I Used To Think...

...my dad invented tuna casserole

It was quite embarrassing when I found out this was not the case...in my first year of university.

...life would get easier as I got older

Some days, I so wish this one turned out to be true. Alas, it seems to get more complicated, more heart breaking at times and, in some ways, messier. But at the same time, the older I get, the more I come to accept who God has made me, the more I strive for His plan and the more peace I find.

...I invented words

One of these words was 'gimp'. Why I thought I invented words, I have no idea.

...I would be friends with my friends forever

This one makes me quite sad. I'm not very good at keeping in touch and as a result, many of my childhood and teenage friendships have grown apart. Even some of my college friends aren't as close as they once were.

...Jonathan Brandis was the coolest


I don't really think I have to expand on this one. You can see for yourself. Pure '90's stud.







...I would never be like my parents

I don't know how many times in the past couple years I have thought, "Oh geez, I sound like Dad." or someone(my dad) has told me, "You sound just like your mother!" If I had known when I was younger that this would be the case, I don't think I would have been very pleased. But I now recognize how lucky I am to have so many of my parents traits.

**These next two are going to make it sound like I was kind of a lonely kid. I wasn't. I think I just had an over-active imagination at times.

...there was a city of teeny people that lived under my bed

This was a belief I held early in my elementary school years of life. I would put my face under my pillow and a big billboard with my face on it would appear in their city so I could make announcements. That's also where I could type messages to them. I guess I was their leader? I think if you had asked me then if I thought the people were real, I would have firmly denied it. However, I think there was a very small part of me that hoped they were really there.

...that my stuffed animals came to life when I left the room

Sometimes I would come into my room quickly and try to catch them interacting with each other. They were just so real to me. I loved them so much. Slowly, I came to the realization that they were, in fact, simply toys. And then 1995 came, and even though I was 12 years old, Toy Story rekindled my small belief and had me bursting into my room a few more times.

Wall O' Post-Its

This is my computer corner. As you can see, it is quite liberally decorated with photos, Post-Its and random paraphernalia. I love Post-It's. I'm not quite sure what it is about them that makes my heart swell with excitement. Perhaps it's the various shapes, sizes and colors they come in. Perhaps it's that fantastic sticky strip on the back! Who knows but I thought it would be fun to share with you some of my Post-Its. Here's a small sample:

I don't watch '30 Rock' regularly. However, these are two quotes from one of the few episodes I have seen. Tracy Morgan's character, Tracy Jordan, says these two things to Kenneth the Page. I think it's the word manatee that makes it so funny to me.

This was the title of an article I read a couple years back. In some situations, I have the tendency to keep my opinions to myself out of fear, lack of confidence, etc. I almost always regret it later.

I know, I know, this isn't technically a Post-It. Still, it's on my Wall O' Post-Its, so I'm including it. Now, Lucy has never been my favorite Peanuts character, but I really like this quotation.

This is something one of the teens from my church said near the end of a Facebook chat session. It was so upbeat and cheery that I had to add it to my wall.

Hahaha-this was from a commercial for a video game. It showed to guys playing the game and this is what one of the guys said to his buddy. It struck me funny. So severe, so competitive, so funny.

This comes from my subbing experience. I was working with a Grade 5/6 class writing poetry. A student called me over and said "Miss Tattrie, what rhymes with pancakes?" She thought of a word and tried it out in her poem to see if it would work-"Every day she wanted mancakes!" I suppressed a laugh and suggested she use another word.

I had to include this Post-It. The Office is one of my all time favorite shows. Their weekly antics always leave me laughing.

Sisters

I've seen movies where the two main characters have been friends since they met on their first day of school. In my mind, it's two girls. One of them is shy and slightly bookish, the other, precocious with a love of adventure-you know who I'm talking about. They've seen each other through parent's divorces, pet's dying, boy's crushing their dreams, dreams being built back up, yadda yadda yadda, you know the drill. The point being, I always get a twinge of jealousy when I watch those movies. I don't have a friend like that. One that I've known for my entire life that I'm still that close with. I have made amazing friends later in life, but no one has been there from the beginning. It's when this thought runs through my brain that I kind of frown at myself and think, "Hellooo! You've got a sister!"

Now, I could tell you stories from my childhood, concerning interactions between my sister, Shannelle, and I, that would be embarrassing for all involved, so I'll refrain from full disclosure. However, I do want to share one story that I bring up as often as I can. Our exact ages are slightly fuzzy in my memory, but my best guess would be that she was 10 and I was 7. The long and short of it is that Shannelle(with the assistance of a friend) convinced me, her younger, innocent, sister to go down the laundry chute. You may ask, why on earth would you voluntary go down a laundry chute? The answer is simple-candy. They bribed me with candy. Candy that, once I went down the laundry chute, had conveniently already been eaten. So my 7 year old self had risked life and limb, ducked past the exposed pipes underneath the sink(where the laundry chute was) and I didn't even get candy out of the deal. Understandably, I was distraught. I had been conned. But as I look over my life with Shannelle I see, and my parents tell us, that this was not the only occasion that Shannelle convinced me to do something I didn't particularly want to do. To this day, I am convinced that some family friends of ours think I am some sort of muffin addict. I would get an extra muffin for myself and for Shannelle because she didn't want them to think she was a pig(she was obviously okay with them thinking I was a pig). The stories could continue.

The truth is, I think I would have gone down that laundry chute without the promise of sugary treats at the end. I didn't have to get her that extra muffin and I didn't have to lend her my brand new Mickey Mouse sweater(I had to mention it Shannelle). I did it because she's my sister. We've seen each other through scary Santa visits, muffin crises, moving away from friends, grandparents dying, insincere fights and the fights we really meant. She's the friend who knows it all; was there for it all.

The morning my nephew was born, I remember this anxiety in my heart. I was excited to meet him, of course, but it was something else. It was days, maybe weeks later when I finally realized what I had been experiencing. It was this strange combination of pride and helplessness. I was so proud of her for doing the incredibly amazing thing of giving birth. At the same time, I was acutely aware of the fact that by doing this amazing feat, she had to go through extreme pain. Pain that I could nothing about. She had to go through it and I had to sit on the sidelines and hope she'd be okay. There are few times in our present relationship that I feel like the little, helpless sister. Most of the time, it feels like we're on equal ground. But there are times when Shannelle shows incredible bravery through painful circumstances and I get that anxiety in my heart. And although I know she's got to get through it somewhat on her own, all I want to do is get her an extra muffin and make it okay.

Bank Error In Your Favor

The best things in life are free


But you can give them to the birds and bees


I want money

I find myself sharing this sentiment the past couple days as money issues come to the forefront of my mind. Now, I know that technically, the best things in life are free: sun showers, laughing at a really funny story, taking a walk in an old neighborhood, making your nephew smile(although this does sometimes cost you a bit of your dignity). But there are times, like now, that I wish I didn't have to think about it. I like to imagine that someday, in the future, I won't have to worry about money. How I wish I could actually pull this card in real life.