Of Late Nights and Memories by Konnie Enos

 Okay, confession time.

I spent so much time and effort studying for my finals this week that I forgot I still had a post to write, even though it was on my to-do list for Tuesday. Only after I was getting ready for bed did I realize that I hadn’t done that one very important task yet.

Now what? At this point, it was past midnight and I absolutely need my rest so I could do well on the two tests I still needed to get done. But, since I hadn’t forewarned Bonnie, I also had to get a post written.

Conundrum.

I still had no clue what to write about. In fact, I’d been having difficulty putting two words together in coherent thought since I was told the oldest of our brothers had passed away. Keep in mind that while he is the oldest boy, he isn’t the oldest child. He’s younger than all three of us sisters (me, Bonnie, and our older sister).

So, with my thoughts fully on my brother, I suppose he will be the topic today.

One of my clearest memories of him was when I was eight and out in our front yard playing. When to my astonishment Bryon came riding down the street on our mother’s bike.

This was a full-sized women’s bike and Bryon was at most 7-years-old, and he wasn’t big for his age. He couldn’t even reach the pedals if he was sitting on the seat at its lowest position. So instead of trying to ride it while sitting, he was standing on the pedals while he rode around.

It blew me away. He was the youngest of us and the first one to figure out balancing on a bike. Over the next four years, both Bonnie and Jacki learned how to ride, but I was simply not confident enough to balance one. I always lost my balance within a few feet.

When I was twelve, with a bunch of our friends over to ride bikes around the parking lot outside the apartment we lived in, Bryon convinced me to get on our mother’s bike and try just one more time.

I was very reluctant, but he promised me he’d ride beside me and keep ahold of the seat, so I didn’t tip over.

Admonishing him to not let go, I set off, periodically glancing to my side to be sure he was still beside me. Because of our positions, I couldn’t see if he was still holding me up or not but assumed so since I was not tipping at all.

Then he suddenly rode off, swinging around right in front of me. I yelled, even berating him for not holding on.

His response? “What are you yelling at me for? You’re riding, aren’t you?”

I looked down. I had not wobbled in the least and was still pedaling along nicely. Without hesitation, I then did a crazy eight. My brother had tricked me into figuring out I could balance a bike.

I have plenty of other stories, particularly about how spoiled our little brother was, but I also have some about the man he grew to be.

When we were adults and married, Bryon and I ended up living in the same apartment complex. Being the nearest family member, I often called on him and his wife when I needed help with something. Early one morning I needed help.

It could not have been 5 in the morning when Tina fell out of bed and cut open the bottom of her chin. I was certain she’d need to be seen so I called Bryon.

He wanted me to take her to his place, but I pointed out her three sleeping siblings and the fact that Jerry had left for work not long before she fell out of bed.

He also had three sleeping kids, so he moaned and came over. After checking her chin, he ended up taking her to the ER with a note from me saying he could seek medical care for her.

Years later she was attending college in the same area where he lived and found herself in immediate need of a ride. Bryon dropped everything to head over to pick her up though our sister-in-law beat him there.

However, only a few months later I had reason to believe she again needed help and called Bryon in a bit of a panic. He didn’t hesitate. He dropped everything and rushed right over to her and stayed with her while he was still needed.

These are the things Tina remembers about her Uncle Bryon. The one uncle who would drop everything to help her when she needed it. She is already missing him.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day. Our family could use it.

More Mirror Twins by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

I recently saw a YouTube video about the Olsen twins. Nice video, but the guy who did it clearly doesn’t know much about twins.

You see, this guy insisted that they were NOT identical, because 1) they are not exactly the same height, and 2) because one of the two is a lefty!

Newsflash!

Identical twins can be as much as one whole inch different in height. And guess how far apart they are. 😊 And, as we’ve stated several times on this blog, mirror twins are often determined because one is a lefty.

In other words, Mary-Kate and Ashely Olsen are MIRROR TWINS!

Now for those of you who don’t know (including the guy who did the video I saw), all mirror twins are identical, but not all identical twins are mirror twins.

