• You must be able to speak (or at least understand) basic English to be a member of the main EKLIPS guild.
  If you do not speak English, you will need to find somebody in one of the allied guilds who will accept you and translate any rules/instructions.
• Be polite to other players on the server.
  Don’t start a KS or PK war “just because.” I don’t want the guild to have a reputation for being full of angry noobs.
• Don’t cause unnecessary trouble – “keep it green”
  I don’t want to see our guild being reported in the forums for breaking rules. If you want to make trouble, EKLIPS is not the guild for you.
• Don’t KS or PK with other players in the guild or allies.
  Form parties where possible and if necessary, move to another spot. Players who fail to respect others multiple times risk being kicked from the guild.
• Keep trade fair within the guild/allies.
  Don’t ask unrealistic prices and don’t beg too much – if you need help, ask for it and people will do what they can.
• Castle Siege is important to this guild. If you have characters with 3 resets or more, it is expected that you will come to CS most weeks, unless you are busy in real life. If you are busy, please warn the guild in advance so that parties can be arranged.
  The Castle Siege event is held every week at Saturday 18:00 GMT+0
• Keep JOG and Ancient items within the alliance.
  These are very useful items to us, and will be important in holding CS against enemy guilds. Trade of ancients is to be kept within the alliance until further notice. If you have extra JOG, pass some of them to your alliance leader for Castle maintenance.
• Help each other!
  We all know how hard this server can be when you first start playing. Help new players in the guild get on their feet by giving them items/party when appropriate.

Hopefully these rules help maintain the guild and alliance community at a high standard.

Have fun and keep it green,

Spud.

I just finished watching the Lakers beat the Nets.

I like watching basketball, especially Lakers basketball.  I love going to the Laker games and just being with all the other Laker fans.  The energy is unbelievable.. especially when they are playing against a harder team to beat.

I like watching basketball.. but I don’t know a darn thing about it.

I mean, I know the basic rules.  Each team has to put the ball through the hoop in order to score points.

It’s the technical things I don’t know.. like fouls.. positioning.. the names of the positions and what they mean.

My cousin’s 8yr old son can rattle off basketball jargon like it’s his second language.. and I usually have no clue what he’s talking about..

My dad and brother can spot fouls before the ref even blows his whistle.. when all I see is just a big jumble of tall men tripping around for the basketball…

I need to learn some of these rules.. I need to know what they mean by fouls.. what fouls look like.. and all that mess..

Maybe if I speak enough basketball-talk it would get my boyfriend to appreciate the sport a little better.. or maybe it would just impress him more that I’m into a sport.. hahah..

Either way.. it’s win-win!

Social Media is becoming the norm in our society people have  some type of social networking site that they use on a daily basis. These  sites such as Facebook twitter and my space have become our means of communication, but I feel that there are some  rules that should be followed when it comes to these sites.

1. Understand your audience(people you know and don’t)- I think this is really important because I no a lot of people dont realize that more than just your friends see your accounts. I have heard  stories of possible employers,teachers, and parents seeing material that should not be shown on the internet. So be careful with what is on your page.

2.Remember the positive aspects of Social Networking- I think a lot of times people get wrapped up in posting pictures and videos and things of that sort and forget the positive aspects. These sites can be used to find potential jobs and friends. Try to use the sites for more than just socializing, but try to understand the importance of networking.

3.Remember to be responsible, respectful, and resourceful-being responsible is a big part of social media, because posting personal information over the internet means using good judgement to use these sites easily and to gain the most benefit. Being respectful in my opinion means respecting others privacy and not violating the rules of the websites. Also being resourceful means using your communication with others as personal gain that could help in the future.

Follow these simple rules and your Social Media experience will be great and I promise it will benefit you:).

Sitting here with extended family watching the kids decorate the tree…listening to the adults directing them on how to place this ornament, and where there is a bare spot, etc.  I hear myself in the other adults, and how I tell my kids to do this or do that or “that’s not right” or that’s not good enough.  For the first time, ever, I feel bad seeing the light in their eyes deflate, it seems tedious now to them, not Christmas, not fun like it should be, like it was when they were unwrapping and opening the boxes remembering what this decoration is, or where that one went last year.

It makes me wonder if I do this to my kids…and the answer is yes.  Not just at Christmas, but all the time.

I want things done right,  and dammit, they should be, is that too much to ask?  But who am I to say that my way is right?  Yes,  I am the parent, and “most” of my way is right, but who am I to say that that ornament is too close to the other?  Who cares?  Why does it matter if they are enjoying what they are doing?  Does it matter that the towels are folded in 4 instead of 3 perfect lined up edges?  No, because they are folded.  Just because I do it that way doesn’t mean that it should be that way (even though it looks good in the cabinet when they are all lined up), the towels still dry me, and are clean folded in 3 or 4.

I didn’t keep EVERYTHING and every way of doing things my mom taught me, Lord, knows that woman had a way to do everything, and I’ll be damned if I’m ripping up tissue boxes because they take up too much room in the trash bag (ok, I admit, I have done it once or twice).  But at some point, I realized that I wanted to do things differently because it was so ingrained in me to do it a certain way, I wanted to prove it could function and be done a different way…my way.

Nothing excites me more than the thought of my children, grown, functional, and living in the world and contributing to it.  How are they supposed to get that way without guidance and rules?  How are they supposed to think for themselves when I’m constantly telling them that their way is wrong?  How do you balance the two?

My head tells me that they too can experience the joy of running their own house when they are grown, but my heart says that there is nothing wrong with towels folded differently, as long as they are folded.  There is nothing wrong with closely placed ornaments, as long as it’s Christmas and everyone is healthy and together and loved.  There is nothing wrong with a messy room…if it means we have time to cook dinner together and play a game afterward.

Seems like there’s more than just the children who need to learn how to do things correctly around here.  I’ll start by promising to at least wait until they are in bed before I rearrange a few ornaments this year.

~Mel

I have a confession to make.

I’m a Gemini.

What this means is that I spend my life in a perpetual state of “Oooo shiny!” and I get very easily distracted. In fact I often thought that my family motto should be “Ooo shiny”, though i suspect that it wouldn’t sound very good, even in latin. I did once have the motto “But I digress” (latin: tamen ergo digresus), but that has nothing to do with the post at hand…or to put it shortly “but I digress”.

So, that said, I’m not going to continue with my postings on the world of after the end of the world just yet.  No, rather I thought I’d post on the new and nifty thing I just found!  (ooo shiny!)

