Christmas in Deutschland, Part Drei

It's fun to look at pictures of snow when almost none of us actually have snow on the ground, isn't it? Isn't this little tree pretty? It was outside of the youth hostel in the Erzgebirge Mountains where our college group stayed for a few nights.

Here is a more panoramic view of mountains, also taken at our youth hostel.

How excited was I to find this web page and see that they still have a similar display to one I saw seventeen years ago! (You need to scroll down to the bottom of the linked page to see the picture I'm talking about.)


In addition to the wooden toy and ornament making we saw in the Erzgebirge, we also saw this beautiful church.

Isn't this street sign adorable?

Lastly, a traditional Christmas decoration in Germany is translated into English as a pyramid, and for outdoor decoration, Germans don't go small.


This one was in a toy museum, and was a total of three stories tall!

Well, What Do You Know?

Your Christmas lights are glowing 100%.

Awesome! Your Christmas tree lights up the whole room! You are a true lover of all things Christmas, and a joy for those around you!

Christmas Trivia
Make Your Own Quiz

I thought it was kinda an easy quiz, though...

Money and Stuff

First, let's have a little fun and talk about stuff, in particular, this cool item, which will be on every geek's must-have list. Wasn't it cool not that long ago to have a phone the size of a credit card?? Retro is the new black, baby.

Now to more serious conversation. I've been thinking about money and what it means in this world, and to Christians. Yes, the love of money can lead to troubles and unhappiness. But not having money can lead to troubles also. Like not having a functioning automobile, although we have been blessed with a temporary automobile on loan from some kind church friends. I know very well that having a great deal of money is not a guarantee of happiness. In some cases it makes people unhappier. It's just a little difficult at the moment wishing we had the money to do things like maintain a car properly, but still keep money in its correct place.

Christmas Fair

As promised, here are pictures of a larger Christmas fair in East Berlin in December of 1989. This one had carnival rides and pony rides for children.



It being a Christmas fair, you could also talk to Sankt Niklaus himself and tell him what you wanted him to bring you!

Also, here is a picture of the top of a food stand. We studied Märchen, or fairy tales, in German, and I thought this was cute. Can anyone tell me, or guess, which fairy tale this is from? Can the Artist translate it? :)

Speaking of food, in Germany at the time, it was considered very rude to pick up food with your fingers to eat. So with food such as french fries, at Burger King, say, you were provided with a little plastic fork. At Christmas fairs, you usually received a toothpick-type object, and in E. Berlin it was a very splintery, chopped-up looking toothpick. But mmmm, the fries were good!

Vote Early, Vote Often

Hey, Quipper, did ya see this swell story? At least I don't live in Cuyahoga County anymore, but if Cleveland really tanks, the whole area around will go down with it. :(

Since I mentioned here the story of a woman who, as a teen, gave birth in her bedroom, stabbed the baby to death and dumped the baby's body in a quarry with the help of her boyfriend, I'll update you that she lost her appeal, and her six-year prison sentence was upheld. Oh, if only abortion was legal then! Oh wait. It was.

Oh, and the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the ELCA has just elected the first woman bishop of the ELCA. So much to be proud of here in Cleveland! She wants to "focus on social justice issues and bring minority leaders into churches." I'm choking up just thinking about it.

Sorry to interrupt my fun Christmas stories with this unsavory but important stuff. I promise I'll be back to posting about Christmas in Germany next time.

Christmas in Deutschland

On November 9, 1989, I woke up in my college dorm room to the radio announcement that the Berlin Wall had been opened. Since I was traveling to Berlin the very next month, this was awesome cool news!

On December 3, 1989, a group of college students, including myself and my DH-to-be, arrived in Berlin, with three professors from our college. Here is a Christmas fair near the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche in Berlin. Christmas Fairs in Germany seem to be the equivalent of the little fairs that pop up in many small towns in America over the Fourth of July. I think this one only had food, but there was one in East Berlin that had carnival rides similar to an American Fourth of July fair. I'll post pics of that later.

Here's a picture of Checkpoint Charlie, as we drove past it.

Here's a Mercedes-Benz building lit up for Christmas.

Here's my DH standing by the Berlin Wall, and taking off a few pieces.


It was exciting to be in another country for Christmas, although the weather was mostly gray and gloomy, and oddly enough, no snow in most of the places we visited. I'll continue to share my experiences with you as the month goes on.

