Some 1980s Hallmark Christmas Decorations-Part 2

 I used to collect raccoon items in the late 1970s-early 1990s, including these ornaments

Santa, Otter 1995, and a sleeping bear

Wall hanging decorations

Some 1980s Hallmark Christmas Decorations

Stocking hanger

Mom's ornaments

The reindeer stuffed animal in the middle of photo 5 might be another brand, as is the mouse (second from the left) in photo 3.

 

Chiller Theatre Show- October 28, 2017- Part 2

 

Tony didn’t get any autographs. He was going to get Linda Miller’s as Mike had done but changed his mind. He did purchase a dragon figure. Mike bought a Pops figure, Sara Jane from “Doctor Who”. I didn’t get anything from the vendor’s area. I did see a Castiel from “Supernatural” Pops figure but it cost too much for me. I have 4 Doctor Who ones that were gifts. I better not get into this collectible like I did with beanie babies- I regret spending so much on those!

  Once again, part of me was wishing that I could have attended the “Supernatural” convention in Secaucus. I think that it was earlier this month. They already have plans for another one there next year. That is way beyond my budget, however. I was curious about the cost of the gold package- for the whole weekend and a bunch of perks- is nearly $1,000.00.  I told Mike about this and we both agree that this is insane.

  We went to the Chinese Buffet afterwards for dinner. I feel uneasy about this type of place but did my best to make the healthiest choices that I could, except for the ice cream. Tony had some mint chocolate chip which is my favorite flavor so I did too. If I hadn’t snacked on 2 of Mike’s chocolate chip cookies earlier, I wouldn’t have felt as bad about this.

  Mike was telling Tony about the Winter Con in Queens on December 2. Five stars from “Buck Rogers” and four from “Blade Runner” are going to be there. Tony seemed a little interested in the latter but he probably will be busy working that day. Mike said that he would pay for my ticket so I suppose that I will go with him.

   He ordered the DVDs of “Buck Rogers” and wants me to watch it with him. I told him that I will do so; we used to have fun watching this show and” Battlestar Galactica” together when we were kids. We recently saw an episode of the latter in which Randolph Mantooth was one of the guest stars.

  He is hoping that they have a 40^th anniversary reunion of the Battlestar”’ people next year at either Chiller or Winter Con. That would be nice. He met a couple of them at other shows. I am glad that I got to see Richard Hatch at one with him in 2008. He passed away sometime this year. I met the guy who played Boomer like 17 years ago. Both actors were nice. My brother is more into this show than I am, obviously. I found out that my therapist liked it too.

   I kind of regret not getting up enough courage to attend a few of the other Chiller Theatre shows. I was too anxious to go with Tony and Mike because Dad was with them. I missed out on seeing some “Love Boat”, “Happy Days”, and “Star Trek- TNG “actors then. I somehow got up enough nerve this time even though he was originally going to join us. I am such a bad girl for feeling relieved that I didn’t have to interact with him. God must be really displeased with me because of this.

Chiller Theatre Show- October 28, 2017- Part 1

 

This was such an exhausting day, both physically and mentally. The place was crazy crowded so I was feeling pretty anxious. Somehow, I got through all of this madness. I guess that it was worth it. Part of me would have rather been at home watching the tennis though.

   Pop didn’t come with us because he still isn’t feeling well. Tony got the “Leave It to Beaver” stars, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers, autographs for him. We don’t know why he wanted to spend even more money on them signing his DVD of that show; it was the same expensive price for this, no deals like some stars.

   Mike and I went to the room that Randolph Mantooth was in first. Luckily, it wasn’t crowded in there yet. Mike showed him the Halloween 1976 photos that I had printed out. That was the year that he was dressed as a fireman, with the Emergency! helmet and megaphone. I didn’t really hear what Mr. Mantooth said about this; I was too nervous about getting his autograph to notice.

   I can’t even remember if I said hello to him or not before he asked my name. I spelled it out- was that really necessary, maybe he did hear me correctly after all. I had my photo taken with him as Mark had- the price wasn’t bad, otherwise we wouldn’t have done so. I said thank you to him twice throughout this encounter. I feel stupid for doing that. I should have said “Have a nice day” or “It was nice meeting you”.

