Better-Than-Average Bathroom Graffitti

          If you read Pearl's blog, today's is inspiring. At least to SDs like me. (The "D" stands for disturber. You can figure out for yourself what the "S" stands for.)

         In her post today, she writes about a certain someone at work who has started taping interesting, quirky notes in the staff restroom. They started out very basic but apparently, quickly veered into thought-provoking or downright funny.  Here are a couple she included:

   "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this---ever!

                                                                           and

                             Perhaps it's time you lowered your expectations.

photo by Storvo, Inc.

          Where I work we have a staff bathroom/restroom/toilet.  I would love to start a "phantom posting" project.  And, I would love your assistance.

            Please send in any quotes or statements that would make good bathroom reading.  I am in the mood to do some major disturbing...
   

Pay It Forward

          This is an idea that Becky Povich is passing along. Someone before her passed the baton to Becky, and someone before them put out the offer and so on...  I think Kevin Spacey originated it.  (His "gift" was a home-recorded CD of Benecio Del Torro and himself doing duets during the time when they were filming The Usual Suspects.  I wish I was one of those lucky five!)
 
          Becky proposed posting about the gifts we all have, and hopefully, participants will join in.  We are writers. But that is not our only talent. This is our chance to pass on to others--directly---our gifts.

           So, if you are interested, post a comment here to let me know.  The first five who say, "I do," (I do want to participate) will receive a handmade gift from me.  (I'm getting one from Becky. How about that!)  And if you agree to play along and pay it forward, you'll post the proposal on your blog and make a gift for five people, who will post it on their blog and send handmade gifts to five other people, and so will it spread and expand, like the ripples in a lake.

photo by Alane * Maria Julia Biscuit

          It is up to you what you consider a "homemade gift."  It could be a photo you've taken. It might be a framed poem written by you.  You could unwrap store-bought rice krispie treats and press M and Ms into them.  You could take your eyebrow hairs that have been plucked out, and you could weave them in a bracelet.  The sky is the limit!

            Let the fun begin...  

photo by bluelightson

            After all, we should have some joy in our lives as we catch our reflection in the mirror and weep at the sight of our "pudding-bag-tied-in-the-middle bodies." (Pauline's great phrase---see below) 

            And before I end this, I'd like to thank my newest four followers. Thanks, Not the Rockefellers and lightverse.  If you have a blog, please let me know and I will include a link.

             Nana Jo has a blog.  She has a lovely post about the reality of romance called "Late Roses."  Romance ain't just for the young and foolish...

              Pauline has not one, but two blogs. Her jaw-dropping line above came from her more humorous blog.  It seems she has not actively posted on it for a while, but read through the posts that are there. She treats aging with humorous stories (even though it makes our bellies jiggle and our laughlines get more pronounced as we read them).  Pauline, could you merge the two blogs?  You have an amazing gift for deft levity!

             Her other blog is more serious and introspective. If you'd like to go snow-shoeing (from the comfort of your familyroom chair) check out her January 17 post entitled "Come for a Walk With Me."  Pauline dug deep into her belief system as she dug up snow in her January 21 post called "You Never Know."

         I will end with a quote that Pauline included in her most recent post: 


"In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary."--Aaron Rose


         

The Chicken Made Me Do It

          Sometimes Many days Always, I appreciate being able to start the day off with a laugh, because later on in the day, my laughter might border on the maniacal.

          Today's post on Savage Chicken, there is a hilarious "checklist" you can print off and tape to your noisy neighbor's door. (Just kidding, at least about the idea of affixing it to your neighbor's property.)

          This post is always a cartoon done on a post-it (or two or three or four).  And chickens are the stars!

          Make sure you read it all the way through--it won't take more than half a minute. The last item is one of the funniest (in my opinion warped sense of humor).  Janel, you should definitely check out this site today. Wasn't it you that had problems with your neighbors' dogs?

photo by Eric Spiegel

         And thanks to my newest follower, Lynn.  From the blogs she follows, I am assuming she is a writer. Lynn, if you have a blog, let me know and I'll include a link. And, thank you for becoming a follower.

          

Today's Magpie Tale

          Magpie Tales--every Tuesday---has a photo or drawing to inspire you. Write a poem or a vignette. Tess Kincaid makes every Tuesday special. Below is mine.



