Catching up. Again.

And a great good Saturday to you!  It is the most gorgeous day outside.  I have no idea why I am inside typing on the computer instead of hanging around outdoors.

Oh right, the flipping allergies!  I pay for it each and every time I spend big chunks of time outside.

But, that is not what I want to share with you.  I have things to talk about and pictures to show you.  So, get up now and go pee.  Go get a refill of your favorite beverage and settle in to see what you shall see.  : )


First up, I saw that I was running low on Downy.  Yes, I still use Downy.  No, I do not feel guilty about it.  When I was at the store I had to keep looking at the bottles to see which one is the same as the one I have at home because it was slightly different.  So when I got home I set them next to each other to make sure I had bought the right flavor.  And what else did I spy???

Here is a close up of Bottle A, aka the old one, the one that was already here:  Spend a few minutes perusing the label, won't you?

And here is a close up of the new label.  Go ahead and check it out and notice the differences.

They are both Downy.  They both contain 1.84 liters. They are both lavender scented.

Here's the deal:

THE OLD ONE SAYS IT CONTAINS 78 LOADS worth of softener.

While the new one only does 72 LOADS!!  ???

I took the caps off and looked at them since they are the measuring devices to know how much product they recommend.  And guess what?

EXACTLY THE SAME CAP, EXACTLY THE SAME MEASUREMENT.

Anyone else confused by this?

Those dicks over at the Downy offices have done some very creative math to come up with this.

And by the by, I don't follow their recommended quantity per load.  The first thing I do is to pour half the new bottle into the empty old bottle and then refill both with water and mix them well.  This is following the Rule of Half.  Half of any recommended amount of product will do the job just as well.  Try it with your shampoo, conditioner, laundry products, liquid hand soap, etc.  I promise you won't miss the other half and you just saved yourself a bunch of money and time shopping to replace these things.


In other news, the lovely and talented Miss Rachel Pie has been working with small children.  And you know what that means, don't you?

She got sick!  You have to have a really strong immune system to work with the wee ones, as they bring in germs like nobody's business.  Anyhoo, she was S. I. C. K. She went from feeling a bit poorly to running ridiculously high fever, throwing up and sick as a dog overnight.  And thanks to the Affordable Healthcare Act, she is still on our insurance (at least until her next birthday).  Our insurance has this great local business partnered up on it called White Glove Health

Go check out their website and see if they are near you or if you can sign up for them.  Essentially, they are in business to get people well as quickly as possible and back to work.  It keeps up productivitiy and that is why Mr. Big Ed's company has gotten this policy for all the insured employees.

Anyway, Miss Rachel Pie was sick as a dog and there was no way she was going to be able to sit for hours at the med clinic waiting to be seen, so we called the White Glove Health people and they sent a nurse practitioner right over.  She examined Rachel Pie, she looked down her throat, in her ears, listened to her heart, asked tons of questions, you know, the same thing the med clinic doctor would have done.  Then she said Rachel Pie has a sinus infection and a ear infection and prescribed medication, antibiotics, bed rest, liquids, etc.

And did Miss Nurse Practitioner then hand me a bunch of prescriptions to go fill?

No she did NOT!  She reached into her Mary Poppins-style bag and brought out a bottle of antibiotics, 2 bottles of Mucinex, 2 bottles of nose spray, 1 bottle of ear drops which you will see below sitting on a box she also gave Rachel Pie called a Well-Kit.

See the Well-Kit box?  With its cute little carry handle?  What do you suppose is inside?

Let's look, shall we?

I spy with my little eye:  cough drops, 2 packs of tylenol, 2 packs of motrin

1 can of chicken noodle soup, 1 bottle of Gator-ade, 1 pack of jell-o, 1 can of Ginger Ale

1 pack of Kleenex, 1 snack sized apple sauce, and a box of saltines.

We didn't have to go to the store.  We didn't have to go stand in line at the pharmacy.  We didn't have to get Rachel Pie out of bed for 24 hours, actually.

She may call herself a Nurse Practitioner but I think she might have been Florence Nightingale reincarnated.  : )

And FINALLY!!!!  I know, I know, first I don't blog for a month and then I go on and on f o r e v e r . . .

But this is cool, so you will want to stay tuned for this last part.

Have I ever told you about the glass ball collection I have?

Well, my mama travels to Germany a lot.  She used to, anyway.  We have relatives over there so she goes to visit and takes a suitcase full of Mexican food items that they can't get and refills that suitcase with lovely things for all of us.  Anyhoo, she goes to some glass factory and buys these gorgeous blown glass balls.  All different sizes, and colors.

And we string them up with ribbon or fishing line and hang them in the windows like sun catchers.  They are just gorgeous.

Well, we moved to this house in May of 2005 and I have never found a great place to hang them in this house.  So they have been sitting in a cabinet in bubble wrap, just waiting.

And you know how one thing leads to another and then another and then BAM!!!! The light bulb comes on of how to think outside the box?  Well, that is what happened to me.

Why do they have to just be unused sun catchers?  Why can't they be Christmas ornaments?

But what kind of tree would they really be showcased on?


And BAM!!!  I got hit with another picture on Pinterest of a gorgeous wrought iron tree with loads of space between the branches for just such baubles as my glass balls.

So, I ordered it and it arrived!

Yay!

