It seems like the holiday season is the perfect time for reflections, especially in 2020, which will likely go down in history as the year with an asterisk.
Social media lit up like a Christmas tree back in October when we learned the perennial Peanuts favorite “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” was not going to appear on network TV for the first time since its debut on October 27, 1966.
People were aghast – what a letdown! They knew their children would be disappointed too, especially in a year that was already fraught with frustration. After all, not everyone has cable, nor streams their entertainment. I’ve not turned on the TV in almost eleven years since I cancelled my cable.
I was already a “big kid” when the first Peanuts TV special aired.
There have been many Christmas specials for kids over the years. In 1965, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, which was based on Charles Schultz’ comic strip characters, made its debut. I was nine years old and I don’t recall watching it, but we still lived in Canada at that time, so perhaps it was not shown on our network stations.
But I sure remember the TV special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.
Growing up, we had a ritual during the school year. After dinner on school nights, I sat at the kitchen table to do my homework. With the exception of National Geographic specials or a nature show, every night my after-homework routine was a bath, hop into my PJs, then off to bed.
There was only ONE Christmas special that my folks permitted me to stray from that rigid weeknight routine and that was the annual airing of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. I was no stranger to the characters in this wonderful children’s story, having read the book many times and I even had a bright-red, 45 rpm vinyl record that I got to play on Mommy and Daddy’s record player (with supervision of course). Gene Autry’s 1949 recording will always be the best version of this song in my opinion.
The movie “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” debuted in 1964 and because this was an era before VCRs, DVD players, streaming or cable TV, if I was going to watch this animated show live, there had to be an exception to all the rigid rules and regs in the Schaub household. So, one time a year we had an easy dinner that night … sometimes even a Swanson’s TV dinner, a rare treat in our house since Mom was all about having a hot, home-cooked dinner on the table seven nights a week. Homework was done and checked, then I ran into the living room to park my bum in front of the TV set. In the photo above, I am sitting next to the TV, my baby picture displayed on top of the console and the “Reader’s Digest Abridged Version” volumes on a shelf beneath it.
With rapt attention I watched “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” while Mommy and Daddy read the newspaper, except periodically I would hear my mom humming to the song “Silver and Gold” by Burl Ives or I’d hear an off-key rendition of the title song coming from the kitchen.
Even when I got older, I continued that ritual of watching “Rudolph” for many years and began including “Frosty the Snowman” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” as my go-to movies for getting into the Christmas spirit, even if I was cramming for exams in college, or had other events swirling around in my life. This was “must-see TV” long before that phrase was coined.
My folks loved the grown-up Christmas TV specials – I guess I did too.
It was a one-TV household for many years with a black-and-white set in a wooden console that took up residence in the living room. Saturday nights during the holiday season, there were specials featuring crooners like Andy Williams, Perry Como and Dean Martin. My parents never missed one of those shows. We would crowd around the TV to watch the singers, clad in heavy ski sweaters, with plastic snow twinkling down in the background and pretty young women clustered all about. We’d be munching on “Nuts-and-Bolts” a snack mix Mom always made during the holiday season. I searched to see if “Nuts and Bolts” was just a salty snack in the Schaub household, but it seems it is a “Canadian thing” … you probably know it as “Chex Mix” or “Doo Dads” here in the States. Mom made a batch for my dad, garlicky like he enjoyed it and a plain version for us. So we munched and crunched away while enjoying the annual holiday specials.
Flash forward a few decades or so.
Television viewing habits at the Schaub household sure changed circa 1989 when the first VCR was brought into the house. Suddenly I could tape my favorite holiday shows to watch them anytime. Because I’m a saver, not a thrower, I still have that original VCR tape where I put a sticky note on the box … maybe some of you have never seen a VCR tape?
Wow … now I could transport myself back to being a kid again by watching my favorite holiday shows anytime I wanted!
