Sitcom Dads

Did you ever wonder what some of the TV sitcom dads did for a living? I’m talking about ones from my childhood and teens. Most of the action of the shows took place amongst a family setting, with little mention of Dad’s occupation. There were a few obvious exceptions. Everyone knew that Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) was a sheriff, and Darren Stevens (Dick York/Dick Sargent) was an ad man. And some did have reference to the job. I decided to do some sleuthing and this is what I found:

Henry Mitchell (Herbert Anderson) from “Dennis the Menace” was an engineer for the Trask Corp.

Jim Anderson (Robert Young) from “Father Knows Best” was an insurance agent.

Steven Douglas (Fred MacMurray) from “My Three Sons” was an aeronautical engineer. I do recall some episodes where he came home with some large rolled-up papers under his arm.

Ward Cleaver (Hugh Beaumont) from “Leave It To Beaver” had some kind of office job.

Mike Brady (Robert Reed) from “Brady Bunch” was an architect. And I remember some references to this job.

Martin Lane (William Schallert) from “The Patty Duke Show” was managing editor of a newspaper.

Bentley Gregg (John Forsythe) from “Bachelor Father” was an attorney.

Bill Davis (Brian Keith) from “Family Affair” was a civil engineer.

Don’t you feel smarter now? You’re welcome.

The Facebook "Poke"

When I first got on Facebook, I thought the “poke” deal was superfluous and didn’t pay a lot of attention to it. Then a friend mentioned about praying for someone each time they “poked” that person.

I liked that. I liked that a lot!

I stopped just returning pokes whenever they happened. I started praying for the person I sent a poke to. So if I get poked and don’t return it right away, it’s because I’m busy and want to wait until I have the time to truly THINK about that person and pray for them.

Sometimes it will be several days and I’ll have several pokes to answer. I will stop or finish whatever I’m doing on FB and sit there and really pray before returning the poke.

Another friend called me a good “poker pray-er”. I like that, too…

Our First Date

When Marv moved up from southern California back in the summer of 1974, the first thing he did was find the local Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. We didn’t “meet” until the annual church picnic in September. After that, we would chat at coffee hour after the services. Our first date was November 15. There was a concert at the college with Dr. Bowman on harpsichord and Dr. Mallory on violin. Dr. Bowman was always fabulous, but this was the first time I’d heard Dr. Mallory. Amazing violin work!

Anyway, the date progressed, yada yada yada, we got engaged on the anniversary of our first date, and the next thing you know, we’ve been married for 37 years…

Today marks 39 years since that date. Must’ve been some date, huh? *wink wink*

I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!!

Book Report November 2013

Guideposts has put out a new series of Christian novels called The Blue Hill Library Series. They involve a young widow with two small children who inherits her great aunt’s house and renovates it into a library for the town. 

These books follow Anne as she tries to put her life back together after the death of her husband, deal with 2 kids and a huge renovation. So far I have really enjoyed the first 3 books of the series. What is interesting is that all the books have the author listed as “Emily Thomas”, but that is a pen name for different people who write the books. Here are the titles:

Nowhere to be Found

Shadows of the Past

Unlocking the Truth

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The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

This was a delightful YA paranormal book that my eldest granddaughter lent me. Elizabeth is your typical teen going through all the changes most teens go through. Her generous heart lands her a dream job in a very unusual library, full of magical things. They all have to do with the fairy tales of the Grimm brothers. The writing is excellent and the story was a real adventure.

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I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee

Ms. Bee is a comedienne on The Daily Show. I’ve never seen the show, but her writing is hilarious. This book comprises of biographical essays. I originally got the book from the Dollar Store strictly to use as an altered book, but got drawn into the writing. I’m still going to alter the book, but I really enjoyed the essays.  

Paging Mr. Peabody and Sherman!

I got in the ol’ Wayback machine, looking for blog fodder (hmmm. Sounds like something Don Corleone would talk about) and came across this little bit o’ fun from a few years ago. Some of my answers remain the same, some not.
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I give you money and send you into the grocery store to pick up 5 items. You can only pick one thing from the following departments. What do you buy?
1. Produce: navel oranges
2. Bakery: French donuts!!
3. Meat: t-bone steak
4. Frozen: ice cream (of course!)
5. Dry goods: candles

Let's say we're heading out for a warm weekend getaway. You're only allowed to bring 3 articles of clothing with you. So what's in your bag?
1. casual shift
2. Capri pants
3. loose blouse

If I was to listen in on one of your conversations throughout the day, what 4 phrases or words would I be most likely to hear?
1. Cool beans
2. Okie dokie
3. Really??
4. Well, I'll be darned

So, what 4 things do you find yourself doing every single day, and if you didn't get to do them, you probably wouldn't be in the best mood?
1. Bathe
2. Eat
3. Sleep
4. Laugh

You're driving down the road, and suddenly you're hit with this sense of road rage. What 3 factors probably contributed to it?
1. Jerk driver
2. Jerk pedestrian
3. Jerk driver (there's always more than just one!)

