J is for Jackanapes

My favorite Jackanape!

I am a zookeeper, y'all! I specialize in Jackanapes.

The particular species I am currently keeping are the adolescent jackanapes. These are tricky critters, especially when they are socializing with others of their kind. The males are extremely physically social, touching and rough housing with all varieties of their kind. The males suggest the behaviors are friendly through smiles and call of laughter. The female jackanapes are rumored to negatively socialize with other females of the clan, ONLY when not observed. This indicates to this scientist that they are quite capable of reasonable thought. Now if we could train both male and female jackanapes to use their powers for Good!

I like my job. I used to love it when the jackanapes were pre-adolescent. The genuine curiosity of the world and their peers. Their honest desire for training and attention. I hear the infant jackanapes are even sweeter in nature. Mayhap I should transfer to a new zoo.

BTW, I asked my four-year-old nephew what it was that his Aunt J-Me does for a living. He responded without hesitation and with complete seriousness, "My Aunt J-Me teacher the kids at the school." That baby boy is the cutest Jackanape I know!

I is for Inspiration

Reading before bed used to be my wind-down. I would escape the reality of the day and go on an adventure of the mind. More recently, I have joined millions of other escapees in the world of Pinterest instead.

Pin, pin, pin, I snag everything I see, leaving myself imbued with inspiration for how I will cook, crochet, craft, and clean my way through weekends, holidays, and summer vacation. If I had a dollar every time I gave advice that began, "I saw something on Pinterest that said..." I might be able to afford the materials for all the fun to be had.




Aunt J-Me's Top 10 Pins to Try:
  1. Fire starters for camping
  2. Laundry room make over
  3. Pool-side towel rack for camping
  4. Banana Pudding Poke Cake
  5. Pizza Grilled Cheese
  6. Glow in the Dark Path
  7. Tiered Planter with House Number
  8. Sign for my classroom door
  9. Crochet Parasol
10. Necktie Quilt

Share your favorite Pinterest find in the comments!

H is for Howdy

 

HOW ARE YOU DOING?
a question we all answer "fine"
HOW-DO, HOW-DO?
native understanding
HOW YA' DOIN'?
less formal, we respond "good" or "okay"
HOWDY
hurly burly whoops
                                                                                  

Wikipedia states, "Howdy is an informal greeting, commonly thought to have originated as a shortened form of the greeting "How do you do?" It was first recorded as part of the Southern U.S. dialect in 1840. Literature from that period includes the use of "How-do, how-do" as a greeting used by Native Americans when addressing Anglo settlers in greeting. The double form of the idiom is still found in parts of Texas as "Howdy, howdy". Without regard to etymological beginnings, the word is used as a greeting such as "Hello" and not, normally, as an inquiry."

G is, and always will be, for Gayla

Gayla's adventure in Mexico just two
weeks before she was gone. I always find it
ironic that I worried for her safety there, and she
was at home heading for a pedicure when we lost her.

I dream of Gayla at least once a week now. Sometimes we are back in college as roommates; mostly she has a cameo at the end of whatever drama my brain is working through. No matter the dream, I beeline for sister and tackle her in a hug, much like I did when she would come home from school when we were little girls, sharing a bedroom on Ellen.

It has been a little more than two years since that distracted truck driver took Gayla from us. I genuflect and thank God she did not suffer. Then I shake my fist and scream in agony, "WHY!?!"



Sister on the night of her
20th High School Reunion

Grief is bipolar like that. In the same instant that I am thankful for all He provides, I will stomp my
feet and feel the surge of CRAZY that wants to escape and pummel all that played a part in my beloved sister's demise. If it weren't for my 'Rents, Hubby Dearest, and Darling Daughter (and the 70 kiddos who expect me to teach them each day), I would allow this grief to suck me in. However, Gayla would be angry at that so I soldier on. I occasionally let the crazy hang out for a minute or two and pretend Sister's stay in witness protection will end soon and life will be good again.




February 1975, one of our first pictures together



February 2011, our last picture together



F is for Finger Paint

It's spring in Texas so you better enjoy these fabulous two weeks when the fulgent sun doesn't turn your backyard into the 80s version of the easy bake oven. Each afternoon, I emerge from my classroom with no windows and want to embrace that radiant globe by doing something child-like. Today I chose to ... FINGER PAINT! What do you do to embrace your inner kiddo?

