Cancel Culture and Vaccines

 Yeah, 2 big subjects this week. But 2 important subjects.

Cancel Culture. Just saw a really good panel on it. Everyone of us has said or posted something we really shouldn’t have. We’ve taken pictures with things we maybe shouldn’t have. As we gain wisdom which comes from age and experience we cringe. The worst thing about Cancel Culture - there is no room for apologies and discussion of why it was wrong in the first place. Very few enjoy upsetting other people. Oh when we are younger their is this feeling that we are exerting our independence from our parents. I grew up with a mother who was racist and anti LGBTQ. I was blessed with a father who taught me people were people and there was absolutely nothing wrong with a person of a different race or in the LBGTQ community. But I still did and said things as a teenager that embarrass me and I have worked hard to purge myself of. Thank Heavens there was no Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc when I was that age. I’m 58 and still put both feet in my mouth sometimes. It’s okay to say that someone is wrong but explain in a non-confrontational way. Give them a chance to grow.

Vaccines. I got my first Coronavirus vaccine yesterday. Phizer if you’re curious. Not that I have enough exposure to worry about. It is the right thing to do! I got it not for me, though not having my lungs fill with fluid isn’t a bad reason, I got it for people like my Dad that was on anti rejection drugs for a heart transplant. People like my husband that had scars on his lungs from severe flu complications. I got it to reach 75% herd immunity. Yes my arm is sore and I got like 12 hours of sleep but even if the 2nd shot makes me run a fever? Big deal! I’ll take ibuprofen and get through it. I don’t like wearing a mask - claustrophobia and can’t stand things covering my nose and mouth but I wear the thing when I need to. Since hubby died I’ve developed a I don’t care if I die but I’m not going looking for death. When he comes knocking it will be okay.

A weekend away.

 I took this past weekend off from Social Media. Oh I checked it to keep up with friends and news but no commenting and no posting. It gave me time. I also realized somethings.

1. Americans are used to thinking that the USA is invincible. I think the Coronavirus Pandemic has proved that was a load. 1/6 proved it. The invincibility that is assumed is just a thin veneer and when that is broken there are some who fall into a fear response. 

2. Back when the virus first hurt the USA I predicted 18 months to get it under control. It was announced last week that every adult over 18 would be eligible for a vaccine. That’s exactly 18 months. We now have vaccines and treatments that if given soon enough prevent hospitalization and all the vaccines have a good chance of keeping folks out.

3. No matter how much we hope Coronavirus will go away it won’t. Because it’s a virus. It has the ability to mutate and to hibernate- it’s a characteristic of all viruses. So it’s not going away any more than influenza is gone - we just know how to manage it now in most cases it’s an inconvenience instead of fatal.

4. People are too entrenched in a political party. Will I automatically vote for the Democrat in 2024? No it depends on the candidates. In 2016 I was really underwhelmed by both candidates and frankly I voted for the one I could live with.

5. People use their religion to justify anything. But that isn’t anything new - The Spanish Inquisition anyone? Religion is to bring you peace not to beat others over the head with. Even the Bible says to go to your closet to pray otherwise you are an ass in the eyes of the Lord.  All religions have been corrupted by those in power.

6. The United States of America will not stand forever if we, it’s citizens, don’t remember and cherish that this country is a melting pot of cultures, religions, and races. We need to realize that the Constitution clearly says in order to form a more perfect union. The founding fathers knew it wasn’t perfect and would never be perfect. They realized we should always strive for better. To always go forward, be more inclusive and not ever go backwards.

The News and the puzzle.

 I live in a vaccine of my own making. I rarely leave the house and have even fewer conversations in person. I do read a lot of news articles. The articles focus on one thing. My mind turns that information into a puzzle piece. 

Last week there were articles on the stimulus bill, increase in vaccination rates, the availability to vaccines for every one moving from July to May (in January they were saying September) and Governors of red states dropping mask mandates. The only thing they seem to have in common is the Pandemic, right? But there are a lot more connections. It took a few days for the pieces to fall into place. 

