The Bicycle Surprise

The rain had finally stopped and Jinx and Jangle were glad. Now they could use their new bicycles that Santa had sent them. Yes, they had got another big package from the North Pole after receiving the one with the stuffed reindeer in it. They were delighted with the fun surprise of bikes.

Jangle said, “You know what, I think Santa really does miss us.” Jinx shook his head, “With as much trouble as we caused?” Jangle smiled as he replied,  “Oh you caused more trouble then I did! So perhaps I am wrong, maybe it is only me that Santa misses.”   Jinx muttered something in reply as they headed out the door into the sunshine.

They were enjoying the light breeze as they rode on their bikes on a lovely nature trail. They had decided to visit the Oahu trail  that they had heard so much about.  After riding for a little while they came upon a nice spot  to stop for a rest. Jangle pulled out some brownies from his backpack. Jinx said, ” I have to say, you make the absolute best brownies. So moist, soft and chocolaty.”

After getting back on the trail they passed some other bikers and gave a friendly wave. The bikers smiled back but had a strange look in their eyes.

“Hey Jangle, do you think those other bikers were jealous of our bikes ? I couldn’t help but notice that their bikes didn’t have any bumper pads around them.”  As he was talking he missed the curve and fell splat right into a large puddle.

Jangle couldn’t hold back his laughter. “Well at least your bike is okay! You might want to wipe your chin though, there is a little mud on it. Of course that just matches the mud on your cheek. ”

Jinx wiped himself off the best he could and informed Jangle that he could buy the pizza tonight. “Gladly,” Jangle replied, “It sure beats your cooking!” He chuckled as he raced ahead of Jinx. He was laughing so hard he didn’t notice the big rock in the middle of the path. He hit it and flew over the handlebars into a rather large mud puddle.

He was standing up with a dazed look on his face as Jinx caught up to him. Jinx was trying to keep a straight face, but it was no use. Sometimes you just couldn’t control the expressions that crossed your face.  As Jangle was cleaning off his mud he told Jinx to not say a word! “Oh I won’t say just A word, I have several words that I am thinking of my friend, like this wonderful phrase; What goes around Comes around!”

Jinx waited for Jangle to get all cleaned off and they decided to head for home. They felt like they had enough of riding for the day.

Later that night, after the pizza, Jangle was in the kitchen mixing up some more of his delicious brownies.

Jinx  was looking at a photograph of them that had been taken back when they were in the North Pole. Yes, it would be good to get back there again for some more fun adventures.  But until then Jinx felt confident that they would keep finding adventures here in Hawaii.

For those of you who wonder what Jinx and Jangle look like, I found some pictures.

Jangle                                             Jinx

 

 

The Power in Choices

How are you at making choices? Granted there are some choices that are a lot easier to make compared to others.

I know that when my husband and I are trying to decide something simple, like where to eat, we will tell the other one to make the choice. I am sure that we are not the only ones that have this battle. It is easier sometimes to just let the other person decide. My friends and I will do the same thing.

There are times though where you need to make the choice. Bigger, more important choices where your input is needed. If you don’t make the choice, you could be sorry about the end result.

I came across an story about our former President, Ronald Reagan, when he was a child. He went to a shoe cobbler and the cobbler asked him if he wanted brown or black shoes. He said he didn’t know. The cobbler then asked if he wanted the top of the shoe to be rounded or square. Again Ronald Reagan couldn’t make the choice. When they later went to pick up the shoes, Ronald Reagan was dismayed that one shoe was black and one was brown. One had a rounded top and another one had a square top!

The cobbler told him to let the shoes serve as a reminder that there are times we need to make choices and not always count on others to make choices for us. Ronald Reagan said he never forgot that lesson.

I thought it was a good lesson to pass on. Not every choice is a big choice, but with every choice we do have the option to choose or to pass on the power to someone else. Sometimes passing on the power is fine, and then there are the times where you could end up with a “square shoe.” So be wise, before you choose!

