"Life is a gift, don't waste it."

2. “It could be better, but it is good enough.”

3. “Do you see difficulty behind every opportunity, or opportunity behind every difficulty?”

4. “Curiosity is life.”

5. “Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much as we speak.”

Fortune cookies fortunes from last year’s Christmas dinner, yes 12.25.14, way back then.

I had thought now that many have made their New Year’s resolution or already quit them these might be enlightening for all our futures way of thinking, but I could be wrong I have been wrong before… nothing new there, hmm?

Any-who, the first I chose for my tonight’s title I thought was amazingly familiar; could I have been of Asian decent in my previous life or lives, or could it be that we have all been quoting that little ditty for too many years to remember the exact date we found that it was, in our minds that it was soooo profound, yet simple? HA!

Way to live your life, don’t waste it, what a concept, oops my inner George Carlin has kicked in again, please forgive.

The second one in the listing of five in total; yes we did have a mini banquet for two with that order thus the five, but it lasted for days and days…I do believe that here is where one might discuss if being too greedy and wanting too much is real happiness or is enough just right, huh? In our cases we have found our enough, but when it breaks we must repair it, so in reality enough is never ever really enough, is it, hmm?

Moving on…

The third fortune, another good one, the power of positive thinking, whoa, every one from Dale Carnegie to Oprah Winfrey and everyone before and after them including ELLEN have had that way of thinking in their programs of subliminal teachings or outright blatant commentary, nothing wrong with that; I’m just saying, heard and understood ages ago.

The next to last, number four is how I try to live my life with wide open eyes and the desire to learn daily…but saying that it is life is way over the top, a bit in my opinion and we all know what that’s worth, nada, bupkis zilch zero in the BIGGER PICTURE OF THINGS, absolutely true!

Last but not least that ending one, number five, now by all rights it is very logical in how it is said, but it does not take into consideration the human nature of people and how so many of my kind, i.e. talkers, have been told they were able to teach a class or speak publicly or be in management and train people etc. etc. or teach your own children everything where they all listen to you, and you do have much to say, and so no, not in me to stop too many years of being inundated with being told to take charge and so I have and it has mostly been a good thing, although I have learned like most of us that when we are truly interested in what someone has to say we do finally shut our singular oral cavity and  do listen intensely especially if  the person or persons expressing themselves while evoking the use of your name! HA!

That last paragraph is typical of how I actually do speak, in run on sentences, oh well… but it is refreshing to know that most write how they converse in the real world…very true; another advantage/disadvantage that I have found.

On that note of expressing my opinionated opinions once again, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask all of you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

PS Our hearts go out to the Parisian people with their loss of so many by the hand of evil, horrifically again. Will it ever end…?!

Time to weigh in on feelings...

As of yesterday in the state of Florida it is legal for same sex couples to marry, hip, hip, hooray!

Now this resolves the ageless question of why couples start to look like one another after being married for so many years! Bud dump bum.

That said in only the nicest ways, really!

In truth I have always felt that two people no matter who they are should be allowed to make their relationship legal, fewer bastards being born that way…OOPS!

Did I say that out loud; hear me Hollywood?

Yes, in my old fashioned narrow minded brain lack of total commitment and having children has escaped hard minded moralists’ grasps for way too long to speak up or is that out?!

Why is it that so many in “the biz”, enjoy creating children out of wedlock and  magnify the whole damn thingy, by giving them crazy names to screw up those offspring in the whole unholy deal they made!

And this from an agnostic, shame on you American teens who subscribe to the concept due to your favs in the music or movie or whatever biz that promotes this as the norm and by putting children through such accusatory rationales of being called names and possibly end up being bullied, due to how they were conceived, hmm?

Make those ‘parents’ get married and then if it doesn’t work out community property I heard is quite a deal there, true?

Most states have great laws for divorces these days, do not fear commitment because there is always a way out!

Oh where was I?

Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage, now that sounds familiar I wonder where that came from, hmm…

“"Love And Marriage"

Love and marriage, love and marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage.
This I tell ya, brother, you can't have one without the other.

Love and marriage, love and marriage,
It's an institute you can't disparage.
Ask the local gentry and they will say it's elementary.

Try, try, try to separate them, it's an illusion.
Try, try, try and you only come to this conclusion:

Love and marriage, love and marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage.
Dad was told by mother you can't have one
You can't have none.
You can't have one without the other.

[Musical interlude]

Try, try, try to separate them, it's an illusion.
Try, try, try and you only come to this conclusion:

Love and marriage, love and marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage.
Dad was told by mother you can't have one
(You can't have none.)
You can't have one without the other.”

Thanks to: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/franksinatra/loveandmarriage.html

In the long and short of it all, marriage is a fine institution whether you are in it for the long or the short haul, beware though it’s a crap shoot as they say; referring to cards for you youngins. Craps is a card game, truly:

http://www.hoylegaming.com/rules/showrule.aspx?RuleID=206

And you have to be very, very brave to commit to that leap of faith; whoa, the agnostic gal is using religious terminology!

So that is why my generation did it very young, in their early twenties before they knew even before fight or flight had a chance to kick in… KIDDING!

Nah, really and truly any relationship whether ‘legal’ or living in sin, KIDDING, is not that easy to maintain but if you recall the why you fell in love in the first place and always remember that it was that love that got you into this whole thing then and only then will you have the ability to realize that, oops whatever did I do, nah… COMPROMISE; and now this is for all relationships to say out loud, happy spouse happy life! BIG SMILE HERE! Or HAPPY SIGNIFICANT OTHER HAPPY LIFE, see I am flexible, in too many ways to count, ha!

On that note of really congrats to all who love from an old fashioned couple of a man and woman, married forty-four years next month, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

One penny!

How many of you knew that an account for insurance could be considered delinquent if you accidentally paid a penny less?

I had been told via phone no bill to date that the amount for my new premium would be such and such and so I paid what they told me and then I found out to my horror that it was actually a penny more… okay no biggy in my mind I would just pay the extra penny in the following month premium, but no, not good enough!

When I called the Florida makes me Blue health insurance customer diss-service hotline they said without them receiving that penny I would be considered delinquent in paying them, huh?

They claimed it was due to me receiving a subsidy from Healthcare.Gov that they were such sticklers. Another fellow from an unrelated to them insurance brokerage that conveniently called after I had called Florida makes me Blue unhealthy stressful insurance company, with the name of Michael suggested it was due to my Multiple Sclerosis and that they did not want to pay for my pre-existing condition, probable but illegal now. My heart sunk, but I am not naïve, I thought that could be the case.

Thus one of the many reasons for Healthcare.Gov, PS I went into my bill pay at my bank site and paid the damn penny! It will arrive by January 9^th since they still do not have electronic cooperation with my international bank that will be mailing them the penny check via snail mail, oh well…

They insisted this was their procedure, perhaps but it’s ridiculous!

We have excellent credit and had been with them all last year and paid on time always; this whole thing stinks in my opinion.

I was so upset that I called my bank to apologize for them having to send out a penny check.

Florida makes me Blue Insurance Company keeps requesting access to our checking account and we do not allow that, only direct deposit, not any third party withdrawals.

Fortunately, I will be on Medicare this July!

I almost wrote next year, boy time sure flies…

And Medicare is taken out of social security payments.

Moving on…

Yesterday our forty-something son has decided he wants to now have a live aboard sail boat and so thankfully many fine ships that he has seen online are in our area.

I said thankfully you see that is why he has been visiting a bit more often.

We took him via our new ride due to Gus and my equipment to the two different marinas at either end of our county.

And we ate on the run, literally burgers for lunch taken to a nearby park and pizza and salad picked up on our way home.

Not the healthiest of choices but than again not done that often, really!

