TOYS AND TOOLS

Remember Tupperware Parties? Well, get this... Passion Parites are where you want to be nowadays. And, it's not just for Generation X anymore. While having breakfast with some favorite friends of mine today, the subject of "toy"s came up. Uh... and I'm not talking Toys R Us, either. Needless to say, we all get quite a rollicking chuckle everytime conversations of this ilk come about. According to the experts in the group, we have ABC's The View to thank for making topics such as this acceptable ladylike banter. That and airport security. Putting your carry on bag through the security sensors apparently spot this sort of deal with great ease. Who knew?

In the meantime, MY personal favorite toy is a battery operation of a different kind: my cordless power tools. You should have seen me the day I got my first cordless drill and it's accompanying drill bits. I felt like I was on top of the world. The guy at Home Depot was very patient with me and taught me everything I needed to know about butterfly bolts. I came home and ran through the dry walled house like a nut FINALLY able to drill in anchors all over the place so I could hang my heavier frames, art objects, etc. I was in Cordless Heaven. Couple that with my cordless screw driver, my electric sander and my electric staple gun and boom. I'm a regular Man Around the House. To this day, I'm dying to own an electric saw.

A few years ago Barbara and I went to our local Community College for a class in woodworking. We figured 1.) we'd constuct an excellent household item by the end of the semester and more importantly, 2.) it would be a great place to hook up with friendly men. As it turned out, 15 other women had the same idea, The class was comprised of 17 females and 3 males. To my way of thinking, you'd have to be pretty damn friendly to beat THOSE kind of odds. Which of course is why we dropped out right after the 2nd class. But, BOY! Did this college workshop have SAWS!! Scarey ones, too. I took one look at the gigantic electric saws, gave a quick glance down to my fingers and immediately determined I love my fingers more. So much for the class. As we exited though, we naturally took a detour into the auto parts classroom. So THAT'S where the men hang out.