?#6 from My Sister’s Jar – New Holiday

If you could declare a new holiday, what would it be? How would it be celebrated?

This picture of Thomas Hancock is reproduced from his classic text: ‘The Origin and Progress of the Caoutchouc or India-Rubber Manufacture in England’ (1857).  Who is Thomas Hancock? you ask.  Not only is he a published author, he is one of my most hallowed inventors in history.  What did he invent? you ask.  Well, let me ask you a few questions.

Do you appreciate underwear that stay put in the correct place?  Do you frequently wear a brazier? Does “saggy jock strap” strike fear in your heart? Do you ever wear a ponytail?

If your answer was yes to any of those questions, then you too, have a fond appreciation for Mr. Thomas Hancock’s invention of ELASTIC.  Gone are the days of corsets and draw strings.  Hello girdles and suspenders!  And non-stretchy bathing suits…… just imagine!  Oh, the confines of the common wardrobe before Mr. Hancock worked his wonders.

May 8, 1786 was his birthday, so I think it would be fitting (get it?) to celebrate All Hail Elastic Day on May 7th.  Elastic would be banned on this day.  No stretchy fabrics at all.  What would you wear? Probably nothing UNDER.  Jeans, but only sans spandex.  The purpose behind the banning, is so that on Mr. Hancock’s birthday the following day, we would ALL appreciate his masterminded creation of elastic.

Are you with me?  Can you say ‘control top’? How about ‘tube top’?  Gimmie an E!  Gimmie an L!…….

?#3 from My Sister’s Jar – Grateful List

List 10 things you are grateful for.  Write the first 10 that come to mind.

1.  My crock pot.  I got it for Christmas probably 15 years ago from Dad and Mom Crosby – but I have gone through use/non-use phases.  I’m in a use phase currently.  Dinners done by 9 a.m. and the house smells scrumptious.

2.  Air-conditioning.  Hello?  We live in the desert… in Phoenix… the only place hotter is hell.  The inventor of a/c has a statue in the capital building.  Right on!

3.  Elastic.  Think where we would be without it!?!  Everything we wear “under” includes it.  It has magical qualities… like making a size 24 body into an 18.

4.  Taco Bell.  Where else can you get all of your daily caloric needs met in one meal for only $3.69?  It’s quick… it’s cheap… they have diet Pepsi.. and it’s Mexican.  Aaaahhhhh.  (Dined there yesterday.)

5.  Books…. really good books that take me away from the here and now… to the 1850s in a covered wagon with 1/2 naked Indians visiting… baking biscuits over the campfire… sharing them with the Indians.

6. Sales Racks.  There is something satisfyingly triumphant about buying $82 pants for $12.27.  It’s almost like you cheated the big guys somehow…. sweet victory!

7.  Rick Coming Home Every Night.  I look forward to his arrival every day… starting at about 9:30 a.m.  I look to the clock every other hour ’til his keys plop on the entry table.

8.  Laughter.  It truly does make you feel good.  I love laughing and making others enjoy a belly laugh.  Jill is really good at those.

9.  This Journal w/52 prompts. I haven’t written freely in years.  No spell check.  No grammar boo-boos.  Just me and the pen and pages waiting for an adventure.

10. Flowers.  I simply love them.  Vibrant colors.  Soothing aromas.  I love fresh-cut flowers on my kitchen table.  It just sings “a Martha Stewart lives here”….  (which is a good thing.)