HI! OH my gosh. I have not had the writing bug in a long time. Its my passion and my art side and yet im in a winter season as far as writing goes. Thats ok.... A friend of mine has parents who are on Facebook and the internet as they are retired etc. She was telling me that they think of the internet as the local news paper ;) You know...when the newspaper boy / girl would drop off a real live paper wrapped in plastic at 5 A.M. and you would start the coffee brewing and then in your slippers go and get the paper. Rain or snow it was there!

 The headlines were always real live news! There was local news and the news team would go get the facts and they would just state the facts as correct as they could do with all their research. There was also state and world news. Again....just the facts and not too much emotions involved. There was a opinion page...and there people could muster up all sorts of bogus stuff and most did not read into that page....or if they did read they took it with a grain of salt. NOW....We have the internet and twitter and Facebook where people can just put up any old info. YES if you go to the real news cnn or in my case sfgate then you get real news yet many elderly people go to weird sights and think of it as the old news paper and if it is published its right....... Wow.......

just read the below on facebook and wanted to keep it here. I have been reading the Grey series and my take on the whole thing is the same as below! Its not about kinky sex and force etc its about trust and love and Mr. Grey can be trusted and is the kind of man we all dream about. Here is the post below: MEN ARE AFRAID OF SEX? Men are mystified by women's sexuality - actually we're terrified of it. Our greatest fear? That we'll disappoint you, that you'll dream about or find someone is better or bigger than us and that you'll never open yourself to us again. As a woman, you make yourself vulnerable by revealing an experience or describing a fantasy. As men, we hear the details as a challenge to us to deliver it precisely as described. We think you're like us and that every detail is something you want in real life exactly as you imagined it. Your romantic fantasies have us mentally calculating the expense of the trip to the exotic location and the legalities of being arrested on the beach or in the waterfall. Your more vivid ones make us fear we need to be some kind of endowed gymnast to avoid disappointing you. What men don't realize is that the most desirable quality for a woman isn't muscles, sexual gymnastics or impressive endowment, it's a partner that a woman trusts enough to simply EXPRESS herself openly to. The reason 50 Shades of Grey was popular wasn't because it was well written (it wasn't) or the specific sex it described, it was because the man described was confident and utterly unembarrassed about his own sexuality and created a safe space for the woman to express both her curiosity and limitations. Most men are stuck - we don't intend to be, we just have fewer places than women to have healthy conversations about sexuality. We grew up on a diet of dirty jokes and pornography with the guys while publicly the puritanical beliefs from our families, our churches and sex Ed classes made us think everything we wanted was dirty. We're terrified that someone will discover that we're deviants if we reveal out fantasies or inadequate lovers if we open up about our insecurities. At our core we suspect that women don't want sex, that we have to convince you to like it so that we can get it. It's almost inconceivable to us that it's something you'd actually want or think about. Because they fear your sexuality, Nice Guys lack bravado inside or outside the bedroom while Bad Boys try to keep up their 'show' when their clothes come off or reveal themselves as the timid boys they really are when things become genuinely intimate. A conscious man realizes that a woman is open when she feels seen, safe, respected and supported. An exceptionally conscious man understands that foreplay for a woman begins the moment sex ends and that she will be open to him as long as she continues to feel seen, respected and supported. A conscious man doesn't disconnect (roll over, turn on the TV, leave her alone to clean up). He knows that as long as he adores her and never stops showing that he supports her that she never turns *off*. She might not think about sex the casual way he does, but if he proves to be magnificent in her *little* things he'll find her magnificently available with his *big* things. Graham R White

