The top bid on the Vintage Velvet dress has changed again! It’s now up to $125. Remember any new bids will be posted at the top of that days post and updated if any come in during the day.
If you are new here, we are having an auction to raise funds to help out a friend of ours who used to be able to participate with us. She’s in a rehab facility and we are hoping for a great outcome to bless her.
If you’d like to read what’s going on… please check out these 2 links… they explain everything. The auction ends Sunday at midnight.
…and the post that shows what the auction is all about and lots of pictures of the dress is below…
~ Vintage Velvet is ready for bidders ~
Thanks you as well for those of you who have sent money to my paypal account. I am keeping track of it and will let you know how much we raised for Marilyn…
I was watching Leann’s face last night as everyone was complimenting her on how lovely her new white kitchen cabinets looked. They used to dark brown and I’m not sure anyone every really noticed them before, but now with them being so pretty and white and just jumping out at you, there was lots of talk about how pretty and bright they made her whole kitchen look.
It’s nice to get compliments, isn’t it? …even on things like kitchen cabinets… It’s nice when someone says, “Hey, have you lost weight?” And you have… or when someone says, “Is that a new dress? You look wonderful in that color.” Or when you make someone a pie and they think you are the most fabulous cook in the world… Compliments are nice and especially nice when you weren’t expecting them.
Well, I got to thinking about compliments and I remember one time I asked Marilyn to be my guest writer for a day… She wrote about compliments… and I wanted to share it again.
Instead of having a link to the post, I just copied and pasted the whole thing right here… but at the bottom of the post, I’ll post that link because it has the comments with it, if you wanted to read what everyone had to say about Marilyn’s post…
5/22/2018 The post was called “What’s one of your favorite compliments?”
Hi everyone,
A few weeks ago I realized my life was going to get busier and busier as my hubby’s surgery neared, so I was trying to think of ways to keep my blog going but not get so overwhelmed that it became a burden or stressed me out too much. (I really do hate it that I’m not writing posts every day like I always did.) However, I thought of something that would be fun, and decided to ask a guest writer to write a post about whatever they wanted… dolls, life, gratitude, anything…
My guest writer for today is our sweet Marilyn. She lives in Colorado… not that that matters, but just a bit of trivia to introduce her. She loves to research topics and always finds out things that none of us ever knew was out there. She’s been a long time, faithful reader and is a cancer survivor herself. Back when my hubby was first diagnosed with bladder cancer she would send me the sweetest notes of encouragement and concern and advice and we’ve been “long distance,” but close friends ever since. So without further ado… here is Marilyn’s wonderful post… (right after a few pictures… gotta have pictures, don’t we?)
One time Marilyn made a typo in a comment she was making about tiny Ten Ping…accidentally calling her “Ten Pig”… and she felt SO awful about it, she apologized profusely again and again… Well, Marilyn, I just wanted to set the record straight…Ten Ping has a few things she wanted to tell you…
“I forgive you, Marilyn…”
“Even in my slip… I forgive you…”
“I SEE you all the way in Colorado, and I forgive you…”
“Even sewing, I thought of you…and you’re still my friend…”
“…even in my purple slip I can’t be upset at you… I feel like dancing…”
“…does this look like the face of a pig? I don’t think so… but I know it was just a typo… and I will never bring it up again…” :o)
NOW…here’s Marilyn’s guest post…She had no idea I was going to ask questions while I was with my hubby at the hospital…
For a lot of us, being able to read the blog while we start the day or take a break with coffee or tea is one of the guaranteed nice times in our day. Of course I like to see what Jeanne is doing, whether it’s discovering shiplap in her kitchen or making a petticoat for Addy. I usually comment in the morning and then go back later to see what other people have said. If there’s not a new blog entry, there are nearly always new comments, from readers or Jeanne, so any time I need a little extra cheer, I can find it on Idreamofjeannemarie.com. My very favorite comments are the ones that tell more about us. Recently I liked responses about favorite flowers and childhood best dresses/outfits. I decided to ask Jeanne if we could try for a couple more of the personal response comments. Here goes.
When I taught Research Paper Writing, I asked students to write an introductory paper (not to be graded, though points were given) to “show me where we are starting as writers, so I know what I need to review.” My hidden agenda was to find out something about the students and write short positive responses. Any link between teacher and student pays off in the number of students who finished the required class.
The assignment was to write about a compliment that you appreciated. I gave examples. One woman said, “I am a klutz. I can trip over the cracks between floor tiles.” She was therefore not thrilled about going skating with her family. Part way through the evening, her husband said, “I just love to watch you. You are so graceful.” I guess grace is in the eye of the beholder, just like beauty. In his eyes, she must have had both.
Because my students tended to be fairly young, many talked about proposing and being accepted, or about being proposed to and accepting. Others talked about children. One woman said she was at a Little League game when her 7 year old walked up, looked at her, and said, “God, Mom, you look so beautiful with the sun behind you.”
A single father said he and his girlfriend had tried hard to succeed as a couple and it just didn’t work. They loved each other but couldn’t live together. A few weeks after they broke up, she called. She was pregnant. After a short dead silence, he said, “If you will have this baby, I will raise it.” The baby was not well when he was born, so it was the father who sat by the incubator and encouraged him to live, who held him and fed him and took him home a month later. When he wrote about it, the baby was two, and the father’s favorite compliment was about his son, “That is such a cute little boy, and he’s so healthy.”
A woman wrote, “My mother, MY MOTHER, says I’m a good mother.”
I gave them the option of choosing a different topic. A Japanese student wrote about Japanese courting customs, and a fellow student from Nigeria responded with traditional Nigerian marriage customs. In one class 80% had had near death experiences from accident, medical conditions, or, in one case, being in a hotel reception area when someone came in with a gun. The class bonded immediately.
So – what’s one of my own favorite compliments? At the end of one semester, one of the students wrote, “I didn’t tell you this then, but this was my third time through this class. When I read your comment on my introductory paper, I thought, ‘I can do this this time.’” And of course she had. Encouragement means to put courage into someone.
What’s one of your favorite compliments? Or what matters to you that you would like to write about?
Here is the original post with the comments… IF you do read the original post, please make sure you come back to THIS page if you leave any comments…Thanks!
Guest Writer ~ What’s one of your favorite compliments?
Thank you, Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
I remember reading this column last year, too! And I commented on it (mine is the very last comment), so I won’t repeat that again.
However, I did think of one thing that isn’t Exactly a compliment, but more a reflection on who I am. I’ve been a Christian since I was a teenager, and after my four years of college, I kept in touch with some of the girls from my dorm. One time, some years later, I was visiting one of those friends and her husband; they were fairly new Christians at that time. Betty told me, “When we were in college, I always knew there was something different about you, but I didn’t know what it was until I became a Christian.”
I treasure that comment, as I’ve never been a “preachy” person, but apparently my life reflects my faith.
This brings back memories, in a way. I do remember Marilyn being the guest writer, but don’t remember what she originally said! After reading it, it does give me snippets of what it was all about, but I sure don’t remember my comments! And yes, unexpected compliments, well, I am halfway in my 70’s, and when going to Silver Dollar City, you have Senior Passes, which I have, but the ticket taker told me I looked too young to have a senior ticket! Talk about a happy day!!!!
I always loved to hear what Marilyn said. She was the voice of reason, and had such an eloquent way of saying what she did. I hope she can see this blog, which I am sure will make her very happy!
So funny about Ten Ping! Who doesn’t make occasional slips of the finger that changes the spellings on a computer? My iPad, even changes words very differently from what I write, and the results are often hilarious! Certainly if I was actually writing, the mistakes would be fewer and far between. But Ten Ping is clearly NOT a pig and is a darling little girl, so no worries there! She knows Marilyn didn’t really mean it!
I’m back. Just returned from May of 2018. Apparently, that was when we were having trouble receiving your blog. Anyone remember when we received two for awhile? Well, it was fun seeing all of the comments from the past. And so interesting how a little compliment can remain in the brain for almost forever. 🙂
Marilyn’s essay about her writing class is a wonderful tribute to an excellent teacher. Thank you Jeanne for sharing it again with us.
And a package arrived yesterday addressed to Fashion Friends doll. Upon opening, it was those mysteriously ordered roller skates and skating outfit. Neither of the girls are admitting anything, but someone is suspect. If it doesn’t rain today, perhaps I’ll catch a glimpse of “someone” skating by. 🙂
I thought I had read all of your posts Jeanne but I missed this one and loved reading it this time. No wonder Marilyns posts were so well done! I get compliments on my kids and grandkids which are the best kind of compliments to receive. They are all such givers. Hope you have a fun weekend with your family!
Since Ten Ping is Chinese and probably speaks Mandarin Chinese and not English, she needn’t be offended by being referred to as a Pig as it is one of the Chinese Zodiac symbols. Her personality profile goes as such: “Pig is mild and a lucky animal representing carefree fun, good fortune and wealth. Personality traits of the people born under the sign of the Pig are happy, easygoing, honest, trusting, educated, sincere and brave.” Although her expression doesn’t reflect this, hopefully she may be on her way to being happy and carefree upon being adopted by a doll collector.
Marilyn is such a treasured addition to the blog. Her comments have always been so well researched, and I have a special file to which I copy and save her comments. She is always so caring of others and this is reflected in her writings. So glad she passed this on to so many students.
After being discouraged at seeing the true state of my face (lines!) for the first time in about 15 years after cataract surgery last year, like Jeanne, compliments mean even more regarding age. The last ones in the past week were by an x-ray tech who asked if the chart was correct and the lady who was fitting my glasses saying many people my age can’t even stand up straight. Hearing aids being picked up this afternoon, so these compliments register even more. I’ve always credited drinking milk all my life if anything could account for it. Doing medical transcription for 18 years may somewhat account for the hearing loss in certain frequencies.
Looks like we have another researcher to join Marilyn. I loved what you wrote about the Pig. I, myself, was born in the year of the Dog. As for drinking milk, I had a friend once that only drank milk and water. When we were on a field trip and we were all getting cokes, she drank milk. Through our teenage years when we were all fighting complexion problems, hers was absolutely flawless.
I loved reading Marilyn’s guest writer blog post. It was before my time so I was glad to be able to read it. Now I know why she is such a good researcher. It’s obvious Ten Ping totally forgives her. And what a cute way she had of doing it. Where did you get that adorable sewing machine?
I too have found my girls to be very tight-lipped when something shows up as a result of online shopping. But I have to admit that I join the club when hubby asks who’s the responsible party. We all know nothing.
My favorite compliment of all time was being picked out of the audience by the Orca at Sea World Galveston years ago to come down for a kiss. My sister and her friend had come to visit in Texas and we went there for the day. They got a real kick out of that, once Beth’s friend realized it wasn’t her they wanted to come down. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before and it made my day.