I’m extremely proud to be taking part once again in RJ’s Autism Blog Hop for 2019. I’ve had the joy of coauthoring several books with RJ and it’s been so much fun to work with her. She’s an amazing woman, full of heart and laughter and love, but you all know that already.
Sharing information to help spread the awareness about autism and helping to teach folks a bit about what autism is the goal of this hop, as well as introducing you to new authors and new friends. There are oodles of giveaways so make sure you visit as many blogs as you can and don’t forget to comment and say “Howdy!” when you pass through.
Did you know that Minority groups tend to be diagnosed later and less often? To read up on why this happens, you can dive into this article at the Spectrum website—
https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/race-class-contribute-disparities-autism-diagnoses/
This year’s blog hop theme is childhood toys. When I asked RJ to remind me of the theme (my memory is notoriously horrendous) and she told me I had myself a good long sit. It had been a long, long time since I’d played with toys, or been a child. Trying to recall what I played with the most stirred up some marvelous memories. There were several top favorites for me back in the day. I recall loving my hula-hoop – and being pretty good at hooping – as well as playing jacks. Jumping rope was also a great way to spend some time, but I think that perhaps my favorite toys were a tiny fishing set that my Popeye and Grandma had at their house.
It was a tiny little pole with a magnet on the end and came with four plastic fish, also with magnets where the fish’s mouth should be. My grandparent’s had a house in Rutherford, which is right outside Harrisburg, PA, and I spent as much time during the summer as I could there. I wish I knew how many hours I spent pretending the window well of one of their basement windows as a pond. Let me tell you I was a champion angler! That probably sounds boring to some but you have to remember this was 1965 and our toys were pretty simple. No batteries were required. Only tons of imagination!
If you’d like to share your memories of your favorite childhood toys, please leave a comment below. I’ll pick one random winner from the comments to win a digital copy of my latest MM hockey romance release, Touch of a Yellow Sun, Colors of Love #2.
It’s been a rough couple of years for Marek Hafer, roaming hockey protagonist and pugilistic expert. Ending up in Berger Lake, Pennsylvania, on a financially unstable minor league team might just be the ending his wretched career deserves. On the other side of thirty, Marek knows his time on skates is dwindling. His goal now is to spend a few quiet years playing for the Berger Lake Badgers, knock a few helmets together as needed, and then call it quits before his salty personality gets him booted out of hockey permanently.
After a bloody encounter his first night on the ice, the Badgers coach suggests that Marek find a way to lower his violent tendencies before he’s sent packing yet again. That decree leads Marek to knock on the door of his next-door neighbor, Shey Pierson, the owner of Sun Touch Yoga Studio. Shey ticks every box Marek has with his soft blue eyes, flowing golden hair, and long limber legs. The only problem is that Shey is yin to Marek’s yang.
Can a man famed for throwing punches find serenity in the arms of a man known for his tranquil ways?
If you’d like to donate to a wonderfully worthy charity, consider Lindengate. You can read more about it here—
https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/lindengate
Thank you for stopping by. Please make sure to visit all the bloggers and authors who are participating in the hop daily by following this link—
Squishy hugs,
V.L.
Thank you for the post and link. I’m learning a lot on the hop.
The one I wish I had now was the Magical Musical Thing, shaped vaguely like a keytar (’80s, you know!) but with plastic touchpad notes. They sounded vaguely like a cross between an electric guitar and a synth, and someone who could read music (I couldn’t yet) probably could play real songs on it. The keys were super-sensitive, though, and once the family was awakened by something pressing on it in the middle of the night, and the droning note had my mom fearing it was a fire alarm. The batteries were a pain to replace, too, so out it eventually went. I guess I could see if they still exist on eBay or something, but my house is so full of books etc. that I should resist the urge.
I had a child’s tea set and I used to make soup out of water and raisins and eat crackers with my stuffed animals. I also made non-edible mixtures out of the wild plants that grew around the neighborhood.
I loved playing with my Breyer horses.
I always loved wooden colorful blocks 🙂 Charm of simplicity
Thanks for participating in RJ’s blog hop. Don’t pick me – I loved Touch of a Yellow Sun. <3
I had all things Barbie, the dream house, RV, corvette, etc. Loved those 🙂
Thank you for the post. My favourite toys were teddy bears and books 😉
It was all about the Lego. I had a huge box with some boards and would make houses, cars, ships etc and I could be there for hours building up a town with all of my brightly coloured bricks
I remember that toy, or at least one a lot like it. Though unfortunately, my fishing skills there didn’t extend to real life.