Tears, Thank you notes, handwriting & postage stamps

This should be interesting. I wrote the title of this entry before I started in on the text.

I wonder if it's true that I am drawn to tears every day. I think it's actually possible. I know of at least two occasions for tears this week, and that's just right off the top of my head. The first flare up struck me as I finished reading aloud a beloved book to my kids. It was the last in a series of three, and I cried not only for the characters who had to say goodbye, but also for the loss of my own youth, and also, more simply, just the fact that the book was over. I had to pause several times just to get through the reading of it without choking up. The books were the Peter and The Star Catchers series by Dave Barry (yes, that Dave Barry) and Ridley Pearson. Amazing books.

The second thing I cried over this week occured just today. Kenneth's birthday is rapidly approaching and we were preparing the invitations. As any good homeschooler, I decided he definitely needed to have a hand in this process. So, I took the envelopes over to my desk, pushed my keyboard aside, withdrew a ruler from my desk drawer, rejected it, and chose another, (How fortunate am I to have my choice of rulers?), took up a pencil and carefully drew a neat guideline across each envelope so that my son could put the names of each of the guests on them without wobbling too badly. I was methodically attending to this task when my perplexed and befuddled husband came in to find me quietly weeping, with real tears running down my cheeks. I choked and gasped out, "I'm okay, it's okay," wanting to reassure him that I was only crying and that I had not gone off the deepend, at least not yet. I was just desperately missing my mother. I remember her doing precisely this same task for me for an occasion, almost certainly a birthday, for which she expected me to write an invitation or a perhaps a thank you note. I can even see the ruler she would have used to do it. It was yellow and said, "re-elect Judge John Mead." It is much more salient and powerful than any lesson I was ever taught in school. I always think of my mother when it is time to write anything by hand. She prided herself on her handwriting. She lived in an era when beautiful handwriting was very trendy. She told me that she and her girlfriends would actually get together and practice their handwriting. When I was in Jr. High she sent me to a handwriting tutor. I think she was holding my to an unrealistic standard, given my age. My handwriting is perfectly acceptable now, but the value of the handwriting, and of the thank you notes is as indelible as the ink.

So, are handwritten thank you notes a thing of the past? Are all those kids out there who are frantically texting each other going to grow up to send handwritten-snail-mail thank you notes to each other as adults? I'm trying to picture it. The image just fails to materialize. So, how is it that manners evolve? I don't really remember when you weren't supposed to wear white shoes after Labor Day, but it's certainly one of those references that gets dragged out as hopelessly arbitrary and archaic when the subject of manners comes up. I did grow up being told that it was absolutely off limits to attend a wedding in a white dress, but I see people do it more and more. I doubt that they are saying to themselves as they are dressing on the day of the wedding, "Oh, I know I'm not supposed to wear white to a wedding, but I just don't care!" More likely, they just haven't ever been told of the custom. So, again, I ask, will the text speak youth of today grow up to value a handwritten thank you note or invitation? I guess the jury is still out. My guess is no, and that's okay. It's every bit as okay as wearing white shoes after Labor Day, because you see, it's arbitrary and archaic.

So, speaking of my desk drawer, and sending things via snail mail…I have stamps in there representing six generations back in first-class postage rates. I used to buy stamps by the roll, but, as we send virtually nothing, except invitations, thank you notes, and Christmas Cards via snail mail, I can't use the stamps up fast enough to keep up with the ever changing postage rates. In fact, last year I didn't even send my Christmas Cards through the mail. I sent a virtual Christmas card in the form of a slide show of family photos from the entire year. It was very cool, but anyone on my list who didn't have email was just SOL. Just this past spring I was supposed to pay a friend of mine a deposit for a weekend retreat together. I actually asked her if I could just pay her via PayPal, because that was much easier than finding a stamp with the proper postage. She happily accepted it.

See, I did pretty well with that title.

Have a great day!

Six Flags is stingy with their ice!