E is for Equality

Have you ever stopped to really look at and ponder the words, "We are all equal in the eyes of God"? He created each of us as uniquely as snowflakes. No two of us are the same, but He loves us all just the same. There is an empyrean home in heaven waiting for each of us. This is all good parenting on His part.

We, His children, however, are not being good brothers and sisters in this family. We are not spreading His lessons of love to all of our siblings. We are not treating each other has He treats us...equally. I am just as bad and wayward as they come when it comes to the word "HATE."

I have been finding myself, more and more, saying, "I hate _______." For instance, I hate DOMA. I hate that my best friends who are committed to one another cannot fully rest in the security of the more than 1,200 rights under the law that my husband and I are afforded because we are married. I hate that the fear our society puts into our youths keeps some battened down in the proverbial closets choosing lives of loneliness or denial. I ate that the students in the halls at school use, "that's so gay" as a pejorative for everything. I hate that there is no zero tolerance rule for the offenders. I hate that school-aged children take their own lives because they can't see a life without abuse in their future. I ate that hate is winning a popularity contest in our government. I hate that people I know and love would hate me if I were gay. I HATE HATE!

D is for Dictionary

"MISS!" bellowed the student sitting next to the shelf with forty, neatly-stacked, never-been-touched dictionaries. "How do you spell (insert a word I probably could spell but maybe not)?"

"D-I-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y," I respond.

"Wait, ________ doesn't start with a 'D', Miss. What are you spelling?"

"D-I-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y."

Student number two, who isn't impressed with my joke helps his peer, "She is spelling dictionary. She wants you to look it up."

"Miss, you're silly! I'll just use my phone to look it up," student one said.

I can't blame them. I cannot spell because I grew up in the birth of spell check and auto correct. When I graduated from high school, the high-stakes test said that my spelling was on par with a 7th grader. I am intelligent. Heck, I am one of the most educated people I know, and I read constantly. I cannot, however, remember if appreciate gets one P or two and apologize was misspelled in this blog before I hit spellcheck.

Growing up, a paper and ink dictionary was not where I went to check spelling. It was the prop in a self-created game I liked to play. I would thumb through the pages, stop on a page, and pick a word. I'd practice that word (i.e. deliquesce, a verb meaning to become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air; example: You can't help but deliquesce into a puddle from the heat and humidity in Texas during the summer.). Then I would impress others with my advanced vocabulary. Too bad I couldn't remember the spelling of my fancy-pants word of the day.

What is your "fake-it-till-you-make-it" talent?

C is for Camping

The cacophony (noun meaning harsh, jarring sound) of thunder rattled through the campgrounds this past weekend, and yet I was not bothered. Water soaked into my last pair of dry shoes and pants, yet I was happy as a lark. I was camping! Well, sorta camping...with the 'Rents' new PUMA, it's more like bringing the house with you for an extended picnic. Beds, central heat, refrigerators, and air conditioning make camping these days quite a bit more pleasant than the tent pitching of yester year.

I do have to say though, one of the best camping trips I can remember was the year Daddy bought me my own pup tent and I could have my own space...less than 10 feet from the big tent, just in case. Another memorable trip would be in 2000 when sister, brother, sil, and I slept in the bed of Gayla's truck on a beach in Corpus. Sister-in-law taught us the Girl Scout way of making hot dogs in the sand and baking biscuits in a box (sand in every mouthful). There was also the year when I was beginning school that we lived at the creek in a trailer...Mama or Daddy had to check outside the camper for snakes before we could get in the car to head to school.

Skipping rocks and trout fishing at Bull Shoals. Owls on a string of lights. The ten different ways the Good Sams could take Christmas lights and solo cups to make a Red Neck Chandelier. Hot dogs on the fire, s'mores for dessert, and trying to teach Sosie how to cook over an open flame. Some of my happiest memories happened around a camp fire.

B is for Brother

 


James II has been there through it all...poor guy!

Jesse just joined the fun!

