Ever since I got this much-coveted Wonder Woman mug, I’ve been asking myself, “What Would Wonder Woman Do?

I know it’s really supposed to be WWJD? What would Jesus do? And I may blog about that someday…if I can find a Jesus mug.

However, what I’m finding is that it can’t really be WWWWD because Wonder Woman really doesn’t have to deal with every day situations like I do…so it’s more like WWWWND? What would she NOT do? What small tortures does she get out of every day?

I bet she never leaves her wallet in the grocery store.

I bet she never has to vacuum the living room…around a grand piano, 6 guitars, 3 flutes and a set of congas.

I bet she never has to get up in the middle of the night and trips on dog you-know-what while cleaning up a child’s you-know-what.

I bet she never says you-know-what.

I bet she never feels insecure about anything, because, well…she’s Wonder Woman.

I bet she never feels bloated.

I bet she never passes on a piece of chocolate cake. Well…maybe. No…no, I don’t think she does. Of course, she can eat whatever she wants.

I bet she never second guesses herself.

I bet she never has blisters on her feet.

I bet she never gets something stuck in her teeth.

I bet she never goes to the gynecologist.

I bet she never waits for HIM to call. You know, The One.

I bet she never waits, period.

I bet she never says something really dumb and then has it replay over and over and over in her mind.

I bet she never looks silly when she dances.

I bet she never has cobwebs.

I bet she never falls down the stairs, or up, for that matter.

I bet she never has a wedgie.

I bet she never has all the ice fly forward in the glass while she’s drinking, causing the drink to go all over her costume and face.

Speaking of that, I bet she never gets stains. Think of all the money she saves on spot remover. And come to think of it, she doesn’t need an iron either, because her costume doesn’t wrinkle. And since her costume is so perfect, that settles the problem of WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR? day in and day out. Imagine how orderly her closet is! And there isn’t an abundance of hair accessories either, because that crown is perfection and cancels out any other accessory that might be halfway covet-worthy. Plus, when you have blue-black hair that never gets frizzy or too flat, you’re not really concerned about costumes or crowns or wrinkles or problems, because you have impeccable blue-black hair and that’s just…cool.

Sigh.

I love Wonder Woman.

Besides seeing Jesus…and David, Joseph and Esther…Ruth too, she rocks…in heaven, I’m excited that I can see Tarryn every day. I love this girl so much. In heaven~ God, are you hearing this?~ I’d like my mansion to be close to hers, please. It will save on texting…

Tarryn’s mom, Cynthia, was married a week ago in a beautiful beach wedding. The hot, humid, rainy day cleared up and cooled off just in time for the sweetest ceremony. Jeff, the lucky man Cynthia married, is wonderful in his own right. No, we can’t say he’s a blond female Mary Poppins, but he is special too. For real special, not *wink* special… 🙂

Look at this little dream…

The food was spectacular. The candy bar was divine…

I’m so happy for this couple. They feel like family to me already~ it’s amazing how that can happen so quickly with some people, but it’s just the way it is with this whole family. For keeps.

Other very important things happened in my visit…just for one, I picked up my phone and found about 25 of these fabulous treasures:

Imagine every face possible and you will know what I’m talking about…

I think I might have met my face-making match.

She has my heart.

And this guy…oh, don’t even get me started on him. I can’t even take his cuteness. He makes my guts squeeze every time I look at him.

To new starts, adventures and chasing dreams…true wuv.

And now it’s back to missing…it’s hard to miss. Day after day, miss, miss, miss. So if we could hurry up on the heaven deal, God, that would be great.

Well, if you read any of last weeks’ posts, you might have picked up that my trip to Arkansas didn’t exactly go as I was imagining it. I knew it was really important that I get there and that I get there FAST, and that much was true.

My dad is out of the hospital, still on oxygen full time, still having complications with a handful of serious issues that will (LORD WILLING) be resolved SOON. We’re so ready for that. There was one super scary day with him midway through my stay and I thought we’d be taking him right back to the hospital.

