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a common housewife in the fast lane
Archive for 200611 ( return to current blog )
Monday November 27, 2006
When POH was a little girl, Christmas was all about Santa Claus, decorating the Christmas tree, hanging our stockings above the fire place, and sitting on the "Yule" log making "a Christmas wish".
It was a special time with my Dad. He was very busy most of the time but at that time we played chess in front of the fire and did jigsaw puzzles together in front of the football game. Funny, I remember the names of football players like Johnny Unitas and later Terry Bradshaw, more than I know any from the last 25 years.....not like I cared about football even then.
Sitting with my Dad was a treat to the youngest of three middle children. Little POH got lost in the crowd sometimes especially as for every gift or ability that she had, she had one or more sisters who could do the same thing only better. My Dad was, among his tennis and golfing, an avid bowler. He was on a league called the "Ad Club". He encouraged me to learn to bowl and I did. It just so happened that some close friends of mine and I joined a Saturday league for teenagers and it is a great memory for me. Later, as an adult I joined a woman's league one year and had an average of 140. Whoo-hoo, right?
Around the age of 13, after I had been bowling for a year and knew how to keep the score (it is interesting that as hard as math was for me, keeping the bowling scores, adding strikes and spares together, was a pleasure, something todays kids, with the automated scorekeepers don't get a chance to do.)
I was invited to come and keep score for my Dad's team and for whatever team he was playing against that day. They always checked my calculations over my shoulder but I came to like that because then they would pat my back and tell me what a good girl I was, how bright........Ooooo, POH lapped that up like a puppy with a fresh bowl of Kibbles and Bits. I got paid a dollar a game.....a good deal since it was only a couple of hours and babysitting would have been alot harder and for only 50 cents an hour. Plus, I got to feel important for once. I could do something for somebody and they appreciated it. The men all wore suits and ties. They would take off their jackets and hang them on the back of the chairs. They smelled like tweed and camel's hair and cherry pipe tobacco. It was the funnest.
At Christmas we had enough traditions to look forward to so that each year was in many ways the same, yet at the same time, with the fifties moving rapidly into the sixties and lifestyles dramatically shifting there were many changes too.
As we became a family of teenagers and one sister left to go to college and another to boarding school, family dynamics shifted. Christmas was the time when everyone returned though. It didn't always feel the same....relationships change when people are gone even for a few months at a time, but singing carols around the piano with my mother playing in her smooth and quiet style, and making cookies and stuffed dates with walnuts and sugar, made for a continuity that seemed to bridge the gaps....at least for a time.
Christmas shows and movies were not much of a factor in my generation. Yeah, there were some, mostly black and white for many years, but the proliferation of "Christmas movies" was not part of our holiday season to any great degree. The only one I remember seeing was "White Christmas" with Danny Kaye......and another guy I can't remember.
We had a creche. My mother gave it to me before she moved from New York to Florida many years ago. I still have it. It sits, set up year around, in a glass cupboard in my dining room. It is a Hummel Creche that my grandmother brought from her trip to Germany sometime when POH was very little. I never remember it not being there.
It sat a top the piano for many years out of the way of little fingers. All except for POH. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. Or her hands away from it. The little Jesus in the manger just did her in. He wasn't connected to the manger bed so you could take him out and look Him all over. The manger had indentations where he fit. It was an amazing work of art. Yet, that is not what fascinated me so much......it was Him. Who was He? Why did He come? For what purpose? Oh, I had so many more questions but those were the real big ones......and the ones that no one gave me a satisfactory answer about.
We never talked about Jesus much in my house. Oh yes, we went to church each Sunday, dressed in our Sunday best. My mother wore her stole and my Dad wore his best coat (even nicer than the business coat he wore for everyday!) and we all wore hats. We were so quiet when we entered the beautiful stained glass sanctuary. Everyone was. We genuflected before entering the pew. We pulled the padded kneeling rail down and knelt on it for just a minute. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do then, but other people looked like they were talking to themselves so I just lowered my head and didn't say a word. It was all very pious and holy. I liked it alot........well, until my leg started rocking back and forth and my mother would glare at me......or my mind kept wandering to the cute altar boy.
Who was that little baby in the manger? Why was He born? What was so important about Him that the biggest holiday on earth was named CHRISTmas after Him? What did it all mean? Those were not questions POH thought about when she was a little tyke just enjoying her father's company and a rare cup of eggnog. Those nagging thoughts kept her awake once in a while though when she was 13. Who is this Jesus? Why did He come? What is Christmas all about? Why can't someone tell me something that makes sense about that?