   The line for Robert Fuller was long so we decided to wait until later to go back to that. Mike hadn’t been sure if he wanted to get his autograph or not; I kind of talked him into it. He was still upset that the other “Emergency!” star, Kevin Tighe, wasn’t there. Geez, he was more into this show than I even realized.

   Other stars that we saw- 3 each from “Sanford and Son” (the 2 cops and Rollo), “Land of the Lost”, and “Little House on the Prairie” (those who played Nellie, Carrie, and Almonzo); 4 from “Charles in Charge”, including Willie Ames; some from the wrestling world- Mean Gene Okerlund and Nikolai Volkoff,; Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlene Tilton, Larry Storch, Todd Bridges, and Barry Williams. I was thinking about Sharon when I saw the latter because she loves “The Brady Bunch”.

   There was a room with music stars but I didn’t really know any of them. Melissa Manchester wasn’t in there with them. I think that she was in the room with a guy from “The Sopranos”. I would have to check the program booklet. Tony Danza was in his own private room so unless you waited on the line to get his autograph, you couldn’t even see him.

  When we did return to Mr. Fuller’s line, the lady told us that in 15 minutes he would be going to do a panel and wouldn’t be back until about 3 p.m. We waited and prayed that we would get to meet him before he left but the person before us was the last to do so. If we hadn’t gone out to put our coats in the car and have a snack, we would have been just in time.

   We decided to go to that panel. The one before this was running a bit late so we waited on line. We found out 15 minutes later when we were about to go in the room that it was for fan club members only. We had like 45 minutes to kill so we went to see some of the stars that had been out on breaks and gaze at others again.

   Mr. Fuller’s panel must have been running late too- he go back to his table about 3:15. Mike was chatting with him a bit, mentioning that he had met his friend Robert Pine at a previous show. He seemed happy to hear this. I wasn’t as nervous talking to him and even shook his hand as Mike did. My brother also had done this with Mr. Mantooth earlier. I could barely look at him so no way would I have been able to shake his hand, unless he had held his out first- it would have been rude and strange not to reciprocate.

Dreamtime- March 22, 2004- Party in Maine

Mom and I were at a party at a nice beach house in Maine. Fictional friends of the family were the hosts. Aunt Ann and her four kids, Missy, Kevin, Donna, and Fran were there. A few of our other friends, Kathy, Helen and Maureen were too.

   We all looked younger, as we did in about 1986. It was a little disappointing that my brother wasn’t part of this storyline. I guess that he was unable to make it to this get-together. I wondered why.

   I was talking to a guy who looked like the actor who plays Jamie on “EastEnders”. I wasn’t even feeling that nervous. We chatted for about 15 minutes before he went outside to play horseshoes with three of the other guests.

    My cousin Kevin accidentally called me Sara instead of Lara; he apologized for this. He told me that my mother and aunt went for a walk.

   I saw Missy but it was so strange that she looked about only 10 years old. In reality, she is only 3 years younger than me so she should be 13 here. Time and other things are often different in the holodeck. She was playing a board game, Parcheesi, with 2 other kids around her age.

   While a boy was taking his turn, she gave me a picture of a dog that she had drawn. I thanked her for this. I folded it in half and put it in my sweater pocket.

   I suddenly felt tired, but it didn’t feel natural. It was almost as if the mean aliens were making me feel this way. I fell asleep on the couch in the rec room. I had put my glasses on the coffee table before doing so. When I woke up about 25 minutes later, I could not find my glasses which made me feel panicky.

   I looked around for about 30 seconds and spotted a pair but these were not mine. Then, in other spots throughout this room there were five more pairs, none of them mine either. I was very upset about this. I went out into the hallway and finally found mine on a table next to a vase of flowers. I was so relieved.

   I guess that this was yet another terrible thing that had been done to me by the aliens who sometimes hack into Sam’s programs. It is twisted that they seem to like upsetting me.

   I went into the living room. Fran and a few others were watching “Magnum P. I.” on a big screen television. I watched it a little while with them and talked to Fran for a bit during the commercials.

