• Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
• Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s.
• Enjoy the simple things.
• Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
• The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. LIVE while you are alive.
• Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Remember: Your home is your refuge.
• Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help. You are worth it!
• Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
• Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
• Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a second time.

After Meg left this past weekend from her awesome help, I ended up with a giant table full of Gladware. It was like the Island of Misfit Toys. Lids that didn’t fit anything, containers without lids, extra lids from who-knows-where, and a few thick thermal coffee mug lids (with no corresponding mugs) for good measure.

What to do…what to do?

Evelyn and I decided there’s a great mystery afloat: you purchase Gladware because it’s cheap, it’s disposable, and it’s really not so much for posterity, right? And you pay $40 for a single plastic bowl from Tupperware because you want its durability, lifetime guarantee, and all-around usefulness…

So why is it that the Tupperware always disappears (at the church potluck dinners…with the sick friends to whom you take some good food…wherever), and the Gladware stays around, way beyond its useful life?

Great mysteries.

We think Gladware is akin to fruitcake. Nobody really knows why it persists for so long.

Tupperware is like those really good no-bake cookies everyone snarfs down — turn your head and it’s gone. Go figure.

• At the end of the day
• Fairly unique
• I personally
• At this moment in time
• With all due respect
• Absolutely
• It’s a nightmare
• Shouldn’t of
• 24-7
• It’s not rocket science

I would add a few of my pet nails-on-chalkboard phrases to the list:

• In this economy…
• Supposably… (it goes with the “Shouldn’t of”)
• Axe (as in, “I need to axe him if he can go to the store”)
• Each and every one of you…
• K-Mart’s, Wal-Mart’s, Aldi’s, Target’s…

What else is on YOUR list?

ENFPs are awesome! ENFPs are warm, enthusiastic people, typically very bright and full of potential. They live in the world of possibilities, and can become very passionate and excited about lots of things. Their enthusiasm lends them the ability to inspire and motivate others, more so than seen in other types. They can talk their way in or out of anything. They love life, seeing it as a special gift, and strive to make the most out of it.

ENFPs have an unusually broad range of skills and talents. They are good at most things which interest them. Project-oriented, they may go through several different careers during their lifetime. To onlookers, the ENFP may seem directionless and without purpose, but ENFPs are actually quite consistent, in that they have a strong sense of values which they live with throughout their lives. Everything that they do must be in line with their values. ENFPs are charming, ingenuous, risk-taking, sensitive, people-oriented individuals with capabilities ranging across a broad spectrum. They have many gifts which they will use to fulfill themselves and those near them, if they are able to remain centered and master the ability of following through.

Most ENFPs have great people skills. They are genuinely warm and interested in people, and place great importance on their inter-personal relationships.