Fun Filled Water Staycations

Time for some Saturday Silliness! I just love these Wisconsin Dells commercials. My favorite is the one that begins at 1 minute 37 second mark. (These are about four commercials strung together into one video.

Twistie Ties, Tupperware, Tomatoes, Tea, and Trouble, Oh MY: Pleasantly Disturbed Thursday Again

And now it is time for another Pleasantly Disturbed Thursday.

Whatever happened to twistie ties? I was reading a friend's blog yesterday where she mentioned them, and I recall looking all over for some a few weeks ago because I wanted to use them to make butterflies with coffee filters with my class. There are some things a zip lock bag are no help with whatsoever.

On Saturday I found some Tupperware I didn't even know I had! It is two bowls with lids nesting in a third with a lid. I never opened it before because I thought it was just the one big bowl, and it was too big for anything I needed until Saturday. Huh. Weird.

My dad used to pound sticks into the ground to tie the tomato plants to when they got too big. Sunday I was at a BBQ where the host just puts a wire circle around it. I hope that works, because it looks a lot easier than painting the stick. (My dad always painted the stick red, white, and green, the colors of the Hungarian flag. I imagine I'd have to do the same if I used the stick.)

I have been reading The Tea Shop mystery series by Laura Childs. One of the things I like about this series is that the power of suggestion works to get me craving more tea, rather than cookies or chocolate like some of my other favorite series. I don't even have to resist the craving. I can indulge and not feel guilty. The plot is pretty good, too.

Bossy people don't get along. It is such a same, because if they could just get on the same page and work together, they'd be unstoppable. Hmm.... Maybe it is not such a shame after all....

Sunscreen Application 101

Modeling.... No, not with clay. Not in a swimsuit either (really, it's like you don't know me at all! ;-) I mean the sort you do with kids. Sometimes you do it without even meaning to....

I was running late for work and forgot to put on sunscreen before leaving the house. Luckily I have a bottle stashed in the car in case that happens. So I hurriedly put some on my arms and face while in the parking lot, and entered the school to use the bathroom. (We take the children outside to play. I normally don't wear sunscreen indoors.)

I come down the stairs, and this sweet little three year old who has been in my class sees me. She does not speak much English, and I don't speak much Spanish, but we managed to communicate for the last six weeks. She points to my face, and says something in Spanish. I knew I just put lotion on in a hurry, and started rubbing my face...

She says "No..." and then twitches her index finger for me to come closer like I do to her when telling her "Millie, come here...". I bend close to her, and she proceeds to then rub the sun lotion into my face for me.

So cute..... I know. How pathetic does a 40 year old woman have to be in order for a three year old to adjust her face for her.... Still, it was very cute, and a very precious memory.

How about joining Wendy in her Life is Funny blog carnival. One of the things I really love about it is how it helps me find the funny in my life.

The Pendulum of Self Importance

Ego seems to have a different meaning psychoanalytically than it does colloquially. Colloquially, we usually mean self importance when we talk about ego, while psychoanalytically, it seems to be about balancing self and the outside world. Since I don't know much about psychological things, I am going to be working with the colloquially meaning in this post.

So...self importance.... It's easy to think we aren't guilty of this if we think we don't have grandiose notions of our talents or accomplishments. But what if we think we are a grand failure if we are not? What is we think that "if only we would have done something...." , everything would have been okay?

Am I the only one who tends to feel guilty for not being omnipotent? When Mom died, I felt guilt that I didn't call the doctor myself, since I knew she was more tired than usual. I felt guilt that I didn't spend the night with her, when I had an inkling something was wrong. But my inkling sent me in the direction of believing they would discover an infection, and that she'd be sent to the hospital soon. I prepared by going home, trying to sleep, and being unable to do so. I turned that into believing "if only I...."

What a blessing that my mother's doctor has no such delusions of his importance. My Mom's doctor is my doctor. I few months ago, I tearfully told him why her passing was my fault: I misjudged, and didn't call to tell him she was tired. He gently asked me what I thought he'd have been able to do for her. I said I didn't know, but she came close several times before, and he always managed to do something for her. He shook his head, and said that her body was worn out, and it was her time. He said that machines might have prolonged her life a bit, but only to suffer. He doubted that he could have done anything for her at that point. I still lamented that I didn't know.... You know, overly optimistic and cheerful with mom, that sort of thing. He reminded me that if he couldn't know, I couldn't know, and that I couldn't have done anything differently had I have known....

