"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
-Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Choose the first way. It's much more fun!
*********
Thanks to a nice guy named Jake who posted a comment tonight on an old entry. It was a quote by Michael Faraday that was posted last November. Jake asked what the quote meant. I had to think about it.
To aid my memory, I did a Google search. And found some neat things. I'll share them with you.
First, I found this neat site. Then I found this one which made me laugh. And this cool post.
Isn't life wonderful? What I am doing this very moment never even seemed posible a few years ago. Wow!
Nice to get away from thoughts of the election and other heavy stuff for a while and give the old ego-mind a rest.
I've been too busy riding the roller coaster of life to take much time to blog.
...Just hanging on and enjoying the ride.
Up and down, and all around.
Trying to see the beauty in each moment.
Including those
which at another time in my life
would have seemed sad.
A lot has happened in the last eight days.
Pete got back to work. I did the mundane chores.
We celebrated birthdays and our 41 years.
I had fun. I got mad. Got over it.
Remembered to be thankful.
Met new people.
reconnected with others
Spent time with loved ones.
Watched one beautiful family
gently and competently care one of their own who is ill.
This mom felt proud of her sons
Had fun with the granddaughters.
Got to see my daughter-in-law.
Ate some cake made especially for us.
And just felt grateful to just be alive.
It really is a beautiful world!
*******************
IT'S TIME TO PAY ATTENTION!
Look Here:
There are people working to guarantee all of our civil rights.
My son is one of them.
People are speaking out.
Ordinary, everyday people are using their voices.
Listen to them.
Next week, meetings resume in our living room.
Volunteer training for people who will work to get out the vote.
I am exercising my right as an American to use my voice.
-Even though there are those who can say it better.
It is time to make a change. It is time to turn a corner.
Both in our government and in our hearts.
We can do it.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross 1926-2004
A remarkable soul has passed from this life.
Aren't you glad she passed this way?
"Death is simply a shedding of the physical body like the butterfly shedding its cocoon. It is a transition to a higher state of consciousness where you continue to perceive, to understand, to laugh, and to be able to grow..."
--Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
I'll look for you dancing amidst the stars....
We were talking at dinner.
Pete told me that in Hawaii
a somewhat younger man in our Spiritual Family called him "sir".
When looking for Pete a crowd,
I have to remember to look for a man with grey hair!
When did that happen?
Guess we all remain young in our hearts.
Finally this darn thing says it is the 25th.
*******
Happy Anniversary Pete! :-)
Before I give up the ghost and call it a night...
Before this darned thing stops working completely
Or, I can't make out anything at all...
I want to wish my wonderful husband
a Very Happy Anniversary.
We were joined together in matrimony
on August 25th, 1963.
Can you believe it's Forty One years?
How can that be?
Time flies when you are having fun!
Happy Anniversary Darling!
It's just after midnight and all the words and pictures are 'bleeding' into each other on my monitor. A little icon appeared on my tool bar that says there is a security alert from Windows. I don't know what to do. Everyone is sleeping.
I got the Norton's update,
turned off and on the monitor
restarted the computer
and tried to understand the prompts on the popups.
Something about a firewall.
My tired brain isn't working.
HELP!!!
And, by the way, it is not 11:24 PM.
It's 12:24 PM!
How do I fix that?
Today's mail brought my shiny new health insurance card.
Yay!!! I'm insured again!
At least, till the end of the month.
But, there are still about 44 million Americans
who are not so lucky.
Isn't about time we do something about that?
Lucky! We are lucky. Just plain lucky!
...Just came back after spending eleven wonderful days in Hawaii
being with our beautiful Spiritual Mother
and members of our Spiritual Family.
We stayed as guests in the lovely home
of a 'brother' and 'sister' and their charming daughter.
They made us welcome in more ways
than can be mentioned here.
Thank You.
...Wish I could just give anyone who reads this
a bit of what we were given.
However, since we are all truly One,
I respect any path you choose
on your sacred journey back home.
Good news...
Pete arrived home safe and sound from Ghana today.
He is well and looks good.
He ate a hearty dinner and now is fast asleep! :-)
*********************************
SURPRISE!!!
Last week I learned that unbeknownst to me, on July 1st I had joined the almost 44 million Americans with no health insurance coverage.
I didn’t find out about this happenstance until when I went to pick up some prescribed meds at the pharmacy. Confident that this was simply a mistake and that I was indeed insured, I asked the pharmacist to double check.
She called my insurer.
“No, I was no longer in the system.”
