Tuesday, January 1, 2013

2013...A New Year!

WOW!  2013!  Happy New Years Everyone!

I remember standing in my kitchen in Georgetown, TX in 1999... just the other day wasn't it???... ringing in the new year to 2000.  Remember how cool that was and how everyone thought the computers of the world would blow up or something!  LOL!  Thirteen years have past already!  WOW!
Time is a moving...Fast!  Better get busy living!

Ironically, I'm lying here in bed trying to pry my legs from the warm covers just thinking of the past and the movement of time.

Things Remembered...

How we always put puzzles together on New Years Eve and when the time came Dad would let us go outside and honk the horn of the car!

When the circus would come to town here in Austin, how they would always bring a giraffe or some exotic animal and place them in a fenced in area next to Montgomery Wards Department Store.

How when Dad and I would go tool shopping at Sears that they actually used to have a countered candy department and we would get peanut clusters without my sisters knowing.

Going grocery shopping at Safeway with Mom on Saturday and how somehow I went from riding in the basket to pushing it for her and running over her heels!  Ooooh she hated that!  LOL!

The AMAZING toy departments of Gulf Mart, Kiddy City, Winns 5 and 10 off of Burnet Road and Anderson Lane.

When Mom got her first microwave....This colossal laminated wood grained machine that sat so prominently displayed in the avocado green kitchen was truly a spectacle to behold. When we first plugged it in how Mom, Dad, Kathy, Kim and I pulled up kitchen chairs to watch popcorn actually being popped in this amazing magic machine.

That very special plastic smell of the Big Jim GI Joe Camper I got for Christmas....Believe it or not, I found a picture of it on the web.... I loved this thing! Circa 1971 huh?




Going door to door collecting money for the Jerry Lewis telethon and then taking it to the news station drop off....How cool it was to sit up all night and watch the telethon...Or at least try.

Getting up at the crack with my sister Kim on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons.  Up so early there was that bulls eye on the TV screen....waiting for 7:00 a.m. to come and Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner to appear....Beep Beep!  Oh yeah how they played the Star Spangled Banner as the day ended and the channel went off air to snow.

Learning how to drive...getting a license and taking the HUGE family car to parallel park between two cement filled iron poles at the DPS! How totally amazing it felt to have a license and how totally liberating it was.

How literally I could drive 10 blocks on Burnet Road and there was nothing there but a gas station on the left.  Now... a maze of shops and service stores for miles!

Going with friends to the airport on Friday night and actually walking up to the gates and sitting down to watch people come and go from Mueller Airport.

Oh, in those teen years how we would drive around and around and around Northcross Mall...Why?  Because that's what we did on Friday Nights...We all did!

Standing in a line that was wrapped around the Aquarius Movie Theater twice to see Star Wars!

The BEST Hamburgers from Holiday House where they actually had a peacock out front.

Atari, Box Macintosh computers with floppy disks, cordless phones with antennas, drive-in movie theaters, window box air conditioners, wool carpet, white and black cars.....

Well, time has definitely moved forward and so shall we....

I want to sincerely thank you all for following me this past year....It's been crazy huh?  So looking forward to more crazy good times this year!  Once again, You All Honestly Rock My World!

Have a wonderful, healthy, happy, creative, abundant, exciting 2013!!

Jim
The Gentleman Crafter









28 comments:

  1. Amazing to think my son will know none of this nor understand our fascination of the past that we now call vintage! To think my toys that my mom kept for me are now vintage too as well as the Christmas decorations that have come with me from my childhood! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

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  2. Jim, Your always so inspirational & reading through your memories reminds me so much of when I was growing up & the things we use to do. So precious those moments are & the memories it gives us to create or contribute inspiration in our everyday lives.
    You Sir are one of the most Amazing Man, Friend, & True Inspirationalist of our time right now. You never take for granted a moment of sharing or time or heARTistry. For that I admire you tremendously. Your open and willing to give us a piece of your heART just makes me want to do the same & make a difference in the world one heART at a time.
    HUGS xx

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  3. Happy New Year, may this year be totally awesome!!
    ~Jill

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  4. Jim thank you for sharing those memories. Reading through it reminded me of when we used to go out to the highway and pick up returnable bottles that people tossed out their car windows. Happy New Year.

