What Did You Say?

What phrases do you use a lot?  Are their ones that you wonder how they ever came to be?

Do you say that ” I could care less” when you really mean ” I couldn’t care less!”  I know I am guilty of this as I am guilty of using English in other wrong ways too! I am reminded quite often by my “English teachers.”

Do you say ” Warshing machine” or “Washing Machine” or something different?  Do you say “Fit as a fiddle” for being healthy?  How can being as fit as a fiddle stand for being healthy? Anyone care to explain?

How did the phrase “buttering someone up” ever come to be or the opposite, ” giving the cold shoulder?”

Why do we ask if people have “all their ducks in a row?”  My ducks usually like to scatter all about, but….

Can anyone explain where the phrase  “cat got your tongue” came from?  I find myself in that situation a lot!

Do you “hit the lights” or “outen the lights” before you go to bed, or do you just turn them off?  Do  you ” hit the hay” when going to bed?  Do you “red off the table and red out the dishwasher?”

Can you tell that I have some  Pennsylvania Dutch in me?  How many of you know what “elbow grease” is? There is a story about that saying that still brings tears of laughter when I think of it. My dear husband is involved in that story so I am considering what it may cost me before I share. 🙂

Do you say ” hold your horses” to someone when they are impatient and ” don’t have a cow!” when someone is being overly dramatic?  Have you told someone that they are as “slow as molasses?”

I came across a list of words that hold different meanings if you live in Pennsylvania. I had to agree with the list, so here is your English lesson for the day.

 

Wawa

What it means everywhere else: The sound a baby makes when crying.
What it means in Pennsylvania: A convenience store that every Eastern Pennsylvanian is at least slightly addicted to.

Cheesesteak

What it means everywhere else: A chunk of steak with cheese on it.
What it means in Pennsylvania: A hoagie bun stuffed with hot sliced beef, topped with melted cheese and often sautéed onions. Most people are passionate about their favorite shop and prepared to defend it in long, fiery debates.

Scrapple

What it means everywhere else: A misspelling of the popular spelling game “Scrabble.”
What it means in Pennsylvania: A combination of pork scraps, cornmeal, and flour formed into a loaf and fried.

Shoo Fly

What it means everywhere else: The phrase said in attempt to get rid of flies
What it means in Pennsylvania: A traditional Pennsylvanian Dutch pie made with molasses. (IS DELICIOUS!) You haven’t had a pie until you had Shoo Fly pie!

Hoover

What it means everywhere else: President Herbert Hoover, known for starting public works projects such as the Hoover Dam.
What it means in Pennsylvania: A vacuum cleaner.

Lebanon

What it means everywhere else: A country in Middle East.
What it means in Pennsylvania: A county in Eastern Pennsylvania known for being developed by the Pennsylvania Dutch, most famous for their Lebanon bologna.

There also were other names of some of the small towns listed but I will deal with that lesson for another day. Anyone who has ever been to Lancaster, Pennsylvania probably knows what I mean. Only in Pennsylvania, right!

Pennsylvania also is the only state referred to more by its abbreviation than its name! Its much more frequently called “P” “A”.   No not another word for Dad.  I guess Pennsylvania was too long to say?

Some things just have no answers!  What crazy questions are you still looking for answers to ?

 

 

 

Love’s Sweet Nectar

 

He looked at her with questioning eyes.  “What do you need a bigger suitcase for, you won’t be gone that long.”

Her voice was barely audible as she kept her eyes downcast, not looking at him. ” I need it to put you in!”

He smiled down at her as he put his hand under her chin and lifted his face towards him. Her bottom lip trembled as he told her that she would need a much bigger suitcase for him!

“Oh what am I going to do! What if she doesn’t make it, I couldn’t bear it…How will…” and she started to cry.

He held her in his arms and told her that she was going to brighten her sister’s days in a thousand ways.  He said how they both will gain a strength that they didn’t know they had. Strength that will stay with them as they share precious time together.

Now though was the time to dry her tears for they had a wonderful day to spend together before the time came for her to leave.

The day went much too fast for them, but it was a day of wonderful memories.  They had a picnic surrounded by wildflowers and flew a kite in the sky.  They walked by the lake hand in hand sharing their thoughts and laughing over their private jokes that they have had for years.  When their legs got tired they sat on a bench and he wrapped his arm around her pulling her close as she snuggled in against his warm chest.

