Top 10 Reasons to Leave the Cleaning Supplies in the Closet

Posted on May 14, 2013 by jphilo

Please say I’m not the only person who can think of a host of reasons not to clean the house. Here’s my latest list of reasons to leave the cleaning supplies in the closet and do something else:

10. The house will just get dirty again. Funny, that one never worked with Mom, but I’m a sucker for it every time.

9. I’d rather cook than clean.You can replace the underlined word with what you’d rather do than clean. Don’t overthink it. Just let the answer come to you.

8. The house doesn’t look dirty. At night. When the lights are out. And the drapes are closed, along with my eyes.

7. My allergies are acting up. And if they aren’t, I’ll invent some.

6. The man of steel is not picky about how the house work. To paraphrase Monk, the OCD detective, this lack of motivation is a blessing…and a curse.

5. The weather’s too nice to be cooped up inside. Plus, everyone’s outside, so who’s gonna notice the mess?

4. No one wears white gloves anymore. Man, I hated that commercial. Who gave those white-gloved ladies permission to march into houses and run their gloved fingers along the top of somebody’s door molding, anyway? Talk about an invasion of privacy.

3. I volunteered to host Book Club at the last minute. I love it when that happens. No time to clean.

2. The kids won’t be here until Memorial Day. And ~~if the house is clean~~ if the house is too clean, they won’t recognize it.

1. I have a book deadline to meet. True, the deadline isn’t until September 1, but a person can never start using an excuse as good as this one too early.

What are your best excuses to not clean the house? Leave a comment so everyone can add to their stash.

Top 10 Things about a Beautiful Spring Day

Posted on May 7, 2013 by jphilo

Finally, spring has arrived with a contagious swing in its step. What’s so good about spring? Here are my top ten answers:

10. When you go out for a walk, people smile and wave as they drive by.

9. As far as the eye can see, it’s green, green, green.

8. The carry out personnel at the local grocery store are so eager to go outside, they line up three deep waiting for customers.

7. Tulips, bleeding heart, and magnolias are blooming with wild abandon…but the asparagus patch is gone!

6. The air smells so good and feels so warm, a person can open windows and blow the winter stink out of the house.

5. Bleeding heart bushes grow an inch or two every couple hours.

4. A soft breeze on the face.

3. Tree frogs singing by the pond.

2. The glimpse of a cardinal in the top of a tree.

1. Sunshine on the shoulders, like John Denver said, makes almost everybody happy.

What do you like best about spring? Leave a comment.

Top 10 Reasons I Almost Forgot This Week’s Top 10 List

Posted on April 30, 2013 by jphilo

10. The dog ate the list. On wait, we don’t have a dog.

9. Hiram’s home today trimming the hedge and the noise is distracting.

8. I’m too busy doing a happy dance because the basic outline for my mystery novel is done.

7. My schedule is off because of visiting Mom on Monday instead of Tuesday this week.

6. Much of yesterday was spent in a futile search for navy shoes to go with a new navy and white dress. Who knew navy was out, out, out this year? No wonder the dress was on clearance.

5. Being over 50, I plead the 50th in all memory failure situations.

4. I figured out how to unfreeze my iPod all by myself, but then spent too much time patting myself on the back for doing it.

3. I’m guest hosting a special needs parenting discussion at Moms Together today. Come join us if you like.

2. Now that spring has arrived, I’m too busy admiring the daffodils, tulips, bleeding hearts, magnolias, budding trees, and green grass to think about top ten lists.

1. I’m black and blue from pinching myself about a new contract with Discovery House Publishers, this time for a Caregiver Notebook for those caring for kids with special needs and adults with health conditions.

Top Ten Travel Observations to DC and Back

Posted on April 23, 2013 by jphilo

Hmmm…is the topic of time management really so sad?

Last weekend, I attended the 2013 Accessibility Summit near Washington, DC. As always, traveling is a wonderful opportunity to people watch and be reminded of life outside my own circumstances. It also leads to a multitude of random travel observations, which you’ll be relieved to know have been gleaned to this top ten:

10. Skinny pants still don’t look good on anyone over the age of 8.

9. From the looks of things, 90% of this year’s pansy seedlings are beautifying the highways and byways of the DC area. What will the rest of the country do ~~if spring ever~~ when spring moves further west?

8. I felt very cosmopolitan walking around the international terminal at the Waskington Dulles airport. However, I looked very midwestern. Sigh.

7. God, pour our your blessings on parents traveling with infants and toddlers.

6. Seeing green leaves sprouting on trees, red bud and crab apple blossoms, and tulips in bloom several weeks before they bloom in the rest of the country makes jet lag worthwhile.

5. When your luggage on the way home is heavy with unsold books, all you have to do is ask someone to help, and they will. Don’t ask how I know this.