Additionally, fraternal twins can not be mirror twins because fraternal twins are no more alike than any two offspring of the same parents are. Fraternal twins occur when two ova are released at the same time, and both get fertilized.

Identical twins happen when the already fertilized egg splits in two. And sometimes, they produce babies that are mirror opposites of each other. Hence the name mirror twins.

And I know about that one-inch difference part because I looked it up while I was still in high school. It upset me to no end that Konnie and I weren’t identical because I am an inch and a quarter taller than her, then Konnie reminded me she lost height when she injured her back when we were eight.

Just to recap, this past week I learned that the Olsen twins, who I have watched grow up since the very first episode of Full House. Please note, we are talking Full House, not Fuller House.

First, I don’t have cable, and second, I am that old.

I, in fact, remember being certain that while the credits that the first season listed her as being Mary-Kate Ashely Olsen, I was positive that there should be an “And” somewhere in there. Mostly because I knew that Hollywood tended to use twins for their youngest characters, hence Sidney and Lindsay Greenbush played Carrie Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie from infancy until they were about six or seven when they switched to just using one of them. Sorry, I forget which one, but I do know they did at first use both of them. I remember when they changed the credits to just one of them playing the part.

Yeah, I keep dating myself.

At any rate, well before Full House aired, I knew that Hollywood tended to use twins for infant characters, so I was positive that the baby on Full House was actually twins.

When they finally added that little “and” between Kate and Ashely, it just confirmed what I knew all along.

I watched a bunch of their movies too.

And I still wonder why they didn’t use the Olsen twins when they did the remake of Parent Trap.

Yeah, I know they didn’t use twins for the roles in the original version, but why didn’t they use twins for the remake?

Though it was probably because of some Hollywood red tape or something, like when they hadn’t been able to get Shirley Temple to play Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz all those decades ago and ended up using an actress who was considerably older than Dorothy was supposed to be. The studio doing the filming had Judy Garland under contract but not Shirley Temple.

I just find it strange to find out all these years later that the Olsen twins are as much mirror twins as Konnie and I are. All those movies we watched; that whole series we watched, and we never knew.

Then again, I didn’t learn Conrad Bain had a twin until after “Different Strokes” was no longer on the air, and he mentioned his twin brother in an interview.

Of course, I also didn’t learn that Ashton Kutcher had a twin until I recently saw a TV clip about his twin brother.

And then there is Eric Christian Olsen from NCIS LA, whose twin brother has the role of his stunt double on set, and the real-life husband of Eric’s co-star Daniela Ruah, as in the actress who plays Kensi Blye on NCIS LA.

Yeah, that’s right folks, Daniela plays the love interest of Eric’s character, Marty Deeks, and her husband is Eric’s twin and stunt double!

I actually find it interesting that Eric got Daniela and David together because they were both seeking someone, and he thought they’d get along great. (Eric, himself, was already married.)

So, I guess there are a lot of twins in Hollywood.

Can you name some I haven’t?

Anyway, happy writing everyone!

Of Informative Idioms and Being Neurodiverse by Konnie Enos

 

The other day I was thinking about all the various poems, idioms, and even proverbs that help us remember information or tell us something important.

Things such as:

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

“Red sky at night, sailors delight.

Red sky in morning, sailors take warning.”

Or how about:

“Thirty days has September,

April, June, and November,

all the rest have thirty-one.

February has twenty-eight,

but leap year coming one in four

February then has one day more.”

How many of you can only remember the first few lines of that one? I’m raising my hand. I knew there was more to the poem, but I could never remember it.

There are a lot of sayings like this which we use to convey ideas and information, so it won’t be forgotten. Others include:

“It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Better late than never.”

“Actions speak louder than words.”

“You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”

“The early bird catches the worm.”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Or my often quoted one:

            “No two people are exactly alike.”

Which kind of goes along with:

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

While I was looking up such statements, I also came across one that relays information, I’m just not sure if it’s true information.

“Monday's child is fair of face

Tuesday's child is full of grace

Wednesday's child is full of woe

Thursday's child has far to go

Friday's child is loving and giving

Saturday's child works for its living

And a child that's born on the Sabbath day

Is fair and wise and good and gay.”

