July, 2008

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27
Jul 08

Acute Cousins of Cleanus Interruptus

First, you must read this.  This right here.   For I am now convinced that I have found the diagnosis to my prolonged disease. 

It’s Cleanus Interruptus, folks.

And as much as I hate to admit it, I believe some of these other diseases affect me at times too!

  • Spendus Muchas – when a normal, budget concious wife goes mad and suddenly blows $408.23
  • Lookus Baddus – the abrupt dismissal of youth hotness
  • Laundrititus – when a mound of clothes threatens to enter your family in Guiness for “World’s Tallest”
  • Wanttobe Alonus – the inner cry of a wife after a day of being around too many people
  • Leaveme Alonus – the outer cry of a wife when the kids have not been quiet all day
  • Foot In Mouthus – when moms ask people in the real world where the “potty” is (or some other foreign… aka… preschool… term)
  • You Takem Himus – when a woman, whose husband is playing video games, can somehow no longer hear her child’s cry
  • It’s Your Turnus – similar to the You Takem Himus disease, only more rampant

Now I wonder if there’s a miracle cure?

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27
Jul 08

Most Popular Posts at Little Jack’s Corner

I can’t believe I’m about to hit my 250th post here at Little Jack’s Corner! When I started this blog back in January, I had no idea I would take it this far. Blogging was sooooo “not my thang”.  Oh, I could do websites (such as my collie sites, www.CollieDogOwners.com and www.CollieShop.com), and had tried a few “online journals”, but daily blogging was just too…too…scary. Where in the world would I come up with enough posts to make a blog worthwhile? And who on earth would care to read about a little unborn baby boy down in the South Carolinian backwoods?

The original intention of this blog was to just give relatives and friends a place to go to see photos and updates of the new baby in the family, but obviously, this site has become so much more.  And I quite enjoy it. :)   Not only have I met some nice online bloggy friends along the way, but I’ve loved the fun of writing (evin iff i caint speal two wale sumtims). 

Now, I’d be a bloggyfool if I said I didn’t get a little thrill watching my sitemeter statistics go up up and away each successive month (although it bugs me that my monthly visitorship at this site is double that of my 6 year old collie site!).  I also like watching “page views”.   It’s a blogo trip (blog + ego = blogo) I suppose.  Although knowing statistics comes in quite handy too.

Anywho, here are the 20 most viewed posts (as of July 27, 2008) on Little Jack’s Corner.

I’m not sure about you, but I find the first post title quite humourous.  The “views” are 50% more than #2.  So does that mean that thousands of pregnant women out there really get serious at 32 weeks and start googling?  Or does it simply mean that everyone feels like a cow now and again, and is curious to know why?

For a list of all our posts, please visit the archives!

