Sunday Snippets

"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where it keeps its brain."
--Harry Potter and the I Can't Remember Which One; J.K. Rowling


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"You think the dead we love ever truly leave us?  You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?  Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him."
--Harry Potter and the I Can't Remember Which One; J.K. Rowling


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"A good song is like a good meal--I just want to inhale it and then share a bite with someone else."
--Hoda Kotb; Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee


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"And this never stops being true: Neglecting to give thanks only deepens the wound of the world."
--Ann Voskamp; 

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/06/what-to-sing-in-your-storms/

Happy Sunday,

The Very Same Coin, I Tell You.

I am the spitting image of my mother.  My nose is slightly smaller, but other than that I'm all her.  We have the same hair and the same eyes and the same toes.  My whole life has been full of listening to people say,

Child, you look just like ya Mama.  You do know that, right?

Little Jan!  I'd know who you belong to just by lookin' at ya.

You look just like your sweet mother!  I'm sure you get that a lot.

Nobody ever said I looked like Daddy.  Except once.

A lady I don't know but won't ever forget came up to me and said, 

By God, girl, if you are not the spittin' image of Rhett Maris, then I don't know who is. 

Before she walked away she added offhandedly with a bit of a smile, 

Huh.  I think you may look a little like his mother, too.

 She turned swiftly, and I choked back tears and muttered a thank you too quiet to be noticed.

  

My mama always says that when I was born I looked so much like her that Daddy would say, a little begrudgingly, 

You can't tell I had anything to do with her.

He shouldn't have been worried because just as much as I am mother, I am also him.

You see, Daddy and I are a peculiar pair.  We are just enough alike and just enough different that we either really get along nice or we butt heads at every turn.  There is no medium heat for the two of us, and I like it that way.  It means that good or bad, happy or sad, we're us.  Real all the way, and we love each other too much to ever give up on the other.

We don't have to speak to understand each other.  A look or squeeze of hands will always do. 

Daddy taught me to love music and appreciate the importance of the written word. 

He inspired my love of cooking.

  I try to choke back a cry the same way he does, and when we laugh, I mean really laugh, we throw our heads back at just the same angle.  

If you watch closely, you can always see him in my facial expressions, and he is ever present in my thought processes.

His life has taught me that where you come from doesn't have to dictate where you're going.

More than anyone else, he is who I want to be proud of me. 

I am certain that God could have chosen no better man to be my father, to challenge me in all the right ways and push me beyond my imagined limits and teach me unwavering love.

We really are two sides of the same coin, Daddy and me.  We were made to fit together; we belong to each other.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.  I love you so very much, 

Thoughts of the Sundry Variety

Sometimes, I don't know what to blog about, which has been the case as of late.  This becomes the trouble when my focus is the trouble.


Last week was lovely, full of Harry Potter, fajitas, and VBS.  It was great.


Lately, my head has been so full of thoughts and questions and wonderings that it's been almost impossible to get things done. I said "almost," mind you.  I've been getting most everything done, except blogging, that is.


On our Memorial Day Getaway, my mom said lots of funny things.  Here are a few that I recorded:


Upon arriving to a nice shopping area Mom says, "This is a nice place.  We should come here."  I reply, "We are here."  Mom says, looking confused, "Oh."


While Hub, Daddy, and I have a conversation in the living room about figuring out who some actress was in some movie Dad says, "Was that the blonde girl?"  Mom looks up from her work at the kitchen table and asks, "What?  Is she naked?"


While perusing through pamphlets I ask, "Do those men have teeth?"  Mom answers, "They are brothers."


I keep losing my train of thought.


You want to know a word I have trouble spelling.  Actually, I always spell it correctly, but I always want to spell it incorrectly.  That word is lose. (or any variation thereof)  
Since choose has a double O, and it sounds the same as lose, wouldn't it stand to reason that lose should be spelled loose.  But, I suppose lose can't be spelled loose because then how would we spell loose?  Are you following this?  I feel as though it's important.  Sort of.  Anyway, I've always had trouble with double letters.  Perhaps I'll expound on that at a later date.  


Since I'm rereading the Harry Potter series, it has come to my attention how useful a house elf would be.  I would treat my house elf with kindness, you know.  I wouldn't be one of those terrible people who mistreats house elves.  No, no.  I am always appreciative of a helping hand.  I have said all of this to say, if you know how to get a house elf or of any good house elves out of work or really anything about real, live house elves, give me a shout.




I have to go now because I don't have a house elf, and my kitchen is a wreck.


Farewell, 

Sunday Snippets

"Compartments, files, systems--not for me.  Here's how I like my purse (and I swear I showed someone the contents the other day, and this is what came out): loose dollar bills, jam-packed wallet, a winter hat, a hardback novel, a thank-you card with a dog on it, Advil, one glove, a travel zip bag with 3-ounce bottles, mints, my checkbook, cough suppressant pills, a bottle of perfume, deodorant, contact lenses, a comb, an apple, and a Christmas ornament.  Yeah.  That's my world."
--Hoda Kotb; Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee


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"'Fascinating!' he would say as Harry talked him through using a telephone.  'Ingenious, really, how many ways Muggles have found of getting along without magic.'"
--Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; J.K. Rowling


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"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
--Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; J.K. Rowling


~~~~~


Rereading Harry Potter is more fun than I thought it would be,
                                         

Memorial Day Getaway!

 For a Memorial Day Getaway, my little family went to Gatlinburg, TN.  Maybe you wish I wasn't calling it a Memorial Day Getaway because that's cheesy, but I don't care.  I like a cheesy name; it makes everything a little happier when I write it down in my planner or on the calendar.  Yes, those are two different things.

 So, anyway, we went to Gatlinburg, and had a fabulously wonderful time.  We rented a cabin whose driveway was constructed by none other than the DEVIL himself.  Other than that, the cabin was nearly heavenly.  You can't have everything, right?

 We spent part of one day at the aquarium.  I love aquariums.  They are just the most fun.  Have you never been to an aquarium? Call me!  We'll go together!  I just love all the little fishies, which is why I have so many pictures of them and their friends.

 We did other things, too.  For example, we spent a hearty chunk of time at the outlet mall.  Let me tell you; that was a glorious trip.  You don't get pictures of that because I'm not cool enough to take pictures of myself and my family shopping.

 Don't you just love all of these oceany creatures?!

 This is Frank the penguin.  He had a bit of an attitude.  I could tell.  I'm training to be a penguin whisperer. (Not really. But I want to. Really. So, if you know how, CALL ME).

We had lunch one day at Bubba Gump's.  YUM.  This is a picture of my dad that my mom made me take because she thought his bib was funny.  It was even more funny because he had already spilled a little something on his white shirt, and we all laughed at him. Probably you just had to be there, or maybe just know how my daddy acts when he spills. Either way, it was a good time.

I like this picture because of his smirk.  When I close my eyes and think about my dad, this smirk almost always pops up.  I think I smirk like that sometimes, too.  I hope I do, anyway.

The end,