Universally Acknowledged Truth

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When I was five, we lived in Delaware. My bedroom was upstairs, and my parents kept the door to the downstairs locked because I had a tendency to get up at night and wander around on my own. On Christmas eve that night, I woke up to the sound of sleighbells ringing outside the house. I couldn't see outside because it was so cold that the windows had frosted over. I remember trying to squint through the frosted glass to see if I could see Rudolph's nose glowing, but I couldn't see anything. I have no doubt that I did hear sleighbells, though, and for a long time that really fed my belief in Santa (longer than was normal, probably.)

Another Christmas that was really special was one year when we got up in the morning and Santa had decorated the tree with licorice and gumdrops. It was so cool! And, there was also an electric train going around tree that hadn't been there the night before.

My parents worked really hard to make sure that we always had an amazing Christmas. I didn't appreciate what a sacrifice this must of have been for them, because even though I know they really struggled to make ends meet, I never felt that at Christmas time.They wouldn't put the gifts out until we went to bed, so it always seemed like there had been a gift explosion sometime in the middle of the night. Given that there were six kids in my family, the amount of gifts under the tree would sometimes take up a large part of the room.

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Narnia.

Although there are other books I love much more than the Chronicles of Narnia, most of them are bleak dystopias that I would not want to visit. Narnia has always seemed to be such a beautiful place. Talking animals! I mean, come on. Who wouldn't want to visit?

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My name feels dated. The name Tina conjures up stripper images, just like Tiffany or Heather. I was teased to some degree, although no more than any other kid. People called me Tina Turner a lot, which really made no sense seeing as how am as far away from her in appearance as is humanly possible. Other variations included "Teeny Weeny" and "Tuna".

I wouldn't change it though, because I am Tina. I respect my parents' decision. I'm sure they thought it was cool at the time, just like all these parents giving their kids trendy names now: Nautica, DeNovice, Caimen, Drydan and Dorian. However, if I could choose my own name I'd probably choose something simple and classic. Like Jane or Emily.

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I suppose the most recent book that I loved that became a movie was Percy Jackson. No, it did not live up to my expectations at all. It is such a simple story line, I felt the whole thing could have easily been included. Instead, they completely left out any aspect of the story that would carry it forward to a sequel. Also, I felt the guy who played Percy was lacking. Despite all that, I wasn't too disappointed in the movie. I never expect the movie to live up to the book. In my opinion, they are two different formats in which to enjoy the same characters.

My all time favorite book, Pride & Prejudice, has a magnificent movie made after it, the BBC version which any Austen fan will be familiar with. It is six (or eight?) hours long and includes virtually every line from the book. That is the one and only time I can say that a film adaptation of a book has fully lived up to my expectations. And speaking of which (not that anyone cares or has watched Gavin and Stacey aside from me) Gavin's mom is the same actress who plays Mrs. Bennett. That woman is an acting genius!

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What major life change haven't I made over the past five years?

-moved five times in five years, including a year in China (mostly positive)
-finished my BA and MS (positive)
-went from being a stay-at-home mom to a working mom (somewhat negative, if I'm honest about it)

I'd say the last, the sahm to working, is definitely the one that I feel the most about at the moment, the one I think about a lot and philosophically debate to myself on a regular basis.

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"Can I have some cheese?"

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I recall going with my mom when she voted in the Reagan/Carter election. I was five. I stood outside the curtained voting booth and waited as she cast her vote. I also remember my parents discussing (celebrating) the results as we rode in our station wagon together. It was night time. When asked I why they were so happy, they told me it was the first time a candidate that they had voted for had won the presidential election.

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High heels. In my opinion, they are just a modern day form of foot-binding. We are expected to wear them because they make our calves look good, make us taller, which makes us appear thinner. Pain for the sake of looking good, wearing shoes that actually injure our feet is very reminiscent of foot binding. Yes, it is not as extreme, I realize that. I realize women aren't breaking the feet of their daughters and forcing them to wear high heels. Yet, this pain is undergone for the pleasurable experience of men, isn't it? And so was foot binding--Chinese men loved the tiny feet, the way hobbled feet made the woman's hips sway. It's still feet-pain for the sake of appearing desirable.

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I like them both equally. Chris hates cats (and is allergic, along with Zack and Petey). Someday, if I ever find myself a widowed old lady, I plan to get a cat again. I didn't realize that I would miss having a cat like I do. We always had cats when I was a kid.

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This wasn't my act of kindness, but one that I witnessed that really left an impression on me. On Friday we went to get pizza. As I sat there waiting for mine to finish cooking, a tall teenager came into the store. He had corn rows, baggy pants and gold caps on several of his teeth. He held up a wallet, a fat wallet, and said, "Did anyone drop this outside?" He turned around an held it out in offering to any of the waiting customers. No one took it, but it turned out that the cashier knew the person it belonged to. The wallet's owner returned as I was leaving, and was Praising the Lord that it had been turned it.

If I'd passed that kid on a dark street, I'd have probably felt the urge to cross to the other side. It was a humbling experience and once again reminded me the importance of not judging a person by their appearance.