A Day for the Record Books

It started out as a fairly normal day. Fairly normal—that’s my description for just about any day that doesn’t have weird things happening. Grace spent the night last night because Vicki had to open this morning. I got up to get ready and forgot to unlock the door, so David had to call me and tell me they were standing outside the door. See what I mean? Fairly normal.

Carsyn came in, she and Grace played and disagreed about a couple of things. Fairly normal.

I had to get gas before I could even go to Mama’s and drop Carsyn off. Fairly normal.

Grace wasn’t hungry at all…until we dropped Carsyn off. Then she wanted a sausage biscuit. Fairly normal.

See a pattern?

Don’t get too happy. Fairly normal ended here.

On the way to the gym, I got a call from Lauren. She had left her sinus medicine at home. Aleve Cold and Sinus has done wonderful things for her and David, so that’s what they use. She asked if I could run pick up some when I dropped Grace off. No problem. Fairly normal request. You just keep thinking that…

So I dropped Gracie off and headed to Wal Mart. I went there because I had two other things on my list and would just get it all at the same time. First to the pharmacy…

You know those medicines that are sold by taking a plastic card to the pharmacy and having your background check run? Aleve Cold and Sinus is one. I pulled out my license to scan…and it expired last week. Sigh…

Obviously I’m going to have to go the courthouse…but NOT in the shirt I wore. It was my favorite Greenville Gymnastics shirt---you know the kind: worn and washed until all the letters are almost gone.

Off to the clothing section…

New shirt purchase in hand, I changed clothes in the Wal Mart restroom and headed to the courthouse.

Did you know that at most courthouses you now have to go through a metal detector? Are you aware that 4 inch sewing scissors are considered a dangerous weapon?

Back to the truck to leave the scissors…

Back through the metal detector…

The sweet, kind, precious lady that takes those gosh-awful license pictures must have seen I was having a rough day. She offered to let me look at my picture and see if I wanted another. Once I approved the picture, all I needed was cash or a check.

Do you carry cash? I don’t. And we are out of checks. Sigh…

Off to the bank…

Back to the courthouse…

Back through the metal detector…

License renewed and paid for – check.

Off to the drugstore…it was closer than Wal Mart.

I grabbed the plastic card from the shelf and took it to the counter, proudly producing my brand new license. The clerk scanned my license, bagged the medicine, and then said (rather loudly, I think) in front of a CROWD of people: Oh, I can’t sell this to you…you’ve reached your limit for the month.

I should tell you here that David called a couple of weeks ago and needed me to pick him up some Aleve Cold and Sinus…

Not that anyone in that crowd knew that. All of them were looking at me like I had a microwave plugged in to the cigarette lighter in my truck ready to cook my next batch of meth. So embarrassing…

When I sent Lauren the text that I couldn’t get it, she decided she wouldn’t try it either since she just bought some yesterday. Wise decision.

Off to the carwash…it was on my to do list for the day.

This is the carwash that you can purchase inside or pay at the terminal…until now. Code only---purchase inside. Does it even bear mentioning that I was stuck behind another truck who was getting a wash and there is only one way out? Right---through the carwash. So, here I went—drove through the carwash like I knew what I was doing, drove around front, went inside, and purchased a wash. I did not have to get a background check for that.

Carwash done—check.

Off to get Grace…

At this point, the day has reverted to fairly normal.

It is 1:45.

I’m almost scared to post this. There’s no telling what will happen later in the day.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About...

... apostrophes. My goodness, at the mess apostrophes can make!

A few days ago, I wrote about how I sometimes really miss teaching literature. I gave a short summary of the Japanese work The Pillow Book and gave my thoughts in that form. I still miss it. You would probably get a kick out of the look on Carsyn's face when I recite the first eighteen lines of the "Prologue" to Canterbury Tales!

For today, though, it's a grammar issue that's just under my skin. So, let's talk about apostrophes, why don't we?

1. Apostrophes are used to form contractions. This particular concept is not a hard one. Most people do this one correctly. Basically, if you are putting two words together as a contraction, the apostrophe (a former student called it a "high comma") goes in place of the omitted letter(s). Hence, don't, weren't, doesn't, isn't (you leave out the o). One I see a lot of people making a mistake on is the Southernism y'all. This is a  contraction for you all. So you see, you wouldn't put the apostrophe after the a (ya'll) since that's not where the letters are left out. And the ONLY time you use it's is when you mean it is. Makes sense, right?

2. Now...this concept is a big one.  Apostrophes are used to show POSSESSION -- as in, the word with the apostrophe OWNS something. Examples: John's car; Tracy's jacket; Papa's pool; Nannie's Bible. If you are tempted to put an apostrophe+s, make sure you can answer this question: ____'s what?