1. It seems that Republicans are tired of the Pandemic. Hey Democrats are tired of it too. 

2. Republicans knew the Democrats were going to pass the stimulus bill without them through a loophole. Yes I’m a liberal and usually vote Democrat but I know they used a loophole. Don’t think Republicans don’t use loopholes - Fillibuster anyone??? 

3. Vaccinations are now a 2 million per day! Way faster than I thought. Every adult can have a vaccination at least by the first week in June.

4. US population is roughly 330 million in change. 28.7 million of that population have received full vaccination (2 shots). A 1 shot vaccine entered the distribution early in the week. Herd immunity occurs at between 70 and 80% of population or roughly 231 million. Meaning 202 million citizens need to be vaccinated. At current vaccination rates that is 101 days. Currently infection rates have plateaued.

5. Governors are dropping mask mandates. I believe Texas ends their Mandate Monday. Alabama’s ends April 9th. Some of it might be tired of reminding citizens to wear mask. Some might be the miss information that mask don’t protect from the virus. Some might be the Governor thinks their state will reach herd immunity sooner. They are probably adding recovered patients into the herd immunity projection.

Now that I’ve laid out how I organized the articles here is my conclusion. The Governors are playing Russian Roulette with their citizens. The Republicans are letting the Democrats and specifically President Biden do the heavy lifting. My opinion is that if there is not another spike in late April early May we will see Republican lawmakers going on the news saying there was no reason for the stimulus. Only time will tell.

Reading

 I read a lot, more than you think. Often it is rereading or as I call it visiting friends. But I recently started reading a new to me series of loosely connected Trilogies. It’s the Governor series by Lesli Richardson. https://tymberdalton.com/books/series-info/governor-trilogy/

Right now the first book Governor is free as an Amazon Kindle book. Which is why I started it a week ago. I was hooked and have greedily devoured them. Made friends along the wayside. So what if those friends live in the pages of a book. Lots of readers have “book boyfriends”.

The books cover triads that are involved with politics. It covers love, sex, politics and I seriously love some of the rants. All the politicians are socially liberal and fiscally conservative, which is my political philosophy. 

Why I stopped going to church

 I have nothing against religion- any religion. Religion should bring you peace and the strength to get through the storms of life. I never found that in a church. Every single time I went to the church for help nothing. No help at all. 

As a teen playing in the church orchestra I was there for every service. So I heard the same service repeated several times every Sunday morning. I started reading not just the versus that was a part of the sermon but the entire chapter. The number of times those verses were twisted to mean something else was high. Once I started writing research papers, I learned it’s easy to take a comment from a completely unrelated article to make my point. Even if that sentence was used to demonstrate the opposite of the intent  of the article. 

I took it upon myself to read the Bible not as a religious, handed down from a higher power but as a collection of commentaries on the purpose of religion. As none of the New Testament was written until 50+ years after the events. They were stories passed down orally. Did you ever play telephone in school? Teacher whispered to one student and they whispered it to another and so on and so on? Did it ever make it to the last person the same? Not in my experience. So why shouldn’t I take the Bible as nothing more than partially remembered stories? A secular example - George Washington didn’t chop down a cherry tree. I always thought Nixon was impeached - nope he resigned before the article was written.

Then the people in the church. On Sunday morning they are kind and loving - Monday morning they are selfish and indifferent. More worried about the amount in their bank account than the welfare of their fellow man.

It took years but I finally found a path for myself. It’s pretty simple - I will be as good of a person as I can be, ask for forgiveness when I fall short, and uplift those that need and deserve it. I don’t have a “religion”. I have a belief system cobbled together by research and experience. It works for me. I don’t need a building to follow the path I’ve set.

