Little ones that were trapped within the grips of winter emerge with such excitement for the outdoors…
Life is bursting in every direction we look…
The days begin to lengthen, and the warmth and life that the sun brings, stirs the heart with thoughts of back yard parties and trips to distant peaceful camping spots…
Every time spring arrives, it brings with it the sweet promise of new life, new birth, and new purpose…
The old is dead and gone, and the seeds planted spring up and bloom…
… I wonder if we see more rainbows in springtime than any other part of the year? Now I know that most should agree somewhat on the meaning of a rainbow, that is if we are looking in the same book…
Whatever your book, or material you formulate your ideas from, I welcome you to share with me… I love to share things with you, but I love it even more when you share some of you with me…
Don’t quote me, but, isn’t that what the word prompt questions are for? If it isn’t, well then, don’t I feel silly…NOT!
I have lived in many different styles of residence throughout my life, including what I refer to as houses with wheels. I have mentioned in the past that I had issues with these, one of which was the utter freedom with which creepy crawlies could infiltrate my domicile. Thought of a funny example the other day, cause remember, I am currently living in a 32-foot RV. Call it a funny way for bringing back memories, but I was watching a livestream of my favorite gaming community, Neebs Gaming, and everyone in live chat started laughing about encountering spiders in the worst places. From there, my mind went spinning backward to approximately 10 years ago…
I remember it being summertime, due to the fact that the heat was the cause for all our doors and windows being ajar. My middle daughter and I had been out running errands, and I was the first to race to the bathroom! I lived with a teenager, so I mean race! I thought I had scored a big win as I sat down to do ma thang, but looking to the side for the toilet paper, I changed perspectives really quick! Resting in comfort, directly upon my needed paper, was the biggest Wolf spider I had met, and there had been many (for another story). I am not even going to attempt describing the absolute animalistic form I took while extracting myself from close proximity to the little demon. But I did make it to the bathroom door, just as my daughter arrived to investigate. Later she told me it sounded like the toilet had fallen through the floor (another story for later).
I came up with the brilliant idea for dispatching the offending predator. We were going to hit it with my running shoe from the doorway, that way there would be no one close enough to be eaten. It sounded like a plan for heroic success and my daughter fully supported me, as I was the one with the shoe, and she was safely behind me. The best way for me to explain it is to go play by play here…
I flung that running shoe with the expertise of a pro ball player, aiming directly for the roll of toilet paper, where the ravenous creature was planning our demise
Upon contact, both the running shoe… and the spider… came flying in slow motion back at us
We both screamed, tripped over each other, ran into the bathroom door, slamming ourselves into the same room with a man-eating demon intent on consuming us both…
Don’t be scared, it’s ok! We got out!
Needless to say, my husband came home to find a broken bathroom door, a child busy texting our near-death experience to her friends, and a wife sporting a small doorjamb impression on her cheek, with a tale to tell…
Of all the LIFE INTERRUPTUS going around, it seems, why would writing a blog about chocolate be something I focus on? Hmmm…well, as much as I do like chocolate, and I do have some go to sweets, I can actually go without it for the most part.
I do have some random funny memories of chocolate, and I guess if one can ask me randomly about my chololate love, I can answer with randomly funny memories. At least that is what I am telling myself, as I sit here typing this.
I do remember eating a whole bag of Riesen chocolates, in one sitting, nearly causing myself to founder…don’t judge, I am proud of my accomplishments in chocolate and caramel.
I remember teaching my kids how to play poker and blackjack using m & ms as our different money currencies, and then we could eat our winnings. Not as fun as it sounds, since, by the time we were eating our winnings, they had passed through the sticky fingers of three little card cheaters.
I remember making, what others refer to as the best chocolate chip peanut butter cookies ever! I used to make a triple batch to sell at the church bake sale, and every time someone asked for the recipe, I told them that if I told them, I would have to kill them. Not kidding!
The last memory worth sharing is the one where I thought my husband had poop on his side and on the back of his shirt one morning, until he reminded me of our chocolate chip party from the night before, with a disgusted look on his face saying, “If you thought it was poop, why did you stick your finger in it, ugh”!
I guess this might be the reason that WordPress gave the chocolate question. Sometimes, what we think is something silly, or even oddly placed, can in fact be an opportunity for ideas. Who know, but I am happy to have made the effort to ponder and find an applicable answer, that isn’t more than a list of edible morsels.
I, personally, am walking away from this excercise with two stories for my monday posts, a feel good about making some other reader smile, and an overpowering urge to dump half a cup of Hershey Chocolate Syrup into my morning coffee…
I have been a fan of Beverly Cleary since I was a small child. I read most of her books, but the most vivid memories come from one book alone… Runaway Ralph! To this day I can picture a tiny mouse on a miniature motorcycle driving across the furniture. Once I was an adult and a mother, guess where we spent many a night storying it? Ralph and I found great joy in expounding on details of his little bike, things he was doing, or places he drove his set of wheels. I loved seeing the story come alive in my girls eyes. Thank you Beverly…
Sooooo, I homeschooled my children for a number of years! There, I said it! I get a mixture of reactions from folks, when I mention this fact. It ranges from an encouraging smile to a distrustful, and often judgemental frown. I am, however, very proud of what I accomplished with my kids! My past is filled with so many fun adventures. There are memories of camping for weeks at a time, trips to endless zooz and parks of this sort or that, and many different arts and educational groups. If nothing else, at least I know that my kids were never bored! As I write about my perspective on this subject, I also realize that my kids may not have entertained the same pleasant recollections as I did.