Turns out, it was my grandpa that ended up in the hospital. His heart rate was 39 when he was admitted; his sugar was 400.  They talked about a pacemaker one minute and letting him go home in the same breath. He was there for 4 days. I’m still really concerned about him too. It was really hard to see him suffering.

Many hard things were said and done, but it seems to have helped get things moving in the right direction. If that’s really the case, all the rough stuff was totally worth it.

I really (!!!) appreciate all the comments, emails and texts after I wrote that last post. Some even said that it helped them have those hard discussions with their loved ones that they’ve been avoiding. Thank God for that. If I can ever help nudge you to take brave steps by discussing my faltering, foolish, yet sometimes effective ways, then I’m all for putting myself out there. 😉

Nate joined us after we’d been there a week~ on Friday night and we started the drive back home yesterday. We’re just a couple hours from home as I write this. Nate being there helped in every way. I’m so thankful he was able to come. He listened to me stew after talking to Dr. Caldwell from St. Vincent’s in North Little Rock~ I say these details about Dr. Caldwell to make sure you avoid him like the plague if you ever have to go there. TRUST ME ON THIS. Nate also put up with my Walmart-induced stupors and my rants on the crazy drivers of Arkansas. And he’s driven most of the way home. Yeehaw and Hallelu.

Any time with my parents is treasured time, so we managed to have fun, even while just cuddled up on the couch. It always goes too fast, is never long enough and will probably always be that way, no matter how long we’re there.

A few highlights on the trip:

Just thought you’d be interested to know that the radio stations in Iowa are mostly all country stations. The stations in Missouri are mostly all about crops~ planning soybeans, pruning trees.  And I can’t get past 102.5 in Arkansas to know what else is there. I do like me some gospel music. That station almost makes me like Arkansas. Almost.

(Arkansas brings out the very worst in me. This has never been more evident than on this particular trip. I can’t even tell you.)

“That Harley store is in a BARN! Iowa is SO COUNTRY!”~ Greyley (Fabulous yellow barn, by the way. Oh the things I could do with THAT barn!)

“Is Arkansas the continent of Missouri?” ~ Indigo

The MapQuest lady needs to work on her pronunciation of the word toward. It sounds like tard when she says it. And when she says, “Tard Fort Smith” it is especially hilarious…because her Fort isn’t quite right either. Indigo tried to copy her and ended up saying, “Tard Fart Snart,” which you can just IMAGINE how funny that strikes a kid who isn’t supposed to say you know what…we’ve said it all the way home.

“Where the eagles gather, that is where you find the carcass…that’s the word of the Lord.”~ Nate  (To which every time he’d point out an “Eagle!” I’d say, “Carcass!” Similar to the game Marco Polo, I guess.) You had to be there. It really is in the Bible and it really is funny when he pulls out random scriptures like that.

About our car, “These trips sure are messy!”~ Indigo  (Sigh. SOOO true and just when I’d almost gotten down the art of keeping a clean car with children.)

I read How to Kill a Rockstar on the way home and then wanted to discuss it in detail with Nate.  (I loved this book) It got us talking about Eddie and the Cruisers~ do you remember that movie? I think I’m going to have to read the book over again~ I liked it that much. And I also want to see Eddie and the Cruisers again.

We’ve eaten even more junk food on the way home than we did coming. My stomach might not ever be the same. Smoked Cheddar Cheez-Its? Not a fan. Spicy Nacho Doritos? Yes, yes, I like.

I’ve rambled long enough. Tomorrow morning I’m flying out for a wedding in Florida. I’ll try to do a better job of taking pictures. I’m having a time with uploading pictures/computer/hard drive, etc. It’s putting a major damper in my picture taking agenda. Bear with me. This blog will be cool again one day. Hopefully.