Whew! We spent the day at Six Flags yesterday. Yes, I know what you're thinking, "It was 104°F Yesterday! Are you derranged" Well, we are now, primarily as a result of heat exhaustion. We're also under the delusion that having two free tickets to Six Flags, thanks to the Six Flags 6 hour reading club, means we will "save" money. Let's not kid ourselves, we ain't saving Jack! I was born and raised in Arlington, Texas, home of the original, the first, Six Flags over Texas. (For those of you who are not from here, you may wonder, "Why do they call it Six Flags?" Well…it's time fer a little Texas History Lesson. But that can wait until the end of the post.*) So being a native Arlingtonian, I cut my teeth on Six Flags, and there will always be a soft spot in my heart for the park. However, I need to take this opportunity to file an informal grievance with the place after our visit. Holy-Chili-Cheese-Dog, did that cost a heck of a lot of money! It was $15 just to park the car. But, really, what got me was how stingy they were with the ice! After doing some quick calculations, we determined that it would be less expensive for our family to purchase two of the freely-refillable "Souvenir" (God knows why anyone would want to keep one of these things!) cups for $15.00 each, and have them filled with water, than it would be for us to spend the day purchasing water bottles. With five of us and the water bottles costing $3.50 each, we would hit that $30.00 mark pretty fast. So that's what we did. However, after the first fill up, the folks in the little drink kiosks consistently put less and less ice in the cups. Generally, they were less than half full. I assume the employees have been instructed to do this unless asked otherwise. I assume that's because ice is expensive. I also have to assume, based on my observations yesterday, that the employees in the drink stations were instructed to work at a glacial pace, maybe they thought that was a way to make their precious ice last longer. I can not imagine working more slowly than those folks were working. But the stingyness with the ice is truly a false economy, because what happens when you fill my cup with very little ice, is that the ice melts almost immediately. So, I'm just going to dump my now melted ice into the bushes and come back (after standing in an unnecessarily interminable line) and ask you for more. So, basically, by giving me less ice, you are encouraging me to throw it away. Arrghh! At one point, after standing in a line and asking for ice water, the girl said, "Oh you don't want to get water here because it just comes from the sink, you want to go next door to the funnel cake stand." Well, guess what, I have just stood in this line, I can't say as how I'm jumping up and down to go stand in another one! I don't care if her water comes from the sink! (Where else would tap water come from?) I'm blistering hot, from standing in this line for 20 minutes waiting for her to help, at most 3, customers ahead of me, I just want my ice water, I want it now, and then I want to go stand in the shade. Please. Please can I go stand in the shade? Like I said, Whew!

Now, the nice thing is that I got to watch my kiddos' faces light up with elation when riding some of the same rides I rode when I was just their size. Like the Sombrerro, for instance, oh how I love that thing! With a fresh coat of paint, and a scrubbed clean look, it was like a time warp. We rode it several times and I got to sit with each of them in turn. Eleanor giggled gleefully and chattered on about the, "Big Yellow Hat!" I think she was reminded of the one Curious George's friend wears. Reid turned into a limp noodle and let the ride wave him about, loving that flip flopping sensation in his tummy. Kenneth just grinned, his impish little gapped tooth smile just about as wide as a long Texas mile. We didn't get home until late, they were all just completely filthy, I dunked them each in the bath, scrubbed them up, and then tucked them exhausted, but happy into their sweet little beds, and not a single one the least bit sunburned thanks to my diligence. Someday, maybe they'll take their kids there and feel the same way. Hope you all have a wonderful day, and that you are enjoying your summer!

*The reason that the park was named Six Flags is because the areas of the park all represent the Six Flags that have, at one time or another, flown over the land that is now the Great State of Texas. (Although, the last time I checked, the Gotham City flag never flew over Texas.) Those flags are, in order: Spain, France, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, The United States of America, The Confederate States of America and the United States again. You can read more about that here: The Six National Flags of Texas

My Cover Girl, and more road rage

Hiya! Important business first. Miss Eleanor is a Cover Girl! My page "Beckoned" featuring a picture of Eleanor, and gorgeous products designed by Lorie Davison, is on the cover of the August Issue of The Artisan Notebook! Linky here:



And, speaking of bumper stickers. I happened across this car in a parking lot today and just had to stop and snap a shot!



Well, thanks for stopping by! I'm sure I'll have a wordier post sometime soon!