   I decided to go outside. On the deck, I saw Helen, Kathy, and a few other people sitting around a picnic table. I talked to them for a little while before taking a walk.

   Only about 10 minutes away from this house was a small restaurant. I wanted to see what it was like so I went inside. I saw Mom and Aunt Ann sitting at one of the tables. That was odd; why would they want to eat here and not at the party?

   I didn’t go over to them right away. I was looking at the photos on the wall. There were some of famous people that had signatures on them. They must have been customers at this place.

     I saw Hall & Oates and Jon Bon Jovi, who looked as he did in the early 1990s. He was wearing a leather jacket, sunglasses, and was sitting on a motorcycle. I couldn’t help thinking “Oh brother”. Even in a family storyline, that guy has to show up in it somehow.

   When I went back towards the table that my aunt and mother were at, they were no longer there. Maybe they had walked back to the house. I started doing so too but could not find it. Had I been going the wrong way and gotten lost? How could I have done that though? Maybe the aliens messed with my sense of direction.

    I turned around and headed the opposite way. I was certain that I was now near the spot in which this home was located, only it was not there anymore. I was feeling both angry and upset. This holodeck program had been kind of cool except for when it was being interfered with by the bullies.

   They had made the house and my friends and family disappear. I was feeling so scared and alone, as I have been in real life. I wasn’t sure what to do next. I checked my sweater pocket; the doggie picture was still in there.

   I sat down on a bench outside of the diner. I was feeling sleepy again so I closed my eyes. When I opened them up a few minutes later, I saw that I was now back in my bedroom on Earth. I noticed a piece of paper on my dresser that hadn’t been there before; it was the drawing that my cousin had made for me.

   I was glad that Sam had let me keep this. I heard his voice in my head telling me that he was sorry that he was unable to prevent the program from being corrupted. He said that he would try to find a way to stop this from happening in the future, but it would be hard because the mean aliens were extremely sneaky and highly intelligent.

"Magnum PI"

Jamie- "EastEnders"

Note- The 2nd photo is from the internet

    

    

Bon Jovi Concert Memories 2000-2007- Part 4

November 4, 2007 – Prudential Center, Newark, NJ

They were doing 10 shows at this new venue. I overheard the girl on line in front of us saying that she had purchased tickets for 7 of them. That definitely seems kind of obsessive. Were they all for her or some for just friends?  We had craptastic seats all the way to the side of the stage. I’m just glad that we even were at this event despite this.

    I bought the tour book which was $30.00, the most I’ve ever paid for one of theirs. Mike talked to a guy from Sweden when we were on line for that before the show. He got ice cream from the Carvel stand. I was still feeling a little sick. It was stupid that I didn’t take off my jacket; it was feeling kind of warm there. I was also beating myself up for not putting the binocular case behind me. The seats are small and the space between rows is narrow at this venue.

   Daughtry was the opening act. I knew 4 of the songs.  We had to stand during “Livin’ on a Prayer” because the people in front of us were doing so and blocking our view. “Lost Highway” was the first song and” I’ll Sleep When I’ m Dead “the last one. Mike was doing a song count – 22. We had a really good time.

   It was embarrassing when my brother yelled out “We love you, Bon Jovi” during one point of the show. I was happy that JBJ would sometimes come over to our side of the stage so I got a great view of him then.  Mike teased me for using the binoculars a lot and for singing and swaying to some of the music.

   It’s such a relief being able to take the train to concerts which is why I like when they are in the city and now here. There is way too much stress driving to them.  If they had one going to the Meadowlands we probably would have gone to many more events there. Well not a whole lot because of financial reasons but definitely more. 

Bon Jovi Concert Memories- 2000-2007- Part 3

 Saturday July 29, 2006- Giants Stadium

My driving anxiety was very high that day. I was so happy when I saw that Stadium and was almost there. I pictured JBJ telling me that it’s going to be alright during the drive there. Their “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” song was on the radio then.

   Two girls invited me to hang out with them and their guy friend in the parking lot. The guy adjusted the bass on my car stereo so it sounds better now. They offered me a drink but I don’t like alcohol so I said no. A friend of theirs who arrived later said that I was brave for driving there after I told her about my driving anxiety. She said that she would do anything for JBJ.

