Hang nails and other lessons from life.

At some point during the week I like to reflect on what life has taught me over the past several days. A few things I have learned this past week are . . .

1. Don't ask a person a question that you don't have to ask and which has a high probability of having an answer you aren't going to like. Ignorance at times, can be bliss--or at least easier to live with.

2. No matter how comfortable you think a new pair of shoes will be, NEVER take the new shoes as your only pair on a vacation. This is dumb, dumb, dumb!! After you have walked for hours and have blisters, you won't have any shoes to change in to.

3. Since you can no longer wear the offending shoes, do not under any circumstances run down the carpeted hotel stairs in your socks. This only leads to slipping on the stairs, falling down them, and spraining your ankle, which results in a fat foot that now in no way fits into your only pair of shoes.

4. Don't let your married children move away. We have spent the past two weeks with our daughter Camille, her husband Dave and their baby. They left this morning to return to Colorado Springs and I am sure my heart will be sad forever--or at least until we see them again, which wasn't going to be until December, but now I think will be much sooner.

5. Don't get caught up focusing on a hang nail--or anything like unto it. I got a hang nail the other day and did not have anything to remove it. The pestering piece of skin caused my whole finger to ache and demanded the better part of my attention until I tracked down a daughter with clippers. (We were out of town which is why I did not have any of my own.) For that entire time my focus was on the pain of a little hang nail. I was surrounded by family and natures beauty, but was distracted by a throbbing finger. It made me wonder how many times in life I have missed out on a lot of wonderful experiences because I was focusing on something that demanded my attention but in reality was of little importance.

6. And last of all . . . treasure each day. We are currently in Chicago at a family reunion and having a wonderful time. We get to spend sweet moments with relatives who live as far away as Hawaii and Atlanta and all my kids are going home feeling that they not only know their cousins better, but have also made some very good friends.