Random memories

Here are real life memories for future story ideas

*My sister and I both swear we remember seeing an elephant in someone's front yard when we were little.  Presumably being used for tv or film.  (Well, it was Burbank...)

*Baking experiments with our cousin: we once made up our own brownie recipe that involved mixing in melted marshmallows.  We ended up with very rubbery textured brownies.

*Another baking incident was the time I meant to make shortbread cookies but accidentally misunderstood how much butter went into a stick and put in double the required amount.  I ended up with a cookie sheet covered in very rich, buttery crumbs.

*In 2nd grade, I saw Honey I Shrunk the Kids and kept thinking it would be so neat to be able to shrink down to doll size and see the world from that small.  I would make all sorts of strange mixtures trying to concoct a shrinking potion.  I remember getting in trouble for mixing various shampoos, toothpastes, and other bathroom items.  I also remember at one point using teddy grams and candy wrappers.  (Don't worry- I didn't drink the potions- just dribbled them on myself.)

*We once tried to sell something we claimed was a "flower potion"

*We once baked and went door to door selling cookies.  These we actually did manage to sell a few of.

*For my 6th birthday, I was so excited that I tossed one of my presents up and down and up and down...until it landed on the floor tearing a hole in the wrapping.  I still remember that the wrapping was Strawberry Shortcake and the gift was Royal Blue, a princess My Little Pony.

*A friend across the street who was 3 years older than me would sometimes pretend to find pirate treasure maps that would lead us to baskets of things to play with.

*That same friend played a trick on a neighbor who was mean to me.  I don't remember the details, but I wrote about this incident when I featured my friend in a "My Favorite Older Person" essay that I wrote.  It won the competition for the 3rd grade division and was published in the paper.  My friend's own essay won for 6th grade.

*In 8th grade, I had a ton of penpals who wrote me (yes, the old way- through snail mail) because I had my address printed on the fan letter page of Disney's Aladdin comics.  I was very diligent about responding to each letter as I got it...until we went on vacation and I came back to literally dozens of letters.

*My 8th grade homeroom class had a class hamster that I made a beeline for the minute I got to class and played with until homeroom ended.