Day: December 15, 2021

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Where’s My Skittmeasure?

Skitter sports this holiday Tie o’ the Day, as she acts as my yardstick for checking the snow accumulation outside our abode. We had hours of dizzying, robust snow last night. This afternoon, I plopped down Skitter and her long legs in various areas throughout the yard, as a purely scientific way to gather snow totals from the storm. The snow measurements I gathered with my yardSkitt were all in the range of 7 to 11 inches. Skitter did not willingly walk into the deepest spots, which is why I had to plop her down where I wanted her. The bigly-est snow offended her butt by merely skimming it. She did not even attempt to squat and relieve herself in the bigly-est snow. She managed to find a few areas of nearly bare skiffs of snow for that purpose, so we have only a couple of hard-to-see spots of shallow, yellow snow desecrating our otherwise pristinely glistening white yard. This outdoor whiteness is brighter than Crest 3D Whitestrips.❄️🏔🌨

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Mom’s Official Unofficial Daughter

This is a jolly photo of Mom and Judie Curtis, from December of 2017. Judie adores Mom, and Mom adores Judie. They both happen to adore me for some odd unknown reason, so they were pleased to wear a couple of Christmas Ties o’ the Day for this photo—just because I asked them to do it.

We joke that Judie is Mom’s favorite daughter. She checks in with Mom on the phone regularly, visiting her when she gets to Delta. Almost every time I call Mom, she’ll say something like, “I just talked to my friend, Judie!” or “My friend, Judie, was just here!” Judie has been a blessing to Mom for years, which automatically makes her a blessing to me.

Not only do I have my mother’s name for my first name, but my middle name—the name by which my family and most of Delta knows me—is Judie’s mother’s name: Eileen. Judie’s mom was the nurse who took care of Mom in the hospital when I was born. It was a difficult birth, and Mom came near to dying. Mom showed her gratitude for the tender nursing care she received by giving me Eileen’s name. Likewise, Dad showed his gratitude for my successful birth by also giving me Mom’s name—at the very last minute, in my naming blessing, unbeknownst to Mom herself until that very moment. That’s how I became Helen Eileen. And that’s when Judie became my real fake sista.