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Ok, WHEN is the Transformers movie going to arrive in Orkney?? I'm dying here! All of my buddies in America have already watched it and I'm absolutely chomping at the bit waiting for our turn! I'm a total Transformers chick - I grew up playing with the toys and watching the cartoons! (I regret terribly having sold my Optimus Prime for 25 cents at Aunt Deb's tag sale back when I was 15...)

When my little girly friends would be playing with their barbie dolls I'd show up to their wee tea parties with a armed-to-the-teeth Transformer robot sporting a flowered barbie hat. They'd be like, "Um...Michelle..."

When the Transformers movie came out I couldn't help but wonder what my cousin Becky was thinking. For years my bright-minded sister-cousin had to endure watching Transformer cartoons and playing with my treasured robot toys for hours on end. My cousin Becky was always a super-talented dancer and very skilled in anything else that had to do with movement of the body - gymnastics, flag squad, roller skating and so on... She has been dancing since she was in the womb, basically. I myself was better at crashing through the woods and chasing the boys around with a captured garter snake... (hehehe!! I always knew where to find the snakes!!)

Becky never ran from the darn things though, try as I might to terrorize her with them. It was mostly the BOYS that were terrified of snakes!! Becky and I loved the slithery things...

While Becky would be on stage wowing the audience - or scoring the latest 110% on an algebra exam - I'd be struggling to do my long division and tying my sisters to a tree.

When I'd be sent off to Aunt Deb's so Becky and I could play (how I miss those fun days!) my twinkle-toe cousin would set up a dance stage and attempt to teach me her latest routine. I'd try and squeeze myself into one of her flashy costumes - they always ended up two feet too short and bursting at the seams - and start prancing around feeling like an idiot. If I was lucky I could get one of her tiny tutus to fit onto a thigh...

Becky would float like an enchanted fairy and here I'd come bounding along like an ox accompanied by the sound of costume material splitting from internal pressure. Our admiring audience (Aunt Deb) would try hard to clap and cheer as I swept the pictures off of the wall while "dancing" my solo.

After about fifteen minutes of me bumbling my larger frame into poor Becky (most of my family members come up to my shoulders - it's the Crow Indian in me...) and knocking the furniture over I would give up and say, "Ok that was FUN! Now let's pretend we are Transformers!!!!!" And Becky would promptly be hauled off stage while the stressed costume would be tossed by the wayside.

I don't remember Becky ever really resisting - she was always a very nice cousin. Or maybe she had a deep sense of pity for me?? (Or maybe her head hurt after getting thunked a few times by my flailing ("dancing") arms??)

Anyhoo, Becky would cheerfully ask me which Transformer I wanted to be. I always said, "A horse!"

"Michelle..." Becky would reply patiently "There are no horse Transformers. They are cars and planes and other kinds of mechanical things. So...I want to be so-and-so. Who are you going to be?"

"A horse!" I'd announce and then I'd promptly "transform" into a "horse" and "gallop" around the yard, laser guns blazing. "LET'S BEAT THE DECIPTICONS AND SAVE THE UNIVERSE!" I'd screech happily as Becky gave up and joined in. I'd show off by scurrying up whatever tree had been dubbed "The Ark" and she'd outdo me by shimmying her smaller frame to the very top branch. There she'd take charge while I sat on my lower branch having to take commands from my far superior cousin. "Arm the laser cannons Autobot Horse! Bring all weapons on line!" she'd yell from her lofty perch. I'd quickly gather pine cones and take aim at her unsuspecting little brother...

(By the way, "The Ark" was the name of the Autobots' space ship. Just in case you were curious...)

Ahhhhhh Becky, remember those fine summer days?? Or did you need years of therapy to recover from playing Transformers with me for years on end??

It is with major excitement that I await the arrival of the Transformers movie here in Orkney. The only thing that could make it better would be watching it with Becky!! (While sitting in a tree!!)

By the way - it was the Transformer character known as "Rachet" that inspired me to become a medic! He was the ambulance Autobot that fixed everybody up. I had no desire to be a doctor but I still wanted to help people. I wondered how I would achieve this goal?? When I started watching the Transformer cartoons I was totally enraptured by Ratchet. "THAT'S what I'll be!" I cried. "A medic!!"

I remember when I responded to my first 911 call up in Alaska the first thing I thought of was that Rachet character. As we bumped along the icey road with the lights flashing and the sirens wailing I raised a silent toast to good ol' Rachet and thanked him for his excellent example!!