My life story- I'll hit the high spots!

Some of you may not know me, so I thought I'd tell you about my life up until this point.

I was born to Jesse and Mary 15 months after they were married. Sadly, my father passed away when I was 4 months old, leaving my mother a 26 year old widow.

Growing up I was surrounded by loving grandparents, both on my maternal and paternal sides. Aunts, Uncles and cousins abounded and I didn't lack for anything. I spent many of my days at my mother's parents' farm where I played barefoot in the fields as the cotton was picked. My first dog was Lady, named after the Disney character. Lady and the Tramp was the first movie I ever saw at the theater. It is still my favorite Disney movie of all time! Sunday afternoons were spent at my father's parents' house where my aunts and uncles congregated. For a treat we'd go to the store and get a "cold drink". My Grandmaw's favorite was grape and that's what I usually got, too.

I lived in town and attended a school a couple of blocks from my house. In second grade my dad's father (Grandpaw) bought me a Shetland pony and I kept him at Paw Paw's farm. His name was Thunder and I adored him! He was brown with a cream colored mane and tail. I talked to that pony just like he could understand me. I also had a pet cow named BeeBee, and I talked to her, too! My favorite toys were my Barbies and my toy horses and guns (of all things!).

Elementary school was not fun for me. I didn't like it AT ALL and fought Mother tooth and nail about going! I was at the same school, Evans, for 1st-5th grade. Wednesday was "turnip green day" and I always brought my lunch! I rode the bus every afternoon to the high school where Mother was teaching.

Middle school is where I made the friends that I kept all through high school and many of them are still friends today. Mrs. Lumpkin was my 6th grade teacher and she read to us after lunch every day. She'd call us "Lazy Ray" if we didn't do as well as she thought we should at something and if we acted sleepy she'd have the entire class go and run around the tree at the front of the school! We sang Christmas songs for her study club during the holidays and we were all awed by her big home with its staircase that had ribbon-wrapped spindles. They looked just like candy canes!

Middle school also brought the first boy-girl parties and school dances. A group of boys our age had a band and they would play "Born to be Wild", "Magic Carpet Ride" and a couple of other songs over and over! Inevitably a few of us girls would have a spend-the-night party afterwards and we had to discuss who danced with whom and if anybody got kissed!

I was also in the band, as were the majority of my friends. In 9th grade we were finally at the high school and marching halftime shows. I remember riding the band bus to away games and singing at the top of my lungs. A personal favorite to belt out was "Satin Sheets". How I knew that song is beyond me! My focus had been on Donny Osmond, David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman. Where does "Satin Sheets" come into play?? I was singing it to make fun of it in actuality...just like I did when I sang "On the wings of a snow white dove"!!

In high school I was in band, was in color guard 10th-12th grade and was captain my senior year, I was on the annual staff and was editor my senior year, I was in Beta Club, Future Homemakers of America, Junior Civitans and I even took Latin one year and was in the Latin club. One of my favorite memories is from Latin class in 9th grade. Every single day us girls would stand and look out the window of the 3rd floor and watch Freddy Carr, this drop-dead goodlooking senior football player, walk across the campus. Every single day, without fail, we'd watch him. He didn't know we were alive! LOL!

During high school I did the typical teenager things. I had a boyfriend, I talked on the phone for hours with my girlfriends, I took biology and put together the bones of a frog, I participated in class skits and attended rock concerts.

At the end of my Senior year I started dating Jimmy (hubby) and he was my Senior Prom date. We went to the lake after prom and stayed out all night long. I got home around 7 a.m. A favorite local band, WARM, played for prom and Jimmy had a man-crush on the bass player. We attended many WARM concerts and we always had to park ourselves right on the front in front of Lanice.

I graduated and attended the local community college and then transferred to Jacksonville State University. Jimmy and I had such fun dating. We went to the movie, hung out with friends, and attended I don't know how many Willie Nelson concerts! We went parking to the music of Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart and the Eagles. I can still remember the exact places in the songs where the 8-track would click over!

Jimmy and I married when I was in my Junior year at JSU. He had begun work at a local plant and we were ready to take on the world! I continued on in school for a year after we were married and was ready to do my student teaching and found out...I was pregnant! Child #1 was born on December 11, 1980. I started back to school to finish up my degree and WHAMMO, child #2 was on the way! I graduated when I was 7 months pregnant with him! I kidded him when he graduated from college, telling him that he walked across the stage with me when I got my Bachelor's so I needed to walk across with him! Child #3 was born 19 months after #2. I had my hands full!

I was full time mommy for 13 years, living on McDonald's Happy Meals and Sesame Street. I watched my kids play soccer, cheer for the Pee Wee football team, take ballet and tap, go through school participating and excelling in the band and choirs, attending Bible school and church camp and growing into young adults. Where did the time go?

When my oldest was 13 I went and got my Master's Degree and began my job as a Library Director. I've been here 15 years now. My kids are all grown (as I said in my first blog) and Jimmy and I are enjoying ourselves, doing the things we like to do. He's a fantastic bass player and played for years in a bluegrass band. They played at corporate parties, weddings, and Panoply of the Arts in Huntsville to name a few places. Now he's traded in the upright bass for a jazz bass and a 5-string and he's playing in a Contemporary Christian band as well as in a Classic Rock/Country/Blues band. I'm enjoying myself being a Bo (Bice) Peep, traveling all over the U.S. to see his shows, visit with my friends, and I'm having a blast!

That's about it up to this point...maybe you know me a bit better now and will enjoy reading about my day-to-day life.