RPGNow is having a sale of Adamant Entertainment products, and for exactly one dollar I was able to score their “Thrilling Tales” rules, the second edition that isn’t D20, but rather Savage Worlds based.  The beauty of this product is that it has all of the Thrilling Tales stuff jammed into one book!  It’s got something like 20 archetypes, timelines and usage for Nazis and Thuggees, a fifteen part serial adventure and best of all a random pulp adventure generator!  From what i’ve read so far it’s well worth the $26 normal asking price, and was a total STEAL at a buck!

I also picked up their Mars rules for Savage Worlds, again for a dollar.  This has all the setting rules around their Mars environment, which is more John Carter warlord of mars than say Space:1889.  I haven’t read much yet, but so far the setting has green martians, grey martians, tripods with heat rays, ape lords, slavers, princes, princesses…in short, anything and everyting you could want for a Martian setting.  The Savage Worlds edition seems to contain all the previous D20 published stuff for Mars, updated to Savage Worlds rules.  They also have a module, Rebels of Mars, which transplants a band of Confederates to the Martian wastes!  You know that can bode no good.

I don’ t know how long the sale is on for, but it’s worth stopping by to see.  They also have a completely free pamphlet on how to convert D20 to FATE, which works nicely for using D20 products for Spirit of the Century or simliar FATE-based games.

Provided nothing else shiny crops up, you can figure on seeing some pulp stuff here soon…

After much research I found the universal push-up that we all need to train for. Watch the video below. Keep in mind that the judges can disqualify you from the event if the push-ups are done incorrectly.

CH 1860 Aigle / Switzerland

+41 24 468 58 11 fax +41 24 468 58 12
www.uci.ch
INTERNATIONAL CYCLING UNION
To National Federations
Aigle, 27 November 2009
Ref.: Road and Technical Department /
MC / sp
Earpiece radios
Dear President,
After a thorough reflection on the subject of the use of earpiece radios in races, the UCI Management
Committee decided during its meeting in Lugano (Switzerland) on 23rd September to forbid gradually
the use of earpiece radios for all categories of rider. This decision has been taken on the basis of a
very careful study, in particular taking into account the will of the majority of those involved in cycling.
We would remind you that this ban is already in place for the Junior and Under-23 categories.
The ban will be gradually introduced in accordance with a timetable, the first stage of which will be:
· 2010 season: ban for Men Elite and Women Elite Class 2 events of the UCI international calendar,
events of the national calendar as well as the UCI World Championships
We are therefore asking you to take the necessary steps so that you can implement this measure of
ban at all national races registered on the national calendar of your Federation. We are also relying on
you to inform your club teams, your national commissaires and other licence-holders.
Thank you for your cooperation on this matter.
Yours faithfully,
Marc Chovelon
Sports Coordinator – Road

Sometimes I wonder if my husband truly grasps how intense this lifestyle is for me.  Somehow I have the impression that it is not as intense for the Head of Household men as it is for the submissive women.  I’m not trying to dismiss the men’s responsibilities that they so aptly carry on their shoulders.  But somehow I just don’t think it is quite the same.

Yes, during the years in our marriage before our current arrangement, I did want this.  I craved it, needed it, and felt like I would just about lose my mind without it.  And now I have it.  And I am grateful, I am.  But at the same time, just because one wants and needs something does not make it any easier once the transition is made.

I’ll not lie.  Living under rules is hard.  Much harder than I anticipated.  I feel as if there is no corner of my life that our rules do not touch and while they are all very reasonable and I have no good reason to complain…I still find myself bristling at the mere fact that I have them and that I am compelled to abide by them.

We are past the point of me wondering if my husband is really ok with this.  Past the point of this being brand new.  So I find myself and our relationship about three steps past the point of no return.  He really did take to this like a duck to water so quickly that I think my neck snapped.  And I have to admit, that surprised the hell out of me.  I think I expected a slower initiation than what I got.  I thought he would be hesitant and take his time in warming up to this new dynamic.  Imagine my surprise…

But I’ve wondered off the point I was trying to make.  Intensity.  You see, for him, his days are very full.  Lots and lots of work and commuting and friends and home and kids and us.  Quite a lot of things to fit into one day.  But I see my days as being much more focused on us.  And our rules.  I am a stay at home mom and wife and as such I do not have the distraction of a work life.  My life is my home and all that that entails.  So while his home life is a piece of the pie graph, mine is the entire thing.  So naturally, I think about it a lot. 

If I am paying our bills, I’m also thinking about how he wants that done.  If I am doing mundane household chores, I am thinking about the rules attached to them and what would happen if I did not do them.  If I am on instant messenger with him during the day, I am thinking about how what I write will come across in black and white so as to not come off in a sassy or sarcastic way.  See what I mean?  There is a lot of thinking going on…

And this lifestyle is most definitely more intense than that of your average woman or housewife.  If Jane Doe down the street decides that the dirty dishes be damned and she would rather sit on her couch and eat bon bons and read a book, then that is what she does.  If I would like to forgo these things there is a whole long process going through my mind.  If I don’t do them he will surely notice when he gets home—-hmmm, what do you think he’ll do?——-I wonder if he’ll take away my money for this week——-or I wonder if he’ll spank——-or both——–or what if he just starts off scolding and then I will want to plead my case which almost always turns into sass——then I know for certain he will spank me——

Do you see what I mean?  I seriously doubt that he has to put that much thought into these dynamics.  Sometimes I just have to laugh at myself and I think that the old adage of “Be careful what you wish for…” has never been more true than in a domestic discipline relationship!  Not that I’m complaining, I’m not.  I’m just trying to figure my own self out I guess.

Here’s something to think about – real life happens a bit slower than your mind works.

While your mind is trying to compute everything that is going on all around, and to project what ‘might’ happen in the near future, the actual events in real time are happening at a slower pace.

Allow your mind to match up and appreciate the moment, to see the small adventures of a smile and a love, and to embrace them.

Live in anticipation always – an anticipation of great and good things.

So what if you end up, for whatever reason, feeling overwhelmed? Or in pain?

Drink some water – always. A dehydrated body is a body in pain and that physical pain can manifest into feelings of overwhelm.

Now pain. Pain is a part of life – suffering is a choice.
All of us live with the primary emotion of fear because we can’t control all the events of our life all the time.
The key is to control the meaning that you give to things that happen to your life. It is the MEANING that you give to something that happens that determines how it will affect you.

