Part 3 - The Childhood Years

NOTE: This series is directed at a teenage and older audience, as it contains reference to subjects such as "woohoo", though the word may not actually be used. You have been warned!

Credits for custom content: Kenzie's princess dress is from Mod The Sims (made by Kara24) and Jillian's gypsy dress is from The Sims Resource (made by makreel).

Welcome back to my autobiography! This begins the portion of the story that I remember and isn't told to me second-hand. This is also the point where I stopped liking to wear dresses, but had to for special occasions, unlike when I was a toddler and loved dresses. Sometimes I even wish I could go back to my childhood; back then, the biggest problem I faced was getting the latest toy. Today, I have to worry about paying bills, keeping a job, my appearance, all that good stuff. Anyway...

First and foremost, by this point in my life, my dad, who was in the business industry, had gotten a promotion, and my mom had gotten a job as a paramedic, which meant more money, and therefore a bigger house. During the summer when I was seven years old (I'd only turned seven a few weeks before), we packed up our stuff and moved to 30 Hidden Grove Lane. Well, I guess packing up our stuff isn't quite accurate - we sold our old furniture and got new stuff. Here we are in front of our new house:

You'll also probably notice my dad's hair getting darker; I don't know why, but he had my hair color when he was young and as he got older, instead of it going gray, it went dark. Maybe my hair will do that too someday.

Anyway, our new house was awesome to say the least. My favorite part was the basement; I wanted to set it up as a play room, but my dad needed a room to work in, so he claimed the basement as his office. He even got some cool lodge furniture to put down there, since he loved the cabin and wilderness feel so much.

I wasn't too happy that I wouldn't get the basement as a play room, but I did find myself down there quite a bit with Dad. I was, and still am, quite the Daddy's girl. I spent a lot of time in the basement on the lodge furniture, sometimes even falling asleep while he was working.

That year, I started first grade. I was out of kindergarten and ready to begin the "big" school, where there were actually numbers involved in grade levels. I was a little scared, not knowing what to expect. But my experience in kindergarten had made me realize one thing - I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher when I grew up. I loved it and was sad to leave it behind.

Even back then, I was more of an independent person, preferring to be by myself rather than in the company of others. I suspect that's because I was an only child and was used to playing alone. But in first grade, that changed.

I was swinging one day at recess when a little girl with blonde braided pigtails came up to me. Her eyes were blue and green at the same time. She was looking at me and smiling. I don't know why, but I stopped swinging and looked at her. She asked if I'd play with her.

I wasn't sure what to say, and I was a little shy, so I just said yes.  At first, we just kind of stood around, but then the girl grinned and poked my arm, saying, "Tag! You're it!" She took off running and I chased after her. That was the start of what would be my very first real friendship.

I'd had playmates before, but no one that I ever invited to my house or vice versa. Although, now that I think about it, no one did that before first grade. The girl introduced herself as Jillian Swansen, or Jill for short. We both thought each other's names were very pretty.

Jillian and I spent the entire year together being best friends. When my eighth birthday rolled around, the big thing at the time was to have your friends spend the night with you. So I talked to Jillian and she was excited to spend the night at my house for my birthday. We'd talked about each other to our parents, so the next step was to have them meet and discuss it.

Jillian's parents are pretty cool, and they were used to sleepovers since they had a teenage son at the time who'd had several friends over at once before. So it was set: the Friday the week of my birthday, Jillian would come home from school with me, bring a bag with some clothes in it, and spend the night.

Our favorite thing to do on the playground was swing, so that's what we did as soon as we got to my house (I'd had a swing set put in when we moved in).

Jillian was a little homesick at first, never having spent the night at anyone else's house before. My parents made her feel very at home. After we ate dinner and did our homework (Mom's orders), we took a bath. And yes, we took a bath together. We were just kids, that was perfectly okay back then! We weren't shy around each other anymore, but we did spend more time splashing each other and playing with the rubber duckie and bubbles from the bubble bath than bathing. At least, until Mom threatened to come in, which made us hurry up and get out of there  before she saw us naked.

After our bath, Jillian and I sat down and watched a movie together. Dad made us popcorn, but Mom had to clean the bathroom; she didn't realize it was such a mess until after we'd abandoned it. When Jillian went home the next day, she sure let me have it!

After the movie was over, Jillian and I went to my room to get ready for bed. But we weren't tired yet, so we played video games for a while. Mom snuck in with the camera and got a shot of us.

When we turned around she told us to smile for the camera. Smiling wasn't going to cut it!

After that ,we went to bed. Jillian had to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor because I only had a small bed, but she told me she had a twin-size bed as well, so it was all right. Really, why are twin beds so small? Twin means two, not one, yet a twin-size bed is a single.

