Willy Nilly and His Idiom Friends

While I was driving the boy and his buddy home from basketball practice this week, we had the most entertaining of conversations. The boy and his buddy are 10 and 11 years old... almost 11 and 12 years old... pretty much EVERY conversation with them is entertaining. If not, educational. Often times, hilarious. Occasionally, inappropriate.

I was spouting off words of wisdom and talking about old wives tales without actually using the word "idiom." My smarty pants boy said,

"Oh. You mean 'idioms' don't you?"

Well yes I did, but I didn't want to show off in front of you and your friend here, thanks.

Idioms... those funny little sayings that everyone knows and uses. By my definition, idioms have a different meaning than the obvious.

Like:

Don't count your chickens before they hatch. ('Cause nothing's worse than a stinky unhatched egg.)

Hold your horses. (I use this one ALL the time. People in my house are SO patient.)

He's sitting on the fence. (Ouch.)

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. (Again with the eggs.)

Actions speak louder than words. (Unless I'm using my redneck mama voice.)

She got a taste of her own medicine. (Well why would she taste anyone else's medicine if it's not prescribed for her?)

I could go on and on. There are about a zillion, and I use a half zillion every day.

This week, I have been getting back to square one(idiom alert).

We put Dan/Daddy back on a plane for the Middle East, and we began the process of restoring "normal" around here.

I know you might be thinking, "WHAT?!? Normal shouldn't be when he's GONE. It should be when he's home."

And you're right. Partly. You know what vacations are like? You know how the whole family gets kinda out-of-whack after just a few days off their routine? Everyone is off schedule, no one is eating properly, no one is sleeping properly, etc., etc.

Well, that's what it was like around here... except it was 2 weeks. It was a regular field day(idiom alert). The folks at Krispy Kreme knew us by our first names. The cats couldn't find anywhere to rest. Even the Wii and the Playstation were tired.

Now Dan/Daddy has been greatly missed, and we'll be glad when he's home for good, but that chaos was driving me up the wall(idiom alert).

So all this week, I have been catching up on MOUNTAINS of laundry, re-stocking the fridge, getting the boy back into bed at a respectable hour, running errands that didn't get run, catching up on my Bible study, and making sure we eat at least one vegetable.

No more running around all "willy-nilly." Is that an idiom? Just who is Willy-Nilly? And why is he associated with mayhem? Poor Willy. Maybe he's been on R&R, too.