I know for a fact three of the people I know were born on Friday, and for a fourth person, it was easy to confirm. All of them can be loving and giving, two of those are among the most loving and giving people I know. Bonnie and I were born on Thursday. If far to go means long life, we’re not there yet. If it means physical travel and moving, I think we qualify.

I also know people born on Monday, one of those on a holiday, and I’m not sure any of them are “fair of face.” However, the people I know who were born on Saturday did “work for a living.” And one thing I can say about the person born on Sunday is that she is intelligent.

However, I cannot say the people I know who were born on Tuesday are full of grace. At least they are certainly not graceful. Is that the same thing?

So, what brought on this contemplation?

I was thinking about two idioms I learned as a kid.

One:

            “In like a lion, out like a lamb.”

And:

            “April showers bring May flowers.”

Why was I thinking about them?

Well, it’s March, and well March doesn’t always come in like a lion. Though I have heard the opposite. “In like a lamb, out like a lion.” But that’s not the common saying.

However, generally, April does tend to have a lot of rainstorms. Rain means plants are watered. Well-watered plants grow. So, showers in April do bring flowers in May.

What else brought on this line of thinking on?

My soon be twenty-one, daily reminder of all things neurodiverse, loveable, quirky, sweet, May Day baby boy.

He makes me laugh. Gives me things to think about and often astounds me with his knowledge. He can also be frustrating with his tenacious laziness and absolute refusal to admit he can read.

I think his catchphrase should be, “Why me, though?” Simply because he asks me this so often when I try to get him to do something, you know, like chores.

My answer is often, “Because you live here too.” And or, “Deal with it.” But sometimes it warrants more explanation, such as, “You’re the tallest one in the house.”

He moans but eventually does what I ask of him.

April is also Autism Awareness month, though I think there is a campaign to change it to Neurodiverse Awareness Month. I like that better so I’m using it.

So, that is what I’ve been thinking about this past week while I’ve been struggling to keep up with my homework and on top of all my obligations. (Admittedly only those for my family members are being met. I can only do so much.)

What informative idioms, proverbs, and poems do you know?

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Who is Susan and Other Mix Ups by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

Who is Susan?

This has been bothering me for almost a week. And it started when I was in the checkout lane at Walmart last week. At one point I heard someone call out, “Susan,” somewhere behind me, but I didn’t turn around, since I didn’t think it had anything to do with me.

That is until someone stepped up to me and asked me if my name was Susan!

Now I know a lot of women by that name, but no one in their right mind would ever confuse me for any of them, so I have no idea who this person is.

I mean I can see someone mistaking me for Konnie. People have often mistaken me for Konnie, but this is only the third time anyone has confused me for someone who wasn’t Konnie and the other two times happened back in while I was attending college in Rexburg, ID, and Konnie was in Tacoma, WA.

It started with me falling down a flight of stairs and spraining my ankle so bad I ended up in a cast for several weeks.

One day while in that cast, I went to a meeting of a group I was in only to have one of the girls accuse me of nearly running her over in the crosswalk earlier that day.

Folks, I didn’t have a car at the time. So, while I and my friend who was with me tried to assure her, I wasn’t even in a car at any point that day, another girl came in and wondered what on earth had happened to me because I hadn’t been in a cast when she saw me earlier that day. I’d been in a cast for over a week at that point, and my friend wasn’t the only one there who could vouch for me.

Okay, they actually mistook someone other than Konnie for me, because it couldn’t have been Konnie. A fact which had the friend I was with going nuts since we’d gone to school together in eighth grade.

That’s not to say I can’t name women who fit mine, and Konnie’s, general description in build, hair color, and glasses, but none of the ones I can name are Susans. I mean short, round, with streaks of gray in your brown hair, and glasses could describe a lot of women. But that doesn’t mean they look just like me, and Konnie.

And then, while wondering about who Susan was a friend of mine posted a pic about a mom worrying about whether or not she got her twins mixed up and they’d have to go by the wrong name for the rest of their lives.

My friend was saying this was her fear for her twin daughters.