Anyway, Jillian's birthday was a month after mine (June 20 to be exact) and she returned the favor by inviting me over to spend the night. It was summer, so we could have the event on the actual date rather than wait for the weekend. Plus we had no homework to do!

Jillian lived quite a distance from town; she lived clear out on 647 Farmer Valley Road. But her house was amazing. My dad loved log cabins so he'd love this place, because that's literally what it was. The house was built out of logs (or so it appeared), it had a garage off to the side of it, there was an inviting front porch, lots of flowers, and the backyard had all kinds of fun things to do. The first thing Jillian and I did was head for the swimming pool (she'd told me to bring my bathing suit).

It became a pool party after that when Jillian's younger sister Alexis (she was five at the time) joined in to play water tag, and then Jillian's big brother Hunter (he was thirteen at the time) jumped in. That got us out pretty quickly; we didn't care much for boys back then!

Not wanting to take our swimming suits off, and enjoying the warm weather, Jillian and I decided to take to the sprinkler. Not quite as fun as the pool, but it kept us cool on that sunny day. Alexis, on the other hand, took to the swings.

Oh, by the way, Jillian's mom took all these pictures, and we were such good friends we wanted our own copies of all pictures taken of us. So our parents got double prints of everything; this was before digital cameras mind you.

Anyway, the sprinkler was okay, but that water got cold after a while, unlike the pool, which you get used to. So we decided to take to the trampoline. The Swansens had a rule - only two people on the trampoline at one time. So here are Jillian and I jumping while Alexis waits to join in.

I sure wanted a trampoline after that, but we had no room in our backyard for one. So that's one present I never got.

After jumping on the trampoline, before dinner, the three of us decided to play video games (Alexis followed Jillian everywhere; apparently it's something that happens when someone has a little sister, being followed and copied all the time).

Anyway, we all three played video games in the basement while Hunter played with the shuffleboard table; figures, soon as we're done playing outside he's done using the pool. Boys!

I absolutely loved the Swansens' basement. It was like the play room I always wanted, only ten times the size. It had a place to play video games, watch TV, play shuffleboard or darts, work out, and it even had a bar! Hunter's bedroom was down there too, as well as a small bathroom. I told my parents I wanted to have a play room like that but no such luck.

I was a little homesick at Jillian's house; I missed my parents and my own room, and my bed since Jillian and I had to sleep on the cot in the basement (they had one of those fancy fold-out couches, something else I also wanted but never got,  but oh well), but in the long run, it was a lot of fun to see Jillian's house.

When Spooky Day rolled around the year we were in second grade, Jillian and I wanted to go trick-or-treating together. It was agreed that my dad would take us while Jillian's parents took her little sisters (she has Alexis and, at the time, two-year-old Savannah).

I dressed up as a princess that year, while Jillian went as a gypsy. Here we are getting ready for candy!

Unfortunately, that Spooky Day was on a school night, so we didn't get to spend the night at each other's house, though we did get to eat some candy together before Jillian went home.

That's my life with friends, but there are traditions that involve the family. During my toddler years, Grandma would show up at one of her sons' houses and spend Snowflake Day with them. Well, she got a better idea; she'd host special holidays at her house. So starting when I was six, and all the way up until she died when I was 12, we'd celebrate all major holidays at Grandma's house. And by "we", I mean my parents, me, and all dad's brothers and their families (well, not Brian, as he's kind of the black sheep; he moved out to Bridgeport years ago trying to make a major career for himself but so far he's got nothing).

Here is one such occasion of us at Grandma's during Thanksgiving:

In that picture, you'll see my mom, me, my dad, Grandma Lucy, my uncle Daniel, and his kids Daemon and Candace (or Candy for short). Uncle Dan had major commitment issues; he had his two kids with his first wife and had been married and divorced twice since then.  He was the second oldest of the boys; my other uncle, Jack, was the oldest and he married kind of a snobby woman, my aunt Natalie. Natalie wasn't all bad, but she wasn't ashamed to rub her fortune in the faces of others, particularly when it came to relationships and Uncle Dan's lack of having a good one. She was also pretty nosy, always poking her nose into everyone else's business.

You could say holidays where the entire Howell clan got together were a bit dramatic, but it wasn't all that bad. Here's another shot of us that same Thanksgiving, the year I was eight (and yes, I'm wearing a dress; I hated dressing up back then, and that dress was super itchy! How Mom got by with wearing just jeans and a nice shirt is beyond me, but I don't remember that):

One more shot of us (Uncle Jack took these pictures):

In those pictures, Uncle Jack, Aunt Natalie, and their three kids were in the parlor eating (well, except when Uncle Jack was taking the pictures), since the dining table wasn't big enough for all of us. Although, after the table was cleared off, a few of them came into the dining room while others helped clean up the kitchen.