God gave me one brother when I was almost three years old; He led me to find the others over time. One by blood, two by marriage, and two by the love in my heart. I am blessed with all of these men...most days! On the other days, I am bombasted with bumptious (adjective meaning disagreeable) picking and teasing that would make you think I grew up with them all making blanket forts in the living room and fighting over who gets the last roll at dinner. Most importantly, I know they all love me. I know that I am blessed by brothers.

Gayla with Mike and Jeremy, brothers of my heart.

The Scarlet Letter

I can remember my sister Gayla telling me when we were in high school that she had read the first book that she ever liked...The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn. When we were young 20-somethings, I can remember she told me she loved the movie even though it was a complete off-road trek from the book (I think it was the sex/love scene). For some reason, I did not ever read Hawthorn-man's opus, but recently, I got sucked into the movie. HARD PASS if you are thinking this is a review. From what I read online the book is depressing as all get out. The movie wraps everything up into a nice, little, flower-covered package. Blah on both!

With the "Blogging from A to Z Challenge" in mind, I decided that the first post for the letter A should be about about the crimson letter A that philandering Hester had to don on her person for Adultery. For the standard definition of adultery, make note of where I stand. IF YOU ARE MARRIED OR COMMITTED TO ANOTHER PERSON, THEN YOU DO NOT LET ANOTHER INTO YOUR HEART OR YOUR BRITCHES. No shades of gray here...it's black and white. Be faithful. Be a man or woman of your word and honor your commitment. 

Still this is not where I wanted to go with this post. Being the mother of a teen, I have spent the last few years worrying and stressing over the message to provide Darling Daughter when it comes to sexual relationships outside and before marriage. The first couple of years of her curiosity I spent teaching her the biology of her body and the hormones engulfing her senses. For added measure, I stressed the part about sexually transmitted diseases. 

When she approached the relationship years, DD's father and I added an addendum, "Who you love is up to you; just make sure you have a connection of the heart and the mind." Now that we are in the really scary years, the mama in my heart wants to tell her, "No sex without marriage!" Since reality and history tell me this is naive, uneducated and...duh!...hypocritical, my pearl of wisdom is, "Be a kid as long as you can. When you add sex to a relationship, it takes it to a level of intensity that you're just not ready for yet."

I am blessed by this wonderful young woman whom I call Daughter. She has the maturity and wisdom of someone twice her age on this front. She asks questions. I give her the real, straightforward answers, sometimes leaving her wishing that I pulled a few punches every now and again. I say a prayer of thanks every day that she comes to me for straight talk about the most serious (and sometimes silly) issues. I pray that I haven't screwed her up too much. I beg God to let us always have this open relationship. And to make sure I am not too far off base, I scour the earth for articles, books, etc. about parenting teens on sex. 

For straightforward, teen-speak information, I can recommend the Scarleteen web site. I look at the teens I teach each day and see that some of them have no Mama-J at home with whom they can have truthful and frank discussions about sex, and this site is an information explosion attacking the issue of youths and sex in the most honest way. Check out their philosophy here.

ABC Blogging in April--Year Three



Join the Challenge by clicking on the pic!

 Nope! Contrary to the wildest imaginations out there, I have not, in fact, been abducted by aliens, unless you count the hormone-saturated pre-adults that I have been trying to force-feed an education into for the last seven months. I have missed blogging. In truth, each Sunday I tell myself I will pry my "second face" from the sofa, put down the clicker, and stop watching Pitch Perfect for the millionth time so I can get to my computer and blog about the epiphany I am having at that moment. Take a look to see how many times I listened to my inner voice. I ignore her as much as my Darling Daughter ignores me asking her to empty the dishwasher.

RECAP SINCE AUGUST: Found out at the last possible minute I would be returning to teaching (reading at the high school level); Hubby Dearest traveled to NYC A-FREAKING-LOT for his job, which was tough when he broke his ankle playing rec-league hockey in October; Darling Daughter started and finished her second season in youth hockey and is now ready to get her first job and attend driving school; Mama and Daddy bought a camper "for the grandkids" (wink wink); Dr. Meanie bragged on me for getting to the gym with "some" regularity and for not having bronchitis in the past 14 months; Took the family to LA in August and NYC in March; found out two weeks ago that I am not being laid off but am being re-assigned to another campus for next year (last one in, first one out). I am sure there is a ton more but I can hear "the Rif off" about to start.

