Word of the Week, Man Phrase Edition 2

Now, my faithful readers will know of my endless pursuit of informational excellence.  In the interest of furthur informing you girls, here is another Man Phrase entry.  It's so manly, in fact, that my hubby just informed me that one of the ESPN Sportcenter anchors was the creator of this original phrase...

"boo-yah!": an exclamation used by men meaning, "I'm amazing!" or "he's amazing!"  or "In your face!"

This particular phrase is more frequent during college football season around here.  It's usually accompanied by some type of hand movement, such as air boxing, jabs, or chest beating.  When used while watching a game, it is preceded by a sudden jump out of the chair after a positive play.

Here are a few ways we women can incorporate this colorful phrase:

After completing the final stitch in the bouquet embroidered pillow case, Esther smoothed the cloth, examined the finished product, delicately placed her needle to the side, then exclaimed, "BOO-YAH!".

Extreme couponer Yvette had done it again; she 'bought' 373 toothbrushes for only 77 cents, then punctuated her pillage with her signature 'Boo-yah!' of victory.

****Editor's Note:  In some instances, men may not appreciate if you use this phrase directly to them.  In the interest of your marriage, don't use the phrase thus:

"So I was right!  Mr. T is in  Rocky III.  Boo-yah!"

Instead, with a smile, try using it in this way:

"You always remember to pick up your stinky socks.  Boo-yah!  You're so wonderful!"

Let me know any boo-yah success stories!

This painting is what I'd dream of as an Edwardian woman...

It's title is "Drinking Coffe and Reading in the Garden" by Edward Killingworth Johnson.  Other than the corset, I think this might be the ideal kick-off for a vacation...coffee, beautifully tended garden, book, serenity.  If there was chocolate included, it'd obviously be an afternoon on vacation.  I love her expression...so totally at home in a rose garden.  I wonder if she was sore after posing like this for who knows how many hours...

I get sore just thinking about all that mowing and weeding.  If only we all had an expert gardener and property manager at our beck and call.  <sigh>  Have to say, though, as enticing as this is, I still prefer my messy garden filled with kids running and screaming.  She will never know the joy of helping a child pull up a carrot you've taught them how to grow.

The Termite

This is the one Ogden Nash poem I remembered from High School...so those four years weren't a complete draw.

The Termite

Some primal termite knocked on wood
And tasted it, and found it good!
And that is why your cousin May
fell through the parlor floor today.


Aah, he never gets old!  I think I will officially make him a hero-contributor of Crazy Creative Magazine today.  Look for the new contributor on my button column.

Kids Have the Best Quotes...

I have a rather embarrasing confession to make as I introduce this quote.  I was sitting around one day, writing another installment for this blog when this quote happened.  My daughter, Cara noticed me snickering, and asked me what I was laughing about.

The best I remember, I answered something like, "Oh, Honey, Mommy is laughing at something that I wrote that's really funny."

Then she replied with this interesting one-liner:

"Mom, you're not funny, you're beautiful!"

The irony is, I'm at the stage in my life where I've totally reconciled myself to no longer being beautiful...now I just go for funny.  Hmmm...Thanks,Cara... I think!

A Real Kind of Daddy Love...

Do you want to know how a Daddy who really loves his girl shows it?  He sits next to a smelly trash can, painstakingly sharpening a kagillion colored pencils after his little artist is in bed.  He'd rather be watching baseball, but instead he takes his time doing something she may not even realize the next day.  She'll use those pencils to color pictures for anyone and everyone...they're one of her favorite belongings.

Real love is not trinkets and treasures, it's TIME.

Word of the Week

Do you ever get the feeling that some words should be spoken in hushed tones?  This is a good one for that.  I could just see Ellen Bartelle, Seattle's intriguing private-eye whispering to some tough-guy informant using this word.  Perhaps I should work this one in soon.  This week's word is...

huggermugger: [huhg-er-muhg-er]secrecy; reticence

Hold onto your fanny packs...Here we go...

As the two small children crept out of their room during naptime, there was an air of huggermugger between them.  (Then Mom spotted them and it was over!)

OR

Veronica had a panache for gardening, but apparently not for name appeal; the 'Hovel of Huggermugger' did no justice to the romantic array of English roses.

Snore...

Does anyone else ever get tired of hearing this quote from every parent you meet?  I'm sure I've heard it ten times this week already.

"There's never a dull moment in this family!"

That's so boring!  Let's recreate it with some choice synonyms.

"There's never a bromidic, colorless, commonplace, interminable, stodgy, or well-worn moment in this family!"

Now doesn't that grab your attention?  Why reuse a dull line to describe the opposite of dullness?  I'm sure Cyrano de Bergerac would never have done so.