by jphilo | Mar 1, 2016 | Top Ten Tuesday
This time of year, most Midwesterners are itching for spring, and I’m one of them. Here are ten reasons spring can’t come soon enough.
10. Mom’s It’s-too-cold-to-go-out-to-eat-why-don’t-you-go-pick-something-up-and-bring-it-here excuse will no longer hold water.
9. The storm sewers need a good rain to wash away the top hats, frozen carrots, old scarves, and coal buttons and eyes that once adorned many a jaunty snowman.
8. I want to walk outside again while the birds are singing again.
7. Parents have completed the list of 101-fun-indoor-winter-activities-for-young-children. Three times. Or more.
6. A hamburger grilled over apple wood and served on a toasted bun sounds really good right now.
5. Kids need to get outside to blow the stink off.
4. Every parent of young children and every elementary teacher in the Midwest has a wild look in the eye that will only go away when kids have a chance to get outside and run off several months’ worth of pent up energy.
3. Children around the country have outgrown their mittens, boots, and winter coats. The sled’s broken, too.
2. The robins are back, and if spring doesn’t come soon, they will need tiny, knitted sweaters to keep them warm. Who’s going to chase them down and convince them to wear the darn things?
1. The Man of Steel’s birthday heralds the arrival of the new season. This year he’ll celebrate the big 6-0. I’m eagerly anticipating the few short months of spring and summer when he’s 60 and I’m not.
Why are you looking forward to spring? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Feb 23, 2016 | Top Ten Tuesday
This year I decided to give up snacks for Lent. With my efforts failing more often than not, I’ve come up with a long list of what I wish I’d given up instead.
10. House cleaning. This one I would willingly doing for Lent and beyond.
9. Being an unpublished fiction writer. I’m working diligently on this one. But parts of accomplishing it are beyond my control.
8. A sentimental attachment to stuff. My closets would be much happier if this had been my choice. Plus, it would make #10 more feasible.
7. An illogical desire for a swimming pool. It’s a luxury I can do without and an unwanted, extra task since the Man of Steel’s take on it is, “Go ahead and do it…as long as you’re the one who cleans it.”
6. Messy closets and dresser drawers. See #8.
5. Impatience. Except I want to give this one up immediately, as in right now, rather than spend 40 days grinding away at it.
4. Self-righteousness. Mom used to call it a tendency to pat myself on my back. But there’s more to it than that. Like a tendency to elevate myself at the expense of others. A tendency I wish was easier to shake.
3. Guilt. The unfounded, irrational kind that sucks away energy that could be better spent on lifting others up rather than mentally beating yourself down.
2. Worry. The ever-present companion of all parents. Even after their kids are grown, gone, and on their own. The slightest sniff of distress in their lives and the worry meister rears its ugly head.
1. A divided heart. Each time we or friends and loved ones leave, whether from town to town or from this world to the next, my heart breaks. A piece of it is left behind where we once lived or travels on with those leaving me behind. Forty days of Lent spent contemplating what Jesus gave up for the world are not enough to repair the brokenness, nor should they be. Instead these 40 days call me to contemplate the glory yet to come. The eternal day when all who hope in Christ will be reunited and every divided heart will be made whole.
What do you wish you’d given up for Lent? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Feb 16, 2016 | Top Ten Tuesday
Lately, I’ve been thinking about Mom’s parents, Vernon and Josephine Hess. Because my paternal grandma died before I was born and my paternal grandpa died when I was 8, Grandpa and Grandma Hess were the only grandparents present throughout my childhood. Their style was more hands-off than hands-on, perhaps because they didn’t have enough hands or time to be actively involved in the lives of 39 grandchildren. Even so, I hope to pass down to my grandchildren many of the heart treasures they passed down to all of their grandkids. Here’s my top ten list.
10. Playing cards. My grandparents didn’t play many board games, but they loved playing cards. Our grandson will old enough to appreciate the finer points of Go Fish! From there, we will move onto Crazy Eights, Old Maid, Uno, Skippo, Hearts, Cribbage, and Shangai Rummy. Once his younger cousins can join the fun, we’ll add Nertz to the mix, too.
9. Love of house plants. Specifically geraniums. Do a Gravel Road website search of “geraniums” for more information.
8. Love for the land. My grandparents were farmers who loved the land. 6 of their 8 children were farmers. We were “town kids” and loved spending time on the farms with our cousins. Because my son is a farmer, I hope my grandparents’ love for the land survives for another generation.
7. Good money management. Grandpa and Grandma raised 8 kids during the Great Depression. Grandma was a gifted money manager. My mom inherited the skill from her, my siblings and I inherited it from her, and hopefully it will be passed along to the grands, too.
6. Strong work ethic. My memories of Grandpa and Grandma all revolve around work. After he retired, Grandpa still helped my uncles on their farms. Grandma was constantly cooking, cleaning, and quilting. The only big whoo-ha of the week was watching Lawrence Welk on Saturday night.
5. Love of cooking. As was mentioned before, Grandma spent a lot of time cooking. And she was a fantastic cook. May of the recipes on this blog originated with her. My grandson and I usually do some kind of “cooking” during weekend visits. Pretty soon, the other grands will join the fun, too.
4. Family history. My grandparents and parents constantly told stories about their growing up years, and stories about their parents and grandparents. My mother even wrote stories about growing up in the depression. My sister illustrates them, puts them in book form, and gives one to Mom each Christmas. She also gives Mom’s great-grands sets of the books when they are born. The stories I wrote for my kids about growing up with a dad in a wheelchair were what nudged me into a writing career. I hope my kids and grands treasure our family stories and add their own to the narrative.
3. Sense of belonging. Though my grandparents didn’t have lots of time to spend with each individual grandchild, they made it very clear that we belonged to them. All my life, being part of their family has been a deep sense of security. What better gift can I give my grands than the same sense of security and belonging?
