My Own Thoughts

R’s grandparents are still alive. His grama just turned 84. His grandfather will be 87 in February. I asked tonight how they met. GPa was in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Depression. So was GMa’s cousin. One day, when GPa had been there for almost a year the CCC had an “open house” for [...]

We never told our sons that Santa was real. We didn’t because of two reasons. One, a friend of my husband’s, when she was young and found out that Santa was a story, asked her parents, “Did you make up Jesus too?” Two, when my sister found out that there was no Santa she screamed [...]

Tonight is the first day of Hanukkah. It is a festival for remembrance of an event that happened over 2100 years ago. Hanukkah means “dedication.” It is the commemoration of a re-dedication of the Temple. At the time, the Jews were under foreign rule. They were able to reopen their temple. So they did. But [...]

My great-grandmother’s mother’s parents immigrated from Germany. My great-grandmother’s father’s parents immigrated from Scotland. My great-grandmother married my great-grandfather who was an immigrant from Scotland. Rumor has it that he was not the father of her child. When he died, neither my great-grandmother nor my grandmother inherited anything from him. He was an opera singer, [...]

Didgeridoo apparently lessens sleep apnea. Four months of playing significantly lowers snores, too. Gotta get one of these. Okay, first, gotta find out what one of these is. Apparently they’re Australian aboriginal pipes. Buy one, with instructional CD, for $25. Hmm.

I did not receive a single book for Christmas. But that wasn’t as bad as I expected. Instead of the books I asked for, and haven’t bought myself for the last two Christmases, I got a big box. Inside the box was a black teddy bear from Build-a-Bear. I pressed the little tag that said, [...]

My family was very poor when I was younger. So Christmas dinner would be macaroni and cheese (you could get 10 boxes for a $1 on sale) and slices of bologna (also cheap before ease of use was a bonus). Later, when I was a teenager, we began to have Mexican Steak and Texas fudge [...]

Growing up we always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve, except twice. Once was the year one of my parents had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas day, so we celebrated Christmas Eve day. We were sent to bed to nap, my brother and I. But, of course, we didn’t nap. We were so grown-up, [...]

when no one believed my eldest E had two dimples because everyone else had only seen one. I even wrote a poem about it. “Your dimples flash only for me.” I think that was one of the lines. Just yesterday, though, his dad said, “Look at those big feet. And his legs. He has more [...]

My husband’s mother’s mother was a sweet, quiet woman whose parents immigrated from Germany. She married a police officer and they had three kids, two girls and a boy. Grama De worked at Miller’s Cafe, baking rolls and making pies, for years. She was a hard worker and an excellent baker. Her husband was in [...]

My great-grandfather and great-grandmother eloped. My grandmother got engaged to my grandfather when she was 25 and at Berkeley working on her master’s. My grandfather was also at Berkeley, but was playing football professionally soon after that. My great-grandparents did not approve of the match, for no reason I know about, and my grandparents waited [...]

My husband’s Grama De worked with my FIL when he was a teenager. When my MIL went to her parents to ask if she could date FIL, her mother said yes, because FIL was a good, hard worker. Her father was less impressed. Because he’d been overruled, he refused to meet my FIL. When my [...]

My father-in-law was home before going to college. He was visiting at church with his best friend from high school whose church was having a meeting. So my FIL went with him. While there, the teenagers were all hanging around together. Everyone was picking on a young teen, age 14, whose hair was blonde. “It’s [...]

To any and all who come by to read this. But also, whether they come here or not, my prayers for a merry Christmas are with our military around the globe and their families. God bless them every one. We’ll be heading north on I-59 to Arkansas for a short trip to the in-laws. I [...]

A funny entry quoting things real kids said about science. I smiled a lot.

I decided that I know what’s in a Christmas package on our hearth. And I laughed and laughed for an hour. I even called a girlfriend to giggle with her. She didn’t get it. “You’re excited about that?” I thought it was funny. We’ll see if I’m right. Maybe not. The tiny boxes we got [...]

A friend of mine died in November of 2003. She was in the hospital for months before she died. But you know, I miss her still. I missed her today when I wrote about my wedding. I called her husband to tell him hello and tell him I missed her. I think, maybe, I don’t [...]

And not just mine, either. Evangelical Outpost writes on what makes a marriage work. I think some of this is funny. Don’t ask happily marrieds why they’re happy; they don’t know. Close the bathroom door. Learn to compromise. But I thought “Call her bluff” recommended lying to get her off your back and I wasn’t [...]

Working Girl and Hellbound: Hellraiser II were released. Twins, Rain Man, and The Naked Gun beat all other movies at the box office. The Charlotte Hornets beat the Chicago Bulls by 2 points. The JAMA published. But what I remember about that day is: Going shopping with my father for a belt for the coat [...]

What do you do when your wife has died tragically in a fire, your eldest son has run off and joined the war and, after typhoid, malaria, and a potentially paralyzing shot, you bring him home to recuperate? I would probably be yelling and hollering, but Longfellow wrote poetry. (Much better use of energy, that.) [...]