I spent yesterday putting it together and hanging all my little glass balls, some of which are egg shaped and some are heart shaped.  And here is your photo montage of this!

Here is the shipping box as it arrived and I took it to the corner of the dining room where I am going to assemble and display it.

Once I opened the shipping box, here is the box that was inside.

And when I opened the box this is what I found.

Each of the corrugated paper wrapped items had a label on it identifying what piece this is.

Once I unwrapped every piece and lined them all up in alphabetical order, way on the bottom of the box was this instruction sheet.

Here it is all put together and naked.  I think it might need a skirt of some kind. What do you think? Any suggestions?

And here it is with all the beautiful balls, eggs and hearts in place.

And here are some close-ups of the ornaments.  Sadly the glass reflects the light so much that they don't show up as beautiful as they truly are.

What do you think?  I think it was well worth the $$ to buy a new item to showcase these beauties rather than letting them languish in a drawer.  And besides, you all know how I am on a campaign to quit using the shitty quality Made-in-China Christmas lights.

As always, I am happy to get some comments and hear your thoughts.

p.s. Should I write or call the Downy Dicks to see what gives on their bottle information?

Updates

Just last week I was ranting about not loving the endings to books, and I forgot one of the ones I had just read.  "Gone Girl" was recommended by so many different people, I can't even tell you!!

And it was good.  It was very cleverly written and drew you in to the story.  I kept thinking the whole time I was reading it how much I really didn't like any of the characters.  So I was not near as invested in the outcome of this book as I could have been.  If any of the characters had been like-able, that is.

But the ending?  Holy Cow!  I did not see that coming.  I was confused by it for a while.  Then?  I decided it was probably the way idiots like these would behave.

Remember a few months back I posted a list of recommended books?  I have been working my way through that list (which is where I got "Gone Girl", by the by) and one of the books recommended was fabulous, outstanding and sensational!!!

This book was so darn good I just wanted to start it over again, right then and there. *****, that's a 5-star rating, is what that is.

So when I was at Half-Price Books I picked up another book by Christopher Moore.

Loved it!!!  I finished it last night as it was a quick read.  So clever and completely out there.

And you know what?  He knows how to finish a book.  I mean really finish so that it feels like a full-course meal from soup to nuts.  Not just soup.

I was thinking about how I as a reader need to feel really engaged not just with the book but at times with the author as well.  Sometimes that feeling of simpatico, of being kindred spirits just comes through and you have a real connection.  And I wondered if authors are also trying to make that connection with their stories or if they are writing for themselves and we as readers can go along for the ride or not and we are really superfluous.  How important is the audience for the writer?  If no one was going to read them ever, would books be written anyway?

Is the writing of a book a "need" within the writer whether or not there would be readers?

Interesting questions to ponder.

Switching gears:

Did y'all see DWTS All Stars?  Holy Moly!  There was some fabulous dancing going on for Day 1 of competition!

All except for poor Pamela Anderson and little Bristol Palin.  That was sad.  The judges were so harsh with Pamela, too.  I felt really bad for her.  Poor thing was trying so hard not to cry on camera.

It's gonna be hard to pick a front runner this season with this line-up.  They are all so good.

Switching gears again:

It has been so strange around here without our little Fergus Jackson MacPhee.  He is greatly missed.  His brother Angus is having some issues, as is Lester Buster.  Lester and Fergus were snuggle buddies and Lester is having a hard time finding a comfortable spot without Fergus.  It's sad.

And no, I do not want any more pets.

Mostly.

Am I getting crankier?

When something happens once you tend to think of it as an anomoly.  When it happens again, it's just a coincidence.  But when it happens for the fourth or fifth time, IN A ROW!  you tend to realize (unless you are dumb as a stump) that it might just be YOU.

Here's my predicament:

Lately, every single book I read, well, I end up hating the ending.  Hate. the. ending.  All summer long this has happened.

I think that trashy ass 50 shades book jinxed me.  And everything I have read since I just have not been happy with the endings.

I decided to read the Game of Thrones series since I have been watching the HBO series.  I love watching that and wanted to see how they align with the books.  The books are long and in parts, quite tedious.  Think Harry Potter long and James Michener tedious and you will have an idea of what I mean.  I enjoyed them.  And I was just going to read the first two because that's all the seasons they have shown on HBO and I didn't want to get ahead and then be all "yeah, yeah, I know what's coming next" when it next airs.  But I didn't do that.  I kept reading.  Let me just interject here that each of the first two books have been pretty well represented entirely in each of the first two seasons.  So I expect to see book 3 in season 3 whenever that comes around again.

Anyhoo, since I am now over 50 and my memory has gone to shit, I figured I would go ahead and read book 3 and maybe I would still be surprised by things in season 3.  But book 3 was so exciting that I went ahead and read book 4.

Now, at the end of book 4 there is a little afterward from the author talking about how he was wrapping up the series and it was just too much for one book, so look for book 5 to complete the series since he couldn't fit all these millions of characters in one book, etc, etc.

So, then I couldn't stand it and I got book 5.  Supposedly, the very end of the whole series.  And let me say here, Thank God I got these on my Kindle!  I picked them up and looked at them at B&N one day, and if you called them HUGE!  you wouldn't be wrong.  These books are each so big they could be referred to as tomes.  I could not imagine lugging these dictionary sized books around with me.

