Jenyfer Matthews

I’ve been having a lot of fun unpacking boxes – so many things I’d pretty much forgotten I still had!

We moved fairly frequently when I was growing up, so there are a lot of things that I got rid of that I sort of wish I’d kept. I did keep some things though. Like this:

(click any image to enlarge)

Remember these? The records might be worth something (to someone) if I still had the sleeves they came in. Who knows – I haven’t opened all the boxes yet!

I went through a phase where I went to the TG&Y every week and bought several hits off their top 10 display for the week, which means there are some pretty questionable choices in this stack! There are also quite a few Elvis singles included – both mine and also some that my mother bought when she was a teen.

I haven’t even opened this box yet, but the label made me laugh. “Fragile” indeed! Remember when stereos came in single, stackable components?

I do still have cassettes to play in my dual cassette player too. What a mix of genres! There are cassette singles in the box as well – the music industries answer to 45rpm’s before iTunes was invented

I could always fire up one of these more portable puppies too! They look so giant now compared to ipods!

Yes, I have vinyl albums (and a turntable) too. Don’t you just love the “limited edition” albums with the picture printed right on the vinyl? My daughter asked to hold one because she had never touched an album before – then she asked if handling it would “smudge” the lines. Young whippersnapper! Vinyl is making a comeback because it’s actually more durable than digital.

This really is a treasure – from my husband’s childhood. I had never seen the schoolhouse before. I love the metal bell on top!

None of these little people have a cell phone to call home if they fall off the dangerous merry-go-round, but never fear – there is a phone booth nearby!

I would have thought that the children were too old for the Fisher Price toys but they asked me if I could buy them more. Only on ebay…

You know you are getting up there in age when many of your stories include phrases like when I was a child or I remember when. Since it seems like a lot of my stories start that way recently so you can draw your own conclusions!

Though I was never a girl scout myself, I have a long history with girl scout cookies. A friend of mine down the street who was a little younger than me was a girl scout and I used to help her sell them. It was kind of a treat for me because my school was always asking us to sell hard things like magazine subscriptions. Girl scout cookies were a breeze – they practically sell themselves!

But it was difficult for even a young child to resist the allure of all those cookies. I used to buy boxes of thin mints with my allowance and stash them in my bedroom. No worries of attracting insects because they never lasted very long! The serving size in the nutritional information really should just say “2″ – I can easily eat an entire tube at one sitting and I’d like to think that everyone else is doing exactly the same thing. I’d like to know what they put in Thin Mints because I can resist all other varieties of Girl Scout cookies but those. The only way for me to resist them is not to buy them at all.

(And incidentally – that Thin Mint Blizzard that Dairy Queen was hyping last summer was a big disappointment. It was Oreos and mint sauce in ice cream. Not a bad Blizzard but NOT Thin Mints)

I’ll be making a quick trip back to the US soon and a friend asked me would I like any girl scout cookies. Does anyone ever say no to girl scout cookies?? Even the cat in the picture is even sitting on a box of my favorite variety! I think my only hope is to avoid eye contact if I see any Girl Scouts or I may have to pay for excess baggage on the return flight!