Hurricane Irene Might Spoil Our US Open Plans

Here are some photos of the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, N.Y. from last year when the weather was very hot but no rain except for a little showers for about 25 minutes or so one day out of the 6 that we were there. Well, it looks like things might not go so smoothly for us this year because of the Hurricane that is due to hit this area Saturday into Sunday. Sure, the rain will end by Sunday night, but there's always the worries of floods, power outages, delays or cancellations of trains and other factors that could spoil things for Monday especially. It might be okay by Tuesday but I'm hearing some doom and gloom reports on the news. We have to take the train and subway to get out there, no way could I do any city driving. Very scary and stressful, esp in those areas that we'd have to take to get there. I'm just praying that things work out alright but I'm not very hopeful.

I feel bad that I have not responded to comments on my posts lately. I've had very limited computer time and I've also been catching up on tasks, projects and other chores. I promise that I will do so and also read and comment on posts of my friends here in the blog world as soon as I can. Next week is going to be a very busy one with us being away most of the day for the tennis event so it won't be for another 10 days. I'll miss being in touch with you all and I'll send out my thanks for everyone who has been reading my posts.

Disney World 1976 - Part 3

I was looking through my photo albums the other day and it just hit me that it has been 35 years since my family and I went to Disney World. I just had to scan some more of these photos. I had done a couple of posts about our trip there before but never really labeled them 1 and 2. These bring back some great vacation memories for me.

The top set of photos is the Haunted Mansion and Adventureland. The 2nd set includes Mark, Mom and I by the castle and also outside the Disney Story. The 3rd set has Mark and I by the train ride and riverboat and also includes the ride that we never went on that time or during our 1983 trip - I think it's called Space Mountain. The bottom 4 photos are of It's A Small World.

Music Boxes - Lara's Theme

My parent's favourite movie is Doctor Zhivago. Their wedding song was the theme from this which is called Somewhere My Love aka Lara's Theme. They gave me the name from that character in this film. My grandma got the music box in the bottom photo on her trip to Germany for mom before I was even born. The piano one was given to me by my parents when I was very young. I've had it for as long as I can remember. It also is a jewelry box and has a little ballerina inside that twirls around when the music is playing but that broke a long time ago.

I actually used to not like my name. I'd get annoyed when people would say it wrong calling me Laura instead of Lara but I was usually too afraid to correct them but when I was in my mid 20's I did start correcting people who did this. Well, I did see my grade school principal about 12 years ago and she called me Laura only I was still too scared to tell Sister Donna that my name is Lara. That does seem rather ridiculous. I'm not sure why some people have trouble with my name - it's like Sara or Tara with an L.

Muppets Stuff 2

The towel was originally mom's but she gave it to me by the end of the 1980s. It was hardly ever used so it looks like new. I got the Miss Piggy and Kermit dolls as a Christmas gift in 1981. I have a picture of me holding them on a post about that year's holiday. I have such great memories of watching The Muppet Show with my brother. Mom enjoyed it too!

Movie Memories of the 1970s

Our family friend Al who was like an uncle to us had a projector, screen and the movie reels for these 3 films that he showed to us at our house on seperate occasions in the 1970s. Willie Wonka and Bedknobs and Broomsticks were shown in our basement. My brother and I had our friends over to watch them with us. One was for my birthday - Wonka, I think. Young Frankenstein was shown in our yard on a beautiful summer's night. He worked in the theater as did my Aunt Dorothy so we were lucky and got to see alot of free movies up until about 1983. Mom said that we went to most of the Disney films although I only really remember The Rescuers.

My Lunchboxes

I got these 2 photos from ebay and another site since I no longer have the actual lunchboxes. I loved them both and do enjoy seeing collections of lunchboxes, many of them are so cool. The Tupperware one came with containers inside for a sandwich, snack and juice. We mostly brown bagged our lunches once we were in 7th grade. I don't even remember ever getting anything except maybe a drink from our high school cafeteria occasionally. In grade school Fridays were hot lunch days which my brother and I would sometimes get. The choices were limited - hot dogs and Ellios pizza. There was also milk, chips and those Carvel ice cream sandwiches - Flying Saucers?

