A Working Class Hero is Somethin' To Be

The girls and I have been very sick lately.

I mean, like...couch-ridden-Star-Trek-marathonin-sauntering-about-in-a-moo moo-and-Perry-the-Platypus-slippers-no-clean-laundry-no-clean-dishes-same-peanut-butter-jar-left-open-on-the-counter-for-four-days-S-I-C-K.  Sick.

The combination of being on the couch with nuthin' much to do and adoring Robert as he sweetly brought home dinner to his sick family each night (after an already long day at work) inspired me to make this very amateur comic for him.  Enjoy.

At Walgreens Today...

I went to pick up some film at the photo developing department of Walgreens today.

A man stood in line in front of me, as those who wait in lines often do.  When the associate didn't come for a while, he turned toward me and shrugged with good nature.  I agreed by shrugging back.

As we waited, the kind man spoke to me.  It became clear from the beginning his speech was slow and garbled.  I didn't catch his words the first time, but turned my ear, moved in closer and listened to the back of his throat for the sounds. 

"I'm sorry? (Could you repeat that?)"
"I was here earlier, too and couldn't get any help."
"Oh, really?"  I made polite conversation, and understood it was likely hard, and possibly embarrassing for him to ask for assistance.  So, I picked up what I thought to be a cue, and asked the nearest associate for help.

When that employee walked away to page a member of the photo department, the man again attempted to make conversation.

"I have a hard time because I have ALS."
"ALS?  Lou Gehrig's disease." His eyebrows popped with what I interpreted to be relief.  Relief that he had come across somebody who understood his speech...had some familiarity with his disease.

Just when we were making new friends and didn't mind the waiting, an associate came.  We were parted for a little bit to tend to our affairs, but the kind man sought me out once again when he was done.


"How did you know it was called Lou Gehrig's disease?"
"I have a dear friend whose mother (don't say, 'died') suffered from the disease."  I held the word back, although I knew it was no stranger to him.

As I stood before this man, I estimated him to be a working class, well experienced, reasonably well read-man.  I searched my mind for ways to comfort him/something to say.  But what purpose - other than patronization - could the comfort of a 29 year old acquaintance serve to a rugged, capable sufferer?

"I have lost the control of the muscles and ligaments in my throat, and part of my leg.  That's why it's hard for me to speak."
"That must be very hard."  Grasping for ways to comfort him, I spoke warmly.
"Well, there is nothing they can do."
"Bless you, sir. I will be praying for you.  It was very nice to meet you."  I shook his hand.  Trying to understand his speech was becoming taxing.  What more could we talk about?  It was a likely time to leave.
"It was nice to meet you too."

 I drove from Walgreens with regret in my heart.

Should I have talked to him longer?  Should I have asked him about his photos?  Should I have hugged him in place of a cowardly handshake?

I should have asked him if he knew that Jesus could comfort him.

(Shel Silverstein: "A Light in the Attic")


Though I still have some regret like a cloud over my head, I know in time that cloud will dissipate.  I am grateful, what will remain is the watered seed of a memory.  A reminder to pray for my long suffering new friend.  A cautionary tale to not to take for granted such an exceptional meeting.

Where ever you are, my friend - please forgive me.  What is your name?

The Practical Applications of Owning a Shrink Ray

I've been daydreaming lately about what it would be like to have a shrink ray.

Sure, we all thought about it when we were kids and wanted to make the bully on the playground feel like the weakling for once - or shrink our vegetables down to a minuscule size making them easier to hide underneath our mashed potatoes.  But, the more I think about it - it seems the power to shrink something (and bring it back to its original size) at will would have many practical applications in the life of the adult.

Think of the possibilities.  I wouldn't have to buy that $400 storage shed I've been eying, I could just shrink all the Christmas decorations, tools, and baby clothes down into a box and store it under the bed.

I wouldn't need to worry about the car getting being exposed to the elements or possible thievery.  I could simply shrink it down, bring it into the house at night and restore it back to its original size in the morning.