A problem arises . . . how about finding the gift within the problem.

Here is a story that highlights a how the rules we may have set up in the blueprint of our lives can determine unconsciously the meaning we give to things.

A father is at his study desk at home and finds all his papers and books have been neatly arranged, but he is at a loss where to find things so he can start his work.
He asks his young daughter how this has happened and she replies that she did it to make his life easier because everything was messy and mixed up.

Well, the father takes one of the books and places it on the left of the desk where he normally has it. The daughter shakes her head “No, now you are messing it up again.” She puts the book back on the pile on the right side. So the father takes three pens from the container on the left and lines them up across the top of his desk where he always has them for immediate use. Again, the daughter gathers up the pens and puts them back in the container. “No, you’re muddling it up again. This is how it should be,” she says.

The rule in the father’s blueprint is that his work desk has to be ‘just so’ in a cluttered state for him to feel comfortable and able to work. The daughter’s blueprint rule is that things are muddled up unless everything is neat and tidy exactly as she has placed them.

Many of us have so many ways to get frustrated, and only ONE way to feel good. If one thing is out of place in our life then we get pissed off.
Here is something to think about: flip things around and find MANY ways to feel good instead.

My friend Tanya and I were talking about cool dads last night. She was trying to explain it to me because I don’t get it. In my head, just ’cause you like hip new things and you’re a father doesn’t mean you’re cool. Or that you’re a cool dad, for that matter. In my head, just ’cause you get the shenanigans of your kids doesn’t make you a cool dad.

I mean, witness:

(photo from here)

John Puruntong of John and Marsha was not a cool dad

(photo from here)

(photo from here)

and the best example I can think of:

Papa Al is the coolest of them all: tube socks, high-waited towel, and nothing more

Lord knows they aren’t cool. But tell me, please, if they aren’t cool dads. Right? Homer’s a hero! And John Puruntong is a class of his own. Pa Al, he’s slowly becoming a legend. Peter Griffin, I’m not too familiar. his photo just sums it up. ehehe

In my head, being a cool dad takes time. You have to play the role of a dad, first. You must embarrass your kids first—that’s your right as a father. You have to order them around and take advantage of your role. (cue evil laughter). And then you lose grace at some point.

At some point, life will break you, as Bill Hicks has said.

And then you become friends with your children. You tell them about your life back when you had one. You impress them with tales of your own shenanigans. You tell them of your glory days, of back then, of how, when you were their age, you knew far more things than they know now. You did more things than they do more now. Had a healthier love life than they do now. You would have established that you were a cooler person than they are now.

Then you become a cool dad. Your kids will realize that you are too cool for school. They’ll realize that it’s not because you’re uncool refusing to go, say, binge-drinking with them. It’s that a long time ago, you have. And you’ve outdrunk them. And all that is old, old, old news.

In my head is family rule number 3: don’t bother with the present parenting trend of coolness.

Family rule number 4: coolness comes with age.

October, November & December are typically loaded with parties. They come with big festivals such as Diwali, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. But we don’t need occasions to party & meet people. Socializing is a common part of our lives. Summer comes loaded with BBQ parties for instance. There are tons of websites and TV programs that give inputs on setting up your space for party, cooking food, etc. But I haven’t come across a good comprehensive list of things to do and not to do. So, here’s my take if you are a host. Guests can find their list here. I’d love to hear from you about things that worked well & didn’t work well in other parties.

If you are the host:

1. Prepare, prepare, prepare are the three big guiding principles for a successful gathering.
2. Invite the guests well ahead of time so that their calendar issues are addressed. If you are hosting a big party, it may not be possible for everyone to attend. There may be something more important for some guests on a particular day. Just pick a day that works for most people and move on.
3. If you are inviting more than one person, think about the commonalities between the people you are inviting. Did they all go to the same school? Do they belong to a particular association? Do they have similar likings? If they have nothing in common and they don’t know each other, they will be bored pretty soon.
4. Also, are there guests who cannot stand each other? Can you host them on separate occasions? Though your event may not be a State dinner, it is important that you be considerate about your guests.
5. Always have some starters and juices to offer to people within 10 mins of their arrival. You do not know how hungry they are & you don’t want to keep them waiting until the other guests arrive or dinner is served. Starters are just that – starters. Enough to delay the main course but not too filling. Quite often, hosts do not offer anything to drink or eat for about an hour after arrival. Not all guests may feel comfortable to walk into your kitchen and grab something to eat.
6. Prepare the food ahead of time that way you can spend more time with the guests while they are at your place.
7. Spend no more than 20 mins to heat the food and set the table while the guests are at your place. This requires that all your food is ready ahead of time. Sure, food right from the oven tastes much better than something cooked a couple of hours ago & reheated. But you are inviting people to spend time with them. If you toil your time in the kitchen, you have missed an excellent opportunity. Select your menu carefully so that it will still taste good when it is reheated.
8. As the starters begin to decrease in quantity, gradually transition your guests to the main course. It is not uncommon to see the hosts delaying the main course by 2-3 hrs from the time the guests arrive. This can get too late in dinner parties because not everyone eats a very late dinner. Similarly if you invited people for lunch, serving lunch at 3 pm is late. Some guests may choose to make an excuse and leave so that they can eat outside and address their hunger.
9. If your guests stay late after dinner, offer them some tea / coffee. This will keep the energy going. Also, starters can be brought out again at this time for snacks.
10. For a BBQ party, cook one batch of everything just before your guests arrive. This ensures that they have food to eat while the next batch cooks. Some items take an hour to cook & you don’t want to leave your guests waiting that long.
11. Always say only nice things to your guests. You want them to leave with a good feeling from your place. Why bother inviting them if you want to settle for anything less?
12. If the guests include children, have some non-spicy food also in the menu.
13. Always ask your guests to let you know ahead of time if they have any allergies.
14. Always have at least one or two vegetarian options in the menu so that everyone has something to eat.
15. Keep some toys, crayons, etc for the children to use.
16. Unless it is a game night or a movie night, do not turn on the TV. If your TV shows are so important to you, then why should your guests rearrange their priorities to meet with you?
17. If you plan to have some music in the party, keep it low volume so that guests don’t have to speak loud over it to be heard. After the initial icebreakers & when the party kicks pace, consider turning off the music.
18. If any of your guests are drunk, consider not letting them drive.
19. Be current with the news and keep a few conversation topics handy for icebreakers.
20. If you have invited multiple guests who don’t know each other, introduce everyone as they arrive. This will warm them up to the room. Otherwise, they have to make their own connections and not everyone is comfortable with that. Soon, they may get bored with the party.
21. Send a private thank you note to each of your guests and tell them how nice it was to host them.
22. Do not clean the dishes or rearrange the food while your guests are still there. It can wait until all the guests leave. If you have OCD about this, tell your partner or someone you trust to remind you about this. If you want your house to be that clean that you should do this right away, why should your guests be spending time with you instead of cleaning their houses?
23. If the guests are all from your spouse’s network, make an effort to get to know them a little better before the event. That gives you some conversation topics. Ask about their job, how they interacted your spouse, etc. If you are bored and don’t care to talk to them & start doing your own things, they will notice. It sends a pretty strong message and it may become hard to get in touch with them again.
24. Travel & food are always good topics of conversation. People like good sense of humor. Stay away from racism, religion, and politics to some extent.
25. If you have kids, ensure that they will be well behaved. Depending on the type of audience expected for the party, you may considering sending the kids to a baby sitter.
26. If any guests request you to do something that you are not comfortable with such as turning on the TV game or they tamper with your things too much, be polite.

