TV take me back

There are two things that I absolutely must have in order to get a good nights sleep - a fan running and some classic TV.  Morgan teases me about the shows I like to watch.  Its either cooking shows or some old rerun of a sitcom.  He doesn't understand how I can watch the same "Golden Girls" episode four times in one week.  Old TV shows take me on a trip down memory lane.  These old shows were the shows I watched as a kid and just by watching them I feel instantly connected to my childhood and the people in it.  These shows take me back to a happy time and I think we could all use a little more happy times.

If I had to come up with one show that reminded me of my mom I couldn't.  I come up with three.  As a kid we watched "Little House on the Prairie" every week.  I was a very sensitive kid back then and every single episode would make me cry.  Each week my mom would ask me what was wrong and every week I told her I was crying because I was bored and wanted to go somewhere.  Who was I kidding, I was to embarrassed to admit a dumb TV show was making me cry.  Then there's "Roseanne".  I remember us watching it all the time and it still to this day makes me laugh.  Yes I own every season on DVD and yes I watch them often, especially when I'm missing Mom.  Lastly there's "The Wonder Years".  My huge crush on Kevin Arnold - mom wont let me forget that one.

One of my first childhood crush's - Kevin Arnold

My dad was big time into cooking.  Every single morning I woke up to a full breakfast with bacon, fried potatoes, biscuits and eggs.  I really don't know how I stayed so skinny.  Even if he had to get up early and go to work he still cooked me this breakfast and left it for me to heat up in the microwave.  Sunday's were especially good.  He and I would cook breakfast together and then sit down to eat and watch reruns of the original "Star Trek".  We did this every week.  Still cant get enough Star Trek! 

My brother Patrick had a big hand in raising me.  He definitely felt a responsibility for me and not because he HAD to, but because he wanted to.  He absolutely refused to let me watch "In Living Color".  He said the Fly Girls were inappropriate for me to watch.  He caught me watching it once, gave me a good talking to and well, he never caught me watching it again.  Whenever I see it on TV I watch at least 5 minutes of it, think if him and get a good laugh and a warmer heart.

The Fly Girls - the reason I was banned from watching

My sis lived in Maryland most of my life.  When I was in college she moved back to Louisville with my young niece Ella for a bit. I used to go over and hang out with them and babysit Ella.  Money was always tight and cable was never a priority.  Ella had one VHS tape of Nickelodeon's "Rugrats".  We must have watched that tape thousands of times.  Cant watch Rugrats without thinking of my sis and sweet little niece.

My step dad, who I affectionately call "The Mike" is a big fan of MASH.  Personally I hate the show but I do watch it whenever I see it on because I know he cant.  After all, my mom hates MASH more than I do and I doubt he's allowed to watch it while she is awake.

When I think of my aunt Linda I think of two shows - "The A Team" - because they had a dog named Murdock and "The Shirt Tales".  Remember "The Shirt Tales" - the cute little cartoon critters.  I remember for my birthday one year Aunt Linda gave me a Digger Shirt Tale character.  It was such an unexpected gift I still remember it vividly.  I remember going over to her house in Milton when she gave it to me.  I remember going into Cousin Mike and Greg's rooms and all the cool posters on the walls.  I'm pretty sure one of them had a Lost Boys poster - which happens to be one of my favorite movies.

The Shirt Tales!

My Aunt Suzanne is the reason I have to sleep with a fan on.  I spent many nights at their place as a kid and there were always fans running.  On particularly hot nights my cousins Mandy, Karla, Hannah, Kristy and I would sleep down stairs on the living room floor with the fans.  Pretty much every night we were scolded for talking to much to late.  The sound of a fan has always reminded me of home and I get that from the Sachleben side. 


For awhile I stayed with my Aunt Vicki and Cousins Aaron, Kevin and Elizabeth (Uncle Dale was away with the Navy).  My mom worked nights and she would drop me off there every evening, I would sleep over, go to school in the morning and then mom would pick me up after school. I remember every day after school sitting down with my little Cousin Elizabeth - she was probably in 2nd grade, me in 8th and watching "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego".  Elizabeth knew every answer to every question on that show.  Even as a kid I could tell Elizabeth was super smart special girl - she still is!  Every morning my Aunt Vicki would make us breakfast and take us to wait for the bus if it was raining or cold.  One rainy morning as we were all piled into her car waiting for the bus to come I had an epiphany - I will drive my kids to school every day, no matter what.  It meant that much.

MacGyver is one of my favorite shows ever.  It sucks that it is not currently on any network - that I know of.  Its pretty much the best show of all time.  I remember many nights at my Aunt Judy's house, laying on the floor in the living room in front of the TV with my Cousin Jennifer.  I think we probably both had a secret crush on MacGyver but that's another story. If I find myself in a sticky situation I do think "What would MacGyver do?"  and then I envision Jennifer and I flaring our nostrils - yes, good times.

Sexy Stud - Just look at that hair

Lastly - Can't watch Hee Haw without thinking of and missing my Grandpa Woody and I cant hear the word "Nickelodeon" without thinking of and missing my Grandma Juanita.  I remember spending the night with them one night and I wanted to watch that show on Nickelodeon called "Salute your Shorts."  In the opening song they say "fart".  Well,  fart was not an acceptable word at my Maw Maw and Paw Paws and Nickelodeon was forever banned.  Makes me wonder what they would think about Spongebob?

"Camp Anawanna I hold you in my heart, and when I think about you, it makes me wanna fart"

Morgan may not understand why I like to watch old shows, I really don't expect him to.  For me its not about the shows its about the people I watched them with.  Its about going back in time and feeling like I'm "home" whether home is 3,000 miles away or a lifetime away - I feel better, my heart is happy and that's really all that matters anyway.