Monday, November 30, 2009

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

I'm glad to see all your smiling faces today. It looks like you survived the Thanksgiving holiday without having to resort to antacids.

Have I mentioned the rules for this meeting? Well, basically there are no rules. You can attend in your P.J.'s if you wish. In fact, we're going to have a P.J. party here real soon. Put away those torn and stained flannels and find something more appropriate like a pair of sock monkey footed P.J.'s. I'll let you know when we're going to have P.J. Monday.

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First and foremost on the agenda is the food. You KNOW that I saved you a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream. So yummy.



I can't believe that Ruta, in Devon, England, cannot buy canned pumpkin. That's terrible! I feel like the Pied Piper of Pumpkin Pie. Everyone should be able to bake up a pie at any time.

For those of you who have overdosed on pie, I've got a bag of Jay's shoestring potatoes for you to enjoy.



Blame it on the stinkin' merchandisers who display them at the checkout line.



Crunchy goodness.

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Do you do Christmas cookies? One of our very creative neighbors has a cookie exchange each year. It's alot of fun. I come home with at least a dozen different kinds of cookies.

Look what I found for $3.00.



Three Wilton snowflake cookie cutters. I'm hoping to create something as wonderful as those cute cookies in the King Arthur flour catalog. The packaging on these cookie cutters contain a recipe. They are a little labor intensive for the cookie exchange because I'm required to bring 10 dozen.

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Since my children are grown I don't give too much attention to the toy section of the advertising flyers, but I was drawn to an ad for the Easy Bake Oven. They're still making that? I can't remember having one but I do remember that it "baked" a small cake using a light bulb.

The new 21st century version looks like a microwave and has a digital clock. I'm sure the clock is functional but I'm wondering how the new version bakes the cake. Still a lightbulb?

I can't remember a single toy that I loved better than my Barbies. Every budding clothing designer (or interior designer) cut their creative teeth on the Barbie experience. My mom sewed clothes for Barbie as Christmas gifts. To this day I can't imagine how she had the patience for that teeny tiny work.

Were you one of the lucky kids that had an Easy Bake oven? Did you love dressing your Barbies? Do you have a love/hate relationship with Bratz dolls? What about that doll with the huge eyes? What's her name?

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Old Navy has simply got to bite the bullet and hire some models for their ads. The papier mache manniquins are freaking me out.



Seriously, have you seen these things? They're second on the scary scale, just behind clowns.

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Thanks to everyone who participated in the Thanksgiving fill-in-the-blanks contest. You guys are awesome. Not only did we get the "leftovers" answer but some other creative thoughts.

You know the low tech drill. Names on paper.



Names in basket.



Equals ...............



Winners!

Yes, I drew TWO names.

Jenni wins a Jelly Roll of my cotton dishcloths.



..... and 1 in College, 1 in Diapers (sorry, I'm shuddering at that thought) wins



a Paisley Wallet.

Please contact me via e-mail so that I can get these in the mail to you. The rest of you, hang on because I'll have more giveaways in the next few weeks.

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Be sure to check out Ruta's site from Devon, England. I'm salivating at the wild beauty of that place. The Farmer simply must get me to England.

Thanks for attending yet another Monday Morning Staff Meeting. The world can now continue to spin on it's axis.

Don't forget that today is Cyber Monday, the day for you to shop online. I'm going shopping on the Etsy site. Have you heard that Oprah isn't going to be doing her "Favorite Things" show this year? Never fear, I'm going to be back tomorrow with some favorite picks from Etsy. Who needs Oprah?

See you then.

17 comments:

Barbara said...

I coveted all the other little girls' Easy Bake Ovens when I was a child. We were too poor for such luxurious toys. My daughter has one, however -- yes, still a light bulb. The packaged mixes are crazy expensive, however. Thanks goodness for the internet and shared easy bake oven recipes!

And Barbie clothes are so not cheap either -- it's easier to buy a new Barbie, which is why my daughter has, like, 12. Then they share clothes, like college roommates.

chocolatechic said...

I'm attending in a hair covered nightgown.

I just cut the boy's hair and he hopped in the shower before I could say "waaaaaait! I was going to get a shower first!"

I didn't have an Easy Bake oven, but I bought one for my girl. She loved it.

No 'tinned' pumpkin in England?!?!?!? That should be a crime!

Karen said...

I had a little oven when I a kid. It was a different brand though, I don't remember what brand. My baby brother was a finicky eater, but he would eat a hamburger patty made in my oven. I rememeber my mom asking me to cook his patty in my little oven! She would do anything to get some protein in him!

I agree on the OLd Navy ads. They scared me yesterday, when looking through the Sunday ads!

Mary Rex said...

