Monday Mutterings on Tuesday Night

I say … and you think … ?

1. Hairbrush :: Comb
2. Sneak :: Thief
3. Hole :: In One
4. Horror :: Movie
5. Standard :: Oil
6. Mailbox :: Inbox
7. Attachment :: File
8. Type :: Compute
9. Nails :: Hammer
10. Storage :: Drive

Daybook for 10/20/09

A Simple Woman’s Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today… Tuesday, October 20th 2009

I am thankful for… my husband and the rest of my family

Prayer tablet… for the souls of David, Olen, Robert and Samuel; for the health of my husband, the children and grandchildren; for too many friends to list, but especially Suzanna, Marina, and Diane.

Outside my window… A cool, late autumn sun tries to enlighten my world, but there is no warmth and no brightness to the day.

I am thinking… of how to clean out the car, get packed and still get the three cases on my desk completed.

I am wearing… Crocs, fleece socks, sweat pants, a long-sleeved shirt and a quilted jacket. I’m still cold!

I am reading… The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin – pretty good so far!

I am hoping… Emmy and I pass the ADI (Assistance Dogs International) public access test this weekend

I am creating… nothing – I’m feeling very uncreative at the moment

I am hearing… the swish – swash of the dishwasher

Around the house… there are lots of cobwebs and little spiders.

From the learning rooms… I’m studying some medical conditions that are new to me in order to address issues in a case.

Noticing that… this world is slipping even further down the slippery slope {cribbed from Peggy, but I feel that way, too}

From the kitchen… Sally Lunn bread and (ersatz) clotted cream – both made by my wonderful husband.

Around town… preparations for Halloween – something we do NOT observe. I’ll need to make the yearly sign.

One of my favorite things… little Emmy

A few plans for the rest of the week… driving on Friday to Columbia SC for Emmy’s recertification.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you… (missing Matthew who was not yet born).

Bamma and Crew

Monday Meme

How do you define honesty?

Telling the truth without withholding anything; being dependable and frank; keeping one’s word; giving a full day’s work for one’s pay.

What is the main thing that makes you unique?

My cheerful outlook on life.

What is your biggest fear or worry?

Being alone; being abandoned.

Unconscious Mutterings Meme

Luna Niña posts a blog meme each Sunday. So here it is, Tuesday, and I’m just getting around to it!

I say, you think:

1. My treat :: thank you
2. Bell :: book and candle
3. Five :: six
4. You’re crazy :: so are you
5. Disgust :: appreciation
6. Tempest :: teapot
7. Bummer :: so cliche
8. Brim :: hat
9. Hose :: shoes
10. Lollipop :: cookie

There are no right or wrong answers. If you want to play, check out: Luna Niña

[Archive] 8/20/04

Friday, August 20, 2004 7 / 20 August 2004

The one who is perfect in love and has reached the summit of detachment knows no distinction between one’s own and another’s, between faithful and unfaithful, between slave and freeman, or indeed between male and female. But having risen above the tyranny of the passions and looking to the one nature of men he regards all equally and is equally disposed toward all. For in him there is neither Greek no Jew, neither male nor female, neither slave nor freeman, but Christ is everything and in everything. ………….

St Maximus the Confessor

Posted by Elizabeth at 8/20/2004 06:06:00 AM

Manic Monday on Tuesday!

Do you read an actual print newspaper? If so, how often?

Maybe once a month

What is your main source of news?

Internet MSM websites + individual stories on Google News

Do you believe that it’s possible for the media to be unbiased?

Yes. I have seen many stories without bias either to right or left. Just print the facts, not suppositions.

For the record, Manic Monday is a great source of Meme material!

Monday Meme (On Tuesday)

Would you be willing to have horrible nightmares every night for a year if you would be rewarded with extraordinary wealth?

Absolutely NOT! Nightmares and the anxiety that follow can become pervasive in your life and change you into a different person.

What was the most recent movie that made you cry?

Airforce One (on a DVD)

Would you rather be stranded on an island alone or with someone you hate?

