Come August of 96 it was time to start Pre-K. At this age, 4, the amount of decisions slightly increased. We now had to decide what color of carpet squares we were going to sit on for story time, what colors we were going to use on our coloring sheet, what doll or horse we were going to take to show-and-tell that week, and whether we were going to slide or swing during recess.
Next thing you know we were 9! On September 11th that pool behind us was half way finished, talk about nervous parents. Even though we knew what September 11th was, I don't think that we fully understood what was going on and how everything was about to change. We were 2 years into showing pigs, and my riding career was well under way. All that I had to do was do good in school, figure out what friend I was going to have over that weekend, and work my animals. At this point in my life I hardly had a care in the world! Life was good.
Finally Senior year rolled on by and it was time to start applying for colleges. I never will forget when I got the phone call from Tech saying that I had been accepted. I was on the way home from work and I was just about to reject it because I didn't recognize the number, and then the nicest lady asked, "what would make today a great day?" Without a reply she said, "Congratulations, you have been accepted to Tech!" For me that was quite an accomplishment. It was not until junior year that I decided that maybe it wasn't as cool as I thought to just not turn in homework. I aced all of my tests but who needed to go to class on non test days? Definitely not me! At this point my worries consisted of managing to park on the front row and not get caught by Mr. Quy the asst. principle, remaining non shallot when the counselor pulls up beside me at Sonic during 2nd period, and making sure that I didn't spend all of my pay check in the first 2 days upon receiving it.
Then BAMM!! Before we could blink we were graduating, or should I say graduated! It was time to say goodbye to some great people, knowing that I might never see some of them again. We walked across the stage, received our diploma, said the goodbyes, and realized that we were about to be thrown out into the real world, like it or not. Some of us decided on the college path, while others choose the career path. Some are already married, and some already have babies. For me, I finished my first year of college and I think that is plenty for me to grasp at this point.
So, what brings all of this to mind was a little girl, probably 6ish, that was in the store I work with was telling her Mom what all she was going to do when she grew up. Her Mom then called me over to help. As I was helping the little girl, Lily, find a pair of boots that fit her girly style needs, her Mom asked if any of my "Grown Up Plans" ever came true. I said that yes, I am going to college like I had always dreamed of, and I had met a lot of the goals that I set for myself, but I also included that I was not ready to grow up and I was still making "Grown Up Plans". After talking to Lily for a little while I learned that she wanted to go to Texas Tech, just like her Daddy (yay!!), she wanted a pink Caddilac like the Mary Kay ladies drive when she turns 16 (super cool first car), she wants to live in Colorado so that she can play in the snow everyday (because it snows everyday?), and she wants 4 children. The craziest of all, she can't wait to be grown up. I remember always wanting to hurry up and move out away from my parents and get a job, but not now. Now I sound like an old lady preaching to her grandkids about not wishing their life away. At the supper table tonight, Daddy joked that his secret to looking young was acting immature, and I'm going to take that as the truth. I would love to go back to my childhood where I could fill up a car for $20, I would get in trouble for taking the "Please Rewind" stickers off of the VHS tapes that we rented from the store, I would beg and beg my parents to let me have my birthday party at the skating rink, I would be gone for hours at a time riding my bike into town to see all of my friends, thinking that I was the coolest person in Krum because we had AOL and the new walkman, when I thought that Jumanji was a scary movie, and when Shelby and I had plans of sharing a Nokia brick phone at the age of 16 and our ringtone would either be the Mexican hat dance or William Tell. So, until further notice you can find me back in the 90's singing Spice Girls, Biggie, and Shania Twain on the top of my lungs, wearing Jeans, Polo shirts, and the clunky Doc Martins that I rocked when I was 7, and riding my bike praying that I don't tilt my CD player to the side too much where my music would stop playing. All of this so that I can change my watch, that no uses to tell time anymore, 5 minutes back so that I don't get in too much trouble for not being home by 8:30.
To all of the mature people out there, have fun growing up. For me, I plan on staying forever young.
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