5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade

We continue this walk down memory lane with 5th grade and middle school. I know middle school is an awkward and unhappy time for a lot of people. I remember getting picked on in middle school for various things, mainly the way I dressed. But I did my own thing anyway, because my momma taught me to be myself!

~ ~ 5th Grade ~ ~

This was a weird year. I didn't like my teacher. She a had a "Time Out Chair". Time out, in 5th grade!?

We took a week long field trip to Camp Hebron. We stayed overnight in cabins and 12th graders were our camp counselors. My camp counselor would swear at us. I guess they didn't have a very good screening process...

~ ~ 6th Grade ~ ~

I had a hard time adjusting to middle school. I became a PERFECTIONIST. One thing I remember doing was erasing my homework and trying to write as neatly as possible. I dreaded going to school. 

BUT my striving for perfectionism made me the first student of the month ever at my middle school! Don't worry, I stopped being a perfectionist after awhile...

~ ~ 7th Grade ~ ~

Middle school was the time I really connected with my friend Sherrie. In fact, we became best friends. We became so close that we decided we would pretend to be twins. I was Tia and she was Tamara. (Yes, we pretended we were the Mowery twins!) We dressed the same as often as we could. 

Obviously, this did not make us very popular and OBVIOUSLY people called us lesbians. Because, middle school.

~ ~ 8th Grade ~ ~

By now, I had a group of friends, but was definitely the least popular and most picked on one in the group. I didn't have a boyfriend or even any prospects, which really made me feel left out. Especially when I was the only person who went to the 8th Grade Honors Dance by herself.

Tell me a memory you have from middle school!
Were you popular?

Weekend Wrap Up! (Lititz, Pride & Family)

 

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a great weekend.

Here's what we were up to...

Finally, we made it to Lititz! The rain and thunderstorms all week thwarted our plans. But today, it was nice and sunny.

We parked near Spring Park and walked a loop. It's a very pretty, bustling park.

 I kept thinking about how my nephew Clark would love this playground!

I couldn't take my eyes off the ducks. They looked so happy and clearly were living their best lives. When I die, I want to be reincarnated as a Lititz duck.

We walked around the town and popped in a couple stores. 

Clementines!!!!!!!!!!!

We did a wine tasting at Stargazer Vineyards and Waltz Vineyards. Stargazer was our favorite because the woman serving us was so friendly and fun to talk to. Maybe when I retire, I will go work at a winery! 

This is the bottle we bought. We general aren't huge fans of white, but this Reisling was really good!

Then we had an early dinner at JoBoy's, which is a BBQ place. Paul didn't eat all of his mac and cheese, so he let me have it. He loves me!

Before we left, we picked up some chocolate covered marshmallows and fudge at Wilbur's Chocolate.

Lititz is a cute little town, and if you live in Central PA, I recommend a day trip!

Even though I went for a run that morning, I had lots of good podcasts to listen to, so I went for an evening walk. 

Paul spent the evening in downtown Harrisburg. There was a Sublime tribute band he wanted to see called Badfish. He had so much fun!

My morning started off with some coffee and blogging. I had some help from my assistant.

Then I did THREE deck of cards workouts in front of my house. Jump rope, burpees, mountain climbers, and bicycle crunches happened over and over and over again. At one point, it just so happened that I had to do 47 burpees IN A ROW. Of course, in true Megan style, I had to round it up to 50. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!

Then I headed over to the Central PA Pride Festival. Normally, Pride is held on the riverfront, but due to the flooding, Gov. Wolf allowed it to be moved to the Capitol Complex.

I know it is okay to go to Pride as a cisgender straight person, but I did do some reading to make sure I behaved correctly. The main thing to remember as a straight person at Pride is that THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU. 

Here are some articles for further reading...

10 Rules Cisgender Straight People Attending Pride Should Follow

6 Ways to be a Better Straight Ally During Pride Events

How to Attend Pride as a Straight Person

Another thing to ask yourself... are you being an ally only today, or are you an ally the other 364 days of the year as well?

From GLAAD... 10 Ways to be an Ally and a Friend:

1. Be a listener.
2. Be open-minded.
3. Be willing to talk.
4. Be inclusive and invite LGBT friends to hang out with your friends and family.
5. Don't assume that all your friends and co-workers are straight. Someone close to you could be looking for support in their coming-out process. Not making assumptions will give them the space they need.
6. Anti-LGBT comments and jokes are harmful. Let your friends, family and co-workers know that you find them offensive.
7. Confront your own prejudices and bias, even if it is uncomfortable to do so.
8. Defend your LGBT friends against discrimination.
9. Believe that all people, regardless of gender identity and sexual orientation, should be treated with dignity and respect.
10. If you see LGBT people being misrepresented in the media, contact us at glaad.org.

Yesssss! Could not be happier...

YES EVERYONE PLEASE REGISTER!!!!!

Our vet was there!!!!

I'm glad Chrissy and Jelly go into an inclusive vet.

After Pride, Paul and I went over to his parent's house to hang out with his family. We had a great time eating steak, lounging on the deck, and playing a competitive game of Dutch Blitz. Expletives were flying... we all wanted to win!

 Swipey!!!!

I kiss him on the lips and he meows.

 Paul and his Momma

Paul's dad was our DJ for Dutch Blitz

Today was just a git 'er done type of day. I did some vacation planning, blogging, yard work, packing, and worked out. It wasn't all work though. Paul and I played some cards!

What's the most burpees you ever did in a row?
What's the cutest little small town near you?
Have you ever played Dutch Blitz?
Tell me something fun you did this weekend!