Socks in Thoughts, Thoughts on Socks

I sometimes wear my husband’s old socks. He gives them to me once he outgrows them. Not because they shrink…they are not cotton…I think his feet have gotten larger.
One pair is really nice and I can wear them with jeans. They are very comfortable.
The other pair is for bedtime only…they are the ugliest shade of lilac you can imagine.

Why do they make socks for men in lilac anyway? I thought it was best to match the color of the socks to the pants they are worn with, except in the case of gym socks. I would never have considered marriage to a man who would wear pants of that color. Nor would I be likely to be his type…nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

He still has a few other pairs I would like to secretly dispose of due to their particularly ugly shades, but I won’t. I only throw out holey socks because I don’t darn…does anyone?

Speaking of holey socks…how is it that my socks can last for years but my sons’ socks last only weeks? And they only stay white through their first wearing…White Brite doesn’t help and bleach makes them wear out even faster. When they take them off (which they do frequently, only to put on a new pair later in the same day) they end up strewn about in various rooms of the house where one should not expect to find socks…the dining room, for example.

Now I do not have that problem with my husband. He is very good about always putting his socks in the hamper…mainly because even he is offended by their malodor. But he does have a most interesting habit. I noticed early in our marriage that if he takes off one sock inside out, he always takes the mate off inside out as well. When I inquired about his reason for so doing, he answered that he does not expect me to turn them right-side out for him, so I should wash them as is and he will wear them as is and when he takes them off again they will be right-side out once more and always match. How’s that for a considerate husband?

I asked one of my dear s-i-l’s her thoughts on the sock front and she mentioned that she gives the sock-sorting job to her children because “it is good for their development.” I would like to be able to do that, but if I did all my socks would end up in my sons’ drawers because they are about the same size.

The prize for the loudest socks would certainly have to go to my father. Again, why do they make men’s socks in those colors? Little girls, maybe, but men…

The random sock thoughts have come to an end. Goodnight.

Kiddie Lit 101

We have quite the collection of fun children's literature around our house. As I read through some of the more recent acquisitions, I am reminded that I should write and illustrate some children's books of my own. I've had numerous ideas over the years but have just never gotten around to the actual task. Children's Literature was actually one of my more favorite college classes.

One book we received from a lovely auntie at Christmas was called Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes by Margaret Atwood. As you might guess, it is an alliterative story. It begins: "Rude Ramsay resided in a ramshackle rectangular residence with a roof garden, a root cellar, and a revolving door." He lives with his "revolting relatives" and has to eat a "repulsive repast" from which he "rebels every Friday." One of my personal favorite lines is, "Your request is my resolve." (I shall have to find an occasion soon to use this phrase.) This book is especially fun to read aloud, but beware, it is on the long side.

Another book we have on loan from our local library. It is Twenty-Odd Ducks Why, Every Punctuation Mark Counts! by Lynne Truss, who describes herself as "constantly tempted to correct punctuation on signs, advertisements, movie posters and more." (I know the feeling, and so do some of you...you know who you are.) The kids really loved this book and could easily recognize what was being taught. For all my literate friends, you may also find the final few pages to be rather amusing.

"Dear Teacher,
We want a teacher who knows what punctuation is all about. You are clever. People who are not like you admit to being horrible at grammar. You have ruined us for all other teachers. We will do our best for you. We stare out the window whenever you're not around. We feel so lucky. This is meant to be.
Love, Tom and Becky"

"Dear Teacher,
We want a teacher who knows what punctuation is. All about you are clever people who are not like you. Admit to being horrible at grammar. You have ruined us. For all other teachers we will do our best; for you, we stare out the window. Whenever you're not around we feel so lucky. This is meant to be love? Tom and Becky"

I went to this author's website (www.eatsshootsandleaves.com) and discovered that she has written several other books along the same lines which we will need to check out.

PS to lovely auntie: If you are reading this, let us know if you come across any more books like these. We are always interested and you have very discriminating taste.

The Man in the Moon

Everybody knows you can't trust the public schools with the education of your children. And Troy sometimes questions my education of the children in home school when they have done some peculiar thing. But really, I thought I could trust AIG...

Tonight as we rode home from Awana, Heather was looking up at the sky and announced to everyone that she could see "the man in the moon's belt. You know, those three stars in a row that they talked about in the Star of Bethlehem show."

"Oh, you mean Orion's belt," I answered.

"Yeah," she told the neighbor kid that went with us, "He went to the moon, or something."

Well, not exactly. We'd better review some of those books we got from the AIG book store. I think we'll be able to find the truth.

From the Kids

The kids asked me to share this video about guinea pigs with our friends. So, here it is:

Have a Taste

The other day I created a delcious repast to serve my family for lunch. I handed the first bit to Heather for her considered opinion. She gave it.

"Its good except for the bread part has a side taste."

"A side taste?" What's that?

Grandma said she thinks it's a better word than "aftertaste."

A discussion with one sister brought us to this conclusion: an aftertaste is what's left in your mouth after eating something...frequently unpleasant, a side taste is a flavor that you detect at the same time due to parts of the food touching the different zones of the palate. This is how one is supposed to enjoy chocolate...so I've read.

So, welcome to my house. I'll serve you something with a side taste...though it may not be fine chocolate.

Just for Fun

Sometimes I just want to be amused. This video accomplishes that purpose. Maybe it will amuse you, too.

Educational videos

I have been advised that unless I post something soon, I may be dropped from someone's favorites list, so I better get moving. It's not as if I haven't done anything worth writing about. I've been really busy. The computer is often being used by the other members of the household and the majority of my time on it is spent typing lesson plans for school and other educational pursuits. Here is a fine example of an educational video that the kids and I found on youtube. I can guarantee that all my kids know how many feet are in a mile...