LiteBrite is a thoroughly awesome toy! I got one for my niece several years ago, when she was 7 or 8. She loved it, too.

Picking up the turkey this evening, yay! I love Thanksgiving dinner so very much. Thanksgiving leftovers are even better.

I had no idea that lite brite was so popular, and I definitely had no idea they still made them. I may buy myself one - what fun that would be! Since I wrote that last post about Lite Brite, I've asked several friends, and they had the toy too. Funny. i figured everyone else was out doing something much more thrilling than making pictures with light.

We also decided that Fruit Loops were/are? the best "when you're on vacation and your mother lets you eat it" sugar cereal. Yum. Though Frosted Flakes came in a good second.

I so want you to make bread for my Thanksgiving, negrilchick? A butter bun sounds delightful!

Zingermans definitely has a website, which I would link to if I could figure out how. My favorite thing is the carob honey. It's not sweet, so it's perfect for the Sicilian recipes that call for honey. Very Yum.

It's raining, raining, raining so the roof can't be repaired. Everyone think sun so that I can have a dry roof, one day, some day. So sad.

[thinking dry weather for the east coast]

I thought of another toy that I loved - Spirograph! I adored it, think I wore out the holes on my set. Now, of course, they would never have a toy for kids with little bitty pins, and sharp [gasp!] pens and pencils! I am thinking about picking a set up on eBay for use in scrapbooking my childhood pics...

My favorite sugar cereal was Honeycombs. My mom never bought Honeycombs. They were big enough and hard enough to slice open the roof of your mouth, but we sure did like them, nonetheless.

I loved Spirograph! My sister and I spent hours making pictures.

Has anyone had Cap'n Crunch recently? We bought a box a couple of years ago, because MrBee kept seeing references to it and had never had it. I think they've changed it since I was a girl - it tasted the same (OMG, sweet!!), but it wasn't as sharp and jaggedy as I remember. It used to slice up the inside of your mouth something awful, but the current version has rounded edges.

I'm embarassed to say I liked Lucky Charms. They only had four varieties of marshmallows back then. Nowadays, I'm a Wheetabix or Shredded Wheat and Bran girl. Ah, middle age, the things it does to us.

Hope Everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Hope your (and everyone's) Thanksgiving was wonderful too, vb; And I hope everyone's holiday weekend was tasty and delicious, filled with yummy leftovers and delights. How were the butter rolls, negrilchick?

Since we didn't cook, I saw Enchanted with the family on Thanksgiving morning. I really liked it! Very realistic - heh. Plus, it's filmed in all my daily hangouts, so that was fun to watch.

The guys saw Beowulf in 3 D on Saturday, which they said was very exciting, but very crowded. I was kind of glad I missed it, as I do not love being "landlocked" in a movie aisle. I'll go see it with them another time, because I can't miss this one in the theaters.

My brother loved Captain Crunch. He could eat a box of cereal in one sitting, and Captain Crunch was his favorite. I have to say, I haven't had anything but Kashi and oatmeal for years, so I imagine it would taste very sweet to me. I can't imagine the ingredients - chemicals and sugar. Scary!

I want a Spirograph too! I wonder if they still make them?

Voila!
And for those of you who prefer Old School

The rolls were decadently buttery, yogi, and everything else was wonderful, too, as usual. I think I'm still full.

I am old school Spirograph. What is a child's toy without map pins, I ask?

So cool, imissEthan, Spirograph and LiteBrite for $28.50! Such a deal. It's too bad they don't make litebrite in a pretty exterior. I would decorate my house with little litebrite images if they did.

I'm old school too, negrilchick. I think we made prettier pictures with the old, dangerous toys that would choke small children and animals.

I love Amazon. I know that it's sucking the life out of the independent book store, so I support independent book stores wherever I go, but Amazon is fabulous. I order from them constantly. I can't believe there was ever life before Amazon.

Butter rolls, how good do those sound?!

And we learned far more with science sets that could result in a dead or maimed child or a burned-down house. The new sets are wimpy. *Hmph*

My sister and I had a Creepy Crawler set - you poured this liquid-plastic goo into heated molds, then heated the molds on what was basically a hot plate. After the things had cooked a while, you had colorful jelly-like bugs and such. We had both the bugs version and the flowers version. Oh, the smell as the things cooked! God knows what kind of carcinogens were in the air. And it's a miracle we didn't set the place on fire or give ourselves third-degree burns.

Hey folks, esp. yogi, long time no see, bear! Had to comment on the old fashioned toys, and how amazing it is that we all made it to adulthood.