Admittedly, I would probably pack whole bags of popcorn at home, stuff them in my purse, and sneak them into the movie theater.  On that same note, if I really decided to abuse the power, I would even store a kid in my pocket to save the admission money.

Imagine how happy my children would be when they wake up on Christmas day to find a giraffe underneath the  Christmas tree.

I could shrink my vegetables down to hide them under my mashed potatoes so the kids think I'm eating them and follow my example.

I wonder if I could localize the shrink ray to just one area, and shrink down my thighs?  Nah, that's preposterous.

Skeleton Key Fan Pulls

The first thing we see when we walk into our abode is our living room fan/light combo.  Don’t judge me – I know fans aren’t acclaimed to be the most chic of all the lighting choices, but this is the desert and we have 11′ ceilings.  So, fan it is!  

Because this is the first thing seen as you walk in the door, (and the fan pulls being the closest to eye line) naturally, I contemplated ideas for attractive fan pulls.

Now, we live in a house that is almost 100 years old.  As the house is so old, we have many doors with skeleton key locks.  So when the idea of using skeleton keys as fan pulls came to me, I knew it would be a neat way to sort of elude to the history of the house.

Here is how they came to be:

Supplies:
1. Fan pulls
2. Skeleton keys (Note: look for some with thin metal to fit around the jump rings easier.  I also recommend going to your local antique stores for these.  I found them at about 1/3 of the price you can get them online.)
3. Jump rings (tiny jewelry pieces that look like mini key rings)
4. Needle nose Pliers

• I just went to the jewelry department of Wal-Mart and found small jewelry pieces that look like tiny key chain parts - as stated above, they are called  jump rings.
• I coiled the jump ring around both the end of the fan pull and the top of the key.  
• Then I used pliers to clamp the piece of the fan pull shut.  You have to really pierce it together - if it is not pierced tightly, the key will eventually pull off (because the fan pulls are handled so often. (I also recommend hanging the fan pulls low enough that you can grab the top of the key, not the bottom, to avoid eventually stretching the jump ring out and loosening the key.)

I took a picture and posted before and after pictures below so you can see what the part looks like. 
  
Check.  it.  out.  See how happy they are now?

Til’ next time, friends!

Happy 100 Pageviews To Me!

Reached 100 page views today.  Color me tickled...


And picture me celebrating.  Sitting alone in a dark office, eerie glow of the computer lighting my face...I grasp a kazoo with my mouth and a coffee-filled wine glass in my hand - a crumpled up party hat perches atop my head. 

*Yay.*

Gotta celebrate the little things...and since all of my current projects are under hiatus (due to the fact that Wal-Mart's craft section has left me wanting) - gotta blog the little things, too, I guess.

Here are some more of those little things (are they really so little?) I have been "celebrating":

1. My four year old Maggie, said, "amuck" in the correct tense the other day.  She said, "You made   my bed all amuck!"
2. We keep finding bunnies in the corner of our front yard.  One let us get really close yesterday.  They make me smile as I watch their fat tushies bound away.
3. Found "James and the Giant Peach" for a buck at the discount book store.
4. I wore my favorite vintage sweater today.  Itchy but stylish.
5. Hubby got out of bed early in the morning.  When he crawled back into bed, I asked him where he went (just because it is so rare for him to get out of bed, ever).  He said, "Ancient Chinese secret..." then he paused and added,  "...having to do with urine."  That just made me laugh.

Til' next time, friends!

Valentine's Popsicles

We did the Valentine's thing today for Audrey's class.

When these events come around where the parent is obliged to send in something, I often fantasize about Audrey bouncing into class proud to have a fun, handmade project that she and her mom have teamed up to create.  Smiling, Aud delicately passes them out, turning the best side of the project toward the eye line of the recipient.

In my fantasy, the children often say, "Wow, Audrey - These are great! Your mom must be really cool to help you make something like that."   (And a 9 year old me in my head says, "They finally accept us.")

And Audrey says, "Why, yes.  Yes she is."

