Scars & Pickle Skin

The other day while sitting out poolside with Cinderella reading, I noticed that I had a lot of scars, it got me thinking about where they all came from, what caused them, and the memories behind them. I am grateful to my scars, for without them I would probably forget a lot of things that I have experienced, my memory is horrible, but a rush of things I thought I had forgotten came rushing back as I studied my scars.

• A Jelly Fish stung my foot when I was 9 {of course this was before I was SCUBA certified - so snorkeling it was} in Panama City, FL, I honestly thought I was going to die. I remember the morning before my parents just woke me up and said we were leaving and I could sleep in the car, we drove forever no one telling me where we were going and we ended up in PC. I was so excited, it had to be one of the best trips and vacations I think I can remember. But I'll never forget the pain and my dad thinking I was crazy screaming for no reason in the middle of the ocean.
• I have one on my left thigh from scraping up against Fire Corral while participating in my certification dives in Okinawa, Japan. That one was painful, but the image of underwater when it happened is ingrained in my brain, probably the most beautiful place I've ever dove.
  
• On my left knee I have a large California shaped scar from when I was 11 riding one of those dangerous Big Wheels down the large hill in our subdivision. I was standing on the back when I slipped and was dragged down the hill. I remember I had just learned the words 'dermis' and 'epidermis' in school and kept telling people that I had ripped off my epidermis. I was such a dork. :)
• On my right shin is the scars from my freshman year of highschool. We stayed at the Marriott in Atlanta before our state competition {Top/Coach didn't want anyone to be at any risk for not showing up} and we were all at the pool and hot tub and I got pulled into the hot tub and the rocks scrapped my shin. Good friends, good times. I wish I could find some of the members from the team that year that I have lost contact with.
• I have a scar right underneath my bottom lip from when I was 2 {i think}, I was standing in my highchair watching the popcorn pop in one of the old school popcorn poppers and got excited, slipped, and fell - on the way down I pushed my tooth through my lip. A while after that I was in Wal-Mart playing on the metal railing dividers {mom always told me not to, I apparently never listen} and busted it open again, putting my tooth through it yet one more time.
• One of the most recent scars I have is now right above my foot on my right shin. This would be from snorkeling in Hawaii in March. The lava rock on the beach going out and coming in cuts you up pretty bad if you're not careful. I'm not used to beach entries into the ocean, that's a benefit of diving off boats, you just jump in, although if you read above you can still get scars.

There are many many more scars that I have but I am indeed thankful for them, for helping me to remember little pieces and memories of my life.

Completely random but I feel the need to share, I don't like pickle skin. I LOVE pickles but would much rather scoop out the pickles innerds and not eat the skin. I know I'm strange...

Where I Grew Up

I've been thinking about home for a little while now. Not my grown-up adult home, but the home I lived in as a child the one in Sharpsburg. The thing is yes my address was in the Sharpsburg zip and so was my High School - but I love the town of Newnan it has to be one of my favorite towns, which is why I love my current town as they are so similar (except the fact that one is on the east coast and the other on the west).

The City of Newnan is named for General Daniel Newnan who was a General for the Confederate Army out of North Carolina. This great town was established in 1828 and is now referred to as the City of Homes (we'll get to that later).

When my family moved to the city from Oklahoma in 1991 the population was around 10,000 people. There were no major intersections like there are now and you had to drive quite a ways to even get to the only store in town, the regular sized Wal-Mart (which has now been turned into a Big Lots when they built the Super Wal-Mart). It's a place where you just feel happy being. People are always smiling and friendly - always happy to see you even when they don't know who you are. This is where I attended Elementary, Middle, and High School. I loved it here. I remember in Fifth Grade we went on a tour of the architecture in Newnan (it's known for it's pre-civil war beauty). It was on this tour that I 'got' my first boyfriend and where I knew that I was one day going to own this house.
This is known as the Susie house, and I still one day would love to own this house. I learned that in the 1800's you were taxed by how many floors your home had so this house has an exceptionally tall 2nd floor and little windows in the attic, so people would think it was just a 2 story home, but it wasn't. The upstairs is just as big as the first floor. I was so fascinated with this house - the interior is all hand painted including the fat naked babies on the ceiling. This home is something that if I had a billion dollars I would buy. It's amazing that all the beautiful homes are still standing. Newnan was home to the hospitals for wounded soldiers during the Civil War, many homes were makeshift units where soldiers could recover.

The Novel "Murder In Coweta County" was based off of a true story from this county. Many movies have been filmed and books written about the history of Coweta County/Newnan. Including:

• The ABC television series October Road is filmed in Newnan,^[7] though it is actually set in the fictional town of Knights Ridge, Massachusetts.
• In the 1978 feature film The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid (original Italian title: Uno Sceriffo extraterrestre - poco extra e molto terrestre) featuring Bud Spencer his character is depicted as being the Sheriff of Newnan and the plot to take place in said city.
• "Murder in Coweta County"
• The NBC series I'll Fly Away was filmed in Newnan from 1991-1993

Many notable people have lived in this little homely town as well, and some of them still do:

• Ellis Arnall, Governor of Georgia (1943-1947)
• Hamilton Bohannon, Record Producer/Musician
• Keith Brooking, Atlanta Falcons linebacker
• Jerome Walton, Former MLB and 1989 MLB Rookie of the Year Award Winner
• Lewis Grizzard, author
• Alan Jackson, Country Music Star
• Joe M. Jackson, USAF Colonel
• Stephen W. Pless USMC Major
• Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II, Infamous 19th century gambler, confidence man, and crime boss
• Doug Stone, Country Music Star
• Steve Young, Pioneer country rock musician

I miss this town. I miss the storms. I miss Hurricane season. I miss the way everything changes to a neon/cool green after it rains and the sun starts to come back out. I miss the trees. I miss the people. I miss the steam rising from the ground on a hot summer morning. I miss the smell.

I miss that little town and even though it's not so little, and it's not my town any more. It will always have a special place in my heart and I miss it. It will always be my little town, where I grew up and once lived.

What do you miss about where you grew up? Or how have you found ways to bring it with you?