Month: February 2020

RESPECT the Kids!

I like to think of myself as someone who doesn’t let the weather interfere with my plans. When a friend or loved one tries to back out of a planned event or won’t commit to something because “it might rain”, ” let’s see what the weather looks like”, or it is “supposed to be really cold” I like to say I don’t melt and get them to try to see things my way! At times, my honey has to remind me of this as well!

I live in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State and it is freaking cold in the winter. I have been bundling up with so many layers that I can barely move. Fenway seriously doesn’t melt and doesn’t care what the weather is, she just wants to go on her walks and sniff her way through the neighborhood! She is not an obligation but a celebration and I cherish my time with her.

The beautiful Finger Lakes! Image by kuhlmannkatie0 from Pixabay
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Broke with a Silver Spoon

I grew up in a house or maybe just a time where money felt like one of those taboo topics; like sex and religion, that are not to be discussed with others. It seemed like if you had money and talked about it you were bragging and if you didn’t have money and talked about it you were begging. Today, too many of us don’t have a solid grip on our finances. We feel broke all of the time but we spend money like we were born with a silver spoon in our mouth.

As a kid, I didn’t have any money. Papa Jack retired from the NYC police force when I was 9 years old and we moved Upstate. He had a small pension and a rather frugal wife but they still had 4 kids in school. He worked at various places over the years and raised some animals (mostly chickens) and grew plenty of vegetables to help with the food budget. Money was tight but we always had enough.

This could have been my yard growing up! Image by Capri23auto from Pixabay
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Change Your But!

Do you ever feel two ways about something at the same time? I am staring at a painting, that was created by an individual with a developmental disability at my old job. It is a really beautiful painting of 10 elephants on a green and yellow background. I purchased it about 10 years ago and love to look at it. At the same time though I get a little upset looking at it. We had hired a teacher to help people create and sell art but looking back he did too much. He wanted things to look a certain way and would get overly involved in the person’s work. I remember this client asking me if the teacher had to touch his stuff!

This painting brings up good and bad feelings.
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Are Your Blinders Off?

I was once food ignorant and didn’t really think about the food I ate. I was a vegetarian so I figured I was healthy and eating good stuff. As a vegetarian, my diet was likely healthier than most American’s as I didn’t eat at fast food restaurants or eat a lot of junk food. I ate plenty of “healthy grains”, a ton of vegetables, tofu and meat alternatives. For me, those meat alternatives were the most processed food in my diet. They were not grown in the garden or raised on a farm; they were processed in a lab with ingredients that I couldn’t pronounce. They were not what I would consider to be real food.

His blinders are still on. Image by F. Muhammad from Pixabay
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