Internet, first I want to apologize for not updating in a bit. You know how things get, it IS summer time you know. The time where you spend weekends (or weekdays) drinking a sweet wine, or staying up until the wee hours of the morning reading. You might even try to stay awake all night to see a partial lunar eclipse only to be disappointed when it looks like a cookie with a bite out of it. Well I have been busy gearing up for the school year which is fast approaching. I realize I look forward to getting office supplies and my sleeping habits are starting to change up. No more sleeping in until 10 a.m. for me! Well any hoo...I am sorry I haven't been on in a bit.
So where was I? Oh yes, the stories of summers past. Well do you remember Kerri Strugg? I do. Why? Mostly because my sister and I were OBSESSED with her, the summer Olympics, and gymnastics. I think every girl goes through the phase of wanting to be some terrific athlete like a gymnast at some point in their life, right? Well, that summer we got up early and watched t.v. like is was our crack. Now during the summer my parents typically kicked us out of the house until the street lights came on, insisting we get exercise. Which, now when I look back, was really a great thing. However, we convinced our parents we were being truly patriotic for staying in and rooting on our team.
We got our Barbies out and made them into gymnasts, doing floor routines and such. The fun though really began when Christine (you knew she was included) took up the responsibility of coaching us in our gymnastic endeavors. We used the front lawn for our floor routines. Our swing set was converted into the parallel bars (minus one bar-don't ask). Finally, we used the back of our couch for the balance beam. See our couch was this 70s throw back with little wooden knobs on it. Hideous I know. Well, these little knobs were set about two feet apart from each other and were removable by screwing them off. Christine would "spot" us as we performed our routines. We even had the extra people (waiting their turn) sit on the couch so it wouldn't flip. Nice, right?
Well we continued on this way for the whole summer. Not one injury to every one's amazement. We would wear our swimsuits as our uniforms, and one day Tiffany (the sister one step older than Christine) decided she wanted to play. My parents were gone and they were both in charge of us for the day/evening. Well we decided to just mess around with the whole one person lays on their back with their hands and feet ready. Another person then steps backwards into the grips of their hands while the person laying down puts their feet on the other person's butt. Then the stander would lean back and the person on the ground would then flip the over, completing a somewhat weird flip.
We loved it and Christine was excellent at doing this. Well it was Jaclyn's turn (my little sister) and Tiffany came down stairs wanting to join us. She took Christine's spot and Jaclyn got ready to go. Well that is when things turned bad. Tiffany did not some much flip Jaclyn up but out. With a painful thud, crying ensued. As Jaclyn got up, we saw her wrist was at an unnatural angle. Chaos followed. 911 was called as were our parents. As the firemen, first responders, were trying to set her in a brace Tiffany tried to take her mind off things.
Now Jaclyn is like 10 or so. Tiffany, a teenager with a huge thing for boys. Jaclyn was doing her thing of sniffling and whining, she was good at taking pain. Well Tiffany, trying to cheer Jaclyn up, says "Well at least the firemen are hot." What happens? Jaclyn begins wailing, not at the pain in her wrist, but because Tiffany embarrasses her. Hilarious now, not so funny when your parents come in the door at that moment. So, after that little incident, let's just say not matter how much we wanted to watch the Olympics to support our country, we were denied.