Book 5 is going to wrap up all the mysteries for me!  It will answer all my questions!  I will get to find out what happens to each and every one of the characters I have invested so much time into!  (yes, I know that ended that sentence in a preposition. Sue me.)

Didn't happen.

Nope.

Not even a little bit.

Well, except for the ones that were out right killed and then you knew you had been really screwed. That's how I feel when I am given a character that is beloved and I am all wrapped up in their story and BAM!  out of the clear blue he/she gets whacked.  Seriously?  We spent 5 giant books worth of words describing this character's feelings, how he/she grew up, matured and was looking forward to the next part of his/her life and there you are.  I never saw that one coming.  I didn't even think "well played, I was certainly surprised by that one!"  Nope.  It was more like "well, out of the top 10 characters in this series of books with casts of thousands, half of the top 10 just were discarded with no other news of their future, demise, or whatever and the other 5?  Dead?"

Not loving the wrap-up here, Mr. George R. R. Martin.

I also recently re-read The Thorn Birds for a book club.  Didn't really love the ending there, either.

Then I read The Patron Saint of Liars, which was a recent recommendation.  This was a great book right up to the ending.  Meh.  Didn't love the ending.

I just googled the book and it came up as a made-for-tv movie from 1998.  Good Lord, how old is this book?

Last night I finished a book that my daughter, the fabulous Rachel Pie, had been wanting me to read.  She kept recommending it and one day, about six months ago, we were at Half Price Books and she saw a copy and got me my very own so that I would be sure to read it.  It kept getting put to the bottom of the pile so that I could read crap like the 50 shades of craptastic crap and then be disappointed.  So I pulled it from the bottom of the pile o'books on my night stand and read it.

The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Urrea.  The main character is a great-aunt of the author and he spent 20 years of his life researching and writing this book.  I loved the book.  And yet, I wanted more out of the ending.  Was she happy?  Did she marry?  Did she have children?  Did her father live?  Where did she live?  What happened to all the other people in this book?  What happened to the ranch?

I don't want to think I am being unreasonable as a reader.  But why bring in all these details and then drop them?

The only book I have read in the last six months that I thought the ending was perfect was Lamb by Christopher Moore.  Fabulous book.  I picked up another of his on my last trip to Half Price Books.  I will let you know what I think of it. And whether the ending disappointed or not.

Fergus Jackson MacPhee

I woke up this morning to the strangest, saddest cat cry I had ever heard.  The cats that were in bed with me all went on high alert and we jumped up to find out who had made that mournful wail.

It was Fergus.  I saw him taking his last breaths and ran upstairs and got the kids.  Fergus was not sick, nor was there any reason to think he was going to die.  He was just a month past his sixth birthday.

I was looking for his kitten photos on the computer today and for some reason I can't find them.  I only found some from the last couple of years.

Fergus had the softest, most plushy fur I have ever felt on a kitty, like a sheared beaver coat.  He was a joy to pet and run your fingers through his hair.  He would, about once a year or so, get a little spot on his back that would mat up like a little kitty dreadlock.  We have no idea why.

His eyes were like pools of jade.  Not that clear emerald green that some cats have, but like a gorgeous piece of jade.  You can see that a little bit in that last picture.

Fergus was the only one of our cats who liked to lay out on his belly with his back legs straight out behind him.  Splayed out with his belly in full contact with the cool floor.  His breathy purring and really loud, whiney sounding meow are going to be missed around here.

Fergus Jackson MacPhee

July 30, 2026 - Sept. 17, 2012

R.I.P.

I said I wouldn't do it, and then I couldn't help myself

You know those people who carefully analyze and then really think out their decisions based on facts and information BEFORE they figure out which candidate and which issues to support?

Yeah, me neither.

That's because people tend to get all emotional and stupid when it comes to political issues.  Much like religious ones.  Funny how that happens here in the U.S. of A. since we are suppoed to have this big separation of church and state.

I have plenty of friends who say things like "Oh, I know so-and-so and I are at polar opposites on such-and-such issue, but we just agree to disagree."

Really?  How the hell does that work?  I am having a really hard time doing this.  I don't want to just be all amicable and sweet about people who have their heads up their asses.  Get your head out of your ass!  Then we can just agree!!!!  No need for any disagreement at all.

The upcoming presidential elections (which, by the by, seem to have been going on for the last 100 years.  Good Lord, why do they start so soon after the LAST one???) are driving me nuts.

For me, I have narrowed it down to a couple of key issues.

1. Women's rights

2. LGBTQ rights

3. Health care

4. Environment

I have found that I can't care about every. single. thing. they bring up.   It just makes my life unmanageable when I have way too many things to deal with.  These are my top 4 that I can NOT stand idly by and let these things get trampled.  It would just be unacceptable for these top 4 to go by the wayside.

So, this being said, if you and I are at those polar opposites on these issues, I don't think I can talk to you any more.  If you, deep in your heart, believe that women are not equal to men and deserving of equal rights, pay and benefits.  I, as a woman, don't need you in my life.  How could you possibly have my best interest at heart if you don't think I am equal and worthy?

Same goes for the LGBTQ stance.  If you don't believe that all of us, and I mean all, not just the hetero ones of us, are entitled to the same bill of rights.  I don't need you in my life.  If you are supporting candidates, political parties, ideals and platforms that will take away the few hard-won rights that affect the gay community, then why on earth would I want to have this kind of less-than thinking around me?  If you can look at my beautiful, caring, precious daughter and see a person who is not-quite-as-deserving as the next person, well then, not only don't I need you, but I won't be missing your bigoted small-minded ass.

