Friday’s Super Short Stories!

Share your wisdom of why “Wisdom Teeth” are called “Wisdom Teeth”? 

Time machine not needed! One can travel anywhere by getting lost in books and music! 

If one stands under a coconut tree, and gets hit by a falling coconut, don’t blame the tree! 

 

 

Ten Crazy Laws!

We have a game called “The Dumbest Laws”, and it tells about laws that were actually on the books years ago. Were they enforced may be another question, but they were declared a law.  So for your enjoyment here is a list of some of the craziest laws! Have you heard of others? What is a crazy law that you would like to make?

1, You cannot enter the state of Wisconsin with a chicken on your head.

2. Here is one for all you chocolate lovers, sorry, but if you are in Idaho, a man cannot give his fiance a box of chocolates that weighs more than 50 pounds! You will have to settle for a 49 pound box!

3. For those of you who like to sleep, don’t fall asleep in a cheese factory in South Dakota, it is illegal!

4.  Do you own a camel? I am sorry, but you cannot ride it on the highway in the state of Nevada.

5. If you are a woman and you are married and live in Texas, you must first obtain permission from your husband before you get false teeth.

6. But Men don’t laugh at Number 5, for if you live in Nevada, and you have a mustache it is illegal for you to kiss a woman!

7. In North Dakota be careful about singing out loud, for it is illegal to sing off key!

8. in Illinois it is illegal to eat in a place that is on fire. I don’t think I would really want to eat in a place that was on fire, may not be the best atmosphere!

9. In Switzerland you cannot flush the toilet after 10pm! Hmmm….

10. I like this one from Switzerland as well. It is illegal to ski down the slopes while reciting poetry! I can tell you that if I would ever attempt to try skiing, I would not be able to concentrate on reciting poetry, I would just be focused on not falling!

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Happy Tuesday! Hope your week is off to a great start. We didn’t get much of a snowstorm this past weekend, like what was in the forecast. It was more ice than snow. I am ready for a good snowstorm, to watch the snow falling as I sit wrapped in a cozy blanket with a cup of tea, or hot cocoa. I am sure it will come sometime. At least it is sunny today, the dogs are lying right in the path of the sun as it streams through the living room windows. They love that! May the sunshine of happiness fill your day today!

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Seeing the Beauty Within!

As I was thinking of today being MLK’s birthday, a post came to my mind that I wrote back in the summer of 2017, a simple story with an important message weaved into it. I thought it would be appropriate to share again today in honor of MLK and his dream. A dream of a day when we won’t be so offended by those who are different from us, not have our eyes blinded, and be able to see past their differences and into their hearts.

(picture from Pinterest)

Jenny took off on her bike once again to go deliver some flowers of Happiness. Her Mom watched her out the kitchen window, she was so proud of her daughter.  Jenny had a special love for flowers. She always made sure to have some in her room. She would also  use her own money rather often to buy a fresh flowers, and she would sit them on the dining room table where they all could enjoy them.  Jenny said how the sight and pleasant scent of flowers made her heart happy  and she wanted to spread the joy to her family.

Recently she had started buying flowers and delivering them to her neighbors. She started with the neighbors on her street but she started adding the streets from the development behind her. Jenny told her Mom how she loved to see the smiles that her flowers brought to those who received them.

She laughed as she told her Mom that even sour Mr.McGregor was starting to give a faint smile to Jenny every time she came. At least he wasn’t shouting at her anymore to get out of his yard when she came. In fact Jenny noticed that he was sitting on his front porch more regularly lately. One time Jenny said how nice it was to see him waiting for her. He just grunted, but again she saw the trace of a smile.  His sour expression and grunts used to scare her, but not anymore.

Little Billy would come running when Jenny would ride into his driveway.  He would always raise his arms up for Jenny to pick him up. He would smile big as he  clutched a flower in his chubby little fingers to give to his Mom. He knew not to put them in his mouth anymore.  Renee, his Mom, started coming out with cookies and lemonade when Jenny came. They would sit on the porch as Billy would beg for Jenny to play with him some.

