Friday, July 31, 2020

More Math Jokes to Love or H8

Time for some more math funnies, since time has been short for me in recent days.
So what else is new ~ LOL


But first a funny for my friend Debra at She Who Seeks.
Her blog posts are often hilarious.  Otherwise they are very thoughtful.
This may not be hilarious, but it is definitely adorable.










I dearly love math jokes.
I struggled with math so much, but I keep coming back to it.
I need to start playing with it again.










Answer at the end of the post.

















































































And here are a few that have nothing to do with math, but they made me laugh.
We all need to laugh a lot these days!











Do you love them or H8 them?
I hope they give you a chuckle or a laugh!

What do you call a number that won't keep still?
A roamin' numeral! 








Till next time ~
Fundy Blue


On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




    



Friday, July 24, 2020

Suck It Up Buttercup!



My silent mantra in recent days has been Suck it up Buttercup!
I'll spare you the details.
As my sister Donnie frequently reminds me, "It's all good!"
And it is.  Things could much more challenging.


Buttercups
Reykjavík, Iceland
June 12, 2014
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




I've been offsetting "Suck it up Buttercup" all week
with little prayers of gratitude for things that are going well.

But a little snark and exasperation crept into that gratitude this afternoon, as in
"Thank you for the strength to remove these extremely tight coverings
from our couch so I can wash them after Terry spilled beer on them."

Let's not even get into why he was balancing a can of beer
on one of the fitted pillows forming the back of one of our white couches.


Stripped Couch Pieces
Aurora, Colorado, USA
July 23, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



It was an accident that happened when I passed him a board game
that I wanted to donate (get rid of).
I've been tearing through the house à la Marie Kondo all week.
Terry wasn't sure that he wanted to part with it,
even though we've had it some fifteen years and have never played it.
Let's just say, "No joy was sparked," as the beer toppled.






I'm cutting Terry a little slack, though,
because he's been dizzy for two days and wondering if he has Covid-19.
He considered going for a test today while I was out shopping for groceries.

I'm so glad he didn't.
He was going to go to the same testing center I went to weeks ago,
the one at which a PPE-garbed nurse said, "Oh, we can't test you.
We only test essential workers and members of our clinic.
You need to go another site ... ."

Suck it up Buttercup.
Thank you for giving me a kind voice to sweetly remind Terry
that that's the center I went to weeks ago and called him from in tears
when they wouldn't test me and I was too sick to drive to another site.

But it's all good!  
I'm drinking a glass of wine while I wait for the couch coverings to gently wash,
and Terry is watching the Return of Baseball downstairs.

Suck it up Buttercup.
Thank you for Dr. Fauci throwing the first pitch on Opening Day.
He is my hero, even if, as one headline said, 
"Dr. Anthony Fauci's 1st Pitch Socially Distances From Strike Zone." 

Couch coverings in the dryer on delicate low heat.
Second glass of wine poured.
Dinner underway.
Suck it up Buttercup.
Thank you that I can hop up and make dinner.
The time might come when I can't and would wish I could.
And thank you for my telling myself, "Don't go there!"
when I began to wonder how a can of beer goes with two days of dizzy. 

"What's up?" Terry asks as he comes upstairs.
This means one of two things or both:
"I'm hungry" and/or the baseball game is not much fun.

"I'm making dinner.  What happened with the baseball game?"

"Rain delay.  How's your post coming?"

"I'm having great fun writing about couch coverings and spilled beer."

"Beer? ... That was ginger ale."

Oops.
Thank you for gently reminding me that
Terry isn't the only one who sometimes doesn't listen.

Dinner done.  Dishes done.  Terry's sleeping.
Tomorrow morning I'll suck it up Buttercup
as I steam iron the couch components and wrestle them back on the couch
if they finish drying on the banister overnight.
Delicate low heat in the dryer wasn't getting the job done.

And I'll drive Terry to our doctor's office if he's still dizzy.
It's highly unlikely that it's Covid-19.
Fingers crossed 🤞 that he jiggled a crystal loose in his inner ear
while playing pickleball or something else easily remedied.

And now I'm going to finish off a rare third glass of wine
and go play with my latest jigsaw puzzle.
I've completed the easy part, the cottonwood tree.
All that's left is about 600 pieces of red sandstone cliff,
truly a pleasure for this geologist.  I find it very calming.


In the Works
Aurora, Colorado, USA
July 21, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Sometimes you can have an extra busy week
when your mantra is "Suck it up Buttercup!" as you power through.
It helps to be grateful for the things that are going well,
like health and strength and energy and a loving, appreciative husband,
even when he balances a can of ginger ale on a couch pillow.






Till next time ~
Fundy Blue


On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




    



Friday, July 17, 2020

One Spectacular Firework of a Sister!


Let me make it clear right up front.
I have four spectacular fireworks as siblings:
three sisters and one brother.
Shoot those fireworks into the sky, and the display
would bedazzle with sparkling, brilliant, shooting colors.

Fireworks
Pixabay ~ Nixon-Ruiz ~ License 





Okay, maybe I'm a little biased, but I am so proud of my siblings,
and I couldn't possibly pick a favorite.  I love each of them with everything in me.