Please keep my dad and grandpa in your prayers still. Things felt stable when I left, but for sure not resolved, so it’s more difficult than ever to not be closer. Over and out, y’all.

More than ever this week, I’ve wished this was an anonymous blog. I’ve wished it all year, because it’s been one of those seasons of having so much to say and not being able to say it. So on my favorite place to write exactly what is on my mind, when I go to write I end up talking grammar and other safe topics. 🙂 Good grammar is on my mind, don’t get me wrong, but my head is full and this has always been my outlet. It’s been sad to feel like I’m, in a sense, avoiding this blog.

This year hasn’t been all bad~ there has been so much wonderful, but sometimes even great things have to be kept private. That being said, there has been a steady stream of hard lessons learned, gross life junk and altered relationships all along the way that would probably make for a multitude of fantastic blog posts. I’m being rather sarcastic, even though it’s the truth. It really would have helped to talk about it on here, feel the relief of writing it out and also get your input.

I’m not really going anywhere much further with that train of thought, only to say it’s why I’m here so rarely these days. I miss writing more often (so much!) but when I start a post, the things that want to come out aren’t so Girly Muse friendly.

Today, I will give you a censored version of an ongoing struggle…

I’m still in Arkansas and my dad had an awful day yesterday. We were up in the wee hours of the morning praying for him and trying to get him comfortable. Thankfully, he finally fell asleep when the chest pains subsided a little. Normally, we would have gotten him to the hospital in a hurry after 2 nitro, but he had been feeling like he couldn’t even make it to the hospital. It was really scary, so it felt miraculous for him to sleep and I’m grateful that by the time he went to bed last night, he was so much better. In the meantime, my grandpa has been suffering~ he keeps falling and each time is more affected. He didn’t know Greyley this visit. Yesterday, he didn’t know me half the time. He’ll say something that makes sense and in the next minute, he’ll be talking nonsense. But beyond that, he’s in pain and not able to take care of himself.

My grandparents have been amazing in their ability to care for their home and their yard. You can’t believe the gardens they’ve had. They’re both in their mid-80s and have suffered every disease known to man, but have always worked unbelievably hard. My grandmother’s health hasn’t been the best either and on Monday, we were at her doctor, trying to get relief for her too. They’re both struggling and it’s awful to watch. I’ve left bawling each time I leave their house this week.

Downsizing, Assisted Living and Nursing Home…these are the topics that have been on the table for a long time. And whew, it’s a complicated, volatile conversation.

The stress of it all has taken its toll on my dad and he cannot do it any longer. He’s the kind of man who took my other grandfather, who had Alzheimer’s, into our home and cared for him until the day he died. He was the one called when his pastor’s mother was getting sicker and eventually put in the nursing home. Some days she only wanted my dad and he was there faithfully. He was the one holding up my mom’s mother when she was struggling for her last breath.

With his parents, he has taken care of them at the expense of his own health. Again and again and again. And while he has the ability to say no, it is not in his nature to turn his head when someone is suffering. So he just keeps on~X, Y, Z, you name it, he’s doing it~ with my mom right alongside him.

So I come to town and go all Mother Bear for my parents. It’s hard to explain it any other way than that because I’d never felt such a FIERCE love until I had kids. I loved and I loved hard, but not fierce, until them. I didn’t dream I would ever be the one to have to have this conversation, but you know what they say…I guess things happen for a reason. And initially, I didn’t say anything that their kids haven’t said to them already, but I had it out with my grandmother yesterday, confronting her about getting help for Grandpa.

My little 84-pound grandmother is strong and mighty. I realized yesterday that everyone in the entire family is afraid of her. If you’re looking for ways to support your loved ones in difficult times, you can try https://www.insidecbd.net/ for additional resources and guidance.

It’d be hilarious if…well…I don’t know when it’s hilarious at the moment.

