Tag Archives: PB

Christmas Eyes

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Something about Christmas brings out the kid in all of us.
PB’s natural fun-loving personality really shines during the holidays.
He brings home all kinds of goodies. Every day. They are piling up.

Bags of Farm & Fleet Tootsie Roll Pops are a staple around here. In December, though, the stash is considerably expanded. After all, there are Christmas programs and dance recitals and extra church services. The demand rises dramatically, so PB keeps his pockets jammed full of suckers to pass out when the kids’ start to wiggle.

One year, PB brought home a yodeling pickle ornament. It’s motion sensitive, which means when I get up at 5:30 a.m. and tiptoe out to the kitchen, a shrill voice coming from a dark corner scares the Charles Dickens out of me. So fun!

It’s not all candy and toys for PB. He also goes in for a good game to play with the grandkids. This one is sure to be a hit with the 6-year-old and 8-year-old grandsons. We need to give them more reasons to talk about butts.

Of all PB’s fun finds, these get my seal of approval.
They don’t cause cavities,
they don’t yodel,
and they have nothing to do with butts.

These flimsy “glasses” transform the Christmas tree lights into fun shapes. We have glasses that create snowmen, reindeer, trees, candy canes and gingerbread men. These magical specs cost $1.69 each, which is the best deal in town.

See what I mean?
The glasses help you see something that nobody else sees.
It’s magic.

I’m wondering if Simeon had a special pair of glasses.

In Luke 2, when Joseph and Mary brought their 8-day-old baby boy to the temple, Simeon saw something that nobody else saw. The elderly gentleman took baby Jesus in his arms and declared, “My eyes have seen your salvation.” (Luke 2:30)

Everyone else in the temple saw a baby.
Simeon saw salvation.
He must have had Holy-Spirit-glasses.
Oh, for eyes to see like Simeon.

Gall

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“They came to a place called Golgotha.
There they offered Jesus vinegar to drink,
mixed with gall;
but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.”
Matthew 27:34

See that knobby thing growing on that tree branch? It’s a gall. Galls are any kind of abnormal growth on a plant. They can be caused by insect infestation, bacteria or viruses, injuries or irritations.

I never paid much attention to those weird lumps before.
Now I see them everywhere.

Vinegar or wine infused with wood from a gall produces bitter tasting painkiller. It was offered to Jesus on the cross but he refused to take it. Christ was determined to take on the full force of our sin and drink the cup of suffering to the dregs without anesthesia. It had to be vinegar and gall because 1,000 years before the crucifixion, King David wrote,

“They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”
Psalm 69:21

Why all this talk about galls?
PB has been chosen to be an extra on “The Chosen.”
He goes to Utah soon for three days of filming crowd scenes for season six.

I’m not sure he’ll pass as a Jewish rabbi, but perhaps he could be a bedouin sheep-herder from the far northern reaches. Or an Anglo-Saxon merchant with Viking blood carrying lutefisk and lefse from the North Sea.

I bet he’ll be the only one on the film set with a gall on his walking stick.

24 on the 24th

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April 24th is a big day in our family.
My sister, my great-niece and one of my granddaughters
all share birthdays on 4-24.

This year we have a golden birthday
and it isn’t Robin or Adrienne or Ember.

It’s PB.

Twenty-four years ago, my man had triple bypass surgery on April 24.

I watched the nurses wheel him down the hall on a gurney.
I heard his familiar voice call out, “Hope it’s a boy!”
I went to the waiting room and waited.
And waited and waited.
And waited.

When he was in the recovery room after surgery,
he sang “Happy Birthday” to my sister with a tube down his throat.

That’s just the kind of guy he is.

Happy birthday to PB’s heart.
And many more.

A joyful heart is good medicine.
Proverbs 17:22

Ember Blake has a story of her own that’s worth re-visiting.

My Funny Valentine

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Years ago, PB and I decided to forego giving each other Valentine cards, candy, and flowers. This was a mutual agreement. He didn’t like the pressure of being appropriately romantic and I didn’t like getting the Visa bill in March. However we did not want to be stingy or stodgy, so we came up with a better plan.

When February 14th rolls around, we go to Walmart and peruse the array of Valentine cards. Each of us picks one, shows it to the other, and puts it back on the rack. We might even give each other a little kiss right there in aisle three, and then walk out of the store hand in hand.

This year, I threw a wrench into the system. When cleaning out my desk drawers, I found a lovely red envelope with a brand new card inside. It was a Valentine purchased years ago and never delivered. The message was perfect for PB, so I decided to break protocol.

So we went to Walmart and I hovered close by to make sure he passed up the $10 cards, keeping him in the vicinity of the $1.98 variety.

My only request was that it be written in English.

PB is my funny valentine.
I need his humor.
It does my heart good.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine.”
Proverbs 17:22

Journey to the Center

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PB took me on an adventure last weekend to the center of the earth.
Or more precisely, the center of the Northwest Hemisphere.
Who knew this remarkable spot was right here in Wisconsin?
I didn’t. Until Saturday.

In case you need to brush up on your Junior High geography, here’s a quick review.

There are only four places on earth where the 45th Parallel Latitude intersects the 90th Meridian Longitude.

  • The Pacific Ocean—45°S – 90°W
  • The Indian Ocean—45°S – 90°E
  • A mountain in China—45°N – 90°E
  • Poniatowski, Wisconsin—45°N – 90°W

The only place on all of earth’s 197 million square miles where a person can stand exactly halfway between the equator and a pole and halfway between the prime meridian and the 180th meridian is right here in America’s Dairyland.

We drove north for a couple hours, turned into a farmer’s cornfield, then walked 1/4 of a mile.

PB sure knows how to get to the center of this girl’s heart. He took me on a surprise adventure to a place I’d never been before and we stood on a special spot together that no one else among the world’s 8,045,311,447 people were standing.

It was magical.
A perfect date.


We became official members of the 45-90 Club.


Then we got some lunch and drove home.
It was such a good day!
Life’s an adventure with PB!

PB

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It’s PB’s birthday today!

On the day of his entrance into the world,

there was a magnitude 8.3 earthquake in the Aleutian Islands

which triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami.

IMG_1069

He’s been shaking things up ever since.

Love you, honey!

One Little Decision

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 red canFunny how one little decision can seem to throw off the universe…

My dear hubby, PB, decided to clean the garage instead of go fishing on his day off.

He decided to clear out all the old red plastic gas containers we had for Y2K…ummm….13 years ago.

He decided to smash them in order to fit them into a big garbage bag.

He decided to jump on a gas can with two feet…

which sent it shooting across the garage floor…

which sent him flying six feet into the air…

which caused him to land on the cement on his left shoulder.

He decided to call me.

I decided to take him to ER.

The doctor decided PB tore his rotator cuff.

We decided it’s a good thing PB isn’t a major league pitcher.

I decided I love him still.

But I kinda wish he had gone fishing.