Friday Favorites – Memory Lane
Happy Friday friends! We have survived the first week of school with flying colors. I’m sure we will hit a wall at some point but my kids have been getting up and ready with no hassle and we have been running on time or even early all week! If you missed my back to school lunchbox post and are interested in how I plan and organize to make lunchbox duty a breeze you can read that here.
Today marks 11 years since my sweet Daddy passed away so I thought I would walk down memory lane and share some of my favorite things about my dad today!
Favorite Sayings
My dad had a few things he always, always said that I can seriously still hear him say in my head. Here is just a little sample.
- For when we were acting up…..”I’ll put something on you Ajax won’t wash off”
- For when we were hurt (and even bleeding sometimes}…..”I’ve had bigger cuts than that on my eyeball”
- Anytime I had friends over…..”How are you boys doing”
- On Saturday morning when I was a teen and trying to sleep in he would open my door and begin to sing “the night life ain’t no good life but it’s my life”
- Every time he was leaving the house and we asked where he was going he would respond “bucks tootin and swansonville” and every time we would still inquire where that was and he would follow with “right next to tim buck two”.
Favorite Nicknames
- Little crumb snatcher……this evidently arose from when my mom was pregnant and would drop crumbs on her baby bump
- Catfish TR…..I have no clue why he called both me and my brother this but the TR stands for turd rustler. And you wonder how I ended up with a husband who uses lines like “has anyone ever told you that you are finer than frog hair?”
- Baby girl.…my favorite and the one I truly miss the most.
Favorite Things He Taught Me
- Driving…..my dad started teaching me to drive when I was probably about eleven. We would load up in the jeep cherokee and head out to a country road and he would turn over the wheel. He taught me to use my mirrors and he would create all kinds of crazy scenarios as we were driving to try and teach us how to respond. Of course this led to me thinking I was an amazing driver and the summer before I turned 16 my brother and I had the time of our lives driving around town doing whatever we wanted while my mom was at work….until she busted us!
- Ice cream really should be it’s own food group! My dad was not a huge sweets eater when it came to candy and baked goods but he loved some ice cream. He would run to the corner grocery store and come back with a big selection of ice cream treats and our freezer always had a carton of chocolate ready to go when he was home.
- Sometimes you have to let go and let God…my dad struggled for years with his drinking but when I was 14 he went to rehab and never drank again. When he was sick those last 60 days he kept worrying about hitting the pain pump because he didn’t want people to think he was a “dope head”. I am confident he knew he could not stay sober on his own and he trusted God had his back.
Favorite Things He Made
Being the daughter of a pipeline welder meant a lot of things around the house were made by him and were not always the most practical or the prettiest in the neighborhood but you could bet they would last forever!
- Basketball goal…..y’all my brother and I were so embarrassed and believe me we were teased many times about our basketball goal. My dad cut the backboard out of a Sinclair gas sign he found. That sign seriously sells on Ebay but my dad cut it into a backboard….what do you think the current homeowners associations would have said about this?!!
- My swing set…..the original swings had wood seats which eventually rotted so my dad fixed up some new seats out of sheet metal. Friends….we live in Texas….do you know how hot sheet metal gets in the summer!! Not practical but they would last forever!
- Breakfast….it was his favorite meal of the day and he made the best homemade biscuits. I remember how excited he was when we purchased our first microwave and the cookbook showed how to make omelets.
If you are reading this and you have someone in your life who has reached their 50th birthday please, please urge them to have a colonoscopy. The 50 and older age group represents the age at which 90% of new colorectal cancer cases occur. By doing the following you can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
Regular Screening
Maintain a Healthy Weight
Be Physically Active
Consume a Healthy Diet
Limit Alcohol Consumption
Get Enough Calcium (mainly through food sources)
Avoid Tobacco