Bonsai soil!!!!

The Question of the Disappearing Ice Cream

A mystery has developed within the halls of our once peaceful domicile. At first, I did not think too seriously about it. Some things, if left alone usually take care of themselves. Of course, there always are other things, like my socks, that never take care of themselves no matter how hard I wish. A hint of the mystery came my way on Wednesday when the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage went to the freezer for a box of ice cream. According to her, this was supposed to be for our dessert after supper. But, if I have all the facts correct, she went to the freezer and did not find the anticipated box of ice cream. I was preoccupied with the evening news on television when my wife came and stood in the archway with both hands on her hips, staring at me with one of those looks and said, “Where did the ice cream go?”

O Holiday, Who Art Thou Today?

Generally speaking, and who speaks generally anymore these days, I am not much of a holiday fan. There seems to be a holiday every day of the week. So many holidays that I cannot keep up and quite frankly, I do not have much incentive to keep up. When I was young, I enjoyed holidays but now that I am a husband, a father, a grandfather, every holiday is billed to my account, to such an extent I cannot get out of it. I hold my wallet very tight, but evidently not tight enough. Somebody invented holidays just to sell greeting cards and make a ton of money. So, I am not a great advocate of holidays. I fondly remember as a youngster getting up Christmas morning excited about what Santa had brought me under the Christmas tree. Little did I know that my father was taking care of all the cost. How was I to know that Christmas had a price tag to it? Nobody ever told me when I was young the Christmas presents cost anything.

It’s a Soap Opera World, Or Is It

As a child, I remember my mother watching soap operas in the afternoon. I never had much interest in them; I would rather watch The Lone Ranger and his companion Tonto. One afternoon I was sitting in the living room while she was watching one of her soap operas. I was trying to figure out what in the world was happening. None of it made sense and it seemed to be more drama than anything else. Why they call it, “soap opera” I will never know because they could use more soap in their conversations. My mother would talk to the characters on TV telling them what they should be doing and saying. Several times, she yelled at them giving them instructions. I caught her with tears in her eyes over a certain situation; I could not tell you now what that situation was. Although I never was much interested in soap operas, as I have gotten older (and I intend to get a lot older) I begin to see similarities. I am not an expert on soap operas by a long shot. However, it seems to me that our world has become a gigantic soap opera.

Are We Addicted to Plastic?

Plastic is all around us. Just look around anywhere that you are sitting right now. There’re probably plastic pens, folders, notebooks, and much more in your office. You are also probably surrounded by other plastic items too. Many parts of our car are made of plastic. Kitchen equipment and utensils are also made of plastic. We are surrounded by plastic everywhere. There many benefits to using plastic. Plastic is lighter than wood or metal, it is also cheaper to buy and produce. Plastic is also flexible, moisture-temperature-chemical resistant, durable and relatively inexpensive. There are also important roles that durable plastics play in certain settings such as hospitals and for computers, phones, safety and industrial equipment. In this article, I will show you how to reduce plastic consumption so that you can do your part to reduce the toxic and health-related illnesses that are plaguing us because of the chemicals in plastic.

Is Time a Friend or an Enemy?

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and I were locked in a hopeless Mexican standoff. She was effectively arguing her side of the issue and I was, well, let’s say I was not agreeing. I will not say who won, just that it wasn’t me. She then looked at me, put both hands on her hips and said, “Time will tell that I’m right.” I cannot wait. The problem is, time is never on my side. I simply do not know what it is about time, but it never does me any favors. Always, and I mean always, time proves my wife was right. I hate it. I thought it was supposed to be “Father Time” we are dealing with. If it is, he certainly does not have the male side of the issue in good grips. Why has time always proven my wife right? Perhaps Mother Nature has so bullied Father Time that he always takes up the side of my wife. The past week I have been thinking about this aspect of life; time. It seems that for the most part, we have put a lot of pressure upon time.

Organizing and Purging at Every Stage of Life

Purging and organizing is not a one and done activity. You need to continually do so as your life changes. At every stage of life, you can purge and organize.

I Miss My Good Friend, Tom Foolery

This past week the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and I were having a conversation. Of course, it was more like a monologue, but you know how that works. We were thinking back over the years of our life together and reminding ourselves of some of the great and wonderful times we have had. The friends we have made. The activities we have enjoyed together. Of course, there were the grandchildren and my wife had a great time talking about the grandchildren and I chuckling along with her. After a moment of quietness, my wife said rather seriously, “Who is the friend you miss the most?” Boy, was that a question! I had to really think about that, then I mention somebody she knew and we moved on to another subject. However, thinking about that a little bit later I did acknowledge that the friend I missed the most was Tom Foolery. I guess, as you get older you more or less outgrow that friendship. But I certainly do miss him.

Challenges of Modern Parenting

Parenting is a privilege and a responsibility. Parents should be good role models, neither overindulgent nor permissive nor authoritarian. Nurturing a child involves love, discipline, training and instruction.

What Is the Best Way to Potty Train Your Toddler in the Shortest Span of Time?

You can do it Trust us, potty training is not really very hard and stressful when you do it correctly. There have been cases where even the first time and single moms even without even having the dad to help out in the house, have been able to potty train their toddler within a week’s time or even less. You can do it too.

Have Mouth, Will Stutter

I pride myself with the ability to express myself with the proper wording. I enjoy words and seeing how they relate one to another. Unfortunately, it has not always been the case. I have found through the years that I have developed quite the art of stuttering. It happens at the most inconvenient moments. It is like the story of Honest Abe Lincoln and his wife. The story is not true of course, but it is very interesting. Mrs. Lincoln asks Honest Abe, “Does this dress make me look fat?” Known as “Honest Abe” we all chuckle at that moment of stuttering for him. I have had such moments of my own. For example, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and I might be sitting in the living room watching TV and all the time the person on the other couch is chattering. Me, I am not listening, just smiling and nodding my head in agreement. That has cost me quite a bit throughout the years.

Now, Do You Feel Like a Big Boy?

Vacations mean different things to different people. For me, the vacation means I am vacating one place and going to another place to do nothing. Recently, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and me vacated the parsonage to go to some place where we could major on doing nothing. We have mastered this over the years. My definition of “nothing” is quite different from my wife’s definition. My definition is simply that I spend the day doing nothing. My wife’s definition is simply that she will spend the day doing nothing but thrift store shopping. At this point, I am not quite sure who has mastered their “nothing.” We might be equal at this point. As long as each of our “nothing” activity does not collide with each other. One of the aspects of getting to that “nothing” point is travel. The older I get, the less fond I am of traveling especially long distances. But if we are going to get to our destination, travel is part of the activity.