Bill W

You could have just edit the original entry to add that part. No need to quote yourself. 😜

And now wondering where you can get copies of those items.

I guess that means "Festivus for the rest of us" should be a festive time for all! And @drpaladin, it's getting pretty bad when you have to quote yourself to get extra likes.,

National Steven Day is celebrated on December 20th every year . December 20th is also National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, National Underdog Day, and Mudd Day (the birthday of Dr. Samuel Mudd whose named was mud after setting the leg of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln's assassin).

And don't forget the Cleveland murderer Steve Stephens or serial killers Steve Wright, Steven Brian Pennell, Stephen Morin, Steven David Catlin, Steven Avery, Steven Hobbs, and Steven Benson, or criminal fraudster and extortionist Steven Robert Comisar. I think you get the point, or need I continue?

Quote: "She felt exhilarated after completing the marathon, her energy levels soaring." I would have felt exhausted!

"Cheerio and be back soon," Fagin sings in the musical "Oliver!"

I get cheery whenever someone bakes me a cherry, apple, or pumpkin pie.

Blithe is Germanic in origin, from Proto-Germanic *blīþiz (“friendly; gentle, mild; pleasing”). It's also related to Dutch, blijde (happy, glad, joyful). It first originated in Old English before 1150, probably during the Anglo-Saxon period that lasted from 410-1066. The Anglo-Saxons were a mix of Germanic tribes from northern Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands., hence the Germanic and Dutch origins for the word.

To tell you the truth, I never thought about the dog crap. That's probably why she took the dog for a walk, so it could do its business on someone else's property, that's if Fort Collins does enforce dog owners/walkers having to clean up after t he pooch. Danilo, I didn't know you were into Italian cuisine. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

Maybe the dog hears the skunks outside. lol Who knows Louella's angle. Maybe the other woman offered to pay her to watch the dog, as well as supplying all the food it would require. I just hope the woman doesn't die or get killed while she's away, but if that happens, the dog will be is lucky if Louella gives it to the animal shelter, rather than keeping it. Maybe she inwardly likes the barking, because it makes her feel safe.

Buoyant may have come from the Spanish word boyante, present participle of boyar (to float), in the 1570s.

I disagree with how you show Americans pronounce the word color. You're example may be true in some regional dialects, but most Americans pronounce the word the same as the British (cul-ler).

I'd say the barking is probably due to the new surroundings and noises, living in a college area, and it may be sounds in the distance - sounds that Louella can't/doesn't hear. It may just be the dog's reaction to her.

Ah, the French love skunk, Pepe Le Pew. I'm sure Louella will love him. And believe it or not, when I gave Louella her name, I never in my wildest dreams associated in with Cruella, but it works. You guys are amazing, since so many of you have gone with this moniker for her.

That would definitely alert Louella to the fact that there were more than just skunks involved.

That may be possible. I just hope Louella hasn't set any traps or purchased a shotgun in anticipation of something like that happening again.

Hmmm. Let me address your suggestions one at a time. First of all, I think if I was Louella's co-worker and was approached by two young men whom she doesn't know and they're offering to watch my dog, I'd be more than a little suspicious. As far as the second situation, Barry was referring to a women that lived across the street from his parents, which obviously isn't close by, so I doubt that it would be possible for them to introduce her to Louella. Lastly, you forgot that Devin and Mac don't have a TV or television access at the house, so it wouldn't make sense to invite Barry and Jer over to watch the next away game - unless they listened to it on the radio instead, and I don't think Barry or Jer would go for that, since they could watch it on TV at Barry's apartment. This premise of your suggestion was intriguing, though.

Yes, I try to explain those little curiosities, since I know you readers always think there must be some ulterior motive for why I mentioned them. As far as Louella is concerned, if you remember, when Gramps and Pops did things to irritate her if was done so that she'd never know it was them. However, Devin was making those comments to her face, and that's what Gramps and Pops want to avoid. By doing things on the sly has left them on a fairly friendly relationship with Louella. Oh, and the co-worker must not know Louella very well or she probably wouldn't have left her dog there. If Louella yanked on the dog's leas h in front of them, then what types of things must she do to the dog in private?

Hell, I'm to the age where I'm delighted when I wake up in the morning.

Chapter 32 – Gramps, Pops, and Barry Devin and I talked it over on Sunday and decided that we didn’t want Barry to end up sitting alone at the next game, so we drove over to his apartment to make sure that he was going to sit with us. We weren’t sure how Jer was reacting to Barry making him take Brock and Art back to the dorms sooner than he wanted to leave, so it’s possible that Jer isn’t planning on sitting with Barry either. In that case, we wanted to make sure Barry was planning to jo

Yes, I encountered some similar situations when I was in England. I was staying with a host family that had a daughter around ten and a son around eight. One day the boy came up to me and asked, in all sincerity, if I had a rubber he could use. To my mind, he was asking me to give him a condom and I couldn't understand why an eight-year-old would need one , so I just told him I didn't have one he could use. Later, it was explained to me that in the UK a rubber is an pencil eraser. Another day, I saw him playing in some dirt with his cars and he sitting on the dirt some of the time, laying in the dirt at other times, and he was also crawling in the dirt as he moved the toys along. Needless to say, his clothes were quit filthy, so I told him that he'd probably have to change his clothes and wash up before he'd be allowed to have high tea, because his pants and shirt were a mess. After I said this, he looked at me and started crying. When I asked his mother why he did that, she went to see what was wrong. When she returned, she explained that in the UK pants are the undergarment and trousers are the outer garment and her son thought I was going to have him undress outside, where everyone could see him, while I had someone get him a clean pair of pants, trousers, and shirt.

Didn't you know? That's the cheerful Grim Reaper. He's happy to be collecting souls and the confetti is the record of all the good and bad things you'd done in life, since it's not needed any longer

To put it simply, 'you're full of cheer' and not a 'Debbie downer'.

I hate to admit it, but there are certain things that I pick up on whenever I read something or listen to people say something incorrectly. These were things that my English teachers drummed into me when I was younger and when they're used incorrectly it's like someone 'running their fingernails over a blackboard/chalkboard.' (For you younger members, look that phrase up on Google.) 1. Whenever people say "Can I help you?" My English teachers would always say, using 'can' means are you physically able to do something, while using 'may' is that you're asking permission. Growing up in the 1950s, we often played a game called, "Mother, may I?" If you asked the person a question, you would have to say may I, or you would be refused permission, such as "Mother may I take five steps forward?" or "Mother, may I open the box?" When you say "May I help you?" to someone, you are asking permission to help them, not if you're physically able to help them. 2. Misusing less and fewer. Fewer is used with things that can be counted. "I have fewer quarters than Mary." However, "I have less money than Mary," because money is a general term and you're usually talking about amounts, not actually counting. "I have fifty dollars less than Mary." 3. There are other pairs that have become closer together in meaning throughout the 20th century, such as the use of farther and further. Farther is generally talking about a physical distance that you can measure, where further is used to describe a figurative distance. For example: "The farther I walked the more tired I became." or "We can discuss that further the next time we talk." 4. Another pair that has become nearly interchangeable than in the past is whole and entire. Whole means that nothing has been omitted or taken away. For example, "I want the whole apple, not just a slice." My teachers used to explain that you use entire when you want to emphasize or formalize the completeness or perfection to which nothing else can be added. "She wrote the entire novel in just seven days." That's my soapbox spiel for today.