With someone I hate – this would be an opportunity to learn to ask forgiveness and, perhaps, to love him or her.

School Days of Yore

School Days! School Days!
Dear old Golden Rule days!
Reading, and writing and ‘rithmetic!
Called to the tune of a Hickory Stick!
You were my queen in calico!
I was your bashful barefoot beau!
You wrote on my slate, “I love you so!”
When we were a couple of kids!

School started in our area this past week and jogged some memories of my school days.

School days for me would start in August, when the new season’s clothes appeared in the stores – specifically, Rich’s. Mrs. Milligan was the sales associate in the children’s department. We would tell her what we wanted, and then go sit in the fitting room. She would select dresses, blouses, jumpers, socks, undies, slips and other accoutrements. I would try them all on (except the socks and undies), and my Little Gam or my Little Momma would make the final selection. Occasionally everything was sent back and we started over. Most of the time, however, Mrs. Milligan’s taste was perfect, and we selected everything from her selections.

I particularly remember one plaid dress which I abhorred. But back then, one wore what one’s Momma or Grandmomma selected for you without complaint – except I would mutter under my breath about it. I seem to recall that about the 6th time I wore it, I “skinned the cat” on the big bar and managed to catch the hem on a huge nut and bolt and tore out a huge section of the hem and tore a hole in the dress above the hemline. My Little Gam could not repair it. I was smugly but silently pleased about that! Looking back on it, now, however, as I remember it, that plaid was something I would love now! Go figure!

Girls did NOT wear jeans or slacks to school back then! We wore skirts! When it was really cold, however, we wore leggings. Most coats for small girls, and some for taller (older) girls, came with matching leggings. These were not like leotards. They were made of the same material as the coat, sewn into leg-shapes and came down to the ankles with wide elastic bands that went under the feet to keep them from riding up. That meant shedding shoes to remove them. There were zippers up the outer sides from the bottom to the knees, then another zipper on the side (like slacks or a skirt back then). Poor teachers! In the lower grades (K-2), most of us needed some adult help to get out of them! So the first 30 minutes or so of the school day during the winter involved unzipping leggings and getting shoes off and back on. They did keep legs warm, though!

My Little Gam often made some of my clothes. She made my undies for years! I always wanted to do that for my daughter, but being a working Mom made that difficult. I didn’t have much time. And by then it really was cheaper to simply purchase them. SIGH!! I had a 12″ doll and she often would make a similar outfit for the doll from the scraps of making my clothes! It gave me a warm feeling when she did that for me! My daughter has that doll and her clothes, now. My granddaughter wasn’t very interested in dolls. Perhaps a great-granddaughter will find this antique remnant of a different day to be of interest. I hope so. I can only trust that it does not get thrown out. Perhaps it can be donated to a doll museum.

School offered hot lunch or you could bring your own. Lunch was 25 cents a week. Momma would tuck my quarter down my sock and into my shoe so I wouldn’t lose it. Later, she knotted it in a handkerchief. Sometimes I had to ask the teacher to undo the knot. I felt really embarrassed to have to ask her to do that.

In the lower grades, I did not bring my lunch. But about 3rd or 4th grade, I started carrying a lunchbox. I cannot remember what pictures were on the sides, but I do remember the thermos would always smell of sour milk by the end of the day! If I forgot it and left it at school overnight or (horrors!) over the weekend, it would take my Little Gam **hours** to clean it! My Little Gam’s afternoons and evenings were full of washing supper dishes and cleaning my lunchbox and thermos. No wonder she decided, after about a year of me carrying lunches, that I would go back to eating hot lunch at school! I continued to buy lunch through high school.

I do not look back on my school days with happy or even contented nostalgia. I hated my school days – except the actual learning that went on. I had few, if any, friends. The non-friends jeered at and tormented me. I was bullied and ostracized. Perhaps in this age, I would turn on my tormentors, but back then, I simply suffered, kept my head down and tried to do my school work.

Even college and graduate schools were no relief from bullying and tormenting. But, being older, they didn’t affect me as much. I had husband and children who provided my basis for strength.

