Wordless Wednesday

I love this picture of my little Lucy!  She had climbed into
my bag I took to work back then.
She must have wanted to see where I went every day!

My Beautiful Birthday Gift

So, yesterday was my birthday.  I'm thhhh.......I'm thhhhh.....shoot I can't say how old I am, the words just won't come out of my mouth!  Let's just say a decade ago I was celebrating my 21st birthday.

It was sooooo hot yesterday (Michigan is not used to the triple digit temperatures we had yesterday!), so my mom and I decided to go to the mall to escape the heat.  That plan didn't exactly work since the mall was hot and stuffy, but on the bright side, we found the Target exclusive The Best of I Love Lucy DVD set I wanted (thanks mom for buying it for me)!
We tried again at dinner to escape the heat by going out to dinner.  Again, our plan didn't work since the restaurant's a/c was on the fritz.  Oh well, my nachos were good anyway!
Back home after dinner, my parents gave me my gift...a real Ricky Jr. doll from the 50's!  Of course this prompted us to have to watch my favorite episode ever of I Love Lucy - Lucy Goes to the Hospital (I love Ricky at the hospital when he's got his "woodoo" ("woodoo...woodoo...you know v-o-o-d-o-o- woodoo"...I love Ricky's accent!) make-up on!

Source

Anyway, back to my new little guy!  There's a website I've found called Doll Reference and under their American Character (the company that made Ricky Jr.) section they have a description of the different Ricky Jr dolls made (they varied almost each year they were made from 1952-1956).  My guy happens to be from 1954 and his description from Doll Reference is as follows:

1954 Ricky, 17 & 21" tall, all vinyl with rooted hair, wore shorts with suspenders in a hen print, white shirt with name embroidered and sandals. 

Picture from
Doll Reference website.

My Ricky Jr.

Cute cheeks!

Full length

His sleep eyes still work!

His name is embroidered on his little shirt!

Ricky Jr. with a replica ad and hangtag (you know
the tag that hangs from the doll's wrist) from my book,
Lucille Ball Treasures.

Captions in my book for the ad and hangtag:

Ricky Jr. Doll Hangtag
"Little Ricky" truly was the world's most popular baby after his birth in January 1953.  For young I Love Lucy  fans, a doll was manufactured in his image, so lifelike it drank, blue bubbles, and even wet its diaper.
Ricky Jr. Doll Advertisement
Lucille and Desi are shown in this ad for the Little Ricky doll, and a child model demonstrates how fun it is to play "Mommy."

If you couldn't tell, I'm in LOVE with my gift!  I'm not sure where he'll sit on display yet, so for now he's hanging out on my desk, on the shelf above my computer, so I can just glance up and admire him whenever I want!

Wordless Wednesday

Someone's got a birthday tomorrow.  Don't ask how old, because I'll she'll probably lie my her age. ☺

My brother, Dad, and I on my birthday a looooong time ago.
(Notice the beautiful toy earrings we're all wearing ☺)

For the Love of Harry Potter

Hello, my name is Jamie, and...I'm addicted to Harry Potter.  Wow, it feels good to get that off my chest! ☺

I've read - and own - all the books...

And, okay, yes, I've also just given away my secret
love of Twilight ☺

And, I've seen - and own - all the movies...

You may notice (if you're an HP fan too) that I'm missing
Year 5...I know it's around here somewhere, but in my
move from Georgia to Michigan a couple of years ago,
that DVD got separated from the rest of the set, and
since most of my things are still in storage, I haven't
found it yet... :^(

I'm just as excited (and a bit sad that it's all ending) as everyone else about the last movie opening.  I've been watching all kinds of you tube videos.  I won't put them all in this post for two reasons...1) If you are not a Harry Potter fan, it will just bore you ☺ and 2) If you are a fan, I'm sure you've either already seen most of them, or can go to you tube and watch the ones you want to see. ☺

I've loved watching the main trio of characters grow up - both in the books and the actors who play them.  All of the actors they chose for the movies fit perfectly with what they looked like in my head while I read the books.  My favorite character has always been Ron.  He's just...Ron...He's funny, terribly afraid of spiders, and (even though he doesn't always show it) smart!

And doesn't Rupert Grint (the actor) make the best
faces for Ron? ☺

In the beginning, I was not a fan.  I was in college, and one of my roommates had had to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for her Children's Lit. class.  I knew I had that class coming up the next semester, and with the popularity of the books, I figured it'd be required for my class as well.  With the book being a bit longer than the rest of the required readings, I figured, I might as well get a head start on it.  So, that summer, I bought that first book, and started reading.  I read the first chapter, and thought how ridiculous is it that they have a cat who turns into a person.  Most of all, it was the cigarette lighter "Put-Outer" that did it for me.  I read that, and was done.  This had to be the weirdest, stupidest book I'd ever read. (Turned out I didn't have to read this book for Children's Lit.).
Fast forward a couple of years.  I don't remember exactly when I picked the books up again, but I think it was around the time the first movie came out.  I decided to try again, and so I started rereading the first book, and made myself push past the "Put-Outer" nonsense and finish the book...Well, I was hooked before I was even half way through the book!  Since then, I've bought and read every book, and seen (almost all) of the movies in the theater and then bought them when they came out on DVD.  (By the way, I don't think the "Put-Outer", which is actually called a Deluminator, is such nonsense anymore!)
I will not be going on opening night tonight to see this last movie (too crazy!), but I will be seeing it at some point while it's in theaters.  And I can't wait!

