When do people just get along?

We had a bit of drama around here this past week. Because I have personally been hurt by someone else who used names and particulars in a rant on that "someone's" blog, I will leave out the pertinent details so as not to offend, embarrass, or slander.

That said, I will say once again that I will never wish to be back in high school. One of my children has had the misfortune of being named in a rumor (probably more than once) which has been embarrassing as well as hurtful. Said child also has a "friend" who is really a drama queen in disguise (though just barely). She seems to find it absolutely necessary to run to my child whenever she learns something that has the slightest thing to do with my child; whether that something is beneficial for my child to know or not. I've learned in my years that it's not necessary to tell everyone everyTHING. Sometimes it's a kindness to NOT share things you know or hear or even feel. It's really best to take it on a case-by-case basis. For instance, last year someone called me right after the Pinewood Derby, which Scott had won, miracle of miracles. Turns out this caller (she says) overheard two of the other dads complaining about how Scott and his dad had cheated and, boy, they were gonna tell the bishop, and he was gonna fix it! It got my hubby all riled up (there was no cheating, thankyouverymuch!) and had him running to the bishop to make sure his character was not defamed. Of course, we don't know who the mystery men were, nor did this make the caller and me friends (she never particularly noticed me after that). It was kind of a chance for her to be in the center of a drama that really didn't need to go any farther than her overhearing it and rolling her eyes privately.

Anyway, that's old news. Most recently one of my kids had a little get together at our house and invited everyone. Several kids did come, and they all seemed to have a good time. One person who did not come told my child that that person's parents were "uncomfortable" with their child coming to our house. First, if that were true, why would you tell that to your "friend"? How could that be anything but embarrassing and hurtful? And secondly, if it were not true, wouldn't you think you could come up with a kinder lie?

Unfortunately, in a moment of hurt and anger, my hubby wrote an e-mail to the parents of the offending person, who were unhappy about it and confronted their child, who denied saying any such thing. And I didn't know about the e-mail until we both received a reply from one of the parents. Thankfully, these parents were never too friendly to us in the past, so not much will change, but still... And one of the parents is in a leadership role at church, which can only be awkward.

And then we get a call on Tuesday night, asking Lauren, Lindsay, Darryl, and me to speak in church on Sunday. Our topic is Chapters 11, 12, and 13 of 3 Nephi. Since I recently finished teaching a Book of Mormon course this past year, I'm pretty excited about the prospect of delving into this much-loved book of scripture. I just hope we can do justice. Well, let me amend that. Darryl WILL do justice; the girls will probably do a great job; me, I dunno.

Right now it's a Thursday, almost noon, and I am sitting in a very empty, very QUIET house. I think the silence is echoing :) It is amazing how therapeutic it is to spend a few hours alone. Of course, work has been pretty dead, and I really don't feel like working on what little I have to do. So here's my effort for the day.