A Respite for My Spirit

Last year my husband and I added a "four seasons porch" to our little house. Living in South East Texas, the heat and humidity of our summers makes sitting out in the yard less than pleasant to me. I can't believe the hours I used to spend laying in the sun to get a tan as a teenager. Although, that was in Southern California, and the temperatures at the beach were always heavenly. Southern California weather, a subject for a blog all on it's own. =)

I love it when the sun shines in, and at night, we have a fence around our yard that offers all of the privacy we feel we need. I call that room my "happy room". It is impossible to be anything but calm and at peace while out there.

I'm an early riser and am usually up by 6AM. I make coffee, feed my two kitties and then go out into my "piece of paradise". I open all of the windows, prop my feet up on the footstool, listen to the neighbors going off to work and the birds as they begin to twitter as dawn breaks. The breeze flows into the open windows and over my face like fragrant soft silk. I breath the fresh air in deeply, slowly sip my first cup of coffee and plan my day.

Throughout the day, I will often just go out there and sit and read, or just enjoy a moment of relaxation. I think that the orderliness of the decor there is part of what speaks to my inner being. I need order especially when life becomes chaotic. Order in my surroundings is something that becomes a refuge of sorts for me. In my place of order I can sort out the elements of the chaos and make sense of it all. I guess this is a personality trait because my husband doesn't need order and has been confounded over the years trying to understand and adjust to my need for it. We've been married for 48 years and we are almost there. =)

I hope that you find a place in your world where you can go to find that respite for your soul. It doesn't have to be a room. Even just a corner away from the traffic of your home. Build for yourself, in your corner, the ambiance that most brings you pleasure. Is it flowers? A fragrant candle or two? A comfortable chair is a must. Consider the color of the covering on the chair. If you love bright colors, then make your space bright. I think you get where I'm going with this. This is about you so make it yours and fill it with things that YOU like.

We all deserve a place where we can go that is just ours. Make that happen for yourself. I strongly urge you to do that. You deserve it and owe it to yourself. It will offer your spirit a respite as well.

Until next time,

Mary

Mahalo.com on Blogging

I have posted about Mahalo.com many times. It's one of the most innovative search engines to come down the pike in a long time.

I came across this page that I felt you would like to hear about. Many of you are pros at this professional blogging business, but a lot of us are new to it and can use all of the help we can get. For us, there is http://www.mahalo.com/How_to_Set_Up_a_Blog_for_Beginners .

Mahalo offers sites on all of the things we struggle with. They have sites and links and info "Oh My". They also have a long list of other pages that are useful directed on what your site is focused on. This list can be found at http://www.mahalo.com/Category:Blogs

Just click on the links that interest you and you'll find just what you're looking for. If you don't find what you need there, Mahalo wants to hear from you. Just drop them a note telling them what page you would like to see them add, and they will indeed write it. Now that's as easy and as accommodating as it can get!!! Don't you agree?

I'm excited about Mahalo. Can you tell? =) Visit them. You will be excited about them too. As a side note, they're always looking for more people to write pages too. It's easy and they have a long list of mentors who are there willing, ready and more than able to help you get started.

So if you're looking to earn a little extra money, check out Mahalo. If you're looking for information on any subject, check out Mahalo.

Till next time,

Mary

Buzzworthy Grandson

Pictured here is our 17 year old grandson, Alex. He's working on the wicker furniture in our four season porch. The wicker has begun to unravel a bit around the legs and has become chipped etc, thanks to our cats and weather etc. So, Alex is gluing the wicker and then giving the furniture a fresh coat of white paint. I'm so excited about having my "quiet space" all freshined up for Spring.

This post is really about Alex, though. He is our grandson-son, although not just a grandson, he's somewhere inbetween grandson and son. He is more than a grandson and a little less than a son.

Alex is always there for his grandpa and I. "If you need help, all you have to do is ask and I'm there. Those are his words! Being in high school his parents want him to focus on his studies and not work, so he's always needing money. His grandfather and I try to make sure he has money to do what he wants to do and get the things he wants to buy. So, we pay him for whatever he does, however, he would do it for nothing, and we know it. Alex is just that way. He's not just that way with us, though. He's the kid that was dragging in trash cans for the little old lady next door when he was 7 or so, just to help her out.

