Having Mom Over For Dinner

As Joseph was growing up he has wondered … sometimes… just how I knew certain things.  I never revealed my secrets!  As a Mom you just ‘know’ certain things and have enough life experience to figure out the rest.   Yes, he did figure some things out as time went by and he got older … but until he has a child of his own … my secrets are mine!

I could NOT resist sharing this here because you mom’s out there will totally get it and remember the many times that you got the point across without a confrontation.  Game Over!

Enjoy!

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HAVING MOM OVER FOR DINNER

Ben invited his mother over for dinner.  During the course of the meal, Ben’s mother couldn’t help but notice how beautiful Ben’s roommate, Jennifer, was.  Ben’s Mom had long been suspicious of the platonic relationship between Ben and Jennifer, and this had only made her more curious.

Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between Ben and Jennifer than met the eye.

Reading his mom’s thoughts, Ben volunteered, ‘I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you Jennifer and I are just roommates.’

About a week later, Jennifer came to Ben saying, ‘Ever since your mother came to dinner, I’ve been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. You don’t suppose she took it, do you?’

Ben said,  ‘Well, I doubt it, but I’ll send her an e-mail just to be sure. So he sat down and wrote:

Dear Mom,

I’m not saying that you ‘did’ take the gravy ladle from the house, I’m not saying that you ‘did not’ take the gravy ladle.  But the fact remains that one has been missing over since you were here for dinner.

Love, Ben

Several days later, Ben received an email back from his mother that read:

Dear Son,

I’m not saying that you ‘do’ sleep with Jennifer, and I’m not saying that you ‘do not’ sleep with Jennifer.  But the fact remains that if Jennifer is sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the gravy ladle by now.

Love, Mom

LESSON OF THE DAY -

“NEVER LIE TO YOUR MOTHER”

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I Believe

A year ago today I lost my precious friend Cynthia.

