Archive for November 29, 2013

Easy Black Friday

I actually ventured out today.  Normally Black Friday finds me cowering in bed, head covered against the cruel world.  But we’re doing some work on our house and have workmen coming soon, meaning that we needed to purchase a few items sooner rather than later.  We’ve run out of time to order and wait for delivery.

Out we went late this morning, fortified by an extra cup of coffee.  We drove into the parking lot and had our choice of parking spaces.  We walked into the store and there was hardly anyone there. When we had a question, there were lots of friendly, helpful sales people nearby but not in our faces.  There was no blood on the floor from the mad rush of shoppers, or people being carted away in straight jackets or police cars after they dropped over the mental/emotional edge while shopping in an overheated crowd. In fact, shopping was easier than on a typical NON-Black Friday, and with Black Friday deals.

Where is this marvelous store, you may ask?  Next year, try your local home improvement center (we did Lowes and Home Depot).  You’ll find it a satisfying oasis in a tumultuous sales sea.

 

 

Final Thanks

I’m thankful for you, my readers–1186 of you have signed up as of this moment.  I’m also thankful for the holiday meal I’ll be sharing with my family, as well as for the fact that my family is fortunate enough not to need to worry about where our next meal will come from–or IF it will come.  Lastly, I’m thankful for the warmth of the sun that energizes me and reminds me of all that’s good in the world.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE! I’ll be back in this space on Friday.

Cornucopia

 

 

Invitation #2: Get Ready for Thanksgiving

To celebrate the true spirit of the day, it’s good to think about what we’re thankful for.  Yesterday I offered three things from my perspective and invited you to send in yours.  Today I add three more things and again invite you to send me three or more of yours.

I’m grateful for

Each new day with my husband

The beauty of Nature

The freedoms I enjoy in America

YOUR TURN….WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?

Invitation: Days of Giving Thanks

Let’s celebrate these three days leading up to Thanksgiving by thinking about what we’re thankful for.  Below I’ll list three things I’d like to give thanks for, and I’ll repeat with new ones the next two days.  I invite you to join me–send a comment to this blog site telling three things (more if you wish) that you are thankful for.

OK–to get started: I’m very thankful for

Family                   Friends                    Faith

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!

 

 

Time/Energy Laundry Tip

Shorten laundry drying time and save energy. Add two dry towels to the load. They’ll draw moisture out of the other items, and the redistributed moisture takes a shorter time to dry.

Leaf 6

 [For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/ view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-tailer.]

 

JFK’s Dream: Peace

“He kept the peace.” That’s what JFK said he wanted as his epitaph. And that’s what his short presidency focused on. His promotion of a ban on nuclear weapons helped bring about the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. After being President for only three months, he faced the Bay of Pigs—a situation caused by the previous (Eisenhower) administration, who wanted the U.S. involved in Cuba.  He tried to avoid involvement in Laos (also set up by the previous administration) by signing a neutrality agreement.  He negotiated with the Soviet Union and fought his own military and intelligence people, who proposed a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the Soviet Union.  Khrushchev came to respect him.  But a year later JFK found himself in the Cuban Missile Crisis.  JFK also fought against our intervention in Viet Nam because he knew it would escalate, and, once we were there, he planned to get us out as soon as possible.

For details about these events and how JFK handled pressure even from within our own government and pushed for peace, read Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s “John F. Kennedy’s Vision of Peace.”

Today, as I think about that senseless death fifty years, and the violence caused in our world by self-centered, power-hungry people and governments, I’m thankful for the short period of time when we had a champion of peace. I don’t enter into debates over what JFK would have done with his Presidency had he lived. I care only that his dream of peace be carried on by future leaders and that the world come to its senses.

 

 

How to Achieve Bliss

“If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue. Make a decision to relinquish the need to control, the need to be approved and the need to judge. Those are the three things the ego is doing all the time. It’s very important to be aware of them every time they come up.” –Deepak Ch

[A lot to consider on this Thoughtful Thursday.]

 

 

Yellen Proves Herself Unfit for the Job

I can’t believe what Janet Yellen did!  And the Boys—bless their guardian hearts– didn’t let her get away with it.  She actually wore the same suit at her nomination hearing that she wore when President Obama officially nominated her a month or so ago.  Two bloggers (male) called Janet on this faux pas, ignoring, of course the fact that men wear the same suit over and over and (if we’re lucky) merely change out their shirt and tie.  (Sometimes they forget and actually appear in public in the same getup twice.)  However, that doesn’t set aside an important question:  Considering this egregious error, is this the kind of person we want heading the Federal Reserve? After all, Hillary Clinton got caught doing the same thing years ago, and we know what a brainless, incompetent…female…she is!

 

 

Half Can Be Twice as Good

An old idea worth repeating: halvsies. Use only the quantity of shampoo, detergent, cleaners, etc.  needed to do the job. If half of what you’ve been using works, next time try half of that. Repeat until you get the minimum         workable amount.

Leaf 6

[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/ view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-tailer.]

 

 

 

Why Florida?

Dear Floridian Readers–Please tell me why you live there. I know that parts are quite beautiful.  But sink-holes (255 of them under home-owners!), helicopter-sized (and very hungry) mosquitoes, hanging chads, disappearing ballots, screen rooms to relax in instead of back yards, humidity like a never-ending sauna….  Doesn’t sound inviting to me. I’m used to California’s free carnival-ride earthquakes.  PLEASE convince me that my friends were right to move there when they retired.

Jackie

P.S. Feel free to make fun of California.  I deserve it.