So I still had plenty of them, but at least when I was a kid, Hot Wheels usually leaned the more fantasy side. Matchbox cars were usually a little more realistic, especially with the trucks and tractor trailers (my favorites were Tractor Trailers). Also liked the tracks and sets Matchbox had better.
And I don't think it would surprise anyone here that even as a kid, I was a grump (not like mean but just particular) about my trucks looking real for the cities I'd build out of tracks and all. Like have lanes blocked for construction and have construction trucks in them "working."
Literally used to tell my parents I was playing traffic jam (there was also junkyard when I would try and stack the cars in piles) many times. I have always been this way.
Can I have my undergrad metabolism too? I know I walked more back then but I was on a Hobbit eating schedule with two breakfasts and two dinners most days
it’s pretty hilarious in retrospect that I only put on like 15-20 pounds total in college from when I entered, considering I ate absolute shit and drank about 12 beers a day. I guess that’s what playing basketball six days a week — and being 18-22 — will do lol
I bought a package of dining hall meals for the first year of my doctoral classes since I was on campus from 3 to 10 PM and it was SO WEIRD going back as a then nearly 40 year old guy in a suit and tie. Vibes were hilarious but chicken patties were priceless
I was there from '05 to '09, and the new new Bolton when I've just been past (haven't gone in) is insane. And they were known for having a great dining hall while I was there, too
I was on the meal plan my entire time in Athens. It was 'uncool', but two of my roommates were body builders. We would go to Bolton and they would absolutely destroy the protein, primarily chicken breast.
Adam made this concoction that came to be known as the Bolton Secret Weapon. It was good food.
We just got word that the South DH at ND is being renovated. When I was a JR, it was being renovated nearly the entire year. So to review: I ate Hot Pockets on a meal plan for a year, then got a year with the nice new place, and now that nice new place is way too old.
Sweet. I had Young Guns (had a big thing for Emilio Estevez. And Keifer Sutherland. And all the others), Jon Bon Jovi, and animals. Eventually switched to Jim Morrison and Beastie Boys.😅
Another: walking out into the hot day after swimming all afternoon at the rec center, exhausted, and riding our ten speeds home, popping bubbles on the blacktop.
Watching Cubs games on hot afternoons with my grandfather. The tv didn't always work so we'd switch to radio and go sit on the back porch and drink lemonade.
Big shout-out to my Mom for buying my older brother and myself a Sega Genesis back in the day. I'm about to turn 33 in June, and it hits me right in the childhood every single time. All the neighborhood kids storming into our living room. The only time my older bro and I got along. Good times. 🥲🕹💙
Racing/chasing squirrels on our BMX bikes on the clay walking trails at the park. The park takes up about 2 blocks sandwiched together so you can really get some decent speed going. I'm sure we were viewed as hoodlums by the seniors from across the street who were just trying to get their walk in.
i loved so much as a child but the thing i always think about that brings me joy is how we used to run after the ice cream man in our bathing suits and bare feet on the hot asphalt. we'd buy ices and get them all over us then jump in the pool. core memories
oh I’m no stranger to a swing set. I do miss having one in my backyard. Moreso, I miss having grownups to fund and build and maintain the swing set/tree house for me.
Fireflies. Watching the street light turn on. Looking for cars missing a hubcap ("naughty wheels"). The Great Brain books. Harris and Me. Calvin and Hobbes. Drinking pop in my grandpas' golf carts. Sitting in the kitchen early with my grandma while she made breakfast. Shooting hoops in my driveway.
Rollerblading and "dark tag" with cousins. Christmas at my grandparents houses with aunts/uncles/cousins. Playing baseball. Intentionally hitting my golf ball into the sand because I liked hitting out of it. Going to my grandpa's five-and-dime. The old lady down the street (Sylvia, my "3rd grandma")
One day in preschool, we each got a balloon. We learned about air. Air is inside AND outside the balloon! We got to take the balloons outside after that. The sun was shining and I was so happy.
Staying Friday nights with my grandpa. There would be great train watching on the way there. A good snack and my shows (Dukes of Hazzard, Incredible Hulk). In the morning, pancakes and sausage before dad came and got me.
Making a "nest" - I did this in situations like watching a movie with the family, road trips, etc. Usually consisted of my blanket, a few stuffies, and maybe a journal or coloring book. Even as a child I liked to keep busy 😅
I feel like I still do it as an adult tbh. Just the contents of the nest have changed from stuffies and coloring books to my e-reader and a chapstick. And probably my phone lol
At the ren fest they used to serve orange sherbet out of an orange rind.
We had a 5" color TV that hung below the cabinets in our kitchen. I used to lay on the countertops and watch shows on Saturday mornings and night while my sibs used the big TV in the living room. It was very cozy
There's so many but one that stands out for food is eating at Ryan's buffet. They had perfect fried wings and whatever they put in their house ranch was sublime.