I'm sure it's pretty obvious how we feel about this young man of ours. However, I thought that because we live in an age where teenagers get a bad rap for being self centered, obnoxious, drug taking, trouble making, no good etc. etc. that I would remind those who read my blog that there are many, many great teenagers out there yet. We don't hear about them as often, though, because good kids don't sell newspapers.

I think our Alex is as "buzzworthy" at they come. I appreciate him and just wanted you all to meet him this exceptional young man.

Until next time,

Mary

Simple Abundance

The other day my husband came home with a gift for me that I just have to share with you. It's a tabletop wind chime that is battery operated. (pictured on the right)

I reviewed a book called "Simple Abundance" on one of my other blogs and at the risk of shameless self promotion, I have included the link to that post below. Please read it. You will find yourself ordering that amazing book, if not for yourself, then for your wife or another loved one. It's a woman's day book and one that the lady in your life will treasure. I digress a bit here. =) On with my husband's gift. http://bountiful-books.blogspot.com/2008/02/simple-abundance-by-sarah-ban.html

Gary is a dealer in antiques and collectibles so is always visiting thrift shops, garage sales, flea markets and so on. As is my wonderful husband's custom, whenever he finds something unique that he thinks I might like, he will offer it to me first. If I like it, it's mine. How wonderful is that?? Many times I will "borrow" his treasure for a time, put it on a nearby shelf or on my desk, and just enjoy looking at it. When I feel I have absorbed all that it has to offer me in the way of visual pleasure, I return it to him to sell in his antique/collectibles business. This arrangement serves us well.

However, every now and again, Gary will find something that he KNOWS will be something that I will "go ape" over. (how long has it been since you've heard THAT?? How about GROOVY???) Well, I went "ape" over this "groovy" battery operated wind chime and I just had to share it with you. I searched on the internet and only found one place that had anything like it, though it was a battery operated water fall/wind chime. That would be nice too, but I was hoping to find another one like mine and share the link with you. I will continue to search and get back to you if I find any.

All day long this amazing little wind chime sings to me and soothes me. It's in the background and although I am not always aware of, I always hear it. It speaks words of calm to me, and tells me to relax and treasure the moments of my day. It adds a touch of simple abundance to my every waking moment. I wish I could send each of you one too.

Up to this point, I have tried many ways to get a wind chime to do it's chiming thing indoors and want to share some of these ideas with you. I found that attaching a wind chime to my ceiling fan works pretty well. Putting one near the air conditioner/heating vent also is a choice, though a challenge to find the right vent that is in a good place to hang a wind chime. Many of you have the option of hanging chimes near a window that will catch the breeze. Here in South Texas we don't leave our windows open much, but it is a wonderful option for a bit of "simple abundance" for those of you who can.

Another option would be to go to your local hobby store and see what you can find in the way of a small electric fan. The little fan strategically placed with a wind chime also strategically placed would do the trick. Let me know what you creative "simple abundance" seekers come up with.

Until next time,

Mary

A great new (to me) site, Webfugitive.com

I am such a "new born" to this blogging, social bookmarking, social networking thing I can barely sit up unaided. I'll be glad, so glad, when I begin to feel that I "get it" all. Nevertheless, this morning I had an email that said that someone called "webfugitive" had added me as a friend. Well, if someone wants to be friends, I'm there. We can never have too many friends or too many diamonds. =) (feel free to send either my way)

Anyway, I clicked on the link to add myself to this strangers friends list, clicked on his website to go check out this new friend and I have to tell you, I loved what I saw. The energy of this young entrepreneur is palpable and makes you want to buy whatever it is he is selling. He also has this incredible sense of humor that makes his blogs fun to read just because they make you feel good. I'm not sure if being entertaining is what his intentions are, but it certainly has this lady wanting more and intending to visit often for my "webfugitive fix".

You really need to check out this site http://www.webfugitive.com/
You will be entertained, but also I have a feeling that we're going to be seeing and hearing a lot about webfugitive in the future. Add to the entertaining element of his site, there are blogs about a lot of new opportunities and helpful information to be found there. I intend to bookmark it and keep my eye on it.

Let me add in closing that my posting on this website was totally unsolicited by webfugitive or anyone associated with that site. My blog is all about things I find that are exciting and new, so if I am excited about something I find, be sure that you'll be hearing about it here. =)

Visit webfugitive and let me know what you think.