The other morning, while enjoying my morning coffee and music, I was pondering this different viewpoint. I can tell you for certain that I hated at least 3 different hairstyles my mom made me wear! I also have a plethora of stories recalling my perceived trauma at the clothes I was forced to wear, and to some of the most embarrassing moments I had to be a part of (western pictures with my parents) …it was aweful!
With fresh memories in my head from my own childhood, I perused the memory storybooks I keep of my homeschooling adventures. I was able to revisit some events that I realize my kids probably cringe at, each time they remembered. There were a good number of memories, however, that restore my faith in believing I did right by my girls. Here is one in particular that I thought you might find humorous…
It had been a pretty nice morning so far. With the classroom workbook session finished, I sat in my office with a cup of coffee, having sent the little ones outside to play in the yard. I finished the article I had been reading, and set it down next to my now empty coffee cup. It dawned on me that I had been reading for nearly 20 minutes without interruption…not normal!!! Just as I reached for the front door handle, my oldest was opening it and coming inside. The look on her face was that of guilt, fear, and anger all rolled into one!
Apparently, her sisters had hopped on their bicycles and gone for a bit of a ride. She wanted it to be very clear that she had tried valiantly to block their escape, but was overwhelmed by the treachery, and she had decided to come get me! With that information I grabbed my slippers…yes, I know, wrong shoe choice! Don’t blame me, there was no time…my little hooligans were on the loose…on wheels!!!
I headed down the block at a soft trot…you would think that I would be sprinting, as these were my tiny little vulnerable babies. Why did I not do said sprinting, you may be asking? First of all…SLIPPERS! Besides, I could already hear them singing from 3 blocks away! The hilarious reason I could hear them from such a distance, was due to the amphitheater style baseball field that rested just below our local elementary school! And NO, it was not recess time! The whole of my neighborhood had to know exactly whose little escaped convicts these two were! As I rounded the corner leading into the above-mentioned park area, they were belting out their own version of some childhood song. It was being broadcast loudly across the park by my little Tina Turners. The speed at which their little bikes were racing from the top of the hill all the way down to the bottom was impressive! So was the speed at which their little hind ends raced home to get there before I did!
In honesty, I think my oldest daughters’ lecture and judgement had a bigger impact on them than mine, lol! And lets face it people, my kids are just as wild as I am! Perhaps, more so…
I try to get out on the trail nearly every day. I walk for a variety of reasons. Aside from the health benefits, it does really provide me with a great amount of joy for such a small effort. I can honestly say that I feel blessed each time I set out.
As I was walking down the path yesterday, I had the sweetest experience and decided to share it with you. I see people on my outings all the time, some days more than others. On this day, coming down the path towards me was a gentleman accompanied by his two young sons. When I say young, I mean they were tiny little guys. The smaller of the two was at the walking age of a tiny drunken sailor. The older boy was not much bigger.
The closer the family got, the more apparent it became that these little adorable bundles knew what a “MeeMaw” looked like. Me! Their smiles got bigger and bigger as I approached. Just as we passed each other, both boys simultaniously shot their arms up and waved at me. Their father graciously slowed, allowing the boys to greet me. I think I probably wore a smile for a good five minutes after we all went our seperate ways.
I don’t know about any of you, but I grew up in a time where manners and respect were the norm…you know, don’t speak until spoken to…if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all… those kinds of manners. As an adult, like most people, I developed the habit of being kind and polite to others. This is a fundamental skill in relating to people, and most valuably, in living together in close quarters with them.
Marriage is a great example of this kind of attitude, as we all know the adage that love covers over a multitude of sins…dirty laundry, bad breath, and the like, are those things we accept in our partner, as we understand they must put up with ours as well!
My husband and I had to take this a whole level deeper than most, as we shared the cab of a semi for a handful of years early on in our marriage. He was an over the road truck driver and I was his NAGavator…he bought me a hat with that engraved on the front, lol, and I still have that hat to this day…ya ya, I know, the nagging is a lifetime skill that I have diligently perfected!
Part of the reality of driving a tractor trailer full time is that you have to eat and sleep sometime, and that means having to park an 18-wheeler, fully loaded down, that cannot be left unattended. Sometimes, when we were in route and exhausted, the only places available for stopping were rest areas.
On one such occasion, we found ourselves somewhere in the Midwest, on a highway of endless nothing to entertain us, and we decided to take a break, grabbing a bite to eat and perhaps a nap, if time allowed for it. We spotted the familiar mile marker signs that signal an upcoming rest area, and pulled off the highway when the exit appeared.