I am choosing to surround myself with positivity and people who are loving, kind and generous.  Truth be told, since I am on the other side of 50 now, I don't see any reason to have intolerant bullies and bigots in my life.  I am suffering no fools, as they say.

I will be living my life in a way that I think God intended, doing for others, loving people less fortunate, and helping where I can.  I will be offering money, food, and whatever I can to help the homeless be they people or animals.  I am trying to be a living example of a loving, caring extension of my beliefs.

What I won't be doing is trying to take something away from others, I won't be trying to trample your rights and judging you to be less-than.  My heart aches at all the meanness and bullshit that has been going on and people getting caught up in the rhetoric and refusing to look at the underlying truths.

I will be cleaning out my actual and virtual friend lists.  I just can't read the non-sensical crap coming out on a daily, no, an almost hourly basis any more.  And then I will get back to trying to be clever tomorrow.

Starbuck's Simpsons encounter

So I go into my local Starbuck's as you do and ordered by Veinte sized Iced Passion Tea non-sweet.  The perfect drink to keep you hydrated on these hot horrible droughty days.

The barista grabs my cup, asks my name and starts to write.  When I answered Lisa, she started singing this song.

I loved this episode of the Simpsons so much!  The barista and I both laughed and she went on singing and I left her a bigger tip.  : )

Girl, you just won't beLIEVE what happened!

So, I was out to lunch with some friends as you do sometimes.  And we went to a new place to check it out.  (I am giving it a B for food and a D for service)  We were sitting in the back in a semi-private area with a big table as there were quite a few of us.  What we didn't know was that when they seated us in the back that they were going to forget about us most of the time.  I mean seriously, forget about us. We were parched in between waiting for refills of iced tea.

Anyhoo, we were enjoying our leisurely lunch and then the power went out.  POOF!  No power. We were next to a bunch of windows so we could see but it's still that weird, creepy feeling with a little anxiety of what is going to happen next.  A few minutes later the power came back on and the waitress stuck her head in to see if we were still kicking and said "Did y'all go outside?"

Huh?

"Uh no, we didn't. What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I thought you might have gone outside.  When the power blew it was because the two big tall palm trees out front by the street, they just caught on fire.  Like spontaneously combusted."

What the fuck???? But what I said was "Well, that's certainly odd behavior for a palm tree."

"Oh yeah, the fire department is out there, the power company is out there and everything."

And again, my brain just kept going "What the fuck is she talking about??"

Then I had the presence of mind to ask whether any cars in the parking lot out front were damaged.  She said no, but I didn't trust her judgment.  Hell, she didn't even remember we were there half the time. So, we quickly wrapped up the splitting of the bill and headed out front to see what was what.

Here is what we saw:

Smoking trees that self-combusted

Firetruck blocking traffic from driving directly under combusted trees

Methinks the power lines may have played a role in the combustion?

the tree on the left is still smoking out the middle near the power lines

So the trees weren't actually in the parking lot we were in, they were across the street at the Quizno's (mmm, mmm, mmm, toasty).  But if they had fallen into the street they would have certainly been all the way over into our parking area and probably on top of my car.

I tell you, every single day there is a story out there.  All you have to do is look.  And take a picture or two!!

p.s. Right down from this location is a big intersection.  And when I turned onto this street at that intersection when headed to lunch, what did I spy with my little eye?  I will tell you what I spied. I spied one of my former doula clients out there panhandling.  I was not in a position to get turned around right then to go over there and with the fire and such, after lunch I checked and she was not there.  I will head over that direction again in the next few days and see if she is there again and talk to her.  I wish I could tell you how sad this makes me.  The little frowny emoticon just won't cut it.

Doula Stuff

I was going to come up with a catchy title and then I thought to myself, "Self, if you let them know ahead of time it is doula stuff, those who are interested will check in and read and those who don't give a fig about birthing babies will know to leave this alone and not bother and then be disappointed." So that is what I did.

Did I tell you that my Rachel Pie has moved back home?  First time in 7 years that she has been back living at home.  And it's about damn time if you ask me.  Anyhoo, she has been interested in the doula work and has taken the training twice now and was working on her doula career back in CO.  So now that she is back here, she already has the "in" so to speak on getting into the birthing community here. And she has just gone headfirst into the deep end!

So I took her on as my little apprentice/shadow doula to accompany me to all my visits and birth with my client so that she could learn the lay of the land here.  I am sure birth is like everything else and has its little regional differences in how things are done.

And Sunday was my client's day to birth her baby.  She woke up in the wee hours of the night/morning with her waters broken and light contractions.  It was a beautiful birth.  She was so calm, composed and totally willing to try anything I suggested in order to have her labor progress.  She and her husband worked well together, plus she had me and Rachel Pie there to support and help.  There was a lot of trust in that room.

Sixteen hours from the early morning awakening was the birth of a precious baby girl.  She made her entrance to the world at almost 5 p.m.  Her mama did a spectacular job of pushing and working hard and just did her best for that baby.  It was an honor to be there.