This rule seems to freak people out if the word ends in s. No biggie. If the word is singular (only one), you would still use the apostrophe AND the s.  If the word is plural and ends in s, put the apostrophe after the ending s. Examples: boys' jackets; girls' basketball team; ladies' Sunday School class.

3. Apostrophes are generally NOT used to show that a word is plural. The only exception is when not putting an apostrophe would cause misreading. Example: His a's look like s's. Without the apostrophe, a's looks like as, and ss looks awkward.

So WHY, I ask you, WHY???? would names be any different?

If your last name is Smith, and there is more than one of you in the house, you are the Smiths.
If you are a Johnson, and there is more than one of you in the house, you are the Johnsons.
And if your last name is Williams, and there is more than one of you in the house, you are the Williamses -- NOT the Williams'.
If you are a Jones, your family would be the Joneses -- NOT the Jones'.

If the plural of the name owns something, then you use the apostrophe appropriately:
The Joneses' car (The car belongs to more than one of the Jones family)
The Lees' car (Family name is Lee-- plural is Lees  -- and they own something together).


If my daughter Lauren, who is a Smith, signs a note, a letter, an email, or a blog from her family, she would sign it as The Smiths (unless she wanted her mama the grammar nazi to hunt her down and lecture her).

If I want to sign anything from my house with our family name, I would sign is as The Williamses OR The Williams Family.

If I buy a Christmas ornament for Vicki and Josh, it will NOT say the Williams'. It WILL say The Williamses, or The Williams Family, or simply Williams.

If I buy something for Mama and Daddy, it will say The Campbells. No apostrophe -- they don't own anything in this case.

Clear as mud?

I'll bet you're running around right now looking at all your stationery, door signs, and email signatures :)


Will making a mistake like this send you to grammar jail? No.

Will it make me (or anyone else) not like you? No.

Will you feel better knowing you are doing it RIGHT? Oh, yeah.

Pillow Book Time

Sometime, I really miss teaching. Out loud teaching. That doesn't mean I don't LOVE what I do now, because I do. But for a born teacher, there's just something about seeing that light come on, or having students suddenly sit up after I say, "Guess what?" One of my very favorite classes to teach is World Literature. Sometimes students ask, "What's your favorite book? Who's your favorite author? How fast can you read?" To most of those I don't have an answer. But I have an answer for "What's your favorite literature class?" Again, that doesn't mean I don't LOVE English and American literature, but World Lit actually covers those too. I love it.

On another note, sometimes I struggle with blog posts. So very much can go on in one day that I'm afraid sometimes I seem to ramble if I talk about all of it. And I have so little time to post that I have to get a lot done at one time.

Today, I was going over some of my online English class assignments, and I remembered that I had, for the sake of space, had to leave out Chinese and Japanese literature. I know, I know...big whoop. But I love it, and I love teaching it...the why and where and meaning. One of my very favorite is The Pillow Book written by a lady-in-waiting to a Japanese empress, Sei Shonogan. Don't worry. They can't say our names either :) Anyway, there are lots of reasons The Pillow Book is interesting: It was one of the first books written in the Japanese language (they thought Chinese was a "smarter" language and usually wrote in Chinese), it was written by a woman (very rare), it shows details of everyday life in the palace, and, best of all, it's written in little bitty chapters about random thoughts or events that she dealt with. It's called The Pillow Book because Japanese women slept on hollow wooden boxes curved to the shape of the neck in order to support their elaborate hairstyles. Because the "pillow" was hollow, the woman could put her "treasures" or important documents into the pillow. Sei Shonogan's book was published from her diary-like entries that she stored in her "pillow." Each year, I ask my students to write a series of selections for their own "pillow book." I usually join them, because I love the release writing gives. If you don't write occasionally, you should try it! With all that being said (most of which I'm sure you were not the least bit interested in), here are my pillow book entries for now:

THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE
I love when Carsyn says, "ZiZi, um here. Play. Otay?" I love waking up on Thursdays and knowing that Robbie's coming home that night.  I smile when Daniel asks for a snack -- right after he finishes supper :) ; when Kaylee says "Wub my peet" ; when I read Nicholas Sparks; when Grace watches herself in the mirror as she's talking; when Blair comes to gymnastics wearing a pink, floor-length, long sleeve Cinderella costume and high heels over her leotard; when Caroline looks at me with big eyes and says "How do you know what the roly poly's names are?"--and believes me when I tell her they have name tags; when Dylan calls my parents Swimming Nannie and Swimming Papa--not because they swim but because they have a pool; when Lily and Breanna sing sooooo loud in Children's Church--but don't know the words and/or timing :) when all the clothes are washed...and it's only Wednesday ; when I child says, "I want Jesus to live in my heart"; when a sewing project comes out even cuter than I imagined; when I hear the song "I Can Only Imagine"; when I listen to Carsyn sing "Peas Ike Ibba" ("Peace Like a River");  when Grace looks at the clouds for shapes and says she sees Uncle Kenny and Uncle BoBo in a boat...

