While few of us would be characterized as purely extroverted or introverted, most of us fit into one category more often than the other. I’m willing to bet that Mr. Rushdie, the well-known writer of this week’s quote, is primarily an introvert.
I have a couple of reoccurring dreams that invade my sedate sleep time on occasion. In one dream I’m losing teeth. In fact, they come tumbling out with such speed it is all I can do to scoop them up and push them back into my mouth. I’m never aware of any associated pain. I’m simply faced with teeth that fall out all at once.
“Do you really want to know how many calories are in that taco salad?” my daughter inquired one day this week as we surveyed a menu. When I agreed the information was of great interest to me, she whipped out her iPhone and began tapping the screen. Within seconds the nutritional information popped up and helped us move toward items lower in fat.
Although we are not a family who enjoys a strong Irish heritage, we gather to eat traditionally Irish food in honor of my dad, who was born in his grandmother’s farmhouse in Lincoln Country, OK, on March 17, 1928.
It was chilly. I could feel the dampness creep around my neck and down my collar, even though I had carefully zipped my jacket and wound the wonderful Scottish wool scarf my mother-in-law gave me this winter around my neck twice.
Tuesday evening my husband and I ate dinner together as we watched President Obama present his first economic address to a joint session of Congress and the nation. As he spoke I thought back on a recent conversation I had over a meal with a friend. As we talked that day, she revealed that her 401K had shrunk in value by $30,000 in one reporting period. We wondered out loud if it’s irresponsible to temporarily file financial statements without noting the bottom line. It seems less stressful.
When my children were little we played a game called, “I Spy!” I’d say to them, usually in the car to promote interesting conversation and create a teachable moment, “I spy with my little eyes God….” I hoped to plant seeds of recognition as they processed the experiences of the day and heighten their awareness that God works all around them.
“Mom? It’s me. My instructor told me it was okay to leave school early ‘cuz I look like I’ve been punched in the face. My head is pounding, I sneezed 21 times in a row, and I can hardly keep my eyes open. If I come home, will you make me a bed on the couch and bring me tea?”
It’s been a rough 2 weeks at the Klope house. My robust, independent children have taken over the family room, piling the couch with pillows and blankets. The coffee table is cluttered with a tissue box, a collection of cough drops, snack plates, and coffee mugs. The chihuahuas couldn’t be happier as they are the original blanket surfers.
I am a member of Soroptimist International, a volunteer organization for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls. In recent months our organization has worked tirelessly to educate its members and the public at large about the worldwide trafficking of human beings.
My husband and I comment fairly frequently about the amount of time spent watching TV, playing video games, listening to music on iPods, and surfing the Internet. “It’s that great sucking sound,” my husband often comments, “of valuable time being sucked away.”
Prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God. —Sister Teresa of Avila (1515 – 1582) “You…
As the year draws to a close, like so many others ,I’m drawn to the retrospectives—the moments in 2008 caught so masterfully by photographers and writers who focus their professional attentions on the people who continue to take center stage, as well as the cast of characters in our global human drama who have left us.
This week I’m focusing my time and attention on my husband and children. We’re enjoying some rare family time. It’s the natural order of things for children to grow up and begin creating lives of their own. That makes it increasingly difficult to get together. When we saw the chance to celebrate Christmas together, we took it!