Social gatherings are a great way to get to know people, relax, and have fun. With some thought, preparation, and planning you can make the most out of it. Have fun.

October, November & December are typically loaded with parties. They come with big festivals such as Diwali, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. But we don’t need occasions to party & meet people. Socializing is a common part of our lives. Summer comes loaded with BBQ parties for instance. There are tons of websites and TV programs that give inputs on setting up your space for party, cooking food, etc. But I haven’t come across a good comprehensive list of things to do and not to do. So, here’s my take for guests. Hosts can find their list here. I’d love to hear from you about things that worked well & didn’t work well in other parties.

If you are the guest:

1. Don’t assume your hosts drink & take a wine bottle. There are some teetotalers.
2. Bring a decent gift even. The host is taking a lot of effort to make your get together memorable. Gifts don’t have to be pricey, they just have to be thoughtful.
3. Don’t be more than 30 mins late. If there are other guests to the party, they cannot start eating until you show up.
4. For an office party, don’t be more than 15 mins late.
5. An office party is not a place to get drunk and let lose. Limit your alcohol intake & focus on socializing, not drinking.
6. Do not dwell into minute details of specific topics for a long time. The audience may lose interest.
7. Don’t dig your heels on arguing about a particular topic like you’ve done a PhD about it. Others may lose interest and find you dry. The only exceptions may be when the entire guest list comprises of people with similar background and they are interested in shoptalk.
8. Have some sense of humor. Dry matter of fact talk can be boring. Keep in mind that people get together to have a good time. You can improve your sense of humor by watching comedies.
9. Be current with the news. Something major can be used as an icebreaker when you meet someone new.
10. Know funny things that are a part of the local culture. For example in the US, Sports, Seinfeld, Friends, Lost, The Office, etc make a good conversation topic.
11. If you don’t know something, don’t make it up. Ask about it & show interest. People like to share because they showcase how much they know.
12. Don’t ask the guest to turn on your favorite TV show or music. You are there to meet people, not to watch TV. Plus, you will be distracting other guests in the party. One of the guests asked the party to turn on the sports game. The host also got hooked into it and soon the two were in their world. This left the other guests bored. The only exception is when the gathering is for a game night or a movie night.
13. Snack a little before going to someone’s place. You never know when the food will be served. If you are hungry, then you cannot focus. Also, pre-emptive snacking means you wont be clearing up the entire bowl yourself at the party.
14. Offer to help if the guest is preparing something. When many people show up at the same time, the guest may need help with getting drinks to everyone. They may also need help with setting the table or plates.
15. Don’t hang around the food and the bar all the time. Take time to share your experiences with your hosts and listen to their experiences as well. Be engaging.
16. Often times, simple questions like what is your job role can make them at ease & help you to learn new things.
17. Do not touch their things without asking. Just observe from a distance. Some items may be sentimentally valuable to the guests and despite your best intention you may damage the item.
18. Don’t say anything negative about your host or any other guests. If there is another guest you don’t like at the party, exchange niceties and excuse to get a drink.
19. Don’t complain to the host. In one of the parties that I attended, the guest complained to the host that the cook hasn’t made her food yet. She was upset & the host had to prioritize her order over that of the other guests.
20. If you take your kids with you, take things with you to keep them entertained. Perhaps their favorite book or a drawing kit or something.
21. Make sure your kids are well behaved. If you are doubtful, you may be better off hiring a babysitter. Kids that bang the door and cabinets or damage the house are putting the host in a tough spot. They have to be nice to you because you are guest. At the same time, their property is encountering a damage. Put yourself in their shoes.
22. Say something nice to the host even if you had the worst experience. Their intention is to meet with you & help you have a good time. They may have goofed up the execution. But be kind and complimentary.
23. If you have been invited to their place more than once and you’ve never hosted them, set up a time to meet with them at your place. If you don’t care so much about them to invite them to your parties, then decline their invites politely. They will understand. If you attend their parties but you don’t invite them, its just a matter of time before you stop getting their invitations.
24. If it is a networking event, don’t be tied to one person you meet. Work your way in the room to meet others.
25. Though I haven’t done this myself yet, carry your cards with you. It can be as simple as your name, email ID, and phone number. It doesn’t have to be your professional business card. Often times in a networking event, we meet many people. But it is difficult to get their coordinates given the settings. There are plenty of sites online to get your cards for under 10 bucks.
26. Dress for the occasion.
27. After the event, send a thank you note to the host for taking the effort to organize the party & telling them about how your time was well spent. As a host, this is assuring to know that the guests had a good time.

Social gatherings are a great way to get to know people, relax, and have fun. With some thought, preparation, and planning you can make the most out of it. Have fun.

Ex Partners

You should be talking about your exes. You should want to know if the girl you are having dinner with has a pattern, a type of man she goes for. It might not matter if she is into suits and you are an accountant, but what if the last three of her exes ended up in prison for drug smuggling! You might find that interesting to say the least. On a first date we go in armed to the teeth with our history, we wear it like a garment and it shapes our opinions on life and therefore our conversations. The person in front of you represents so much more than the mere form that is being presented. It may be useful to know all about the ex partners and loves-that could-have-been because it may tell you something more about this person you are choosing to spend some quality time with. It may also warn you in advance that this may not be the one for you.

