Thursday, February 25, 2016

"Whenever I walk in a London Street."

I am a reader-kind of person. My earliest memories involve trips to the Public Library in the small town where I grew up. My mother read to me. My much older sister read to me and I read a lot of books at an early age. Books were great entertainment.
Besides reading a lot of borrowed books from the library, we owned some books that were all given to us by our Aunt Anna. Anna gave us great books, over our growing up years. We had copies of lots of children's classics. We had beautifully illustrated volumes of Robinson Crusoe, The Tales of King Arthur, and The Yearling. Really good children's literature worth keeping.
But, the Aunt Anna book that I still have, the one I that I continue to read to my grandchildren, is the Better Homes and Gardens Story Book, published in the late 1940s. It's been out of print for years, due in part to the fact that a couple of the stories are definitely politically incorrect. Because of its advanced age, my copy has torn and folded pages. But, thankfully none of the pages are missing.
One of the poems, found in this old book, is by A.A. Milne. Originally published in the volume, When We Were Very Young,  "Lines and Squares" has only about 18 lines. I can recite it without missing a word. (I am a memorizer-kind of person, as well.) And, this particular little poem, is responsible, more than any other thing I can think of, for forming my moral character and personality.
 You see, according to Milne, "it's ever so 'portant how you walk." You simply must follow the rules of life and walk in the squares.
"And, it's ever so jolly to call out," Bears. Just watch me walking in all the squares!" has always given me strength and confidence.

Great Lord. We are influnced by many things. As we travel on our life's journey, may we be influenced by worthwhile things. We never know who we influence. Let those whom we influence be led to greater and more meaningful lives. We ask these things in your great and all powerful name.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Misnomer

My much older sister wanted to name me, Jane. Jane was the main character in the book she was reading at the time. She was a first grader, and Dick and Jane, of course, was what all first graders were reading. Instead, I was named Nancy.
The story, as I remember it, was that my mother was enamored by the way a relative pronounced the simple name of Nancy. She drew it out, giving it a couple of extra syllables. Maybe sort of like Naaaaa-yannnnn-ceeeee. My mother thought the name Jane was just too plain.
But, over the years, there have been many famous Janes. Jane Seymour, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, Jane Adams,  Jane Fonda and Mary Jane shoes just to name a few. There haven't been very many famous Nancys. I can only think of a couple. There was Nancy Hanks (Think Abraham Lincoln), the two Nancy Sinatras (Think Frank), and Nancy Reagan (Think Ronald).
The name Nancy just doesn't stand by itself in history. Nancy has to be tied to some other, much more famous  person.
I think I must have been mis-named.
However, if my sister had  been able to choose my name, the name of this Blog would not have been "Nansense". It might have been just "Nonsense".

Great and powerful God. Draw us closer to you. Guide our thoughts and our deeds. Help us to follow your word and do your will. We can change who we are, but we cannot deny whose we are. Show us how to follow you,




Sunday, February 14, 2016

Just a Regular Party Girl

 I am just remembering the three biggest days of the school year. Oh, there were other big school days every year. My birthday, if it fell on a school day, ranked about number four on my Big Day List. Then there was the last day of school, in May. That had to be number five.
But the three biggest days, of any school year, were the Party Days.
First of all came the Halloween Party. I think we must have done the dressing-up thing for all of the K-6th grades. We wore our costumes to school, ate candy all day, played all kinds of games and must have driven the teachers crazy.
The Christmas Party came next. Not as much chaos, but the treats were better. I seem to remember cake and ice cream and candy of course. I think we must have gotten those "orange bag" pre-stuffed stockings just about every year. And, candy canes. The more candy, the better.
Then, there was Valentine's Day. A lot of preparation went into the celebration of Valentine's Day.
First, there were the boxes we decorated during school hours. You couldn't have Valentine's Day without a mail box for your Valentines! I also remember spending hours, at home, pouring over my bag of valentines, deciding which Valentine I would give to which class member. You were supposed to have one for each student in your class. And, there was always a special one for the teacher.
Putting the Valentines into the various mail boxes was always a lot of fun, and it had to be done very secretively. Opening the Valentines was a big deal. It was very exciting to see who gave you really special valentines.
And, in order to have a great party atmosphere, we had to create all kinds of Valentine Art for the ceiling and walls of our classroom. ( Free-hand, cut hearts are still a specialty of mine AND did you know that three green hearts glued together, will make a Shamrock?)
Treats were often red and white frosted cupcakes or iced sugar cookies. The room mothers had hand- baked them and brought them for us to gorge on. Valentine's Day was the best.
At my Granddaughter's Elementary School, they didn't have school on the Friday before Valentine's Day, this year. It made me very sad to think that she didn't have a Party Day.

Thank you for holidays, Dear Lord. Thank you for allowing us to enjoy those days and make them special. Thank you for the times that we share with our children and grandchildren. Seeing them grow and enjoy life is a blessing.



Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Pucker up, girlfriends!


Ladies! Remember when your mom told you to make sure your knees were together when you were having your picture taken? Or, when you discovered that turning to the side a bit and making sure one leg was in front of the other, made you look thinner in a photo? Well, those bits of wisdom have stayed with you, haven't they?
Fast forward to 2014, or so. Someone must have told every female under the age of 50,  to "put a hand on a hip, when you are being photographed and it will make you look great",  because somehow all of the photos we were seeing then, had young women posed .... hand on hip!
Now, in 2016, it is pucker up and pout those lips, girlfriend, and you will look marrrrrvelous!
Recently, facebook is full of these "fish faced" young things, looking their poutiest.
Well, personally, I don't think those women look so hot. They just look kind of goofy!
But, what do I know? I am still trying to get my knees to stay together.

Great God. Thank you for caring so much for us. We do the silliest things. We are vain. We think we are so special. Thank you for loving us unconditionally. We don't deserve it.
Remind us that it is not what we look like that matters. Remind us to be humble and deserving of your love.