Stuff I Learned Yesterday

Winter break came around and my brothers and I had some time on our hands. One day we decided that each of us would choose one of our gifts from under the Christmas tree and open it. We would be very careful, sneek open the box, take a peek inside, and then seal it back up. Our parents would never even know. Since we were all in it together, there was no risk at one of us ratting out one of the others. It was collusion at its finest! I picked a box that was a couple of inches thick, about 10 inches wide, and about 15 inches long. I carefully sliced open the tape and slid the box from the wrapper. I popped the box open and did the dance of joy. Inside that box was my future, my pathway to coolness. Inside that box was a pair of Bugle Boy jeans. In fact, all three of us got Bugle Boy jeans for Christmas that year. Read More...

Christmas as a child and Christmas as an adult are totally different. As a child I had no responsibilities except to show up, read package tags, shred paper, navigate through all the carefully placed tape, and say thank you to the appropriate person. It was a pretty sweet deal. What made it sweeter was even if I failed at all of those things, I would still walk away with the same stuff. Christmas as a kid was awesome. Once I got to the age where I had a job, I had to start actually paying for the gifts that I was giving and I could no longer depend on my dad to do it. Man, growing up stinks! Not only that, the older I’ve gotten, the less stuff I get every year. Does that mean I’m getting closer and closer to being on the naughty list? Read More...

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Bonita. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page Read More...

Last week, I was in a mad rush, leaving the house to drop off my oldest at school, then planned to head directly to the gym. When I pulled out, I noticed a large box propped against our front door. It was white and long and not at all inconspicuous, so I realized I would need to make a quick trip back home to pull it inside before completing any more errands. I wasn’t expecting any large packages, but assumed that it must be something for my husband. I announced to my girls the plans that we were going to head back home, to pull the package inside and was immediately swamped with questions about the box’s contents. I explained that I didn’t know and that I wasn’t quite sure. Read More...

The holiday spirit is everywhere this time of year. People seem to be a little bit nicer, a little bit friendlier and overall more generous. Perhaps it's a last ditch effort to get their names on the nice list, but most likely it's coming from the heart. I experienced some of that on Monday but my day didn't start off that way.

To: Darrell From: Uncle Johnny, Aunt Susan, & Lacey DeAnn. Merry Christmas 1986. Those are the words inscribed inside the front cover of one of my Christmas gifts from that year. I know those are the exact words, because it’s sitting here on my desk right next to me as I type out this story. The gift was a small 3”x5” photo album. The entire cover is padded and it has a embossed gold frame on the front cover. Most people would say it’s burgundy in color but here in Oklahoma, we like to call it crimson. When the album is opened I see numbers. Numbers like 88, 4, 45, and 44. There on the very first page of the photo album is picture of 4 of my childhood heroes. Number 88: Keith Jackson. Number 4: Jamelle Holieway. Number 45: Lydell Carr. Number 44: Brian Bosworth. Read More...

Today’s story will take us back to 1983 or 1984. My parents were still married and we lived in a trailer house located in between the town I now live in, Edmond, OK, and the town north of here, Guthrie, OK. My brother was part of the local Boy Scouts group, and that group is the source of this story. My brother’s troop was responsible for a Christmas tree lot here in Edmond. I’m guessing it was some sort of fundraiser for them, but I’m not sure. What I am sure of is that on a cold December night my family and I found ourselves manning the lot and trying to sell evergreens. Read More...

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Justina. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page Read More...

Who here loves mopping? Raise your hands!! I know a story about a mop may not sound like the most exciting lesson, but it did lead me to learn something new and I hope you will learn something too. Last year, mopping was my enemy. I had laminate wood flooring and tile throughout my entire home, and keeping up with the sweeping and mopping was at least a full-day’s job. Not to mention I had a little one that loved to discover whatever I didn’t keep up with and immediately initiate impromptu taste-tests of whatever she found. I am pretty diligent about sweeping up after meals and especially make a point to not miss sweeping after dinner, but mopping was a whole different beast. Read More...

I’m a dog person. I’ve been living with one or more cats in the house ever since Kim and I first moved in together, but she’s the cat lover, I just happen to live in the same house with one and tolerate it for her sake. Dogs on the other hand, I can get into.

Sometime during the night after we had gone to sleep, Santa would sneak into the very room we were sleeping in, and he would leave special presents under the tree and fill the stockings with goodies. That Christmas morning in 1982 my brother and I awoke to the sight of two Huffy Laredo bicycles by the tree. They were mesmerizing. The Huffy Laredo bicycle had a beautiful padded banana seat, raised handlebars, a chain guard, and cool looking fenders over the wheels. Read More...

Since a few of my stories over the next few weeks are going to be centered at my aunt and uncle’s home in Liberal, KS, today I want to tell you about their home and what I learned from traveling there each year during my childhood. Like most kids, I looked forward to Christmas break every year. What’s not to look forward to, right? Two weeks with no school, new toys would soon be in my hands, more time to play with friends, and if we were lucky, we might even get some snow. Those are the things kids love most. Read More...

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Ana. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page Read More...

This year has been interesting to say the least. It’s had its fair share of ups and downs, but mostly ups. I’m going to share something that’s pretty personal to me, and I ask that you hear it for it’s intent. This year we have struggled more than other years financially. This means we’ve made a lot of changes in our daily life routines and decisions. I never thought I was too materialistic or had a long list of unnecessary “needs”, but as we’ve had to make spending decisions more carefully, I’ve realized how untrue that really was. Even decisions as simple as buying specific brands of dish soap over a generic cheaper one were a little painful for me. Read More...

I’m 45 years old, so it shouldn't be a big surprise to hear that I wear glasses. After all, most people’s eyesight will degrade over time so I count myself lucky that I went 37 years with near perfect vision.