Sunday Fun

Today there was an open house at my husband's place of employ, American Greetings, to show off all the new work that has been done in the building, especially the new American Greetings card shop, and a Starbucks, with an attractive plaza in between. The kids got to do lots of activities; there was actually more going on then I thought there would be. Some of the Schreiber clan came with us, which is why I have no pictures right now, as we forgot our camera and I left the picture taking up to the Die-Hard Equestrian.

To answer Kathy's question, my (future) husband and I were in Berlin early in December of 1989. I will provide pictures and more details later, as well of some of the other places we went and some of the Christmas-y aspects of our trip. Since we were students at the time, it was easier to get into East Berlin and other areas of then-East Germany, such as Leipzig and Dresden. We also got some pieces from the Berlin Wall.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Like Emily, I thought I might have to put off the decorating to start building an ark! Fortunately, the rain stopped, although a strong wind replaced it. But I'm attempting to create some cheer inside. I bought a wreath at the store to give off that nice pine scent, since we have an artificial tree.

I strung some colored lights on the bannisters. I will probably hang lights other places as well, and maybe decorate the bannisters more. I just like the colored lights, and our tree has white ones (pre-strung tree).

These stockings are pictured especially for the Presbytera, and any other kitty lovers. :)


These little singers are special to me. I bought them in East Germany, right after the Berlin Wall fell. It is apparently a tradition for children to dress so, and go around singing carols at Christmas time. We saw some children like this in Leipzig, but I don't think I got a picture, because we were on a moving bus. :( I have two more singers, but they need a little repair. The Scientist was examining them down the basement before she brought them up, and she dropped the box. I'm glad I noticed now, as the girls didn't notice that pieces had fallen off, and the pieces were still on the basement floor. They might have become cat toys. :0

We might not put up the actual tree until after the Scientist's birthday, but at least my dolls are starting to decorate theirs!

Get Me Out of Here

I can't escape it any longer. A Charlie Brown Christmas is on television tonight. From where I sit in our family room, I can see our neighbors have their Christmas tree up. My daughters tell me that our neighbors across the street have three trees up. Yes, it would definitely seem another holiday season is upon us, and I am feeling very Charlie-Brownish.

When do you start decorating for Christmas? We usually wait until Christmas Eve or right before, as the Scientist's birthday is right before Christmas, and we like to keep her birthday and Christmas separate. Besides, there's that whole Advent thing. But I'm blue, and I don't think it comes just from being sick for over a week. I want to start decorating now, and I want to decorate to the hilt. I want to replace emptiness with stuff. Yeah, yeah, I know. But I'm just out of ideas. What I'd really like to do is take a break and go someplace unique.

Someplace out of the ordinary.

See new things.

Everything just seems so dreary and pointless.

Feline Frolics

After reading Marie's post about Christmas, and noticing her cat investigating the tree, I happened upon this adorable site where two cats really go at a Christmas tree. Some of the best pics of our cats and our Christmas trees are not online, but here are two:

Champ reclining after a hectic day.

Champ giving the Christmas tree "love."

Fortunately, our cats have never tried to climb the tree. We did have one that chewed through several strings of lights, however. And we are always careful to put all the breakable ornaments near the top of the tree, plus no hooks and no tinsel. It's fun to share the holiday with our little furbabies!

Hurrah for the Pumpkin Pie!

DH and the girls made a couple of homemade pumpkin pies today. (Okay, the shells were store-bought.) To begin with, here's part of a pumpkin, after the squishy stuff and seeds have been taken out, and after it's baked in the oven for a while.

Next, mashing the innards. And mashing. And mashing.

An interesting collection of pie ingredients.

That looks better.

Et voila!

50 Pumpkin Points for anyone who can tell me where the title of this post comes from.

She's Not the Only One

Right now we're studying Ohio history and facts about Ohio. I told the girls that Ohio has two professional football teams and asked if they could name them. The Scientist piped up brightly with "Ohio State..." And yes, she does know the Browns too. Unfortunately, she chooses to cheer for That Team to the East, along with her father. At least Wildchild roots with me for our poor doomed football team in Cleveland.

In other exciting news, we don't get the wildlife sightings of the Quilter, but we did get to watch a neighborhood cat eat a mouse in our backyard. Yum.

