Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Earlier we looked back and reminisced about the top music hits for 1979. We also had a look at the top movies of that year, and the top TV shows. We've also remembered the Saturday morning cartoons of that year.

Remember the game shows of 1979? Here are some of the ones that aired during 1979. How many Nipsey Russells can you find?

All Star Secrets


Beat the Clock


Card Sharks


Celebrity Charades


The Cheap Show


The Cross-Wits


The Dating Game (not a clip from 1979, but look who's contestant number two!)


Family Feud


 We'll look at more this time next week. Meanwhile, a bit of bonus Family Feud fun, as contestants struggle with the question, "Name an animal with three letters in its name."


This blog hosted/created by Kitchen Magic.

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Earlier we looked back and reminisced about the top music hits for 1979. We also had a look at the top movies of that year. Last week we finished our look at the top TV shows.

If you were growing up or if you were a parent that year, you probably saw the Saturday morning cartoons of that era.  Two weeks ago, we looked at the lineup on NBC. Last week we looked at the lineup that was on CBS.

Here's the ABC Saturday morning lineup. How many of these do you remember?



8:00-9:00: The World's Greatest Super Friends


9:00-11:00: The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show


11:00-11:30: Spider-Woman


11:30-12:00: Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo


12:00:12:30: ABC Weekend Special


12:30-1:30: American Bandstand '79



Bonus fun: Dick Clark plugs the Columbia Record and Tape Club in a 1979 commercial:



This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com.

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We are celebrating its 30th anniversary, starting in November, and to celebrate, we have been looking back at some of what made 1979 special.

Earlier we looked back and reminisced about the top music hits for 1979. We also had a look at the top movies of that year. Last week we finished our look at the top TV shows.

If you were growing up or if you were a parent that year, you probably saw the Saturday morning cartoons of that era.  Last week we looked at the lineup that was on NBC. Here are the cartoons that were on CBS. How many of these do you remember?

8:00-9:00: The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle


9:00-10:30: The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show


10:30-11:30: The All-New Popeye Hour


11:30-12:00: Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids


12:00-12:30: Jason of Star Command (with a surprise for Star Trek fans!)


12:30-1:00: Tarzan & the Super Seven


What do you remember about 1979? We'd be happy to share your reminiscences if you send them to us here.

And just for you and no-one else, some bonus Mighty Mouse fun:


This blog hosted/created by Kitchen Magic.

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Earlier we looked back and reminisced about the top music hits for 1979. We also had a look at the top movies of that year. Last week we finished our look at the top TV shows.

If you were growing up or if you were a parent that year., you probably saw the Saturday morning cartoons of that era.  Here's the lineup that was on NBC. How many of these do you remember?

8:00-8:15: The Daffy Duck Show
8:15-8:30: Casper & the Angels


9:00-10:00: Fred and Barney Meet the Thing

10:00-10:30: The Super Globetrotters


10:30-11:00: The New Schmoo

11:00-11:30: The New Adventures of Flash Gordon


11:30-12:00 Godzilla


12:00-12:30 Jonny Quest


12:30-1:00 The Jetsons


This blog hosted/created by Kitchen Magic.

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Earlier we looked back and reminisced about the top music hits for 1979. We also had a look at the top movies of that year.

In 1979, there were just over 76 million households with televisions, but viewers were pretty much confined to the three broadcast networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS (Fox was many years in the future) or a few local channels. Just one out of every five homes had access to cable TV, and Time magazine marveled that cable viewers might be able to see as many as 36 channels on it some day.

Let's count down the thirty most popular shows in 1979. Last week we looked at shows #6 through #10. The week before that #11 through #20, and before that, #21 through #30.

Here are shows #1 through #5. How many of these do you recall? Congratulations to reader Cynthia Dennis in the Philadelphia area, who guessed the number one show for that year.

1) 60 Minutes


2) Three's Company

3) That's Incredible


4) Alice


5) M*A*S*H

This blog hosted/created by Kitchen Magic.

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Earlier we looked back and reminisced about the top music hits for 1979. We also had a look at the top movies of that year.

