Well, hello there!

And... suddenly it is August. I never meant to make a post about NABLOPOMO back in March, then walk away from this little pet blog of mine for five months, it was just sort of one of those things that happened. Goodness. I found myself completely blocked, and that just never happens to me. I always have something to say. But if you had asked me to describe the shape of a frozen green pea, I would have had to ponder it for a week.

So what did I do. I set out on a series of adventures this summer. Nothing spectacular, but I road tripped back home to KC to visit friends and family three times. I spent a grand ten days in Alabama with my family there, getting some decent news on the state of my dad's cancer. (He will go back again next week, cross your fingers for more decent news.) I've been reading books, I'm considering going back to school, I've gotten lost in my thoughts while breathing in the fresh air out on the porch. I've worked on a special writing project I consider therapy, anyone else do that? Curious. Anyway, looking at this written out, it seems like more than it feels like I've done. Hmmm.

I guess what I'm trying to get around to saying by making all of these excuses, is that I'm sorry for abandoning you my little blog, and my readers who still pop by every day. Thank you for being there.

March nablopomo... Over.

Okay. So I tried this again this month as a tool to help myself get back in the swing of keeping up with my blog after being so sporadic with it due to illness in the family, illness personally etc. Blah blah blog. Missed one day yesterday because honestly I was sick and had nothing to say, unless the incoherent whining of someone on painkillers going on and on about the same old crap is interesting to you... doubtful. Therefor, I'm saying I had nothing to say. So naplopomo... March... Fail. But I think it served my purpose. I believe I'm back on track, for the most part, with the blog. When I have something to say... I will. I do believe it is a good exercise in self discipline, often I need that. Sometimes, though, I just need a day to be quiet.

Almost... Wordless Wednesday.

Hole Punch Cloud

Perhaps I would actually be wordless if I saw this with my own eyes. Spectacular photo. I had a rush of things going through my mind when I saw this. First, I imagined a sense of relief from pressure and pain. I had my Daddy in mind, as I do so often right now. Curious. Does this invoke any emotions in you?

I'm Calling on Tall Paul.

I think this photo is fantastic. I don't remember where I found it, but I'm going to call it Tall Paul. I always thought a guardian angel might come in the form of a shadow, perhaps mine might look like him. Now I have a tall order for Tall Paul. I'm going in for a follow up CT in the morning, one for which I'm drinking copious amounts of berry smoothie flavored barium tonight and tomorrow morning, and since I'm allergic to iodine, I'm prepping with prednisone and benydryl. All of this prep is not a big deal. I've had three of these in the last month. Just mentioning it as part of the context of my little story. If I may, I would like for my test to come up clear, so I can just be over this junk that has been messing with me for the last several weeks and get on with life. I don't like to be tied down to my house, or relegated to resting due to doctor's orders. I am hopeful. I have behaved. So, I would like good results. I know that is a tall order, but I need to give my energy to my daddy, and not to spinning my wheels around here just... being. So come on Tall Paul. What do you say? A favor? I'm asking for your help, I've already gone out on a limb and asked the Big Guy upstairs for the big miracle for my dad, which is the one that truly matters, but he doesn't give immediate answers. Hoping yours will come in the form of a good report on Friday. Thanks Paul.

Barbie you 50 year old teenage freak!

So, today is the big Happy 5-0 for the preternaturally young, beautiful fashion doll Barbie. Most of us know about Barbie and how, when and why she came to be. That info has been all over the web lately, I certainly don't need to give you a history lesson about Mattel and the evolution of Barbie. Personally, I hadn't given Barbie much thought in years until today then I started remembering what fun I used to have playing "Barbies" and one thing led to another and before I knew it I was looking up all of my old favorites.

The doll above is much like the first one I had. A hand me down from my older sisters, probably from the early sixties, when I finally got my own dolls later on this doll always took on the roll of the mom. Most likely due to her stylish sixties mom-do.

This is the Francie & Casey townhouse that my Barbies took up residence in. Unbelievably hard to find a photo of this on the web. The other girls were all interested in the Barbie dream house, but I had this cool vinyl fold out case with mod furniture. I do not know who Casey was, but I did have a Francie doll. This from the late 60's time period. I always associate this with kindergarten, so I must have received it around that time but played with it from then until I quit the Barbie game.

Ah. Malibu Barbie and Ken. I had them both, issued the first year available. I was in first grade. After I received these, no pale Barbies would darken the doorstep of my townhouse again. I mean, come on. These guys were cool. Except Ken's clothes, my Ken generally wore his swim trunks year round because he generally looked like a big dork in everything sold commercially. In my mind, as a child, I sort of thought Ken was not a good match for Barbie. I thought GI Joe was a much better choice. My Barbie and Ken never married in a dream wedding ceremony.

One thing all the dolls did quite a lot was go camping! This was possibly my favorite toy ever. I believe I had a dune buggy or some type of vehicle they cruised around in. This thing came out early seventies. This is the color scheme I had. I believe later editions were pink. Many times, I would drag the townhouse along on these camping trips (because in your imagination you can do whatever the hell you want to do!) and the dolls would have one gigantic house - camper party, because even then I did not believe in sleeping outside and only traveling in style. My friend K. contributed to the travel theme by adding her Barbie's Friend Ship on our play dates. We would take over the entire family room floor of one of our houses, hers or mine, with these elaborate doll scenarios.

The Friend Ship was very cool, a plane when opened up it had a seating area...

A wing with the stowing are painted on and even a little galley with a push cart and dishes!

Hours and hours of fun. We couldn't give up that Barbie habit until sometime after sixth grade. We played Barbie secretly in sixth grade because her next door neighbor teased us at school about it, so a few times there was a rush to hide the Barbie stuff when the girl knocked on the door for us to go out and play. I think it is sad that kids grow up so fast now. Also, I think the old Barbie accessories were so much more clever then, than they are now. Perhaps I'm biased, but looking through hundreds of items today I was surprised at the variety and detail of things we had available back then. Now that I have that out of my system, I can move on. No need to start a collection, but would love to have all the things I had back so I could sell them on Ebay. I can't believe what people pay for some of those old collectibles.