My grandma has always called me the sweet one, but after yesterday, I’m not so sure she’ll ever speak to me again, much less call me sweet. I’ve never had one cross word with her, EVER, but yesterday we pretty much covered it all. At one point, I chuckled and said, “Well, I know where I get my stubbornness from, Grandma. YOU.” We were talking about her not letting a girl who’d stayed with them cook for her, even though she was there to do just that.

And I made her cry. Yes, I made my grandma cry.

She said I hurt her feelings and that nobody had never, EVER called her stubborn. Well, I apologized immediately because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I also know that everyone has always called her stubborn. I guess it’s been behind her back, so she’s apparently never been faced with the truth.

When I think about all we did talk about, I’m struck by the fact that this is what made her cry. Out of all we talked about~ and I’ll tell you, we covered some extremely intense and painful territory for about 5 hours~ but me calling her stubborn is the only thing that made her cry.

You know me~ it has my head whirling. Four hours of sleep and lots of thinking later and this is what has jumped up out of it all and consumed my thoughts. Our human nature~ how do we hide our true nature from ourselves? Sometimes even to the extent that everyone who knows us can see it, BUT us.

Denial is a strong, dangerous character, especially if you’ve entertained it your whole life. I’m tempted to say it’s right up there with bitterness, but I guess denial is really like the antithesis of bitterness and probably a way more peaceful brain space. I guess I can’t deny someone denial for that reason.

The saga continues. It wasn’t resolved yesterday. Today another attempt will be made to get help for them. I did the best I could and certainly paved the way. Now, I’m wrapping my protective bear claws around my mom and dad and bearing my teeth at anyone who blinks at them crooked.

I am, after all, my grandmother’s granddaughter.

What a difference a day makes…

My dad was in the hospital on Wednesday and Thursday of last week and by Friday, I was burning the pavement from Minnesota to Arkansas as fast as my Mazda Tribute would take me. By the way, thank you, Trib, for getting me places after 120,000+ miles.

My little road troopers joined me…

We like to eat as much junk as possible on a road trip. Krispy Kremes were also involved. And Coke Icees. And Cracker Barrel biscuits and gravy. And pancakes. We were ready for tuna casserole when we arrived. Why does traveling make you so hungry?

Can I throw in here that I wish I’d never introduced my kids to Cracker Barrel? It began when I would drive this trip with Greyley as a baby and wanted a nice changing table, along with a good meal. It turned into an hour of eating food that can be hit or miss, drinking bad coffee and getting sucked into buying some sort of toy because you feel bad guilty that you’ve had your kids in the car for hours on end.

Now I feel like a traitor for saying that about Cracker Barrel, but to top it off~ after I’ve eaten their food, I’m always SERIOUSLY drowsy. Not a good combination with driving. OK, rant finished.

We left at 6:55 AM and arrived at my parents’ house at 9:00 PM. If you’ve ever been in the car for this long, you know that some madness is bound to take over your brain.

Some hyperness has to come out. Some slap happy-ness. Some other words ending with -ness.

We got here and I have never been happier to finally make it. It was killing me to be so far from my dad with him being so sick. I knew if I came while he was still in the hospital, he’d be doing everything he could to get out (he’s done this before when I come while he’s in the hospital) so as soon as I got word that they let him come home, we hightailed it over here. He’s still not doing well at ALL, but he has perked up a little with us here, I must say. 🙂

Here’s what has been happening with him~ a year ago yesterday (!) he had triple bypass surgery and we just kept waiting for him to get better and recover from that, but he hasn’t. Every doctor he’s been sent to has said, “It’s complicated.” Ugh. It turns out, he has several things working against him and we’re still not even sure what’s hurting him the most. The latest thing is that he has pulmonary hypertension, which is a scary thing…coronary artery spasms, another scary thing. He’s on oxygen around the clock, which has helped him stop passing out, but he’s still not getting enough oxygen. His blood pressure is crazy low~ like 55/32. He had 2 back surgeries a couple years ago and they didn’t go well, so any tests they run on him put him in more pain than he’s already in…see? It is complicated.

