Tuesday Laugh~

Monday Musings~

It's been awhile since I have posted. In that time, I feel like I have surfed the wave of life at warp speed. I fully intend to blame the solar flares (smile). I wonder if any of you are feeling the intensity of energy and the acceleration of time?

As I reflect on this week, there was not a moment not fully lived. Work, golf tournament, yoga, dinner at friend's homes (4), a spiritual gathering, healings, a trip to FSC in Lakeland for Zoe's scholar's weekend, Bok tower and visiting a friend, gardening, planning for the grand opening, meeting with Hospice, and a whole host of "to-do's" that serve to lubricate the wheel of daily life.

The amazing realization is that I feel fantastic and I am not overwhelmed in the slightest. I should be!  Now, I can give the credit to the solar flares, or the cell power I am ingesting, or the practice of gratitude each morning. Perhaps it is a combination of all three, plus unseen forces that are coalescing to buoy and sustain my energy levels. I don't know and I don't need to know.

Truly, what is most rewarding is witnessing the miracles happening daily in people's lives, being present and available to those I love, and sinking fully into the awareness that something spectacular is happening on this planet.

It's easy to join in. Step fully into the light and embrace "All That Is." Let go of any and all fears (no cheating on this one) and surrender into grace and gratitude. Each time you step into fear...pause...and say to yourself "I have a choice." Let go of fear and choose love. Always act from a place of love and compassion.

Try this and watch your life transform~

A must read for all of us~

Click and read -- we are missing two key supplements!

Understand the calcium myth; here's what really makes healthy bones

Cat Stew~

My musing this lovely Sunday morning will rather shock some of you who are accustomed to my softer, gentler side.

I loved the movie We Bought a Zoo and for anyone who has not checked it out, please do. You will be pleasantly surprised.  My conundrum is that I LIVE in a zoo. And, it is not fun. Yesterday, Zoe and I worked together at the store. She left at 5pm and came home to find Millie (our 13 year old Shepard) in the hot tub. Needless to say, this became a crisis as Zoe did not know what to do and was afraid that Millie might bite her. With calm prompting, she was able to get Millie out and dried off with a lot of towels.

Not so bad, right? It can happen. Millie was scared. Zoe was scared, but we all survived. On reflection, however, I think the energy of the incident jazzed up our two cats -- Bread and Butter. Butter, who by the way, looks exactly like her namesake -- 25 pounds of lard ass. Bread resembles a Baguette. Let me remind anyone reading this post that these cats are my children's. They HAD to have a cat. And they do NOTHING to take care of them.

Now, as a preface to this morning's nightmare -- let me describe to you what these two lovely animals do all day -- ruin our home.  They scratch up the fabric on all our furniture, delight on laying on every piece of furniture including our kitchen table leaving a blanket of hair, find their way into our closet to hunker down for a cozy nap, but not before rubbing up against every piece of clothing I own leaving a thick coat of hair, and just for fun and to make my day, they lovingly leave dead mice or squirrel parts on the walkway.

This is their daily itinerary. And, I have not even began to describe their witching hour, which begins at 5am.

This is where I have seriously considered making "cat stew". This morning was the worst to date. We have a system, Andy and I. I get up first and let Butter out. We wait for about 10 minutes to hear the scratching at the door to be let in. Andy gets up for this one. Then, if we are lucky, Bread will jump up on the bed and lay between my legs, and we get another hour of dreamland with no disturbance.

Not this morning my friends.

We were up 7 times between 5am and 6:30am with those damn cats. In and out, meow, scratch at the doors, play with the paper in the corner, scratch at the door, meow. We fed them, to no avail. Scratch, meow "Let me out" Scratch, meow, "Let me in." On and on it went. Instead of "50 Ways to Leave your Lover" Andy and I whispered quietly the 50 ways to kill them. Hauling their asses to a Chinese restaurant was definitely on the top ten list.

If anyone is interested in two cats, please let me know. Otherwise, please come over this evening for a warm bowl of "cat stew".

Chalk Man~

Every once in awhile one is totally blown away by someone's talent. While I have had a lifelong love and appreciation for art, I never thought I would see chalk art this compelling and inspiring.

Known as the chalk man, take a look and be prepared to be "blown away".

