Happy Sunday!

Is it spring yet?

Does anyone else think it's strange that it is almost April and we are still getting snow?  Yesterday was rainy and snowy and a good day to stay in.  I got lots done including three loads of laundry and my weekly homework.  I also got to visit with a college friend and her kids who were visiting from out of town this past weekend.  

Reminder:  Healthcare deadline is tomorrow.  Here is another option that I have come across:  CHM.  They are accredited with the Better Business Bureau.  

If you're looking for a good book to read, check out The Noticer by Andy Andrews.  This book is an insightful look into things you might miss otherwise.

I was also listening to the radio lately and there is a series of dvd's called Shalom in Your Home that help you with different issues you might be facing.

Lots of odds and ends!  Enjoy your week!

Clean, clean, clean...

Some things break to help us motivate...

So sometimes we need a little motivation to help us clean.  I've been having plumbing problems this past week and have had maintenance in and out in order to fix everything.  I've also had to take out half of what was in my closet and decided that when I started putting things back together again that this would be a good opportunity to donate clothes especially when I think about my New Year's Resolution...  Remember that?

Unfortunately you can have all the best intentions in the world to clean and donate, etc. but intentions are only intentions if you never act on them.  So act on your good intentions!    

Do you ever really look in your closet?  I know I had years and years of clothes and some that I don't even wear anymore.  Well I now have two bags full of clothes to donate and I know there's more where that came from.  I could sell them but sometimes it's easier to just donate and there is always someone that has less that you if you think about it.  Think about the concept of paying it forward:  Sometimes it it your turn to receive help and sometimes it's your turn to give help. 

Update on Affordable HealthCare

aka Obamacare...

I was speaking to someone last night that told me that someone she knows in California applied for Obamacare and is now restricted as to what doctor she sees.  They picked one for her and she has to drive an hour and a half away just to see her doctor. 

I have been told that Medi-Share is another option and you won't get penalized.  Decisions, decisions...  A lot about this new healthcare is still unknown and the media is not doing too much in spreading the word. 

Reminder:  The deadline is looming... 

Affordable HealthCare!

What you should know...

If any of you are in a position where you have lost your job or don't have health insurance then realize that the deadline for affordable healthcare is March 31st.  This means that any government subsidies that you may qualify for will be given to you based on your salary.  Government subsidies only work on silver plans or higher.  Bronze plans do not qualify.  

If you don't have healthcare this year, the penalty is the greater of $95 or 1% of your salary this year. 

I called up several doctor offices today and many were aware of the $95 but not the 1% rule.  Funny how the important news is never publicized.  Before making a decision, it is a good idea to call you doctors to see which insurance options they will take.  The thing about affordable healthcare is that there are fewer options in terms of healthcare providers.  There is one that is strictly for OSU providers, etc.  If you like OhioHealth then Anthem and United Healthcare are good options.  

If you qualify, then medicaid is also an option.

Just keep in mind that the deadline is looming! 

Have you ever heard of "chicken poop?"

You learn something new everyday...

I kid you not.  I was at Bed, Bath & Beyond yesterday and a woman was buying lip balm called chicken poop.  Wow!  What a name and in a lip balm no less.   How many of you are inclined to put chicken poop on your lips?

Previously I was at an essential oils class and we discussed chicken butt bake.  Exactly what is going on with our chickens lately?  Poor chickens are becoming the target for just about everything.  You know how they say you are what you eat?  Well, if you like eating chicken, I think that makes you a chicken.  Yeah...  Sorry about that!

So this weekend has been busy!  A friend and I signed up to do free color for our hair.  She finds out about all the salon freebies.  Evidently all you need to do is do a search on craigslist under beauty and if a salon needs a haircut or color model, well then, all you need to do is sign up.  Not a bad deal at all, especially in this debt-ridden economy.  Something to look into.  And the hair looks fabulous!

Little by little, spring is arriving.  Hopefully the weather gets much warmer because it still feels cold to me!

By the way, did you hear about the woman that got attacked by a chimp?  I did not know that chimps were so dangerous.  This is another one of those stories that makes you wonder what is going on in our world today?

Ah choo!

Sniffle, Hack, Cough, Ack!!!

Guess what happens when the weather changes?  You get sick or get a cold, etc.  Well, I caught one.  I hardly ever get colds but there you have it.  I got one.  Different people I know are getting sick too! 

