Are You Reading for Depth or Do You Read Simply to Pass Time?

If you are not satisfied with your reading...if you read but don't retain...if you want to dig deep in your reading, I highly recommend that you read today's post by my friend Joshua wherein he reviews Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading.

Joshua's review was extremely helpful to me as I want to be more diligent in my reading.

If you are a voracious reader, and want to read for more than simple "passing of time", check Joshua's notes here.

Or you can read his complete blog here.
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Hovering, Anticipating, & Waiting Patiently

Rememer the canned peaches? Here's the pie. Hubby is checking the peach aroma...it's still too hot to cut.

Here's where the internet comes up short. At least magazines have "scratch and sniff". Here you'll have to take my word for it that this is definitely one of life's treats! Peach Pie! Oh, My!

The Way to a Man's Heart.....

I'm looking forward to a weekend visit with my daughter and grandson. But that means I had to first take care of some tomatoes from the garden and some peaches from a friend.

The result is canned tomatoes, canned peaches and peach jam. And a dozen peaches left for a pie which is currently in the oven.

I figure if I leave a peach pie on the counter, my hubby won't forget all about me while I'm gone. Do ya suppose!!?

That peach pie is smelling pretty good right now....I have to have at least ONE slice before I head to Minnesota tomorrow!

Today's Hint (which has nothing to do with a man's heart) is this...when canning fruits or vegetables, use a crayon to mark the year on the lid. Do it before the lids have cooled...the warm lid will cause the crayon to melt-write.

If you plan to do some canning this summer, be sure to use a current canning guide such as the Ball Blue Book of Preserving for the proper canning methods for each type of food. This book tells you how to can and preserve a variety of fruits and vegetables and will walk you through the process.
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Let's Make Certain We Have the Right Spirit!

I've mentioned before that I teach Bible once a week to a small group of women in a jail setting. Currently we are going through a series of lessons on the Life of Christ.

We have a variety of women who come into class, Caucasian and otherwise. Most of them are English speaking, but now and then we will have a Latino woman who does not read or understand English. We have Spanish Bibles on hand, but when it comes to studying the lesson I want to give them more than that, to bring them into the discussion, to allow them to see the main points of the lesson. Sometimes there will be a bilingual woman who can translate key points. Sometimes not.

I can count to ten in Spanish. Otherwise, "No Habla Espanol"!

I've found that I can translate simple sentences by using http://babelfish.yahoo.com/ . And while simple sentences "seem" to translate correctly, I do not try to translate grammatically complex sentences or unusual words. I've learned that I must keep it simple! There are pitfalls in using this program.

For instance, babelfish will correctly translate "Holy Spirit" to "Espíritu Santo". Even I can see that this is a correct translation.

But if I try to translate the single word Spirit (either alone or in a sentence), it translates "alcohol".

You can see that might cause a little misunderstanding! Especially if one is trying to state that God gives us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as a helper!

I can credit my husband for discovering this program's propensity to err in regards to the Holy Spirit! In his classroom of 30 guys! (Hear me giggle!)

Today's Verse?
John 4:24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

And in Spanish? "Dios es espíritu, y los que le adoran deben adorarle en espíritu y en verdad."

Let's get it right!

I Don't Care What Color It Is, I Want Some Hair!

When I began my chemotherapy late last February I asked the nurse, "Does everyone who takes this particular chemo (carbo/taxel) lose their hair?" You see, I was hoping I would be one of the lucky few who might miss out on this particular aspect of chemotherapy.

She looked at me with a mixture of sympathy, matter-of-factness, and certainty. Then she responded. "Yes."

I could see by her eyes she wanted and needed to give me the truth, regardless of how much I wanted to hear otherwise. Up until that moment I was hoping that maybe SOME patients, myself included, might escape the norm. But when she looked at me like that and answered with that one-word answer, I Knew. Every last one of these gray hairs would be lost.

I can truthfully tell you, "I'm just glad the chemo doesn't cause us to lose our teeth!" For it would indeed be bad to lose teeth. Teeth do not grow back. Hair does. ("I hope!", she said with a wry smile.)

I see friends who are several months further down the road than I. Their hair is growing back. Sometimes a little patchy. Sometimes slowly. But growing! I rejoice with them!