I stayed mostly in the car with Gus in his crate, and Number One and Hubby went to talk to the yacht brokers. Not very energetic for my usual walk-about although, when I phone Hubby up I told him that Gus and I needed to stretch our legs and for Gus it was just in time since he also needed to relieve himself.

I needed to get out and walk and so I did.

It appears that my walking is helping this weight thingy a wee bit.

I am back into a size smaller in clothes, in fact these smaller sized pants are also baggy, how truly wonderful!

Walking always worked before and I suppose even with my three days a week of exercising and walking on as many days off from that as I can, my logical way to lose is going to work, been there done that!

I swear every time before I quit eight and half years ago finally my smoking I would quit and gain a ton of weight, and then due that I would go back to smoking and get skinny again and that happened I would say maybe six or seven times over the many years. I used make the joke that I was the white Oprah, hope that doesn’t sound racist, it isn’t meant to be. After all folks she is black (African American) and I am white (Caucasian), true?

Any-who, when I finally quit this time due to my MRI showing TIA’s, mini strokes, as well as lesions from the MS that is when I decided I had to try for good back on July 11, 2006.

And so sure enough the weight exploded and then the medications added to that and hypothyroid etc. so now I am fully medicated and all is somewhat stable, so I have the ability to become svelte and so I am determined!

Today we went out for errands at Sam’s Club for chlorine for the pool, coffee and extra virgin olive oil and gas.

Hubby went with Gus to get the gas and dropped me off for the other items.

The chlorine tablets weigh forty pounds so I asked for help and the man asked if he could put the container on my seat of my walker and I said sure it holds three hundred pounds, which I said under my breath I hope I never get to that!

I don’t think he heard me; in reality I could have said that in my head and just thought I said it out loud, I hope…

Not bad to push so I thought and I traipsed through the store on my mission to acquire my two other items, actually three two coffee canisters. After asking many people where they were, since it was only the second store that I had been in without Hubby in the last few years I was at a loss, but people were very helpful.

Even at the register when the man in front of me offered to put the chlorine container up for me at first I said that’s okay she could scan it, but I remembered my club card and MasterCard were in my purse under it and so he lifted it for me to remove my purse, I thanked him.

I pooped just past the exit and fortunately two store scooters were left there I chose the closest one and sat and called Hubby to let him know I was all done and very tired.

He offered to get me, but I insisted I would try to get to him only three parking spots away, in one of the so many handicap slots.

I made it!

But extreme exhaustion over took me and by the time we got to Home Depot where we thought Gus was allowed to romp on his lead, I had to decline and so we stayed behind in the car, me and Gus.

Hubby went in to get brass paint for an old lamp Number One brought down, it had been my marble swing lamp used on the upright Emerson piano I took lessons on in my childhood it had been stored up in his things for years, I had almost forgotten about it. I had gotten rid of so much stuff.

Hubby and I were able to clean the double marble base fairly easily, but the stem needed more and so the paint was a refreshing of the brass, but the gold paint makes it look new again. The new wiring was purchased at Ace and the new shade yet to be found will most likely be from Target or some other similar shop.

On that note of new hope, refurbishing old found remembrances, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask all of you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Busy, busy, busy!

Talk to you tomorrow this is very, very late!

Havanese or Shih Tzu that is the question?

Most all of the pics of puppies in either species/breeds look a lot like Gus. So we are wondering which he is, although, either or a little bit of either combined is fine with us.
Recently we have bumped into people who have or have had Shih Tzus and they have said that is what he is.
Thus what prompted my wondering mode.
 
Their personalities/temperaments are not at all dissimilar but their heritages and family groups are.
 
The Havanese is from Cuba and their country's dog, thus the name from Havana basically; while China claims the Shih Tzu meaning little lion or even Fu Dog, yes those iconic statue dogs of the Ming Dynasty that are collectibles.
 
I had a friend who collected them, may still be doing that!
 
