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Personal Thoughts

The Wedding

Well, it's back to work for me. I took the weekend off for my daughter's wedding. It was the perfect day all around. The weather was a sunny 75 degrees, perfect for a garden wedding. The bride and groom so happy and joyful - it was contagious. There were so many family and friends to share in our joy. It was a perfect...


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Happy New Year!

This has been such a "full" year and as it draws to a close I want to share my thoughts on 2008. Even though many of us have experienced some negative impact from the financial issues of our country and the world, I wanted to pass on a comment from my Yoga teacher. "These are first world problems," she says. She is right. People in other countries would gladly trade places with us. We live in a safe...


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Good Plastics/Bad Plastics

Are You Confused About Plastics? That is the questions posed in an excellent article from C.A.R. Newsline from California Association of Realtors. I was confused and found this article informative and I pass it on to you: You're not alone. Experts have reached a consensus and recommend that you avoid these varieties -- identified by a triangle and number on the bottom of most containers -- for the...


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Tea and Cookie Party

For the last five years, a friend and I have hosted a Tea Party and Cookie Exchange. It is so much fun that we hold it twice a year and each invite 5 other guests. Each guest brings their own tea cup, 12 containers each filled with 6 of their favorite homemade cookies, 12 copies of their cookie recipe, 12 cookies on a serving plate for the tea party and an appetite for really delicious cookies! We...


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Terra Cotta Warriors

Yesterday, I went to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana to view the Terra Cotta Warriors, the Guardians of China's First Emperor. It was fabulous! I highly recommend it. It was very well organized. We had tickets for 10:00 am, only stood in line for a few minutes and then were given an audio phone to help guide us through history. This is the largest exhibit of the Terra Cotta Army ever seen outside...


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Earth Plus One

It is one month past the official "Earth Day" and here is my personal scorecard. My favorite tip was checking the fruit and vegetable labels in the supermarket. Did you know that a 4 digit number means it was conventionally grown; a 5 digit number beginning with 9 indicates organically grown and a 5 digit number beginning with 8 means genetically modified. I don't know about you, but I am not ready...


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A Moment to Recharge

I just returned from a weekend yoga retreat and it was such a "treat". I spent the weekend in yoga classes, meditation, hiking and sharing stories with 15 fabulous other students. It was such a sense of family. I met a woman who is the editor of Enjoy Positive Magazine (a magazine devoted to positive news - I can get behind that). We all went on a fantastic hike/walk lead by Nancy Cohee of...


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“Oh Well”

My neighbor passed away in her home just two weeks shy of her 102nd birthday. When I think back on the 33 years we "shared a fence", I cannot remember her ever being stressed about anything. The other neighbors have also commented on this phenomenon. We never saw her angry, upset, tense or worried. She loved everybody. We think this is the secret to her longevity. She was such an...


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