Monday, November 10, 2014

Golden Girl Musings

Excuse me while I wax nostalgic for a bit...  I am feeling nostalgic on this crisp Autumn day here in the Pacific Northwest.  It's beautiful outside.  And something about the chilly air, and the uncharacteristically sunny sky at this time of year, has me thinking of Alabama.  The weather reminds me of that today...

Of course, that's not all that's been turning my thoughts to Alabama and reminiscences of days gone by.  I've also been watching some old episodes of The Golden Girls, which I borrowed from the public library.  And these are the things I remember, as a result; for The Golden Girls always bring to mind memories of summers spent visiting Dothan:

...Supermarket Sweep.  You see, this was a game show we would watch every summer in Dothan when we would visit.  I'm not even sure why I liked this show so much, but I did!  And, honestly, if it was still on TV; and if we had cable, I'd probably still watch it.  Even if for no other reason than old times' sake.  I just got sucked in to watching that episode I linked on Youtube... 

...Crystal Pepsi.  It came out in 1993.  And that summer, we visited Dothan.  I remember the excitement of walking down to the little convenience store at the end of my grandmother's road.  I think it was called Lolo's or something.  And the following time we were there on vacation, my grandmother said we couldn't go there anymore as someone had been shot.  Ah well... But in the summer of 1993, it was one of the places we went to "escape" the boredom of being at the house all the time.  And we'd buy the Crystal Pepsi -- and other yummy treats :).

...Nick at Night!  Being in Dothan meant having many more cable channels than we had in Panama.  And we loved it!  Every night, we'd watch Nick at Night.  And that's how we got introduced to some awesome classics like Mary Tyler Moore.  The one rule:  we couldn't be loud and the TV couldn't be either.  Once my grandmother went to bed, we needed to be quiet.

...Strawberry Shortcake.  The dessert, not the 80s toy.  Honestly, our summer vacations spent in Dothan were full of yummy treats.  My mom would go to the grocery store and get all sorts of yummies for us to have.  One of them was the little yellow sponge-cakes, strawberries (which she'd slice and sprinkle with sugar), and cool whip in a can.  I don't know why I remember that one so fondly, but I do. 

...Unsolved Mysteries.  We loved that show too!  And watched it on a couple different channels at a couple different times every day.  Some of the episodes freaked us out.  Seriously.

...Rice.  Lots and lots of rice.  Rice with dinner every day.  My grandmother usually cooked dinner -- and the Panamanian in her made sure rice was always on the menu.  It was a good thing, though.  She made the best white rice.  And we'd have it with a variety of meat dishes:  ropa vieja was one of them I remember.  And some sort of platano (plantain) dish.  Good stuff.

Yep, so there's a little variety of the memories that float through my brain every time I watch The Golden Girls.  They are happy memories :).  I've had a good life :).

...But before I end, I should go back to the future ;).  Or the present ;).  And show you a couple pictures.  From Halloween and other stuff :).
Nice side-ways picture...  But Lynnaea and I chilled on the couch on Halloween and she took a mini nap before Trunk or Treat at the church.  (she didn't go from car to car, because she doesn't need the candy... but we gave out candy and dressed up :)).
 Here we are!  Jeremy just threw on random stuff, but ended up being like a made scientist.  I was a witch, and Lynnaea was a Care Bear :).
Our friends Lea and Chuck stopped by the church to see Lynnaea and they also gave out some candy for a bit too.

 Me and the candy stash...
And this sweet girl trying on the witch hat ;).  So stinkin' cute!
Lynnaea is getting to the age where she wants to be involved in everything we do...  So Jeremy lets her help him make bread.  So after they get it all into the bread machine, she likes to watch it mix.
Then she is ready to get back down :).  So cute.  Love this girl.

1 comment:

jessica said...

What a cute little wonder heart!