So the old song about “school days, school days, dear old golden rule days,” arouses very mixed feelings. Very mixed, indeed.

Tips for Dealing With Someone With Chronic Pain

NOTE: I have been trying to reach the author of this wonderful set of tips for permission to publish. My attempts have been in vain. The author is in England, and I would love to hear from her!!

In the meantime, however, I just need to go ahead an publish it. Please take these to heart!

1. People with chronic pain seem unreliable (we can’t even count on ourselves). When feeling better we promise things (and mean it); when in serious pain, we may not even show up. Pain people need the “rubber time” (flexible) found in South Pacific countries and many aboriginal cultures.

2. An action or situation may result in pain several hours – or even days – later. Delayed pain is confusing to people who have never experienced it.

3. Pain can inhibit listening and other communication skills. It’s like having someone shouting at you, or trying to talk with a fire alarm going off in the room. The effect of pain on the mind can seem like attention deficit disorder. So you may have to repeat a request, or write things down for a person with chronic pain. Don’t take it personally, or think that they are stupid.

4. The senses can overload while in pain. For example, noises that wouldn’t normally bother you, seem too much.

5. Patience may seem short. We can’t wait in a long line; can’t wait for a long drawn out conversation.

6. Don’t always ask “how are you” unless you are genuinely prepared to listen – it just points attention inward.

7. Pain can sometimes trigger psychological disabilities (usually very temporary). When in pain, a small task, like changing the laundry from the washer to the dryer, can seem like a huge wall too high to climb over. An hour later the same job may be quite OK. It is sane to be depressed occasionally when you hurt.

8. Pain can come on fairly quickly and unexpectedly. Pain sometimes abates after a short rest. Chronic pain people appear to arrive and fade unpredictably.

9. Knowing where a refuge is, such as a couch, a bed, or comfortable chair, is as important as knowing where a bathroom is. A visit is much more enjoyable if the chronic pain person knows there is a refuge if needed. A person with chronic pain may not want to go anywhere that has no refuge (e.g. no place to sit or lie down).

10. Small acts of kindness can seem like huge acts of mercy to a person in pain. Your offer of a pillow or a cup of tea can be a really big thing to a person who is feeling temporarily helpless in the face of encroaching pain.

11. Not all pain is easy to locate or describe. Sometimes there is a body-wide feeling of discomfort, with hard to describe pains in the entire back, or in both legs, but not in one particular spot you can point to. Our vocabulary for pain is very limited compared to the body’s ability to feel varieties of discomfort.

12. We may not have a good “reason” for the pain. Medical science is still limited in its understanding of pain. Many people have pain that is not yet classified by doctors as an officially recognized disease. That does not reduce the pain, – it only reduces our ability to give it a label, and to have you believe us.

20 Things to Say to an Ill Person

Oftentimes people are told what not to say. This is a great help in giving them an idea of what to say! Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments below. I’d love to hear them!

#1 I don’t know what to say, but I care about you.

#2 I’m going to the grocery, what can I get you?

#3 Do you just need to vent? I’m all ears!

#4 If you need a good cry, I’ve got plenty of tissues and a shoulder.

#5 I really admire how you are handling this. I know its difficult.

#6 I’m bringing dinner Thursday. Do you want lasagna or chicken?

#7 Can I get your kids for a playdate? My kids are bored.

#8 I cant sit still. Got any laundry I can fold?

#9 What can I pray for you about that no one else is praying for?

#10 Can I bring a few friends over to clean your house fast?

#11 I don’t have any idea what you are feeling, but I will always listen.

#12 I saw these flowers and thought they’d cheer you today.

#13 How can our church encourage those with chronic illness?

#14 Tell me what it is really like to be you for a day.

#15 I made too much dinner for our family. Can I bring you some?

#16 You are amazing. How has your illness given you appreciation for life?

#17 Do you want me to come over while you wait for test results? (or go to the doctor’s office with you)

#18 You listen to me better than any other friend. Thanks.

#19 I have Monday free if you need me to run some errands or take you.

#20 Tell me about this God who gets you through one more day?