first parent note of the year – love it. school is in, bring it kindergarten!
Raising kids is part joy and part guerilla warfare.
Ed Asner
Sep10
Tag Archives: humor
Sep7
kinder-ku
stop crying, you are hurting my ‘ear-plums!’ – m
first week back feelings
joy and tears rule kinder’s day
look to year ahead
Sep5
to sign own self be true –
except for now and except for this lane and except for this orange barrel and except for who knows how long?
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in complex trains of thought signs are indispensable. – George Henry Lewes
words are but the signs of ideas. – Samuel Johnson
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Sep4
the hills are alive….with the sound of squealing.
happy to welcome my kindergarten back yesterday, and not only the children, but the parents as well. i gain so much wisdom from them everyday. one mother, returning with her 3rd young child, reminded me of how she’s able to get everyone dressed and off to school on time. i have always seen this process as a minor miracle, having had to deliver 3 young ones to school at one point in my own life.
she told me she does the laundry and then simply dumps all of it into one giant pile. the kids then climb and all forage around it, until they are able to put an outfit together. and that’s it, they are ready for the day. no stress, and always an adventure for all. i think this is brilliant.
‘it’s better to have loved and lost than to do 40 pounds of laundry a week.’
– salvatore dali
Sep1
stories told here
had an interesting conversation with my friend. we took turns coming up with one word that defined each of us, and he immediately blurted out the following word that he felt was me: rigmarole.while i had a somewhat negative image of what this word meant, i always liked the sound of it and it was an interesting word to say the least. i decided to look it up for further clarification. after referring to a traditional source, the oxford english dictionary, i found that i rather liked the definition, appreciated the origin of the word, and finally, embraced it as my own. i took it to mean that i simply live life, with all of its complications, and i share my stories, and though not all are long and rambling, i’m quite happy with that.
rigmarole
Syllabification: (rig·ma·role)
Pronunciation: /ˈrig(ə)məˌrōl/
noun [usually in singular]
- a lengthy and complicated procedure: she went through the rigmarole of securing the front door
- a long, rambling story or statement.
Origin:
mid 18th century: apparently an alteration of ragman roll, originally denoting a legal document recording a list of offenses
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Stories are a communal currency of humanity. – Tahir Shah
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Aug28
balls out
day after day, i see him sitting on his front porch, hours at a time, as i walk downtown and back. always perched between the 2 white lions, and looking over his little kingdom – a perfect, green lawn, mowed just so, with soldier-straight rows of plants and flowers – everything manicured and dead-headed and edged and aligned and watered and fertilized. he wears a polo shirt, 3 buttons done up, always the color of a sherbet, neatly tucked into his crisply-ironed and belted shorts, and on his feet are spotless white socks and shoes. i see his sign, carefully hand-printed – ‘3 golf balls for 1 dollar.’
he always nods and smiles as i walk by, a silent sentinel. one day, i walk up to meet him, to buy something, to ask him his story. he slowly approaches me, a bit shy, and tells me i can search the basket to find the ‘best ones’ and then just come back to the porch to tell him how many i have and he will trust me.
as i go up to the porch to pay him, i notice his mustache is as perfectly trimmed as his lawn. he’s an older man who carries a quiet and gentle pride about him. there is one leaf on his perfect lawn, showing his humanity. he smiles with his eyes as he tells me he’s done this for a few years, won’t reveal how he gets the golf balls, or anything else about his interesting business, only that it’s his hobby. he lets me take a picture but doesn’t want me to use his name or his face.
i can see it’s his simple joy, and more important than any money he makes, it’s his way of keeping in touch with the world. he values the conversations he has with people who stop by throughout the day. he has lived a full life and now is enjoying sitting quietly between the lions and watching the world unfold before his eyes.
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It’s good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.
Aug26
if you tent it, they will come.
all it takes is a few balloons, a length of police tape, local radio, a pop of color, and of course, a tent. people love a reason to flock together and create a festival out of most anything.
while stopping by my local grocery to pick up a few items, i once again found myself sucked into one of their parking lot extravaganzas. this time we were celebrating our state in all of it’s food and drink glory. combine watermelons, wine, granola, coffee, tortillas, and coupons and you have a state worthy of celebration. my check-out girl was absolutely giddy, anticipating her upcoming shift outside at the festival. embrace the cherries and jump on in!
Let the tent be struck. – Robert E. Lee
Aug25
the toddle of shame: the morning after.
as part of our fun day in the city, we took the babies to bill’s beergarten – local german-style social gathering spot, outside, and right in the hub of town. while there, they fully embraced the spirit of the environment.
looking back, things must have been way too fun, as i got a call to pick up some things we’d left behind. nothing like the feeling the morning after, as i humbly returned to the scene to pick up my grandson’s sippy cup and bag of baby things.
now there’s a life lesson from your grandmother.
james – loyal and understanding employee of bill’s beergarten, (and advocate of the “what happens at bill’s, stays at bill’s” policy), returns the goods with a laugh and a kind word.
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I love the smell of juice boxes in the morning. – Robert Duvall
Aug24
with this ring, i thee ride.
spent a beautiful day downtown, only to encounter a sweet and joyful wedding party on bicycles. everyone was radiating happiness or perhaps it was the sweat glistening off of them, but no matter. and what wedding is not complete without a unicyclist in the mix, i ask you?
Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. Aristotle
Love is composed of two bodies inhabiting a single bike. Me
Aug20
it’s my story, and i’m sticking to it
returning to school this week for a bit of professional development. gearing up for the return of my kinders in just a couple of weeks. had a case of ‘mistaken identity’ this morning that made it clear that i’m getting back into school mode.
reached into my purse, and this is what i expected to put on my lips:
instead, this is what i actually put on my lips:
good thing it is ‘disappearing purple’ color.
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Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. – Albert Einstein
