*WHY WOMEN NEED TO VOTE*

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE !

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago. Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.
The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. (Alice Paul) When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because- -why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say.

All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. My friend is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use, my right to vote?

All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.History is being made.

*SARAH PALIN* My views on the GOP choice......

My faithful blog readers just knew that I would have to have an opinion on the GOP's selection of a running mate for John McCain.
When the choice was first announced, I must say that I was shocked. Sarah Palin is a female that most voters have little or no knowledge of. Then, as I watched things unfold, at first I was surprised at the choice and then I began to see the reality of why this choice was actually made.
I would like to list as part of my blog on this event an opinion by Gloria Steinem:
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"Palin: wrong woman, wrong message

Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.By Gloria SteinemSeptember 4, 2008Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the "white-male-only" sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience.Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq."She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular, and she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to give a $1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income or sales tax. Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long that he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration habit, as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on "God, guns and gays" ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is filling a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference between form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues; the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have chosen a woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq; someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against Women Act.Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child.So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, "women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership," so he may be voting for Palin's husband.Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains from this contest.Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women.And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time jobs than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a national stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the home until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning on their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for their children.This could be huge."
Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the Women's Media Center. She supported Hillary Clinton and is now supporting Barack Obama."
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This sums it up pretty well for me. Sarah Palin is deluding herself if she thinks for one minute that John McCain is interested in her thoughts, views or opinions on anything. He is using her as a tool to win the election. I find it insulting to women as a whole to think that just because a woman is put on the ticket that one would vote for her. We do have minds! We want answers on education, health care, women's rights, the economy. I don't care that Sarah can shoot a rifle, bring down a moose or caribou, field dress it, bring it home and make it into stew. It also concerns me that she has an infant with very special needs, young children, and a very young daughter who will soon make her a grandmother; are they to suffer the loss of a mother while she is in Washington helping run the huge tasks of our country? Maybe they could be raised by a nanny? I am all for women, strong women in fact, as I attempted to show with my quote of Ms. Gloria Steinem, the all-time feminist, but Sarah Palin, I think not! She is only a tool used by a very clever Republican party in an attempt to win an election, nothing more.

*TRUE FRIENDS*

In a friendship

We're free to expose,

Parts of ourselves

Nobody else knows

But the thing that sustains it

And sets it apart
Is not something spoken

It's a bond of the heart

True friend's are rare

In a lifetime two or three,

I'm so glad it happened...

Between you and me!

I said goodbye to my best friend today.......Her name was Judy and we were friends for many years. I am glad that she was part of my life and that I was part of hers. I am glad that she no longer suffers and that she is in a better place. I will miss you, sweet girl...............

*TO REMEMBER ME*

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.
When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine. And don't call this my deathbed. Let it be called the Bed of Life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.
Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday, a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.
Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.
If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudice against my fellow man.
If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you.If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

* THE PERFUME ADDICT'S CREED *

The Perfume Addict's Creed

I want it. I want it all. I want it now.

If it is not available at any store in my vicinity, or is prohibitively expensive, I want it most of all.

I am perfectly willing to forego any necessities of life, such as food for my children in order to have it.

I recognize my aromacological dependency.

I recognize your aromacological dependency.

I will willingly aid and abet your dependency, as you will mine.

This makes us infinitely happy.

All money saved by virtue of comparison shopping equals found money and therefore it is not counted as spending.

If everyone else has it, I must have it too.

If I have sniffed everything that I have already purchased, I must immediately buy more scents.

*At this point, it is customary to recite your Visa number from memory.

(adapted from the Crazy Gardener's Creed, author unknown)

*JUST BE YOURSELF*

The world would like to change you;

There are pressures all around.

You must decide just who you are,

Then firmly hold your ground.

You have an image of yourself,

An ideal sense of you

And to this vision you must always

Struggle to be true.

You know what you are good at,

And you know where talents lie;

But if you're ruled by others,

Your uniqueness could pass by.

Remember, there is too much to learn;

But all new things aren't good

Wisdom lies in what we've learned

And what we have withstood.

So be yourself and don't allow

The world to take control.

Preserving your identity

Is life's most precious goal.

