H - "Holy Guacamole Batman" and other fun expletives

Our four year old Grandson came to our house one day - he was still three at the time - and in a moment of frustration said a word which surprised me greatly. As the word popped out of his sweet little mouth, and my eye brows shot sky-ward, Mason immediately covered his mouth and looked at me sheepishly. Not quite sure what he had said, or why it was wrong,  he could tell by my face that he had goofed.

 This led to a Mimi, Mason time, in which we discussed that grown-ups do in fact say words that they should not, but that children, and yes, even the grown-ups should not say them. This moment led to a time of belly busting laughter, as I proceeded to teach Mason some fun words which we could use during those times of frustration, or anger.

Mason found anything that ended in Batman as particularly hysterical. Holy Macaroni Batman, Holy Moly Batman, Holy Mackerel Batman,  and my favorite, Holy Guacamole Batman. I crack up each time he tries to say it. “Holy Gramoly Batman.”

We have discussed that God's name is not a bad word, but using it the way many people do is wrong. So we worked on “Oh my goodness.” It is now one of his favorite phrases. A couple weeks ago Mason was very sick with a painful ear-infection, as well as a sore throat and pneumonia. His mom said he sat on the couch holding his little throat saying, “Oh my goodness, what’s happening to me.” AWWW! It broke my heart, and made me incredible proud at the same time.

Mason and I continue to work on really fun expletives, for those difficult times. “Fiddle sticks, Oh, cheese and crackers, Fiddle-dee-dee, Holy Cow, Sugar pops, and of course Holy Guacamole Batman. Mason now cracks himself up trying to come up with new funny words, some of which I can’t understand, but hey, he’s trying.




So do you have any different, and fun expletives for those difficult times? I know a lady in church who when she gets really upset, which I nearly never, she says, “Oh Pickles.” Love it.

G - is for Grunt, Groan and Grumble Bones

The continuing adventure of Patty Wysong's A2Z Take 2 word Challenge. Every week we write something to do with the Letter for that week. This week we are up to the letter G. Hope you check it out.


So my husband and I have both hit the age when sitting, rising, or any physical exertion for that matter, is met with grumbling bones, and our owns grunts, groans and umphs.

  He turned the ripe old age of 57 in December, I was able to remain the younger woman for two additional months, before I also met fifty seven head on. Maybe I should say, my husband and I both slammed into fifty seven, with our bodies, joints and very bones, retaliating against us.

My poor husband, since December has spent more time - sitting in his chair, with his head between his legs, or as close to that as possible at this age, stretching his lower back - than sitting upright. After two months of finding lost pennies on the floor, he finally, much to my surprise made an appointment with our Chiropractor. That was the moment I knew my poor hubby was in more pain than he was letting on.
 

 Due to my former life as a klutzy teenager, and several unplanned trips down our very steep stairs, on my backside. An unfortunate run-in with a sheet of pure ice, in which I was bruised my tailbone and injured a vertebrae - never letting go of my school books I might add. And an equally unfortunate snow mobile incident, as well as life on a farm in general, I have known pain of one degree or another most of my life.  My bones, muscles, and my joints argue with me daily, reminding me of my misadventures. Now along with the usual, grunts, groans, and umphs, when I move is also the resounding OUCH.

I have to say that my initiation into the fifty seven club, has left me, grumpy, and more that a little disgruntled. First, I injured my neck and collar bone region, by doing a simple morning stretch.

 Seriously? A stretch?
 My efforts at loosening my back, was met with an odd and very painful POP in my shoulder. That didn’t sound, or feel good. A month, and a visit to the chiropractor later, it still hurts. Then to add insult to injury, the day after my birthday, as a result of standing on a chair scraping and sanding wood work, preparing to paint, I awoke at 4 am in excruciating pain. I couldn’t roll over, or move in any way without pain. Getting out of bed took ten minutes, with a few tears thrown in for good measure. Three weeks later, still bothers me. Chiropractor appointment tomorrow.

All these, grunts, groans and grumbling bones have caused me to think about my husband’s and my future. Old Age. The way it looks, we may not be going gracefully into the land of Senior citizens. But along with my wonderings about our senior years, comes fear. Will we be crippled? Will we need help? Will we become our parents or grandparents? I hope not.

Hard as it is to do, and I will admit, it’s not always easy.  I have to hang on to faith in the One who gave me this life. I have to trust that whatever our future hold, Bob and I can and will make it together, with the Lord’s help. I don’t look forward to becoming a feeble, old woman. Honestly it scares the grumpy right out of me. But I have to hold fast to the knowledge that God is always with us, and His Grace is sufficient. No matter what our future brings.