So here's the skinny...the challenge that got me into blogging is going to bring me back to my favorite past time...writing! A to Z Blogging Challenge. Come join the fun. Sign up on the website (follow) the link from the picture above. Then blog and post each day in April. You skip the Sundays (or use them to play catch up). The only rule is that you blog according to the letter of the alphabet for that day...April 1 is A, April 2 is B, you get the rest I hope. I have a week to get my writing list in some sort of order. It's going to take planning to stay on target  this year. Can't wait to read what everyone is thinking!

Z is for The End

Blogging from A to Z in April has been another great exercise in dedication. I am sad to see it end and yet relieved to go back to my blog when I get the chance ways. :-) I am so thrilled to have new followers and hope y'all stick around to see what else Aunt J-Me has to say. I do apologize for this being so uninspired...Darling Daughter had asked that I save Z for her. Alas, after her telling me, "No, don't write one...I'll do it" humpteen million times, she finally said, "Meh...sorry. I don't know what to write." 


Z is for Zoo and Zebra so here are some pics from our recent trip to the Zoo.

Y is for Youth...

I murmured to Darling Daughter, "Youth is wasted on the young," as we watched a little girl run back and forth in front of the bleachers at Hubby's game last Friday. The little bitty's LOVING parents were telling her to run to the end of the rink and back so they could time her. She would happily race off in what was surely her best sprint, and DD and I would see her LOVING parents giggle and shake their heads at her...THEY TOTALLY WEREN'T EVEN TIMING HER! buttheads...yeah...I said it!


Nevertheless, MY darling daughter told me in that lovely teen-agery, I-am-smarter-than-you-and-you're-just-dumb tone of voice, "J-Me, that like makes like no sense at all."


Me: "What? 'Youth is wasted on the young'? It is an old saying...I didn't make it up, but it makes sense if you think about it."


DD: "No, it totally doesn't make any sense at all."


I let it go because I don't wage wars with teens (JUST PISS POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE LIKE DAVID'S BRIDAL!). Anywho...I couldn't think of a Y is for ...I kept coming back to Youth and Young. So here it is Darling Daughter....the research for "Youth is wasted on the young."


George Bernard Shaw penned this little ditty, and he meant that young people waste their time being young doing senseless or "youthful" things that have almost no value or use. The mature people who have useful ideas and such wasted their youth and have little time or energy to make their ideas useful (paraphrase of the answers.com answer).


I wish I knew how to speak French because this would be a fun one to learn: "A 16th century Frenchman, Henri Estienne, had much the same idea and said 'Si jeunesse savoit; si vieillesse pouvoit' (roughly: 'If only youth had the knowledge; if old age had the strength') which is a well-known saying in France" (Source).


SCHOOLED YA!

X is for Hugs...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MYMAMA...THE WOMAN WHO COULD TEACH THE WORLD HOW TO LOVE! (xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo) to the (><) power...yes, I am a geek, but I am HER geek! I can't wait to see her this weekend!

Ever wonder why X in xoxoxo is for hug and O is for kiss? When I was little, I used my genius brain to switch it up the other way because the X looked like two arms crossing in a hug and the O looked like an open mouth or puckered lips. Urbandictionary.com says it should be like looking at the two participants in the hug/kiss from the bird's eye view. I can see that for keeping it straight, but I liked the following history info (once again being a bad Ex-English teacher and using Wikipedia): 

• Hugs and kisses or xoxo is a term used for expressing affection or good friendship at the end of a written letter, email or SMS text message. The common custom of placing X's on envelopes, notes and at the bottom of letters to mean kisses dates back to the Medieval Ages, when a cross was drawn on documents or letters to mean sincerity and honesty. A kiss was then placed upon the cross, by the signer as a display of their sworn oath. It was also used in early Christian history as much of a display of the same. Since most of the common people were unable to read or write, the 'X' was placed on documents, and a kiss placed upon it as a show of their sincerity, gradually, as it was used so often, the cross was hurriedly drawn and often resembled an 'X'.
• The 'O' is of North American descent, no one really seems to know how it was started. It has been said that when arriving to the US, Jewish immigrants would use an 'O' on documents, not using the sign of the cross, and shop keepers would often use an 'O' when signing documents, in place of an 'X'. Perhaps now it is used as the 'O' being rounded represents arms encircling another, as in an embrace.'X' is used to signify a kiss and 'O' is used to signify a hug. The use of 'X' to signify a kiss dates back to as early as 1765.

