{"id":4249,"date":"2016-12-08T11:42:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T16:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.laserfarm.com\/?p=4249"},"modified":"2016-12-08T11:59:12","modified_gmt":"2016-12-08T16:59:12","slug":"2016-playmobil-advent-calendar-day-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.laserfarm.com\/?p=4249","title":{"rendered":"2016 Playmobil Advent Calendar: Day 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"img_1434\"<\/a>Last January I gave up soda and I haven\u2019t had a single drop since. I\u2019m not bragging; I\u2019m whining. <\/p>\n

I was doing fine living the rest of the year sans soda, but I never recognized the thick chain of sense memory that connects soda to Christmas in my head. There was always soda with Christmas. Decembers were filled with Santa Claus Coke cans, big heavy bottles of ginger ale, even the random swig of Dr. Pepper.<\/p>\n

I miss it. <\/p>\n

Biologically, I\u2019m better off without sugar syrup as the base of my food pyramid. <\/p>\n

Psychologically, I really want a Coke. Lots of ice. <\/p>\n

But I won\u2019t give in. I will be strong. The key is to fill the old addiction with something positive. So, instead of soda, I drink more deviled egg filling, which I call \u201cChicken Whip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opening a toy calendar every day is a nice distraction from the soda that surrounds us this time of year. <\/p>\n

Today we get…
\n<\/p>\n

\"img_1435\"<\/a>Pineapples and a Bowl!<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Man, I miss soda.<\/p>\n

Well, this might not be the all-star of the calendar but I still like it. Pineapples are a symbol of good luck…I think. As a kid, our dining room was decorated with pineapple wallpaper, and there was even a metal pineapple design in the chandelier.<\/p>\n

Pineapples are okay. And that bowl sure is concave, with little sign of convexity. So it\u2019s a good bowl. <\/p>\n

Jonas didn\u2019t really like this item, while Robot Snowman was distracted by noises heard in the skull cave. <\/p>\n

\"img_1436\"<\/a>Jonas was going to shoot the pineapples as he whispered, \u201cI\u2019m sending you back to hell, Aggressive Bananas!\u201d (He had never seen a pineapple before and, to be fair, they are as similar to apples as they are bananas.) <\/p>\n

\"img_1439\"<\/a>But he was worried that killing these “things” might free their ghosts, and the last thing Jonas needs is to be haunted by Aggressive Banana ghosts. So he let them live. (Pirates have a great respect for ghosts.)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile…<\/em><\/p>\n

Hezzy was corrupting Robot Snowman with dangerous words and slippery promises. <\/p>\n

\"img_1441\"<\/a>Day 8 Rating:<\/strong> 2.9 out of 5 (Points added because I never expected to get pineapples.)<\/p>\n

See you tomorrow!
\n\"img_1443\"<\/a>This blog is brought to you by PowerPencils.com<\/a>! It\u2019s totally viper! (Is that still a thing? Was it ever a thing?)<\/em><\/p>\n