I couldn't have known. I had no control over this, just as it is Christ, not I, who has control over what happens next.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (New International Version)

¹³Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. ¹⁴We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

I suppose that I am trying to say that it is the enemy who uses our ego, our own sense of self importance against us. If it isn't possible to persuade us we are in control and the greatest thing since southern fried chicken (yum, that is SO good...), the enemy will try to convince us we were in control and let it slip through our fingers.... At least that is how he works on me. Praise God, that even when I thought I let Mom "slip through my fingers", I knew in my heart she was caught by the hand of the Father.

More on ego can be found on Bridget Chumbley's one word blog carnival."

Do You Really Know What You Know and Why Does Home Grown Lettuce Look Like Large Weeds

So, today is another installment of Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays...

Have you ever been around someone for years and thought you knew them? I have. I was a teacher who thought another teacher at school was pretty scary. It seemed that whenever I heard his voice, he was yelling. He yelled in the classroom, he yelled at faculty meetings. I mainly tried to stay out of his way. (I was not scared. Hungarians aren't afraid of yellers. We just are smart enough not to risk get into it in a professional setting.). Twice in the dozen years I worked there, we were on opposite sides of an issue I felt so astronomically important (sorry, I don't remember what the issues were any longer), that I did stand toe to toe with him. I won. I remember going home feeling like I wrestled a bear and won!

Well guess what! I have been working with him over the summer, and he is just a really nice man with a loud voice. Who knew? He even drove me to school a few days when my car wasn't working. I will admit to hating the taste of swallowed pride when asking, but he was very nice about it.

And speaking of disturbed (though perhaps not pleasantly), though I am disappointed that Mel Gibson ranted racial slurs and allegedly slapped his newest baby's momma (as well as left his wife of 28 years for a younger woman), why is the media more disturbed by Gibson than by Polanski for drugging and raping a 13 year old girl? Where is the consistency? I like consistency. I crave consistency.

I love my crock pot. If I was going to cheat on my dishwasher with any other appliance, it would be my crock pot.

We picked lettuce this Monday. My family didn't grow lettuce in our garden when I was growing up. It tastes different from store bought lettuce. I sure hope we haven't been eating weeds....

My yellow wax beans in the garden will be ready for picking by the weekend. I don't remember Momma's recipe for Hungarian Wax Beans in Gravy. I tried to look up a recipe online. I found one that is almost the same, but uses onions. I am pretty sure Momma didn't use onions. I really thought that over the years I had asked her all I really needed to know. I guess that isn't true.

Happy Anniversary, Bob and Me!

Well, today I have been married to the man of my dreams for fourteen years. Poor guy. Just kidding with the poor guy comment. We are both very happy. I wish I could share some secret formula as to how we have managed to be happy and in love for fourteen years. We really do love each other, and if I had a formula to share how we do it, we could make billions, though we'd most likely give the secrets away. But in truth, I have often been selfish and Bob has often been clueless. The fact that our hearts still soar when he greets me when he comes home from work, or I see him when he comes to pick me up from somewhere is a blessing from God. I am so grateful to Him that we have had fourteen happy years, and pray that we continue to love each other for a long time to come.

For a list of ways Bob is wonderful, click here. The only thing that has changed from this post is that my mom has passed on.

Happy Birthday, Candy!

Today is my friend Candy's birthday.

I hope it is a sweet, happy and blessed one!

Summer Blessings

The weather is hot

Time spent with friends refreshing

Enjoy His blessings

This has been a good summer for me. I have a summer job. I was invited to a Fourth of July party for the first time in years. I saw my aunt and two of my cousins three days last week at a neighborhood festival. ( Three generations of women in my family singing "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Talk Dirty to Me" in the bleachers at the top of their lungs. Can it get any better than that here on this Earth?) Next week another cousin is having a barbecue, then the next another cousin her graduation party, then the next day some friends are barbecuing. I haven't had such a great summer in years.

I suppose I could complain about some things if I wanted to, I suppose. The weather has been hot and humid. The school I teach summer school at isn't air conditioned. It rained late in the afternoon on July 4. My feet hurt walking to the part where the festival was.... I haven't had a chance to go swimming yet because I've been busy.

