Toys of Christmas Past

Let's talk for a minute (of course, I will be doing all the talking and you'll be doing all the listening, but to be polite...) about toys. Not these new namby, pamby toys like the Lalaloopsy Holiday Ice Crystal doll. I'm sorry J, but Alice will not be getting one of these from me:

 I'm so not a fan.

Instead, let's talk (again, I talk, you listen) about my favorite toys that we got for Christmas growing up. Matt, I'm just going to be talking about my favorite Christmas toys from my childhood. Of course every gift you've given me for Christmas has been my favorite, all of them are tied for first place.

Now, on to the fun!  Of the top three toys that I could recall without anyone's help (the singing Ariel doll would be on this list if I had thought of it on my own, but it wasn't technically given to me or us so I don't think I could really include it, Mar), the third favorite gift wasn't really from my childhood. It was from my teenagehood. Yep, that's a real stage of development. Dr. Piaget just did not get that far.  Nicholas and his then girlfriend whom I shall not name got me and Marla our very own DVD player for Christmas. I know what you are thinking, big deal. You are right, it was a big deal. It was ours. And is still in use. Marla got it in the separation. I got the DVDs, she got the player.

Next up,

Anyone know what that is? It's a Clueless phone. As  in Clueless, the movie. You know, that movie based on that book by that lonely English woman that I didn't know existed when we got this phone. I mean, we didn't call anyone but we were super cool with the phone. It had a voice modifier where were could call people (if we called people) and be all creepy. It also had buttons that said "As if" and "Whatever!" when pressed. Did I mention how cool we were? I mean, check out that headset. We treasured that phone until it died. It went on an involuntary swim in my fish tank compliments of a little boy with idle hands. That little boy then went on an involuntary swim.

Okay, now, it's time for my most memorable (and dare I say favorite?) toy from my childhood. My mom might correct me on this, but I think the Family Talking Dollhouse was my favorite toy as an elementary schooler.  It looks like this:

All of the family and the furniture are outside the house in this picture. I promise, our talking family never had a garage sale like this family appears to be doing. Nor do I remember a grandfather clock and piano.

Anyway, the dolls talked when you put them in certain places in the house. There were little 3-quarter deep holes in all the rooms and whatever the talking family said correlated with that room. I know, I'm not explaining it well. I found you a Youtube video. You are welcome.

Mar, how come we didn't get the vacuum and the art easel, and all that other junk in the video? We played with that dollhouse for years. It very well may still be at my parents' house. Probably in the shed, but still hanging around for posterity. And that isn't a bad thing.

Anyway, there you have it. The rundown of my favorite Christmas gifts from childhood. Do yourself a favor, google "top toys of the '90s" and make your own Toys of Christmas Past list. Go on, you know you want to do it.

Let's talk about Christmas

 I hate to admit this to the world, but I'm really not in the Christmas mood.  I have a real tree up, gifts wrapped under the tree, I've been to the Christmas capital of the state*, and have been listening to as much Christmas music as possible. But I'm just not feeling it. Maybe it's because I'm still working and haven't started my "Christmas break" yet (do adults get those?) or maybe because it is about 75 degrees outside. Whatever the reason, I'm just not there yet. I wish I was. I'm working on being there soon.

Until there happens, I've been trying all kinds of hard to get there (annoyed with that yet? I kind of am.), including driving around looking at Christmas lights. My personal favorites are really close to the house so I get to see them often. I giggle (or stare in awe with my mouth slightly open) each time. Because I'm incredibly generous this time of year (and all year...), I'm sharing pictures with you!

And now (drum roll, please), in no particular order:

I call this the "slightly over the top, but not awful" house. I'm not sure how that inflatable Santa is going to fit inside the house to deliver toys. Maybe he has to deflate to get down the chimney.

This is the "gift-wrapped house" that I would return, should anyone give it to me. It's a bit run down, and I've got enough sprucing up to do at my own house. Ironically, the people that live in this house drive a Lexus SVU. No judgments. Just letting you know.

All meanness aside (who am I kidding), this is pretty impressive. I wonder how they store that great big bow. And what their electric bill is during October through December.  Remind me during Mardi Gras, they decorate for that too.

And this, this is "the Centenary house." It's on some road with Centenary in the name, but I don't know if it is actually affiliated with Centenary. Margaret?  I do like the outside Christmas tree. And I like how they didn't mix the colors, but used one Christmas color for each distinct part of the house. I think I like this one because of all the colors. Definitely one of the more classy colorful ones I've seen.

That's all I got. I'm going to go work on my Christmas spirit. At work. Because that'll help. Really.


*that statement may not be accurate.

The Color Run

I considered racking my brain for a cuter title, but I decided against it. Laziness seems to be my M.O. these days. I have no explanation as to why. But it's cold. Maybe that's it.

Anyway, enough with the excuses. About six months ago, I was conned into running in a race called The Color Run. Supposedly, it's the happiest 5K on the planet. I think the happiness comes from the endorphins released when running AND the euphoria that comes with making a mess that you don't have to clean up. Whatever the reason, it did make me happy. Dirty, but happy.

I'm going to give you a whole lot of pictures, because I know that is what you really want. My words may add humor and a lot of head-shaking, but let's face it - you are here for the photos.

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See that? That's about 15,000 people between us and that start line. Yeah, we cut to get closer to the start. I think all of us had places to be (well, not me, but I didn't want to tell anyone that so they wouldn't think I was lame).

All fresh and clean BEFORE the run.

Get ready for color!!!

First color, orange. No one really likes the color orange. If they say they do, they are lying.

Then blue. That's a LOT of blue chalk.

And then Monster energy drinks. Because people want to drink a Monster while running. Um, no.

I don't have a picture for yellow.
Forgive me.

Post pink!!! Pink was the last color. And the most fun. Because it is pink.

Chelse and Deanna.

the end!

I know, fastest 5K in pictures ever.

Then, the real fun began. Pouring chalk on each other and seeing how much we could get in Marla's mouth.

Three cheers for chalk!

We found a sign to pose with, but you can't tell how colorful we are. We won some and we lost some.

BAM!!! Marla got some green stuff all over her. I didn't post the next picture in the series because she would have been embarrassed, but if you ask me, I'll show it to you later.

A PR was not set for this run. We got out of the gates at 9:12 and crossed the finish at 9:58. When we were finishing, the last few waves were starting. Thank goodness we skipped some people in line to get a faster start time.

Yay for color! Now, Color Run, stop sending me emails.