•

When traveling

I have a couple of kits that I call redundancies - I can just throw the kits in the car or luggage and go without having to worry about whether or not I forget some essential "stuff".  There's stuff I have to pack, but this list cuts down on packing anxiety.  I have way more hair picks and can openers than any human being can use because I've had to stop and buy one.  I haven't checked these kits this spring and had to go buy toothpaste in Marquette...

Electric Stuff:

  • power strip
  • camera charger (this is the one thing I have to move, so I'm picking up another one
  • cell phone charger
  • computer power cord
  • iPod charger and sync cord

The power cord is an essential so that I don't have to pull out tables and things in a hotel room and use lots of outlets.  I've left a cell phone charger in a room so I plug in one power strip and use that for all of my "pluggables."  When it's time to leave, I grab the power strip and if I have everything attached to it, I have all my cords.

Kitchen Drawer:

This is more for long distance driving and camping.

  • paring knife
  • plate, bowl, cup, flatware
  • can opener
  • a few herbs and seasonings (include salt and pepper)
  • foil packets of tuna or salmon
  • foil packets of mayo, lemon juice, relish and mustard
  • EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
  • coffee "pod" singles
  • artificial sweetener packets
  • single serving packets of almonds, cashews, walnuts

Bathroom stuff:

travels size:

  • shampoo
  • conditioner
  • body soap
  • body lotion
  • contact solution
  • advil
  • toothpaste
  • toothbrush

Other stuff:

  • nasal rinse bottle and packets
  • contact case
  • extra pair of contacts
  • razor
  • deodorant
  • emery board
  • face moisture
  • lip balm
  • hair clippies and ponytailers
  • pick or comb

• 1 Comment

•

Interesting article...

I often get books on psychology sent to me by publishers, and the other day I received Jeffrey Kottler’s On Being a Therapist. The book is now in its fourth edition, and this latest edition “puts the spotlight on the therapist’s role and responsibility to promote issues of diversity, social justice, human rights, and systemic changes within the community and the world at large.”

Whoa: I thought the therapist’s role was to increase the client’s well-being and treat mental illness.

It used to be that therapists just saw clients and sent them a bill. Now — perhaps because the “sending them a bill” part has gotten more difficult in these days of managed care and public skepticism about the profession — they are transforming themselves into superhuman beings who think they can save the entire world. Therapists may have been narcissistic before, but it takes a special kind of narcissism to see one’s own self as a world-saver.

•

“All should be forgiven, and the thoughtless especially.”

Leo Tolstoy, Where Love Is (New York, 1915), page 20.

The Lord taught us to forgive at two levels.

Deep in our hearts, forgiveness is unconditional, since God has forgiven us: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). This forgiveness is absolute, before God.

At the level of our relationships, forgiveness is conditional: “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17:3). After all, how can one forgive a sin that hasn’t been confessed? For the relationship to be restored, the sinning brother must repent.

But what if he doesn’t repent? Or doesn’t even realize the harm he has done? Sadly, the relationship remains broken. But deep within, “. . . and the thoughtless especially.” This is the most costly forgiveness, because it is unseen, unthanked.

But God sees. As in everything else, all that ultimately matters is who God is, what God says, how God works.

Thoughtless is a post from: Ray Ortlund

•

If you ever testify in court, you might wish you could have been as sharp as this policeman. He was being cross-examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer was trying to undermine the police officer's credibility .....

Q: 'Officer --- did you see my client fleeing the scene?'

A: 'No sir. But I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender, running several blocks away.'

Q: 'Officer -- who provided this description?'

A: 'The officer who responded to the scene.'

Q: 'A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers?'

A: 'Yes, sir. With my life.'

Q: 'With your life? Let me ask you this then officer. Do you have a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?'

A: 'Yes sir, we do!'

Q: 'And do you have a locker in the room?'

A: 'Yes sir, I do.'

Q: 'And do you have a lock on your locker?'

A: 'Yes sir.'

Q: 'Now why is it, officer, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with these same officers?'

A: 'You see, sir -- we share the building with the court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room.'

The courtroom EXPLODED with laughter, and a prompt recess was called. The officer on the stand has been nominated for this year's 'Best Comeback' line -- and we think he'll win.

• 2 Comments

•
Born for This

Pull back the curtains, snap off the string.
This tired and lonely man is offering everything.
Tie up the main mast, boys, we’re going into the storm.
Passion’s not found in roses, but it’s in the thorns.

Farewell to the reckless, I want the real thing.
This life is knocking, son, open up and let the truth ring.
Posing is a past time. Ring a bell for selfishness.
I’m through with fallacy. Whatever happened to progress?

(Push forward. I won’t stop. Keep going till I drop).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (Upright and standing tall).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...for this. (Can’t stop).

To all my brothers, to all my brothers’ sons.
You can’t find freedom in money, it has to be won.
Spin your wheels in this graveyard; build your casket of chrome.
You’re on a road to nowhere, boy, and it’s taking you home.

(Push forward. I won’t stop. Keep going till I drop).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (Upright and standing tall).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...for this. (Can’t stop).

No one told me I’d pay for this. Drinking pleasure that’s turned to piss.
Standing firm on this sphere of sand. King of the world, yet I see no land.
No one told me how to deal with this. Shooting targets that don’t exist.
Standing firm while I sink in the mud. My heart is pumping, but I have no blood.

For this I was born...born, born for this. For this I was born...born, born for this.
For this I was born...born, born for this. For this I was born...for this.

For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (Upright and standing tall).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...for this. (Go...)

•

slave2freedom.com

Podcast from "Livin La Vida Low Carb"

I like this: "I can't say that I won't eat sugar ever again, but I can say that I won't eat sugar for the next 120 days."

The podcast is talking about the similarities between drug addiction and sugar addiction - after eating a bunch of sugar, your brain over compensates (carb crash).

If you put some awareness about it, you can learn to understand the relationship between the way you eat and the way you feel.

Food journaling...not fat, carbs, etc.  Just write down what you eat and how you feel...and then how you feel an hour later...then you can see the connection.

Sugar - the most addictive substance on the face of the planet.

(note:  I've been off flour for a month and I feel good - the first few days was rough...maybe it's time to fight sugar)

Extreme  cravings?

Everything Starts With Breakfast

- blood sugar is naturally low - if you don't eat first thing in the morning, protein, your blood sugar will never stabilize.