by Linda Thieman, author, Katie & Kimble

Hi!  My name is Linda Thieman (pronounced TEE-mun).  I write the Katie & Kimble stories.

I wanted to share with you my favorite story from when I was 8 years old.  This is a true story.  It happened to me!

 

When I was 8, my family got a piano.  I wanted to play the piano so much.  So I started taking lessons.

One song in my piano book was called “The Old Oaken Bucket.”  I played this song a lot.  In fact, I played it so much that I learned it by heart.

Then I got really bored.  So I took one note in the song and changed it.  It was a real clinker!  And I played that note wrong through the whole song.

Oh!  It sounded terrible!  But I played it so much, that I could play the terrible song by heart, too.

My dad thought this was very funny.  He had a good sense of humor.  So he made a plan.

His sister (my aunt) and her husband were coming for a visit.  So Dad said to me, “Play the bad song, and I’ll stand next to you and look proud.”  I agreed.  I thought it sounded like a funny idea!

So, my aunt and uncle sat on the couch in the living room.  I sat at the piano.  And my dad stood next to me and looked very proud.  Then I played the terrible song with the wrong notes.

My dad acted like he didn’t notice it was terrible.  But my aunt and uncle had funny looks on their faces.  Oh, they thought it was bad!

When my dad saw their faces, he burst out laughing!  Then they burst out laughing, too.  And I had to join in, of course!  So then Dad said to me, “Play it the right way now.”  So I was a bit nervous at that point.  I was hoping I didn’t make a REAL mistake!

But all went well.  I played it well – no mistakes!  My aunt and uncle were very happy with our little show.

So, now I’m all grown up.  But the spirit of that 8-year-old girl lives on in me.  And I also have my Dad’s sense of humor.  I think that’s why the Katie & Kimble stories are so funny!

Copyright © 2007-2012 by Linda Thieman

by Linda Thieman, author, Katie & Kimble

Hi! My name is Linda Thieman (pronounced TEE-mun). I write the Katie & Kimble stories.

I wanted to share with you my favorite story from when I was 7 years old. This is a true story. It happened to me!

 

When I was six, my dad decided we should have a dog. My mom agreed. My little sister, Nancy, and I were very excited, too.

We went over to some friends of my dad’s. They were a married couple named Bob and Lucretia. We saw their puppies—they were Labradors, or Labs.

We chose the cutest little black Lab puppy. We liked him because he had a crooked tail. Then, we needed to pick a name. My dad suggested we name the dog after his friends. We all liked the idea. So, we named the dog Lubo—“Lu” for Lucretia and “bo” for Bob. I thought this was kind of funny since Prince William and his wife, Catherine, named their little, black dog “Lupo”–it’s almost the same!

Lubo grew into a very big dog. He was really my dad’s dog. We had a big backyard with a fence around it. Lubo was happy to run free outside, safe in the big backyard.

Lubo was too big to be a house dog. At night, Lubo would sleep in the garage. Sometimes he got bored in the garage, so he ate our picnic table! Or chewed it to pieces, anyway.

My dad liked to do experiments with Lubo. He’d try something different and then see what happened. For example, Dad would walk Lubo down to the corner of our block. It was quite far away. Then, he’d tell Lubo to “sit.” Then my dad would walk home. Lubo stayed and sat at the corner. When Dad got home, he’d turn around and whistle loudly. Then Lubo would come running.

One time, when I was 7, my dad decided to do another experiment with Lubo. My dad came into the living room to get my little sister and me. My sister was 5. Dad said, “I want to try something with Lubo. I’ll pretend that I’m spanking Nancy. Then Nancy can pretend she’s crying. Then we’ll see what Lubo does.” It was a funny idea, especially since Dad never spanked us!

Nancy and I agreed to go along with it. So, the three of us went out to the garage where Lubo was. Dad sat down on the steps in front of the door to the kitchen. Nancy leaned over his lap. Then he pretended he was angry. He also pretended he was spanking her. And Nancy pretended she was crying.

It didn’t take long and Lubo was right there, growling at my dad! We were so surprised because Lubo never growled. Lubo was trying to protect my sister!

Well, Dad put Nancy down and patted Lubo. We all had a good laugh. We didn’t know that Lubo was a guard dog!

Years later, when I was in junior high, we had another dog. Her name was JP. She was a short-legged Beagle. She was mostly black and white, with a little brown.

I guess my sister and I really take after our dad because we used to do experiments with JP, too. For example, JP had a gold plastic bed with a blue mattress.

Sometimes, we’d point to her bed and say, “Go to your bed!” She would always go.

So, one day, Nancy and I decided to take JP’s bed apart. We put the gold, plastic frame on one side of the room. Then we put the blue mattress on the other side of the room. Then I pointed to the area between the two parts of the bed. I said, “Go to your bed!”

So, JP looked at the gold frame and she looked at the blue mattress. She looked back and forth. She couldn’t decide. Finally, she walked over and sat on the blue mattress! She was not a stupid dog, that’s for sure.

What would you do? Think about it for a minute. If someone took your bed apart, where would you go? Would you lie down on the floor inside the metal frame? Or would you lie down on the mattress?

Oh, and by the way, JP got her name from the man who gave her to us. His name was Jerry Pile. That’s my dad for you!

Copyright © 2007-2012 by Linda Thieman