Flashback Friday: Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Mocha With Linda hosts a weekly meme called Flashback Friday. She’ll post a question every Thursday, and then Friday we can link our answers up on her site. You can visit her site for more Flashbacks.

The prompt for today is:

What was Valentine’s Day like when you were growing up? Did you have parties at school? Did you make or buy the valentines for your classmates? Was it a trend to attach candy to each valentine? Did your family acknowledge the day in any particular way? What about as you got older, in your teens? Was the day eagerly anticipated or dreaded? Did your school sell/allow carnations or other items? Do any Valentine’s Days from the past in particular stand out in your memory? What about now – is it a special time or just another day on the calendar? And of course, the all-important question: candy conversation hearts – yes or no?!

I love Valentine’s Day.

All that I remember about family Valentine’s celebrations from childhood is that my dad would buy those heart-shaped boxes of candy, and big one for my mom and smaller ones for us kids. Though I am not a big fan of the variety-box chocolates these days, I look on those a little nostalgically when I start to see them in stores each year. I don’t remember that we exchanged cards as a family or had special dinners.

I loved Valentine’s Day at school. We always decorated little boxes or bags to hold the Valentine’s we received. I searched for just the right Valentines and then carefully chose each one for each classmate…especially the boys. It seems like we could bring them in at any point during the week, because I can remember the eagerness of checking our boxes all through the week. We had a little party during the afternoon of Valentine’s Day and opened all our treasures…trying to guess if there was special meaning in the ones from the boys.

I don’t remember if it was a requirement every year, but I do remember one year our fourth grade teacher saying that if we were going to participate, we had to give a Valentine to every member of the class so no one would feel left out. One boy argued with her that that wasn’t…fair or genuine or something. That boy happened to be George K., whom I had a grand crush on…along with almost every other girl in class. And I was profoundly disappointed that I did not receive a Valentine from him — until he came up behind me and whispered something in my ear during the party. The only problem was I couldn’t understand what he said before he moved away. I fantasized that it was something along the lines of how I was more special in his eyes than the other girls, so he wanted to tell me how he felt rather than send me a paltry paper Valentine. But what he probably said was, “Will you stop staring at me, you freak?”

Can you tell I was a little too boy-crazy in my youth?

Ahem. 😳

I don’t remember there being any kind of acknowledgment of Valentine’s Day in high school. In college, one year the campus snack shop offered a special steak dinner for two during Valentine’s in a specially decorated side room, and the campus newspaper published some of the faculty members’ love stories — always enjoyed that.

With my own children, a lot of Valentines came with candy, though I don’t think we ever sent any like that. It was always a challenge to find Valentines that boys wanted to send, especially in the upper elementary years, but I can remember finding some for Jesse one year with a vehicle theme and another year with an Army and camouflage theme, so that was fun. With my older boys’ I seem to remember their Valentine’s receptacles just being a decorated paper bag at the request of teachers, but with my youngest at a different school, they had classroom contests for their Valentine’s boxes. I always liked trying to come up with something a little different, and there was a children’s magazine in stores that had great ideas (I don’t remember the name, but it was connected with Boy and Girl Scouts. My kids weren’t Scouts, and that was the only time of year I ever even noticed the magazine.) One year we did a space ship, another year a crocodile — I’d love to show pictures, but those are in boxes of photos taken after the last ones I put in albums and before digital cameras and I don’t want to search for them right now. 🙂 I think he did win the contest with the crocodile.

When they were in high school, the seniors would sell various things on Valentine’s Day to help make money for their senior trip, from “singing Valentine’s” one year to decorated balloons or cookies or some other treat.

It wasn’t until my oldest was in college that I heard the acronym S.A.D. in connection with the day — Single Awareness Day.

As a family, we usually have a special dinner that night finished with some heart-shaped cupcakes. Sometimes it has been a specially Valentine-themed dinner, like this Crescent Heart-Topped Lasagna Casserole. I don’t do tablecloths every day, but Valentine’s is one day I use them.

I get cards for the kids and Jim, and he gets a card for me. The kids used to give us cards from the ones they used for school, but they haven’t given cards in recent years, except that Jason and Mittu have since they’ve been dating and then married.

