Happy 4th of July

Here are my Star Spangled spaniel Buffy and Yankee Doodle Mookie in pictures from the early 2000s. Mom made their holiday bandanas. I can't believe that it has been 6 years without Mookie and nearly 8 months without our Buffy. I think about them everyday.

My 4th of July memories are of going over to our family friend's house in Elizabeth for a barbecue/pool party then watching the fireworks in a park nearby throughout the 70's and 80's. We did so only once in the early 90's. I was living in Pittsburgh during the summer of 1989 and saw a nice fireworks dislplay set to music. The last time that I went to one of those was either in 1999 or 2000 with my boyfriend somewhere in Central-west Jersey.

I can't remember the last time that we actually put out our flag for this holiday. Probably the late 1980's. We still have our old one from the early 70's. It's in a box in the basement behind our storage totes. I have a patriotic t-shirt with a flag and golden retreiver puppies on it that I probably will wear this year. I wish that I still had the bear one that my aunt made me in the late 80's though.

I hope that everyone has a very Happy 4th of July.

Smurfs

I'm pretty sure that these are the only Smurf figures that I had when I was a kid. Or maybe I had a few more that I sold at a flea market and just decided to keep the holiday ones. I do remember that my brother had some that he sold there and wish that he had kept. I did get some newer ones in the late 1990s but it's not the same as having the originals. I sometimes wonder why I was into watching that cartoon. I guess at the time I enjoyed it. I can't believe that they actually made a Smurf movie that is coming out within the next couple of months, I think. I wonder what the reviews are going to be on that. Not that I'm interested in seeing it.

Tennis- US Open 2011

Two weeks ago I ordered the US Open tickets which came in the mail this past Saturday. We hopefully will be going to this event for the first 3 days. I always worry that something bad might happen that will prevent us from going to concerts and other events. Luckily last year things worked out well, only a tiny bit of a rain delay on Day 5. I actually got myself a ticket for Thursday too but I don't want to tell my brother this because I'm afraid that he will just criticize me for doing so and be mad that I won't be here to take him to his first day of college classes. There are 2 buses that can get him there so he will just have to get there that way.

I had debated whether or not to go by myself on Friday. I really wanted to and was going to order that ticket right after getting our 3 days of tickets but an illogical voice inside of me was saying that it would be too scary to go there alone plus I had my brother's voice putting me down for even wanting to go without him. I finally was able to convince myself that it wouldn't be scary to go alone and why should I even care what my brother thinks so I went to the TicketMaster site at about 2:45 pm only to discover that they were already sold out for that day so I checked for Thursday and they still had some available so I got one for that day. I would have rather had Friday though.

I couldn't believe that those tickets were gone already especially because last year Mark and I didn't decide until the day after they first went on sale to get tickets for Saturday. I'm suspecting that those ticket scam artists had a part to play in this which is so annoying and unfair. I did click onto the link for ticket resales just out of curiosity. I knew that the prices would be more there but I did not imagine that the lowest one was going for 25.00 more than the TicketMaster price would've been. The message at the TM site said try again closer to the event and maybe more would be available - that's doubtful. I am so mad at myself for not just going with my smart voice and getting that ticket right away.

A tiny part of me is hopeful that more tickets will be available. It would be so nice if I can be there for all the days of men's 2nd round matches. With my luck the main guys that I really want to see will be playing them on Friday. I already have a list of primary and secondary players to see. Two more months until this event. It seems kind of far away even though it really isn't. I should be watching the tennis now but I need to squeeze some computer time in today because my brother will be around more than usual this week.

The Sandbox

Here I am having some fun in my sandbox in 1971. I was only about a year and a half so I can't remember this. My earliest memory is not a happy one like this, it's of my dad carrying me in the cemetary and accidentally burning my arm with his cigarette. I see that he is smoking in this photo too. I was probably around 3 or 4 when that happened. It seems that my most vivid memories are often the upsetting ones. What are some of your earliest memories?

Muppets Stuff

Here are a few things from one of my scrapbooks. I used to hang the Kermit decoration on the wall in the basement living room area sometimes in the 1980s. My Miss Piggy bookmark was one of my favourites. I haven't looked in the picnic cookbook since I first got it which was probably the mid 1980s because I was afraid that I'd mess it up but I'm going to get over that and do so later because I'm curious as to what Kermit and Miss Piggy might like to take on a picnic.

Otter-ly Delightful

My mom got the 2 stuffed animal otters that she let me have in the late 1970s or early 1980s. I called the bigger one Mrs Otter and the smaller one is her son Seamore Otter. I have loved otters since back then. I still have my videotape of Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas. Yesterday I got a sea otter necklace on ebay for 5.00. I don't have that much otter stuff though - some photos in my scrapbook, a couple of keychains and one knick-knack. I used to have a T-shirt. The bottom photo is one that my brother recently took at Turtleback Zoo. I have pictures of some otters at the zoo in Washington D.C. too.

Last week I had a dream that my brother, 2 friends and I were at a nice toy store that sold only items made in the USA. We looked younger, in our late teens. They had a few stuffed animals that were very life-like. One was a young river otter. You press the button on it and it would move around and even make noises. It came up into my lap and I hugged it. I wanted to buy this but it cost around 90.00 and I didn't have enough money. My brother wondered if you could feed it fake food and if it had a pooper - shooter - gross. I was feeling so happy. I used to have many vivid dreams that I'd remember but this hasn't been the case for months now which is upsetting. I was glad that I was able to remember this one.

Great Adventure

My favourite rides at Great Adventure were always the water ones like the Log Flume in the rememberance photo of mom, my friend Stacey and I. Stacey's mom was with us too. I've been here six times, the last one being in 1991 by myself and I didn't go on that many rides but did see an Oak Ridge Boys concert. Other trips included the 8th grade class one in 1983; with Mom, Mark, Aunt Al and my 2 cousins Mary and Janet; Mom, Mark and 3 other cousins; Mom, Aunt Al and Mary. We did the safari part of it the one time in the early 1980s. We always had a good time there. My Aunt lives in Bordentown which is closer to Jackson so we would visit her for a couple of days too. I was kind of scared on the rollercoasters though. It felt like I was going to fall out of the Runaway Train once. They used to have a bobsled ride there that was cool. Once we were on a space shuttle ride that got stuck and we were hanging upside down for a long time - that was very painful. I have this memory of being on a ride and the song Eyes Without A Face by Billy Idol was playing. I think that the name of it was the Matterhorn and it was near the Haunted House that eventually burnt down one year. I was only in that once.