Alas, my fantasy is quickly cut short by the fact that, in order to get such a reaction, I would likely have to put in...you know...lots of work, and possibly money.  So, I weigh out my options in favor of a balance between something that still feels special to Audrey, but will be practical regarding both money and time.

This year I had a couple fun ideas rolling around in my head for Valentines cards.  One idea involved taking pictures of Audrey and cutting out holes for the legs (like a vintage dancing finger doll).  I thought the recipient could get a kick out of making the pictures of Audrey dance (although, I never asked my daughter how she would feel about it...).

But, Aud got sick right before Valentine's and much of our free time was spent nursing an earache, so we came up with an easier idea instead, which included mostly things we had around the house.  We called it, "Make -a- Popsicle"

The Supplies:

1. Tang

2. Disposable cup

3. Tongue Depressor stick

4. Scrapbook Paper

5. Rubber band, glue, and tin foil

The Instructions:

• First, Aud cut out paper hearts and glued them to the top of the tongue depressor. Then she wrote each of her 26 classmates names on the tongue depressor (she wrote the names small enough that the ink would be on the "holding" part of the stick, and not on the bottom where the ink would seep into the juice.
• We filled each cup with 1 1/2 tbsp of Tang (optimal amount for numiness). 
• Next we covered the cup with a square of tin foil - this would serve to hold the Popsicle stick/tongue depressor in place both for the purposes of making the package look nice, and also for keeping it upright as the Popsicle solidifies in the freezer.  We secured the tinfoil in place with a rubber band.
• From there we cut slits in the top of the foil with a knife and inserted the sticks.  We had to cut the slits because if we tried to force the stick through, the foil would rip.
• Lastly, we made a little label for the deal that simply said, "Make -a- Popsicle".  I really wanted to put instructions for the children, but we don't currently have a printer, and we so didn't fancy writing them all out by hand.  In the end, we decided the project was simple enough that the children and the parents could probably figure it out.

So - a whole lot of fun!  This was a super simple, inexpensive project - I spent $5.00 on Tang and birthday cups.  On a side note, I think this would also make a great party gift in the summer. Most importantly, it was all stuff we could do together, and none of it was too complicated for Audrey to help with.  I can't wait for her to come home and tell me how it all went, and just how many of her friends think I'm cool.

My First Blog: An Introduction to Why I Feel My Life is Blogworthy (she types, choking back laughter)

Testing, testing...1, 2, 3.  Is this thing on?

Hello to all those out there kind, bored, or obligated enough to visit my blog!  This is a good place to say, 'Thank you (and truly)' for cyber traveling over to my little mouse hole of the internet!

                             ---------------------------------------------------------------

Long have I admired the blogging community.  Whether we like it or not - blogs have entirely reshaped our lives over the last several years.  I am not blind to the myriad of empty blogs out there - but I also feel there are those that do some good with this readily available power.  

Filled with countless tutorials and advice - a blog can help an aspiring chef find just the right recipe to make, an unemployed penny pincher  make his own laundry soap, or just inspire and instruct a mom in taking better pictures of her loved ones.  With these mini magazines online, fellow blog enthusiasts can be exposed to amazing photographs that otherwise would have not been seen (probably my favorite of all the blogging treasures), or somebody in one corner of the earth can learn about and pray for a sick child thousands of miles away.

So, why do I feel my life is blogworthy (she types, choking back laughter)?  Not sure if it is.  Pretty sure it's not.  But, it sounds like good fun, and I think if it's done right, I think I can contribute something of worth to the blogging community (ooh, and to Pinterest!).

But if you need some convincing to come back and check in once in a while: I have a really rad 100 year old cottage style house that I will be renovating, two totally excellent girls that I (with my husband) will be raising, and what I feel is a wealth of DIY and decorating ideas - some of which already made, and others stored in "the vault"  (*points dumbly at ear, realizes mistake and moves pointing finger to head*) that I will be sharing along the way. 

I guess my point is this: If my life were ever blogworthy, it is now - while my kids are still young, my house is still unfinished, and my fingers are still carpel tunnel free!

And now ve vill commense ze picture photograph showing: