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My oldest son Erick has always been a voracious reader, more so than I could have hoped. Many a day I’ve seen him holed away in his room engrossed in a thick book and I feel the pride only a parent can experience knowing their child has a love for reading. I’ve noticed his comprehension far exceeds my own and his vocabulary is expanding exponentially!

His two favorite books are Eragon & Eldest by Christopher Paolini. These aren’t your typical flimsy comic book thickness reads. We’re talking hard back & thick as the Bible epics. After reading the books multiple times, he discovered that audio-book versions were available and proceeded to beg. After obtaining the audio-books and wearing them out for another several reads, he began to pester me to listen to them. I brushed him off because I was too busy with other books at the time (**cough** Harry Potter **cough**) but finally, I relented.

Wow! I must say that I was deeply impressed. This Christopher Paolini truly has a gift for writing! I found myself totally involved and now I’m waiting on book #3 (It’s a Trilogy). The icing on the cake is that apparently this guy’s talent has not gone unnoticed and there is a movie in the works which I will be sure to watch when it’s released.

Out of curiosity, I searched the Web and found a fan sight. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Paolini was home schooled and wrote and conceived much of the books in his early teen years!

I’m trying to figure out why I don’t have pride in my vehicle any longer. I remember when I got my first car, a white Pontiac Fiero with black trim. I washed that car more than I did myself! I shopped for accessories more than I did for clothing. It was like my first real independence by which I could come and go as I please not having to rely upon anyone.

Many years later, I view my car as simple transportation. How it looks is not so important as whether or not it will get me from point A to Point B in a reliable fashion. Stale french fries litter the floor, windows are smudged and grimy, gas receipts are stuffed everywhere, empty fast food containers and soda cups are strewn about.

I suppose it’s representative of a new set of priorities in life. By that I mean what used to seem important to me now seems trivial compared to my other responsibilities. Either that, or I’m just a lazy sack of lard!

On occasion, I’ll get an email such as this which I find fascinating! All the euphemisms and slang we use in the English language and have no clue as to how they were derived. Now I’m not 100% sure these explanations are accurate but I still find them fascinating nonetheless! I’ll credit Stephanie again for passing this on to me.

In George Washington’s days, there were no cameras. One’s image was either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington showed him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others showed both legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based on how many people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms and legs are “limbs,” therefore painting them would cost the buyer more. Hence the expression, “Okay, but it’ll cost you an arm and a leg.”

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As incredible as it sounds, men and women took baths only twice a year (May and October)! Women kept their hair covered, while men shaved their heads (because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs. Wealthy men could afford good wigs made from wool. They couldn’t wash the wigs, so to clean them they would carve out a loaf of bread, put the wig in the shell, and bake it for 30 minutes. The heat would make the wig big and fluffy, hence the term “big wig.” Today we often use the term “here comes the Big Wig” because someone appears to be or is powerful and wealthy.

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In the late 1700s, many houses consisted of a large room with only one chair. Commonly, a long wide board folded down from the wall, and was used for dining. The “head of the household” always sat in the chair while everyone else ate sitting on the floor Occasionally a guest, who was usually a man, would be invited to sit in this chair during a meal. To sit in the chair meant you were important and in charge. They called the one sitting in the chair the “chair man.” Today in business, we use the expression or title “Chairman” or “Chairman of the Board.”

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Personal hygiene left much room for improvement. As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee’s wax over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to stare at another woman’s face she was told, “mind your own bee’s wax.” Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term “crack a smile” In addition, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt . . . therefore, the expression “losing face.”

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Ladies wore corsets, which would lace up in the front. A proper and dignified woman, as in “straight laced”. . . wore a tightly tied lace.

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Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the “Ace of Spades.” To avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 cards instead. Yet, since most games require 52 cards, these people were thought to be stupid or dumb because they weren’t “playing with a full deck.”

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Early politicians required feedback from the public to determine what the people considered important. Since there were no telephones, TV’s or radios, the politicians sent their assistants to local taverns, pubs, and bars. They were told to “go sip some ale” and listen to people’s conversations and political concerns. Many assistants were dispatched at different times. “You go sip here” and “You go sip there.” The two words “go sip” were eventually combined when referring to the local opinion and, thus we have the term “gossip.”

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At local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from pint and quart-sized containers. A bar maid’s job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in “pints” and who was drinking in “quarts,” hence the term “minding your “P’s and Q’s.”

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One more: bet you didn’t know this! In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. However, how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem…how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a “Monkey” with 16 round indentations. However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make “Brass Monkeys.” Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, “Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.” (All this time, you thought that was an improper expression, didn’t you.)

Four years ago, I took my Mother out to Breakfast. Across the street, was a pet store and after we ate, on a whim, we decided to have a look. Mom fell in love with this Yorkshire Terrier as soon as she held him.

Wendy & I were very sensitive to the fact that a few months previous, she had lost two Bichons she had for years to old age/heart disease and we decided we’d make a present of Windsor for Mother’s Day. Poor little Windsor died on Wednesday morning after a bout with Cancer. My poor Mom is devastated as she thinks of her pets like children & I buried dog #3 behind her shed.

She still has a female “Yorkie” (Victoria) she bought for a companion to Windsor… But she swears she will never get another pet again. She says the hurt is just too much when they go. I still don’t know how I’ll take it when “Cheezer’s” time is up.

This post is going out to Wendy’s Brother who is currently on his second tour in Iraq. We didn’t worry about him so much the first time around as he was more into the logistics side of things over there but this time out he is in the thick of it. So I don’t know if circumstances will allow you the chance to see this Lee… But we’re all thinking about you and please stay safe “Brah”!