Just In Case I Ever Meet An Ancient Egyptian

I find the internet fascinating.  First, I have been able to find Cd's that have long been unavailable. I loved finding this store in St. Petersburg, that actually had two things by the musician who played drums for The Moody Blues.  I wanted to buy the LP's, but by the time I actually had a bit of money in those early days of my marriage with college, children and other more important responsibilities, the music was unavailable.

It was difficult to order things in those early days.

The music to a movie from the early 80's called "Man's Quest for Fire" becomes available in late March.  I plan on having that music.  It was a beautiful musical score.  My family hated it when I watched the movie, because not a word of English appeared.  It makes sense when you consider all of the characters were early harvesters and gatherers who battled each other and ran from saber tooth tigers.

And then a new toy appeared, just when everything I thought was available--a site that actually translates words and phrases into ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Now, if I could just figure out how to paste them into this blog, because there are some really important things I learned, like how to say, "I don't sweat much for a fat guy."

Or "I smell like old people." Then there is the classic made famous by the 60's folk group Peter, Paul & Mary, "I dig Rock 'N Roll Music."  

I learned all this while thinking I knew everything there was to know.   You just never know when something incredibly important appears on the Internet.

 

Nothing Like A Thanksgiving Trip To Disneyland To Get Everyone Excited About Christmas

The final day at Disneyland on the last trip was one that went typically fast.  Lydia and Jeff and the kids left for San Diego that morning, and although we originally planned to start home a day earlier, we added a night and spent one more day at the parks.  

Our premium passes were there for us anyway, and it only amounted to a night's stay at the hotel.  Ann added one day at a reasonable price.

It was a perfect trip from the very start.
I always love the way they light the park at night, whether at Disneyland or the California Adventure Park.  We enjoy both equally, and it seems like we go back and forth between them, depending on how crowded either one is at the time.  This view of the recreation of the Golden Gate Bridge in Frisco is fun.  This year was the first time we didn't travel by monorail at least one time over it on the way to Goofy's Kitchen.  There is something about attending a brunch and trying to succeed at Weight Watchers that just is not compatible.  By the time I returned home, I lost an additional 10-12 pounds.  We were careful about the food we ate at the park, and we did as much exercise as possible, even if I did rent an electric cart.
That last day found us running to see favorite rides that Jack enjoyed.
The films we watched with Jack and Tommy and Anna will always make the trip a place full of memories.  When we first took Anna, she was just learning to talk.  She still wore a diaper, and her way of saying she wanted to ride The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was saying, "I wanna go poo."  That comment from a little voice turned a lot of heads in the park during those visits. And the memory still makes me smile.
And there is nothing like starting out the day or ending it by shooting aliens on the Buzz Lightyear ride.
During Christmas, the Haunted Mansion ride evolves into the Nightmare Before Christmas, and all three of the grandchildren love it, although each one covers their eyes at a couple of spots that scare them still.   
The lights this year on the castle were spectacular.  Like I said, it was a perfect trip and a great way to begin the holidays.

My Grandchildren's Favorite Christmas Decorations

Already at the age of three, we began showing our copy of "A Christmas Story" to our grandsons during the weeks before the holidays, and the networks also contributed well, since it also appeared an additional two or three times on television too.  I never grow tired of watching it, because although the story--based on a novel--happens during the late 30's or sometime during the 40's, it reminds me of Christmas when I was young during the 50's.  It depicts simple times when Christmas seemed to pass on a turtle's pace, a time when stores didn't begin showing Santa Claus displays on Columbus Day. This year, we actually began seeing things on Labor Day.

The toys and the school in "A Christmas Story" remind me of my youth.  We also had the "old desks" with a hole in the upper right corner where an ink well once supplied students with black or blue stuff for their pens.  At least, I think that is what they were.  

A second decoration came from another children's show that first appeared during the 60's. They had multiple versions of the Rudolph story, but there were a couple of early ones that we prefer to see each year, and the decoration below displays characters from the film.  My grandchildren love this ornament too.

  

One video clip shows our two "favorite" ornaments that our grandchildren love, and the other one shows the many different articles of kitsch that we have purchased for grandchildren to see. The funny thing is the fact, that for the first time in many years, we didn't even get out our German nutcrackers and incense burners that are called "smoker men."   They have always been the things we enjoy having out, but there was no room.  

