Maxwell 19: Life is Still Boring

[mango_fandango]

Abby is soon going to be the age Mary was when the blog began. In some ways, their lives have changed (fashion-wise, the grandchildren, the cessation of the conferences) and yet in many ways they haven't.

[Eternalbluepearl]

This was the caption on a photo on the newest post: "Taking a walk at the gorgeous Shawnee Mission Park near the end of our time."

Huh? The end of your time? Sounds strange to me. 

[Fascinated]

A few notes having caught up.

Quote

Starting in 6th grade, every week I wrote an elderly relative or friend.

I am inspired by this!

an elderly relative or friend

(I am convicted to write this every week, too.)

Quote

Our sins, which are red

Is this true?  I was unaware that sins are red!  What if I swear a blue streak?  Still red?  

Quote

A friend came over to talk one afternoon and enjoy mochas.

How about: A friend came over one afternoon to talk and enjoy mochas.  Or even, A friend came over to talk and enjoy mochas one afternoon.

Quote

These amazing sisters of mine took the little kids out to do puddle splashing.

How about: These amazing sisters of mine took the little kids out to splash in puddles. People don’t really do puddle splashing. 

 

You guys have already mentioned the rest, I think. These are minor, I know, but when I read Sarah’s post about her writing skills, well, I couldn’t help myself.

[MamaJunebug]

21 minutes ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

This was the caption on a photo on the newest post: "Taking a walk at the gorgeous Shawnee Mission Park near the end of our time."

Huh? The end of your time? Sounds strange to me. 

Perhaps she forgot the word “together”? Or perhaps someone is old enough to be covertly trolling the OurTime dating site?

I've figured out why they banished the babysitters and the littles: they wanted a quieter atmosphere in which Jesse and the friends who are young women could look each other over in peace.  

 

[kpmom]

37 minutes ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

This was the caption on a photo on the newest post: "Taking a walk at the gorgeous Shawnee Mission Park near the end of our time."

Huh? The end of your time? Sounds strange to me. 

It sounded very strange.  I wondered if they thought they'd be raptured any minute.

[catlady]

i too noticed the "end of our time" reference.  and since these are the Maxwells we're talking about*, my first thought was, "they can't possibly think the world is ending or they are all going to die together in a few minutes."  but at least they know where they're going......

*since we're playing the drinking game over on the JRod threads with this phrase, if we do it over here, we get to eat three animal crackers or one meatless burrito.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

28 minutes ago, Fascinated said:

Starting in 6th grade, every week I wrote an elderly relative or friend.

It sounds like she created them for a story. I assume she means she wrote TO an elderly friend or relative.

Ugh.

Wow. Just Wow. They sat in the ....wait for it....basement! Something happened! They SAT. IN. THE. BASEMENT,

Lord...I must have a ceiling fan to clean or some burrito filling to make--too boring for words.

 

[nelliebelle1197]

@Pretzel I have missed you!!!!!

[church_of_dog]

10 minutes ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

It sounds like she created them for a story. I assume she means she wrote TO an elderly friend or relative.

Ugh.

Wow. Just Wow. They sat in the ....wait for it....basement! Something happened! They SAT. IN. THE. BASEMENT,

Lord...I must have a ceiling fan to clean or some burrito filling to make--too boring for words.

 

I'm picturing a school blackboard and a misbehaving Sarah being forced to stand at it, writing "an elderly relative or friend" over and over... 

[catlady]

as much as Sarah's grammatical errors drive me up a wall, i seem to recall an English teacher back in the 1980s saying that "i wrote a friend" is actually acceptable.  i tried to do a google search to back that up, but didn't find a reference right away (there's also a possibility that i'm remembering it incorrectly).  does anyone here know more than i do?

re the basement:  back in my early Maxhell days, there was a discussion relating to the kids having a snack of some sort in the basement.  although the general consensus was that such a thing is weird, the conclusion is that while the Maxhell basement is unfinished, it is so spotlessly clean that consuming food there isn't going to be unsanitary.  my own basement is a dusty, cobwebby storage area; so we don't dine there.  Steve probably makes his offspring dust the rafters after they do the fan blades. 

[OhNoNike]

6 hours ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

This was the caption on a photo on the newest post: "Taking a walk at the gorgeous Shawnee Mission Park near the end of our time."

Huh? The end of your time? Sounds strange to me. 

If not the rapture, I see it like this. The park visit was scheduled from 1:34-2:36.  The photo was taken at 2:30.

I missed her classic “_____ going on here!” caption in this post.  Ex: “Eating going on here!”, “Puddle splashing going on here!”

[Dandruff]

Puddle-splashing as a planned, supervised activity...I hope they remembered to document everything.

[FloraKitty35]

On 4/2/2018 at 4:54 AM, nomoxian said:

On the new blog post, I noticed the 'girls' are in the basement at the kids table. The only non-married adult allowed upstairs just happens to have a penis.

It looked to me like Sarah was allowed to stay up at the adult table, but Anna & Mary had to go to the basement.

[MamaJunebug]

Hey - I’ve finally looked at the post and I’d have preferred the basement myself. And I’m not that nuts about kids! 