In 1979, there were just over 76 million households with televisions, but viewers were pretty much confined to the three broadcast networks, ABC,NBC, and CBS (Fox was many years in the future) or a few local channels. Just one out of every five homes had access to cable TV, and Time magazine marvelled that cable viewers might be able to see as many as 36 channels on it some day.

Let's count down the thirty most popular shows in 1979. Last week we looked at shows #11 through #20, and the week before, #21 through #30.

Here are shows #6 through #10. How many of these do you recall?


6) Dallas


7) Flo (star Polly Holliday seen above)

8) The Jeffersons


9) The Dukes of Hazzard


10) One Day at a Time



Can you guess the number one show in 1979? Send your answers here.

This blog hosted/created by Kitchen Magic. We specialize in kitchen remodeling, including custom cabinetry, cabinet refacing, and luxury countertops in Corian, Zodiaq, Granite and Silestone.

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Earlier we looked back and reminisced about the top music hits for 1979. We also had a look at the top movies of that year.

In 1979, there were just over 76 million households with televisions, but viewers were pretty much confined to the three broadcast networks, ABC,NBC, and CBS (Fox was many years in the future) or a few local channels. Just one out of every five homes had access to cable TV, and Time magazine marvelled that cable viewers might be able to see as many as 36 channels on it some day.


Let's count down the thirty most popular shows in 1979, starting with 21 through 30. How many of these do you recall?


21. Barney Miller
22. WKRP in Cincinnati
23. Benson
24. The Love Boat
25. Soap
26. Diff'rent Strokes
27. Mork & Mindy
28. Fantasy Island
29. Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (above, Jeff Goldblum (Brown Shoe) and Ben Vereen (Tenspeed) contemplate better roles to come in the future)
30. ABC Sunday Night Movie

Can you guess the number one show in 1979? Send your answers here.


This blog hosted/created by Kitchen Magic. We specialize in kitchen remodeling, including custom cabinetry, cabinet refacing, and luxury countertops in Corian, Zodiaq, Granite and Silestone.

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Earlier we looked back and reminisced about the top music hits for 1979.

What were the top box office films for that year? Here's hit movies #1 through #5. How many of these have you seen? How many did you see that year?

1) Kramer Vs. Kramer
2) Star Trek
3) The Jerk
4) Rocky II
5) Alien

Reader Peggy B. of West Hartford,CT, guessed the number one movie of the year.

For top films #6 through #10 of 1979, click here.

For top films #11 through #15 of 1979, click here.

For top films #16 through #20 of 1979, click here.

Where Were You in 1979?

 

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Earlier we looked back and reminisced about the top music hits for 1979.

What were top box office films for that year? Here's hit movies 16 through 20. How many of these have you seen? How many did you see that year?

16) Escape From Alcatraz, starring Clint Eastwood and Patrick McGoohan.

17) Meatballs, starring Bill Murray and Kate Lynch

18) Love at First Bite, starring George Hamilton and Susan St. James

19) All That Jazz, starring Roy Scheider and Jessica Lange

20) Starting Over, starring Burt Reynolds and Jill Clayburgh

Can you guess the number one movie of 1979? Send your guesses to me here.

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com.  

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Congratulations to Julie R. of Upper Saddle River, NJ, who guessed the number one song that year.

Here are the #1 through #10 most popular songs of that year, as compiled by Billboard magazine. Remember where you were when you heard these?


1. My Sharona, The Knack
2. Bad Girls, Donna Summer
3. Le Freak, Chic
4. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy, Rod Stewart
5. Reunited, Peaches and Herb
6. I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor
7. Hot Stuff, Donna Summer
8. Y.M.C.A., Village People
9. Ring My Bell, Anita Ward
10. Sad Eyes, Robert John

For #11 through #20, go here…

For #21 through #30, go here…

For #31 through #40, go here…

For #41 through #50, go here…

For #51 through #60, go here…

For #61 through #70, go here…

For #71 through #80, go here…

For #81 through #90, go here…

For #91 through #100, go here…

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com.

Monday Morning Snark: Just Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale...

Ah, and it makes me wonder...

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com.

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Can you guess what the number one song that year was? Nobody’s had the correct answer so far. Send your guesses here.

To help you warm up, here are the #11 through #20 most popular songs of that year, as compiled by Billboard magazine. Remember where you were when you heard these?


