Hallmark has a new and easy wrap. I never thought I’d be wrapping gifts using adhesive, although I must admit that I have used just a little piece of adhesive tape on a couple occasions when I was out of the regular clear tape. This wrapping paper is more like a sticky note rather than adhesive tape. I will no longer have to try holding the gift with one hand while fumbling around trying to get some cello tape off the roll so I can tape the paper shut. After spending years doing the wrapping paper and tape tango, I’ll be looking forward to trying this new style. You can read more about it at Laura Williams’ Musing. Then head over to Hallmark’s site and check out the various designs. Laura is going to be giving away 8 rolls of the wrap, so pick out your favorite design and enter her contest.
I’m so tired of reading about it and not doing anything about it. I’m going to weigh in with him on Monday and start doing something about my level of fitness. I’ve lost 62 pounds and am now at a standstill. It’s time to get with the program again. It’s spring and outdoor walking is still pleasant here, especially in the morning and evening. It’s warm enough to jump in the pool to do my laps and aquatic exercises. I was diagnosed as a diabetic a year ago and exercise is a medication for people with diabetes. It’s time to take my medicine. No Calories Needed has been following the 4 Rules as set forth by Paul McKenna. When you check out No Calories Needed, go to his March archives and start reading with his March 17th post to get in on the beginning of his discovery of the 4 Rules.
Reading about his progress has been interesting. The 4 Rules were very effective for him when he was sticking with them. He’s done what we all do – make excuses to cheat. He has a busy life and has a baby due soon. He actually thinks he will be less busy when the baby arrives. (We all know that both father and mother are busier after the blessed event.) The main thing is he is determined to get back with the program. I am, too. I’ll be going to my doctor’s appointment shortly and will discuss more changes in my lifestyle in order to increase my level of health, wealth and energy. I just threw that in about wealth because the phrase sounded good, but it really will increase my wealth if I’m not spending on junk food and health care from the resulting health problems of leading a poor lifestyle.
What are you doing to decrease your waistline and increase your level of well being and energy?
I just read a review on A Book Blogger’s Diary of The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson. Now I really want to read the book. The heroine, Laurel, “sets out on a life-altering journey that triggers startling revelations about her family’s guarded past, the true state of her marriage, and the girl who stopped swimming.” Read the full review and then enter the giveaway in which there will be two lucky winners.
I’ve been traveling through the Worst-case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht.Oh, my gosh! A disclaimer at the very beginning tells us not to attempt to undertake any of the advice offered therein. What to do? Consult a professionally trained expert. I’m sure I’m going to remember that when I’m out in the middle of some desert trying to control a runaway camel. (Hold onto the reins, but do not pull back. Pull hard to the side so that the camel will run in a circle. When he gets tired and sits down, jump off.) Why was this book written? I guess so people like me will buy the book before reading the disclaimer (not that I’m sure I ever want to be in any of these very interesting situations).
The section on how to stop a runaway passenger train is interesting. Essentially, you locate the emergency brake and pull the handle. Of course, there’s a possibility of that act causing a train derailment. I’m sure that somewhere in this handy, dandy little book is a section that tells what to do in case of a train derailment. I couldn’t find that section, but on page 73, it tells how to jump from a moving train. I guess you’d better jump fast and wide before it stops moving and falls over on you. Or maybe, if you think and act quickly enough, you can jump from the side away from the fall. Do you really have all that much notice before a train derails? None of the trains I’ve been on have derailed.
It must be safer to travel by plane. Oops. Here’s a section on how to crash land a plane on water. The first thing you do is take your place at the controls (if you can get past security and the barricaded door to the cockpit), put on the radio headset and call for help. Can’t you just hear that helppppppp as you’re making a nosedive towards the water? Then it starts to get technical. Forget that, baby. Put on your life-jacket, open the door and jump before your big bird makes a big splash.
