Nostalgic Nugget: Aerobics Instructor Barbie

So my mom just sent me the following email:

"Everytime I look at that drawing, all I can think is, "Where is the poor horse's head?" Instead of the headless horseman, its the headless horse. Poor thing. Did you rip the arms off of your dolls, too?"

Honestly, in all the times I have looked at that picture, I have never once noticed that the horse doesn't have a head. I don't know what that means, but her last comment does lead me into this week's Nostalgic Nugget. I actually did rip the head off my first Barbie doll....wait, no, that was Burke...or maybe Cam. Whoever it was, he jammed it back on so hard that it busted off the little rolly ball that the head turns on, so after that her head was just jammed down on the neck stub, which made her face all fat and wide. That always bothered me, but was later overshadowed when our dog, Buffy, ate the arm off my Ken doll. Barbie was so ashamed to be seen with him that Ken never came to pick her up for their dates; Barbie would always leave the house alone to go meet him.

My other memory of this Barbie (aside from cutting off a chunk of her hair and being grounded from using scissors for a week - good punishment, Mom.) is somehow coercing Scott and Burke to play Barbies with me (and I say this with the disclaimer that while I did indeed play with Barbies, I also spent equal time playing Micro Machines with Burke.). This particular Barbie was my first one, and she came into my life wearing a lovely workout ensemble complete with headband, striped leggings, hot pink leotard, and turquoise leg warmers. I have a very distinct image in my mind of playing Barbies on my bed with Scott, me, and either Burke or Cam. Scott had the original Barbie and was leading us in a workout routine, saying things like, "Lift those legs, girls," etc. The only problem was that Barbie #2, Whitney, was wearing a leather (read: plastic) miniskirt and, being so restricted, couldn't lift her legs quite as high as Barbie #1 with her leggings and leotard. I distinctly remember Scott, in his girl Barbie voice, making some snide remark about how the rest of us should have come more prepared and better equipped. I'm pretty sure he felt like we were holding him back.