If Only There Was a Delete Button for My Mouth

I have always wished to be more prudent with my words, mostly because I am not very smart and often what I say completely gives that away.

Once in awhile, I wish I had kept my mouth shut because I realize my words were hurtful to someone.  I regret those times most of all.

I like to think that I am a thoughtful and caring person, but if I was, why would I say this to my grandfather with terminal cancer:  "Wow, it's so hot in here.  Aren't you dying?"  He just looked at me.  Then, not knowing what I could say to fix my mistake, I chuckled nervously and left the room.

Can you believe that?  I chuckled.  Why do I do that?  I called Dr. Laura once and she didn't even want to listen to me because my nervous laugh kept punctuating my words.  I must have sounded so stupid on the radio!

Oh well.  At least I wasn't on TV.

One time I talked to a neighbor on the phone.  This is how the conversation went:

Me:  "Hello.  I'm sorry I didn't come visiting teaching last month.  I stopped by with some cookies but you weren't home so I put them in your garage.  If you didn't find them, they must be stale by now so you'll have to give them to your dogs."

Her:  "We don't have any dogs."

Me:  "You don't?"  (Thinking to myself, "I was sure they had dogs...")

Her:  "Actually, we ate them."

Me:  "You ate your DOGS?!?!!

There was a moment of silence while it came to me: she meant they ate the cookies, not the dogs.  Then I started to laugh uncontrollably while she sat quietly on the other end.  She didn't find it funny at all.

Just this weekend as we finished our meal at a restaurant with some visiting family the waitress started talking to me.  I assumed she was going to ask me if the meal ticket was together or separate, so I answered her before I realized what she actually did ask.  So this was how it sounded:

Waitress:  "I need the ages of your children for the check."

Me:  "You'll have to ask him about that (indicating my husband)."

You know, because I'm the kind of mom who has no idea how old her children are.

My baby is good at putting his foot in his mouth too, but it's so much cuter when he does it.

My Comfort Blanket

I don't know if quillows were a big thing everywhere or just in my home town, but my foster mom made one for me back when I lived there (what seems like a million years ago).  Although it is now faded and worn (often how I feel--not that I feel old yet, but just that I sometimes miss the vibrancy and energy I had when I was a teenager), I use it every night when we couch-potato (I'll bet you didn't know that could be a verb) because it is the only blanket that keeps my feet warm.  In my opinion, every blanket should have a pocket for your feet.

Also, every night I sleep on a special pillow my mom gave me for my birthday.  I was with her when she bought it, but she still took it home and wrapped it in pretty paper before she gave it to me, which I thought was a little silly but still very sweet.  I love the pillow.  It feels like a hug.

I love how she accepted me as her own even though I was ungrateful and angry so much of the time.  I love the way she has patiently waited as I repeatedly put time with her on the back burner while I spend time with my own family members.  Even though I wish she wouldn't fret, I think it is nice that she still frets over me.

And I love that even though she is hundreds of miles away and it has been more than a dozen years since I left her nest, I still feel like she tucks me in and hugs me every night before I go to sleep.

Improving Home: The Girls' Room, Final Before and After

I forgot to show you one of my favorite things in the girls' room.  My seven-year-old daughter's best friend gave this to her for her birthday last year:

If you don't know what it is, it's a picture of a temple, where we as Latter-Day Saints aspire to be married.
 

And this is another piece of artwork that my daughter finger-painted in kindergarten.  I think the art teacher at my daughter's school is amazing.




If you've been around this blog long enough to see the "before" picture, you'll know that it was posted a very long time ago.  Here it is one last time:

Before

After

And now I say GOOD NIGHT to the girls' room!

Glow-in-the-dark stars