Outside of that - riding my bikes in the woods with my friends without worry of the horrors of the outside world.
My Kenner Super Powers Green Lantern action figure. I lost his lantern accessory in my babysitter's basement. No clue whatever happened to him, but I bought one mint in the package some years ago just so I could have a "new" one.
Going from Illinois every year in dads station wagon to California to visit all our relatives that lived there! Us 5 kids fighting, me trying to read a book dad threatening to turn around and go home! lol he did that once when we were going to New York on Memorial Day woke up in my own bed! Traffic
Spring cleaning. My mom would open all the windows/doors & blare Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Shania Twain etc
I'd come home after playing all day and could hear the music several houses down. Would roll up, get chided for being super dirty and then escorted to the shower. Just perfectly content
I wouldn’t mind doing more of that kind of stuff and finding something to semi-regularly volunteer with. I did a lot of community stuff when I owned the coffee shop and haven’t as much since closing it.
Gardening. I helped my parents every year pick the flowers for the flower beds. It started in the fall though when we'd order bulbs to plant. I was a weird kid. Still love growing stuff though. Only thing I miss about the burbs when I grew tomatoes, squash, arugula, and more
Hanging out with my neighbor Betty. I was 6, she was 80, we would sit on the porch and she would tell stories. She was married 7 times to 5 men and was the first woman pit boss in Vegas. She had stories.
Take a package of bologna, and a skillet. Place bologna on skillet until it’s charred a bit on one side. It will pop up like a little bubble. Economical way to feed four kids.
The stairs at my grandparents’ house had this spot where I could sit and see the tv, see them all, but didn’t have to sit in the living room. And it had a spot where I could write, color, or lay out a solitaire game. It was my favorite spot.
Sitting in the kitchen and talking to my grandma while she cooked. Walking the coupla blocks to the store to buy something if she didn't have it. Getting older and cooking with her. Going with her into KC...she was a waitress at the Hereford House and knew so many people. And they would fawn over me
I loved dipping whole strawberries in white sugar.
And I loved sleeping in the living room every Friday night, staying up watching movies and late shows and eating snacks.
There were woods across from the house I lived in during elementary school and we loved going in there. Had my first puff on a cigarette in there. It's condos now.
:(
Yes! Small village. One stoplight town. Had a dairy, elementary school, drug store, ice cream spot. Eventually, a Culver’s came in and Land’s End had a warehouse there, I think way after we moved. I used to roller skate in the school during the summer.
My parents would buy their beer right from the distributor which was around the corner instead of going to the liquor store. We lived on Main St. Still the coolest house I may ever live in.
On the rare days when my dad could get us out of school early he’d take us to get food and he knew a spot from when he was a kid in Jackson where you could drive up to the top of one of those mid century spiral car ramps and watch the railyard work.
My bff from birth and I were just texting about riding our bikes up to the pet store at the front of our neighborhood to buy Now n Laters and pet the mice. It was a weird childhood experience but I enjoyed it!
Walking to Ben Franklin to buy penny candy and sewing stuff at my grandma’s house, swimming all day long, apfelkuchen, fun dip, pistachio salad, the little house on the prairie books
Oh god yes. There were 4 of us who were very close in age and we spent a lot of time driving our grandparents’ golf cart around, swimming, sleepovers in “the building”…which was just a sparsely finished space above the garage
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Whitewater rafting in WV with my dad
Her mind was blown, but my fucking head exploded.
IT WAS INSANE
Adam made this concoction that came to be known as the Bolton Secret Weapon. It was good food.
Good news/bad news.
Good news: in state
Bad news: she better keep working her butt off
climb those big ole trees 30-40 feet in the air and just hang out
(I super enjoyed reading through these comments. Brought back many wonderful memories. )
We had a 5" color TV that hung below the cabinets in our kitchen. I used to lay on the countertops and watch shows on Saturday mornings and night while my sibs used the big TV in the living room. It was very cozy
I loved the anticipation of Christmas morning.
I loved the day I beat Super Mario Brothers 2. It was a cold winter morning and I was wearing long johns
Outside of that - riding my bikes in the woods with my friends without worry of the horrors of the outside world.
I'd come home after playing all day and could hear the music several houses down. Would roll up, get chided for being super dirty and then escorted to the shower. Just perfectly content
My kids will never know these summers lol
Take a package of bologna, and a skillet. Place bologna on skillet until it’s charred a bit on one side. It will pop up like a little bubble. Economical way to feed four kids.
Thanks for a lovely thread.
And I loved sleeping in the living room every Friday night, staying up watching movies and late shows and eating snacks.
:(