Lifestyle

“Wylie cadoodles! Jesus is here, and let’s go see him,” shouts Meagan, 7. “He has risen from the dead. Invite him to your house and have supper with him. And let him come to your house and stay for the night.”

Explaining Easter to children can be a delicate matter, especially for very young children who may not fully understand the tenets of the Christian faith. Although Easter ends with Jesus Christ emerging from his tomb, prior to this glorious miracle there are subjects of betrayal, suffering and death. These religious messages can confound when commingled with the imagery of bunnies delivering chocolates, chicks and pastel-hued eggs. How do well-meaning parents relay the message of Easter without scaring or confusing children?

For nearly 15 years, I worked for a staffing company in a variety of capacities. It was the 90s. I found myself in the age-old predicament of divorce after over a decade as a stay-at-home mom void of any desirable workplace skills other than a propensity to do very well playing The Oregon Trail. My axles never broke, my rafts rarely sank, and I was a wunderkind at trading flour for dungarees. My expertise in no-skill job searches led me in one of 3 directions: retail sales, real estate, or staffing. I chose the latter. It’s all sales, really. Show me a single mom who’s terrified of not being able to feed her kids, and I’ll show you a sales phenomenon in the making. After all, if we can convince a toddler to eat a green bean, we can sell ice to indigenous Alaskans. My staffing company wasn’t a household name in Texas like they were in California. Yet, they are still around when many Lone Star State companies fell to either the 9/11 or 2008 recession incidents. Hello, Today’s Staffing. I’m talking to you. This is in large part due to the founder’s infamous guarantee for direct hire sales. For a whopping 5 years, the Act 1 Group of Companies, operating as AppleOne, would replace your direct hire employee for half price – that old bird in the hand theory. The owner came up with the idea whilst battling insomnia. He saw an infomercial at 3 am about free weed eater string for life. It got me thinking about strange impulse purchases. Whether driven by indigestion, that one extra glass of wine, or babies that like to eat at all hours, don’t we buy some interesting things late at night?

Easter is a significant holiday for Christians across the globe. Though Easter Sunday is when faithful Christians gather to celebrate their faith, the week preceding Easter Sunday is full of significant events as well.

B Dear Aunt B, What if what I have become is something so different than what I ever thought or would have ever imagined? Is this ok or a problem?

“God does almost everything,” says Caleb, 10. “He watches us while we’re asleep, and he watches us in the day, too. He never sleeps, and he never gets hurt. But the most important thing is he never lets us down.”

Here’s the plan. This will be my last column on being sick. I am 93% certain, though I cannot be held responsible for my brain’s allocation of that final 7%. An entire month has gone by. My allergies became severe allergies became bronchitis became bacterial pneumonia. I seem to be on the mend, though recovery from pneumonia is way more difficult than I imagined. There are 2 types of days at this point. There are days where I am up and about, albeit more slowly. Then, there are days where I don’t understand why my eyes refuse to open and I find myself dozing in the oddest places, like while trying to pen this article. I read that detritus (waste produced by decomposition) takes a long time to clear from the lungs. Yep, little pieces of your lungs die and, coupled with the fluids and mucous that raced to that area to “help” things clear, leave you with lung sludge. It’s going to take you a little minute to feel better. I felt so bad this week that I went back to the doctor in my pajamas. Now, today’s kids go pretty much everywhere in pjs. But, I am Gen X. We were raised by mothers who drank TAB and smoked menthol cigarettes as they rolled our hair around orange juice cans for volume. We were forced to live outside between the hours of 9 am to 5 pm, like feral critters. At a moment’s notice, we would be voluntold to stand for hours on end, fingers pinching the foil on the end of the television antenna. We knew survival meant being prepared for anything.

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They put cold cloths on the head and covered the body in layers of blankets. Soon, there would be a series of poultices, gum camphor, turpentine, and fresh onions, for the base of the neck and even the stomach. Tamarack tea was offered in sips, as was homemade chicken soup. Sponge baths were given daily. A dark room with a cool temperature was deemed critical. No need for a doctor. No money for one, either. In fact, for a person with a severe aversion to doctors, that could make things worse. And, no, this is not a description of my life as a sick child. This is a paraphrased excerpt from my favorite book of all time, the YA classic “Where the Lilies Bloom.” This is how sisters Mary Call and Devola try to nurse their father, Roy Luther, back to health after a stroke. Their attempts do seem to work for a bit, though Roy eventually succumbs to his bad health. Seriously, if you haven’t read this book since the 3rd grade, like me, I urge you to reread. The husband- and-wife co-authors, Vera & Bill Cleaver, do a hauntingly masterful job of showcasing a poor, rural family who make their way in life based on hard work and respect for their mountain land. It holds up well. But, this is more about my mother and how she mothered me when illness struck. Momma and Mary Call were a lot alike. And, my mother’s idea of healing was a complete contradiction to my father’s love of penicillin.

“He did things like his Dad (100 percent God), and He did things like we do (since he’s 100 percent man),” says Candice, 10. I’m impressed, Candice! You have succeeded where others have failed.

Contracts provide protection for all parties signing on the dotted lines. According to LegalMatch.com, a contract is an agreement between two parties that creates a mutual legal obligation. Oral contracts are possible, but written contracts are preferred for a number of reasons.

Art Linkletter once asked the above question of a boy on his television show. He received a oneword reply: “Duck!”

Genealogy fascinates much of the general public. The number of people learning more about their families and heritage through genealogy increases year to year. According to Family-Tree.com, genealogy is the second only to gardening as the most popular hobby in the United States.