Meaning

DH is now on prescription meds and may or may not have a bacterial infection. We'll know in a few days. After a couple of rough nights, Wildchild is doing better. I am feeling better, although it will probably take me a couple of days to get back to full strength physically. The only one who escaped relatively unscathed is the Scientist. And since we stocked up on children's pain medicine and cough and cold medicine, we're pretty much guaranteed the girls won't get sick anymore this winter.

What do you all feel about Thanksgiving? I'm feeling a few guilty twinges this year because I am usually just not enthused about Thanksgiving. I know that it is good to give thanks to God who has given us our lives and everything we have. But I am thankful often for many of my blessings, such as my husband, my children, my home, my cats. Thanksgiving is not really much more than "Turkey Day" and my brother-in-law yelling at the football game to me. Maybe it's the idea of being told, "Today you *must* be thankful for *everything*" that just makes me say "meh."

I'm Still Alive...Sort Of

It's been a surreal week. DH and I both have had some sort of knock-you-down-and-step-on-you virus for the past few days. However, I have taken this time to do some thinking and come up with some very important conclusions, such as life is not worth living and I will never do anything else in my life that I have wanted to accomplish. I'm also a bad parent, and my children will grow up to hate me. If you look carefully, you will see a rain cloud above my head.

Pizza and Cards

We invited the Pistol Packin' Presbytera to our home this evening, since her husband Chaplain to the World is in St. Louis. We had a make-your-own pizza night, so everyone could have their pizza the way they like it. The Presbytera made hers in the shape of a heart, because she misses her husband. Aw!

Now the four of them are playing the card game Zigity.

Safely Through Another Week

It was a very Gloomy Sort of Day. (The Scientist has been re-reading Winnie the Pooh.) It was weird to have a thunderstorm the night before, in November! But my husband finished some things today that really needed to be done out in the garage, and I got a few things accomplished myself that have been eluding me for a while. The Scientist and Wildchild were very excited to help Papa out in the garage. I joke with DH that I thought we had girls instead of boys! Wildchild does have her girly side, such as loving jewelry and pretty dresses. Ironically, she is allergic to nickel, so she can only wear real gold jewelry. The Scientist, however, decided very early on that she identified with her beloved Papa, and there was a time that she didn't want anything to do with things that were "too girly." Fortunately, she has come to terms with the fact that she is, indeed, a girl. :)

I suppose I'm just a pessimist. The week has not been fabulously fantastic, but we had a good routine in school and work, and it just seems too good to last!

A Break in the Weather

I'm glad the sky is nice and blue and sunny again today, after the day we had yesterday! It was so foggy for most of it that I could barely see the neighbors' houses at some points. Good for a Victorian London murder mystery, but not much else.

The girls are busily teaching their baby dolls their new German vocabulary they just got yesterday. Love it when they do my work for me! However, the cross-stitch projects I started with the girls are not progressing so smoothly - so far. I can't really even take a picture to show you, because they only have a few X's each completed. :) But they're still interested, so that's something.

Mr. Blue Sky

Even knowing how weather affects humans, especially those people with SAD, it still amazes me how much a beautiful day such as today, when the air is mild, there is not a cloud in the sky, and the sun is shining brilliantly, perks me up. Of course, yesterday was almost as beautiful a day, and the weather did very little to help my mood. I was rather gloomy all day. Of course, not having any breakfast, and therefore not getting most of my meds taken, was probably the biggest factor there. Yesterday, I did get help from a friend, and we went clothes shopping! Yes, shopping is not the remedy to everything, but especially when one has not gotten new clothes in a while, a little shopping trip can be therapeutic. Today in contrast I had a yummy, if not exactly healthy breakfast, took all my meds, and got off to a good start on the day.

Does this happen to anyone else, that a good start to your day will propel you through the rest of the day and it will all go well, or a bad start will leave you so down that you'll just slog through the rest of the day and feel discontented at the end?

Is it sad that my children, and many others, know Mom or Dad has to check their Halloween candy before they eat it? Or is it a good thing, knowing that we live in a fallen world and that therefore we do need to be aware of bad things that could happen? Or do we parents overreact?

I had a humorous conversation with the Princess yesterday after I told her life was not always all about her. Princess: "But I have a shirt that says 'Life is all about me!'."

