Charlotte and the Mama

"From the corner of my eye, I see them. A mother holding her young daughter. Or at least I think the child is a girl by the way she is dressed and the Hannah Montana book bag strapped to her back. They are reading Charlotte’s Web. The original version, not the Julia Roberts mock-up. I love Charlotte’s Web.

The girl is bald, but not the cute and shiny version. Her head is cracked and appears sore. Her face bloated from the steroids and her mouth covered with a surgical mask. Her mom looks tired.

“If I were a spider, I would write “MOMMY” over your pen!”

The mother’s face came close the the child’s bald head and she breathed in her smell, as if she might find the scent of the healthy baby she gave birth to. Then she smiled and nestled in close.

“If I were a spider, sweetheart, I would write “lovely” over you.”

What word is written over you?"

This is from a blog I follow called Six Year Med. It's written by a women who is going through med school (quite a long process as it seems). I read this in her archives and it got me thinking. I tend to write words over people's "pen's" without getting to know who they really are. Words like negative, disrespectful, troublemaker, and druggy. But that's not the way Charlotte weaved and it's not the way this mama thought. She looked at her beautiful daughter and told her she was lovely no matter what she ever went through. Charlotte wrote terrific, radiant, and humble when she was talking about a PIG. Not gonna lie, although I have a friend who loves to raise her pigs, they're not that beautiful, yet Charlotte chose the word RADIANT. I want to be a Charlotte.

So, what about you? What are you writing over someone else's "pen?" Is that who they really are or just something you think you know about them?

Jonah and the Big Fish (not whale)

A great story, told amazingly well!!! Enjoy! Thanks Amber Cox. Made my night.

Routine

Routines are interesting things. First off, everyone has a slightly different routine. One person may get up in the morning, and the first thing they do is brush their teeth (me). Or maybe the first thing they do is get in the shower. Whatever. In my family, our routines have changed since I got older. I guess they sort of had too. :)

When I was younger, bed time meant brushing my teeth. While I brushed my teeth, my mom would sing a song. It went:

"Brush brush brush your teeth,
Brush brush brush your teeth,
Brush brush brush your teeth,
So Ms. Jacki will be happy!"

Kind of silly, but it was fun. (Just in case you're wondering, Ms. Jacki was (and still is) my dental hygienist. She's the best.)

Another one of our original routines, as I remember, was after I had already gotten into bed. My parents would leave... then I would call them back in. "Daaaaaad... can you turn the fan on?" He'd come in, turn the fan on and tell me good night. Then I would call them in again... "Daaaaaaaaad... can you put my blanket on my bed with the scratchy side up?" He'd come in and fix my blanket and say goodnight. ( I don't think I used all of these every night. It must have been an interesting process putting me to bed :))

Then, just for kicks, I'd call again.
"Mooooooom..." She'd open the door, "I love you," I'd say. She'd answer "I love you, too." Then we'd go back and forth saying:

I love you to the moon!
I love you to the stars!
I love you to the sky!
I love you to heaven!
I love you to Jesus!
I love you to the top of Jesus's head!
Ok you win.
Goodnight Sammy.

We don't say that every night, but we still have a routine. Last night, when my dad was saying goodnight, he stepped out of the usual, "Good night, I love you," to something a little different.

"Be a positive influence on someone tomorrow. I love you."
I think that might be even better than the routine. :)

A Special Name

My dad just opened his own business, so we had to pick a name for his business. We (my family and I) wanted to pick a name that was unique, but easy to remember. Something that wasn't being used by anyone, yet had a certain flair. Eventually we came up with one, but it was a long process.

When I was thinking about starting a blog, I wanted to pick something that was like that; easy to remember but unique. Tastefully Teaish came from a couple things, the first and foremost being my love ( a slight addiction) to tea. I LOVE tea. When I come home from school, the first thing I do is pop a mug of water in the microwave and my make myself a glass. It's comforting.

The other factor was the "tasteful" part. I have ( and am) growing up in a home that is a place of propriety. We don't burp out loud without saying excuse me, we always dress up to go to the theater, the presentation of the dinner is just as important as the food. It's a place where things are done tastefully. So by combining two of the things that I love, being proper and tea, I came up with a name that suits me as a person and is different. It's good to be different.

A New Experience

As a high school student, you'd think you'd get lots of opportunities to write, right? WRONG! I can think of maybe three papers that I've written all year long. But as a student, I know how important writing actually is. So, to increase my practice I've decided to create a new experience for myself, blogging. I'm not really sure of all the bells and whistles to making a aesthetically appealing blog, but I'll learn :) A friend said to me the other day, "We write because we have something to say that we think is worth other people hearing about." I agree with her. So, here's to my new blog. Let's see how this goes. 

Samantha