Oh, Frank and Diana. I don’t always agree with either of you, but, I always like you. We should have drinks sometimes. Just the three of us. That’s the Canadian Way.

Exactly, Diana. I contend that if a woman isn’t interested in the bedroom scene (which men often seem to complain about), then perhaps the man in question is doing something wrong.

Oh no. Should have been “their workouts” … plural. I think I’m done. Yikes!

Oops! Should have been “their” workout … not “there”. I’ll now have to beat up on myself for that error for half an hour or so.

I have an aversion to any type of spectator sport. How much fun is it when a handful of people are out there playing on the field and the rest of us just get to sit there and watch? We’d all be in better shape if we’d find a game of our own to play instead of watching others as they get there workout. However, I am resigned to the fact that I have to live in this sports-crazy world. As for the table tennis controversy, it’s just another sad reminder of how women are valued for how they look and not for who they are or what they do. If people aren’t prepared to watch for the sheer thrill of the game then they simply aren’t interested enough in the sport. (I love to play ping pong and routinely beat my husband and all but one of my sons!) Just had to add that.

No, sorry, I wasn’t suggesting that at all. Actually, I’m talking about each party keeping themselves in check but also, not being blind to obvious warning signs when a partner is doing questionable things, no matter how innocent them may seem on the surface. I don’t think most people intend to cheat. Rather, they fall into it by being careless.

In re-reading these posts, I am wondering why Kryssi questioned Maizie’s psychologist friend’s credentials and why Bad Eggs is calling for her/him to be disbarred. If you will re-read Maizie’s original post, the psychologist friend simply stated what recent research indicates in trends and what these young girls themselves have said. And s/he should be disbarred for this?

I think that anyone is capable of straying if one grows complacent; temptation is everywhere. Most illicit affairs start at work because we often spend more time (waking hours, anyway) with co-workers than we actually do with our mates. I concur with Joan above. Just as one tends to a garden to ensure growth and keep weeds at bay, marriage (or other relationships) need to be similarly nurtured. As Joan pointed out, nipping something in the bud at an early stage can save us untold grief. Blind trust without checks and balances has doomed many a relationship.

My mom is 40 years older than I so she always looked old to me. I was only 6 years old when she was my age so any pictures of her at my age require me to see beyond the cat-eye glasses and conservative clothing she wore in order to compare. She certainly looks old now at 86 but that doesn’t matter. I want her attitude. She broke her leg on Friday and lay in a hospital bed for four days awaiting surgery. When my sister and I visited her post-surgery on Tuesday evening, she assured us that she was fine but wanted to know, more importantly she said, how we were. She encouraged us to go out and have a fun evening. When I visited her yesterday, she was in fine spirits and said “I’d like to be unhappy but I don’t have the time”. She profusely thanked her attending nurse for the fine care and raved about the orange sherbet that was part of her lunch. That’s who I want to be.

Ah yes, Susan, and I have no daughters but am blessed with four sons. I love them all … long hair, short hair or no hair.

My husband just cut off his ponytail last week … long story. I initially objected to the ponytail look he was sporting a few years ago when we got together (again … long story). I have never objected to men with ponytails per se; it just wasn’t something I was comfortable with at that time in our lives a few years ago. Now I am quite ambivalent about the matter and the decision to cut if off last week was his alone. However, about three weeks ago, my 19 year old son also cut his hair which he wore in a ponytail and I was horrified. This boy has dark, beautiful, shiny hair with the most amazing ringlets ever and I had always encouraged him to grow it long (shoulder length) which he finally did. (He tells me that the girls at school often couldn’t resist just reaching out to touch it.) He didn’t just cut the ponytail; he conspired with another brother to shave his hair right off. I’m still in mourning. Boo hoo. My only consolation is that hair does grow back.

Sorry, but I for one am so weary of all the information that the “experts” are constantly providing us to supposedly enrich and lengthen our lives. The above article states that people with lower levels of Vitamin D “have a significantly higher risk of death than those with higher levels” (of Vitamin D). I thought that we all carried the same risk of death. When I was presenting tobacco cessation sessions at the hospital, the material covered included the statistic informing participants that a smoker has a 50% chance of dying from a smoking-related illness; I always had to bite my tongue at that point to stop myself from saying “and if you are a non-smoker you have a 100% chance of dying from something else”. I’m not against health promotion per se but for the average person, this micro-managing of our health with infinite studies is fairly useless. I’m not sure what the American equivalent might be, but up here we have “The Canada Food Guide” which is a nice basic guide for eating but I’m convinced that few people even follow that. Furthermore, the “experts” change their minds so often. There was even a revision to the Canada Food Guide this year so are we to believe that the former version was wrong after all? They’ve been telling us for years to use sunscreen all the time. Now they’re even suggesting that we need to be “protected” from the sun when we are in our cars. Of course the sun is a great source of Vitamin D and we’ve been missing out. No wonder so many people are depressed and anxious these days. (Search on the internet for information regarding the class action lawsuit that several major sunscreen manufacturers have just been through.) Very interesting. I know I sound like a bit of a wet blanket this morning. My mom is supposed to have surgery today and I’m not thinking it will turn out well. My prescription for health is to get some exercise, eat real food (not overly processed), don’t eat too much, get reasonable rest, take some vacations, avoid excessive anger and try to live in peace with others. Ladies (and gentlemen), wishing you a blessed day.

And Frannie, at first read, I missed the significance of the progression of words in Webster’s … from “forgiveness” through to “forgotten”. but caught it second read through. Very poignant indeed.

Frannie, I couldn’t really teach them how to forgive … I just attempted to challenge them on what forgiveness might mean and why it is necessary, not just for them, but for others as well. As in many of those workshops, I often felt that I learned more than some of the participants. I often started out doing exactly what you did; I’d look a word up in the dictionary and scribble it on my white board and let them go after it. I also used examples such as the one I posted … simple examples, such as how I respond to my own driving errors as opposed to those of others.

In looking back at my post now that it is up there, it seems lengthy to the extreme. Will you forgive me?