Life Abhors a Vacuum

There has been nothing, but nothing, happening around here. But as is so often the way, all kinds of things are popping up! For example, my husband's soccer-playing nephew has a game tonight on the east side of Cleveland. We're meeting all my in-laws at a restaurant for dinner and we may go on to the game. The Scientist has been fighting off cold symptoms and we're not sure we want to sit outside at night in this chilly weather. Yet another thing to deal with, cold symptoms. Last night the Scientist was sleepwalking and I had to talk her back into bed.

Also I found out my husband's niece is having a baby shower given for her in December, so that's something else going on. Plus, Christmas is coming, and the Scientist's birthday is right before Christmas as well, and it seems like we are never prepared for all that. Maybe this year!

Happy Halloweeeeeeeen

Yes, I know it was yesterday, but I was just too exhausted last night to even plug the adapter in to download the pictures. And I didn't even walk around with the kids last night! But the girls were sorting out their candy motherload this morning. :)

This is my pumpkin, designed by me, carved by DH. I feel the same way Marie does about pumpkin guts.

The Scientist was the cutest cheerleader at Spook U., and Wildchild was Princess Strawberry Shortcake. Notice the sparkle from her newly pierced ears! Also, pictures of their pumpkins. The girls had a great time, and that is what it's all about.

Good Times

I realized that it is a year and a day since a good friend of ours, especially of my husband's, died. No, I didn't really have the date imprinted in my memory, since we did not hear about his death until three days after the fact, due to Eric's parents having to track his friends down, and not knowing how to open his electronic address file. If I could change the world, one of the things I would do would be to enable us to find more friends like Eric, someone we could hang with for hours and even days on end, just content to be. Are good friendships such a rarity, or is it just a blessing some receive and others do not?

Here's a picture of Eric and my husband doing one of the things they enjoyed together, playing with LEGO brand building blocks. Actually, I think they were cleaning up after a big battle. This picture is owned by Troy Ceferatti, one of the guys who also played and built stuff with my husband and Eric on occasion. I'll put in a plug for his site, Troy's Surplus LEGO. Perfect for getting the individual pieces you need to complete your latest project.

Strangeness

I'm glad the weather is gorgeous, because I can certainly use a mood-lifter. Lately, outside life (not physically outside, but out of my own little sphere) has just been a downer. Good thing I have a very vivid inner life. To heck with the real world! I suppose even evil geniuses need a break before they get back to their cunning plans.

If You Could Change the World

I hate politics. I hate all the posturing and finger-pointing and scheming that takes place, especially right before an election, which is where we are now. But what my government does, and even what other governments do, affect my family and me. Thus, I have to find things out, and think about long-term results and repercussions. Of course, voting is involved. Bringing up my children to be intelligent, strong, and able to learn and reason things out on their own, is also important. But lately I've been wondering if there's more. I've never wanted to try to change the world, but I don't want it to change underneath me, either. My home and my family and my own little activities are the main responsibilities in my life, but there are things that affect that already, like all the taxes for waste and needless activities. Sometimes I'd like to try to do something different, something more (but not something illegal!) I'm impatient to see some of these things come to an end.

Horse Heaven

The girls had the opportunity yesterday to do a little horseback riding at a stable where the Die-Hard Equestrian has taken lessons. She and her mom and grandparents and siblings were also there. I think all the children had a good time, and of course I have pictures to share.

That Does It...I'm Dropping Out

This is so true. I mean, I don't even have the friends anymore. Not that they were a big loss, either.

Out of the Past

The Chaplain wrote about his engagement anniversary yesterday; today is the anniversary of my husband's and my engagement. This picture, however, is from exactly one week before, at my sister-in-law's wedding. We held off getting "offically" engaged until after this wedding, so as not to take attention away from my sister-in-law and her husband. This, however, did not keep lots of guests at the wedding from speculating about when our own marriage would be. I was even welcomed to the family by Gino's step-aunt's ex-husband's nephew.

On Oct. 19, 1991, I went to the homecoming dance at my former college, where my husband was a senior (I robbed the cradle.) I was wearing the same green dress and shoes as in the picture above (so I re-used a bridesmaid dress!) We had a yummy dinner, and when he presented me with my corsage, there was a diamond ring on one of the flowers. And here we are fifteen years later, still happy to be together. Tonight my husband gave me a red rose, and we had a dinner very similar to the candlelit meal we had in my husband's dorm room fifteen years ago, right down to the fudge cake from Entenmann's. How sweet!