Are you a Harry Potter fan?  Are you going to see the movie?

Wordless Wednesday

Rainbow after some storms a few weeks ago.
If you look really closely, there's a double rainbow
(above the bright one).

I Think I Can!

I've been crocheting a little bit for a couple of years.  I can't do anything fancy, mostly dish clothes with simple stitches.  Recently though, I came across a web site (I wish I had saved it so I could share it, but I forgot...I'm old, remember? ☺) that showed simple ways to make a cell phone cover.  Hey, I can do that!

I really should have waited until I finish this class, but I was too excited, so I had to try it right away!  I went to the store and picked up a couple different colors of yarn, and came home and got started.
I've been working on a crochet project for a couple of years (it really shouldn't take me that long, I just don't pick it up as much as I should!), so I only had the hook I use for that project, which is a larger hook, so my first try came out a bit too big to hold my phone...

...but it's okay for holding my camera!

Then, I searched and found a smaller hook and tried again...

...this one works pretty well for my mom's pretty pink phone!

But, I still didn't have one for my own phone.  So, back at it for a third time...

I even got a little fancy and figured out how to make a flap to button down and hold my phone from falling out!  It's not perfect, it's a bit crooked, but it works, it fits my phone, and I'm proud of it!

Then, when I finished with that, I made another dish cloth...because that's something I know how to do!  I always manage to lose a stitch here and there (I started this cloth with 40 stitches and ended with 38...who knows where those 2 stitches went, but really, I'm not too worried about it ☺), but still, I end up with a functional dish cloth!

And, that's what I've been up to the last couple of days! ☺
There are a couple other things I want to try to make, but I really do have to finish this class first...I do, right?...but maybe I could just take a few minutes to try these projects...☺

Catching Up

Okay, I know, I've been gone awhile...again...
I have a good excuse this time!  I'm taking these classes in hopes to up my chances of getting a job I interviewed for recently.  There are 2 classes that are both 6 week correspondence classes.  I registered for the first class last week (you have to finish the first class before you can take the second class) and the next day I got a call from the coordinator for these classes.  She tells me they are on a tight deadline and are not allowing anyone to register for either class after this week until October.  So, I can either take the first class and wait until October to register for and take the second, or I can try to get through all 6 weeks worth of reading and homework in a couple of days so that I can register for the second class before the cut-off of July 11.  Well, I worked my tail off and finished the class this morning!  I am now working on the second class.  I'm hoping that I can get this one done early too (not as quickly as the first class though!) so it's done and out of the way.
Anyway, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

While I was away, though, I was tagged by Tara at Tara Tyler Talks...

And, I got these two awards from Eliza over at Ellie's Couch

 

So, for the tag, I'm supposed to answer some questions and for the awards, I'm supposed to tell you seven things about myself.  Then, I am supposed to tag people and pass the awards on to five people.  I'll spare you the boredom of reading so much, and just give you seven random facts about myself ☺.

Here we go...my seven "facts":

1. I'm excited to become a Girl Scout leader this fall (I was in Girl Scouts from 1st - 12th grade and earned my Gold Award, but haven't really been involved since then).
2. I'm terrified about becoming a Girl Scout leader this fall (I can teach a classroom full of kids, but I have no idea what to do with a whole troop of girl scouts all by myself)!
3. I'm so information overloaded from finishing that entire class in such a short period of time, that I don't really know if I'm coming or going right now!
4. I'm tired of looking for a job...I so want to be back at work!
5. I have a cat named Ricky (Ricardo) and I had a cat named Lucy (Ricardo), but  Lucy lives with my brother because she loves him so much. ☺  I also have a goldfish named Ethel.  Do you see a theme here with my pets' names?  The only one who doesn't fit is my dog, Sosha.  She already had that name when I adopted her from the rescue group, so I didn't change her name...but she has a ton of nicknames (and answers to them all!).
6. I just found a new crochet project I want to try!  I just have to get some yarn first...any probably finish my class too...
7. I'll be 31 in a couple of weeks.  I'm officially OLD!

Wow, that was harder than I thought it'd be!

Okay, on to the five people I'm passing these awards on to and tagging in the blog tag:

1. Laura at A Simple Happy Life...
2. Kim at Stuff could always be Worse
3. Mama Hen at Hen Scratches
4. Cathy at Life on the Muskoka River
5. Ally at Cancer and baby equals CHAOS!

Wordless Wednesday

This isn't any special color setting on my camera
(I don't have a fancy camera like that ☺).

It's the actual color of the sky after a round of bad storms
on Saturday night.

This one's my favorite!

I Love Getting Mail!

Okay, well not all mail...I hate getting bills!  But the mail I'm talking about today is a fun package I got in the mail recently.
Teresa, a.k.a Mama Hen, over at Hen Scratches sent me a lovely package.  I was so very excited when it came because I knew she was passing along some books!  Yay!  I love reading, and these books are all books that I've never read before!  How exciting!  I can't wait to dig in!  Oh, and check out the other fun surprises she sent me - a pack of book labels and a cute little pin!

I'm bummed that I have to wait to start reading these until I finish these classes I'm taking right now, but the payoff for finishing will definitely be worth it!

Thank you so much, Teresa, for this special package!  Oh, by the way, my mom is also enjoying her new horse book!