Then Mom surprised me by ordering the boxed set of “Rudolph” and “Frosty” (my all-time personal favorites) from Blockbuster Video one year for Christmas.
Sadly, I’ve not seen those shows in ages … in fact, I not only stopped watching TV but unplugged the TV set. Perhaps these two shows are just the ticket to garner a few smiles in this extraordinary and certainly forgettable year. I know the story lines by heart and the songs as well. Heck, I could probably recite some of the conversations had by Rudolph and Clarice, Hermey and Yukon Cornelius, even the roar of Bumble, as well as the chatter between Frosty and Wendy. I must confess there are portions of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” I know by memory too. I laugh at myself as I’ve never watched the classics “White Christmas” or “Miracle on 34th Street” to completion, but I make no apologies for this holiday faux pas.
Taking a nostalgic trip down memory lane is a chance to remember the good times … surely simpler times and chock full of fun memories. There is joy in the journey, whether it is walking along a path or revisiting the past.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Rudolph, Peanuts and the Grinch were my childhood go-tos. They have aged well. Frosty was OK too, but I never cared much for the Rankin-Bass animation style.
And I’m right there with you on Gene Autrey’s Rudolph. I wonder how many know the flip side “If it Doesn’t Snow On Christmas” which I liked just as well.
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You’re younger than me JP so that’s why you grew up on the Peanuts specials. I didn’t follow the comic strip as it was not carried in our newspaper – we got the afternoon Detroit daily (“Detroit News”) and it was carried in the morning Detroit daily (“Free Press”). Gene Autry’s flip side of “Rudolph” I had not heard and you piqued my interest so I went to YouTube for a listen and will put the link here for anyone who reads this comment.
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Yep, that’s it!
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Linda, I still have my mom’s copy of the Gene Autry LP!
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That’s amazing Joni – he recorded it in 71 years ago. My records were a set of Christmas songs for kids and it was a red vinyl record for “Rudolph” and a light blue record for “Frosty the Snowman”. There were a couple of other vinyl records in the set (one yellow, one green) but I don’t remember what they were.
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I think I have those children’s ones too!
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My mom saved everything else, or I did, I don’t know why I don’t have them. How funny – well, we were from that era.
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I’m listening to the National news re covid….depressing stats….going to bed. Good night! Behind again in Reader, but need sleep more!
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I am going now too Joni. We need sleep – we need to stay healthy. I caught up on two days of Reader and caught up to Friday night. Sleep is welcome. Walked today and it was cold. Sleep tight!
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Sunday night – Linda I managed to catch the last half of Rudolph tonight, what a treat – it had been years since I last saw it. Also Home Alone came on after….so no Reader tonight. I had a spam follower and comment who I just deleted, and now I’m only seeing about 6 comments under my notification icon then – it says The End…..but all my approved comments are still there when I go into the Comments section…..so bizarre. I’m so tired of all these spammers….
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Joni – I never thought to look on YouTube and I found the entire “Rudolph” there and watched a good deal of it yesterday! And I wonder why I don’t get things done. There were several uploads of it, and the one I started watching had ads which was a pain, but I was far enough into it that I didn’t want to find another movie which likely had ads too. I have never seen “Home Alone” nor “Christmas Story” (someone loaned it to me and I started it, but didn’t finish it” nor “Elf” nor “Christmas Vacation” … I’m sticking with the kiddie cartoons for now. I have strange SPAM stuff going on … one time I’ll have 30-40 comments and every single one says “Muchas Gracias” and the next time I look, I have 3 and they are “I like your blog site – can you answer a question?” … very strange and sometimes I have commented on a post of Diane’s and then the same blogger will “like” what I said 5-6 or more times. Odd.
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I get that too….where they like every comment you make on someone else’s blog. I contacted a HE re the spam last week and he gave me instructions on how to group delete spam comments, (instead of one by one), but I haven’t tried it yet. He said if you don’t delete them, then WP will do it after a month. I sometimes get the same comments on the same posts over and over again – it’s annoying. But tonight all my approved comments are back again!
