Special people

Just as I was getting over another extended family member passing on, we got word of another who passed away yesterday.  It is never a happy time to celebrate the life of someone who has passed on, but it is especially difficult around the holidays.

Shortly after getting together for Thanksgiving at the home of my sister-in-law's parents house, where she and her mom made a very delicious meal and we had a great time, her mom passed away suddenly.  The family once again gathered to celebrate her life, surrounded by her favorite things.  Her passing on really touched me, she was such a special lady who was once so full of life. She was never the same after her son overdosed on Thanksgiving Day two years ago.  The irony hit me as we sat in her home on Thanksgiving Day and especially on the day the celebrated her life.  The decades of family gatherings she hosted also flooded my thoughts.  Awesome memories!

Life is fragile.  Seems like all I write about is death and food.

It has been a long time since I have counted the weeks we have not had running water.  The process continues and there is no end in sight.  My sense of humor sometimes escapes me.  Imagine living without running water . . . it has been since October.  My husband has gone through this ordeal relatively painlessly since everything is a fun adventure to him and most of the time that mentality has worked for me, but I do lose it at times.  That is usually when we visit my mom and feel like we are at a retreat with a spa.  Looks like we won't be ready for a new pump purchase by the end of December, so . . . my Christmas wish will probably not come true.  

Oh well, it is not the end of the world especially in light of celebrating the lives of two very special people who have touched my life in a meaningful way. 

Cherish those special people in your life . . . you never know how long they will be in your life.

Hope you are having a festive holiday season!

Awesome Thanksgiving Week

The Captain and I packed a bag or two for ourselves and Kiki and off we went to spend some time with my mom.  It was nice to not experience anxiety over not having running water and a general mess I have grown weary of dealing with.  My mom's house became more of a relaxing vacation retreat and we stayed longer than expected as we luxuriated in "normal" surroundings. 

We really enjoyed visiting with my brother and his family on Thanksgiving Day.  The food was awesome and we had a very satisfying pig out day compliments of my sister-in-law and her mother, who are excellent cooks.  It was a beautiful day to hang out on the screened porch and savor the gorgeous Florida weather, although there was a bit of a nip in the air.

The only negative aspect of staying at mom's house is no internet, although it was nice to get away from behind the monitor and do silly stuff like play cards.

Yes, it was difficult to come back home to less than comfortable surroundings, but life circumstances are not always pleasant.  The Captain ordered the necessary materials to work toward getting the well working again and everything should come in by the end of the week.  Hopefully, we will have running water by Christmas!

Just another year

Another year is coming to an end.  I think this year has flown by faster than any other year I have experienced.  Time flies by when you are having fun.

Another month is almost over and we are still without running water.  For sure it has proved to be interesting having to live like this.  At least we have managed "for the most part" to maintain a sense of humor through the whole ordeal.  I wrote a post on my blog Peace, Love, Happiness about "Teetering on the Edge" of sanity and insanity.  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger is the saying that comes to mind.

Actually, we are feeling rather grateful these days with all the news being the disaster of Obamacare and the nightmare stories of families losing their health care coverage and having to replace what they had with an over the top and budget busting expense that came as a complete shock.  I've officially turned off the 24/7 news cycle from Fox News in favor of the Countdown to Christmas on the Hallmark Channel.  

Sometimes you have to turn off reality to give the mind some space to wander somewhere other than problems and bad news.

I'm actually looking forward to Thanksgiving with the family this year.  Since my brother's family has been in transition moving to another state and the kids scattering from one place to another, the normal holiday routine has been off the past year or so.  My food blog, Gina's Italian Kitchen, has been a busy place since I've been in the festive holiday menu mode in anticipation of the big pig out day.  Check out my Thanksgiving post with lots of links to recipes and awesome holiday inspiration.

As most of the country is dealing with snow and cold weather, we are enjoying a very pleasant, mild autumn with lower humidity.  I'm feeling so blessed to have been born and deeply rooted in Florida!

Hoping everything is wonderful in your world!

Happy October!

Well, we are finally there.  Life as we knew it is all but gone.

Obamacare is here!

Our economy is changing, the job market is becoming confined to part time jobs and the rumor is that the most "affordable" health care is $360 per month for an individual.  How can a middle class family with children, a mortgage, a car payment, etc. afford that?

I don't think anyone really understands all of this mess completely, but as the layers of information are peeled, it does not look good at all.  Of course, the good news is that those who could not afford insurance can now have it.  But don't we already have local health care for the unfortunate people who can't afford insurance?  I really don't think I live in an unusually generous area of the US!

Why couldn't the powers that be just improve health care benefits for those who qualified?  

Why did everyone have to be lumped together and our economy turned upside down?

Is Robin Hood making everyone else pay for those who can't afford it?

I really hate what is happening to our country!

