BLOG CHALLENGE: First

These questions were posed by my friend Cara, who realllly wants me to answer them. What - is she tryin' to dig up dirt on me or somethin'? I guess there goes my write-in ballot chances for 2008. Rats.

When was the first time you...

...fell in love ?
I was in 2nd grade, and Kyle was in 3rd. My crush lasted for years and years. I remember in 4th grade being paralyzed and speechless when he ended up at the lunch table sitting across from me. In 6th grade, I wrote his name all over the inside of my closet walls, but I misspelled it and wrote it in Kingergarten-print, just in case my parents saw it and got mad. I could say I'd done it YEARS ago. LOL! By the time we were in high school, we were really good friends, and remained so into college at UNT. I still had it BAD for him; I always did, I suppose, up until the day he died. Brain aneurysm. He was 22.

...lost someone close to you?
Elaine. I was 17. When school let out, she had a slumber party at her parents' lake house, but she was tired and lathargic the whole time... SO unlike my bouncy, bubby, always energetic friend. The following Monday, she was diagnosed with leukemia. She died 5 weeks later.

...drank alcohol?
I was 16, I think. Possibly 15. It was on the golf course at night, sitting on a bridge over a little creek, and the drink of choice was a bottle of 3-dollar port. I drank the whole thing and then barfed it up into the stream below. It's probably why I dislike wine - even good wine - so much to this day.

...got kissed?
Aren't girls supposed to remember this stuff? I don't. I remember my first french kiss, though. Jeff P, on that same golf course. I lost one of my Mom's pearl earrings that night and got in SO much trouble.

...went to the hospital?
I was a senior in high school, and had been bitten by a brown recluse. School nurse wouldn't let my drive in case I had some weird reaction from the bite, so my Mommy had to come pick me up and take me. In my 17-year old maturity, I thought that was the lamest thing EVER. The doctor drained the poison and gave me antibiotics. I have a small scar where the spider bit me.

...lost a pet?
Jasper was our collie. He loved to chase cars. We lived in a tiny rural Kansas town back then (I was 5), and he always chased OUR car when we went to the community pool. He got under our tires. I will never forget it. Dad buried him in our backyard.

...got your heart broken?
When I was in college, my parents sent my troubled youngest brother away to live with his biological father. My heart never ached as it did that weekend. I begged and begged for them to just let him move in with me at college, but in their wisdom, they wouldn't hear of it. It took me a long time to forgive them for sending him away. Honestly, I don't know if all of me really has.

...smoked a cigarette?
In college, sitting outside my dorm room door in the hallway of Kerr Hall. Menthol. Did it to impress a boy (KYLE!). Backfired. He said, "Since when did YOU start smoking?"... and I could tell he was disappointed in me. :(

...broke a bone?
I never have!

...got a job?
When I was 15, I started working in the concession stand at the movies. LOVED that job, 'cause I got to see all my friends when they came in, and I got into the movies for free when I wasn't working. Totally cool job. My Dad made me quit after a few months because he got tired of it interfering with the family's weekend activities. For years and years, I had a scar on my forearm from burning it on the popcorn kettle, but I just looked and it must have finally faded away!

...got cheated on?
Ya know, I don't think I ever got cheated on. I dated a lot in high school and college, but only had a few serious relationships. If one of those guys cheated on me, I never knew it.

...rode the city bus?
Summer of 1990, on a trip with college friends in Seattle. It was one of those "accordion" buses and I thought it was so cool.

...went to a concert?
I can't remember which one came first - Journey with Jeff S, Rod and Kristina (my Dad drove us to Dallas and waited 'til the concert was over to take us home), or Steppenwolf and The Guess Who with Jeff T and his friends. Jeff T was 10 years older than me, and went to our church. I was shocked that my parents let me go when he asked!

...met someone famous?
I really don't know. It was probably Steven Curtis Chapman in the mid-90s.

...dyed your hair?
Does Sun-In in the '80s count? First bottle do-it-yourself job was early '90s - auburn. LOVED it. First professional job was late '90s - again, auburn, with lowlights and highlights. Darren loves it when my hair is red!

...got your own cell phone?
Christmas 2000. Aidan was a tiny baby. We were at my parents' house in Oklahoma for Christmas and something started ringing under the tree. I finally figured out that it was one of my presents! Darren had charged the phone and given the number to my best friend back in Fort Worth (HI KAREN K!), and told her when to call. :)

...got a myspace?
Last spring, I think. Maybe summer. And only so I could get email updates when my friend Luke updates his site. I never go to my page, except when someone invites me to be their friend - gotta log in to say yes. :)

...snuck out the house?
8th grade. Sherilyn and I snuck out of her parents' house, then tiptoed to the backyard to steal toilet paper from the camper. Then we walked down the road and wrapped the chief of police's house! Funny thing is, her college-aged brothers were "babysitting" us, but were so absorbed in UT baseball on TV that we didn't need to sneak out. We could've just announced our plans and they wouldn't have blinked an eye.

...drove a car?
I was about 11 or 12. Started driving Dad's truck when we'd go out to "the farm" - our 15 acres out in the country where we raised pigs, cattle and vegetables. Me driving the truck made it easier for Dad to throw hay bales, haul water, etc.

...got your own digital camera?
Three years ago, when we started looking to buy our first house, we decided to get a digital camera so we could remember the differences in each house when we got home. I'm still using that same Camera - a Canon PowerShot A80. It's been a real workhorse, taking thousands and thousands of shots, riding around in my purse everyday. Part of it is held together with scotch tape now, but it still works perfectly. I still have my trusty Canon Rebel packed away... gathering dust... feeling lonely. I'm so spoiled to the instant gratification of digital now, I don't know that I'll ever go back to film, even though I dearly love the photos that my old Rebel took! A digital Rebel is on my dream list.

How old are you now?
37

the challenge:
This challenge is brought to you courtesy of my friend Cara, who for some reason reallllllly wanted me to answer these questions on my blog.