In Cary

So, here I sit in my childhood home in Cary. I am in my old room - the girls are sleeping with my mom in the guest room. It's funny - the only thing that is the same about my room is the wall color. It is Peppermint Pint. I remember what a big ordeal it was, choosing paint. My dad cautioned that I needed to choose wisely since this paint would be on the walls for a long time. He wasn't kidding! I wish I could remember how old I was when we painted it this color. I haven't lived here in 16 years, so I would say it has to be 25 years that we have had the same color! The furniture is all different and used to belong to departed family members. The furniture that I had growing up came with me to our first or second house. Of course, my room looks smaller than it did when I was a kid. I loved my room and used to spend lots of time in here. As an only child, if there weren't neighborhood kids to play with, I had myself. I used to have a little table in here and I would write notebook after notebook. My "boom box" purchased with babysitting money used to sit on my dresser.

I also used to spend a great deal of time in the basement. The basement is awesome and big. I always wished that it would have been completely finished, but it was perfect for me as a kid. One half of the basement had the washer and dryer, as well as an additional fridge and two freezers. Coming from an agricultural family, we always had half a steer or meat from a hog. The rest of that room was storage and my dad's workbench. They also built a cold room when I was a kid where we kept food and some beverages. The other half of the basement felt like it was all mine! There was a desk and a bookshelf. On the bookshelf was a set of encyclopedias that were my uncle's when he went to college. There was a couch that I remember from our very first house. There was a corner table with - wait for it - an 8 track player. My favorite thing to do was to roller skate throughout the basement, jamming to an 8 track. There was also an unfunished bar and I stored my toys behind it. Somehow, my dad was also able to find a big classroom sized blackboard. That was in the front of the bar and I had all sorts of chalk of all colors.

There is a nice bathroom down there too. That is where everyone showers. When I was younger, it was a huge shower. It reminded me of a locker room shower - you could fit 6 or 8 people in it! Will and Melissa had a similar shower in their house in Urbana. Right before my 7th grade graduation, my dad redid that bathroom. He did a great job! I wish he lived closer so he could come do work on my house ...

What a walk down memory lane! I should sign off and fall asleep listening to AM 780 like I always used to.