Red Feather!

Well, my friends----16 hours later...this is all I could do...and I certainly had grander plans than this---I wanted a 6 picture pile up! But whatever right? My sanity MUST come first!

So --- here is my photo-proof of being on the Youth Committee for United Way's Red Feather in 1991! However that is NOT the story that I am going to tell...

Rewind to grade 10 - (my naughty year...)
DID ANYONE ELSE GO A LITTLE "WILD-CHILD" IN GRADE 10????

In grade 9, I was a complete angel! Pretty darn close to perfection --- as far as being the apple of my parent's eyes..."Oh no ___________, you don't have to drink to have a good time. In fact, God doesn't want us to hurt our bodies like that. So why don't you just pour that out into the ground? Okay?"

By grade 11, you NEED to get back on track, building your resume, winning the hearts of your teachers, accumulating letters of reference, and what-not. Student Council, Director of Assemblies, School Sports, Sears Drama, School Musical, Dinner Theatre, volunteering, working, and oh yeah, ....studying?

But grade 10 went a little like this:"WOOOO - HOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! "Let's get some Strawberry Schnapps and go CRAZY!"And I mean-- CR-A-ZY!!!!!!!!!!

So back to Red Feather! I was so freaking PUMPED! Football, Broomball, Parade, Animal House, Cheerleading Competition, and THE DANCE!!!!!!!! My cousin Adria was coming down from Windsor to stay at my house for the weekend and we had some serious PARTY plans!!! My gorgeous and slightly older boyfriend was having a pre-party! WOOOOOO - HOOOOOOO! So we were all set up!The night BEGAN with me using my brain. You see, I always have the best intentions...until I lose my way...but I digress---

So...insert potential problems ----
-Gorgeous Boyfriend lives on same street as Tara
-Tara's parents are VERY strict and VERY suspicious...
-Party is taking place on front lawn (in retrospect...a bit trashy?)

But no biggie, right? Cause I got a plan! So, I force my beautiful cousin who is being swarmed with guys on the prowl for "outside of Chatham charm" to sit in the drive-way behind a parked car so as not to be seen by the drivers-by (in retrospect...a bit trashy?) So, this was working perfectly with our "boys" serving us drinks and hanging out and stuff....UNTIL, I start feeling a bit crazy...and they're playing my song (Pour Some Sugar On Me - by Def Leppard) --- and I just HAVE to dance! So, with my beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other (I'm an all or nothing girl---tis my tragic flaw!) I start twirling and laughing and lip-syncing - "POUR YOUR SUGAR ON ME - COME ON FIRE ME UP!" on my boyfriend's front lawn (in retrospect...a bit trashy?) When all of sudden, from across the road, in the CHURCH parking lot, a pair of high-beam headlights glare onto the party landscape. Everyone's all like, "Dude, turn the lights OFF man! Why you gotta be like that?" But not me! I'm all like; "I'm hot hot-- so hot-- sticky sweeeeeet---from my hey hey head---to my feet --yeah! Do you take sugar? One lump or two??????"

I am slightly jarred out of this euphoric state when I hear a man's voice YELLING out my name:
"TARA, GET OVER HERE!"
But I am on another planet, and I'm all like; "YOU come over HERE!!!"
And then I realize that it's my father's voice!
"TARA - GET OVER HERE NOWWWWW!!!!!"
I stop dancing like an idiot! I start crossing the road while playing centre-stage in the white spotlights of our Chevy Impala.
The "Party-ers"---(my adoring fans)---gawking at the plot-twist, when I realize that I am still carrying my beer and cigarette.
(Drop-Drop - SMASH! Whoopsies, I wonder if my parents noticed???)
"GET IN THE CAR!!!"

And THIS folks, is my fade-to-black ending for any future "Red Feather" fun. As I open the car door, my mother's voice RIPS into the still air:

"I thought YOU were a CHRISTIAN girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

(Kill me. --- NOW PLEASE!)

Peace, Love and It was my FIRST time trying it ----I SWEAR!!!
xoT.