Consider: downstairs, little boys who want to talk about cars and try some bad words they heard while following mommy around Walnart

 Upstairs: Steve pontificating and asking everyone to tell him *why* they know where they’ll go when they die

Downstairs: preventing the occasional fight when two or more kids try to start some “fun” by poking and punching each other 

Upstairs: having to act as though you have NO SUPPRESSED SEXUAL FEELINGS while your parents and married siblings and married friends hang all over each other

Downstairs: as the HBIC, you can eat a little off someone else’s plate if they don’t want it

Upstairs:  With Steve hawkishly watching everyone's caloric intake? Ain’t happening.

Yep! I’d join the expansion team in the basement for any ole meal! 

[JermajestyDuggar]

Are the puddle splashing pictures to show us that Chris and Anna aren't neat freaks? 

It looks like it's going to be awhile before Chelsy and John are done with their house. They still don't have the trim up around the windows and doors. I know they've been busy, but things don't get easier once you have a newborn. They should get that stuff out of the way now before a baby is born. 

[Ivycoveredtower]

59 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Are the puddle splashing pictures to show us that Chris and Anna aren't neat freaks? 

It looks like it's going to be awhile before Chelsy and John are done with their house. They still don't have the trim up around the windows and doors. I know they've been busy, but things don't get easier once you have a newborn. They should get that stuff out of the way now before a baby is born. 

that would mean they would have to stay in Maxhell for an extended period of time. they seem to run far as soon as they can. hopefully they will finish the house and turn around and sell it moving far away. or at least half an hour. 

[Black Aliss]

On 3/31/2018 at 6:03 AM, formergothardite said:

I want a Be Mediocre Today mug. 

I'm rather partial to the demotivational messages at despair.com. I don't think they do mugs, though.

[catlady]

@Black Aliss, i'm looking at despair . com  right now, and it's hysterical!  thank you! 

[Odd1Out]

My take on why Anna, Mary and the kids were eating in the basement when there’s plenty of room to put the table in the dining room or even the living room with a drop cloth under it:

Steve has deep issues with children’s table manners. If it was just his grandkids he would be okay because he could correct their behavior. He can’t correct the ‘friend’s’ children’s behavior, therefore he doesn’t want them around. 

 

[nastyhobbitses]

14 minutes ago, Odd1Out said:

My take on why Anna, Mary and the kids were eating in the basement when there’s plenty of room to put the table in the dining room or even the living room with a drop cloth under it:

Steve has deep issues with children’s table manners. If it was just his grandkids he would be okay because he could correct their behavior. He can’t correct the ‘friend’s’ children’s behavior, therefore he doesn’t want them around. 

 

When we were younger, my cousins, my sister and I would get relegated to the basement for some family dinners. It was mostly a space issue. We didn't care much; we had a big basket of dress-up clothes, an N64, The Sims (aka Serial Killer Early Detection System), and we could be as loud and ill-mannered as we wanted. 

Now I'm really salty that I'm 26 and still haven't been promoted to Adults' Table at Christmas. 

[HereticHick]

On 4/2/2018 at 8:37 AM, ophelia said:

Where do these friends suddenly come from? They may have brothers or cousins they could introduce to the girls, since getting married might be the only way to get out of MaxHell.

I'd blame fun-loving Chels for these friends, but she isn't pictured.

[FloraDoraDolly]

1 hour ago, Odd1Out said:

My take on why Anna, Mary and the kids were eating in the basement when there’s plenty of room to put the table in the dining room or even the living room with a drop cloth under it:

Steve has deep issues with children’s table manners. If it was just his grandkids he would be okay because he could correct their behavior. He can’t correct the ‘friend’s’ children’s behavior, therefore he doesn’t want them around. 

 

You're probably right. And the friends' children might corrupt the Maxwell grandchildren, so Anna and Mary have to supervise them. After all, one must make sure those ebil outsider kids don't start singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or talking about how much they enjoy playing soccer with the kids from their Christian homeschooling group. Or-- Jeebus forbid-- they might have watched an old Veggie Tales or Cedarmont Kids DVD on The Beast over at Grandma's house. 

[socalrules]

Eh I don’t see a problem with them being in the basement. It’s probably more fun for the kids because they don’t have to be on their best behavior and keep quiet at the table. They probably ate, played games and just got to be kids while the adults upstairs talked about where they were going when they die.

I do like that the kids got to be kids and go puddle jumping. We snark on their always going to the park or being at Aunties’ Park but I wonder if other fundy kids get to do the simplest things like that. I think about others like Jill Rodrigues and I can’t imagine her kids getting to jump in puddles, taken to the park or anything kids get to do. It’s kid of sad when I am shocked a fundy does something completely normal. I will say that I always enjoyed a good puddle jump as a kid. 

[Lillybee]

Does anyone have a clue as to what food the Maxwells provide on their "picnics in the park"?  I  hope that it is more than 2 animal crackers.

[Granwych]

59 minutes ago, Lillybee said:

Does anyone have a clue as to what food the Maxwells provide on their "picnics in the park"?  I  hope that it is more than 2 animal crackers.

Goldfish, it was goldfish.   The actual per person count, no clue.