no gnus, manners, friendship

No gnus of interest. Grandpa M sometimes said there was "no gnus." It is odd to me how deeply I miss him. We never lived near Grandpa or spent a great deal of time with him. And he certainly wasn't the kind of person you were 'close' too in that snugly feel good sort of way...but he is a huge part of who I am and even though I never confided in him when my life was going poorly, I now feel like a rock is gone whenever my life is going poorly. When things are hardest, I miss him the most.

K is in love with Little Golden Books right now. Last night we read three at bed time. One of them that she chose was "My Little Golden Book of Manners" By Peggy Parish -- Consultant: The Third Grade at Dalton School, New York - Illustrated by Richard Scarry. Copyright 1962. It is a delightful book - some of the manner rules given are dated and seldom apply today and some are even dangerous (a segment on how to answer the phone would set of 911 and amber alert sirens off in every Mom's head). But the last page does a wonderful job at defining the heart of good manners.

Good manners are not just things to learn.
Good manners help to make a person think of other people,
and how to make them happy.
Good manners help to make a person nice to know.

This morning after we picked C up from school we went to visit her best friend. We haven't visited her best friend in a long time - her best friend's mom is as close to a best friend that I have at hand. However, since we walked out of our old church - our friendship struggles. Not so much because she is against our decision but because lack of proximity and the business of our separate lives interferes. The girls had a great time and Christy and I had a good visit. Christy watched the girls for the twenty minutes it took me to run to the post office with 7 Christmas packages that I shipped out and then after visiting some more, we came home. I borrowed a book. That will give me good reason to stop by her house sometime.