Religion

Why? Isn’t religion an important part of society. The majority of us claim allegiance to some religion or other whether it be catholic, church of England, Jewish, Hindu or the multitude of other lesser denominations and variants, and it matters because it appears to be something that is important to us. Now let’s face it, if you are into the guy sitting opposite you and want to see him again why would you hide something so important to you, or want him to hide this about himself? At the end of the day if you are religious and he/she isn’t, how long do you think the relationship will last anyway? If you do find the urge to argue about why your religion is better than his/hers two things can happen. You find a greater understanding and actually accept the others persons viewpoint, concluding that an opinion is just that, an opinion. Or you go for each others throats and publicly beat the shit out of each other, probably not the best basis for a long lasting relationship anyway.

Politics

Why? Politics are a part of society that we cannot hide away from. Some people may be staunch conservatives or democrats, others are not really that arsed, realising that all parties, except the extreme ones, are pretty much the same anyway. You may not want to introduce the liberal radical partner of your dreams to your upper class conservative family but more embarrassing could be to avoid the topic from the start, unleash this new person on your friends and family over a here’s-my-new-partner dinner, only to find out then that he harbours erotic dreams of running a new communist state and can’t wait to tell everyone about his radical plans for social reform, basing his ideas on Albania of the 1950’s! Arguing about politics is again like arguing about religion, you either agree or disagree. If you are that bothered, then isn’t it better to know from the start of the relationship?

Crazy Relatives

So what if your cousin Johnny is doing 6 months inside for ‘bothering’ sheep? What’s the problem if your elderly Aunt Lucy thinks she is Lady Godiva and regularly hauls her naked wrinkles through the local village on her vintage Raleigh Chopper? Does it really matter? These topics are conversation gold and can turn a boring date into one to remember. We can all see the funny side of things and sometimes it is good to laugh at people, let’s be honest. Embarrassment shouldn’t be an issue and the truth is going to come out sooner or later anyway.

Criminal past

It is important to fess up for 2 reasons. First, your date may still get the urge to mug people whenever presented with the opportunity, and second, it may be nice to know if the person you are on a date with has murdered his/her past lover! You may see that information as a material fact. Being honest about yourself is always important and if you have done something unsavoury, just spill it. You may be proud of the thousands you stole in bank raids across the city, or of the excellent quality of the drugs you used to sell to under age school kids, so let true love navigate its way through these murky avenues. Some women just love a bad boy and I know some guys out there love the idea of a ‘bad-girl’ in prison jim-jams!

Future Plans

The mistake that many of us make is to limit conversation about the past and the present when the future is so much more interesting. You may want to get married in a pink dress, so why not tell it? Why not let your date hear it all so they can form an opinion and decide whether or not to stay for the Second Act. If you are the ‘future plan making type’ of person, then just be yourself. If the person sitting opposite you can’t take it, then what have you really lost except for a few wasted weeks, perhaps months, of getting to know someone who doesn’t have the ability to plan farther than the next episode of Eastenders!

Topics your date is not interested in

I say talk about everything. Find out why this person isn’t interested in the mating habits of the blue spotted vole, or needlework for people with no thumbs and only wants to talk about Football and Darts! I have always believed that you don’t really know if you dislike something until you have tried it. Talk about everything and see how far it takes you. You may be surprised at what you find out and you will definitely know the range of topics that are welcome and whether this person has the breadth of interests that you find attractive.

Of course, these rules only apply to those people out there looking for something deep and meaningful. Those of you just looking for some sweaty, satisfying, meaningless sex to itch that scratch you’ve been having need not follow them, at all.

Everyone Has a Will

By Brian Madigan LL.B.

Everyone has a Will. The problem is that most people don’t know where it is. They have never seen it, they never signed it and they don’t know what it says.

The Ontario Government has written out a generic Will for everyone. It’s set out in the Succession Law Reform Act. So for those of you who have never taken the time to sign one of your own, let’s have a look at what it says when it comes to dividing up your property:

1) the first $ 200,000 to my spouse,

2) the balance, ALL to my spouse, (except if I have a child),

3) one child, then ½ to my child and ½ to my spouse, (except if I have more than one child)

4) 2/3 to my children to be shared equally, and 1/3 to my spouse,

5) all to my parents (if I have no spouse and no children),

6) all to my brothers and sisters (if no one in 5),

7) all to my nieces and nephews (if no one in 6),

all to my next of kin (if no one in 7), and

9) all my estate to the Province of Ontario (if no one in 8).

There are a couple of additional rules that you need to know. Children may represent their deceased parents as long as the parent was a child, brother or sister of the person who died intestate. Half blood is the same as whole blood. Adopted children are included, as are unknown and undetermined relatives (as long as the connection can be proved by DNA). There is no such thing as “in-laws” or “godchildren”. These people are just strangers, and if there is an intention to include them, they must be mentioned in a Will.

You will also appreciate that it may be difficult to determine just precisely who is included in the term “next-of-kin”.

All in all, the generic Will seems to be reasonably fair. The only real problem is that nobody really ever likes it completely. Everyone wants to change it, even just a little bit.

Also, there is nothing in there about any kind of tax planning or particular financial management opportunities. And, there is nothing about the guardianship of your children. So, if you have children, don’t just leave them up for grabs, sit down and write out your intentions when it comes to guardianship.

After children, the next important issue might be your house. It’s not necessarily going to your spouse! Who gets it? Is that fine with you? What about your parents’ home? As time marches on, preparing your own Will might be something to think about.

Brian Madigan LL.B., Realtor is an author and commentator on real estate matters, Royal LePage Innovators Realty
905-796-8888
www.OntarioRealEsateSource.com

Can I vent about sexuality and the church for a second?

Ok, am I wrong in my assumption that the church’s stand on sex is a simple, “Get married first,” sentence? Doesn’t that seem a bit blinded and simplistic? How many sermons have I heard on sex in the past 23 years in the church? Four, that I can remember. One was about the dangers pornography, two were about homosexuality as a “sexual perversion”, and the other two were on my mission trip to Russia when we were told to guard against “sexual temptation” while in the Motherland. Which one of these helped me most when the time came for young Benjamen to make the decision to grope or not to grope? None.