Celebrating Zoe's golf tournament~

The golf tournament was a huge success! Zoe had her table set up beautifully and was so poised as she accepted the checks and handed out raffle tickets. She raised over $1,000 for the Children's Advocacy Center. I was filled with happiness as I took photos during her speech and watched how she reached out to everyone who came to support her with such confidence. Thank you to everyone who supported Zoe and her senior project!

She is a testimony of how we can move through adversity and triumph.

Mother's heartbreak~

Tomorrow is Zoe's golf tournament to raise money for the Children's Advocacy Center; part of her year long senior practicum. For Zoe, her choice of projects is personal and she is not "ho-hum" about the cause. She has written a research paper about child abuse, volunteered at the Babe James Center, and is now raising money for the lead protection agency in our county. Her choice of major at Florida Southern is psychology; an avenue into helping children.

There is a part of my heart that is broken, and wishes that my child's passion stemmed from curiosity or a book that she had read, and not from years of abuse at the hands of a trusted neighbor. I failed to protect her and this wound never heals despite my daughter's wishes. For me, this is the quintessential failure and one I have yet to forgive myself for.

Tomorrow she will speak before all the amazing people who have come out to support her. They will know her story and mine. She will tell them that she has forgiven and moved on. I will sit there knowing that I have not -- in awe of Zoe and quietly holding my inability to forgive.

My head will be held high in pride, even if my heart is breaking, as I watch my amazing daughter speak her truth.

Spiritual Guidance ~ picking up the shit

My old girl Millie is on her last legs - literally. She's thin, and it is hard for her to get up. For the last 3 weeks (at least) Millie has decided to poop in the house daily. She will pee outside, but will not poop. She saves it for the house.

We haven't yelled at her because she is so old and these are her last days. But, I think this has given her license to continuing pooping inside rather than out. This leads me right into "picking up the shit" in your life. This would have been a big deal earlier in my life. I hate picking up poop. But it's not now. "Oh, there it is -- again." I just pick it up and flush it down the toilet.

What if we were able to do this in all areas of our life? You have a little poop -- someone is unkind to you, you have a fender bender, your computer breaks down -- and instead of getting all crazy and making it more than it is, you say to yourself  "Oh, this is just a little bit of poop. I'll pick it up, flush it down the toilet, and move on."

The trick is not getting mired in the "ick" of the poop in your life. Just deal with it and move on.

Bandanna Barb's all purpose spray~

In a spray bottle mix:

2 cups of H2O
1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar
1 tsp pure castile soap (peppermint)
3/4 cup hydrogen peroxide
20 drops tea tree oil
20 drops of lemon grass essential oil

Shake well!

Compare this to any other cleaning product you have in your home. You will be thrilled to discover that Bandanna Barb's cleans as well or better than the commercial cleaners.

One step closer to a poison free home~

Tuesday Musings~

Since owning this health food store, I find myself becoming a bit fanatical. I have eluded to this in an earlier post or two. Not only am I in a state of discarding -- letting go of "stuff" -- but I am very cognizant of what I am putting into my body. Now, I've become very aware of the chemicals in the house that we use to clean with. Poison! Pure poison. Why do I use them?

There is absolutely no good reason. Laziness. Habit. Ignorance.

Vinegar and baking soda is all you need to sanitize and clean. Yesterday, a customer came in with a bottle of all natural cleaning solution that she made as a gift for me. I was beside myself. "How did you know?" I asked incredulously. I sprayed that little sucker on everything. Cleaned like a charm. Smells good too. She added lemon drops.

I'm posting the recipe tomorrow. Not because I am trying to be coy, but I am at the store, and my fantastic cleaning brew is on the kitchen counter at home.

Do yourself a favor. Pitch the poison and try this amazing all-natural cleaning solution. 

What we can learn from our four legged friends~

What Dogs Teach Us about Peace, Joy, and Living in the Now

Listening to your gut~

I've been reading about the "gut". Do you know most of our illness and chronic disease stems from the gut -- our digestive tract? From the moment our saliva glands begin to water until we sit on the "pot" (forgive me), an incredibly intricate set of processes are in motion to ingest, digest, absorb, and eliminate the food we eat.

Most importantly, what we are eating, how we are eating, and even what we are thinking and saying while we eat plays a vital role in our health. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), constipation, Crone's disease, bloating, gas, acid reflux (and I could go on) are all a result of something going awry in our digestion and absorption.

