Belated Friday Five:

1. What was your first grade teacher’s name?
Mrs. Weir. As in WeirD. She was this really scary mean old lady. I remember that one little boy had to transfer into our class from the other first grade class, and she made him stand up at the front of the room and admit that the reason he got transferred was because the other teacher couldn’t teach him to read. She also tied the class bully to his chair once with a jump rope because he wouldn’t stay seated. Another time she took him out in the hall to paddle him and she called all the other teachers to come out and watch. She was scary. The only good thing about her was that her ancient husband was a Shriner so the whole first grade got to go to the Shrine Circus for free.

2. What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon?
I loved Saturday morning cartoons. Mom would set out my bowl of cereal the night before and leave me a cup of milk and a baby orange juice in the fridge. (Remember those orange juices? In the little plastic containers with the foil lids? I miss those.) I’d get up at 6 a.m. and sit there for, like, five hours. My favorites were the Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes show, the Smurfs, and Garfield and Friends. I also think I’ve seen every episode created of Muppet Babies. I wasn’t a fan of those weird grown-up shows like Kid Video and Dungeons & Dragons. They were just a little too surreal for me.

3. What was the name of your very first best friend?
Hmm. I haven’t had a lot of “best friends,” but I think my first one was Annie Fleck. We’d sit up all night playing with her huge Barbie collection (she even had Jem and the Holograms!) and then we’d play Nintendo Track & Field (on the cool running mat) and listen to Tiffany and prank call boys in our class. Her Mom was a manager at Dairy Queen so she was always bringing home prototype snacks, like cherry-flavored Dilly Bars. We’d swim in the lake and ice skate on it in wintertime and host awesome slumber parties. She was fun. I haven’t talked to her in years. We drifted apart after I changed schools in junior high.

4. What was your favorite breakfast cereal?
Whichever sugar-laden nutrient-free novelty one Mom wouldn’t buy us. Once I got a little older and my tastes settled down, I’d choose Golden Grahams every time.

5. What was your favorite thing to do after school?
Since our parents didn’t get off work til later, we all ended up at a local babysitter’s every afternoon. Luckily there was a playground in the field behind her place, so if it was warm we’d play out there. In the winter it was mostly TV. (That’s where my “Days of Our Lives” addiction started, to tell you the truth.)