In the early years, the years before my corruption, the years of my steady church attendance, no cursing, and a peculiar awe for the female form (I really haven’t lost that one altogether), in those years the biggest sex deterrent was a genuine hope that I’d find my future wife soon. I was determined to stay “pure” for her. I remember being in the backseat of a car with one of my good friends (I think I was 16 or 17), she was kissing my neck and whispering, “It’s ok Ben, it’s ok”, I looked at her and said, “I can’t. You’re not meant for me.” Even remembering that is like watching someone else’s home-movies. That boy died when he stopped believing that he had a future wife. What a slide from there.

I became jaded towards the church’s rose-colored glasses, and white gloves, with which they saw and handled the world. I began to see that the “world” and the “sinners” were the ones I most related to. They had no gloves, just raw emotion and no answers. I had been spoon fed answers all my life, and I knew that the right answer to everything was “Jesus” and “God”, and that nothing else mattered. I still believe that these are the only constants in life, even when I can’t live up to that knowledge: I believe it.

Sex was a mystery to me, something I had heard my parent’s mention once or twice, and something that “everyone” seemed to be enjoying or joking about in the “world”. I felt like I had been lied to. How could this thing be so important and natural for so many people, and yet such a sealed file in my church world? All I knew about sex came from a time I stumbled onto a site at the library. “XXX Busty Babes”, I can still remember my heart pounding and my hands shaking as I tried frantically to find the small “x” on the corner of the page. 16 years of pew-filling didn’t prepare me for the power of the naked female form.

Paul says, “ If they [single people and widows] cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion,” well, I was burning with passion from that moment on. It would be another six months before I found out that you couldn’t get someone pregnant by kissing them.

The question that I keep asking myself is: “If you understood sex before this, I mean really knew, would you have been better off or worse?” I can’t answer that question. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and that the past can’t be changed, only our memories are shaped by the constant wear of time: it happened in the only way it could have.

I remember reading about how ancient cultures (including the Israelites) would marry their kids off when they were 13 or 14 years old. That makes a little sense to me when it comes to the passage about burning with passion. “Ok, my balls dropped, and I’m burning with passion…. can I get married now?” Don’t get me wrong, I think that marriage at all is a coin toss for eternal pain, and that age and maturity help greatly when it comes to the ability to build a successful marriage.

That’s anther thing that doesn’t make sense to me! If sex is so glorious IN marriage, then why don’t we hear more about it in general? If someone has a nice car, or finds an amazing restaurant: they tell someone! I can’t believe that sex is as glorious as people in the church allude to. They all hoot and holler when a new couple get’s married, they all have a memory of their own first year as a couple: lots of rolling between the sheets. At the same time, I see longing in their eyes, “Ahh to have that first year back. The year before kids and jobs and struggling to make ends meet. Sex has been riding backseat for almost 15 years now.” I know that there is a TON more to a successful relationship than the consistency of hay rolls, but there is something there that makes me wonder: if it is so great how come single people don’t hear more about it in the church?

We hear earfuls about how this guy “boned” that girl or about how this girl is smiling because she is “getting some” in the secular world… but not so much in the church. We are called to be separate and live in a way that is different from everyone else, but my point is that we leave our young people out to dry. We let them struggle and think that there is something wrong with them when they get excited at seeing a partial boob or some girl’s underwear when she bends over. Stuff it! That’s why I went to the other side: because I felt ashamed by my own desires. The only place I felt natural and accepted was “in the world”.

So, what do you suggest?

I don’t know. God, help me… I don’t know. I’m so sick and tired of being a freak around my “good” Christian friends, and yet I know that everyone on the other side is struggling with their own set of emotional and physical problems.

I used to pray that my future wife would be a soft-spoken Christian girl, but now I know better than to subject a girl like that to a life with me. I now pray a simple prayer if it is willed for me to get married: “God, may her smile make me forget my imperfections, and may she be the most forgiving girl in the world.”

Do you know why so many children can’t follow rules?

Because their parents teach them that it is okay to ignore the rules.

At two of my daughters’ activities, adults completely ignore the “please put your shoes on the shelves” signs and the “take your shoes off here” signs.

If you are asked to remove your shoes, do it.  It’s usually for everyone’s comfort and for maintenance of the facilities.

If you are asked to remove your shoes and shelves are provided, use the shelves.  I don’t want anyone to trip and hurt themselves just because you’re too lazy to use the shelves or so self-centered that you believe the rules don’t apply to you.

Your cooperation is appreciated.

FRom: http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2009/11/gamble-on-american-idol-sex-and-the-city-slot-machines.html

If you’re over 21, you can now play slot machines based on two of your favorite shows, “American Idol” and “Sex and the City.”

Both slots were new releases at the 2009 Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. In “American Idol,” slot players can trigger a bonus round that lets them become one of three judges — Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi or Randy Jackson — and then plays video clips of past contestants, good AND bad.

According to Sphere.com, Paula Abdul was the lone holdout participant even BEFORE she announced she was leaving the show. Innnteresting.

Meanwhile, the “Sex and the City” slot machines are subtitled “Change of a Dress.” Clever, no? They feature bonus rounds that include video clips of all four women plus Mr. Big.

International Game Technology spokeswoman Julie Brown told Sphere, “There’s shoes and purses and lots of bling and big bonuses and the music track, and it’s a very interactive game.”

Speaking of Mr. Big, Chris Noth helped unveil the “Sex and the City” slot machine in Las Vegas. Video below.

Here are the rules of adsense program :

Google AdSense Program Policies
These rules can change at any time so it never hurts to look back on this rule in http://www.google.com/AdSense/policies.

Account Ownership
Ownership adsense account and can not be traded dipindahtangan.

Ad Placement (Ad Placement)
- One page consists of a maximum of three ad units (adsense for content)
- One page consists of a maximum of 2 Google search box (adsense for search)
- One page consists of a maximum of one link unit.
- AdSense for Content may not be placed on pages that are not based content, including the error pages, login, registration, thank you, or welcome page.
- AdSense for Content and AdSense for Search not be displayed on the parking websites, pop-ups, pop-unders, or in an email.
- AdSense for Content may not be displayed on the page specifically created to show the ad does not matter whether The contents of these pages are relevant or not.
- Not show ads through the download process.
- Elements on the page may not cover some or all of the ads.

Software
Adsense for content, adsense for search (and search results) and the referral should not be placed on any application or software, including the toolbar.

