Archive for February 10, 2017

E-Books Now Free

Free e-books.  Pretty good  deal.  I decided that it’s time for  me to make my five e-books available to anyone who might be interested,  for  free.  I’ve earned enough on them, and I’d rather more people read them.
Here are the titles:

.

APPLE-TEMPTING NEW: A TASTY TRIBUTE TO NEW LIFE — verses about a child’s first year of life, many from the child’s point of view.
 .
SMALL WAYS TO SHAPE THE WORLD — a sampling/supplement to my paper book (see below); little things we can do in our everyday lives that help make a kinder, more just world.
 .
GREEN RICHES: HELP THE EARTH & YOUR BUDGET — easy ways to help the environment without emptying your wallet.
.
SURVIVING YOUR CHILD’S FIRST YEAR: A GUIDE FOR THE EXTRA-CHALLENGED PARENT–practical ideas for new parents who are disabled or simply overburdened.
.
GOD SNEEZED–poetry about life, love, God, and funny times.
.
My paper book, SMALL THINGS COUNT: SIMPLE WAYS TO LIVE CHRIST’S LOVE EACH DAY, is also available to order.
For a more detailed  description of each and some of the places you can download them, go to http://www.jackieodonnell.net/book-previews.

.

Happy reading!

 

Coretta’s Voice is Not Political

People use her words for political gain, but her message transcends mere politics.  She speaks for humanity and the soul of mankind.  As in today’s Thursday Thought.

 

Our Kids: Our Top Priority

This is for some parents who haven’t seen this news story yet.  You aren’t bad parents, just a product of our times.  With work and friends and things to do, we’re glued to our phones.  They’ve become so much a part of us that we don’t even notice when we’re on them

But our kids do.  Especially when they’ve been at daycare, school, or otherwise away from us all day.  They love us and miss us.  And they feel unimportant to us when we ignore them in favor of our phone.  Usually, we can finish up that business call before greeting them or ignore an incoming call for awhile–long enough for some kisses and hugs and what-did-you-do-todays on the way home.

Here’s the sign that a Houston TX daycare put on their door.  It’s a good reminder that our kids are top priority in our lives.

 

get off your phone daycare message to parents

 

Pity Poor Kellyanne Conway

I’m starting to feel sorry for Kellyanne Conway.  She keeps mis-speaking and having to defend what she thought President Trump meant by what he said.  She’s on the front lines in the war with the media, demonstrators, the courts, Democrats, and even some Republicans.  It’s taking its toll; she’s exhausted.  Just compare the two pictures below.  I think, for the sake of her own health and for her family, she should resign and let her boss find someone else to  do the job.

 

Before working for Candidate Trump:

2 days ago, after working two weeks for President Trump:

 

It’s More than Air and Water

Bad water.  Sickening air.  That’s what comes to mind when we hear that we should “go green.”  But the problem is larger.

This chart lists the major environmental issues we are facing and need to address.

 

Something to think about…and act on.

 

 

Convict Him? No Dice!

Here’s one for the gamblers.  I haven’t inflicted one of my interesting (to me) word/phrase origins on you for some time.  So, here goes.

“No dice”  —  what a person says when he refuses to accept a proposition or course of action.

In the early 1900s in many states, dice-gambling was popular but illegal.  How to get around the law?  Hide the dice when the cops came, of course.  That way, the main evidence against you—the dice—couldn’t be produced in court, leading to your case being dismissed.  So that’s what gamblers did: hid the dice, and sometimes even swallowed them!

A reporter for The Port Arthur Daily News (Texas) wrote a story in 1921 about when an officer testified at trial and admitted that he could not find any dice when he arrested the defendants. The judge ruled that the defendants could not be convicted because there were “no dice.”

It is considered highly probable that the “no dice = no conviction” decision is the origin of today’s use of “no dice” to mean “nothing doing.”