Happy Birthday Jack!

Today my nephew Jackson was born. He was born at 11:35am in Ottawa. He weighed 8lbs 10z and was healthy and amazing. The new Mom, Dad and Jack are all doing well, though they are all very tired.

 

He is the cutest, most perfect and innocent creature in the world and I love him with all my heart and soul.

I will be posting photos of him once I get the go ahead from my brother and sister-in-law, aka the new parents. I don’t want to post anything until they have said it is okay – don’t want to steal their moments, blah blah blah. I will post more when I have a bit more time to sit down and tell what I know of his story so far, but I couldn’t let this monumental day go un-blogged.

Seriously --- so cute --- so loved.

Way Back Whenesday: Pocket Organizer

I remember when I was younger and loved the idea of electronic gizmos and the assumed importance of people who had them (and even more so of people who actually needed them). I got a little pocket diary and I loved it. I used it as an address book and calculator and of course diary as that was its original purpose. I used to make up stories and pretend to chat with people online (this was before this was a common thing for children to do). It was a great source of entertainment for me. Every so often the little watch battery that ran it would die and I would have to start all over again. Sometimes I would lose it and by the time I found it, it was dead and needed a restart. Eventually it lost its appeal as chatting because an everyday thing and as I really didn’t have a need for the other features, I stopped using it. I haven’t seen it in a very long time, though I suspect that it it sitting in a Rubbermaid container in my parents’ shed back home.

(photo from http://www.canstockphoto.com/)

Way Back Whenesday: Tetris

Now I realize Tetris is still around, but the Tetris I am talking about is the one for the original Nintendo game system (NES).

I remember the system being hooked up to the television in my parents room (the television that was in a wooden case) and my dad playing for several hours. Come to think of it, it was one of the only games my dad really played. Later on, we got Tetris for the Nintendo Gameboy and I played it a great deal on that system. I do believe the Gameboy and Tetris are sitting upstairs right now…perhaps I will go play some classic Nintendo.

(photo found through Google)

Way Back Whenesday: Goosebump Novels

I know Goosebumps novels are still around today and can be seen in book stores and catalogues on a regular basis, but I remember when these novels first became popular and I especially remember sitting in front of the bookshelf at the Brockville Mall trying to pick out which Goosebumps novel I would buy next. I would save up my money and once I got the roughly 10 dollars they cost I would lay out the options and spend way too long determining which one I was going to purchase this time. R.L. Stine definitely hit the nail on the head when he started this series.

Way Back Whenesday: Beverly Hills 90210

I do not understand for the life of me, how I was allowed to watch this show. But to be honest, I don’t really care because I loved it – and still love it to this day.
Beverly Hills 90210 started out as a less dramatic sort of show than what it is remembered for. The first three seasons were much more after-school special-like in that Brenda and Brandon or one of their friends, would get into some sort of troubling situation. Someone would make a bad decision but it wasn’t likely to be either of the twins. The Walshes would come to rescue of whomever was in trouble and everything would be solved by the end of the episode. Later one, shortly before Shannon Doherty left the show started to get much more dramatic and much more mature.
I remember being in love with Dylan (played by Luke Perry). I had legging and a shirt with 90210 on them which I actually wore during our family trip to Disney in 1992 (that’s right, I wore the shirt and watched the show when I was in grade 2!).
The show ended in 2000 but a new version of it has since started and is similar to the later, more mature version of the show. I haven’t watched too much of the new series, not because I don’t like it but because I don’t really watch television. The ones I have seen though, give me happy memories of watching the original series.

Way Back Whenesday: JTT

There were several boys who adorned the walls of my bedroom when I was growing up and JTT (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) was definitely one of them.

He started out in Home Improvement and then started into movies such as The Lion King and Wild America. Such a good, boy-next door kind of guy who eventually started acting less to concentrate on his academics. Seriously, if your young daughter was going to get into teen-heart-throbs then this is the one you want her to like the most.

Way Back Whenesday: Pink Panther

During the summers when I was younger, my mom would make me a pita sandwich with lettuce, cheese and alfalfa sprouts and I would watch the Pink Panther cartoon show with my delicious lunch. Those are good memories.

Way Back Whenesday: Reading Rainbow

 

 

This show was where I was first introduced to Geordi La Forge. Mind you this clip doesn’t show him in his non-Star Trek glory.
The show promoted reading (and writing) for children. I believe Geordi would read a couple books and some kids would review some others that they had read. Cute little show really.

Way Back Whenesday: Carmen Sandiego

 

 

Does anyone else remember this show? I used to watch it all the time on TVO. I also played the video game on our home computer – the game came on 12 3 1/2” floppy disks. Now there’s a memory!

Way Back Whenesday: Don't Put it in Your Mouth

I still sing the song from this commercial now and then. Watching it now, it seems a little creepy, but it definitely worked! Anyone else know this song by heart?

Way Back Whenesday: Mr Dressup

Mr. Dressup is a classic children's show. It was wonderful and definitely part on my childhood.
The show aired from 1967 to 1996. Mr. Dressup was actually Ernie Coombs and this happened to be one of the very first names I knew (of actors).
When I first started watching the show, Casie and Finnegan lived in the treehouse in the backyard, but later on these characters were dropped from the show as the puppeteer retired. They were replaced by some other characters such as Chester the Crow and Granny, but they weren't as good. Or perhaps I had just grown up enough to not be as interested in them as I was the previous puppets.

Way Back Whenesday: Ace of Base

Ah Ace of Base. She saw the sign and it was all that she wanted.
I remember not only listening to this band constantly, but also doing dance routines to it for class. In Ms. Veltkamp's grade 4 class she had us do a song and dance routine. She had fake guitars, keyboard, etc and you would lip synch to any song you wanted. My group of 4 or 5 girls chose Ace of Base The Sign as our song and it was fabulous. I can remember some of the steps we did while we sang (that is what my role was - dancing and 'singing'), but unforunately can't describe them well enough for this post.
I also remember the rehearsal I skipped to hang out with my boyfriend. During the rehearsal Crystal fell and hit her head on the corner of the keyboard and cracked it open. She had to go to the emergency room and have stitched put in.

Way Back Whenesday: Mr Rogers Neighbourhood

Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood was a children's television show that aired from February 19, 1968 to February 20, 1976 and then again from August 27, 1979 to August 31, 2001.
The show was simple and calm, unlike a lot of children's shows nowadays and always started with Fred Rogers coming into the home, taking off his outdoor sweater and putting on his indoor sweater. He would then remove his outdoor sneakers and put on indoor sneakers.

Way Back Whenesday: Looney Tunes

"Where's the Kaboom? There was supposed to be an Earth shatterin KABOOM!"

Every Sunday evening Dad and I would watch Looney Toons, The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show. We would watch it so regularly that I can hear the announcer saying the title in my head right now. One of my favourite characters was Marvin the Martian. As a matter of fact, he is still one of my favourite cartoon characters.My dad however, liked Duck Dodgers (in the 24 1/2 century!).

Way Back Whenesday: My Little Pony

Weren't my little ponies wonderful?! I personally had three of them and I loved them dearly. And look at the technology of them - I mean, they can turn their heads ever so slightly!!
From what I can remember, I had a little one, like the ones in the commercial here (though mine didn't have a bib), a mommy pony and then another one. I am pretty sure I used them as Barbie's horses now and then, but primarily played with them on their own.
The strongest memory I have was when we went to the house (mansion) of one of my dad's bosses at P&G. I brought my ponies so that the little girl and I could play while the grownups talked. The little girl had multiple bedrooms and her third floor bedroom was basically just a playroom - it also happened to be her My Little Pony bedroom. She must have had 50 ponies at least and it made my measly three seem like crap.
My Little Ponies are used a little differently nowadays and by older people. On DeviantArt there are artists that manipulate Ponies into really awesome creations, like the one below. My favourite of these artist is Spippo.

Way Back Whenesday: American Gladiators

American Gladiators aired from 1989 to 1996. It was a tournament show that put regular people (selected by certain tests of strength and agility) up against the Gladiators. These were trained 'pros' and were absolutely massive in terms of muscle. Tyler and I watched these shows on the weekend while playing in the basement. Later on, it was referred to in several shows we watched after school including Saved by the Bell and Family Matters.
There was a revival of the show in 2008 apparently, but it only lasted two seasons.

Way Back Whenesday: Duracell Tester Strip

Grandma Conlin always had one of these tester strips in her junk drawer and Madison and I thought it was the neatest thing. Okay, maybe it was just me. Either way, they were neat. They did not however, work nearly as fast as the commercial makes you think. In fact, sometimes they were so slow that you had to hold on to them long enough for them to become very hot.

Way Back Whenesday: Rainbow Brite

Though I didn't watch the TV show on a regular basis, nor owned any of the dolls, I remember Rainbow Brite perfectly. My friends had her dolls, and those of her little sidekicks and we would play with them now and then. The show was pretty classic though - Rainbow Brite, her little sprite sidekick and her colour pals would fight the evil villains of the show.

Way Back Whenesday: Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus was one of my favourite Halloween based movies when I was growing up. I thought the song Sarah Jessica Parker sang to lure into the children was really pretty and I always wanted to be her character when I was watching it.
If memory serves, it is also where Chris' cat Binx got her name - though they thought she was a he when they first got her and her name was therefore Zachary Binx after the boy/cat in the movie.

Way Back Whenesday: He Man

This was one of Tyler's shows that we watched while playing in the basement. He also had various toys based on the show that he would play with. The reason I am posting this is not because I remember watching the show or him playing with the toys, but rather because I would steal his purple cat, which was the bad guys (Skeltor) battle cat named Panthor, and use it as a toy for my Barbies. I don't know exactly why I thought a giant cat would be a good house pet for Barbie, but the purple colour likely had something to do with it. Anyway, what respectable evil villain has a giant purple cat as a pet - really now?!