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Veterans Day
Today is Veterans’ Day, the day we set aside to remember all of those who died in wars for our country. From patriotism.org: At 5 A.M. on Monday, November 11, 1918 the Germans signed the Armistice, an order was issued for all firing to cease; so the hostilities of the First World War ended. This day began with the laying down of arms, blowing of whistles, impromptu parades, closing of places of business. All over the globe there were many demonstrations; no doubt the world has never before witnessed such rejoicing. In November of 1919, President Woodrow Wilson issued his Armistice Day proclamation. The last paragraph set the tone for…
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Genevieve (Friday Dog Blogging)
A few weeks ago, I was petting Genevieve’s pretty face, and I noticed that she had a large bump on her jaw. What’s that? I wondered. It didn’t seem to cause her a lot of discomfort, though she did pull her head away from it when I pressed on it. That was a Saturday. Monday, I took her to the vet. The vet wasn’t sure what it was, but was pretty sure there was going to be surgery involved. They still needed to do a biopsy, before surgery, because if the lump is cancerous, they remove much more of the area surrounding the lump, so it is much more invasive.…
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Thursday Thirteen Organics
  Cherry and I were at the grocery store on Sunday, buying groceries for dinner. We had a short conversation about organic foods, and how it’s important to support organic and sustainable farming whenever we can. It’s better for the earth, better for the environment, better for our health, and it tastes better. Of course, there is always the issue of the pocket book, because organic foods typically cost between 50% and 150% more than conventionally raised food. We all know that organic food is healthier for us than conventionally raised food. This is even more true for children, due to the fact that their bodies and brains are still growing and developing.…
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An Open Letter to the Democrats
Dear Democrats, Congratulations! I am delighted that you have come in to serve as a balance to the freaks that have been running this country for the last 6 years. We desperately need some moderation out there, someone to keep things under control so that we don’t end up in a theocracy or a monarchy anytime soon. I find it distressing, however, that it appears that you could not have won this race without the Republicans shooting themselves in the face. As I see it, you won because some Republicans couldn’t keep themselves from harassing young boys, or at least being complicit in allowing it to continue. You won because…
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Stupid Grammar Rules
English grammar is a tricky field to negotiate, with many little rules that can easily bug the hell out of you…I have my pet peeves, which would be rules that make sense to me, and people misuse them and abuse them and drive me crazy, but also, there are many rules that just make no logical sense whatsoever. I was thinking this would be a Thursday Thirteen, but I couldn’t think of enough stupid rules to make my list. So I turn the question over to my loyal readers…besides the five below, any really stupid grammar rules that you think need to be retired? Split Infinitives. I never even understood…
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From the Stacks Winter Reading Challenge
Lotus Reads found a great reading challenge that might finally get some of those books on my sidebar out of the way, making room for some new ones. This sounds like a really good idea to me, so I’m in. Here’s the premise, from the woman with the great idea, Michelle at overdue books: “If you are anything like me your stack of purchased to-be-read books is teetering over. So for this challenge we would be reading 5 books that we have already purchased, have been meaning to get to, have been sitting on the nightstand and haven’t read before. No going out and buying new books. No getting sidetracked…
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Time to Vote
Tomorrow is election day, and while I’m cautiously hopeful that the Democrats will be able to wrest control of Congress from the Republicans, and hopefully grow a collective spine while they’re at it, and stop the rapid decline of our country and loss of freedoms, I’m having trouble getting revved up about the local elections here in California. The most exciting part to me will be that the constant barrage of political phone calls will stop. I’m not a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger. His ‘special elections’ showed a complete disregard for the will of the voters, and they cost California a LOT of money that should have been much better…
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To Thine Own Self Be True…
