Everybody needs a catch phrase

Most famously important people have that word or phrase which they'll forever be known for, even if it was unintentional.
 Lincoln's known for, "Four score and seven years ago..."  
Martin Luther King will be remembered for, "I had a dream!"
Urkel had, "Did I do that?" 
The baby dino from Dinosaurs had, "not the Momma!"
"Is this chicken or fish that I'm eating?" will always make us think of Jessica Simpson.

When I was younger, a teen, I responded to almost anything my sister said with, "so's your face." It didn't even make sense. It didn't even have to be a retort to something mean. She could be asking me to pass the butter and I'd respond with, "so's your face!" It lasted for almost a year and every once in a while I still use it.

This is how The Professor found his catch phrase...

It was one of best friend's birthdays. I was a single mother of two and really wanted to do something special for her. I decided to make her shepherd's pie, her favorite, and this really cool 3-D ducky cake. I made the cake the night before and left it to cool overnight. 

When I checked in the morning it hadn't cooked all the way and had fallen. Awesome. Now I had to drag a 4 year-old and a 2 year-old to the store to pick up more cake stuff. I got home had everyone settled, no eggs. Back to the store. 

I get the cake baked and while I'm waiting for it to cool I start cleaning the horrendous mess my boys made while I was baking. Spilled juice? Check. Crayon on the floor? Check. I start making the shepherd's pie and they start fighting. Referee the WWE preschool edition event? Check. 

I get all the icing on my irresistibly cute ducky cake and ever so carefully put him in the fridge. On the way into the fridge I smear the entire left side of face against the light. Great. Now my cute ducky is a stroke victim. I put on another episode of Thomas the Train and get to work repairing him between snack and juice requests. 

I blow up balloons and hang a Happy Birthday banner in the living room. My friends arrive and can see I'm a little frazzled. I vent about my day a little.

At the time my kitchen was barely more than a cubby hole and I didn't have a table. So everyone settled into the living room to eat, even Mischievous Middle in his high chair. I fed the kids first and got everyone their plates. When I sat down with my own plate I finally started to relax a little. Then it happened.

Mischievous Middle. That kid was just dieing to see me snap. I know it. Those cherub cheeks and precious curls weren't fooling me. He decided he was finished with his food and promptly tossed the entire plate, minus two bites, onto the carpet.

For thirty intense seconds no one spoke. No one breathed. They just looked back and forth between me and Mischievous Middle's broad grin. I was near tears.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EVERYONE!!!" The Professor screamed.

What great comedic timing! I burst out laughing. When everyone else realized that I wasn't going to go all Jason Voorhees on them all they laughed too. It was great.

I've told this story a few times and a few months ago The Professor started using it all the damn time. "Happy birthday, everyone!" at random points during the day gets just plain annoying. I now understand why Mr. Winslow always turned that strange color when Urkel exclaimed, "Did I do that?"

I was so annoyed one day that I asked him why on earth he kept saying it. "It's just funny. It was my first joke. It's my catch phrase now," he said.

What a character.