THINGS THAT MAKE ME SAD:
The bridge of my nose stings and my eyes get leaky when Grace looks at the clouds for shapes and says she sees Uncle Kenny and Uncle BoBo in a boat...; when I hear that one of my babies has gotten hurt; when I hear that innocent children have been killed or abused; when I hear the song "I Can Only Imagine;" when I can find only one of my polka dot yellow boxes -- and they would perfectly match my outfit; when I have to leave Carsyn crying, even though I know she'll stop as soon as I'm gone; when I hear people being cruel about others--they way they look or talk; Nicholas Sparks books; Where the Red Fern Grows; when friends grow apart; when all I have left to do is put the elastic in the waistband...and I'm out of elastic and it's 2:34 A.M.

WHY I DON'T MIND EATING ALONE
When I eat alone (or only with close family), my whole meal is so much more peaceful. If I eat in a crowd, this is the way the meal goes: You don't eat ______? Have you tried it? Why not? Try a little bit. It won't hurt you! For real, this is wonderful! It tastes just like ______________. What?!?! You don't eat ______, either!? Where have you been living? What do you eat? Is something wrong with you?

Alone or with close family, this is what I get: This one is yours, Mama. It's not touching anything. I'll eat that one; it's more done than you like it. I cooked these for you because I know you don't like ______. I ordered one pizza with light/no sauce so it would be better. This dressing has pickles; the plain dressing is over there.

And that is why I like to eat alone or with close family.

THE PROBLEM WITH COOKING
Robbie can, without a doubt, outcook any restaurant we have ever visited. So why is it such a temptation to just pick something up while we are out? It's the dish gremlins that live in our house. While we are cooking the simplest of meals, the dish gremlins are messing up every available dish in the house! When we finish eating, the kitchen looks like General Sherman marched his army straight through it. So discouraging. And then of course it's late and we're full...not the best of conditions to foster a "jump up now and clean it up" feeling. So sometimes we go to a place where we leave all the mess. We can't do it all the time, but sometimes, it's just worth it to eat not-quite-as-good food and let them clean it all up :)

THE PROBLEM WITH TODAY'S KIDS
This is not going to sit well...

We always hear, or maybe are guilty of saying, that today's kids are a big problem. What in the world are they thinking? What's wrong with them? What's going to happen to our world if they are left in charge? Soooo...here's my answer:

What's wrong with today's children is yesterday's children. It's the adults who raise them. It's the parents who bail their children out of every scrape, give them the best of the best without their having to work for it, and make sure that they never have to suffer any consequences for their actions. Children are -- well, children. They are going to make mistakes. I'll be the first one to say that if a child doesn't have a good relationship with his parents, there will not be the openness needed for that child to come to the parent for help. But help does not necessarily mean "fixing it." It means guiding the child to do what is right; helping him carry that out; applying house rules consistently so that there is never a question that rules must be obeyed.

Children are not any different than they have always been...tiny humans who need help growing up. Adults, though--well, that's a different story.

TO BE CONTINUED...MAYBE :)

Summer So Far...

Lots of stuff going on here!!!

*I've been sewing garment bags and baby gowns and monogramming towels and making birthday outfits.

*Carsyn has learned to sing "Peace Like a River" (peas ike ibbe in my tole)

*I've been cutting car decals and planning weddings and buying flowers.

*I had to explain to Grace why the KJV is called the KJV -- because of the king who had it translated, not because Jesus spoke 16th century English. Seemed a bit early to have to have this conversation...

*I've been making those huge feather flags you see beside the road.

*We had Vacation Bible School at our church and then Grace went to Grannie and Grandaddy's church for another fun week of VBS.

*I took Carsyn to the doctor and she had such a meltdown (she always does) that the doctor met us in the hallway and saw her there.

*Grace thought she would include Carsyn in her imaginary play the other day, but when she said, "Carsyn, where are your customers?" Carsyn looked around, shrugged her shoulders, and said, "I don't know!" Ha!

*I had a student email me to ask if I thought she would be ok if she used an American Literature book in place of a World Literature book and a vocabulary book by a different publisher. Ummm...no.

*Dylan, Daniel, and Kaylee came to play. Dylan went fishing with PopPop and Uncle David, so he was really anxious to get in the pool the next day. Really anxious. 8:00 in the morning anxious :)

I had a meeting in Montgomery, saw some great online teacher friends, had a wonderful lunch with Robbie, and spent the rest of an AWESOME day getting important stuff done -- like making sure Carsyn's Tiny Toms had both a left and right foot :) That was an interesting exchange.

Lots of fun going on this summer!