Background meme

I’m choosing to do this meme because I’m flying home tomorrow to spend a couple weeks with the family!  As usual, this meme is stolen from Tense Teacher.

1. Father went to college?
Only for a little bit.  He was at Pratt Institute in NYC when there were riots going on about the Vietnam War.  The day they set the dorm across from his on fire, he left.

2. Father finished college?
Nope.

3. Mother went to college?
My mom went to nursing school, which back then was different than it is today.  She earned an R.N. degree, not a B.S.N.

4. Mother finished college?
Nursing school, yes.

5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor?
Nope.  I’ll be the first of those.

6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers?
The vast majority of my high school was upper class.  We were not.  We were fairly middle class.

7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home?
I think, at times, I had more than 50 books on my nightstand.

8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home?
If not yes, then it was probably fairly close.

9. Were read children’s books by a parent?
Yes.  Mom read to me.  Then she said one day when I was about 3, she heard me talking to myself, and when she checked on me, found me ‘reading’.  She thought I had just memorized the book and was reciting that until she gave me a new one…and discovered I could read.

10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18?
Haha. Are you kidding?  Swimming, soccer, piano, clarinet, flute, gymnastics, ballet (which was forced on me through gymnastics), voice (totally didn’t take), diving….

11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18?
Uh, see above.

12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively.
I honestly can’t pick out any person in the media who I think dresses or talks like me.  Thank God for that.

13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18?
No way in hell.

14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs?
My mom started saving savings bonds when she got married in 1972.  It was those savings bonds, plus scholarships, that put me through undergrad.

15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs?
Tuition.  Room and board the first year.  After that, tuition only - I was on the hook for rent, meals and drinking spending money.

16. Went to a private high school?
No

17. Went to summer camp?
The YMCA summer camp a couple of years, and then gymnastics training camp most of my teen years.  Interestingly, my old gymnastics coach from that time is on trial for raping and inappropriate sexual conduct at the camp.  Thankfully, he never targeted me.

18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18?
Yup.  Math.  For the last 3 years of high school.

19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels?
Yup.

20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18?
No - it was a mix of new and hand-me downs.

21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them?
When I first got my license, I shared with my dad.  After I graduated high school, I ‘bought’ my first car from my great uncle.  I paid $1.  It was an ‘88 Chevy Spectrum that was so basic it didn’t even have a radio.

22. There was original art in your house when you were a child?
Yeah, my scribbles that my mom hung on the fridge.  Does that count?

23. You and your family lived in a single family house?
Yes.  My parents bought the house in 1974.  They are still in it.  It’s the only home I’ve ever known with them, and the one I’ll be going back to.  It did undergo renovations and an expansion in 1994.

24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home?
Yes

25. You had your own room as a child?
I’m the only, so yes.

26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18?
Snort.  No.

27. Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course?
Yes, and had private tutoring.  Standardized tests are the devil sent straight from hell.

28. Had your own TV in your room in high school?
Snort.  (Louder, this time).  I got one when I turned 20, bought it myself, and my dad charged me the extra cable charge.

29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college?
Uh, no.

30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16?
Yup.  Flying was not that big of a novelty to me.  I had my first plane trip before I turned 1.

31. Went on a cruise with your family?
Yes.  To Bermuda when I was 13.

32. Went on more than one cruise with your family?
Not before I turned 16.  I went on a second one when I graduated college.

33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up?
Living in such close proximity to NYC, museums were inevitable.  Art galleries?  Nope.

34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family?
I had no clue.  My parents heat their house with oil. I don’t even want to know now what it costs them.  I will say though, when I go home this time, I’m going to Wal-Mart and buying a space heater. They’ve always been stingy with the heat, but I can’t imagine how bad they’ll be over the winter (and Christmas) with oil prices the way they were.

I had no idea about any kind of bills or real life living until I went out and did it on my own.

Happy weekend!  I’m going back to packing!