Love & Hate & Impeachment

 I love few things and hate only one. Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. The only thing I have time and energy to hate is the fact my husband, friend and confidant died. Why bother with hating a person? In the end the hatred only hurts me, it has no effect on the other person. Oh I still have a temper and unlike when I was younger and hold it in until I literally would wonder how I got somewhere because I blacked out. Losing time sometimes hours is no fun. Now I prefer to vent so I don’t reach that point. 

With that said I do not hate Donald Trump. To be honest I just think he’s a waste of oxygen. Son why bother to hate him? He’s overweight, 74, and has criminal charges coming down the road. And then my personal belief that life is 100% fatal for 100% of the population. So why bother expending energy hating him? As for the Impeachment - expected, hoped I was wrong, but with the current political climate? Who is shocked? Certainly not me.

Missed Monday and Comic books

 I missed yesterday’s post. So instead I’ll leave you with this.

• X-Men is about civil rights. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get X-Men.

• Black Panther is about colonization. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Black Panther.

• Captain America literally fought nazis. He is the embodiment of fighting the alt-right. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Captain America.

• The Empire in Star Wars is fascist. The Rebel alliance are Anti-Fascist. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Star Wars.

• Doctor Who was about an alien fighting for all of humanity in spite of totalitarian regimes. If you don't get that, you don't get Doctor Who.

• The Punisher isn’t meant to be a role model for police or armed forces. So much so that the writers of The Punisher made him actively speak out against it in a comic. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get The Punisher.

• Deadpool is queer. He’s pansexual. Fact. If you didn’t get that you didn’t get Deadpool.

• Star Trek is about equality for all genders, races and sexualities. As early as the mid-60s it was taking a pro-choice stance and defending women’s right to choose. One of its clearest themes is accepting different cultures and appearances and working together for peace. (It’s also anti-capitalist and pro-vegan). If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Star Trek.

• Superman and Wonder Woman (and a whole host of other superheroes) are immigrants. The stance of those comics is pro-immigration and pro-equality and acceptance. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Superman or Wonder Woman.

• Stan Lee said, “Racism and bigotry are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today.” If you’re bigoted or racist, you didn’t get any of the characters Stan Lee created.

• The stories we grew up with all taught us to value other people and cultures and to treasure the differences between us. Only villains were xenophobic, or sexist, or racist, or totalitarian. I can’t understand how anyone can have missed that.

• If you’re upset that there’s a black Spider-Man, or a black Captain America, or a female Thor, or that Ms. Marvel is Muslim, or that Captain Marvel was pro-feminism or any of the other things right-wing “fans” say is “stealing their childhood” - you never got it in the first place. The things you claim are now “pandering to the lefties” were never on your side, to begin with.

If you consider yourself a fan of these things, but you still think the LGBTQ+ community is too “in your face”, or have a problem with Black Lives Matter, or want to “take the country back from immigrants”, then you’re not really a fan at all.

Geek culture isn’t suddenly left-wing... it always was. You just grew up to be intolerant. You became the villain in the stories you used to love.

Copy/Paste, don't share. (I did that. You can, too.)

What a week!

 Cloris Leachman the original Queen Hippolyta in Wonder Woman died. The next day Cicely Tyson died. Body cam footage of a woman being trampled to death on 1/6 from her POV. Trump’s lawyers quit. Wow.

I kind of overspent. Mostly because I got some KN95 mask and a new purse. The mask cause I’ve avoided Covid this long really don’t want to get it now. Oh and the 2 month supplies of food and litter for the cats.

I’m going to be a Budget Friendly Recipe page on Facebook - it’s how I eat anyway so....why not.

First full week of a new President and shockingly the news isn’t filled with “Overnight the President tweeted...”. It’s been Nice. The three times a week Covid briefings are good. Though when they get technical my eyes glaze over and I go “Huh?” But I like listening to people smarter than me or experts in their field.

Been a long time.

I've decided to reactivate this blog. I've spent four years dealing with a tragedy and now it's time to get back to actually living my life.