4. Flight attendants deserve more pay.

3. My friend Rebekah Hamilton of Key Ministry has ushered in a whole new era for non-profit fund raising. Turn paper toilet seat covers into fashionable headgear and people will pay to see someone else wear them in public.

2. Kuddos to the Dulles airport staff for handling a medical emergency with a minimum of fanfare and a maximum of speed and competence. You are amazing!

1. Walking around the airport and watching crowds of people from different places and cultures milling about, realizing many more people are milling about airports all over the world, the words of a hymn came to mind:

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His Son for us,
To make a wretch His treasure.

How deep and vast indeed!

What travel observations have you made lately? Leave a comment.

Top Ten Favorite John Denver Songs

Posted on April 16, 2013 by jphilo

Saturday morning, I was driving to a speaking event when NPR broadcast a story about a newly released John Denver tribute album, with songs performed by current popular singers including Dave Matthews, Emmy Lou Harris, Josh Ritter, and Olde Crow Medicine Show.

I sure wish the man of steel, who thinks I don’t like music much, had been along to see the tears streaming down my face when the radio host played several John Denver songs popular during my teen years. Those songs evoked such strong memories of my older sister (who I thought knew everything) describing this new folk singer she said I would love, of dancing to John Denver songs at high school sock hops and college dances, and of our kids singing along to the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas Album.

The radio story got me to thinking about my favorite John Denver songs and resulted in this top ten list.

10. Lady, My Sweet Lady–My friends and I usually went stag to high school sock hops and spent a lot of time imagining slow dancing to this song.

9. Rocky Mountain High–Many of you might rate this song higher, but I love prairies more than mountains.

8. Leaving on a Jet Plane–We thought deeply significant thoughts while singing this song in tenth grade chorus.

7. Thank God I’m a Country Boy–The lyrics make me think of my dad.

6. Merry Christmas, Little Zachary–This one tugs at my parent heart every Christmas.

5. Follow Me–Yes, about every other wedding from the 1970s used this song, and musicians got tired of it back then. But now, the song makes me think of the people in those weddings, and I like that.

4. Sunshine On My Shoulders–Because sunshine on my shoulders does make me happy.

2. Annie’s Song–Because of our daughter.
2. Country Roads, Take Me Home–Because of our son.

1. Grandma’s Feather Bed–Because my Grandma Josie shooed her grandkids to the basement where we slept in a bed almost as crowded as the one in the song. We didn’t get much shut-eye, but I wouldn’t trade the good times and good memories for a full night’s rest.

What are your favorite John Denver songs? Why?

photo source

Top Ten Reasons to Love Libraries

Posted on April 9, 2013 by jphilo

National Library Week (April 14–20, 2013) is almost here. To celebrate the event and as a life long library lover, it took only a few minutes to come up with the ten things I love best about libraries.

10. Books smell good.

9. Going through the security gate at the library gives the illusion of air travel without packing a suitcase behind you or having to take off your shoes for the TSA officials.

8. Every item in a library has a proper place…a very soothing prospect for those of us ~~who are OCD~~ who crave order.

7. Walking into a library where you have free access to books, DVDs, audiotapes and much more is a most luxurious, almost decadent, sensation.

6. Libraries are full of librarians, most of whom are very friendly and helpful people.

5. Libraries are adventures waiting to be experienced.

4. Reading books read by others makes me (and I hope you) feel connected to other readers.

3. Going to the library with Mom is one of my earliest memories.The library was the only place she let my sibs and I visit as often as we liked.

2. Taking my kids to the library is one of my happiest Mommy memories, too.

1. Life is always better when accompanied by a book.

Please feel free to add your reasons in the comment box. Maybe we can encourage more people to visit their local libraries more often!

Top Ten Perks while Watching BBC TV Comedies & Dramas

Posted on April 2, 2013 by jphilo

A favorite recent pastime of mine has been watching BBC TV comedies and dramas via Netflix streaming. The origin of this bad habit can be traced directly to last spring, when Hiram was laid up with a bad back for 6 weeks. After 2 weeks of me driving to the library every day to check out more DVDs for the man of steel to watch, we decided a free month of Netflix was well worth the money.

Well, you know how that kind of thing goes. By the end of our free month, we were hooked on Doc Martin and Lost. We’ve been paying for the service ever since, and to make sure we get our money’s worth, a whole lotta BBC TV dramas…and a few comedies are part of our instant queue. So now, almost a year into my addiction, here are the top ten perks United States citizens can enjoy while watching BBC TV entertainment shows.