11. Too Much Heaven, Bee Gees
12. MacArthur Park, Donna Summer
13. When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman, Dr. Hook
14. Makin' It, David Naughton
15. Fire, Pointer Sisters
16. Tragedy, Bee Gees
17. A Little More Love, Olivia Newton-John
18. Heart Of Glass, Blondie
19. What A Fool Believes, Doobie Brothers
20. Good Times, Chic

For #21 through #30, go here…

For #31 through #40, go here…

For #41 through #50, go here…

For #51 through #60, go here…

For #61 through #70, go here…

For #71 through #80, go here…

For #81 through #90, go here…

For #91 through #100, go here…

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com.

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Can you guess what the number one song that year was? Nobody’s had the correct answer so far. Send your guesses here.

To help you warm up, here are the #21 through #30 most popular songs of that year, as compiled by Billboard magazine. Remember where you were when you heard these?


21. You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond
22. Knock On Wood, Amii Stewart
23. Stumblin' In, Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman
24. Lead Me On, Maxine Nightingale
25. Shake Your Body, Jacksons
26. Don't Cry Out Loud, Melissa Manchester
27. The Logical Song, Supertramp
28. My Life, Billy Joel
29. Just When I Needed You Most, Randy Vanwarmer
30. You Can't Change That, Raydio

For #31 through #40, go here…

For #41 through #50, go here…

For #51 through #60, go here…

For #61 through #70, go here…

For #71 through #80, go here…

For #81 through #90, go here…

For #91 through #100, go here…

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com. 

Kitchen Memory: Haunted, Part Five

Blog reader Jenny C. has been kind enough to send us a very detailed and suspenseful kitchen memory that also includes the bathroom, the rest of the house and the yard. We'll be running it in installments on Thursday afternoons. In part one, Jenny took a Polaroid of her family. When a blurry shape appears in the photo, Jenny teases her family by pretending it is a ghost. In part two, more Polaroids show a blurry shape that appears to be an actual ghost. In part three, Jenny and her infant daughter were locked in a bathroom out of earshot of help. And in part four last week, a friend’s skepticism about ghosts causes a ball of energy to appear in the kitchen, killing all the lights.


WHOA! Karen, Gene, Amy and I all begged Gary NOT to say that again. He yelled back from the back hallway to just simmer down- it was a blown fuse. He'd already grabbed a flashlight and made his way to the fuse box and replaced the fuse within seconds, releasing the lights to light again.

But the kitchen crowd was abuzz. In the month that we had lived there we had blown dozens of fuses- about one a day. But never, I say never before, had we had a lightning bolt fly out of our kitchen sink.

The smell of ozone still heavy in the air, we tried to convince Gary that it was a ghostly act. The engineer in the guys and myself tried to explain it away any other way. The phone lines are usually grounded on the cold water pipes. Thus the water pipes stored up enough energy to shoot big lightning balls out of the faucet as if Thor himself was in charge of the plumbing. The non-ghost theories were more far-fetched than the ghost theory ever was.

None of this conjecture was making any sense. So we blamed the lights and lightning incident on the ghost and Gary's mantra of disbelief, which we all felt was annoying the ghost as much as it was annoying us.
Some of us hypothesized that this mantra was a direct challenge to the ghost to prove himself. The light show may have been the ghost's chosen form of proof for all we knew.  And of course Gary just had to say it again, even though we begged him not to. We guessed where he was headed, with the conversation having been there already many times that night. But he did it anyway. He said it.

"I keep telling you guys, that there's no such thing as ghosts!"

No sooner had the words parted his lips, than the faucet returned an exact replica of that first lightning bolt into the kitchen sink. The next sound I heard was the slam of the back door as Gene and Karen yelled a hasty goodbye and "We'll call you in the morning to see if you all are still alive."

It was very difficult to get Amy to bed that night. She begged to sleep with us on the floor in our bedroom rather than in her room- the maid's quarters just above the kitchen. In order to convince her that all was well, we looked in closets, under beds, on the balcony, locked the balcony door, pulled back the shower curtains, and more than one round of this was demanded. Finally, she was calmed down and tucked into bed and we retired to our master bedroom where Gary reached for the maid's bell button on the wall. My pleas fell on deaf ears- really.  He grinned a devil's grin and pushed the button.