Till next time,

Mary

Cleaning Our Homes, a Ritual for Good Health

Recently I was diagnosed with a slight case of adult onset asthma. Due to this, I have become conscious of the connection between what’s in the air and how it affects my breathing. A person who doesn’t have breathing problems isn’t aware of how dust and other inhalants affect our health. Did you know that domestic bird owners can’t use non-stick coated pans to cook with because the fumes from these pans are toxic to birds? I didn’t know this until a friend got a Parrot. There are many common household cleaning items that they can’t use because of their pet. I was astounded. If a bird reacts to non-stick coatings and household products that way, I wonder how our bodies react to them.

I decided to do a little research to see what I could come up with. I went to my favorite medical information site and entered “Teflon fumes” as a search topic. I was astounded to see the number of articles that came up on this subject. In reading them, I found that in general, non-stick coatings are safe, however, once heated beyond a certain point, the coating begins to break down and become toxic. We are filling our air with toxins. That’s scary!

Back to house dust, however. I like my house clean, although I don’t keep it as clean as I did when I had small children. I’m more of an “anti-clutter” person who just functions better in a tidy environment. Yet, I am beginning to see clean, and as dust free as is rational, as being as much of a health issue as washing my hands regularly is. I have joked a lot about my dust bunnies being family pets. Those “family pets” are inhabited by dust mites. Have you seen a blown up picture of a dust mite? They are scary little microscopic creatures

I sincerely feel that having a new awareness of how keeping our environment cleaner from a health standpoint is valuable and worthy of contemplation whether or not you have breathing problems.

Mahalo.com

Talk about "buzzworthy buzz"!!!! Lately I have been hearing a lot about Mahalo.com so I checked it out while researching for an article I was writing. I needed to find some facts about quantum physics. So, I went to www.mahalo.com, typed in quantum physics and this is the page I got back. http://www.mahalo.com/Quantum_physics. That page has everything you ever wanted to know about quantum physics but were afraid to ask. I was awed!!

Now I was on a quest, a Mahalo challenge if you will. "So they have a page on quantum physics", I said to myself, "Let's see if I can stump them".

So, I entered a new search, this time for "hydrochlorothiazide", a diuretic I'm on. Guess what! They came back with this. http://www.mahalo.com/Hydrochlorothiazide. Again, everything I want and need to know about this drug. Again, I was awed!!!

"Okay Mahalo", I thought. Let's see what you can do with this one. I'm an avid reader so next I typed in "Jane Eyre". That's one of my favorite books. Mahalo came back with this site, http://www.mahalo.com/Jane_eyre. INCREDIBLE!!! They have my favorite book, my drugs and information for my research. I kept entering search terms and they kept coming back with just what I wanted. You simply have to check out Mahalo and see what you think. I'm impressed. Take a look at their main website page also. They have all of the latest buzz on any subject you can think of and more. Politics, Hollywood gossip, latest news etc. etc.

You really owe it to yourself to check out Mahalo at http://www.mahalo.com. It's the most exciting and innovative search engine to come along in years.

Hey, let me know what you think by leaving a comment here for me. I can't wait to see if you're as awed as I am about Mahalo.

Snapbomb.com

As a freelance writer, I am constantly on the lookout for good sites on which to post my blogs' urls as well as good sites that offer marketing opportunities. Well, today I came across http://www.snapbomb.com. I was visiting another writer's blog, saw the link and clicked on it. After checking it out and signing up, I was so excited about it I just had to come back here and share it with all of you.

What excites me about www.snapbomb.com is that after you list your blog or blogs, it rates them as to a price that you can expect to receive for your writing. But that's not all. They also offer you an opportunity to write an article that they will critique and offer suggestions as to how you can improve your skills. You won't believe it, but this service is FREE.

As if that weren't enough, they also have a list of companies looking for writers to provide articles promoting their products and services. Snapbomb.com has everything I personally need and have been looking for as a beginning freelance writer and blogger. Professional feedback, marketing suggestions, and marketing opportunities.

I just had to share this with those of you who read my blog on a regular basis. Those of you that are also writers/bloggers will want to check out http://www.snapbomb.com and sign up. Be sure to let me know what you think. I can't wait to hear back from you.

Till next time,

Mary