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Saturday November 25, 2006
It was Christmas 1967........POH was in the eighth grade. I had a friend whose father was doctor.
I don't know whether he was a Christian or not as we were all from very respectable church going families and no one discussed the difference between upstanding church going folk and people who read their Bible during the week and committed their lives to the Lord in a serious and life changing way. Looking back I think he may have been.
In spite of the fact that he was quite well to do.....or maybe because of that fact.....he had a serious habit of giving needy people free services.
One Friday night, POH's friend called up and asked if she wanted to go along on her father's errands the next day. In those days there were no important video games to play.....no time consuming internet sites to visit, and girls didn't play any SERIOUS sports......enough to require Saturday practices or traveling games. Ah, yeah, it was a different time back in them days. Believe me, the thought of missing a piano practice and some black and white looney tunes wasn't problematic.
When they came to pick me up the car was full of supplies. I wondered a little bit what the name of this day would be but I went along....to shy to ask what was going on.
We drove and drove. About 45 minutes later we came to what I later learned was a migrant workers camp. The people there were slightly different than POH had ever seen.....their skin was darker, not black, but definitely not like the light skin that POH and her girlfriends had. Their dress was somewhat shabby but when they saw the good doctor their faces brightened up so much that their apparel was not noticable.
POH and her friend were assigned many jobs that day. Everything from taking care of small children, to doing loads and loads of laundry at the local laundramat with quarters given to us by the good doctor. At the start, POH felt a little uncomfortable.......like who are these people and why am I here? By the end of the afternoon, as the sun was beginning to wan in the west and POH could hear the faint sound of her mother's cowbell calling her home for dinner....if only in her head....we were laughing, singing, playing.......having the time of our lives.............I didn't want to leave.
When we got home I got all kinds of pats on the back from my parents and others who told me that I did "charity work". I was told how hard I worked....how I helped some "poor people" and how I was "such a good girl". Funny about that.....I thought I was just having fun.
That Christmas.....way back in 1967....was the beginning for me, I think. The beginning of a revelation that helping people made ME happy. Happier than sitting around with my girlfriends waiting for boys to stop by, happier than playing Chess or Scrabble in front of the fire on a cold and snowy day....happier than anything I could have thought to do on that Saturday afternoon when I had nothing else to do. Even though I didn't know the verse, "It is more blessed to give than to receive", that was the first time I can truly say that I had a revelation of the awesome feeling that comes when one steps out of their selfish existance and does something for someone else. It isn't just a nice thing to do.............it's FUN!
Sometimes people still pat me on the back.....at least with their words for the life that I have led. They have even used the word "saint". Yikes.............can I just say that POH is not THAT! All I can say is that most of the time......maybe not all..........but most......it's been my pleasure. Like that day.......it's been fun.
Gotta go now......gotsta play with Gabriel. Who'da thunk at 53 life could still be so much fun?
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Wednesday November 22, 2006
For those of you who don't enjoy starting the Christmas season any earlier than need be you may not enjoy POH's blog from now until the 25th of next month. POH LOVES Christmas even though Santa and elves are generally NOT her focus.
The buying of presents and planning of meals is not POH's favorite part either. I'm not saying I don't have some fun with that and feel joy when my gifts are opened on the 25th of December, but it's really NOT the reason that POH loves Christmas so much.
It is because it is the awesome time of year when people who consider themselves Christians or consider themself a non-Christian come together and sing to the King of Glory whether they really care about doing that any other time of year or not.
The Bible says, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord"........it is at Christmas time.....if not at any other time of year....that people who would not normally praise the Lord, praise the Lord, whether they consciously are doing it or not. All they have to do is sing Away in The Manger or Hark The Herald Angels Sing and one is praising the Lord. Isn't it interesting that people seem to notice a certain 'spirit' around Christmas? They call it the 'spirit of love', or the 'spirit of Christmas', but what they are really feeling is the Holy Spirit.........the Spirit of the living Christ....and the reason they are feeling that is because they are praising the Lord, whether they think they are or not. Just tickles POH no end.
Soooo, I apologize if you are annoyed by POH's early start...it won't stop me though. Most likely I will be, as time allows, switching up the songs almost daily. So, Happy Thanksgiving to you. May you be truly thankful to God for your many blessings and Merry Christmas early. POH will be naggin......I mean encouraging Mr. Hope to get a tree ASAP starting on Friday.
Love you all. Enjoy.
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Monday November 20, 2006
For those of you who know but more for those of you who don't, there is a non-Presidential campaign with a non-true non-candidate who has been slated for a run in 2008.
