Happy Wednesday, everybody! Dreary and snowy here today, but not excruciatingly cold... House needs some tidying, but it's bill-paying day today (we just call it "money transfer day" - our penions get direct deposited, I pay the bills on-line. Pfft! Done in half an hour...). Thank you for your collective outrage directed toward the Phils...however, in their defence....we take turns here putting the little guy to bed (music practice, homework, bath, snack etc.) and cleaning up the kitchen. The other night it was my turn to do the clean-up. If I am sick or tired or going out, one of the adult Phils pitches in and takes my turn at whatever, and vice versa. But the other night I was not sick, or tired, or going anywhere, I was in a snit and just didn't take my turn. So....not excusable but maybe understandable...They did, however, pull out all of the Christmas decorations and help Adrian start his note to Santa and hang hs stocking (already! He can hardly wait!). I spent half an hour at the school yesterday looking for wayward mittens, snowpants (two pair gone already!) hats, fleeces etc. To no avail. His name is in everything....He came home with two pairs of the three snowpants that have gone to the school in the last week, and one pair of ski mitts without the liners...Saw the principal in the hall he asked if I had any insights on the lost stuff problem - I told him the real problem is that the kids are seven years old (grin). Busy week coming up. Today - music and parent-teacher interviews (report card was good). Tommorrow - DH has his physical in the town we moved from (can't find a doctor here) so I might tag along and shop..Friday Professional Development day for teachers so TCS has no school - he and his Daddy are making a gingerbread house, I am volunteering at the school book fair for three hours. Christmas stuff, volunteer stuff, trying to get an appointment to look at a very large old house for sale three blocks from here - likely a pipe-dream but... I will be taking out the dishes this week-end too - so a photo will be forthcoming... I hope you all have (or had?) a great Thanksgiving and are ready to leap right into the Christmas spirit! See you tomorrow... CHeers! Julie

I live quite close to The Garden in the Woods, so maybe I'll wander over soon. Our house was owned by a man who lived there for 90 years! The property had mostly trees, but he used to feed the squirrels peanuts in the shell. We're still finding them in the yard. I mentioned to my neighbor that we were always finding peanuts and she told us all about the previous owner. I wish we'd known him. At any rate, I love old things. My house has many antiques and we have plants MIL gave us from her childhood home. They're quite special to us. We have pachysandra that came from the house DH grew up in, and they got it from MIL's father, long deceased. Who knows where he got it? I've given some to my friends. Gardening creates quite a community, doesn't it! -Donna

Maddielee, what a kick that you had a rosary like that. Now I'm feeling like the only nuked protestant. Hehe. We had a sun lamp and those weird little eye cap goggle things too! I had forgotten about that so thanks for the memories. Dunno why we had it because we lived in La Jolla, but we did spend a lot of time under that silly sun lamp. Nobody had any idea they weren't safe beyond the eye caps thing. Yes, there are still some of those machines out there. If you google 'fluoroscope' and hit 'images' you'll see some pics and some articles. Technicolor, we used to go to Knotts Berry Farm too back when it was free, though not nearly as often as you. You must have loved that. I don't remember that chapel, but I was very impressed as a little kid by the room with the slanted floor. Remember that? Great fun. And their jam was great. Sorry I missed the chapel -- what a hoot! Roselover, no kidding. Awww, you're just a baby! Yeah, the machines were gone way before you came on the scene I'm sure. Why not just google 60s and 70s toys? If you do it in 'images' you'll probably see just what interests you. I'm sure there is some fun web sites. It's a hoot to look at pictures from our childhoods, and see old TV shows and ads, isn't it? I'm sure the toys you played with weren't radioactive. They'd wised up when you got here, or gotten caught is more like it. Dedtired, yep those x-ray machines were fun, weren't they? They were like a big magnet for kids. Denali, oh that's not fair that you didn't get a turn! Just as well though, now that we know. Yeah that was radium paint. They were cool how the numbers all glowed in the dark. Mary do you think moving the clock across the room helped? I doubt it but that's funny. Your dad sounds like a fun guy. Lukkirish, maybe my memory is faulty but it seems to me we all knew it was radium paint. We just didn't know it was dangerous. I agree. Those clocks were much cooler than digital clocks. I'm sure your dog's ball isn't radioactive but it sounds like a great toy. One of my dogs would go nuts for that. Where did you get it? Kristine, you're right about the tritium, I think. Wiki says of tritium, "While these devices contain a radioactive substance, it is currently believed that self-powered lighting does not pose a significant health concern." I'm sure the toys were radioactive (and still are). They came out at the same time as the radium clock and watch dials. It was all the same paint. I remember that. Interesting about your grandmother's dishes. The thing with the Radiation Girls happened in the '30s. But even today there are food-safe glazes and non-food-safe glazes (I think they have lead in them).

Fudgie: The paint color on the cabinets is Ben Moore Ivory White. The paint itself isn't Ben Moore (it's a pre-cat Lacquer that the cabinet maker sprayed on) but we match that color. It is the trim color we use around the house. There was some concern during planning that it would be to yellow - turns out we think it's perfect. sallybeth: We are really enjoying the Sub-zeros. Some people prefer the racks and look of the european fridges (i.e. Miele) but these suit us well. We went with the door and drawer options over the single column as we think it's easier to just open a drawer when you need it - plus you can open the large door with children around and not have them immediately crawl into the fridge (an issue around our house...) The wine cooler had a rattle after it was first installed, I called the "white glove" service group and they came out the next day. While it really only needed a quick spot weld to secure a coolant line that was vibrating, they replaced the entire compressor assembly - pretty impressive. The same service folks are coming out to ensure our ovens and grill / griddle are well calibrated (seems like the ovens are a little lower than the set temp and the grill is a little uneven.) Nit picky stuff, but they haven't raised an eyebrow at my requests. Next day appointments too. Impressive stuff! Crafterbeth: Thanks for the suggestions, I'm looking forward to diving into the backyard once the thaw comes! I still owe all of you final (with backsplash) photos. Still looking for a time to get the kitchen clean and empty for some shots. I haven't forgotten!