She didn’t trust herself to speak and didn’t want to break the stillness of the moment. She snapped a photograph in her mind of the moment so that it would be there for her to pull out when her heart needed it.

Her mind went back in time to  the very first time that he had pulled her against his chest; where she felt the tenderness of his loving embrace.  Oh how many years had passed since then!  Many years may have passed but the tenderness of his embrace only grew more sweeter.

Raindrops started to fall on her face and he took her hand and gently helped her to stand. He twirled her around and listened to the sound of her laughter that was like listening to musical chimes in his mind.

Their eyes met and they didn’t even feel the rain which was falling harder now.  The flames of their sweet love had spun a warmth around them, wrapping them in their own love cocoon. As their lips met they kissed, the taste was sweet like nectar and just like the bee, he didn’t want to leave his beautiful flower.

They walked towards home, he knew she needed to pack, that the time to leave was drawing closer, no matter how much they tried to stop it.

She was packed and it was time to go.  They drove in silence as she held his hand tight, remembering how many times she had squeezed it with emotion throughout their lives. She always could depend on his firm grip giving her strength.

“All aboard!” They heard the Engineer’s call but weren’t wanting to move.  He gave her one more last kiss and she turned away with a lump n her throat,  but sunshine in her heart. She knew he would be waiting for her with arms outstretched when she came home. They would once again share in the sweet nectar of their love, that no time or distance could ever diminish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Good Morning! What is for supper tonight at your house?  Yes, I am looking for ideas. 🙂 I think I will probably make chicken curry. A family favorite, unless something else happens to  pop  into my mind.  Have a wonderful day!  May these quotes  fill your heart and bring you smiles and may good food fill your stomach today.

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Touching the Heart

I went to bed last night with tears on my cheeks and No, it wasn’t due to the Eagles winning the Superbowl.  I really don’t care about Football, sorry to all the Football Fans out there. I will say though that out of the teams that were playing, I am glad the that the Eagles won.

The tears on my cheeks came from ” This is Us”, the highly rated drama that we had waited all week for. It was a very emotional episode this week. I squeezed Brad’s hand so tight as the emotions stirred in my heart.

Here is my question. What is it that makes one get so emotional over fictional characters?  When the character on the show died I knew that it wasn’t real that he wasn’t really dead, but oh try telling that to my heart as I watched the wife sobbing.

Have you seen the movie, “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?”  It has been so long since I have seen that, but I still remember how the tears were running down my cheeks at the end. You could have heard a pin drop when the movie was over. No one made a sound while walking out. It was a fictional movie, but my heart was gripped by it.

I get the same way while reading books.  The story weaves its way around my heart and I empathize with the characters. It doesn’t matter if the characters are real or not.  What matters is if I can feel like I am in the story with them.  Do I feel like I am right there with the characters as the story is happening?  Does my heart feel their emotions of joy and sadness along with them, as if its happening to me?  Or do I feel that I  am just looking through a window, never getting totally pulled in to the story.

What books or movies have been especially poignant to you?  Which ones draw you in, grabbing your heart.   What made them that way?

Just some thoughts swirling around in my head. This post would be too long if I told you all of the thoughts that have been swirling in my head today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What was Behind the Door?

A few weeks ago I posted in my Friday’s Super Short Stories the line to the beginning of a story letting it open to anyone who wanted to add to the story.  You all did a such a  great job at making some fun, interesting stories that I am giving you another chance.

This time you can help me in finishing my dream.  Don’t you hate how you can be in the middle of a dream , at the most suspenseful part and just like that you open your eyes and wake up!  That is what happened to me and I am curious to see how each of you would add to or finish the dream.

Down below I wrote the beginning of my dream and stopped at where I woke up.  Feel free to write as much or as little as you want.  Add on to what someone else has written or start from where I left off with my dream.  Anything goes, there are no rules.

Its a relaxing Sunday and story time!  Time for me to curl up in a blanket with my cup of tea and see how my dream ends.  Whether it is a dream that I wished would have came true or one that I am glad that I woke up from when I did, at least my curiosity will have some answers.

