I’m a little nervous about doing this post. SIMB (Shaking in my boots) because I think I’ve had TMB (too many birthdays) to come up with all these shortcuts in the world of texting. See the picture. That’s where I am. Using quills and paper. Actually I’ve advanced all the way up to ballpoint pens and paper. You know the kind of pens you pick up at the bank and carry home until you can’t stuff one more pen in that cup on your desk and you have to get a new pen holding cup. 
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But texters don’t have to worry about pens. They have their fancy little phones in their pockets. And then they type in shortcut words and phrases. Like LOL. I know what that one means although the first time I saw it I thought maybe it meant Lots of Love. But the writers kept throwing in expressions of love at the oddest times. Finally somebody let me know they were laughing. Probably at me! Of course ROTFL is even funnier. And somehow I always doubt if the person is actually rolling on the floor laughing. Have you ever seen anyone over the age of five roll on the floor laughing? Especially while typing. But perhaps you can ROTFL and text at the same time.
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What got me started on this is I got a message from a friend and she ended it with TTYL. I have no idea what TTYL stands for and so I’ve been trying to figure it out. It came at the end of her message so I thought it might be some kind of Yours truly. Truly truly you live. Text till you’re loved. Tomorrow take your leave. Take that you louse. That’s the yellow lemon. Obviously, as you can see I’m TOTT. Too old to text.
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I found that out some time back when I did one of my first on-line interviews. People signed in and I was signed in and they asked questions that after a respectful pause I was supposed to answer. Somebody asked me if I was a SOTP writer. Well, not wanting to appear out of it and TOTT, I frantically tried to make sense of what in the world a sotp writer was. Silly? Old? Timid? Proud? I had to forget about the proud and admit my ignorance. Of course! Seat of the pants. Anybody – especially a writer – should be able to figure that out. More so, since I am one. A sotp writer. But not a sotp texting interviewee it seemed.
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I think I need a reference book for texting shortcuts. Maybe there is one out there already. If so, I don’t think you want me to edit it. Although between us, I’m wagering we could come up with some interesting entries. I just worry I could put some letters together that I might think means one thing when it might mean something not so nice to text experts. Like Iitd. (I’m in the dark.) So educate me those of you not TOTT. Throw some texting shortcuts out here and see what weird meanings I can discover for them. Then you can all be ROTFL.
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My website book giveaway winners were Lucy of Ohio and Barbara Sh. of I don’t know where yet. Barb, you’ll have to e-mail me your address. Lucy won three books. She picked my Orchard of Hope and she gets Susan Meissner’s Shape of Mercy and Athol Dickson’s Lost Mission – both award-winning books. Barb gets her choice of one of my books and that Shaker surprise – a spicy fragrant Hands to Work and Hearts to God hot mat and a huge Shaker clothespin. Fun gifts from the Shaker gift shop. Check back soon here or on my website. I’ll be doing a birthday giveaway. I mean even though I might be TOTT, at least I’m not TOTGAB. Too old to give away books. (Or Too old to Gab either.) Have a great week.