*YOU KNOW YOU ARE A CAT PERSON WHEN........*

You refer to going to the bathroom as "using the litterbox".

You do not consider an outfit complete without some cat hair.

You consider cat hair in your food as extra flavor.

You apologize when you step on a fuzzy cat toy in the dark.

You snap your fingers on one edge of the bed because the cat is sleeping in the middle looking so cute!

You decorate your Christmas tree with dangling cat toys.

Your neighbors refer to you as "the crazy one with all of the cats."

You refer to your cat as your furry child.

Your parents carry pictures of their 'grandcat' in their wallets.

You plan your vacation around the cat show schedule.

You accidentally call your spouse the cat's name!

*ALL I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BIRTHDAYS, I'VE LEARNED FROM MY CATS*

Be finicky, they'll try then to please you.

Give attitude - get attention

If you don't like your presents, SULK.

If you get bored at your party - just curl up for a nap.

Don't stress out over your first gray whisker....

Act completely unimpresed by the gifts your receive.

Remember, this is your day, so if anyone bugs you, you're allowed to hiss and spit.

Take the day off and lie in the sun.

Stay out on the prowl all night long.

Demand only the most expensive fresh fish for dinner.

It's a good day to shed your inhibitions.

Act catty - toy with your presents before you tear them open

Don't overdo it with the catnip or you'll regret it in the morning.

If you aren't getting enough attemtion, sharpen your claws on someone's leg.

Don't let anyone or anything PUT YOU OUT!

And remember.......curiosity might kill you, but birthdays wont.

*FOR CARAMEL CAT ACROSS THE RAINBOW BRIDGE*

You walk through my thoughts

With the same sure-footed command

You walked through the house.

Your pitter patter of feet

Pounds like a drum in my head.

No bowl in your special corner;

You thrive on the meat of my mind.

No wrinkles on my bed.

Were your purring, sweet body slept.

Just a heart, crumpled

By the weight of your absence.

Gold green eyes

That flashed warmth like a smile

Now bridge hot tears

To my eyes in remembrance.

My lap is empty and cold -

It cannot hold memories

Full and warm.

Alive with your image

And the comfort you were

You walk through my thoughts......

And the pain of your footprints will pass.

*ON A NIGHT OF SNOW*

Cat, if you go outdoors you must walk in the snow

You will come back with little white shoes on your feet.

Little white slippers of snow that have heels of sleet.

Stay by the fire, my Cat. Lie still, do not go.

See how the flames are leaping and hissing now

I will bring you a saucer of milk like a Marguerite,

So white and smooth, so spherical and sweet.

Stay with me cat, Outdoors, the wind blows...

Outdoors the wild winds blow, Mistress, and dark is the night.

Strange voices cry in the trees, intoning stra ge love;

And more than cats move, lit by our green eyes light,

On silent feet where the meadow grasses hang hoar-

Mistress, there are portents abroad of magic and might

And things that are yet to be done. Open the door!

*I WATCHED HER SMALLEST GIRL*

I watched her smallest girl

Totter off to the first day of school

Propped between two older sisters,

Surprisingly protective.

I watched the woman

Watch them also

With her suddenly empty arms

Wrapped across her middle ,

Wrapped tight though the day was warm.

Even when the children had turned the corner,

Her eyes clung to that distance that they had filled.

And she lowered herself to the porch step.

The cat itself detached itself gradually

From the dappled space next to the porch.

He moved toward the woman and sat,

Slid toward her and sat,

Until her was at her feet, watching her watchfulness.

Then he took over her lap

In a breath of movement.

Forcing her arms to peel away from herself

And encircle him.

They commiserated

I think she cried

As her fingers toyed at a snag in the soft, gray fur.

But the message was clear

In the upturned, unblinking wise face of the cat.

That no nest should ever be empty.

*WHEN WE FIRST MET*........

When first we met, we did not guess

That love would prove so hard a master;

Or more than common friendliness

When we first met, we did not guess.

Who could fortell the sore distress;

This irretrievable disaster.

When we first met - we did not guess

That love would prove so hard a master.

*MY REALITY*................

Some days I feel like my life

Is spinning out of control

And I am just along for the ride.

