Heading back with my boys from a trampoline park, my wife asked me a simple open ended question.
Wife – “How was it?”
My honest response – “It was nice, but the Ninja course was a little too easy for me.”
My wife accurately evaluating the situation – “It is made for children…”
Well, I guess if you look at it that way, but in my defense, they did let me in.
Here at www.CookiesbyDave.com, we pride ourselves in providing original content on a daily basis. If you had as many writers on staff as I do, you would ask them to keep on churning, too. Well, any who, there are two days per year, where I usually repeat a theme. The first is June 5th, the anniversary of the day that I met my beautiful, talented, and very forgiving wife. The other is New Year’s Day.
You see every year on New Year’s Eve, I like to make “Wait ‘Til Next Year” Meringues (found on page 70 of my cookie cookbook). I gather the kids around the oven and announce, “Kids, these cookies take the rest of the year to bake. I shall put them in the oven, turn it off, and the cookies will be ready to eat next year.” Sure the joke has grown old, but that’s the beauty of it. All traditions are old. All traditions are kind of stale. Traditions, however, ground us. They remind us of who we are and where we came from.
Sure my kids groan every New Year’s Eve, as my narrative unfolds, but they certainly are there every New Year’s Day morning to gobble up the meringues. Stale tradition, fresh meringues. That’s a winning combo.
Happy New Year from www.CookiesbyDave.com. Remember, 2018 is going to be a great year for a cookie :0)
The more things change…
The Paulsen Boys – Happy New Year 2010!
The Paulsen Boys – Happy New Year 2018!
The other day it occurred to me that I didn’t know the words to AC/DC’s song “Thunderstruck.” Not a single word, other than “Thunder!”
So I looked it up…
“I was caught in the middle of a railroad track…”
As a bonus, I thought I was doing a pretty good imitation (my co-workers disagreed).
(You say, “What, Dave?!? You were doing this at work?!?”)
(Me being very defensive, “That’s right and don’t judge me. Plus, it’s not unusual for me to take brief mental detours at work. It keeps me fresh.”)
(You being sceptical, “Fresh, huh? That’s what you call random singing at work.” Now, you with a sarcastic tone and a roll of the eyes, “I’m sure your co-workers just LOVE that.”)
(Me being clueless and partially enlightened, all at once, “Yes, I’m sure they appreciate it, maybe, but that’s beside the point.”)
I read on…
“I looked round and I knew there was no turning back…”
Then I lost interest. Oh well, farther than I’ve ever made it.
Perhaps next year, I will finish reading the “Thunderstruck” lyrics. Setting the bar low for my 2018 Resolutions, that’s a start.
Looks like we can close the book on this year, because it’s been “Thunderstruck.”
All together now, “Thunder!”
I had turned it off for the night. I had snuggled into a chair. A warm fire was blazing. My pup was curled up on the floor. I cracked open my book.
Taking one final glance at the fire, I saw something new. Something startling. Something not entirely welcome.
It stared back at me. An expressionless glance. The sort of look that said, “I’ll wait you out. You have to sleep sometime.”
Yes, there on the mantel was a soldier.
Could it be worse? Oh, yes. There was another.
The invasion of the nutcrackers does not begin with a bang, but rather a silent wait.
Walnuts, beware!
Looking up from the new Ulysses S. Grant biography that I got for Christmas, I slyly began my interrogation.
“Thank you again for the book, I’m impressed that you remembered.”
My beautiful and much-more-clever-than-me wife replied, “Oh, I bought that months ago.”
Me swooping in for the kill, “Where did you hide it?”
Reading my move, my bride smiled and said, “With you, I really didn’t need to hide it much. It was pretty much in plain sight.”
Ah, ha! Next year, I shall find my gifts in advance, lying on the kitchen table.
#HowCluelessMenThinkTheyAreClever
Needing to snake the toilet first thing on your day off makes one seriously consider still going into work.
As the boys approached their gift, I gave some words of warning.
“This gift only cost about one or two dollars and it breaks really easy. So don’t be sad, when it breaks. It will be okay, because that’s what’s supposed to happen.”
Alas, I forgot to mention the balsa plane eating tree.
A moment of silence, please.
Today, we remember the sacrifice of our diet pop. In the sub-zero garage, they bravely played the role of a canary in the coal mine. Through their passing, countless beers were saved.
Thank you, diet soda. We toast your valor with one hand over our heart and an icy cold craft brew, in the other.
Six-by-six, they braved the cold.
Six-by-six, the cold won.
The younger brother falls asleep waiting,
while the oldest (a true teen) struggles to wake, and the pup is just happy with the fire I did make.
Merry Christmas from the Paulsen Boys. May you get all of the sleep that you need and a warm blanket await you, when you wake.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” – John 1:5
In this world that is so often divided, we must remember to be the light. Work together. Find common ground. Share. Smile. Love.
Together we can be the light. The light that makes the world a better place. The light that loves one another. The light that conquers darkness.
Live today with the goal of making a better tomorrow. Love today with the goal of helping another smile. Be the light today and give the gift of joy.