It was also a pleasure to have my Rachel Pie there to witness, to help and to learn what it is to birth a baby.  She did an amazing job and I was proud to have her there.  I hope as she grows and moves through her doula career that I will get to continue to watch her work.

I am thankful for my work.  Thankful for my clients.  Thankful for my Rachel Pie.  It was a rewarding day.

I'm Back!!!

I just looked and saw that I have not posted anything in 4 weeks.  It has not been the greatest summer and I have to say that I have been a little on the depressed and morose side.  Nothing that warrants explanation or going on about.  But it seems to have played hell with my creative side.

So, here are a few random pictures from my last downloads to my iphoto.

I went to my sister's graduation from nursing school and afterwards I spotted this fabulous car in the parking lot!  I took several shots of it being careful not to show their license plate.  Tell me that isn't the cutest thing you ever saw!  I should have put a note on the window with my number in case she wants to ever sell it. You know that car is 99% likely being owned and driven by a girl, right?

Then at the graduation party at my mama's house we took some family photos.  Here is one with me, two sisters, one brother and brother's girlfriend.

One of the other quick little trips I have taken this summer was to a wedding.  The bride was gorgeous, the bridesmaid dresses were also very nice.  But then I spied the shoes.  I wish I could convey to you how much I detest these shoes.  They have been popular for a couple years now, and it is seriously time for them to go.  My friend Elaine and I, when we lived in Chile used to go to the mall just to walk around and look in the windows of the all the shoe stores and choose the ugliest shoes in each window. These plastic-y, uncomfortable shoes below that are in that horrid shade of neutral-doesn't-match-anything-on-the-planet beige have just got to go.

A few years ago my small girl-child Miss Rachel Pie went on a Vision Quest and we made her a quilt to take with her.  And this past year the boy-child Sparky made the same commitment to do this and so I have been busy making him a quilt as well.  Here I am on the night before he leaves making the very last stitches to the binding.  Nothing like getting things done at the last flipping minute.

Here I am holding up one side of the quilt. Please to ignore the obviously white bra showing through my dress.

And here is Sparky holding up the other end.

When we lived in Minneapolis I started going to the Senior Center because that's where the little old ladies would hang out and quilt.  And I was determined to learn how.  They used to get donations of books and books and more books of fabric samples.  These sample books would get taken apart, washed and then randomly sewn into long strips and then sewn together to make the cutest quilt tops that were then donated or raffled or whatever.  Anyhoo, they gave me a couple of those books and that is what I used to make both the kids' quilts.  I didn't do an over-all quilting design.  Instead I just quilted each fabric rectangle with a different pattern.  It turned out really cute and obviously very home-made looking.

One day I will learn to piece together a gorgeous quilt top.


That's it for me today.  I am glad to be back blogging and hope to get some good posts together to share with you.  Enjoy this HOT August!

Moon Diet

Yes, you read it right.  The Moon Diet.  According to several different sites I visited to learn more about this

"It's well known that the moon affects the earth's oceans and rivers with its gravitational pull. It is less known that the moon also affects the water contained in the human body. The moon diet takes advantage of the moon's power to help you cleanse your body and lose weight. On certain days you can lose up to 6 lbs in a single 24-hour period!


Human knowledge and mythology throughout time have spoken of the moon's effect on the earth and the human body. The moon's gravitational pull dictates the action of the ocean's tides. A woman's menstrual cycle runs in parallel to the cycle of the moon. Some believe the moon affects the emotions—for example, the full moon stimulates aggressive behavior.

In addition, the moon can affect the water contained in the human body. The human body is 60% water. When the moon reaches its full phase and new phase, its gravitational pull combines with the sun for the greatest gravitational effect. This period of increased effect lasts about 24 hours."


So with this in mind, I set out to find what is meant by The Moon Diet.  It is important to note when the  moon will be full (date and time) to start this regimen.  It seems to me that it is a good monthly detox.


Here is how it lays out if you want to follow along.  And by the by, the full moon starts tomorrow at 6:52 p.m. So if you want to try it this month, you better get to the store!

1. At the onset of the full moon:

    Choose A: 24 hour diet of spring, boiled or distilled water, fresh squeezed fruit and vegetable juices in abundance.

or B: 3 day diet: Day 1 - raw or cooked vegetables. Day 2 - only the liquids listed above. Day 3 - fresh cut up pineapple and fresh mushrooms either steamed or cooked with olive oil and spices.

or C: 6 day diet: Day 1 - raw or cooked vegetables. Days 2, 3, 5, and 6 - the fresh cut up pineapple and mushrooms as above. with Day 4 being the liquid fasting as in the 24 hour hour diet.

2. At 1800 hours (6 p.m.) of the evening before the new moon, begin this diet. Eat these foods for 36 hours. Soups and vegetable broths. Soups made of your favorite vegetables. Take these 4 - 5 times a day. Drink lots of pure spring, boiled or distilled water. To avoid monotony - once a day drink a cup of poultry, meat or fish broth. 

Avoid alcohol, coffee and black tea during these times.  You may drink herbal teas like mint as much as you want. The pineapple is a really good diuretic and the mushrooms are a very low calorie/high water way to consume protein that your muscles will need.

Here are the remaining full moon dates for this year, 2012.

