You Make It Challenging For Me To Stay on My Heart Chakra If You...

...use a Flexileash on a dog weighing more than 10 pounds.
...use a Flexileash on a dog weighing less than 10 pound and the dog manages to get loose and runs barking and growling at Oakley (57 lbs and still growing).
.....you make it really hard if you do the above and laugh and say, "Oh, he won't hurt your dog!"while your dog runs while barking and growling with flattened ears at my dog. Oakley likely won't do anything except inform your dog that his average poop is bigger than him, but I can't vouch for other canines.
....you automatically forward everything that gets forwarded to you to me without looking at it. I have no interest in divisive politics,  9/11 photos, or a lot of the schlocky inspirational bits floating around out there. I also don't like being part of a massive CC list.
...don't use your turn signals.
...call dibsies on my parking space by pulling right up behind me not leaving me enough room to back out.
...post gawdawful heartwrenching videos on Facebook of animals being abused or euthanized. Or worse yet, articles about techniques to do the latter. People, that's why I volunteer for a rescue group and insisted on adopting Oakley and Orion from shelters.
...bring really small children into restaurants that aren't prepared to handle them.
... think Michelle Bachmann would be a good president. Migraines are the least of the issues about why I don't think she should be in office.
Thank you. I feel better now.

If At First You Don't Succeed....

     On one hand, the traditional end to this bit of wisdom is "try, try, again." On the other, there's W.C. Field's thought, "Don't be a dammed fool about it. Give up."
     I fell off the nutrition wagon with a bump a month ago. Today, however, I climb back on and tie myself to its side. The specters of my parent's health issues haunt me with a vengance. My mother's passage at 51 from a heart attack (I turn 49 this fall); my father surrendering to his heart disease and going on disability at 50. Arthritis racked his last years, which lead to him consuming massive amounts of acetomenephine on top of a prescription analgesic that contained the same. He did his blood sugar levels no favors by washing them down with Scotch. We still don't know how he lived to 69.
      While there are practical concerns, there is also the question of vanity. As I left a ladies' room earlier this week, I had a good look at my back side. While it's necessary to accept that menopause does lead to changes in one's body such as hip spread, it is still disconcerting to look in the mirror and feel as if an F-16 could use your butt as a landing strip.
       So with all due respect to Mr. Fields, we try again. I'm shooting for 50 grams of carbs and all the water I can hold today. Oh, and my nightly bite of 72% chocolate.
         On we go again.
      

The Last Comments on Casey Anthony

      Well, Casey Anthony walked. Even though a few of the jurors indicated that they feel that she did it--you know, murdered her daughter--they just didn't have the last piece of evidence needed to feel right about a capitol murder conviction. A ton of circumstantial evidence could have lead to a manslaughter conviction, but no on the death penalty.
      Bottom line: yes, she more than likely did it, or played a part in Caylee's demise. However, the state failed to meet the burden of proof required to meet the criteria for a death penalty case.  Plain and simple.
       I hope some good comes out of it--better child protection laws, ways to make it easier to surrender a child for adoption without condemnation, an open dialog about what parenting can take out of a person. I'd rather see the energy go there instead of setting up yet another hateful page on Facebook.

Waiting for the Next One

     At this rate, Terre Haute is likely to get a wing dedicated to Illinois pols.
     On Monday, eleven women and one man found former governor Rod Blagojevich guilty on 17 of 20 charges. Let's see, 10 wire fraud, several conspiracies, two counts they were hung on, and one not guilty. Arrangements for sentencing are in progress. He's likely going to be a guest of the Feds for 8-10 years.
     Meanwhile,  ex-governor George Ryan, currently at Terre Haute, was released for a few hours to say goodbye to his wife of over 50 years, Lura Lynn. She had lived with cancer and fibrocystic lung disease, hanging on with teeth and fingernails to see the day when he left prison for good. Her body gave up long before her spirit did. She passed on Monday night. He'll be out in two years, I think.
     Illinois is looking at the dubious distinction of having two former governors behind bars at the same time. I can't think of another state to say that.

    

Decluttering

   Been on a bit of a decluttering rampage the last few days.  Found several bottles of mouthwash that came with from our old house, the one we moved from 13 years ago Labor Day Weekend. Found several coffee canisters that we don't need.
    Decluttered on Facebook, too. Dropped out of several groups I'd been added to without my permission and for very obscure reasons. I don't unfriend unless there's a good reason to do so, such as someone who made personal attacks on several real life friends, or a spammer.
    Interesting theory: that on an energetic level, your house represents you, and clutter represents weight that you want to lose. So will this take a couple of pounds off my thighs? Worth a shot....

Hey, Vancouver, Was That Really Necessary?

    Watched a little of the Stanley Cup final last night. Congrats to both sides on a well-played game. Unfortunately, someone had to lose, and in this case, it was Vancouver. Boston won.
    The disappointing part: rioting. In Vancouver of all places. I woke to reports of smashed windows and overturned cars. Why? Because the Canucks lost. Not because of some lamebrained social policy or a tax increase, but losing a hockey game.
    It garnered attention. I flipped around at the top of the hour. The damage was serious enough that the story bumped Rep. Weiner's porn star friend a couple of notches down the pecking order. And this was over a hockey game.
    Yes, it's a bitter disappointment. But can you imagine what would happen if they'd put that energy towards protesting something more life changing?

Saffire, Karma, and Elizabeth Edwards

      Hee, hee, hee. Are you acquainted with Saffire? A/K/A The Uppity Blueswomen? You should be. They told a lot of truth for a lot of women in their 25 year run. My favorite song? (readers with delicate sensibilities, plug your ears) "Bitch With a Bad Attitude." ("I'm turning you into the IRS; I'm telling the cops where you keep your stash.") It gets played once a year on my NPR station's Mutha's Day blues special (the day before Mothers' Day).
      Hee, hee, hee. You know about Karma, right? As TV sage Earl Hickey put it, "Do bad things, and bad things happen. Do good things, and good things happen."
     Hee, hee, hee. And you know about Elizabeth Edwards, wife of ex-senator John Edwards? The one who passed in December? The one whose final days were an example of grace under fire between her life-altering illness and finding out that the former Senator Edwards had started a relationship with a staffer while she was undergoing treatment for cancer? And had a baby with the staffer? And lied through his teeth about it? And faces a trial for having misused campaign funds to hide his mistress and child?
    Well, one of Elizabeth's loose ends that she was able to tie up before her departure was this  video telling everything that she knew. Her friends have handed it over to prosecutors.
    Hee, hee, hee.