Some time back I was asked to list eight things I wish I had known in college. My friend Damien, at Riley Central, for some reason thought I’d have something to share about that. I’ve been avoiding answering, because I hated to have to admit that I was in college for a very long time. Now, I had legitimate excuses for that: I was married, working, taking care of a house, and having a family. Still, I’m pretty mortified that I was able to stretch a four year degree over thirteen years! Yet, I finally got my B.S. degree.

My nephew, Steve, had some commentary on that. He said, “Aunt Shelly, if they had known you, they would have given you a degree in B.S.” Ahem.

Because I was older and in college for so long, it’s been hard to determine what I “didn’t know.” And, I’ve listed Eight Things I Know AND the advice my Daddy gave me. I’m not sure I have much more wisdom, and find it humorous that Damien would think so. But for you, Damien, I’ll give this a shot:

1) I was pretty smart in that, when I was doing poorly in a class I simply dropped it. I either took it later or changed my degree plan! While that assured that I would graduate Summa Cum Laude, it also left me with a degree that is pretty darned worthless. I wish I had known that. Then, my degree wouldn’t be hanging in the laundry room waiting for me to need a paper towel.

2) I had no clue how transient life is. I wish I had, because I would have taken even longer to get that degree so that I could have spent more time with the people I loved who are gone.

3) I wish I had known that all those clothes I gave to Goodwill were going to come back in style some day. I’m buying the same thing I wore then, but paying premium prices because it is “vintage.”

4) If I had only known how much I would be using the computer, I would have listened when my (then) eleven year old son tried to teach me how to program. I didn’t think I could do it, anyway. I wish I had known otherwise!

5) I’d have done a lot more dancing back then, if I had known I would have arthritis.

6) Like all well-bred Southern girls of my day, I was brought up knowing that there were “expectations” about how a young woman should live her life and what she should do. I wish I had known that it was my life, and my choice. Or, that I had been brave enough to make my own choices. My “wild side” would have come out a lot sooner. It’s probably good that it didn’t; I’d have a tattoo on my rear or something.

7) I didn’t know that I was supposed to have been born a red-head! Folks ask me, “Is that your real hair color?” I tell ‘em, “Yep. It’s the color God gave me.” I don’t ever tell ‘em that God put it in a bottle. Don’t y’all tell ‘em either!

8) I wish I had known that I was not going to win the lottery, because I could have saved a lot of money on those tickets.

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Now, technically I think I’m supposed to tag people to answer this, but I don’t enjoy tagging people very much. Sometimes they don’t want to answer the questions, and sometimes they have already been tagged. Since I delayed in answering, that’s very likely! If you would like to answer this question in a post, write it and come comment. I’ll be happy to link you right here so that others can share your wisdom!

Technorati Tags: wisdom, humorous

Have y’all ever had one of those days when nothing seems to go right; when you try to accomplish tasks and keep running smack dab into resistance? That was yesterday, for me. I was trying to promote the Share A Square project within my own hometown, and not a soul wanted to listen. I even put on makeup (which I don’t do for just any simple thing) so I would be presentable. But, everyone I approached about it looked at me with eyes that said, “Yeah, yeah. Everybody thinks their baby is the cutest.”

What do you do when you aren’t making headway? Do you have ways to help yourself get “jumpstarted?” Do you have advice you want to share?

My first impulse is to just throw up my hands and go pout (which is what I did). My second impulse is to start “thinking in story,” and that’s often when I find my answers.

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Many years ago, I loved to board sail. I wasn’t a daredevil sailor, by any means, but enjoyed quiet sailing with just enough wind to carry me across the water. I relished the opportunity to harness the power of nature to get me where I wanted to go. Sometimes, I couldn’t get there in a straight line; I had to zig and zag. The pleasure wasn’t as much in the “getting to the destination” as it was in the trip to get there.

On weekends we took our small children and joined friends at Lake Texoma to enjoy picnic and water sports. The beach where we met was perfect for the small children, because they could walk out into the water for twenty yards without the water getting as high as their chests. There were always several ski boats, and numerous board sails lining the shore waiting for anyone who wanted to try their hand at the sports.

One weekend a friend of mine came to our gathering with her husband. I saw him walking around my sailboard looking at it with a gleam in his eye. “Do you sail?” I asked. “No,” he replied. “But, I’d like to try.”

I had taught several people to sail, even though I was not really much of a master at it. I can be patient, if I want to be; and I can explain things well, if I listen to my words. “I’ll teach you how, if you’d like,” I said.

He looked at me with a sneer of disgust, and said, “I don’t need a girl to tell me how to do this.”

“Girl?” I thought. I was five years older than this fellow, had been married for more than a decade and was the mother of two children. I hardly qualified as a “girl.” I held my tongue, shrugged and said, “Then, go for it, Big Guy.”

He launched the board out into the water, and tried to climb onto it. “You have to take it farther out,” I told him. “The fin will get caught in the sand.”

“I don’t need your help!” he barked, but he did push the board into deeper water.

He wouldn’t listen, but I’ll tell you that in the center of the board on which you stand, there is a small vertical board that goes into the water and acts like a keel on a boat. If it got stuck in the sand, he wasn’t going anywhere.

He stood on the board and reached for the boom to try to lift the sail. The “boom” is the horizontal spar that you see the surfer holding in the picture, and it’s what you use to position the sail. However, you can’t pull a sail full of water into the air with that (the water gets very heavy!). There is a thick cord attached to the boom (called the “uphaul”) that you use to pull up the sail and dump the water off the side as you go. I watched him struggle for several minutes before I shared that information with him. He just glared at me.

