A Thinly Veiled Compliment

I was outside just a few minutes ago, getting my daughter to take some pictures of me (for a very exciting giveaway that I can't tell you about yet.)

She looked at the display screen,which was focused on me, and said, matter-of-fact-ly, "You look fatter than usual in here, Mom."

Ahhh...  I do love that girl.

Beyond Reason

Back in "the day," when I pretended I might one day have a career, I received a Bachelor's degree in English. I know, it's hard to tell some days as you're reading this blog, but it's true.

15 years later, I am finally doing what I always dreamed of...  Editing!  A friend has written a book and is kindly (and oh-so-patiently) waiting for me to finish reading it and making suggestions for revisions.  I'm about half way through.

(And there was much rejoicing.  Yaaaaay.)

Anyway, as you may have guessed, I'm a bit rusty when it comes to proper AP Style grammar and all that. What's changed?  What are the rules about commas and quotation marks?  Are there exceptions?  And how many tenses are there in the English language?  Good grief!

So, I've been looking up a lot of these questions.  Online.  [Gasp]  There are a few websites that seem to be quite accurate and thorough in their grammatical explanations.  Occasionally though, I just can't find an answer on one of those sites.  So I go exploring.

Today, while looking for rules on the proper use of "half" vs "half of," I read a comment from someone who seemed quite knowledgeable.  Except that one of his sentences began with "The reason is because..."

I remember learning early on that I should never say "The reason is because..."  The reason for this is that the proper way to say it is "The reason is that..."  See what I did there?

(I'm slyly winking at how clever I am.  Can't see me?  Hmm... I'll work on my sly winking for future editions of "So I Think I'm an Editor.")

All that to say, I found the blunder of this grammar genius amusing.  And I'm back to digging up an answer to "half" vs "half of."  The reason is that I just can't trust this The-Reason-is-Because Guy to lead me down the right path.

As You Wish

I found this list the other day.  I like it.  I've tried to memorize it, but sometimes I get the items mixed up.  So I'm thinking I should just put it up on a wall somewhere.

Anyway, as I think about this list, I realized that I'm really good at some of the stuff on this list.  For example, I've got a pretty bad memory, so I'm pretty good at forgetting the transgressions of others against me.  But then there are other things on the list that I need to keep working on.  The more I want someone to know that I love them, the more I need to make an effort to do these things.

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

Love does not envy.

Love does not boast.

Love is not proud.

Love does not dishonor others.

Love is not self-seeking.

Love is not easily angered.

Love keeps no record of wrong.

Love does not delight in evil.

Love rejoices with the truth.

Love always protects.

Love always trusts.

Love always hopes.

Love always perseveres.

Love never fails. 

Go ahead and print it out if you want.  I don't think God will mind.  Don't get stuck in the tedium of reading it.  Read each sentence and really think about it.  I'm planning to take the next couple weeks to do that.

Some days

Some days it's nice to feel useful...  like I'm making a difference in my kids' lives, like I'm helping friends in need.

Some days it's just nice to eat brownies.

I'm going to schedule "eat brownies" into my week next week.

Hallelujah

My nine year old girl has been listening to the YouTube video of the Hallelujah Chorus flash mob, performed at the mall down the road from us.

(You can click on the video below to watch it...)

I asked her how many times she was going to listen to it.

"I just don't ever want to stop listening to it!"

I know how you feel, Sweetie.

Screech go the brakes

You've probably heard this joke before:
Q: What goes "Vroom, Screech, Vroom, Screech, Vroom, Screech!"
A: A blonde going through a flashing red light.

I thought maybe the answer today was "Wanda."

As I was driving around town today, ferrying kids back and forth, traversing from one side of the city to the other and then doing all that again (carefully avoiding, that second time through, the awful traffic jam that construction caused), I realized that I should have some kind of sticker on my van...

I love my kids and I love running them around to different events.  I love the chance to help out a friend by giving her kids a ride home.  I love hanging out with my niece.  Next time, I'll just plan for it not to all happen at the same time.

Gotta go.  Kids have to get to their mid-week Kids Club at the church down the road and hubby needs a ride home soon.

Vroom!


~


p.s.  A while back a friend kept saying, "Boom goes the dynamite."

A my insistent questioning, he explained that it had its origins on SportsCenter (or something like that) and I echoed back my understanding by saying, "Kinda like 'Screech goes the train?'"

He laughed and said, "Yeah, kind of like that...  But not."  So now when someone says, "Boom!" I always think "Screech!"

How you doin'?

The kids and I read recently that you can actually make yourself feel better by smiling.  Your emotions are that closely tied to your facial muscles.  We tried it.  It's true.

It's been my goal for a couple years now to get cashiers to smile.  If I'm out with my hubby, I'll challenge him to make the cashier smile before saying good-bye.  He sometimes does some pretty goofy things to get that smile, but he goes for it.

I was telling someone about this recently, over the internet.  As I typed it out I thought, "What's the best way to wrap this up?"

I started typing:  "It's my goal for them to be happy once I leave."  Wait, it's not that I want to make them so miserable that they're glad I'm gone.

I tried again: "It's my goal for them to be happy after they check me out."  Ha ha ha!!!  That's not what I meant either.  

How you doin'?

Oh well.  I may not be gooderer at this word-putting-together-thing than you, but I hope I made you smile nonetheless.