So as my husband and I gimp our way from fifty seven to seventy five, and beyond, we will do it with the Lord. We will also do so to the fullest of our abilities, to live those years fulfilling God’s plan in our lives. We also need to learn to take care of the bodies God blessed us with.
And I hope that when we both come to the end of our creaky lives, God
 will say, “Well done.”

F is for "Father Knows Best"

 How many of you remember the old show, “Father Knows Best?”  For those of you staring blankly at my words, saying, “Father Knows What?”, let me fill you in. This was a Television show which believe it or not was in black and white, shown during the time when we had to actually get out of our chairs to turn the channel knob. Yup, no remote control. This procedure didn’t take too long however, since we only had around five channels.  I know! Hard to imagine. Adjusting the vertical and horizontal hold was the killer. But I digress.


“Father Knows Best,” as well as several other wonderful shows - Leave It To Beaver, Ozzie And Harriet, and Donna Reed - all portrayed family lives, in which, Mom stayed home, (always looking perfect in a dress and heels,  as she cooked well balanced meals and cleaned house. Usually living in the kitchen,) the kids went to school, had chores and actually played together. The father went to work and came home, full of sage advice, and loving hugs for all. Perfectly realistic, right? Maybe not.


 In their, sometimes less than perfect worlds, conflicts occurred, lessons were taught, laughs were had,  and all was well once again with their lives. In under thirty minutes. Saving time for a word from their sponsors.

Beaver has a black eye

 The father in these shows was the strong, wise, compassionate (not always), loving, sometimes a little flaky, head of the house hold. They messed up - but things always worked out. And the family, thanks to, or sometimes in spite of the well meaning father, held strong, until their continued adventures next week.

Sounds just like our lives - right? Didn’t we all have perfect homes? Perfect thirty minute episode lives? Yeah. Me either. Maybe that’s why I still love watching the re-runs of these old shows.

Listening to Betty

 For thirty minutes I can watch, Robert Young, and Jane Wyatt as they solved Bud, Kitten, and Betty’s  life altering problems, always with a lesson learned and a happy ending. If only real life could be as simple.



 Our lives have become more like continuing dramas. The ratings can very from day to day, episode to episode. Problems remain unsolved, even after the drama is over. Black and white, has been replaced by
3D and 4D, explode in your face, 1000 channel, mega screens, which dominate the entire home. Father knows best, sadly for many is more like, Daddy don’t give a darn. (I cleaned it up.) Our family issues have become more complex, even dangerous.

 I know I did not have a “Father Knows Best” life in growing up, neither did my children, nor do their children. Which is why I am so very thankful that we all have a Heavenly Father, who truly does know best. He is always there to listen when we are angry, hold us when we are sad, encourage us when we are down, guide us when we are lost, and even discipline us when we have messed up.
  Unlike earthly fathers, our Heavenly Father never messes up. We may not always understand His ways, but He never makes mistakes. His love for us in unconditional. No matter how fast paced or chaotic our lives, or the lives of our families may become, He is always with us. I find that so very comforting.

 Life will continue to become more and more crazy. We will continue to mess up. Family issues are not thirty minute, easy fix, episodes. Some of us may not have had, or may not have, the best of fathers. Some may not have an earthly father. But we all have The Father. And He always knows best.

What are your favorite old family shows?  

Check out Patty's Challenge

The Letter E - Elephants - Elegant Majesty

Check out Amy Wysong's A2Z Take 2 challenge.

A2Z Take2 - Letter E - Elephants

I thought you were afraid of Me!

I love Elephants. They are powerful, gentle, majestic creatures. They sadly have also been hunted for their ivory, used by man for their strength and abused by man in efforts to create circus performers. I am greatly saddened when I see photos of Elephants being mistreated. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. This week, for the letter "E," I want to share some glorious pictures of truly magnificent creatures. These are not my photos, I wish they were, but I can not take credit. I hope you enjoy, and maybe agree that Elephants are very special creations of our wonderful God.

I think you need a hug

I love you too

I just need to rest a minute

Families come in all sizes

This is so sad, This elephant is trying to help his dying friend

The eye of wisdom

Incredible! Baby elephant in the womb

I'm really tired Mom

I love you Mommy

  In my searching for photos of elephants, I unfortunately found too many photos showing the remains of poached elephants with their tusks removed. These pictures both disgusted and nauseated me. Needless to say I did not share them with you. I find it hard to believe that human beings could be so greedy and cruel to destroy these Elegant, Majestic animals.