Thanks for the pie, pumpkin is my favorite! I am also shocked that Ruta cannot get tinned pumpkin...maybe we should send her some, along with a recipe of course.
I feel lucky to have had both an Easy-Bake Oven and Barbies. I was crazy about all the Barbie stuff, and had a Barbie Dream Home as well. If you go to the Barbie website, you can see pictures of all the clothes, and the different incarnations of Barbie thru the years. The clothes these days are nothing like the tiny knitted sweater set, or the beautifully detailed little hats and purses that came with each outfit.

mary Rex said...

here is the address for the cool stuff on the Barbie site...these are the clothes I had for my Barbie...
http://www.barbiecollector.com/showcase/gallery.aspx?t=vintage&y=s150119

LDF said...

Mm mmm ... punkin pie for breaky! Thanks! I'm sipping Chair Tea, and it goes with punkin pie real good! I REMEMBER Easy Bake Ovens, but never had one myself. My "bestest" toy was my doll "Helena" (I had just heard about Helen of Troy) ... I fell in love with her at a rummage sale that my great-auntie Mae took me to in Vancouver (read THE BIG CITY to a little farm girl). Helena had plastic hair, but it was done up in a bun like an adult. Somehow, Helena found her way to our Christmas tree that year, and I spent the next half dozen years sewing "adult" clothes for her. I don't think kidlets today would be too happy with a rummage sale second-hand dolly!

LDF said...

Oops ... too early to spell ... CHAI Tea!

Jenni said...

Holy smokes! That Jenni is me! I didn't even know I was entering a drawing--too distracted with/exhausted from all the holiday craziness, I guess. (Yes, already!) Thanks so much, Suzanne. I'm delighted to have won as I've been wondering about these crocheted dish towels I keep seeing that people are making.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I had an easy bake oven, and I think my girls did too, and it had the lightbulb.
I had Barbie, Ken and Skipper and a doll called Tressy, I think, who had long hair that you screwed back in and then pushed her belly button and pulled it back out. thanks for the memories! I used to make Barbie doll clothes when young.
Pam

Ang. said...

I didn't have the easy bake oven. I had Barbies. I still have my first Malibu Barbie!

Cyber Monday was a flop as far as I am concerned. I spent most of the day shopping online looking for specific things. However, I could hardly find any good deals at all! Worse deals than Black Friday. Blah. On the upside I am nearly done with my shopping!

Stuck on Sunflowers said...

I loved barbie dolls as a young girl. I was lucky enough to have a godmother who spoiled me with so many barbie, ken, midge and friends dolls, the houses, cars, swimming pool and OH THE CLOTHES! I wish my Mom had saved them all. I played with them every day for many, many years. My sister Gale played with me. We had a great time. Those Bratz dolls can not compare......and they are kinda sleazy.

Maureen said...

Oh yes! Barbie! And Skipper and Scooter and Midge and Ken (who I thought was kind of strange - especially the fuzzy headed one). I spent many, many hours playing and making furniture out of jewelry boxes and shoe boxes. I remember going to church bazaars and there was always handmade Barbie clothes and I could never understand how anyone could make stuff that small. Still don't actually. So teeny tiny.

Lisa D. said...

Mmmm, pumpkin pie. I never had an Easy Bake oven, but I wanted one. I only had 3 Barbies, but I had a great aunt who made Barbie clothes, so I had a whole laundry basket full of clothes. Yet what did I dress my Barbie in? I'd fashion little outfits out of scrap bits of fabric/lace/whatever. And then I'd leave all my dolls naked when I was done playing.

My daughters have so many Barbies and Bratz. The majority came from an older cousin who gave them her's when she outgrew playing with them. My 7 year old daughter is just amazed that I only had 3 to play with. The Bratz are kind of odd, and I am less than thrilled with the clothing selection for them.

Ruta M. said...

Thank you for the kind mention and the commiserations over the canned pumpkin. I wondered why my site manager map had suddenly sprouted markers from all over the globe. (I like to check my site manager even before I look to see what comments hqve been left on the blog.)One of the things I find fascinating about reading blogs is the differences between everyday lives in other cultures. Often they are food related. I've been wracking my brains to think which foods we might have that might not be so well known - eg we have laver, a locally collected seaweed that is fried and eaten with bacon or sausages for breakfast - not that I've tried it. And my local WI friends often make 'teddies' - a small sweet cake/pancake made from mashed potato with sultanas and sprinkled with sugar.
ps little girls here still have Barbies though the current craze for boys and girls is Gogos, small plastic creatures. I keep a permanent marker specially for putting the children's initials on so that we don't get ownership arguments.

Haute Keys said...

Mmmm...Jay's potato chips! We don't have those in New England.

ren said...

mmm pumpkin pie! We only have one shop in Melbourne, Australia (that I'm aware of) that sells canned pumpkin- the USA food Store and it costs $6 for a small can! This year I made my pie using a real pumpkin and it was just as good :)

One Gray Hair At A Time said...

I received my wallet and it is the cutest thing...thanks again for the great contest. Have a wonderful weekend.