Funny Monday

Peter of Holtie's House is the host for the last Fun Monday of 2007. Peter has set an appropriate task for this holiday eve. He is asking "I want you to tell us your favorite joke and/or show us your favorite cartoon, don’t worry if there is some duplication that just means more than one person found it funny.So come on and regale us with your best joke and/or cartoon, remember its New Years Eve and we feel like a good laugh, before 2008 comes along and does its thing on us."

Well, Peter the problem with jokes is that sometimes (most times) I cannot remember the punchline. Or if I remember the punchline, I cannot remember the setup. Hence, my joke telling is rarely funny. I do, however, have a favorite cartoonist and a favorite cartoon character. Our son, Luke , created a comic strip in college called "Void Where Prohibited." His comic strip was published in the Purdue University newspaper, The Exponent, during Luke's junior year at Purdue. One of the main characters of "Void Where Prohibited" was a duck named Miles. Miles as some of you may know is the first name of our own Daddy D. The duck was named by one of Luke's roommates, who had been a student in Miles's physics and chemistry classes.

This version of Miles did not appear in "Void Where Prohibited". Luke created the chemist duck for a booklet that Miles and I created for a science teacher's inservice.

After college, Luke created another strip called "Caffiene." This comic strip is about a young man, Jonas. Jonas works in a coffee shop but is seeking a professional employment. Luke featured a three week series on his blog, Useless Clutter starting on August 11, 2004.

The original of this comic is actually a traditional four-panel strip. This presentation allows easier reading. I love the cute fierce-looking dog.

For more joy and laughter, visit our other Fun Monday participants. Check out the list of particpants at Peter's place at Holtie's House. Have a wonderful end of the year, and may the year 2008 be your best year yet.

Happy Anniversary to Me and Daddy D

Once upon a time this kitty lover

grew up to be a cowboy.

And, this dark-haired maid

became a cowgirl.

The two cowhands met in July of 1964, and wed on December 26, 1966.

Now, the happy couple looks like this.

Merry Christmas

May this holiday bring you joy and peace.

My First Weekly Words Challenge

Update: My daughter-in-law, Bree, professionally writes a blog for Parents.com called Parental Discretion Advised . While Bree is in the hospital recovering from delivering an eleven pound baby, guests are writing posts for her professional blog. My entry of Luke's birth is the first of these guest posts. Luke ,of course, is Kara's daddy.

This week's words are

White and Life

for my very first entry the

Weekly Words Challenge

Sponsored bt Tink at Pickled Beef.

Meet a new life, the lovely Miss Kara, and her mom, Frema, of What're you looking at? Our new granddaughter weighing in at 11 pounds and four ounces of life.

A layer of white snow is a common sight in northwest Indiana.

The Baby Is Here.

Our new granddaughter has arrived weighing in at an awesome eleven pounds four ounces. Her grandpa, Daddy D, and I will be leaving shortly to meet her. Of course, we will be returning with pictures. Until then, you can read about and see pictures of the little (or not so little) sweetie at her mommy's blog, What're you looking at? , compliments of the lovely, beautiful, kind, and talented Molly of Lost a Sock.

Tradition

In November when Deborah, The Humble Housewife, the Fun Monday hostess asked about holiday traditions, I spoke about Thanksgiving because we keep Christmas rather simple. And then later, Karisma asked about a childhood memory, I spoke about my childhood fear of Santa. Last Monday, Kaytabug of Lady K asked us to show our favorite ornament. As I visited other Fun Monday sites, I noticed many of the participants had fully decorated homes. These events as well as driving throughout our town viewing the festive decorations of the homes in my community caused me to reflect. Although our decorating is low key, Daddy D and I do have a few decorating traditions that we practice every year.

For example, we display Christmas cards above our doorway; this tradition is past down from my parents. However, as they were conscientious and sent cards, they received many cards in return.

Our tree has mostly been small. Our current version is actually the top of an artificial tree. The ornaments are those with special meaning, gifts from students, or made by our children. Under the tree are floppy reindeer from some fast food giveaway.