As I said I love Elephants. And I hope these photos brought you joy, and maybe caused you to smile.

A truly Elegant, Majestic Being

D - Doubt VS Dreams

   

One of my Paintings - a Dream come true

 I remember the day I, as a child,  I learned what the word doubt means. I, for what reason I can’t recall, had asked my mother if we could go to town. She sat in our living room, I
stood filled with excitement, awaiting her answer. She said, “I doubt it.” In my childhood ignorance, I began to dance from the room, filled with anticipation. Then, I stopped in my tracks and turned once more to my mother, and asked her what  “doubt it” means. Her answer. “It means, probably
not.” My mood sank like a rock in water. I learned I did not like the word doubt. And, I likely remained in a bummed mood the rest of the day.
    I also know, for as long as I can remember, that I have held two dreams within my heart. The dream to learn to paint and the dream to write and be published. As a child, I knew these dreams would most assuredly come true. I had not doubt. I even sent both, a sketch and a written piece to those schools that were advertised on the back of match books. You know the ones. Anyway, I received very positive letters from both companies, informing me that I did have talent, I however was too young. Please contact them again when I was older. That encouraged my childhood dreams. I was good! I was merely too young.
    Unfortunately as I aged, my childhood certainty, was being quickly displaced by the negative voice of doubt. Add to that the very polite, rejection letters I received, the few times I did dare to submit a childrens' story to publishers, and my dreams became unreachable foolishness. I gave up. Doubt overtook my dreams, nearly stomping the life from them. But Doubt would not be the victor.
    We’ve all seen the pictures of an angel standing on a person’s shoulder, while the devil stands on his other shoulder. The devil shouting, poking and goading, as the angel quietly tries to encourage, uplift and guide. Doubt, as with the devil, stands on our shoulder, with megaphone in hand, screaming and ranting in our ears. Doubt, disillusionment, discouragement, dread. While our dreams, light upon our other shoulder, as a seemingly fragile bird, quietly whispering in our ear, our dreams, delight, destiny. It reminds us that God gave us our dreams, and our talents, and that He will see us through. But doubt is relentless, and calls in  reinforcements.
    Doubt comes in many forms. Self-doubt is a loud enough, then add to the mix the doubt of others, and we can barely hear ourselves think over the din of their mega-roars. How do our fragile dreams stand a chance against the power of doubt?
    Have you ever watched a hawk, or an eagle, as it is being bombarded by swarms of much smaller birds. The little birds have great agility, and are able to swoop and dive, attacking the larger bird from all sides. I have to admit, when I see this I am rooting for the little guys, they after all are defending themselves from becoming the larger birds dinner. But in this case, picture the little guys as doubt. The larger, less agile bird, (a beautiful eagle) being our seemingly fragile dreams. Doubt swoops and dives, bombarding our dreams, taunting them with each pass. “Who do you think you are? You’ll never succeed! Remember those rejection letters! People will laugh. You’ll look like a fool. What if you fail?” Doubt calls in his friends, fear, low self-esteem, memories of past failures, and continues its attack. Confident that our dreams will crumble under the assault.
    But, just as with the mighty eagle, our dreams, though they may lack agility, do have the power to spread their wings and soar, higher and higher, upon the current. Here’s the amazing thing. An eagle must head into the brunt of the wind, in order to soar. It doesn’t reach the great heights, by flapping its wings. No, it is the oncoming wind flowing under the eagles wings, which lift it to heights the smaller birds (doubt) can only wish for. Doubt continues its assault, but as our dreams spread their wings, and catch the current, doubt’s mega-voice begins to fade in the distance. It still screams, but we no longer hear.
    Facing our doubts, takes courage. But if we can allow our dreams to take wing and soar, I can only imagine how incredible the view must be. I have faced doubt head on, and in the process have in fact learned to paint. Most of my paintings have been given as gifts, one hangs in my house, and two have actually been sold. I am also facing down doubt, by living my dream to write. This blog is just one example of my dreams taking wing. But my biggest dream, lives within my brain and my computer. It is my novel. Whoa! I said it. Some of you have heard me say that I’m working on a story. That’s the safe thing to say. Saying that I’m working on a novel, is not only daunting to me, but opens me up to doubt from others. This has been a fear - until now.
    I believe God has placed this story in my heart and it needs to be written. Will I face rejection? You bet your sweet bippy! Will doubt try to knock my dream out of the sky? Undoubtedly. Will I fail? Only if I give in or give up.