the little things of life

I made my trip to Sam's Club this afternoon to get all the stuff for the kid's activity on Saturday, only to discover that Sam's Club does not sell condiment packets (the small packages of mayonnaise or mustard). They have the HUGE containers of these items, but that won't help us in assembling lunch bags. A small part of me says obey instructions and leave the sandwiches plain, and don't worry about whether or not there's a mayonnaise/mustard packet for the sandwich. The other part of thinks about how this may be the only meal these people get for the entire day. Shouldn't they at least have a somewhat decent sandwich? If I have time tomorrow I might stop by Chik-fil-A and see if they'll sell me 70 packets. That's all we need. If we do this next year I'll know to order them in advance.

Birthday candles...my Mom didn't have any for Dad's cake on Sunday, and my five year old niece was quite concerned about it. She wanted to improvise and take toothpicks, paint them, and set them on fire. Both my parents adamantly said no. I mean, after all, what's a birthday cake without candles?

Haiti - a grandmother in our church was bringing breakfast to her daughter and grandchild, and told them to go ahead and ask the blessing while she was coming. When she got there, she asked her four year old granddaughter what they prayed for. The girl's eyes got very wide, and she pointed to the ground and said "The people down there." The grandmother questioned her, and she replied, "You know, the people with the devil." The mother started laughing and said, "No! Haiti is a country where there was an earthquake! We weren't praying for the people of Hades!" I'm not sure if the little girl ever understood the difference, but I thought it was way too funny.

And so it goes. It's the little things of life that make us laugh, sigh, and sometimes even cry.

Comments

things we do for love

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?

perspectives

A few years ago after a Bible study a lot of the group continued to sit and talk and simply relax. One of the ladies felt like she was being mistreated by her boss. She was always given extra tasks or asked to assume responsibilities that no one else was asked to do. She felt it was unfair. As she was listing off some of the extras (she worked in a cafe for a plant), I was in flashback mode. My last year of college I was a shift manager at a fast food place. One of my many duties was to ensure that certain cleaning jobs (extra duties) was assigned and done properly. We were inspected by company headquarters once a quarter, and 3 of their 4 visits was ALWAYS a surprise visit. When I handed out those extra assignments, I had three things in mind: Who will do this job without making a bigger mess? Who can quickly do this job so we don't impede serving customers? Who will do this without the most drama? In essence, I wanted the best person for the job. Use the teenager who griped and c...

fun...funny houses

We saw the above house in Pittsboro while on our way to the mountains. It was the strangest house I've ever seen. Evidently this isn't a modification, for Bobby remembers thinking it funny as a child. Evidently a governor lived here at one point. I think the sign said it's now a Masonic lodge. And if seeing one funny house wasn't enough, the latest issue of This Old House had a link to their website that had several galleries of funny (or strange houses). Here's my favorites from their collection: Szymbark , Poland This just makes me laugh, and I would love to visit this house in person. Created by a designer who wanted to demonstrate "wrong-doings against humanity". Visitors have stood in line for as long as 6 hours to tour the house, and many come out feeling "sea-sick". Kalambaka, Greece... This 1,000 foot cliff drop has housed monastaries since the 11th century. Six of them are open to the public, " assuming, of course, th...

Random Musings

Search This Blog