That young man pulled the sail upright, and then it knocked him into the water. He climbed back on, hauled up the sail, and it knocked him over again. “Can I give you just one piece of advice?” I asked. “NO!” he shouted.

I decided that there was no point in talking, so I joined my friends on the beach to watch the show. We couldn’t help but laugh as he struggled with the sail and kept falling over. After about twenty minutes, the wind had blown him halfway across the slough toward the main part of the lake.

“You’d better go help him,” his nervous wife said. So, with a sigh, I borrowed a board and sailed out to him.

I said, “There’s only one thing I need to tell you.”

“Go AWAY!” he screamed. So, I did. I went back to the beach and watched for almost an hour as he got blown farther into the lake. His wife was moaning and wailing, so finally several of us got in a ski boat to go rescue him.

I jumped into the water and pushed him toward the boat. “Get in the boat,” I said.

“I CAN do it,” he said.

“No, you can’t, because you won’t listen! This is MY sailboard. You can get in the boat or swim for shore.” I snapped.

He clambered into the boat. I stood on the board and hauled up the sail. Effortlessly, I sailed a few circles around the ski boat, as I told that young man a piece of my mind.

“I’ve just got two things I want to tell you,” I said. “First, you can’t fight the wind, you have to use it. When you lift the sail, the wind has to be at your back or it will knock the sail into you and you’ll keep falling on your butt. Second, if someone who knows how to do something gives you some advice—listen! Stop letting your pride get in the way!”

With that, I leaned back and skimmed across the water.

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Y’all, I was a lot smarter when I was younger. Those are some life lessons I had forgotten, or was ignoring. So, I’m proud to tell you that I’ve listened to some advice this morning, and I’m ready for some “tacking and jibing.” If I have to zig and zag to get where I’m going, I’m ready to do it. I’ve got the wind at my back and it’s going to be smooth sailing.

Technorati Tags: advice, story, board sail, life lessons

Once again, I have too many tidbits, and so I’m putting them together in one post. It’s a bit of a jumble, but I want to share them with you.

MANY HANDS WORKING TOGETHER

I thought I’d update y’all on what my mailbox has held the last two days! The Share A Square project is now officially “international!”
These squares are from:
Janet in Idaho (who has already sent one package and plans to send more!)
JennyMcb in New Hampshire (who sent a huge selection and is even roping friends and family into helping)
Jen’s friend Rose, also in New Hampshire
Mrs. Teamouse in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
and
Donna N. in Chicago, Illinois
Thank you, one and all, for your kind support! You can visit the blogroll page to see other folks who are supporting the project in any way they can. I am not at all amazed at the big hearts who have jumped in to help. I knew you were there.

Now, Donna N. sent me a note with her phone number, and I just got a “wild hair” and called her. This lovely lady, a former nurse, told me that she has a packet of 22 more squares she is finishing. Each square is dedicated to her children, grandchildren, and even some of her grandchildren’s friends! But, she isn’t just dedicating her time to make squares for children with cancer at Camp Sanguinity. Donna told me that when she is finished with this project, she will begin working on afghans for premature babies at a local hospital.

Donna, you have all my admiration for your big heart [note: Donna is not a blogger, so she can do something “productive” with her time!]

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NAMING A FLOWER
With all of the rain in North Texas, many flowers are blooming in my yard. Some of them, I never knew were there! On Saturday, this one bloomed. I have no idea what it is, and don’t even tell me. I want to give it a name.

You see, there is this delightful young woman named Cordia, who has a blog called Eve of a New Day. I visited her Thursday Thirteen, and she listed 13 things she wanted to do before she dies. She’s going to go skydiving and be a published author (without a doubt!). One of her wishes was the following:

Have something named after me, like a flower or a star. After editing a book about gardens and reading all the names of cultivated roses, many of which are named after specific people, I thought it’d be nice to have something that beautiful named after me. Maybe I just need to date a gardener or astronomer.

Cordia, I don’t want you dating any old gardener just to get a flower named after you. So, I’m going to name this one after you. It’s the “Cordia Amant”, and I don’t want any of you to argue with me, you hear? I’m sorry I don’t have any stars around here to name for you.

Your flower is right next to my “Fred and Ethel” bushes. I didn’t know what kind of bushes were in the yard, and made the mistake of asking my smart aleck husband, “Say, what’s the name of those bushes.” Without a pause, he said, “Fred and Ethel.” They are really oleander, but all I can ever remember is the answer he gave me at the time.

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FRIENDSHIP BRACELET

My friend Jen tucked this bracelet she made into the package she sent me. Isn’t that lovely, and isn’t she talented? She told me that it was for friendship. But, I know why she really sent it. You see, she recently had a Limerick Contest over at her blog. She compiled several of the entries here. I entered it, but I didn’t win. That’s because I didn’t write the limerick that rhymed with my last name (Tucker). This bracelet is the “Restraint Award,” isn’t it Jen? Thank you, darlin’. I haven’t taken it off my arm since I got it.

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CONTESTS!
For you Mommy Bloggers, MommaBlogga has a group writing project going on right now.

The theme for the June Group Writing Project is “Three things I want my kids to . . .” You can finish that infinitive with whatever verb you like (do, say, be, wear, have, get away with), and add any qualifiers you like (today, this summer, before they drive me crazy)…

Go over and enter! I read Robin’s entry at Around The Island, and it’s superb.

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And, if you are a movie buff, Miscellaneous Matters has a Guess The Movie contest going on.

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That’s what I know for this morning. I’m about to sit down and start writing some posts that I hope I can reserve. I’m excited that my son will be visiting from San Francisco next month, and I’m trying to shovel out the guest room so he has a place to stay! Y’all have a good day, and come around again.

Technorati Tags: Share A Square, cancer, Camp Sanguinity, friendship, contest