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I wonder where this family phrase came from?

by Mary Anne

I was reading an article about Ford Motors selling their Land Rover and Jaguar lines to a motor company called Ta Ta.  It reminded me of a phrase that my mother used (and still uses) when she wants a young child to give her something that is in the child’s hand.  My mother would hold out her hand and say to the child “ta ta.”  That was supposed to mean “please give me what you have in your hand.”

I used that term on my kids as well, and my sisters used that term on their kids too.  However, as life goes on I learned that “ta ta” “officially” means “good bye.”  Looking up “ta ta” in dictionary.com, I see that the only definition for it is “good bye.”

So, I’m not sure how and when and where it embedded itself into my family’s lore of using it to take objects away from little kids!?

Very strange….


We want a Florida room and a family room

by Mary Anne

Every now and then my hubby and I talk about how we would like to do some remodeling to our house. We’d like to convert the garage into a recreational/family room to set up my hubby’s pool table that is currently broken down in pieces in the basement gathering dust and taking up storage space. And I’d love to put a “Florida room” on the back of the house, off of the dining room.

What’s stopping us? Well, for one thing, we don’t have the money right now to do the sun room. As for the garage, well, I think we just need for me to get a little bit of time to be able to sort through some of the items that I rushed out there a couple of months ago to make room for the family dinners over the Holidays. I’ve just been really out straight with work. Can you believe that I still haven’t taken down the Christmas tree? Embarrassing, but true.


Pest control

by Mary Anne

One of the things that has bothered me ever since we moved down here is how many ticks there seem to be. Almost every time my family spends more than a couple of minutes outdoors, they seem to be coming inside and finding a tick or two trying to make itself at home. I’ve never been very good at removing ticks, it seems that even though I try really hard to remove them correctly the head seems to stay in the bite and then there is a swelling around the bite that takes a very long time to fade away.

The folks on the Yahoo groups that I belong to are frequently writing about how they keep a small flock of backyard chickens to help keep the ticks at bay. In addition they say that they enjoy all of the fresh eggs that they could possibly want. From time to time they offer up some chickens for sale and my hubby and I discuss the ins and outs of owning chickens. My biggest concerns involve predators and who would care for them if we went on vacation. I really don’t think we just dump a bunch of chicken feed in a trough and leave them for a week.


This crazy family needs to learn to communicate better

by Mary Anne

For several years now my younger sister has had an ADT Home Security that she signed a two year contract for, and although she has been happy with the Home Alarm System she has been trying to get someone else to take over the contract for her because ever since her hubby died she has been struggling financially. So she has talked to everyone in the family several times about how she is trying to do that, and if someone in the family decides that they are interested in Home Security Systems of some sort to please consider taking over her contract.

Apparently the company told her that even if she moved out of her house that she would still be responsible to pay the remainder of the contract. Her house is currently for sale because she cannot afford the mortgage payments anymore and she is trying to get out from under it. So when we found out that our own mother went out and bought herself a security system instead of taking over my sisters, we were really upset. This crazy family needs to learn to communicate better – my mother could have taken over the contract and had a perfectly wonderful system!


Family gatherings are matches of wits around here!

by Mary Anne

We have a large family, and we like to get together for big family reunions and meals.  My mother recently married (after being widowed) a man who lives for teasing people and making sarcastic remarks.

Well, my entire family is quick witted, and we have a great time sharpening our teeth and using sarcasm right back on this man!  He tries so hard to get the “upper hand” but he doesn’t have a chance against us!  It’s very funny to see how hard he tries, and yet always ends up licking his wounds.  It’s very ironic because he is always the one who starts the “match of wits!”


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