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WITandWISDOM(tm) - August 25, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: “My Pastor husband and I struggle daily, attempting to ‘pump up tires and put out fires.’ He's never missed being with a family member before surgery, no matter what time of the day or night it was. He's been called to counsel at truly ungodly hours. He's listened to people who separate or divorce or just fight because they can't say two phrases:” “I love you,” OR “I forgive you (or will you forgive me).” – A Pastor's Wife Submitted by Sinja ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: My young son had a number of run-ins with a neighboring family, which not only caused him to have a terrible relationship with them, but also trickled down to the rest of our family. Recently, when my son was passing by, a relative of this family asked for his help in constructing something. My son spent some time working with him and successfully helped him out. The family thanked him and gave his a small reward. My son came home and told our family, "Now I realize that when I thought they were being mean to me, it was really just because I was being mean to them!", and he told his siblings to play with them again. The two families experienced an immediate turnaround and now the children play together and we talk together. I am so happy that my son experienced first-hand, at such a young age, the important principle that acts of kindness can repair damaged relationships! "Acts Of Kindness Can Repair Damaged Relationships" The author wishes to remain anonymous Edited by Shmuel Greenbaum Source: Kind Words, mailto:Kindness-subscribe@PartnersInKindness.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Special Poem For Senior Citizens A row of bottles on my shelf Caused me to analyze myself. One yellow pill I have to pop Goes to my heart so it won't stop. A little white one that I take Goes to my hands so they won't shake. The blue ones that I use a lot Tell me I'm happy when I'm not. The purple pill goes to my brain and tells me that I have no pain. The capsules tell me not to wheeze Or cough or choke or even sneeze. The red ones, smallest of them all Go to my blood so I won't fall. The orange ones, very big and bright Prevent my leg cramps in the night. Such an array of brilliant pills Helping to cure all kinds of ills. But what I'd really like to know........... Is what tells each one where to go! Submitted by Bunni ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: My husband built a magnificent doghouse for our lab and had called me at different stages of its construction to admire it. When it was completed, he asked me to help him move it. We picked it up, and discovered we couldn't get it out the basement door. Submitted by Lorraine ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mouse potatoes joined couch potatoes, google officially became a verb and drama queens finally found the limelight on Thursday when they crossed over from popular culture to mainstream English language. The mouse potato (who spends as much time on the computer as his/her 1990s counterpart did on the couch), the himbo (attractive, vacuous -- and male) and the excessively emotional drama queen were among 100 new words added to the 2006 update of America's best-selling dictionary, the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. The Internet search engine Google also found its way into the dictionary for the first time as a verb, meaning to find information quickly on the world wide web. New words and phrases from the fields of science, technology, pop culture and industry are chosen each year by Merriam-Webster's team of editors after months of poring over books, magazines and even food labels. "They are not tracking verbal language. They are looking for evidence that words have become assimilated into the written English language," said Arthur Bicknell, senior publicist with Merriam-Webster. "Unfortunately with slang words by the time it has become assimilated it probably isn't cool anymore. If the grown-ups are using it, forget it!," Bicknell said. Other words making their debut this year were soul patch (a small growth of beard under a man's lower lip), unibrow (two eyebrows joining together) and supersize -- the fast food industry phrase for extra large meals. The technology world contributed ringtones (changeable incoming cellphone call signals) and spyware (software installed in a computer to surreptiously track a user's activities) while biodiesel and avian influenza came from the world of science. America's first dictionary -- Noah Webster's A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language -- was published 200 years ago and also introduced a crop of fresh words that have now become familiar. Those "new" words in 1806 included slang, surf, psychology and, naturally, Americanize. By Jill Serjeant, © Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved Source: Reuters, http://reuters.com Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary http://www.m-w.com/info/new_words.htm