Hazel was an older widow and she often told Jenny how a visit from her was the highlight of her week. Her husband had bought her flowers a lot when he was living.  Jenny enjoyed talking with her, she enjoyed hearing stories from Hazel’s past.  Hazel usually had little nuggets of wisdom to pass on to Jenny.  Jenny tried to make Hazel’s visit be the last one, so that she could have the time to talk to her.

There was another house that Jenny longed to stop at, but her parents told her not to.  Jenny really didn’t understand why. Her parents didn’t really give a reason besides the fact that they said those people in that house were “different”.. “Different”?  Jenny wasn’t sure what to think about that.  It spiked her curiosity though.  What was so “different’ about them.  Jenny had to know.

One day she had an idea as she stopped at the house of the “different” neighbors. She ran up to the front door, laid some flowers down, pushed the doorbell and biked away as fast as she could.  It worked!  She got away and no harm came to her.  The next week she tried it again.  Jenny decided that as long as she never had to face them it would be fine to continue it and so she did.

Jenny asked Hazel one day about a sign that she had put in her yard.  It said, “No matter where you are from, we are glad that you are our neighbor.” Hazel explained that it meant she welcomed everyone as a neighbor.  Jenny got real quiet and then looked up at Hazel and said, “But what about that house down the street,  aren’t you afraid of them?  My parents say they are different!”

Hazel sighed and got a sad look in her eyes.  “They are just like you and me Jenny.  They have hearts that can be happy and that can break. They may speak a different language and come from a different land, but they know the power of a smile!  Sadly people are afraid of things they don’t understand.  If they would only know the joy that they are missing out on by not opening their heart and mind.”

Jenny put her head down and said softly,  ” I wish I could meet them someday but my parents keep telling me to stay away.”  Hazel took Jenny’s hand and gave it a squeeze and they just sat there in silence for awhile as the gentle breeze blew.

Jenny’s Mom was inconsolable, the time was growing shorter and the Doctors faces were growing grave.  Hope had been so strong at first,  but it was getting hard to keep holding onto it.  Jenny’s Dad held his face in his hands, he just didn’t understand.  How could this have happened! One minute Jenny is delivering flowers of happiness and the next she is fighting a life and death battle due to having been hit by a speeding driver.

Jenny needed a blood transfusion but she had a rare blood type and they were having trouble finding donors. Time was running short and Jenny was unconscious not knowing how her parents hearts ached.  Suddenly the Dr. burst into Jenny’s room. “We got a donor! ”  Jenny’s parents embraced as their hearts soared!  Tears were falling as they watched Jenny be wheeled out of the room.

Three days later Jenny was doing a lot better.  The Dr. has said she should be ready to go home in a couple more days. Her Mom was sitting in her room talking to Jenny when the Dr. came in.  “Dr. Kline, Jenny and I were talking,  would it be possible to meet the one who donated their blood for her, we really would like to thank them.”  Dr.Kline smiled and said he would see what he could do.

The next morning Jenny was finishing her breakfast as Dr. Kline walked in.  ” Mr. and Mrs. Stouffer, I was able to locate the person who donated blood to Jenny.  Jenny clapped her hands and her parents were all smiles. Dr. Kline stepped out the door for a minute and then stepped back in with a lady by his side, and he said,  “Please meet Roshana!”

Jenny’s parents gasped! It was their new neighbor!  The “different” neighbor.  They couldn’t speak.  Jenny though eagerly reached out her hand and squeezed Roshana’s hand, giving her a big smile, and said, ” Thank you so very much!!”

Roshana took her hand, and smiled back, with her eyes shining. She then pulled from behind her back a bouquet of flowers for Jenny. Her parents watched as emotion filled their hearts, and Jenny’s Mom wiped tears from her eyes.

When Jenny came home from the hospital there were two signs to greet her in the front yard.  One welcoming her home and another sign welcoming their neighbors.

Finding the Perfect Gift

This post today was inspired by 2 special readers of mine. A dear little boy and his special “Gem”, his grandma. The little boy loves dragons and especially Dinosauris. His grandma brought it to my attention that a couple days ago it was “National Appreciate a Dragon Day.” Well even though I missed that day, I am not real good with Dragon facts, I thought I should still honor it. So Benjamin, and Ellen, thanks for the inspiration and I hope you guys and all of my readers enjoy this story. Its always fun to take a visit to the North Pole. 

