Leading and Loving It

In one week, Footloose hits theaters … again.

For those of us at a certain age who were not banned from watching a movie involving teenage drinking and dancing … oh my … it was fabulous. Fabulous, I tell you.

Others of you, like the very sad Brandi, were denied the wonder of this movie until a friend crashes your house, eats all of your food, and forces you to watch Kevin Bacon dancing in an abandoned warehouse. Because that is what real friends do, people. You’re welcome, Brandi.

I do not have very high hopes for the new Footloose, but you better believe that I’ll be there to watch in the theater anyway. I have a hard time believing anyone will be as great in that burgundy tux jacket and red socks.

Here are a few things about the original Footloose that have stuck with me over the last 27 years … yes, 27 years. Who else feels old? And for those of you under 30, please tell me you watched this movie at some point!

1. If you are ever chicken racing tractors, make sure to wear slip-on shoes, or sandals, or something. You never know when a pesky shoelace might almost get you killed.

2. Even no-rhythm cowboys can learn to boot scoot and win Sarah Jessica Parker at the same time. Impressive.

3. That pastor’s wife haunted me on what a typical pastor’s wife was supposed to be. Good thing there is a new typical.

4. An abandoned warehouse and a few gymnastic dance moves can make you instantly cool.

5. When going before the town council to try to get the dance ban lifted, whip out the verses about David dancing before the Lord. That’s a for sure winner.

So, the Retro Road Trip tasks this week are:
- Have you seen Footloose? If not, when do you plan to remedy this?
- Are you planning on seeing the new movie?
- And name a few other ’80s movies that you wouldn’t mind seeing a remade.

Posted by Lori Wilhite

In the day and age of Wii, XBox, Kinect, incredible graphics, and a million little buttons, our kids would have been mortified by a joystick and one red button.

The day my super-techie dad brought home the Atari 2600, my brother and I were over the moon! We stared for hours at those terrible graphics, playing Pac-Man, Centipede, Pitfall, and Space Invaders.

I’m not sure that we had ever seen anything more amazing … ever.

Until … the Nintendo Entertainment System was released. Are you kidding me?! Now, those were some fancy graphics. I mean, the people, actually kind of looked like … actual people. And the controller!! Two, count them, two red buttons! My brother and I were now spending hours trying to conquer castles with the Super Mario Brothers, save some princess lady with the Legend of Zelda, and delivering newspapers on our little digital bike with Paper Boy.

But by far, my ultra-favorite Nintendo game was Contra. Oh baby. You could get your 99 lives (with the code: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, start), find a spray gun and go to town. We played and conquered that game a zillion times.

We are still video games lovers at our house. Whether it is dancing away to Jump, Jump by Kris Kross or falling all over the place in WipeOut, our family loves playing together.

So, did you play video games when you were growing up or with your kids when they were growing up? What were your favorite games then and now?

Posted by: Lori Wilhite

Remember the good old days of clouds of aerosol hairspray and gigantic hair? Yes … unfortunately so do we. How much time did we spend in front of the mirror teasing, spraying, and drying the hairspray until our hair had grown to twice its normal size?! Now, if you are too young to have gotten to enjoy the giant hair fashion … don’t worry … your kids will still make fun of your old pictures anyway. It’s just the way of things, I suppose.

For this weekend’s, Retro Road Trip, we are going to have a little contest between the Leading and Loving It team members. Now, who made the best use of their big-hair creating skills?

Introducing our five contestants in the Battle of the Bangs:

Contestant #1: Brandi

Year: 1992
Hairspray of choice: Aqua Net
Bangs claim to fame: “I could fix them once a day and never need touch-ups.”

Contestant #2: Jessica

Year: 1988
Hairspray of choice: White Rain
Bangs claim to fame: “I could go to sleep with my bangs like that and wake up with them looking the same the next morning.”

Contestant #3: Lisa

Year: 1991
Hairspray of choice: Aqua Net or Aussie
Bangs claim to fame: “My hair was so stiff that I could play an entire basketball game without my hair even moving.”

