Category: Uncategorized

So I dropped by my blog today to check something and noticed my headline from yesterday: “It’s never to early to think about Christmas.”

To?

TO?

Did I really commit one of the most annoying grammar errors ever?

I flog myself even as I write this.  I should know better than to write a post when my two boys are chasing each other around the house, one wielding a Star Wars light saber and the other screaming, “Give it back to me!  It’s miiiiiiiiiine!”

This continues my perusal of the 1955 American Home magazines. I have been delighted by some of the finds, aghast at some of the decorating ideas, and plain ol’ astounded by some of the products.

I have always marveled at the need for hiding our basic entertainment components. I grew up in a house with this feature; one did not see a TV in any room but the basement, which usually wasn’t occupied by guests. No TVs existed in bedrooms, either. TVs were essentially out of sight, and possibly out of mind. I always found it a curious habit, as if families were content to live in denial: nooooooo, they didn’t watch TV! How preposterous that you might think so!
Continue reading “1955 inventions that never caught on”

I know. I know! It’s been a week (or two) since I last updated this blog, but once you hear my tale of woe, I think you might feel a twinge of pity for me.

Seventeen days of school left, and our internet at school has been on and off for about three weeks now. Mostly off, which means that all those internet-related duties that are now associated with my job are impossible to do: entering grades, lesson plans, and grabbing videos, etc. for content enhancement. Email is also down, which means that communication has been sporadic and sluggish. How did anyone pass information along “back in the day”? I know the answer, of course, but it’s interesting how a disruption in technology can make one ponder how it’s changed the daily chores of this profession. Continue reading “Time flies when you’re NOT having fun, too”

When I was growing up, our family would visit my grandparents’ lake cabin in the summertime. Man, was that house a treasure trove of 1950s collectibles, although at the time (70s-80s), who knew? Even more, who cared? I don’t think the nostalgia for the 1950s had yet begun to bubble up. Continue reading “Bathroom Sea Life, 50’s style”

I’m in South Dakota for the family Christmas, which involves about 45 people all crowded into my parents’ log cabin for the sole purpose of eating Swedish meatballs.  Oh, ok, I suppose there are other reasons why they all come over, but every family has its traditional food, and ours is the Swedish meatballs.  I wonder, though: what are other families’ traditional Christmas foods?

… just so I don’t cry!

I called the carpenter to tell him that our closing date was Tuesday, and the money would come through on Thursday so he could go buy supplies. Left him a message.

Two hours ago I get a return call.  Oh, he forgot to tell me that he accepted a full-time job somewhere in a neighboring town, so, uh, he wasn’t sure, uh, what to tell me. Continue reading “I suppose I should laugh”

Last Monday, I got a call from my contractor that said he could start as soon as we could give him a check for materials so Menards could deliver sometime this week. One problem: we’re waiting on the bank. Actually, we were waiting on one final estimate. In fact, we waited for that estimate all week! Finally I just wrote down a number that was at least twice as much as the job would actually cost (shower install) and gave the numbers to the bank. Now, we wait.

Oh, it’s going to be a good day when that money comes through. I’m going to be ordering that cracked ice chrome table faster than a wino hits the jug. Continue reading “A holding pattern”

When we first moved into this house, the plan was easy: fix it all up in 6 months and transform it into a house we love.

And eight years later, here we are! Just beginning the major improvements to this place.

Oh, there have been other things, of course. The basement was tiled so we no longer had any more water problems, the roof was reshingled, the bedroom was recarpeted to remove the PINK carpet that plagued this home, and numerous other minor details. Now we’re ready for the big stuff, and I’m kind of scared. Continue reading “One man’s style is another man’s ugly”