(Wo)man Plans...

God laughs. Well, okay, I don't think God is laughing that my sniffles yesterday turned into a body-aches, stuffy ears cold and I feel like death warmed over today. But the main idea behind that quote is true, that I had a big day planned and now I will be happy to get the basics of school, dishes and laundry done. Fortunately, my girls are big enough to help. The Scientist made pasta for lunch, and thawed a bag of meat sauce that my husband had made up ahead of time. She can also start the washing machine! Then it's back to gently reminding them to do their school assignments. At least for the first five times.

Some Interesting Things

We had the pleasure of going out for dinner tonight with the Presbyter and Presbytera. My husband and I were recommending this site to the Presbytera, but I will also post it here for anyone who likes yummy sweets. It is UltimateBrownies.com, and the brick and mortar store is located on the west side of Cleveland. The woman who runs this bakery makes to-die-for cakes, brownies, fruit torts, etc. Here's a picture of a cake we bought from there for my sister's baby shower.

Also, here is a blog post that many of you will find interesting. I'll give you the opening excerpt to whet your appetite. :)

Make Sure You Hire A Qualified Babysitter

1. CPR trained?

2. Background check?

3. Current hunting tags for intruders?

Bargain of the Month

It might end up being the bargain of the year, really, but since the year's not over I will hold out hope. :) Anyway, our next door neighbors held a garage sale last week, although the chair in this picture belonged to a friend of theirs who brought some of her things over. In any event, we got this chair for only $25! It is a lot more faded in color than the picture makes it look, and unevenly faded at that. But there are no tears or rips in the upholstery, and the padding and cushion are still cushy! The girls have claimed this as their new favorite chair, which is fine, as it is why we bought it. Maybe someday we can get it recovered, but in the meantime, it works.

Pizza, Redux

Whew! I've been busy lately! I've finally got a chance to take a little bit of a breather today, but only a little one. There's school to teach, and shopping to do, and sewing to be done, and of course a house to be cleaned. (That one never seems to go away!)

Yesterday was very full, as we attended church, witnessed the baptism of the infant granddaughter of Presbytera (and the prefers-to-stay-semi-anonymous Presbyter), and had a fun time afterwards at a luncheon at church in honor of this new member of God's family! Then we went and spent some time with my sister-in-law, and her husband who had come up to visit for the weekend. This is where the pizza comes in. We went to the fancy-shmancy shopping area, Crocker Park, and had an early dinner at the Brio Tuscan Grille. A very nice place. Children receive a little plate with some raw pizza dough to play with while they are waiting for their food. When we ordered our meals, my husband jokingly requested some sauce, some mozzerella and 400 degrees. Well, the waiter came back with a little plate of pizza sauce and shredded mozzerella, and the girls made their own little mini-pizzas, then ate them after the waiter had taken them to be cooked. It was very enjoyable. The waiter definitely earned his generous tip, especially when he brought some fresh napkins and club soda after Wildchild accidentally spilled the remainder of her frozen strawberry lemonade on her dress when we were near departure.

Go Cards! :)

Heartbreak and Political Hay

In regards to the recent rash of school shootings, I find it ironic that it is the last one, the one at the Amish school, that has garnered the most attention and discussion. I feel this way because the Amish are the least likely to do anything about such tragedies. They are pacificistic people, who shun modern conveniences and technology. Can you imagine being "buzzed in" to an Amish schoolhouse? Yeah, me neither. On the other hand, I think the Amish will continue to accept the consequences of living by their choices.

But of course the government must step in for the rest of us to "fix" the mess that it created in the first place. Now this is hearsay from the radio, but it seems a government representative from Wisconsin is already calling for school personnel to have access to guns. I was greatly hurt to hear Mark Schwab, filling in for the regular drive-time radio host on WTAM 1100, say that people who support this idea belong on "The Dukes of Hazzard." So much for reasoned discourse. At that point I got disgusted and turned off the radio, but thought better of it and turned it back on to hear what else was said. A caller was trying to explain to Schwab and sidekick Allison, who I don't think was hired for her brains, that there are some teachers who work as park rangers during the summer, and are more than capable of handling guns. After the caller convinced the bright lights at WTAM that teachers can indeed be compatible with other interests and professions, Schwab started on how he can't wrap his brain around the other logistics involved with such an idea. Such as where the gun(s) would be stored, who would have charge of and access to them, etc.