Modification code
Code adsense for content and for search must be placed dalma web pages without modification.
Copyrighted material, the publisher does not allow ads on web pages to include MP3, videos, newsgroups, and images unless authorized publisher.
Commission, gift, or the lure of
On the web page there should be no incentive or reward for visitors to click. The words that contain meaning ‘take’ to click like “click here,” ’support for us,” “visit these links,” or other words of similar also not allowed.

Label ads
Publisher is not allowed to write the label of ‘disguised’ in the ad units such as “favorite links.”

Language
Adsense code can be placed on pages with content specific language which are supported by adsense.

Click banned
All kinds of methods that is done deliberately to make clicks is prohibited. Some things that are prohibited include manual clicks repeatedly. Providing incentives to click, using robots, automated clicking tools, or other similar software. Click conducted by the publisher is also prohibited.

Content
Google will not give approval for the web or blog that contains:
- The sentences that are not obscene.
- Violence, violence, racial intolerance, incitement against individuals or specific groups.
- Hacking or cracking.
-Trafficking in drugs and equipment.
- Pornography and everything that is ‘adult’.
- Matters relating to gambling and casinos.
- Excessive Ads

- Promotion of illegal activities.

- Key words (keywords) that use re-used berulan and not relevant to the content of the site.
- The manipulation of content to increase rankings in search engines.
- Granting commission or compensation to the visitor to click on ads.
Bid weapons and or amunisinnya, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and a replica of a product.

Site functionality
There are no broken links, easily accessible, and readable.

Webmaster guide
In addition, publishers may need to consider some of the rules in http://www.google.com/webmaster/guidelines.html.
Some of these items include:
- No put some keywords that are irrelevant or redundant.
- Not using a redirect.
- Not to duplicate content.
- Avoid using hidden text or hidden links.
- It should not be participating in the scheme or method carried out to obtain the rank (pagerank)

I got a comment from Phyllis in my first post asking me to share a bit more about how we do things in our home.  I’ve been pondering all day about how to share these things.  How does one condense their lifestyle down in such a way that it fits within the confines of a blog post?  I shall attempt to give an overview.

* We have been married over 15 years.  My husband is five years older than myself.  We both come from a background that teaches wives to be submissive to their husband from a Biblical background.  So the husband being the head of the household was never a foreign concept to either of us.  We just may take this concept a bit further than some.

* I have always had a submissive nature where relationships are concerned.  Even when I was a  young girl and would picture myself married someday, I was always in a submissive role.  It is my comfort zone.

* We do practice “domestic discipline” though that is not a term we use a lot.  But that is truly what it is.  We have not always done things in this manner.  But even in the years of our marriage before dd, my husband was already very adept at giving me “swats” whenever he deemed they were needed.  That has always been a normal part of our life.  It’s just now that the swats are much more frequent and sometimes are full-blown spankings.

* I have certain rules given to me by him.  I know that in some relationships like ours, the female suggests rules to her husband that she thinks would help her and he then enforces them.  We have not done that nor do we plan to.  Some how the idea of me putting rules out on the table for him to enforce feels like topping from the bottom to me.  {I do not want to offend anyone who reads this and does do that.  That is 100% your business and I am not saying others should not do that.  Just for me personally, I am not comfortable with it.}  All of our rules are things that were and are important to my husband that I either do or stop doing.  Knowing that these rules have meaning to him takes away any wondering on my part about if this is serious or more of a game.  We don’t do games.

* My husband’s number one and most important rule is that I speak and act respectfully towards him at all times.  I would venture to say that is similar most other couples who live this way.  Sassing my husband is one area where there is no do-over, no second chances, and no I’ll-do-better-next-times.  If I speak disrespectfully to him, he will spank for that.  Period.  It is generally much better if I think before I speak.

* There are certain guidelines pertaining to how the house is kept.  I do not work outside of the home so he expects things to be kept in a certain way.  If they are not kept up to this standard and there is not a good reason (as in my previous post) then he does not allow me to have my allowance and depending on how bad it is and what I have to say about it, he may give a reminder spanking.  

* And yes, I am on an allowance.  He gives me a certain amount of cash each week.  This is to be used at my own discretion.  If things are kept up to his standards for long while, then he will sometimes increase the amount.  But if they are not kept to his liking, I lose the funds.  And I don’t necessarily get them back the following week if things quickly get brought back up to the way they are to be.  That next week he will usually just give me a percentage of what I am used to and I have to work my way back up to the full amount over two or three weeks.  I have a debit card for our joint account, but he retains it in his wallet.  He gives it to me if he thinks I will need it for something or I ask to use it.  I am to always return it to him at the end of the day when it has been given to me.

These are our main rules.  And basically, it’s fairly easy for these three rules to touch every area of my life.  I am content to live within them.

One other thing I want to touch on since this is a post where you get to know me a bit more than before.  I have been to many dd blogs and have a small handful that I like to read on a somewhat regular basis.  Those are ones where the people seem real and the blog itself is not an assault on my eyes.  So if you are reading here, I want inform you and assure you right off that bat that this blog will be about me and my very real life.  And you will never click on my blog and have to worry about what may pop up on it.  I know many people out there enjoy sharing certain types of pictures of themselves or others in various pre, during, or post punishment positions.  You’ll not find that here.  You will find my words and my thoughts and that is all.  I hope everyone can respect and understand that.

Wow. This whole section in Katie’s book, I Need Your Love – Is That True?, is about how our lives are governed by our search for approval from almost everyone we know – and even the strangers we don’t know.

One by one, Katie asks us to question our own thoughts and find out what we really believe about these aspects of seeking approval:

• Making an impression
• Pretending to be interested
• Making yourself more likeable
• Minding your manners
• Tact

I love this:

If you haven’t questioned the belief that it’s possible to win people over, and your manipulative charm doesn’t seem to be working, you’ll think there’s something wrong either with you or with your technique (or both). You may buy one of hundreds of self-help books that teach you how to market yourself – for instance, the multimillion-copy best-selling classic How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie. The author’s main suggestion is to make yourself interested in people because, he says, that’s guaranteed to win them over. If you find it difficult to do that, he has an alternative recommendation: Pretend to be interested. How is that done? Smile, remember the names of their children and dogs, write down their birthdays in your organizer so you can send everyone cards, and also pretned to agree with what they say. It’s all about impression management.

