Thursday, November 19, 2009

Things I remember

1.) My earliest memory is of my sister climbing out of her crib and leaving me in mine. I cried a lot. Then I think my dad came and got me.

2.) I remember waking up at 2 am on Christmas morning to check out all the gifts under the tree. First we (me and my siblings) would just stare at them and try to figure out if it looked like more than the year before. Then we'd figure out who got what wrapping paper (my mom would wrap every gift for one person in a specific paper . . . she still does). Then we'd pretty much count them to see who got the most. Finally, we would find all the hidden gifts ( yeah that's right, Santa puts notes in our stockings telling us to "look in the dryer" or "look under your bed" and then there would be a gift there).

3.) I remember falling off the top bunk while sleeping. ( I think, did that really happen?)

4.) I remember throwing up on my sister who was on the bottom bunk while I was on the top.

5.) I remember being REALLY good at puzzles at a very young age . . . some called me a prodigy. If only I had stuck with it more, I could've done it professionally.

6.) I remember Casey (KC?) the cat, who lived to be 16, but then had to be put to sleep. Princess the cat, who wasn't really ours, but then just started living there one day. Max the cat, who was shot in the backyard but survived until he went missing threeish years later. Tennison the cat, who I prayed would never get big and then didn't . . . because of being malnutritioned (we found her on the streets). Chewy the cat, who was once named Sebastion by my sister, but then came to live with us so we renamed him. Samantha the cat, who was really really annoying and only suppose to be temporary because a friend of my sister's was finding a home for her, but we had her for like 11 years (until she went missing). Spencer the cat, who my brother found and left in our bathtub. I came home, my brother called and told me to look in the tub and it was like the greatest surprise ever. He said it was my 18th birthday present, but my mom won't let me take him anywhere I move so I guess I kind of got jacked on that one. I still love him though. There's one more cat, but she's kind of a B.

7.) I remember swimming in my Grandma's neighborhood pool with my brother and sister's while she watched us.

8.) I remember being afraid of my next door neighbor because God forbid you step on his precious lawn. I also remember him giving us 2 big wheel tricycles.

9.) I remember yelling "Hey Fat Albert!" at a fat man that walked down our street because my sister told me that's what his name was. He came over and told on us, but we denied it up and down. Poor guy was just trying to lose some weight.

10.) I remember being really good at throwing a football until someone mentioned I was good . . . it was all down hill after that.

This concludes this post on "Things I Remember". There may be a part two at a later date . . . it might even be tomorrow.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

You forgot Bach the cat.... he went missing pretty early in his life. He was a Charcoal color. We got him and Max at the same time. You also forgot Melissas cat whos name I can't remember, but scratched the hell out of everyone. Just remembered. Skylar. Also I don't think you could have possibly fallen off the top bunk. I still tell the Fat Albert story..... kind of a lot. One more memory for you. "Arf Arf..... its time to wake up." Pound puppy alarm clock.

Madelyn said...

I can't believe I forgot Bach, I can still see him jumping up to the screen and latching on with his claws while meowing and meowing to be let inside.

I think it was "ruff ruff, time to wake up!" And apparently it thought we were suppose to be up at 3 am or 4 am . . . anytime but the time we actually set it for really.

Jon said...

Hey, how about the time you guys lost my hamster behind your bed because you were playing catch with him and he finally escaped?

You also forgot Minnie the cat. She came with us when we moved. And there was also Sherman the cat. He wheezed and liked to ride the vacuum cleaner. He only lasted a few weeks before disappearing. Tennyson was a great cat though...

We've had a lot of cats...

cadiz12 said...

i can vouch for spencer. he's A-ok in my book. but mostly because he doesn't run away when i come into the room.

dude, you guys HAVE had a lot of cats.

Madelyn said...

Jon - ummm . . . yeah . . . sorry about the Hamster thing. As for Minnie and Sherman . . . I was 1, how would I remember those?

Cadiz - Spencer is pretty wonderful. We sure did have lots of cats, but they kept getting lost, plus my mom is a sucker for Kittens. They said time and time again that they didn't want anymore, and then my brother would bring another one home and they just couldn't say no. ( They, being my mom and my dad . . . my dad is also a sucker for kittens).

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure Samantha got hit by a car. I was at home when a woman came to the door crying. She said she hit a cat and thought it was ours. There was another cat that we found outside near the sidewalk. I think. What ever happened to Skylar? She was the meanest cat I've ever met. Although the cat I call Cindy Crawford is pretty mean too.

Jon said...

Minnie was around for a couple of years. She was also hit by a car. And you were not 1 when I found Sherman. I don't know how old you were, but you weren't 1.

I think the real question is, how many cats would we have had if I didn't keep bringing them home?

Unknown said...

I don't remember Minnie or Sherman either Jon. Princess was for sure hit by a car. I very specifically remember when and how Mom told us. I don't know about Samantha though.

Anonymous said...

Minnie gray cat was the one hit by a car where the crying woman came to tell us. Princess was also hit by a car during the night. All the others except KC disappeared...
Cats you don't remember include Midnight, the mother of KC, and Pericles, AC and Mata Hari, his siblings. Midnight disappeared after we moved away from the beach. Ac and Mata died from feline leukemia, and Pericles was killed by his own curiosity.
I still miss Tennie and Chewy a lot. Schuyler, not so much.

Anonymous said...

I remember hearing the sound of three doors opening every very early Christmas morning seconds after closing mine after "helping Santa."

Madelyn said...

Dad - you know you love Riley and the way she rests on your belly.

Jon - I think after KC we wouldn't have had many more cats . . . Bach and Max probably, but thats about it.

Amanda - I'm pretty sure Jon is making Sherman up.

I remember Skyler, but she was really mean so I didn't mention her.

Mom - Chewy and Tenny were the best. I loved the way chewy attacked feet.

I like how out of all the things I mentioned, cats are all we can talk about.

Anonymous said...

I remember Mata Hari. I used to play with her tail until she hissed and swatted at me.

Jon said...

Tennyson was easily the most well behaved of all the stray cats I brought home. She also used to sleep at the end of my bed and NOT sleep in a place that made me uncomfortable.

Of course, for sheer acrobatics, I don't think anyone was better than pre-op Spencer.

Anonymous said...

The single common thread holding the Muller family together is an obsession with felines. It is an uncanny need to own cats... more and more cats, until animal stockings outnumber people stockings on the mantle.

While I remember a number of these cats, the one I miss most isn't even on here. It's Antonia, and while he wasn't a Muller family collective cat, he was by far the most amiable and didn't try to attack me.

Yours truly,
Lindsey

PS: Your Christmas memory is only half documented - you conveniently leave out the church service you had to endure before unwrapping all the presents, as well as Mr. Muller's annual desire to "unplug the Christmas machine."