Still More Words To Live By, Part 2

1. Tell your kids at least once a day that you love them, even if they are surly teenagers.

2. For that matter, tell every person that you love, "I love you," and do it often.

3. Learn to speak well and listen better.

4. Try on new clothes only after you've eaten.

5. If you borrow something from someone, like a tool from a neighbor, always return it cleaner than it was.

6. Measure twice, cut once.

7. Think before you speak. Also known as "Engage Brain Before Opening Mouth" (see 4/4/08 entry).

8. Learn one good clean joke. I know one. It's a "knock-knock" joke and it's stupid, but I love it. Of course, I can't write the joke. Call me and I'll tell it to you. You'll roll your eyes, but you'll probably like it.

9. If you're a wine drinker, remember white with white (white wine with chicken or fish) and red with red (red wine with red meat).

10. Rules, once you learn them, should be broken. Likewise, are arbitrary sayings like "white with white and red with red." If that wine goes with this food, then enjoy! The bottom line is, if you like it, then nothing else matters. Of course, that should be tempered by that military-ingrained you-shouldn't-do-something-if-it's-illegal-immoral-or-unethical thing, but that really doesn't apply with wine and I digress, which I have been known to do.