                                                                        That photo,

the one from our trip

through the woods

to find Flat Creek...

it was crammed at the bottom

of a drawer.

Almost forgotten...

I pulled it out yesterday,

(the coldest day

my heart's ever seen)

and absently began to dig a line

into the slick surface.

The more I dug,

the more I thought:

Some change has to come.

With markers and white out,

I made the tree branches reappear

and allowed the arrow to surface,

ghost-like,

hovering over where we once stood.

If only real life was that easy---

having a giant sign in the sky,

pointing the way...



       Usually I look--hopefully--at my followers every time I post, to see if I have a new follower.  Imagine my surprise when my vigilance lapsed, and I then found not one but four new followers!

        Kim Sloggett and Lynn Obermoeller have just joined as followers.  Thank you.  Lynn, if you have a blog, please let me know and I'll slip in a link.   From the blogs she follows, I presume Lynn is a writer.  Thanks for checking out my blog.

       Kim is a fellow blogger, a writer, a teacher and is into pets big-time. Check out herblog about pets and her blog about teaching.  She's a writer, and after reading several of her posts (about the importance of getting to know your students, rewarding kids, and a humorous take on the mistakes we make), I can say that most teachers would enjoy her blog. Thanks again for becoming a follower, Kim. 

       Cathy C. Hall is a writer with countless publishing credits to her name. She recently included a link to a magazine story of hers. For those who still have their Christmas decorations up, or for those who are looking for a way to streamline their after-the-holiday routine next year, read her piece in Modern Senior Living. (She has a link, so you can read the piece--in the January edition, on page 6, without having to buy the magazine.) It's sharp and funny. Her blog is chocked full of links to contests and stories.  (If you click on her "Finding My Fame and Fortune" button, you can read a funny piece on smoking.) Cathy--thanks for following.

      Pearl writes about riding the bus, she writes about her holiday parties. (Which resulted in me preparing the best appetizer I've had in a long time and blogging about it. Check out my post on January 2 for the recipe and photos of this delicious bit of heaven.) Most of her posts are hilarious, but her warm, intropsective ones are just as good. (We laughed. We cried.)  When she falls flat on her face as a blogger, she is going to launch a new business--Pearl's Pap and Pedi (make sure you empty your bladder before you read that post so there is no "leakage" as you're reading it).  Seriously, she has almost 800 followers, so when you wonder why you don't have as many as you'd like, it's because Pearl is a blog-hog. Thanks, Pearl, for following...

       And if you're one of the 13 bloggers in the country who are not following Pearl's blog yet, peruse her posts. She takes the ordinary, makes it twistedly extraordinary.

Dinner for 25 Cents

             Three decades ago, when I was a single mother, I was broke. I was doing work I loved, but the pay was poor.  I was going to college, and, thanks to my grandparents, I had a place to live, but there was little money for food.

             And there was also the little one to worry about...

            As a mother, it was my job to sacrifice if needed, to ensure my daughter had what she needed to grow and flourish.  She got sausage and eggs and oatmeal for breakfast. Lunch was at her daycare center.  And dinner--for her--was usually some sort of "hamburger helper" along with whatever vegetables I could entice her to eat. One box and a small mound of meat would last for several meals for her.

         On the other hand, I ate macaroni and cheese most evenings. In those days, there was a section of "plain label" groceries---plain white boxes and simple black labels---and you could get 4 boxes of macaroni and cheese mix for a buck.  That meant a dollar would buy me dinner for four nights. (If I was living particularly high on the hog, I would add some sauteed onions, which elevated them to "gourmet.")

photo by Laura A

         Today, I still love macaroni and cheese, with some sauteed onions thrown in for a zing of flavor. It's strange how we return, again and again, to get comfort from the things we had to eat when things were tight.

          Almost forgotten, these memories were unearthed when I read Pearl's heart-warming post.  It's called "Wherein I Get Sentimental About a Bird I Once Knew." Usually, Pearl is irreverent and gut-bustingly funny.  This one is poignant.

          Check it out. It'll warm you up tonight, despite the cold weather...



icicles hanging right above our front door



snow in the great white North (County)