May 2017 Life Update

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The day my friend Donnie Williams passed away, I caught a cold.  I pretty much just got over it this past weekend.  Whenever I catch a cold, it hits me hard, and this one stuck around for six and a half weeks.  So, I did a lot of sleeping during the month of April, and in early May.  Add to the fact one of my best friends passed away, and that had me extremely sad and I would have been sleeping a lot for that reason as well.

My husband is on a pretty regular work schedule now, with his weekend being Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.  Since I work at home, I use those as my days off as well so we can spend time together and then I can get lots of work done while he is at his shift.  That's why I have been posting on an odder schedule than usual.

How to Clearance Shop at Walgreens!

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I love to go clearance shopping at Walgreens.  I never know what I might find, and it is as easy as walking up and down every aisle.

Walgreens makes clearance shopping extremely easy with bright orange tags for the items they need to get rid of.  While there is a section for clearance items, I have often found better bargains in other parts of the store.

While with food you do need to keep an eye on expiration dates, many times it is just a seasonal item that they are not carrying for the time being.  An example is I bought boxes of Turkey Flavored Stove Top Stuffing after Thanksgiving for only 49 cents a box!

Warning; The Mother's Day Survey on Facebook is a Security Risk

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There is a survey going around Facebook asking about your first born.  If you want to fill it out, PLEASE eliminate some of the information on it because it puts your child (no matter their age, and unfortunately even if they are deceased) at risk for identity theft and fraud.

One of the questions asks what day they were born.  Another asks how old they are now.  It's easy to find out Sally was born January 1, 1980.

Another question asks where they were born.  This is a VERY common security question -- and one even asked for official documents such as passports.  Social Security numbers are coded by birth, and it wouldn't take a hacker very long to come up with Sally's actually Social Security Number once they find out where and when she was born.

Why We Shouldn't Be Self Righteous About Other People's Addictions

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There is a blog post going around about how addiction is not a disease and that one chose to be an addict.

When you were in school, how many kids did you hear say, "I want to be a meth addict when I grow up."

Unfortunately, drugs often are used as coping skills.  Did you know that 88% of female drug addicts were sexually abused.   Of course there are women who have not been sexually abused who do not use drugs, but that's a staggering fact to me.  Would you say to a little girl who was abused by her father, "You chose this!"  Of course you wouldn't (or at least I hope you wouldn't.)  If you have not been in her shoes, you don't understand her choices.

I am NOT saying being an addict is a good thing, but how many of us have no addiction to anything? It might not be drugs or alcohol, but what about cutting, food, sex, or even caffeine.  (Yes, caffeine is an addictive substance.  Remember that next time you are in line at Starbucks!)

Budapest Hungary Cat Cafe

Last month, my husband and I visited Budapest Hungary.  I'm not much of a cat person, but he is, so when I saw the card at our hotel for 10% off if you took in the card, I decided going to the cat cafe could be interesting.

I'd never heard of such a thing, but I don't have TV, so it's not unusual for me to miss news of unique things like this.  From my understanding, there are a number of these in the world.

The food was good, and everything cat cat themed.  There were rules for visiting, such as the cats had the reign of the cafe, no flash photography, etc.

To keep things sanitary, the food was prepared in an area closed off by glass so the cats couldn't get in the food prep area.  The cats' litter box was downstairs.

Book Review: The Departed by Kristy Cooper

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I went to a Christian college for two years, and one night we decided to play a joke on someone to make her think the rapture happened and she was left behind.  This was in the days before the Left Behind series, and we thought we were so clever -- there were stereos playing music, water running, and a couple girls who were the least likely to be raptured according to themselves were around but no one else was.  When our friend got to the final room, everyone was waiting on her so she only had a few minutes to be concerned as to if she was left behind.

But what if that happened on a large scale?  A VERY large scale?  In this series, the world wakes up to find hundreds of thousands of people missing.  Most are in America, but some in Australia, Europe, and Korea.

Keeping Kids Educationally Entertained on Long Road Trips!

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It's nearly summer, and the time for road trips is just around the corner.  My husband and I are hoping to go to the family reunion in Florida (and because of where it is in Florida, it's cheaper to drive, although more time consuming.)  Plus I am hoping to go to an event in Indianapolis where a number of friends from college will be there.  We just returned from a trip to Budapest, Hungary, as well.  As much as we travel, you would think I would be an old pro at it, but I get bored easily, as my husband would readily tell you.

Me having an iPhone 7 and U.S. Cellular which has high-quality national coverage is a sanity saver for my husband.  I have always loved learning and I'm so happy for so many resources on the Internet and apps to help me be entertained while gathering facts I can use during a trivia game at some point! In fact, some apps are collaborative so I can even compete against friends no matter where I am or where they are!

When Grief Invades Easter

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I wanted to write, again, about grief and the holidays.  Most people think of grief associated with Christmas, but any holiday can bring up forms of grief.

It's important to have compassion on yourself.  Twenty two years ago, Easter was on April 16, the same as the year I am writing this.

A friend went to church with me that morning, and we heard the glorious story of Jesus conquering death.  I Corinthians 15:55 was shouted from the rooftops.  "Oh death, where is thy sting?  Oh grave, where is they victory?" (KJV)  The triumphant songs signaled the ending of Lent and the start of celebration.  The toe-tapping, joyful songs associated with this glorious day.   April 1995 was the last time I sat in an Easter service without grieving.

Budapest Hungary 3-D Art Gallery

Last month, my husband and I returned from a trip to Budapest, Hungary.  This is a first in a series of posts relating some of the things we did while we were there.  I received no compensation for this post, it was a fun experience, and wanted to share this neat idea.

Many places in Budapest close at 6 pm.  Because of jet lag, we were still fully awake of an evening and not really into the nightclub scene so we look at the lobby cards to see if we could find anything open a little later.  There was a 10% off coupon for the 3D Art Gallery.  Those of you who are regulars to this blog know I'm a coupon fan, and to be using a coupon overseas just made me laugh.

In Memory of Donnie Williams

I don't remember meeting Donnie.  As an active teenager in district events in the Church of the Nazarene in the 1980s, there were all these kids from different churches at events and over time you got to know them.  That's how I met Donnie.  We went to summer camp together, and I think, like many girls, I had a tad bit of a crush on him.  I mean, who wouldn't?  He was adorable, tremendously funny, and had a spiritual side of him that I wished would be shown by the boys in my youth group who were more interested in armpit farts than actually worshiping during the Sunday morning church service.

I never admitted my small teen crush to Donnie, although I often joked with him that I fell for him.  Indeed I did.  The camp tabernacle had a cement floor painted gray.  I remember the ash color vividly.  It was Thursday night of camp, my last camp before heading to college, and I was trying to make sure I said goodbye to everyone before service that evening because I knew Friday mornings were hectic and not conducive to departing sentiments.  There had been a thunderstorm and rain had blown into the area in front of the pews.  We were required to dress up for evening church at that time, and my dress shoes were not a good combo.  As Donnie and I separated from a hug, I took a step back and forgot momentarily about the slick floor. . . until I landed at his feet.  Evidently he had girls falling for him all the time, because by the time social media was invented and we reconnected, he had completely forgotten (or blocked) the incident from him memory.