Observation is not my strong point, or so I've been told. The first three years of my college career, I paid my college bills by working in the school cafeteria, babysitting, and cleaning house. (I think it goes without saying that I had very little social life.) The cooks in the cafeteria were older women of African-American descent, and one of them had, for lack of a better word, curly chin whiskers. I had never, ever seen this before, and was never sure whether I was simply befuddled by them or repulsed. Fast forward ten years, and the church I was attending had an older lady who had LONG hairs sticking out of her chin. Not only were they long, but they really stood out against her pale skin. I was appalled. It wasn't that there was so many of them, but they were just so prominent. I decided then and there that if it should ever happen to me I would either pluck them or cut them. Not long after that I ran across several magazine articles about women who had taken hormone treatments for medical reasons and then had problems with beards. At the time I was writing quite a bit, and in one of my stories where I was attempting to illustrate something being out of place, I wrote "It stood out like the hairs on a woman's chin." When that was read in my critique group, every woman in the room gasped and rubbed their chins, and all the men died laughing. I was a bit surprised. Four months later I discovered not only was this normal, but that I too was victim to this strange phenomenon. Hence, I can't help but wonder: Were the three little pigs actually sows?
Saturday we had a baby shower for Bobby's niece. As I was making the mints, Bobby asked what else was on the menu. After I recited off the litany of items, he responded with "No peanut butter?! This shower is for Hannah! What's she going to eat?" (Hannah has had stomach problems over the years and has been unable to tolerate many foods, but peanut butter has been her staple.) Despite my assurances that she would enjoy the foods we were having, he was adamant that I needed to make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for the shower. Even though I protested that NOBODY took that to a shower, he persisted, and informed me I could make them dainty with my little cutter. And so I did. To my surprise all but 3 were eaten. Who'd a thunk it?
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