i said let me see your bart simpson!
what's that you say?
i said don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't have a cow man! don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't have a cow man!
two nights ago as i was lying in bed trying to fall asleep i somehow remembered this little gem : ) it sent me on a comical and joyous trip down memory lane. in fact, in effort to not laugh out loud to wake up will (who was already asleep given away by his breathing) i ended up laughing silently, giving me a little ab workout. i was worried that my shaking body would shake the bed and that, in turn, would wake up will... ha he probably really has no idea.
when i was in the primary grades we rode the bus to and from school fairly regularly. i felt little next to some of those big kids! especially the 5th and 6th graders who, of course, had reign over the back of the bus. they seemed so old and big! they would lead the bus in songs and chants... including the above.. hahahaha i can't remember any of the other "verses" of that one right now. these songs were pretty much camp songs, as far as i can remember. maybe they had just been at outdoor school and were still excited? i don't know. but it was a big thing to sing on the bus.
i soon also remembered the coloring contests we'd have... : ) our bus driver for quite a while was named sue (right?). sue had other bus driver friends in the district, and i guess they got to talking about all the pictures they'd get from kids. somehow they decided to have a coloring contest between the buses. now, you have to understand that this was not the grocery store type. it wasn't all of us coloring the same picture copied off to see who could blend and color in the lines the best. it was: which bus could bring in the most colored pictures in a certain amount of time?
i won't keep you in suspense... our bus won. each time. : ) (can't remember how many times we did it... but more than once) and i'm pretty certain we would not have won were it not for my sister and i..... hahahahahahahaha : )
most kids colored full page, beautiful masterpieces. sue ooohed and aaahhhed over their efforts. rightly so. my sister and i cut papers into smaller papers. maybe... 2-3 by 2-3 inches? then we'd scribble out lame little pictures with crayons and call it good. i'm thinking we piled up and counted how many we hammered out each day, proud to take them to sue! bahahahahaha
the only thing i remember specifically drawing (while sitting on the floor in the family room) was pumpkins. it must have been october and we were aiming to be festive. i remember sitting there with our little squares of paper drawing on each one an orange circle, and not even bothering to change crayons, i'd draw an orange stem on the top (just a little line, of course). we were probably proud to take sue some number of these lame things in the hundreds. hahahahahaha
sue happily accepted our offerings, never once telling us that our "pictures" didn't qualify, or perhaps we weren't "playing fairly", or we were missing "the spirit of the competition".... we were just happy to do our dutiful part : ) and we thought we weren't competitive...ha
sue was an awesome bus driver. she put up with the singing, was nice, and let us bring her shoe boxes full of scraps with scribbles so we could take part in beating her bus driver friends. sadly, we didn't get to keep sue forever. i want to say she left mid year, though i can't remember for sure. she was so fun that instead of just disappearing or announcing one day that she'd be leaving, she gave us clues for us to guess about a big change in her life (?). she ended up moving for her husband's job at coca cola (right?)... something like that.
other bus memories: i also remember my kindergarten bus driver who taught us how to count to ten in german. i thought it was pretty awesome. i can only remember up to five now, though...
and back to the days of sue... there was a big kid who rode the bus who lived at the bottom of the hill in a bright blue house. his name was fred. probably the only person i ever will have "known" named fred. i say big because to me he was huge. i think i remember him being a sixth grader, but he was also a little on the pudgier side. it's not like fred and i ever talked or anything. i really only remember the bright blue house with a vw bus out front and that the bus driver (sue?) got mad and yelled at him for crossing the street... can't remember the details... : )
on that note... i've been dying to record these memories for a couple of days now... yesterday's circumstances just didn't allow it. if you remember any of the above, i hope you enjoy a good laugh. (makes it harder to fall asleep, though... : )
