Toys from the Past

I found this in the downstairs toy storage of Nana's and Poppa's cabin. This should be a cautionary tale to all children who don't know how boring and disinteresting previous childhoods used to be.

Welcome humans!

Credit: David Martin, et. al. I found this by searching "Why Won't You Grow" and most of them came up me. So, I've got that going for me . . . which is nice.

If you are happening upon my blog for the first time, due to the recommendation of my friend Dean, then welcome to Why Won't You Grow?!

If you are wondering how I know Dean, we work together. I've visited his house, drank his wine, and eaten his wife's pizza. We've played Dungeons & Dragons together. He's also been to my house several times and even brought his children. I someday plan to sneak up on Arya and whisper "Winter is coming." to see what she might do.

So, what else might you want to know about me? Well, if you follow the links along the top of the blog, you can learn more about me and WWYG?! as well as visit my other digital sites on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. If you are interested, you can ask me questions here or on the Tumblr site.

What else should you know? Well, most of my best ideas come to me in the shower . . . but they never seem to make it on screen as well as I'd like. For instance, I had lots of witty things to say in this post as I cleaned up this morning, but nothing new seems to be making in on this screen as I type.

Most of my recent posts show up on Twitter and Tumblr these days, so I welcome any new followers there. But if you aren't subscribed to those spaces, you can visit here. Anyway, welcome to the one or two of you that might show up here. And even hello to the inevitable spambots that might sneak this way.

Cookie time

Credit: David T. Martin

Today was the day that we made our first--but perhaps not the only?--batch of Christmas cookies.

And that means making the dough, chilling the dough, making the icing, mixing the colors, cutting the shapes, baking the cookies, cooling the cookies, spreading the icing, shaking on the sprinkles, letting them all set . . .

. . . and then giving them away?

We'll see.

Sewing childhood memories

Credit: David Martin

Yesterday the family ventured into JoAnn's Fabrics. Lynda was getting material to line the inside of her Girl Scout vest. As Lynda was choosing an appropriate bolt of fabric, I watched Hannah wander through the aisles of ribbons, buttons, sewing patterns, and all the Christmas ornaments and decorations.

As Hannah tried to convince me that we needed some kind of Disney-themed ribbon, I was reminded of the many days of my childhood where I was in Hannah's position. I was the one spending time in the fabric store while Mom searched the sewing patterns and the catalogs. This most often occurred when I was frequently visiting my orthopedic doctor in Albany, GA--and when Mom was sewing and knitting lots of clothes, sweaters, and blankets for us kids.

There is just something so Seventies about the entire experience. The books, the buttons, the no-nonsense warehouse-y feel of the stores, devoid of flashy screens, music, or mod decorations. Just white walls, plain floors, and aisles upon aisles of do-it-yourself materials.

I actually enjoyed the rows upon rows of ribbons, buttons, spools of thread, and all the rest. Perhaps that is what I like about the Things Organized Neatly Web site . (Or maybe that is just a manifestation of my own neatness issues.

No word yet on whether Hannah is similarly affected.

She's certainly committed to her persona, I'll give her that!

Yesterday morning, driving to work, listening to Morning Edition on NPR, I heard an interview with entertainer and cultural gadabout Martha Stewart. And, I listened, because I like the types of things that she talks about and I enjoy her final products--even if I think she is waaaaay too determined to be the absolute best at entertaining to a microscopically insane degree.

The part of the interview that really caught my ear, however, was near the end when she made mention of the clay Nativity set that she made by hand while incarcerated a few years ago. (You can see a NPR-provided picture of the set below.)

Credit: npr.org

As she explained, while in the minimum-security institution, she unearthed the molds to this Nativity and then scrimped, traded, and saved her rationed goods to purchase clay to make each figurine. I imagined her joining up with a Red-like figure and negotiating a-la Shawshank Redemption to get whatever she needed to make this happen.

It just surprised me, and perhaps proves once and for all that the person Stewart presents to the camera is in-face who she really is. Because only the TV-personal Martha would make creating such a Nativity while in prison a priority above other things. So, if that makes her authentic . . . I guess I should applaud her.