SO…we’re kind of desperate here for things to change for him.

All I know how to do is provide comic relief, make mashed potatoes, watch Little Rascals and pray. So that’s what we’re doing so far. My dad has to go back in for more tests and we’re still waiting to hear about the ones from last week.

I’ll be posting more this week, so keep me company over here, all right? After posting about my dad on Facebook, I was so encouraged and grateful for all my lovely friends and family. I’ve shown my dad all the wonderful comments and he appreciates it so much. We will take all the prayers we can get.

In unrelated topics, it is Hotter than Hades here.

And when I went to Walmart, I thought that’s where I was.

Forgive me, but it’s the truth. Walmart in Cabot, AR, brings out the very worst in me. Actually, besides the Ozarks and the fact that my family is from here and several other nice folks are too, I cannot think of much to like about it. I like a lot of places, but…I think ARKANSAS might bring out the worst in me. So maybe it’s not Arkansas, it’s just me. I might just be having a bitter moment that this is where I have to come when I visit my parents instead of where I grew up in California…but imagine what THAT road trip would have been like…

The past weekend was one of the best and busiest I’ve had in a long time…summer has taken off with a bang.

I FINALLY took action with my unruly yard. It’s sad~ my gardening skills have gotten worse over the years instead of better. I can’t tell you how many perennials I’ve tried in our garden beds. Sigh. My garden at my first house was so cute and colorful. Now I have a huge yard and it’s like pulling teeth to get things to flourish. We dug up a ton, moved things around…it was a family affair. One flower bed looks fantastic; the others still have to be finished. Any tips on VERY HARDY plants for zone 4?

Friday night, I spent time with my girls Courtney, Tosha and Halima…hang with just one of them and hilarity ensues, but put the four of us in a room together and it’s, well…I don’t even have a word for it. Suffice it to say, I am still laughing a few days later. I love these women and thank God for true friends.

My dear friend, Amy, from college days, was in town and we had breakfast Saturday morning. It has been far too long since I’ve seen her and oh my, what a treat. I will make sure I see her before another decade goes by! We reminisced for hours and it felt as if no time had passed. Another friend, Wendy, who I have known forever, but never really knew~ know what I mean? 🙂 ~ she joined us and I am so glad I finally got to know her better.

We saw Brave~ did any of you see it yet? The red hair is mesmerizing!

Our two great nephews, Jordan and Caleb, graduated and had such a fun party on Saturday, complete with music from our nephews, Chris and Andrew. Take a look at our new great niece…isn’t she a beauty?

Yep, she’s dreamy.

And then after months and months of staying up way too late and waking up way too early, it caught up with me. I fell asleep on the couch at 7:30 P.M. Can you believe it? I dragged myself to bed around midnight and wonder of wonders~ I went back to sleep until 6:30 A.M.! I was a new woman, I tell you!

After church, we had a group of 9 or 10 record BGVs on a song for Jason Gray’s Christmas project. We tried to invoke the good cheer of Christmas in the heat of the studio and I think we might have managed to pull it off. I do love a day of singing in the studio. Even though it’s usually sweaty and sometimes crowded, your feet get tired and it can be a LONG day, good memories are always made.

Last night, we started watching the series Downton Abbey at Steve and Jill’s house. I’ve wanted to see this for a long time and it did not disappoint…I am hooked. I saw four episodes and I’m going to get after the rest in speedy fashion.

I feel that I sufficiently wrung out the goodness of the entire weekend as best I could. Now…on to a hopefully mellow week. I can only handle so much fun.

Due to the astonishing rise in apostrophe usage, plurals are quickly becoming extinct. If nothing is done to remedy this situation, plurals will be a thing of the past.

Dun dun dun (cue scary organ music)

Everywhere you look, apostrophes are running rampant. Menus, church bulletins, SCHOOL PAPERS and even published books are throwing plurals out to pasture. Desperate times call for desperate measures, people.