So what happened? My husband died. Don't let anyone ever tell you that it just takes time to get over the loss of your partners. I will tell you the truth - you never get over it.  You just learn to live with it. Oh I don't break down every day or week or month now. But I do have moments where I want to chuck it all. Those moments pass. Sometimes quickly, sometimes not so quickly. I get through them. I think of hubby daily but most of the time it's just a good memory or a what would he have thought about that?

I'm down to two cats - Halle a chocolate smoke Napoleon or Minuet (depending on registry), the breed is a cross between a persian and a munchkin. Minuet - Catster She will be 11 in May. And Hawk, a 3 year old Blue Silver Classic Tabby Maine Coon. They are my reason for waking up in the morning.

I got through the 2020 election year and so far (knock on wood) I haven't been infected with Coronavirus. Those two things are worth celebrating. I got rid of my vehicle, insurance and maintenance were killing my budget. My feet work fine and now there is Instacart and Lyft or Uber. (I use Lyft because I get 1 mile on my Delta frequent flyer for every dollar of my ride. (Had to get a money saving tip in.)

I'm currently looking at apartments. Because the upkeep of the house for just me is ridiculous. Besides it's way too much unused space! I actually live in an area smaller than a studio apartment in this house. Right now my biggest question is 1 bedroom or studio. I'm liking the idea of a studio apartment, less to clean. The other question is location. I have narrowed it down to 2 or 3 places. Just want to make sure I have room to do my crafting and design work. Though if I can work things out I might just stay here. Who knows. God knows I didn't plan to be a widow this soon.

I'm going to try and post every Monday and if a thought hits me in between. This blog really has no point just a place better than Facebook to post my thoughts.

Being True To Myself Step 2

Life.

One thing I've always like was manicured nails. It's one of the few girly things I like. But like most people making my dominate nails look good - well I never mastered that. I thought I'd try water marbling.

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So I decided to try it. First attempt was a total disaster. Second attempt okay. But I'm having fun doing it. And that's part of being true to yourself it should be fun!

This is my third attempt.

This is my 5th attempt

I'm getting the hang of it - but I have horribly short nails. So that's an issue.

Gifts for any occassion

I was trying to think of what little inexpensive gift I could do for my thesis committee as a thank you. I could purchase something inexpensive, but it feels impersonal in a way. So I decided to make something that was still personal. I decided on a homemade personal care set. I had found some 2 oz bottles in the house and well they were just sitting there.

Bulk Apothecary sent a message Halloween weekend - 16% off the entire store. So I ordered Shampoo, Conditioner,  Shower Gel and Hand Lotion base, and Lavender essential oil. 16 oz of the bases and 2 oz of the lavender. that's 8 gifts for $33 (that's with shipping) or $4 and change.

There are sites all over the web that will show you how to make these things without buying the bases but time is an issue for me. I need something I can do quickly. So I went with them besides at $3.95 for 16 oz? I'm not going to worry too much.

That got me to thinking of other cheap gifts a person could make here are a few.

Sharpie Mugs - get the mugs at the dollar store write or draw on them with Sharpie Markers and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. They can be double baked - just remember to include a hand wash only card with them. Fill them with goodies.

Sign up for Pinch Me - It's a great way to get samples! Save the samples and your toilet rolls and/or paper towel rolls. Get some tissue paper if you are doing it for Christmas find red or green. Stuff your free samples into the roll and wrap them in tissue paper using ribbon to tie the ends. Basically a free gift to give.


Chalkboard Clipboards - requires clipboards (Office Max has 3 for $4.99) and Black Board Paint (8 oz at Home Depot for $2.94. Great for putting in the kitchen to jot down things to pick up or appointments.

Recipe cards. Go to the dollar store and pick up mixing spoons and measuring scoops and index cards. Type your favorite recipes into the computer and print them. If you have a laminator you can laminate them or use clear contact paper. Punch a hole and attach them to the spoons and measuring scoops with a silver ring.

