Monthly Archives: November 2014

I declutter my office at the end of the year

calendar flip styleI’ve begun de-cluttering my office. I do it every few months as the paperwork begins to pile up. I’ve never gotten the hang of the “pick up each piece of paper only once” rule. I’m always setting something aside to look at in a few days, a few weeks. I use a daily flip calendar and place notes to myself on the pages of future dates as reminders of projects to check progress on and requests to re-visit. This morning, I began clearing out of my office the items that no longer belonged in there. I moved to the back office all the the hypno cds and files, all the music and headphones and jacks. I rearranged the shipping and mailing station to give more room. I pulled out two boxes of papers to be viewed and filed or recycled. I swept office organizedthe floor. I emptied the office recycle bin into the main bin on the driveway. When I stepped back in the office, it looked and felt much more expanded. I smudged with sage and incense and did a puja for the fresh space. I’ve learned in order to stay motivated, I need a fairly organized and clean space. The more cluttered, the less time I tend to spend in there. When I begin to feel stifled, I change it up and clear it out. Instant motivation!

Letting kids entertain themselves for hours with video games hinders their ability to learn and express emotion

Prolonged use puts them at risk of stunted brain growth and a loss of self-contro

Prolonged use puts them at risk of stunted brain growth and a loss of self-control

How many hours a day do your kids play video games? Studies show that letting kids entertain themselves for hours with video games hinders their ability to learn and express emotion.  It puts them at risk of stunted brain growth and a loss of self-control. Research shows that the thought processes required by computer games are too simple to stimulate crucial areas of the brain, leading to underdevelopment and consequent behavioral problems. One study measured the brain activity of hundreds of teenagers while they played a Nintendo game and compared it to another group doing simple arithmetic. The results showed that, unlike the math exercise, the computer game did not stimulate the brain’s frontal lobe, an area which plays an important role in the repression of anti-social impulses and is associated with memory, learning and emotion.  A lack of stimulation in the frontal lobe before the age of 20 prevents the neurons from thickening and connecting, thus impairing the brain’s ability to control impulses.  A more highly stimulated and thus more developed brain is able to keep such urges under check.  Continue reading

My Thanksgiving 2014

fireplace BennyMy favorite holidays are the ones where I don’t have to be anywhere.  Planning on a quiet Thanksgiving, it was the midnight before when I decided to clean the house.  I moved furniture around as I steam cleaned my floors.  I took a stool, 2 chairs and a small table to the shed. I disassembled YinYang’s “kitty city” which is a few sizes of cardboard boxes with doors and windows cut out, side by side in the living room. I moved the table out into the middle of the living room and set it for dinner.  Already the room looked larger and brighter.  I decided to chop vegetables in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner the next day, so I began with cleaning the kitchen and then washing all the cleaning cloths.    Continue reading

For Non-Lawyers to Understand When A Grand Jury Fails to Indict

Blind JusticeFolks who get their legal knowledge from tv shows don’t understand the system is working as it should. I was a criminal defense paralegal for 22 years. If you know the actual law and break down the evidential timeline, it’s clear. Does overkill happen in far too many cases?? Sure.  But the grand jury does what it has to do under the circumstances with the evidence presented to them. Bless those who drive themselves crazy talking about what should have happened instead when they don’t have the facts nor the ability to comprehend the actual law.

A Gardener’s Thanksgiving Prayer

A Gardener’s Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks for a bounty of people:
For children who are our second planting, and though they grow like weeds and the wind too soon blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where their roots are;
For generous friends with hearts and smiles as bright as their blossoms;
For feisty friends as tart as apples;
For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us that we’ve had them;  Continue reading

Preparing for Thanksgiving

thanksgiving dinnerI’m having turkey this Thanksgiving. I don’t always. I enjoy the ritual cooking of it but not the preparing of a whole bird. Turkey breast alone isn’t an option as I prefer dark meat. This year for the first time, I ordered a small turkey from Publix that I picked up this morning. I plan on making green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. I always keep it low fat. I’ll steam the green beans along with some red pepper strips and serve them simply with sea salt, coarse ground black pepper and a lemon squeeze, Earth Balance and gomasio.    I’ll mash the potatoes with salt and pepper, a little almond milk and coconut powder and some Earth Balance spread. The gravy I’ll make using mushrooms and an organic brown gravy mix. The stuffing will be bread crumbs, roasted mushrooms, onion, celery, apple, diced dried apricot with fresh rosemary, sage and thyme. I may add eggplant and I may stuff it into red peppers. Neither the man nor I are dessert eaters, so no pies, but the sweet/sour element will be an cranberry orange and apricot chutney made with onion, bell pepper, allspice, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, apple cider vinegar and fresh shaved ginger.  I usually spend holidays working but Thursday, I’m just going to relax and bask in how thankful I am for this life I’ve been blessed with.

Melbourne stores now have the December Horizons

I drove to Melbourne this morning to deliver the December Horizons Magazine. Dropping it off before stores open, I don’t get a chance to say hi to friends but schedule-wise, it’s often the best time for me. I delivered half the stores and, an hour in, my lack of sleep began catching up with me. I decided to head home and deliver the rest of the mags the next day, after a final delivery to my friend Maria. It turns out she needed a ride to Palm Bay so it was perfect timing. By the time I dropped her off, I’d caught my second wind so I drove back to Melbourne to finish delivering the magazines. By then, businesses were open so I got to visit with Rev. Beth at Unity Church of Melbourne.  I’ve skipped church the past year, reclaiming personal time on Sundays, and I missed it – and her. It was good to reconnect. Afterwards, I stopped at K & C Oriental Market on Aurora Road and got tom yum paste, chili garlic oil, palm sugar, dried bonito flakes, rice noodles, then stopped at Pho Cali to bring home some fresh spring rolls and a Pho soup.  I’d just finished lunch when Maria called ready to return to Melbourne. Again, perfect timing. It always is.

It’s not always easy to see how we’ve gotten where we’ve ended up

handful_o_diamondsIn tough times, it’s hard to remember that whatever situation I’m in, I’ve gotten there by being a vibrational match to it. It’s not always easy to see how that can be. The only way I can get out of it is to change my thoughts about what I’m living and what I’m seeing. You, too. Sometimes the best thing to do is cut the cord immediately, clear up past karma, pay anything owed and get outa Dodge.  A friend just messaged me she was in a living situation she needed to be free of but needed all available funds to pay for a new place. If she leaves her situation now owing money, she’ll have that dollar karma following her to any new place. If she pays it up, thankful her landlord trusted her enough to give her credit, the Universe will open all sorts of doorways to new opportunity to her.  If we drop the rock in our hand, the Universe will fill it with diamonds. As long as we have full faith and expect and believe it will.  And as long as we’ve paid for the rock…    Continue reading