Boy, that title reads like a list of the vacations that everyone around me, but not me, are taking. However, it's not.
Last Saturday night, my past came rushing back to me like a derailed freight train...well, no not really, but that line has some good imagery. Ha! I did get to do something very unexpected that reminded me of past experiences: I was asked to be a last minute substitute for the ________ Little Miss pageant. _________ is a small town, south of Spanish Fork, and since my mother's friend was connected to it and she said they were desperate, I agreed to it.
Fun thing about small towns south of SF and pageants...it is perfectly acceptable to wear your hair big, your make-up like paint, lots of jewelry and clothes that aren't yours (well, I don't know about that last part, but I didn't bring a dress/skirt to my mom's so I wore a
cute outfit of hers, but often you might wear a rented dress to participate in a pageant)
I admit I had fun getting ready. I even used my mom's teasing comb. (trust me, my hair looked a lot bigger in real life) I wore the equivalent of three days' make-up and even put color on my lips. My mom dolled me up with her jewelry, too. I should've taken a better picture.
Anyway, mom watched my kids while I drove her Cadillac down to ______.
Thankfully, the directions to the elementary school were easy and I got there with no problem. I panicked for a minute when the parking lot was EM-PTY, but then saw someone drive 'round back to where everyone was parked.
When I got there I found out that all three of us (the judges) were last minute substitutes. Yikes! People, this may be a small town, but have some tact and stick to your commitments!
The pageant consisted of girls ages 5-15. There were eight age divisions with 3-4 girls in each.
Watching these little princesses was SO MUCH FUN! The judging portion consisted of the girls being escorted on to the stage by a teen boy in a tux. They would nod him a thank you and walk from one side of the stage to the other in a pretty dress with deportment and class. *wink*
Seriously, they were adorable. During this walk the emcee would tell things about the girl. Each description finished with: If she could go anywhere in the world it would be ________.
Now here comes my title inspiration: The first four age groups (the youngest) all said 'Disneyland.' There may have been the one exception of Disney World. The next three age groups nearly all said they would like to go to Hawaii, one girl said the Bahamas and one or two reverted to Disney Land/World. The last group, if I remember, was ages 13-15. There answers: Paris, Europe, China, Japan, etc. I couldn't help but think this was an interesting peek into the minds of young and younger girls. It's also funny to me that if I could go anywhere, frankly, I'd be heading to Disney World. Again.
After their walk, they would join one of the newly crowned Miss ______ royalty (high school aged girls), pick a question, answer it and leave the stage. Then each age group would parade across the stage, we would nod that we were done judging and then the next group would have their turn.
The funniest part of the evening for me, is my fellow judges and I tabulating the scores for 26 young ladies, while a 10-year-old former winner is saying every few minutes "Are you done yet?" and "You guys have, like, one more minute!" I was thinking "we have as long as it takes us to add this all up!" Oh, wait. I said that out loud (though too quietly for the 10-yr-old). Did I mention that multiplication makes me very testy?
In the end, I was very glad that I was asked. I would totally do it again. I think we picked the best girls in each group and for the right reasons. I had a lot of fun. I got a sweet gift bag of beauty goodies. It was all thoroughly entertaining!
Last Saturday night, my past came rushing back to me like a derailed freight train...well, no not really, but that line has some good imagery. Ha! I did get to do something very unexpected that reminded me of past experiences: I was asked to be a last minute substitute for the ________ Little Miss pageant. _________ is a small town, south of Spanish Fork, and since my mother's friend was connected to it and she said they were desperate, I agreed to it.
Fun thing about small towns south of SF and pageants...it is perfectly acceptable to wear your hair big, your make-up like paint, lots of jewelry and clothes that aren't yours (well, I don't know about that last part, but I didn't bring a dress/skirt to my mom's so I wore a
cute outfit of hers, but often you might wear a rented dress to participate in a pageant)I admit I had fun getting ready. I even used my mom's teasing comb. (trust me, my hair looked a lot bigger in real life) I wore the equivalent of three days' make-up and even put color on my lips. My mom dolled me up with her jewelry, too. I should've taken a better picture.
Anyway, mom watched my kids while I drove her Cadillac down to ______.
Thankfully, the directions to the elementary school were easy and I got there with no problem. I panicked for a minute when the parking lot was EM-PTY, but then saw someone drive 'round back to where everyone was parked.
When I got there I found out that all three of us (the judges) were last minute substitutes. Yikes! People, this may be a small town, but have some tact and stick to your commitments!
The pageant consisted of girls ages 5-15. There were eight age divisions with 3-4 girls in each.
Watching these little princesses was SO MUCH FUN! The judging portion consisted of the girls being escorted on to the stage by a teen boy in a tux. They would nod him a thank you and walk from one side of the stage to the other in a pretty dress with deportment and class. *wink*
Seriously, they were adorable. During this walk the emcee would tell things about the girl. Each description finished with: If she could go anywhere in the world it would be ________.
Now here comes my title inspiration: The first four age groups (the youngest) all said 'Disneyland.' There may have been the one exception of Disney World. The next three age groups nearly all said they would like to go to Hawaii, one girl said the Bahamas and one or two reverted to Disney Land/World. The last group, if I remember, was ages 13-15. There answers: Paris, Europe, China, Japan, etc. I couldn't help but think this was an interesting peek into the minds of young and younger girls. It's also funny to me that if I could go anywhere, frankly, I'd be heading to Disney World. Again.
After their walk, they would join one of the newly crowned Miss ______ royalty (high school aged girls), pick a question, answer it and leave the stage. Then each age group would parade across the stage, we would nod that we were done judging and then the next group would have their turn.
The funniest part of the evening for me, is my fellow judges and I tabulating the scores for 26 young ladies, while a 10-year-old former winner is saying every few minutes "Are you done yet?" and "You guys have, like, one more minute!" I was thinking "we have as long as it takes us to add this all up!" Oh, wait. I said that out loud (though too quietly for the 10-yr-old). Did I mention that multiplication makes me very testy?
In the end, I was very glad that I was asked. I would totally do it again. I think we picked the best girls in each group and for the right reasons. I had a lot of fun. I got a sweet gift bag of beauty goodies. It was all thoroughly entertaining!
Me, circa 1981, Princess of Spanish Fork
I told them my favorite color was magenta (which was really my cousin Kelly's favorite color) and when they asked me about singing I burst out with an unexpected "You Light Up My Life." Cam's sister Alesha was my second runner up.
3 comments:
Sounds like a lot of fun - especially being on the other end of the pagent.! Although I'm sure you are still a beauty and could win one today!
How fun and what great blog material!
I didn't know you grew up in Spanish Fork. My SIL's family is from there: the Scotts? Big family, lots of blonde girls?
Hello my friend... yes I have given into temptation and joined the blogging world. Tell me if I even know what I am doing- I am such a novice!
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