You can take the girl out of the country....

On Monday, as a part of my substitute teacher duties, I was able to experience my first ever elementary school talent show. It was a mind-boggling experience...one that lead to a very many thoughts that have stuck in my head ever since.

I could talk about the sweet little girl who forgot most of the words to Hannah Montana's "I got Nerve" but kept rocking out on stage. But I won't.

I could talk about the sweet little third grader's rocking guitar/singing skills and how I think he's going to be a heartbreaker. But I won't.

Or that after those two performances, things went downhill for me. Instead of enjoying and thinking "how cute" I instead had to bite back the instinct to throw up or cry. But I won't.

I could discuss the short skirts and somewhat innappropriate language and the heart-wrenching feeling I got as I watched most of the girls gyrate around the stage in a manner that they shouldn't even know. Or that the very heart of modesty was under attack throughout most of the performance. But I won't.

Instead, I'm going to talk about a little number called, "International Harvester" and my small identity crisis. Two very sweet fifth grade boys sang Craig Morgan's song "International Harvester" and they were a hit. The whole school started to sing along, and believe me when I tell you that it's really kinda adorable to see little K and 1 students shouting "I'm an International Harvester" As they were singing, though, my thoughts moved far beyond what was happening in front of me.

I started to think some about my own childhood and my own twisted past with country music. I grew up on MAJIC 95.1 "The best of the 70s, 80s, and Now" or something like that. And that's how I can still sing along with the majority of Amy Grant's "Hearts in Motion" album.

But all of my friends were listening to K105 "Today's Best Country"

But my dad really didn't like country.

But we lived in the country. And we had a lot of country in our family.

So I started to listen to country hanging out with Mariah and Shannon. I grew to love songs like Watermelon Crawl and Chattahoochie. My very first cd was Deanna Carter's "Did I Shave my legs for This?" (which I wish I still had....I may buy it again). But then, things started to change. I decided I didn't want to like country as much. It may have been around the time my dad started to like country (he lost his radio station on the way to work, and the next one up was a country station). I don't really think that's it, but if it is, I apologize Dad. So my next cds were Spice Girls and Hanson (I'm not as sad I don't have them...though I do enjoy belting out "If you wanna be my lover" on occasion).

Since then, my tormented relationship with country music has only continued. Most days I could take it or leave (even then, I would usually leave it). Especially in high school, when most people's response to the question "Favorite Music" ellicited the response, "Ugh, like anything but country." But there is still that occaisonal country song that I fall in love with....and I guess that even now, at 23 years of age, I am still a little embarrassed about it.

And that's about it. The song finished so I stopped thinking about it. I guess more than anything this is a glimpse into the way my mind works when it gets going.