Life Is Funny!

HUMOR

[hyoo-mer or, often, yoo-]

noun

1. a comic, absurd, or incongruous quality causing amusement.

2. the faculty of perceiving what is amusing of comical.

You know those Facebook quizzes?  The ones that are really dumb, but you take everyone of them anyway, because you REALLY want to know what job you would have had in the 1800's?

Well, whenever I take the "who is the perfect man for you" test, and the question "What to do you look for when you first meet a guy?" comes up:

1. Smile

2. Huge Muscles

3. Sense of Humor

4. Intellegence

5. Nice butt

6. Manicured Nails

I always choose #3.  Obviously, when I chose my husband, I picked # 2...but, I digress.

Pretty eh?  This was after my ear surgery...but check out the gun show behind me.

I remember the first time I had a group of people laughing.  It was at Thanksgiving or Christmas, and all the relatives were sitting around the table, and I have no idea what I was talking about, but they were all laughing.  And I LOVED IT.  Who knew?!  I was funny!!!  (At least that day I was!)

I definitely get my sense of humor from my dad.  He was a hoot.  

And then I married a (very muscular ;) version of my dad...who is also pretty darn funny.

Blurry....but you can see, his pumpkin is foaming at the mouth.  Lovely.

Don't ever tell him I said he was funny.  He actually isn't very funny when he tries to be.  He is probably the worst joke teller on the planet.  Seriously.

Unless it's the Irish Bean Soup joke.  That one is good.

~

One of my favorite Mark stories (and there are sooooo many!!) was when we lived in Bloomington.  We were at a movie with our friends Joe and Sarah.  Mark only goes to movies for the popcorn, so when the previews started, he went to get some.

A few minutes later, we see him coming down the aisle, but for some reason he passed our row, and started going into the row in front of us.  (There were three teenagers sitting there.)  We thought he was just being stupid and messing with us....until he turned his face toward the person he thought was me, and then moved in REALLY close to him/her (not sure which it was!) His face was almost touching this person. That was when he realized he was in the wrong row.  His reaction was priceless...as was his attempt to act nonchalant as he made his way back to our row.  The three of us were directly behind them, and watching this whole thing happen.  It was classic Mark.  I think we laughed through the entire movie (and it was NOT a comedy.)  

Sometimes I worry about our kids.  They finally started bringing their friends over about a year ago.  When they were little, it was fine, but as they hit late elementary and middle school, we noticed that they always went to their friends homes.  They never had them come here.  I know the fact that we had four crazy dogs at the time was a factor, but I do recall Lexie once saying she wasn't ready to expose her friends to her parents yet. Nice.

Don't worry.  I went along on her choir trip last year, and I accompany all the choirs at their school.  ALL their friends know me now. ;)

What I do LOVE, is the fact that both of my kids are hilarious.  I could just sit on the couch, and watch them all night, and be completely entertained.  Their entertainment style has changed over the years.  It used to be nightly dance parties in front of the patio doors (aka: mirrors) to Michael Jackson until they were dripping in sweat.  Now, the sky is the limit.

I love it when he starts laughing...and can't stop.

Sam has been "interesting" from day one.  When he was little, he didn't have normal temper tantrums, like most kids.  He chose to be a bit more dramatic, and throw himself to the floor and play dead.

We lived a mile from the Mall of America, so during the winter when we were bored we would take the kids there for a carousel ride, and an ice cream cone.  Sam never liked the "going home" part....so there was many an episode of a "dramatic death scene" in front of the ice cream shop.

All of the onlookers really seemed to enjoy it.  At least it was quiet.  I appreciated that.

An attempt at a family photo for the church directory.

Sam decided to reenact the Crucifixion instead.
And yes...it made it into Awkward Family Photos.  We are almost famous. 

The other day I came across a letter Sam wrote to his dad when we were trying to convince him that we HAD to buy this house.  I have to include it here, because this is how ALL the letters that Sam wrote when he was little were.  He wrote with such passion, and always attempted to use every "big" word he could, even though they didn't always make any sense.

Here we go;

I design a house, which happens to be yellow...on Court Rd.  There are four bedrooms that are all very unique.  4 or 5 decent storage rooms. Unflattering smell for a normal sized garage.  3 1/2 bathrooms with the worst wallpaper.  This house is not just a reflection of a wondrous facility, but a dream, a focus. a wondrous construction that has the most brilliant architecture in the history of my mind.  I can't imagine anything else more beautiful. But you have complaints.  i am not trying to make you mad.  I just want you to listen.  I want you to know how much this little family is trying to make the best of things.  We are trying to do things that are harder than grief.  We have been searching for this opportunity for many years.  And this is the best home we have ever come across.  I am writing this to show you our affection for this.  We need to be able to define such other ideas but not this one.  Not this one.   Sam

~

I love this goof-ball.