No warning. No notice.
I made some calls. Sure enough, though some blunder by someone, my insurance had lapsed. My policy was suppose to have continued intact through the Cobra Plan.
First thing I had to do was to take a deep breath and remember that I was OK, I was not alone in this world, and I had it within me to do whatever I needed to deal with this situation. Then I started to work.
My mind, of course, wandered to all the worst case possibilities. What would I do if I had a medical emergency? What resources were available? Did we have the ready funds which I could get at quickly in case something happened before I got it all straightened out? I guess that is natural.
It took a persistent nature, many hours, countless phone calls, some good advice, and lots of money, but it looks like I am finally back in the system.
I kept remembering that it was not important who was to blame, or who dropped the ball. I just wanted to do what I could to rectify this issue. And, for once in my life, I did not give in to fear. This is good. Maybe I'm learning.
All through this experience, I kept wondering what happens to people who are old and ill, those who do not have the funds or the capacity to do something about these kinds of problems. No wonder so many people fall through the cracks!
About Forty Four Million people in this country have no health insurance! That is scary. And, that is just plain wrong. This situation weakens us as a people. And, in the end, this situation costs us all more money. I believe we can do something about it. I believe we must. It is time.
I was lucky. So, I will use this experience to strengthen my committment to help bring about a change.
The more I experience in this life, the more I'm convinced that the difficulties we face are gifts. It is always best to be grateful for everything. So, I am grateful that this situation happened while Pete was in Ghana. It gave me an opportunity to stretch. However, I must admit that I sure will feel better when I have my shiny new insurance card in my hot little hands.
You just never know what you might find around the next corner!
The Universe is always ready to present us with one more gift.
The supply is ever flowing and never ending.
We just have to look!
As I was trying to learn something about Movable Type
I happened along this terrific site.
Check out Orangeguru!
Any of my five regular readers, who reads Mike's site may have already seen this, but I couldn't resist.
Maybe one or two of you would like to post your answers.
Think of it as the Greater Los Angeles Area.
It's OK to be anonymous.
I’ll understand if you don't.
Here are the questions...
1. How long have you lived in Los Angeles?
2. Were you born here?
3. How long did you plan on staying here originally?
4. How long do you plan on staying here now?
5. What keeps you here?
6. What makes you want to leave?
7. What is your biggest surprise about living here?
8. What is your biggest disappointment about living here?
Here are my answers...
1. How long have you lived in Los Angeles?
Since 1945, at the end of World War Two.
I was four and a half years old.
2. Were you born here?
No, I was born in Minnesota.
3. How long did you plan on staying here originally?
I didn't. My parents took one look, sold everything, packed up and moved us to North Hollywood. When I was small, tumble weeds regularly rolled into our front yard.
4. How long do you plan on staying here now?
Till i die. At that time, I'll decide where I want to live my next life.
5. What keeps you here?
The weather! The ocean.
Family, friends,
and the fact that people from all over the world
live right here in our neighborhood.
6. What makes you want to leave?
Strip malls, congestion. And, we don't have much green.
7. What is your biggest surprise about living here?
That in all the years of living in LA, I have never been to Catalina Island.
8. What is your biggest disappointment about living here?
That we still don't have a really good rapid transit to connect our big spread out city.
I've been so busy, haven't taken much time to post.
But, for the five people who read my blog, here is a quick update.
FAITH RESTORED!
Working on the Kerry Campaign has been tremendously uplifting.
To see so many Americans coming together
to change the direction of our country
is amazing and heartening.
People who never before voted,
are coming up to the Kerry for President Tables,
and not only registering to vote,
but joining the effort to make the change.
There is a marvelous coalition of citizens
who believe that to save our democracy,
we must act now!
Mom is smiling. :-)
ALL IS WELL!
Pete is safe and well in Ghana.
He sounds terrific.
I can feel his smile over the phone!
More later.
Many thanks to the kind man who alerted me to my misspelling of Barack Obama’s name in my post WOW. Your comment had been put in a folder called “junk suspects” that I didn’t know existed.
Mike is helping me understand the new configuration of my Spam blocking what-ever-you-call-it, but at this moment I don’t know how to thank you by email or even allow your comment to be posted.
I have sent out another call for help to Mike. And, am confident that help is on the way. :-)
So, thank you Mister Collins!
...Wish I had seen your comment earlier.
The misspelled name is now corrected.
Your comment is greatly appreciated.
You were the only one who caught it!
Anyone who didn't hear Obama's wonderful speech can listen to it here.