In honor of Valentines day each misfit in the Brick House Gang has written a short poem for all of you constituents out there.

Happy Valentines Day

Roses are red, violets are purple

You’re as sweet as maple surple

NVP Lav

Convertibles are red, and I’m feeling blue

My fast Valentine, cause I’m without you.

I’ll go to Murdo agin and agin

If we can go for just one more spin.

Without you my love, candy ‘s inedible

One more ride would be so incredible

Oh I admit,

I’ve porked up a bit

Some say the pounds make my crown look smaller

but I think my small crown makes me look taller.

Just kidding Lav is still svelte

*************

Sherri the Photographic Drawer

I‘ll be yours forever, I love you that much.

Even if I leave you, I’ll still be in touch

So see Valentine it’s a win win

put me on your schedule and I’ll pencil you in.

💌✏

Jerry the Bean counter

My whole life has been full of beans

On Valentines day cross my palm with some greens

I’ll be your true love, for any amount

But I prefer 5o’s they’re so easy to count

💚🏦

Pico

Oh Murdo people, it’s you I adore A

Be still my heart so full of amore’

Whenever I see you my heart misses a beat

I throw you all kisses and dance in the street

Is she for real?…Just keep smiling

A I

Valentines candy? I can’t get enough!

I prefer sweets over flowers and stuff.

I’m an Aggressive Informant some say I’m a spy

Be my Valentine, or I’ll make you cry

🤗💟🌰

DM

They call me Danger Monitor. Feb 14th is just like any other day to me. I don’t rhyme stuff any other day. Every day there is lots of danger for me to monitor…I’m busy.. Besides Valentines Day is a lesser holiday..wait is that a limerick?

Treason

All the above sounds way too sappy

 I’m so  bored I feel like taking a nappy

On Valentines day, I do as I please

No flowers or candy, just give me some cheese

TC

Okay Treason do as you please

But I’ll tell you one thing, you can’t have my cheese

Can you believe all of the fawning?

 instead of town crying, I’m sitting here yawning

***

Carol the Singer and Sometime Snake Trainer

This valentine’s greeting is going down hill

I can’t sing my song cause this poem made me ill

“I don’t care what they say, I’ll play with snakes everyd ay ay,

but I’ll send all my lovin to you.”

Queen E.

Some say I don’t know if I’m coming or going

I look in the mirror and think that it’s snowing

I’m really much smarter than you are my chum

It takes one to know one so that means your dumb

hmm

 Murdo Girl

Giddy up Governor, let’s get out of town

Before someone sees me in my crown and red gown

This Valentines I need just 2 things

Please someone buy me a Coke and a Bings.

***************

We were gone all day and I had to hurry

and write this Valentine in a flurry

It’s Monday morning at the Brick House and Next Pres Murdo Girl is at her desk in the Oblong Office. She is busy as usual.. filing her fingernails. Pico (Person in Charge of Brick House Functions), walks in.

MG: Quickly shoves her nail paraphernalia in her already “stuffed with junk” desk drawer..Hi Pico, thanks for getting here so quickly. I have a Brick House function I want you to be in charge of.

Pico: I’m just a hop, skip, and a jump away Next Pres. I spend most of my time down in the employee lounge.

MG: I noticed you’ve been hopping, skipping, and jumping a lot lately..too many mochas? Anyway, I just found out that yesterday was Sherri the Photographic Drawer’s birthday. I want you to organize a surprise belated birthday party for her in the gym. It has to be tonight. Can you do that?

This is Sherri and her daughter Niki. She is planning to follow in her Mother’s footsteps and become a Photographic Drawer…or a veterinarian. 

Pico: Consider it done HRH Next Pres MG. Pico doodles a minute on a sheet of paper then hands it to MG. Here’s your invitation. Gotta go! See ya tonight and don’t forget to bring the cake and ice cream.

Invitation to a Brick House birthday party

Come one come all. You’ll have a ball.

Sherri’s birthday is belated. We haven’t even celebrated.

The Brick House team will unite, and give Sherri a special night.

Her age is still a secret? Has Sherri reached her peak yet?

Every constituent is invited. Not one person will be slighted.

Dress real stylish and come at fiveish.

The Brick House team, except for Sherri, will meet in the gym at 4:00 o’clock for rap practice?) This is a SURPRISE!!

At fiveish, the whole team and a smattering of constituents are in the gym waiting to surprise Sherri…tick tock, tick tock, tick tock..

smattering of constituents 

Smattering of Constituents: TC! Will you please stop saying tick tock?? We feel like we’re on that TV show, “The Price is Right.”

