Tag Archives: Work

Whistler or Wrestler

© Jeanne E Webster

Do you whistle while you work or wrestle while you work?  Sometimes I do both.  When the body holds up and doesn’t complain too much, I whistle.  When I am all crooked and lame from aging bones, I wrestle.

Remember the tune:

Whistle while you work (whistle)
Put on that grin and start right in
to whistle loud and long
Just hum a merry tune (hum)
Just do your best and take a rest
and sing yourself a song

When there’s too much to do
Don’t let it bother you, forget your troubles,
Try to be just like a cheerful chick-a-dee

And whistle while you work (whistle)
Come on get smart, tune up and start
to whistle while you work

~Larry Morey

 

Some days we wake up with a merry jingle in our hearts.  The sun is shining, the baby is quiet, the spouse is non-combative and the dog didn’t barf during the night.  All is well with the world.  We’re whistling!

Those days may be far and few between, so get a grip and face reality.

Remember that term, self-discipline?  Use it.  Practice it.  Wear around your neck.  Cling to it like a life-preserver.  Your world will go a lot smoother if you do.  In addition, you’ll be a kinder, gentler, loving, nicer person for those around you.

Just think… each day you get to make someone’s day brighter or darker–that’s power.  You have the power to add to or take away from someone else’s day.  Why choose glum?  Why choose negative?  Why choose grumpy?  It so much easier being nice.  It takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown.  Make it easier on yourself.  Look at each day as an adventure.  You don’t want an adventure?  Sorry.  You woke up, didn’t you?  The alternative is not so good.

Have a nice day!

Too Nice a Day!

 

I Meant to do My Work Today

~Richard Le Gallienne

 

I meant to do my work today—

But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,

And a butterfly flitted across the field,

 

And all the leaves were calling me.

 

And the wind went sighing over the land,

Tossing the grasses to and fro,

And a rainbow held out its shining hand—

So what could I do but laugh and go?

 

+++

 

It’s been one of those kind of days.  Thank you, Lord!

Whistle While You Work

©Jeanne E Webster

 

Do you whistle while you work or wrestle while you work?  Sometimes I do both.  When the body holds up and doesn’t complain too much, I whistle.  When I am all crooked and lame from aging bones, I wrestle. 

Remember the tune:

Whistle while you work (whistle)
Put on that grin and start right in
to whistle loud and long
Just hum a merry tune (hum)
Just do your best and take a rest
and sing yourself a song

When there’s too much to do
Don’t let it bother you, forget your troubles,
Try to be just like a cheerful chick-a-dee

And whistle while you work (whistle)
Come on get smart, tune up and start
to whistle while you work

~Larry Morey

 

Some days we wake up with a merry jingle in our hearts.  The sun is shining, the baby is quiet, the spouse is non-combative and the dog didn’t barf during the night.  All is well with the world.  We’re whistling! 

Those days may be far and few between, so get a grip and face reality.  Remember that term, self-discipline?  Use it.  Practice it.  Wear around your neck.  Cling to it like a life-preserver.  Your world will go a lot smoother if you do.  In addition, you’ll be a kinder, gentler, loving, nicer person for those around you.  Just think… each day you get to make someone’s day brighter or darker–that’s power.  You have the power to add to or take away from someone else’s day.  Why choose glum?  Why choose negative?  Why choose grumpy?  It so much easier being nice.  It takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown.  Make it easier on yourself.  Look at each day as an adventure.  You don’t want an adventure?  Sorry.  You woke up, didn’t you?  The alternative is not so good. 

Have a nice day!

`

I Brought a Monster Home

 

©Jeanne E. Webster

 

On a fateful day in the month of May,

I was browsing in a store,

When my eyes beheld a sleek silver machine

Setting on a box on the floor.

 

With good intentions and very high hopes

Of hours saved from work,

I bought that machine, a canister-type,

From the bold and brassy clerk.

 

She told me it would clean furniture

And drapes, and floors, and rugs,

Pick up pet hair, dirt, and sand

Watermelon seeds and…bugs.

 

I brought it home and set about

To super-clean the rooms.

Look out dirt and dust and…bugs,

Here comes Super-broom!

 

My troubles began when I turned it on;

It roared and lurched and moaned;

It snorted and sucked here and there;

It was the darnest thing I ever owned!

 

It made a bee-line for the dangling drapes

Hanging an inch off the floor,

Gulped an earring lost a few days ago,

Then hungered for more and more.

 

I wrestled with it from room to room

Getting tangled up with the hose;

It coiled up my ankle like a boa constrictor

While the end of it went for my toes.

 

At last I decided I’d had quite enough

And unplugged it from the juice.

The roaring, snorting, and moaning stopped.

Whew!  I finally reached a truce.

 

My last task for the day was to empty out

The innards of this machine;

My earring, a dime, and a button

From the dust and dirt I did glean.

 

I quickly packed up that dastardly thing;

Back into its box it went.

I buried it up in the attic closet

Alongside that dastardly tent.

 

I might retrieve it again someday;

I don’t really know for sure.

Sometimes it’s best to stick to older things,

And not mess with the sleeker and newer.

 

[written on a day when all was well, until...]

My Dad

My Dad:

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Father of:

  • James
  • Jeanne
  • Joannie
  • Connie
  • Karen
  • Lois

Grandfather of:

  • Richard
  • Ernest
  • Judith
  • Linda
  • Timothy
  • Kimberly
  • Lisa
  • Tabitha
  • Casey
  • Melissa
  • Stephanie
  • Amy
  • Carrie
  • Julie

Great-grandfather:

  • Kevin
  • Jessica (2)
  • Jonathan
  • Amanda
  • Dalton
  • Parker
  • Stephan
  • Sommer
  • Elicia
  • Jacob
  • Jarrett
  • Lane
  • Peyton
  • Mason
  • Isaiah
  • Reagen
  • Several  more

Great-great grandfather:

  • Destiny
  • Tyler

 Worked as:

  • WPA road crew
  • Gas station attendant
  • Pilot & flight instructor for Piper Aircraft
  • Aeronca Aircraft employee
  • Dry cleaner deliveryman
  • Superintendent of large cemetery
  • Co-owner of flower shop
  • Lay minister in three State area
  • Chaplain for retirement home
  • Visitation minister for Baptist church
  • Rested from his labors: 2-23-08

Happy Father’s Day, Dad.  You’re always in our hearts and thoughts!

Love,

Jeanne

Bring on the Dirt

Snow pea on plant.

Image via Wikipedia

I woke up this morning and looked outside and it was still winter. Bah, Humbug! I am ready for spring. The seed catalogs have been arriving in the mailbox and I’m busy drooling over the garden choices. I make a list of all the “gotta haves” and share them with my husband. We decide what we want and then have to go to step two. How much room do we have in the garden?

Ah ah, ok…which leads to a fine- tuning job and the joy of gardening has lost some of its pizzazz. We have no room for all those beautiful squash, the unusual brag-about beans, the tender varieties of tomatoes, or the four different types of tall lanky corn. Now I anguish over garden space management.

Let’s see… tomatoes for sure, corn, broccoli, snow peas, and maybe eggplant. That’s it. Aah! Charting it all on paper helps me to appreciate the plant’s needs as I accustom myself to coming down out of the clouds and being realistic about our gardening opportunities. Right off the bat, we have almost half the garden full of strawberry plants. Last year they were heavy producers, so we’ll see how ambitious they are this year. If not up to our expectations, we’ll remove them to open up space for more vegetables.

My husband tills the soil, works in the fertilizer, pounds in the posts, and helps me weed. Gardening is a lot of work but well worth the ordeal. It is good exercise and therapeutic for the body and soul. The fresh air awaits and the growing experience gives one a feeling of accomplishment. Compare your homegrown vegetables to store-bought ones, and you’ll see quite a difference. In addition, it will further nurture that green thumb instinct. Try it…you’ll like it!