Monday, August 04, 2008

Laughter part two

Hubby has always made me laugh. We were friends for several years before we were married, and while he is an introvert and claims to have the emotional range of a "cow," he's also very funny.

His humor is on the dry, slightly sarcastic side and comes from life observations.

When I was growing up, my brother Danny developed a "pet" voice. He talked for the animals, mostly the cats. If one of us was petting the cat, Danny would say in this modified voice, "I bite, and I bite hard." Or, "I'm gonna bite you."

It was pretty funny. So, after Tony and I were married, we acquired a few pets and this family tradition in my background surfaces. Pretty soon, we were both talking to the animals. We'd actually have 3 or 4 way conversations going on between us. Me and Tony talking to the cat and/or dog and then one of us answering for said animal.

We'd make up songs "from" them, play games. One time Hubby had the cat on the bed and pretended to pay hide and seek with our dog, Jack. He put Red's paws over his eyes and counted, "One, two, free... Ready or not, here I come."

At the precise moment Hubby removed the paws from Red's eyes, dog Jack walked past the bed and Red leaned over as if to say, "I found you."

Hubby said something like, "Stupid dog, can't even hide."

We laughed so hard. So hard. Some of the songs we made up were pretty funny, but I can't remember them.

One Christmas someone from church gave us a big box of chocolates. I only like the caramel filled kind, not the the coconut or raspberry or whatever. So, I pinched all the bottoms to find the ones I wanted. Hubby comes home to find all the chocolates slightly wreck. Of course he knows I did it, but he looked at me and said, "Hey, someone gave us defective chocolates."

Or something like that, but it was absolutely funny. Some times the smallest things are the funniest.

Back to the pets, my brother Joel lived with us for awhile, so he became a fifth voice in the house. One time he was sitting on the couch with Hubby. In between them was Red, the cat. Now, Red is staring at the ceiling. So, Joel looks up. Then looks at the cat. Cat looks up, Hubby looks up. Joel looks back to the cat, who is now looking at Hubby. Very quietly Joel says in his pet voice, "Ha, ha made you look."

We laughed for days, off and on.

One year Hubby did a dating and sex series for the youth that concluded with him demonstrating the need for boundaries with Barbie and Ken riding in a Barbie car. It was awesome, very funny, and to this day, a youth legend.

Hubby makes me laugh. I could sit here for days thinking of things and jotting them down. There was the time he wrapped a pair of sneakers he bought me for Christmas in separate boxes because I like to open a lot of gifts. That was clever and funny, however ruled insufficient for the present rule and therefore banned.

Anyway, laughter is good.

Now, I've also cracked myself up a bunch of times. While writing, while observing life, thinking of things, reading. Author Marian Keyes had me laughing so hard in one of her books I had too put it down.

One night I was reading Calvin and Hobbs before going to bed. Watterson had penned this bit about Christmas, the parents up all night putting together presents. Upstairs, Calvin and Hobbs are waiting anxiously for Santa. They hear a bump and a bang, terrified and excited, they conclude it's Santa bring all Calvin's loot. The last frame of the strip is the dad, holding his toe, hopping around uttering comic cuss words, "Sassin, frassin, ramalma ding dong."

I laughed so hard, it just felt so much like a real life scene, I woke up the next morning feeling the residuals of the laughter.

Ah, sweet laughter.

Oh, reading Paul Reiser's book "Couplehood" got me good, as did George Burns's and Jerry Seinfeld's.

Come on, today's a good day to laugh!

11 comments:

Sharon Hayes said...

Thanks for making me laugh this evening - loved the hide-n-seek one as well as Joel, Red & Tony. I loved hearing Danny talk in "pet talk"!!

Love you Mom

Lynette Sowell said...

My dh and I love to laugh at the craziest things...we were even cracking up while he was in the ER, waiting to see if they needed to take his appendix out (they did!).

On doing the "animal" voices...my family does that too. And while I've spent little time with my baby sister over the past 16 years, that's something we still have in common. :)

Rebekah said...

We always had good laughs. maybe thats why our drive way always looked like a used car lot with all the friends hanging out there.

Dad's laugh over Bill Cosby is still the best

Barb said...

I love this post, Rachel. Laughter extends lives and it's funny how it's the little stupid things that we laugh the hardest at.

I defy anyone to read anything Marian Keyes has written and not make a complete fool of herself, laughing out loud when no one around her knows what she's laughing at. She's hilarious.

You're so right. Nothing feels as good as a rip-roaring belly laugh at something only you and someone you loves knows is funny.

Lisa said...

Today we were walking out of a store where both doors opened out automatically. My 13 yr-old daughter walked right into the center of the door frame, looked at us funny and said, "I walked into the door." It just struck us all so funny we laughed all the way to the car.
I'm thinking our last teacher's night out before school at the karoake place is going to bring some great laughter. I can't wait.

This IS our life! said...

I love how you and your husband are friends and can make you laugh... its one of my favorite things about my hubby too! (especially the pet thing - totally do that) LOL

Rachel Hauck said...

Fun stuff y'all. Lynette and Lisa, so cool to hear your stories!

Lisa, my brother Joel did something similar to your daughter (I pictured her saying "I walked into the door" and laughed.)

Joel was at the airport returning a rental car and walking to his car where his wife waited, he got distracted and looked to his left and ran right into one of those waste high yellow parking polls.

It "grabbed" him. He got bent over on it, and stuck, and trying to get off of it, he ended up turning in a circle, arms and legs flailing

My sister-in-law said it was the funniest thing...

Rachel

Rachel Hauck said...

D & J,

Isn't the pet voice funny!?

Beka, Dad had some pretty good laughs over MASH too. Remember?

Mom, I can still here you and Nancy laughing!

Rel said...

Loved Couplehood and Jerry's book too, Rach. My husband is the funniest man I know, seriously!! He can't tell a formal joke to save himself but is so quick bouncing off other people's comments and chatter.

I admit we laugh as a family all too often during prayer time! Having young kids tends to do that. I remember when my eldest was just over two and recently toilet trained (she also spoke very early). She had fallen in the toilet (bottom down!) earlier in the day and had to have help being pulled out!

During prayers she said this, "Thank you God for getting stuck in the toilet!" I think she was trying to thank God for getting out but my husband and I just laughed until we needed to go - LOL!!!

Rachel Hauck said...

Rel, too funny. I've laughed during prayer and church.

One Sunday, years ago, this man got up to sing a solo. Back in the day when we had the offering solos or choir numbers.

He was horrible. Off key, off rhythm, just sad. The pastor was on the stage sitting behind him, and he was a man who loved to laugh. How he kept a straight face was the work of the Holy Spirit.

I couldn't look up. I had to gaze down and not think about what I was hearing. After the song ended, the man came and sat next to me and asked, "How was it. I couldn't hear myself in the monitors."

I just mumbled, it was fine man. Oh, wow. It was an incredible moment. But the church graciously applauded and no one, not one laughed out loud or even snickered.

Then, another time, we did laugh, the pastor was reading from the NT, something like, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but-" He pauses, looks at the congregation and says, "thank God for buts."

Tony looks over, "Did he just thank God for butts?"

Too funny!

Poor girl caught in the toilet, I'd be thanking God too!

Anonymous said...

someday i'm gonna get me a funny man too!!! that's what i'm striving for. :)

love you,
sheree