As a little girl, my Grandma was a constant presence in my life. She lived two hours up the road but spent most holidays and many summers with us. The summer I turned 12, she moved to town and lived in a retirement home up the street. She gave up driving, so there was lots of ferrying Grandma back and forth to our house. As a junior high kid, I would spend one Saturday a month at Grandma's playing board games, eating lunch, and talking at her for hours. She knew all of my friend drama and always asked after my friends even into college and later. Grandma had worked for the US Department of Defense, stationed in Germany, and she bought me many of my first Barbie toys. I had the 1974 Barbie Dreamhouse - complete with working elevator. I had the 1972 Barbie Friend Ship - complete with flight attendant cart and Ken's pilot's costume. But as much as I associate Grandma with my Barbie toys as a girl, this blog is really about a different side. Grandma liked her sweets and whenev...