   They all thought that I was younger than I actually am which made me feel good.

    A water balloon was thrown and when it burst my glasses got a little wet. I wanted to wipe them off but my idiot side wouldn’t let me. Why was I thinking that they would be okay? When I got home I noticed that they were a bit spotty so this must’ve spoiled my view somewhat during the show. I can’t do a damn thing right.

  I also shouldn’t have listened to the one girl who said that the opening act, Nickelback, wouldn’t start until 8:00. I know that these acts usually begin at between 7:00 and 7:20 and thanks to me not listening to my smart side I missed 2 or 3 of their songs. I didn’t get to my seat until around 7:30 after using the bathroom.

   I had lied to my brother telling him that I was going to a Huey Lewis & the News concert at PNC because I didn’t want him teasing me and saying that I’m obsessed with Bon Jovi.  I was also afraid that he might be kind of mad at me for not asking if he wanted a ticket to this event.

   It turned out that the people that I had hung out with were in the same row as me, further down. The one girl stood next to me after she returned from the bathroom and asked if she could borrow my binoculars during one of my favorite songs,” Have a Nice Day”.

   I was worried that she might drop them and they would break. My brother would be so mad if that happened. She gave them back to me after 30 seconds but it seemed much longer than that. All that worrying and wanting to get a closer view of Jon myself took away from my enjoyment of this song.

   I felt foolish for dancing around/swaying to the music during “It’s My Life”,” Bad Medicine” and part of “Livin’ On a Prayer”. I also sang along during part of that” Home” song. It’s okay for everyone else to do such things at concerts but it never feels right for me.

   I was thinking “He’s such a ham” and “Such a nice smile” about Jon during the show.

   Afterwards, I was feeling really anxious because I couldn’t find my car. I was waiting in it for at least an hour so that the traffic would die down and I wouldn’t be as stressed out about the drive home.  Further anxiety occurred when a firework exploded nearby. I screamed. I had my radio on. One of the songs that played was “Stairway to Heaven”.

  Mom was spaced out from overdoing it on her meds before and after the concert so I was feeling angry and upset about this. It’s hard not to let that affect my memories of these events. They always seem to stand out more than the good times that I’ve had at them.

Bon Jovi Concert Memories- 2000-2007- Part 2

 Monday November 28, 2005 – MSG, NYC

I was really excited about seeing them at the Garden for the first time. I went to Macy’s beforehand as I always do when attending concerts in the city. I bought 2 sweaters, one of them my favorite color, purple and 2 pairs of gold tone earrings.

   I talked to a nice girl in the souvenir stand line. I should have asked where she and her husband were from. Their accent sounded Australian, but they could’ve been from New Zealand – aren’t these 2 similar? They saw the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.

   Someone asked me to take a picture of him and his friends like at the DD concert here earlier this year. I hope that it came out okay in both instances.

   During the very first song I did not see Jon on the stage and was wondering why he would be singing this backstage. My idiot brain didn’t even think to look around the Garden for him. When I looked down at the floor level in front of me I saw him walking past heading for the stage. I am pretty sure that he had been all the way at the other end of this place during this performance. I’ll never forgive myself for this incident of sheer stupidity.

   At one point during the show a girl in front of me called him fucking hot which I was laughing about on the inside. There was a girl on stage who did some inappropriate touching of him – her hands went down the front of his legs.

   Jon was straight across from my section with the crowd around him during “Blaze of Glory”.  I guess he was standing on a platform type thingy. Jon and Richie sang “I’ll Be There for You” together. “Wanted Dead or Alive” was the last song.

    The screens weren’t working sometimes and the top of them were a little blocked from my viewpoint. I used the binoculars a lot. Was it too much?  This and not enough is always an issue for me at concerts. Mike would have said that I was overusing them, that’s for sure.  I pressed them up too close up against my glasses. I think that my headache was from this. Perhaps I shouldn’t have done so, but if I hadn’t maybe I wouldn’t have held them as steady. What a ridiculous thing to be reflecting upon.