Contestant #4: Lori

Year: 1990
Hairspray of choice: Aussie
Bangs Claim to Fame: “Even with the help of a perm and tons of hairspray, my bangs would still be flat the time school pictures rolled around. Always disappointing.”

Contestant #5: Tiffany

Year: 1989
Hairspray of choice: Rave
Bangs claim to fame: “I got the scar right in the middle of my bangs from busting my head doing a flip off the side of the pool. Even though no hair grew there … it didn’t deter the big bangs.”

This weekend’s Retro Road Trip task:

1. Cast your vote in the Battle of the Bangs.

2. Share your own hairspray of choice, and your bangs claim to fame.

3. And if you were a little girl during the big hair era, what did your mom do with your hair and what does your hair look like in your scariest photos?

Posted by: Lori Wilhite

Prom.

Now I know everyone loved Prom … but for me, nothing could possibly out-do the fabulousness of a good Homecoming Mum. If you grew up outside of the great state of Texas, or its neighboring states, click here to read about the wonder that is the Homecoming Mum (one of my favorite posts and comment sections ever).

But still … prom was always special too. When I was a Sophomore, I went to prom with a Junior. When I was Junior, I went with another Junior. And when I was a Senior, I went to prom with … you guessed it … a Junior. But I promise it wasn’t the same guy who just couldn’t make it out of 11th grade. Here is my evidence:

Now prom themes are supposed to always be romantic, exciting, and most of all … memorable.

I, however, can’t remember a single prom theme. But here is what I do remember.

In 1992, the theme was something Paris-like. Which is why, obviously, there are roman columns and balloons in the picture … duh. My date was Tad, the drummer, who I had unfortunately broken up with about 6 weeks before prom. I told him to totally find another date, he said we’d go together anyway. Awkward. But he was really nice, and is apparently a pilot in Colorado now … thank you Facebook.

In 1993, the theme was actually something Roman hence the columns and fake trees … nicely played, prom planning committee. I went with Clint, the smart guy. The kind of guy who probably ended up at some Ivy League school or something. We were just friends, and by the time prom actually rolled around, I was dating a guy that went to another school. Awkward.

In 1994, the theme was so memorable, that all I have to go on is the lame golden balloon star in the picture. I have no earthly idea what the theme was. My date was BJ, the baritone player (I kid you not). BJ and I were actually dating when we went to prom. I broke up with poor BJ two weeks after I started college, because I discovered … well … cute college boys go to college. Sorry BJ.

I will say that nothing too exciting happened at prom for me. But at my cousin’s, the giant mirrored ball fell on her head while she and her boyfriend were dancing under it. Totally knocked her out. Now that is some crazy stuff going down at prom!

Retro Road Trip Tasks for this week:

1. Share your prom themes … assuming they were more memorable than mine.

2. Share any good prom stories that you had along the way.

3. And since you can’t post pics, tell me how awesome you looked rocking your fancy prom dresses!

(And thanks Crystal for your brilliant post idea.)

My brother, Shawn, and his sweet family are in town this week. He is a pastor in the Chicago area, so we love it when we get to spend some time together. Chicago is way too far from Vegas.

This is my brother and me about 31 years ago. And us Thursday night at the Cosmopolitan on the Strip.

My mom dressed us up in matching clothes often. Especially on Sundays. Little yellow sundress for me. Little yellow jumper for Shawn. Little navy and red dress for me. Little navy and red sailor suit for him.

When Shawn was in Elementary school, I dressed him up like Don Johnson from Miami Vice with white pants, blue jacket with the sleeves rolled up, yellow striped shirt, and white suspenders. Ooh, baby. He is still thankful for that little bit of fashion advice from the big sister.

I always made a big deal about being the big sister and being able to pick him up. So one day … in amazing baby brother fashion … he decided he’d show me that he could pick me up too. He grabbed me about mid-calf. Two inches off the ground I was obviously top-heavy, and went backwards hitting our tile floor. Yes, he could pick me up, but not without me sustaining a head injury.

So, the Retro Road Trip tasks this week:

1. Were you the 1st born, middle child, or baby of the family?

2. Share any good … or injury sustaining … stories about your siblings.