I can't tell you how appreciative I am for Pidge's comment. (Is the sentence I just wrote grammatically correct? Did I make any spelling errors? I haven't a clue.) Some of us struggle in this way as we try our best to communicate using only the written word. Not all of us excel in this area. In fact, for some of us, it's a liability. I have been blessed over the years that so many here at the GP, like Pidge, understand this about me and don't critique what I write although they easily could. They have graciously applied Ruth Ann's rule of thumb that most of the time it is more important to be kind than to be correct. I acknowledge that it is very human of us all to notice mistakes that people make. How we react to those mistakes, is a personal choice. -I have considered myself one of the lucky ones that I am able to compute addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, fractions,percentages,algebra, and square footage in my head quite quickly and accurately. -I am simply unable to look at any wallpaper installation without seeing the slightest flaw. -The majority of mysteries or who-done-its I read or watch are less enjoyable for me because I have the tendency to figure out the guilty party too early in the story. Unfortunately, I figured out Kevin Spacey was the bad guy in the movie "The Usual Suspects" in the first ten minutes of the movie and it was supposed to have such a great twist. One can easily conclude that I can't get enough of M. Night Shyamlan's movies,lol. I make these above points because we all have our assets and liabilities. I personally believe that these differences in all of us are beneficial rather than harmful. As a whole, I decided to comment on this thread because of the harm it causes some that are less than perfect in their writing abilities. Some people are more insecure than others over their writing and stern critical comments about writing , in my opinion, can only harm us as a whole. There are people out there that could offer a solution to a problem that we inquiry about. There are people who could uplift you with a compassionate word when you're feeling low. There are people who warm our hearts with their honest, forthright tragedies and victories. There are people who won't contribute any of the wonderful additions to this place because of their fear of being criticized over their lack of commanding the English language. We only have text here to communicate. That's it, nothing else. This is why it's important, if we don't want miss out on the benefits, to avoid threads such as these. We don't seem able to get through here without having these threads at least six times annually. It saddens me every time I open one. Because we only have text here to communicate with others, I ask you to consider that a contributor who is flawed in their writing isn't intending to be extremely sloppy, ignorant or displaying complete self-centeredness. Instead, consider that they have a liability where you have an asset. I am so thankful for the kindness, love and friendship I have received here over so many years because of the wonderful people that have made the personal choice to muddle through my flawed text. I'm sure they have sighed, shook their heads, squinted and had to grab their Ovaltine Decoder Ring in order to grasp what I try to convey to them, lol. They have kindly reminded me that I have assets other than writing that has been a gift to them. My has cup runneth over because they personally chose to be kind instead of correct. ~di

PUDDING CUPS: I buy these from time to time for my kids, and the plastic is recycleable in my area, but before I toss in the bin I use them several times each in the summer to make bigger ice cubes for packing coolers or filling the big water jug on outings (or cooling the water for when I am freezing beans/corn), or cut holes in the bottoms and use as little planting pots for some of the seeds I start for my garden. Since they are clear I can tell when cuttings have rooted well. Thanks for coming forward, all of you, and pointing out that although many are striving to be energy wise and cutting back on waste, it is difficult to do it all and still live our lifestyle the way we've been used to. Just today dh took kids into the bigger city close by to buy them shoes, and I asked him to pick up milk on the way home. Pick up milk he did, and he let the clerk bag both jugs! I will speak to him later on this, I don't think he is aware he can ask for his items to NOT be bagged (I do 99% of the shopping in this household, and just assumed he knew how I felt about those plastic bags). Or that anything that size WITH a handle needs no bag! Oh well. I'm still trying to influence change within my own little world (family). kioni

I waited to post here hoping you would include the Dragonfly story. I had not ever seen it before. It is beautiful. Your bench is beautiful, too. Some things are definitely worth waiting for, including the bench and the story. I will save the story. Sue

We stopped the Christmas gift exchange years ago and it has been so liberating not to have to worry about shopping and overspending on things no one needs. If you are up to making phone calls to each person involved, you could simply say that it's been a difficult year and you'd like to opt out of giving gifts this year and that you'd also prefer not to receive any. I don't think I'd bring up the charity/donation idea, but if people insist that they want to give you something, you could then mention the charitable donation to whichever charity and how happy it would make you if they did that instead. If phone calls are more than you wish to do (although this would also be a good time to send your holiday greetings), then a group email that says the same thing. You'd have to word the donation part a little differently. Maybe something like, "for those of you who for whom it's just not the holidays without giving gifts, a donation to so and so charity in my husband's name is all that I want or need." Then wish them a happy and blessed holiday season and new year. Best wishes; I hope next year is kinder to you.