OK, here's the situation: Jessie (aka Hornblower) tagged me to do this list thing. And being that I am obsessed with lists, I was all over it.

The rules:

Remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog's name in the #5 spot; link to each of the other blogs for the desired cross pollination effect:

1. Lu's News
2. Searchin' For a Rainbow
3. Agent 99
4. Hornblower
5. The Merry Widow

Next: select new friends to add to the pollen count. (No one is obligated to participate). I'm gonna pick a few people that aren't on my link list (only because I'm too lazy to update,) but whose blogs I do read daily:

1. Sue and Charlotte's Excellent Adventure
2. Von Krankipantzen
3. The Silly Page
4. Laughing All The Way
5. Debutaunt

Now the fun part:

What 5 Things do you miss about your childhood?

1. 2414 Kansas Avenue: My dad was in the U.S. Air Force for 25 years, which meant that we moved relatively often. However, this was the address that we lived at for the longest period of time and it's the one that I associate the most with my childhood. I lived here from age 6 (1st grade) through age 14 (9th grade.) This is the address where I met my bestest friend, got my first kitty, had my first crush, my first kiss, and my first obsession with a boy band (NKOTB rulz!) I was truely innocent while living on Kansas Avenue, never knowing that there was a world of hatred, racism, and heartache beyond the boundries of my neighborhood. When my family and I moved away from Kansas Avenue, I began my journey into adulthood.

2. Tiggy: My awesome outdoor jungle cat. A random lady at the mall gave her to me when I was in 2nd grade. She was an outdoor cat and would follow me to my best friend's house everyday after school and wait for me until I walked back home later on in the evening. When I would spend the night at a friend's house, she would loiter around until I finally came back out the next day and rode my bike home. She brought my mom a gift everyday and would leave it on the front doorstep. It was usually a dead mouse, snake, or bird, but my mom still thought she was so sweet to bring them to her. When my family and I moved to the mountains, she quickly adjusted to her new surroundings and would follow me to the bus stop every morning on my way to school. But with our new mountain home, came new mountain wildlife and Tiggy was scooped up one day by a big gigantic owl and taken away. It happened right before my eyes, just as she was running towards me as I called out her name. And all that I could think to do at that time was say, "Bye, Tiggy." Most people laugh when I tell them that story.

3. Tiger Tail Beach: My family and I went to the beach every single freakin weekend. And we always went with Jaime's family. (My bestest friend since 3rd grade.) I LOVED our weekends at the beach. We usually headed to Biscayne Bay because there was good wind there (my dad and Jaime's dad were avid windsurfers) but every so often, we would head out to Tiger Tail Beach which was the most idyllic, tranquil, beautiful beach ever. There were always shells to be found, the weather was always perfect, and the sunsets there were unbelievable. My mom and Jaime's mom would always make and pack so much food for us to munch on throughout the day. The sand was the finest, softest sand that I have ever felt and was pure white. Not the best for making sand castles, but it felt good as it sifted inbetween my toes. There was a sandbar about 1 mile out from the shore and Jaime, Bryan (Jaime's little brother,) and I would always blow up one of those floating bed things and use it to kick our way out to the sandbar and look for sand dollars. I remember riding on the back of my dad's windsurfer and looking over and seeing Jaime ride on the back of her dad's windsurfer. The sun was just beginning to set, the temperature of the water was just right, and there was a slight breeze. We were all laughing and I remember thinking that heaven must look like Tiger Tail Beach. I'm still convinced that it does.

4. Innocence: There was no racism. There were no cliques. Everyone was invited to everyone's birthday parties. There was no crime, no fights, no guns at school. We said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the National Anthem everyday when class started. We would ooh and ahh when we watched fireworks and ride our bikes without fear of being run over. We were invincible.

5. Jaime: She was with me on Kansas Avenue. She was with me at Tiger Tail Beach. She was with me when Tiggy came and went. She is still with me now. Best friends since 3rd grade - That's 21 years!!! And to this day, whenever we're together we revert back to age 8 and giggle the day and night away.