Ever notice how some things just happen to catch your eye?  If I didn’t know that my home was already targeted (can I still use that word? ……little insider joke for the political junkies!) as a “nut” house I would have bought this framed saying right then and there!

It really is quite funny how pictures have a way of telling a story, and when I ended my last post, I alluded to a certain “shark tooth” incident.  Actually, now that I am recalling this particular family moment, I am regretting that I did not think how perfectly the above frame would fit in at Stephanie and Joe’s house.  LOL   The “insanity” all began at a family cook-out at Stephanie’s a couple of weeks ago.  Everyone had finished eating and seven of the grandkids were playing upstairs while the adults were all gathered in the living room with Mayce and Josh casually discussing a little sports, a little pop culture and a whole lot of politics when we suddenly hear the faint sound of someone crying.  The sound soon crescendoed into a wail and we began to hear shouts of , “There’s a shark’s tooth stuck in his head!!”.  Recognizing the cry as Tommy’s, Stephanie jumped up from her chair and ran over to the stairway as Tommy, now screaming quite loudly, with Natalie and several other kids right behind him, descended the stairs.  As he reached the bottom step, Stephanie scooped him up just as Christopher, Joe, Jennifer and Megan gathered around.  Stephanie, having heard “shark’s tooth” and “stuck in head” warns Chris and everyone not to try to pull it out and begins to take a step toward the front door to race him to the ER when Natalie’s voice is finally heard above the din, “No, no, it’s not stuck in his head……………………it’s stuck on his head!!”  Now mind you, I was observing all of this from just across the room as I figured a firefighter/EMT  son and a soon to be RN daughter were quite capable of assessing the situation, but I must admit that even I, in the chaos of the moment,  had a sudden vision of  patients being treated with

impaled objects on re-runs of “Untold Stories of the ER” flashing through my mind as I created this picture of a “huge” tooth piercing the top of poor little Tommy’s head.  Well, as everyone finally heard the word “on“, a calmness settled over the “asylum”.   It was at last discovered that the clasp to a tiny (may I emphasize tiny) shark tooth necklace that Joe’s Mom and Dad had just given to Tommy upon their return from Florida, had simply gotten tangled up in Tommy’s hair when he had tried to put it on over his head and…………….I guess…………..it hurt!!!!!!!!…………………  A lot!!!!!!!! That should have been the end of the evening’s drama, but oh no, not more than ten minutes later Josh, who was being uncharacteristically whiny and touchy, unexpectedly threw up all over Christopher, the floor and a chair.  If you ever want to clear a room………….Josh did it effortlessly!  LOL

Honestly, you simply can not make these things up!  And now……… I will turn my attention to Jay (as Stephanie breathes a sigh of relief) who asked me an interesting question when I was out to dinner with him and the Schutheis sibs several weeks ago.  As I remember, the two of us were seated across the table from one another, I can’t clearly recall exactly the context in which the subject came up, perhaps it was a reference by me or someone about my 1/2 day/week job :), but Jay mischievously looked at me and asked, “What is it that you do all day?”   LOL.  At the time, I had no real answer.  I have thought about it off and on since then and have considered having someone follow me around with a video camera for a week, just so that I could honestly answer that question.  My kids, however,  would probably tell him that I am so engrossed in searching the internet for political articles the whole live long day that I hardly ever remember to put on that “boiling pot of water” and that may be pretty close to the truth, but of course, we all know that I am a much more well-rounded person than that……LOL…………….I am, after all, a Mom, a Nana, a sister, an in-law, a “dreamcrusher” aunt, a niece, an employee, a co-worker, a friend and most of all…………………………………………………………………a nut!!!  I do thank Jay for the inquiry, as it at least provided me the title to my blog :)!

After re-reading that last paragraph, I realized that I had mentioned the “p” word which is my cue that I may now inject some politics into my personal blog.  Don’t worry, it will be brief.  I just have to share that the Romney/Ryan campaign was here on Saturday and, of course, yours truly was in attendance.  It was an early morning rally and since they were appearing at a park near where Kathy & Jo both live, they both decided to join me.  Kathy said that the last time she had gone to a Presidential campaign rally was back in 1968 when Hubert Humphrey was running against Nixon!   How times have changed!  As we stood in the early morning sun with a crowd of about 5,000 to see a bit of history up close & in person, much like Kathy did in the late sixties, exercising our  First Amendment right to freedom of  speech and freedom of  assembly, I was struck by how fortunate we are as Americans.   To be among a crowd of many, listening to two little girls from St. Catherine’s grade school recite the Pledge of Allegiance and to watch an honor guard as they carried the flag to the stage to be  followed by the singing of the National Anthem, reminds one of not only the blessings of this free nation of ours, but also of the enormous responsibility to preserve the freedoms for which so many of our fellow countrymen paid the ultimate price………………………………… I am coming down from my “soapbox” now………………..with one final note…………after Romney and Ryan’s speeches I decided to squeeze through the crowd to edge closer to the area where the candidates were greeting the “folks” ( to quote an over-used term of the President…….right, Christine?!).   I managed to get to the barrier just as Paul Ryan  was making his way toward the exit and as he was approaching me, I reached into my pocket to try to hand him a Buckeye leaf sticker, when suddenly the young person standing next to me (and I will only state that she was a “she, an African-American, and in her twenties in order to dispel any remaining myths about the racist, anti-woman, elderly GOP………………………stifle thyself, Mare………….I hear you Crick!!) stopped Ryan right in front of me and asked her friend on the other side of me to snap a picture of her and Ryan.  After she got her picture Ryan was moved along by the Secret Service to the next group and I was only able to get this picture to show just how close I was to the future VP :).

I guess that now having read this entire blog post, some of you may be wondering where you might be able to purchase the Insane Asylum frame so that you can hang it on my front door.   Well, save your hard-earned money………………………..I am trying to work harder at following some of Mother Theresa’s infamous quotes:

 I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.

We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.

I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.

Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.

People are unrealistic, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.

Spread the love of God through your life but only use words when necessary.  (emphasis mine)

TNT

TGW

P.S.  Trust me……………….. ..I am really, really focusing on the last two :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.P.S.  GO BUCKS!