Me and My Ched. A Photo ??? too!

Me and Mr. Cheddar, chilling out yesterday.

One of my fav ways to relax; spending time with the my lovely, furry guy. 

I am not allowed to read at the same time though. Mr. Cheddar pushes any books out of my hands and on to the floor (he's a strong little fella) if I try to hold a book at the same time. What a smart guy he is. ;<)

My photo ??: I tried to remove the "red" eye for Ched in this photo but no luck. The red eye tool I have with Photoscape didn't do anything. I think it's only made for human red eye photo issues. I also tried manually fixing the eye area with MS Paint as suggested online, but that was waaaay too hard.

Any (easy) suggestions would be appreciated.

I'd like to fix several photos of Mr. Cheddar, with the same problem.

Happy Week from me and Mr. Cheddar!

The True Spirit of Giving

I'm a person who loves to give. :<)

                             

Give of my time, my talents and yes giving gifts too. They all bring me joy. They all give me a nice "warm fuzzy feeling" to be able to do something for someone else. Small and large gestures too. Even smiles and hugs. You know I love giving hugs, if you've been reading any of my blogs for any length of time LOL. And I don't give with the thought of something in return, far from it actually.

But the true spirit of "giving" in the best sense of the word can get distorted at times. There are people who only give with the thought of receiving in return, their only motive.

There are also people who give of themselves so much that they are left drained physically, emotionally, sometimes financially as a result. An example that comes to mind:

I have a long-time friend of mine with (in my opinion) very selfish, grown children. My friend does so much for these children. Baby-sitting endlessly, shelling out money again and again... the list goes on and on. And in return. Well, let's just say, not much it seems. Not even real gratitude on the part of these "children". My friend and her husband are always putting their own needs and desires on hold it seems. Last on the list.

Yes, of course parents and grandparents want to help their kids and they should. But does that give children the right to take advantage of their kindness and generosity? I don't think so.

And it's a "funny" thing. It seems that in so many families, it's these kind of parents who end up with selfish, "takers" for children and vice versa. Strange how that is the case so many times. I've seen it myself, over and over again. In the big picture, I don't think these overly "giving" parents are really helping their children to become mature, well-rounded adults either. Again, just the opposite seems to be the long-term result.

I read an interesting post over at Psychic Bloggers about giving and kind gestures recently. Some of the things I've written about above are mentioned there too. This is a fascinating blog/site btw.

What are your thoughts on giving? Is it better to give than to receive?

Do you get a lift, feel a true satisfaction... from giving?

                            

Photo courtesy of Flickr

Celebrating the Miracle of Spring

The Miracle of Spring

Miracles...

Come in all shapes and sizes.

They fill our lives and world with wonder.

But none more inspiring or sustaining.

Than the miracle of spring.

                         

We put aside our cares and worries.

To savor the moment.

And witness, once again.

The renewal of the earth.

                          

Slush, mud and snow.

Cloudy days of  dark dismay.

Gratefully, left behind.

And in their place.

The colors of the season.

Begin to emerge.

             

                    

Warm shades of yellow.
The full spectrum of greens.

Mauve and pink: a delicate floral  fabric.

Creamy, velvet white; as only spring can portray.

Blue skies, peeking out from the clouds.

The earthy, unmistakable  fragrance of the warming ground.
  

       

Miracles...I've seen my share.

        

But few compared to the miracle of spring.

A time to celebrate.

To honor the planet.

And all those living things that make it.

A miracle of nature.
Once again, come true.

        

　

GHH/2012

                   
And a very Happy (and lucky) St. Patrick's Day to you! :<)

Mr. Cheddar and a new Irish friend of his have a  St. Paddy's Day Post too!

Also submitted as this week's OSI prompt suggestion: miracle.



Yeah, But...Heh I LOVE to Multi-Task!

No, I can't juggle (Joe can :<)) but I do love to multi-task!

 

                                                      

I'm happy when I've got at least 2 sometimes more than 2 tasks on the go at the same time.