Friday’s Super Short Stories

Today I thought I would put a little twist to my post. It may not work, and if so, I won’t do it again. You never know if you don’t try though! 🙂

I was remembering back to when my kids were a lot younger. There would be times when we would do spontaneous stories. I would start by saying a line or 2 and then we would just take turns at adding to it. The stories could turn out to be quite interesting, and always brought laughter.  I figured why not try it on here! You don’t have to be a great writer to be able to write a short sentence or 2. That’s right, you don’t have to count words, just keep it short. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, just have fun with it.  Don’t be shy, just write your phrase and see what the next person does with it. You can come back and add to the story as often as you want. Who knows what all of us could come up with? GO! Be Daring!

Long, long ago, down in a lush green valley, there was a tiny house.

Why we dig holes!

I have experienced 2 incidents recently that once again caused me to have bewilderment. Bewildered by what people do and the ways  they  justify their actions.

Justifying our behavior starts when we are toddlers. Toddlers will bite, hit, push and scream and will  give you what they think is a perfectly good reason as to why they did it. Someone had the toy they wanted, someone was sitting in the chair that they wanted to sit in. The list goes on and on.

These clearly  aren’t reasons that justify bad behavior, but in their  minds they think so.  Unfortunately in this world we have adult sized toddlers running around using toddler logic to justify their behavior. It doesn’t help when these adult sized toddlers hold leadership positions of where they are supposed to be role models!

Why do we justify our bad behavior instead of accepting responsibility for our actions? Where is the logic behind our reasoning? Is there any? As we get older the situations that upset us change. They change, but at the same time can have a similarity to what we dealt with as children.

“That person wasn’t nice, they cut me off in traffic. I am going to ride their bumper now, I’ll show them!”  ( “Johnny butted in front of me in line, so yes I pushed him down!”)

“I was the one that was supposed to get the promotion. They had no right to give it to him! He is going to wish he had turned down that promotion!” (“He is sitting in my chair! The red chair that belongs to me, not this blue one! Next time you sit in my chair I will bite you twice!”)

“It is all about my desires. I have to do whatever it takes to fulfill them, no matter what!”  ( “It is all about me and what I want!”, says the toddler screaming on the floor)

Do we really believe that all these reasons justify our actions? Do we really believe that we are innocent of any wrongdoing, or do we know that we are lying to ourselves?  Have we lied to ourselves so often to ease our guilty conscience that we now believe the lies?

That when we are held responsible for our actions we now feel like we are being framed. We feel that whoever got us into trouble is out to get us. We make up reasons as to why they may not like us.We toss and turn in bed worrying about the trouble that we are now in, unable to see what led us to this point.

Have we dug ourselves so many holes that we now are falling into them? Falling into them,  and finding that they are too deep to jump out of.

In the 2 incidents that are fresh in my mind, there really is no way to justify the actions of the  2 different individuals.  No matter how you look at it, there is no reasonable rationale, but try telling them that.

Are there logical answers to any of these questions? What do you think?

 

Wednesday’s Wit

Good Morning! We are halfway through the week! As many of you know I work with children at a Daycare. My co-workers and I get excited about being halfway through the week. Don’t get us wrong, we do love our job and love the children, BUT… there are the days.

The temper tantrum days where they throw themselves on the floor kicking and screaming because “Joey” has the toy they want. Never mind that there are still plenty of toys to choose from to play with. Yesterday I made one of my 2 year olds pitch a fit, for I made them give back a toy that they had taken from the other child. As she was screaming on the floor, a co-worker asked what happened. I explained that I had her give back the toy that she had taken, and then just had to add, ” Because I am mean like that!” My friend started laughing. Hey, you have to have humor in a daycare or you easily can go crazy. Of course it does help to not be totally sane before you even start working at a daycare, for once you start working there, well… there’s no hope in gaining sanity.

As one co-worker stated, she doesn’t know how she could work in a professional office setting after working at the daycare. What we talk about at the daycare is not exactly the same lingo as in a professional setting. Such as…” What color is the poop and is it runny?” or “I am wearing a combo of drool, sour milk, and snot on me, what are you wearing today? The list goes on, but I think you get my point.