Former Favourite Foods

I had this commercial jingle playing in my head this morning so I just had to look it up. I liked the Mounds and Mom liked the Almond Joy. I didn't remember that they had a milk chocolate Mounds though. I don't really like this candy much anymore because the coconut makes gives me an upset stomach. I hate that certain foods that I used to enjoy do that to me now, like peppers. Mom would always make us our favorite meal for our birthdays when we were kids and mine was always stuffed peppers.

Snoopy Christmas Book

Just a quick post today - here's a Peanuts book that I forgot to include in my last post, which had been a special request by Chelly. I was looking through my folder of photos this afternoon and found this. I spent the past 2 hours escaping to my childhood by looking at the pictures of alot of my stuff from back then, including books, knick knacks and stuffed animals. I didn't want to be in the present after my stressful morning at the car dealership where I was getting my Kia fixed because there was a recall on a few things. I then found out a few more expensive things that must be done to it which made me upset. These will have to wait until next month. I will try to be like Pam and think positively and not let all this get to me. Hopefully on Friday I will have more mental energy and time to spend on the computer where reading and commenting on posts will definitely be a priority. Being at that place today for 4 hours totally wore me out.

My Peanuts Books

I forgot that I even had some of these Peanuts books, except for the one in the top photo and also the It's A Mystery,Charlie Brown. I have many of my books in storage totes because this apartment is smaller in some regards. I had a bigger bedroom and even a living room area in the basement of our old one so I was able to put all my books in cases there. I'm upset with myself for not storing them more carefully, 4 of them got bent out of shape, but I was happy to see that I still have them and the Yogi Bear Goldenbook too. They were such fun to read back when I was a kid. I might just re-read them someday soon.

Made In the U.S.A. - 2

I wore a dress for the first time in many years last Sunday. Before I put it and the slip on I checked the tags to see where they were made which I've been doing with my clothes and also other things lately. I did the Snoopy dance of joy in my imagination when I noticed that both items are actually made in The U.S.A! I got this dress in Kohl's a few years ago and this is the first time that I've worn it. The slip I have had since the early 1990's, I think. I haven't worn that much. Maybe it's even older than that. A couple of days later I checked the tag on my pink tank top from Walmart after taking it off and once again I was in happy mode when I saw that this too was made here. I'm hoping to find more American made items around here. I looked at the back of a plate after washing it the other day and it is Corelle brand which I forgot is made in our country. We used to have that brand in the 70s and early 80s and got this set about 10 years ago.

My Two Grandmas - 1983

The top photo is of my father's mother , our grandma next door. Mom married the boy next door. They moved into my mom's mother's apartment and she moved onto the farm with her brothers. We got to see Grandma Wancea practically everyday. That's our cousin Sal in back of my brother. He's the son of Aunt Dorothy, my dad's sister who recently passed away. We did not get to see our grandma at the farm that much, just 3 - 5 times a year. It's not like she lived that far, just about an hour away. Dad didn't seem to like going there which isn't fair. Cousin Mary is in the picture with Mark, Grandma Wrunski and I. This must've been about the time of our return trip from Florida. We always though of her as grandma at the farm even when she moved to a house closer to Aunt Al. She died in 1986 a few months after her 80th birthday.

1986 Met Life Snoopy Commercial

I just wanted to share a commercial that I liked from the 1980s today. I was watching some of the Peanuts Met Life ads on You Tube today. I just got back into the Peanuts comic strip in the paper over the past couple of months. I hadn't really read the funny pages in years and am not sure why I gave up on them. The Peanuts was always one of my favs. I still have 4 or 5 books that I got in the early 80's. I've been collecting Snoopy Hallmark ornaments for the past 14 years.

The Best of Disney record

My brother and I loved this album when we were kids. I haven't listened to it probably in about 30 years. My favorite songs on it are Once Upon A Dream - Sleeping Beauty, The Bare Necessities - The Jungle Book, When You Wish Upon a Star- Pinocchio and Chim-Chim-Cher-ee from Mary Poppins. I kind of would like to hear this album again. I do still have a record player but I'm not even sure if it still works, it might just need a new needle. The last time I used it was about 15 years ago when I put some of mom's albums onto tape.