Laughter Is The Best Medicine

My friends are funny.

I got this in my email a couple of days ago:


Gerb! I finally figured out how to make my foot look like yours!

Your foot:

My foot:

Love, amy


Thanks, Amy. I'm feeling better already!

Yoda One For Me

Yesterday I realized that today was the day for passing out valentines at school... and I had forgotten to buy any.

I rushed to the dollar store in hopes of finding a stray box of cool valentines somewhere but, as expected, all that remained was Power Rangers and Hannah Montana. (*sigh*)

I couldn't bring those home.

Instead I stopped by the craft store and purchased a pack of cardstock so that we could create our own valentines.

First I made All-a-Boy's. He likes Legos and Star Wars so here is what I came up with:


Next was Princess. She wanted Princesses for the girls and Star Wars for the boys. We found some generic printable valentines online to fit both of these criteria and printed them off for her.

Cowgirl came last. However, she insisted upon making her own valentines without any help from the computer... or from me. She disappeared into her room for awhile and then proudly brought out her creations for me to enjoy. It was hard to pick, but here are my favorites...

Pixie stix, pixie dust... pretty clever!

I told her she was not allowed to give this one to anyone until she's at least 25. It's in the back of her pajama drawer until then.

Again... this one was banned from her classroom. Besides, until this person learns to lay off of those tanning lotions, no proposals of marriage are gonna happen.

The high-maintenance stuff comes through at an early age.

This one is obviously for a boy.

Then, seeing how we've obviously got a Star Wars obsession going on at our house, here are the cards for the Jedi in her life...

SO clever!

Again, well thought out and very appropriate.

(translation: 'Leia' on me while we kiss!)
Um... WOW.

She was trying to think of something valentine-y that went with "Leia" and this is what she came up with. She was adequately embarrassed when I explained to her how it could be misconstrued, so she changed the words to: 'Princess Leia wants to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day.'

MUCH better.

I just hope that her classmates will appreciate them as much as I did.

Making The Best Of It

(photo from flickr.com)

Today I was at WalMart getting an oil change. The wait? 1 hour, 15 minutes.

No problem, I thought, trying to make the best of it. I can go to the bank, purchase some groceries and eat a small container of Cherry Garcia all by myself.
I finished my business at the bank. Bought groceries, including Cherry Garcia. Sat on a bench and consumed my treat. Checked the time: only an hour had passed.

Close enough, I assumed, heading back to the automotive center.

"Your car has not even come into the garage yet. It will be at least another hour," the boy with 2 humongous holes in his earlobes told me.

"I was told an hour and 15 minutes," I replied (sweetly).

"You were told wrong. It's at least another hour," Earlobe Boy answered (teenagerishly).

I decided to peruse the electronics section.

Then the music aisles.

And then the toys.

I wandered aimlessly, scanning the Legos and action figures and trains and princess clothing before I came to them: the Littlest Pet Shop figures. And suddenly I came alive. Remember this post? Well, my birthday is THIS WEEK and I had forgotten all about the little doggy who came with his own potty training accessories!! I totally deserve it I convinced myself as I rummaged through the LPS animals.

Another lady came along and joined me.

"Looking for a certain one?" she asked. "My daughter has almost all of them," she told me with a smile.

"Actually, yes, I am looking for a certain one..." I answered, continuing my search. Turtles, cats and fish (oh, my!)... but not the doggy I was looking for.

"I can help you find it," she continued. "Is it a bird? Some of those are tough to find."

Me: "It's a dog."

Lady: "What comes with it?"

Me: "Um, a newspaper... and a shovel... and a little plastic (trying to keep my composure and be mature...) poop."

Lady: "What?"

Me: "A plastic pile of poop."

Lady: "They don't make one like that."

Me: "Actually, I saw one at KMart a while back. I wanted my daughter to get it but she thought it was disgusting."

Lady: (knowingly) "Okay." (looking up and down the aisle) "Is there a camera somewhere?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Lady: "You know, like, Surprise! We got you!"

Me: (seriously trying to suppress my laughter) "Nope, no camera. I'm really looking for a little dog that comes with its own pooper scooper and poop."

Lady: "Hmmm." (continues to look, quietly)

I investigated every single package (to no avail!) before hearing Earlobe Boy announce my name over the intercom. My vehicle was ready. No toys for me today.

"You have a good one," I told my fellow LPS toys-peruser as I turned to leave.

"Plastic turd toys. Leave it to KMart," she said under her breath.

I haven't stopped smiling yet.

Mom and Me

Saturday morning I got a phone call from the video relay service.

It was my Mom.

"Gerby," the interpreter said, "you don't have to come today. It's supposed to snow pretty heavy. What do you think?"

"I'm coming, Mom. See you in about an hour."

I have not spent quality one-on-one time with my Mom in a very long time and I had been anticipating the day with a feeling of excitement. I wasn't going to let a little snow keep me home.

We had a great time.

We had breakfast.

We talked about everything under the sun.

We did a little shopping.

We went and got Mom's hair cut.


It was a great day.

As I was leaving Mom lamented over the fact that her hair was becoming much too gray and her hip has been giving her problems.

I lamented over the fact that I do not make the one-hour drive to visit her more often.



It's a fault I plan to remedy.