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27
Jul 08

49 Things to Do on Sweltering Hot Days

  1. Eat frozen Grapes
  2. Suck on a Freezie Pop
  3. Rub Ice (or cold water) on your wrists
  4. Put a cold rag on the back of your neck
  5. Turn the ceiling fan on high
  6. Break out the box / floor fans
  7. Shut all windows and doors (to insulate the house better)
  8. Take a cold shower and wet your hair
  9. Take a nap
  10. Strip (be sure to do #7 first)
  11. Go to the lake
  12. Head to the beach
  13. Drink a large glass of iced tea
  14. Freeze a half bottle of water, fill the rest with cool water, drink!
  15. Resign yourself to staying inside
  16. Have a Lord of the Rings (or other trilogy DVD) marathon
  17. Start a new blog
  18. Sort those pictures from last year!
  19. Make some old fashioned lemonade (Country Time Powder Mix will be fine in a pinch though)
  20. Make popsicles out of that lemonade (pour into small cups, add a craft stick, freeze!)
  21. Go to a water park
  22. Visit the YMCA swimming pool
  23. Buy a slip & slide and get down and dirty with your kids (or husband!) outdoors
  24. Break out the sprinkler, or have fun squirting each other with a hose pipe
  25. Go to an aquarium
  26. Wash your car (apply a liberal amount of water)
  27. Wash your neighbor’s cars (and make money)
  28. Wash your Dog
  29. Wash your neighbor’s dog (and make money)
  30. Go Ice Skating (many cities have a nearby rink)
  31. Find a local farmer’s market and buy watermelon (then have a seed spitting contest)
  32. Have a water balloon fight
  33. Have a water gun fight
  34. Set up a neighborhood lemonade stand
  35. Go fishing
  36. Crank up your netflix subscription and catch up on Lost
  37. Go White Water Rafting
  38. Head to the mall and get a head start on christmas shopping
  39. Clean your house
  40. Make up a menu of 15 no-stove-heat-needed meals to have on hand
  41. Have a read-a-thon with your family, with everyone reading quietly
  42. Read aloud to your family (preferably books with cold themes!)
  43. Visit an indoor arcade and challenge your family to ski-ball
  44. Visit a local museum or art gallery (they’re always cool inside)
  45. Head to the local library
  46. Have a “girls day in” and invite friends over for iced tea and a home-spun manicure
  47. Go to a movie theater where it’s dark and usually very cool
  48. Drink water, drink water, drink water!
  49. Stay home and do absolutely nothing (it’s quite refreshing sometimes)
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27
Jul 08

Bloggy Giveaways Coming Up! Yo!

I’m so excited!  I haven’t participated in a www.BloggyGiveaways.com carnival since January.  Back then, Little Jack’s Corner sponsored a giveaway for a brand new Binkie Basket – a cute pacifier holder that my sister in law invented.  With 98 entries in that particular contest, Kevin and I had a blast choosing a winner (viewable here)!

Tomorrow, July 28, a new carnival begins and this time we’re giving away a little set of scripture memory cards, nicknamed “MommiVerse”, that I made up.  I already have one set online that I sell through paypal on my website www.MommiVerse.com.

The point of “MommiVerse” is to provide moms with an easy, fun, on-the-go way of memorizing the beautiful poetic-sounding scripture of the King James Version.  Each scripture set is based on a theme, and comes with a minimum of 100 business-card sized memory cards.  All cards are hole punched, so that they can easily attatch to the included ring, as well as a custom made memory card storage box. 

So far, the only set I’ve had available online is the “Biblical Knowledge” set, which includes colorful memory cards for The Days of Creation, 10 Commandments, 12 Tribes of Israel, Psalm 23, The Lord’s Prayer, 12 Apostles, and The Beatitudes.

 Tomorrow, a new set will debut for sale – the “Tongue” set.  All 100 cards in this set will feature memory verses specifically related to our tongue, the power of speech, and what God has to say about our words. 

The winner of the contest will be able to choose between the two sets, whether you want the Tongue set or the Biblical Knowledge set. 

The contest post will be up tomorrow morning, so be on the look out!  It will run throughout this entire week. As with our last BloggyGiveaway.com contest, the only requirement for entry is for you to leave a comment on the contest post!  Easy-peasy. :)  

So stay tuned!

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27
Jul 08

When You’re Hot, You’re Hot.

And I’m hot.

Not in a looks kinda way, of course, but in a it-feels-like-an-oven-here kinda way!

We had homecoming at church today, which is always fun.  The little pentecostal church I attend was founded by my Uncle (mom’s oldest brother) in 1988.  My father, mother, and I were a few of the charter members - I started when I was 5 years old!  Each year, we always do a special recognition of those who have been with the church since day 1, and as I was standing up front, I noticed all the kids out there – many of them my teenage cousins. 

Suddenly it hit me…. I had been attending this church longer than any of them have been alive!  And then over in the corner was my own newborn.  It’s mind-boggling how fast life passes, and how things change.  People grow, people age, people come, people go.  It’s enough to cause a mind-blowout if you’re not carefully minding your thinkin’ wheels. :)   20 years is a long time, especially when it takes up 4/5ths of my entire life.

