The Loafer

Maybe I will get into a trend of writing about my siblings. Tonight I read some stories to my little girls about my sister Janie's life. She wrote the stories/experiences so she can't be mad about the interpretation :-).
 
Towards the end of Janie's section (her life story), she describes marriage, first job as a teacher and then having her first son. She described some of the changes going from teaching third graders to changing diapers and feeding babies. (Not to take away her thunder or anything, she just said it was difficult).
 
My little girl (8 yo) then asked sincerely, "Is Janie a loafer?"

Loaf·er

[loh-fer] Show IPA

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
loafer  (ˈləʊfə)
 
— n
1. a person who avoids work; idler
2. a moccasin-like shoe for casual wear
 
[C19: perhaps from German Landläufer  vagabond]

This took me by such surprise, I said, "What did you say?"
Then, the question was repeated, "Is Janie a loafer? I've been reading about loafers in my book, so I'm just wondering."

I couldn't keep reading for all of the little giggles escaping from my mouth. Janie is by far the most un-loafer-like person I know (ok - one of the most). You should see her weekly duties. Anyway, this definitely put a smile on my face. For some reason, memories of my grandpa Fuller saying blunt things of this nature popped in my head.

Out of the mouths of babes -- now go out and do something!

By the way, this would be an incredibly rude post if it were in any way, shape, or proximity true.

Pepto Wallet

My good friend saw my wallet one day and couldn't stop giving me flack about it.
I mean, there isn't really anything wrong with it:


It isn't sitting there partially open to show you its insides, it is sitting partially open because there are so many receipts, it can't snap shut. That was the first reason I was getting made fun of. Think Seinfeld: 

http://trendaddicts.com/2012/seans-style-alert-mens-wallets/

 
Another friend, from Brazil, calmly said that if I carried my wallet around like "that" in my purse (which can't zip shut either), I would be sure to get mugged.

After all of this heckling, I was told, "I can't even stand the color".

So there, I guess I will start up a "Buy Colette a New Wallet Fund" - would you like to add to my cause?

The Hot Shot

My older, wiser, brother Curt celebrated a big birthday last week. I have many great memories of him but this one stands out as an especially funny one.

You know how there are childhood memories that seem absolutely perfect, then look at the picture and see a few flaws in what you thought was perfection?

I thought I had the best bike in Clifton. It was really cool. It had a banana seat and everything.
My mom made that shirt
 
A kid can do anything on a bike. Wow - such great memories of riding up around the church or school and those trails, ahhh the trails by Weatherspoons. If I was really brave, I even dared ride my bike across the street from Weatherspoons and ride on more bike trails clear down to Whiteheads. But, Whiteheads had two dogs: Queenie and Bowser and I may or may not have been slightly scared of dogs. On the other side of my house, I wasn't afraid of Murdock's dog, Butch. And, Gailey's dog Maggie, was really slow so I wasn't afraid of her either.

Today's memory isn't about the town dogs though, it's about bikes. Once, I was outside of the school playing, as usual, when Curt came up to me and took my bike for a spin. He drove it like a boss down the Weatherspoon's Bike Trail. When he got to the grand finale, the sweet jump at the end -- he went over the jump like a hot shot and the front bike tire became loose from the frame and rolled down the street towards The Twin Lakes Mercantile leaving Curt and bike eating dirt.

It didn't really help matters that the Twin Lakes Baseball team was watching practicing on the field near the trails.

Curt is still older and wiser. I think he keeps his distance from pedal bikes though :-)

And, maybe for my next memory - I'll go through the rest of the town dogs.

My "Ten"Ager

I have a ten-ager, do you? He informed me of this just a few days ago :-). My ten-ager always keeps me on my toes by encouraging me to look at things from a different perspective. He makes me smile on a regular basis.

Tonight he prayed that "he might be able to use his brain again, even though he hasn't used it for two weeks." School starts tomorrow. I hope his brain kicks right into gear.

He is so good with little kids - wait, he is still one right?
See what I mean? Think outside the box :-)