The sound of Amy hitting her door to open it inward, when she so desperately wanted to go outward, rang through the house. The thud of her feet pounding down the hallway into our bedroom had Gary doubled over in laughter. But Amy was hysterical.

While Gary recovered composure enough to demonstrate the bell to Amy and he "recleared” her room, I put Noel back to sleep. Finally we all went to bed and I know I slept. In fact I slept fairly soundly.

The next morning the phone rang as it was now working just fine, although no one had done anything at all to fix it during the night. Gene and Karen inquired on our state. I replied "Michigan" and Gary replied "Confusion” and our friends thus knew we were both normal as ever.

Joke about it or not, Gary will tell you he is now a believer and there just might be such a thing as ghosts.

Well, now you know when I became a true believer.  A believer with proof. It was during the summer of '79 in a house in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. One such event and you too will doubt no more- if you doubt at all, that is.

Sleep tight!
Thanks, Jenny!
Readers, we'd love to hear your kitchen memories, even if they don't involve ghosts. Send them to us here.

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com.  

Memories & Moon Facts

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the daring voyage of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, here are some moon facts.

The moon makes its closest approach to the earth tonight, just 222,117 miles away. Coastal areas will experience higher than usual tides. The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century will also occur tonight, as the moon blocks the sun for nearly seven minutes. Unfortunately, it will only be visible in India and China.

NASA's Apollo 11 photographs can be seen here.

NASA currently has the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter circling the moon with a high resolution camera. The bottom stage of the Eagle can still be seen in the Sea of Tranquility here.

Where were you July 16-24, 1969?

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com.  

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Can you guess what the number one song that year was? Nobody’s had the correct answer so far. Click here to guess.

To help you warm up, here are the #31 through #40 most popular songs of that year, as compiled by Billboard magazine. Remember where you were when you heard these?


31. Shake Your Groove Thing, Peaches and Herb
32. I'll Never Love This Way Again, Dionne Warwick
33. Love You Inside Out, Bee Gees
34. I Want You To Want Me, Cheap Trick
35. The Main Event (Fight), Barbra Streisand
36. Mama Can't Buy You Love, Elton John
37. I Was Made For Dancin', Leif Garrett
38. After The Love Has Gone, Earth, Wind and Fire
39. Heaven Knows, Donna Summer and Brooklyn Dreams
40. The Gambler, Kenny Rogers

For #41 through #50, go here...

For #51 through #60, go here...

For #61 through #70, go here…

For #71 through #80, go here…

For #81 through #90, go here…

For #91 through #100, go here…

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com.  

Kitchen Memory: Haunted, Part Four

Blog reader Jenny C. has been kind enough to send us a very detailed and suspenseful kitchen memory, that also includes the bathroom, the rest of the house and the yard. We'll be running it in installments on Thursday afternoons. In part one,  Jenny takes a Polaroid of her family. When a blurry shape appears in the photo, Jenny teases her family by pretending it is a ghost. In part two, more Polaroids show a blurry shape that appears to be an actual ghost. In part three, Jenny and her infant daughter were locked in a bathroom out of earshot of help.

Noel was crying so hard now she was sobbing. I finally decided that I had to calm down to keep her from being scared. But now every additional second that I was "trapped" brought an ever-stronger sense of evil intent. Finally out of desperation, I grasped the lock mechanism from the top of the sink, jammed it into the gaping hole from which it had originally been extracted and…

The bolt shot back into the door. Without any time for a plan to materialize, one popped into my head. I grabbed the doorknob, stuffed it in the appropriate hole and turned and pulled. The door opened as easily as if Ali Baba had just said "OPEN SESAME." The frozen door had thawed. Noel and I made good our escape.

Dashing with baby in arm, we burst into the back yard blurting and babbling our story the whole way. The very real level of upset on both our faces convinced Gene and Karen and Amy that something quite wrong had just happened.

Needless to say, the talk at the supper table went right into everyone's belief or disbelief of ghosts. Karen told stories of her Mom's family's haunted house in upstate New York.

