The designation is meant to raise awareness of the decline of civility around the world. Hmmm…. Who among us was thinking, as a society, we’re not dealing with declining civility?
(Photo by John Hain)
A website called CivilityExperts.com suggests a 31-day civility challenge. It features one suggestion for each day, such as:
Say hello to 5 people today.
Make eye contact.
Be courteous.
Make and take personal calls in private.
Turn off your phone during meetings.
Don’t litter.
Don’t interrupt others.
Avoid profanity.
Clean up after yourself.
Hold the door open for others.
Leave a fair tip when dining out.
Close your mouth when chewing and use a napkin.
Keep your work area clean.
Be patient with others.
Include others in conversations.
Smile often at others.
Remember to say “please” and “thank-you.”
Monitor the volume of your ipod, music, or video games around others.
Treat others with kindness.
Try to remember people’s names.
Share the sidewalk. Share the road.
Replace empty toilet paper rolls, paper towels, and trash liners.
Be proud of your appearance and dress nicely.
Be social.
Introduce yourself to others in social situations.
Introduce those around you.
Offer constructive feedback in the form of a compliment sandwich.
Make sure to always use a positive tone.
Repeat.
“Humans need a lot of reinforcement… loving, gentle encouragement.”
What better way to celebrate both these days than with a warm, chewy oatmeal raisin cookie! So, here is my 1980 spin on my mother’s classic 1950s Oatmeal Icebox Cookies. Primarily, I used less sugar and more nuts and fruit. I still prefer cooking them for just 8-10 minutes to get an irresistibly chewy, rather than crispy, cookie. In recent years, I have replaced sugar with granulated monk fruit. (More on that after the recipe.)
Ron Martin, Babe, Sir Ronald… This is the man who dared to invite me into his life as his wife and stepmother for his children. He is my lover, my partner, and my best friend. He gives me strength and challenges me to be my best. I always endeavor to treat him with kindness, respect, and love. On this National Husband Appreciation Day (always the 3rd Saturday in April), I am proud to keep reminding him of how deeply he is appreciated, too. I am an especially grateful person. Thank you!
Because April is National Humor Month, this is a perfect time to pause to recall and/or share something that gave you that moment of laugh-out-loud joy or a little chuckle when you needed it.
April 13th is the birthday of Poughkeepsie, New York Architect Alfred Mosher Butts (1899-1993), inventor of the Scrabble game in 1931. Originally called “Criss Cross,” he based it on both the crossword puzzle and anagrams.
Ahhhhh…. Crispy on the outside, warm and gooey on the inside! (Add a rustic tomato-basil soup or onion soup on the side for dipping perfection!)
“Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail.” 
Yikes! 57 years ago, several of my classmates and I from Mrs. Russell’s 5th grade English class hit the local news for our “budding” poetic endeavors. David Kehas, Sandra Robinson Zimmerman, (Bonnie) Barbara Mace, and Rob Lamy (misspelled in article.) So, we were 10.
“We may have a firm grasp on the obvious, but the crystal clear can still appear cloudy.”
Though we’d like to think we maintain some level of awareness throughout the year, April is officially Keep America Beautiful Month. If you drive in urban areas, especially, we know it’s appalling to see the huge amount of litter along the sides of the highways and city streets. Even in the country, hubby and are surprised at how much we gather every couple of months along the road where we live. So, this is the month for us to pay some extra attention to recycling and our shared responsibility to do what we can to keep clean, beautiful spaces in our little corners of the world.
“Calm self-confidence is as far from conceit as the desire to earn a decent living is remote from greed.”
We need not look very far to see people who are suffering, even in times when war and violence are not front-and-center. On any given day, millions of people experience living horrors of various sorts.
Stress can be positive and negative, but it’s the negative that drains us without mercy. Like it or not (“not” wins), we typically have more stress in our lives than we need, and we certainly do not need the people around us to ADD to our stress levels. Nor do WE want to add to anyone else’s.
Incredible Edibles happen to be a favorite of mine. And Edible Book Day is no April Fool’s Day joke.
Let’s go!
When I was a child, I did not understand war. As a senior citizen, I wish I did not understand war. When working as a television journalist, I recall feeling greatly humbled and honored to meet and interview our State’s eldest doughboy… from World War I. Over the years I have known many veterans of too many wars.
Yes, March 28th truly is Respect Your Cat Cay. So, go ahead… spend a little quality time with your favorite feline. They’ll love it! They’ll play. They’ll get bored. They’ll take a catnap.