Another tradition, which we started because of cats and small children, was hanging breakable ornaments on the kitchen bulletin board. We no longer have cats, and our children are in their thirties, but we still display some special ornaments on the bulletin board.

We have a creche that my parents gave us many, many years ago. And, we have a whimsical Holy Family created by the youth at church. One of our newer customs is to display the flower pot Mary and Joseph on our kitchen table. We also keep these snowman salt and pepper shakers as part of the holiday decorations.

I sometimes think that we are not especially attached to traditions. However, although our displays are simple, I realized that we do decorate a certain way each year. Furthermore, although our decorating tends to be like our shopping a last minute affair, when I could not find some of our ornaments on Friday night, I was distraught. Maybe I do like a few traditions.

Waiting for the Call

Sort of a update: As of 4:14 PM Central Time, Sunday, December 16. 2007, the baby has not arrived. If she does not decide to come out on her own, her parents, Luke and Frema, have scheduled an appointment to induce labor on Monday, December 17, at 7:30 AM so by tomorrow our little grandchild will make her grand entrance to the world. Luke and Frema have been blogging about their activities and the status of the weather in the baby's hometown.



Our son, Luke, and his wife, Frema, are expecting a baby girl. In fact, the official due date was yesterday, December 10th. Frema has been posting about her pregnancy on her blog, What're you looking at?. She also writes a professional blog, Parental Discretion Advised at Parents. com.

For the past few weeks every time the phone rings, I think that Luke will be on the other end telling us his baby, our grandchild has arrived. Maybe that call will come today. You can be sure that I will let you know when we get the CALL.

Fun Monday - Deck the Halls

For this week's Fun Monday challenge, Kaytabug of Lady K is asking the cheerful bloggers. "In the spirit of the season I would like to see your favorite Christmas tree ornament." As Kaytabug readily admits, many of us will not pick just one.

One of my favorites is this S'mores snowman that Luke gave me one Christmas.

This pair of mice, Gus-Gus and Jacques, stars of Walt Disney's Cinderella were promotional items offered by Mickey D.'s many years ago.

Of course, every mom's favorite ornaments are something made by the kids.

To view other favorite ornaments visit our hostess for the list of participants.

Still Ticking

When I was One,

I had just begun.

When I was Two,

I was nearly new.

When I was Three,

I was hardly Me.

When I was Four,

I was not much more.

When I was Five,

I was just alive.

But now I am Sixty, I'm as clever as clever,

So I think I'll be sixty now forever and ever.

with apologies to A.A. Milne

The post below, " Biological Clock Ticking - Lying about My Age", is from my original blog, Spring of the White Robin. In the post, I explain my strange attitude towards aging. I was 59 at the time of this entry.

For the pass twenty years, I have been lying about my age. However, my truth twisting about my age is not to make me seem younger. (Nothing could make me seem younger. Look at the picture.) Eccentrically, when I was nearing forty, I decided that 40 sounded better than 38 or 39. As I approached 50, I hardly ever owned up to being a mere 48 or 49.

Here I am actually quite near to the age of 60, and in some ways, I tend to think that my biological clock is ticking, ticking, ticking. Of course, the old clock is not ticking in the traditional sense of the term of running out of time to bear children. I am blessed to have two wonderful sons, who are both married to fantastic women. And, my kind, compassionate husband and I are also fortunate to be grandparents to one fabulous little girl. However, I feel that as the years pass that I may be running out of time to do everything that I want whether that is to be a better person, to see more of the world, or to learn to play a dulcimer.

This progression of time does not at all make me despondent. I have and have had a rewarding as well as a fulfilling life. Just something to think about as another milestone is reached in reality.

My advice to all is to love and live your life each and every day no matter how old you are.

Addedum, December 4, 2007: I am sixty-one years old today. Today, is my birthday. I have had a good sixtieth year. In fact, I think that 60 has been one of my favorite ages. Additionally in any day, now we are expecting our second grandchild.

