A Walk Down Memory Lane

As I spend the next few days starting and finishing my Christmas shopping, I find myself thinking back to  gifts I've received through the years.

When I was a kid, I loved to hear myself talk.  So imagine my thrill when I woke up one Christmas morning to find this under the tree:



A genuine cassette recorder.

My mom still has some cassette tapes of me reading books out loud, trying to "teach" my brother, reciting the states and capitals (and missing a few along the way), and just generally blathering on simply to hear the sound of my voice.  I loved that record and playback feature!  And my little brother loves busting out the tapes every now and then to hear me butcher the word Wisconsin.

At one time in my young life, I think I was Barbie's biggest fan.  Though it pains me to admit this, I have a very vivid memory of telling a neighbor friend that if she didn't want to play Barbies, then she could just go home.  Not the best way to win friends and influence people.

One Christmas, I received the mother lode....

The Barbie Townhouse.  Notice the elevator.  It actually moved up and down between the three floors thanks to the cool little pull string.  Very high-tech for the times.

I also had this Barbie swimming pool...




but I can't remember if I got that for Christmas or not.

If I ever needed proof that my parents loved me, it would be when I found this under the tree one year.












Bless my heart, I couldn't carry a tune to save my life.  Yet my parents bought me this Shaun Cassidy disco amplifier, knowing full well that I would grab that microphone and sing "Da Doo Ron Ron Ron Da Doo Ron Ron" at the very top of my lungs.  Thankfully, this was never captured on the cassette player mentioned above.  Look at that adorable Shaun with his flowing locks of hair.... be still, my heart.

You know those Barbie styling heads that you can buy today?  The ones that are just a frighteningly disembodied head where you can style the hair and put on makeup?  Well, I had a Cher one and I guess it's so old and rare now that I can't even find a picture of it online.  I apologize for not being able to share that with you.

One final gift still brings back just a tad bit of anger so I'm telling you about this one at the risk of raising my blood pressure.

I was given this incredibly amazing two album set filled with the best disco music the Bee Gees had to offer.



This was their Greatest Hits album.  Not one, but two huge vinyl records with a tri-fold cover that opened to reveal individual shots of each Gibb brother.  (Except for Andy, who was never a Bee Gee and I still wonder why he was excluded from the family band.)  This was the Holy Grail of disco:  Jive Talking, Night Fever, and my personal favorite, Tragedy.

Anyway, I would listen to these for hours on end on my trusty record player.

Here's where the anger part comes in.

So I leave one lousy record laying on the floor of my bedroom and who do you think comes crawling into my room without permission???

Right.  My little brother.  Still in diapers, still crawling around.  Yet somehow he has a metal toy pistol clutched in his hot little hand.

I think you can see where this is headed.

He crawls on top of the record, dragging the metal gun across the record and destroying the vinyl surface forever.

And what song do you think bore the brunt of the metal?

Tragedy.  And it was one.

If any of you would like to contact my little brother and give him a tongue lashing, let me know and I'll send you his contact info.

Now, I'm off to do some shopping of my own.  I wonder what my girls will think of their gifts thirty years from now....

What Do You Eat in a GFCF House???

Breakfast:

Griddled Corn Cakes with Strawberry Syrup*

Lunch:

Ham

Corn Cake

Boiled Egg

Strawberries

Supper:

 Chicken with Pineapple-Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce*

Wild Rice

Broccoli

Snack:

Popcorn Party Mix*

*especially delicious items