These should be enough to get you started. Share any gifts that you make in the comments.

What is Love

Love

William Shakespeare offered a beautiful sonnet on True Love.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. 
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
(Sonnet 116) 

This is one of the truest things I've ever read. I once heard a bride to be say "He does (thing) but once we're married I'll train him." I rolled my eyes at the statement. At the time I'd been married about 7 years. I told her "He's not going to be trained. And before you start remember for every habit he has that annoys the crap out of you, you have one that annoys the crap out out of him." Yes, a person can break a habit. It takes 21 days to do it and they have to want to do it. But there is something else to consider - if you change the person you love - will they still be the person you love?

My hubby is a Military aircraft buff and will talk about it constantly if he gets on the subject. It annoys the crap out of me. But I listen. Hey, I talk plans for my cat breeding for hours and it annoys him, but he listens.

When hubby became disabled in the military, (PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, Migraines, Back and Neck pain) I could have thrown up my hands and walked away. When he kicks me in his sleep from flashback dreams, or even after the time I woke up with him still asleep choking me; I could have packed my bags and left. But as I've told him "I promised the nice man that married us in sickness and in health". But that's not the only reason. I love him. not because he's perfect - Heaven knows he's the one person that can make me so mad I could get violent. 

There are a couple things I've discovered in 28 years of marriage and I'll share them with you.

1. When you wake up in the morning beside this person your first thought should be. "I'm glad they are there." Or if it's a rough patch "I can deal with your crap today because I love you."

2. A person who truly loves you will encourage you in whatever you want to do.

3. You worry when you don't know where that person is.

4. You feel like your relationship has been forever and no time at all. 

5. The idea of that person won't be there tightens your chest with fear.

6. You both accept when the other says no to something - that's a no.

Love should never be hard, it should never hurt. Love accepts the good, the bad, the terrible and the truly terrifying and is still there.

Cooking!

Life

Now one of the things I love is cooking! I've gotten good at it in 28 years with hubby. I was a horrible cook when we got married, bless his heart he ate the few meals I did know how to make. Then he bought me a bunch of cookbooks and a subscription for a year to Gourmet magazine. He encouraged me to get better. Now I search out recipes.

I have several places that I go.

The newest one is http://www.recipe30.com it's run by an Australian who is a trained French chef. I love this site because in addition to the recipe he has videos you can watch. I'm trying several of his recipes this month.

I love eating out and am always looking for copycat recipes to make my favorite meals at home - hey eating out is expensive. So when I was looking for Texas Roadhouse's Chicken Fried Steak recipe I happened across this blog http://texasroadhouseathome.blogspot.com the best thing about it is there are several blogs linked to for different recipes! From Applebees to Zaxby's! Now I can make them at home.

If you love Bonefish Grill's Bang Bang Shrimp, I found this recipe http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/435/Bonefish-Grills-Bang-Bang-Shr108368.shtml

Cracker Barrel's Hashbrown Casserole? Yup that's online too. But unless you want to taste onions and mostly onions - CUT what they recommend a LOT!

If you love Carrabba's well the classic menu they have a cookbook. http://amzn.to/1P3TL9J

Then there are the standard places - all recipes.com, Food Network's site, Betty Crocker, Campbell Soup... well there are a lot of them. Some of the best recipes I find are from friends on Facebook sharing recipes!

Cooking is creative, nurturing and makes the house smell great! There is nothing better than seeing someone enjoy your cooking.

Loving Myself

Love.

For a lot of years I hated myself. I hated my height - 5ft 10. I hated my natural hair color - mouse brown. I hated that my best was never good enough. I had a good life, a husband that spoils me, a roof over my head, no need of a full time job because of hubby's disability pay. But I still hated everything.

Then I realized it wasn't my hair - I could color it. It wasn't my height I like being tall. It was that I hated myself.