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I discovered by accident, that if I went to “My Site, Administrative, then Comments” I can mass delete the SPAM by checking, then selecting delete. However, if you just go to “Comments” you have to delete them one by one. I check in the a.m. to see if any legitimate comments need to be freed, but I got here tonight and another 32 comments, all the exact same “Muchas Gracias” … yes, annoying. I had an issue earlier this week, if I “liked” a comment in the Notifications area, like I’m in now, I would press “like” but by the time I wrote my comment, I noticed it was not “liked” … so I had to go back and do them again on the ones I already did. I don’t know if that is something new or just me.
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Yes, he told me to go to the Admin area but I haven’t tried it yet. I’ll have to watch and see if the likes stay liked! The other night I only had 5 comments under Notifications, and it said The End but the next day all the old comments were back. WP must be having glitches.
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I didn’t know that and was happy to find it by accident. It is way faster as you just check everything and mass delete. They moved the area where it used to say how many posts you have made as I usually mention that at the end of the year. I found it under “Posts” – yes it makes sense, but it used to be on the Dashboard. Sometimes I go to do a preview in Firefox and it says “something is wrong” … it does not always happen, but when it does, I have to log off and go to another browser to see how the preview looks.
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I may have to rely on you for help when I try to mass delete as I have forgotten what the HE said. I see tonight I have 236 spam comments, and no way am I deleting them one by one….I never had that many before the blockeditor.
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Oh no – it never dawned on me to associate the SPAM issue with the Block Editor – now that you mention it, I never had the problem until the last year or so. Bingo – I started using the Block Editor in April 2019. Just go to Administrative section of your blog, then go to Comments, then at the very top, you will see various categories: “All”, “Pending” “SPAM” – you can just check everything you don’t want and then don’t have to go in one at a time. You can only get rid of a page of SPAM at a time though, not the whole 236 – you have to page thru and check them, then at the bottom or top, just click to delete them.
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Thanks Linda…..I’ll try that tomorrow.
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Did it work Joni? I just cleared out 26 SPAMs when I got here. And 20 of them were identical “Muchas gracias” and one was at least three pages long.
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I haven’t tried it yet. I got distracted with online shopping – Boxing Day Deals – canvas boards for mom – etc. and walked and then tonight I worked on a blog for next week. This morning I had 260 spam, but tonight I see it’s down to 200, so WP must have cleared some out. I get those Muchas gracias ones all the time…..so annoying.
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At least they helped you out a little! Some days I get here at night and there are just five and other times it could be 25. Crazy! There must be some other way to tame them. Your Boxing Day Deals are like our Black Friday Deals I am guessing.
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I think WP clears the comments eventually for everyone, not just me? So if you didn’t delete them they would eventually disappear, but then there would be new ones, so the number may not change that much. RE Boxing Day sales, I didn’t find BF or BD sales that good this year – as everyone was shopping online anyway the discounts were not as good as other years. But considering that I don’t feel safe going out anymore, I am trying to do what I have to online. That is scary re your sherriff dying, but he must have had a lapse somewhere….as my doctor said, it has to get in somewhere, nose, mouth eyes etc. Masks are not 100% effective, esp the way many people wear them, and I find men are not as cautious with disinfecting.
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Now going to leave but yes, it is not safe to go out right now and when I heard that the surges are not due to Christmas, but still related to Thanksgiving, I was shocked about that. They are urging people not to go out on New Year’s Eve … the story I just sent you about the young Congressman-elect is scary too. He had been in good health … gone in 11 days. I have been wearing three paper masks to go to the Park – most people don’t wear a mask at all. When I went out on errands, I wore a paper mask and two neoprene masks in a medium and large size, so pretty safe I think. I do have a N-95 mask from when I did a silicone caulking job and got an extra package.
