Just living in the… 80’s

Hands up who remembers the 1980’s? I certainly do! I was a teenager at the time and living through the 80’s, it felt like a decade that was special as we were experiencing life during this period and that people would be talking about how good this decade was when they were looking back at it. For those who missed life through the 80’s but love the music and hearing about life during the 80’s, this is a list of what you missed and so here are the things I remember of what the 1980’s were about:

Big hair
Rubik’s cubes
Shoulder pads
Slouch socks
Hyper colour t-shirts
Rollerskates
Rollerskating rinks
Walkmans
Boomboxes/Ghetto blasters
Break dancing
Flouro t-shirts
Tracksuits made out of parachute material
Huge mobile (cell phones) phones and you had to carry the battery in a battery case on your shoulder
Atari
Commodore 64
Pacman
Asteroids
Space Invaders
Frogger
Pong
Video game arcades
Amusement arcades
Elastics
Uno
Denim shirts/jackets/skirts
Computers with green screens
Floppy disks
Records
Cassette tapes
No pay tv, just Channels 2, 7, 9 and 10
Betamax and VHS VCR’s
Rotary telephones
No internet
No mobile/cell phones
No social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube etc
No Google – we had to go to the library to look things up or look it up in the Encyclopaedia Britannica
Red Rover
Brandy – the game, not the alcohol
Spokey Dokey’s – Putting cards from cereal boxes in the spokes of your bicycle to make some cool noises
Stirrup pants
Jelly bracelets
Clogs
Rats Tails
Mullets
Holes in your jeans – sorry people who wear that fashion today, people in the 80’s bet you to it! Lol
Stone wash jeans
Acid wash jeans
t-shirts 4 sizes too big
Legwarmers
Wearing your collar up, even on polo shirts
Simon says
Hopscotch
Cabbage Patch Kids
Tonka Trucks
Banana seat bicycles
Nerf balls
Hoola Hoops
Swatch watches
Koosh balls
Kazoos
Etch-A-Sketch
Slinkies
Matchbox Cars
Lego blocks
Yo yo’s
Smelly pens and markers
80’s music
Candy cigarettes
West Coast Wine Cooler – for those over 18
PEZ
Bubble tape
Choose your Own Adventure Books
BMX bikes
The Big Mac song, “Two all beef patties, special sauce…”
Crimping irons
Putting the empty plastic potato chip bags in the oven to shrink them
Care Bears
Synthesizers
Soda Stream soft drink makers
Carrying the pack of cigarettes in the rolled up sleeve of your t-shirt

These are some of the memories I have of the 1980’s, what are things you remember?

Anyone who was born after the 1980’s really did miss an incredible decade. I’m glad that I got to experience it first hand, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!

Here’s to all of us who lived and survived through the 1980’s!

I’m glad you took this walk down memory lane with me, hope you enjoyed it 😊

Until next time

Kaye

Life begins at…

A friend of mine recently turned 30 and for her it was a big deal, especially when she remarked that she was getting old! I informed her that being 30 is still young… wait until you reach your 40’s and things start going wrong with your body and start failing, that’s getting old lol. She didn’t even want a birthday party to celebrate the milestone, which I thought was crazy!

When I turned 40, I invited a few close friends and my family to dinner at a hotel and we all had a ton of fun and full on laughter. You also have to love the fact that someone else is doing the preparations, the cooking of the meals and the clean up afterwards and you get to bask in the glow of being the guest of honour at your own birthday celebrations.

For me, age is just a number. I didn’t get stressed out at getting older when I turned 30 and it didn’t phase me when I turned 40. As I get closer to turning 50, I might just run away and go on a cruise! Lol…

I think that life needs to be enjoyed and celebrated regardless of how old we get, especially when you consider how many people don’t get the opportunity for various reasons.

One of my favourite quotes which I read on a birthday card many years ago and it has stuck with me is, “Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional” and they are words I live by as I’m always cracking jokes and being a big kid!

Embrace life, embrace your age, celebrate the grey hair, the wrinkles, the age spots, the gravity defying body as things begin to sag, live life to the full and be happy in your body.