Finding the Perfect Gift

Everyone was in a celebratory mood, today was a special day. Today they were all celebrating Dinosauris birthday. No one was quite sure how old he was, and actually no one really knew the actual date of his birthday, but everyone deserved to celebrate a birthday! Everyone appreciated him so much for he was such a kind dragon. They all decided to make the day that he joined them at the North Pole as his “birthday” and today marked a year since he had come.

Chef Salvo was preparing a special meal. He cooked all day yesterday for dragons eat a lot! He was really glad that Jinx and Jangle were able to find some Dragon fruit plants.

Dragon Fruit plants from Pinterest

Chef Salvo was able to make an amazing  Dragon fruit crepe cake out of it!

Dragon fruit crepe cake, (its a real thing :)) Pinterest

Candy Cane had been in charge of the decorations and they looked great. Everything was ready for the party, well almost everything. Jinx, Jangle, Snowball and Alabaster were in charge of finding the perfect birthday gift for Dinosauris.  When Candy Cane asked how they were coming along with it, she couldn’t get a straight answer out of any of them. She was beginning to have her doubts.

Snowball kept dozing off when she tried to ask him. Alabaster, was so bundled up in blankets, and just kept saying how cold it was. He hadn’t been at the North Pole as long as the others, and came from the sunny South. He was having a slightly hard time adjusting and was busy guzzling down hot drinks. He would nod his head at Candy Cane when she would ask him, or make some crazy pun about the cold.

Jinx kept giving Candy Cane answers that would lead her to another question, and then he would walk away and she would realize that he didn’t answer her original question. Jangle was so busy listening to music, and he would answer Candy Cane’s questions about Dinosauris by breaking into song. Needless to say Candy Cane felt like ” smacking her head” after talking to all of them and she was just hoping that they would have a gift in time for the party tonight.

While preparations were being made for the big party, Dinosauris had a special, surprise visitor that came to see him, along with his grandmother. This little boy loved dragons, and especially loved Dinosauris. He had an amazing time flying with Dinosauris, keeping him distracted while all the elves got ready for the birthday celebration.

Snowball stretched as he opened his eyes. Jinx, Jangle and Alabaster were staring at him. “Wh-What, What do you guys want?”  Snowball asked as he stifled a yawn.

“Did you get it?” asked Jinx.

Snowball looked a little confused, “Get what?”

Jangle shook his head. “The gift, Dinosauris birthday gift! We only have a few hours until his party and Candy Cane will have our heads if we don’t bring the gift.”

Now Snowball was wide awake. “OH NO! I forgot! It slipped my mind, Jinx you were supposed to remind me!”

Jinx looked down at his feet. “Well right now, lets not worry whose fault it is, but clearly we have a problem! We need to find a gift. I suggest we go out exploring to find something. Everyone get bundled up and we will leave in 15 minutes.”

Alabaster sighed, would he ever get used to this cold, he thought.

When 15 minutes had passed, they were all seated in a sleigh and ready to go, though they still had no idea of exactly where they were going.

Jangle drove as they zoomed over the snow, taking the curves a little fast, but they were pressed for time. One time Alabaster almost fell out of the sleigh, but Snowball grabbed hold of him and pulled him back in.

“Look straight ahead, see the cute chipmunks!” Jinx pointed out. Alabaster was wishing he had grabbed his camera, for he thought chipmunks were such cute creatures. Jangle started singing a song about them, as he drove.

At last Jangle brought the sleigh to a stop,  and they all got out to go on a hunt for a special gift.

They walked and walked, feeling more despondent as they walked. What did a dragon need, what did a dragon like? How were they supposed to find the perfect gift?

Jinx wandered away from the group for a little and then they all heard him yell. They all went running to where they heard the yell from, but saw nothing.

“Umm….what are we all staring at? Where did Jinx go?”  Snowball asked.

“Down here!” they heard a muffled yell and saw a hole ahead of them.

When they got to the hole, Jinx was climbing out, brushing snow off himself. He was smiling as he held something in his hand.

“I found it! I found a gift for Dinosauris.”

Everyone smiled as they cried out in unison, “What?”

Jinx dropped marbles onto the snow and emptied his pockets of even more marbles.

