Have you heard of this rather sensational new game, "Cards Against Humanity?" It's not for the faint of heart or the prim and proper, which makes it a perfect candidate for one of our rare family game nights. It forces you to say things that you never, ever in a million years thought you'd say, much less in front of your (grown) children. It was a night of ribald comedy, groans, and one or two words mumbled so softly we had to ask the offending person (Kate) to repeat herself. At one point I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. Don't ask me what it was...1) because it's not fit for print on these hallowed pages and 2) I can't remember what it was anyway.
That sensation of laughing so hard that tears start streaming down your face and, for us ladies, the unmistakable urge to cross your legs lest other parts start streaming is cathartic. It reminded me of another story that happened ten years ago, but still makes the giggles start - at least for me.
Ron and I were taking part of a 24-hour prayer vigil at our church and were scheduled to pray from 1am-2am (as I said, this was ten years ago...no way would be able to do anything holy at that hour these days). As I walked out of our home into the quiet darkness, I was greeted by a semi-large dog of questionable breed. He was wagging his tail, tongue hanging out so I started down the stairs, talking to the pup in a friendly manner. Ron, who had just stepped outside, saw the "situation" and ordered me to stop and come back up on the porch. I froze, turned around and looked at him, my jaw dropped to my chest. "Excuse me?" I asked, with a bit of an attitude. Ron asked, "Do you know that dog?"
I should explain right now that I grew up in a dog family. Well, not strictly speaking, but we'd had dogs since the day I was born. Ron, however, never had a family dog.
Back to "Do you know that dog?" I found the question extremely funny and continued my approach to the dog, holding out my hand, palm down, like I've been taught. Again, Ron ordered me to get back on the porch. He obviously was acquainted with this particular canine (he was not) and knew that I was in grave danger of having my hand severely licked.
We finally got in the car (without my having touched a hair on the dog's head) and it was silent as a tomb. Ron was still irked by my unsubmissive wifely behavior and I was trying to prepare for an hour of prayer instead of an hour of mentally composing a "Listen, mister, we don't be ordering me to get back porch" sermon.
About a half mile from the church, I started giggling. It quickly turned into one of those honking, gasping, tear rolling, legs crossed bouts of hilarity. Ron saw nothing even remotely funny about it. I finally managed to get out, "Do you know that dog?" He shot a deathray my way and yelled, "Well, did you?" By this time I was screaming laughing and I was pretty sure I'd never be able to focus my thoughts on the Almighty. Thankfully, Ron started laughing, too, and by the time we reached the church we had calmed down enough to participate in the prayer vigil in an appropriate manner.
I had already decided that if I got the giggles during our prayer time I would just chalk it up to laughing in the Spirit.
Side note: You'll no doubt noticed that I've been tweaking with my blog design. Last night, after begging and pleading and finally offering compensation, Kate sat down and helped me finesse my space and now it's here to stay. At least for a good amount of time. A couple of explanations...the quotes from the wall are from a wall in my office that we've graffittied with memorable life quotes. The flower du jour comes from either our travels or from our garden. It might not change every day, but it will rotate frequently.
Next time...the event that inspired the title of my blog
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