I'm starting with the man in the mirror...

The untimely death of Michael Jackson has meant a new airing of lots of his music. The lyrics that have been on my mind are:
'I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways...If you Wanna Make The World
A Better Place Take A Look At Yourself And Then Make A Change'

It reminds me of the joke about the Bride who was worried about the order of her wedding service. She set off up the aisle muttering "aisle-altar-hymn". What people heard was "I'll alter him!". Getting married with that idea in mind would be disastrous.

My mother was reminding me the other day how I used to get really mad with Garry when I first started going out with him (aged 18) because he was always so late arriving.

Over the last 35 years I've tried very hard to organise him but he still sets off when he should be arriving somewhere. I think he gets a time in his head and works to that. I suppose I've mellowed over the years but still try to count back and state the time we need to leave the house to try and instill that in his head. It helps to give a countdown too - "we need to be leaving in half an hour, 15 minutes, 5 minutes...

Recently I've put my foot down. I hate walking in late. Not because I'm worried about everyone looking at us (teaching Confidence and self-esteem means you have to live it out) but simply because I think it's really bad manners. So he now knows that- even if we've paid a lot for a ticket- I won't go in if we are late. I'll just simply go home.

This might also be called "cutting my nose off to spite my face" as they say in Lancashire but I'll give it a try for a bit longer. 35 years is a long time with little progress so if you are walking up the aisle thinking "I'll alter him/her" then my advice is not to hold your breath.

Much easier to look in the mirror and try to change yourself. Must dash or I'll be late
j x