🎉 2023 January FROM MY PERSPECTIVE

Welcome 2023!!!  I’m looking forward to all that will grace my life.  I know there will be some smiles (I hope a lot of them) and some tears.  No matter what, I’ll see it through or with help.  I wish for all of you a new year filled with many smiles and some tears, just enough of each to appreciate the opposite.                                  

 “They hurt my feelings; they called me names.  I hate them!!!” cried the young one sitting on the flowered, over-stuffed couch in Aint Daisy’s living room.  Aint Daisy had a little visitor, a wounded soul huddled next to her.  “Honey, ye jes go ahead and get all that outta ye and then we’ll talk,” soothed the gentle woman.  A bit of time, many sobs, and plenty of Kleenex later he became quiet.  Aint Daisy took the child’s hand in hers and started to talk.  “I know yer hurt, and I know that hurt won’t go away for a while.  I’m going to ask ye a few questions and yer answers will start ye to a-healin’.  One: what were the names they called ye?”  She was told all of them.  “Two: are any of those names true about ye?”  The youngster answered, “No.”  “Three: do ye feel real good inside when ye hate someone and are angry at them?”  The youngster was quiet for a bit, and then answered, “No.”  “Four: can ye forgive ‘em knowing that when one calls another names that caller is actually unhappy about something or themselves and they lash out at another to try to feel better?”  The youngster thought, and then replied, “I didn’t think of them that way.”  Aint Daisy smiled and said, “Then, if yer not any of those names---ye feel better when ye don’t hate---and ye know they must have been hurting real bad to say all they did to ye, yull be jes fine in a while.  How about a piece o’ lemon fluffy pie I made this mornin’?”  Words can heal and they can hurt.  This wise lady from the holler knows, oh how she knows.

I’ve watched ALICE IN WONDERLAND many times.  There are some things and sayings which stand out, such as:  The Mad Hatter.  I’ve wondered what made the hatter mad?  Here is the origin of that---The term comes from the hat-making industry in the Middle Ages, which used the highly toxic mercury nitrate in the hat's rim. The people who made these hats would often suffer poisoning which would make them act oddly, also known as mad.  “Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.”  This is so true.  Give it a try and see how your day evolves.  “I am under no obligation to make sense to you.”  Well, I’d say that is pretty much the truth, unless you’re being questioned because you said or did something which is skeptical or alerting.  “A very merry unbirthday to you, to you.”  Birthdays are nice, but in my opinion, unbirthdays are nicer; they’re nice surprises, which, when celebrated with others who initiated an unbirthday, show you’re cared about.

I’ve always thought when I saw a child having a temper tantrum in a store, “That would feel so good to be able to express my frustration where I’m frustrated.”  As I was strolling down aisle 6 looking for my favorite pickles, I saw a sign which said, “Peterr Pann bread and butter pickles are no long available at this store.”  Talk about frustration!!!  So, I laid down on the floor in aisle 6 and started to thrash and cry.  When I’d finished, I got up and strolled away.  The manager came to see me when I was checking out.  I’m not allowed in Eagle’s Grocery anymore.  I guess they don’t want to take the chance I’ll get frustrated again.

“Peace is not when everyone agrees.  It is when we can respect our disagreements and still play in the sandbox together.”  Disagreements will happen between and among friends and family members.  Apologizing tells that the one apologizing values the relationship more than being right.  But, sometimes it is right to stay quiet and let the other(s) think.

Someone told me, “Trudy, you surely do walk the talk you talk.” That made me feel good.  I told them, “Thank you, but please don’t ask me to jog the jog, or run the run because the words that will jog or run out of my mouth will NOT be the ones Mother taught me.”

My favorite cartoon is Calvin and Hobbs.  There is one which brings back so many memories of when my kids were younger.  Calvin and Hobbs are running down the stairs yelling, “Turn on the TV-------it’s SATURDAAAAY!!!”  And at our house, it happened that way, with scurrying into the kitchen, one dragging the tall trash can to the living room in front of the 10’ green, striped couch, another getting the two pounds of shelled and salted peanuts, and the third one getting all their favorite dry cereal to much, too.  Then they’d sit and shell the peanuts, gobbling every edible morsel and munching the cereal.  I listened from the bedroom and they giggled, talked about what was happening, and one would shush them with, “Quiet!! You’ll awaken Mom.”  Little did they know I was already awake, listen with a smile.  Now it’s with a smile and moist eyes---  some memories do that, ya know.

The hand and fingers are an amazing machine.  The hand can mold foods, clay, measure, and smooth wrinkles.  The fingers grasp, point, probe, give non-verbal messages, and help with simple math.  I’m grateful to my hands and fingers, especially the middle finger for always sticking up for me when I need it.

A question was asked of me, "What is the craziest thing your boss asked you to do?"  I told that I apologized to a parent for something I had not said about her teen-aged son, nor did I have him in any of my classes. A listener said, "Surely you didn't apologize."  My reply to the listener was, "The superintendent insisted I do it 'for the school's image' he said. He was more concerned about that and the foolish parent's feelings, than my integrity.  I called her, told her who I was, told her there was a snafu in communication and errant audible processing. I did NOT apologize, per se, and held the receiver out into the room so other teachers could hear her ranting on how horrible teachers were. Every now and then I returned the receiver to say, ‘Oh that's too bad you feel that way.’ Then, I told her I had a class to attend and said, ‘Tootles.’  The other teachers in the room applauded my tenacity and choice of vocabulary, which we all knew she didn't have a clue what the words meant. By the way, her son was one of the worst students at the school. No teacher I talked with liked him and usually sent him to the deans' offices to get him out of their class. He was that disruptive and disrespectful."

My friend works in an office and handles a lot of paper.  I gave her a bottle of hand sanitizer with a label I made.  Printed very nicely on pretty paper, it said, “Paper cut finder”.  Think about it, folks.

Brenduh came over all excited about her culinary accomplishment.  “Trudy!!!  I got accepted in the food contest.  I submitted my recipe and they accepted it,” she said which much pride.  “Well, that’s great.  What was the recipe?” I asked.  “It is a pureed nut spread with a grape relish reduction paired with brioche slices.  It sounds pretty good, huh?” she bragged.  “Hmmm, do you really think the judges will be thrilled with a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich?”  I asked.

I got to wondering:  If elephants had a vehicle, would there be a lot of trunk space?   When I reached my middle 40s, I seemed to want three cats and two dogs.  I couldn’t understand why.  I asked my Beloved why I would want that many animals.  He said, “Oh, I think you’re going through many paws.”  Such a smart aqq.

Strong women aren’t simply born.  They are made by the storms they walk through.  They walk into the storm head-on and come back leading the pack of others.  Been there, got the t-shirt!!

I’ve asked some people a question with their answer being, “Nope.”  Then, here they came noping their nopest “Nope” than ever before when I asked another question, which alluded to the first question.

I have a friend who has chickens.  They’d not been laying eggs for a few weeks and she was a bit irritated in the lack of production.  I told her, “Go to KFC, get a bucket of their friend chicken, put the bones in it, and when you’re finished with it, put it in their coop where they can see it.”  She did just that and egg production began again and was more prolific.  I didn’t know chickens could read.

I bought a bag of air the other day.  The snack company was gracious enough to include some potato chips with it.

Peace, hugs, and blessings to you.  Trudy :)