"Learn To Embrace Aging".......Oh, come on! Seriously????????

While standing in line at the grocery store check-out awhile back, I glanced at a magazine that boasted an article called "Learn To Embrace Aging."  Really, it actually said that!!  And I thought to myself, what in the world is there to embrace about aging?  And not only that, but why the hell would I want to?  Ok, let's explore this: For me, aging has meant:
1.  Legs that hurt more than they ever have when I sit too long.
2.  Convincing myself that the whole world is mumbling, and not that, just possibly mind you, my hearing could be a little off.
3.  Wanting desperately to get into my jammies around 7:30 pm.
4.  Being cranky about.......well, everything.
5.  Getting disgusted by the way commercials are so sexualized and stupidly annoying.
6.  Hearing myself saying "Why is it always so hot in this house!" or  "It's too cold in here!" on a daily basis.
7.  Wondering if anyone will notice if I cross my legs when I sneeze. (sorry if that's too personal.)
8.  Having to put on a Rod Stewart cd to get psyched up to dust the living room.
I could go on, but clearly you can see where I'm going with this.  I just don't see why anyone would want to embrace aging.  Not to mention the people who are "aging" with things like Dementia, or bone crushing arthritis, or Alzheimers.  Sure, lets embrace that.
The simple fact is: Aging Sucks.  Nothing more, nothing less.  And no offense to anyone who actually IS embracing it.  You deserve a reward for having the maturity that I obviously do not.  There are many people who do a fine job of accepting what is, and accepting 
it in a productive, positive way.  And thats not me. Never has been.  I have a lot to learn about acceptance.
For instance, I have a terrible time accepting the fact that I haven't blogged for months.  How can I possibly list all of my excuses?  So I guess my way of accepting, is to, well...uh.. just move on and pretend I'm right on track.  Deceitful as that may be, it works for me.   Accepting is supposed to be freeing, but personally, I think its over-rated. 
In the mean time, it is my intention to get back to the business of blogging, up-dating my web-site, and filling you in on some big changes coming my way!  So stay tuned!  Now, if you'll please excuse me, I need to put on a Rod Stewart cd and do the dishes. 

WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED?

From the title of todays post, I'll bet you thought I was going to write about what in the world happened to my regular blogging activity. Right? Wrong.  Well, sort of wrong.  I'll get to that explanation later in this post.  
For now, what I meant by that title was "What in the world happened to..........the library?
Last week, on a lovely 90 degree day, I decided to escape to the library,(air-conditioned) for a little peace and quiet, and to check out a few books.  While driving, I reminisced back in time to when my daughter was little.  On a hot day, we would also escape to the library. I can remember letting out a sigh of relief the minute we would enter the cool, quiet building that smelled, well, like books!
She knew to use her "library" voice while there, and we enjoyed exploring books for her to check out.  Nice picture huh?  Now, fast forward to "the present."
I walked in, and from the level of noise, I assumed that perhaps the president had been shot or something!  Children of all ages were running, (yes, running!) all around, and talking loudly, shouting actually. I nearly tripped and broke my neck when a child of about 3 dumped a pile of books at my feet.  His mother, who was sitting at least 40 feet from him, yelled out "Max, don't do that" while never taking her eyes off of her phone. And no, she didn't go and pick up the pile of books.  She was in the middle of a text after all.
I made my way to the rows of books and tried to shut out the noise while some 8 or 9 year olds played tag up and down the isles. After observing for a while, I discovered that their mom had dropped them off and would be out front in two hours to pick them up. Wow! Great, use the library for free babysitting.
I moved to a hopefully more tame section, and promptly dropped my purse.  I leaned over to pick up the stuff that fell out, and then straitened up only to come face to face with a scuzzy looking guy leering at me while he waited in line for a turn to use the internet. He winked at me and gave me a big smile from a mouth missing several teeth.  Time to go home!!!   On my way out, I stopped and asked the library lady why all of this kind of behavior was being allowed.  She looked around tiredly, shrugged, and said "Well, you know, this is a public library.  We can't tell people how to act. Besides, they just get mad if you shush their kids, and they make a huge scene about it."  Again, WOW.    I didn't bother to mention the pervert in the internet line.  Then I went home, had a nervous breakdown, and vowed to order all my books from Amazon!
It's such a shame that people refuse to behave in public anymore.  So many people think they have every right to do exactly as they please, without a single thought of anyone else.  Restaurants are just as bad as the library, but I'll spare you of that experience.

So to partly explain my temporary disappearance from my blog, I guess I can sum it up with the word "Disenchanted."  I am disenchanted with my society, my community, my world.  Whatever you want to call it, it really sucks.  And yes, I realize how  cynical I sound. But that's nothing compared to the way I feel.
Part of the problem is summer.  I really don't do well in the summer.  Summer is when I lost my father.  Summer is when I lost my sister Kerry.  Summer hurts.  This summer has been especially hard for me without Kerry.  I feel very alone and rather let down the last couple of months.  I guess it's my own fault.  You can't just expect people in your life to remember that you hurt, or to automatically know you are struggling.  Everyone has a life after all.  So I better get with it, and continue on with mine so I won't look like a complete lame-ass.

