NaBloPoMo #5
And Getting That Look From the Daughter
I talk to myself a lot. And I sing to myself. And sometimes I make up words about what I'm doing or thinking and put them to well-known tunes. (Doesn't everyone?!?) My family is used to it. I think it is therapeutic. I try not to talk to myself when people are around, but sometimes I forget. I try not to talk to myself when just my husband is around because he thinks I'm talking to him and will say, "What?" And then I have to interrupt my one-way conversation with myself to say, "Nothing, I was just talking to myself." Talking to myself is a stress reliever, I believe. When I'm puttering around the house, cleaning, putting away laundry, cooking, doing dishes, I talk to myself, and I feel relaxed. I wonder if a study has ever been done on the benefits of talking to oneself.
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In a high-pitched voice I started to say what he said in the cartoon. "I'm a rootin' tootin', lasso-loopin', shotgun shootin'....(changing to my own conversational voice) no, wait, that's not right. (changing back to the Chicken Hawk's voice) I'm a rootin' tootin', lasso-loopin', six-gun shootin'....(changing to my own voice) No! That's not right either. Haha. What was it now? Oh yeah! (Changing back to the chicken hawk's voice) I'm a rootin' tootin', lasso-loopin', popgun shootin' Chicken Hawk! (back to my own voice) Ha! That's it!!"
And turning I saw my daughter standing just a few feet away, eyeing me a bit sideways, a small tentative smile on her lips, expression clearly saying, "Has Mom lost her mind?" What she actually said was, "What...what are you doing?"
Well, I lost it, and so did she!
I told her I was trying to remember what the chicken hawk said. And then I told her how I'd messed up the last part twice and remembered it correctly the third time. She said she hadn't been able to make out what I had said the first two times I tried to say it. She just heard me start it, stop myself, mutter something to myself, and then try it again. Then at the end I said the whole thing and laughed a bit scarily!
Ah well. Someday she'll be old. :)
So then, a few minutes later I sat down at the computer and decided I'd load my iPod before I did my blog post. I listen to a lot of podcasts on my little iPod Shuffle. I have books and magazines on there, newscasts, and lots of radio shows. I pulled up my iTunes library, plugged in my iPod and began to delete the podcasts I'd listened to and to load new ones.
While I was doing this Eler Beth came into the living room again and sat down and started talking to me about something. I continued moving podcasts from my library to my iPod while we talked. At some point neither of us was talking, and this is what I said, aloud, to myself -- and this is what she heard me say, aloud, to myself, without the benefit of knowing the context.
Said quickly and in an excited voice: "Oh wow! Williwaw! That's a completely new one to me. I almost always know the word and what it means, but I like to learn the origin. But williwaw! They threw a new one at me today! Cool! Williwaw! Wonder what that is?"
And then I stopped babbling and looked at my daughter. She was looking at me askance again.
"What are you talking about?!?" she said.
I was laughing so hard it took a few seconds before I could tell her. I pointed at my computer screen. " 'Merriam Webster's Word of the Day' podcast," I said. "Today's word is 'williwaw,' and I don't think I know that word. It's new to me, see?"
She saw.
And we laughed. And then I scrapped my other idea for tonight's blog post and shared this one instead. :) And in case you were wondering, a "williwaw" is "a sudden, violent storm blowing offshore from a mountainous coast."
Happy Blogging!
~ ~ Lori
1 comment:
I LOVED this post, terrific!! And Leghorn Foghorn, absolutely classic!!
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