3 July 18:52 (6:52 p.m.)

2 Aug. 3:38 (3:38 a.m.)

31 Aug. 13:59 (1:59 p.m.)

30 Sept. 3:19 (3:19 a.m.)

29 Oct. 19:50 (7:50 p.m.)

28 Nov. 14:47 (2:47 p.m.)

28 Dec. 10:22 (10:22 a.m.)

What do you think? Are you interested in trying a cleansing/detox diet that has ties to Mother Nature?

 

You know those songs that get stuck in your head?

This is one of those videos that gets stuck in your head.

Check it out:

Obit Reading Part 395847395

There were just a little over 2 pages worth of obituaries this week.  That's good.  Typically we have 3 full pages and sometimes more.  There were several who were over 100 years of age who had led nice long, and full lives.  For example, Ms. Carmen Quintanilla Flores (who let me just interject here that I find it unusual for a woman of her age to use the title Ms.  She must be a progressive thinker!)  Ms. Carmen wrote part of her obituary herownself and called it "Los Caminos de la Vida" the roads of life.

Here's some of what she said:

"Who would have thought that one hundred years is a long time but instead feels like a brief moment. Los Caminos de la Vida started in Parras, Coahuila (a state of Mexico just south of TX) with my parents who worked with the Madero family while at the same time working in my grandparent's vinery. All was well until the Mexico Revolution came and my parents were forced to leave and go to Monterrey, Mexico. My father had family in Monterry and stayed with them for a short period, but then decided to come to the United States with nothing but our clothes in a stage coach - my son Fernando would say in a covered wagon - NO, NO NO, Coach. It was very hard leaving your country and having to start over but the Good Lord helped us to have a new beginning in spite of the hard roads of life. I am thankful for meeting my husband at my mother's boarding house. He came to San Antonio to study from Zapata, TX. His family had received land grants way before Texas belonged to the U.S. A very proud traditional ranching family with deep roots in Texas that is maintained today."

Then she goes on to say "I would not have imagined flying in an airplane to go visit my family or flying to a foreign country to go on vacation in a matter of hours. Riding in a car (Model T) for the first time was an adventure beyond belief and in later years riding in cars with lots of comfort and air conditioning - amazing. Thank You Lord for allowing me to have seen and experienced with all my children, granchildren and great grandchildren Los Caminos de la Vida."

Her family did the "before and after" pictures, as I call them.  One when she was a young fashionplate and on as a grandmother.  She was quite the looker!

Then we come to George Guzman who was a handsome Navy man from back in the day.  Because of his love of the sea he is getting a military burial-at-sea and the family was nice enough to give a brief description of that procedure.  I had no idea about this, so of course, I thought I would share it with you.

"It's because of George's love of the Navy and sea that final disposition will occur with a burial-at-sea in the Pacific Ocean. During the ceremony, performed by a U.S. Navy chaplain, the active-duty ship will come to full stop with its colors at half-mast. The officer passes the word "All hands bury the dead." After the sailors are assembled and called to attention, all stand at "parade rest", read scriptures and prayers, and commit George's remains to seas. The officiate reads a benediction, the firing detail fires three volleys and the bugler plays "Taps".

Can you just picture that?  It doesn't say if the family will get to participate in this or not.  But let me tell you, I have attended several military funerals and it is heart-wrenching when they salute them, fold the flag, hand it to the mama, play taps and fire the guns.  Nothing is as moving as that.

I leave you now with a short but very sweet and heart-warming tribute to a man not much older than myself.

"Kevin Jon Johnson

Beloved brother, loving husband, dedicated father and most loyal friend was called home by his Lord. With valiant effors, Kevin continued to epitomize the man of character he was. Quick to smile, fun to be with and a firerce defender of that which is right. Althogh those left behind will deeply miss him, we were blessed by the time we shared with him. Heaven will enjoy his presence. He now joins his dear friends Mel & Joe to fish off God's pier where the fish always bite, the stories always fun and beer cold."  (spelling and grammar are theirs)

Have I ever mentioned that beside being a birth doula one of my fondest wishes is to take the training to be a hospice volunteer?  Essentially it is really being a "death doula".  You provide pretty much the same care, respect and help for this life transition as you would for the other.  I have thought about this for a really long time, and I am now ready to embark on this new adventure.

If any of you have done this and have words of wisdom, please feel free to share.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by and please leave me some comments.  I love to hear from you.

Sunday Night Chit Chat

Okay, my blog friend Sluggy says we who want to play along on the Sunday Night Chit Chat should go here and follow directions.

Here's my answers!

Reading... "Lamb" by Christopher Moore.  This was recommended by a friend recently. I have just started and can NOT put it down!!!  I have never laughed so loud when reading in bed.  You will just adore this book.

Watching... AMC is running the whole previous 4 seasons of Breaking Bad late at night leading up to the Season 5 which starts on July 15.  I have been recording them and watching them and oh boy, it is even better watching a bunch back-to-back.  Season 5 is supposed to be the big finale so you want to be up on your stuff because this will be it.

Listening to...  I have the radio on tuned to an 1970s rock station and they are playing Van Halen "Dance the night away", and just segued in to some AC/DC "Dirty Deeds".

Cooking/Baking... nothing today.  But I just got a new recipe on Pinterest for Okra, Grilled Corn and Goat Cheese Fritters.  I will be going to get those ingredients for this week!  Yum.

