Two Ideas Will Change Your World

Who knew language could be 

so surprising? (Photo credit: 

Josh Engroff, 2012)

A casual comment dropped at church blew my mind

One of the many wonderful things about living abroad is this: New language; new thoughts.

We now live in France, my hubby and I. And so the church services we attend are conducted in French. 

My nascent French requires me to mechanically translate each word of the service. I don’t catch everything. But I do seem to learn at least one useful thing from any given homily. F’instance:

Twelve Things to Do This Christmas Besides Gossip

What good’s a family gathering 

without a little family gossip? 

(Image courtesy of 

Tophee Marquez from Pexels)

Spread some holiday holiness by being better than before

Merry Christmas. Did you hear about Uncle Frank? Also, I just saw what Trump said to Pelosi…Wait till you read this!

Yay! Another family gathering where everyone not in the room is on the menu. Who needs roast beef when we can chew up the reputation of absent Cousin Drew? Why mash potatoes when we can smash celebrities and politicians?

The Beauty of the Four-Sentence Cover Story

How to hold on to your privacy without severing relationships

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

I have an uncomfortable secret, and no, I don’t want to tell you about it. But we’re friends, and aren’t friends supposed to tell each other everything?

Or worse, we’re not friends, but you’re nosy, we work together, and if I don’t spill, you’ll bitch-shame me to our colleagues and persuade them I’m not a team player.

What to do?