There are still many of us that don’t know what we are doing once the daycare closes in June, but we are confident that we will find something! For now, it is Wednesday, we made it halfway through the week and it is Music week. I wanted to leave you all with a song that just gives you a small taste of the kind of music I listen to all week. Enjoy, amidst the faces that you may be making at me as you listen.

 

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Cheers for Tuesday 🙂 Had to say that! The theme song for that old show has been going through my mind ever since some comments about it in my Humble Pie post. Who remembers that show? The show did bring smiles and I hope these quotes bring you smiles and speak to your heart. Have a Terrific Tuesday!

Thought I would add that it is 3am right now! No, I did not just write all of this. I finished it last night and had it saved to  post this morning. Wasn’t planning on posting it  this early,  but maybe there is someone else  up at this crazy hour who needs a smile! Why am I awake right now? See Number 5! 🙂 Kidding! Of course that quote was meant for someone else. 🙂

1. 
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8. 99

10.

11. A BONUS for my dear friend who I know can use some laughter right now! Snoopy is wise. In one of my posts, the comments turned into talking about a long ago memory about making brownies when my dear friend Sherry and I shared an apartment. That’s all I will say about that , but the following quote pretty much sums it up,  right Sherry.  🙂

🙂

Manic Monday

Good Morning! My husband had a en email waiting for me this morning,  reminding me of the song Manic Monday and another song as well. He suggested I do Monday’s post with those songs and a picture of Garfield. For who doesn’t love Garfield! What he didn’t realize is how well Manic Monday fits today! I overslept, so yes I am ” wishing it was Sunday” and feeling like Garfield right now. Hope your week is off to a great start and if not that you can still smile believing that it will get better! 🙂

 

A Sunday Smile

This picture was sent to me by my friends today. The caption was, ” We heard it calling your name!”

27 years ago this pond did not look like this! 27 years ago I was in this pond more times then I can count! No, I did not swim in it. None of us did, for why swim in a pond, when the beach was only 10 minutes away!That is how the beach got in my soul, for I was there every day.

There were 9 of us that lived together in a house on Johns Island in South Carolina. A beautiful place. One of the best years of my life.

I was in the pond so much  because of being thrown in. Bullfrogs loved the pond as well and I was told that they wanted to see me. I wouldn’t want to make the bullfrogs sad, right? Did I ever deserve to be thrown in the pond?? Wellll… I’ll let you think what you want to think for that answer. 🙂

I did text my friends back saying to give the frogs my apologies. That I wasn’t planning  on swimming in there anytime soon! They laughed and said how they had just been at Kiawah Island, that was the beach we had went to all the time. I told them they were confused. They had heard the beach calling my name, not the pond!

 

A Serving of Humble Pie

My Dad’s favorite pie is Mincemeat pie. I honestly don’t know how he can eat it, but I would take Mincemeat pie over Humble pie any day!

Wouldn’t it be nice if we were perfect and never made mistakes. If things just always went according to plan, working out exactly as you intended it to. Unfortunately if that was so, we wouldn’t be human!

Recently I have had to partake of some Humble Pie and it hasn’t been my first time and probably won’t be my last. Though I don’t intend my next serving to be for the same reason. Lesson has been learned!

As bad as eating Humble pie can feel, it does serve a purpose. It helps to show us things that we can make a note of and learn from. As someone has said to me, learning from our mistakes is part of life, it keeps us growing. May not be the most fun way to grow, but it does help us, if we are open to seeing the lesson.

The other lesson from eating Humble pie is the feeling of grace we get from our dear family and friends. The feeling of grace when they extend their forgiveness. It warms the heart.

Hopefully we can remember that feeling of grace and extend our forgiveness to others when we are on the other side.

Life is a journey. A journey of mountain tops and valley’s;  twists and curves. A journey of times where  we can teach lessons to others,  and times of where we are the student and learning lessons. So thankful for my dear family and friends that continue to  walk this journey of life with me, through all the ups and downs that life brings.

Friday’s Super Short Stories

Ship is sturdy….sailing, not sinking!

Life can feel like a Merry-go-round!

A tiny hole, but balloon still flying!