Total Pageviews

Tuesday 24 April 2012

What's in a name?

What’s in a name?
I’ve never really given it a whole lot of thought because after doing some internet research on the meaning of my name, all I found was “small shrub with poisonous berries”.
Not far from the truth.
Then my mom found this baby name book from like, the 70’s or something, and apparently the true meaning of “Holly” is actually “good luck”. My guess is, when my parents adopted me they weren’t quite sure what they were doing. They needed all the luck they could get because, let’s face it. I’m a handful….so they named me “good luck”.
Now, me and my little brother have always had a funny relationship. He….well….he doesn’t “act” like the youngest. He has none of their quirks. He acts like the oldest. He tells me what to do, and I do it, or ignore him. And like the mischievous younger sibling, I usually weasel my way out of everything by confusing people into agreeing with me.

                                                                                             ….Probably shouldn’t have said that.
The funny thing is, my brother’s name is James which is a derivative of Jacob which means, “Supplanter”.  Now, think back to Jacob in the Bible. He’s the one who stole his brother’s birthright. He became like THE OLDEST.
So I’ve decided that my twerpy little brother has supplanted. He took away my role of being the dreaded oldest.
Now I’ve been thinking about other names and how they suit the people I know, like, every Deborah that I’ve ever known has been strong, audacious, and occasionally cheeky!
And then there’re others, like “Bonnie” which means “sweet and good”. I know a lady named Bonnie, and she is one of the sweetest ladies I’ve ever met!
My dear friends’ mom’s name is Ann which means “full of grace, mercy and prayer”. She has to have grace, mercy, and prayer to put up with me hanging around the house all the time! I love you Mrs. Duran!!!!
Then there’s “Bridget” which means “mighty and strong”. My doctor’s name is Bridget. She’s as mighty and strong as summer days are long.
                                                                                       
That rhymed.
                 [Kind of.]
                               You’re welcome.

Also…I have this theory about guys named Steve….

                                                    ….but we’ll save that for another blog.

Anyways, all these people and their names have got me thinking…I have GOT to give my children good names.
So far, I’ve come up with “Zelda Adele” which basically means “the heroine, noble and kind of spirit” and “Wylie” which means “beguiling and charming”.  A few others I love are, “Zane” a derivative of John which means “gift of God”, “Zelig” which means “blessed”, “Leo” meaning “brave”, and “Birdie” (Yes it’s a [girl’s] name!) which means “sweet little bird”.
Yeah, I like that.                                                                                                                                                              
So how about your name/ name meaning? Does it suit your personality?

Friday 20 April 2012

B-b-b-back and forth like Vertigo =/

I remember when I was little and had that foreign feeling of…oh what’s it called? Ah, that’s right…ENERGY! Yeah, when I had energy back in the day, I remember my sweet mother trying to calm me down and relax. When all her ideas would fail to catch my interest, she would smile slyly to herself and say, “Hey Holly Girl, I have a game for you!” Me being the psycho six year old that I was, I ran over all excited (I’ve learned over the years that when mom says that she has an “idea” or a “game” it usually involves cleaning something) and asked what the game was. Momma leaned in and almost whispered like it was a secret, “Here’s how you play” she smiled (evilly…bwuahaha) “You look up at the ceiling like this…” she looked up and I copied her, “…and then you spin around and around like this!” and she spun. Then after a few seconds she lay down on the floor and said, “The walls are spinning!”
Now let’s pause here for a second. You’re probably thinking, “Holy cow, Hol’s mom is a weirdo.”  Well let me tell you this dear reader….

                                                                            ……….She is.
She’s always enjoyed weird things like getting her teeth cleaned at the dentist and walking barefoot in the dirt. Personally, I think it’s funny. I love my mom’s weird quirks. It’s what makes her my mom.
Back to the spinny game.
I imitated my mum and I spun and spun with the exuberance of a little girl. Then I crashed to the floor and giggled as the walls spun around and around. I did this over and over and over, never tiring of the feeling of being dizzy.
Now, ten or so years later, I sit here thinking, “…Wow.”

See, Tuesday started out like any other week day. I heard my mom’s voice dancing through the hallway and into my ears, ‘Holly! Get up!’
Me: (opens my eyes, groans, stretches, closes my eyes, rolls over, tries to go back to sleep)
Mom: (being persistent) “….Now.”
Me: (wondering why I feel really weak and tired and wondering if I should tell mom….eventually, deciding that I’m probably just being a wimp, I get out of bed)
(Insert reggae music here as I go about my business doing my taxes [last minute….I know] and doing school and getting ready for work)
So I go to work right? And it’s all good. I was going about my business when all of the sudden, I started to fall over. I caught myself though and I was fine. I moved on. And then the room started spinning like in that game that me and mom used to play. Eventually it got so bad that I gave in and went home. Driving while the world was spinning was pretty interesting. Thankfully, I only ran off the road once.
When I got home, I ate salt (thinking it would get my blood pressure up, if that was the problem) and went straight to bed. The smurf blue walls in my bedroom were spinning and I sighed as I wondered what could be wrong with me. After a few hours of this, I had this brilliant idea to get out my “Nutritional Healing” book and I looked up Vertigo (because my mom said that she thought that’s what was wrong with me). After reading the symptoms, I thought that’s what it was. However, today I went to the doctor’s and she said that it’s some strange virus that’s going around and giving people false "heart attack" alarms and stuff. Weird. So anyways, I have my meds and I’m not contagious and therefore I’m good to go (Praise God!).
In the meantime though, I’m sitting here reminiscing on the days when I would actually MAKE myself dizzy, and laughing at my mom. I mean really, who tells their kids to play games that make them dizzy? I guess I would. But me and my mom are alike that way. We both have relatively warped senses of humor.