Then stories of bouncing tables that could tell family secrets were shared. A game they called "Up Table Up". We thought we'd give this game a try after supper. But alas this Victorian parlor game did not work for us. The three women at the table tried for over an hour to get that card table to play with them while the men, Gene and Gary watched. The minute the mood at the table started to get at all serious and just about "right", Gary would reach down, grab a close table leg and shake it just to watch us ladies jump with surprise. We eventually tired of the pursuit, mainly because Gary did not.

Gene offered to make a phone call to Karen's WWII veteran father, Jack, as proof that "Up Table Up" really worked. Gary agreed that if Jack said it worked then he'd believe that the game worked, but that didn't prove that there were ghosts. "Because there's no such thing as ghosts!" He'd repeated this after every shred of evidence we'd given throughout the dinner and continued saying it as his mantra into the evening.

Finally, he agreed to call Jack to get his testimony. But the phone line was dead. Now this was of very dear concern to me.  I just happened to be, at that time, the manager of the engineering group that was responsible for making sure that telephone exchange had adequate capacity. My personal phone was supposed to be protected from outage.

Just to be sure that there was not a general outage at the switch, we sent Gary over to the neighbor's to see if their phone still worked.

The report back to us was that their phone still worked. We stood around the kitchen kanoodling this predicament. Well, if their phone was working, why wasn't my protected phone line working? Of course the believers in the crowd used this as further evidence of a ghostly hand. That line of logic of course just brought another of Gary's mantras, "There's no such thing as ghosts!"

But this time, no sooner had he said it than a three-foot ball of blue electrical ozone smelling explosion shot into the kitchen sink from the faucet. Oh, and the lights in the house went dead.
What is the mysterious blue energy, and what will it do next? Watch this blog next week!

 We'd love to share your kitchen memories, even if they don't involve ghosts. Send them to us here.

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com.  

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacer in the U.S. We will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to celebrate, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Can you guess what the number one song that year was? Nobody’s had the correct answer so far.

To help you warm up, here are the #41 through #50 most popular songs of that year, as compiled by Billboard magazine. Remember where you were when you heard these?


41. Lotta Love, Nicolette Larson
42. Lady, Little River Band (seen in all their glory, above)
43. Heaven Must Have Sent You, Bonnie Pointer
44. Hold The Line, Toto
45. He's The Greatest Dancer, Sister Sledge
46. Sharing The Night Together, Dr. Hook
47. She Believes In Me, Kenny Rogers
48. In The Navy, Village People
49. Music Box Dancer, Frank Mills
50. The Devil Went Down To Georgia, Charlie Daniels Band

For #51 through #60, go here

For #61 through #70, go here…

For #71 through #80, go here…

For #81 through #90, go here…

For #91 through #100, go here…

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com. 

Kitchen Memory: Haunted, Part Three

Blog reader Jenny C. has been kind enough to send us a very detailed and suspenseful kitchen memory, that also includes the bathroom, the rest of the house and the yard. We'll be running it in installments on Thursday afternoons. In part one,  which ran two weeks ago, Jenny takes a Polaroid of her family. When a blurry shape appears in the photo, Jenny teases her family by pretending it is a ghost. In part two, more Polaroids show a blurry shape that appears to be an actual ghost.

Something happened the day that Amy showed up at the new house. Troubled teens reportedly bring poltergeists. Or maybe Gary had wakened the dead with his incessant garage hammering. Regardless of what shook the house and its spirit occupant into life, to life it was. Chairs moved on the hardwood dining room floor when we were upstairs and when we were downstairs in the den watching TV in the evening -- baby finally asleep-- was when it truly got strange.

We'd be listening to Ed Asner rant at Mary Tyler Moore, just to be interrupted at the punch line by the punch of little footsteps in the nursery above. We'd take turns being the one to "put the baby back in bed."
But the baby was never out of her crib. Usually, she was fast asleep and happily kissing the angels. We were both in denial about this. Gary accused me of having "mother ears," a term I think he invented just for me. And I would accuse him of needing a hearing aid if he couldn't hear THAT! (Years later I was proven correct on his needing a hearing aid issue.)