Other days I feel like my life

Is finally my own at last

And I know the answer to everything.

I wonder which one of those thoughts

Is the real one -

If there is such a thing as reality.

Is there reality for anyone

Or does it exist for some people

But not for others?

If it exists for some people

Is it a matter of luck

Or is there some way to attain it?

Do I just not try hard enough

Or is the problem something in my past

Or something I was born without?

My heart doesn't really want an answer

Because there's one thing I do know

My reality will never include you..........

*THE WOMAN I AM*...........

The woman I am

Hides deep in me

Beneath the woman

I seem to be.

She hides away

From the stranger's eye -

She is not known

To the passers-by.

She goes her way.

The woman I seem,

But the woman I am

Withdraws to dream!

The woman I seem

Goes carelessly -

When love goes by

Does not seem to see.

But the woman I am

Knows sudden fear....

And hides more deeply

When love draws near!

For love might look closely

Perhaps...and see

Her beneath the woman

I seem to be!

"I'D LOVE TO BE A FAIRY'S CHILD"

Children born of fairy stock

Never need for shirt or frock.

Never want for food or fire.

Always get their heart's desire.

Jingle pockets full of gold.

Marry when they're seven years old.

Every fairy child may keep

Two strong ponies and ten sheep;

All have houses, each his own,

Built of brick or granite stone.

They live on cherries, they run wild -

I'd love to be a fairy's child.

*MY CHILDREN"...................

I just love this poem by Kahil Gibran (The Prophet):

"Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself.

They come through you, not from you.

And though they are with you, they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls.

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow.

Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

*It took me so long to figure this out, I thought they were mine forever and ever......

*TRUE PEACE IS.......*

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all of the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw the picture thought it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had her nest. There in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest.

The king chose the second picture as the winner. "Because" explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

*I WAS BORN TO..................*

I was born to catch dragons in their dens

And pick flowers

To tell tales and laugh away the morning

To drift and dream life a lazy stream

And walk barefoot across sunshine days............

*IF MY LIFE IS A TRUE SUCCESS*

Happy July 4th.............now let's determine what we want out of life to ensure that it is a successful life?

I hope that my achievements in life shall be these:

That I will have fought for what is right and fair.

That I will have risked for that which mattered.

That I will have given help to those who are in need.

That I will have left the earth a better place for what I've done and who I've been.

*WE LEARNED IT ALL IN KINDERGARTEN*

The other night I was talking on the phone with my best girlfriend and we were trying to solve the problems of the world. We are both middle aged women but feel that we both have noticed quite a decline in good manners, common courtesy and an increase in a 'sense of entitlement' among our younger set today. It seems to be becoming a nation of "I" or "me first" anymore. I then said to her, "you know we learned everything you ever need to know in kindergarten". She and I both felt that they must not be teaching these life rules anymore:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say that you are sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Live a balanced life.

Learn some and think some, and draw and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap in the afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.

The golden rule and love and basic sanitation.

Ecology and politics and sane living.

*HOW DO YOU LOVE?* by Collective Soul

"How Do You Love?"

There once was love thrown into your room

But you never knew

A calendar of days just for you

But you never knew, never knew no

And the truth that you'll find will always be

The truth you hide

So how do you love, how do you love

When your angels can't sing, and your world is still

Lacking of me

There once were eyes that only saw you

But you never knew

A portrait of a flower in full bloom

But you never knew, never knew no

And the words that you fear will always be

The words you hear

This space where you've been living

Has gifts you've never given

That's the face you always show

Ask me for words of wisdom

Tell me of your condition

I don't know,

I don't

I don't know

And the truth that you'll find will always be

The truth you hide

*FORGIVENESS* by Collective Soul

"Forgiveness"

In my silence I would love to forget

But restitution hasn't come quite yet

And with one accord

I keep pushing forth

I stretch my heart to heal some more

It used to be all I'd want to learn

Was wisdom trust and truth

But now all I really want to learn

Is forgiveness for you

As my seasons change

I've now grown to know

When one's heart creates, one's soul doesn't owe So I wash away stains of yesterday

Then tempt my heart with love's display

*MAYBE* by Collective Soul......