    I was wishing that I could see them again at CAA as a birthday treat but I’m never lucky at getting a ticket for their concerts at that venue because they sell out quickly.

Bon Jovi Concert Memories- 2000-2007- Part 1

 Bon Jovi Concert Memories

Friday November 10, 2000- First Union Center, Philadelphia, PA

I was very excited about going to my first Bon Jovi concert. We weren’t able to get tickets for their show at the Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands, NJ so Matt got us these. It was such a good show. We rented binoculars. He bought me the souvenir book.

  A couple of people in front of me were standing during a few songs which I didn’t feel like doing but now sort of wish that I had. I had to look around them which was annoying. “Livin’ on a Prayer” was one of the songs. I didn’t really look at the screen much which I’m also regretting.

 

Tuesday July 24, 2001- Tweeter Center, Camden, NJ

Mom had one of her bad hallucination episodes from overdoing it on her meds and had to be hospitalized before this. I didn’t use the binoculars at all. I probably wasn’t thinking straight because I was worrying about her and was mad that she did this.

   There were pretty lights in the background on the stage during “I’ll Be There for You”. A beautiful girl danced with Jon during part of” Bed of Roses”. Another girl touched him on the butt at one point during the show which was very inappropriate.

   I was feeling so ugly and also was ashamed that I was going a bit gaga over Jon, thinking that he is so damn cute. I definitely wanted to go to their Giants Stadium show after seeing this fantastic one. This was in 4 days but I was afraid that Matt would be mad at me if I got us tickets for it.

 

Saturday July 28, 2001- Giants Stadium, Meadowlands, NJ

I was afraid that Matt was mad at me for getting these tickets. He did seem a little annoyed and I was upset that he picked me up late and that he told me that his friends who he had been hanging out with actually had to remind him that he was supposed to be taking me to this concert that night. 

   We picked the tickets up at the will call (?) window at the box office. I missed part of Sugar Ray’s performance thanks to his lateness. We were in seats nearly in the top row of the stadium.

   A girl did the inappropriate touching of Jon’s butt at this show too. Matt and I were joking about this. They performed “Never Say Goodbye”, my senior prom song. During this I was afraid that Matt would get mad at me if I told him to stop touching my back which was feeling a bit sore from standing so much.

    I really got into “Bad Medicine” and “It’s My Life” which is semi embarrassing. There were fireworks at the end of the concert. It was being taped for a special on VH1 which we did watch. It looks like they might’ve filmed the 2 shows at this venue and used footage from both.

   Was part of the reason that I wanted to see them again so soon because I was mad at myself for not using the binoculars and looking at the screen during the Camden show? Perhaps, but mostly I wanted to have yet another enjoyable Bon Jovi experience. They put on such an excellent show.

Friday August 8, 2003- Giants Stadium

I worried that it might rain during this concert. Mike bought me the book. I had cigarette burn anxiety again because of the girl smoking next to me. The smoke was annoying too. She was moving her arms around a lot.

   Cell phone users were very distracting as was my brother a bit because he was asking some questions during part of the show. I was beating myself up, wondering if maybe I should have used the binoculars more and focused them better.

   Richie sang” I’ll Be There for You”. There were fireworks at the end of the concert. Jason Mraz and another guy were the opening acts.

 

Dreamtime- February 5, 2010- Bon Jovi Bus Concert

 February 5, 2010- Bon Jovi Bus Concert

I won contest- 2 tickets to a private Bon Jovi concert. Mom came with me because my brother was too sick to do so and I didn’t have any friends even in this holodeck program, which is kind of pathetic. This event was taking place in a very strange place- on a big, nice bus while it was on the road. I wasn’t sure where we’d be driving to yet though.

   It was leaving from the Meadowlands so I had to drive there, but luckily in this reality there wasn’t much traffic and less development in the area, as is often the case. We saw the old Giants Stadium being torn down there too. 

    It was the beginning of May and the temps were in the low 60s by late afternoon. Mom was feeling cold and wore her winter coat and hat. I had on a sweat jacket, t-shirt and jeans.

