When the alarm buzzed, James realized that he was an idiot. He had forgotten a big day. Even after Annie got that diamond on her finger, there
are still certain actions a guy must take: Buy
gift, buy large obnoxious card, search for flowers, find… Oh, he is so
dead
Throwing on clothes and grabbing his wallet, James flew out to the nearest store, a CVS pharmacy. List in hand, James checked off each gift.
Anything wrapped sticky, chocolate covered? Check. Obnoxious glittery card? Check. Flowers? A little shy on that supply. What else? What else? James’ chest constricted.
This gift had to be something she wouldn’t expect.
Frustrated James looked around him and giggled. Grabbing a basket, he walked along each aisle, tossing whatever he found into the basket. Animated teddy bear? Oh yeah.
Hello kitty plush in a mug? Yup.
James lost control. Aisles rolled by a supply of miraculous items he threw into the basket. Water pistols? Heck, yeah. Six pack of Diet Coke? Hello Kitty bath toy? Better believe it.
James was exhausted. At home, he wrapped up the haul with Christmas paper, and finished just in time. Annie walked in, giggling with delight. When she got to the Hello Kitty, James sensed the moment passing. Desperately, James handed her a gift bag.
Annie pulled
out a red and pink wood chip wreath (good price, $25). Life was good again.
Until next time.
Here’s
what Elephant’s Child writes to explain the Wednesday Word meme: “Essentially
the aim is to encourage us to write. Each week we are given a choice of
prompts: which can be words, phrases, music, or an image. What we do
with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, or a
poem… We can use some or all of the prompts, and mixing and matching is
encouraged.” Writers may post at the word site, and/or at their own blog
site. Be sure to tell the world that you wrote something really good."
I didn't underline that week's words, back in 2017, for some reason.
Elephant's child for this week.
rivioli, serenity, marble, bridge, soccer and/or foliage, nepotism, lectern, gorgonzola
Now,
during all these shows--Scrooged, White Christmas, Christmas Story (Red
Rider BBgun with a compass in the stock), Rudolph, etc.--it is time for
the real story of Christmas to be heard and seen.
And, who better to do this is are children at Southland Christian Church.
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| "She was just doing laundry and then the angel just appeared and she was really scared," |
Snow
holds no mystery for us as we have experienced it for our entire lives
until we got married and fled. But then my husband was a TA at Iowa
State University. Snow swept across the prairie and locked us in at any given time.
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| Victorville, California |
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| A cemetery was across the street from our really cool hotel. When we arrived , I promised our gr-daughters we would explore it tomorrow. And then... |
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| The table on the balcony was pure and smooth. |
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| Our gr-daughters were thrilled when the snowflakes began to fall.  |
| For
those bloggers in the beginning of a long winter, this story is about
the snow of 1958, which has been called the mini-ice age. Keep warm,
enjoy the beauty as much as you are able, and Merry Christmas.This is a repost of 2014 and 2021. | |
December is an amazing month for so many reasons. For my family, my birthday, our son's birthday, our anniversary, our daughter's anniversary, and our youngest daughter's birthday. It is a busy month with lots of memories. Here are some thoughts that are from someecards.
II
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| Kinkeade village under threat of danger |
We put up our tree end of November because we wanted to put it up. Our Thomas Kinkade Christmas village is nestled under the tree.
With our peculiar sense of humor, we placed a polar bear statue from Alaska in the middle of this idyllic world. The townspeople are unaware of what lies in wait for them.
We can afford to be silly like this. We are in our house, safe and warm. Nothing lies in wait for us or threatens us.
With all the Christmas celebrating we will do or decorations that blink around us, the calendar and history reveal to us more about our time on earth.
December 16, 1944
marked the start of the Battle of the Bulge and its month long battle
in the Ardennes region of Belgium. This battle resulted in the deaths
of 75,000 soldiers. Nearly 19,000 were from the 101st. They were surrounded by Germans, helpless. Being vital, being pivotal, 101st Airborne Division held onto their precarious part of history.
Brutally
cold, with temperatures dropping to just below zero, 101st were alone,
cut off from help, rations, and warm clothing. Dug in the snow, troops
struggled to stay alive. They were down to the last few rounds of
ammunition.
Christmas eve, December 24, 1944, was the day when Allied troops and air support broke through crippling weather front that had isolated troop 101st Airborne. That day made a difference. The 101st made a difference.
Christmas
morning in 1944, seventy-five years ago, shows just how brave men
grasped, clutched, and carried history all the way to us.
Thanksgiving! All sorts of images, scents, and voices come to mind.
A few days to Thanksgiving! All the food excitement wafts through Mom's kitchen.
The pies were cooling on our huge freezer, along with Grandma's pumpkin pudding. Mom's sisters appear with some special dishes, and the cornucopia fills the table. The eating is legend.
The pumpkin desert is cut and handed out to the adults. Our cows gave us cream, which mean whipped cream. Good stuff.
Next year? Who knows what will fill our plates then?
When people think of their most favorite thing ever, I wonder what those things would be. Here is a young man, Jackson, who is a farmer at age 8.
Most 8 yr. olds have no idea about life, let alone tractors. Jackson is tremendous. Many seasoned farmers talk with him, ask about different tractors. The old guys take off their caps, rub their faces, and say something like "By golly, fellers. This here boy knows more about tractors than any of us old gaffers."
God amazes me all the time. Not just some of the time, now and then, but all the time. His creation and miracles are undeniable: God amazes me.
Why Jeremiah 29:11?