And Shih Tzus are in a different group including Lapso Apsos.
Any-who, my point is that Havaneses are members of the Bichon family of the Tenerif dogs including Bichon Frise as well as Poodles, a fine group; and our sign from our Skipper’s reign here says “A house is not a home without a Bichon”, should we remove that sign or leave it?
 
“Legends regarding the Shih Tzu abound. One says that Buddha traveled with a little dog fitting the description of a Shih Tzu. As the story goes, one day, several robbers came upon the Buddha with the intent of robbing and murdering him. The little dog changed into a ferocious lion and ran off the robbers, saving Buddha's life. The lion then turned back into a fun-loving little dog, which the Buddha picked up and kissed. The white spot on the heads of many Shih Tzus supposedly marks the place where Buddha kissed his loyal friend.
 
Many also believe that Fu Dogs, the guardians of Buddhist temples, are representations of the Shih Tzu.”

http://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/shih-tzu#

 See the white star on Gus’s head, like in the allegory above, about Buddha’s kiss, I love that story!

So if you were me what would you do?

The sign is I suppose a moot point since Gus has not learned how to read, yet, and it is highly unlikely that he would ever… but who knows, stranger things have happened.

Many of his predecessors understood the spelling of the words, Milk Bone or cat, out, and ride in the car and other words that they would react to appropriately, all brilliant I suppose… and so far he has proven himself to also be one of those smarties-without-pants, come on folks he is a dog!

I heard those tsk-tsks!

On that silly note of asking you all to make this year more interactive, allow me to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask all of you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Gilchrist Park Art Festival!

 Crystals Thru Mitchell Goldman P.O. Box 624, Crystal Beach Florida 34681 #727-953-6053

 R.J. Oceans, Ross Jones #352-249-6279 Lobster and Crabs

 Octagon Sanctuary their Siberian Tiger

 Redeem Art, Young R. Yoo, # 404-596-1075, out of Suwanee GA

 

 Swing Shop too, Jerry Lashley, woodcrafter/designer #687-371-2523, out of Lithia Springs GA

 Hudson River Inlay, American Marquetry Studio #'s 845-567-9023, 845-594-3160, website: www.hudsonriverinlay.com  
email: clive@hudsonriverinlay.com

  Nautical Sand Sculptures, website: www.islandsandsculptures.com, email: nauticalsandsculptures@gmail.com # 941-735-8296 Marc DeMichele, 941-321-1091 Matt DeMichele, out of Sarasota Florida

 OLD HAT, band's name

Unique Boutique, original design handmade decor  www.facebook.com/ubfremont, email:ubfremont@gmail.com, 402-727-1410, out of Fremont Nebraska

Graham Metal Art. plasma cut, hand painted, dipped in marine poly, Bill Graham, email: 9kichita1@yahoo.com

    The above PICS of Hubby and Gus are from our first meal out at the Fish Market outdoor seating at Fishville AKA Fisherman's Village in Punta Gorda with Gus, he was 99% wonderful!

Gus on the way home, in his crate in our car; he really does love it!

On that note of sharing some good times for that is what floats our boat, allow us to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

A break from puppy love pics.

And no Gus has still stolen both our hearts, but I forgot to take picks while out and there you have it, not too untypical in parenting, no?

On our family vacations especially on the return trips to the same locales we took very few pictures, since we came to the conclusion that the taking of them interfered with our enjoyment of being there, and WOW this was way back in the 1970’s-80’s!

So although our sons have been full grown for many years our pictures from many vacations had diminished somewhat but not entirely in their later years.

I’m just saying at times taking too many PICS takes you out of the moment, but that’s just me, ya know?

Everyone do what you wish, it is just a consideration perhaps.

Moving on…

We just had a visit from one of the women from Canine Castaways with coupons from Petco, apparently if you adopt from one of their rescue promotions they give you a book of coupons for their products, how nice is that?

Any-who, that is why this is later than usual tonight… so please forgive.

On that note of much hope and love spread heavily around allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!