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."