TC: manages not to cry..Okay Smattering of Constituents..I just felt like I should town cry something, ya know? I hate silence ya know? I have to fill voids with something ya know?

Lav: looks at Treason and says: Is miss not so sharp cheddar cheesehead over there for real?

Treason: I kinda feel sorry for her…having to wear a wedge of cheese on her head all the time. I heard she’s having a problem with mice. Can’t we afford to get her a real Town Crier hat?

Jerry the Bean Counter: Who is eavesdropping..No. I had to dip into the bean bag for a new cheesehead when I accidentally squished her old one. A real town crier hat is cost prohibited.

Treason: You mean prohibitive?

Jerry: No..I mean prohibited. I bought the wrong thing first. Do you like Head Cheese?

A I: I have a stupid question. Did anybody tell Sherri she was supposed to be here?

Carol: A I, use your head for something other than a straw hat rack and a place to hang your shades. It’s a secret so Shh! Now let’s practice this rap one more time. Lav’s going to rap it, and we’re gonna tap it.

A I: I have another stupid question. We’re gonna tap dance to rap music?

All gather their props and lineup.

MG: Comes walking in with a cake. Sorry I’m late. I had to wait til the cake was done. It’s not like you can just walk into Super Value and get an already baked cake.

DM: It looks like a pancake. Did you bring syrup?

Sherri..Sherri baby.. Sherri..Sherri baby..Sherri..

Sherri is in the employee lounge drawing a photograph of herselfie, when she hears her name. She proceeds to follow the sound to the gym.

Happy Birthday Sherri…from the Brick House Gang

“Sherri Sherri ..Where B the Cake Rap”…by Lav

 

Queens who wear toilet seats on their heads get stinky head cheese

 

 

 

When I watched Mrs E. eat a  Spam sandwich with lots of jalapeños or the extra “hot” Jimmy Dean sausage patties with her eggs, I would marvel at her iron stomach. She always said, “Daddy told me to eat hot stuff. The hotter the better.” Then she would flex her good arm and double up her fist and say, “He told me it would make me strong!”

I think there is some truth in what her Daddy said. Maybe an iron stomach indicates an iron will in a person. Mrs. E was strong willed..that’s for sure. Personally, I don’t like a fire pit  burning in my tummy. There has to be another way.

I’m not talking about physical brawn. I’m talking about emotional strength. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be able to face every fear with courage. A fox hole prayer doesn’t get enough credit. Even if it’s used as the last resort, it suggests at least a seed of faith. It takes strength to resist saying or doing what I shouldn’t say or do. It takes strength to resist temptation and strength to be disciplined and patient. Patient?

Mom always said, ” Mary… patience is not your middle name.”

It’s hard to outgrow childish ways if you continue to think like an 8 yr old. It’s a lot more fun, but the consequences of the misdeeds of an adult are indeed more severe than the punishment metered out to an 8-year-old. Being sent to my room doesn’t have the same impact as it used to.

Still, being strong and patient doesn’t cover all the bases. The ability to accept the things I cannot change is the hardest thing for me to do. I can’t change people, places or things. The only thing I can change is my actions and reactions to them. Here are some things that have been useful to me…when I remember them.

“Don’t push the river, it flows.” I know I have said this before, but it bears repeating. I am bad about trying to make things happen. As a result, some things have happened that maybe shouldn’t have. Have you ever heard the Garth Brook’s song, “Thank God for unanswered prayers?” It’s about a guy who was jilted by his high school sweetheart.Twenty years later, he went back to a high school reunion. He looked at the old girlfriend and then at the woman he married and thought, “Whoa!! Thank God I didn’t get what I prayed for.”

The above applies to times when we want sympathy because we have suffered consequences of our actions..before we have stopped crossing the ocean. We all need to believe in our own ability to cross our own oceans. Another way to say it is, ” if you want your head to stop hurting, stop hitting it against the wall.” It’s good to try a new solution when the one we keep using… keeps not working.

I’m one who has been given much. I know I don’t always give as much in return. It’s also very difficult to give love and support unconditionally.

I don’t mean any of these thoughts to have a negative connotation. “Think positive,” is my daily montra.

*********************************

5-year-old granddaughter (her daddy is giving her a bath and I’m watching.) Daddy, what is the capacity of this bathtub?

Daddy: What?

Charlie: Daddy..how much water does this bathtub hold? That is what capacity means.

Daddy: I don’t know, but you are very smart.

It’s okay to say we don’t have all the answers.