See if you can find the errors in this brief paragraph:

Parent’s, please bring your childrens’ yearbook’s to the class party. We would like all the boy’s and girl’s to sign yearbook’s for a memory’s keepsake.

No, the school handout I saw wasn’t this bad, but I promise I’ve seen all of these mistakes at one time or another. If your heart constricted and your breath became shallow while reading the above, you feel my pain. Thank you. If you don’t see anything wrong with those sentences, maybe God is trying to tell you something. (cue a heavenly choir)

I put this status on FB the other day:

Plurals feel highly neglected with all the misused apostrophes…just thought you should know.

I was asked for help, so here I am. 🙂

Let’s talk about apostrophes.

*Apostrophes and contractions belong together. don’t, isn’t, haven’t, she’s

*Apostrophes are all like, “MINE!” They show possession. Put the apostrophe before the s. the girl’s toe, the boy’s frog.

Note that names ending in s or the s sound don’t HAVE to have the added s, but it’s preferred. Ross’s books, Mr. Lees’s food, Miss Jones’s cookie.

*Throw in an apostrophe when a noun to follow is implied. It is my mother’s.

Speaking of mothers, those mother-in-laws can be tricky…

*In singular compound nouns, show possession with ‘s at the end. my mother-in-law’s tree

*In plural compound nouns, make the noun plural first and then add the ‘s at the end. two mothers-in-law’s stories, three brothers-in law’s jokes (I’d probably just say their names to avoid this whole thing, but this handy rule is nice to have up your sleeve.)

*For plural possession, make the noun plural first and then add the apostrophe. three girls’ shoes, two actresses’ parts, the Joneses’ cookies.

*Apostrophes do not belong in a plural name. Sabins, Atkinsons, Ramirezes

*Apostrophes have no place with possessive pronouns. his, hers, its, theirs, ours, whose

Except, you know, it’s if you’re talking about it is or it has…

*Plural letters and numbers used as nouns do not need apostrophes. She mixed up her 5s and 9s. ABCs, the 80s.

UNLESS, it is unclear without an apostrophe. Please dot your i’s. (otherwise it would look like is)

I’m sure I’ve forgotten something important here. Feel free to throw in your 2 cents, thoughts, feelings and grief on the subject. If you want to write about more than one of something, add an S. If you’re talking to parents, don’t you dare add an apostrophe! There is a time and place for everything and that is not it.

I thought the lightning was going to strike me down last night, but nope, I lived. Goodness, it was LOUD and BRIGHT and DRAMATIC in this little neck of the woods. I haven’t been outside yet…hopefully, there’s no lasting damage.

I worried about the cat who has taken a place in our hearts over the past week.

Fiona…

She showed up last Tuesday and sat on our front porch, meowing at our front door. I hardened my heart because I haven’t been up for another pet after Alex. I know~ I should be able to love another pet, but my heart broke too much after he died. I haven’t been up for it.

The freedom is also nice. And the lack of some of the gross aspects of pets…also nice.

But Fiona captured our hearts as soon as we went outside and checked on her. She is the sweetest cat I’ve ever met~ extremely friendly and loving and gentle. We took her around the nearby neighborhoods and knocked on doors, knowing someone missed a pet like this. She’s just too great…

No one recognized her.

For several days, she made himself at home on our front porch, back deck and driveway. We went out to pet her, but didn’t let her in the house. Day 4, I caved. She’d been meowing at me all day. If not at one door, then she’d be at the next and I broke down and went to see her. And not just halfheartedly like the other times, but for REALS.

I called her and she came. Who knew cats could do that?! Loud noises made her bolt, but she came right back…

I spoke to her and she fell out on her back. I went on the porch swing and she came right over. I picked her up and…fell hard.

She kept hugging me. What could I do?

I tried to maintain a hard heart. I really did.

But it was hopeless. I mean, look at that face gazing up at me?

