Apr6

Our neighbors are moving and a time capsule

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Our neighbors are moving and a time capsule

Calm down. Not Beloved Neighbor, but others we really like too. It’s super sad. Yesterday she texted our little mini neighbor group that there’s stuff in their garage anyone is welcome to.

We stopped by.

Let’s just think of it as us helping them out, keeping them from making multiple trips to Goodwill, rather than perusing someone else’s junk for freebies, mmkay? We were happy to lighten their carload. Goodwill isn’t that close, after all.

I HAD been thinking about getting a Dustbuster. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the charger, so I’ll get to use it for so long as the battery holds. What to do with it after that? Errr. No idea.

There was also one of those cool cupcake carrying bins that would’ve come in handy in the past, and now will in the future. Outdoor Christmas lights? Sure, why not? Some Hardy Boys books I hope Joe will enjoy when he’s older. A couple of sleeping bags that may prove useful. And then…

The chair. The top half is casting a shadow on the bottom half that makes it looked stained. It’s not.

I had no need for a chair. No use for one even, but will you look at that beauty? I have an affinity for plants, not keeping them alive, mind you, but I appreciate them. In fact, I was offered a cute little potted fig plant, but I looked at her earnestly and said, “If you give this to me, I will kill it.” She decided to keep it.

Primarily I like vines, as evidenced by the ones I stenciled on our kitchen cabinets.

Best part: unkillable.

Ferns are also welcome, though secondary. (Shh. Don’t tell them.) We have ferns in our yard that I haven’t managed to kill, so you know, practically old friends.

Neighbor heard me debating whether or not to take the chair, went inside, came back out a bit later, and laughed to see me now sitting in the chair, still deciding.

“It’s from World Market,” she told me. Oooh-la-la.

Not that the chair’s provenance made a difference, but I gave Neighbor a farewell hug, hoisted the chair, and told her I would think of her fondly and wish her well every time I sat on or looked at The Chair.

Of course it doesn’t match any of our others, and now I have the issue of where to put my old chair. (Ultimately, I shoved it elsewhere at the dining room table where it will remain until my kids complain that it’s in their way.) I put the new chair at my spot, and, in the duration of one meal, it hurt my lower back. (Irony.) Younger two children both wanted it, so I’m letting them take turns.

But the real find came about as a result of the sleeping bags. I wanted to toss them on the top shelf of our closet, but first had to make room. I pulled down a weird little box, not having a clue what was in it, figuring it was some nostalgia of Hubby’s.

Nope, nostalgia of mine.

A few times I’ve wondered idly what became of my old cassette tapes. Surely I must have had others, or they soon transformed into CDs. (I have a box of those somewhere too, probably.)

Anyhow, within this box are the first two cassettes I ever owned, received while in middle school. I’m trying so hard not to point out the obvious to Mark and Wynne, so I’m just going to leave it at that.

On the far left are two I’d completely forgotten about, which were a part of my brief Christian music phase in college. (I had tapes then? My CD player played both.)

One of those is a cassette on parenting, which I’m not sure I’ve ever listened to, but obviously I acquired that one later in life. Some unlabeled tape on the far right remains a mystery. A mixed tape of Christmas songs Hubby identified as being in his sister’s handwriting, so another one received post-marriage.

But the real gem, aside from the first two I owned and would make me sad to lose since they were pivotal in my life, was this one:

I had an amazing housemate when I turned 21. I had only recently moved in when she and I concocted the party to end all parties, only later realizing that neither of us had thought to inform the other four women we lived with. Ooops.

Anyhow, this woman, who is still a beloved friend, gathered several of our musically-inclined buddies to set up in our dining room and entertain our guests all night. [Sudden revelation! Is this the nexus of me frequently conscripting a band for my birthdays now? Mind blown.]

That night was awesome. One guy brought a didgeridoo he’d acquired on a trip to Australia. That might have been the first instance of me finding something for my bucket list, before that was a term, and immediately crossing it off. Playing a didgeridoo–check!

I remember counting roughly 70 people there. Some entered, walking right by me without greeting me or wishing me a happy birthday because they didn’t know me, nor I them. They heard there was a party and showed up. Some were friends with members of the band.

People got tipsy, myself included, and some guy friends stole our toilet seats. I first learned of this by a another friend saying to me, “I’m a little drunk, so I could be wrong. But I was just in the bathroom, and I’m pretty sure there was no toilet seat. Again, I could be wrong.”

Oh, the memories. I slept on the top floor of the four-story house (including a basement). The bathroom up there was fortunately not violated, so I was unaffected by the prank. A couple of days later, one of my guy friends told me, “What was taken has been returned.”

“So, you’re the one!” I said. He copped to himself and another guy I saw again many years and three kids later at the drunk friend’s wedding.