What about Incredible Edibles, which was essentially: I'll see your Creepy Crawlers, and raise it to rubbery liquid-plastic carinogenic goo that you actually ate! And it tasted, well, like rubbery liquid-plastic goo. How did this ever get past the FDA?!

Also Lawn Darts, anyone?

Had Lite-Brites and Spirograph (there was always one go-around where your pen slipped and wrecked the symmetry). I remember Wheel-o's fondly, and the Game of Life (mainly because the money looked so real). My son has the Spongebob version of Life (and the Spongebob version of Operation)but it's not nearly as cool.

Hey to you, El Guapo! So great to "see" you!

I had an incredible edible set - desert after the meal of brownie baked with a light bulb in the easy bake oven. Oh my heck, it makes Captain Crunch look like health food.

Ha! Lawn Darts - a lovely weapon. Our set was taken away after an errant dart completely punctured a shoe that got too close to the game. Fortunately, there were no feet in it at the time. Those were perhaps the most dangerous toys in the history of the world.

Everyone in my neighborhood used to come over and play all the board and card games, and we were terrible to each other- horribly competitive. In High School, we had all night Monopoly Marathons in my basement. We would laugh so hard we'd wake my parents two floors up. Around 3 AM, I would start selling cigarettes to desperate smokers for $500 per cigarette. Heh, Heh, Heh.... so much fun! I tried to play Monopoly a couple of years ago, but I realized that I can never play with people ever again. Those marathons ruined me for anything but a game boy. I'm not much better with card games either. On my honeymoon, I played gin with my husband. He didn't grow up playing games, so I beat him every hand for several days. Then, he started to get better - he didn't win, he just got better. So we had to switch to hearts.

It's a sickness.....

I didn't work today. First Saturday in FOREVER. It feels so good!

I am so going to get my daughter one of those vintage Spirographs. They were the balls.
We have a Lite Brite, and my neighbor gave us their old Easy Bake oven, but haven't been forced to use that one quite yet. I'm sure its time will come, unfortunately.

This year seems to be all about the board games--there were requests for Clue Jr, Horse-o-poly, a new game called Blokus, Gnip Gnop, and Mousetrap. I'm delighted to comply, b/c those things are fun, and certainly cheaper than an Xbox.

My Xmas list is truly pathetic:

Electric skillet
vacuum cleaner
Wool knee socks
A new snow shovel with the back friendly handle
Baseball tickets.

I hate to buy practical things, so I ask for them as gifts.

So the ice in our back cove is very nearly skatable! Much excitement in the Hildy household.

And Guapo, Andruw Jones for $36 million? Oh my.

Well, Hildy, my list rivals yours for practicality!

Stoneware plate set
Tortilla press
ScumBuster Xtreme
Golf shoes - size 7.5
Pretty pink golf balls
Desk light and floor light for crafting

Other women would get mad at their husbands for buying them practical gifts, I get mad if he doesn't!

Good Gravy Marie, negrilchick, what is a ScumBuster Xtreme? It sounds frightening. I'm sure all the scum in your immediate area is leaving town before this serious scum combatting weapon arrives on Christmas.

And Hildy, is it really possible that a handle can help save your back when shoveling snow? I would love to see this. This sounds really useful (along with the wool knee socks,) though one of the perks of living in an apartment is that someone else is shoveling the snow.

I told everyone to please not give too much at all for Christmas this year as I'm tired of packing all the gifts up and putting them in storage. Yesterday, Mr Yogi bought me two new ornaments for the tree (he buys me a couple of special ones every year) and all I could think was "oh god, more for the boxes." However, I did thank him and hang them up right away.

I can't believe they still make Mousetrap; that was such a fun game. It's so great that your children like games Hildy. I bet you enjoy it. But you know what game is really fun? Connect Four. I played that my whole life. I would play that tomorrow if I had a set! Hey! Maybe I should put that on my Christmas list!

Is the pond frozen yet? We are having our first big snowfall today. The roof and walls aren't done yet. Please think warm for just a couple more weeks.....

Hee, yogi, it's this awesome piece of cleaning machinery here. Thinking no snow in NYC thoughts...

I saw Mousetrap yesterday when shopping for a toy for the Toys for Tots campaign. I think it was about $15 - I wonder how sturdily built it is compared to the old one that we played with at my grandma's house when we were little. I think that one was purchased in the '60's. We played with it all the time, and none of the pieces ever broke. But, it was probably covered in lead paint and the game pieces may have been made from lead, for all I know. The good old days of blissful ignorance.

