially when it’s a black silk Banana Republic tube top that fits like it was made for you.

And don’t worry–my sedentary office job doesn’t affect my upper body bulk one bit . . . unfortunately. So this perfect fit should stay perfect for quite a while. But dang it, why does the bulk always go down below?? It would be quite welcome in (ehem) Other Areas.

When I find items like these for so little cash, I cackle like a rooster. Then I do the hokey pokey and I turn it all around, ’cause that’s what it’s all about–whooo! Or wait, is it ‘I do the hanky panky?’ I can never keep those two things straight.

Hokey pokey, hanky panky, hardy party (or is it party hardy?). We live in a confusing world.

I’d also like to state for the record that I am not (as some family members believe) averse to color. Here is my proof:

I figure there’s just more black, white and grey stuff on the market, eh? Like these two lovely summer dresses:

Please ignore the disastrous-looking closet there in the background. These pictures were taken at the beginning of a reorganizing effort in which I welcomed in the new items and got rid of the old. The closet is now looking like a perfectly decent place as opposed to a landfill of fabric. Here’s a bag of old things to be tossed, halfway through the reorganizing process. By the end, I am please to say that the stash of “out with the old’s” doubled.

I think I’m going to write a song called “Two years ago I was a Size 4. Now I can’t get those pants past my friggin’ upper thigh.” It will have a heavy bass line and a sharp piccolo in the background that sings out my pain with its flutey little voice.

If you come to Rummage looking for really high-end labels, you can bypass Blouses and Sportswear and Dresses and simply head to what they call ‘The French Room.’ I didn’t have time to make it up there this year, but it houses marvels untold. Here’s a picture of it from Aunt Jacquie’s active camera:

So–who’s coming next year??