My mischievous old friend, looking like he’s been drinking again. I’m almost 100% sure I brought up my 21st birthday to him that night.

And so, many fond memories came about as a result of this neighbor moving. We have an old radio in the garage that has a cassette player. I’ll have to see if the band is as good as I remember. I may have enjoyed it more at the time because my housemate spiked the punch heavily that night.

Trivia time!

Last post’s answer was indeed parkour. Good job to those who knew it or searched the comments for it. 😉 This post’s question:

Identify what this creates: Ice, diced pineapple, pineapple juice, Coco López coconut cream, white rum, dark rum; blend; garnish with pineapple slice.

Until next time, thank you for reading my journey down memory lane. 🙂

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76 responses »

  1. What does that create? Hangovers … really, really bad hangovers, especially if you have more than 4 (7 were on my bill, but I don’t remember those last ones).

    and that’s a great chair — I’ve got some quilting fabric that looks just like that.

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  3. Coco loco? Pina colada? Love all of your amazing finds and so interesting how one thing leads to another. Super love the chair and I love ferns too, impossible for me to kill than and they keep coming back

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    • This entire page of trivia in the book was about food and drink. I waffled (pun) but ultimately went with a drink because it seemed appropriate given the latter half of this post. Next time I’ll do a food one and see if I can stump you!

      But you doing food trivia at the end of posts would be a huge hit, Diane!

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  6. Oh, Singles!! I love it!! And I love your memory of your 21st birthday party. So funny about the band and the link to future birthday bands. Thank goodness that was the part of the memory to repeat and not the affinity for guys stealing toilet seats….

    Love all this memory lane fun!! Sorry your neighbor is moving though! ❤ ❤ ❤

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  7. “nostalgia of Hubby’s” Thanks for not calling it junk. Or is that what you are implying? Hey! Not nice. I don’t have that many boxes of nostalgia. 🙂

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  9. I lived in a similar housing situation when I turned 21. I had moved into a house with six strangers. It was The Real World before The Real World was on MTV.

    How fun to find those old cassettes. I hope they still work. And I’m hoping the drink is a Pina Colada!

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    • This housing situation for me was the worst living experience I’ve had. Aside from this friend, the others were strangers to me and not very friendly. Then my friend spent a semester abroad, and it was less fun for me. :/

      But wow, six strangers, Bijoux. That sounds worse!

      I still have to dig out a cassette player. I bet the sound quality will be terrible. 😛 And, yes, on that drink! 🙂

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  11. Is “not pointing out the obvious” the fact that you were in middle school when those albums came out, and Wynne and I were…not? Either way, both are stone cold classics. My dad found a box of my old cassette tapes and asked if I wanted them back, but alas, I’ve got no way to play ’em so I kindly turned him down.

    Fun fact: I own a didgeridoo.

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    • No way, Mark! How has your didgeridoo not made a blog appearance?!

      And, no, the middle school part was not the obvious. Some of my favorite people are yours and Wynne’s age. Mainly because y’all make me feel young! Kidding! Kidding! But seriously, you must know that I thought of you immediately when I saw the Singles soundtrack.

      Also, “You Know You’re Right” played in my stream recently. It had been a while. Still grateful to you for reminding me of that one. Did you read Dave Grohl’s book yet? You must. Get the audio for your commute. He reads it himself and his voice inflections are the best. It was Wynne’s brother who told me about it while enjoying my anniversary via his 60th birthday in her backyard. (I guess that’s my “fun” fact for you.)

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  13. I enjoyed a similar reunion with a “party mix tape” I found in my garage not so long ago. Only took four moves and two decades before unpacking the box where it was hiding. But forget all that; you had me at “cool cupcake carrying bin”. Can’t picture it. Your penance for the lack of a photo: bake, fill bin, and blog w/ photos. Betsy’s adventures in the kitchen are always worth a read.

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    • Funny about the tape after two decades.
      I seriously considered taking a pic of the bin and even the Christmas lights, but, mainly, I’d already stashed the bin in the back of the bottom cupboard, and we all know what outdoor lights look like, right?

      And Dave, I thought we were friends? Why would you knowingly, willingly want to subject me to another baking adventure? That’s just cruel, man. I’ll dig the bin back out for a photo!!!

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      • My bad. I thought your daughters would welcome a batch of cupcakes for no reason other than a photo. But I do remember how “delicious” wasn’t the first word to come to mind when I read about some of your baking creations. You’re right; let’s play it safe and just go with the photo.

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  15. I always feel a sense of loss when a long-time neighbor moves. Having something that belonged to them, like the chair, keeps their memory alive. Over the years, I’ve had four neighbors give me one or more (house) plants when they left.

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  17. BETTS. Let us not forget another casette tape (i’m 90% sure I am not making this up) that included “letters” back and forth á la 1990s era college drama, “Felicity” sent from my house to yours circa 2006. Did you find that one anywhere? Or would I have it? That would be a fun find.

