Walla Walla or bust!

In preparation of my upcoming trip to Walla Walla in less than 2 weeks, I have decided to try and blog about a different memory about growing up in Walla Walla every day until we leave.  Feel free to leave any memories you have about Walla Walla or collaborations on my stories in my comments.  After all, how reliable is a child's memory?

My paper route:

When I was in 5th grade I think it was, we all got paper routes close to our house.  Sariah had one, and Becca and I shared one about a mile away from where we lived which we walked to.  We had it for a few years.  Every day after school we would come home and do our paper route.  Also on Sundays Becca and I would wake up super early so that we could get it done and over with.  I remember waking up at 5am so that we could be home in time to watch a claymation show called Mr Bogus on tv.  I don't remember anyone ever having to wake us up, we just did it on our own.  Another thing about the paper route was that Becca and I had to collect every month.  I hated this.  Sometimes there were people that we could never get a hold of and we were too scared to collect because they owed several months.  Imagine all those people that got free newspapers because we were too scared, but for the most part we collected.  There was also at one point a boy in my class that I had a crush on that lived on the paper route.  A major bonus.  When we'd come collecting he'd say "Mom, Abish wants money!"  They moved after a while, major bummer!  Anyways, with the money we were making, we were able to buy lots of candy and soda.  We took advantage of a nearby gas station on our route to buy 2 liters of Squirt and candy (Airheads, and Warheads mostly) to hide in our bedrooms and eat.  We didn't like to share.  A regular bottle of soda would not do.  No, we had to get 2 liters!  In a journal entry from that point in time (that Sariah so rudely tore out of my journal, more on that another time) I related that I did the paper route "for the money".  What a funny thing for a kid to say.  Some other funny memories about the paper route where, trying to ride a bike while delivering papers (we were too uncoordinated), and when Becca got rollerblades, she thought she'd try and rollerblade and deliver papers.  That didn't work either.  I think that we were too scrawny to handle it.  Those newspapers were pretty heavy, and the bags pretty much drowned us.  Another thing I remember is getting splashed by a car driving in a huge puddle of water while doing Sariah's paper route.  Did those people have no soul?  I think Becca got most of it, ha ha.  One time while doing a friend's paper route, I threw a newspaper on the roof of an apartment complex.  Okay, before you judge me consider this, they wanted their paper delivered to their balcony 3 stories up.  Plus I'm a girl and was worried I wouldn't throw it very far so I threw it as hard as I could.  Oops!  ha ha.  That's pretty funny now that I think of it!  Ahh, good times.  Overall, the paper route was a pretty fun experience and enabled us to have more freedom because of the money we made.  It also help develop a work ethic at a young age.  Not to mention the boys!  ha ha.  Anyways, in a way, it's kind of sad now that kids don't have the opportunity to have paper routes anymore now that they are delivered in the mornings.  Also I don't think I would trust sending my elementary school aged kids out by themselves now with all those kidnappers and child molesters out there now a days.  What a darn shame!  Oh, and who could forget the lovable game The Paperboy?!  Shown below, the spoils from the gas station.