A little salt and lime...

Salt- it's so freaking hot here in mid coastal FL that I almost literally melted onto the seat of my truck today even with great working a/c. The heat makes me grumpy, I'll never get used to it down here. It's only seven hours to PC but what a difference. Now, for a few weeks or even a month or two, there is some equality in the heat, but down here it's like a waffle maker. SALT!

Lime- soothing. My husband buzzed away at some homemade carpentry (a play table for our kids and a work table for our garage) and I watered our plants like a trooper. I soothed myself on a mommy break at the beach yesterday sitting in the Gulf of Mexico among the Memorial Day yahoos and had a very nice time. In the end, I wanted to be back with my husband and sons, to enjoy the last day together of our 6 day stay-cay at home. Only a week left until my son is out of school for the summer, so I got out the craft boxes for the kids, my old piano books for keyboard singalongs, and am trying to be mentally prepared for a summer. Lime- green, cooling, used in my homemade quacamole and squeezed onto fish, pastas, and rice dinners. Lime- my favorite color.

Hope you guys had an outstanding weekend and week. I am about to embark on a trip of writing...for my sons. I am quitting Facebook for the summer in a few days,and am pulling the mental reigns in so that I can concentrate on writing...my first love. I am still volunteering for the Literacy Council local and hope to do more volunteering this summer and fall for any other United Way organizations. I used to help with their marketing department in Okaloosa County and got bitten by the bug in my youth from my own parents who have always been service oriented. I was asked to be a Guardian Ad Litem so am looking into that. Will def keep you posted. I really want to know how you all are doing. I wonder about many of you. So many of you guys that I know read this are people I admire and like for different reasons. Your "platform" is yourself. Sometimes, I think the internet has made everyone an expert...a therapist, a doctor, a professor, a minister or a pseudo leader. People forget to be themselves, and project ALOT.

That is your salt and that is your lime. Like usual it's a good or bad thing depending on your mood and if you lick it off your thumb or just ask for water.

In the meantime, I'll fight off the crazy FL insects and stay still for a while. We've done a ton of traveling the past spring and although we both love the road and could live on the road, our kids need to be in their own places for a while!

Is it OK for a vegetarian to wear leather?

I am posting this because I have alot of vegetarian friends, and what is more interesting than the actual article, which in my opinion is a fair and honest one, are the comments that follow. People are fiercely opinionated when it comes to meat, and the by- products of meat. Furthermore, there are alot of people who have some thoughtful insights and good advice in general. Also, there are the people who just want to get angry because not everyone agrees with them or is just like them. These people are the kind that just want to attack, and not accept, that everyone is different. There is alot of grey area in our world. Thank God we are all unique and most of us are not just following some dogma or doctrine but rather finding the best ways to live for ourselves, our families and our own peace of mind. It may be great to be of one worldly community, but in the end, being human means having our own decisions to be responsible for, and not waiting for someone else to show the way. I have thought for a long time that being a non meat eater is a healthy lifestyle, but never personally made it my own until about 1.5 years ago. This with a few occasions of meat indulgences, all home cooked, all my faves. I am still trying for a 100% meat free household, and everyone is on board. Our only flaw is we get lazy, and think that the flavors we like are only found in meat...so we expanded our spice and herb drawers immensely, and grill and roast vegetables more than ever, and include more cous cous and quinoa to our diet.

I like reading articles this like because it shows how imperfect we all are, something I think alot of people forget in the age of the internet...which makes everyone an "expert". I say, be your own expert, share good information if it's useful and positive, but let us all alone enough to find our own paths. And, the argument that leather is actually greener than plastic shoes is a good one, because there are a ton of commentors who argue both sides, who are vegans even. Do we buy leather and keep it nice and reuse for decades as some people do (pointing out that their shoes when they do go into a landfill are organic and will return to the Earth) , or do we buy plastic thinking that the leather can only come from the cruel slaughter of animals. This is a great argument. It's good to debate these things while our Earth gets filled with more junk. Read, and ponder.

Great link below from Salon.com!!!

Is it OK for a vegetarian to wear leather?

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (not the video)

Mysterious markings found in Great Pyramid

These pics show a space that has not had any fresh air hit it in 4500 years! inside a great pyramid, there are markings in red and metal rings. Hmm....sounds a little like some club I went to during my college years. Sounds like the Egyptians just wanted to party and be left alone with their millions of stone blocks and glow sticks.

have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend- I'll be back soon to write more. Read article below. Great link, great site.

http://gizmodo.com/5805853/what-are-the-mysterious-markings-found-in-the-great-pyramids-secret-chamber

Grateful List in case Rapture happens.

Things to be grateful for: Better make you grateful lists, in case the Rapture happens and you seem unthankful for all you have, you selfish buggers.

1. Good scary movies...the kind that make you wait. No chainsaws, no backseat hookups that end up in mashups, just good suspense and a story you can believe.

2. lightning bugs (my only bug "give"...meaning, a bug that I would let live if it was under my shoe and I could easily damage it)

3. Symphonies (the wine varietal and the live orchestral types)

4. sisters

5. mums and dads

6. fingers paints for kids

7. people out there who are taking care of kids who were abused.

8. great-grandparents!

9. Avocados. I could eat them all day, sliced on toasted grainy bread with some lite mayo, black pepper and tomatoes. YUMM>

10. Old friends who know you best. They know the whole you, the whole truth, and nothing but the true You.

What are you grateful for today? What if you had to leave our world tomorrow during a foretold Rapture date chosen by some old white guy in Kentucky? Let's say...Halloween, 2011.

I know we've done this before over the past three years, but take a moment. I LOVE a unique and artsy pair of great shoes, but would I include them on a grateful list?? depends on the day you ask. Sometimes, our needs are met and the more silly things rise to the top. Sometimes, we need to remember what we need most. I am a person who needs to see and hear things (tangibility a must) so making lists or in general, writing, is one the best ways I communicate, remember, and learn. This explains my utter hatred of algebra..it was all in the "air' as I tried to explain to my professors & tutors in college. It didn't mean anything because I could not feel it or see it (don't you get it? I would ask looking at them like they were idiots. trust me, some were). Different story...must get back to important moral point.

Thus, here we are. At the late evening hour, writing away like a little secretarial mouse. Anyhoo, think of the things you are most grateful for today. Open your eyes, look around. Would I need good shoes during a Rapture? Probably not, Avocados? Most definitely yes. Good for the skin, hair and full of good "fat". In Heaven, I'd rather have tons of good fat rather than be fat...that would be gluttony, and that is a sin.

We'll never win. Screw the grateful list.

A little Salt

one of the most annoying things is to just want to read a news clip on a site and then have two ads pop up, and to have the news story be a vid. Just sayin! I am much bigger on reading, rather than having someone read me a story (no matter how professional they are, there are always small tics that lean towards a bias). Writers can do the same, but I'm just more attune to bias in writing, and that's all I have to say about this particular gripe.

Cheerio!

Good morning or last goodbye??

Hello cats and dogs! Hope you guys are doing well out there in Apocalypse World. Are you there? Are you still with us? Well, I have been AWOL for over a week and am back in the land of FL. I love the beaches (especially of the panhandle) but going from 40 degree mountain air thousands of feet above sea level to the sweat bowl of our state was quite a shock two days ago. We went from Spring Green to Mean Steam and catching up on our yard work was a monster. But we survived the skeeters and weeds and are finally on top of our game.

There's alot to talk about right? End of days, Arnold and his little prince, going back to the gym full time this week after a week hiatus, my sons have grown so much, decisions we are discussing about where we might live next, the "film" "The Expendables" we saw last night (let's just say I was most excited about the red Xterra being used in a long car chase), Obama's pressure on Israel, tornadoes in the South, and my recent rides through Gainesville, FL my old stomping grounds (and place of many fun memories with my husband.)

However, the Curious George movie is about over, which means I am having to plan my next moves for "what do I do with my children" day since P isn't here right now. Soo...after the family time is over, I will return to this my most public/private outpost on the interweb to offer some more entertainment.

In the meantime, stash you stuff in the basement, have a great last meal and we'll see you on the other side.

Ta ta for now !