Do First. Define Later.

Way back in the 80's, when words like, "Internet" still caused people to look at me like I had 3 heads and I was in the preliminary stages of setting up my computer graphics biz, I hired a stuffy, no-fun accountant to help me set up the books. The first dilemma continues to plague bureacrats and law enforcement to this day: How do you fit a brand new concept into the blanks of a long-standardized form? What do you call ^it^ so that a bored and boring civil servants don't have to tax their anesthesized brains?

I didn't much like this CPA as a person, but he was one hell of a creative bookkeeper. Each time I went to him, agonizing over what name to put on each new line of my accounting system, he gave me pretty much the same response: "Do first, define later. We'll worry about filling in the blanks later."

Hubs slept here in Sis's over-crowded house last night. He proved to be a welcome addition to our DOS (Delusional Old Sister) time. He and Sis were still chewing the proverbial fat when I disconnected and stumbled to the corner of the junk room where I have been sleeping in between home improvement projects. He is currently sleeping on an air mattress next to the table where he and sis were still chewing while I drifted off to sleep. By some mystery, her estranged and despised step-son (40-something) is also sleeping peacefully somewhere in the over-crowded house.

During this round of DOS time, puzzling over the snotty, knotty messes dripping out the festering wounds of our generational dysfunctions in our family tree while we sifted through the house rennovations, Sis and I have taken to using the CPA's advice like a mantra. How do you part the bloody fields between estranged family members?

Do first. Define later. The healing mysteries live beyond words and names.