I also like to set out a few little Valentine decorations:

Linda’s post reminded me that one year I made a Valentine Scavenger hunt — I made heart shapes and cut them in half and wrote clues on them — the clue on one led to the other half which led to another clue, etc. I don’t remember what the prize at the end was — Valentine’s candy, I think. The boys asked for that again the next year, but I had a hard enough time coming up with clues the first time. Then another year I made a big poster board Valentine with candy taped on at appropriate places in the message (like, “You make me feel like $100,000 Grand” with the candy bar in place of the words.)

For a couple of years I hosted our ladies’ group’s refreshments in February, one of my favorite times to do it. One year I made these Sweetheart Jamwiches from Southern Living magazine.:

And Peanut Butter Kiss cookies, only substituting chocolate hearts instead of Hershey’s kisses.

One year we had a special session on how to love our husbands, but other years it was just a regular meeting with Valentine-themed decorations and food.

As for those candy hearts….I can take them or leave them. I prefer chocolate, but if someone offers me these, I’ll eat a few. This is a really neat card based on them:

A very happy Valentine’s Day to each of you!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Joyce From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge of questions for fun and for getting to know each other.

1. What is more important-doing what you love or loving what you do?

Well, we don’t always get to do what we love, though it’s nice if we enjoy our main job. But even if we do, there will be times we don’t enjoy it as much. And you can do what you have to do without actually loving it. So I am not sure how to answer this. My preference would be to love what I do, but as far as which is more important…I guess learning to love what you do because you have to go against natural inclinations to do it.

2. Do you like bleu cheese?

I’ve never actually tried it, but I don’t want to. It grosses me out.

3. What is the most difficult emotion for you to handle?

Handle as in control or just as in having it or in others? I guess either way the answer would be anger because of the harm it can do to others and even to one’s own body. But self-pity is pretty hard to deal with, too.

4. Fresh flowers or a box of chocolate?

Chocolate! Especially these:

5. What’s a song you love that has the word ‘love’ in its title? It doesn’t have to be a ‘love song’.

O Wondrous Love.

6. Are you the person you wanted to be when you grew up?

Um…I think so, more or less, though I still have a long way to go and am less kind and patient than I ought to and want to be.

7. Any special Valentines Day plans?

We usually have a family dinner — sometimes something “valentine-y,” sometimes not — and I make heart-shaped cupcakes and we exchange cards.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

It’s funny how all through the day things come to mind that I think about putting on my blog — until I get here, and my mind goes blank. I keep a pad on my desk to jot down ideas, but it seems a little eccentric to carry one around with me all day.

I have a sick boy at home today — throwing up since 1:30 a.m.. There’s nothing left, but his body keeps trying. Pray for us!

The Week In Words

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

I am in a real quandary this week. I have collected about 13 quotes since last time — way too many for one post! It’s hard to choose which ones to share, but I’ll save the rest for a week when I haven’t found quite as many.

I saw this on Lisa‘s sidebar and it really hit me right between the eyes:

Only awe of God has the power to decimate your bondage to awe of you. ~ Paul Tripp’s Twitter.

Self so insidiously permeates thoughts, deeds, and motives. But as I turn my eyes to God, the power of self decreases.

This was also on Lisa‘s sidebar:

Of course you’re not up to the task, that’s why you’ve been given the presence, promises and provisions of Jesus. ~ Paul Tripp’s Twitter.

From a friend’s Facebook:

The most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable. ~ John Piper

This is from the post What If I Am Not a Gifted Evangelist? (HT to Challies) on the offense of the gospel:

Remember when Paul shared the gospel he didn’t merely receive public scorn, he regularly got put in jail. And it was from jail that Paul asked for prayer that he would be bold with the gospel. If people are offended by the message of the gospel it may be awkward, but awkward truth is better than silence.

From a church web site:

“Though faith sometimes has a trembling hand, it must not have a withered hand–it must stretch.” ~ Thomas Watson

Probably ought to leave it at that for now, as that’s plenty to try to digest for a while.

If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included. I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder.

And please — feel free to comment even if you don’t have quotes to share!

Flashback Friday: Commercials and ads

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Barbara Harper

The prompt for today is:

What commercials and advertisements–either TV/radio, magazine/newspaper, or even billboards (Burma Shave, anyone?!)–do you associate with growing up? Did you watch TV for the ads or for the programs? Can you still remember any of the songs, words or slogans from those ads? What were your favorites and least favorites? Were your parents influenced by ads when they bought things? Did you try to convince your parents to buy something as the result of a commercial? What is something you bought or did as a result of an advertisement that you later regretted (either as a child or an adult)? Feel free to share words, videos, or pictures of any ads!