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We didn’t watch the Christmas specials. Maybe some of them began when I was in college, and I never saw TV then. We were more likely to be making our own music.
We had nuts and bolts. My mom made it a time or so, and I think I prepared it when I was a teen. Lovely crunchiness!
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I know my parents used to watch “The Lawrence Welk Show” regularly as well and he likely had a holiday special, but that wasn’t like the shows I mentioned … it seemed they were on for decades. That and my folks always watched “Guy Lombardo” on New Year’s Eve. So nuts and bolts was not just a Canadian thing. I loved it too! So many longstanding traditions at Christmastime back in the day.
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Those Christmas specials were a big deal in my home too, both when I was a child and then when I had young children. Pre-VHS or DVR days, there was so much excitement around what day the show would air and waiting for it to come on. Thank you for the happy memories!
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Those were the days weren’t they Christie! There was lots of anticipation for those shows. Most people, who grew up using VHS or DVR would have a difficult time understanding those early days. Did you read or hear that the figures used in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” were auctioned off recently – someone bought all the figures/puppets for $368,000.00. I wasn’t sure how much, so just Googled the story. Looks like someone else enjoyed this show too!
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Maybe it’s being an adult but I don’t enjoy the Christmas specials like I did when I was a kid. I’ve aged out of the animated ones and some of the musical ones no longer feature my favorite singers. I watch them anyhow because you have to get in the mood!
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Yes, they do help you get into the holiday mood. We have several radio stations that play non-stop Christmas music. One flipped to alternative music, but they start with Christmas music on November 1st and stop at midnight December 26th.
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Miss Linda…………………Your a ‘saver”……………………….I’m a “tosser”…………………………………………..Your mother was well organized with routines and schedules…………………………………..that’s where you get all of your orderliness from…………………….you were such a cute child………………………………
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Ann Marie – I like “tosser” better than “thrower” and you are correct about that. My mother did run a tight ship back in the day! I was very organized too … before blogging. Thank you Ann Marie. As an only child my parents took a lot of photos of their little girl.
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Your going to love this story Linda…………The Real Story Of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
A man named Robert L. May, depressed and broken hearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night.
His 4-year-old daughter, Barbara, sat on his lap quietly sobbing.
Bob’s wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer.
Little Barbara couldn’t understand why her mommy could never come home.
Barbara looked up into her dad’s eyes and asked, “Why isn’t Mommy just like everybody else’s Mommy?”
Bob’s jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears.
Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger.
It had been the story of Bob’s life. Life always had to be different for Bob.
When he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys.
He was too little at the time to compete in sports.
He was often called names he’d rather not remember.
From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in.
Bob, after completing college, married his loving wife, Evelyn, and was grateful to get a job as a copywriter at the Timothy Eaton Department Store in Toronto, during the Great Depression.Then he was blessed with his little girl.
But it was all short-lived.
Evelyn’s bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the poorer area of Toronto.Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn’t even afford to buy a Christmas gift.
But if he couldn’t buy a gift, he was determined a make one – a storybook!
Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animal’s story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope.
Again and again, Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling.
Who was the character?What was the story all about?
The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form.
The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was.
The name of the character?
A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose.
Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day.
But the story doesn’t end there.
The general manager of the T. Eaton Store caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book.
They went on to print “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores.
By 1946, Eaton’s had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph.
That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Eaton’s to print an updated version of the book.
In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Eaton’s returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller.
Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried, with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter. But the story doesn’t end there either.
Bob’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph.
Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore, it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry.
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of “White Christmas.”
The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning to bless him again and again.
And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn’t so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing.
A true Canadian story; can you believe this? eh?