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  6. So glad we became friends in 2012. Here's to a fabulous 2013. Can't wait to see what wondrous creations you'll have this year.

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  7. Thanks for taking us down your memory lane and reminding us just how precious time and memories really are. Enjoy every moment you have and I hope you have the most fun creating new memories that you will sit back and enjoy reminiscing....




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  8. Jim, I truly enjoyed readin all your great memories. I'm such a big believer in treasuring all the little things that happen every day and I've seen that you're an expert at that. I feel that it makes for a much happier life. I get so nostalgic on the last day of every year. From using my 30 year old Christmas dishes from Woolworth's to seeing that silly Hershey Kisses Christmas bells commercial appear each year. Now that our children are in their 30's, we're able to share and compare memories. Then there's the fact that we know we'll get to add a bunch of new ones in a brand new year.
    Thanks for writing about what truly matters. It makes my heart happy. Your last year was so exciting and I'm so grateful to have been following from the beginning of your blog. I'll never forget Mr. Roboto! I think when we look back at this next year of yours, it'll be chock full of adventures. I couldn't be more pleased for you.
    I wish you and your family the very best for 2013.
    Hugs
    Mo(Mori49)

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  9. Happy new year Jim! Have a fabulous, joyful and art-filled 2013!

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  10. Happy and Prosperous 2013 Everybody! And thank you, Jim, for sharing all the goodness of your heart and creative juices! Long may you thrive!

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  11. great memories, you in fact, put me back into mines!... *smile*

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  12. Love the memories, Jim. Thanks for sharing!!!

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  13. Ahhh, Jim.... I loved reading that. Okay so UK doesn't have Wallmart & other places you remember... But i do remember first time getting a microwave (weren't they just huge?) I remember the bricks, sorry i mean mobile phones (cell phone). Cordless telephone.. Oh the freedom of having conversations without family listening!!
    A lot of my childhood was spent abroad but still have memories, cherished (or not so..)
    From 2012, one of the most amazing memories will be discovering your work on Graphic 45!! Sounds gushy i know but you truly are not only a master in crafting but from what i have witnessed a True Gentle Man. Your craft name is so apt!! And of course my kiss on NY's eve...treasured forever. Lol!! Love ya. Caroline xx

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  14. Jim, do you remember the PAY toilets at Sears? It cost a nickle or dime to get in the stall. They also had a talking bird that I always thought was facinating. We were shopping at Montgomery Wards the day Elvis died, I remember them coming on the intercom with the news. I got my driver license in 1979 and MOPAC was still being built, it ended at Enfield I believe. We liked eating at 2-J's on North Lamar. I actually had that same camper, along with my pretty Barbie camper. Yes I am a girl but I also played with G.I. Joe, he was much manlier than Ken, pfft. You always find a way to take me down memory lane and I thank you for it.

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  15. Happy New Year Jim!! A lot of your memories are similar to my own...only the locale was in NC...lol... that is the beauty of (relatively)small-town-USA. Oh, I had a Barbie camper! LOL Here's one for you... remember the bag phones?... the first type of cell phone... it's amazing the amount of technology advances in such a short time. But wasn't 2013 supposed to be that we were all flying around like the Jetsons?!! Best wishes for a Happy, Healthy, Wealthy, and an abundantly inky crafty 2013!

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  16. Happy New Year Jim!! I remember having the Barbie Camper that looked just like that but pink!! Oh the memories pictures like that bring back!! Wishing you happiness, health,love and abundance all through the year and beyond!! Thank you so much for sharing your amazing talent and creativity this past year it has been so inspirational!! Take care!!

