It's called "Sleigh Riding" and 9 other things Westchester did to me.

I grew up in Jefferson Valley, NY where I lived for 18 years, moved to PA for college, and have spent the last 7 years in WA.  And I am now willing to admit to some “special” idiosyncrasies b/c the JV girl in me will never die. 

1. When it starts snowing, and I want to take a sled and sail down a hill I call it “Sleigh Riding.”  I know there are no horses involved and I know I’m not from 1852, but up on the hill, we are proud to Sleigh Ride… and if we time it right, we really love Sleigh Riding right down the middle of Perry Street, curving at the last minute so we don’t hit traffic until we get yelled at by Mrs. Lewis. 
2. I went to school in the Lakeland school district which means basically that I learned all I need to know about Grammar from Mad Libs and I envy people who know the state capitals and learned Greek mythology.  (Not enough to teach these things to myself, but enough to use my kindle’s dictionary when reading the Percy Jackson Series.)
3. Lakeland HS also inexplicably got out at 1:45pm and had 41 minute classes, with 3 minutes to get to the next class.  If anyone was wondering, this is why we all walk fast and we can’t sit through hour long meetings. 
4. My father always told me that I didn’t have an accent because I’m from (In his haughtiest voice) “Westchester.”  I cling to this fact and like to ignore entirely that it was said to me by a guy who grew up in the Bronx.
5. I heart the sound that the “W” makes.  I have to consciously avoid saying “Draw” for Drawer, Ow-el for Owl, Awwf for “Off”, and basically add W’s to your basic words like Ball, Wall, Coffee, Talk, and Walk.   I once had to translate (by adding a w) for my sister, after she said “What?” 4 times in a row when I said “The Coffee place was closed at 5 am.” 
6. I do not heart the letter “T” when it is placed in the middle of words.  When I hear other people pronounce the T’s, I giggle inside b/c it sounds so funny to me.  That’s right.  It is impor’ant to me that li’le words like bu’on, wri’en, and new’on not be annunciated and I really don’t know why this is.  (And yet, when my bff in college said “Dudn’t it? For the first time—it took him ten full minutes for me to stop laughing and convince me that he actually says “Dudn’t it, wudn’t it and idn’t it.”)
7. I am ashamed to say that my roommate Julie, despite my constant mocking, forced the mispronunciation of “Older and Folder” on me and every time I hear myself say “Faux-der” I want to send a sad face text to her. 
8. I believe in wearing your pajamas inside out to get a snow day, that driving in the snow is not impossible but should be done only when necessary, and will never buy a car with rear wheel drive. 
9. I never say fuhgeddaboudit – That’s ridiculous.  But I do like to speak quickly, I blend words together and I do say Chicken Parm—and don’t understand why you would bother wasting time to saying the whole word. 
10. I know for a fact that Wild Turkeys are terrifying.