Found in the bottom of a purse...

You will be awarded some great honor.

You have a sense of adventure.

A pleasant surprise is in store for you.

You will be unusually successful in business.

You take a reverent attitude towards life and are most capable in the guidance of others.

"Change does not change tradition. It strengthens it. Change is a challenge and an opportunity, not a threat." Prince Philip of England.

"Change is the only evidence of life." Evelyn Waugh.

"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living." Gail Sheehy.

"Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator." Robert R. Kennedy.

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." Anthony Brandt.

"Life is a paradise for those who love many things with a passion." Leo Buscaglia.

Spa Secret: Lime and Ginger Salt Glow

Pulverize 1/4 cup fresh ginger root in a blender; add 1/2 cup table salt. Mix in juice from two limes and 1/2 cup warmed vegetable oil to make a soft but gritty paste. Use to exfoliate hands, feet and rough spots such as elbows, massaging into skin with gentle circular motions. Rinse with warm water spiked with squirts of lime.

Sounds nice to me. Made me look for ginger and lime recipes online.

Here is one to try this Fall.

Ginger-Lime Sweet Potatoes

From Cooking Light magazine. 1/8 cup all-purpose flour 5 cups thinly sliced peeled sweet potato 1/8 cup butter 1/8 cup packed light brown sugar 1/2 tablespoon lime rind 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 1/2 tablespoon grated orange rind 1/2 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger 1/2 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon black pepper Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and potato in a large bowl; toss well. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add sugar and next seven ingredients (sugar through pepper); cook 4 minutes; combine potato mixture; toss well. Spoon mixture into a shallow 2-quart casserole dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 425 degrees for 55 minutes or until tender. Let stand 10 minutes. Yield: 6 servings.

"Nothing's beautiful from every point of view." Horace.

"The main purpose of a garden is to give the owner the best and highest kind of earthy pleasure." Gertrude Jekyll.

"Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."

"Hurt not the Earth, Neither the Sea, nor the Trees."

"You don't have a garden just for yourself. You have it to share." Augusta Carter.

"If you pray for rain be prepared to deal with some mud."

"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads." Henry David Thoreau.

"Happiness must grow in one's own garden."

"Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day - like writing a poem or saying a prayer." Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

We saw a wild turkey and her chicks over the weekend. On a drive through Crab Orchard Park, on our way out, I spotted something moving on the road ahead. I was pretty sure it was a turkey but Todd first thought it could be a skunk. I drove as slow as I could, hoping we would get a good look before they took off into the bushes. We did. Not as good as I would have liked of course. It was Todd who first noticed that she had chicks. What a shame we weren't ready with a camera to get pictures.

I'm still not sure when I will be moving. I was so sure it would be this week. My Mom told me she would come down with the truck on Monday (today) if no one else had. But now she seems to think Graham will come down sometime this week, maybe. It's hard to live like this. I don't think they have clue how it feels to be packed up and waiting and being put off again each week. I want to go home, to see Zack. I miss that little boy and I know he is looking forward to seeing me too. We always do nice things together. I do my best to make sure he isn't left out, I know how that can feel.

I got my period yesterday so that's my red and white for Canada Day I guess. Todd is going to honk after work tonight and I'm going to get some ice cream at the Farm Fresh store down the street. A treat for Canada Day and Aunt Flo. (Todd started calling my period "a visit from Aunt Flo" when we were first together. I guess its a little nicer than "on the rag" which is from my brother).

I finally got the book review done for HerCorner. Why do I procrastinate so much on doing those? Sure, its hard to find something new to say each time and hard to do it for 300 to 500 words but I did get reviewers copies for quite a few books and now I'm way behind in doing them all. Just one more thing I have to organize and settle when I move.

I know my Mom is expecting me to stay there with them for awhile but I'm beginning to think that could be a mistake. I don't know what else to do though. I won't have a car and I've been spending my divorce settlement money on things I should wait to buy later. Urrrgh! Can I never just get past this same point in my life? I always seem to end up right back here no matter what I do. I'm always moving after a failed something or other. When will I ever have a place to call home.

I bought a book yesterday. It's a bit of all all in one from Peach Pit Publishing - JavaScript for the World Wide Web by Tom Negrino and Dori Smith. It includes some basic CSS and DHTML as well. I was looking at another book for those maybe this will be enough. I did want to learn javascript at some point too. It's part of learning Lotus Notes/ Domino so I guess it could all come together if I take that course or study on my own and get certified.

Well, I should be getting other things done. My Mom was going to email me to let me know the latest.

BackWash Pays

BackWash is officially a site that pays it's writers/ columnists. Not a lot for each columnist but a pretty big pay out for David Ring, the site owner. Congratulations to David and all of us.

This is my latest BackWash column. I think it turned out well.

The Shortness of Being

"Don't sell yourself short."

That is what a couple of the other managers at HerPlanet told me last night when we had our meeting over the Net. We were talking about how we all have some knowledge and together we pool that and make each of our sites and ourselves better. I agreed with that but then I commented something about how I don't have anything out of the ordinary to contribute. That is when they chimed in with "don't sell yourself short".

I was thinking about it tonight. I always assume anything I know is common knowledge. But, it's true that I know a bit about a lot of things and I don't know a lot about anything, any one thing. At least that's how I feel maybe I'm wrong and I'm just selling myself short again.

Could it be that simple? I've felt for a long time that I'm looking for a missing piece of the puzzle that is me and when I find it I will become some sort of wonder woman. A woman who can do it all, have it all and be it all. Oh no, I don't have overly high expectations at all...

Anyway, I always feel like I am struggling to catch up, that I am a fraud, hoping no one will realize all the errors of my ways, the holes in my plans, the missing link that is me. If I'm just selling myself short... then all I need to do is be contrary at how I look at myself, twist it and turn it around and look at myself in a whole new way. I love that, finding a new viewpoint, a different slant on an idea, a turn of logic and the unexpected. When someone says I'm "odd, but in a nice way" that makes my day.

Back to the short comings thing. If all I need to do is realize I'm selling myself short then how do I convince myself it's true and move on to the next step from there. Someone else told me I have a great mind. Another person said I'm wonderfully warped. If I pile all those together would that give me the height I'm lacking in the way I look at myself? I don't think so. Though they help, I still need to change my outlook from the inside out, not the other way around.

So, back to the drawing board. But, I feel I have grown a bit in my own estimation. Like Alice I have to find the 'drink me' potion to fit through the little door on my way to Wonderland.