My girlfriend Stacey and my dad always use to laugh about a funny story and thinking on it yea it was very funny. :) Our family use to go camping each summer to Pinecrest Lake in Sierra Nevada. It was two weeks of a grand fun time and my dad would spoil us all and I mean spoil. We got to go to the snack bar when ever we wanted and basically just got spoiled for two weeks.. When I turned 15 I brought my friend Stacey up with me to scout out boys. We were good shy girls so we just scouted and decided who we liked or did not like! My dad decided to cash in on having two older teens with him as my mom is afraid of water and he had always wanted to go sailing in a small little sail boat. The kind with a surf board as the bottom! I being more cautious then Stacey always told him NO....and so Stac and dad talked me into this thing and I did it. Being the Cheryl that I am I asked before getting on that surf board with a sail "Dad, what If i fall off"? He said "Cheryl, you wont fall off" and then I said again "Dad, What if I fall off"? and he said "You then make sure you fall off and not let the boat hit you and you go feet first and I will pick you up" He said with a smile as he had 15 years of talking me into stuff. Off we went. I did not like it from the get go as dad had always owned a big fishing boat or a ski boat and not a sail boat and I knew this! Who sails on a surf board out in the middle of a lake I thought and of course all I thought of was just how i would land in the water If i fell off ....Well the surf/sail boat was on its side alot like people that did not know what the heck they were doing. You had to move with it and the first time it went way off to one side....I JUMPED! I am NOT kidding. Off I went with my dad yelling "Cheryl, NOOOOOOO"....:) So here I was in the middle of Pinecrest lake with dad yelling "wait there"! and where was I going to go anyway? Stacey laughing so hard that im sure she was hurting and me just in the middle of the lake. Then....the meneuvor to collect me back on the surfboard! Mind you my dad had never sailed a surfboard before and i know that and what he had to do is come straight at me and end up a food away on one side to grab me...and I did not like that and as soon as he got close i swam away screaming bloody murder "NO"! My dad yelling "Cheryl, stop and stay and let me grab you" and i was all "ahhhhhhhhh waaaaaaaa nooooooooo"... After a long time and you would have to ask Stacey how long and im sure she remembers this my dad finally got a hold of me and he was not happy and did not yell and after five minutes he laughed and laughed and i was all "I want back to the beach with MOM".... This reminds me of how sometimes we jump overboard in life before we need to and we just sabotage ourselves so we do not have to feel the pain or be in control of the fear. I have done that with a few things in life and I NO longer do that. I no longer jump just in case things tip over in my life. I ride it out and if life tips me over i can deal with it because why jump into the pit when life may have other grand plans? And....If we do jum just stay put and let someone grab you and pull you up! Trust... Good stuff.

I want to talk about the IZZIES that come into our life at the most unexpected times. I call them Izzies because they remind me of the Izzy in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" Ladies who are wise beyond even their older years and who touch our lives in magical ways. I met a real Izzy in Colorado Springs and her real name was Izzy! She was a very spiritual lady who helped all those around her and helped out all her neighbors and friends. She talked to me about love and the love she had for her late husband and gave me hope that there are such great men out there as we ate some goodies she had made! She passed away a few years ago and I had a tug on my heart and then a smile as she is somewhere with her husband the great love of her life. Then I met Mary this last June. She lived across the street from my daughter and when I arrived in Calif I was having a bit of moving anxiety and Mary was truly a Izzie! She would call me over and we sat on her porch a few times a week where she gave me the best advice and I took it. She also gave me advice on how important it is to love your home and be content in your home! She too loved her late husband and was a super homemaker who cared for her kids and husband. She too was loved and helped her friends. She too gave me great goodies to eat! Izzies always feed you!!! A month before she passed Amanda and I took her to give a friend a pie at Christmas as this friend is all alone! What a lady she was. Mary collected tea cups and gave me one and forever I will look at it and remember how this lady touched my life when my life so disparately needed touching. She loved her family and home and her collections and she will be missed. Izzies can be your mom, sister, girlfreinds, women you meet in the most unusual places!! Now...I want to be a IZZY in life...oh yea....

I was watching a video from Debi Silber last night and she talked about the "ONE MORE PRINCIPLE" and how you just add ONE MORE thing to your day in one or a few areas to make great changes in your days , weeks or months to follow. She covered a few areas and I decided to write about how I am planning on doing "ONE MORE" thing in my year or months to follow. Nutrition: I plan on keeping up my semi vegetarian diet and plan on adding more raw foods into my life and to share the recipes on a blog. To stay clear of white sugar even when im out because it seems i am eating out or not at home alot so splurging more then once a week is NOT ok with me. As always gluten free.....and ONE MORE CHOICE TO DRINK WATER ...LOTS MORE WATER! Mindset: Having the correct mindset it very important in your emotional health as well as what it does to your relationships. To think positive and change your verbage from the "I Can'ts" to the "I Can" and listen to your self talk..Are you kind to yourself??? One more vegetable to your dinner, One more raw food, One more choice to replace water with soda in a day, One more lap around the block when out walking / jogging, One more kind act towards your kids or partner in a week....etc. Good stuff..Thanks Debi (Mojo Coach)!!!

Girlfriends

When my kids were little the only way I survived three little kids a husband and a cat was through having great GIRLFRIENDS! They were there when i needed them. I remember when my middle one was little I had a short phone cord and she would do naughties just out of my reach when i was on the phone and I would NEED my girlfriend time who had little ones of her own and so I had to weigh out the consequences of hanging up. Had a roll of toilet paper...NO WAY... not worth hanging up. :) Had my make up bag about to mascara the white carpet...bummer had to hang up :) Then........ah......we got a 25 foot cord and I will never forget that first week when I could run and catch her as far as the living room while chatting away with my savior not missing a beat (moms are brilliant at multitasking).....If shock was funny you should see a 2 year old that thought mom was on a 2 foot cord and her whole world ended when we finally got a cordless.....and I could chase her down the hall..... Girlfriends