Isn't it the hardest thing to have to wake up when you least feel like it?  Don't you just feel like sleeping all day?  It didn't help that yesterday I had an exam to finish which I did but I don't think my grade is going to be that great under the circumstances.  It's hard to take a test when you head is foggy.  It's much easier to do fun stuff or stuff that doesn't require brain work. 

Yawn!  I'm getting sleepy!  Remember to take vitamin C, zinc, and drink lots of honey tea!  

Reminder if you live in the good old US of A then the Affordable Health Care deadline is the end of this month.  We have to have healthcare or get fined a penalty.  Exactly whose idea was this to do this?  We won't name names because I think we all know who's responsible.  Just know that you get fined $95 or 1% of your salary, whichever is greater if you don't have healthcare by the end of this month. 

World Poetry Day

Do you know what today is?  

World Poetry Day!

Write a poem to your loved one today...  Or two or three... 

What does a poem say?
About you...  In what way do
you think it reveals? 

Happy Spring!

What is going on with our world today?  

The weather?  It feels like winter is having a hard time letting go...  Even though the temps are up, it still feels cold, doesn't it?

Lately it seems whenever I watch the news that someone here has died and someone there has died.  Especially teenagers driving and having fatal accidents.  Not too mention the missing flight from Malaysia.  What more could go wrong?  Was it like this years ago? 

Do you remember what it was like to travel and not have to take your shoes off?  I remember calling the airlines one time asking if it would ever go back and they said "no."

This morning, someone got stabbed going into a gym.  It almost seems that there is nowhere safe anymore.

Hmmm...  

What is going on with our world today?

I got a little lost today...  Doing crafts...  Have you ever done things you enjoy doing simply because you enjoy them?  And the time flies by? 

~Dedication Page~

Live Your Dreams

As some of you may or may not know, this is new to me, blogging that is.  This is the very first blog that I have ever written in my life and it's been live a little over a month now.  If you read my first post, then you know that I was talking to a friend on Valentine's Day and that she suggested a blog for me.  Well this is that blog.  The funny thing was that I was thinking about starting my blog on Valentine's Day and when my friend called me up I took that as confirmation that this was meant to be.  So here we are...  March 14th would have been this blog's first month anniversary.  

So, what do Valentine's and St. Patrick's Day give you?  Love & Luck!  However, is there such a thing a luck?  Don't things happen for a reason?  Serendipity means fortunate accidents and we like those.  However, what about coincidences?  Why do those happen?  Are they actually "God Winks" in disguise?  

I'd like to dedicate this blog to my parents who have passed on already and my very best friends who have always believed in me and my dreams.  They have known me for over twenty years or more and have put up with my idiosyncrasies and my soap opera experiences.  Throughout life you meet lots of people and some people will criticize you and tell you that you are crazy while others will tell you that you can do anything you set your mind to.  It's always a good feeling knowing that someone has your back.  I value each of the people that I am truly blessed to call my friends!  

I've always dreamed of being a writer, more so lately than before.  But you see, I was still growing up and sometimes it takes years to figure out what you want to be when you grow up.  But the older you grow, the more you realize how fast life is passing you by so there's truly no time like the present.  

In recent years, I have been taking lots of writing classes and my most recent class is about learning how to write to magazines and journals to get work published.  This is a great class to take and I wish I had taken this years sooner if only for the knowledge and experience.  I've also joining a writing group to help generate ideas and have met other talented writers in the process.  Someday I would love to publish a book as all writers strive to do.  I guess we will see...

Recently I began another blog that is an offshoot to this blog to share some of my poetry as well as share some of my opinions of other favorite great writers and writings that I have enjoyed.  I hope you get something from reading through these posts.  

Take care!

JoSH

P.S.  Please feel free to check out my poetry blog!

"Top of the morning to ya!"

No blarney here...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Are you wearing green today?  I actually met someone and had a first date on a St. Patrick's Day.  We dated for two and a half years before we decided to call it quits.  We are still good friends but just not sure if marriage would have worked out between us.

You never know what will happen in the future?

Are you feeling green?

It's almost St. Patrick's Day!

I was at Giant Eagle shopping today after a financial seminar and saw a woman buy a shamrock plant.  How cool!  I've never seen one before.  I know a lot of people already celebrated St. Patrick's Day on Friday.  

