Sticking to the Plan

Jeanna GLeave a comment

Today is the two-year anniversary of my first blog post. I have enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I wrote more frequently when I first started, but that was during quarantine, so I can’t beat myself up too much about having less time to sit and write these days. Actually, I’ve enjoyed this so much, that I wish I could write for a living. But I digress.

On my blogiversary, I think it’s important to reflect and consider if I’ve been sticking to the original plan. In the beginning, I started the blog as a way to earn digital literacy credits to apply to my teaching license. I could have written about anything, but I figured I should write about something that I know a lot about, and could continue to write about in perpetuity. Well, I know a lot about myself. But I don’t think people want to read about me just for the sake of learning about me. So I asked myself how writing about myself could be beneficial to others. And that is when the plan began to take shape.

Not to brag, but I think I had a pretty great childhood. As a teacher (and a kind, idealistic human being), I think every person deserves to have a great childhood. But not everyone does. And that makes me very sad. So I thought, if I could share how I was able to enjoy my childhood, others could use that information to create the childhood they never had. Picture Phoebe on Friends. She did not have a great childhood, so she spent some time trying to experience what she thought she missed out on, like learning to ride a bike, and taking classes. She got these ideas by listening to others share their experiences.

And if readers also had a great childhood, then maybe they could just read my stories to reminisce and stir up happiness. An unexpected benefit of my blog is that writing has helped me to stir up happiness. Spending time thinking about things that made me happy at one point in my life has helped me to remember what I truly love, and who I really am. It’s surprising to find how far off course we can get in a life filled with detours and roadside attractions.

Either way, I think I’ve been sticking to the plan, and I hope it’s helped someone in some way. I don’t write to have a profound impact or to be the end-all solution to disappointing childhoods, but if I can put a smile on a few faces, then I think it’s worth going on Juvenescent Junkets for another year, and beyond.

Will You Kissimmee?

Jeanna GLeave a comment

I just arrived in Florida on a business trip, and passed by a sign for Kissimmee on the way to my hotel. I can’t help but smile when thinking back to the first time I traveled to Kissimmee. Back in high school, our concert band participated in a competition at Disney. My high school sweetheart was not in the band, and he may have been slightly jealous that I was traveling with a bunch of his friends, and not him. He wrote me a note, and folded it into a square, and passed it to me at the end of the school day before my trip. Inside it asked, “Will you Kissimmee when you get home?”

I did.

He took up the guitar soon after that trip. We didn’t have guitars in the school band, but he definitely didn’t have to worry about me choosing a sax or trumpet player over him, especially since he wrote a song just for me.

Alas, the song was recorded on cassette, and I haven’t heard it in ages. I suppose that’s how romance goes. As George R.R. Martin wrote, “Life is not a song, sweetling. Someday you may learn that, to your sorrow.”

Taking a Stroll Down Retail Lane

Jeanna GLeave a comment

I went to the mall today. I think that was the first time in over three years! I was very curious to know what state the mall would be in post-Covid. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were a good amount of people walking around, and most were wearing masks. The whole mall smelled of popcorn. All the stores I remembered being there were still open for business, plus a few new ones. It was clean and bright. Kids were riding the electronic ponies and begging their parents for a quarter to get a gumball out of the machine. All of the store clerks were genuinely friendly and willing to help. I really enjoyed the whole experience, to the point that I think I should go more often, and take my daughter with me. I know, I know… Why would I think of taking my daughter, knowing full well that she can find something in every store that she wants? Because it’s something to do that’s somewhat entertaining (and I know how to say NO).

When I was in 5th grade, I went to the mall almost every Friday night. I either went with my friend, Carrie, or my friend, Diana, and then I would sleep over at their respective homes afterwards. We would buy the five foot long strings of red licorice from the candy kiosk and have competitions to see who could eat theirs first without using their hands. We would walk the whole mall and go into all of our favorite stores: Gap, 5-7-9, Deb, Contempo Casuals, Record Town, B. Moss, Waldenbooks, Bob Stores, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, Baubles, Bangles ‘N’ Beads, Bradlees, Rave, and KayBee Toy & Hobby.

I didn’t have a lot of spending money, just whatever allowance I earned from doing chores, so I didn’t get something every week. In a way, lack of funds made the trips to the mall better, because I could make a mental list of what I really wanted, and if, when I went back, I still wanted it, it was still there, and I finally had enough money to buy it, then it was so much more rewarding to make the purchase. Score! Even if I couldn’t buy everything I wanted, I still found it fun to just walk around and look at all the stuff (in 3-D!) that people came up with to sell, and to know what was popular.

I admit I’ve given in to the convenience of online shopping, but I’ve made a promise to myself to only buy shoes and clothes in-store from now on. And I’m going to start walking the mall with my daughter a couple times a year. I don’t want malls to disappear, so if I can help just a little, then I will.