I woke up the next morning and it was stormy outside. I told Nate I was worn down, down to a nub and needed to take the cat to the vet to get her checked out.

Here’s where the rest of the family stood on the cat:

Nate: Nuh uh. Outside, sure! Do you REALLY want cat hair in here???

Greyley: Oh please, can we have her? I’ll take care of her, I promise! (They had bonded from day 1!!!)

Indigo: Are we keeping the CAT? (as he swishes his light saber back and forth, making vicious sounds…completely unrelated to the cat)

We carried Kitty (like a baby, I might add) in the house and Greyley and I gave her a bath…we tried out Chloe, Katie, Camille…C or K names because she comes to “Come ‘ere, Kitty.” Fiona, not so much. She completely put up with the bath and Greyley lovingly combed her and held her wrapped up until she was dry.

Before we left, we saw Steve and he told us that Jill is very allergic to cats. Oh no.

Then I remembered all the other good friends we have who are also allergic.

I told Greyley we needed to pray. 🙂 And while we were waiting in the office, Greyley said that as much as she wanted to keep him, she knew we probably couldn’t for the sake of our loved ones. Man, I love that girl.

At the vet, they checked her for a chip~ there was none. When we finally saw the doctor, he fell for her too. She really is the nicest cat ever. Everything on her looked perfect. He thinks she’s around a year, maybe a little older. It was midway through his check-up on Fiona that he paused and checked and checked again and then said, “This is a boy.”

Um, WHAT?

Brakes screeching…

OK, Fiona is a Felix.

And when he said that Felix had been neutered, I knew I needed to get more aggressive about finding his owner. They gave me a website. We came home and I began to post on all the missing pet websites I could find. That night, I put Felix in Alex’s old kennel~ he’d gone to the vet in it and even seemed to like it. For the first time, we kept him in the house overnight. Around 4:30 yesterday morning, Nate heard him meowing like crazy and went to let him out.

And that was the last time I saw him.

Late last night, we got word from one of our neighbors that he’d been down there to see her. I’m not sure if she’s thinking about keeping him or if I will eventually take him to be adopted somewhere, but it looks like he was only our pet for about a minute.

I will miss him.

I’ve had a grammar post stirring in me for quite some time. I have to consciously (more on consciously later) turn part of my brain off when I read something for fun; otherwise I’m cutting the S, adding an apostrophe, chucking full sentences and losing characters that are unnecessary or annoying. Don’t get me wrong~ I know my writing isn’t perfect and I ignore some of the main writing rules~ and really, with English, there are so many exceptions, right? But for now, let’s just talk about some words that are commonly misspelled/misused.

If I let myself, I could be REALLY BOTHERED by these mistakes. Deep breaths. (More on breath later)

Let’s start with the basics…bear with me. (More on bear later)

YOUR/YOU’RE

Your is possessive~ your car, your dress, your dog

You’re is a contraction of you are~ you’re chilly, you’re going to the store. If you can say you are, throw in the apostrophe version!

ITS/IT’S

Its is a possessive pronoun~ its eyes, its kitten

It’s is a contraction of it is or it has~ it’s hot, it’s been a long time. If you can say it is, throw in the apostrophe version. If you can’t, don’t! 🙂

THERE/THEIR/THEY’RE

There~ referring to a place. There are many books on my list.

Their~ a possessive adjective indicating a particular noun belongs to them, whoever they are. I dropped their book off at the front desk, wishing I could keep it.

They’re~ a contraction of they are. They’re going to knock that book off the bestseller list!

WERE/WHERE/WEAR

This one seems hard to get wrong, but it seems to get mistreated a lot.

Were~ past form of the verb to be. We were young and not very bright.

Where~ refers to a place. Where, oh where has my little dog gone?

Wear~ to carry or have on the body as clothing or adornment. Will you wear the blue shirt?