Carnegie didn’t stop to ask whether fake interest can win real friendship, because his objective was different: He was teaching a sales technique. And it caught on. You meet the results everywhere. People give you big business-smiles, and you wonder what they want….When someone pretends to be interested in you, do you smile back and pretend to be flattered? Most people cheerily carry on with the playacting, and there’s no problem unless you begin to think there’s any real approval in this behavior. This isn’t friendship – it mimics friendship to get people to do what someone wants. That kind of deception may sell insurance, but what happens when it enters the realms of friendship and your love life?

When you say or do anything to please, get, keep, influence, or control anyone or anything, fear is the cause and pain is the result. Manipulation is separation, and separation is painful. Another person can love you totally in that moment, and you’d have no way of realizing it.

How would I move, act, speak, and decide if I had less concern about what others will think? I see now that I’ve spent all my life in impression management. The gift of my life is that I never really got validated for it. I never had the popular personality, the blond hair, the long legs, the athletic skills, or the plain vanilla inoffensiveness that it required to “win people over”. I had a smile. I discovered this while on an airplane in 1988, headed to Washington DC to perform at the Kennedy Center. A stewardess said to me, “What a BEAUTIFUL smile you have!” It was the first time anyone said it to me. Coming from a total stranger, I trusted it since she couldn’t possibly want anything from me by giving me her compliment. In all the years before that, I had never been complimented for the way I looked. Instead, it had always – since first grade when I was taunted for having the slanty eyes of a Chinese person – been the source of separation and some level of shame that I could never hide, because it was the face I was born with.

I am thankful today for the fact that I could never believe the thought that I needed to make a certain impression. The reason I couldn’t believe the thought is that I could never make the “right” impression. I was too different from too many of the people who surrounded me on a daily basis. Wherever I went, it was obvious that I was not going to fit in with this crowd. It continued after I left Libertyville, Illinois. It continued at Harvard. It continued in medical school. It continued in the business world. And it continues to this very moment. This tells me that this is my reality, my truth, my love. The fact that I never got validated completely is a gift because it means that I have had to keep searching for a better way to live. I could never just settle into the comfortable delusion of thinking that everything was perfect just because I had the approval of people who would pay me money, smile back at me, invite me to join their club, like me for wearing the same clothes, lean on me because I condoned their behaviors.

It has led me to the search for beauty in my own reality. Yesterday, on Thanksgiving Day, I had lunch at a retirement convent for Jesuit nuns. All were over the age of 75. Most were in their 80s and 90s. There were two ladies who were to turn 100 in the next few months. The overarching feeling in this community was joy. There nothing but smiles and clear eye contact and love among these sisters. And yet there were nothing but “problems” if you looked at it from an outsider’s perspective. They were dealing with health problems, pain, decreasing mobility. All were highly educated in their lives, having served as professors at universities, or teachers. Most still stayed active with tutoring, reading, and learning. My favorite room is their art studio, where they paint watercolors for each season of the year and make notecards to sell as fundraisers. After lunch I was told by the nun who invited me there, “Let’s go to the art room. You’re not in any hurry to leave, are you?” Well, it’s true I wasn’t really in a hurry, although I did want to catch the sunset at Half Moon Bay. I ended up going on a walk to see a beautiful gingko tree that was bright lemon yellow, about to shed its leaves. And I thought California had no fall colors! This is the first year I am noticing all the vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows that fill our tree-lined streets right now. Why hadn’t I ever seen them before? I was stuck in the belief that “We don’t have fall colors in California.” So of course I never bothered to look.

I sat for about half an hour tying ribbons around the packages of notecards that would be going on sale next week at the school’s holiday gift bazaar. If a 93-year-old nun and her siblings – both in their 80s – could tie ribbons, so could I. On the way out, we met several other nuns who stopped to chat with us. No one ever just walks by another person without looking at them or saying hello. And actually hello is not usually enough either. People stop, introduce themselves, shake hands, and learn something about each other. I became “the talented violin lady” and everyone instantly recognized who I was. The one with the children. The one who’s coming back next week to give the most anticipated event of their year. One of the nuns was an artist, and wanted to show me her paintings. A true artist, when I asked her about her approach and what she was thinking about when she did each one, she’d just say, “Oh, I wanted to just play.” And that’s how it really happens. She showed me the desk where she works, sitting in front of a large picture window facing the courtyard and a beautiful tree. She lived in a single room, very spacious with her own bathroom. Yes, she was blessed. It was just thanksgiving day, like every day at the convent.

I finally left at around 3:30. There was still plenty of light, and I felt light from having been surrounded by such joy. And then I set off for Half Moon Bay, with Mary, my artist/writer/photographer friend who is leaving the country in just about ten days. We stopped at the beach before heading to the Ritz-Carlton. I thought the hotel would either be empty or packed. Turned out it was packed. Lots of families with miserable children dressed in suits and ties and being forced to eat in a hotel ballroom packed with round tables, cheap chairs, and “autumn” decorations like hay bales, baskets of apples, and ears of Indian corn. In the center, a cheesy live music trio doot-doot-dooted away to keep the atmosphere from being as deadly as it all looked.

We found a nook in one of the side rooms of the lobby which has been converted into a wine-tasting area since I last visited. Technically there was no table service where we were (according to the hostess lady). So I went up to the bar and asked if they make hot chocolate. And I pointed out to the bartender where we were sitting. “I’ll bring it up to you,” he said. Wow! I thought. We really can be served! This was perfect. When he brought out our drinks, we went ahead and ordered French fries. They were fine, but we didn’t know what good could be until our bartender brought out an entire other order of fries for us, saying, “Well, we just had some more.” How sweet he was! He probably saw two lovely ladies drinking non-alcoholic beverages on a Thanksgiving night and said, “That’s sweet.” He actually said, “Is this your Thanksgiving dinner, then? Hot chocolate and French fries?” We laughed, saying yes it was. And we loved it!

We sat there for hours, doing The Work, telling stories of how we had shifted situations in our lives by starting to do The Work, and then just stories in general. About life transitions. Moving on. Accepting reality as it is. Learning. Creating. Telling stories. People. Ultimately we were thankful for exactly where we are, because of exactly what we had been through.

I am thankful because now I can end each day by thinking of the gifts each day brought me. I can find those gifts in my life. I can see them in seemingly small moments that may not have made an impression on anyone but me. They are gifts I receive from my own perceptions. They are the gifts that are slowly freeing me to be what I have always been.

Here are just a few of the gifts of my Thanksgiving Day: