12/27/98
*Click on a note for music*
Friends..TV
"MOBster: Mad Over Boyds...Anyone that reads and post on the AOL Boyds MOBster message board."
One day on the AOL Boyds message board a new fellow MOBster Susan Boyer "pocatalico@aol.com" asked the question " How do you know when your a MOBster?" So a few of us put together this list of items that will help all new MOBsters out.
Welcome New MOBsters!
You know you're a MOBster when...
1. You start a survey about anything and everything.
2. You plan your vacations around where there are Boyds Dealers. and also plan vacations to New Jersey and Illinois!!
3.You actually enjoy cooking with those styrofoam packing peanuts (because you have ordered to much from QVC and spent the grocery money).
4.You start answering your local retailers' questions about Boyds !!
5. You actually do the bills BEFORE payday, so you can see how many Boyds you can get for that month.
6. You know people by their first name not just their screen name.
7. You would rather read the board than...anything else!!!
8.You get up early on a Saturday ( 6am) to watch QVC and did not go out on Friday Night!
9. You talk about your friends on the board like they were members of your family!!!
10.You talk about your plush as if they were alive!!!!!!
11.You start scheduling your housework around reading the board and Boyds shopping.
12. You ask your grocery clerk if that head of lettuce is a "premier edition or a 1st ed."!!!
13. When you can't remember from which you've ordered what from and then you end up with 3 of something!
14. The "newness" has worn off and instead of checking the board 15 times a day you only check it 10!!
15. You start using the letters LOL and DH in "real" conversations.
16. You get the " shakes" when you're going out of town and will be away from your computer.
17. You're a "regular" at the neighborhood US Post Office, and all your packages have the same "Boyds" address labels.
18. You are trying to decide whether to buy the squiggly one or the one without the squiggle.
19. You rearrange the Boyds plush in shops so they look more comfortable (Nothing worse than an upside-down bear!).
20. You refer to MOBsters to a non-Boyds collector and don't understand why they think you are talking about something to do with The Godfather.
21. When you come home from work and turn your computer on BEFORE you take your coat off.................................
22. Your Boyds have more of a social life than you do, ie: Boydstock, Superbowl parties, Mud wrestling, ect. ect., ect....You get the point.
23. You feel real pain and cry real tears for someone you have never met in person. You laugh out loud at a comment from someone 1000 miles away and can actually hear them laughing with you. You pray and feel the quiet calm of knowing that you are not alone. You find yourself: wondering if Judy's kitten came home; worrying about Joyce; wondering how Ann did on her test; and if Deb's foot is OK... and come to the realization that you actually DO care!!! And you have the inner peace in knowing that no matter what you are wearing, how your hair looks, or how many burdens you are caring...you can come HOME... and be accepted and loved.
24. You DREAM about the MOB!!!
25. You WRITE about the MOB!!!
26. You go crazy learning to make a HOME PAGE for your Boyds!!! <ROFL>
27. You discover you have a bad case of the Pox...and you really understand what it is.
28. You see or hear cute quotes and want to email them to Gary so he can use them on his next piece.
29. When you spend more time online than you do offline.
30. When you tell the retailer the name of a plush that they have failed to fill in on the hang tag.
31. When you're in a store and get down on your hands and knees to see under the glass shelving to see the edition #.
32. You read a sad post from a friend that you have never met and you cry like a baby!!!
33. You start asking for the QVC numbers 2 weeks before Gary is going to be on the air.
34. You trust people you are doing business with just because they are MOBsters.
35. You're not afraid to ask silly questions or share your innermost feelings because you know everyone will understand.
36. When your relatives come to visit they just shake their heads and sigh over how many bears you have on display, and this is after you have hidden away half of them upstairs!
37. Your son counts your bears...and stops at 400...(there are some things better not knowing!) <grin>
38. When your family tells you, you have Obsessive, Compulsive Behavior. ( and they don't know even what that means)
39. You know what a YA YA is and aren't afraid to do it.
40. The longest file in your Favorite Places folder is under the heading Boyds.
41. When you ask your DH to remodel your family room to include lots of shelves to accommodate all the Boyds you have...and make sure you include enough space for all those you are yet to have!
42.Your neighbors point your house out to their visitors and tell them thats where the local crazy person lives..."she goes to her mailbox, looks inside and does some weird dance in the middle of the street and we think she has something going on with the UPS guy...he is there way to much and she is always so happy to see him!!!"
43.When you are with your best friend and she says "you have a secret what?" are you crazy? you don't know those people and you say YES I DO their my friends. And then when you pull up to the Boyds store she says what are we doing here now??? LOL
44. 400???? HOLEY MOLEY!!
45. When you don't have room in your purse for pictures of your kids, pets or husband because you have your CVG and Check-N-It 11 stuffed in there!
46. You are in a store that carries a FULL line of Boyds products, has just gotten in a huge delivery, and your son (18 at that) says..."this store carries Boyds? You have more than this at home!"
47.When you carry a "brag book" of photos, and they're not of your people family, but of your BEAR family.
48. As a confirmed CHOCOHOLIC, you are hoping he is giving you Boyds instead of chocolates.
49. You give your DH, daughter, son, and son-in-law each a Boyds resin for Valentines just so you can say they collect them too.
50. You take a bear named Bart all around town showing him the sites and taking pictures of him.
51. You've picked up the habit of speaking to your critters with a Godfather accent...with genuine MOBster flair..
52.You can tease someone on the board you don't even know...about something a little bit naughty and they don't put any flaming mail in your box. Instead they post a ROFL on the board.
53. Half of the presents you buy are Boyds...can't imagine anybody NOT liking them!
54. You leave work early to check if the 1/E's have arrived at the store yet, and don't DARE tell anybody because they already think you're a little obsessed.
55. Other collectors who aren't on the web keep asking you where you hear the "inside info".
56. Your DH gives you a wonderful romantic Valentines Day card with a handwritten note saying..."If you put all the love the world has for Boyds Bears together, I'd still love you more!"
57. You make excuses to family and friends as to WHY you have sooooo many Boyds...(they were all on sale of course!! Who can pass up a good sale!)
58. You buy more than 3 Boyds in a single shopping trip and hide them at home...taking one out a week. Then when DH asks you if "it's" new, you can say 'That 'ol thing?? Nawwww had it for awhile".
59. you need squiggles with your large heart!!!
60. if you spend all your money on Boyds, and don't have enough money to pay for the important things, ie: Getting your cat spayed/ neutered.
61. you hurry home from the hospital and hobble over to the computer just to say "Hi" and "Thanks" to the best group of people anywhere!
62. when you adopt a Newbie ( new MOBster) so you can give your time & heart to help with questions and send them surprises in the snail mail.
63. " you know in your heart of hearts you would be more excited to meet Gary the Head Bean Hisself than you would be to meet Tom Cruise, but of course you would never admit this to anyone, except of course another MOBster!!!!!!!!
64. as a very loyal viewer of " All My Children" you have four months of tapes to watch and here it is Spring and they haven't even had Christmas yet LOL! The truth is, I used to tape this soap and watch it every morning with my coffee but since I found you guys I am so lost on my favorite soap!!
65. you realize you don't have a brain, you can no longer think about what you are doing and all that you do think about is where am I going to put this piece, I really have no more room but if I start selling off my kids I can use their rooms for more stuff!!!!!!!!
66. you have been checking with QVC to see if they have gotten another shipment of Boyds Angel Bearstones in and then find out that they have so you order a set and then later you get wondering if it all was just a dream you had.
67. you rescue little Walter (Boyds cat) from a trap and find out that he was just having fun with the mice and then feel sad for them when you find out you have hurt their feelings so you then hand them a hanky and help Walter back into the trap so they can all smile again.
68. you would rather spend the money on a bear and the 3+ hours on the Boyds board rather than go to a theater to see the Titanic. ROTFL!
69. you tape the Boyds show on QVC as you're watching it, and replay it over and over again just 'cause you enjoy THB so much and for the educational value!
70. you go to a childrens clothing store and buy your Boyds Plush OshKosh denim overalls.
71. when you end up pregnant with triplets...a bear, hare, and a moose...ouch!
72. You know you are a Mobster when-you look into eyes that you've never seen before and, somehow, see a familiar light there.
You are folded into a pair of arms and feel the same comfort that you do when you hug your most well loved bear. (or hare)
You smile and laugh for so many hours that you get SCS (stuck cheek syndrome)
You find the tears flowing when you leave soul sisters that you had'nt laid eyes on until 48 hours before.
What an experience!!
73. You know your a MOBster when you wear your Boyds bear ears while reading the board.
74. You know you're a MOBster when you spend 2 hours looking at every face to get the plush that "speaks" to you........and these are the GCC plush you'd decided to skip!!!!!! :-) I'm afraid even a twelve-step program couldn't help me!
75. You know you're a Mobster when you're not easily offended, especially not when its a joke!
76. You know your're a MOBster when the first think you do when you get back home from being gone for a few days is log onto the MOBster Board!!!
77. You know your're a MOBster when Laurie Anne Greez prints your story in her newsletter "LIONS, TIGERS, AND BOYS, OH MY!!!
78. You know you are a MOBster when you spend every waking hour trying to put together a Picture profile of everyone. But there are too many Linda's to keep track of! LOL
79. You know you are a MOBster when you give up your Birthday and Anniversary Presents just so you can get a laptop for Christmas because you are going out of town and don't want to miss your Mobster friends.
80. You know you are a MOBster when you buy special cards to keep in stock for when one of your Friends needs a little extra smile.
81. You know you are a MOBster when you buy an extra address book, just so you can alphabitize by screen name. (And it's already almost full.)
82. You know your a MOBster when you would rather get Boyds for Christmas and are disappointed when you get diamonds and gold. (True story).
83. You know your a MOBster when you contemplate getting a second job to support your addiction.
" Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by doubling our joy, and dividing our grief " -Addison -Emma & Bailey # 2277
