soft and cozy memories...

 I grew up in the 70's.  We had scratchy brown plaid furniture, after our old Naugahyde couch died of too many holes.  We had those octagonal end tables with eagles on them, and a fancy colored t.v. in a big wood cabinet, which got four stations:  3, 5, 9, and channel 24, which was PBS.  We had a nice big living room, because when I was in fifth grade, my brother Joey knocked down the wall between our tiny living room and Bobby and Tommy's bedroom.  He put a faux wood beam across the ceiling to hide where the wall had been, built in a gas fireplace at the end, my parents had wall-to-wall carpeting installed, and wow, we had a nice big living room.  My mother had been talking about doing this for years, so one day Joey just started knocking the wall down.  

I have fond memories of being in that living room.  My mother would make popcorn in her iron frying pan, and pour it into the big baking pan, with plenty of melted margarine and salt.  Butter simply wasn't in our vocabulary.  Oleo, that came in pretty plastic cups with handles or in bowls, olive green, orange, harvest gold...

We didn't have computers yet back then, Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet.  But we had newspapers!  We got the afternoon Herald Journal, and I read it from cover to cover.  I liked the editorials, the comics, Anne Landers, but mostly, the front page news.  There was sometimes a Kmart ad in there, too.  Sunday papers were totally bonus, with all the shopping fliers and coupons.

Christmas season though, that meant thumbing through the Sears catalog, the Wishbook.  I specifically remember yearning for the Fisher-Price schoolhouse, it was $8.99, and the Barbie's baby with the little highchair and bibs and clothes, $3.99.  (Yes, I got them).  I also wanted the O.J.Simpson doll with the weight bench, because I had brothers and we did play together, but I never got that toy.  

One year I got the Barbie camper, I still remember how that smelled, that new toy plastic.

I got Patty Playful, Suzy Sketchy, and Chatty Cathy all the same year, plus a pink stuffed poodle, my little brother Casey got a stuffed Panda...Pandy and Poodly, they were.  

We opened our presents on Christmas Eve, because my father always worked on Christmas Day.  We had to go to bed for a few hours, to give Santa a chance to come.  I always wondered why the NORAD Santa tracker would be on the news, after we already opened our stuff.  Christmas Day was a quiet day, our house was calmer when my dad wasn't there, my mother let her hair down, emotionally.  I didn't understand it when I was little but now I can see it.  There was more tension when he was home, more Trying To Please Daddy.  

Our house is quiet tonight.  Jonathan bought himself a new four-wheeler, and went to Ben's to ride it.  The girls went to a Clue style murder mystery Christmas party.  Paul went to bed because he is going hunting in the morning.  That leaves me, all by my lonesome.  

Before "Grandpa" went to bed...

This fine morning, I went to the pool...ahh, so nice.  My hip is doing that intermittent surprise stabbing pain thing, I did look up some things to do, and have some exercises I'm trying.  

After the pool, I came home and put some frozen individual quiche in the oven, browned up some maple breakfast sausage, cut up a cantaloupe, washed blueberries, raspberries, and grapes, bagged them up, grabbed some gingerbread cookies, Hershey kisses, my small coffee maker and some freshly ground coffee, some cream, half and half, pumpkin whipped cream, a few serving platters, the coffee filters...  The quiche were done, put in a foil pan with the sausage, topped with foil, and off to brunch at Karen's.  

We ate, we drank coffee, we laughed, and we encouraged each other to listen in our days, for what 

God has to say, to be faithful in the little things, to that still small voice.   

I cannot seem to find my notebook.  The kids were writing in it the other day, it has lists and notes in it.  I have my Christmas list on my computer too, but I had so many things in that notebook...ugh.  One of the girls probably put it somewhere safe ha.  

Ah well.  Tomorrow is a birthday party for Grant and Achilles, then a gathering in the evening with our friends, then a Christmas feast at church on Sunday.  I have to come up with something tasty to bring tomorrow evening, and Sunday, and get my gifts ready for our friends for Sunday...I'll do it in the morning, ha.  I mean, why do today what you can do tomorrow?  

Have a really good evening!