Why I rarely listen to the news

Why is it that the news is so often full of horrible depressing stories? I happened to listen for a couple minutes today and heard about a daycare worker who punished a child for crying by putting him in a COLD shower. What I would like to know is how this person got hired. I would think that people who work at daycares should like children and generally be good with them. Not put them in cold showers. Doesn't give you a lot of confidence in daycare does it?

Sunglasses

Sadly, my favorite sunglasses broke this weekend. Sunglasses are not the easiest things to fix so I'm now in the market for a new pair. Unfortunately, I have a difficult time finding some that look good on me and that I actually like. I don't want to buy boring sunglasses so that eliminates quite a few, but neither can I pull off the giant white ones. If anyone would like to go sunglasses shopping with me, let me know. It's always good to get another opinion seeing as those tiny long mirrors rarely do the situation justice.

A new level in culinary skills for Val and me!

Homemade CheeseSticks!!! Yes, they were very good. No we did not feel guilty. At least not much!

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families

I listened to this audio tape during my trip to and from Chattanooga. It's a great book and I recommend it. But in case you don't have the time, I wanted to share three of the examples Stephen Covey shared that really stuck out in my mind.

· You can climb the ladder of success only to get to the top and realize you had placed your ladder against the wrong wall. Choose what are the most important things in your life and than work toward success in these areas.

· Having a successful family is like managing a flight plan on an airplane. You set your end point and that move towards that goal. Sometimes you will get off course, but the flight plan will keep readjusting you to get to the goal.

· Relationships are much like bank accounts. You make deposits and withdrawals. Deposits are things like affirming words and keeping promises. They are also whatever the other person in the relationship considers to be deposits. You must find out what is important to them. If the bank account is full, an occasional withdrawal will not affect the overall account. But if the account is empty, the smallest withdrawal can send it into overdraft.