To end this on a more positive note, tune in next week for a post about my craft room and the changes I'm making in there!  Pictures included!

PS. It really is nice to be back, even if I sound kinda cranky!

MEMORIES OF AN OLD FRIEND

From second grade to the sixth grade, she was everything I wanted to be.  She wasn't just smart, she was adult-like smart.  And the teachers love that in a kid.  She grew up watching Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.  She wasn't allowed to eat candy, except on Sundays. That was a special treat in her family, on that one day, to get to choose several candy treats. She never bothered to beg for treats during the week, because she knew Sunday would come.  I, on the other hand, would always sneak candy bars in my Raggedy Ann sleeping bag, over to her house whenever I spent the night.  And her mother always seemed to know!!  No matter how quietly we would unwrap those darn things, Mrs. Robinson would call down to us: "Alright Miss Laura, put that candy away this minute!"  Caught once again.
Her name was Kristin Robinson, (I called her Krissy) and she lived just up the street.  We played together all the time. I was in awe of her collection of Kiddles, and her tea parties. Best of all, she shared my love of playing house.  We would spend hours being the mothers of our cherished Baby Tender Love dolls. One day, while we were playing mothers, Krissy looked up proudly, and announced "I'm going to be a pediatrician when I grow up." We were about eight at the time.  I believe my reply was "Whats a pediatrician?" For some reason, I thought it had something to do with being the president. Which by the way, she certainly could have been that too!!  She already knew what a Democrat and a Republican was!  I thought they were spiders.
Krissy was a leader in every way and in every situation that came up.  Any time I was stuck on a homework problem, I just had to call her up.  She would never give me the answer. Not ever.  Instead, she would patiently explain to me how to understand the problem, and find the answer.  That same patience was there when she spent something like three weeks trying to teach me how to do a simple backbend. Or maybe it was a cartwheel.  Probably both. 
I was a real klutz.
Sadly, along came junior high, and I became an obnoxious brat. Krissy went on to make new friends, and plan a successful future. By the 8th grade, I felt lost without her, but was too embarrassed to try to be her friend again, after the way I had acted in 7th grade.  So I did what all obnoxious brats do: I pretended that I didn't care about her, and I networked with other obnoxious brats.
In  high school, I continued my struggle to figure out  who and what I was going to be, while  Krissy had grown into a beautiful, happy, strait A student who knew exactly where she was going, and nothing would get in her way.  We always smiled and said hi to  
each other in the halls, but I'm sure she must've been shaking her head, and thinking "What happened to you Laura? You better get it together before it's too late"
I miss her. All kids need a best friend when they are eight.  And its sad when one of them screws things up later on.
Krissy did grow up to be a pediatrician by the way.  And I still think she would have been a great president as well.

A Restless Night Remedy

I tossed, I turned, I got up, I laid back down.  I worried, I shed a few tears, I thought angry, ugly thoughts.  And still, I couldn't fall asleep.  Ugg!! 
After a night like that, who in their right mind would even want to get out of bed and start the day?  Some people I know would say "Just jump up, put a smile on your face, and think happy thoughts!" And no, the people who say these things to me are not on drugs.  Come to think of it, maybe they should be!
Anyway, after I forced myself to get up, I made "The Husband's"  lunch, threw a load of laundry in, made a list of what I needed to do before I have to go to my mothers for the day, and ate an ice-cream sandwich.  Still feeling the need to snap out of it, I turned to my favorite "go to" remedy:  VINTAGE STUFF!  And this is how it works: 
Step 1...Pour a diet coke. With ice.
Step 2...Turn on pellet stove.
Step 3...Open laptop. 
Step 4...Go to Etsy, or Pinterest, or one of the many Vintage Blogs that I love so much.
Step 5...Enjoy finding about a million things from my favorite times that make me smile.  

And thats the remedy.  And it really does work.  I have posted some pictures of some stuff that I saw.  See if any of them make YOU smile: 

Remember Jack Lalanne and Happy?  My mother used to exercise to his show while we kids watched.

I love these cute little toys! 

  

How about this?
 Rain lamps were huge in the 70's  Remember sticking your finger into the oil that runs down those wires, just to see if anything happened? 

This was one of my favorite dolls!
SWINGY  1969

This was Kerry's doll
DANCERINA  1969

  

My Easy Bake Oven!!!!  1968 

This was the kind of desk we sat at in grade school, instead of the stupid tables that they crowd the kids into now!!  No wonder the kids are sick all the time.  They are in each others face all day coughing all over each other.  When we had our own desks, hardly anyone was sick!  Not like today.

My sister Debby had this game!  The object was to win a date with one of the cute boys and not the rough looking punk.  Debby hated to win what she called "The goody goody boys"  She wanted to win the rough looking punk! 

I still have these Raggedy Ann Color Forms. 

I also have these books from the 60's.  They sure are a lot better than the kids books they make now!!  

