A good deal of things have been on my mind lately. Some good, some not so good. The hardest thing to deal with sometimes is not having Mom around.

The other night, Dad spent the evening, while I fell unto an unexpected nap, putting up Mom’s tree. I think many people know the type of tree I am talking about; the color-coordinated and meticulously decorated type. While Dad did a good job, it does bring about a reminder as to how that piece of my life is gone forever. Of course, I don’t want the tree to come down.

The holidays were a special time in our house. Lots of time with the family decorating, baking, and talking. Mom always had the house decorated to the hilt; artificial pine garland and ribbon placed on the mantle, as well as her porcelain village sprawled out across the top of the bookcase. As usual, Dad’s collection of Santa figures is on display. On Christmas morning, presents were opened early in the day, before Christmas dinner. Cooking dinner was also a favorite time; tempting aromas wafting through the air as the turkey, stuffing, and the other foods were prepared.

These days, the holidays are different. Less decorations are about, for starters. Christmas dinner is sometimes up in the air as to whether we cook it or whether we join some of our extended family. Gifts are opened at the same time as normal, but there is an open space that used to belong to Mom. It now sits empty, a subconcious tribute to a special woman who touched so many lives.

I don’t want to give the impression that Christmas is bad with just Dad and Adam; just that it is different. I always liked to joke that Mom was our own Martha Stewart; she really was. Dad has placed a lot of the same decorations that we have enjoyed for years, but there is a certain amount of detail or flair that was distinctly Mom’s that is missing.

Before this gets really out of hand, I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. While mine will be lightly marred because of one important missing person, I hope to enjoy the company and the time together as much as I possibly can.

Most of us, as we grow older, look back in fondness of our past, particularly of our childhood. Maybe I am over-generalizing, but I have been enjoying some old bits and pieces of my childhood lately.

Over the weekend, I spent some time over at a friend’s house and began looking for and downloading a couple of episodes of an old favorite of mine, Voltron. In first grade, I remember going to the babysitter’s house every morning and watching the show with a classmate of mine. At the time, I was fascinated by the series, although I had no clue why. Being the technology guru I am, I have learned that part of my enjoyment for the show was the fictional technology used. To think that five mechanical parts could integrate into a larger whole was a new, abstract concept to an impressionable young child.

Since then, Voltron has been of negligible influence on my life. However, the recent interest in retro television shows (and cartoons in particular) spurned me on to fall back to a time when I enjoyed what could be seen as very corny for a sophisticated audience. Of course, this is much better than either the Clapper or Big League Chew, both staples of commercial advertising in the 1980′s.

During my childhood, I was not a very materialistic child, or at least, not one for a great deal of hero worship. I never idolized figures in pop culture like many young children. But Voltron was a little different. I had to have the Voltron toy. The die-cast, heavy, five lion design that was the centerpiece of a whole line of merchandise to inundate the stores at the time, right alongside other children’s favorites such as G.I. Joe and The Smurfs. I got the toy for Christmas and enjoyed it a great deal. Of course, my little brother ended up breaking off one of the few plastic pieces, and I eventually tired of the not-quite-new toy.

Now, as my interest is being re-ignited in Voltron, I find myself wishing that I had kept better care of the toy. I think I only have one lion left, of the five, and I would have no clue where that would be located. So, I thought about doing an eBay search for it. I have discovered that it will cost a pretty penny to repurchase the toy if I want any kind of quality. New-in-box and mint models are selling for at $150 at a minimum. So far, $200 has been the maximum, but you never know when those prices will go up.

If anyone sees the complete set of lions in a garage sale for under $30 and of decent quality, buy them and I will discuss purchasing them from you. I am not wanting the toy as a collector’s item, so small imperfections are OK; a box is certainly not required. I would just think it would be fun to have it on display in my bedroom.