The First Decade Of Jodi

Wrapping up NaBloPoMo 2007 with a timeline* of the first decade of my life. I've had fun posting every day this month, even though many days it was just to post something. But, I did it and that's what matters.

Year 1: I obviously don't remember, but according to my family, we lived in a "shack" in Northern Virginia. I really wanted to see it later on, but there is a road where it once stood. My Mom strung popcorn for our Christmas tree and mice ate at it. We did have indoor plumbing (I asked).

Year 2: Again, I'm not remembering too much of this time, but I know we moved to the "beach house." The one with huge staircase I tumbled down resulting in my first (and so far, only) ambulance ride, but no injuries.

Year 3: I became a big sister. I don't really remember my sister too much as a baby. There will be stories later though.

Year 4: Because of an autumn birthday, I started kindergarten. I walked to the primary school, which was very close to my house. Sometimes, my Mom substitute taught in my class. I got in trouble at nap time for giggling and it took the entire school year for me to learn how to skip.

Year 5: I had a cool blue coin purse shaped like a fish. The mouth of the fish is where it opened. I tried to sleep away from home for the first time (literally, right down the street), but had to call my Mom to take me home around 10 pm. My parents got divorced.

Year 6: My best friend, Vickie, and I had a crush on the same boy. This went on for a while until he moved away. I'm not really sure how he felt about either of us. I participated in my town's Bicentennial parade.

Year 7: I was a cheerleader for the local equivalent of Little League for football. We had HUGE white pom-poms and thought we were hot stuff. Practice was often held in my back yard. Go Eagles!

Year 8: Moved up from primary school to secondary school, which meant that I got to ride a school bus. I also got paddled in front of my entire class for laughing when someone else got paddled.

Year 9: I caught the chicken pox from my sister on Halloween (she broke out the next day). It made me cancel a sleep-over. The good thing was that my friend Carol, who lived down the street, caught them the same night, so we got to play together while staying home "sick" from school.

Year 10: My Mom got remarried and we moved to a big city. I had my own room for the first time since being a big sister. I also got to experience the first of several times of being "the new girl" at school. I learned to never get a home perm the night before starting a new school ever again.

*Timeline idea from page 51 of:
No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog.