Category Archives: Tookie Tribe*

Levo*

Meet Teep.

Teep is the youngest member of our tribe (family). The bébé. As a result he often gets picked on by the rest of us (in good fun) about being the baby. He was stinking cute as a kid with his fiery red hair and temper to match.

Every so often he does something REALLY cute without even realizing it or meaning to do it which spawns a lifetime of family jokes. For example, he once promised my mother a “Free Diner” (cooked by him) for her birthday one year… I think he ended up cooking her Kraft Dinner and hot dogs. haha! By simply forgetting that extra “n” in dinner he created a world of fun for all of us older siblings who love a good laugh. We have all done it from time to time, but the most enduring of all these “mistakes” is levo.

When Teep was small he attended an elementary school, like most children do. This elementary school, like most elementary schools, held “visual arts” classes (glorified arts ‘n’ crafts) for students to participate in. The projects were never difficult–usually involving paint, glue and Popsicle sticks to create a picture of some kind. These pictures were then usually brought home and put on display on the fridge until the next picture was created.

Teep was quite the little arts ‘n’ crafter. Being the bébé, his pictures were highly celebrated by my mom and were left on display for weeks on end. One day when he was six or seven Teep came home with a lovely picture specifically for my mom. It may have been for a Mother’s Day gift or something of the like. I can’t remember what the picture was of–it was probably full of rainbows, butterflies and hearts. However, as he was learning to write at the time, inscribed on the picture were three little words:

Teep Levos Mommy!

I can’t remember if my mom was able to decipher his ‘hidden message’ immediately or if it took her a minute, but I DO remember that his little picture was on the fridge for months and months… and that immediately thereafter my mom began replacing “I love you” with “Levo!” when she would tell us that she loved us.

Well, it stuck. To this day–some 10 years later–my family continues to use “Levo” both in great fun while playfully mocking Teep but also to say “I love you” to each other. The Hubster and I have even adopted it and even he says “Levo!” to me without realizing it. So, if you ever want to tell someone you love them but don’t think you’ll have time to get out all three of those words, please feel free to use our condensed version and levo those around you. :)

Teep’s probably going to be a wee bit embarrassed that I told you our family secret. I levo it!

Shop Girl*

The Death March*

Meet Peeah.

This is my oldest sister. She is five years older than me, and we’re quite a bit alike in many ways. We both share a deep hearting of shoes and all things pink (and black). Like all members of my family, she has a great sense of humor–but every once in a while she struggles to see the humor of something… like the story I’m about to tell you. She wasn’t very happy with me. haha!

About a year ago I went to spend a few days with my family. I often leave a few days ahead of the Hubster so that I can get a good visit in as he can only be there for 2-3 days (he’s allergic to MY cat–my Dad pretends she’s his). So I probably arrived on the Monday or Tuesday, and he likely followed me on Friday.

We like to leave early when we travel so we can get the max time out of our visits. The morning that the Hubster came to visit he woke up really early to travel (he missed me). He set his alarm for shortly after 5am so make sure that he could be up and ready to make a 7:45am bus.

Now then. I have an alarm clock. I’ve had the same alarm clock since I was 10 years old. My grade 5 teacher gave it to me–with my name inscribed on the bottom–and I have ALWAYS used it. It’s nothing exciting, but it gets the job done. The Hubs, however, prefers to set the alarm on his cell phone because if the power goes out than he will still be able to wake up on time. We live in a weirdo building and that happens a lot.

So. The Hubs wakes up to a cell phone. I don’t mind it. He doesn’t ever use those shrill or annoying ringers so I can even sleep through it because I’m used to hearing it. Instead he uploads custom ringers of music he loves as it’s more likely to get him out of bed, and really, it’s just WAY more fun.

At this point in time, the Hubster had a song from Pirates of the Caribbean 2 as his cell phone ringer. He is a die-hard Pirates lover (at least for the first film) and we both LOVE this song. It’s called The Kraken and it is just AWESOME. When you hear it, you’ll understand why. It’s dark and menacing and just so so powerful. It’s full of loud organ music and it gives me goose bumps when I hear it. It’s kind of like a menacing pirate death march.

Let’s recap so far. The Hubs wakes up to a cell phone. On this cell phone is a dark, menacing organ-themed ringer. The alarm on this cell phone with the dark, menacing organ-themed ringer is set for 5am. Also let’s remember that cell phones are portable and are often set down and forgotten in random places.

SO. The Hubster joined me in Btown and a bunch of my family came up as well. I have 5 siblings and my parents have a medium-sized home, but it’s not big enough to house all of us when we come to play. People end up sleeping everywhere–including the living room. Before we all go to sleep my family loves to hang out and visit in this living room. We all throw our things everywhere; keys on tables, cell phones on couches, purses and bags everywhere. And then we worry about cleaning in the morning.

This particular visit Peeah was the lucky duck that got to sleep in the living room on a big blowup air mattress. Of all my siblings, she loves to go to bed the earliest. Like me (and I think Spart) she is a TOTAL morning person. Peeah is verrrrry particular about her sleep. She can sleep through almost anything when she’s out, but she likes it quiet when she’s trying to fall asleep. So on this night she went to bed in the living room so we all filtered out.

Now I did say that Peeah could sleep through almost anything. Remember how I said my family loved to leave their things all over the living room? When we went to bed the Hubs forgot his cell phone in the living room. The cell phone with the dark, menacing organ-themed ringer set to go off at 5am.

At 6:15 the following morning I woke up to hear a bit of a commotion. And then I heard slow, angry stomping up the stairs to the tune of The Kraken, followed with:

“WHOSE. PHONE. IS. THIS?!?”

I flew out of bed and ran to the bedroom door–trying not to wake up the Hubster. I opened the door a crack, and with a big smile on my face, I said:

“Mine! Thanks!” :)

She slammed the phone into my palm and said,

“Your death march phone has been playing since 5am.”

…and looked like she was ready to kill me. She then proceeded to tell me that (as scheduled) the phone had begun to ring at 5am… and continued to ring every 5 minutes onward. At first the dark, menacing music incorporated into a scary dream, which woke her up. And then when she realized what it was, she woke up again and couldn’t fall back asleep. In her half-asleep mindset she couldn’t figure out where the phone was for over an hour. When she did find the phone, she couldn’t figure out how to turn off the music, which led to her own death march stomp up the stairs. I knew that we were in hot water, so I became the sweet little sister that I am and apologized for like 15 minutes until she went to pass out on my mother’s bed.

After I was sure that she was asleep and wouldn’t hurt me I couldn’t help but burst out laughing… or ALL the phones in our house to go off it was the Hubster’s death march. At 5am. On a Saturday. For Peeah.

The End. haha

Shop Girl*

P.s. You MUST listen to the song if you haven’t head it. I’ve even found it for you!! The part on The Hubster’s phone is roughly at 6:12. You will love.

Holy Toot*


We’ve just started planning our family Florida trip for 2008 and this year my dad has taken on figuring out all the logistics–who is sleeping where, travel plans, etc etc. He sent us out a long email today outlining the details with some very specific instructions, mostly tailored toward my often less than eloquent little brothers:

“You need to prepare to be self-sufficient so your mother worries about absolutely nothing while on her vacation. You also need to keep the accommodations up to her standard so she will not worry at all.

Ø No flop house standards.
Ø
Dishes washed
Ø
Clothes away.
Ø
Bedding stowed away when not in use.
Ø
Bathroom spotless when done.
Ø
Personal areas tidy.
Ø
No griping, whining or complaining. None at all
Ø
No fighting or screaming.
Ø
No farting or other rude comments in any company
Ø
Coming to me with every problem to be solved. She is on vacation.”

For those of you who don’t know Choppy and Teep, the bullet highlighted in bold–though crude–is absolutely necessary. They can be REALLY gross. haha

Anyway, Dad sent this email out to all of us, and Choppy replied:

“*FART
(better get it out now)

yep, all sounds great”

I love my family. :)

Shop Girl*

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