“I was walking and didn’t see the hole. I yelled out as I fell, and then realized that there were marbles all around me. Don’t know where they came from! I remembered how Dinosauris loves colorful things and he had fun with a marble game that he had before, but I think he lost it recently.”

Everyone agreed that the marbles sounded perfect, and no one was happier to go back, then Alabaster, whose toes were growing numb. They would make it back with just a little time to spare before the party. Time to show Candy Cane their gift, for she was probably beginning to get frantic by now.

The party was a grand success. Dinosauris was so surprised by the party and the gift,  that happy tears rolled down his face. He loved his cake and had so much fun playing marbles with the little boy and the other elves. He kept winning, and that was okay, for after all it was his birthday.

To thank everyone for the party Dinosauris gave as many rides as everyone wanted. They soared high and spun around, there wasn’t a ride around that quite compared to a Dragon ride!

 

 

 

Friday’s Super Short Stories!

The tea of Kindness is always pleasant tasting! 

When a song you have known for a long time becomes more poignant. 

When the forecast is of snow and ice …. but the forecast inside …. is hot drinks,  cozy blankets, love, laughter and everything nice. 

We don’t have a fireplace, this pic is from Pinterest, but we do have hot drinks and books. 🙂

 

What is your “OOPS?”

This post tonight is brought to you with thanks to my husband. I wasn’t planning on a post today, but then we were talking about this at supper and I thought, why not!

Did any of you hear about what happened on the game show Family Feud? We don’t watch it, but I happened to read about it today and I shared it with Brad at supper. There was one question before the bonus round, and the question was “What is Popeye’s favorite food?”  A lady hit the buzzer excitedly and confidently said, “Chicken!” as she did a little dance showing how confident she felt. Her family groaned as the other team laughed and only then did she realize that the question wasn’t about the restaurant, Popeyes.  It was about the cartoon figure Popeye, whose favorite food is Spinach! OOPS!

But her “OOPS!” got her the attention of “Popeye’s” and they sent her a $10,000 dollar gift card for Popeye’s food. That should last her a real LONG time!

Now for how my husband plays a role in this post. After I told him about this incident, he looked at me, without missing a beat,  and said with a smile, “If you would get paid for every time you said something wrong, we would be rolling in the dough!”  He is hilarious, isn’t he. Unfortunately I couldn’t disagree with him!

So is there something crazy that you do, blunders you make, things you say, that if you got paid for, you would be rolling in the dough as well?  Feel free to share it below!

The Tale of Two Houses

Once upon a time, there was a little yellow house with a wrap around porch, where a family lived with their teenaged son.

Mom calls up to her son, ” Time for supper!”

The son came down the stairs slowly, while keeping his eyes on his phone and tweeting.

The Mom rolled her eyes, “We really need to discuss how much time you spend on that phone sending tweets. Tell me please, what is so important that you are tweeting about? Are you telling your friend how concerned you are about the environmental crisis going on, and trying to think of ways to help out?  Or perhaps you are thinking of ways to fix the economy.

“Mom!” Her son rolled his eyes, ” Its not about any of that stuff.”

“Oh, really, so when your light was on at 3am the other night, you weren’t tweeting about anything of major importance.  Maybe you  were studying up on foreign relations?”

“Not exactly,” her son muttered under his breath. “But it was important, there was this kid who I needed to set straight. He had said something about me that I didn’t like.”

The Mom shook her head slowly, “Oh, I see, you were doing your best to help create world peace. Well put your phone down for now, and we will talk as we eat.”

The son sighed, ” Mom you just don’t get it!” and tossing his phone on the couch, he walked to the table for supper.

Once upon a time there was a large, White house, and a man who lived there and was tweeting on his phone as he slowly came down the stairs. After sending out a tweet, a smug expression appeared on his face. “That will show him! Now who else is on my list to give a hard time too.”  he muttered to himself.

“Mr. President, your supper is ready to be served.”

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Starting the day off with Honey roasted Pistachios, Yum! I love pistachios, they are my favorite nut I would say. Then cashews and pecans. Do you have a favorite nut? Did you know that in China the pistachio is called the “Happy Nut”? What more reason do you need. Grab some “Happy Nuts” and Smile! May your Tuesday be great and not drive you nutty!

