Silver Bells

A few minutes ago, I pulled up Facebook and saw that my one of my ex sister in laws posted something about a new Scentsy candle called Silver Bells. And just like that, I had a flashback.

What's the point of having a flashback if you can't share it, right?

My freshman year in high school, the drama teacher decided to have a talent show right around the holidays. It was a long time ago so some of the details (read: most)have been shoved out of my mind to make room for such things as the kids' birthdays and likes and dislikes, the current fundraiser-of-the-month for my daughter's preschool, and how much money is left in our checking account until payday. Bothersome!

Anyway, for some reason I thought it would be a great idea if I signed up to present a talent in the talent show. One problem with that. I don't really have an obvious talent. When I tried out for school plays, I almost always made the generic cast, so acting wasn't a good idea. I had taken dance for years, but hello! It was high school and there was NO way I was going to put myself directly in the path of that level of ridicule. Also, it was the 80's and it would have messed up my wall of hair. I can't read music or play an instrument, can't twirl a baton or swallow fire... hmmm...

I wish I could remember why I ever even signed up for the stupid talent show. It had to have been a drama class requirement or for extra credit. Or - and this is the most likely scenario - a boy I liked was probably involved. ::Shaking my head at the teen aged me::

I did write poetry, but it was all sad, morose, dark stuff, so that didn't seem like a good idea at Christmas time. Plus? Way too personal. Way.

I ended up signing up to sing. The song? Uh-huh, you guessed it - Silver Bells. Mr. Anderson, who was the pianist for all the plays our school produced, was supposed to be playing the piano for any of us that wanted to sing, but something happened and he couldn't do it. I got someone else to do it for me and I think we might have had one rehearsal before the talent show. Emphasis on might.

Fast forward to the talent show. Someone played the piano, I sang Silver Bells, people clapped politely when I was done. Yay me! I sang in public.

And then I saw the tape.

Oh. My. Geezers.

If American Idol had been around then and that had been my audition? I SO would have made the hall of shame. It was horrid. Awful. Out of tune. Out of sync. Just....ugh. The stuff that teen aged nightmares were made of. It was so bad, in fact, that no one every said a word of it to me. People, that's not good. And the worst of it? I genuinely had no clue at the time. My only hope? Is that it was on beta video and not VHS so that it's now gone forever.

So, while I'm sure that Scentsy's Silver Bells is delightful, I don't think I'll be asking for it for Christmas.