“If you sat yourself down and watched yourself go by, you’d laugh yourself to death.” Betty Heldreth
(Photo taken of friends by a friend)
After writing about depression and grief, the Newtown tragedy, and living the life we’re afraid of as described in Jeff Goins’ book Wrecked, I need a laugh and maybe you do also.
I mean, I could go on writing about depression until you’re reading “Depression, part 113 of infinity.” I figured, instead of wrecked, let’s get sidetracked, at least for one post.
Here are four light-hearted stories, just for kicks and giggles.
- The day I saw my sense of humor walking around outside my body.
One of the first times I met Ryan, who is now married to our daughter Kelly, he told a joke only I understood. That was just the beginning of noticing the similarities in our senses of humor.
Ryan came up with the idea, even before he and Kelly were engaged, to name their first boy Huckleberry. From then on, any pregnancy talk and I called their baby-to-be Huck.
When Kelly got pregnant, Ryan decided the name might be a bit much all together. He said, “If it’s a boy, we’ll call him Huck and save LeBerry for his middle name.
The way they broke the news was by giving of us a copy (wrapped in comic paper) of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Also Ryan’s idea. Our congratulatory baby gift to them was overalls. I appreciate a pregnancy with humor, as well as a theme.
- The Dane Cook cry.
My daughter and son-in-law introduced me to more than the classics. Kelly and I watched comedian Dane Cook’s DVD, Vicious Circle, while Ryan and her dad worked in the yard. They claimed they couldn’t hear Cook over our cackles. (Warning: Cook uses bad language, but if you can overlook it, the message is spot-on and hilarious.)
Dane Cook does an eight-minute routine on Weepathons. You know, those times when you look at yourself in the mirror and sob uncontrollably. Then you latch onto a comforting phrase and say it over and over, something like “I did my best. I did my best.”
Cook’s comedy is so true-to-life that it sometimes comes to mind when I’m having my own weepathon. I’m expecting one day to stop mid-cry and start laughing uncontrollably. It could happen.
- Finding humor in all things.
When one of my teens came home with his/her shirt inside out after a date, I was beside myself until I had a chance to talk it over with a friend. I often shared with her because during her 76 years of living, she’d fine-tuned finding humor in just about any situation. My friend said, “Oh, to come home just one more time with my dress inside out.”
She reminded me about the time my husband went home dressed the same way after one of our dates. Imagine that.
I got tickled and dealt with the situation in the light of my friend’s perspective, which meant with a lighter heart.
- Choosing characters for friends.
In my post “Kermit the Frog, Jim Henson and Me,” I talked about hanging out on Google Images with Jim Henson and his Muppets.
But that’s not the only place I get together with characters. Most of my friends fit in just fine with The Muppets and Saturday morning cartoons.
There’s a group of us nicknamed the Sugar Sisters because we skip meals and eat our chocolate first.
The Danglers are friends who bought identical dangle earrings. Last time we ate out, the wide-eyed waitress said, “Do you know you’re all wearing the same earrings?”
The Danglers
Core Four is a rowdy bunch. When the hostess ignored our request to sit away from other guests, one of them stopped by our table and said, “Y’all were right. You do get loud.” And to think, we’d been on our best behavior that day. In another eating establishment, the hostess gestured for us to shush.
We’re so rowdy, sometimes we have to sit outside. This day we should have been restricted to the parking lot.
My camera-friendly high school friends do bathroom photo shoots, but only if there are seats for everyone.
And the Croissants crew is flaky, but that’s how we roll, although it’s not how we got our name. The restaurant where we meet is named for the bread.
We go way back. That’s the only explanation for a photo shoot in a bathroom.
Enough about my cartoon characters …
I’d love to hear your funny stories.
Write wHere I’m supposed to be – The good thing about humor is it never hurts, it almost always helps, and lots of times, it heals.
On the side: Pictured in the photo are Patty and Koon Hendrick, taken by Karen Gatesman at N-Focus Photography. Karen would love for you to LIKE her page.
Good grief, how’d I leave out my retired from Waccamaw Elementary teacher friends? They let me come along even though I quit instead of putting in my time. We just gave ourselves a name … Waccamaw Enduring Women. Love you gals!
