My Orange Sherbet Summer! ...VROOOOOOOOM!!! ;)

So, when I was 16..

...my first job was as an ICE-CREAM GIRL! ;)

I worked at the local grocery store..."Dierbergs"...which is a high-end, super-grocery store...one step down from a "Whole Foods" kinda place.

Anyway, that summer--as a courtesy to the customers--the store set up an ice cream booth!

The booth was right inside the store...across from the courtesy counter, and right past the shopping carts...so, the natural progression was: 1) get cart...2) get ice cream!

Which then led the people directly to me! ;)

The booth was rather small...room for just one or two girls to work behind. We had 12 yummy flavors of hard-scoop ice cream, and a soda fountain.

The ice cream was only 35-cents per scoop...that was 37-cents with tax!

OMG...it was the best job! I totally loved it...and hey, for a 16 year old...it was an awesome gig! However, that first week--ESPECIALLY that first DAY!--was TORTURE! My wrist was sooo sore and swollen from scooping millions of scoops of ice cream!

We had to actually leave the lift-up, plexi-glass doors which covered the 2 coolers OPEN, to help soften the ice cream...I thought my wrist was going to fall off!

(Hrmppphhh...and these whiners these days complain about "carpal tunnel syndrome"...WHATEVER! I scooped ice cream all summer, and went on to become a "checker" for a few years afterward...no wrist problems here!)

Anyway...one major bonus from all that scooping was how strong it made my right wrist and forearm.

I play volleyball...and when practice started that fall...about a month before school actually began...my serve and spike had improved DRAMATICALLY! OMG!

My coach wanted to know what I had been doing all summer to become that much stronger...and I told him: "I owe it all to the ice cream!" LOL! ;)

Yes, I scooped MILLIONS of scoops that summer! Especially on Saturdays...YIKES! :O At 35-cents a scoop...and I scooped HUGE servings!...the Dierbergs ice cream booth was the hottest ticket in town...well, as far as ice cream was concerned, anyway!

We only sold it at cost, to lure the shoppers away from the other grocery stores...and it totally worked! (That Dierbergs location was relatively a new store...at that time it was open for its 2nd year.)

I met so many people that summer...customers, and co-workers alike. At the time I was a relatively shy girl, and dealing with the public on such a grand scale, and working with a staff of literally hundreds of employees, it really brought me out of my shell.

Suddenly I was part of the community on a larger scale, and met and began dating several boys at the store...(not at the same time! SHEESH! I wasn't a 'ho! ;)

And, OMG...was the Orange Sherbet ever FABULOUS! ;) Lime and Orange Sherbet are my all-time fave flavors...and I savored a cone every day on my precious little 15-minute break! ;)

Okay, so the point to THIS particular ramble, is: there were several songs which, whenever I hear them, immediately take me right back to that summer...and what an AMAZING summer it was!...

I had just started driving...I had the absolute BEST car at school...a black-on-black Toyota Supra, 5-speed stick, V-rated tires (they did not have the Z-rated ones yet!), alloy racing wheels, ground effects, automatic moon-roof, flip-up head-lights, and spoiler!

The Supra was my brother's...he bought it new, and had it for about a year...and then he decided to buy a new Firebird instead...

OMG...I LOOOOVED that car! I was so into the Supra-thing even before my brother bought his! (Yup...I have always been a huge car-freak...for a girl...that was pretty uncommon at that time.)

Well, instead of trading it in on his Firebird, my dad bought it from him and gave it to me! Wooo-Hooo!

So, yeah...not trying to be a snob here...but I absolutely loved that car! It was such an amazing feeling to know that I had the best freaking car in high school!

And, hey, I kept it for almost 10 years...until it rusted apart!

Okay, so...I have established the fact that:

1) It was a fabulous summer,

2) I totally rocked my Supra,

3) I have a definite "soundtrack" to that summer...

The more prevalent songs would be:

1) "I can't wait"...Nu Shooz,

2) "Blondes in Black Cars"...Autograph... (Even though, I was a BRUNETTE in a black car!),

3) "Turn Up the Radio"...Autograph,

4) "Melt With You"...Modern English...(Can anyone ever forget that cine-magical masterpiece: "VALLEY GIRL"??? ...Like, I'M SO SUUURRRREEEEE!!! ;),

5) "Dancing in Berlin"...Berlin... (OMG! I LOOOOVEEEE Berlin!),

Annndddd there is one more obscure little song which TOTALLY LOVE! ;) I heard it on the radio today...while I was driving past the new Dierbergs by my new house! :O ...and it immediately took me back, and made me feel 16 all over again! ...

6) "Heart and Soul", by T'PAU...and it is fabulous! Go and Google it or look it up on MySpace...such a killer tune! ;)

And now, I have a RASPBERRY, METALLIC-PINK! 5-speed Mustang convertible...5.0, V-8 engine, baby! The last of the 5.0's which were produced! Wooo-Hooo!!! :)...

...White top, white leather interior, custom chrome wheels, and dual exhaust! ;) ... (Yes, it's a STOCK COLOR...Only a very few were made...and it's AWESOME!!! I LOVE MY CAR!!!)

Oh yeah...and now I have the Z-rated treads...ZOOOMMMMM! LOL! ;)

(Damn! I now have this overwhelming desire for ICE CREAM! ;)