His love never fails. He sees tomorrow or centuries. God does not own or use a wristwatch. God gave this verse to me 1985.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.[b] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
In 1985 we had decided to sell/give every item in our house, save particular gifts the children owned. We condensed important items and toys into a crate 4ft X 5ft X 4ft. We shut the door of our house, giving the keys to its new owner.
BUT I rush ahead.
We (husband's family company) bought and operated a hotel in Ireland. It was a mansion/manor owned by a Lord Barrymore who was granted the property. In 1769 the Lord built and lived in it.
Somewhere in the course of Irish History the hotel w/20 acres of wooded land became a hotel. It was more work than we expected.
When we decided to take this adventure, we lived in a city in the Mojave Desert. Moving with our 3 children was indescribably awful. I was distraught.
That is when Jeremiah 29:11 appeared. First it was in a drawer in the kitchen. The second time I found it was in the a stack of papers I was collecting to recycle. God revealed so much to me in these two times.
We lived in Ireland for 4 years, sold and returned to California. God guided us through some difficult times and choices
He knew the plans....
Halloween was over, the chocolate candy consumed, and
empty wrappers told the tale.
WKRP was a ground breaker, simply because it was about a radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was funny and sharp, unexpected. An abbreviation from Wikipedia:
"The ensemble cast consists of Gary Sandy (as Andy Travis), Howard Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever), Gordon Jump (Arthur Carlson), Loni Anderson (Jennifer Marlowe), Tim Reid (Venus Flytrap), Jan Smithers (Bailey Quarters), Richard Sanders (Les Nessman) and Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek).[4]
The series won a Humanitas Prize[5] and received 10 Emmy Award nominations, including three for Outstanding Comedy Series. Andy Ackerman won an Emmy Award for Videotape Editing in Season 3.[6]
WKRP premiered on September 18, 1978, on the CBS television network and aired for four seasons and 90 episodes, ending on April 21, 1982. Starting in the middle of the second season, CBS repeatedly moved the show around its schedule, contributing to lower ratings and its eventual cancellation. When WKRP went into syndication, it became an unexpected success. For the next decade, it was one of the most popular sitcoms in syndication, outperforming many programs that had been more successful in prime time, including all the other MTM Enterprises sitcoms.[7]"**
It was entertaining, each character with their own special gifts. The above segment is about an incredibly generous and stupid stunt to help citizens of Cincinnati have turkeys for Thanksgiving. The results were hilarious.
In 1978 I was immensely pregnant with our son (who was 8 lb. 5 oz. at birth) when we were introduced to this show. As he kicked my ribs to a fare-the-well , I had something to enjoy.
**It is a lot easier to cut and paste, than to struggle with condensing this.
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| Warm laundry...mmmm |
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I crawled here, and stood up. NOW what do I do?
This is a repost from 2013. Italicize underlined word are from Wednesday Words,
prompts for bloggers to play with. Little Man is now12 yrs old with a
little brother (now 6 yrs) who dearly loves his big brother. We grandparents love them
so much.
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Going through old photos, and finding the veterans from 1800s through modern times reminds me how history is not kind. Ancestry shows so much.
The veterans shown here range from Civil War to Korea. There is a great-grandfather who rode with the Rough Riders; I couldn't locate his photo.
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| This is the photo taken of my grandfather before he left for France. He fought in the trenches | , sharpshooter |
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| Lest we forget... |
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| Newspaper photo of Civil War and WW1 veterans Great-Grandfather B. Peck, 3rd row, 6th from the left; Great-Uncle Leo Peck, front row, 2nd from the left, gun in lap |
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| My father in about 1942 |
By Paul Harvey
Farmers are the base of food production in the world. The Great Plains of America and the rich land of the Midwest are the sources of that food.
My childhood was spent on a farm in Illinois, where my folks farmed for about 40 years. The things I saw, did, and learned have been invaluable.
What some may not realize but farming is a 24/7 way of life. The money that goes into harvesting grain and taking care of livestock is unbelievable. Money spent on grain and feed has to provide livestock nutrition and the cost of livestock sales has to be factored into costs.
John Deere combine. Great equipment.
Deere + Massey Ferguson + International Harvester.....
Rising Feed $$ + Vet costs + cost of tractor equipment maintenance + fuel + unpaid labor are seen in the cost of meat. When the money is lost at the bottom of the food chain, the loss has to be made up by increasing meat costs or reducing herd numbers or both.
Who wins in this battle? Not the farmer.
I learned this whenever I needed a new pair of shoes or winter coat. When you have to pay for your needs, you just get less for more money.
So, Don't ever blame farmers for the cost of living. They are doing the best that they can, given the circumstances they face. When a person opens a can of corn or other vegetables, the farmer was there growing them.
Each clip is about 1 min. long. Jackson has been in the fields since he was in elementary school. Catch him in action at
facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556973080308&sk=reels_tab
The teachers shivered as they watched the recess horde which never ever ended. It’s death or life, lies or truth. It's them or us. Their eyes glazed around the mob, knowing that some opportunity could lead to havoc.
Like the crack of a jump rope, a type of sizzling chemistry suddenly burst around them, exploding loose. Screw philosophy and fact. Forget about instruction, all the facts from teacher education. Clothes? Who needs them when all hell breaks loose?
Somewhere,
there is an agency, somewhere that will set the playground in order. Over
near the swings there would be a huddled group of people, clutching boxes of books,
reading as if their lives depending on it. The agency will know how to help
them all. Soon.
I wouldn’t
count on help coming anytime soon
I am well versed in recess duty. There is no joy in that place.
The colored words are a Wednesday Word collection from ages ago. Recess memories still remain.