After the service, we had a pot luck dinner.  It was, in a word, delicious.  I’m not sure if it’s because we have some of the best cooks in the world in our congregation, or if it’s simply because everyone brings those easy-to-make-comfort-food-cassaroles, but I got so full it wasn’t pretty. 

It especially wasn’t pretty on the way back to the car, preparing to go home.  I was barefoot, on concrete, mind you.  And the temperature was unbearable.  It took all I could do to keep from fainting right there with Jack-Evan in my arms!  Maybe that’ll teach me not to eat so much….

We’re back at home, and according to the official google temperature for our city, it is 90 degrees with a humidity of 66%.  But it feels about 110! 

We’re all in the living room right now watching Herbie the Love Bug on the Hallmark channel.  Both the ceiling fan, and our tall floor fan is going, and the air is cranked down to 72.  All 3 of our dogs are camping out in here with us (Gabby and Gurtrude seem oblivious to the sweltering heat and are happily wrestling on the floor below me).  Kevin is snoozing on the couch, and Jack-Evan is snoozing in his Winnie-the-Pooh swing.  I’m sitting here trying to picture a cold, tall glass of iced tea. (I’m picturing it because it’s too hot to go into the kitchen and get me some…maybe I’ll make the effort in a few minutes).

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25
Jul 08

There’s no sense in dressing up…

…because you never see anyone when you do!

It’s only when you DON’T dress up that you see people.  And tons of them.  You know…those days when you’re still in your (mismatched) lounge-around pajamas, barefoot, hair in pony-tail, no make up, and baby spit up is kareening down you in a cakey fashion statement kinda way?  And then all of those cute baby outfits your son has to wear?  Those are hanging out in the dirty clothes hamper while he, instead, is dressed in a borin’ ol’ plain white onesie, complete with red-rimmed eyes from being fussy.  Yep.  Those are the days when you’re social life kicks it into high gear.

And that’s the way I looked yesterday when all of a sudden, here comes the busiest day in centuries (ok, well, I’m not really centuries old, but you get my drift). 

Off the top of my head, we chance encountered 11 people…a great feat for a stay at home mom like myself, with only one newborn child!  One of those 11 was a dear old friend from high school whom I hadn’t seen in years.  It was her first time meeting Jack-Evan. 

I kept relaying in my mind, “Why, oh why didn’t I slip on a pair of jeans?  Silly me, I didn’t even brush his hair!  Gosh, his onsie is so dirty! Um, is that pizza in my teeth??”

All of it was quite humorous afterwards, especially after realizing (on top of it all) that I had a nice smashing of chocolatesomethinganother stuck on my tushy.  :)

Yep.  Those are the days that go down in the memory book, so the story can be related again and again years later.   :-D  

Humorous days like this only add to the depth of life, the richness and fullness we feel about our overall experience.  Days like this throw us a curveball and provide us with a needed silly’ness that breaks up the ordinary and dolldrums of basic routine.
:)   …and it makes for nice blogging material too.

(happy weekend, yall)

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22
Jul 08

Child of the 80s Flashback: Mister Roger’s Neighborhood

This post is the last of the Little Jack’s Corner “Child of the 80s Flashback” post series.  Each post in the series featured great television for kids that was shown in the 1980s (when I was a child).  Featured shows come from a variety of stations, including PBS, Nickelodeon, and Disney.  Thanks for visiting! 

It has been said that the purpose of Mister Roger’s Neighborhood was to develop a catalog of every known issue that a young child has to deal with. And during it’s 40 year run, it may very well have. I know I sure learned a lot from this great gentle man. A blaring contrast to today’s shows, he never talked down to children, never belittled them, moved really slowly, and was very honest about tough issues. Death, first days of school, anger, disabilities, going to the dentist, and even fear of being sucked down the drain in the tub were all issues he dealt with head-on. As a way to hone in on the day’s topic in a friendly way, the red trolley would carry us to visit the characters in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe (a mixture of puppets and humans). These characters would portray the issues being touched upon in a larger-than-life way during the entire week.

This was by far one of my most favorite shows when I was little. I’m not sure why….perhaps because I myself was a shy kid with lots of issues to deal with. Mister Rogers was a friendly face and someone to “trust”. I even cried when he passed away a few years ago. (Shhh..don’t go spreading that now!). He touched so many lives that he never knew about. He was definately a great man!

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and can’t see the video, come to our site!)

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21
Jul 08

Doncha hate it when….

…you have one of *those* days where you have no idea which day of the week it is?

This weekend was hectic.  I’ve taken a break from blogging the past week, and left my “Child of the 80s series” on automation (isn’t wordpress wonderful?!).  It was a much needed break too!  On Saturday, I had my kickoff show as an Usborne Books consultant (I made 40 bucks and earned Jack some free books!  Not bad for a few hours of fun with friends, huh?).  Then, Saturday night we went to our local city’s baseball game with some friends.   That was the fun day.

Then the bad part hit.

Sunday, we had church and went to eat, just like we do each weekend.  That evening, I get a call from mom saying we had to take my dad to the hospital.  They were on the way to evening church, and he had a dizzy / blackout spell while HE was driving.  After the spell, he was sweating profusely and tingling all over.  Now, if you know my dad’s history of heart attacks, you’ll understand how panicked I got….sheerly, mortifically, terribubally, horribly panICKed (with a capital ICK.).  He’s been on the brink of death numerous times, while surviving 7 heart attacks in 15 years. 

So…Kevin and I put our shoes on, grabbed Jack-Evan, and headed out the door to pick my parents up back at their house.  We were in the emergency room for hours that night, until they finally moved dad out of the main ER and to an observation room for the night.  By then, he was doing OK enough to where he didn’t want us to stay with the baby crying and all, but with his history of heart attacks we never know what is going to come to pass when Dad falls ill.  Kevin and I went to mom’s house with the baby and spent the night there with her so she wouldn’t be alone and worried, and then the baby and I stayed with her all day today until dad was released around 4 pm.

We still aren’t sure what had happened to him, but the doctors are leaning towards a mini-stroke.  Thank God he doesn’t have any residual signs of it!  And better yet, thank God it wasn’t another heart attack.  If there’s anything that can make me cry at the drop of a hat is thinking about something happening to my dad.    

So anyway, with all of the stuff that has been going on this weekend, I have lost track of what day of the week it is.  Shoot, it feels like it should be Friday already.

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21
Jul 08

Child of the 80s Flashback: David the Gnome

This post is part of the Little Jack’s Corner “Child of the 80s Flashback” post series.  Each post in the series features great television for kids that was shown in the 1980s (when I was a child).  Featured shows come from a variety of stations, including PBS, Nickelodeon, and Disney. Be sure to come back tomorrow night at 8 pm for another episode of great ’80s television nostalgia! 

Today’s show, David the Gnome, always made me very emotional.  I’m not sure why?  Perhaps because of the themes they dealt with, the vibrant colors use, the beautiful music, and the escape into fantasy land that it provided.  It was a great show, with David being voiced by Happy Day’s Tom Bosley.  The series finale was a huge emotional twist and dealt with the closing in a way that probably no other show has probably ever done before.  It aired on Nickelodeon.

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20
Jul 08

Child of the 80s Flashback: The Elephant Show

This post is part of the Little Jack’s Corner “Child of the 80s Flashback” post series.  Each post in the series features great television for kids that was shown in the 1980s (when I was a child).  Featured shows come from a variety of stations, including PBS, Nickelodeon, and Disney. Be sure to come back tomorrow night at 8 pm for another episode of great ’80s television nostalgia! 

Today’s show features another Nickelodeon favorite of the 80s – “The Elephant Show” starring Sharon, Lois and Bram. I don’t remember anything about the story lines…just that it was a fun little kids comedy show.  I use to love doing the hand motions to the Skinnamarink song.

Here is the intro… 

 

And of course, the show wouldn’t be complete without it’s star song – “Skinnamarinky Dinky Dink”!

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and can’t see the video, come to our site!)