January 2012

We all love getting our holiday decorations out of the attic to decorate our homes.  Now admit it, you love getting those crazy Christmas sweaters out and wearing them (and because you only wear them a couple of days a year, they remain FOREVER in your wardrobe).  But Christmas themed jewelry can be worn much longer – from Thanksgiving through Epiphany on January 6^th.  Yes, the 12 Days of Christmas actually refers to the 12 days AFTER Christmas!

How many versions of the song “The 12 Days of Christmas” have you heard?  I know there are many, many more but Jeff Foxworthy’s Redneck version always makes me laugh and the one done by the GPS company always gets stuck in my head.  I admire the creativity of those who do parodies; I suppose I could do one, but it would take more than 12 days to complete!

As with the song, here are a few different versions of the “Partridge in a Pear Tree” pin.

So ... for your viewing pleasure an entire collection of vintage partridge in pear tree pins!

Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy, Healthy New Year!

BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the days get shorter, it's a bright idea to make sure your vehicle's lights and wipers are working properly so you can be seen by others and your visibility is not compromised, advises the Car Care Council.

"Lights and wipers play a critical role in safe driving, as the chance of an accident increases if you can't see or be seen," said Rich White, executive director, Car Care Council. "From the driver's seat you may not notice a light that isn't working, so inspect all of your car's lights and replace those that are out. Also, inspect and replace wiper blades so you can see clearly when wet weather hits."

Lights are normal wear items that require periodic inspection and replacement. The lighting system provides nighttime visibility; signals and alerts other drivers; and supplies light for viewing instruments and the vehicle's interior. In addition to replacing dimming, rapidly blinking and non-functioning lights, the following tips can help keep you safe:

•Keep headlights, tail lights and signal lights clean. External dirt and debris can dim operational lights from being seen by others.

•Make sure that your headlights are properly aimed. Misaimed headlights blind other drivers and reduce your ability to see the road.

•Don't overdrive your headlights; you should be able to stop inside the illuminated area, otherwise you are creating a blind crash area in front of your vehicle.

•If there is any doubt on whether or not your headlights should be on, turn them on. Lights not only help you see better in early twilight, they also make it easier for other drivers to see you.

The wiper system keeps excessive water, snow and dirt from building up on the windshield, maintaining clear visibility. Many factors can accelerate the replacement interval of wipers, including operating conditions (winter conditions are tough on wiper blades), frequency of use, material and type of wipers and sunny weather. In fact, wiper blades can deteriorate faster and need more frequent replacement in desert states.

About the Car Care Council

The Car Care Council is the source of information for the "Be Car Care Aware" consumer education campaign promoting the benefits of regular vehicle care, maintenance and repair to consumers. For a copy of the council's Car Care Guide or for more information, visit www.carcare.org.

SOURCE Car Care Council

http://www.carcare.org/

About 40 minutes in to our Tai Chi exercise class, and with focused concentration, we perform this pose, Pluck a Star from the Sky. It requires that, while alternating arms and hands, you stretch upward as high as you can, while simultaneously lifting your heels off the ground.  As the star is plucked, your feet return fully to the ground, centered again, and the hand and arm return to one’s side. Next, the alternate arm and hand rise up, heels off the floor again—yes, to pluck another star from the sky, one at a time. This stretch feels wonderful. Re-anchoring with the ground feels wonderful. The pose includes breathing in deeply as the arm and hand rise, and fully exhaling as the arm/hand return to your side.  The stars—all ripe for plucking—are abundant and imaginary, limited only by one’s energy to continue reaching for them.

I can’t help but think about plucking stars from the sky.  Which ones would I choose? There must be special ones containing the breadth of my wish-list.  After all, I can still remember the nursery rhyme about wishing upon a special star.  (We’ve all had that experience!)

Star light, star bright,

First star I’ve seen tonight,

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have the wish I wish tonight.

As a mature, consciously-aware adult, this extension pose is never complete until I ask myself, what is the desire I wish for today?  Which of these stars—waiting for me and requiring me to stretch upward to reach—is mine to pluck next? What is it that is mine to dream?  Mine to desire?  What requires me to stretch even more? What am I trying to accomplish?  What new work or what new joy is awaiting my grasp? With what divine energy should I be connecting?  What is it that I am next to do to as a catalyst for growth?  What further stretching action am I beckoned to deliver?

Each time I stretch upward like this, I sense the true act of reaching, of striving, of extending myself. As my heels leave the floor, I’m igniting that catalyst in me to stretch just a bit more, reach up just a bit further. First, I feel the stretch. Next is the realization that there is now more action for me to do as I become reconnected with the world again, heels down, fully grounded, re-anchored, re-motivated.  Plucking a Star from the Sky is more than a physical Tai Chi pose; this has a deeper, metaphorical meaning. Like a parable, it speaks to the student on several levels.

For me, simply performing this pose, while breathing deeply, provides me with my celestial twinkling. I’ve got a lot of star plucking to do yet.  I have much more to reach for as I grow forward.  There is much more work for me to do when I’m grounded and centered. There is more joy within my reach. How about for you?  What’s on your star-plucking list?

Postscript: A few years ago, there was a lot of press about a Star Registry. By sending in a certain amount of money, you could actually claim a star; that is, register your or your loved one’s name. That star was then renamed in this registry for the person desiring a celestial connection.  While I found that most interesting, I’d rather contemplate the Universe as so abundant in its offerings, with stars too numerous to count, fully knowing that our dreams, desires, goals (and yes, a celestial connection) are all there for us already—(free!)—we just have to reach out, stretch, grasp, and then take the actions required of us.  Lights On!

PTSD treatment in Buffalo is readily available. Asking for a referral from a primary care physician or other health care practitioner means beginning a conversation about it. To help do that, those seeking treatment by licensed psychotherapists might check out Psychology Today’s online listing.

Fill in the zip code, click on the list of specialties, and then scroll to find “Trauma and PTSD.” That goes to a list of twenty-four local therapists who specialize in it, and a short description of their work. Then ask your own medical practitioners for recommendations.

Recently, a study has yielded information that should help PTSD sufferers understand their own reactions. It showed that they might not distinguish between a stimulus associated with disaster in the past and the same stimulus later when nothing terrible is happening. Dr. Rony Paz of the Weitzmann Institute’s Neurobiology Department says this made sense in the evolutionary past of human beings.

...over the years one of my favorite sayings has been: "I know you believe you understand what you think I just said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant." ...this not only applies to the words we 'speak', but is also certainly applicable to the words we 'write' ...while 'images'; logos, photos, drawings, charts and etc., certainly help towards delivering our websites' message, it is the 'text content' that is ultimately responsible for making it clear to the site visitor (and search engines) what the purpose of the website is

...this brings us to the issue and process of "proofreading" ...while working with people assisting with the development of their website, upon finding a 'typo' and/or a sentence that just didn't make sense to me, when pointing it out, I have heard many times; "I read that section several times, how did I miss that?" ...I've also been surprised by how many people have admitted that they didn't 'really' read over what they posted to their site - typically followed by them saying; "I was in a hurry to get that new article out on my site, I guess I didn't read it over very well."

...thanks to our modern day word processing programs with their built in 'spell checking' and some that also have 'grammar checking', many of the simple typo's are caught 'for us' and/or bad grammar is 'pointed out' to us ...however, as our computers can't read our minds [at least not yet anyway ;-)) ] a critical step in the process of writing and then publishing 'any' type of 'text content', is "proofreading"