I just watched the coin toss before the start of the Super Bowl. As President George H.W. Bush and Barbara were crossing the field to toss the coin, they were given such a warm ovation, it touched my heart. While he was in the hospital last week, President Bush’s main focus was to get well enough to be released in time to go to the Super Bowl. This was another goal reached by a man who skydived on his 90th birthday.

Memo to self: Don’t try to be great…aim higher. Strive to be good…

I want to thank all those who are praying for our daughter-in-law as she prepares for her surgery on February 15th. Your prayers and friendship equal strength and gratitude.

 

 

It’s Monday morning at the Brick House and Murdo Girl is hardly working at her desk in the Oblong Office. She’s working on a crossword puzzle. Sherri the Photographic Drawer walks in. Murdo Girl quickly shoves the magazine in her desk drawer. She’s embarrassed at being caught goofing off so she picks up her crossword puzzle dictionary and pretends to be reading it.

Sherri: Are you still reading the dictionary? I tried to get through that book, but I only made it through L. It drags in parts and there aren’t enough pictures.

MG: I agree. I’ll wait for the movie..So, what’s my Photographic Drawer up to today?

Sherri: I’ve been drawing pet photograph posters for Lav. I needed a break. I’m drawing snakes now and I’m not real fond of reptiles.

MG: I don’t know what to say. I’m really afraid to ask why..Okay why?..WAIT! Don’t tell me….Okay, tell me.

Sherri: What rock have you been hiding under Next Pres? The whole gym is full of animals. Lav decided to add dog catcher to her list of Murdo Government responsibilities. She decided while she was at it, she would include all animals and reptiles…and a few bugs. TC has a sore throat from Town Crying and allergies, so she’s going around putting posters in all the merchants windows and on all the telephone poles.

MG: OH NO! She can’t be doing that!

Sherri: Why not? She says other than an irritated throat, she feels just fine.

MG: Not TC..I mean Lav. I better get down to the gym and see what’s going on!

Sherri: Okay, break’s over..I’ll go with you. I can’t miss this.

I’m Sherri..I drew all of these photographs

*************************************

Meanwhile Jerry the Bean Counter is at Harold’s barbershop uptown. Anybody who thinks all barbers talk and joke around a lot don’t know Harold. Since Jerry never has the 2 bits for a haircut, he worked out a deal with Harold. Jerry keeps the customers entertained while Harold cuts their hair, and in turn Jerry gets a free haircut.

Jerry to customer: Hey, how do you want your hair? Do you want Harold to cut it a little longer in the back? Haha. He cut the last guys hair twice and it’s still too short. Haha.

Customer: Haha..say, I was wondering, when would be a good time to bring my 2 yr old in?

Jerry: When he’s 4 haha

Customer: Haha. Hey, could you trim my eyebrows a little?

Jerry: Why? They’re almost long enough for a comb-over..haha

***************************************************

Meanwhile… while Jerry is at the Barber shop, DM and Pico are over at the Harold Thune Auditorium giving cha-cha lessons to the drill team. They don’t get paid or anything. They’re doing some community service work..and they’re having a few difficulties.

Carol is with them. Can you hear her singing? 1, 2, chachacha, 3, 4, chachacha. What is she doing with a snake?

DM: Come on people! We’re not doing.. 1, 2, do-si-do, 3, 4, do-si-do… it’s chachacha, so quit swinging your partner!!!

Pico: See my outfit? Wouldn’t you rather wear this than a square dance skirt and all those petticoats? Comfortable shoes? You want to wear Comfortable shoes?

Murdo Girl has left the gymnasium to go back to the Oblong Office. Here is some of what she has witnessed.

(Kitties: she took us from our home.)

(Treason: She’s trying to find me a home. I already have a home.)

(Carol and snake: How much?)

 (Barney: Barney??)

( Lav: Don’t worry next Pres, I’m going to find them all a home.)

The Town of Murdo is all twitterpated again. Lav has taken everybody’s pets and now she’s trying to find homes for them. The Queen can’t find her Corgi’s..It’s just one awful mess.

Murdo Girl: If I hear one more person tell me Lav’s heart is in the right place, I’m going to scream so loud it will wake the dead! I knew it was a big mistake to give her free reign of the Jeep. Isn’t it enough that she’s Vice Next Pres? Now she wants to be a dog catcher.

I don’t care how many crowns you give me…I quit! But first, I’m going to pick out a nice dog. One that doesn’t belong to someone. One that isn’t looking for it’s rightful owner.

Then I’m going to disguise myself and spend the rest of my life collecting water towers and eating Bings. Yeah..that’s what I’ll do. Haha!!

**************************************

Hey Next Pres Murdo Girl…wake up. I think you’re having a bad dream. It’s Lav, wake up!