Happy you accomplished... Holy Moly!  I finished a quilt I was making for my son that had been in the 70-80% done category for about 2 years. Then I got down an afghan I was 90% done with and finished it.  Right now I am working on a cross stitch project I have wanted to start for YEARS!  It feels really good to clear out some old projects.

Looking forward to next week... It is Mr. Big Ed's birthday on Wednesday, so that should be fun.

Thankful for today... got up early and have been accomplishing things.

*bonus question*

What is the WORST movie you've ever seen & couldn't be paid to watch again?  Hmmm, worst movie ever?  Let me think.  There are so many to choose from.  Right off the top of my head I am gonna have to go with a horrible piece of crap that my kids love and just think is *hilarious*.  The horrific "Freddy Got Fingered" with that moron Tom Green.  Have you seen this?  If not, be thankful.  It is so bad.  There are no redeeming qualities, not the filming, the writing, the acting, nothing.  It is pure crap.


Anyone want to play?  Either post your response in the comments or come comment with a link back to your own page.


Have a great Sunday night!

Favorite New Commercial

Okay, this is short but hilarious.  One of my favorite new commercials.

Check it out.

What's going on over here

Okay, so you may have noticed a serious lack of blogging going on over here.  I have noticed it as well.  There is a reason for this.  Actually, there are several reasons for this.  And I initially didn't want to come here and say "Oh poor me, here's this thing happening in my life.  Let's all feel bad for me".  But then the second thing happended.  And then the third.  And it has been like walking around waiting for the other shoe to drop around here.  I have seriously had the thought "wtf??  Why is all this happening at the same fucking time??"

But I have bucked up and chosen to see the good in each issue rather than focusing on the oh poor pitiful me, why does this have to happen to meeeeeeee?

Because truthfully, why NOT me?  Why not?  I am just as random and deserving of a few pieces of bad luck and timing as anyone else.

You know the saying about if you were given the opportunity to put all your troubles in a pile with everyone else's and then choose which ones you were taking, you would most likely take the ones you came with?  Well, that particular bit of wisdom has been running through my head a lot lately.

I don't want to give you the wrong idea about all this.  Nobody in my family has been diagnosed with leprosy, none of us have moved to the Poor Farm, nothing like that.

And yet I just kept thinking that if I came here and talked (typed) about these things they would be more real, more of a pain in the ass to deal with.  So I am just going to share with you a few things that have happened lately.

First up, we had soooo much stuff plannned for the summer, it was unbelievable!  Seriously, one of us (and by that I mostly mean me) had a trip planned at least every other week from April through July.  It was kind of scary to look at the calendar and realize how many trips were on the books.  Then while I was traveling on the 3rd of many trips I noticed one of my teeth felt odd.  Kind of sensitive to pressure.  So I got home and made an appointment with my dentist.  The Readers Digest condensed version of this many part saga is that I have to cancel a bunch of the summer trips and spend lots of quality time and quality money with my dentist this summer.  Nice.

I hate to be a big fat wussie about things, but you know the whole laying back in the chair with your head really lower than your ass thing? I hate it.  It's a very vulnerable position.  And you know the horrible metal pokey pointy things that make the horrible sounds on your teeth?  O.M.G. That is one of the things I hate worse than anything.  Worse than nails on a chalkboard.  Worse than clowns.  And even worse than balloons.

But let me tell you what I did.  I went to my aromatherapy textbooks and looked up essential oils for mouth infections, anxiety and calming.  Then I made a blend of them and applied this mixture of oils to my pulse points, my third eye and temples and went to my first appointment.  And it was not too bad.  I have been using the oils each day since to help with the dull achey feeling in my mouth and jaws.  I will be going back for many visits so I may need to just mix up a quantity of this and bottle it to take with me.

My husband, Mr. Big Ed, has a boss whose son is terribly ill.  He has a cancer that has been extremely aggressive and it has been a year from hell for this poor family.  This precious boy was 9 when diagnosed last July and he has now turned 10 but the prognosis is not good.  So his mama is taking a leave of absence to be with him and Mr. Big Ed is taking some of her work responsibilities.  This is a tragic situation and my heart breaks for their family.  It also means that Mr. Big Ed will be doing some of his own business travel and also making a few trips on her behalf.  So he will not be attending many of the scheduled family things this summer either.  If you are the praying sort, please add little Nicolas to your list.  His family has had more than they should have to bear this past year.

Last week I was on my 4th trip (by myself since Mr. Big Ed has new work commitments) heading to a nephew's wedding.  It was a great trip and I made good time.  (I have this thing where I like to see if I can beat my best time to each destination.  And it's much easier to do when I don't have anyone with me who wants to stop and pee in every fucking Dairy Queen we come to.)  So as I was pulling into town and off the highway, I turned off my cruise control and all the sudden my car wasn't shifting from first gear up to second.  It was scary as hell as I was trying to take off from a stop at a traffic light and nothing was happening.  I kept thinking I was going to be rear-ended.

I limped on over to my aunt's house and called AAA.  (Another long story that need to be Readers Digest condensed here.)  I ended up having my car towed to the Honda dealership and waiting for hours to find out that my transmission was shot.  At 6 p.m. on a Friday.  On a Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  A 3-day holiday weekend.  Which meant nothing was going to happen to fix my car till after TUESDAY!