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I love this story Wayne, as a Canadian and also because my favorite Christmas story has always been “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. I read the book as a kid and loved the record. In fact, I had a set of 45 rpm Christmas records that were different colors: red vinyl for “Rudolph” by Gene Autry, blue for “Frosty”(I think by Jimmy Durante) and green and yellow records too. I’m not sure what they were. I probably wore the “Rudolph” record out playing it so much. Thank you for posting this story here – I hope people who visited the post and/or comments today got a chance to read it.
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Well,you had better check and see If something like that is a collectors item Linda? You get the number one fan award. I love that movie as well! I think Yukon Cornelius is my favorite character! He has adventure in his heart!
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I wonder if it is Wayne, but it was just bought about 20 years ago, not back when I was a kid (now that would be a collector’s item for sure). I don’t know if I have a favorite character, as I liked them all – Yukon Cornelius was the ultimate adventurer. Remember how he licked the end of his pick all the time to see if it was valuable minerals or not?
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Yes….”SILVER AND GOLD”! Never understood why his tongue never stuck?
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I know – the magic of television? He did that every time!
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What a wonderful walk down memory lane, I just finished reading Wayne’s story as well. Just wonderful. I love how Wayne end it with “eh?”, yes those were our movies to watch as well. We had the black and white tv and I remember when one night, my grandfather has us all get in the living room to watch a show on the black and white tv. He went up to turn it on, ( no remotes) and the tv came on in color. That was so much fun, our first color television. 🙂
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Thanks Sandra – glad you liked it. I love taking a walk down memory lane every so often. Yes, they do say “eh?” in Canada. 🙂 I don’t say it so much anymore since I’ve lived here since 1966. I had never heard that story that Wayne put in his comment before. I don’t recall when we got our first color TV – most likely after we moved here and I think it was a portable TV, not a console like this one. I knew I had this picture of me beside the TV so figured it would be perfect for this post. I was surprised they took away the Peanuts special from network TV but I guess most people have cable or streaming services now, although some may have cancelled it due to losing their job.
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That was a wonderful read Linda….and I can relate to most of it, even the Readers Digest Abridged books on the shelf! Rudolph was always my favorite and I watched it up until about ten years ago? Often it was on on a Sat. night when I would be putting up my decorations. I downloaded some of the songs from it onto my IPOD, including Silver and Gold, and have a vivid memory of my mom singing Have A Holly Jolly Christmas and other Burl Ives tunes in the kitchen when she was doing the dishes. I never cared as much for Charlie Browns Christmas but it makes me mad that it is only available on Apple TV streaming service. We cleaned out all the VHS tapes awhile ago, and now the thrift shops are full of them, seems a shame, when there were so many wonderful kids movies. My mom had tons of them to keep the grandkids entertained. I miss the old Christmas music specials too – Andy Williams etc. About the only ones I see advertising now are Mariah Carey and Michael Buble – just not the same caliber of entertainment.
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I’m glad you enjoyed it Joni – we are the same age, so we have so many similarities in our childhood remembrances. That show was always my favorite. I can remember my mom singing to other Christmas fun songs, especially “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” – now that memory is clear as a bell for me. I think we were older by the time Charlie Brown was around, so it didn’t have the magic like “Rudolph”. It is wrong that they took it off network television. I knew I would have saved the first VCR tape with these shows as the “Grinch” was on it, but never erased the other two, even though I had the boxed set … I guess I never wanted to NOT be able to watch it. There were many specials on and I think the ones for grown-ups were Saturday nights as I remember saying up later than usual. When I listen to the all-Christmas music radio station, I can only listen so long and Mariah Carey comes on and I shut her off. That’s a screechy-sounding song in my opinion and people go crazy for it. And I find Michael Buble is an imitation of Frank Sinatra and needs to get his own style. I loved Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby” but don’t like Madonna’s version (though I am not keen on anything of Madonna’s to be honest). We had those Reader’s Digests Abridged Versions for years … in fact, we got Reader’s Digest for years and we’d cancel it and they’d send along a subscription for $5.00 a year and we’d re-up again. I have at least five years of them under my bed in plastic shoe boxes, still in their plastic wrapping. Good thing most of the stories are evergreen – who knows when I’ll get to them.