We would banter about the haunted nursery and teasingly laugh. He was a non-believer; none of my "evidence" was ever going to turn him. Until that night,  that Gene and Karen, Noel's Godparents, came over to visit.

Amy and I had been trying to finish painting the fifth bedroom and private bath -- the maid's quarters -- complete with a private balcony and separate stairway downstairs to the back hallway. This room was where the maid's bell still clung to the wall. The foot button was no longer present in the hole in the floor under the dining room table. The other call buttons that were still in place had ceased to function- that is all except for the one in the master bedroom. If you pushed the call button in the master bedroom, the bell in the maid's bedroom still rang. This little bit of architectural nostalgia never failed to amuse our visitors.

Amy and I had run out of paint and decided to stop playing interior decorators for the day. Our friends were due to arrive at 4 pm for games and supper so we headed to clean up and start something to serve for supper.

The usual family redecorating rule was one room at a time. The designated room would be stripped- redone and then we'd head to the next room. Given that all the materials we needed were on hand, we could finish a room totally-- carpet torn up-- old curtains tossed-- old light fixtures and switch plates off-- room painted-- new curtains hung- light fixtures and new switch plates all new and installed- all could be done in about one week per room. This was after our day jobs. But what else would two hyper-actives do?

Our guests arrived and we started the entertainment for the afternoon-- volleyball of sorts by using the brick wall for the net we didn't have. Enough beers and it was quite a challenge.
Noel watched sometimes from her blanket but mostly from a position under the ball, and part of our job was to play the game and save the baby while doing it. Eventually she needed a change and I needed to make room for another beer and retrieve beers for my guests. So I swooped the baby up under an arm and off into the house went.
I dashed into the downstairs half-bath, Noel still under arm, and backward kicked the door shut. I needed to use the facilities so urgently that the sound of the door bolt shooting into the jamb didn't really register until I'd washed my hands, grabbed the baby from the floor and tried to tug the door open. It had locked Noel and I inside. The door face was nude, since the entire door trimmings were strewn across the top of the sink. The knob, the lock, key plates and knob plate were all lying idle on the sink. I tried to pry the door open with the available screwdriver. That failing I looked about for anything else that might help free my baby and me. But there were few resources available.
Having just been to see "Amityville Horror"- the baby-sitter locked in the closet scene fresh in my mind- it didn't take me long to start to freak out. I began to panic. I needed to get out of that room now.

Beseechingly I reviewed what the window might offer. It was a six-inch wide jalousie affair, meaning once cranked open it left four inches of opening into the front yard. The only escape it offered was for me to stuff Noel out of it and drop her into the bushes of the front flowerbed. What would a nine-month-old be able to do? Nothing of course, so there was no baby stuffing going to go on.
I screamed out the window to no avail. The rest of the residents were four or five brick walls away from my frantic screams, which did have some result however. That scared Noel enough that she started crying. She was reasonably upset that the one person entrusted to keep her alive had now gone mental.
Will Jenny get out? Watch this blog next week!

 We'd love to share your kitchen memories, even if they don't involve ghosts. Send them to us here.

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com. 

Where Were You in 1979?

Since 1979, Kitchen Magic has provided quality kitchen refacing and remodeling to our customers at an affordable price. You've helped us become the largest kitchen refacing and remodeling company in the U.S. We will celebrate our 30th anniversary in November of this year, and to mark the occasion now, we'll look back at some of what made 1979 special.

Can you guess what the number one song that year was? Nobody’s had the correct answer so far.

To help you warm up, here are the #51 through #60 most popular songs of that year, as compiled by Billboard magazine. Remember where you were when you heard these?


51. Gold, John Stewart
52. Goodnight Tonight, Wings
53. We Are Family, Sister Sledge
54. Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy, Bad Company
55. Everyone's A Winner, Hot Chocolate
56. Take Me Home, Cher
57. Boogie Wonderland, Earth, Wind and Fire
58. (Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away, Andy Gibb
59. What You Won't Do For Love, Bobby Caldwell
60. New York Groove, Ace Frehley

For #61 through #70, go here...

For #71 through #80, go here…

For #81 through #90, go here…

For #91 through #100, go here…

This blog hosted/created by kitchenmagic.com.