Grammar tidbit for the day.

I got this photo from my daughter today along with a short explanation of how Sticky Bean had been playing with a cupcake paper and choked on a little piece of it. She described the rescue this way: "I jammed my finger down his throat and he gagged it up. Scared me to death!" He thought it was funny:

I'm telling you, this is 100% a type-A kid. He just needs a little excitement to keep him going. Boredom makes him crabby.

Then Abbie sent me this picture from Dallas asking if it really needed a comma. (My kids think I am the answer grape on grammar issues. And yes, my whole family takes pictures of possible grammar errors all over the country. I get these texts all the time.)

And the answer is, no. It does not get a comma. This may be one of the most common grammar mistakes people make, but there is no comma before the word "too" at the end of a sentence. The word is set off in the middle of a sentence with two commas, as in "I, too, think the healthcare bill is a monumental mistake." But at the end of a sentence, the comma is omitted. I remove these commas all the time.

I actually dragged my stuffy head and sore nose to Pilates today, and I knew we were in for it when Queen P. declared it "Plank Day!" in all her bubbly exuberance. If you've never experienced a plank, lie face down on the floor. Now raise up on your hands and toes in the starting push-up position. Keep your body perfectly straight. Stay there. For a really long time. Let me know how long you can hold it. At 30 seconds I am starting to tremble. At 45 I have to hold my breath (big no-no in Pilates. Don't tell Queen P.). When QP gets up to turn the stereo down, I flop so I don't pass out. She comes back, I raise up again. My only consolation is that I'm the oldest person in the class. (I won't tell you I'm only six years older than QP herself.) I just keep saying, "Not bad for an almost-50-year-old."

So we planked. Front planks, and side planks, and side-to-side planks, and finally backward planks on the big bouncy ball. I'm planked out and I need a hot bath.

Be thankful ~

Karen