Benny loves his new grooming mitt. See them here –>  https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N9KSITZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1492646257&sr=8-2&keywords=pet+grooming+glove+cats

Just rearranged the contents of my freezer. Frozen fruit up top with lemongrass, ginger, chili peppers. Tv dinners 2nd shelf. Proteins 3rd shelf (chicken breast, fish, turkey meatballs, turkey sausage.) 4th shelf bags of veggies (green beans, peas, mixed veg, mini corns on the cob.) Lower pull out rack is for all the breads and frozen dumplings and raviolis (yeh, that drawer is way too full.) Afterward I looked and saw how straight it was and wondered why I’ve been thinking it was too crowded. Then I turned around and saw the one pound bags of culinary seeds that I’d taken out last night and not put back yet. They’ll have to go back in bottom refrigerator tray. More than half the stuff in my refrigerator is either condiments or pantry items. This is Florida, everything is subject to humidity unless it’s in an airtight container. My refrigerator is the most air tight container I’ve found.

If you are an adult living in your parents’ home and they’re paying all your bills, consider it a small price to pay to follow their rules. Do your best not to take advantage. Don’t put undue burden on them, don’t make them pick up after you, don’t make them have to remind you about chores, don’t request expensive supplies.  There are a million ways you can help around the house and yard, even if it’s just to be extra kind and ask if they need anything, help clean up after meals, keep your space clean and orderly. Don’t make them worry about you. If you don’t feel it’s honor enough to share time with your parents in their older years, think of them as two graciously generous roommates whose pleasure it is to provide for you when you asked.  Treat them with respect and gratitude no matter how they treat you. Karma will repay you in huge ways. Or, you can figure out a way to move out and do it on your own.

A Facebook friend gave another heck for posting an image of Buddha saying that is not in line with her typical posts about angels and God, that some things are not the same.  I commented, “I understand confusion over it. I am not a Buddhist but I lean toward Buddhist thought. I am not a Hindu but I have many Hindu practices. I don’t call myself a Christian because the evangelicals hijacked that word.
. . I grew up with Catholics and going to Catholic Church. I spent years in a monastic community that most would call a cult. I don’t consider the Bible the word of God since it’s been editorially suppressed and revised by politicians throughout all millenia. I know God exists, I know angels exist. I’m sure the above sounds like many different topics.
. . What I have found in my lifetime is that I am allowed to pick and choose from the different socially acceptable belief systems to find something that fits what I know to be true according to my own personal experience.
. . My meditation altar — my entire home actually — is full of Hindu deities as well as a huge poster and statues of Buddha, several pictures of Jesus, various Saints and other sacred art. I do not find that any of it conflicts with any other of it.”

An irksome thing about the Kindle Fire is that it keeps you continually signed into your Amazon account. That means anybody who picks up your Kindle Fire can order something from Amazon and have it charged to your payment method. The only way to sign out of your Amazon account is to de-register the device, after which you can’t use it. ♡♡ So treat your Kindle Fire the same way you’d treat your wallet. Don’t leave it lying around where anyone can pick it up. ♡♡ BTW, I keep no payment methods on my phone. I also treat my phone the same as my wallet: no one touches it but me.

A reminder that we can still be happy no matter who is or is not in power, no matter who is or is not impeached. Sure, it would be nice if there was an election do-over, but the only thing we can ever be sure of is change. The secret to life is to take what you have right in front of you and turn it into something you can be happy with.

Angry friends please: your anger, your bitterness and resentment is slowly poisoning your system and clouding your thought. What you wish upon your “enemy” is absolutely what comes back to you in the form of your physical health and outward living conditions. When you give yourself a stroke, you will have no loved ones to look after you if you alienate them all with your hateful actions. Learn to control it, learn to let it go, learn to move on, learn to forgive.

Today walking into a business in a strip mall in an older part of town, I had to walk past 3 young African American men who had gathered smoking cigs at the front door. The youngest kind of scowled at me and the older nodded, so I nodded and said “Afternoon, gentlemen.” The young thuggie-dressed one called out “What makes you think we’re gentleman?” I said “Well, you look like gentlemen to me.” When I came back out, the thuggie one held the door open for me and smiled and did a sweeping gesture of allowing me to walk through. I said, “See I knew you were a gentleman.” People are who you make them think you think they are.

I may not be able to stop anyone from bombing on a whim but what I can do, where I can be of help is this: I can say a prayer and hold the higher vision for where there is trouble. I can lessen the amount of resistance I myself put out into the world. I can be kind and I can stay calm when those around me are neither kind nor calm. That gives me something to do when I think there’s nothing I can do.

I said a really ignorant thing today without thinking. Having lunch in the Cantonese restaurant there was an Asian woman having lunch with a child about 2. I thought how well behaved he was. I remarked — and this was in front of an Asian server — that if that was an American kid he’d probably be causing a ruckus by now. My pal looks at me and says “they’re probably American.” Ye gads! I meant Western! I meant Caucasian! I meant “my kind.” OMG can I sound even more ignorant? My point was how well behaved kids of Eastern culture are in public when I encounter them. I didn’t mean to turn it into an Us vs.Them, yet that’s exactly what I did. I’d say I don’t have a racist bone in my body but I made that statement in a heartbeat without thinking twice about it. Yikes.