Memoir Monday: Unwrapped

Welcome to the newly spruced up Tank! Whatcha think? It's so ME, right? I want to send some beautiful love and KUDOS! to the folks at Bloggy Blog Designz.  I wasn't sure what I wanted, I hemmed and I hawed.  I gave very little direction.  I told Jenna, I want a Betty Boop"esque" character with big boobs/butt (like me) and long red hair (again, like me).  And I gave her three colors.  I also told her I wanted to keep my fishy "tank" as well.  So, THIS is what she came up with!  Awesome right?  She was very patient with me as I ask for little nuance changes, "please add this", and "oh yeah I want that."  I have to tell you, with not much to go on(from me the customer) she absolutely made all the right choices to suit me, my personality and my newly BLINGED OUT BLOG!  THANK YOU BLOGGY BLOG DESIGNZ!  You guys ROCK!

You know what's even cooler than my blog overhaul?  I WON IT!  Jenna, you are the BOMB!  Mwah!  Ya'll head on over there are give her some love when you are done ogling my new boobs, ass, diggs!

Anyglamour, it's Monday.  Time for TravyG's Memoir Monday, where all of us share some story of yesteryear and give you something to laugh about, or cry about, or whatever.  It's all in the name of sharing right?

When I was little we lived in Utah.  My mom is from Jacksonville, FL and my dad is from Pleasant Grove, UT.  They met while my mom was going to school out there and well, the rest they say is history.  We lived there until I was eight when the building market in Utah tanked.  My dad worked in construction and the construction market was booming in Florida, so we moved to Florida.  My grandparents were here and we were supposed to be in Florida for two years until things picked back up in Utah.  (That is not really the point of this post just merely background info.)

So, while we lived in Utah, every other year or so my mom's parents would travel out for the holidays to see us.  The years they weren't coming to visit, my grandmother would send a big box full of Christmas gifts for us.  I remember more than most people about my childhood.  My sisters barely recall living there at all.  Yet, I remember the Christmas's when my grandparents were there, and the ones when they weren't.  I have vivid memories all the way back to two.  I often think it's strange how much I remember about my childhood, yet I can't tell you what we had for dinner two days ago.

Anymemory, one year in particular, my grandmother sent presents.  My mom, had wrapped them, and put them under the tree.  She was exhausted this particular year.  My sister had been born November 16th.  She was really sick all the time with asthma, in and out of the hospital.  I remember seeing her in the NICU with all the newborns.  She looked like a butterball turkey next to those little preemies.  She weighed 10lbs when she was born, so next to babies weighing 2 or 3 pounds she looked like a toddler.

Anyway, my mom walked next door to my aunt and uncle's house as my other sister and I were supposed to be napping.  I don't remember what she needed, just that she was gone briefly.  I was 4 1/2 at the time, which means Brooke had just turned 3 because her birthday is today, December 14th.  (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKE, LOVE YOU!)  When she returned, she found that we were not at all sleeping.  In fact, we had been quick busy.  UNWRAPPING EVERY SINGLE PRESENT.  Not only that, we ripped every box to bits.  We were banished to our rooms.  Probably for our own safety.  I do remember being in more trouble than I care to recollect.  (Mom says she wanted to beat us within an inch of our lives that day, and that she cried for hours, and that she considered us receiving nothing but coal.)

To this day, my sister still likes to know what she is getting before Christmas.  Or any other time.  If I know what she is getting, I can't tell her.  She will seriously get wicked pissed, and not talk to you if you won't tell her.  It's crazy.  My mom had to get quite creative in the hiding of gifts when my sister was little.  Oh, and mom hates wrapping Christmas gifts now!  She says gift bags are the coolest invention ever.

Merry Christmas My Lip Smackers and Hot Talkers!  Love you all!