We sprung a new leak and had a new room flood last night. This takes us to a grand total of 8 major leaks in my house. Nightmare.

Do you think the ScumBuster Xtreme could work here? Will it work on scummy contractors who lie, cheat, and steal? It does indeed look awesome. I like Black and Decker. I think they make good stuff. I don't remember what I have made by them, as it's all in storage, but I remember they are good.

Yesterday, I finished most of my holiday shopping in an ice storm. It was slippery, but the stores were much less crowded, and I got great service. I think I'm done. Now, I just need to finish sending stuff out....

Well, you're way ahead of me in the Christmas shopping department, Yogi. I still haven't even sent out cards, but I was pretty sick there for awhile and am only just now feeling a little better.

I remember playing Mousetrap when I was a kid, and just a few months ago I was watching my boys playing it. Even some of the cartoons they have watched on TV I remember seeing as a kid. Of course, when I mention it, they just roll their eyes at me...

I am taking my boys to the Gold Coast for a few days this week, we're staying right on the beach at Surfers Paradise. I am so looking forward to swimmng at the beach and in the pool and just having a few days to spend some time with my children.

In case I don't get back here before Christmas, my very best to you all. Hope it's a good one!

Back atcha, Aussie, and you continue to feel better. Hope the swimming is swell. I miss warmth!

Sorry about the floods, yogi! If I could get you a Scumbuster Xtreme to eradicate scummy contractors, I would.

I have very little Christmas shopping done, since I am making many of our gifts. But there are still so many small things to pick up and do before next week. I am taking vacation next week, so will pretty much be hibernating with the family until New Year's Eve. Hope everyone has a wonderful, warm and cheery holiday season!

Aussie, I hope the vacation helps you regain strength, and that you don't stress unduly about the holidays. This too shall pass!

As for the deluge in the house, oh my heck, Yogi, that is getting to be a mess of biblical proportions. I'm guessing the storm on Sunday wasn't a good thing for you. Are they going to actually fix these things or do you have to start over? What a mess.

Negrilchick, I'm so impressed that you are doing all the homemade gifts. We made some cookies, and the kids made ornaments for grandparents and such, but that's about it. I'm mostly finished with shopping, although shockingly have not yet procured Mousetrap.
Our pond is frozen nicely, and should be skatable in a couple days. Ho Ho Ho!

I'm so sorry to hear that you have been sick, AussieGirl. I hope that an infusion of of Gold Coast Sunshine was just the ticket for good health. Good Health and Happiness to us all in 2008! (And please, God, a home for me)

Did the children get mousetrap, Hildy?!? Did they let you play it with them? Alec claimed that this was his best Christmas ever because of the Wii and an ApplePhone. I was pleased.

My best Christmas gift - my sister took all the thousands of family slides from our childhood and put them onto DVDs for us all. Very cool. Did you get the Scum Buster Xtreme, Negrilchick? Did you get you socks, Hildy?

No Scumbuster, yogi, hee. Your sis's gift DVD was wondrous indeed - awesome! I did get a beautiful diamond ring - I never wear jewelry as I am so very allergic to most every metal. But MrNC found a jeweler online who fashions rings in titanium, which is supposed to be totally non-reactive. It's quite lovely, and I will be wearing it instead of my wedding ring - which is made of white gold, but the solder they used to attach the engagement ring to the wedding band evidently was not very pure, so I can only wear it for short periods of time. So, he gave me that, plus an IOU for a Cricut and some golf shoes. So, it's all good. Everyone loved the baskets of homemade stuff I put together, it was nice not to have to spend too much on gifts this year. I did splurge and buy MrNC a new Cleveland driver. Though it's awfully snowy right now, he probably won't get to test it out until April!

An IPhone and a Wii? You are every teen's dream mom, yogi! We gave Boy#2 a hunting rifle and a remote control stunt car (which he said he was too old for when he opened it, but now he won't stop playing with it). Boy#1 received payment of some of his bills for the month and gift cards for his favorite stores. What else do you get a 20-yr-old!

It sounds like your guys all had a perfect Christmas. I would like a remote control stunt car... who wouldn't? I don't think you're ever too old to enjoy some remote control car action!

I imagine the baskets were also very popular. My mom has one friend (a contractor, no less!) who makes the most delicious sugar cookies with royal frosting. Every year, we start begging Mom for those cookies the moment we come through the door. They are the best cookies in the world. She gets baskets of food with boxes of gourmet items of all kinds, but all any of us want are the fabulous cookies from her contractor and his wife.

