Captain Abby

Ahoy, mates! Sunday afternoon we went to the lake and visited my brother and his family on their houseboat. Abby, my five year old granddaughter, loved it and had so much fun. She just oozes personality and the things she comes up with are so entertaining. Join me please for two Captain Abby videos. I promise this was not rehearsed. It is pure Abby! Thank you Lord for the blessing of Grandchildren and the joy they bring into our lives!

Magical Mouse Schoolhouse

Wings

I married a Michigan boy so I know who the Red Wings are. If you want to be a pilot you have to earn your wings. I’ve eaten wings from Pizza Hut. I’ve heard the expression “a wing and a prayer.” I’ve read about angel wings in the Bible, but until last week I had never heard of bingo wings.

I was talking to my five year old granddaughter when she suddenly grabbed the soft (okay, flabby) underneath part of my arm and informed me I had “bingo wings.”

I asked her where she had heard that term. “I don’t know,” she said and ran off to play.

I decided to do some in-depth research (Google) and this is what I found:

Wikipedia said

The anthropometry of the upper arm is a set of measurements of the shape of the upper arms. Large, saggy flaps of skin under the arm are colloquially known as bingo wings,[1] after the phrase was popularised by the comedy television program Bo’ Selecta!.[2]edia-

Urban Dictionary said

bingo wing

Loose, flabby upper-arm flesh of (usually) fat women in cap-sleeved rayon blouses who attend bingo halls. Bingo wing development can be accelerated by consuming vast quantities of C.Cola and burgers. See also bingo flaps

Used in a sentence….

Check the bingo wing on that! If she flapped those arms, she’d take off!

Doesn’t sound too good, does it?

Now I felt even worse. I thought back to my grade school years and all the teachers I had whose skin wiggled and jiggled when they wrote on the board. Lucky women, They never knew they had bingo wings.  They existed before Google, YouTube, Wikipedia, or Urban Dictionary.  There are no “bingo wings” in Webster’s Dictionary.

While doing my “wing research” I also learned that famous people can have famous wings. According to a British publication Madonna works out six days a week but when she waved to her fans her wings were showing. The article said, “Dressed in a sleeveless leopard print Dolce and Gabbana number for an evening with boyfriend Jesus Luz and designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, the flapping undercarriage of her arms was on show for all to see.”

Flapping undercarriage? Eeeek!

Every woman (even Madonna) will eventually have to fight gravity. Basically we have two choices. We can wear long sleeves or exercise.

If you opt for the latter, here’s one that you can try at home. As for me, I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do, but I do know this. Bingo wings don’t hinder me from hugging my granddaughter…in fact, they may even help.

P.S. I have found one way to exercise those Bingo wings that I can work into my schedule. Buy two gallons of milk at the store and as you are walking to the car and carrying them into the house, place one in each hand and lift out to your sides and lower slowly…repeat.  Yes, you look weird and people may stare at you but it works!

 

 


 

 

Fathers

I love quotes and I loved my father.  In honor of Father’s Day I want to share a few with you. Thanks Dad, for all you did!

And, thanks to my wonderful husband, Bill, for being a great dad to our five children. Bill, you are so loved!


It is much easier to become a father than to be one.  ~Kent Nerburn, Letters to My Son: Reflections on Becoming a Man, 1994

Any man can be a father.  It takes someone special to be a dad.  ~Author Unknown

The greatest gift I ever had
Came from God; I call him Dad!
~Author Unknown

I love my father as the stars – he’s a bright shining example and a happy twinkling in my heart.  ~Terri Guillemets

Two little girls, on their way home from Sunday school, were solemnly discussing the lesson.  “Do you believe there is a devil?” asked one.  “No,” said the other promptly.  “It’s like Santa Claus:  it’s your father.”  ~Ladies’ Home Journal, quoted in 2,715 One-Line Quotations for Speakers, Writers & Raconteurs by Edward F. Murphy

Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever.  ~Author Unknown

Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes.  ~Gloria Naylor

Why are men reluctant to become fathers?  They aren’t through being children.  ~Cindy Garner

There are three stages of a man’s life:  He believes in Santa Claus, he doesn’t believe in Santa Clus, he is Santa Claus.  ~Author Unknown

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.  ~Bill Cosby

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.  ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Mark Twain but no evidence has yet been found for this (Thanks, Garson O’Toole!)

If you have never heard Black Stone Cherry (or even if you have) listen to the following song. These young men are from my hometown and they are an awesome group of musically talented guys!


Praising God

Sometimes it seems like all we hear is bad news. Today there was good news on the cancer front.

First I read….

“Doctors were told they are on the edge of a new era,” and that several of the latest breakthroughs could bring about the most significant changes to cancer survival, Dr. Lynn Schucter, a cancer researcher at the University of Pennsylvania said.

And then I read….

Two new drugs for metastatic melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – are being hailed as the biggest breakthrough therapies  for cancer in the last 30 years. The drugs reduce tumour size, significantly increasing survival rates.

Today I’m giving thanks to those who work tirelessly to find a cure for cancer. Thank you God for these men and women. Bless them and bless their work so that they may continue to help others!

PS. I love you, Martha! Praying your chemo goes well this week.




Remembering on Memorial Day

Another Memorial Day has come and gone, but I’m still remembering.

I’m remembering the death of Staff Sgt. Adam Dickmyer of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who once served as a sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery.

I’m remembering how friends of his family say Dickmyer’s mother fell off her chair in grief when her son’s body returned to the U.S.  and how his widow chased after the casket, screaming: “Don’t leave me!”

I am remembering what Lt. Col. Jon Chytka, 44, of Tabor, South Dakota said to his 5-year-old daughter when she asked him why he had to leave.

He gave this answer: “I told her that before she was born, there were 19 people who killed 3,000.”

Yes, Memorial Day has come and gone but I’m still remembering and still giving thanks for all those who have died fighting for our country. I hope you are remembering too.

 

Baccalaureate

I can’t spell it and I have trouble pronouncing it, but I know what it is. Just in case you don’t know it’s
a religious service held at an educational institution, usually on Sunday before commencement day.
Our twins graduate from high school Friday night and last night was their baccalaureate. There were several things that made it a very special service.

 

1. The singing was awesome.

 

2. The student speaker happened to be Jesse Jones, my boys’ best buddy. Our boys met Jesse when they were in the sixth grade and since then he’s been a regular at our house. When he gave his testimony about what God has done in his life I felt the tears streak down my face and dribble off my chin. I was so proud of this young man I thought my heart would burst. I love that young many dearly.

 

3. The minister who gave the sermon was the minster who married Bill and me 31 years ago this summer. His words were inspiring and everyone in the building listened intently.

 

4. My beloved sister-in-law (who also happens to be the high school principal) gave a touching speech that caused me to tear up (again).  Her speech was great. She looked beautiful and she is one AWESOME principal!

 

5. My boys looked so handsome dressed up. They prefer jeans, sweats and ball shorts but they sure do clean up nice!

 

6. Abby was able to be with us. Yes, she had to go to the bathroom at the wrong time and yes, she wiggled and squirmed, but she loved the cake and punch (she managed to get icing all over her) and we loved having her with us.

 

Tune in later this week for my “Graduation Speech” to my sons-the speech no one asked me to make, but I’m going to anyway.

 

Until then, here are some pictures from last night.

 

Thank you Lord for blessings to numerable to count!

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