I've been cleaning my house today - from top to bottom. What that means is that I have my "cleaning music" on. Now, my cleaning music could be just about anything - whatever is going to move me at the time. Today's cleaning music is great songs from the 1980's. Woo hoo. I loved the 80's. I was in high school from 1985-1989, and what a great 4 years that was. So, I began to take a trip down memory lane and remember all of the crazy things that were "in" at that time. I wanted to be fashionable, so I adopted some of these fashions, phrases and music. Here's a list of the top things I remember vividly from the 1980's:

1. "Like, totally awesome"....Ok. I wasn't a valley girl by any stretch of your imagination, but I definitely adopted that phrase. Everything that was great was like totally awesome. Of course, there is a head movement that goes with it (the attitude head movement). I would use this phrase for everything. "Dude, your shoes are like totally awesome. Where'd you get them?". Yep. Used it all the time.

2. Movies of the 80's. Come on. There has never been an era with such movie culture than the 80's. Who could ever forget Stand by Me, Pretty in Pink, Say Anything, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, St. Elmo's Fire, Can't Buy Me Love, Top Gun, Breakfast Club? These movies were iconic. Plus, we got all those great songs from these movies. I will never forget breaking up with boyfriends during the 1980's and listening over and over again to "Didn't We Almost Have It All" by Whitney Houston, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" by Chicago and "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx. Come on - with a repertoire like that who needed to be happy? I could cry right now just thinking about the break up pain (laughing.....)

3. Music in the 1980's - Other than my fabulous break up songs that I would listen to over and over again, who could forget the fantastic music of the 1980's from groups like Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran, The Police....Obviously, I was more of a rocker back then. I loved to listen to the tragic songs of rock. Probably my melancholy personality. "Every Breath You Take" was fantastic during my senior year. I was dating a guy who was totally into me. I'm not saying that to be braggy - He really was totally into me. He wanted to be with me all the time. I, however, was uncommitted, so I put him through emotional craziness (give me a break, though. I was 18 at the time). He would do things that he thought were sweet - I thought they showed signs of stalking behavior. I remember one time I was writing a research paper at the library. He came to the library to find me with a box of cookies because he thought I would be hungry. At 37, I would think that was sweet. At 18, all I could think was "every breath you take. every move you make. . . I'll be watching you". Stalking. That's how I saw it. We didn't last long - 2 years (ok, maybe that's long by teenage history standards). He found someone who could be just as into him as he was into her. I was heartbroken, but in the end, he married this girl and I moved on. So....gotta love the Police.

4. Fashions of the 80's. Just the hairstyles alone could kill you from laughter. I went through a mullet stage. Yep. A true mullet - short on the sides and long in the back. Great look for me (sarcasm definitely warranted). After my mullet, I had to say that I moved on to the letting it grow and putting it up in a barrette on one side just like the Cyndi Lauper look. It was sweet. Probably why I had very few dates during this time. And, who can forget the socks over the jeans look? Why would we want to show our socks off that much? Crazy. Leg warmers - again, crazy (sadly they've made a comeback). I would have to say, however, my favorite fashion of the 1980's was the gigantically long sweater over the very tight stirrup pants. That's a look that a girl of substantial size, like me, should never, ever, ever, ever reintroduce. Talk about "what not to wear". It's a fashion faux pas now, but in the 80's, it was totally awesome. Ha ha....so glad that fashion has moved on.

I loved high school and the 1980's. College was fun, but my favorite memories are really from high school and the 80's. I wouldn't go back to that age for anything. As much as it was a good time of my life, it was a roller coaster of emotions. I loved hard; broke up hard; played hard; worked hard..and in the end, I moved on. I cried a lot during those times (who didn't?). It was a good era, though. So much creativity. I know everyone thinks that the era they grew up in was the best - there were no responsibilities except to excel at whatever I was doing - school, work, sports....No responsibilities, though. Good times, but I'm glad I've moved on (particularly from those stirrups).