Treasure found

Carefully leafing through my maternal grandmother's brittle Bible today in search of some family- tree information, I found the following poem. (Grandma Porter was the keeper of our family records and history- our archivist! I miss that and feel compelled to carry on that tradition) I have no idea the year this poem was written but am guessing anywhere from the 1930's to the 1960's! I had a good chuckle! For those of us who grew up in a conservative church, we will appreciate the conservative message and all the implications that go along with it!!:)

"The Christian Maiden's Glory."

But if a woman have long hair it is a glory to her. ( 1 Cor. xi 15.)

We're living in a danger zone,

Oh, Christian maid beware!

The Devil with a cunning tone

Would have you bob your hair.

He'll tell you that it's falling out.

Or else it's getting thin:

Your headaches would be gone no doubt

And thus He tries to win.

Your hair, your glory, just to think

That which took years to grow;

The Devil in a crafty wink-

Would lay your glory low.

That which the Angels' wond'ring eye

Deem as subjection sweet:

That which fond Mary took to dry

Her blessed Saviour's feet.

T'was love that touched that won her heart,

Love drew her glory down;

But greater love, the Saviour's part,

He crowned her with renown.

Let no the Devil's scissors touch

Thy hair, it is a treasure,

But keep thy glory be it such,

To use it for His pleasure.

M.I.C.

This is my maternal grandmother. One of my memories of her is the way she ALWAYS wore her fine, gray LONG hair!! Meticulously every morning, she would divide her hair into two plaits. Then, she would intertwine them into a neat bun at the back of her head. According to family legend, she promised her father, when she left her home in Northern Ireland to immigrate to Canada, that she would never cut her hair. And she obviously felt it was her Christian duty!

Well her grand-daughter let "the Devil's scissors touch!" :)

I am thankful times have changed and my "chrisitan duty" is more than length of my hair!

P.S. Do you see my grandmother's AMAZING necklace! I absolutely LOVE it and wish I still had that treasure today! I never realized when my grandma was alive that she loved great accessories. It must be genetic!

P.S.S. I just read this interesting post at "He made me do it...so..." It is related to my grandma's poem...check out Supersimbo's wife's post here. (May 20, 2008)

Praise

"Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under His care." (Psalm 95:6-7)

Old men will always be boys!

Here is my 74 and 3/4 year old father holding the "souvenir" he bought on his trip to Lancaster, PA. My first introduction to this "souvenir" was when I was helping my parents unload their car last night. I heard a farting sound come from my dad, but was suspicious. You see, I made a discovery a few years ago. By mistake really. Unintentionally, I discovered I could tell the difference between my parents' flatuations.

How you ask?

One summer on holidays, my friend and I were visiting in the living room of our trailer while my parents slept in the back bedroom. All of a sudden in the middle of an important conversation, we heard a loud fart come from the back of the trailer. I interjected with, "oh that was just my dad."

Approximately 3 minutes later, we heard another loud fart coming from the same direction. Without missing a beat, I calmly said, "oh that is my mom."

Immediately in mid -sentence I gasped! I realized I could tell my parent's farts apart! My friend and I laughed hysterically! Did I have a new-found gift?

Thus, I knew the sound coming from my dad last night was fake. A-ha! He was caught in the act trying to trick his daughter. She was not fooled!

Giggling , my dad excitedly showed me the eight different farting sounds this gadget can make. He actually has names for them. I can only remember "the wet one" and the "one that sounds like your mother!" ( Apparently my dad has the "gift" too)

There is NEVER a dull moment in my family!

Old men will always be boys and I am okay with that!

This "Road Rage Babe's" new problem.

A dear co-worker of mine has been in the car with me on two occasions when I have allowed my road rage to get the better of me. You remember my confessions of road rage? I thought confessing would be an effective strategy for helping me eliminate this problem. Obviously not. Today, I had a minor setback. It is that "time of the month." But, I shouldn't really use that as an excuse should I!!!



I was trying to find a parking spot at Costco and became impatient with the van in front of me, who was waiting to pull into an empty spot. I had my eye on the spot directly across from this space. My co-worker and I had limited time as we had to be back to our Autism course in 30 minutes. Finally, the van pulled into his spot and as I was about to enter "my" spot, a car coming from the opposite direction pulled in. I couldn't believe it. I was mad. Apparently ( I say apparently as I really don't remember exactly my reaction ) I said with hand gestures - no, not obscene gestures, I just talk lots with my hands, " you took my spot." She clearly was not happy with me and angrily said, " I didn't know you wanted that spot."



My poor co-worker friend was so embarrassed. She did casually make a comment to me in fun when we saw the woman in Costco. It went something like this, " you are a Christian girl...get it together."



Back at our Autism course, I couldn't get her comment out of my head. I felt so remorseful. What kind of example was I as a Christian? Yikes. Didn't I recently write a blog about walking our talk. What a HUGE lesson for me today. Even though I make light of my "road rage" stories, I need to stop the behaviour. I need to honour God in all I do, even in my driving habits. I don't know why I didn't make that connection before. Probably because I am usually alone when I am driving. I asked God to forgive me and now need to ask my co-worker to forgive me.

And maybe I need to enroll in behaviour modification therapy!

