A Phrase in time saves none

There are phrases I love and phrases I hate. Among those I love are:

• "Tit for tat" - Gave me many a giggle as a young lad.

• "In for a penny, in for a pound" - A phrase that is clear even if you do not know what a pound is. Still, for a few years, I thought it was strictly a weight.

• "A picture is worth a thousand words" - Especially if the subject is female and nude.

• "All things must pass" - Scary... when you are talking about kidney stones.

• "Better late than never" - One of my credos.

• "Beware the Law of Unintended Consequences" - Something lawmakers do not adhere to.

Some that never made sense...

• "A wink is as good as a nod to a blind horse" - I just can't figure the value of a blind horse.

• "A watched pot never boils - I have proved this wrong many times. An unwatched pot, however, boils out the Teflon or at least burns/boils off whatever was in it.

• "Catch as catch can" and "Handsome is as handsome does" - These make no sense at all to me but my mother used to say them all the time.

• "Fell like a ton of bricks" - All objects fall at the same rate barring wind resistance. I think Galileo proved that. Or maybe Newton.

• "A penny saved is a penny earned" - Only if you get 100% interest.

I like to mix metaphors myself...

"A watched pot never nods to a blind horse"

The one phrase I truly hate is...

"Have a nice day"

I don't know why. It seems pleasant enough and innocuous enough. But it is so often offered insincerely, sometimes sarcastically. I never know just how to take it.

I hope you all had a pleasant, even merry, Christmas. I had my usual. Except we had a huge ham for dinner. Along with green beans (I love green beans) and Julienne Potatoes that were extra cheesy because Frances had used the potatoes from one box a few days ago and we used the extra cheese packet for this meal. We now have enough leftover ham to provide ham sandwiches for the next 3 weeks or so.

Even though we do not exchange presents most years, we often just buy little extra things for ourselves. We always know just what we want or need, why risk someone else figuring it out? So, this year I got a new golf GPS thingy. And a putter I am still trying to train. I didn't need a new putter but the bargain was too good to pass up. Faye still hasn't decided what she wants yet. I am assuming it will be expensive. Maybe a week in Las Vegas in the Spring. I am hearing hints of this. Hints in this house mean plans or reality.

There is a reason we do not exchange presents. Several of them, actually, but the main one is we give or buy the things we want all year long. Christmas (the gift giving part anyway) is pretty much year round. Similar with birthdays. Sometimes those gifts are given months in advance. I mean, why wait for that special day when any day is, or can be, special? And these are just "things." They are not what is important when you get right down to it.

I am very fortunate that Faye sees this the way I do. Truly an ongoing special gift.