I don’t recall any of the kids first words. I know they each have a “baby book” and whatever they said is written in their respective book. If I was to hazard a guess, they probably offered some version of mom or dad. Probably mom. I do know David’s first sentence. We were driving home from my parent’s house when he said, “Cookie Mama.” I know he wasn’t grammatically correct, but he made his point. Ruth and I were both shocked by the utterance, but he got his cookie. More specifically, he received an animal cracker. Ruth had a box on hand at all times.
Shortly after he started quoting television personalities. If you asked him what time it was, he fired back, “It’s Howdy Doody time.” He learned that while watching reruns of a television show from my youth. Once my dad knew, he asked David for the time whenever he saw him. One request was never enough. He asked repeatedly, kinda like a ventriloquist and his puppet. If you watched the exchange in person, you couldn’t be sure who was the ventriloquist and who as the puppet. The whole thing was quite entertaining.
I flashed back to that moment a couple of days ago. While I know what time it is, I’m having trouble with my days. Being retired, most days seem like Saturday, but I know they’re not. The holiday season just added to my turmoil. I have a few regular activities that help me keep track. My blog posts, poker with the guys, and regular golf days, were all pushed aside. Christmas and New Years threw me two curves. My Christmas trip to California just added to my confusion. I picked up three hours heading out and lost them coming back. I started my return to Florida on Tuesday but when I got back four hours later it was Wednesday. I’ve been running a day behind for several days.
I try to have each of my blogs ready to go a day or two before they’re posted. That allows me time to continue editing right up to the final posting. When I head out of town like I did over Christmas, I try to have two or three blogs written before I leave. I failed this time and I’ve been playing catch up ever since. Such is the life of an amateur story telling blogger.
So, let’s end this one with a simple wish for a happy new year. None of us knows what lies ahead. If you’re like me, you’ve made some plans, but you know that life is continually changing. You plan a course of action based upon what you know at the time.
My 2024 bucket list includes at least one more trip to Biloxi, a trip to Vegas and California, perhaps a British Isles cruise and three days in London, the second annual MRNA Golf Tournament, the awarding of another Tebo Family Scholarship, the launch of a podcast with Elizabeth, perhaps a shoulder replacement, and a return to Michigan for the summer. When I get there, I’ll start planning for the second half of the year.
No matter how things shake out, I’ve got to learn to use the calendar app on my smart phone.
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to use the iPhone calendar instead of relying on my annual “AT-A-GLANCE calendar on my desk. I should’ve written that “One of my New Year’s resolutions WAS to use the iPhone calendar.” Six days into 2024 and I haven’t used it yet, though there are dozens of entries on the pen-and-paper desk calendar. Oh well . . .