Etymology of Words

In my last semester at UTA, I took an upper level English course titled, The History of English Language. It was my favorite undergraduate course. My professor was fabulous. He not only displayed himself as extremely well-read; the man can dress- *excellent choice in menswear!! (please see http://sarahthe.com/ post *10/25/2010).

The course taught me the phonetic alphabet! The phonetic alphabet has 2 perks: 1. only cool people learn it and 2. if you know this alphabet you can read and pronounce any language in the world! Unfortunately, I cannot lecture about it today. Who do you think I am, a fabulously dress, well-read English professor, whom I had a slight crush on (more so on the vocabulary words he used), but had no chance with, because he preferred other fabulously dress, well-read English professors.. ?

After we learned the phonetic alphabet, we dove into the history of the English language and where it originated from. This was my favorite part of the course. The following are words and where they originated:

Let's explore some Halloween words to be festive.

1. Ghost: From the Old English word "gast" meaning soul, spirit, life, breath. Also from the Old English word "gaestan" meaning to frighten.
Modern Example: The ghost was very spooky.

2. Witch:  From the Old English word "wicce" meaning female magician, sorceress, and in later use especially known as a woman supposed to have dealings with the devil or evil spirits and to be able by their cooperation to perform supernatural acts.The Old English verb "wiccian" means to practice witchcraft.
Modern Example: The child dressed up as a witch.

3. Pumpkin: From Latin word "peponem" meaning melon. From the Greek word "pepon" meaning melon. "Pumpkin pie" is recorded from 1650.
Modern Example: We carved pumpkins on Halloween.

4. Halloween: From the Scottish word "Allhallow-even" meaning eve of all saints, last night of October. The last night of October, in the Old Celtic Calendar, is known as "Old Year's Night"- a night for witches.
Modern example: I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!


references:

Rain

When it rains, I am happy.

                                                                                         

       

Sleeping Woes

For the past few months I have had trouble falling asleep. It doesn't happen every night, but I would say it happens, on average, 2 to 3 times a week. I hate to say it, but I have troubled sleep patterns.

OK, so what? Everyone has a little trouble sleeping right? Right? So what if I have a small, minuscule, teeny, tiny bout of MILD insomnia.

No big deal.

So I do what any American would do and consult my doctor, Dr. Webmd. I like checking in (logging in) with Dr. Webmd, because he (or she) really puts things into perspective. Dr. Webmd likes to make you think you are on the verge of death. The grim reaper is sweeping your doorstep, waiting to ring your doorbell. Yes, Dr. Webmd will make you think there is something seriously wrong with you. He (or she) likes to scare people with the big guns. No small diagnosis here. According to Dr.W, my sleepless nights mean I have bipolar disorder, severe depression, restless leg syndrome, REM sleep disorder, narcolepsy, and/or periodic limb movement disorder.

Although Dr.MD  gave me alot of insight as to why I can't sleep, I decided to consult someone else...myself.

I don't want to go into the whole psychological reasons as to "why" I can't sleep. Frankly, I don't have time for that. I just need a plan--A treatment plan.

Fortunately, I don't dish out harsh diagnosis. I am old school. My treatment plan: 1. tough it out. 2. if that doesn't work take some Benedryl ( I prefer 50 mg). 3. when it gets really bad, I take my medication I'm prescribed for migraines (Phenergan) which has a lovely side effect: sedation.

I typically utilize #1 and #2 and hardly ever use #3's treatment plan.

But when it comes down to it, I can't fall asleep, and that is OK. Insomnia isn't as bad as it is cracked up to be. Insomnia is the friend who will not leave after everyone else calls it a night. Sure he can be annoying at times, but hey, you still have fun together. UNLESS that friend comes over every night, then my dear friend, you are now an annoyance. When my friend won't leave we find activities to do together. We watch movies, write on our blog, stare at the wall, have meltdowns (typically only throughout nursing school), sometimes we even color (see post on 10/21/2010).

Insomnia is my quiet friend that keeps me up at night. He never engages in conversations. He just stares at me and  nudges me before I drift into dreamland.

Sometimes I wish my friend would leave--Go home!

My insomnia is a blessing. Why you ask? I have been praying for some "me" time, and I think God is playing a little joke on me. I can't complain.... or sleep for that matter.

Coloring Books

My daughter recently celebrated her 3rd birthday party and accumulated several coloring books. They vary from Mickey Mouse to Dora the Explorer. After the party, we all went over to my brother's house to hang out.

My intention in bringing the coloring book over to my brother's house was to use it as a distraction toy since it was getting close to my daughter's bedtime. (We mustn't have a cranky little lady at a guests house now mustn't we?)

I picked up the Dora coloring book and started flipping through the pages. I wondered what page my daughter would enjoy coloring. Oh, here is one with a Dora princess... Oh, here is one with Dora and her friend, Boots. With every page, I became more and more interested in the pictures these lines made. My fingers guided a wispy-sound as the pages turned. I couldn't help myself.

I tore a page out from the Dora coloring book. The page I chose was to my liking: not too much detail, but not too "babyish" either. Yes, it was perfect.

My daughter, on the other hand, had occupied herself with some other toy. So, I decided to start coloring for her in hopes that she would join in on the fun and take over the page. I laid out the crayons in front of me. Eight colors to chose from. I picked up the pink crayon.

I pressed the crayon against the paper and watched as the pressure from my fingertips created a beautiful pink stripe across Dora's ballerina dress. What a pretty pink, I thought to myself.

At first, I was half-way coloring because I was trying to sway my daughter to come over. But as she became less and less interested in the coloring, I became more and more interested. The more I colored, the more I wanted to make Dora the most beautiful ballerina in the world.

I began to outline the contours of her outfit to make the colors stand out. I utilized 9th grade art class skills such as shading and shadowing. Yes, this WOULD be the best coloring page!

As I got quiet and truly focused in on my work, my two girlfriends became interested in, well, what I was so intently interested in.

They joined me.

So there we were. Three adult women, sitting in a circle... coloring. It soon evolved into a coloring contest. The winner won nothing other than respect. She would be crowned the "BEST COLOR-ER". The judges were non other than our spouses.

My girlfriends and I had a great time together coloring. We laughed. We joked. We had girl talk not over white wine or coffee, but over 8 crayons.

There was a magical sense in the room that evening. I paused a moment and looked at my daughter and then back down at Dora's pink tutu. My daughter was busy playing with the other children. And in that moment I was watching my daughter in the midst of a playful dance, I realized that coloring brought back a bit of childhood magic.

It brought back a little bit of sunshine and carefree spirit. I felt as if I had no care in the world other than how to tie my shoes. It brought back nothing to look forward to except the next day and what's for lunch. There is nothing to be afraid of except the monsters under my bed. I can dress up like a princess and go to the grocery store without judgments. I can catch a flyball with daddy at the Rangers game. I know mommy will make a heart out of the ketchup to dip my fries in. I know that there is no one who loves me more than my parents...

Coloring brings nothing to mind and everything to my soul. I was at peace. Needless to say I didn't win the coloring contest, but I did score an idea for cheap therapy. If life has you down, pick up a coloring book.