Sunday funnies

1/3 of our family room bookshelves

On Saturday, my husband and I were cleaning out our bookshelves in our family room. This was a long overdue chore and resulted in our packing up over 200 books for donations to the church, the library and Goodwill. Now our shelves are organized and visually appealing, unlike the mess they were in for years. I must say, we have a lot of books. In addition to the built-in bookshelves in the family room, we also have books in 4 other rooms in the house! I love books... and no amount of downloaded books on Kindle or Nook or iPad will ever be the same as a houseful of books. Books reveal our character and personality.

Among the books we rediscovered yesterday was one signed by Pearl Bailey and another by Rod McKuen. We found my grandmother's Finnish New Testament from the 1800s, as well as a few other gems from the 19th century. It was a day of discovery and reminiscing. Reading inscriptions from friends, or from each other, brought back loads of memories... some sweet and some bittersweet. It was a Saturday adventure.

Shoved in the shelf between high school yearbooks was my youngest daughter's baby book. I was a terrible recorder of my kids' firsts, etc. It just wasn't something I engaged in much, despite my being a writer. That is something I really regret. Especially after reading the few gems recorded in the book, like the letter I wrote to my precious baby when she was 3. It described her so perfectly, and tears ran down my cheeks as I read it. But then I turned the page and my tears were replaced with laughter.   

I remember looking forward to reading the Sunday Funnies when I was a kid and I bet you did, too. In honor of my childhood tradition, I thought I'd share this little 'funny' with you... courtesy of my daughter, Jessica. Perhaps some of you will relate.

When Jessi Jeanne (that's what I called her back then) was 3 1/2, we were at a restaurant rather late in the evening. Most likely, we were eating out because the dishes were dirty at home and I didn't have the energy to wash them only to mess them up again. I said to Jessi, "If I were a little girl, I'd be very tired." Without missing a beat, she looked at me and said, "If I were a mommy, I'd clean up the kitchen."

A Sunday funny for your enjoyment, although, unless you've been there, you probably didn't laugh as hard as I did as I recalled the memory last night!