    There were about 50 people on the bus. In a space at the front of it were the bands’ instruments.  I saw a lady with her doggie, a Border collie mix. I was thinking how odd it was that she had it with her but also was wishing that one of my doggies were here also. 10 seconds later, Mookie appeared on my lap.

    Bon Jovi showed up 15 minutes later and now it was time for this adventure/event to begin.  I’m not certain what road we were traveling on, probably Rt. 3. I’m pretty sure that’s the one near the Meadowlands. But here there were mountains; I saw snow on top of them .The area seemed more rural after about a 5 minute drive.

   They performed 3 songs before stopping to do a lecture/Q & A type thing. I was so upset when my glasses disappeared during the latter. One of the mean aliens must’ve hacked into the program and made this happen. They like picking on and spoiling things for my friend Sam. I hoped that he’d detect this change and correct it so I’d get my glasses back.

   At one point, Richie sat next to me. He was wearing a black leather jacket. I was feeling kind of sleepy, and still angry about the glasses. I started dozing off, completely unaware that my head was now on his arm. A little later, I woke up as he was getting up. He left a flashlight on the seat next to me.

   They were taking a couple of requests, which was good. The first was one of my favorite songs, “It’s My Life”; I was really getting into that. By then, my glasses had been returned, thank goodness. They also did a few songs off of their new album.

    Jon was walking near me and I was feeling a bit nervous. This anxiety increased when he actually talked to me. He told me that he liked my eyeglasses and asked me where I got them. I said thanks and told him that they were from a place in Elizabeth. He was wearing sunglasses which seemed sort of strange to me.

      They had performed only about 8 songs during the 2 hours that we had been on this bus so far, which I was slightly annoyed about. I should have just been appreciating the fact that I was part of such a special and unusual event. I felt guilty for having that negative thought and emotion.

   Jon asked us if we wanted to go to a rest stop for something to eat, their treat, and everyone was saying yes.  When we got there I told mom to stick close to me. We had to leave the 2 doggies on the bus. Mookie had been sitting on Mom’s lap for most of the journey.

   Only about a minute later, I didn’t see Mom. She had wandered off already, which was upsetting. I couldn’t see her anywhere; where could she have gone so quickly? I thought that I had found her a couple of minutes later but this was just a woman with a similar coat.

    There seemed to be a lot of people at this rest stop. It was much better than the ones in reality. Another lady saw how upset I looked and offered to help me look for my mother after I told her about my dilemma. That was very kind of her.

   Luckily, we found her a couple of minutes later. Many of the people from the bizarre traveling concert were getting ice cream from Baskin Robbins, as did mom and I. I chose my favorite flavor, mint chocolate chip, in the kiddie- sized cup.

   We were all back on the bus about 30 minutes later. Bon Jovi did a 6 more songs and there was further interaction between the fans and them. During one of the power ballads,” I’ll Be There for You”, Jon was close to and looking right at me for a bit. I wondered why he had done this, but was also feeling happy about it.

   The return trip to the Meadowlands was much quicker, only about 70 minutes. We seemed to be going the same speed as before. That seemed kind of weird, but in the holodeck many such peculiar things happen.

   It was already daylight by the time that we got there even though it was only 12:30 a.m. Time was definitely different in this reality which was cool, now I wouldn’t have to drive home in the dark which is very hard for me because of my bad eyesight and other reasons. Maybe in this reality I wouldn’t have such problems though.

   When we were in the parking lot, Jon said “Let’s do some more” The audience was excited that the concert would be continuing. The bus traveled on a different road this time for about 45 minutes as Bon Jovi did 5 more songs and chatted with the audience. They signed some autographs too.

    What a long trip/concert this turned out to be, like 5 hours. I did have a very nice time. Mom was tired. Mookie and Buffy didn’t have any “accidents” just like in the real world when Mike, Mom, and I were at a party at Kathy’s house in PA for most of the day. This was good.

   I was petting Mookie in my car for a minute and just about ready to head home when Sam sent me back to my Earth. I had been preparing my lunch before being taken to his world. Mom and I were going to watch “The Price is Right” then. That seemed so dull compared to the thrilling event that I had just been a part of.

Buffy and Mookie