La La La La

I volunteered to be tagged by my new e-friend, Hay, a funny and talented photographer mom in New Zealand. She assigned me the letter "L," because Laura brought us together. (Hay had "H," here.)

The meme:
A combination of the letter meme and the in-your-own-handwriting meme.

The instructions:
You leave a comment on this post, and I’ll assign you a letter. You write about ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter, and post it at your place. When people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain continues on and on.

The handwriting:

The writing:

1. Licorice. My earliest memory of licorice is the nibs I had at Auntie Pam's house on Mission Beach. My sister and I would go out there with some regularity to spend the night. She also introduced us to Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese. She had a trick with the mac'n'cheese that I've never been able to replicate, some way of stirring it so all the macaroni lined up in one direction and I could stab a bunch onto my fork at once. And Uncle Duane would make us Singapore Slings, which, as I recall, were grenadine slushies. Good times.

Anyway, licorice. Back in those days, Red Vines and Red Ropes were "licorice," too, and I loved to get Red Vines at the movies and a Red Rope at the skating rink. Red-dyed rituals.

When I was about nine, Cherie introduced me to fennel. Still love to crunch those little guys.

It seems that licorice equals childhood. Interesting.

2. Lions. Big kitties. Or maybe not.


3. Lanterns. I like Asian decor in general, and a string of lanterns strikes me as especially festive.

4. Lollipops. Tootsie-pops in particular, always one of my favorite Halloween treats. The chocolate ones are my favorite.

Remember that owl? "Thrrree."


But Dum-Dums are dum-dum-dum. A waste of sugar.

5. Laughs. There are laughs I will carry with me always. Giggles with Lynn, Linda, and Colleen. The laughs of any two-year-old anywhere. Frank, late at night. Clara burbling at BPC. Chloe in her highchair, cracking up when Marjie snuck up on her. MJ yesterday.

6. Little kids. When I look back over my life, I see a series of relationships with wee ones. I was probably destined to be a Kindergarten teacher. How I ended up working with computers instead is something of a mystery, although I certainly prefer corporate paychecks, and I'm ever so glad I didn't become part of the educational establishment.

7. Liftoff! It's the ultimate vicarious thrill. I remember watching launches in our house in San Francisco and at my grandmother's house on Lake Stevens. Those who remember those houses will know just how little I was and understand just how much impact the TV coverage had on me.

But launches are less fun to watch since Challenger. That TV coverage had a big impact on me, too.

8. Leaving home. Oh, the thrill of departure! I love heading off on a new adventure and leaving the familiar behind. We often start talking about our next vacation while we're on the current one.

But coming home and being home are nice, too.

9. Learning. Well, duh.

10. Lisa Kleypas books. Interesting characters, interesting relationships, magnificently executed melodrama. Can't wait for the next one!