The beauty of a loving marriage

Those friends who knew Ronald and Edith Tolkien over the years never doubted that there was deep affection between them. It was visible in the small things, the almost absurd degree in which each worried about the other's health, and the care in which they chose and wrapped each other's birthday presents'; and in the large matters, the way in which Ronald willingly abandoned such a large part of his life in retirement to give Edith the last years in Bournemouth that he felt she deserved, and the degree in which she showed pride in his fame as an author. A principal source of happiness to them was their shared love of their family. This bound them together until the end of their lives, and it was perhaps the strongest force in the marriage. They delighted to discuss and mull over every detail of the lives of their children, and later their grandchildren.


About JRR Tolkien and his wife of over 50 years.
That and God kept their marriage together. More people could learn from it.


Just sayin'.

I've often thought it ...

Happy Valentines Day

Zoolander - Twilight - FUNNY

Ahhh, what a lot of us we're thinking. He has the guts to say it.

'Nuff said!

My son's first school test on Friday ... funny

Bed making

A few years ago I made two new year's resolutions and kept both of them. (I'm not into new year's resolutions - hadn't made any before; haven't really made any since.)

First, I decided to stop biting my nails. (tick)

Second, I decided I had to be grown up and make the bed everyday. (tick - for me, that is)

Note to 'helpful hubby':
Pulling up the covers in a roughly directionally correct way, does not a bed make.


Just sayin'.

Out of the mouths of babes ... death

There is a family of rabbits that live around our neighbourhood. I think there are about 6 of them. 4 brown and 2 black. I'm not sure if they are someone's pets, but they seem to run wild and I suspect they like to eat my flowers.

Today, I drove around the block an extra time so that the kids and I could spy out where any of the 'Peter Rabbits' have been lately.

From the back Miss piped up quiet matter-o-factly, "I can't see them mum, I reckon he's dead! Been killed."

That stumped me. She wasn't upset at the thought. Then Master and Miss had a conversation about the ways Peter Rabbit might have died.

Well, that was an eventful car trip home from school and preschool.

Just sayin'.

Sunnies

way cool.
Just sayin'

Nuances in a child's language

I said to him, "Don't throw that down from the top of the stairs please.", just as the plastic solider and his paper parachute left his hand.

He replied, "I didn't throw it, I dropped it."

Well, you can't fault him for his logic in thinking he was still doing right.

Nuances.

Just sayin'

The best thing EVER

Just sayin'.

continue relating

Favouritism is a horrible thing.

My father-in-law hated that his younger brother was the favourite and worked very hard to treat all of his kids the same, because he never wanted to be accused of having a favourite child.

It's sad when as an adult you realise that your parents still play favourites.

Sadder still when you have proof that they don't even like you as a person, but put up with you as you are their child. That sucks!

I think when your children grow older, you need to figure out how to relate to them, not as children but as adults. I'm sure this must be hard.

But as I've been thinking about it, I think I will relate to my children all differently because they are very different individuals. I will try and work out what their love language is, and then focus on that as I relate to them.

If their love language is time, then I will spend time with them.
If their love language is affirmation, then I will use my speech to affirm them.
And so on and so forth.

This way none of them will be able to (hopefully) feel that I play favourites. As I will address our relationships in ways that appeal to them.

Just sayin'.

Ahhh maths is useful

Money and toys

Bought the kids a $2 toy from the 'hot dollar' shop.

It has now occupied them for 40 minutes AND they have happily played with it together.



I think it well and truly paid for itself!!

Just sayin'.

Ahhh, so true

Joined a bowling league...

... haven't bowled in years.

Anyone who was paying even the slightest bit of attention could tell!!!!

Brought the age average down by about ........ 25 years.

Nice to feel youthful again though.

Just sayin'.

A scary money spinner

There is some money to be made in this idea: If they made The Ring in 3D ... I think it would be so much scarier - just thinking about it gives me the willies!!

But I'd still go and see it.

Just sayin'.

(PS I'm not going to put a picture with this post. I couldn't bring myself to google-image The Ring - gives me the heebee-geebees!)

Shopping with three kids

Went shopping with the three kids in tow yesterday.

What would usually take me 20 mins - took about an hour.

We all survived.

Let the reader understand.

Just sayin'.

Words to use everyday

chutzpah
Nerve or extreme arrogance. In English, chutzpah often connotes courage or confidence, but among Yiddish speakers, it is not acompliment.

feh!
An expression of disgust or disapproval, representative of the sound of spitting.


kvetsh
In popular English, kvetch means “complain, whine or fret,” but in Yiddish, kvetsh literally means “to press or squeeze,” like a wrong-sized shoe. But it’s also used on Yiddish web pages for “click here."

maven
An expert, often used sarcastically.

Mazel Tov
Literally “good luck,” (well, literally, “good constellation”) but it’s a congratulation for what just happened, not a hopeful wish for what might happen in the future. When someone gets married or has a child or graduates from college, this is what you say to them.

mentsh (or mensch)
An honorable, decent person, an authentic person, a person who helps you when you need help. Can be a man, woman or child.

mishegas
Insanity or craziness. A meshugener is a crazy man. If you want to insult someone, you can ask them, ”Does it hurt to be crazy?”

More on words

L’esprit de l’escalier :

(stairway wit) is the sense of thinking of a clever comeback when it is too late. The phrase can be used to describe a riposte to an insult, or any witty, clever remark that comes to mind too late to be useful—when one is on the “staircase” leaving the scene.

Virga:

Rain that Evaporates before Reaching the Ground.

h/t Gospel Ninja

Usage of rubber bands

Ahhh, so true. Just sayin'.

Wow...

Some people are awesomely talented and have waaaaayy too much time on their hands.

Just sayin'.

heads down ... bums up

All three of my children have, at 9months old, started sleeping on their tummies, heads down in a corner of the cot, with their bums in the air.

Weird. Just sayin'.

Ahhh, true answers

Picture words

Real names

Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. (Ken’s last name is Carson.)

Cap’n Crunch’s full name is Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch

The Wizard of Oz rolls off the tongue a lot easier than his full name, Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs. From Frank Baum’s Dorothy And the Wizard in Oz

Snuffleupagus has a first name—Aloysius.

In the Peanuts comic strip, Peppermint Patty’s real name is Patricia Reichardt.

In a deleted scene in the 2006 Curious George movie, The Man With the Yellow Hat’s name was revealed as Ted Shackleford.

The real name of Monopoly mascot Rich Uncle Pennybags is Milburn Pennybags.

The policeman in Monopoly has a name, too. You can thank Officer Edgar Mallory the next time he sends you to jail.

Words - understanding them ...

Wowser - just sayin'

Words - just sayin'

Kummerspeck
(German) Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon.

Paper-belly
A person unable to drink liquor straight, or one who grimaces after drinking.

Petrichor
The clean, pleasant smell that accompanies rain falling on dry ground. It’s from the Greek petra (stone) and ichor (the blood of Greek gods and goddesses). The term was coined by two Australian researchers in 1964.

milliHelen
The quantity of beauty required to launch just one ship.

Dysania
Having difficulty getting out of bed in the morning.

Karoshi
(Japanese) Death from being overworked.

Lawn Mullet
A neatly manicured front yard and an unmowed mess in the back.