There's my dad talking to Uncle Jack, his wife Natalie sitting next to him, and me sitting with their two daughters, my cousins Sandra (in the middle) and Sierra (on the far left). I think Uncle Dan took these pictures.

And here we are again:

Eventually, us kids got bored and decided to head to the parlor, which is what Grandma called it, but people from this century would probably call it a den or rec room. There was a TV in there, a big book shelf, writing desk, and places to sit. Here's a shot of me with my cousins as Dad rounded the corner and snuck a picture:

Then he came in a little further, and you can see Uncle Jack and Aunt Natalie's son, Trent, sleeping on the couch (that was his custom, sleeping at family get togethers), right through whatever Candace was watching on TV.

After a while, the women and girls headed to the living room (Daemon went with us for some reason), and the men headed out to the deck off the dining room; I loved Grandma's house because it had such a cool floor plan. Grandma loved playing the piano, so she began doing so.

Here's a picture of me with my mom and Aunt Natalie, enjoying the piano music (no idea who took all these):

And here's a shot of Candace talking with her brother Daemon while Sandra and Sierra play on the floor:

Before we left, the girls and I headed upstairs; Grandma had this loft play area with a TV, stuffed animals, and an old record player. Also upstairs was another bathroom and spare bedroom.

Candace and I had developed a special routine when we were over at Grandma's house - we'd play video games together (old school ones!). There was one game I loved, but I didn't know how to play it so she'd play it for me while I watched. Here we are doing that while Sandra and Sierra are once again self-absorbed in their stuffed animals.

So that was our Thanksgiving the year I was eight. When Snowflake Day catalogs started coming out, I found a page with what I wanted - a doll house.  I wanted that doll house so bad, I kept the catalog and looked at the page with the picture on it every day, imaging what I'd do if I had it. When my parents took me to see Santa, I practically begged him to bring me the doll house.

I could hardly get to sleep that Snowflake Day eve; it seemed that before, whenever I asked for something, I'd gotten it, especially at that time of year. So I was super excited. I could hardly sleep that night, and the sun didn't seem to rise fast enough.

As soon as I saw it breaking through the clouds, I jumped out of bed and raced to the tree. I saw a lot of boxes under there all wrapped up in pretty packaging. Then I ran into my parents' room and, as was my custom since I was three, jumped on their bed and said, "Get up! Santa's been here!". I didn't even wait to get dressed, nor did I give my parents a chance to do so.

So they stumbled out of their bedroom at like six in the morning while I made a beeline for the tree. When they finally got settled, still in their pajamas, I began grabbing gifts. At our house, we have a tradition where we open gifts one at a time; one person opens one gift at a time so everyone can see what everyone else got. So it seemed like an eternity before I got to open my last present, the biggest one.

Boy, did I get a surprise! What was inside wasn't the doll house I was hoping for, nor had it been in any other boxes I'd opened. What was inside this big box was a giant stuffed rabbit and bear. They were cute, but I was pretty upset. Not to sound like a spoiled brat, but I was just a kid and not used to disappointment.

I started crying so Mom hugged me while Dad left. I didn't know where he went, but I didn't care either. But a few minutes later, Mom said to stand where I was and close my eyes. I didn't want to but I did anyway. I heard some movement and then my mom said to open my eyes. I did and, there in front of me, was the doll house! I screamed at the top of my lungs while Dad watched me from the couch and Mom took a picture of my reaction.

My parents said they'd made a special arrangement with Santa, and had agreed to save the doll house for the very last present to be an extra special surprise. The doll house had already been put together rather than coming inside a box, disassembled. I got to play with it right away, and I did so all day. It would be many years before I outgrew the doll house.

That summer, when I turned nine, Dad got into fishing and invited Mom and I go to with him. I was excited to go, and Mom was a little reluctant since she's a bug magnet, but we both went. Mom sat back in the shade and read in between taking pictures of us. Here's a picture of Dad and I fishing at the Riverview Fish Hatchery.

Dad caught a huge swordfish, and I started screaming like a maniac, thinking it was going to hurt us. Dad was super excited, until the slippery thing slipped from his grip and back into the water. The look on his face was priceless.

Not long after that, I started screaming again because I caught my very first fish! It was just a little jellyfish, but I was ecstatic. Dad grabbed it from me (from the appropriate end) before it could sting me thankfully.

As the night went on, Dad caught one more fish, this time one that didn't escape and that he was able to send to be mounted in his office.

And then I caught one more, but it was so big it nearly knocked me into the water. So that one got away. I was happy with my jellyfish though; Dad promised to have it mounted for me as well and hang it in his office for me.

That concludes my childhood years that I have documented. If you think this was long, wait until the next part, my teenage years! Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

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