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I can remember watching the same holiday specials as you, Linda. And my parents watched the old singers’ Christmas specials too. My dad especially loved the Bob Hope Christmas specials and I can remember him broadcasting from Viet Nam (I think) when he entertained troops during the war. If you saved your old VHS tapes, you must have saved your old VHS tape player too. We didn’t! I must admit, I am a pitcher!
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Laurie – I forgot about Bob Hope … I don’t recall him in the repertoire of holiday specials watched at our house. I do remember that he broadcast while entertaining the troops but don’t recall where. I might have seen it on the news or in “Life” magazine which we used to get. Maybe he was on the same date/time as the “Lawrence Welk Show” which my parents watched. I had to get a new VHS player as it was not recording audio properly and I went to Best Buy and DVD players were just coming out and the salesman said to buy a dual player, the best of both worlds. I never recorded on a DVD, just played DVDs rented from Blockbuster. And I would have no idea how to use it now and I have never used a DVR player!
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We didn’t have Rudolph when I was growing up in Germany. After moving to the US it didn’t take long for me to learn of all these Christmas characters here. I loved Wayne’s background story how Rudolph came into existence. That makes me love it even more. A few years ago I went to the Charles Schultz Museum during one of my visits to my “hometown” of Santa Rosa. They had wonderful exhibits of all his art work and a small sitting area with a small old-fashioned TV set where Charlie Brown’s Christmas was playing. This is one of my very favorite posts of your Linda! Ever! And I love them all. 🎄
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“Rudolph” has always been my favorite Christmas show and next year I vow to watch it again and “Frosty” too. We always watched the grown-up holiday specials and Lawrence Welk too, so I grew up knowing the tunes and the worlds to all those well-known Christmas songs but never seeing Christmas classic movies that so many people know and love.
I loved Wayne’s story too – that was news to me or I would have put it into the post for sure. Now that Charles Schultz Museum sounds like a fun place to visit, especially that old-fashioned TV set playing Charlie Brown’s Christmas. How clever is that. Thank you – I am glad you enjoyed it Sabine. It is fun for me to reminisce about the past, especially about Christmas fun. I am glad you are enjoying the posts – that makes me feel good to hear you say that too. I enjoy writing them and ones like this, straying away from the squirrels for a while. 🙂
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I might just have to watch Rudolph! 😀
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Yes or you can see it on Rudolph, only it has ads. This year, horrible as it has been, is a good time to feel like a kid again!
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joy m the journey is so right
and the nuts and bolts sound delish
and yes we called it chex mix
we had a vision that added chocolate and it was called dirt or muddy check mix and I remember a child visiting us was like “no way”- when we offered it and called it by name – but then he loved it 0 it ws the muddy mx name that scared him off
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Yes, that nuts and bolts mixture was wonderful Yvette … the garlicky one smelled the house up but I am sure it was tasty, albeit stinky. 🙂 I was actually going to insert the recipe which I found on a site that was called “A Canadian Foodie” but it is really the same as Chex Mix or the old “Doo Dads” you bought already made up that I remember from years ago. I’ve seen the Muddy Chex Mix I think made with cocoa powder. All the fun things we could eat in abundance when younger but now think twice about how much salt or sugar it has. Sigh.
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Sigh is right – but I have found some fun recipes with healthy stuff – 😉
Hope your week is off to a njce start
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There are some recipes out there where stuff is good for you. I’ve cut a lot of items out of my diet and no red meat for about 6-7 years, no fried food or fast food for about 10 years now. My week has been good so far – the weather is turning ugly on Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day, so a walk may not be in the plans. Hope your weather in RVA will be better Yvette.
