I hope you won't be disappointed, but I've postponed today's cocktail party post. We'll get back on schedule tomorrow. Today, though, I wanted to post my own material for one very special reason. This is my 200th post!
For those of you that are new around here, you probably haven't seen many of my own posts because I've been hosting the cocktail party. Unless you've been paging through my archives (does anybody really do that?), you may not know what I blog about. In general, I like to talk about things I find amusing or thought provoking, share recipes and projects, and pose an occasional challenge. Whatever is on my mind on any given day is likely to show up in my blog.
I've been blogging since December of 2008, and I honestly can't believe the time has gone by so quickly. When I started my blog, I wasn't sure anyone would be interested in anything I had to say. My first followers were the incredibly supportive friends that I met through the Recipe Exchange at Allrecipes. Their feedback meant, and still means, the world to me. Since then, I've also met many wonderful new bloggers who make me laugh and cry, make me think, and expand my world. I love that all of you stop by my little piece of cyber real estate and leave your thoughts and ideas in my comments.
To celebrate my 200th post, I'm going to tell you 200 things about me. As if! I can't (and don't want to) think of 200 things anyone, including myself, would find interesting. Instead, I'd like to cover a topic I find endlessly fascinating. Memory. Not as it relates to my blog, but in general.
My daughter and I have this discussion often. We like to talk about our earliest memories. She's nine, so hers are quite a bit more recent than mine. Most of her earliest memories are from the time she started preschool, about age four. I can remember a little farther back than that. I recall bits and pieces from when I was about three. I also have a fuzzy memory that may go back a little bit farther.
My first memory doesn't have much detail. I remember my mom spreading a blanket out on the floor in front of the television and sitting on it with me. I don't remember what was on, but I remember her pointing to the screen and telling me to watch. That's all about all there is to it. When I asked her what that might have been, the only thing she could think of was the broadcast of Apollo 11 and the first moon walk. I would have been just shy of 16 months old at the time. Could my memory really go back that far?
My most detailed childhood memory is incredibly funny to me now. I don't know why, of all things, this should stand out in technicolor detail, but it does. I was about three years old and I was sitting on the couch in the living room of our old house. I remember that the couch was blue, and sort of Danish modern (no, I didn't know the style back then). I was watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on television and trying to eat a Hershey bar with chopsticks. The chopsticks were black with mother of pearl inlay and had their own ornate storage box. (My dad bought them as a gift for my mom when he was stationed overseas in the army. My guess is that she didn't know I was using them to eat a candy bar.) It must have been summertime because it was warm and the front door was open. The neighbor came over and let himself in through the screen door. I was annoyed because I couldn't hear Chitty Chitty Bang Bang while he was talking.
I have lots of random, segmented memories from about that age, too. I remember crying because my brothers were using one of my little dolls as a puck to play hockey in the driveway and I remember my dad showing me how to bite a smiley face in a slice of bologney. I remember playing the Wizard Of Oz with my friends, fighting over who would be Dorothy and I remember losing the key to my toy gumball machine in the front lawn. I remember spraining my neck while trying to imitate the way my brother stood on his head, and I remember that my parents bought my puppets to play with while I recovered because I couldn't move my neck or get out of bed.
Thank you for stopping by, leaving comments and making blogging so rewarding. If you want to help me celebrate my 200th post, share your earliest memories in my comment section. I can't wait to hear what they are!!
For those of you that are new around here, you probably haven't seen many of my own posts because I've been hosting the cocktail party. Unless you've been paging through my archives (does anybody really do that?), you may not know what I blog about. In general, I like to talk about things I find amusing or thought provoking, share recipes and projects, and pose an occasional challenge. Whatever is on my mind on any given day is likely to show up in my blog.
I've been blogging since December of 2008, and I honestly can't believe the time has gone by so quickly. When I started my blog, I wasn't sure anyone would be interested in anything I had to say. My first followers were the incredibly supportive friends that I met through the Recipe Exchange at Allrecipes. Their feedback meant, and still means, the world to me. Since then, I've also met many wonderful new bloggers who make me laugh and cry, make me think, and expand my world. I love that all of you stop by my little piece of cyber real estate and leave your thoughts and ideas in my comments.
To celebrate my 200th post, I'm going to tell you 200 things about me. As if! I can't (and don't want to) think of 200 things anyone, including myself, would find interesting. Instead, I'd like to cover a topic I find endlessly fascinating. Memory. Not as it relates to my blog, but in general.
My daughter and I have this discussion often. We like to talk about our earliest memories. She's nine, so hers are quite a bit more recent than mine. Most of her earliest memories are from the time she started preschool, about age four. I can remember a little farther back than that. I recall bits and pieces from when I was about three. I also have a fuzzy memory that may go back a little bit farther.
My first memory doesn't have much detail. I remember my mom spreading a blanket out on the floor in front of the television and sitting on it with me. I don't remember what was on, but I remember her pointing to the screen and telling me to watch. That's all about all there is to it. When I asked her what that might have been, the only thing she could think of was the broadcast of Apollo 11 and the first moon walk. I would have been just shy of 16 months old at the time. Could my memory really go back that far?
