My friends Nancy and Sherry and I walked the WWs 5K today!
Get support for your weight loss and healthy lifestyle.
Walk, run, swim, laugh, love… with your friends and your healthy body this year!
Give your mom a unique gift with a very personal touch showing your appreciation.
Maybe your mother has about everything she needs, or is at that age where she tells you not to buy her anything, or is tired of flowers and candy. How many bouquets of flowers have you sent to your mother on Mother’s Day?
If you’d like to be a lot more personal and loving (we can never share enough appreciation) then this is a great idea that you alone, with siblings or with your family can do for mom this week!
This very inexpensive, cool idea can be whipped together in a few hours and even sent in the mail to get to her on time this Saturday if necessary! And, it’s something she can dip into anytime to remind her of all good things and you.
Mom’s Mason Jar of Love
What you’ll need:
1) a nice clean clear Mason canning jar, ideally one with the metal clip ring around it with glass lid, not just the screw on lid, but either will do
2) cut 2″ x 3″or 4″ pieces of bright colored paper
3) 4-6″ pieces of twine or ribbon
4) thin marker pen
On the small rectangles of paper, jot down recollections of your mother: her favorite perfume, an unforgettable vacation you took together, a saying she repeated again and again when you were a kid, the favorite foods she cooked/s, the way she sings, dances, cares for others, cared/s for you, etc. Just think of things you’d tell others about her that has supported you in life, that make you happy and glad she’s your mom.
Roll up each one and tie it with a piece of twine or ribbon.
Fill the Mason jar with your handwritten scrolls.
You can wrap the jar in tissue paper or cellophane gathered at the top with ribbon and a tag, or put in a box, or just hand to her. It’s pretty without wrapping too.
Little Notes of Love
Whether you’re there to watch your mom read each little note or not, your mom will love unraveling the messages one by one to see what you wrote!
You might send a box of tissues with it!
Are you the mom?
Print this out and leave in an obvious place where your partner and kids are sure to find it!!
Use this idea over and over again for any person or occasion!
PS Happy Mother’s Day to you (where applicable!)
In order to stay sane (and create less stress and chaos), it’s important to learn when to say no.
There are only so many hours in a day, no matter who you are or how much money you have. 24 hours, period.
You can practice by saying no today to:
Choose what you will be involved in and schedule yourself in. Then stop.
Practice clearly and kindly setting your boundaries with effective assertive communication like, “Thanks for asking, however I’m already committed (or scheduled) in. Great success with your project and I’ll pass on your information to others I might know who’d be interested.”
In the end, a ”good no” is to:
- Be clear.
- Be kind.
- Be helpful. And,
- Be gracious.
Be a awesome human-BE-ing to yourself first, then to others, you will give much more in the long run.
.
Maybe Dave needed to be way more clear from the start about WHEN he was doing all this womanizing! If it was before his child and marriage, so what?
As celebs go, he’ll deal with it and work on it with his wife.
Who’s business is it anyway? Show business?!
What “dirty laundry” do you have that you’d rather not see on the line. Being honest with ourselves daily means not setting ourselves up for chaos in the first place. Pretty hard for humans-being!
Ooooh, great heels, Martha!!
An article in my local paper today says that The OUR Center’s hospitality center, kitchen and pantry needs items. I’m sure your local shelters and food banks need supplies and help too!
Declutter your pantry, closets, drawers, garage shelves, etc. and you may find plenty of overstock to share, like: coffee mugs, napkins, toilet tissue, plastic baggies, dry erase and permanent markers, stainless steel spoons and forks, packing tape, paper towels, towels and trash bags.
Their day shelter needs rain ponchos, shaving cream and razors, toothpaste and toothbrushes, feminine hygiene products and deodorant.
The center’s clothing bank needs gloves, plastic and vinyl tarps, socks, sleeping bags and large trash bags too.
The food banks can use food, but also your physical help to sort and stack items.
Dollar type and buy-bulk stores are great places to get a big bang for your buck to take new to these needy places as well.
In other words, jump in and help out as you can each month. Others will be very grateful.
I recently answered a Craigslist Personals ad to meet a man. The only one in that couple of days that seemed remotely ”a match” was a guy who said he was 58, 5′10″, bla, bla. Most of it sounded okay, so we met at a coffee shop.
Okay. Peeeople! Palleeeeease. Take off your shoes. Stand back flat to the wall. Make a pencil mark above your head on the wall. Measure from floor to the mark.
Bless his heart, but Mr. I’m 5′ 10″ who was so very proud of himself that he’d kept his high school “girlish” figure (that alone made me not want to be with him, he said “girlish figure” several times. Argh!) was shorter than me, and I’m 5′ 7″.
He’d shrunk. And, since he’s a guy, which means he probably hasn’t been to the doctor’s office like we women go pretty annually and gotten measured since he was 30!, he was pretty sure he was still 5′ 10″.
Not my only turn off (remember “girlish figure?”) but it was glaring.
Just a suggestion: When putting your ad out for dating after 50, measure twice, advertise once. I’m just sayin’.
How many times would like NOT to say, “Have you done your homework?” this year?
No one is exempt from learning life-skills in youth. But, if children aren’t supported and taught how to do the doing of what you want them to learn the right way, how will they learn?!
Creating daily, on the clock and expected routines for schoolwork is a must to help your children win this year.
1. Establish a “tight schoolwork routine” as soon as school starts so that everyone knows what to expect and will feel great about getting homework done and relaxed for school the next day.
2. Create “homework time” that is met consistently by the student and by you the parent, should they need help.
3. Create a ”homework zone” where everything the child needs is available to sit and study: chair, desk or table, good lighting, quiet, undisturbed, materials needed.