Sweet! You just scored a whole afternoon to yourself. We're talking about a 3 hour block with nobody around. What 5 activities might we find you doing?
1. reading
2. napping
3. watching a movie
4. playing on the computer
5. snacking

We're going to the zoo. But, it looks like it could start storming, so it'll have to be a quick visit. What 3 exhibits do we have to get to?
1. the big cats, of course
2. a bird/butterfly exhibit
3. lemurs
 

You just scored tickets to the taping of any show on TV. You can pick between 4, so what are you deciding between?

None of my favorites are taped before a live audience, so I'll just say what stars I'd love to meet:
1. Scott McGillivray from Income Property
2. Jim Caveizel from Person of Interest
3. Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs
4. Nathan Fillion from Castle

You're hungry for ice cream. I'll give you a triple dipper cone. What 3 flavors can I pile on for ya?
1. Black Cherry
2. Rum Raisin
3. Butter Brickle

Somebody stole your purse/wallet. In order to get it back, you have to name 5 things you know are inside. So, what's in there?
1. wallet
2. fan
3. tissue
4. hand lotion
5. checkbook

You are at a job fair, and asked in what areas you are interested in pursuing a career. Let's pretend you have every talent and ability to be whatever you wanted. What 4 careers would be fun for you?
1. Best-selling author
2. Mixed-media artist
3. Children's art teacher
4. Classical pianist

Pieces of My Mind

The last two days were lost in a sinkhole of pain, and I really don’t have much of a blog this week. I haven’t had an ongoing migraine in many years and this one caught me by surprise. It’s over now, and about all I can do is just ramble a bit. You can pass this one by if you want…I promise a better one next week. So bring on the ramblings!

The last time I was in Fresno, Lia had a very loose tooth that was being stubborn about leaving her mouth. One night, she agreed to let Sarah tie a piece of floss around it and yank it out. Lia sat on the edge of the sink in the bathroom while I held her and Sarah yanked. The tooth didn’t come out. Sarah thought maybe she hadn’t pulled it the right way or whatnot and after we calmed Lia down, I gave it a shot. I wrapped that floss around my pointer finger on my right had and I REALLY pulled! That sucker did NOT COME OUT! Lia was REALLY upset now and I was bleeding from a very deep half inch slice in my finger from the floss! I immediately grabbed a tissue so Lia wouldn’t see the blood. Not surprisingly, Lia wouldn’t let us come near her mouth after that. It wasn’t until a week or so later that Lia pulled the thing out by herself.

Next Thursday is Halloween, and this is the first year that the purchased candy has remained in the grocery bag, unopened. I usually get the bag home, open it and put it in the big “handout” bowl and set it in the living room. And we usually have to buy another bag by the time Halloween rolls around…

Not this time! We have remained strong and resolute!

I have always preferred the orange café flavored instant coffee put out by Maxwell House. I have that every morning. My only complaint is that it isn’t available in decaf form. I usually only have one cup of caffeine coffee in the morning and decaf the rest of the day. I’ve tried all the other flavors, and just prefer normal instant decaf and use flavored creamer. And so far, they don’t make orange flavored creamer. I finally had the bright idea of getting orange extract and putting a couple of drops of that in my coffee. AWESOME!

OK. I’m tired. It’s been a crappy couple of days and I always write these things Thursday night, so I think I’m done now and am going to bed…sorry if this is drek. Ta for now.

Book Report October 2013

This blog is all about 3 e-books I got for free on my Nook.

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A Blood Seduction by Pamela Palmer

This is the first book in a series about vampires in an alternate Washington, D.C. The city is parallel to the real one, with goings and comings freely between the two. Until the Magic wears out, that is. Quinn is a scientist with something “special” about her, and when she accidentally falls over the border into Vamp City, things really start going wrong. I was hooked within the first few pages of this book and look forward to the sequels.

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Evan Burl and the Falling by Justin Blaney

This was a very interesting book, in that it hasn’t been published yet. At least, not really. I still don’t quite understand it all. It seems there was ‘something’ published in two volumes, and this e-version is both put together, but when it’s REALLY published it might be different. Whatever. It was a good read. It caught my interest and even knowing it didn’t really have an end was OK. I most likely will buy the finalized version, and hope for sequels. It’s very hard to try and do a synopsis on this. I highly recommend it, though. You’re just gonna have to trust me on this one. Go to Blaney’s website and you can get the e-book for yourself. Free!

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The Midwife’s Here! by Linda Fairley

This was a joy to read, one of the main reasons being the author is about my age, and everything took place in a time period I was very familiar with. This is Linda’s autobiography of becoming a midwife in England in the 1960s. I’ve always loved this type of book. It was interesting to read about how things were done back then and how much the medical world has changed regarding childbirth. I look forward to her sequel.