My brother Ben, who also knows her, posted that he thought this had happened to his sisters. So, I informed him that yes it did happen.

At some point, between the stitches incident and entering school, Momma switched us, probably several times, without realizing it.

We went all the way through school and my marriage before we managed to put two and two together between the hospital saying Konnie got the stitches and our one aunt who always insisted the twin with the rounder face and more outgoing personality was Konnie.

Said aunt hadn’t seen us a whole lot during those years because we didn’t live with her brother, our father, most of that time, which is why it took so long to get the facts straight. Too long. It would have taken going to court for a name change to fix the issue. Too much money and too much hassle.

Besides, it also meant getting used to a name we had denied being ours for as long as we could remember.

Though we should have realized something was up when we learned our mother had changed the K to a B on my baby book and the B to a K on Konnie’s baby book. But I can’t remember when we first noticed that. I do know we thought she’d just mixed us up once when we were babies.

She even once mentioned trying to compare our fingerprints with our prints from when we were newborns to get us straight, but our prints were too alike to tell.

And she was constantly saying she’d been so confused the day of the accident, which ended with me getting stitches, that wasn’t even sure which daughter was hurt and which was bawling.

Here’s a hint, Konnie got the stitches, so Bonnie was bawling. I have the scar.

I guess our life would make for a good story though.

Anyway, happy writing everyone.

Of Reading, Writing and School by Konnie Enos

In April of last year, I returned to college in the hopes of finally obtaining my bachelor's degree. That first semester I took 13 credit hours, full-time. They say it’s full-time because you should be putting in three to four hours of work for every credit. 13 times 3 is 39. I opted to not take any courses over the summer term because the summer term is a full 5 weeks shorter, but you’re still expected to cover the same material. I didn’t feel like attempting a three-credit class at this faster pace.

In September I started my second semester and again took 13 credits. I could handle doing that many credits. I probably spent about twenty to twenty-five hours a week on schoolwork and never had any last-minute rushes or panics about being able to complete everything.

In preparing for this semester, I looked at the classes I was still required to take and found that I had only 29 credits left. I did look at possibly taking less than twelve credits per semester to spread them out further, but I figured 14 wouldn’t be much different than doing 13.

I was very wrong.

Not so much because it’s fourteen credits, but because four of those classes were the weightier three-credit ones. So now I’m spending most of my days, Monday through Saturday just trying to get everything in before they are late. I’ve failed at least a couple of times.

In consideration of how swamped I’ve been this semester; I investigated my options for spreading my remaining classes out further.

Option one was taking only one class over the summer term. This class is an internship that requires me to first obtain the job I’m doing the internship in. I do not have a job and my prospects of finding an internship, especially one locally, are slim.

Option two was to postpone two or three of my remaining classes until the fall semester. I could not take them over the summer semester because exactly zero of them are offered over the summer.

Okay then.

I’d been looking forward to finishing my degree, and “walking” at the same time as my daughter, who will be getting her associate degree at the end of the spring semester. That and I did not want to take just three to six credits or wait until Christmas time to get my degree.

So, that leaves option three.

Take fifteen credits hours, a total of six classes, with four of those being again three-credit classes. Oh, and the one-credit class requires at least 10 hours of work a week. So there goes any free time I thought I had between Easter and Pioneer Day (that’s July 24^th).

If I hole up in my bedroom and ignore any responsibility that can’t be dealt with on Sunday, then I just might manage.

Oh, wait.

My posts.

I have seven posts due between the first day of the semester and the last day. Although, I do have the week before Easter off, so I can probably get that written before the semester starts.

The other holidays in that time frame are Flag Day and The Fourth. My youngest also has a birthday in there and he provides plenty of topics for a post.

I still need three topics and I’m probably going to have to spend my week break between classes pre-writing most of those, so it doesn’t end up falling on Bonnie to pick up my slack.

I'm sure she’d appreciate the effort but I was so looking forward to having a bit of breathing room so I could read my books again. Over last summer, I picked up and was re-reading some favorite books of mine. I got through my Tolkien books, and I was hoping to get through my C.S. Lewis books but didn’t even get to the Narnia books before the semester started. I did pick it up a time or two during the fall semester, but it was never enough to finish it, especially since I was also trying to keep up with my Reader’s Digests.