Confession here, Kim.
I \”liked\’ your post for Dave Hamlin. So sorry. I\’m sure he\’d like it too, but I was helping his wife figure out the wonderful world of Twitter today and didn\’t realize I was still signed into his account when I first \”liked\” your post. I\’m sure he\’d like it too.
There … that\’s my funny story for today.
😉
Oh, that is funny, Beth. And of all posts for it to happen on. Wouldn\’t have been nearly as funny on the depression posts. 🙂
I hope Dave doesn\’t mind Dane Cook\’s language. I debated about posting the link, but it makes me laugh every time. I never noticed the bad words until I went to post it on here. Every other time I watched it, I was too busy relating to his weepathon.
Delighted to have you share your funny story on here.
Kim thank you for the smiles!! You really bless my life <3
Awww, Tami. I feel the same way. You\’ve got a great smile, by the way. 🙂 Thanks for your friendship.
This post is just great 🙂 I am a big believer in laughter as the best medicine and can just about always count on my husband to make me laugh at least once on any given day (okay, so sometimes I\’m laughing AT him but don\’t tell him I said so!)
You brightened my day and made me laugh 🙂 I\’ll go tell my husband he is off the hook today!
Hi Susannah. Great to see you back in the blogging world. You were gone for a little while, right? I\’m with you, I love laughter! I promise not to say a thing to your husband. I wouldn\’t want to be the cause of him getting all serious on you. 🙂 Love that you stopped by.
Yes, trying to catch up on what everyone has been doing! When we arrived home from Thailand, we were in the midst of cyclonic weather and had no power, phones etc for a few days. And since then, I\’ve just been trying to catch up on life! x
I remember now reading that you were back, but something was going on. I hope life is settling down a bit. I\’m sure that threw you for a loop. Thanks for taking the time to drop by in the midst of all you\’re dealing with. Take good care, Susannah!
Really enjoyed this today. Thank you and Iove to laugh. Blessings, Susan Fryman
Susan, oh, me too! Luv2Laf … that\’s my slogan. So happy to be able to share some giggles with you. Hope you\’ll come again soon.
loved all of the stories…but, how is \”Huck\”???…
Hi Marilyn, so happy to read your comment. Huck is growing by leaps and bounds. He\’s about the size of a peach right now. 🙂 He\’s due July 24th and may actually be a she. We find out the sex of the baby March 1st. Can\’t wait! Thanks for asking.
I love the way you were told about the new litle one–and your gift of overalls for congratulations! So cool to see our \”Danglers\” in your blog!
Peggy, my earrings are the highlight of getting dressed. Each morning when I choose a pair, I see my danglers and smile. Wish I could wear them everyday, but they\’re a little heavy and I\’m afraid my earlobes would be to my shoulders in no time. Lol. Boy, wouldn\’t our waitresses gawk at that? 🙂
Lunch is in the works. Have earrings, will eat.
Your blog reminded me of the motto: Wag more, bark less. I think if we all lived by this we\’d smile more and have our panties-in-a wad a lot less!
I love that saying, Beth. And you live it! So happy we\’re writing buddies.
So happy I made your blog! I feel like a celebrity! You already know how much I love to laugh and how therapeutic it is for me. The \”dressed inside out\” story cracked me up because it reminded me of a hilarious incident from my own past. Way too embarrassing to put it in print, but remind me the next time we are together, and I\’ll share it! 😉
Hey, missy, if I can put all these events in writing, you can share your inside out story. The truth will set you free. In fact, you could write about it in a guest post. 🙂 Guess not?
Okay, fine, just make sure you share it with me the next time we\’re together. You know how I hate to miss a good laugh.
Love having you on my blog. You\’ve certainly contributed a lot behind the scenes. Love you!
Dave Hamlin accidentally liked my post (see Beth\’s comment), so I paid him a visit to thank him. 🙂 He has a light-hearted and insightful blog, and his illustrations make me smile big.
Hope you\’ll check him out @ http://drawingfromexperienceblog.wordpress.com.