Surfing Santa

While in Boise during a late fall teaching seminar one weekend, Ann and I were in the mall.  We came upon this "Surfing Santa," which played an old Christmas song that The Beach Boys released in the 60's.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it and realized immediately where I would put it.

"Where will it go?" 

I didn't understand when Ann first said that to me.  "Just where in the house are you going to put this?"  My wife looked at me, her hands on her hips and shaking her head in unbelief at the thought of putting out one more thing during the holidays.  We already had fifteen German nutcrackers and incense burners that we often left in storage bins, because I couldn't find room for them during the holidays.

But this time I knew the perfect spot.

A new tradition began.  I used it at school at Rigby High every year before Christmas break, and then I brought it home.  I'm sure my students were tired of hearing the Wilson brothers do the Santa thing every day for weeks before Christmas.  But I never became tired of hearing it, and I loved playing it and listening to Christmas music occasionally too.

After retirement, I continued to use it every year, especially as my three grandchildren became older, and it became a favorite too. Jack and Tommy loved it, and this past year, Jack played it every time someone came to visit.  When he was only old enough to walk, he would coax for someone to lift him high enough to push the button to make Santa do the twist on the surf board.

This past Christmas, he played it at least ten times after I first put it out, and then he eventually limited himself to playing it three or four times a day.  I never grow tired of seeing his eyes sparkle every time the plastic Santa begins to dance, only regretting that Tommy and Anna weren't there to enjoy it too.

But those days of enjoying grandchildren at Christmas are almost over.  Tommy and Anna need to be home near their own toys during the holidays, and it is only a matter of time when Jack too will find more fun being home than with his Pop Pop and grandma, listening to ancient pop stars sing Christmas songs.

All Aboard The Christmas Train

When Jack and Tommy were almost three, we went to Sam's Club for a look at what was there for Christmas decorations.

It was a great Christmas that year.  It was Anna's first Christmas, and the boys were excited.  

On that visit to Sam's, there was a display of a large LGB style Bachmann train set. The boys were excited.  I was too.  

I slid it into the cart.  Jack rode inside the chrome shopping aide. "All aboard," he shouted all the way to the check stand.

Tommy insisted running at the side of the cart, so he could see the picture of the frontier train.  He had been inside it with Jack, but he had learned that we occasionally placed things into the cart and then put them back on the shelf.  The boys decided to monitor the situation, Jack from the inside and Tommy from the ground floor.  

"Toot, Toooooot!" Tommy imitated the whistle he imagined the train make on the packaging.  Both boys repeated their comments until we loaded the prize into the car outside the store.  

The next morning, I opened the box in the front room, where we planned to set up the tree.  Both boys were impossible, because they were so excited, and the only way I could keep them out of the train box was to have them sit on my back.  

It was a great Christmas with all the grandchildren home that year.  Cles and Leslie were the only ones who couldn't make the trip.  
The train became a holiday tradition.  It takes at least four hours to set it up correctly, but as soon as I have the connections perfect and the batteries installed, I start the train in motion.  It makes a chugging sound, and the headlamp shines in the darkness.  Batteries also light the passenger cars, when I engage them, but I usually avoid using it.  It's the paranoia about having the batteries rust and ruin the cars, so we only use them rarely.  Neither Jack nor Tommy really even notice when the lights are on, so at this point, we wait for a few years.  I turn them on only once on Christmas Eve and then quickly remove the batteries.
The engine and cars are classic, and it makes each Christmas fun.  This year was a first.  Ann and I would be watching television, and we could hear Jack play with the train, sending it on another trip around the tall tree surrounded by gifts.
The caboose is a classic Western piece.

It was fun to take a few tiny film clips of the actual train as it makes its loop around our tree in Christmas of 2008.  This was the night in January when we put all the decorations away.  This year was the first time we didn't get our nutcrackers and incense burners out for the holidays. The first clip is a classic, because Jack is playing some little instrument like a kazoo.  

We wanted it really quiet, but since he wants to make science fiction movies when he grows up, I think Jack was thinking that he was doing the musical score.

The second version has the best view of the train, and I don't think it includes the kazoo.