Causerie

Spreading the Wealth

We took a trip to the Federal Reserve Bank. 

This is what $40 million dollars looks like.

 

 

Pigtails to Perfume, Crayons to Cologne

She had a birthday today.  His birthday was Friday.  I recently learned that siblings who are born this close together, often less than a year apart, are referred to as "Irish Twins". I kind of like the sound of that.

My daughter is 18 years old now and Sir Richard is 17.  I can hardly believe it.  In fact, I'm sort of lost in a haze of nostalgia.  It feels as though the huge black holes in my time line have distorted reality and the truth is that these two are still snotty nosed toddlers who are trying to ride the dog. 

But look at them.  They are at the precipice of life, standing at the edge of eternity and ready to fly.

I pray for calm winds.

Vinyl

 An album.  By Sting.  Fifty-cents.

What a wonderful world.

She's now in the fifth-grade and I'm still not any smarter but apparently there's an app for that

I admit it.  I'm not a grammar wonk. I struggle constantly with the proper usage of words and punctuation yet, I try and I'm always willing to learn.  So when Bugga Bear said that the medicine she had put on her cut "stang" I quickly corrected her.  "Stung," I told her. "It stung."

"It stang," she said pointing to the scrape on her leg. 

"That's not a word," I said.

"Yes it is.  I've said it before."

"That doesn't mean it's correct," I said.  "The word is stung," I told her in my I-know-better-than-you voice.

"Mom, stang is a word," she said.

"Stang?!" Miss P yelled from the bathroom. "That's hillbilly talk!"

"No, it's not," Bugga Bear said as she marched across the room.  She picked up her electronic do-dad, punched in a few words and proceeded to show me an on-line dictionary with the word "Stang" highlighted.

 "Simple past-tense of sting" it said.

 

Arm Chair

I don't like football.  I've never understood it and frankly, I think it's silly for grown men to run up and down the field while knocking each other upside the head and making millions doing it.  Football, I find boring but, I must say that I'm awfully intrigued with this Tim Tebow.  Apparently, he is stirring up feelings in fans and non-fans alike - hatred, reverence, anger, frustration, confusion and awe.

Some people have said that Tim's rise to fame is reminiscent of the Biblical David (of the Goliath fame); but, the more I hear about this fascinating young man, I think his journey here on Earth is more like the Bible's Daniel.

Daniel was loved and hated by many and yet he remained true to his beliefs.  God did amazing and  unexplainable things through Daniel and for Daniel and people were confused, fearful and amazed.  Though a humble man, Daniel was also fierce and determined.

Sort of like this Tim.

Miracles of the Season

My mother believes in miracles.  She believes that God has a way of doing things in His own time in His own way.  She rests in the hope that good things sometimes happen in the most unexpected ways. So when she and I were shopping on Christmas Eve and a man walked up to her, thrust a "$10 bill" in her hand and motioned for her not to make a fuss, she smiled in gratitude and thanked him kindly.  She closed her fist and waited for me to walk over to where she stood.

As she shared what happened, her hand opened to reveal a crumpled piece of money. Her eyes widened and then she gasped.  It was not a ten dollar bill, but a one hundred dollar bill.

Silenced by the shock of such a gift, we scanned the crowd for the stranger. 

And (H)e was gone. 

I See

"For some people, it's just part of the aging process."  That's what my eye doctor told me. 

I can't see like I used to be able to see.  Driving at night is very difficult - the glare, the blurry lines, the weird six-foot bunny I occasionally see in the middle of the road.  And now that I spend so much time on the computer, forget about it.  And reading?  I squint, I pull the book in closer, I push it away, I hold the pages up towards the light.  And lighting?  What's going on with that?  I keep looking around wondering, "Why is it so dark?"

Dr. Jill tells me that I need to make some decisions.   I've used dime-store readers and dollar store glasses for the last couple of years and while that's fine, says Dr. Jill, I may want to consider big-girl glasses now.  The kind that I will wear all day, every day.

"But what about night driving and being on the computer and reading?" I ask.  I don't want three different pairs of glasses. 

"Progressive lens," the good doctor explains. One part of the glasses are made for looking at the computer, the other part for night driving and another part for reading. 

Impressed by the possibility, I say, "Super glasses?"

Dr. Jill nods. "Super glasses," she says.

So here I am in my fancy new glasses seeing tall buildings in a single light.