I was devastated for a few minutes and then decided that if this had to happen at least it was the best way possible it could have happened.  No one was hurt or killed.  Praise the Lord for that!  I am headed back down that way next week for another graduation trip, so I would have been going back there anyway.  Only now I am driving a rental car and taking it back home again and picking up my car (which I love) with a brand new transmission which should last it another 100,000 miles.

None of the issues that have happened around here are tragic, they are inconvenient and expensive.  But that is a small hiccup in the grand scheme of things, now isn't it?

I need to get my camera over here and show you some pictures of some of the fun things I have been able to attend.  And I need to quit whining about the trips I won't be able to make.

I hope all is well with you and yours.  Any great summer plans at your end?

Just spreading a little happiness

Enjoy!!!

A little of this, A little of that

I have been silent for a while and I need to break that silence, but all the thoughts I have had for blog fodder are all jumbled up so I am liable to be flitting around from topic to topic.  Grab yourself some caffeine and try to keep up!

Have you read about the gay penguin couple?  Here is the latest update on them:




"After six years of lovingly building a nest together each spring, a pair of male Gentoo penguins named Inca and Rayas finally have an egg to keep in it. According to their keepers at Madrid's Faunia Park, the two are inseparable and have taken to parenting like, well, penguins to water. Inca has adopted the female role of incubating the egg, while partner Rayas watches over his buddy and the little one. Their keepers hope that the donated egg -- and the bub that hatches out of it -- will boost the pair's spirits. In past years, they apparently became rather blue during spring when surrounded by all their friends' newborns."

Awwwww.  What a sweet story.

Did you watch the DWTS finale?  I had no hopes that this season would be as good as it was.  It really was great to watch.  The final 4 were all so good that there was no reason to be disappointed no matter who won.

Speaking of finales, all the shows are having their season finales this past month and none more important to watch than Monday night's airing of the SERIES FINALE of House.  The whole series is over.  No more cranky pants House.  No more weird diseases to be discovered and cured.  No more co-workers to kill off.  It was really good and stayed true to the character of the show.  I hate it when they come up with some cutesy ending that fails miserably to resolve anything.

Oh!  I found a new favorite blog!  My absolute favorite blogger in the world is Martha Payne.

Have you heard of Martha?  No?

Well, she is a 9 year old girl who lives in Scotland.  And just the most clever thing around.  I wish I had been that smart at 9.  She was becoming disillusioned about the school lunches and she now writes a blog about it.  She posts a photo of it and rates it on taste, nutrition, how many mouthfuls she actually gets (these photos of her lunches have shocked me by how small they are) and also by whether or not she finds a hair in them.

This is an eye-opening experiment.  She asked for kids around the world to send in pictures of their own school lunches (or made at home and brought to school) to her for comparison.  And yes, her dad is helping her by tweeting about this.  And yes, Jamie Oliver is aware of this and encouraging her. He needs to get his gorgeous Naked Chef self up to Scotland and do something with their school lunches. Those meals have negligable protein, few vegetables, little or no fruit.  Mostly carbs, bread, potatoes, pasta and the like.  So go read Martha and send her some encouragement.

And on a completely different train of thought, in the paper this Sunday, right on the front page was an article titled "Despite changes, more kids are dying"

Seems that our county has taken the lead in Texas for most child deaths involving parents from abuse and/or neglect.  Lovely.  Our county has had 20 child deaths in the last fiscal year.  We also had the most confirmed cases of abused and neglected children in the state, 5,915 which is more than the 5,493 for Houston which has nearly three times as many children as our city.  More deaths with 1/3 the total number of children.  Doesn't that make your stomach turn?

The article goes on for another full page of facts, details, information, etc. And it ends with a half page listing each of the 20 children who were killed and the pertinent facts of each of their cases.  It made this very personal and real to see their little names, ages, cause of death and what criminal case or charges have been filed, that kind of outcome.  I think these little ones deserve to be honored in this way and create some awareness and hopefully get more people to step up and volunteer to help.

Do any of you remember last July when I posted this??  This little angel boy was the last one listed on this page of 20.  I had periodically checked the news online to see if anything had ever come of the father of this child admitting to hurting and ultimately killing this baby and never could find anything. So I read the little bit they had listed Sunday on this baby. And I am going to go ahead and type what is there since it is the newspaper I can assume there is no expectation of privacy.  Here's what is said:

Kaleb Alexander Janosik

Age: 22 days

Date of death: July 24, 2011

Died of head injuries.

Father admitting to striking and biting the child.

Mother and father were found "reason to believe" for physical abuse.

Justin Janosik (father) pleaded guilty to murder, received a life sentence.

My heart just breaks for all 20 of these shameful deaths.  One thing I looked at is that 11 of the 20 had previously been investigated by CPS so someone already knew there was a problem in the home.  I don't know the answer to this horrific problem but I do know that I try my hardest to make sure my work with each of my clients helps them to fall in love with their children and to know there are resources for when they are overwhelmed and feel helpless.

If you feel so moved to help with abused and neglected children, consider becoming a CASA  advocate. Or check with your CPS office and see what it takes to become a foster family for children in need.  Some of our local high schools have nurseries for the babies while moms attend school and they need volunteers there to work with the babies.  You can teach parenting classes. There are many ways you can get involved and make a difference in a child's life.  Please make the effort.  Don't just sit back and read about the tragedies being perpetrated on these young lives and do nothing. It really does take a village.