dual personalities

Tag: family

September 6, 2023

Senior moments

by chuckofish

If you recall, I bought an antique glass-front bookcase at auction a couple of weeks ago. The boy brought it home for me and it fit perfectly in the den/tv room where the desk used to be that daughter #1 now has in her house. However, the shelves were stacked at the bottom of the case and it appeared to us that there were none of those clips you put in the holes to support the shelves.

Curses. We measured the holes and I sent away for a set. They were too big, so I sent away for the next smaller size. They were too small. Unbeknownst to me, the OM also sent away for them, so we had four sets that didn’t fit. Then he sent away for three more, which didn’t fit, so we had seven (!) sets and nothing fit.

Frustrated Season 3 GIF by The Simpsons - Find & Share on GIPHY
Seriously. 🤡

Finally we took the shelves out to see if we could hammer the bigger clips in and, lo and behold, underneath them there was a little plastic bag with metal thingamabobs that fit. Huzzah!

There is a lesson here, but I am too irritated to think about it.

And too grateful that I finally have my bookcase, filled now with books.

P.S. Let me know if you need any of those shelf supports–I have seven sets–all sizes!

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September 4, 2023

“I blew out my flip-flop, stepped on a pop top”*

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty quiet. I caught up with reading and watched several good movies. And today is a bonus day–huzzah!

On Friday afternoon daughter #1 and I went to our favorite local restaurant/bar (one we had helped keep open during COVID) for a happy hour bottle of wine. We had not been there in at least six weeks, but our two favorite waiters came up to greet us with a cheery hello as we entered. They pointed us to our favorite window seats and then came over to explain that the menu had changed and the Rosé we always ordered was no longer on the new list. We asked which they recommended and they said the French, so we ordered it. When the wine arrived they asked if we wanted the hummus and we said, of course.

In this day and age it really is nice to be known and recognized and welcomed somewhere. The only other place this happens is in church!

It was good to be back in church after August, which had been rather hit or miss (mostly miss) because of travel and illness. We sang a rousing selection of the good old Anglican hymns and the more folksy American ones. I love them both.

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
the shadow of a mighty Rock
within a weary land;
a home within the wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat
and the burden of the day.

(Elizabeth C. Clepbane, 1890)

The wee twins and the boy, along with daughter #1 and Mr. Smith, came over for a barbecue on Sunday night. (Daughter #3 was sick at home.) We had not seen the twins in several weeks–it is a busy time of year! We heard all about first grade and all the things.

In other news, baby Ida got a tooth!

And Mr. Smith got a haircut!

If you have the day off from work, enjoy it! Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice.

*RIP Jimmy Buffet. We ate cheeseburgers (a little short of paradise) in your honor on Saturday night!

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August 31, 2023

The watered garden

by chuckofish

Mood. Yesterday my electricity went out shortly after I had finished doing my morning Bible reading. “Great,” I thought. “That’s just great.” Because, you know, when your electricity goes out, that means you can’t:

Get your car out of the garage;

do laundry or vacuum;

use the internet;

watch TV or listen to music;

use the dishwasher and a host of other electric appliances–

in fact, you are stuck.

I Swiffered the first floor and watered my plants. Then I started looking at some of my books in the living room (the room with the most natural light)…

and went through the drawers in the highboy.

I found something I had been looking for for some time–my husband’s family history. So that was fortuitous.

Eventually the electricity came back on in about two hours. Turns out, it was a planned outage–but no one told us about the plan. Thanks. But some good did come out of the annoying situation.

My life is like a watered garden.

The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

(Isaiah 58:11)

P.S. Baby Ida (top) kinda has some cousin vibes…

Remember him?

4 Comments
August 29, 2023

We do not lose heart

by chuckofish

As previously noted, the summer has flown by and now it is almost September! Good grief, Charlie Brown!

My weekly Bible Study group has started up again. It is good to be back with these faithful ladies, although the prayer requests at the end of our meeting are a constant reminder of the dark world we live in full of sickness and depravity.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…

(2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

We are reading Even Better Than Eden: Nine ways the Bible’s Story Changes Everything About Your Story by Nancy Guthrie, which takes us from Genesis through Revelation. It’s a departure from our usual format of reading one book of the Bible, but it should be interesting (and a lot of work!) I am also enrolled in Hillsdale College’s free online course, “The Genesis Story: Reading Biblical Narratives.” I am halfway through and so far I am enjoying being “back in the classroom.” There are even quizzes!

This is a good one from Carl Trueman about “the isolated wasteland of modern life” and the opportunities the church has.

And I liked this one from Tim Challies about growing old. “It is in old age that the fruit that began to grow in the younger days finally comes to its ripeness.”

So do not lose heart, keep up with your Bible study and let the breeze mess up your hair!

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August 21, 2023

Come ye sinners, poor and needy

by chuckofish

We are really in the dog days of summer now, but on Friday it was still nice enough to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine. Mr. Smith sat like a good dog with us and was not too distracted by the flora and fauna. As little Katie would say, “Mr. Smith is growin’ up!”

Earlier on Friday I met the boy down at the Link Auction Galleries and he picked up a glass-front bookcase for me and a large oriental rug for daughter #1 before rushing off to open his store. He came back on Sunday afternoon and moved the bookcase inside from the garage and the rug over to her house.

What would I do without him and his truck?

I watched Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023) on my friend’s very large television and I enjoyed it, although it was much too long–2 hours and 30 minutes! It could easily have been edited to an hour and a half, but today’s moviemakers are so self-indulgent, they have no idea how to edit a movie.

It was very good to be back at church after missing for two weeks when I was out of town and then sick. We even sang my new favorite hymn:

Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
lost and ruined by the fall;
if you tarry till you’re better,
you will never come at all.

And is this baby too cute or what?

Life is full of blessings. Be sure to count yours every day!

4 Comments
August 14, 2023

“I cannot go to school today,”/Said little Peggy Ann McKay*

by chuckofish

Once again I am down with the dreaded whatever, using great quantities of Kleenex and trying to stay hydrated. I did nothing all weekend. Well, the twins came over for a few hours on Saturday morning while their parents were busy. Thankfully daughter #1 came over to support me.

We went through the box of Steiff animals, which we thought would interest them, but they were not really impressed with my old collection. “Why are they called Steiff?” We did note that “Bucky” beaver matched Lottie’s Buc-ee’s sweatshirt which she got on their recent roadtrip to South Carolina.

I was prepared to send some Steiff animals home with the twins, but since they did not show any interest in them, they went back in the box. That’s okay, I understand how that goes.

We were amazed at how my old Christopher Robin doll could be the laddie’s twin. However, getting him to pose for a picture is a losing proposition.

We eventually let him do his own thing with the Lego boxes and entertained Lottie with looking at American Girl stuff. We are nothing if not flexible. And we certainly have plenty of options.

I couldn’t go to church because of my incessant coughing, but I did read through the online bulletin. Well, I hope I start to feel better this week. Pass the DayQuil!

*“Sick” by Shel Silverstein.

4 Comments
August 8, 2023

Postcards from New York

by chuckofish

This was the view out the window of our Uber as we drove home from the STL airport Sunday night–amazing cloud formations which were in fact much cooler and awe-inspiring than could be captured on my iPhone in a speeding car.

Likewise our long weekend in Glens Falls, New York flew by in a blur of socializing–something I, as a deeply introverted person, find exhausting–but I had a super-fun time with my DP’s extended family and it was a wonderful occasion to rally my own small family in a mini-reunion.

Everyone loved getting (for some a first) chance to hold baby Ida…

…and to dance with Katiebelle who partied like it was 1999…

Perhaps the sign of a great weekend/party is that no good pictures are taken–which would be the case this weekend. Suffice it to say, the bride was very beautiful, the groom dashing…

…everyone was dressed up, especially these lucky babes…

(Couture by Aunt Mary)

…and everyone had a great time.

I only cried once and that was during the groom’s dance with his mother when they played “Slave to Love” and I sobbed remembering how my DP used to dance to this song with my own baby Mary back in 1985. The years have flown by.

I love my DP and it was a rare treat to spend time with her and her family.

All too soon we had to pack up and start the arduous trek back to flyover country.

But stay tuned for tomorrow’s post about our one outing to a historic site–the U.S. Grant Cottage National Historic Site in Wilton, New York!

3 Comments
August 7, 2023

Slave to love*

by chuckofish

Well, (almost) the whole fam made it to New York for the wedding and back again. Tune in tomorrow for a full recap. In the meantime, be sure to check out DN’s blogpost from Friday in case you missed it!

*Bryan Ferry, 1985

3 Comments
July 28, 2023

Just slip on a banana peel, the world’s at your feet*

by chuckofish

Well, the first sleepover at Mamu and Pappy’s house is in the books.

Since the wee twins are not quite old enough to be introduced to our classic film favorites in their entirety, daughter #1 and I had the genius idea that we would introduce them to some favorite movie dance/song sequences from movie musicals. Their favorite was “Make ‘Em Laugh” from Singin’ in the Rain (1952):

Who can blame them?

We also watched the square dance/barn-raising scene from Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954), “Everything’s Up-to-Date in Kansas City” from Oklahoma! (1955), “Getting to Know You” from The King and I (1956), and the rehearsal scene from Viva Las Vegas (1964). When we watched “Do Re Mi” from The Sound of Music (1965) Lottie said, “They keep saying my name!”–Do re mi fa so la ti do! She was not wrong.

We also showed them the Moses parting the Red Sea sequence from The Ten Commandments (1956) because they love The Prince of Egypt (1998). They thought it was pretty cool, but were non-plussed to see the Pharaoh was also the King of Siam. Somehow this does not compute.

Anyway, all parties lived through the night.

*”Make ‘Em Laugh” by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown

3 Comments
July 27, 2023

Throwback Thursday

by chuckofish

Here is a vintage photo of my DP (on top) and me (middle, right) with our cousins at their house on Lake Damariscotta in Maine, circa 1964. I don’t know where my brother is–off fishing with Bunker? Our Uncle George is in the back, holding up the pyramid. We had super fun that summer as you can imagine.

Indeed, I am thinking of those cool Maine breezes as we bear up through a mid-summer heat wave in flyover country. Heat waves are nothing out of the ordinary here–despite what HC may say–but they are no fun. In the summer of 1936, for instance, St. Louis endured an unbroken 37-day stretch of 100-degree–plus temperatures. I remember one old lady from my flyover institute telling me how in the 1930s they would escape the heat of their un-airconditioned city apartment by sleeping in Forest Park! The whole family. It was a thing people did (and were allowed to do). As a child, she had great fun. Maybe not as much fun as a lake house in Maine, but fun.

Fun is what you make it after all. So keep a merry heart and be thankful for air-conditioning. Pray for the electric grid.

A merry heart does good, like medicine,
But a broken spirit dries the bones.

(Proverbs 17:22)

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