Day 6

I got two new stuffed animals over Christmas break. Both of them are related to my middle brother, Andrew. Andrew is the middle child and thinks that he gets jipped (how exactly is this word spelled?!). Therefore he came up with this brilliant idea: Middle Child Day. I have told him that this day is already called his birthday. He disagrees. Whatever. Apparently I have no worries as the oldest.

So anywho, I got some stuffed animals.

#1: My mom, Andrew and I were shopping at one of the Disney stores at Epcot when I saw the perfect new animal for my collection. When I was in college I came home during the summers to work and my brothers and I would watch Growing Pains. There's one episode where the youngest sister (several years apart from the three eldest) complains about going to bed earlier than the others. She thinks they're having fun while she has to sleep. In reality they're doing homework. But one night they prank her and pretend they do have fun, with the famous line, "Pony rides for everyone!"

Thus when Andrew graduated from high school and moved to college I joked that while he was gone we were going to turn his bedroom into a stable for the ponies. Thus the pony jokes became a staple in the Schwenker diet. One year for Christmas I got him a horse calendar and Satchel--his own stuffed animal horse. This past spring our other brother, Brad, had a friend who would take Satchel out of the house for an afternoon at a time. It drove Andrew crazy. He wrote up a Wanted Poster for her.

So when I got to Epcot and saw Bullseye, the beloved horse of Woody in Toy Story, I knew that he had to come home with me. He has bendable arms and legs and head. It's called "Articulated Bullseye". And he's staring at me right now. Would it be weird if I started posing him on my bed? Ooh, it would be hilarious to do a photo shoot with him in different poses!

#2: For years I've been afraid of snakes and sharks. Snakes have often made my body react violently without even trying. Sharks are just ferocious. When I was little it would creep me out a bit to be in the swimming pool. I had this irrational fear that there was a trap door in the pool and a shark would be released at any moment.

Somehow I have begun to make peace with sharks and snakes. Last Christmas when we were at Disney World I went to the life-size plastic model of Bruce from Finding Nemo and took a picture with him. We have since become friends.

For Christmas I received a very large box and in this box was a very large, very soft, very gray and with very big teeth shark. Andrew refers to him as Brucey. Sadly, hehehe, I could not fit him into my suitcase and therefore he is guarding the guest bedroom at my parent's house in Ohio. He's in good company with Mr. Snuggles (a large, yellow, stuffed elephant) and Teddy Bear Roosevelt (a small, brown, stuffed bear).

In Pasadena I have Bullseye, Squirt (the offspring of Crush in Finding Nemo) and Chloe (or Chlo-bear; a pink bear my mom sent me for Valentine's day a few years ago.) That being said, I shall cuddle with them right now.