Another bonus about getting older is that you’ve seen and lived through a lot of history, seen changes in the world with technology, music, fads and fashions come and go, only to come back again a few years or a couple of decades later and in a mixed age group on a trivia night, you will find out how much cool stuff you know to impress those around you!

Live long and live happy…

Until next time

Kaye

Life Lessons…

Here’s a few things that I have learnt about life, so listen up the younger generation…

Kids, time may go slowly for you as you have to wait forever for your next birthday, or Christmas, or for some event you are eagerly awaiting but as you get older, time flies by, days just roll into one at times. I actually enjoy those days that simply drag.

Enjoy your childhood as you are only a child for such a very short time and you miss those years as an adult. I do love it when I get the chance to be a big kid though, being an adult isn’t always about being “grown up”, there is having some fun. Even when you are an adult, keep the “big kid” side of you. Just because you are an adult, doesn’t mean you have to always act like one.

Respect your elders and when the opportunity arises, ask them about their life, nothing better than a real life history lesson.

Life doesn’t revolve around those gadgets you have either. You can actually live without them. You can also live without Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat or whatever other social media networking site you use too, trust me, I grew up in a time before those things and I did okay. You can actually miss things that are actually going on around you when you are constantly looking at a screen. I definitely precede the technology you enjoy today, and I live to talk about it. Going without my smartphone is for me liberating as no one can reach me… I enjoy going off the grid and not allowing my smartphone to rule my life so when I do back to my smartphone, the messages and whatever I’ve missed will be there ready for me to see it when I’m ready to see it…

Ah, yes, if you think you know everything, believe me, you don’t. We adults may be old but we do happen to know a lot more than you. We have experience, life lessons and a vast amount of knowledge. There are some things you can teach us but we can teach you more.

Another thing, if you want to try and pull a fast one on your parents to get something, forget it. Your parents are onto you already and they have probably tried the same things on their parents growing up but I will give you points for giving it a good try though 😉

Enjoy life as a kid because those times you will never get back.

Until next time…

Kaye

Life Lessons…

Just thought I’d share a few lessons about life I’ve learned throughout the years…

Smile and laugh often

No matter how bad you think your life is, there’s always someone who is worse off than you

Let the inner child come out to play often. Just because we grow old, it doesn’t mean that we have to grow up

Your true friends will not badmouth you or tell lies about you to other people. If they do, they’re not your friends to begin with

Maintain your sense of humour. It will help you to retain your sanity in life

Respect others, you don’t have to agree with them, or even like them

Take responsibility for your actions and accept accountability for all you do in life

Always take the time to learn new things in life

It’s perfectly okay to say no. Don’t feel guilty about saying it

Tell the people in your life that you love them. We don’t tell them often enough. (I need to work on this one myself)

Be yourself

When life gets on top of you, if you’re overworked, or feeling stressed, whatever the situation, dance it out. A good 30 second dance party works wonders

Listen to your body and what it is telling you. If you are in tune with your body, you’ll be more aware when something isn’t right

Give to others without expecting anything in return

Don’t be afraid to speak up and let your opinions be heard

If at first you don’t succeed, try again

All work and no play makes for a boring existence

Speak to elderly people when the opportunity arises. They have much history and knowledge and we can learn a lot from them

Don’t worry about the things you have no control over. Whatever is going to happen will happen and worrying about them will not help, so just go with it

Treat others how you would like to be treated

Enjoy the simple pleasures in life

It doesn’t matter if you are a bad singer, sing away and enjoy yourself

An afternoon nap works wonders for the mind, body and soul

Try to have a positive outlook in life. Negativity does more harm than good

Your true friends will always have your back no matter what

Just when you think you’ve seen everything, it’s then you find out you haven’t

A hug can say so much when there are no words

Be thankful for everything in life you have, there are those in the world who would give anything to have what you have

Don’t wish to have the life of someone else, you don’t know what possible struggles they have to deal with or what their life is like

Life isn’t fair all the time, however, it’s still good

Life’s too short for hating people. We all need to get along with one another

Don’t take yourself too seriously

You don’t have to win every argument, it’s okay to just agree to disagree

It doesn’t matter what age you are, you’re never to old to play with Lego!

Simple pleasures in life, are often the best

Until next time Kaye