Not Just Another Teddy

Did you ever have a favorite teddy bear that you liked to sleep with as a child?  Those were the days, right?  Safe and comfortable and taken care of.  And then you grow up and leaving behind the safety and comfort of childhood.  That's what I thought and then... I was about 22 and had moved into my first apartment with my best friend from high school.  I won't dwell on how much of a mistake that was, but I moved out five months later.

In the meantime, I went to work every day and my roommate worked the night shift.  I was usually up until she left for work and gone before she got home in the morning.  Not enough sleep and poor eating habits led to my getting sick twice that summer.  Both times I was diagnosed with strep throat and both times I had different symptoms.  Let me just say that I went to what would today be referred to as "an old country doctor".  He had probably practiced in that same tiny little office for at least 40 years.  

He didn't do any tests or cultures.  You're supposed to get a culture for strep, right?  Nope!  The first time I just had a sore throat and otherwise didn't feel all that bad.  The next time my glands were swollen, and I had a fever - for a solid week.  I took antibiotics and aspirin around the clock for a solid week.  

Did I mention that my parents were on vacation a thousand miles away?  Or that my roommate had absolutely no sympathy for my situation?  "Aren't you going to work" she asked?  Duh!  I'm sick!  What do you think?

I began staying at my parents house even though they weren't there.  I drew comfort from just being home.  They were due back at the end of the week and I was literally counting the days.  I suppose you are wondering where teddy bears come into the picture.

I was there when they got home, and the first thing Mom did was hand me a teddy bear.  I instantly felt 100% better.  My fever went down and I felt better than I had over in a week.  It did go back up that evening, but I was so much better.  I slept with that teddy bear for a very long time after that, and I still have him.

Was it the bear?  Was it a mother's love?  I think it was both, and they were one in the same.  

Quote of the Week

We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.

― Robert Fulghum, True Love

I think we can all relate to this on some level.

Quote of the Week

Heat, ma'am! it was so dreadful here, that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones.  
- Sydney Smith, Lady Holland's Memoir

free-extras.com

This quote seems most appropriate given the heat wave that we've been having.

June was a great month and participating in the 30-day writing challenge hosted by Nicky and Mike at We Work for Cheese was a lot fun.  Now I'll be taking a short break and return to my regular posting schedule soon.  I'll still be coming around to visit.

Happy Fourth of July! 

It Could Have Been Worse

This is the last day of an insane incredible 30-day creative writing challenge hosted by Nicky and Mike of We Work For Cheese.   Today's prompt is it could have been worse.  Check out the Linky at WWFC to see how excruciating invigorating this has been.

Today we conclude 30 intense days of writing, the likes of which will probably send some of us into therapy.  Along the way we have laughed and cried with one another.  We have teased one another.  We have inspired, or been inspired by one another, and perhaps gotten to know each other just a little better. Some of us have made new friends, and maybe connected on a new level with long-time buddies.

How did this all come about?  Well...thanks to Nicky and Mike-

We roasted and toasted and lived like there's no tomorrow.  

We praised our friends, challenged the babysitter, embarrassed the defenseless banana, and even extolled the virtues of the camel.

We sang and danced as they played our song.  We felt the pressure and broke a few rules along the way.

We went solo, and just when we thought we couldn't make it anymore, we reached the turning point.  We should all feel a great sense of of accomplishment for surviving the challenge without needing an intervention.

So as our time here draws to a close, what can I say about the past 30 days?  It could have been worse.

And now to help wrap this up in a proper cheesy fashion - some cheese rap!

 

Breaking the Rules

Written for the 30-day creative writing challenge hosted by Nicky and Mike of We Work For Cheese.  This is day 29, and the next to the last day of this incredible writing challenge and those who are still standing will be weighing in with today's prompt is breaking the rules.  Check out the Linky at WWFC to see who's breaking the rules.

I've never been much of a rule breaker - too afraid of getting in trouble I guess.  I did break the rules once in kindergarten but I've already confessed that in "Black Eyes and Tutus".  I learned early on what can happen when you break the rules.

Rules are made, rules are broken, and somehow life goes on and more rules are made. 

I leave you now with a few quotes on what other people think about rules.

Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes   

You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.
- Richard Branson  

Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.
- Karl Von Clausewitz

No tendency is quite so strong in human nature as the desire to lay down rules of conduct for other people.
- William Howard Taft

I had these recipes that say do this, do that. Who MAKES these rules?
- Emeril Lagasse  

There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about.
- Helen Frankenthaler