4. Create your availability to help with any questions that arrise that they need help with. Make it easy and okay for them to ask questions about their homework. Even if you don’t know the answer, and say, “I don’t know,” it’s okay. Help them understand how to find the answer.
When left in a sun drenched car, a pet is in torture, so easily avoided. Too many pets are lost to heat stroke each summer, when it can be prevented easily.
Unlike people, your dog’s normal body temperature ranges between 100 and 102.5 degrees F. When body temperature elevates above 106 F, normal cooling mechanisms are overwhelmed and fail, resulting in a serious condition requiring intervention and medical treatment.
Dogs don’t sweat - that’s why they pant. Your dog can suffer a mild to moderate temperature increase called heat stress/prostration (103 to 105 F) to a potentially life threatening condition referred to as heat stroke (106 F and higher). Certain breeds are more prone to heat injury than others.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Heat stress can happen quite rapidly, sometimes only in a few minutes, especially in dogs that live primarily indoors. Even pets that live or spend a lot of time outside can succumb to the heat if their cooling mechanisms are exceeded by weather extremes.
PREVENT HEAT STROKE
1. Clip/cut long haired dogs.
2. In the heat of midday, keep your dog indoors in either air conditioning or in a well-ventilated area with circulating fans.
3. If you have a pet that enjoys water, keeping a small pool of water outside provides a fun and cooling environment: just enough water to play in but not over your dog’s head. No pool? - spray from a hose or a sprinkler will help.
4. Keep clean, cool water for drinking.
5. Limit exercise time. Limit vigorous exercise to early morning and after sunset or eliminate long walks/jogs until the weather cools.
6. Extra note: Remember that dogs can burn the pads of their feet on hot pavement.
7. Don’t forget that any dog left outside in summer weather needs shade, shelter, food and fresh water.
8. Never leave your dog in a car. Your car can reach 120 F in minutes, even on a cool day with the windows open, exceeding your dog’s cooling capacity in no time.
9. Be aware that the outside temperature may actually be warmer than what the thermometer reads. The heat index, a measure of the temperature and relative humidity, makes it more difficult for a body to cool down by perspiration. A temperature of 85 F can actually feel closer to 100 F (or higher) depending on the index.
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR DOG IS OVERHEATED
1. Cool your dog with tepid water; do not use cold water as it can shock their system.
2. A fan will help to cool and circulate air.
3. Call your veterinarian immediately, even if your pet seems to have recovered.
PETS CAN SUNBURN TOO!
Why do pigs wallow in the mud? Because they are light pink and white skinned and would otherwise sunburn without coating of mud. Pigs know how to take care of themselves! White and lightly colored pets can suffer sunburn too, but won’t look for mud to coat themselves in, and you wouldn’t want them too.
Long-term sun exposure can lead to skin damage and in some cases skin cancers just like in humans. If any type of discoloration or sore appears, consult your veterinarian for a check-up. Areas that are commonly affected are the ears, eyelids and nose.
BOTTOM LINE
If you really love your pets, pay attention and take mindful care of them - you are their master!
Thank you The Pet Place for the input.
Social networking is all the rage now, we hear about Twitter and Facebook, MySpace and YouTube on sitcoms, the nightly news and commercials, it’s absolutely mainstream. Social networking is changing how we use, watch, learn about and report the news and information, as well as make connections — business and personal. All good!
But . . . if computers and online-lives are taking away from family time, is it all good?
This is a question each person must ask themselves in the battle to stay connected to our families, children and spouses; to enrich our lives with our families — not to invite one more distraction into our lives of strangers and information that may make no difference (what you ate for breakfast) and BFFs who change weekly.
Studies are coming out now showing that online social networking contributes to less time spent with family, affecting family connections and relationships.
In the first half of the decade, families reported spending 26 hours a month together. By 2008, that dropped to 18 hours, according to the Annenberg Center for the Digital Future.
Certainly varying work schedules, travel, rising dual-income households, increasing commute times and work days, and participating in multiple children’s sports and activities are factors too. But the quick and continual (meteoric) rise of online social networking — what is new, exciting, cool, affordable and accessible by almost everyone — overshadows many of these other reasons in some families.
What can we do? Enjoy, use and utilize what are amazing technological advances and systems to help us connect like no other time in history, to do business, meet new people, help one another and create communities that in fact can be very helpful and real. And, at the same time, make sure you are shutting it off, making face-to-face contact and time with your family, kids, friends and others who are here and now right in front of you.
Need we remind ourselves of the famous Harry Chapin song lyrics . . .
“And the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you comin home, dad, I don’t know when,
But we’ll get together then, Son,
You know we’ll have a good time then.”
Cat’s in the Cradle and Other Hits
The sadly ironic thing about this new distancing of relationships is that all the family members are in the same room, on cell phones, computers and other mobile devices, all talking to people around the world (and sometimes to the person within touch distance!!), but not one another! They ARE all home, but not HOME.
Relationships take time and work. Use it or lose it applies! And, if we’re talking about you being a parent, it’s a whole ‘nother level to this issue. You and your children will pay for gaps in their time with you for a life time. That is not worth it. Childhood development depends on real-time with parents and family, make sure to make that happen.
Am I an “online social networker?” You can find me at on Twitter. Not every moment, but I’m there, http://twitter.com/drdeclutter Just getting onto Facebook (to tell the truth, ‘m not great at all these sites - I like “face-to-face”.)
What Makes A Dad
God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle’s flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,
He called it … Dad
~Author Unknown
I hope you have or had a dad like this. If not. . . start seeing these qualities in yourself, having compassion and a higher sense of love for your father.
We’re all doing the best we can from where we’ve come.
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