HEADLINE NEWS: SENSE OF HUMOR MAKING A COMEBACK!!

I just checked my email today and got this one from my cousin, Jean, in California. It is awesome and funny and so VERY TRUE!!! This is dedicated to all of my Irish cousins out there!!!

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE IN AN IRISH FAMILY

1) You will never play professional basketball.

2) You swear very well.

3) At least one of your cousins is a fireman, cop, bar owner, funeral home owner or holds political office. And you have at least one aunt who is a nun or uncle who's a priest.

4) You think you sing very well.

5) You have no idea how to make a long story short!

6) There isn't a big difference between you losing your temper or killing someone...

7) Many of your childhood meals were boiled. Instant potatoes were a mortal sin.

8) You have never hit your head on a ceiling.

9) You spent a good portion of your childhood kneeling in prayer.

10) You're strangely poetic after a few beers.

11) Some punches directed at you are from legacies of past generations.

12) Many of your sisters and/or cousins are named Mary, Catherine or Eileen .... and there is at least one member of your family with the full name of Mary Catherine Eileen

13) Someone in your family is very generous. It is more than likely you.

14) You may not know the words, but that doesn't stop you from singing..

15) You can't wait for the other guy to stop talking before you start talking.

16) You're not nearly as funny as you think you are ... but what you lack in talent, you make up for in frequency.

17) There wasn't a huge difference between your last wake and your last keg party.

18) You are, or know someone, named Murph.

19) If you don't know Murph then you know Mac. If you don't know Murph or Mac, then you know Sully. Then you probably know McMurphy.

20) You are genetically incapable of keeping a secret.

21) You have Irish Alzheimer's... you forget everything but the grudges!

22) 'Irish Stew' is a euphemism for 'boiled leftovers.'

23) Your skin's ability to tan.... not so much.

24) Childhood remedies for the common cold often included some form of whiskey.

25) There's no leaving a family party without saying goodbye for at least 45 minutes.

26) At this very moment, you have at least two relatives who are not speaking to each other. Not fighting, mind you, just not speaking to each other.

FINDING MY SENSE OF HUMOR!

As I wrote in the previous post, I am trying to find out where my sense of humor has gone. After spending time in deep meditation, I am thinking that it may have taken a short hiatus back to the small town down in southeastern Arizona where I grew up. It is hard to explain what growing up in a small town is like...it was a wonderful experience!!

Last week, one of my teachers who is from Bisbee (24 miles north of Douglas) brought me a copy of "The Bisbee Observer." Her husband wanted me to read an editorial about the Arizona Legislature. The editorial was about the direction our Legislature has been going or more correctly the lack of direction... It was a well-written piece that I absolutely agreed with.

As I turned the pages of this small, weekly newspaper, it brought back so many memories of the newspaper in Douglas. I remember when I was a senior in high school, one of my classmates backed into me in the school parking lot. She was afraid to tell her father and since there was no damage to my Uncle Johnny's camper, I said fine. Well, she went home and told her dad that someone had "hit and run" the car in the school parking lot. Apparently there was a small spot of light blue paint on her car from my uncle's truck. The next day the Douglas Police were waiting for me in the parking lot. The officer asked me to follow him down to the station, which I did--scared to death. When we got down there, I told the story of what had happened. There was a man standing there listening and he turned out to be the father of my classmate. Long story short--the father was embarrassed that his daughter was afraid to tell him and I was "exonerated." That was until the next day when the front page of the newspaper had a story about the accident. Basically it read, after the 100th accident of the year, Sheila was blah, blah, blah. It made it sound as though I had finally been caught after 100 accidents. Obviously, something like this would never happen in a big city!

Then there was the time during the Vietnam War when Timothy Leary came to Cochise County. I will never forget the headlines at the time "HIPPIES INVADE COUNTY!!"

The Bisbee Observer brought back those long ago memories of life in a small town where the pace is oh so much slower. On the back page was the Police Beat for the month of February, 2010. It was amazing to me to find the parallels between a month in Bisbee and a month (or day) at school!!!


Feb. 17 - A red bicycle was found behind the Warren Service Center; A Bisbee man reported items charged to his bank account through the Internet by an unauthorized person.

Feb. 18 - A video camera in a black carrying case was lost at the Lavender Pit overlook.

Feb. 22 - A set of keys found in front of the former Lyric Theater was turned over to the police; A medium black and with dog with no tags was found on Bisbee Road and taken to the shelter.

AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE:

Feb. 21 - Cows were reported in the roadway in McNeil..

There is something to be said about life in rural Arizona. Maybe over spring break, I will take a trip down south and see if my sense of humor is somewhere to be found down there!!! One can only hope............

Cloudy Days

In the two years that I have been writing my blog, I don't think that I have ever gone so long between posts. It has been a combination of writer's block, some kind of bug I couldn't get rid of, and a series of unfortunate events!! In addition, January and February have actually been kind of cloudy months, so maybe I can use that as a bit of an excuse!!!

The series of unfortunate events haven't been horrible and as soon as I get my sense of humor back, I am sure that I will be writing about some of them. Oh yes, I forgot, I have also temporarily lost my sense of humor. If anyone knows where it is, will you please notify me???

The pictures of clouds that I have posted here are not the dark, stormy clouds of winter. I took this picture in September. I am hoping that the cloud that has been following me lately either disappears or begins to look like the one in this picture!!

Anyway, just thought it might be a good idea to post a little something to those of you who may follow my blog from time to time to let you know I am still around............