If you did not know this I am unsure how you could have missed it but I would encourage you to support the Blogstream non-Candidate for President of the United States, namely, Mr. WE WANT YOU, Ornery.
He is the perfect non-candidate. Humble, hardworking and non-auspicious. It is that last part that has Mr. Oh's Ho's in such a tizzy......and what a tizzy we are in. Who could ask for anything more............the Blogstreams own Mr. You Da Man, Ornery!
Now, before you go and visit Mr. Ornery's Corner, there are some issues that you should be aware of.
First of all, we have 2, count them TWO Vice Presidential non-candidates who for all intents and non-purposes shouldn't be let out of their cage..................uh, I mean their office. The mighty POH, non-Secretary of Getting Things Done is struggling to keep the situation under control but new “situations” and such keep arising and I have decided that I am dropping this from my agenda of things to get non-done. Mr. Fuzzy and Ms. Misty, aka The Princessident, herself, have so muddied the waters with their antics that no one is quite sure who is who, what is what, when what happened when, and how we are going to get out of this non-mess.
Mr. Thinks He Has Everything Under Control Ornery, has been somewhat incognito of late and his Corner is slowly turning into more of an insane asylum, what with people dropping their sanity off at that door, than a prim and proper office worthy of the title Office of the non-President........................of course after the last few administrations before us, maybe the office wasn't very worthy anymore anyway.
We also have another conundrum that POH is at a loss to deal with. It would appear that Mr. Won't Tell Us What He Does In His Free Time Ornery, has either gotten someone pregnant.........
or is pregnant hisself....................POH is not quite sure since that is not her department, being the one who only changes the diapers of the so-called products of conception from said........well.....let's just call them affairs of state......and can POH just say.....she is very non-judgmental in these issues but is NO LONGER accepting the phrase "Immaculate Conception" ANY MORE regarding these such things!
NW Matters and POH have been working together diligently to find Mr. Won't Show His Face for Love nor Money Ornery and it was POH's subtle and not so subtle idea to hog-tie Bodacious and make her cough up...........I mean, spit out.......
er, well, rather......non-equivocate......about not only Mr. We'll Getcha Come Hell or High Water Ornery's whereabouts, but about any other little thing that comes to the mind of POH and NW. We think that she has been hiding behind his non-desk, but we're not sure because we cannot locate her either.
There are other so-called situations at The Corner involving none other than our own blogstream Sherry, non-Director of Homeland non-Security. In addition, The Federal B**** Investigators have been challenged to change their name to the Federal Butch Investigators by our own blogstream Polar Bear herself, and Heide is currently quite frustrated that she has had to wait sixty some years for a tattoo, of all things, and may not get one now because POH has an aversion to putting ink under one's skin. There is one other "situation" that I just HATE to mention, seeing as non-insanity is the name of the non-game over there. It has to do with NW Matters. She has been hearing voices in her head and has, to my knowledge, been following their directives. These voices speak in several different languages and while they are very versitile and volitile, ranging from non-important matters of state to very important matters of the heart, POH is having a very hard time discerning which one is the REAL NW Matters. Tune in for further developments.
Oh, it is all so non-melodramatic and POH is weary just trying to remember what all is going on and how to control this playground of childr..........I mean, non-politicians.
It would appear that the more scandals occur the more interest there is in the campaign to the point where Mr. All He Wants To Do is Drink His Coffee and Eat His Bagel Ornery is terribly afraid that this non-campaign will turn into a true campaign and he will have to occupy the true non-oval office and won't be able to wear his non-famous slippers anymore.
There is also some fear that the stress of the “situation” as it is currently being called, will turn him back into Dr. Oh at a moments notice and then who KNOWS what could happen?
The point of this post was not really to tell you what is happening in The Corner with Mr. Oh and his Ho's, as the blogstream wimmen have been known to call themselves (well, all except for POH, who made it clear that she don't ho....even for Mr. Oh).
The real reason for this post is to tell you all that Mr. Oh has been spotted in various places...................like I said, incognito. You will note that he is wearing a full toupee...........or rug as Burt Reynolds would say..........and seems to be trying to fit into the general public as best as he possibly can. That young girl (there are some rumors about her too.......something about her once being his adopted daughter!) next to him is one tip off that we have found the REAL Mr. Oh. The unavoidable wearing of spectacles makes it also fairly certain that this is he who we need and will dance with glee when once we see.
To be continued......................................
BTW, Mr. Doesn't Want to Let His Wimmen See His Face Ornery.....to borrow a phrase from our esteemed Lucy...........
YOU'RE BUSTED!
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Friday November 17, 2006
This message has been removed by the author.
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