P.S. I just want to point out my road rage only started when I moved back to this area where I grew up. There has been a HUGE increase in population and very little increase in infrastructure to accommodate this influx, thus the major traffic issues. I'm not excusing my behaviour, but it explains why so many people have road rage issues in this area, including myself. Although my co-workers feel it is because I'm sexually frustrated!!! hehehe!! We won't go there!!:)

Resurrecting "Tiger Beat"

Barbara at Writing From the Inside Out asked a GREAT question yesterday on her blog...

"What kind of posters did you have on your bedroom wall when you were in high school?"

I took up her "challenge" and googled some of the men that hung on my walls in Jr. High and High School. What a fun trip down memory lane. I used to live for the latest edition of "Tiger Beat" magazine!! Did you know they still produce "Tiger Beat?" I couldn't believe it when I saw it a couple of months ago at a newsstand! Without further ado, here is a sampling of the posters that hung in my very pink room:

Blind Dating 101

I am a sucker for watching the reality TV show, "The Bachelor." Why? I have no idea. The relationships usually don't even last. There was only one success story- Trista and Ryan. I think I still hold out hope that something will eventually work out for some lucky bachelor. I hope this British bachelor really did find true love in the American actress, whose father I used to be in love with in the 80's! ( Lorenzo Lamas of Falcon Crest fame!)

I guess the real crux of the matter is I am still a hopeless romantic, even at 40! I realize I am being idealistic, yet still relish the thought of being swept off my feet by my "knight in shining armour!" Okay, don't gag anyone!!! It is true!

Although at this stage in my life, I think I have given up hope that my knight will be arriving and have come to the conclusion that God somehow wants me to be single. Don't worry, I haven't felt the calling to enter the convent yet!

Maybe that is why "The Bachelor" is so appealing to me...it allows me to still dream... it allows me to live vicariously through someone else...okay I know it is TV and most likely staged, but hey...let me hold on to my dream!!

This seems a fitting segue ( excuse my spelling...Janina, my editor, I need you now!!) into the first installment of one of my blind date stories!! I thought it would be fitting to share this story first since it is at the forefront of my mind! Here goes....

Panic set in as I glanced around the crowded Sunday School classroom only a few short weeks ago. Directly sitting across from me was one of my blind date stories gone bad. I was in shock and many questions flooded my mind, such as, what is he doing here, why he is at my church, is he just visiting for the day, do I say hi to him, will I have to change classes, why does he keep staring at me.

It all started when a co-worker of mine asked if I would like to be set up with a co-worker of her husband at Costco. "He is a church boy too, " she said. Always up for an adventure, I said, "SURE!"

As it turned out, I knew him in an indirect way as his parents went to my church. I found out later that he and I were actually in youth group together but because he was younger than I, I didn't remember him. Apparently we even went to the same high school. So, my romantic mind got carried away with me and I was thinking what a cool love story we would have! ( and a great blog post!! hehehe! wait...I didn't blog back then!)

Phone numbers were exchanged. I eagerly anticipated his phone call. Sure enough he called the next day. Things were going well until...

he started to weep.

I mean uncontrollable sobs.

Something you would not typically expect from a guy, but I thought, "hey...great... he is a sensitive guy in touch with his feelings!"

Now, to be fair, his marriage had recently just broken up and thus the reason for the tears when telling me the story. For me though, it was too much information too soon. Prior to this sudden bout of crying, I had some "red flags," but thought I would keep an open mind. So at this point in the conversation I was second guessing my decision to have coffee with him. Quickly, my thoughts played my mom's " words of wisdom" tape from over the years....

"don't be so picky, give it a chance, he has a nice family, he has a good job, you aren't getting any younger...blah, blah, blah...give it a chance."

Rewind?....Delete?...I can't delete my mom's mom-ism's...So... Rewind it is...

We set a date and place. Oh no, another "red flag." He wanted to meet at the scummiest, smallest, and not in a -good- part- of -town Tim Horton's ( like Dunkin Donuts for all you Americans. Definitely not Starbucks). Call me old fashioned, but I'm not into going to a fast food type place on my first date. I love Timmy's coffee but not the greatest ambiance for a first date. He didn't even pay for my coffee....another sign in my books.

I know it may sound like I am being "picky." You bet I am! At this stage in my life, I do know what I want and don't want and am a good judge of character. I would rather be single than with someone just for the sake of having a partner.

So, we chit- chatted some more taking a trip down memory lane about all the mutual people we knew. No chemistry though. Then it happened again....He brought up the topic of his divorce again ...

You guessed it...

the uncontrollable sobbing started again.

Politely, I thanked him for a nice evening and made my exit.

I concluded that he was definitely not ready for a new relationship. He needed time to heal.

Has this healing taken place? I have no idea, but do hope so for his sake. We haven't spoken to each other yet. In fact, I try to avoid any eye contact, which is a difficult task in a small room! It is a bit awkward. Suffice to say, there is no chemistry even if he is ready for a relationship! The adventure with the "crying guy" may not be over. Stay tuned...

ABC Wednesday - "Q"

It's that time of the week for ABC Wednesday's over at Mrs. Nesbitt's Place. The letter Q
is the star of the week.

Q uiet.

(Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto)

Future Q ueen of England.