Anyway, I've been updating my blogs with new posts and messed up music.  I'll be getting to all of them and will be working on them on a daily basis.  I have missed writing so much and happy to be back again.

The music blog is really messed up, but I've decided to fix the whole thing, no matter how long it takes.

Happy October my friends!

What makes your blood boil?

For me it is a toss up between telephone solicitors and politics.

To be honest, we rarely get calls from telephone solicitors anymore.  Back in the day, I think they had radar for calling at the wrong time.  Thank God for the invention of caller ID and the "unavailable" tag . . . and DoNotCall.com.

The world of politics has become so bizarre it is unbelievable.  Day by day, the United States is looking more like a joke to the rest of the world.  The media has gleefully jumped in to further weave the web of deception, incompetence and sheer lunacy.

Distracted drivers really make my blood boil.  One person's "important" text message can possibly result in the death of another.  And I think that everyone is in way too much of a hurry.  Why not plan things out and leave a few minutes early and not put another person's life at risk because of the stupidity of another constantly running late and driving crazy.

How about the price of everything going up . . . but the paycheck stays the same?

What most people call "entertainment" these days would have been considered porn back in the day.  I'm so grateful that I was able to experience a relatively "normal" childhood.  My parents worried about the length of a man's hair . . . today's parents have to worry about their children who want to watch the MTV Video Awards with so little left to the imagination.  

The food police make my blood boil . . . they need to worry about what their children are doing and forget about what we are eating.  I've gone on about this one before . . . it really upsets me!

This morning's news revealed that Ariel Castro, the Ohio man who kidnapped and kept three girls hostage for a decade, committed suicide.  Finally some good news . . . he saved the taxpayers of Ohio a ton of money.

What is making your blood boil today?

Rainy summer, falling trees and stuff

It has been a busy year that is flying by so fast!  I'm in the process of consolidating my websites with my blogs behind the scenes and learning advanced computer program coding to make the job easier for me.

Something that has really irritated me is the way music player/storage sites have been changing and messing up my blog posts that contain music.  YouTube has majorly contributed to messing up my music blog that I'm not sure if I am going to fix or not.  Every single post has been messed up by these music services.  Maybe I'll fix it in the future by making it a new addition to my website.

My current project has been fixing the music on my blog Peace, Love, Happiness.  It has proven to be a major project (although not as major as the music blog would be), but I am learning new ways of doing things.

The Captain and I are also working on our new online store.  Needless to say, there are not enough hours in the day!

Florida has had one of the most rainy summers I have ever experienced, keeping us inside and working on our computer projects.  Although we tried starting a vegetable garden, it has been nearly impossible . . . but we did manage to not kill different varieties of hot peppers that are starting to produce some very tasty peppers.

During one of the downpours, a huge limb from a very mature oak tree fell on our oversized storage shed.  We haven't checked out the damage inside . . . I'm almost scared to check it out.  One of the sections looks like an accordion that may have damaged some of the treasures we were planning to sell in our online store.  Thank God it missed our house and we are all safe!

So how is your summer going?

 

Real life soap operas

Updating my blogs has come to a screeching halt.  The ongoing saga of unbelievable arrogant actions by the Obama administration that increases daily has captured my full attention.

When President Obama was first elected, although I did not vote for him, I wanted him to succeed.  I love my country and want everyone to experience a prosperous and productive society.  It is my belief that no matter what side of the political fence you sit on, living in prosperous times is good for the country, no matter who makes it happen.

However, starting with the railroading of Obamacare, I was smelling socialist rats.  Power is a dangerous thing.  I keep thinking about the "hope and change" Fidel Castro promised the Cuban people so many years ago.  All of a sudden, President Obama's campaign slogan bothered me greatly and every day that passes shows that the political agenda that promised change has ushered in incredible political arrogance and a disregard for honesty.

His wish to lead the "most transparent government ever" has proven to be a joke of biblical proportions.

What the Internal Revenue Service has put those who oppose his views through has to be the most unethical practice in the history of our government.  Dirty politics at its finest with an extraordinary arrogance for breaking the law.  How about winning an election fairly and honestly?

And the IRS is going to administer Obamacare?  Now I'm truly scared for the future of the United States.

Then there are the privacy issues on many levels.  This administration deems themselves superior to obeying the law when it comes to snooping on people . . . in this case, the media who have worshiped and adored the Obama administration to the point of glossing by events that should have been on the nightly news for everyone to see and highlighting those events that made the administration look good.  

The good news is that some of the media are now seeing what many have been thinking and saying.  At least Freedom of the Press is still important to them.  It should be.  I don't think that there is anyone out there who just wants to hear what the government wants us to hear.  Hopefully, our society has not become that politically weak where they base their precious votes to the soundbites on the news.  Or have we?

Pay attention to what is going on people . . . we all may live to regret being led to a place we don't want to live in . . . no matter who we are or how much money we have.