Maybe you prefer to travel more sedately. Even a car is not all that safe. Not only can you have a runaway camel or a runaway train, you can also have a runaway car. How do you stop a car with no brakes? The first thing this book tells you to do is pump the brakes. What brakes? I thought the car had no brakes. Oh, I see. You might be able to build up enough pressure in the braking system to slow the thing down a bit. My car is careening out of control, my leg feels like it’s going to fall off from pumping the brakes that aren’t there and the next thing you tell me is “Do not panic.” Yeah, sure. I darned well will panic unless I’ve figured out how to get out of the seat belt/shoulder harness contraption, get the door unlocked and jump from a moving car!
Another bit of advice is to pull the emergency brake – but not too hard. That is, unless you’re running out of room and need to try a “bootlegger’s turn.” Then you have to “yank the emergency brake hard” while making a quarter turn to whichever way is safer. Hurry, choose between the cliff edge on your right or the traffic speeding towards you on your left. If you’re running out of room because that Sunday driver in front of you is blissfully unaware that you are coming up behind him like a speeding bullet, you can try to get his attention by honking or flashing your lights. If it’s some little old man that’s been driving along with his turn signal blinking for the last 30 minutes, I don’t think you’ll be able to get his attention. Just run into him and that will slow you down. If there’s no car in front of you, look for something to help stop you. Maybe there will be a cow in the middle of the road, or a herd of goats crossing to the other side. Step 10 and last in the advice regarding runaway cars is “If none of the above steps has enabled you to stop and you are about to go over a cliff, try to hit something that will slow you down before you go over.” There it is. I see something I can hit before I go over the cliff. It’s the guardrail. Oh, crap! There’s a big hole there where the last car hit it while driving over the cliff.
Okay, I’ve found something that has to be safer. A horse! Only they also have a tendency to run away. If you’re old enough, you’ve seen a few westerns. There’s at least one runaway involved, usually a stagecoach or a lady driving a horse and wagon. I don’t know what you’re supposed to do if you’re in one of those, so just saddle up and ride the animal. Then when he decides to runaway, just hold on tight to the saddle with your hands and thighs. I wonder why I’m not supposed to hold onto the reins and try to rein in the beast. Read further, Nancy. Read further. Oh, I do get to hold onto the reins, but with only one hand so I can get a death grip on the saddle horn with the other. If for some reason you got crazy and decided to ride bareback, don’t waste your time trying to find a saddle horn to grab. Grab the horse’s mane. Now alternately tug and release the reins with a medium pressure. I know you’re in the middle of a good panic, but don’t wimp out and not pull hard enough. Definitely do not pull too hard. You could cause the horse to stumble or lose his balance. You have to know what’s coming next. That sucker is going to fall over and you’re not going to have time to get your foot loose and figure out how to jump from a moving horse without doing a great deal of damage to yourself. And if you can’t figure that out and execute the maneuver in a couple seconds, you’re going to end up with a large beast falling on top of you. I don’t even want to think about those sound effects. Of course, you can do what you would do if you were on your runaway camel. Pull the reins to one side so the horse will go in a circle. When he starts to either slow down or get dizzy and stagger, dismount immediately and get the heck out of Dodge!
I’ve been thinking about going to Miami to visit my friend, Sue. I wonder how long it would take to walk there.
Anthony P, dance captain on the Holiday. You’re missed by Nancy Nurse! Tony, remember all our after hours infirmary chats and the crazy things we did to amuse ourselves. How about those big laundry carts left outside the Chinese laundry at nights? I think maybe I’m the only one on board who called you Tony, but that’s the way you introduced yourself the day we met while standing in line up on Lido waiting for lunch. You taught me some of the nuances of English. Read proper English there vs American English. You’re the one who taught me about homely. It’s such a nice word when one gets past the American usage. I often think of our attempts to create a homely atmosphere in our cabins. I carried that attempt from ship to ship and now that I’m on land, I’m still working at homeliness.
Tony, if you’re out there somewhere reading this, please get in touch. You can use my comment section. Are there any dancers or other friends out there who can give me an update on him?
There are many great things about shipboard life, but one of the bad things about it is how easy it sometimes is to lose touch with all the great people with whom one has worked, laughed and cried.