10. BBC miniseries of classic English novels are a much more entertaining way to “read” CliffsNotes than CliffsNotes.

9. Dr. Who is an inter-generational bonding experience. Hiram and the kids talk about episodes all the time. So do high school kids when I talk to their classes. So do middle and high school kids at church. Though I have yet to watch the show, the time is drawing near to bite the Dr. Who bullet and start laughing with them.

8. BBC shows allow Americans to vicariously enjoy a good, old-fashioned English tea–complete with scones, clotted cream, lemon curd, and cucumber sandwiches–while wondering how the English can eat 4 meals a day and not struggle with obesity as much as we do.

7. Nobody does costume dramas like the BBC. Ever heard of Dowton Abbey? Case in point.

6. Thanks to the scenery shots in several shows, Hiram and I are developing quite a list of places in the United Kingdom we plan to visit when we are rich.

5. All those Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Cockney, Yorkshire, and aristocratic English accents make a person admire Hugh Laurie for nailing his plain, old, ordinary American accent in House.

4. BBC shows are the perfect opportunity to visit a different culture without having to learn a new language.

3. Then again, you can feel sorta bilingual once you’re able to translate the following UK English terms into good ‘ole US of A English:

jumper=sweater
trainers=tennis shoes
boot of a car=trunk
bonnet=hood of a car
vegetable marrow=squash
spanner=wrench
torch=flashlight

2. When you get tired of watching BBC shows, you can day dream, as I do, of a movie where Rowen Atkinsen and Robin Williams are co-starts. Do you think they would stick to the script?

1. English actors rotate from show to show, and from miniseries to miniseries. So every new series or production is like old home week. For example, consider the BBC miniseries North and South based on the English novel by Elizabeth Gaskill. (Not to be confused with the American miniseries based on John Jake’s books.) The male lead, John Thornton, Richard Armitage, plays Thoren Oakenshield in The Hobbit. Anna Maxwell Martin, who is Bessy Higgins in North and South, was the female lead in Bleak House. And guess who plays Nicholas Higgins, the father of Bessy? Brendan Coyle, also known as Mr. Bates in Downton Abbey. Kinda feels like watching Hollywood westerns from the 1960s when the same actors played the character roles in every movie.

What are your favorite BBC perks? Leave a comment

photo source

Top Ten Pie-Making Tips

Posted on March 26, 2013 by jphilo

Over the weekend, I made 4 pies for a dessert auction at our church. We were raising money for scholarships to send kids to camp. Once the pies were in the oven, these ten pie-making tips came to mind.

10. Always use Grandma Conrad’s Never Fail Pie Crust recipe.

9. Always use real lard.

8. Always cover the dough and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before rolling it out.

7. If you make fruit pies, you can believe pie is sorta good for you.

6. When making fruit pies, cut the sugar in half and you can believe pie is even better for you.

5. Contrary to what the name would have you believe, Delicious apples are not delicious in pies. Use Granny Smiths, Jonathans, or Jonagolds instead.

4. When you’re getting tired of peeling Granny Smith, Jonathan, or Jonagold apples for the pies, imagine happy kids at church camp.

3. Bake pies in a hot oven (425) at first and turn it down to 400 after the first 15 or 30 minutes for crispy crusts.

2. Lay a piece of aluminum foil on top of the pie if the top is browning too quickly.

1. To create memories to last a lifetime, place leftover scraps of dough in a pie plate or flat casserole dish. Drizzle with a little melted butter or margarine, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and bake until golden brown. Cool for a few minutes before eating or these crispy treats will burn your tongue. Don’t ask me how I know this.

My mom made this special treat for her kids just like her mom made it when her children were little. I used to make it for our kids, and they still think it’s the best treat ever! What traditional goodies does your family like?

Top Ten Reasons to Be Happy about a Late Spring

Posted on March 19, 2013 by jphilo

Once March arrived, winter in these parts decided to dig in its white heels and stick around. Since the strategy is proving highly effective, this week’s top ten list extols the reasons to be happy for a late spring and make hay even when the sun don’t shine.

10. Extra winter makes northerners appreciate spring more when it finally does arrive.

9. We get more wear out of winter clothes.

8. A late, cold spring gives female rabbits headaches, and therefore has a dampening effect on the rabbit population.

7. The cold weather makes midwesterners more sympathetic toward Canadians.

6. Shivering gives spring sport athletes an Iron Man or Iron Woman aura.

5. Less time in the sun = less chance of skin cancer.

4. When the weather’s cold, teachers have an easier time keeping their students’ noses to the grindstone.

3. That first grilled meal of spring tastes better when it’s a long time coming.

2. The apple trees bloom later, so there’s less chance of a late frost nipping their buds.

1. A cold spring makes spring break trips to points south seem like a good investment.

What’s good about a late spring in your book? Leave a comment!

Down the Gravel Road www.jolenephilo.com

Category Archives: Top Ten Tuesday