But none of those things really mattered compared with the joy of teaching again, the laughter of friends, the voices of people I love raised in songs.... It's been awesome! I am amazed by how much I have been blessed this summer!

Check out the Bridget Chumbley's blog carnival for more thoughts on summer.

Different Song, Different Lyrics, I Promise!

I know. I haven't posted in a week. I blame Wendy. I know it is customary in our circle to blame katdish, but Wendy has NOT been keeping up with HER Life is Funny blog carnival. I really do try to participate in those.

How is her blog carnival different from Duane's Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays? Wendy's blog carnival is all about remember a funny incident from your life, either recent or in the past, and sharing it. Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays is all about rambling on and on in a stream of consciousness sort of way. One can plan for it, but then find that they are not typing what they planned to at all.

My new part time job is going great, thanks for asking (lots of you DO ask on the twitter, so no sarcasm, there). In two weeks and a day, it will be over. It has been interesting. I haven't worked with preschoolers for twenty years until now. When a preschooler puts a ball under her shirt, pretending to be pregnant, then ditches the ball and runs around with a doll proclaiming "I HAD MY BABY!!! I HAD MY BABY!!", that's completely cool, right? I usually just ask the baby's name....

It's music week, and my husband is disturbed that I am teaching the kids disco moves. "Aren't they a little young for this?" It's not like I'm teaching them to shake anything. My disco moves are pretty lame. You can't give what you don't have... So I think I'm in the safe zone. Any thoughts on this?

My Momma would be so proud of me! I have been wearing sunscreen and a huge hat. I know. I wrote about it last week. What I didn't mention is that when I was a child, my mom used to chase me around with sunscreen and wear hats, and I found it hugely embarrassing. Now that she is looking down from heaven, I know she just has to be laughing at me! (Also, the day I go DESPERATE for things to do with the little ones, and reverted to "Engine Engine Number Nine", a game she used to play with my cousins and me when I was little.)

I just looked up the lyrics on Google. Not THAT "Engine Engine Number Nine"! Good golly miss molly, I should now expect a bunch of complaints from parents thinking that I taught THAT to their kids when they say we played "Engine Engine Number Nine"...

Engine Engine Number Nine

running down Chicago line

please tell me the correct time

the correct time is what?

(Tapping a child's fist on every syllable)

(Child last tapped picks a number. Tap that many fists. Last fist tapped is out. Luckily they have two fists...)

What do you think I play with 3-7 year olds, backgammon?

Pleasantly Disturbed Thursday: Toys, Toddlers, Tea, and Hats

There is still no button for Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays. That's DS's problem. But if you would like to see other contributions to Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays, go ahead and click that first sentence...

I saw "Toy Story 3" on Tuesday. Does anyone else out there feel badly that they don't know what happened to some of their old toys now?

MITZI!? BUFFY!? WOLFIE!? WHERE ARE YOU? FORGIVE ME!!!!!!!!!!! I KNEW NOT WHAT I DID!!!!!

Three year olds have short legs. Mine are much longer, and I still have a hard time keeping up with them. Watching a three year old run is hysterical until you realize that if you chased her, you'd probably never catch her.

I know that conventional wisdom says that caffeine is energizing, but I feel way more energized after a cup of chamomile tea and a nap.

I had ideas for this post floating around in my head on the drive home last night. I guess they are now marooned on a deserted island somewhere, far, far away, waiting to be rescued. I hope they make a better match than the Skipper and Gilligan. It always got on my nerves how Skipper would yell at poor Gilligan all the time. But the Professor was kind of cute...

I still can't find my pink Sox hat. I wore it while gardening a few weeks ago, noticed dirt on it, and immediately went and cleaned it with soap and water. I think it ended up looking as good as new. The problem is, I left it in a different place to dry, and can't remember where that place is. Must have been very different.

Speaking of different, I have been wear straw hats to work. (The only other choice is a pinkish tie dyish visor that says "WAIKIKI" that I bought on my honeymoon 14 years ago, or perhaps my pirate hat) I take the children outside to play in the afternoon, and at my age, sunscreen and a hat can make the difference between smooth or leathery skin in a few years. I was worried though that the big straw hats (one with a shoestring tie, the other with a scarf tie) made me look a tad eccentric. Then I remembered that I am looking for a PINK Sox hat. I am a tad eccentric. Oh well. At least the children like my hat. I think they think I'm wearing a costume.