Lexie is no exception to the rule.  We still haven't come up with adjectives to describe her.  She is her own, unique entity.  She is only 16, but already so secure in her being.  She is this funny, sassy (a good sassy) force to be reckoned with, and she never worries about what other people think. 

 She has always been her own person, and she has always been funny.

I think that is why she is such a great performer.  She is fearless.

and always very serious about her work.

But the best is when the two of them get together.  They feed off each other like crazy, and it is pure entertainment.....until one of them gets mad.  Then it's world war III.  (And it is usually Lexie who gets mad. Shocking, I know.)

At least her dad is normal?  I love that they have NO problem just being who they are.

Normal, or not. :)

I can't imagine a life without humor in it.  What would it be like to go even a day without finding something funny?  I would think you'd have to lock yourself in a dark room to not be exposed to something that would make you smile or giggle during the day.  And if you are having a hard time smiling....get a pet!  They will make you laugh, and cry, and pull your hair out!  But mostly, they will make you laugh, because they are so cute!

Is there anything better than hearing a baby laughing?  You can't help but laugh too, because they are so funny.  Life needs more moments like that in it.  I am pretty sure the answer is not "keep having babies and make them laugh".....or at least I sure hope that isn't the answer.  But I do think it is important to make sure we are finding ways to have fun, even if we have to seek it out.

~

When I was younger, I don't think my sense of humor had quite developed yet.  I remember lots of times when I felt made fun of, rather than felt like I was laughing with anyone.  Even if it was just simple teasing from my parents, I would still get all upset, and feel embarrassed or humiliated.  Thank God I outgrew that.  

I am sure that is pretty normal for most kids (especially girls) to be overly emotional, rather than just laugh along.  

This stunning photo was taken after the 5th grade musical.  I had to stand next to a boy, and my family was teasing me about it.  Obviously, I was not happy....so I was up in my bed (with my lovely glasses and elegant ball gown) pouting.  At least my hair looked fantastic.  This was the closest thing those jerks were getting to a smile that night! 

Getting older DOES have it's advantages.  Like not caring when I get teased anymore.

Fortunately, (or not?) my husband has trained my kids how to divert any potential insults away from them. (Or maybe my kids taught my husband?) Rather than be upset or hurt by them, you just change it up a bit.

For example:

Mean person:  Your shirt looks like girl's underoos.

My son: Your FACE looks like girl's underoos.

Mean person: your mom's face looks like underoos.

My son: your mom's dog's face looks like underoos.

You get the idea.  It's a lovely way to take the attention off the original insult, and shake it up a bit.  I am sure this strategy would be successful in any type of work environment also. 

When we were kids, my mom always told us before we would go out on the road to ride our bikes "if you see a car coming, go in the ditch."  She, of course meant, just pull over toward the ditch so you don't wipe out and get run over.  My sister Kris took these instructions a bit more literally.  (If you recall, she was the one who actually did what our mom told us to do.)  So, when a car would be coming, she would actually hurl herself off her bike, into the ditch.  And then she would lay there for awhile, because she always knocked the wind out of herself.  It was AWESOME!

That was probably when I first realized how funny "falling down" was to me.  So, for the next 12 years or so, I would have my sisters "fall down" to entertain me.  They would fall off their bikes, pretend to fall down the stairs (the sound of something falling down the steps, along with the "AGHHHHHH" was all I needed)  fall in the yard...whatever.  It was fantastic.  And they were SO good at it.

When I got to college, I was fortunate enough to have some friends who took over the role of wiping out for me.  I think my stomach still hurts from laughing so hard at my friend Dan "falling" down the stairs, or Brian "tripping on  banana peels."  

It really doesn't take much to entertain me.

Now I have this guy to entertain me.  He doesn't pretend to fall down.  

He does it for real.  Like the time he decided to look out the window at the kids at the same moment he was taking the first step downstairs.  

That didn't end well.

Or the time there was a deer in the back yard...he was so excited and wanted to get a picture of it.  He tripped while running down the deck steps,. and sliced his hand open on the rusty nails from the previous year's Christmas lights.

He came and turned pages for a recital I had to play that afternoon, ran to the hospital for a tetanus shot and stitches, and then was back turning pages for that evenings recital.  He is a trooper.  

~

There is nothing better in life than laughter.  I seek it out at every chance I get. I look for it in the people I hang out with, I am blessed that my family is ridiculous and has no problem making complete fools of themselves at any time.

There are a lot of things that could really bring me down these days.....especially all that my mom is going through.  I just keep trying to find the humor in things.  When she is happy and smiling, and doing and saying funny things, it just makes the whole thing more bearable.  

Sometimes, it comes down to "I can laugh or I can cry."  

Today....I choose to laugh.

:)