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    • Oooooohhhhh…. yes! And once that tape came with cookies! (At least once.) I wonder if THAT’S the mystery tape. Okay. I’ll investigate. Also, love you. I was going through my photo album, hoping for a good pic of the didgeridoo, but no. I did see one of the cake you brought, however! 🙂

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      • I brought a cake?! Did I make it? I remember one time buying cake pans and all of the things needed to make a cake – I would have done that for you. I also would have bought a cake on the way…. Love you B. What a find that would have been if our tape was the mystery cassette. But songs by Jonathan Scallon also a treat 🙂

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      • I can’t recall if you had MADE it. I think not, actually, because a certain KC came with you and implied that the cake was from both of you. So I’m guessing store purchase? But saying you would do all the things–in a dorm kitchen!–is above and beyond. ❤

        As I was straining to hear the music from the tape deck over the whirring sound of a struggling, ancient machine being forced out of its decades-long retirement, I eventually distinguished Jonathan's voice and remembered he had sent that to me at our place in Clairemont. Thus, another piece of history unearthed. Still, OUR tape would be a far more magnificent archeological find!

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  21. It’s amazing how little things can bring back so many memories, right? Best of luck with your new chair and those cassette tapes! Thanks for sharing your journey down memory lane. Take care!

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  22. First of all, I have houseplants that are older than my children! I talk to them, that’s the secret, but let’s not dwell on that. I have those same cassettes in a box in the back of the closet, with music mixes from my wayward youth. I’m pretty sure Donny Osmond’s Puppy Love is featured on one because he sang that one for me. The only other thing, wash those sleeping bags, just sayin. Love the chair. I have to go dig up my old cassettes, great post! Hugs, C

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    • 1. Super impressed with your green thumb. I’ve often thought, “But I love plants so much! Why do I keep killing them?” At least my children are still alive. Talking to plants because we exhale carbon dioxide. I have heard that, but also, time consuming. Maybe I don’t love them quite enough to have a tea-time chat. Perhaps when I’m older I’ll read Danielle Steel novels to them or something.
      2. Donny Osmond singing Puppy Love for you is a given. Didn’t need to be stated.
      3. Sleeping bags-yes.
      4. The chair is a beauty. Thanks. 🙂
      5. Enjoy digging up your hidden treasures!

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      • I have a whole section of my apartment separated for my house plants. My oldest is — maybe — thirty years? A few months ago, a friend of mine had to give me her fern to take care of after she got a job that involved being on the road. It was given to her after a family member passed, so it was a hard decision. Worse, within one week of being in my apartment, it died! Several months later I still have it. I still water it. One single little fern branch came back, so I will not give up on it! I love that chair, too.

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      • No way, Geo! OMG, with your green thumb?! It’s like it died of sorrow for being abandoned by its owner. I guess perhaps it has decided you’re not so bad or that life is still worth living after all. Glad it’s making a comeback. Here’s hoping for a full recovery. Be sure to talk to it frequently, offering your apologies and letting it know its owner still loves it and will be back to visit some day. 😉

        Thanks for appreciating the chair. 🙂

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  23. It’s all very sad when beloved neighbours move. I’ve had a few of those in these past years and they have left a hole in our lives.

    But what a haul! Did you manage to get a charger for the dustbuster on eBay (they seem to have all sorts of weird & wonderful things). Oooooo Hardy Boys – I loved them growing up, right next to Nancy Drew! My kids didn’t seem to like either – maybe Joe will. I love that mealtimes will now be preceded by Musical Chairs!

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    • I haven’t looked for a charger yet, but I will. I read Nancy Drew but I think I eschewed Hardy Boys because they were, you know, boys! But my more progressive girls have read both. 😛 I highly doubt my little dude will read Nancy Drew.

      Musical chairs at mealtime! Ha! Whatever discussion they have about it seems to happen off screen. I never hear it talked about, but somehow someone new always gets The Chair.

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  26. Pingback: Well, THAT didn’t go well. | Motherhood and Martial Arts

  27. Some ideas on what to do with the old dust buster:

    1. **Decorative Planter:** Remove the internal components and use the dust buster as a unique plant holder for small succulents or herbs.
    2. **Desk Organizer:** Repurpose it as a quirky desk organizer by placing pens, pencils, scissors, or other small office supplies inside.
    3. **Arts and Crafts Project:** Incorporate it into an arts and crafts project, such as a sculpture or mixed media artwork.
    4. **Novelty Piggy Bank:** Cut a slot in the top and use it as a fun piggy bank for loose change or small trinkets.
    5. **Pet Toy:** Attach strings or feathers to the nozzle and create a playful toy for cats or small pets to swat at.

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