Anyone else feel like they learned something today? Go hug and kiss your loved ones! 

W is for Wisdom...

10. Poor Choices make great stories.

  9. A sincere apology makes it hard for people to hold a grudge.

  8. Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.

  7. Perception is reality to the individual.

  6. Keep "ex" phone numbers in your phone but mark them all as "DO NOT ANSWER!"

  5. I smile when people call names because they are basically saying, "I am (insert whatever name they just called you)."

  4. Once you reach the age of 18, you are responsible for making your life whatever you choose so you have to stop blaming whomever you think screwed you up.

  3. Marry your best friend.

  2. Learn something new every day.

  1. Love is the best gift to give yourself as well as others.

bonus: Make someone happy every day, even if it is yourself.

Share with me your truism wisdom...

V is for Verdict...

Meh...I have been stumped on this one for a few weeks. I first thought something to do with Bills becoming laws, which led me to Law, which took me to the thesaurus and so on and so forth...I decided on verdict. Blah-di-blah...

PHOTO SOURCE

I was dream storming with the Hubster on Sunday night and told him about what I really really want to do. I want to put my time and energy into helping change the laws in Texas regarding deaths and injuries caused by distracted drivers. So we don't want to pass laws restricting cellular use while driving...THE ALL KNOWING PERRY (NOT!) says we shouldn't be trying to regulate the behavior of grown people....der! Isn't that what all laws do?


Nevertheless, in today's world of technology, there has to be a way for law enforcement to have the ability to find out on the spot if an accident that resulted in death or injury was caused because a driver willfully used his/her electronic device, was distracted and caused the accident. YES...IT IS AN ACCIDENT. However, it is a willful act to use your electronic device even if it causes an accident. The charge would be manslaughter just as if you were drinking and driving and injured/killed someone. Texas Penal Code: § 19.04. MANSLAUGHTER (a) A person commits an offense if he recklessly causes the death of an individual.(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second degree. Punishment: 2 to 20 and $10K. 


MY VERDICT--that still doesn't bring back the life you took but it might slow you down if you knew you would be busted. I didn't break my parents' rules as a kid because I was afraid of the belt, not because it was wrong. I was a kid; I didn't know right and wrong completely, but I knew the pain of that belt on MY behind!

U is for Umbrella...



PHOTO SOURCE

i LOVE u umbrella

u keep me dry (unless the rain comes in sideways)

u keep me shaded (except when the sun is anywhere but overhead)

u protect me (unless the wind blows you inside out)

u ...awwww pppppbbbbllllttttt!

u work when you want and i just have to pray you want to work today...

at least you're pretty to look at.

T is for Teaching...

In 2003, I worked for SuperPages.com and was less than satisfied with where my life was going. I had just had a visit with my girly doctor who told me that if I was going to have children, then I should do it before I turned 30. With less than a year before that deadline, I thought to myself, "I just need to do something where I work with children."

I started researching what it would take to be a teacher and was disheartened at the expense of going for an alternative teaching certificate. I prayed about it...God, if you want me to be a teacher, then I know you will provide a way." The VERY NEXT DAY SuperPages' CEO sent an e-mail to everyone in the company announcing an voluntary reduction in force. I looked up and said, "Alright! Answer received..." and I didn't hesitate to take the package that would take care of me financially while I pursued my next adventure.

I spent the next 9 months substitute teaching and attending the Educator Alternative Program. On the final day of our intense summer school program, I drove from Flower Mound, TX, to Queen City, TX, to interview for my first teaching job. I was so excited and nervous that I ran off and left my big-girl grownup shoes at my apartment. I knew Queen City was the place for me and that Charlotte Williams and Steve Holmes were the principals for me to work for when Mrs. Williams put me totally at ease about having to wear flip-flops to my interview.

I spent two years at QC and loved every minute of it. I also spent two years teaching English at a middle school in Flower Mound and loved the students and my fellow teachers. In my excitement about teaching, I thought I would love teaching special education but was proven wrong by the politics that engulfs that arena. I let two of the adult versions of school-yard bullies stress me out and cause me mental trauma. I left teaching, something I loved so dearly.

