So, just sitting here in my jammies still at 11:30 Sunday, drinking coffee after dodging boxes of crap-to-be-wrapped all over the house. The cat scared the sh** out of me when I was looking for socks --there is a huge mountain of wrapping paper, tissue, new and used gift bags,etc. The damn cat was sleeping in all that crap and when I went there to move some crap to get to my sock drawer, that damn cat bolted out of the mess and I 'bout pooed right then.

I've been thinking about how the Christmas traditions in my lifetime have changed from when I was a kid to now in my forties, with kids.

I still love Christmas, but it's a rat race now as an adult. I miss some of the simpler traditions somehow forgotten or impractical.

Some of the things I miss:

1) Walking for hours in the woods and arguing with my sisters (mostly Aunt B) for HOURS to pick THE tree to cut down. Now we go to a parking lot, pick one out in about 5 minutes, write a check and throw it in the truck.

2) Grandparents. Life was really simple Christmas Eve with them as a kid.

3) Toys! Still get toys :roll: but remember the GI Joes, the Starwars Millenium Falcon model, Star Trek Phaser and Communicator kits I built Christmas morning (remember the Testors model glue fumes??)

4) Jumping on my parents bed to get them moving Christmas morning not knowing they were up late putting our crap together.


Sorry, just feeling wistful this morning. I'm feeling old.

That's funny about the cat.

I too miss the grandparents and the schedule we stuck to when I was a child. Both grandparents (and almost all my cousins) lived withing 15 minutes.

I miss the trips into the woods with a chainsaw and shotgun (you might find a rabbit for dinner) I cut a tree down once that was the "perfect" tree. I had to drag it a half mile to the truck and realized when I got it home that I had dragged an extra 4 feet of tree that wouldn't fit in the house. It was muddy and some snow on the ground so that half mile was brutal.

It was the dog that found the goody bag for him under the tree, that was a hoot to watch him find it, tear into, and devour as we watched.
The other was while cutting fire wood all summer long with the TREE in the back of my mind, finding one and marking it with grid tape so when we loaded up the snowmobiles and the kids in the trailer, hot chocolate, sandwiches and extra parts encase we broke down again. We would sled about 15 miles to go look for the perfect tree. After shaking the 3 feet of snow off of about 20 trees, I found the one I had marked and low and behold, THEY didn't like it. So off again shaking off the snow and after an hour or so ended up back at the one I had marked and wouldn't you know it, "That one is perfect".
Load the tree on the top of the rack on the trailer with the kids under the tree and down the mountain back to the house. Trim off 9 feet of the tree to get it in the house and wire tie it to the corner of the room so when the kids and dad got ruff housing around the tree would stay in place after it was crashed into.
Now that I get thinking about it, I hate Christmas, we have 7 birthdays in December and Christmas kills my wallet. Only good part is I celebrate my birthday with my son on the 31st, now I am really depressed, cant remember how old I am, or my son.:dunno:

All time favorite X-Mas toy... The Evel Knievel stunt cycle and action figure. I would buy one today if they weren't so damned expensive on e-bay.
One year my Grandmother got me the whole kit-n-kaboodle. The RV with the the ramps the stunt cycle and the artic expedition set...:eekdrull:

Who is Evil Knievel???:puzzled::puzzled::puzzled:

Just kidding im not quite that young. Seanny might be though.:roll::roll:

I DON'T miss having to ride in the trunk of a car to get the Christmas tree home. Small car, long story.... only happened once, but you never forget.

Guilty adult pleasure... Stikfas Mechana


Yes, it comes with the Teddy Bear figure. I would have loved an Alpha Male 14" figure, but sadly that was a limited edition. Great desktop toys.

Favorite childhood Christmas toy.... Mattel Vertibird.



I had the red civilian model and loved picking up and putting things down with the skyhook.

ATB,
Sam

Quote:

Originally posted by cheezycheese All time favorite X-Mas toy... The Evel Knievel stunt cycle and action figure.

How freaky is that ??? Donnie and I were just talking about the same thing coming home from the beach today :wow:

Quote:

Originally posted by Todd Quote: Originally posted by cheezycheese All time favorite X-Mas toy... The Evel Knievel stunt cycle and action figure. How freaky is that ??? Donnie and I were just talking about the same thing coming home from the beach today :wow:

Great minds bro...

when i was a kid i got the creepy crawlers set with molds and all--god i used to love cooking up some bugs and other nasty creatures to scare the available females haha.....

