Want to Turn Your Husband On - Get rid of Romantic Flavors and add some food

Men are very funny. As a woman, I spend money and time picking out all sorts of wonderful sents from Bath & Body: Cucumber Mellon, Black Amethyst, Cherry Blossom. My daughter and I spend endless time smelling all of the different products. Well, I have learned that all that time is worthless.

As many of you know, when you are moving things have a tendency to get misplaced. Needless to say for the first few weeks in our move, I could not find my body washes so I was forced to use my daughters “gingerbread”, I have never had so many complements on how I smell. My son noticed it first. “Mom, you smell good.” I didn’t think anything of it. Until later, my husband said the same thing. There are a lot of complements that my husband gives me, but “oh, you smell yummy” is not usually one of them. I dismissed it at first. The next day came the same compliment from my husband, “You smell really good.” I couldn’t disregard it this time. Clearly “gingerbread” was a good choice. So out goes Wisteria and in comes Chocolate Chip Cookie, Brownies, and maybe Fudge.



What sents of body gel do you like?

Bank of America Credit Cards - Opt Out!

I'm not even sure why I opened my junk mail that day. The envelope looked like every other piece of mail. But, inside it was notification of a double digit increase in my credit card. Am I late in paying? no. Am I over the limit? no. The justification was just an annual review of credit card accounts. You can blame the bailout and the economic times, but I have found articles about Bank of America doing this last year too.

Check this video out that talks about the situation and make sure that you check your "junk" mail:

Just Call me Henry Today - Henry David Thoreau that is

I must say that oddly I am enjoying my son's BSA merit badge college homework. He is taking Environmental Science and must stake out a 4 yard x 4 yard spot to watch over time. Actually, he has steaked out two: One is just in our backyard, but the other is a bit away in a patch of wetland. He is a little spooked by the many noises in the forest so he has asked me to sit with him. So for 20 minutes a day, we have been going out and sitting in the wilderness. While his homework may soon be over, I'm thinking that perhaps this is good homework for all of us on a daily basis. There are no phones in the woods, no computers, no chores . . .just silence (ok, not silence - - -we heard woodpeckers, crows, squirels, branches falling), but quiet. The beauty made me think back to Walden Pond and the lessons of Henry David Thoreau . . .

In wildness is the preservation of the world.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things.

Reading Challenge 2009 update

How are we all doing on the Reading Challenge 2009? I've gotten three down and can recommend each one.

Historical Fiction

OR

Both of these books were very enjoyable.

The first was a very interesting braid of two stories of the Mormon church: one of Brigham Young's 19th wife and one of a 21st Century murder by a 19th wife. While I emphasize that this book is fiction, it did peak my interest to learn more about the Mormon beliefs and lifestyle. I do not recommend reading it as a friend of mine did and skip the 21st century story because it seems strange or confusing. You must read the whole book to truly appreciate the story that David Ebershoff has created here.

As for the second, I picked this one up on a whim. Confessions of a Pagan Nun looked to be a quick read and with moving, that was exactly what I was looking for. Suprisingly, I found this book not just to be good but great. The author did a wonderful job introducing to the main character as she a nun looked back over her life to explain how she came to her to Saint Brigit and more importantly if she the convent is the right place for a truly God fearing person? Raised a Druid, Gwyneve, has a deeply spiritual relationship with God and nature. Can a Druid become a nun? or are the two irreconcileable? Should they be reconciled? This is a short read that you will never forget.

A Biography

This book was a little farther off my regular reading diet. Kay Redfield Jamison heroically comes out about her own struggles with mental illness. A psychiatrist herself, Kay, exposes her own battle and I think in the process shows other that they not only can survive with manic-depression but possibly thrive. Although I wish she could have included more writing from her manic or depressed states, she does a brilliant job explaining that clearly I don't fully understand the illness to want such a thing or think that I could understand what it said even if such rantings did exist. I was left in awe of the life that Kay has lived dispite this debilitating disease and admire her for being willing to jeapordize it so that others may hear her tale.

What have you been reading?

Technology on the move - Think Tank

Knowing is important, but predicting and anticipating can open new doors, what are your thoughts based on these opinions and facts?

How Far Have We Come? Black and White Prejudice

I was privileged this weekend to sit in on a diversity seminar for new teachers. The program was wonderful, but I must say that it pointed out that we have not come as far as we think we have. Certainly, we have taken admirable and large steps, but the journey is far from over. This was emphasized not only by the following video, but also by the responses of the participants in the seminar. I found that several people heard and agreed with many of the issues that the speaker highlighted, another group was shocked and appalled that such behavior, opinions, and attitudes still exist, but there was another group adamantly denied that there was such an issue and that even if there were it was not a societal issue but a personal or family issue. Interestingly, I thought that the last group emphasized another part of the talk: when the dominate group is forced to view the world through the lens of a subordinate groups eyes, they may be forced to see that they themselves have perpetuated, complied with, and enforced rules/ behaviors that have cause harm to others. Such a view may be very painful and some may turn away instead of looking directly at it.

I hope that you have the strength to look and discuss the issues:




Note: This video was made by 16 year old filmmaker, Kiri Davis, in 2006 and was repeating an experiment done by Dr. Kenneth Clark in the 1940's.

Taking Proper Pictures to Sell Your House

I haven’t fallen off the planet. We’ve just been completely side tracked trying to find a home and get ours sold. On the positive side, we are finally moving in the right direction. I cannot even tell you how much value our home has lost, but at least things are finally progressing.

Having said that, obviously we have been perusing realtor.com like crazy trying to find our new home. I have become somewhat of an expert about all the listings in our target area. I am amazed at some of the crazy ways that real estate agents show off homes. I wonder if they have ever heard, “put your best foot forward”. I have come by pictures that are formatted incorrectly and appear even smaller than the thumbnail they are already allotted. While I have posted something incorrectly before too, I went back and fixed it as soon as possible. Why would an agent post a picture sideways? And leave it that way? I am also dumbfounded by the toilet pictures.

How does this improve the odds of a sale? Of course, this one also had me scratching my head.

I will try to speak up more often and let you all know what is going on.