Favorite Moments In Time!

I know we all have moments that stick in our minds.  I have 5 that we call my laughing stories.  Every single time I think about them I laugh hysterically.  No one else thinks they are as funny as I do.  Never could understand why!  Every once in a while I think of them and can’t remember all of them.  Today I decided to write about them so I won’t have to call my children and ask them what they are anymore.  I know that’s pathetic, but I truly had to call them both today for help.

1.  These can’t be in chronological order because this story is number one and always will be!  So here goes!

When I was in college I had a friend who told me this story.  Let me make it clear I wasn’t any part of it but I have laughed my head off every time I think of it ever since.

My friend was taking an astronomy class.  It had to meet at night because they had to be able to see the stars.  They met at the football field and the teacher would point out different things for them to observe.  (I am laughing while I type this!)  He said everything was fine at first because the weather was warm and the evenings beautiful.  What makes me laugh is that when the weather got cold they were walking around in a circle trying to keep warm.  The teacher would be talking away and they were totally ignoring him.  If someone tried to stop and look up and see what the teacher was talking about they would shove him and tell him to keep moving!  All they were doing was walk in a circle and try to keep warm!  (I have tears in my eyes from laughing.  Just ask my kids, they will verify that I laugh myself silly over this story.  They don’t get it.)

2.  This next one happened when I was in college, too.  I WAS part of this one.  I was in an operetta, a musical, and an opera when I was at SWOSU.  I especially enjoyed being in “The King and I”.  It has nothing to do really with my part.  (I had the glory of being wife #9.)  During one scene of the play the people of Siam put on an evening of entertainment for visitors from England.  All of the “wives” came out and sat down on the floor on our feet to sing our parts in “Small House of Uncle Thomas”.  Night after night at rehearsal my feet went to sleep sitting that way. 

The stage was pretty dark for this scene because the spotlight was on the main character.  There were people who ran across the stage carrying rachets and other sound effect makers.  These people were totally dressed in black so that they wouldn’t be so noticeable.  They even had on black hoods that had eye holes cut in them.

What happened next was purely accidental.  The first night of the performance I decided that since I was on the end no one would notice if I didn’t sit on my feet.  I curved them to the right behind me and everything seemed fine.  My dear friend, Woody Leonard, was running across with a rachet.  He had to do such a quick change into this costume that they didn’t get the hood on right.  The eye holes were to the side but they couldn’t take time to fix it.  He just had to put up with it.  I know you can guess what happened.  As he ran past me he tripped over my foot and fell off stage right.  (Time out to laugh!)  Thankfully he wasn’t hurt.  I felt terrible about it even though I thought it was so funny. 

The next night when it came time to perform this number I decided I had to sit on my feet!  So I did!  Here came Woody again.  You can just imagine!  He tripped over me again and fell exactly the way he had done the night before.  This time all of the “wives” were laughing out loud on stage.  Even our director was laughing.  I was totally innocent this time. 

What makes this even funnier to me is that night after night when we rehearsed this number, he never once tripped over me, not even at the dress rehearsals.  Then it happened in both performances!  (No one else tripped over me, just Woody.)

3.  This story happened when I was in high school.  I, as you can imagine, dearly loved being in the choir.  I sang soprano in those days.  My friend, Gayle, sang alto.  We sat sopranos, basses, tenors, altos so she was clear across a large room from me.  I know it’s hard to imagine but I was turned around talking to someone behind me when I heard Mr. Marsh yell “Francy Smudrick”!  I turned around ready for him to scold me.

Instead, he said “Gayle wants you”!  She had been trying to get my attention.  Then he made her stand up and ask me her question.  All she wanted to know was if I planned to go the ballgame that night.  She was so mad and still gets mad when I bring it up.  I get to laugh about this when someone mentions it in front of her.  Yes, people in choir remember it.

4.  This one happened at Karl’s Ideal Grocery store.  The kids and I were in the checkout lane when one of the checkers yelled “Ow – that shocked me!”  He was messing with something plugged into a socket.  Then he turned to his friend who was also a checker and said “You touch it”.  His friend looked at him and said “I’m not touching it if it shocked you.”   They just stood there and we started laughing.  I haven’t stopped since.

5. Nearly everyone in my family, except me, is a dog lover.  When we had family get-togethers at mom & dad’s house someone always had their dog with them.  My sister, Joyce, and her daughters have always had “frou-frou” dogs, as I call them.  Several of us were sitting around the table when my younger sister, Betty, bent over and picked up one of the dogs.  She was holding it up close to her face cooing with it and then it happened.  The dog stuck his tongue down her throat.  If it had happened to me (which it NEVER will) I would have gagged out.  In this case I laughed myself silly and still do every time I think of it!

6. I think I will have to have a number 6.  Last year’s story of my birthday trip to Dallas makes us all laugh.

Nicholas says that now they don't even have to mention the actual story.  You can just yell "one" and I start laughing.  Sad, but true!