On cheating yourself

When I was 6 or 7 years of age, I attempted a puzzle in a paper. I do not remember what the paper was, a Weekly Reader or the local paper or maybe the Reader's Digest, but whatever it was the puzzle eluded me. I just couldn't figure it out. I worked on it for some time, maybe as much as a hour (though at 6 10 minutes equal and hour so...) and finally looked at the answer. I then went to my mother and showed her that I had 'figured' it out. She knew immediately that I had not done the work myself, but her only response was, "Think how much more you would enjoy it if you had found the answer on your own."
I think of that often. This month's Reader's Digest contains the following quote by Phillip James Bailey, "The first and worst of all faults is to cheat one's self. All sin is easy after that." It has me thinking. 'All sin is easy after that'....and isn't that what most rationalization is? Lying to ourselves and allowing us to sin?
I looked up Mr. Bailey. It turns out he was a poet from the 19th century. His only famous work was an epic poem, Festus, where he attempted to explain God's relationship to man and man's relationship to God. It was written when he was 23 and though he live another 67 years, this was his only lasting monument. It seems sad to have peaked at 23.
But back to the original thought. How often do we self-delude ourselves? I, for one, confess that the weight on my driver's license hasn't been close to right for 20 years! And I have not felt the compunction to correct it when they ask at renewal time.
I have a year till the next renewal, I can either lose that weight or tell the truth. Wonder which will be harder?

Technically it is now Saturday but since I haven't been to bed, I am going to count it as still Friday!

1. Darling daughter 2 is home from a week in NC caring for my grand-nephew. She is amazed at the energy in a 2 year old!

2. Aforementioned 2 year-old is going to have a baby brother or sister!

3. Darling daughter 1 had another promising job interview!!! Keeping fingers (and toes) crossed.

4. I saw shooting stars last night. I ran out to get the mail at 11:30 p.m. and the sky was clear and stars were sparkling. I remembered that mid-August is the time to watch for shooting stars so I stood in the middle of the driveway and crooked my neck heaven-ward. And was rewarded with 2 beautiful streaks! I love the stars and the fact we refer to them as the heavens.

5. I am sitting here wearing a pair of jeans (the first I have bought in at least 10 years) that are 2 sizes smaller than the last pair I owned!!! There is hope! Always and in all ways.

Utah

Well, just back from Utah. Spent a week with my mom, hubby and darling daughters. Part of the time my youngest sis and her two daughters were there and part of the time another sis and her hubby were there. One still missing. :( (She and hubby opted to go with Mom to Switzerland...can't imagine why!) We had a great time seeing the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks and several other rock formations. Also saw some great petroglyphs that always impress me.

We also discovered that eldest daughter had never played Yahtzee. So we remedied that and also learned Moose Farkle, one of her favorite games and played several hours of each. Lots of fun.

Best part of vacation is the time spent having fun. Even in the car can be fun if people are laughing and sharing anecdotes and making memories. One of my aunts used to call such moments memory-makers. We had a lot of those.