In six years, every student who entered my classroom became a child of my heart. I was not their mama, but I loved each one of them as a mother would. I taught them English and Reading and, from what I have heard from them over the years, so much more. Some of those first "babies" are now grown and have friended me on FaceBook. I hope I still provide some sort of knowledge to them each day. If I could, I would go back to teaching at QC in a heartbeat and be the teacher I was back then. I miss making a difference teaching.

GUEST BLOGGER--S is for Solace

MyMama, OURGayla, Sister/Daughter-inLawDana,
JamesIII and me, March 2010

A few weeks ago, my beloved mother guest blogged "H is for Happy Home" to help me with the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. This is the second piece I told you that she wrote for me at that time. Is it possible to burst with love and pride? Each tear I shed while fixing this up for her, was filled with so much love and so much pride. Welcome back to "Aunt J-Me Says So"....my hero, MYMAMA:

When my beautiful talented daughter (that's me!) made the offer of guest blogging I looked at her list of available letters and jotted down "happiness", "home", "religion", and "William". What I write about each of these my beautiful talented daughter (that's me again!) knows she may edit change or ignore and no offense will be taken (I WOULD NEVER MESS WITH GREATNESS...okay, I'll stop now). I have complete trust that my beautiful talented ex-English teacher of a daughter (sorry, one more time...that's me!) knows the limits of my education and would not want me embarrassed by said limits (I KNOW NOT OF WHAT SHE WRITES).   So having covered "happiness" and "home", I have moved on to where my solace has come from. In times of grief, solace comes in many forms. I parted ways with organized religion many years ago. However, when we lost our oldest child a year ago, religion showed its purest and most saving grace to me. A group of people whose only connection to my husband and me was that our son and daughter-in-law were members of their church, opened their doors for our dear Gayla's memorial service. Dennis and Debbie are not just a minister and his wife. They are people who came into a stranger's home, tried to give comfort and, in so doing, renewed for me the belief in the goodness of people in general. On the day of that memorial service, my daughter-in-law's aunts served food to a flood of people who came for the BBQ that our daughter-in-law's parents had furnished. They felt our pain and our children's pain and gave the solace of their service. We will never be able to express to these ladies and the church's ladies group, who furnished desserts, how they personified the love of their fellow man to a heartbroken family. Will-I-Am and JamesIII, March 2012 The solace that is William has come over the course of the first year of his life. The night he was born was three days after his Aunt Gayla's death. I spent part of that evening trimming 100 photographs of Gayla to be stuck to her memorial programs. William's great aunts eventually helped me finish that project. His very pregnant mother had helped me write the obituary and order the photographs. The solace of having such a wonderful woman as a daughter-in-law should not be left out of this story. She and my beloved son have allowed us to keep William and his big brother JamesIII for a couple of days a week. JamesIII was born to unadulterated joy more than three years ago. Happiness followed him into this world, and the night he was born, my only tears were joyful tears. There is a movie of me grabbing my son and crying those tears of joy for all the world to see. Also, there, just at the edge of that movie, is his dear Aunt Gayla, watching in the crowd.  DarlingDaughter and HerMemaw March 2012 As much joy as came with William, there also came sorrow that his Aunt Gayla would not be there to see him born. Now at one year of age, William is the one that brings my husband's smile. He may become the family dare devil. He cannot be convinced that just because he CAN climb up on low furniture that he will not be immune from falling off said furniture.  Solace comes from my family. Our grandchildren range from one year old to fifteen years old. That is quite a spread, but where the two littlest give solace through their innocence of the pain, Darby was not spared that pain. Her solace comes in shared acceptance of what cannot be changed. She has seen me distressed and stepped a little closer to give her solace. She may not even be aware she does it, but I am.

R is for Rain...

I fell in love and fell pretty dang hard the first time I ever heard Gary Allan's "Songs About Rain." When I was dream-storming about R is for???? I instantly thought of Rain and how I have been falling asleep to a hypnosis relaxer that is rain falling on a roof and wind chimes. I always image this porch bed that I found on Pinterest and a lazy Saturday listening to the rain and napping on the porch.