Self-harming is a symptom of depression. Though I didn't know it when I was a kid. It made the emotional pain stop, for me at any rate. I've learned now to talk to someone or try and ride out the numbness until it tips to anger or crying. It will always be a part of me. But mostly I cut because I hated myself.

My BFF of 12 years has been someone that I could count on for help. Even if it was just keeping me from hurting myself. I was a cutter, well I guess I'll always be one. If the emotional pain gets to bad I go numb. Physical pain I can deal with. Not so much the emotional. I cut to deal with the numbness. I got that way about 2 years ago. Totally numb and wanted to cut. I told her and she stayed up late for her and talked me through until I came out of the numbness. My husband has also helped me through a desire to cut myself. He was the one that insisted if I ever felt like doing it again I had to talk to someone until it passed.

My being true to myself journey is helping me learn to love myself. I've discovered that the truer I am to myself the more I love myself. Maybe I've always hated myself because I was being true to everyone else's idea of who and what I should be.

Society tells us to love ourselves, but they never manage to tell us how to do that. Have you noticed that? Most young children know this instinctively. Maybe it's because we tell them how cute they are, how much we love them. Why do we stop giving people compliments? Why do we stop believing compliments we are given?

Here's a story.  Hubby and I were in a jewelry store to get a ring resized. The sales clerk noticed I didn't have a diamond ring. I don't like diamonds - to me they are cold, hard, judging and have nothing to do with love. Now you may like them, I'm just talking about me. She said hubby needed to buy me one. He told her "I'll get her something for her computer, she'll like that more." My response "He knows me so well!" Her response - "Every woman needs a diamond."  Why when I don't like them, don't want them and don't care about them do I need one?

The reason was simple and complex. Society deems that a woman should love jewelry. I don't never have. I do have a few pieces I adore but I wear them rarely and only on special occasions. This clerk determined that because I was female I had to have a diamond because I was female. What she did was make me feel less like a woman, less lovable because I didn't want a diamond.

I'm still learning to love myself. But I know the benefits of it - happiness.

Grocery Shopping

Saving.

Oh man I hate Grocery Shopping. Well I hate the way I use to grocery shop. Same things every time. Go through the aisles and guess how much I needed. Well I always ended up with a lot, and if I hadn't eaten a lot of junk. So I decided to do something different this month. It's not easy or quick but so worth it!

My first step was to create a menu. Since we get paid once a month, I made it for a month. To do this I started with favorite meals. I allowed for them to be served no more than once a week. The only thing that is served that often is Saturday is Pizza night - it's the day I have my glass blowing slot and I'm too wiped after that than do much more than throw a frozen pizza in the oven. I'm also trying some new recipes this month - if we like them they will go into regular rotation. If you grocery shop weekly or every two weeks - plan your menu accordingly and follow the steps.

Then I looked at every recipe and listed out the ingredients and made a tic mark for every ingredient used more than once. Then I created an excel spreadsheet. With 4 columns: Ingredients, # Needed, # on hand, # need to buy. Once I had everything in the list with the first 2 columns filled out I went through my pantry, spice cabinet, refrigerator, and freezer filling out the third column. Simple subtract needed from on hand and put that number in the fourth column. From that I made my shopping list. Now granted I can be slightly anal at times, so when I made my shopping list I organized it - Meat, Produce, Dairy, Canned or boxed goods which included Spices (basically anything in the middle of the store.)  Yes, I know it takes time, but nothing worthwhile is ever fast.

My shopping list has 5 columns, (just make a second sheet in Excel): Ingredients, then the 4 stores that are close to the house. I used my computer to look through their sales adds (Note: If you shop at Publix when you create a shopping list you can print it and it will tell you what aisle the items are on. You can also get a free account and "clip" digital coupons. Just input your phone number at the check out!) Enter the price for each item in the correct store. If things are BOGO or B2GO make note of the amount saved according to the ad. Do that for each store. Again not easy or quick but worth it. Now I knew what was on sale and where. I also know who is in general cheapest usually. So if I didn't see the item on one of the sales I bought it at the cheap place and use coupons if I have them.