I was sitting in my living room, curled up on the couch on a dark night.  I was home alone just relaxing and suddenly my front door opened wide.  I wasn’t expecting anyone and there was no one to be seen.   I didn’t feel fear, just curiosity, so I walked toward the open door and ……..

Love in Action

I was looking for a painting on Pinterest  to write a story around and this painting leaped out and pulled on my heartstrings.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  I don’t think I could convey the emotion that this painting stirs in me as a parent, a wife, daughter, sister and friend even if I had a thousand words.  Today I will let the painting be your story all by itself and to all those out there who have been my umbrella in life’s storms, Thank You!

Friday’s Super Short Stories!

Sometimes all the colors of the rainbow still aren’t enough to  paint the sky. 

Happy Memories are gifts that keep on giving!

“The 3rd time is the charm”, what is it called when you are beyond the 3rd time?

The Special Seeds

 

If you have just started following my blog in the past few months you may want to read this post from back in August first.   The Burial

Katarina was staring out the window at the rain falling.  She was feeling the rain in her heart as the troubling questions invaded her brain once more.  “What if…” Would things be different if only she had known.  Could her actions have prevented some things from happening.  If only she would have known!

The questions kept circling around in her brain not giving her a break and no answers was satisfactory. Didn’t matter how she responded, the questions kept bombarding her, refusing to give her peace.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she watched the rain.  As she wrapped her cozy blanket around her she knew what it was time  for her to do.

Later that day the rain had slowed down. It now was gently falling from the sky.   She put on her rain jacket, grabbed her backpack  and stepped out into the rain.  As she felt it hit her face she let out a little smile.  Her Mom had always said that life was about learning to “dance in the rain” and that is what she was determined to do.  Her beautiful Mom may be gone now, but her influence still stood strong inside of Katarina.

Katarina walked slowly letting the rain hit her face as it melted in with her tears. The only sound was of the rain falling on the leaves.  The gentle sound of the rain brought calmness to her spirit. She started growing tired of walking but knew that soon she would be there.  Soon she would reach the special tree.

At last she could tell she was drawing close.  She heard the lone call of the bluebird.  Katarina walked a little further following the bluebird’s call and then she saw the tree.  This tree was set apart from the others in the woods, due to its lovely bluebird and the special plaque that it had at the bottom of it.   A plaque for all to read.

Katarina walked up to the tree and sat down right by the plaque.  She silently read the words that her precious Mom had written.  The advice of how to deal with the nasty “What If” and “If Only” families,  along with their close neighbors the “Should have”, “Would Have” and Could Have”  family!

There were times in your life that they were bound to come making an unwelcome visit  and you had to know what to do when that time came. Don’t try to answer them and fight with them, you will never win! You will just keep going in circles, feeling crazier and crazier.

There was only one thing to do with them.  “Bury them!” Smother them with the visitors that are always welcome!  Joy, Hope, Faith, Forgiveness and Love!  The more that you fully enjoy their company, the more that the “What If’s and their neighbors will have to leave.  There simply won’t be room for them anymore.

Katarina smiled as she felt Hope knocking on her door.  She smiled looking up in awe of the beauty of the  lone bluebird once again, who was puffing out his chest as he sang his merry tune.

She grabbed her backpack and took out the precious seeds to plant around the tree.  It didn’t take long until she felt Joy knocking on her door as well and she started singing a little tune as she continued to plant her seeds.  With one final pat on the dirt with her spade, she planted the last seed.

Tears came to her eyes again, but this time they were happy ones.  Forgiveness and Love had just entered in her door. They came in and the “What if’s” and their friends were finally kicked to the curb.

Katarina stood up feeling revived.  She smiled up at the bluebird thanking him for his song and brushed her hands gently across the plague silently thanking her Mom.

It was still lightly raining but Katarina was smiling and this time  fully enjoying the rain.   Her seeds needed the rain so that they could grow.  She walked home with a lighter heart, looking forward to when her seeds would bloom.  What more perfect flowers could she plant than Blue Irises around the tree. They were believed to be a symbol of Hope and Faith.

Hope and Joy beat in her heart as she kept walking.  Forgiveness made her step seem so much lighter and Love and Faith  brightly shined through her eyes.

Blue Irises photo from Google.

This is what I listened to as I wrote, in case you want to take a “walk” in the rain. 🙂