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Adventure in the Woods

When I wrote A Snowy Day Surprise  for Wednesday’s post, I wasn’t planning on having a Part 2, but sometimes you just never know.  Over the past couple days since then I have gained some inspiration, so here is hoping that you will enjoy Part 2! I mean, I couldn’t just leave Frank and George dozing forever on a log in the snowy woods, could I? They may get frostbite, so I had to save them.

Adventure in the Woods

Frank opened his eyes and stretched, accidentally bumping George, which caused him to fall off the log into the snow. 

“Oops, sorry about that!” Frank said, though he was fighting back laughter at the same time at George’s shocked expression to find himself lying in the snow. 

“Here let me help you up.”said Frank, holding out his hand to him. 

George brushed himself off and they both stood there for a few minutes wondering what they should do. George turned to Frank and said, “Do you think we should continue to look for that jackalope, or is it a lost cause?” 

“He is probably long gone by now,  I would say its hopeless, but we can always keep a look out for him as we head back.” Frank replied. “I am feeling rather cold now, so lets get to moving.” 

They walked and talked for awhile and then Frank grew silent, and so they walked in silence for awhile until George spoke up. “Are you feeling OK? ” 

“Yes, why?” Frank asked. 

“Well you went from talking a lot to just giving short answers to my statements, to not talking at all! Its like you are acting all moody on me.” 

“Nope! Not moody, but tell me, didn’t we pass that tree before?” 

George stared at him, “You didn’t just ask that?” 

“Yes, I did, did you not hear me correctly?” Frank replied. 

“Someone is moody.” George muttered to himself. 

“I heard you!” replied Frank. “I am not moody! But, I do believe we passed that tree before.” 

George smacked his head with his hand. ” Umm..in case you haven’t noticed, this is the woods, and there are LOTS of trees in the woods, what makes you think we passed that specific tree before?” 

Frank rolled his eyes, “Maybe because of the yellow X it has on its trunk!” 

George turned around and went back to look at the other side of the tree, and he saw the yellow X. “Oh, hmmm….didn’t notice that before.” 

“Well that’s obvious,” said Frank, and they stopped walking, and stared at the tree.

“So are you saying that we are walking in circles?” 

“I think so,” said Frank, “We have passed that tree 3x now. I been counting. I think you need to get out your compass, so we can get ourselves turned in the right direction.” 

George dug in his pockets, pulled out a few coins and a few marbles, but no compass.

“Guess I forgot my compass this morning.” George said softly. 

“Oh now what are we supposed to do! How do we know whether to go left or right? 

They stared at each other feeling clueless. 

In the distance they heard singing and they saw a girl walking towards them. She had on a red wool cape and was carrying a basket. When she got close enough to them , Frank called out. 

“Excuse me Miss, could you help us please? We seem to be hopelessly lost. ” 

The girl smiled, and asked them where they wanted to go.  

When they told her she gladly said, ” I am headed that exact same direction, you can follow me.” 

George and Frank breathed a sigh of relief, for they weren’t too fond of being stuck in the woods on a snowy night. They already felt like there hands and feet were turning blue, with as long as they had been outside. 

They had a nice chat with the girl in the red cape as they walked. She was going to visit her grandmother, she told them. 

“Here we are!” Frank and George saw the house just ahead and the girl pointed to the path beside it. “Just keep following that path and it will lead you out of the woods.” she told them. 

“Thank you very much!” they replied, as they shook her hand. 

They said goodbye and took off down the path, thinking of a nice hot meal that they would soon have, when they heard growling behind them. 

Frank turned around, and his eyes got round  like saucers. “Run George, Run!” 

The wolf was gaining speed and nipped at George’s heels, which made him jump and run even faster, as he gasped for breath. 

They saw a barn straight ahead and dashed into it closing the door behind them! Falling back against the door they slumped to the floor with their hearts still beating rapidly. 

“We made it!” gasped Frank.

“Yes!” said George. 

“MOO!” went the cows, causing Frank and George to jump and stumble head first into the water trough. 

They lifted their heads out of the water and gave each other a pitiful look, as Frank said, “Today is just not our day!” 

“MOO!” went the cows!