Now, the people who know me, both online and in person, have already gathered that I sometimes really put my foot in it! I’d say that it’s not my fault ~ sometimes it acually isn’t ~ but most often it’s simply because I act or speak without thinking first. It’s the burden of my birth sign; we say what we feel, never actually meaning to offend or hurt anyone. It took me a lot of painful years to realise that most people don’t actually want to hear the truth, even if they ask for it!

If you’ve ever been Catholic or known one of my people, you’ll know the fear most of us have of nun’s. My experience, though, has been the opposite. Every nun I’ve ever encountered has been the sweetest little thing you can imagine! Which is why I’ve always been so over the top upset whenever I offend one ~ and that’s been often throughout my life.

Here’s one scenerio : I’m out and about - stub my toe on the sidewalk - out of my mouth comes “Goddammit, motherfucker!” - I turn and yes - there’s a horrified looking nun standing there! It just never fails. Somehow, someway, I end up ashamed and embarrassed for saying something terrible in front of one of God’s brides.

So, as a way of attonement, I’ve developed a little system. For each good deed I perform it equals about half a nun. If it’s a big selfless, didn’t-need-to-bother-myself kind of deed, it equals a whole nun. Get it?

Well, after years of having this system in play, I really thought I’d just about redeemed myself. That is, until today. Today I remembered the nun who befriended me and Nella after the hurricane. After we had gone our seperate ways I was surprized one day to receive a Christmas card from her that contained a twenty dollar bill. Nuns don’t have money. That’s just a fact of life. So, that was kind of a huge deal for her to do! I meant to send that thank you card! I really did! But.............

So, I guess I’m back to counting nuns. Goddammit!