I remember among my math geek friends at Wartburg, once a month on a Thursday was Spam Day and we all wore our Spam t-shirts.

I remember that Brian and Kelly had a huge dog that would slobber all over us when we came to visit.

I remember the lights coming on after There's Something About Mary and the people in front of us looking back at my friend Stephen to see the owner of the very unique and very loud laugh they'd been hearing for two hours.

I remember staying up all night only one time: at a Walther League conference at the Ramada Inn in Oklahoma City.

I remember my college roommate Steve, a percussionist, getting amped and air-drumming to the New Order song Fine Time.

I remember when I was a little girl that Uncle Paul told me that a watermelon would grow in my stomach if I swallowed any seeds, and I half-believed him until I asked my mother if it was true.

I remember Great Grandpa Intemann and Great Grandpa Larwig dying right around Christmas in 1980 and 1981, respectively.

I remember Dan Paul as one of the Christmas Angels at Our Savior's Lutheran Christmas Program.

I remember inventory times at the libraries: getting up at 5:00, arriving at library by 6:00, scanning barcodes for hours, reconciling totals....

I remember once when I was a kid answering the phone with a "What do you want?" and it was a very surprised Grandma calling.

I remember eating crushed up saltine crackers that had been sprinkled with sugar and covered with milk.

I remember when the first thing you might do upon returning home is listen to answering machine messages.

I remember Danielle had an abcessed tooth in high school.

I remember standing in our front yard watching the black smoke rising into the sky from a fire at a motorcycle shop on Hwy 50.

I remember Mrs. Hansel, our pastor's wife, was my first Sunday School teacher.

I remember painting the Starr's house in Waverly with my friend Dave in June of 1991.

I remember Daniel trying to kill a black snake that was moving up the side of the farmhouse near Honey Creek.

I remember going through so many roommates at 1119 E. Dayton St - Jen, Tina, Jill, Frank, Hendrick, Arno, Robin Lee, Leoni, Jeff, Tolya, Hoa, Chris, a girl from Bozeman, Montana whose name I forgot, and another girl in town for an internship one summer who I hardly ever saw.

I remember Mark reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series.

I remember taking my roommates Tolya and Hoa with me to Woodmans sometimes because neither of them had a car.

I remember Mark (or was it DP?) collected small metal cars when he was young.

I remember begging Mom and Dad (mostly Dad) to let us open Christmas presents early, the rationale being that we were opening them early anyway because we'd be in OKC for actual Christmas, so why not even a little earlier ... PLEASE??!??

I remember the back fence at our NE 25th Street house had a big gully in front of it filled with leaves and branches and grass clippings.

I remember Ranee telling me that Danielle's then-boyfriend Brendan had been known during their UW college years for the cape he frequently wore around campus.

I remember Sophie giving me her pink Melissa & Doug compartmentalized box that I still use for storing makeup.

I remember a fun New Years Eve we spent at Aunt Evelyn's in Tulsa in the late 70's or early 80's.

I remember babysitting for numerous nurses' children in high school -- most of them long-term -- in the evenings and throughout the summer.

I remember playing jacks, jumping rope, playing with a parachute, square dancing, and playing dodgeball, all in the South School gym.

I remember "riding" on the teeter-totters with a friend in elementary school.

I remember when our bunk beds were in the southwest bedroom I awoke one morning to find Mom tending to a sick DP, and I was up and about for awhile before suddenly realizing it was actually the middle of the night.

I remember Danielle and Jennifer Klein going to a movie at the Capital Mall called "Heartland", and Danielle thought it was the grossest movie she had ever seen. (I watched it last night.)

I remember DP occasionally sleepwalking as a child and we'd just try to get him to go back to bed.

I remember my mother sewed three or four outfits for my "bride" doll.

I remember voting at Bremer County Courthouse, Lapham Elementary, Linden Hills Rec Center, Van Hise Elementary, Covenant Church, and Tenney Park Pavilion.

I remember Grandpa Larwig calling me Schnitzelfritz: a common term of endearment meaning little rascal or chatterbox.

I remember practicing holding my breath in our pool on Veil Of Tears until I could stay under for over three minutes.

I remember walking to and from school every nice day in grade school.

I remember the first time I got a charley horse I thought something must be seriously wrong with my leg but Mom told me how to make it go away.

I remember my mother spending days sewing clothes for Louise and me.

I remember the Kleins loaning me a little TV when I had mono.

I remember Mark and Chris having a paper route.

I remember having many dreams in which my environment shifts in almost psychedelic ways to prevent me from going from point A to point B.

I remember Carolyn McClary bringing hot tamales in a thermos for lunch every day in second grade.

I remember having many dreams in which I've fallen behind in a class and it seems almost impossible to catch up, even though that has never happened to me in real life.

I remember picking up Henry from school many cold winter days at the end of the "secret pathway".

In 5th grade, I remember being told I didn't have to come in early to do my crossing guard duties on my first day back to school after being out sick, but I came in anyway because I was so tired of being stuck at home.

I remember the outhouse on the Junes place near Paola getting blown over by a strong wind while Evelyn was sitting inside.

I remember getting pulled over once in Iowa and after stopping I opened the glove box to grab my registration, muttering "Where's my gun?" to try to make Danielle laugh.

I remember getting only one warning ticket for speeding when we were traveling to Waverly to see the kids.

I remember when the undercover cops pretending to study a map in a convenience store parking lot on Fordem Ave got angry after blowing their cover on a 24-year-old, with the clerk who'd sold me the beer (and carded me) watching from inside.

I remember only one dream/nightmare from my childhood: My dad had a face like a chipmunk and he was chasing me. So traumatic that I remember it to this day!

I remember being pulled over in the middle of the night after leaving the old Kohl's grocery store on University and having a cop hand me the gallon of milk that had not yet tumbled off the roof of my car. 

I remember Alice always gave the most unexpected -- and sometimes odd -- Christmas gifts to the family.

I remember the last time I saw Alice she was so hunched over and we sat on the front porch talking politics before going in to have supper with Grandma.

I remember Alice taking Mark and Danielle to the park in Ponca City and vowing that she would not stop swinging them until they were tired and wanted to leave. She gave up.

I remember the first time I saw Henry was in St. Mary's hospital, probably after doing my part-time dry cleaning deliveries.

I remember cleaning several offices and a day care center for a time when our kids were in college.

I remember the first time I saw Sophie I'd driven down from Minneapolis and Danielle had asked me to pick up food from Subway.

I remember going to Confirmation classes on Saturday mornings for four years.

I remember getting separated from Dad and Danielle in the Missouri Capitol building in the 1970's and being scared until I thought to head for the rotunda where they eventually found me.

I remember working at Scholastic after my regular workday at the JCPS Board Office.

I remember Scott Hellinga staying at my place when he secretly came back to Waverly to buy Donna an engagement ring.

I remember how awesome it was to have Grandpa help us build our concrete block patio at our new house at 5288 Veil of Tears.

I remember when Mark was little that he would stand on my feet and hold my hands while I walked around the room.

I remember watching SpongeBob and iCarly with the kids.

I remember watering Pastor Hansel's plants every time he went on vacation.