Well, I have one simple answer for some of this problem. Surely there are already some teachers in the public schools who have concealed carry permits. Let them start carrying their guns to school. Then, the gun will be stored: on their hips, and the persons in charge of the gun will be: themselves. Yes, there are big scary laws and scary signs about schools being "gun-free" zones. Well, that didn't scare any of the people who decided an unarmed school was a good place to start shooting their gun, did they? For that matter, most of the school shooting incidents I recall end with the shooter turning the gun on himself. So they really don't care anymore what the penalties are for bringing a gun into a sacred gun-free zone, do they?

Yes, there are other options that might bring the appearance of protection to a school. Already when my children attended parochial school several years ago, the school doors were locked and I had to be "buzzed in." There was also a camera at the school door so the school secretary could see I was an innocuous-looking mom, not a big scary guy with an M-60 slung over my shoulder. However, this will only give the appearance of protection.

For starters, my children's school did get a bomb threat called in. Following safety protocol, the school was evacuated and the children hiked through fields and back pathways to the local public high school to wait for their parents, while police searched the school. Now, I'm not suggesting they should have let the children stay in the building after a bomb threat was called in. However, the result was a long line of children accompanied by a smaller number of adults traipsing across an open field. That screams "target" to anyone sick enough to shoot school children anyway.

And yes, we can lock the children in the school building promptly at the beginning of the day. Will that completely stop anyone from getting in or out? Will the mailman and delivery people need to be issued a special pass to permit them to take their deliveries in? Or will there be a special bullet-proof room something along the lines of an airlock? UPS man gets permission to take the packages into the room. Once he leaves, the door locks again and the school secretary can enter to get the packages. Nifty. Be prepared for your local school fees to get hiked. Again.

In short, I'm disgusted with politicians trying to make a political "score" off of people's natural fear for their children. Stay out of it! I'm also disappointed in the knee-jerk responses of someone that I thought was a little bit smarter than that. Schwabie, I thought I knew ya.

I Want Everyone to Share Their

favorite Weird Al Yankovic song/video. What? What did you think I was going to say? :) Anyway, the Quipper put an Weird Al video on his entertainment blog, which made me go back and dig around YouTube to find my favorite Weird Al video. I see it as a parody of I Love Lucy and yet also a tribute to America's favorite zany redhead. (Lutheran Lucy, is, of course, second favorite.) So do you have a favorite Weird Al ditty? Or another favorite music parody (that's clean!)?

Toonaloo

The Evil Genius family, along with the Princess, the Princess' mother, and the Artist, went to an event at Tower City Mall in downtown Cleveland on Sunday. It was sponsored by American Greetings and featured cartoon characters owned by AG: Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and Holly Hobbie. Thus the name of the event, Toonaloo. We girls all saw the world premiere of the latest Strawberry Shortcake movie, which will not be out on DVD until February. Ooh aah! A Holly Hobbie Christmas film and a Care Bears movie were also shown, but we could only take in one film, and Strawberry Shortcake was the most popular. Then for a small fee, which was donated to charity, there were different activities to do. The girls opted to have their pictures taken with Strawberry Shortcake and various Care Bears, and to make tiaras. Here are some pics! Note the lovely pose of the Artist's hand. She probably picked up some lovely ballet poses from her mother.



The Princess' mom (aka the Quilter) and I lamented that Holly Hobbie is now a modern girl, the great-granddaughter of the "original" Holly Hobbie in bonnet and quilted dress. (Although they do offer "classic" Holly Hobbie items for those of us that live in the past :) ) I hate the way marketeers are always "updating" everything, and yet times are different now. There was a focus on the simple life, a sort of pioneer, earthy mentality, back then. Can you imagine the Sunshine Family dolls selling today? I suppose they could push the recycling aspect, making things for the dolls yourself out of items around your home. But granny dresses just aren't cool anymore. Steffie would wear jeans and a knit shirt (made out of organic cotton) and a denim jacket nowadays, and Steve would lose that nerdy turtleneck and get some Dockers. They'd still buy organic fruits and vegetables at the co-op, though, if they didn't grow them for themselves in the Watch 'Em Grow Greenhouse, with the Gardening Craft Kit, and then sell some at the Farm Produce Stand. Hmmm. Maybe they would fit in today after all! Too bad I'm a contra-crunchy. :)