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  17. Happy New Year Jim! Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I remember my father bringing home a jigsaw puzzle every New Years eve. We would set it up at the dining room table and my parents, sibs, and I would stop to work on it thru out the day. I remember ToysRus had a huge giraffe sticking out the top of building on the outside and one could see it from far away. Just the other day my kids and I were talking about how lame the futuristic movies made in our time are (the future portrayed is nothing like what it is now, not even close!)...LOL Best wishes for you and your loved ones in 2013! Hugs, Maggie.

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  18. Jim we must be near the same age. I didn't ever live in Texas but I have really similar memories. Only for me that camper was a Barbie camper and it was pink and white (weird but otherwise it's IDENTICAL!). And the candy counter at Sears had coconut bonbons that were pastel colored. Olive Oyl I felt the same way about GI Joe, I mean the man had a SCAR!! LOL!

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  19. Jim, I loved your post.. although i am a bit older than you.. (i got married in 1971) you still brought up some of my memories from the 50's and 60's. How blessed we artsy people are to have this wonderful means of communication and sharing.. just like the streamathon yesterday, it is almost unbelievable that we could met and talk with so many different people and have so much fun.. I am very thankful i have met you and love to see your art.. you are very talented and i am always happy to see what you will come up with next.. Hugs.. Ruth

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  20. Just like several others on here, I too had the Barbie camper. Mine was yellow, pink & orange. Thanks for bringing that memory back! Lately I've been watching re-runs of Leave It to Beaver and wishing times were like that again. Case in point, I spent 4 hours today trying to get my new wireless printer to print that never did print. Typewriters always worked. :P Sears always smelled like roasted nuts and we got the chocolate cigarettes and amazingly we never grew up to smoke. Oh those were the days!

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  21. Happy New Year Jim! Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Love your stories. 2012 was quite the year for you. So grateful that you took us along for the ride. The year ahead looks to be as exciting as the last. Enjoy the journey my friend. You deserve all that your heart desires. Yahoo! Let's get this year started. It will be amazing my friend. Hugs.

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  22. Loved your post. Happy, happy New Year Jim. ox Marg

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  23. PMSL ow my how I love your posts Jim! They so often make me genuinely laugh out loud. If I had to pick a favourite moment it was the BIG JIM G.I. Joe Camper! Reminds me of my Barbie and He-Man stuff lol. Thanks for the memories.

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  24. Oh Jim....how much fun to remember....I remember getting my first microwave and my husband saying if he got me one I would have to cook whenever HE wanted to eat......got the microwave,but he didn't get all that service!!!!(well maybe on Christmas Day!!!!!)
    And puzzles!!!!! That was how as we got a little more sensible(?) about drinking and driving, my husband and I started the puzzle tradition on New Year's Eve!!!!!!

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  25. Happy New Year!! Enjoyed the trip down Memory Lane!

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  26. Jim, thanks for taking us down memory lane. I too remember alot of these things it's kind of fun thinking back. Boy it sure was a different world from what the kids have now. I love how your Dad let you honk the horn on his car to ring in the New Year, why didn't we think of that?

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  27. WoW! We have a lot of similar memories! I absolutely LOVE that you mention collecting for & watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon! I work for MDA & have for 10 years. It's the best job I have ever had & I absolutely LOVE it. Knowing that every day my job contributes to the greater good is priceless. The show has changed a lot over the years, but it's still for the same great cause. Hope you'll give it a peep this year. :D (Sorry to sound like a commercial!)

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  28. OMG Jim! In my Christmas journal this year I searched the web for pictures of my favorite gifts. They were the Barbie camper (which looks remarkably like GI Joes rig there) and her Friendship airplane! Finding the pictures out there made my day and brought back eeven more memories as I remembered the accessories! Glad you had fun finding your childhood gift as well! Debbie

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