Speaking of contractors, we started to open up the walls to find out the specific construction materials and methods - forensic construction with engineers, architects, etc. Not surprisingly, the construction was horrifyingly bad - like styrofoam over stucco bad.

In retrospect, I am very impressed by my former contractors ability to lie with amazing passion and self righteousness about how well they built my house. They should go on Survivor!

Thank you Yogi, I did have a nice, quiet time on the Gold Coast. My health is much improved.

Today I went to Mt Glorious, which is now just a few minutes from where I live, and I thought of you. What is it about rainforests that makes me think of you? You were on my mind a lot today, in fact.

It has been raining for weeks now, and today was the first time I've seen blue sky in ages, so packed the kids into the car and took off. It was a great day. It's also been unseasonally cool here for awhile, and today was more like a Summer's day, so it was nice.

Hildy, I cannot believe you have a pond to skate on. I mean, I know you've mentioned it in the past, but that just sounds like something I'd read about in a book or see in a movie, heh.

Negrilchick, sounds like your boys loved their gifts! I have no idea what else you could have gotten for a 20 year old, God knows I have enough trouble thinking of stuff for a 15 year old.

Happy New Year to you all!

Isn't there a Sunshine Coast too, AussieGirl? I swear, it always sounds so heavenly in Australia.

RANT:
I met with an architect, again with the impressive resume, etc and came very, very highly recommended as a great troubleshooter from a very prominent realtor, yada, yada. So, after a four hour meeting and walkthrough on Saturday afternoon, he tried to convince me that even the best architects and contractors can not guarantee a building will have no leaks. He proceeded to give me multiple examples of impressive and well known architects and contractors and their leaky buildings.

I finally just got so mad - I said, "If these great architects and builders can't build a structure without leaks, they should find a new field of work; they are not good at their job, and hardly THE BEST. A leak free structure is basic to the whole concept of shelter. For God's Sake, it's the FRIKKIN MINIMUM YOU CAN DO in building a house!" UGH. I told him, "people all over the world live in homes and buildings that don't leak. Millions and Millions of people live and work in structures ranging from very simple wood and cinderblock to ivory mansions and steel towers to frikkin caves in the forests that don't leak. I've slept in TREEHOUSES that don't leak!"

Give me a break. It's not rocket science AT ALL. How many of these idiots do I have to go through until I find someone who can secure roof and walls and make the boiler work? Seriously. I'm using the yellow pages from now on.
END RANT

I'm going to pack my knapsack, run away and go on a trip to AussieGirl's beach!

Come on over, mate. First stop Sunshine Coast, 2nd stop Mt Glorious.

What a magical place, AussieGirl, I'm a-comin'!

yogi bear, you've hit on one of my pet peeves (Big Fancy Architects and their unworkable buildings). Lots of BFAs build leaky buildings, because they think of what they're doing as art. They are trying to express something just as much as they are trying to build a functional building (and sometimes more so). However, your house is a house. BFAs and their BF buildings are a terrible, misleading comparison unless you have a very unusual house.

Frank Lloyd Wright actually said
Why would you ever accept that as a comparison? And why would any architect offer it?

(I found the quote in Michael Pollan's totally under-rated book A Place of My Own. Pick up a copy when this debacle is over.)

Ironically, but not surprisingly, Frank Lloyd Wright's designs came up in our auspicious discussion with the BFA, runcible.

This week, the architect and GC decided to erect the new exterior concrete wall with no specs, drawings, plans for mechanical and electrical, etc. I had a terrible flu and missed two days (first in a long time) and returned to stop the insanity Thursday morning.

It's a sad state of affairs when the best builder on the team is the owner. Where were the going to put the door? How high was the wall to be? No one knew. Maybe we just would build where the wind took us?

Honestly, I am not exaggerating. This is my life right now.

Oh, and my son's roof ceiling at the temporary apartment flooded on Thursday morning, and I had to move him to a room down the hall from us in the building. What are the chances that he would loose his bedroom ceiling at both locations within a couple of months? What next? His school?

So crazy! I need Survivor to start to escape from it all.

So, did this place close again? Where is everybody?

Does anyone come in here anymore? Or am I talking to myself (wouldn't be the first time).

I'm excited Survivor's back! Mmmmm... Peachy love....

Hey Miss Aussie! Lol you aren't alone I'm here. I can't wait for halloween I'm gonna be a fairy this year.

I'm so excited for this Spring - Survivor is now on and the weather is getting warmer.

Hiya Woody! Thought it's about time we got the band back together... I think I'll go get Easy and Teena and Co too.