Most Recent Photo Together
Barb, Bertie, Roy, Me (Louise), and Donnie
Smith's Cove
Nova Scotia, Canada
August 7, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved





First Photo Together
Donnie, Barb, Me (Louise) holding Bertie, and Roy with Gretchen
Margaretsville, Nova Scotia, Canada
April, 1959
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Recently something special happened,
something that would have thrilled my parents,
bringing tears of pride and joy to them.
Their primary goal when we were growing up
was for all five of us to graduate from university.
We all did and went on to earn multiple degrees in multiple universities.
However, this special event has its origins in the beginnings of our family.

My mother was the first person in her family to go to university,
unless you trace a through-marriage branch on the family tree.
She came from a poor family and achieved her dream of going to university
because of serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.
My father followed in his parents' footsteps and went to his mother's alma mater.
My parents met when the music stopped during a Paul Jones dance 
at Acadia University, and we five were the result.

Our Parents (Dad in a Bowtie) at a Dance
Acadia University
Smith's Cove
Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
circa 1948
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Graduating from university meant one thing in our family:
graduating from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada.
By the time I entered kindergarten I already knew
that after kindergarten came school and after school came Acadia.
A photograph of University Hall at Acadia hung above my father's desk in the den,
and I can't remember a time that I didn't know what and where that photo represented.

University Hall, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia
  


My parents' Acadia yearbooks and issues of the Acadia Bulletin
were always stacked on a coffee table shelf or in a bookcase,
and I followed my parents' example of pouring through them avidly.
The Acadia Bulletin is the Acadia Alumni Association's publication,
and my parents would point out news about their university friends and events to me.
From my kindergarten childhood until this day, I've read this magazine from cover to cover.

The latest Acadia Bulletin, the Spring 2020 issue, 
landed on our kitchen counter when Terry brought the mail in a few days ago.
I ripped it out of its plastic cover with great anticipation
and immediately turned to the page I was looking for.

There she was, my spectacular firework of a sister,
the new President of the Acadia Alumni Association,
Sara Donalda MacBeath, Class of 1975!
 



 
Forget my parents' tears of pride and joy.
My own were streaming down my face.
Do you see the sparkle in Donnie's eyes and the joy on her face?
She's thrilled!

In this difficult Covid time,
I can't think of a better leader for the Alumni Association
or a more capable person to sit on Acadia's Board of Governors.
Am I a proud sister?  You bet!

I could detail Donnie's other notable accomplishments
like paying her way through law school by working three jobs,
passing the bar and articling to practice law,
rising through the ranks of legal, corporate,
and public companies to serve as upper management,
and raising three amazing children,
but I won't.


Donnie with her "Children"
Lisa, Krista, and Gavin
(All of whom graduated from Acadia) 
August 2, 2017
Photo by Martin Mundry ~ Husband and Father
© S. Donalda MacBeath
All Rights Reserved





Donnie and Martin
Ad Deir ("The Monastery"), Petra, Jordan
November 28, 2019
© S. Donalda MacBeath
All Rights Reserved



No, I'm going to share some favorite photos of my favorite childhood roommate.
I often laugh when watching HGTV (Home & Garden Television),
because parents are always looking for homes with a bedroom for each child.
I shared a bedroom, and often a bed, with Donnie
from the time she was born until I left for Acadia.
I wouldn't have missed that for the world!

The Earliest Photo I Have of Donnie
Me (Louise), Roy, and Mom (pregnant with Barbie) holding Donnie
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Christmastime 1954
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Enjoying the Snow
Roy, Me (Louise), and Donnie (on the toboggan) 
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Winter 1954-55
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved









Donnie with Her Dolly
Atholville, New Brunswick, Canada
Circa Summer 1955
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved









One of My Most Favorite Photos Ever!
Roy and Donnie
Perhaps Atholville, New Brunswick, Canada
Circa Summer 1955
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Donnie, Me, and Roy
Atholville, New Brunswick, Canada
Circa Summer 1956
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Barbie, Roy, Me, and Donnie with Gretchen
Margaretsville, Nova Scotia, Canada
Christmas Eve 1958
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Donnie's Kindergarten Photo
Greenwood, Nova Scotia, Canada
Fall 1959
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved








Donnie (holding Bertie) and Barbie
Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada
Summer 1960
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Donnie's Grade One Photo
Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada
Fall 1960
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Donnie Graduates from Acadia
Me, Barb, Donnie, and Mom
Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
Spring 1975
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



I have hundreds of photos of my sister Donnie,
but it's these early ones that melt my heart.
This sweet, shy child grew up to become an amazing adult with a huge heart
and a powerful intellect, someone who continues to accomplish so much.

How I wish my parents had lived to see her become
President of Acadia's Alumni Association and a member of Acadia's Board of Governors!
I am beyond proud of this spectacular firework of a sister whom I love dearly.





Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

On Margaret's Justice
between Freeport, Long Island
and Westport, Brier island
Nova Scotia, Canada
July 31, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




    

Notes: 
1.  Donnie's First Alumni Bulletin Message

Acadia Alumni Bulletin
Spring 2020





For Map Lovers Like Me:
Location of Nova Scotia



Nova Scotia, Canada



Location of Acadia University