The kicker is that many of us suffer needlessly because we have not healed our early life wounded-ness. Many of our "gut" issues can be traced back to early life. How many times have you not listened to your gut --your inner voice? Did something because it was the 'should' thing to do, or the expected thing to do, or because someone else was insisting? Think about it for a minute.

How many times have you put something into your mouth, and your inner voice is saying "that really isn't good for you?" How can you possibly assimilate that food properly and with joy, if you are feeling bad about your food choice? You can't. Immediately there is conflict and this is played out in the digestion of that food. Or, if you are eating mindlessly or thoughtlessly because you are emotional and "stuffing" -- this all impacts your digestive system and can wreak havoc.

Food for thought. Listen to your gut! It's wiser than you think~

Caring for your vehicle~

How well do you take care of your car? Do you change the oil and filter every 5,000 miles? 10,000? Do you wash it, and vacuum the inside? Or is the inside littered with trash, empty food containers, and other sundry items? And the only time your car hits the car wash is after someone writes "wash me" on the dusty windows? Perhaps the maintenance and care of your vehicle lies somewhere in between these two extremes.

Our vehicles take us to our place of employment, destinations of leisure and play, and to the stores and places that allow us to function in the world. Our bodies are like our cars. They need to be maintained, cared for, and only the best fuel poured in for the highest functioning. Too often, though, we neglect our bodies. We take for granted this magnificent vehicle of muscle, cartilage, blood, organs and tissue. We mistakenly think that there is a life time warranty on our personal "vehicle" -- no maintenance required.

What we eat, what we think, what we say is the fuel for our bodies. Are you using the highest octane fuel possible? Just as important is a balance of rest and movement. We need to move our bodies, and also know when to turn the "engine" off and rest. 

Take a moment and reflect on the care of both your car and body -- is there a discrepancy? Are you taking better care of your car than your body?

Spiritual Guidance ~ Sustainability & Ingenuity

Lately, I have been experiencing a persistant and every growing urge to purge anything and everything that is not all natural and no longer has relevance. This seemingly irrational urge extends to deleting all 13,000 of my emails, not buying products with chemicals, only buying vegetables at the Farmers Market, and wanting to eliminate dairy and meat from my diet. I'm not there yet. But, everyday something goes and is replaced by an all natural or organic product.

Yesterday, the "urge" had me surfing the web for tiny homes. I am fascinated by the concept of living simply, with few things, in a very small space - 225 sq. feet- 500 sq. feet. There are many positives to living small; less things to take care of, reduced electric, heating and cooling bills, smaller carbon footprint, sustainability, and less financial stress.

Click onto the link below to see how magnificant, beautiful, imaginative, and simply one can live~

Man Builds Fairy Tale Home for His Family – For Only £3,000

Snug as a Bug~

A taste of winter has crept into the fine state of Florida reminding us that we are not immune from the cold and blustery winter air that blankets other parts of the country. It has not gone unnoticed that we have enjoyed an unseasonably warm November and December. Our plants are still alive, and most of us Floridians, until yesterday, could be found in shorts and flip flops.

This morning was another story. Snug as a bug, I burrowed under the covers and remained for as long as I could. I feigned sleep even though the rattling of the dogs collar and the meowing of the cats could be heard throughout the house, knowing that my sweet Andy would get up to let them out (that was not very nice).

As I burrowed under those covers, I thanked God that this was a temporary state of affairs knowing full well that the temperatures would be back up into the 70's by Thursday. I giggled some, I must admit, luxuriating in the fact that I no longer lived in areas that were bitter cold for months and months on end. I know longer had to scrape my windshield, shovel snow, negotiate slick highways, and dress in layers.

For this I am grateful! I'll wear my furry slippers today, bundle up appropriately, and happily greet this cold wintery day. For I know, tomorrow the sun will shine.

Happy New Year!!

With open arms I welcome 2012~

My mom's Alzheimer's and her loss of mobility this year has been one of the most poignant and heartbreaking events. My dad's devotion and her delighted response every time she lays eyes on him brings me to tears. Their relationship is beyond articulation. If only you could witness how my mom looks at him and beams and how he returns the look -- hope would be ignited and sustained.

My sweet mom~




                                                                                 My amazing dad~

Let's start this year of 2012 in love, being love, cherishing love, emanating love, and finding ways to love all who cross our paths.