Sorry, Pussycat

Posted on January 12, 2015 by dinahoverlien

Last week I wrote about funny sayings that families have.

Have you ever heard this one?

“Sorry” won’t feed the admiral’s pussycat.

Yeah, well, Google hasn’t heard of it either.

I remember hearing it in our home when I was a kid, though.

I have a feeling this family adage was once the punchline of a joke.

I have a feeling that it had something to do with an admiral’s cat that didn’t get fed and thus, met it’s demise.

I have a feeling that it means you can’t make everything right by just saying “sorry”.

But obviously, I don’t know for sure.

It hit me today,

that with both my parents now gone,

I have no way to find out.

Why didn’t I ever ask about the admiral’s pussycat?

Fire Dog

Posted on January 10, 2015 by dinahoverlien

This dog would never ride an engine to put out a blaze.

This dog would never sit tall on a seat in a station.

This dog would never keep watch for sparks of danger.

But this dog is a fire dog.

She stretches every night by the fireplace in the den.

She rotates front to back, right to left, for even heating.

She twitches and jerks in her toasty, roasted dreams.

Our Bo is a fire dog.

And We’re Off!

Posted on January 5, 2015 by dinahoverlien

Every family has it’s quirky sayings — pithy little proverbs that express volumes in a few words. These bits of wisdom might come from a line in a movie or a quote from a book. Or perhaps the maxims were handed down from past generations and the source is unknown.

My sibs and I recently had a conversation about sayings we heard in our home as we were growing up. One such saying would have been said as the car backed out of the garage and we headed down the driveway, perhaps late for a school concert or a ballgame —

“And we’re off….like a dirty shirt.”

Evidently, dirty shirts were supposed to come off fast, because the gravel was usually flying in all directions as my dad pressed down on the gas pedal. There was a sense of relief that we were finally on our way after numerous trips back in the house for something or another.

I had that feeling this morning — the first Monday of the new year. After the slow, soft, easy days of Christmas break, this morning the pace picked up. Back to responsibilities, back to schedules, back to gravel flying under the tires as I was off and running.

And so we are “off like a dirty shirt” into 2015.

Next Monday: another family adage.

In the meantime, what were some of your family’s unusual sayings?

Home for the Holidays #15

Posted on December 31, 2014 by dinahoverlien

Closing out 2014 with a picture of the throw-up bucket is just wrong.

There were so many good things about this year.

PB and I sat with our coffee cups by the fire this morning, remembering together.

Good times, hard times, accomplishments, struggles.

I’m so happy to be doing life with this man.

We’ll give each other a smooch at midnight, pray in the new year, and wake up to 2015.

“May the new year be blessed with good tidings
Till the next time I see you again.
And we’ll all join hands, and remember this moment,
And we’ll love and we’ll laugh, in the times that we have
till the season comes ’round again.”

~Till The Season Comes ‘Round Again ~ Vince Gill