My most detailed childhood memory is incredibly funny to me now. I don't know why, of all things, this should stand out in technicolor detail, but it does. I was about three years old and I was sitting on the couch in the living room of our old house. I remember that the couch was blue, and sort of Danish modern (no, I didn't know the style back then). I was watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on television and trying to eat a Hershey bar with chopsticks. The chopsticks were black with mother of pearl inlay and had their own ornate storage box. (My dad bought them as a gift for my mom when he was stationed overseas in the army. My guess is that she didn't know I was using them to eat a candy bar.) It must have been summertime because it was warm and the front door was open. The neighbor came over and let himself in through the screen door. I was annoyed because I couldn't hear Chitty Chitty Bang Bang while he was talking.
I have lots of random, segmented memories from about that age, too. I remember crying because my brothers were using one of my little dolls as a puck to play hockey in the driveway and I remember my dad showing me how to bite a smiley face in a slice of bologney. I remember playing the Wizard Of Oz with my friends, fighting over who would be Dorothy and I remember losing the key to my toy gumball machine in the front lawn. I remember spraining my neck while trying to imitate the way my brother stood on his head, and I remember that my parents bought my puppets to play with while I recovered because I couldn't move my neck or get out of bed.
Thank you for stopping by, leaving comments and making blogging so rewarding. If you want to help me celebrate my 200th post, share your earliest memories in my comment section. I can't wait to hear what they are!!
Willoughby
Comments
As far as my own memories, my earliest memory is of me coloring. It was raining outside and it must have been cold because I had a jacket on indoors. I was sitting in the living room of our old apartment (we moved out of there in 1980) so I'm guessing I was about 3. I had a shoebox in front of me and I was trying to color. Actually it was just scribbles and lines that I was drawing. I think my mom was in the kitchen at the time because along with that memory is the sense that someone is on my left, and I remember facing the window, and the kitchen was on the left of that, so that must be my mom. It's kind of a strange snapshot because I don't recall anything else.
I don't really remember a whole lot before 5. I remember moving out of our apartment and feeling strange but I don't remember living there, save for that coloring memory.
I wonder someday if I'll have some strange vivid dreams which will actually be pieces of my childhood that my brain has drudged up for some reason. That would be awesome.
I have 2 memories. The 1st memory I had to be about 2. I was stealing my little brother's baby food peaches when my mom wasn't looking.
The 2nd memory was everyone huddled around the television. It was the day President Kennedy was assassinated. The sense of shock and disbelief was palpable.
I vividly remember them trying to pump air into her little chest. The men in their yellow coats, and I was standing by the door of my bedroom.
They told my parents "Sorry, there is nothing we can do." My mom screamed, and my dad grabbed my little sister as he ran out the door in the cold.
There was something about the freezing cold air that brought her back to life. The firemen helped rush her to the hospital
I went into shock; I was awake and talking (I kept repeating myself), but I don't remember any of it. When I came out of the shock I was in the hospital and couldn't remember the accident, or that entire day OR the day before.
Since then I have always wondered how much of my memory I lost. I don't remember much from my childhood now, but did I lose it in the accident or did I always have a bad memory? I have asked many people what they remember from their own childhoods to kind of gauge my own memory loss. Some people remember a lot, some don't.
My earliest memory is from when I was about 4. I was riding my yellow tricycle on the sidewalk in front of our house.
Holly
Happy 200th post-day, Willoughby!
Congrat's on the 200th!!!!!
My earliest memory is standing between my parents to have our picture taken before or after church. We were outside on a cold day, and as we posed, I was standing between my parents with my arms straight up in the air as they held my hands. Many years later I came across the photograph which had the month and year stamped on the edge. I would have been just under 3 years old.
My earliest memory .. coming down the stairs at my home pointing to Christmas cards on the wall on christmas morning. My mom used to tape them up on christmas eve, we thought is was st nick.
I see you everywhere I travel, so i thought it was time i stopped by to say "hi"....
And earliest memory? i swear I remember sticking my foot in my father's coffee and finding it a bit, er...toasty, but my mom says this is impossible because I was six months old and just remember the story. Hmmm...
Love the memories you shared! Isn't it so funny the things we remember and how we remember them?
My earliest memory, or one of them anyway, is from when I was 3 years old and living in Marlboro, NJ. (When I was 4 we moved to Long Island, NY). On that particular day in NJ it was summer and warm and my sister and I were splashing around in a plastic baby pool filled with water. I remember my bathing suit was printed with big pink flowers that were a little raised. I loved that bathing suit and kept rubbing my fingers all over my stomach plucking at the flowers! I also remember later on my sister and I brought out our play baby carriages and were wheeling our dolls around the back yard and then throwing the dolls in the pool, not very nicely, but we thought it was hilarious!
LOL, wow, your blog is sending me way back in time today!
Thank you!
I hope you have a great weekend!
Love the memories you shared! Isn't it so funny the things we remember and how we remember them?
My earliest memory, or one of them anyway, is from when I was 3 years old and living in Marlboro, NJ. (When I was 4 we moved to Long Island, NY). On that particular day in NJ it was summer and warm and my sister and I were splashing around in a plastic baby pool filled with water. I remember my bathing suit was printed with big pink flowers that were a little raised. I loved that bathing suit and kept rubbing my fingers all over my stomach plucking at the flowers! I also remember later on my sister and I brought out our play baby carriages and were wheeling our dolls around the back yard and then throwing the dolls in the pool, not very nicely, but we thought it was hilarious!
LOL, wow, your blog is sending me way back in time today!
Thank you!
I hope you have a great weekend!