I admire what Beth at Fake Plastic Fish is accomplishing in her quest to live a plastic free life. She began June 16, 2007 and is in week 42 in the attempt to no longer purchase any items made of or containing plastic. It’s amazing just how little plastic trash Beth accumulates in a week – or 42 for that matter. In Beth’s words, these are her goals.
To reduce the need for new plastic to be produced since petroleum is a non-renewable, polluting resource, and the production of plastic wreaks havoc on our eco-system.
To keep existing plastic out of our waterways and landfills where it can cause further harm.
To limit my exposure to toxins that can leach from certain types of plastic.
To educate others about these issues so that my actions can have a farther-reaching impact than those of a single individual acting alone.
This is not a project with an end. Beth is making permanent lifestyle changes to meet these goals. She has inspired me to attempt to make changes in my life as well. My changes are baby steps compared to Beth’s life. But even baby steps can still have a major impact on how people think about our resources and the need to be responsible consumers. I’m now taking my own cloth bags when I go shopping and have started to look at plastic in a new way. I no longer buy cases of individual bottles of water. I’m using my filter pitcher to refill my bottles and will be buying a metal bottle to carry with me. I think now would be a good to time to make a list of all the changes I could make. I challenge everyone who reads this to make just two or three changes and watch the ripples as others see and do. Change can be contagious. I don’t know how many changes I can make on my own since I’m the only member of my household interested in this commitment, but I’ll keep chipping away at it a little at a time. Pop on over to Beth’s place and then come back and let me know what areas of your life you are willing to change to make life better for all of us who live here on planet earth.
Tiffany over at Snapshots of Life has a fresh, new, spring like look to her site. This makeover was courtesy of Revka at RS Designs. To celebrate her first year blogoversary Tiffany has decided to have her first giveaway. She is working with Revka who is giving a $60 RS Designs’ credit to be used toward any order totalling $60 or more. Now you have a chance for a makeover. Pop on over to Snapshots of Life, check out the site and enter the giveaway. I’m entering so I hope you don’t win, but give it a try. Someone has to win. If you aren’t interested in the giveaway, check out the site anyway. Just don’t enter and then I’ll have a better chance.
I just came from 5 Minutes for Mom. Susan is promoting a giveaway of the Caboose Trailer Bike by Morgan Cycle. This is an ingenius trail-a-bike which comes in two sizes to allow special needs kids and adults to enjoy the pleasures of bike riding. It also has the option of a seatback. Read more about the Morgan Cycle and then pop on over to 5 Minutes for Mom to find out the details of how to win this unique bike for unique people. Even if you don’t have the need for this delightful product, spread the word to those you know who might. This drawing will be held on May 5th. Get in on it now.
without thinking about the lessons I’ve learned from Secrets of the Vine by Bruce Wilkinson. This book is small in size, but big in enlightenment. I have often read John 15:1-11 but didn’t really understand the deeper meaning of that passage. At the time these words were written people understood more about grapevines, their care and cultivation. The majority of us in the present know little beyond the fact that grapes grow on a vine and taste good. It took an explanation of just what is the vine and what is the branch, as well as descriptions of the pruning and care of these plants before I could connect with what the words in this passage were meant to convey. I have managed to work through the discipline and am in the midst of being pruned. I never realized that having bits and pieces of my life cut away, while painful at the time, could ultimately feel good. Oh, how I look forward to the abiding! It took this little book to guide me through the vineyard of my life and understand why I must be pruned in order to produce an abundance of fruit and abide in the love of my vinedresser. Check into this little book to learn the principles and misconceptions involved in a life of abundance and abiding.
Actually, he will pay you to lose weight. Obesity is now classified as a disease by Uncle Sam and, therefore, Americans diagnosed as obese by their doctors can deduct out-of-pocket costs as a medical expense when they file their federal taxes. This portion of the tax code can be read in publication 502. Page 34 gives the details of this deduction. If weight reduction is one of your goals this year, be sure to save all receipts and documentation to use next year when preparing your 2008 tax return. In order to aid you in this goal I’m giving you some links that may benefit you in obtaining your wellness goals. Do you have links to share with me?
