Food and Satisfaction of Life

Have you noticed that magazines/newspapers are marketing health instead of dieting now days? Use to be they peddled dieting as if it were the best thing on earth. Today, they want you to be “healthy”, not thin (even though in their world, health is understood to mean thin.)

Let’s look at the word FOOD. It is close to GOOD, isn’t it? We like good so why wouldn’t we like food? Food satisfies like nothing else in life! We have a tough time with our boss, food satisfies the stress they cause. The weather is crappy, warm food tastes especially good. Why do they bake cookies in the mall…because it smells good and makes our brain happy…food=good. Does anyone want to resist the smell and taste of popcorn in the movie theater? Of course not, we are there to be entertained…mind and mouth. We get cheap tickets then spend $30 on popcorn, candy and drinks. We understand how important food is to our satisfaction of the movie. If you ask the couple that didn’t buy any food, they will say that movie was okay, but ask the person who bought popcorn, candy and drinks and the movie takes on a whole different satisfaction and excitement.

Yes, we all know what it was like to be thin once but those days are gone. Can’t we embrace the milk and cookies and enjoy a good night’s sleep?

What Do I Know?

I have been thinking about the things I really do know and came up with this list:

I know the lasting pain of losing someone you thought you would be growing old with

I know the joy of growing things from seed, including children

I know the sheer joy of hearing a young child laugh and know it is the sweetest music to my ears

I know the pompous satisfaction of getting something of high quality for a bargain price

I know that living, loving and laughing are not easy for any of us...we have to choose to remember the little things that make life worth living, love worth sharing and laughing worth the effort

I know that most of us are more alike than different and we experience a majority of the same things in life

I know as a woman, when I put my mind to something, it gets done. I know there is nothing stronger than the will of a woman on a mission

I know the smell of a spring rain has an uplifting effect on my well being, the sound of crunching leaves under my feet helps bring out the little girl in me and I still wait with grand anticipation for the first snow

Memories

What is it that stirs our memories so much that we dream of things that were with different characters? Funny how we can keep things straight when we are awake but in a dream state, everything gets fuzzy and the two worlds seem to blend into one. It is good that our minds tend to forget things in the past and we move on. In dreams, the emotions can come back full force or you can be detached from them. I wonder if it is a choice or just our state of mind at the time of the dream? Do we really forget and move on or do we just stop thinking of the memory? Lots of questions and no answers today.

Too impatient to Wait for Spring

I love tulips so about a month ago (actually two months) if you count the month I had them tucked in the dark place in the refrigerator to fake them into thinking it was winter. A short while ago, okay? Can we continue with the story? Thank you.


A very short while ago, I decided I wanted to have tulips before the frost cleared in Colorado. Frost isn't clear until the end of May and I was determined not to have to wait that long this year. I learned how to force bulbs to bloom online. Yes, amazing all the wonderful glorious things you can find to do online. It is so simple, I can't imagine why I didn't do this years ago.


You put the tulip bulbs (not all bulbs have to be faked into winter) in the coldest part of the refrigerator for a few weeks..mine were there a month just because I kept forgetting to get potting soil. They will start to get stems...when that happens,you put them stem side up in a flower pot, cover them with soil and water. Put them in a sunny window each day and WHAMMO! You have tulips in about 3-4 weeks..the stems work their way up through the soil in about 5 days and it is exciting watching things grow so quickly...yes, I actually watched them grow..so what!


That is the easy part. One word of caution is that these flowers/stems/leaves love sun so they will be stratching at the door each day as soon as the sun comes up...I AM WARNING YOU! As I write, they are driving me crazy with all their noise and chatter and constantly asking if it is warm enough yet to go outside on the patio.

With it being only 23 degrees, I should let them out and maybe it would teach them a lesson about patience too...but no, I enjoy their loveliness too much to destroy them just to teach them a valuable lesson.