Once we pulled into an available slip, we turned off the main engine, and started making lunch. We got a little side tracked…
Now this is where manners came into play, oddly enough…while we were Napping! Amidst our time of rest, there arose an odor, faint at first, but gaining intensity over time. In the back of my mind, I thought to myself, maybe he is not feeling well or something…unbeknownst to me, he was thinking the same as I was.
Long story short, we eventually climbed out of the cab to enter the rest area facilities…all the while, the smell had become rather overwhelming. Stubbornly, neither of us were going to be the one to address the “dirty diaper in the room”. Just as he shut the truck door to lock it, we heard a long chorus of cows mooing from off behind where the rest area was.
We looked over to see a huge dairy on the hillside behind the stop, and realized where the foul odor had been emanating from. We both burst out in relieved laughter…
He thought I did it, I thought he did it, and with good manners in place, were both prepared to hide it from the other, til the cows came home, I guess…
I think it looks like a dog, just sitting there lookin out over the river. You have to first poke yourself in your right eye (mine barely works), and then shine a lamp in the other eye (not the best light in my RV). There, see?!
If you followed my instructions, and it worked, I am so excited and I can’t wait for you to let me know…
If it didn’t work, and/or your eye hurts now, I apologize. But really, why would you actually poke yourself in the eye?
We all have that one friend that is our “Get in Trouble Partner”, you know, the friend that will jump right in with you no matter what, yeah! That one!
Well, I have one of the best and I am not sure which one of us is worse, lol, her or me!?! Maybe that’s why we are so well suited for each other, and we have certainly been in some fun spots. Anyways, you are going to be glad for our funny antics, as I have a truly hilarious story to share about just how much trouble we can get into on any given occasion…
I think it must have been not too long after we both graduated from college about 8 or 9 years ago, I want to say. The two of us decided to go on a girl’s weekend, just to relax with no responsibilities. We chose a resort way out in the woods, that had natural hot springs, beautiful private cabins, and all of the amenities that we dreamt about back home. I should have seen the warning signs when we first arrived, that it would be one of those weekends!
First things first! My Chica, as I love to call her, is none other than Danielle Steele! Not the actual author, mind you, but a very talented and beautiful Danielle Steele, none the less! Maybe, if your lucky, one day I will tell you about how I also am associated with The Tom Seleck!
So, here we are on a Friday night, walking in to the lobby of the resort, ready to check in and quietly slip away to our river side cabin. As we walked toward the registration, we noticed a small crowd of employees milling about back behind the desk, looking at us very strangely. By the time we stepped up to sign in, Danielle was already realizing what was going on, and started laughing. It never occurred to me about the name confusion. As soon as we all finished laughing and the crowd broke up, we gathered our keys and found our cabin for the stay. Out came all of our adult beverages and grown-up snacks, and we got right to the fun part, girly jammies and everything. **Note to self! When you are in your underwear, and you decide to let loose for a girl’s night, put your cabin key in your pocket!
Apparently, these cabins come with automatic locking doors. Who Knew? After trotting, in our jammies, to the office that was all the way across the resort, we retrieved another key from the front desk. If they didn’t remember us from check-in, they most certainly would remember us now! I could say that this was memorable enough for you, and end my funny tale right here! That would be boring…
Saturday dawned beautifully for us and we spent the whole day getting massages, sitting in the natural hot springs, and partaking in our beverages and treats from the night before. Dinnertime finally arrived, and we had been so excited for this because it was an amazing restaurant with absolutely fantastic ratings! Looking like a million bucks, we arrived for our reservations and were given a lovely table, already set with a light wine on ice. With our dinner order placed, we opened our bottle of wine, while waiting on the arrival of our appetizer. I took one sip of the wine, and I suddenly knew something was not right. Before you blame the food or drink served, I will redirect you to the fact that I had been in the sun all day, had a massage, consumed adult goodies earlier, and did not drink enough water. Some grown up I turned out to be, lol, rookie mistake!
I tried to make it to the restroom in order to splash water on my face, but only made it as far as the hallway leading that way. I saw the doorway, looked down the hall to the young man running towards me, and went down like a sack of potatoes! Meanwhile, my partner in crime was sitting at the table listening to the racket in the hallway just outside of her view, and she knew it was me! She walks around the corner just in time to see me lift my head and throw up all over the attendants’ shoes! As I did this, I farted at the same time, causing my girlfriend to start laughing hysterically!
She saw that I was not dead, and headed toward the bathroom, still laughing her hind end off! The attendant looked up at her, horrified, and said, “Lady, this is your friend! How can you go to the bathroom right now?”
In only the way my Chica would say it, she paused in the doorway and replied, “If you don’t let me go to the bathroom right now, mister, there is gonna be two messes for you to clean up!” The look on the young man’s face was priceless!
Oh, I was fine! And my Chica knew that by the way that I was laughing my butt off right there along with her, because I knew how funny this memory would be for both of us, for years to come! I sometimes wonder if we are a part of the resorts training videos for new employees. Wouldn’t that be a hoot! There is no one like you my sweet friend! Till the wheels fall off, Chica!!!
Journey With Me! 