A cup of coffee and ebay...memory trip through childhood

This morning started like many Sunday mornings for me. I wake up, get my mug of coffee and spend a little time online reading posts and 'shopping' on ebay. I don't always buy, but research and window shopping is almost as much fun for me.

I have my usual haunts on ebay...favorite searches, favorite sellers, but then something will pop into my head and off I go on a mission. Something arbitrary, like Cinderella Watch, and I'm off and running. I almost always find what I'm looking for and it amazes me to find that someone, somewhere has a Cinderella watch just like the one I had when I was in kindergarten (unfortunately, someone stole it from my cubby, go figure) and it's for sale, complete with the little statue of Cinderella!

I love searching for toys I had when I was a child. I thought about my sister, who had gotten a Tiny Thumbelina doll for her birthday (or maybe it was Christmas) when she was a youngster. It had the string in the back (that made it move like a 'real' baby) and she carried that doll around from the time she could walk. It got so ragged that my Mom and Dad had to get her a new one to replace it. Then she carried that one around for another couple of years.

Wasn't she very surprised that I found one so many years later, exactly like the one she had. I emailed her a picture. You can imagine how many stories she would have for her daughter when they talked about it. My niece is nine now and that was couple of years ago.

I found a couple of dolls that my Mom had when she was a child. I can't say how long ago that was, she'd have a fit, but suffice it to say, it was a while ago. She had one that was a "Magic Skin" doll. It was kind of cool, but not in very good shape, but I showed her and she confirmed that it was pretty close to the one she had. She was astonished to see one of those again!

I decided, a couple of years ago, to replace some of the "Barbie" Dolls I had when I was a kid. I bought a few, traded up when I could and even found some of the outfits I had for my teenaged dolls. I had "Bubblecut Barbie", "Midge" of course (I had to have someone for Barbie to interact with) and even had a "Francie" doll, Barbie's cousin, that had a long ponytail that would grow or shorten at my whim! Fantastic! I scored and found one of each and a couple of outfits. I have them put away and when my niece is older and able to understand their importance, she'll have them.

Another doll that had special meaning to me was a doll named "Penny Brite". I got Penny Brite when I was five years old, from Santa, and had clothes and plenty of other 'necessities' for a little youngster doll that looked a little like Shirley Temple, come to think of it. I found one of those too! It now has a special place, along with my Barbie's.

It's fun, to take a memory trip through your childhood and it's easy via the ebay highway. Sometimes I just look and I buy occasionally. Either way, its a nice way to pass the time while I sip on a good cup of coffee.