Is that the same as “know thyself”? I think it’s a bit different. Anyway, MsMama tagged me for an interesting little meme… “KNOW THYSELF” TAG! What is/are YOUR: Easy how-to ways to beat a bad mood? A shower. Something about having that hot water all over me helps a lot. A walk in the rain can help. Ted has been known to make me laugh when I’m blue. Maya can sometimes kiss my boo-boos away… Never-fail lip color? I’m not adult enough to wear lipstick. Mostly it’s just vasaline or chapstick for me. My lips are naturally kind of pink, though….I’ve gotten compliments on my lipstick when it’s just chapstick.…
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Perfect Start to a Weekend…
…lunch with a Republican. Gosh, I never thought I would say those words! HA! But honestly, some of my best friends are Republicans. One such friend is Janet, who lives in NYC. Janet and I met at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA, and became good friends. She is a truly loyal and wonderful friend, though not without her faults, including: Spoiling my daughter. It was she that started Maya’s American Girl obsession. Maya now has 4 of the things. Janet only bought her one, so it’s not ALL her fault. Waiting until the last minute to call me and let me know she’s in town. I received a…
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Kindness
“Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind, the second is to be kind, and the third is to be kind.” ~ Henry James I feel as though this message is coming at me from all directions lately. My beloved Py Korry wrote a post about hatred, and how it can be used to dehumanize others…then Ms. Mama wrote a post about the death of someone she knew, and how we should all be kind to those we love, for you never know when we will see them again…then Cherry wrote about how we can start a peace revolution, spreading peace with kindness. Last night,…
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All Souls Day
Today is All Souls Day. Not being a good Christian (but I am a good Atheist, which is better than a bad Christian, right?), I don’t know much about this holiday, but I read a bit on Laluna and Zee’s blogs the other day. I was intrigued. The Christian belief is that the faithful departed who have not atoned for their sins can get into heaven, if they have people still in our land of the living pray for their salvation. (If I have that wrong, please let me know…it’s interesting.) I’m a little bit more interested, though, in the Pagan roots of the holiday, if there indeed are any.…
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Thankful Thoughts
Awhile ago, I read about a blogger who would write of the little things she is thankful for, because they are important and worth of recognition. I’m not sure if she still keeps up this practice, but I liked the idea, so every once in awhile, I take it out and dust it off, stopping and reflecting on the little things that have gone right lately. Here goes. I’m thankful that my brother & SIL came to visit. There was some shopping, a pumpkin was carved, yummy swordfish and Sees candy were consumed (not together, geez!), trick or treating was put behind us for another year, a lot of chatting…
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Learn Where You Can
I had an interesting vocab lesson the other night…I learned the following words: parvenu – one that has recently or suddenly risen to an unaccustomed position of wealth or power and has not yet gained the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with it. I think I’ve always used the other French term, “nouveau riche“, though in looking at the definition, it is slightly different in meaning. dyspeptic – showing a sour disposition. I think I’ve always used “sour puss”.  I think I need to try to use these words in conversation…that’s how you keep them, right? Anyway, the funny thing is where I got these new words…from the Netflix jacket…
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Lame Meme
OK, I got nothing today. It’s Monday, after all, and besides that, my Brother and my SIL are coming to visit! YAY! They live in Alaska, and don’t get down this way as often as we would like. And us up there? We went in ’99, but haven’t gone back since. Dang it all. Stupid poverty. 😉 Anyway, since I need to get all of my WORK work done early, plus wash the sheets on the bed where they’ll be sleeping, and swiffer the floors, I’m going to keep this quick and easy today, OK? This will be a lame meme about your favorite foods, in different categories. I figure,…
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Chicken Muffin Recipe? Ewwww…
Last year, in the clearance section of Barnes and Noble, I was tempted into buying a muffin cookbook. Tempted by the beautiful pictures and the yummy sounding recipes, like cranberry muffins, spiced carrot cake muffins, etc. What I forgot in the heat of the moment was, I don’t really LIKE baking. One little thing goes wrong, and the recipe is ruined. Blech. I’m much more of a cook. One section that I found especially intruiging was the section of savory muffins. Hmmm. Sounded good. Leek and ham muffins. Bacon and cornmeal muffins. I tried one recipe, for Spicy Chicken Muffins. Ted and Maya thought it was good, I thought it…