For me reading Reader’s Digest normally takes one blessedly sweet two- or three-hour block of time to consume it. Last semester I often ended up with two, or three, shorter reading sessions. This semester. I’m lucky if I can get one read before the next one come out. Right now, I still have one whole article in my March issue that I haven’t read yet. (Mind you it comes out in the middle of the prior month, so the April issue will be out next week.)

I suppose this means that when August comes around, I’m going to be doing a lot of reading to make up for lost time. That and writing. I haven’t been doing much of that either.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

 

Unusual Holidays by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

I was on Pinterest the other day and I found a link listing unusual holidays. 114 FunnyHolidays To Celebrate With Your Kids - Love and Marriage(loveandmarriageblog.com)

This list is intriguing, and I think it would be fun to add some of these unusual celebrations to a novel sometime. Just coming up in the next few weeks are:

·        Mar 5 – Learn What Your Name Means Day

·        Mar 10 – Mario Day

·        Mar 13 – Napping Day

·        Mar 14 – Pi Day

·        Mar 16 – Absolutely Incredible Kid Day

·        Mar 18 – Awkward Moments Day

·        Mar 20 – World Storytelling Day

·        Mar 22 – International Goof Off Day

·        Mar 23 – Puppy Day

·        Mar 25 – Waffle Day

·        Mar 26 – Make Up Your Own Holiday Day

·        Mar 28 – Something on a Stick Day

·        Mar 30 – Take a Walk in the Park Day

And that doesn’t include “World Compliment Day” which was on March 1^st, nor does it include things like St. Patrick’s Day, on the 17^th. Actually, this list has none of the usual holidays, but then that does go with the title of being “unusual.”

Though I have heard of Pi Day. It is mentioned on Facebook frequently, and I might just celebrate it this year, after all, I do know how to bake a pie. 😊

Then there is also “National Storytelling Day” on the 20^th and “Take a Walk in the Park Day” on the 30^th. But the rest of the year has some interesting days too. Some of which you may have already heard of, like “Star Wars Day” on May 4^th or “Siblings Day” on April 10^th, or “Cousins Day” on July 24^th.

August has “Book Lovers Day” on the 9^th and “Left-Handers Day” on the 13^th, which several members of my family could celebrate being as they are lefties.

But I missed “Science Fiction Day” on Jan. 2^nd, which would have been fun since I do love science fiction. I could spend the day binging on all my sci-fi movies or read my sci-fi novels, or work on my sci-fi! I’ll have to wait until next January to celebrate that though. Too bad.

There are other fun-sounding days on this list. Maybe one or two will appeal to you. And the best part is, you can choose which ones you celebrate and which ones you don’t but adding some of these to a story or making up some of your own for a story would certainly be fun too.

Another one I wish I’d known about sooner was “Random Acts of Kindness Day” back on February 17^th. Though to be honest, I think it should be celebrated every day.

However, I’m not sure how anyone would celebrate “Learn What Your Name Means Day”, especially when, like me, they already know what their name means.

And believe me, I know.

I grew up with people singing “My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean” and “Bonny, Bonny, Banks of Loch Loman” to me many times, making it hard not to learn what “Bonnie” means.

 Though I must admit, I have had to tell people what my name means. But both times it had to do with translating my name into another language, namely ASL and French when I took classes in those languages in college.

Which also makes it easy to translate my name into any language. They are names like Belle in French and Bonita in Spanish. And I’m not sure what else. I haven’t looked them up. (By the way, my name in ASL is a combo of the sign for the letter “B” and the sign for beautiful.)

Konnie doesn’t need to look up the meaning of her name either, because both our names come from the same source, Galick. She just has a harder time translating it, because, unlike with my name, not many people go by the name “maiden.”

Konnie took German in high school, and she had to pick a German name for the class. At the time it was because the teacher didn’t know a translation for Konnie, but that was before we learned what Konnie means. And it wouldn’t have helped because Mädchen means “maiden”  and is the German form of Miss which isn’t exactly a first name.