Here's a little greenery to get us in the mood.  Speaking of green, I went to a Money Matters Seminar today and got some good info. Especially in this day and age when you think of the economy and how everyone is struggling for $.  In fact I got to talk to one of the radio personalities but didn't realize who she was until later.  If you think about it radio and visual don't exactly relate like TV does.

Have you ever spoken to someone on the phone a number of times never having met them and then when you do you are like really?  That's what you look like?  No way! Sometimes it boggles the mind.  However if you concentrate on the voice then you are like, "Oh yeah!"

Have a good weekend! 

What is up with the weather?!?

Nothing is as fickle as Ohio weather...

Am I right?  We have warm temps in the 50's and 60's then we hit the single digits only to warm up again tomorrow.  It's times like these when you want to move somewhere warmer permanently.  I think about it sometimes especially after the chilly winter we just experienced.  Chilly willy it is!

This is a picture I took and someone added snow to it.  Thanks to whoever did that!  It is truly awesome!  It brings a 2-dimensional pic into 3-D status.  Please let the snow be behind us...  We might as well have been Eskimos.  

 

If I perish...

What would you have done if you were Esther?

It's funny how a movie changes the way you see something.  I went and saw 300:  The Rise of an Empire yesterday and in doing so realized how a piece of history came alive for me.  I had never connected the dots that the King Xerxes in this movie is the same King Xerxes that Queen Esther married.  When you think of her and her background and being picked as queen is mind-boggling to say the least.  I wrote a couple of poems about this. 


To Defend a Kingdom

Kingdom against Kingdom
were the Persians and the Greeks.
Greeks defending a Persian invasion
resulting in great sea battle leaks.

A sea of frothing madness
brings forth every blood and gore
and a piercing anguishing sadness
to the very heart of its human core.

The Battle of Salamis
proved pivotal in history
because without this Greek triumph
our civilization would never be.


A Love Not Understood

A king of battle, blood, and gore
born to ostentatious opulent luxury
was Xerxes, more god than king, of Persia
which puzzles me all the more.

Why Esther became his queen
also known as Hadassah, an orphan
a mere girl full of innocence
and none more pure to be seen. 

How did this conquering king of war
and his simple Jewish bride
become part of a timeless love story
woven through the tapestry of lore?

A queen who knew about a secret
of a hidden people that was hers
that prayed to a mighty God and King
of heaven and not of this earth yet.

For as Mordecai, her uncle,
relayed to Queen Esther when they spoke
your destiny by God as queen
was made for this debacle.

So Queen Esther sacrificed her life
to visit King Xerxes unsummoned
and to invite him to a banquet
where she planned to share her strife.

If I perish so be it, I must die
but I must die trying to save a people
that God ordained to worship
him only instead of living a lie. 

King Xerxes who was knowingly feared
held out his scepter to one he held dear
and accepted Queen Esther's
simple request and greatly revered.

A mighty king and a simple girl
were married in a love story
instead of two ships passing in the night
as some great loves become a twirl.

Laughter is the Best Medicine!

Do you need a laugh?

Thor, for a superhero kind of movie, was very entertaining.  A friend and I caught this at the dollar theater tonight and this movie had the whole audience laughing.  I have not been to a movie in a long time that has made me laugh that much.  I needed some chuckles.  I did see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty a while back which I thought was also very good.  Especially considering the types of movies out there these days if you know what I mean.

No chickens today!  You never know what surprises a day will bring.  By the way, have you ever smelled a gardenia?  They smell so good!  Franklin Park has a gardenia tree and I love the way they smell.  Mmmm...  I'd love to have a backyard full of gardenias and lilacs.  Wouldn't that be cool to have your own garden chock full of all the plants and flowers you love?  I've always thought a roof garden would be ideal. 

What? Chickens...

On the side of the road!?!

Today I was driving to my spontaneous writing group session and drove past a residential dwelling when I thought I saw two big crows only to realize that I was looking at two big chickens.  I was taken aback because really what were those two chickens doing there?

This took me back to a story about my family.  My father, a long time ago, bought a chicken for his parents that were living with him at the time because he thought they needed a pet.  Well, imagine a lone chicken walking its way around local suburbia.  The chicken wouldn't stay in the yard and kept running away.  So finally my grandparents took the chicken and made him into chicken soup.  Not a good way for this pet chicken to end but he shouldn't have run away so much.  I'm only glad that I wasn't there to see it.

