Reply #43: Oh I remember the sleeping thing too.

[proteus_lives]

I remember coming home from school or activities and collapsing into bed. Or on car/planes I would drop-off as soon as I slipped on the safety belt. It was like turning off. Deep sleep then more food. ;-)

I remember shaving for the time too, teenage boys are always very proud of their first chin-scruff and upper lip dirt. I had the growth spurt while spending over 4 months from home. My mother was beside herself when I stepped off the plane. Not only had I gone from from 5 foot to almost 5'5, my hair had darkened from light brown to it's current black-brown and my skin tone had deepened as well. That combined with my pelican-sized snooze also led to the question I still get today, "Hey, are you Jewish/Turkish/Greek/Romanian/Persian/Arab/Italian?" (I have grown into my nose...mostly) My mother asked me repeatedly if I dyed my hair. My dad began his long-running joke to my mother, "Lindy are you sure he's one of mine?"

Yeah, my family rarely had a grocery bill under a $100 when all three of us were at home. Both my sisters have kids of their own and I don't how they manage. My nephew Ethan is almost 12 and he's already eating obscene amounts and getting moody. Sigh, I remember when he was six and we would spend the afternoon at the movies and get ice cream and he thought his uncle was the coolest. :-(

"Stretch marks!!! You really had a growth spurt, didn't you? Just like my son. He was all bones, with these great big shoulders. He didn't fill out, really, until his late twenties."

That's the truth! I didn't stop until around 22. I finally clocked in at 6'0 and 210.

I wish I could eat like that again but I have recently made friends with heart-burn. Getting older does suck. :fistbump: