Sunday Smiles

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

It is a good day for a smile.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Harriet: I hit 3 thrift stores and 3 consignment stores before going to the hat shoppe. The highest end consignment and one vintage store had some hats but all were to wear with a dress coat, not a dress. And the cheapest was $40. My price point for used hats is $20.

I'm still not sure what to do for today. I'll wash my hair, get dressed and see how my hat looks. I can't wear my hear down with the hat I have so I have to, at least, put it in a half bun so I have something to attach the hat to. Then I have to sew in a comb since the hat was originally designed to be worn with a hat pin (it is vintage.)

[OKay]

Good Morning!

YES! Smiles are so very good - to give away and to receive.

I am up and going strong this morning. Leaning heavily on the cards to keep me on-track and doing things I have previously decided that I want to spend my time on.

[Twins' Mom]

Kathryn, what brought on the hat ideas? At Yom Kippur eve services one friend was wearing a fascinator. Another wore a huge floppy hat on Yom Kippur. Hats must be back in, following the royal wedding?

I'm up, thanks to the ddogs. Checked for Sunday paper but it's not here yet.

((Okay))

I took yesterday off. Took a nap with ddogs, watched football with dh and we went out to dinner last night and to Walmart for groceries. (Big Saturday night, huh?) Oh - Dh and I did pull out the rest of the info for our tax return which is due on Monday, and crank through that. I can make some changes at the office on Monday a.m. and file it electronically.

Today I may have coffee with a dfriend - she wants to talk to me about her dd's wedding reception - the last thing on my mind. She texted me about getting together yesterday afternoon and I couldn't/wouldn't. I suggested this morning and I haven't heard back. Dh and I are also going to a little BD party for a dfriend who is turning 80. Also need to get by the temple to pick up some letterhead for a letter I need to write.

Kathryn, how do you handle it when you need to discuss criticisms with you dpastor? I got a letter last week that s/b discussed with the rabbi - he is very, very thin skinned. I'm not sure whether I should share the author of the letter? I am planning to write a formal letter back thanking him for his thoughts....etc. etc. since he wrote a formal letter to me.

Ddogs just alerted me to a car on the cul-de-sac. Must be the paper.

[DeeClutter]

Well, here we are sitting and just waiting for it to be 'time' to leave. I'm amazed! DH had a winterization to do this morning and he was hoping that he'd even be able to go to church. I was up early so I could do laundry (dh is shutting down that bath house/laundry room tomorrow). Did 3 loads and they're all folded but not put away yet. Also shampooed & did my hair and did the dishes. However the bed is not made. That's the last of the laundry here. I'll probably do 1 more marathon at the laundromat in town before we leave. Boy is time counting down!

Was sunny out until a few minutes ago. still windy and now it's clouded up. Dh's fire department here has a chicken/rib barbq today. DGS6 is going to race -as long as the rain doesn't come again. Looking doubtful right now.

Well, it's just about that time by the time I post and grab my things. Have a good smiling day!

[bittersweet]

Those 'fascinators' are one of the stranger fashion things I've seen lately. Maybe it's just me..but I cannot understand why anyone would wear something stuck to their forehead that looks like a castoff from a Rocky & Bullwinkle episode!!

Miss Ronniekins woke me this morning at 7:30....I thought she was fussing about wanting breakfast, but it turned out they needed water *sigh*. Since I did get eight hours sleep, I might as well stay up and get some things done. Yesterday's visit at DD's turned out to be much longer than originally anticipated, as we were having such a good time

I really need to get some things done around here this morning. Tomorrow is back to work *sigh*, and I'd like to have things at least somewhat under control. Once I've had my coffee, I'll get started.

- downstairs critter care
- pick up dog bombs in back yard
- start dishes
- upstairs critter care
- gather dirty laundry

[Harriet]

Hi, everyone!

Twins Mom, for what it's worth, I think the letter writer has asked a big favor! He/she is showing you that he took all this time to formally put these thoughts down and really open himself up to you. It is probably best the letter is to you, not the rabbi. If he is thin-skinned, seeing anything in print could be blown way out of proportion, so maybe that speaks well for the letter writer to sense that. But a heavy burden has been placed on you to translate the writer's points to the rabbi and keep the same emphasis (should you choose to do that). I will say, you seem to have become a leader inspiring a lot of confidence!

Oh, I missed that you had already tried consignment, Kathryn. Catalog shopping, online shopping maybe. K-mart carries Jaclyn Smith's line of hats.

Dstepson's family will be visiting here this afternoon. If I had been smart, I'd have called dmil and invited her, along with dstepfil. But I can't seem to get ahead of the calendar with good ideas. Anyway, having all that going on plus my ddad here is just a lot.

[Twins' Mom]

Harriet, thanks for your thoughts. I've whited out the name of the letter writer and may go that route. This is actually a complaint I've heard before and has been discussed with rabbi before. I just don't know whether to give him a chance to contact the letter writer to "make it right." I don't want to make an appointment with the rabbi because he'll worry, so my plan is to drop by on Tuesday to discuss.

I need to get busy! Went back to bed after leisurely paper reading!

-reboot laundry (I've had a load in washer since Wed, probably need to rewash?)
-clear/wipe kitchen counters
-start dishwasher?
-clear kitchen table
-lunch

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Twin's Mom:

1. Hats: Next Sunday I'm going to the anniversary service of my former pastor's current church. When we were there in June, a number of women had on hats so that put the idea of hats into my friend's head. At her church's anniversary service (this is the second church in my charge), for the past 2 years they wore hats on anniversary (which was today) and so that's why I wore hat today. I was the only one with a hat on.

I dropped by to see my friend after church to deliver hugs (she is too ill to go to church - goodness knows if she'll recover by next Sunday) and she approved of my hair do and hat this Sunday and I'll loan her my fascinator or help her make one for next Sunday, if she can't find someone to borrow a hat from. She lives at/near the poverty line so she shouldn't be buying something if we can borrow or make do.

Harriet: Thanks for the link the to Jaclyn Smith line of hats. They are wonderful and a large number of them would make their way into my closet if we had K-Marts here.

2. Dealing with the letter: we are coached not to put anything into writing unless absolutely necessary. A thank you note for the letter would be acceptable but nothing about course of action. The only time writing is used is to back you up in case of a legal challenge. This especially applies to email - where quick responses can lead to misinterpretations.

As for how I'd deal with it... if it was a worship matter/style issue, then I would refer the comment to Worship Committee, the same if it was Pastoral Care. In general, my Ministry and Personnel committee is the last stop for a complaint. If the rabbi is thin skinned and this is the second time this issue has come up, perhaps a quiet chat over coffee about how this portion of the congregation is perceiving things and ask what help the rabbi needs in explaining his side of doing things.

I'm assuming this is one of those personality clashes ("Our Rabbi has always done things this way - this new Rabbi is too different!") but if it is something more serious, my more gentle way of dealing with it might not be appropriate.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Church is done. The service wasn't unbearably long. Yay! We blew the offeratory (half the choir forgot they were to sing and the other half didn't want to stand up by themselves.) The anthem went well. We skipped the lunch so I could keep to a better eating plan. Dh had run out of time to have breakfast so made himself bacon and eggs when he got home.

I'm thinking I'll spend the afternoon going through all the clothes I own. I went looking for pants today in the storage room and it was too hard to find them. I own too much, especially in the wrong sizes.