The Inner Child diaries: A collection of fond remembrances.

 The inner Child collection: Part 1

I lost my retainer in a Sizzler when I was 11! It was glitter gold.

The 80's and 90's were the gilded age of the all-you-can-eat dining experience. A fresh plate with every pass, one could open with croutons and bacon bit's with olives, followed by spaghetti , blue jello and ribs, topped off with fro yo and gobs of rainbow sprinkles.

My best friend Rachel and I could think of no better way to spend a Friday evening than chumming around at our local Sizzler sampling exotic breads and dressings. Trough dinning followed by a trip to Blockbuster to rent Dumb and Dumber (again) was the height of luxury for a couple of 11 year olds.

Only this particular Friday night, when I got home I realized that my retainer was gone. It was my third in two years. My Dad made me fully aware of it's cost, loaded me up in the Volvo and took me straight back to the Sizzler.

Rachel and I asked the manager if any of his employees had found it. He said no and that all the garbage cans had been taken out for the night. He brought me to the dumpster. I climbed in. and looked to Rachel to do the same. "Its not my retainer" Was her only response. Who could blame her? I started sorting through the rubbish and there was so much of it!

Luck was on my side! My retainer was found in the first bag of garbage I looked through. There it lay in a mound of bright blue jello like a golden shining star.

I've never felt joy like the joy I felt on that night, standing in a pile of garbage, the ecstasy of saving my Dad $500. My fond memory of this night lives on forever, I only wish there were as many Sizzlers today as there were in the 90's!

The inner child collection: Part 2

My earliest crush was Joey Lawrence. You know, the brother from the TV show Blossom staring Mayam Bialik? He used to walk around the house going, "whoa!" It was his catch phrase.

I was floored when he decided to do a solo music album. I waited for week it to drop. On TV, they announced that the first 100 people to buy an album would receive a free Joey Lawrence poster (featuring him with no shirt on, woah!)

The big day came and I asked my mom for a ride. To my absolute shock she said no! So I did the only thing a 13 year old in love could do, I got on my Bike and rode 15 miles to Target! I was in a panic while I rode. The store had been open for two hours! All I could think of was those Tapes just flying off the shelves and the posters being snatched up by the first one hundred customers. Every second was critical and I pedaled faster than I ever had before! I remember being especially hot because it was summer and in the early 90's , the style was flannel shirts, full length bodysuits, baggy jeans and work boots, also really dark mauve lipstick, which wouldn't have made me hotter but certainly didn't help.

Luckily, when I arrived, absolutely sweat soaked and out of breath, the boxes for the Tapes hadn't even been opened and the cashier had to call the stockers to get the posters from the back dock which took an hour because no one knew there was even a Joey Lawrence, let alone a Joey Lawrence event. But, lucky me, I got to take as many posters on my bike ride home as I could carry...FREE!

I remember distinctly one of the clerks commenting that I kind of looked like Joey Lawrence, which at the time made me blush but in retrospect I don't think it was meant to be a compliment.

When I got home, my mom told me that I was too much and needed to take a shower. Later she also told me I wasn't allowed to have pictures of boys without shirts on, on my wall, which was a shame because none of my friend wanted the posters I got them so I really could've covered a lot of space on my wall. In the end I put the poster in my closet next to my Jordan Knights picture done in similar style.

Nothing kicked off the new year like a hike to the to of Mt. Diablo when I was 9.  My mom, Debby was an avid walker and my Dad, Eric was fit.

Diablo means devil and the paved fire trail we would hike was 1.5 miles straight up.  It was 1989 and this year I decided I would out smart the system and bring the air pump tire scooter I received for Christmas to make the hike easier. I also decided I would wear my new white leather tasseled boots and acid wash jean jacket, just to be stylish.

One thing I learned that day is that riding a scooter uphill is actually considerably slower than walking due to the incredible gravitational kickback from the incline.  Subsequently I trailed far behind my family but was intent to stay the course.  Even after a passing stranger with a mullet and a fanny-pack scoffed and commented that "It would be easier to just walk up."  I stayed on rhythm alternating leading leg to fight the soreness.

The view at the top was great but more importantly, there had been a dusting of snow months before which hadn't melted.  Being a native Californian, this was my first encounter with snow and despite the fact that it was three months old, dirty and compacted I still broke a piece off and made a snowball out of it. (even tasted it until the fanny-pack-mullet-guy reminded me that "animals probably peed in that")

Wham!  My older brother hit me in the head with and ice ball and proclaimed "snowball fight!" But it got in my eye and the deicer mixed in stung for hours afterwards.  There was no food or water, or bathrooms. 

We stayed for longer than we should've.

But the pay off came when it was time to go.  I found very quickly that riding my scooter downhill would be far too precarious, so I sat down; my feet hovering over the paved road, arms extended upward like a Hells Angel on a lowered Hog down Diablo in the dead of winter!

 I passed up my parents and my brother who I faintly heard begging to "take turns on the way down" (no thank you) I don't know how fast I was going but the mist felt like pins on my skin and when passing the  fanny-pack-mullet-guy on the left he replied "You're going to kill yourself....or someone else!!!"  So it must have been pretty impressive!

                                                

Rudy was a boy my age...maybe a year older. The year was 1988 and I was 8.  Rudy had let me know that If I ever wanted to make out or "learn about any of that", he could help.  I let him know that I didn't know what making out was.  He asked me sort of music I liked and I told him, "The songs at Church." So I think he got the message after that.

At the time, my mom was pursing her dream of not being a Mom and had to get work early.  We normally rode our bikes anyway, but that day it was raining so she asked Randy, Rudy's Dad, if we could catch a ride with his sons.  We didn't know Randy and neither did my Mom, but we rode bikes with Rudy, his youngest son and by 80's standards that made the cut for getting rides.

When we knocked on the door Rady gave us a pop tart. We were thrilled! We never had junk food.  We were raised on whole wheat, nonfat milk and neglect.

"Lawd! What's ya'lls names?"  We told him.  He called Rudy down and we all piled into the ride.

His brothers Loni and Fabian went to high school near the Elementary school we attended so the drop off was on the way.  Loni was a Senior.  I'm pretty sure he drove a Coup Deville, it was white and in great condition.

"Don't be putting your head on the seat girl!  You gonna mess it up!"  Rudy yelled at me right away.  But in front Loni laughed!  "White people can put their heads on the seat Rudy! she don't wear no curl oil!"  Rudy leaned back too and was immediately chastised. "Get your head off that seat!"

Fabian put on Keith Sweat and we listened to "I want her" nearly 4 times straight before we got to our school.  The line was long and my mom usually dropped up blocks away.  Driving all the way through the drop off line was real star treatment!

Fabian cued up Keith Sweat and as our turn came up. Loni left a long line for us to drive to make our appearance.  He rolled all the windows down and the song turned up...then the most miraculous thing happened, as we drove, the car dropped and then rose...dropped and rose.  We were bouncing into a smooth stop with the music still playing.  All the kids were in awe as we immerged from the car.  I had been terrified while it was happening, but after seeing the reception figured it was something pretty great!