“Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.”
– Henry Van Dyke
wcw – no holding back
Share Your World 6/19/17 (plus one)
Running a day late this week, but better late than never!
What is something that people are obsessed with but you just don’t get the point of?
Fidget spinners. Lord help me, but I cannot understand how these things have become so freaking prevalent. I get they’d be useful for kids dealing with hyperactivity, but these things are everywhere. I know several kids who own three, four, or five of them. Then there are those youngsters whipping out the stopwatch to time their spinners so they can post their results on social media. I mean, everyone sees these are just things spinning in a circle, right?
What quirky things do people do where you are from?
The “driving in the neighborhood” wave: four fingers peeled off the steering wheel for a passing car, hand lifted in greeting for neighbors in a yard.
Make sweet tea with enough sugar to keep a kid spinning for days.
Monogram anything that stands still long enough to be tagged. Hats, shirts, car decals, pet sweaters, organizers, tote bags, travel cups – if it can fit three letters, you’ll find that super flowery script on it around here.
What are some things you wish you could unlearn?
That wolf spiders carry up to 100 babies on their back, and if you step on them the spiders will scatter everywhere. That spiders and ticks can climb vertical surfaces. And that dead skin cells make up some crazy percentage of the dust in my house. Eww.
Who is someone that you miss having in your life?
My mom.
Optional Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
Last week Bear had a great time at basketball camp and T-man enjoyed kicking back for his first official week of summer. We let them have friends over on Friday night, and I’m grateful for the sound of riotous laughter coming from the back of the car on the way to and from the movies. Nothing beats that kind of laughter.
This week hasn’t had the smoothest start, but I’m hopeful this antibiotic will clear my infection without making me feel too puny in the meantime. I’m looking forward to getting away with the family for a few days and seeing friends I don’t see nearly enough.
Visit Cee’s blog for her weekly Share Your World post.
What’s happening in your world today?
real world warning signs, part 3
I’m not talking about CYA, McDonald’s, “contents are hot” sort of warnings (although that kind of real world warning is apparently necessary). I’m talking about the useful sort of heads up that potentially saves a whole lotta grief. And stress. I’m all for cutting out stress. I’m talking about signs like these.
But those are just the tip of the iceberg.
Toblerones vs. babies – the struggle is real
Remember the thrill of moving around Life’s board? Choosing a career, buying a house, getting surprised with twins (or triplets!)…you never knew what surprises lay in wait. For those of you looking for a virtual game of Life, check out this Raquel D’Apice post on whether to have kids.
“Hi, I’m a woman in my late 20’s. I’ve been married for 3 years but we fight a lot and it seems to be getting worse rather than better. I felt like if I got pregnant it might help give our relationship an anchor—something we both love that would bring us closer together?? What should I do?
Solution: EAT A TOBLERONE
Thanks for writing. If you’re really worried about your relationship, a fun thing might be to eat a Toblerone Lady-and-the-Tramp style, each of you starting at one end of the Toblerone while you gaze into each other’s eyes and then later your partner could roll a separate Toblerone toward you with his nose? (Hard though, because Toblerones are triangular and will not roll easily.) Probably do not have a baby though, sorry!”
Sunday Snapshot: with singleness of purpose
“You can have anything you want if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.”
– Abraham Lincoln
mama knows best. yes, even about this.
I know, I know, I’m old as dirt. Over the hill. Practically ancient when it comes to you and your hip ways. Tweens and teens everywhere snicker madly when the old people offer advice because what the hell would we know about actual life.
Bwahahahaha!!!
More than you will ever know, baby. More.than.you.will.ever.know.
SoCS – anybody got a Sharpie?
I’ve had something of a fascination with signs lately. The ones with misspellings or incorrect punctuation are particularly vexing (that’s a nice crotchety word…vexing), and I daydream about doing Sharpie corrections on the fly. Yes, that’s kind of a sad daydream, but let’s not address that right now.
I’ve managed to restrain myself because a) adulting, and b) I’ve made it to 46 without a record and really don’t want to get arrested for vandalism. Although I think I’d have an excellent argument in that the offensive signs themselves are really the vandalism, but bygones.
Just a couple of the signs I’ve wanted to correct:
** Names in yards or on mailboxes. Is this a southern thing? Or does everyone announce their presence with a sign? Maybe it goes back to the pioneer days when you had to claim your land with a flag. At any rate, I’ve given up hope that the general population will internalize that ‘s is possessive and works for, say, The Smith’s house. If, however, you’re going for just the name then it needs just the s. But can someone tell me why the sign companies aren’t gently advising their customers on the correct version?
** a.m. versus p.m. Okay. I get that midnight is tricky since it comes after all the evening hours but for real, people, if your store/restaurant/rollerskating rink posts that it closes at 12:00pm that is noon. As in lunchtime. If, however, you close at midnight? Use the a.m. Just do it.
I’ve also been trying harder to pay attention to the (metaphorical) signs in my life. Where I’m heading, what I’m doing, all that jazz. I’ll admit it…in my twenties I thought this was bunk. That sounds harsh but for reals, folks talking about “getting a sign” sounded just a bit hippie dippy to me. I am now eating those words, of course, but there it is.
Surely that’s a sign that it’s time to sign off.
Linda offers a weekly Stream of Consciousness event. This week’s prompt is “sign.”
Forever Family: walking on eggshells
Crackle, crackle, crunch crunch.
Hear that? Those are the eggshells scattered all over our floor these days.