                              

As an example: I have found myself (and many times!): on the phone, writing a report/list/letter... and eating, all at once. I seem to manage just fine, when it comes to multi-tasking. Doing one thing at a time always seems so SLOW to me! I'm usually trying to cram as much into each day as I can; especially when I'm feeling really energetic. And multi-tasking also makes me feel more energetic!

                       

But, it seems that multi-tasking is not the best idea/strategy; at least according to a number of articles and posts I've been reading recently. These are just a sample of dozens I noted online.

                   

Over at the LumosityBlog; here's what they have to say about multi-tasking.

                       

Another article at the UK Daily Mail about the physical effects of multi-tasking.

                     

And another article from About.com about multi-tasking vs "chunking" I'm going to try chunking myself. Sounds like it might be a good idea, at least at times.

 

                                  

                                    

What do you think about multi-tasking?

                    

Do you multi-task on a regular basis?

                             

Do you think it's bad for a person's long-term health?

Photo courtesy of Flickr



The "Let's Move" Campaign

Have you heard/read about the Let's Move campaign that First Lady Michelle Obama is leading? This is my kind of positive initiative. And coming from a government agency! Wow, even better.

I'm very impressed with Michelle Obama for this and also one of her other campaigns that I am aware of aiding veterans, that she is leading along with Jill Biden the vice-president's wife.
Initiatives that can (hopefully) change the lives of millions of people for the better. And imagine, just imagine the potential savings in healthcare alone?

 And what an inspiration for all of us; no matter where we live.

Here in Canada, there's not much happening when it comes to promoting more physical activity and better nutrition for children. We do have a smattering of TV commercials talking about getting kids off their butts to exercise an hour a day. Some of the grocery stores are featuring more healthier snack choices for kids. Vending machines are starting to include a few better choices. Some individual school projects... Not much else that I am aware of. And so many overweight kids. Shocking and sad.

And when it comes to activity. Promoting ONE hour a day???

Oh my, how things have changed. As Michelle Obama writes here, when she (and I can relate, being in the same age range) were growing up, being physically active for HOURS a day was the norm, not the exception.

We may have been eating some junk food every day (lots of Kool-Aid, candy and hot dogs unfortunately, other norms) but burning up those calories we did. And how!

Obese kids  or anyone with diabetes or other serious health problems? Hard to remember any kids struggling with issues like that, when I was in school. The exceptions for sure. My friends and classmates were slim, full of energy and rarin' to go! Good times to remember.

And we had to be literally "dragged in" at the end of the day by our parents, especially on warm summer evenings. I can still remember my mom on the back porch around sunset time, calling us over and over to come in for the day. Finally and reluctantly, we would put away our toys and the day's adventures and head home. Usually to sleep like babies too, after all that fresh air! :<)

Now the norm for so many children seems to be: Sitting on computers, endless texting, watching too much TV, listening to Ipods...no wonder so many kids are overweight and unhealthy.And I think they miss out on so much fun too. We kept ourselves amused with very little money and no gadgets. Just a few simple toys, games, crayons... and lots of imagination was enough, back then.

  I wish Mrs. Obama so much luck with her initiative

Let's Move!!!  And not just for kids. I couldn't agree more!

A Desktop Dazzler on the Cusp of Spring

Sigh, yawn...no big surprise. Another grey day out there today.

So I went in search of the brightest, "sunniest" flower I could find in my photo archives to cheer me up as I sat at my computer. This one was a guaranteed smile-booster! It certainly is brightening up my desktop today.

Hope you enjoy it too! And do enlarge as a desktop background/wallpaper for the "full effect" LOL.

I also posted about this pretty petunia, last summer over at My Poetic Path: Red Velvet in the Sun. And who should come to blog-visit that week but one of my fav authors, Susan Wiggs. She left a sweet comment for that post too. Isn't the Internet a wonderful place to be! You never know who you will meet. Talk about brightening the day! :<)

Here's hoping that this is the last grey stretch of winter, coming to an end. I usually love winter but this year, it seemed waaaaay too long and much too dreary.

And in the meantime; here's to dreams about red velvet in the sun...