Fun Monday - My Favorite Posts

Here it is Monday afternoon, and I have yet to enter my Fun Monday post for December 3. Luckily, our hostess, Robinella is making it easy this week. Robinella has asked to select our favorite post. My favorite post is actually on another blog. In June, the lovely Sunshine of ...and the pursuit of happiness asked me to guest post on her blog. My entry entitled Looking for My Man was posted on June 14, 2007. Since that post is actually part of Sunshine's blog, I think that my choice should be something posted here on Return of the White Robin. After careful consideration, I am choosing a post from June 8. Both these favorites are from last June. I must be slacking lately.


Friday, June 8, 2007

The Times They Are A-Changin'


Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you don't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand
For the times they are a-changin' (Bob Dylan)


"Things are not like they used to be" is complaint uttered by perhaps every generation that has graced the this good Earth. Moreover, this complaint is usually issued as a view about the behavior, attitudes, and lifestyles of the current younger generation. Sometimes this utterance is followed with a wish to return to the good old days. These generalizations like any simplified analysis of life on our planet cannot be valid.


Inherent in the claim, "Things are not like they used to be," is the implication that going back to an earlier, simpler time would be preferable to living in today's world. Of course, that specific notion is impossible. Furthermore, I assert that returning to the past would not be desirable.Granted horrific things happen daily, but the past is filled with a multitude of injustices. In our own country, land was taken from the natives, Japanese American citizens were interned, a race of people were enslaved, and African-Americans were denied access to housing, education, and the right to vote. Maybe the past has been difficult, and the present is problematical.In thinking about evil in the world, one might be tempted to give up and throw in the towel. What should we do instead? Of course, you know the answer. We need to stand up for fairness and justice. We need to right the wrongs that we can. By attempting to move ethically and morally forward, we help humankind. Maybe we cannot cure all of the ills in the world, but giving up is not an option.I am encouraged by the efforts of many young people. For example, two youths, Nick Anderson and Ana Slavin, were highlighted for good works on the evening news. Nick and Ana started a national campaign called Dollars for Darfur. These two high school students began a campaign to raise money to help Darfurians. In another instance, this past week, Mimi Lenox, organized a Blogblast for Peace, in which Peace Globes and entries about peace were posted throughout the blogging community. Mimi, Nick, and Ana represent people devoted to building a better day and a better tomorrow. People like this give us hope for the future. People like this give us courage to do better. People like this have not given up on the today's world, and I will not give up either.


Can you think of other people working to make a better world?

Is there ever a convenient time

for things to break? Last night, our furnace stopped working last night around 9:30. My husband, Daddy D, was in the basement when the furnace stopped functioning. We tried to refire the appliance to no avail. At 9:30 on a Friday night with an outside temperature of 23 degrees Fahrenheit with wind chills in the low teens, we are faced with a decision. Do we act like wussies and call the repairman to make a Friday night service call at a premium cost, or do we respond like cheapskates and wait until Saturday morning to make the call? If you know us very well, you selected the cheapskate route. Yes, we choose not to call the service people until this morning. Now, our choice was not based so much on bravery of facing a cold night; our choice was based partly on convenience. If we did ask for service last night, the repairman probably would not have made it to our home until 11:00 or 12:00 at night. By that time, we were fast asleep under our warm blankets. Currently, at 8:38 AM on Saturday morning, we are sitting in our home wearing long underwear, warm socks, and sweaters waiting for the repair personnel to come and fix the furnace. The temperature outside is currently 28 degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature inside is currently 52 degrees. So was this a convenient time for a furnace breakdown?

Earlier in November, our washer machine stopped functioning properly. This occurred right before Thanksgiving. When things breakdown, I wonder, "Is this a convenient time for the washer to stop working?" Well, there is probably never a convenient time for breakdowns; however, some times are more convenient than others. For example, a friend of ours had a flat tire on a bridge crossing the Mississippi River at St. Louis. Of course, having a flat tire is always an inconvenience, but changing a tire on a bridge over a major body of water sounds frightening to me. In her post last spring, Old Pipes and Easter, I remember Gawilli discussing this very issue of convenience.


As we wait for the furnace fix, I wish for you a warm and pleasant weekend with all of your appliances functioning properly and your car running smoothly.

Update: The furnace man did make to our house around noon on Saturday, and we have been toasty warm for the rest of the weekend.