A Few People Could Stand To Learn a Thing or Two about To, Too and Two

I am interrupting my regularly scheduled Healthy Mind, Body and Soul Journey post to bring you this critical grammar/spelling Public Service Announcement. I promise not to be too tedious in my lesson today about three little words that cause too much trouble to too many people. Here are all three words in sentences:

• Two heads are better than one when it comes to editing a paper. 
• There are too many rules in the English language. 
• I try to remember all the rules but I get so confused.

Not too many people are confused about when to use two in a sentence. It is pretty obvious that it is only used to denote the numeral 2. The most important thing to remember with two is that when writing an important or formal piece of text, one should always spell out numbers one through ten and not use their numerals. The only exception is when you need to insert a date. Don't ask me why; I told you there were too many rules. What I do know, is that when you follow the rule, it makes it as though you know what you are doing. So, next time you want to impress, use two instead of 2, to make yourself look like you are way too smart for your competition.

Now, on to the more confusing and sometimes dreaded to and too. You have to remember to add that extra o to to, when you mean to show there is more of something; when you can substitute also, for too in the sentence. See how easy that is to remember? An extra o in to means extra of whatever it is you are talking about (too cute, huh?).

The word to is a word we all use a lot in normal everyday speech. We can go to the store; send something to someone; happen to overhead something. To is a sweet little two letter word that gives too much of itself not to be appreciated for the wonderful little preposition that it is. We must respect the to and not mix it up with its homonymic counterparts, two and too. It is the least we can do for all the sweet to does for us.

That is it my friends. This lesson was very short and succinct. You can get back to the April Fools prank or two you were planning to play on some unsuspecting loved one. I am sure you think you are way too busy to stop and think about these kinds of things, but it takes less than two seconds to think before you accidentally type the wrong word and totally change the meaning of your sentences.

Back to your regularly scheduled Sunday afternoon programming.

Teens or Dogs? Healthy Mind, Body and Soul Journey 3/19/12

Now that we have three teens in the house and one nipping at the heels of teen-dom, I am re-thinking this four kid thing.  No one ever told me it was going to be easy, but no one prepared me for how hard parenting would be.  Oh, they are blessings, don't get me wrong.  I wouldn't trade any of them for a million dollars.  Most days, anyway.

Pared Down Christmas

I usually go hog wild and crazy with my Christmas decorations. This year, however, since I had surgery less than a month ago, I had to pare down. I only got out two Christmas trees. I had to forgo all of the little vignettes I usually put up around the house. I have a hand painted (by me, thanyouverymuch) Christmas village that has a spot the living room. Then there is the Santa collection that is lovingly displayed in the playroom/office. I have acquired cookie jars, teapots, towels, salt and pepper shakers and various other objects d' Christmas that I sprinkle throughout the house. I leave no room undecorated, even bathrooms need a smidgen of holiday flare in the form of soap dispensers, towels and bathmats. All of that will have to wait 'til next year, because I can't manage to set it up this year.

Did I mention I am really getting tired of this walker? Okay... that is a discussion for another time, back to Christmas decorating.

All of that is just inside the house. I have been collecting and making more and more things to display in the front yard. Last year we added a five foot tall penguin, whose arms kept flying off with any random wind gust. My husband swears he is still going to put the lights on the house; it's just to windy today to do it. =O)

I let the kids decorate the trees. This is another area in which I have had to give up authority. I have no control over anything around here any more. Meals, laundry, cleaning, hair cuts, taxi driving -- I can't do any of that, so I have learned to let it go and let it get done as it may, by whomever it may. Not the easiest task in the world for a person like me. I have had had dominion over all of these elements for the past 14 years, but I managed to rise to the challenge.

The kids did a fairly decent job decorating the trees. They had a companionable time looking at all of the ornaments with their names on them that I have collected through the years. I get one for each child each year and put their name and the year on it. When they grow up they will have a whole assortment of ornaments to hang on their own tree.

For fun, I bought a gingerbread house kit for them to decorate. They anxiously awaited the first opportunity to decorate it. Alas, it didn't go quite as planned, the icing was runny and it wouldn't set up. It fell flat as the walls came tumbling down. They had a grand time, though. All they really wanted to do was eat the candy anyway.

It was really pleasant to watch them having such a good time. I am usually scurrying around getting everything set up, so I miss out on the sociable atmosphere; I just want them out of my hair. So all in all, I guess it is a good thing to have a pared down Christmas every now and then. I helps remind me of what first-rate children I have. I also gives me a chance to really focus on the gift that Christmas really is - one that should be savored and unwrapped slowly, not something that we scramble to finish in a rush.

Snafu

Does everyone know what a snafu is? A chaotic situation? A problematic occurrence? A disordered circumstance? Yes, it can mean all of these things. But it is actually an acronym from WWII used to describe a particularly confounding, yet familiar occurrence.