Sunshine

I am not sure exactly why but sunshine seems to make everything better. We have had very low temperatures for the last few days but today, even though the temps are much the same as the previous two days, today seems somewhat "Spring-like" due to the bright and glorious sunshine we are experiencing. It seems to motivate people and somehow brings a smile to their face more readily than when that bright yellow ball is covered. I am sure there are a ton of people that would just chalk it up to lack of Vitamin D in our culture but I would like to think that our real lives revolve around the sun and not the other way around. Get out and enjoy some sunshine today!

Genuine Nice People

I went to see my favorite computer guru yesterday to take him my old computer for recycling...not to be burned in China and send toxic waste to their air, but for others in my local area. He is such a dear person....kind to the core. I think we are all amazed (and not always in a good way) about how different people can be. I was reading a blog earlier about a woman that took books (not worn out but expensive, nearly new books) to the library in her area and she met the most lovely (sarcastic) person that was, shall we say, less than friendly. We all have to be aware that what we do in public, whether we are getting paid for it or not, can make the moments good or not so good for others. Is it so much effort to put on a smile? Do people forget to be grateful for all the things they have...no, not your new shoes, silly. The things and people in your life that make it worth living each and every day. To all that make my life better just by being in it, I salute you and wish I could hug all of you!

Life Changing Computer Crash

I realize after this happened to me, lots of people have been in a situation far worse than mine when their computer gives up and says, "I can't handle all this data" and without any consideration for the user, it dies! No warning sign saying I am having a bad day and can't take it anymore...no warning of danger like Will Robinson received...nothing! I know I should be more sympathetic toward technology, since I have three companies going simultaneously.. unfortunately, I am having a tough time finding that plug in anywhere in my brain. My patience got stretched to almost it's limit after spending four hours with HP gurus on the phone since I had the "smartfriend" extended warranty. The accents were so heavy, I spent more time trying to understand the person than actually being able to help solve my own issue. It wasn't their issue, it was mine. I bought a new hard drive from a company the HP recommended and when it arrived, it was clear that it wouldn't fit in the slot nor did it look anything like what I just took out of the computer. The hard drive was for a laptop, and since I gave them the number to my computer and mentioned it four times, it seemed logical that they would know that. Clearly, that was too much for their computer brains to process. On the phone again to the hard drive company and got that taken care of quickly. Another hard drive is on its way and the laptop hard drive was being returned, but of course, now we have the weekend and a government holiday to wait through. When the second one arrived, it was the correct size. Didn't seem to tough to put in...even for a scaredy cat like me. Installation complete then got on the phone to HP as the computer monitor was saying that it couldn't find the hard drive. What?! That can't be! That one was the correct size...too bad it was defective. Yep, another joy of technology companies...they don't always check product before they send it to a customer.

I had to take it to a local guru company and get it tested so back on the phone again to the hard drive company to let them know that this one was defective. Got a return authorization number and off that one went in the mail.

I finally got a good hard drive then was able to get to the point of being able to put in the recovery disks that were from another company HP recommended, because my computer was 5 years old and they don't have recovery disks for that "old" a computer. The disks are not free even if you bought the license from MicroSoft for the original software. So, got those started and the first disk went great...then the screen prompts me for the second disk but the CD tray won't open automatically. I have to put a pin in the tiny hole to open the tray, which starts the entire process all over again. Lovely! After two cycles of that, I felt like I nurtured this box as much as a human being should be allowed and it was time for a new computer. Today, I am a proud owner of another brand of computer.

Some things I had to retrain my brain to do:

Stop pounding on the keyboard when it auto corrects a word that was just fine that way I typed it.

No more slamming the keyboard tray into the desk like it weighed 80 pounds.

I can no longer kick the CPU unit when it is taking so long for something to download. I tricked my brain with this one as I bought a laptop, so I can throw the mother board, keyboard and all the guts together, when it is appropriate.

For now, technology and I are are back trying to communicate but, I'm afraid the relationship will never be the same.

P.S. Will be working diligently to get my money back from hard drive and disk companies that HP recommended.