A Birth Certificate shows that we were born.
A Death Certificate shows that we died.
Pictures show that we lived!
Have a seat . . .
Relax . . .
And read this slowly…

~~~~~ ^^^ ~~~~~

I Believe…  
That just because two people argue, that 
doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. 
And just because they don’t argue, that doesn’t mean they do love each other.

I Believe… 
That sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry,  
but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe… 
That we don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I Believe… 
That no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe… 
That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. 
 Same goes for true love.

I Believe…  
That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life..

I Believe… 
That it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I Believe… That you should always leave loved ones with 
loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe… 
That you can keep going long after you think you can’t.

I Believe… 
That we are responsible for what
 we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe… That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe… 
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe… 
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe… 
That my best friend and I can do anything, or nothing, and have the best time.

I Believe… That sometimes the people you expect to kick you 
When you’re down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe… 
That maturity have more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had, and what you’ve learned from them… and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I Believe… 
That it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. 
Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe… 
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I Believe… 
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe… 
That you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I Believe… 
Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I Believe…
That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.

I Believe… 
That even when you think you have no more to give, if a friend cries out to you…you will find the strength to help.

I Believe… 
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe…
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I Believe… The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything. They just make the most of everything.

Thank You God for all the wonderful people who help us throughout the journey of life…

GOD BLESS YOU

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Up Time America!

There is no need to say more after watching this!  It’s Up Time. Well said!

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Understanding Cancer

I ran across this information and have not confirmed that it came from Johns Hopkins.  However it is information that is widely known and now compiled in one article.

To remain healthier and/or if I was diagnosed with cancer, I would want to understand everything possible.  I believe we are only as healthy as the food we choose to eat.  I liken our bodies to a Ferrari.  If I owned one I would never put substandard oil, gas, fluids in that vehicle.  Why?  It would not run at its full potential and would make the parts wear out quicker.  Our bodies are our God given Ferrari that will eventually wear out, of that we are certain.  But does it have to work overtime combating the chemicals and substandard food that we choose to eat?  It only makes our parts break down faster and sometime they cannot be repaired.

It is imperative that we become conscious eaters. Pay attention to the quality and the quantity of the food you eat.  You will be healthier for it!

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AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO COMBAT CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINSIS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc., and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

WHAT CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

a)   Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

b)   Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soymilk, cancer cells are being starved.

c)   Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d)   A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells.

e)   To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

f)     Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water–best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment.  Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

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Make Dreams Come True

Little did I know how magical Disney World would be.

Epcot JosephJoseph was born in 1986.  Epcot opened in 1982.  I decided that I was going to take him there when he was 10 so that he would really appreciated it more.  I had been to Disneyland (California) so knew that it would be fun.  Somewhere along the way I kept moving other things in front of it.

Then I married a Floridian.  I didn’t realize just how imbedded the park culture is for those who live near Orlando.  And of course Vic’s favorite cruise line is none other than the Big Red Boat aka Disney!

Needless to say last year when we decided to take all the kids to Orlando for Thanksgiving and go to 4 parks in 3 days, it still hadn’t sunk in that one of my dreams was coming true.  So the planning began.

We had children, grandchildren and extended family coming from all over Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Kentucky. There were rooms to reserve, plane tickets to book,  food to cook and itinerary to implement.

Once everyone started to arrive on Wednesday and gathered at the hotel you could see the planning in action.  Thursday morning we all got up and went to Epcot.  As Vic and I pulled into the parking lot and I saw that big silver globe, I got tears in my eyes.  It was a very unexpected reaction.  Here I was on property with my son in tow, realizing a small dream 23 years ago.

It seemed so simple and not a big deal on the surface.  I mean really… I have taken my son on many trips from coast to coast (14 states at last count), to almost every ski destination where American flies, to Italy with Vic and the kids.  So it wasn’t like we sat at home and did nothing for the past 23 years.  But here I was.  At Epcot with Joseph, trying to control the tears in my eyes.

What I realize, now that I reflect, is this.  Yes, I had a dream, a wish. But I had not taken any significant action.  Yes, I wanted to take him when he was 10, and there were a lot of reasons why that didn’t happen then.  Disney’s tag line is “Make a Dream Come True”.   Now how can anyone make a dream come true if they are not taking any action?  A dream remains just that until it moves into the goal column.  Once it is a goal you have to take action to make that dream come true.

Epcot - FamilyOur goal was to take our children and grandchildren snow skiing for Christmas this year.  For Vic’s family it would have been snow skiing for the first time.  So Thanksgiving was not on the family get together radar, but because we lost Austin this year and then Tyler and Savannah were blessed with another arrival (Nathan) and a due date of December 21st… that snow skiing goal got moved to another year.  So we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with the children this year instead and Orlando popped up as an option.  So you see, making that dream list is always a good thing.  The seed gets planted.  The intention is set.  Then all that has to happen is to move that dream to the goal list and take action.

I can tell you that this trip was better than I could have imagined 23 years ago and it had nothing to do with where we stayed or the money that was spent.  It had everything to do with the experience.    Joseph really understood the magic of Disney.  How Walt Disney was an amazing visionary where there was … no dream too big.  Disney’s dreams were off the chart.  Each park was unique.  Each park touched young and old.  And if you looked around there was no age limit.  You can go time and time again and not see it all.  And if you finally do see it all … you just might be showing it to your children and experiencing the magic all over again.

So become your own Imagineer.  Make YOUR dreams come true.

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Sending Love

Many have asked what does that heart picture look like … so here it is.  My mothers 9 grandchildren sending her love on her 80th birthday.

In birth order:

Joseph, Natalie and husband Shaun, Laura, Jessica, Philip, Michael, Emma, Hope and James.

2009 Kids Heart new

Oh … and then there are the grandpups too!

grandpups

Enjoy!

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Reminder to Buy American Products

My cousin Leigh sent me an email today from her friend Nita.  It is so easy to buy American if we just …THINK.  Here is what she wrote:

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In case you’re not already doing this.

A physics teacher in high school, once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn’t slow a train very much, a billion of them would.  With that thought in mind… Good idea . . . one light bulb at a time . . . .

I was in Lowes the other day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments.  They were all made in China.  The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there.  They were made in USA.  Start looking.

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else – even his or her job.  So, after reading this email, I think this lady is on the right track.  Let’s get behind her!

My grandson likes Hershey’s candy.  I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now.  I do not buy it any more.  My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico now.  I have switched to Crest.  You have to read the labels on everything.

This past weekend I was at Kroger.  I needed 60 W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets.  I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled, “Everyday Value”.  I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats – they were the same except for the price.  The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in – get ready for this – the USA in a company in Cleveland, Ohio.

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here.

So on to another aisle – Bounce Dryer Sheets . . . yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada.  The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA!  I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA – the job you save may be your own or your neighbors.

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time!  Stop buying from overseas companies

(We should have awakened a decade ago . . . )

Let’s get with the program . . . help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the U . S . A .

Sounds like a good idea to me.

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The Mom Song

Let’s pay homage to the hardest working woman in the world … MOM …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxTSNwQUtVM

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Cynthia Thrailkill Ray Memorial Service

Lisa Johnson and Cynthia Thrailkill Ray

It has been a busy few days.  The body found in Sherman was positively identified as Cynthia.  For her husband Allen, family and friends the news was bittersweet.  The knowledge that she has been found instead of wondering for days, weeks or years will help us all to move thru our grief.  

Cynthia and Allen had a home in both Dallas and Austin. Cynthia loved Dallas and she equally loved Austin and the Hill County. And, since each of their homes had its unique set of friends, co-workers and family, there will be two memorial services for Cynthia. Arrangements for the Austin memorial service are pending.  The service in the Dallas area will be on Wednesday. 

She was loved dearly.  This one moment does not define her life.  Those whose lives have been touched by Cynthia know this and will always be blessed to have had her in their lives.

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Have You Seen Cynthia Ray?

Many of you may know that my dear friend is missing.  She disappeared without a trace in Dallas 8 days ago, Monday April 6th.  The Dallas Police have no new leads at this time.  It is like she has vanished into thin air.

CYNTHIA THRAILKILL RAY

Age 54     Silver Gray Hair       Blue Eyes      5’5”      110#

 Car:   2001 Honda Accord SUV

Personalized TEXAS Tags  IXIA

 If you have any information about Cynthia Ray, contact the Austin Police or Missing Persons Detective C’Mon Wingo at 214-671-4248  or call the Dallas police Special Investigations Unit at  214-671-3661.

Since Cynthia is a dual resident of Austin and Dallas the local stations have taken an interest in her story.  On Tuesday night,  KEYE TV in Austin ran this human interest story with Allen and good friend Jack Gilmore and on Wednesday night, KXAN TV produced a story with additional information from her sister Kay. 

 

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