2. Family love. Unconditional. Unending. All-encompassing. Love that sees not only who a person is in the present, but sees future potential. What a precious gift to pass along to a new generation.
1. Memories of Grandpa and Grandma’s house. My grandparents’ house in town is still standing. I could walk in today and identify where Grandma’s sewing machine stood, where Grandpa sat in the kitchen nook and scraped his grapefruit rind clean, where Grandma hid the red hots, and the exact spot where the bed with a mattress so soft we always slid to the middle stood, where the board games were stored in the coat closet, and where Grandma stored extra pajamas for her grandkids, who sometimes stayed overnight unexpectedly, in the bottom drawer of a dresser in the hallway. Though I haven’t been in the house for 33 years, those memories and many more, are clear and vivid in my mind. When my grandchildren turn 50, then 60, and older, I hope their memories of Papoo and Grammy Jo’s house remain crystal clear and timeless treasures in their hearts.
What do you hope to pass along to your grands? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Feb 2, 2016 | Top Ten Tuesday
The first month of January is now history, and with its passing I am painfully aware of what I did not accomplish. Here’s a look at my top ten epic fails so far in 2016.
10. I overbaked some chocolate chip bars for a weekend church function. Thankfully, we were out of town the weekend they were served, so I didn’t have to watch people discover how dry they were.
9. The historical paper photographs that have been sitting on a chair for 2 1/2 years waiting to be organized remain untouched. The same can be said for my collection of digital photographs, too.
8. I keep meaning to up my lunch game and eat three square meals a day. But it never happens. Instead, I graze from about 11 to 1 almost every day.
7. Too late, I discovered that if a sweet, cuddly granddaughter’s first birthday falls shortly after the New Year, waiting until January to buy a card means the sweet, cuddly granddaughter will receive her card a day late.
6. The weekend shopping trip to update my winter wardrobe did not happen. So I have to keep my by my sides at all times so people don’t see the holes in my sweater underarms.
5. My grandson and I have not yet found the right flavor of Koolaid to make bright, purple play dough. Our best effort yielded a dingy color we call “gray-ple” that’s nothing to write home about.
4. My sister and I were not discovered by a Hollywood mogul during our beach walk in southern California. Perhaps because the surfers were more interesting.
3. I did not get nominated for an Academy Award. For the 59th year in a row. It’s enough to make a person quit trying.
2. My Cindy Crawford look-alike make over was a bust.
1. Neither the Democrats or Republicans asked me to join their last debates before the Iowa caucuses. So I was unable to throw a hissy fit and withdraw because the moderator was a mean girl. It’s not fair!
Want to share your epic fails thus far in 2016? The comment box is waiting for you.
by jphilo | Jan 22, 2016 | Top Ten Tuesday
A few years back I spoke at a conference in Corpus Christi, Texas in January and thus escaped several days worth of Iowa winter. With our state in the deep freeze again, perhaps these 10 observations will warm your chilly heart on this Fantastic Friday.
10. Bilingual signs are no big deal in Texas. In Iowa, some people view them with suspicion.
9. Corpus Christi, population 307,953, is considered a small city in Texas. Des Moines, population 206,599, is Iowa’s largest city and the capitol. We think it’s plenty big.
8. Texas wait staff ask if you want sweet iced tea or plain iced tea. Iowa wait staff ask if you want hot tea or iced tea.
7. Texas restaurants feature iced tea as their go-to drink in January. Iowa restaurants feature coffee. Hot coffee.
6. In Texas, you can order shrimp three days in a row, and it’s no big deal. In Iowa, it’s a big deal.
5. When the Star Spangled Banner accompaniment doesn’t work in Texas, every day folk sing a capella, no holds barred. In Iowa, every day folk refuse to sing anything a capella unless under duress because it’s not polite to show off.
4. Iowans feel guilty about escaping winter to enjoy 70+ degree Texas weather for a few days. Texans think Iowans are crazy to live where the temperature goes below freezing.
3. In much of Texas, home owners consider swimming pools a necessity and furnaces non-essential. In Iowa, furnaces are a necessity and swimming pools are for rich people.
2. In Texas, people will wait in line for a half hour to get ice cream at Baskin Robbins on a January Friday night. In Iowa, people wait in line for a half hour to get hot chocolate on a January Friday night.
1. John Wayne may have been born in Iowa, but Texas owns him.
by jphilo | Jan 19, 2016 | Top Ten Tuesday
The fashion powers-that-be have released fashion trends for Spring, 2016. While I like to keep my wardrobe up to date, here are 10 trends I’m skipping this spring.
10. Leg-o-mutton sleeves. All that extra material can be used to make dresses for children in Haiti.
9. Tiaras. Unless attending little girls’ birthday and/or tea parties. Or a Downton Abbey theme party. Or at home while writing.
8. Sequins. Because we still find the occasional sequin from costumes our daughter made in 2006 for a high school play. Those things never die.
7. Metallic glitter eye shadow. Except perhaps on my 60th birthday in July. After all there’s an exception for everything.
6. Slip dresses. There’s a reason slips were originally designed to be worn under other clothing. They don’t look good as dresses.
5. Fishnet and macrame skirts. Life is too short to sit on knotted string or to worry about what’s peeking out and saying boo.
4. See through lace. Refer to #5 minus the knots.
3. Tie dye. Been there and done that when I was young enough to carry it off.
2. Big glasses. The pictures never show how they slide down the nose and need to be pushed up. All day long. Day after day. Until people tire of it and fashions change.
1. Off the shoulder gowns. I couldn’t rock the look in the early 60’s (see photo), so why in the world try to rock it in 2016?
What fashion trends will you skip this spring? Leave a comment.