Well there you have it.  This is my remedy for a restless night and or a crappy morning.

GOOD MORNING!

I'm sitting in my living room, in front of the fire, drinking a diet coke, and watching the old Mod Squad series.  And it's only 6:00 am!   Now in case anyone is horrified by the fact that I'm drinking diet coke at this hour of the morning, (I know my daughter will be.) I should explain that I consider this act to be no different than people who have a coffee every morning.  So there!

As for my kicking back and watching The Mod Squad at this hour, I like to think of this as my reward for getting up at 5:30 every morning to make The Husband's lunch. He takes his lunch to work everyday, so I like to make it for him, with good stuff inside.  Yea I know, just call me June Cleaver, or Mrs Walton, or Carol Brady,  (wait a sec, Alice made the lunches didn't she?) 

Anyway, thats my explanation for my early morning ritual.  And lets be honest, what could be better than starting the day watching Michael Cole (Pete) jump off buildings, rescue Link and Julie, dive out of speeding cars, and just plain be gorgeous! Solid!  And if you don't know what the expression "solid" means, then you are not a Mod Squad fan. Enough said. 

Moving on; I spent a few hours with my sister Debby yesterday, going through boxes of fabulous vintage stuff!  Old children's tea dishes in their original boxes, a scrapbook of vintage "Boots Cutouts" dated 1946,  and "Mopsy Modes Cutouts" also dated the 1940's.  A darling vintage metal child's play stove with a "Pretty Maid" metal label on it.  Some old books, all kinds of goodies!!  I can't wait to dig in and start listing, so keep your eye on my website, and spread the word!  www.vintagebounty.com 

I promise not to flake out this time on getting things listed!!

                           Stay Tuned!  

I think I'm a closet groupie.

Oh Yha!

We Interrupt This Program....

Oh my.  The last blog entry was in December?  How did that happen?  There should've been at least 4 or 5 posts between then and now.  What happened?
Remember how the TV would suddenly stop in the middle of your show with that announcement of "We interrupt this program for....." 
Well, thats kind of what happened here, in the middle of my show. Some struggles in my personal life got away from me, and interrupted my show.  It actually started around Christmas.  Which really sucked, because my holiday, my most favorite, cherished holiday, got interrupted, and I had to change stations right in the middle, and settle for a program that I really didn't want to watch, much less be a part of!
The good news is I've refocused the picture, adjusted the color, and tuned back into our regularly scheduled program.
Soooo, this all means that I will need to do some double time to bring back the magic of my vintage spirit.  This includes listing lots of new items on my website, working on my blog, and really diving into my vintage craft projects!
I've decided to start with listing some new items on my site today:
A few vintage pictures, some vintage movie magazines, some adorable vintage wall hangings. Who knows what else?  By the end of this evening, I will make this happen.

 So please stick with me, and know that I'm not throwing in the towel, while I catch up with the past!

I love this picture from Romper Room.  If I remember correctly, it was supposed to encourage all of us to get move'in and do something!   Good Advise.

NEXT CHRISTMAS WILL BE BETTER

Every year, for the last five years, I find myself saying that line:  "Next Christmas will be better" And each year, it gets a little easier, but not better.  Whether people you love are taken from you, or some other kind of tragedy comes along, nothing will ever be as it was. And because I have no other choice but to accept this fact, I will share with you what I have learned:  
#1  Don't try to convince yourself that next year will be better. You will be disappointed every time.  Just know that it will be different.
#2  Remember that other family members still need to have a happy Christmas, regardless of how you feel.  At my house, The Husband hates Christmas, so I have to work very hard to not turn into the Grinch that married Ebenezer. After all, I can't have the rest of my family feeling crappy just because I feel like crap, and He hates christmas.
#3  You will always have the memories of those really great Christmases.  Don't mourn them. Try to find them.  Here is how I do that:

Only watch those old Christmas specials that you loved so much.  For me, that means "The Walton's Homecoming" My favorite.        

This was such a moving Christmas show.

 

The mom, trying not to look at the doll that she wishes she could buy for her youngest.    

The children crossing their fingers that the lights will work.  "As John-boy says "If one bulbs gone bad, then none of 'ems gonna work!"

  The dad, home at last, telling the kids how he saw Santa Clause in the yard and thought he was a robber, so he wrestled him to the ground, and took a sack of presents! 

 And how about some Christmas music?  I adore the vintage albums that I've listened to since childhood:  This one below is a major favorite, because it brings me memories of Kerry and I sitting on the tv/stereo console, imitating the girl singing "ToyLand" to make my sister Debby laugh. Trust me, you had to be there.  

 This was also a favorite!!!    

Lots of the old greats on this one  

I think I know this whole album by heart!!  It was always playing while we decorated the house and tree. 

There's nothing quite like the Chipmunks  at Christmas.

     So to sum it all up, do what you have to do to get back some of the good stuff.  I think the good memories will carry you through.
For now, it's time for some Christmas cookies, and then I'll sit down to watch "It's A Wonderful Life"  for the third time this season!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!