Oh my — I did a whole Thursday Thirteen post a few years ago about commercials I remembered from childhood. There were regular characters — the Frito Bandito. Mr. Whipple protecting the Charmin (I always thought it strange that ladies would squeeze TP, especially in a store. But I liked Mr. Whipple better than those silly bears who advertise Charmin today.) Madge and Palmolive liquid. Juan Valdez. And the memorable repetitive slogans: “You’re soaking in it.” “Is it live, or is it Memorex?” “Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” “A Little dab’ll do ya.” The jingles: “I’d love to be an Oscar Meyer wiener.” “My bologna has a first name…” “Rice-a-roni, the San Fransisco treat.” “Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce…” “Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.” “Trust your car to the man who wears the star.”

Two of my favorites:

Loved the drama!

I was a little older when they started playing serial commercials which ran a continuing story through them. I remember the product advertised was coffee, but I don’t remember which one. In the first one, a couple meets when he comes to his neighbor’s apartment to ask to borrow coffee. In another commercial, he comes over but sees a man there instead and leaves soon, but the man is the lady’s brother. I’d love to know of they ever brought that story to a resolution!

I don’t remember my parents ever being influenced by an ad, although I am sure they must’ve been. I know I was probably induced to covet an Easy Bake oven (which I never got!) and various other toys from ads.

I do remember an ad that was probably for aspirin with the serious advice to rest, take plenty of liquids, and take aspiring regular to fight off colds. I took that as near gospel truth for years. And I remember being very discouraged by an ad for Ivory Liquid, I think, which showed two ladies’ hands and asked viewers to guess which was older, proving the 40 year old’s hands looked as young as the 20 year old’s because of Ivory Liquid — discouraged because my hands looked “old” to me even then.

I don’t remember watching TV shows just for the commercials, but I do remember when one of my little sisters would come running when the heard a familiar one and would stay glued to the TV for the duration of it just like a favorite show — and then go running back to play when it was over.

I’m sure I must’ve been disappointed as a result of several commercials, but the only thing I can remember is that food in restaurants often didn’t look as good or taste as great as the commercials depicted.

Nowadays we mute most commercials. I can’t stand that they are noisier than regular programs — and often just noisy in general. But I do like the Geico commercials with both the little gecko and the guy who draws parallels between Geico’s claims and other situations — even though we don’t have insurance with them.

We’ll watch commercials for upcoming programs and films and others occasionally that look interesting. This is one I’ve seen recently around Facebook and a few blogs but not on TV yet. It’s just adorable.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Joyce From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge of questions for fun and for getting to know each other.

1. Would you rather be seen as a person who did their duty or forged their own path?

Well…both are valuable. But I have known people who liked to forge their own path who perhaps were not going on the best path who would not listen to anyone, accept any counsel, etc. The “I did it my way” attitude is not that of a Christian in submission to God. Yet He does use brave people who aren’t afraid to step out for Him — which in a sense goes back to obedience and duty. So I think I’d have to say I’d rather be known as one who did her duty.

2. This week’s Wednesday Hodgepodge happens to fall on Groundhog’s Day. In keeping with that theme, if you could have a do-over of any one day out of the last seven, which day would it be and why. If you haven’t seen the movie Groundhog Day this question will make absolutely no sense but that’s okay….you can answer anyway.

It’s terrible that I can only remember details of the last four. I guess yesterday. I had given myself permission to have a pretty light day Monday after several days of being pretty solidly busy. Jesse was on a skiing trip Tuesday with his youth group, so I didn’t have to take him to school or pick him up — not that I mind doing so, but I was thinking without having to work around those usual events of the day, I’d be able to get a lot of errands run without having to watch the clock. But I didn’t.

3. Hot cocoa…yay or nay on the marshmallows?

Definitely yay!

4. Do you wear makeup every day? What are the top two must haves in your daily makeup routine?

I only wear a little mascara and do use it every day unless I’m sick.

5. Is it more important to you in a relationship to be loved or understood?

I don’t know how you can separate the two. It would be hard to feel loved if someone didn’t take the time to try understand you. On the other hand, probably no two people ever understand each other fully.

6. Parsley sage rosemary or thyme… your favorite?

Of those, I’m only familiar with parsley and thyme. I may have had the other two in some dishes but not enough to connect a taste to them in my mind. And those aren’t my favorites of all the spices…but I guess I’d choose parsley.

7. What do you do when you feel angry?

Seethe inwardly until I can gain the right perspective. Not healthy, I know.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Recently I posted a video of various clips of our family sledding compiled by my son to the tune of “Winter Wonderland” by Bing Crosby. I would have thought that song was in the public domain years ago. Yet YouTube is not letting it be shown in the US due to copyright violations. How come my little video only seen by a handful of people gets blocked but there are multitudes of videos of TV shows, various performances, songs, etc. with thousands and millions of hits that aren’t blocked?

And here is a cheerier thought: 46 days until spring!

The Week In Words

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Barbara Harper

It’s been a busy week since last time! But I did find a few gems along the way:

I forgot to note where I saw this one:

My complaint is not that I am in the world, but that the world is in me. I cannot get it out of my heart except as I let You in. —John Baird

I like the thought of crowding out the world by letting Christ in — instead of just combating worldliness, following Christ proactively and letting Him fill the space that worldliness would take.

On a friend’s Facebook page:

“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.” ~Author unknown

From a post of Janet‘s:

Questions about God’s goodness or why He allows suffering are usually asked by comfortable people in comfortable houses with comfortable educations, but they’re answered by those who are walking through the most extreme trials.

Seen at Challies:

In public worship all should join. The little strings go to make up a concert, as well as the great. —Thomas Goodwin

And please — feel free to comment even if you don’t have quotes to share!

Flashback Friday: Olympic Memories

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Barbara Harper

The prompt for today is:

Did you and your family watch the Olympics when you were growing up? Which was your overall favorite – summer or winter? Which individual events were your favorites? Since blogging is international, which country did you cheer for? Have you ever been to an Olympics or known anyone who competed? What are some of the hallmark memories of the Olympics that you remember? Did the Olympics ever inspire you to take a certain sport (or practice more!)? Do you prefer watching them the old way when everything was delayed in the days before 24-hour cable and internet? Do you watch them more or less today than you did when you were growing up? What about the Special Olympics? Have you ever had any involvement with them?

Yes, we did watch them, or at least parts of them. I loved gymnastics, both men’s and women’s, in the summer and all the different kinds of ice skating in the winter, so it’s hard to say which I liked more.

I rooted for the USA, of course, but some times I cheered for personal favorites from other countries as well.

We lived just outside of Atlanta when the summer Olympics were held there in 1996, but we figured the traffic, lines, and throngs of people would be horrendous, so we didn’t go. I do kind of regret that now — it would have been nice to have been a part of a historic moment and to have taken the boys. But some dear friends of ours came up from SC to attend a couple of events (fairly obscure ones, from what I remember, that weren’t sold out and were a little more affordable), and we had a nice time with them. That was the year a bomb went off fairly early in the week, making us even more glad at the time that we hadn’t gone.

No, the Olympics never inspired me to take a sport — I am about as nonathletic as a body can be.

I like being able to watch events in real time. I do watch more now than I did as a child.

I’ve never personally had any involvement in the Special Olympics, but a coach in college was heavily involved and recruited many students to help as well. That was the first I had ever even heard of them.

My earliest Olympic memories are of gymnast Cathy Rigby and later Mary Lou Retton during the summer Olympics and Scott Hamilton in the winter. I remember watching Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill skate, but I can’t remember if it was during the Olympics. One of my all time favorite events was from 1984 when Torville and Dean ice-danced to Bolero. I thought this was one of the most beautiful, graceful things I had ever seen:

And the Three Musketeers by Phillipe Candeloro in 1998 was such fun, especially the sword fighting at about 3:27 in:

I also remember the year Katarina Witt and Debi Thomas were top contenders in skating, the “battle of the Brians,” Dan Janssen’s sad skate after learning his sister had died, Mark Spitz’s swimming, Greg Louganis bonking his head while diving, Kerri Strug’s beautiful vault while injured, Jackie Joyner Kersee’s track races, the “Miracle on Ice” Hockey Game (I liked it much better when it was just “amateur” athletes), and of course Micheal Phelps’s achievements at the last summer Olympics. So inspiring. I’m not much of a sports fan, but there is just something about the Olympics.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Joyce From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge of questions for fun and for getting to know each other.

1. Will you watch the Super Bowl? If so who will you root for? If you are outside the USA what is the ‘big deal sporting event’ in your own country?

No, we’re not football fans. I’m American but the only “big deal sporting event” I’m interested in is the Olympics.

2. Is ignorance bliss?

It depends. If I am having a medical procedure, I don’t really want to know all the details — that would just give me that much more to ~~worry~~ be concerned about. But too often ignorance is detrimental. On the other hand, missionary stories of tribal people show that, though they may not have access to knowledge in developed countries, they have knowledge and skills we know nothing of.

3. Which of the seven dwarfs are you? (and just in case your Disney is a little bit rusty, here they are-Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy)

Bashful and Grumpy.

4. When you are riding in the car with another couple how do you organize the seating? (Men up front? Women up front? Couples sit together?) And thanks to Lori at Mountain Woman at Heart for the question! Everyone go say hi to Lori.

Usually couples together.

5. What is beauty?

That’s hard to answer. Whatever it is, it is in the eye of the beholder: different things are beautiful to different people. And it is not just visual: writing, music, holiness, many things are beautiful. I decided to check Dictionary.com, which said, “the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest).” Yep, that about sums it up. 🙂

6. If someone asks you to bring an appetizer or a dessert to a party in their home, which would you choose?

Usually a dessert. I have a better repertoire of them plus most can be made ahead without having to keep them warm or cold.

7. What is your crowd pleasing go-to appetizer?

Little sausages or meatballs in the crockpot in barbecue sauce.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I have a weird question: how do you make eyebrow hairs lay down? This didn’t use to be a problem, but over the last few years they’ve decided to assert themselves. Neither combing them down while wet nor using gel helps. I don’t look quite like this yet, but I want to avoid it!

The Week In Words

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Here are a few that spoke to me this week:

This was quoted in an Elisabeth Elliot devotional, taken from a chapter in All That Was Ever Ours titled, “Fear, Suffering, Love”:

There are tenderhearted people who virtually object to the whole scheme of creation. They would neither have force used nor pain suffered; they talk as if kindness could do everything, even where it is not felt. Millions of human beings but for suffering would never develop an atom of affection. The man who would spare due suffering is not wise. Because a thing is unpleasant, it is folly to conclude it ought not to be. There are powers to be born, creations to be perfected, sinners to be redeemed, through the ministry of pain, to be born, perfected, redeemed, in no other way. ~ George MacDonald, What’s Mine’s Mine.

So true — I would rather there were no suffering, but God has His purposes in it and there are things accomplished through it.

I saw this on someone’s blogs after a series of one link leading to another:

While I regarded God as a tyrant I thought my sin a trifle; But when I knew Him to be my Father, then I mourned that I could ever have kicked against Him. When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so, and sought my good. ~ C. H. Spurgeon

It was the thought of God’s anger and punishment for my sin that made me aware of my need, but it was His love that drew me to Him for salvation.

From Robin Lee Hatcher’s Facebook about lessons from Exodus:

When God speaks to a responsive heart, it melts. When God speaks to an unresponsive heart, it hardens.

And back to Elisabeth Elliot again, this time from “As We Forgive Those….” from Love Has a Price Tag:

To forgive is to die. It is to give up one’s right to self, which is precisely what Jesus requires of anyone who wants to be his disciple.

“If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps, he must give up all right to himself, carry his cross every day and keep close behind me. For the man who wants to save his life will lose it, but the man who loses his life for my sake will save it.”

Following Christ means walking the road he walked, and in order to forgive us he had to die. His follower may not refuse to relinquish his own right, his own territory, his own comfort, or anything that he regards as his. Forgiveness is relinquishment. It is a laying down. No one can take it from us, any more than anyone could take the life of Jesus if he had not laid it down of his own will. But we can do as he did. We can offer it up, writing off whatever loss it may entail, in the sure knowledge that the man who loses his life or his reputation or his “face” or anything else for the sake of Christ will save it.

And that’s why it is so hard. 🙂 But the remembrance of His forgiveness of me helps me to forgive others — whatever they did to me is much less than my sin against Him.

And please — feel free to comment even if you don’t have quotes to share!

Flashback Friday: Inventions

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Barbara Harper

The prompt for today is:

What new inventions or technology came out when you were growing up that you remember being amazed at? Were your parents “early adopters”–did they get the “latest and greatest” pretty quickly or did they stick with the “tried and true”? What are some things that you remember being a big deal when your family got them? (These may be items like stereos or kitchen equipment or bigger things such as carpet.) Were your folks prone to updating their furniture periodically or did they keep their old furniture forever? How was the way they were raised impact the way you were raised? And how did your upbringing influence the way you are today?

I do remember when the first microwaves came out when I was a teen-ager. The family of a friend got one as a gift, and the dad was a little suspicious of them: he said he “could taste the microbes.” It was a while before we got one. At first everyone used them just for heating leftovers, but then people got a little more adventurous with them, and before long microwavable food proliferated in the stores. I remember at first this tannish plastic stuff was touted as microwave safe dishes (I just finally got rid of mine last month after not using it for years), but eventually people learned you could put anything in there except metal and some plastics.

I saw the transition in filming from only a few people having 16mm reel to reel films to many people having clunky video cameras on tripods (every school program or recital looked like a press conference) to almost everyone having a smaller hand-held video recorder to these days most people filming with their camera or cell phone.

I didn’t have central heating or AC or automatic dishwashers growing up (my aunt had central AC and I thought that was the height of luxury). We had fans going constantly in summer time and big clunky gas heaters in each room for heat during winter. It was a tremendous blessing to get an electric typewrite to replace my manual one in college. Diet sodas were limited and tasted awful. McDonald’s was a restaurant before my time but Happy Meals were introduced the year I was married, 1979.

Phones used to be rotary dialed with a twisted cord, and it was great when they invented longer cords so one could move about the house a bit more while talking. Of course, then came cordless phones (it’s funny to see an old TV show and remember how big and clunky they were at first) and eventually cell phones. Car phones originally required installation .

I remember in college having to accumulate punched cards about the size of a business envelope for registration. It was a really big deal that the science lab had a computer students could use. Personal computers were coming out right about the time I graduated from college, and we had an early Vic 20 and Commodore 64. The screens were dark and the letters were green and the only computer game was Pong. It’s amazing how much we played that!

The Hula Hoop was invented the year after I was born. Nondairy creamer was invented when I was 4, audio cassettes when I was 5 (although I remember my dad sending reel-to-reel audio cassettes back and forth to his brother in Viet Nam), permanent press fabric when I was 7, compact disks when I was 8 (though I don’t think they were widely used for years), the first hand-held calculator when I was 10, the ATM and bar-code scanner when I was 12, the VCR when I was 14, post-it notes when I was 17, cell phones and Walkmans when I was 22, the Apple MacIntosh when I was 27, Doppler radar when I was 31, answering machines when I was 34 (all of that info. came from this site.) It’s amazing how much of that we take for granted these days and how fast the technology for some of it advanced.

Whenever I go to a baby shower I am amazed at what has been invented since I had babies. A lot of it is really neat — sippy cups and portable car seats that double as a carrier and those little plastic things that help a baby sit up in a tub. But sometimes I want to reassure new moms that they really don’t need everything that’s out there. But I suppose we don’t really need all of any of the things that we have that are new inventions — yet we quickly learn to depend on them.

In my younger years money was tighter and my dad wasn’t inclined to get the latest “new thing.” When my mom and step-dad married, the money woes eased over time and they were a little quicker to get a new appliance or something but it just depended. I’m not so gadgety when it comes to kitchen and household things, but, again, it just depends on what it is and how expensive it is (it took me years to decide whether I wanted a George Foreman grill or not). All of the males in my family are very much into the latest technology, though, and are very much aware of when something new is coming. They usually don’t buy it right off the bat unless they can find a good deal on it — my husband is great at that. It used to be that any new technology was very expensive at first and then lowered in price over time, but it seems nowadays that doesn’t seem to be the case as much.

Furniture — both the family I came from and I tend to keep it until it’s pretty worn out before changing. I’m not one to rearrange furniture or decorations very much (it takes me too long to decide where to put things in the first place) though I am drawn to decorative things for the home and have to guard against accumulating too much.

This look back has been fun but makes me feel very old! Mostly I do enjoy the inventions that have proliferated over my lifetime.