The writing session was interesting.  I like listening to other writer's stories because everyone has a unique style or genre that they like to write in.  I'm always amazed at the number of talented writers around.  It's a good thing that there are so many avenues to write in otherwise I would be overwhelmed by the competition.  It seems that there are many people out there that have hidden talents yet to be untapped.

Yawn!  You would think I wouldn't be this tired being its daylight savings but go figure!

Have a good night!

Blowing bubbles...

A good way to relieve stress...

Some days are just meant to blow bubbles.  I have a little bubble tube that I keep in my purse and sometimes when I feel like it I blow bubbles.  I was blowing bubbles with my friend's 2 year old daughter today.  She's such a cutie!

Remember tonight is daylight savings!  So spring ahead!

Bruce Munro: Light

Field of Lights

Today I met a friend at Franklin Park Conservatory and we checked out Bruce Munroe's Exhibit Light.  This was a spectacular light show that was innovative and eye-catching in so many ways.  If you are ever in a city where Bruce Munro's Light is showing, you need to check this out.  There was also a magnificent display of orchids and butterflies start tomorrow.  

 

 

Are you an Aspie?

Asperger's Syndrome

It's amazing to me how there is so much that people don't know about and want to understand but just can't find the information sometimes.  I did a lot of research on Asperger's Syndrome a while back because I thought someone close to me had this.  Since then I have found numerous friends and acquaintances that also know someone they care about that has it too.  The best resource that I have found online comes from Craig Kendall who has a son with Asperger's which is when he began his journey to learn all he could about this condition.  

During my research I found out a lot about what it is and what it's not.  A person with Asperger's is not retarded or stupid but rather highly intelligent just lacking in social skills.  They just need to learn what to most of us is second nature.  There are schools that are helping kids with Asperger's learn the social skills they need by interacting with Neuro-Typicals also known as NT's who are people that don't have Asperger's.

Generally relationships between a Neuro-Typical and an Asperger's person is very difficult.  They don't last in marriages.  What usually happens is that you remain friends or live in separate houses, etc.  A very good movie that came out about a love relationship between an NT and Asperger's is called Adam.  This is must-see movie.  Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is another one.  There have also been other movies about Asperger's characters.

If you think you might be an Aspie, you can take this test.  I took it and although I do have Aspie-like traits, I don't have enough of them to be considered an Aspie.  If you like taking tests, this test will let you know if you have any personality type disorders.  I took this test and was mid-range for obsessive-compulsive disorder which I already knew.  Since I have many friends that are also OCD, I feel that I am in good company.  

Well, the temps are getting into the 40's and 50's which makes me very happy!  Spring is just a couple weeks away.  And this weekend is daylight savings time:  So spring forward!

Did you know an asteroid almost hit us?

Asteroids

Did you know a 90 foot asteroid was very close to our earth and moon today?  Evidently it safely passed us by but I had no knowledge of it until today around noon when I was watching a telecast of it on TV.

Also NASA is predicting four blood moons for this year and next.  A blood moon is a complete lunar eclipse.  

There's a lot going on in outer space these days it seems.  I remember working at NASA a long time ago.  Those were interesting times.  I really enjoyed my job and the people there.  I have some mugs and NASA memorabilia from back then.  There is still so much controversy about whether or not we actually landed on the moon.

On a more practical note, I had my taxes worked on today.  1040EZ I can do on my own, 1040 I need help with so I had some help and got that taken care of.  It's amazing but time is running out.  It's already March and April is not too far off. 

Poem: bits n pieces

The Early Bird Gets the Worm...  so they say...

Have you ever woken up late and had to rush out pronto?  For some reason I thought my hair appt was at 10am this morning when it was actually at 9am.  I figured this out 10 minutes before 9am while I was still lying in bed.  Talk about zipping out the door.  I got there late but I still got my haircut.

bits n pieces

running in late
sitting on a chair
hair getting washed
snip snip snip

so much hair
lying all around
roundabout the chair
in bits and pieces

not as much hair
attached to my head
loads lighter
feels light as a feather

now all i do is wait
till it's time
to do it again
snip snip snip