In the meantime I've completed my six rounds of chemo. I will be continuing to receive the trial drug Avastin (or a placebo, neither I nor my doctor knows which) but the trial drug will have no effect on my hair and it should begin growing back. I figure it will take about 3 months before I can truthfully say "I have hair!".

I can't, shouldn't, and won't complain! No, Sirree! No complaining! Just commenting!

And then I think of today's scripture. Luke 12:7 "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

Yeah, and in my case, at the moment, that number is practically zero! (She said very quietly, determining not to be impertinent before God!)

Daylilies and Squash

Last March I wasn't certain I'd be doing much gardening this year. Chemo was hitting me hard. Thankfully, each session seemed a bit easier than the one before. And it's been four weeks since I completed the last in the series of six. So I'm feeling really well right now.

Our backyard garden area is pretty small. That's because our city lot is pretty small but that is not all that bad...a small lot means that we can mow the lawn in less than 15 minutes time. Er, I mean, my hubby does. He's in charge of the mower. I'm in charge of maintaining the flower beds and keeping the weeds out of the small vegetable garden.

Early this spring a friend mailed me seeds from the heirloom Potimarron Squash. Now if there is one thing I know about heirloom squash varieties it is that they are NOT the new, compact bush variety. I knew the vines would require lots of room...room that we simply did not have.

However, I figured if I planted these few seeds behind the daylilies on the far side of the garage and if I checked them every other day and gently coaxed the growing vine to remain within the flower bed, then we could have a few squash come fall. So I planted. And coaxed. And watered. And since this is the far side of the garage...the neighbor's side...I've tried to keep it all looking rather tidy. The photo may be a bit confusing...what you see are squash vines twining their way through the daylily plants.

So here's the progress to date.

The vine is still tidy. The blossoms have set fruit but I'm disappointed that there are not More of them! Seems like a lot of vine for just a handful of squash.

The daylilies still look lovely. Isn't this orange one a beauty! (Actually this one is photographed near the deck.) Here's an interesting fact about daylilies. Each bloom lasts only one day. Hence the name. The next day the blossoms wilt down. A friend told me that she plucks the spent blooms and she maintains that this encourages the new buds to be lush in size. So some days (not all days) I do that. It's a good opportunity to enjoy the loveliness of the day's blooms. (You can click on the photo for a stunning close-up!)

It's So Easy to be Scammed and so Painful!

Looking for Maternity Insurance? Don't be Scammed. This company takes your money and leaves you with worthless insurance. (We're way past the age of worrying about maternity insurance...but we found out about this scam and want to alert others.) Click on the links herein to read what the Better Business Bureau thinks of this company... AHCO (Affordable Health Care Options), also known as Maternity Advantage, Maternity Savings, My Maternity, My Maternity Plus) And if you've been victimized by this company, consider filing a complaint with your state Attorney General or with the Attorney General of Texas. Perhaps your complaint will cause you to receive at least a partial refund.

Connecticut Better Business Bureau Issues Alert About AHCO Maternity Insurance

Attorney General of Texas Takes Action Against Company Marketing Misleading Discount Health Card Plans

Better Business Bureau says the following about AHCO Maternity Insurance: ( AHCO is also known as Maternity Advantage, Maternity Savings, My Maternity, My Maternity Plus )

Based on BBB files, this business has a BBB Rating of F. Reasons for this include:

• 132 complaints filed against business
• 4 serious complaints filed against business.
• Government action(s) against business.
• Advertising issue(s) found by BBB.

BBB has received consumer complaints alleging that they can not find facilities that accept AHCO or the Maternity Card after being told by company representatives that there were facilities in their area.

If you've been defrauded by this company and if they are taking monthly payments out of your bank account you may have to change bank accounts to prevent further payments. Once automatic payments are initiated YOU cannot stop them. Only the insurance company can do that. And even if they do, they STILL have your bank account number. Ask your bank to switch you to a NEW account with a NEW account number! This will not be easy if you have other automatic payments being made to legitimate businesses for you will have to change them to your new account number.

Being the victim of fraud causes all kinds of complications. We've not been the victim of this particular fraud but we have had our identity stolen in the past. You can read about our experiences with ID theft here.