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Hi – walking has become such a natural part of my life (finally) and if I miss two days my body tells me
And red meat – it is 75% of my diet! Seriously – and I eat the fat and sometimes savor the chewy ends – but I am type o blood and we do better with red meat – anyhow – we also do have some fried foods but no canola oil (it is industrial pool that damages the body and so is vegetable oil) – anyhow – we might differ on the way we view fat and red meat – so I won’t go on but I do think it is a lie to make red meat the bad guy
–
But the thing is that it sounds like you have found what works for you dear healthy walker Linda 😉
So keep doing what you do – right 😉
—
And hope the weather is not too horrible
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Hi Yvette – I think once you begin a walking regimen in earnest, it does become a natural part of your life. Today, the snow once again had melted and we got to 50 degrees and it was like walking on an October morning. Very strange, but I enjoyed it. It’s pouring now and I hope the drop in temps overnight does not slicken things up, which it likely will. I gave up red meat as heart disease runs in the family on my mother’s side. I don’t have any heart issues that I know of and I hope to keep it that way. No fried foods either … a boring diet for the most part.
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Hi – that Esther is strange – and I believe that is a lie about red meat causing heart disease – but we do not have to discuss it. And I mean that with all my heart – not at all looking for a rabbit trail of such a layered topic and so again – if you are satisfied and getting the nutrients you need – and thriving – I say keep doing what you do!
And I had some minor shin splints this week from so much walking the previous week. Had some mall time and other walking
🎄🎄🎄🎄😊☀️☀️
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I just thought it was prudent, but I’ve not been tested for any type of heart disease since I turned 40 and had the treadmill test and Holter Monitor for a couple of days’ time. My grandmother and her 8 siblings died from heart disease and my mother had a heart arrthymia. I have had shin splints in the past and it is painful to go down stairs so I try to be careful and tame my exuberance, even if it is a nice day and I feel like I could go a few more miles. 🙂
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I remember you mentioning shin splints a little while ago and how you sometimes had them.
Mine are very mild – and giving them some rest 🙂
and ttys
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also – the videos are a flashback big time
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Yep – I’ve never recorded on the DVD player – don’t even have a single DVD in the house..
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Now it is all streaming
And my son and his fiancé have a njce collection of “games”
And on thanksgiving we played the “blockbuster” board game and it was nkt the best- he said later that he will keep it but it was a boring (bored board game) hahah
A different game was more fun – think it was called code breaker
Anyhow – the best part of the game was tha case was an oversized blockbuster video case! So cool
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I have never seen streaming and I have never even seen an iPad or iPod … this statement may render me a dinosaur. I never played a video game either, so of course, I have no clue what the hype over PS 5 is all about!
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Hahaha – but at least you know PS 5 is the happening console!
I am not a gamer either but if we bring out the old school
Nintendo 64 (1990s system) I have a few games I like to play
—
And maybe when you retire you can stream
😉
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Well, I only knew that because on the news, they interviewed a few people who had spent the night (a frosty night at that) waiting in line at a Best Buy where they had five PS 5 to sell and that was it. On top of it, they advertised it and the shipment didn’t come in, so the people in line took home nothing that day. I never played NIntendo either. I’d consider streaming when I have more time.
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That is a sad story – to wait in line and get nada
But then maybe what comes with the experience – and hope you ha e a njce Xmas eve day!
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It sure is – people were really mad as might imagine! Thank you Yvette – same to you.
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🙂
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I have great memories of being gathered around the TV with my sisters watching the Christmas specials. Even as teens we tried to all be home on the evening(s) they were on.
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It sounds like several fellow bloggers have those same great memories Ruth before we could record and watch them on our schedule. In fact, I think the anticipation of that evening TV treat was much more special. It seems I am not the only person who watched these specials into my teen and adult years … nothing wrong with that. These days it is nice to reflect on simpler times.