Another one on this list I don’t think I’ll be doing is “Take a Walk in the Park Day” mostly because I doubt the weather will be nice enough for that by the end of March since the month came in like a lamb. I much prefer when it comes in like a lion, but there you have it.

So, what holiday would you be celebrating? And have you ever made up a holiday for your story? If so, what is the holiday? And how is it celebrated?

Right now, I’m considering making up a holiday for my sci-fi.

Anyway, happy writing everyone!

Of Packed Schedules and Sleep-Inducing Pills by Konnie Enos

 Going back to school to get my bachelor’s degree is proving to be something of a challenge.

Every other time I’ve enrolled in higher education, I took 12 credits, maybe 13, per semester. This semester I have 14 credits. This equates to 14 hours of classes per week. So, a part-time job.

Only it’s not 14 hours because you’ll have to compute the amount of time that you’ll need to get all the homework done. The general rule is 3 to 4 hours a week per credit, 14 times three is 42. Increase that to four and it’s 56 hours a week. Which means I’m spending seven to nine hours a day, six days a week on schoolwork.

Is it any wonder I’m having difficulty keeping up with my other responsibilities? Like writing my post regularly. Worse still, about half my weekly assignments are due on Wednesday. (Please note which day my post goes up.) Then the rest are due on Saturday.

Yes, I work ahead as much as possible, but I still end up with plenty due on both days.

What brought on all this introspection about the number of hours I’m putting in?

I realized that the minimum number of credits I had left to do to complete my degree is 15. Only that last credit is an internship, one in which I’ll have to have a job or internship of at least 15 hours a week. Fifteen plus 42 is 57 while 56 plus 15 is 71, 10-to-12-hour days, six days a week. I wonder how much I’d be able to get done then.

With that in mind, I investigated extending my college experience at least one more semester. Changing my last semester to the Summer semester sounded the easiest but there was one hitch. Of the six classes I have left, only one of them is offered over the Summer semester. Fortunately, that’s the internship.

Okay, so take another 14-credit semester then finish off with my internship over the short summer semester. I took the time to investigate what exactly I had to do to set up the internship class.

I’ll have to find at least a part-time job to use for my internship. So instead of putting it off until I graduate, I need to find a job now.

Fun.

Not.

So now I’m adding locating jobs and submitting applications to them into my already busy schedule.

What else could possibly make things more stressful for me?

Apparently, I already asked that.

How do I know?

Saturday night I noticed my left lower lid was sore to the touch and swelling. The last time I had issues with swelling in my eyelid it affected my vision. When it got so bad I couldn’t even read the street signs, I went for help. I cleared up the swelling, but not my vision. Turned out I needed cataract surgery. With it swelling again I thought of all the possible causes, pink eye being the first one on my mind.

I had Jerry take me to a Quick Care Monday morning, only to discover that yet one more medical provider in this whole valley has no clue how to deal with my primary insurance. For me, getting medical care is being more and more difficult because there aren’t many places around here that even know what ChampVA is, and they either don’t take it, or they stop taking it for whatever reason. The only quick cares around here I haven’t tried don’t take my secondary insurance.

My only other option for urgent care is the ER.

Fortunately, there is a stand-alone ER nearby that isn’t generally swamped.

A couple of hours later they’re offering me several medications for my first dose and prescriptions to take home and continue treatment. One of those medicines was to help decrease the swelling. A side effect of said medicine is sleep.

It’s Monday.

I have a bunch of reading to do to complete all my assignments due on Wednesday. Every time I attempted to read my textbook (boring enough in its own right) I zonked out. By the end of the day, I’d managed maybe half of the reading I needed to do.

The first thing to do was not plan on taking that medicine in the morning.

The second thing, let my teachers know I may have issues getting done with my homework this week.

Okay, now I’ve got things back under control.

Right up until about a half-hour after I took my medicine last night. You know about the time I started dozing off and realized I still had this post to write. So, if it’s disjointed or rambling, blame it on the pills.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.