I think that the worst part of Christmas is that everyone and their dog expects you to buy them something. We have three children. That combined with the fact I more or less don't work for at least a week or two over the holidays..... The ole bank account starts to cry by Christmas eve. We've been telling everyone that we don't want anything, and our kids don't need anything either. We are just happy to spend the time with family, but not everyone thinks that way.

I do miss the Chistmas morning sleigh rides, that my grandfather would give. The whole family would jump on and we'd have a blast throwing each other off into the snow banks in the field. Then we'd go in for Christmas lunch.

Now I just tell everyone I'm Jewish, you can put the present under the Chanukuh bush. HaHaHaHa

Quote:

Originally posted by wheresthewind? when i was a kid i got the creepy crawlers set with molds and all--god i used to love cooking up some bugs and other nasty creatures to scare the available females haha.....

Where is the like button? I had that same kit. Mucho fun. don't think I ever burned myself either.

The old Creepy Crawler Thinkmaker (Mattel) looks nothing like the 90's or current one (made by ToyMax and then Jakks Pacific).

The was a LOT more metal and and lot less in terms of safety and interlocks. It just got more and more diluted over the years.

The old one still holds a lot of nostalgia:



as does its cousin the Strange Change Machine:



ATB,
Sam

Too much red wine and paper hats. Thankfully, it's the in-laws ... not in my gene pool :o

I tried roasting chestnuts for the first time tonight (bought them not knowing there was some assembly required). Half of them exploded (didn't cut deep enough) now I "get" to clean the oven ; )

Favorite toy for me was the Schaeper Stompers. eBay took me on a trip down memory lane and I have a few of them at my desk now to remember the good old days playing in the basement while my dad jiggled the clothes hanger/tin foil contraption he had rigged to steal the then new movie channels.

Looking forward to my first "Santa" cookies and milk this year. Anna "gets it" and is all about the Santa this year. And so begins a good five to eight years of the wonder of a child on Christmas morning......until someone corrupts her innocence

we had the air police!.....cat loved it too!

Christmas morning and all my friends are getting 10 speed race bikes . I wake up to a big heavy 5 speed wanna be race bike.

That's how Christmas has gone ever since ! :sniff:

Quote:

Originally posted by Bladerunner Christmas morning and all my friends are getting 10 speed race bikes . I wake up to a big heavy 5 speed wanna be race bike. That's how Christmas has gone ever since ! :sniff:

Some 5 speed bikes are really cool though -- I had the
Schwinn Orange Crate as a kid. I wish I still had it, I've seen decent shape ones go for around $2500 on ebay.

Loved the chopper front end with drum brake, springer suspension and the ape hangers. I could ride a wheelie for ever on that thing. I bet my kid wouldn't be caught dead on one these days.

Quote:

Originally posted by pokitetrash Quote: Originally posted by Bladerunner Christmas morning and all my friends are getting 10 speed race bikes . I wake up to a big heavy 5 speed wanna be race bike. That's how Christmas has gone ever since ! :sniff: Some 5 speed bikes are really cool though -- I had the Schwinn Orange Crate as a kid. I wish I still had it, I've seen decent shape ones go for around $2500 on ebay.

I had that same bike but mine was from Sears. Had a flat profile slick on the back. I wore the sears catalog out going to the page it was on. The one from sears was only a 3 speed so I guess I got scarred a bit in my childhood as well.

I have a Schwinn Stingray in metallic green apple and black, itsy bitsy front wheel, fat rear tire. Not original equipment, but left me with a scar on my chin. I landed wrong doing a high speed jump using a section of sidewalk that was raised up at a ridiculous angle from a frost heave. Some mornings shaving is made a tad more interesting by that souvenir.

ATB,
Sam

Quote:

Originally posted by pokitetrash Loved the chopper front end with drum brake, springer suspension and the ape hangers. I could ride a wheelie for ever on that thing. I bet my kid wouldn't be caught dead on one these days.

Chris, I can see you now with the striped tube socks and tank top... :singing:

Quote:

Originally posted by BeamerBob Quote: Originally posted by wheresthewind? when i was a kid i got the creepy crawlers set with molds and all--god i used to love cooking up some bugs and other nasty creatures to scare the available females haha..... Where is the like button? I had that same kit. Mucho fun. don't think I ever burned myself either.

i loved the way they smelled too.....

Quote:

Originally posted by cheezycheese Chris, I can see you now with the striped tube socks and tank top... :singing:

I have that exact picture somewhere, including the frayed cut offs. :smug:

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