At the stores that I was in for the sales - I ONLY bought those items. A little lesson in grocery stores I found out years ago, but never used until now. Sales ads are filled with Loss Leaders - basically the store takes a loss on these items figuring you'll buy the rest of your groceries there - but YOU DON'T HAVE TO! It's federal law, use it to your advantage.

My monthly budget for food is $500 - but with the old way I ran out of food before I ran out of month. Now every day has a menu, as you see in the menu planner. Here is the break down for this month.

Savings With Coupons $9.25
Savings on Loss Leaders $85.11

Total Savings: $94.36

This allowed me to splurge on Filet for my steak dinner and for my Beef Stew!

If I continue to save at that a month for a year $1,132.32! To me that is worth the work as we live on a fixed income.

I have just started using coupons. I've seen the extreme coupon thing and it's not for me. I don't have room to store stuff. But that is up to you. But I only clip for what I actually use.

If you have questions feel free to ask in the comments.

Being True to yourself

Life 

Everyone says to be happy you have to be true to yourself. You really do need to do that and from my journey on that rode, I've noticed that I AM happier. But how do you start that journey?

I credit Caitlin Jenner (Not a Keeping Up With The Kardashians fan, so that had nothing to do with it). It was her comment that she was finally being true to herself. That comment got me thinking, was I being the real me? Or was I letting everyone else determine what that truth was? So I asked myself one question...

Am I happy with myself?

Not the life I was living, or where I was in my life - but with myself. I'd thought I was but the more I was honest with myself, I realized I wasn't. I was happy when it was just me and my husband I was happier with me, but still not completely. I finally realized it was because I wasn't doing things because so and so wouldn't approve. I was too old. Or some other stupid reason I wouldn't let myself do or be what or who I wanted.

It wasn't easy to decide what steps to take. Truthfully, I'm still figuring it out and I hope to be figuring it out for the rest of my life. My true first step, I didn't realize that it was the first step. It was going back to college and getting a degree. I'm about to graduate with a double degree! 

The second step came after the Caitlin Jenner comment. I'd seen the "Rainbow/ Crayola" hair colors and I wanted to do my hair - in green. But I'd always told myself "You're 52. That's too old to do that." Then I made the "Be True To Myself" project had started. So that was something I wanted to do and I DID IT! I love my green hair. I feel younger. I've gotten more compliments on my hair even when I feel like crap. When I got out of that chair, I knew I was being true to myself.

Other things have appeared on the list as time passes but that's okay. Each one I've made came from deep within myself. It has taken time to make. I had to break out of the habit of thinking someone wouldn't approve or I was too old or I can't. 

Now it's your turn. Comment and tell me something you want to do but told yourself you couldn't because of someone else or your age. 

What is this?

It's about Life, Love and Saving. It's as simple as that.

A Life post will be about how I'm making myself happy with me. By being who I want to be and doing whatever is true to that individual. In one I'll share my journey on being true to myself, share recipes that I love, make up tips, tips on organizing your home, your life on a budget and how to make cool things for gifts.

A Love post will be about, well love. What does it look like, how do you show those that you love and how to recognize someone that loves you, but most importantly how to love yourself.

A Saving post will simply be tips on how to save money. We'll look at how to shop, how to determine if something is a want or a need, and when to deny or reward yourself. Maybe even discuss things you can do to bring in a little extra money.

Will my way work for you? It might or might not. But I really hope that everyone that visits finds something they can apply to their lives. I'm not an expert, just someone that is taking this journey and inviting you to come along for the ride. Every post will be tagged with what it's about; Life, Love, or Saving. A lot of post will overlap because all three things are connected anyway.

My plan is to update 3 times a week. Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. So join me in this continuing journey. Any ideas please feel free to comment.