And now some weird ones that I keep running across…

LOSE/LOOSE

I see loose all the time in place of lose. They’re two completely different words and both valuable in the English language. Let’s please not LOSE the value of these words.

Lose~ to misplace something; the opposite of winning, Charlie Sheen.  I hate to lose my keys.

Loose~ to be free, unbound; lacking restraint.  The knot was loose and threatening to break.

PEEK/PEAK

Peek~ to look at something quickly. Would you like to sneak a peek?

Peak~ a summit, highest point. Sadly, his intelligence peaked at age 15.

ANYWAY/ANYWAYS

Anyway~ a word leading into casual conversation.

Anyways~ not a word, period. Enough said.

So anyway…

ALRIGHT/ALL RIGHT

All right is correct.

Alright is not a real word, but might be gaining shady acceptance here and there. How about we don’t let that happen…

And just when we thought we had a pattern going, we hit ALREADY/ALL READY…

Already~ previously. I already ate the cookies.

All ready~ The cookies are all ready to be snarfed.

And ALTOGETHER/ALL TOGETHER

Altogether~ entirely. It was an altogether different time.

All together~ collectively. We were all together, in one mind and one accord. Hallelujah.

BEAR/BARE

Bear~ a large mammal; to hold or support; to give birth to…lots of meanings. She could hardly bear to see the bear come near the child. (Bad sentence, but hey, look at that~ two meanings, same spelling.)

Bare~ lacking clothing or exposed to view. Her bare back exposed the scars. She couldn’t bear to see the bare expanse. (Oh now…mixing it up on ya!)

BREATH/BREATHE

Breath~ a noun that most often means the air that is inhaled or exhaled. She was happy to stop and take a breath.

Breathe~ a verb relating to the action of taking in and expelling breath. Sometimes you just need to stop and breathe.

CONSCIOUS/CONSCIENCE

Conscious~ being aware or deliberate. I try to be conscious of the fact that not everyone feels the same as I do about words.

Conscience~ the sense of what is right and wrong. When it came to him, she had no conscience. (Yikes, girl, stay away from him!)

THREW/THROUGH/THRU

Threw~ past tense of throw. She threw the broken glass away, her heart breaking a little with each piece.

Through~ moving in one side and out the other. She walked through the gate and felt like a new woman.

Thru~ it’s in the dictionary, but that doesn’t mean we should use it in fancified writing. Ain’t is in some dictionaries too. Thru is an informal way of writing through. Go ahead and spell it out…unless you’re texting.

A LOT/ALOT

A lot~ to a large extent. She knew a lot about spiders.

Alot~ it’s anot a word, so adon’t ause it.

REGARDLESS/IRREGARDLESS

I was appalled to hear that irregardless is in the urban dictionary. Nooooo, say it isn’t so. This is a word that is the equivalent to nails on chalkboard for me. This might be a word that~ dare I say it~ I will…judge. And yes, it will be judging not so highly in your favor. I WILL have to speak up and say, “Please, please…don’t.”

It’s regardless. Irregardless takes away the point of saying regardless in the first place. So, just DON’T.

Sorry. I’m breathing. I’m not losing it. I’m bearing the burden so I can keep a good conscience. After all, your friendship is so important to me, regardless of the words you use. It means a lot to me that you read this blog. We can get through this hurdle.

Where were we?

Oh, so many words, so little time. What are your pet peeves with words?

*** Excellent books on writing and grammar can be found, further exposing my Geekdom…go ahead, click Geekdom, you know you want to.

My new friend, Alyssa, came over for coffee last week~ I have a regular coffee date with a few girls every Thursday morning~ and she brought her fabulous camera skills along! She’s a professional photographer and I am enjoying catching up and seeing all her beautiful pictures on her website.

She featured a few of us on her blog…to see some of the fun pictures, click HERE.

And since you’re so nice to read Girly Muse, I’ll give you a sneak peek…

Thanks, Alyssa! You perfectly captured our fun day. XO