Wrinkle-free

When my parents were in their early 60's they had the opportunity to live and work in Florida. Mom raved about the balmy weather. "You can tell they don't have to deal with the harsh cold winters down here," she observed. "Even very old people have smooth and almost wrinkle-free skin."

Several weeks later she phoned me to correct her observation. "Marian, forget what I said about wrinkle-free. Today I got new stronger glasses."

Freida the Cat

Just now as I was sitting at the dining room table writing email on my laptop, Freida our cat jumped up on my lap and settled in. I began petting her, she licked my fingers. This is highly unusual. If you know Freida, she is not a "people cat". She would sooner hiss at you than sit on your lap. And, if you know me, I am not a cat person. I tolerate Freida for the sake of those in our household who want a pet. But, I've noticed that ever since I have taken over the task of cleaning out the litter box, I've been bonding with her. (I think she knows I'm writing about her, she just gave me the eye, from her position over in the hall.) Christina was doing a poor job remembering to clean out the litter box, and I hate nagging, so we came to an agreement. Christina puts clothes away after I do the laundry and I do the litter box. One of the main reasons I hate pets is because of the litter...so now this is my job, go figure.

I Want to be a Better Listener

At Toastmasters' there is an exercise we do to become better listeners. One of the toastmasters assumes the role of grammarian. One of his/her tasks is to write down phrases spoken by various speakers during the evening. At the end of the meeting the grammarian reads the phrases and the rest of us have to tell him who said what. I am not very good at this exercise. I usually only peg one out of seven phrases correctly--if that.

I assumed I was a good listener. There goes that notion. Actually if you talk to my kids, any one of them would probably say, "I could have told you that."

Belated resolution: I will work at improving my listening skills.

New Year's Resolutions

I'm all for being kinder, more considerate, more fit, more loving, more giving, less critical of others, more deliberate with my time, a better listener, more generous, less cynical...in other words more like Jesus. So my New Year's resolution is to keep my spiritual ears open, to obey the Lord in everything He tells me to do when He tells me to do it, and to repent every time I mess up.