I finally started receiving my subscription to Reader’s Digest (which I bought for free after credits at daily deal site Mamapedia), and the October issue has a fascinating and inspirational article about a man who wanted to apologize to his seventh-grade English teacher. I can’t find the article on the Reader’s Digest site, but it’s a reprint of this original article from The Oregonian.

Thirty-nine years ago, the student had abruptly withdrawn from the teacher’s class after he was teased harshly by other boys (the teacher was in the closet but gay, so you can imagine the direction the other boys’ taunts went). The student knew he must have hurt his teacher’s feelings, so he sought him out and eventually was able to apologize.

The article made me think about the person I would like to apologize to, and one person immediately came to mind. She was a nun – Sister C. – who visited my family when I was in high school. My mother was showing her around town, and I was as petulant and pouty as a teenager can be – in other words, I was the worst behaved spoiled brat you’d ever seen. What made it worse was that I knew better. I knew at the time that I was acting horribly, but even that didn’t stop me. (I mean, who’s rude to a nun?!)

After Sister C. had left us, I apologized to my mother for my behavior – obviously, I was quite the embarrassment to her. No doubt she had expressed her embarrassment to Sister C., and apologized on my behalf. I was quite stunned when she assured me Sister C. had already forgiven me, saying something to the effect of “kids are like that sometimes.” I have always been very hard on myself, so to be forgiven before I had even apologized made quite an impression on me.

Remembering Sister C.’s kindness and graciousness encourages me to be not just forgiving but kind and understanding. It’s something I ought to remember even more often – especially with my own children.

Who would you apologize to from your past?

I didn’t exactly follow my menu plan last week, but I did cook every night I was supposed to. This week, I’ll be cooking a little less, but I’m hoping that instead I’ll have time to bake and puree some pumpkins, and make some goodies. Here’s what we’ll be having for dinner:

Monday – Miso Chicken, Rice, Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin)

Tuesday – Sardine Cauliflower Pasta

Wednesday – Pizza Hut (kids’ request)

Thursday – Dinner out

Friday – Greek Style Skewers

Saturday – Breakfast (waffles, bacon, eggs)

Sunday – Dinner out

See more weekly menus at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

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When I was working full-time outside of the home, a “Catch-Up Day” was a real luxury – a day to get to all of those things that never got done for sheer lack of time. When I became a work-at-home mom, I didn’t think I would need catch-up days anymore.

I was wrong.

Life is busier than ever, and things still pile up. So today is a Catch-Up Day for me. So far, I’ve cleared my desk, filed papers, followed up with a store about a return that wasn’t processed correctly, and prepared our flexible spending account reimbursement forms for submission.

Next on my list is COUPONS. I’ve fallen behind on collating and clipping, and I think I have two months’ worth of expired coupons to sort out. Once I’ve updated the Unexpired Insert Coupons list, I’ll let you know on Facebook.

Also on my list of things to do is finishing some PTA stuff, tossing things that have been sitting around that we don’t need, and putting away things that aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Hopefully by the end of the day, the house will look more in order, and I’ll feel better for it!

How often do you need a “Catch-Up Day?”

Tim Tebow is one of those athletes who makes being a parent easy – whenever my son asks why I like Tebow so much, I can talk about whichever of Tebow’s virtues I want to espouse that day. Usually it’s Tebow’s always upbeat attitude, and/or his work ethic.

I just read a new article about him from Vogue that includes a quote that I’m committing to memory:

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

Tebow taped it to his wall as a kid, and you can bet I’ll be mentioning that the next time my kids and I are talking about him.

The article features pictures taken by Annie Leibowitz, hence the artistry in the photo above. There’s only one other photo in the online version of the article, so I hope there are more photos in the print version – otherwise it seems like a waste of Leibowitz’s talent!