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This post brought back so many memories, Linda! Your childhood household and TV routines were so similar to mine. I remember how surprised my sister and I were when my father took to the VCR craze. He must have been in his late 60s at the time and he was soon taping almost every Nature and Nova and Masterpiece Theatre episode that ever aired. After he died we found so many boxes full of those tapes! He could never have imagined how quaint and antique those tapes seem now. 🙂 🌲
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Glad to give you a trip down memory lane Barbara. Yes, schoolwork came first except for special occasions or nature programs. And when I was a little older it was National Geographic or Jacques Cousteau specials. I have a lot of movies I taped and have not watched yet. I’ve got a combo VCR/DVD player and I’ve never recorded using a DVD. I’m not even sure I remember how to use the VCR – it’s been over a decade. I was glad when the VCRs came into existence … no more staying up late every single work night.
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National Geographic and Jacques Cousteau specials were required viewing in our house, too. 😉
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And the National Geographic magazine was delivered for decades to the house as well. Well, it all fostered a love for nature.
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I remember all those Christmas shows! I no longer watch them… but I do like some of the Christmas-themed movies they bring out this season (especially Love, Actually). I’m amazed that you still have those tapes! Seeing the one you have with the sticky note reminded me of my father. He loved to tape shows and watch them later. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.
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Glad you enjoyed your stroll down memory lane Janis. I do have these tapes and many more filled with movies I taped when I still had cable which I cancelled as I never watched it (and that was before blogging). I even got basic cable for free with my internet as I got extra fast speed for work and still never watched cable. I get all my news online or by listening to the all-news radio station. I will get cable or streaming once I’m retired to see what I’ve missed in movies all these years.
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Great post Linda! I can’t tell you how many of these I got to watch with my grandson this past month. Believe it or not, I even found The Wizard of Oz! He loved it!
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Thanks Diane – it seems it brought back some nice memories for lots of people. I have found Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer on YouTube too since writing this post. There is nothing like these old kids Christmas shows and I don’t think are corny at all. I like the Wizard of Oz too – I’ve not watched it in many years though, but it was another show that we saw every year. I think it was on a Sunday night if I recall.
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I always loved the Charlie Bown ones! It’s funny how the specials and movies make up so much of our Chritsmas fun! While some of yours have swaped over here, it is nice to see that many countries still have their own shows and little quirky traditions! Happy Holidays Linda!
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Yes it is – it is good to watch them and feel like a kid again. Happy Holidays to you too Jeanine!
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Lovely picture! Christmas is a good time for nostalgia and taking things slow. I remember an outing to Sears with my mom to buy a tree and ornaments. That was ages ago. It was a drizzly and gloomy day in L.A., which is rare. So it made the outing much more winter like.
Happy holidays as we look forward to the new year…it’s just a year change, but this year, it seems much more significant. 2020 has been quite a year for everyone.
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Yes, 2020 was a colossal dud wasn’t it? I think everyone is glad to move away from this year and into 2021, though I am not sure 2020 is going to be great … not for a while anyway. I think Christmas brightened spirits though not in the usual way – you have kids, so a little more normalcy I am thinking.
Stay safe Esther … I hear the stats for your state and I cringe.
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The stop-motion version of Rudolph is almost as old as I am, Linda. Thankfully my kids watched it several times when they were little (and Frosty, and the Grinch) and remember it to this day. You don’t find children’s Christmas stories like those anymore, do you? So innocent. Your mention of Burl Ives made me realize I confused his stop-motion snowman host character in Rudolph with Frosty. Frosty was a full-on cartoon. Not only can I hear Jimmy Durante singing the title song but I can hear Frosty shout, “Happy Birthday!” every time he comes to life. Ha.
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You’re so right Dave. Those specials were great and though I haven’t watched them in a while, I will bet you that I could recite portions by memory. Do you recall Burl Ives’ snowman character advertising Norelco shavers as he glides down a snowy hill? I think all the “Rudolph” commercials were for Norelco. I can hear Jimmy Durante’s singing booming voice and Frosty shouting “Happy Birthday” too!
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