"Maybe"

The sky now divides

To bring you back into the fold

Welcome home

Still my need to recognize

Any comfort you may show

Only grows

Guess I'll learn to accommodate

While my heart just sits and waits

Maybe God you found

Maybe is all that you can offer now

Where am I to take refuge

When the storms of pain release

Shelter me

This blessedness of life

Sometimes brings me to my knees I call on thee

I have not the words to write

A Farewell to you tonight

Maybe God you found

Maybe is all that you can offer now

I know hearts are weeping

While your voice is now singing

On high, angel on high

*SHE SAID* by Collective Soul

She said that time is unfair

To a woman her age

Now that wisdom has come

Everything else fades

She said she realizes

She's seen her better days

She said she can't look back

To her days of youth

What she thought were lies

She later found was truth

She said her daddy had dreams

But he drank them away

And her mother's to blame

For the way she is today

Life's river shall rise

She Said

And only the strong shall survive

She Said

But I'm feeling quite weak

She Said

Will you comfort and forgive me

She Said

She said she's still searching

For salvation's light

She said she wishes all day

And she prays all night

She said she won't speak of love

Because love she's never known

She said it's moments like these

She hates to be alone

Forgive me

She Said

Forgive me

She Said

*ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION* Sometimes less is more.....

There comes a time in everyone's life when they must reevaluate things. For some it is their career path or material possessions. For others, it is their choice in friends or bonds with family. For me, this past year, it has been a little of everything.

I have spent a better part of the past year taking a very close look at many aspects of my life and deciding to listen to my inner voice of what is important and really "necessary". Sometimes it was a faint whisper, but at other times the voice was screaming, yearning to be heard. It is hard sometimes not to listen to others, and to listen to your true inner voice. It is definitely not the easier road to follow your heart and listen to that voice, but sooner or later it is the road we all learn to take.

Everything we see on television or in magazines leads us to believe that the more we have, the happier we will be. We see pictures of cars, jewelry, beautiful people having a great time, great homes, great lives, and that is supposed to make us believe that we should buy whatever it is that they are selling. We buy things to fill our souls even if it is emptying our wallets. We keep friends around to keep us company because sometimes it is easier to be in a crowded room than it is to sit alone, even if, while in the crowd, we still feel lonely. We do whatever we are "supposed to" and what is expected of us. We do what is easy. We are taught that it is better to be skinnier, richer of busier than we can or want to be.

Eventually, something happened to me.

I got tired.

I got tired of living up to other people's perceptions of what is right and what is good. I started to add things up mentally in my mind, a certain kind of "life math", if you will. I had never done that before. I started to think about money, friends, commitments, work and more. It seemed the more I tried to do, the less time I had for myself. I tried to work, have a social life, a love life, and still do the daily chores I needed to "keep up". I tried to ignore that I needed to take care of myself. At the end of the day there was no time left for me or the simple things I enjoyed. The time and energy it took just to keep up with everything and everyone else was becoming not worth it. I began to realize that the more I "subtracted" from my life, the more I actually "added" to it. I am proud to say that the more I found ways to simplify, the happier I was, and am. I now spend my time only keeping in touch with friends who keep in touch with me. The less friends I have, the happier I have become because I am able to truly focus on the relationships that matter and the people that support me. I have learned to pick and choose 1 or 2 outings a week. I have learned to schedule a time to just relax because that is just as important as anything else to leading a full life.

In the past, I worked incredible amounts of overtime to find the money to buy things I did not need, extra clothes, makeup or other material things. I was running myself ragged and didn't want to notice that my health, emotional and physical, was suffering. What was my time and energy worth? Why was I working for these things, that in the end, do not matter. My time is much better spent on things my heart wants to do like read, write, open my artistic self by crocheting, painting my altered art, scrapbooking, watching my vast selection of DVDs, listening to my music, playing with my cats, etc. I was making a nice living, but was I living a nice life?

Now, I spend my whole day trying to decide what I want to do first. I watch the morning news, being a news junkie, I plan my day, then I get dressed. I have then to decide whether it will be a day to read, a day to enjoy my movies, a day to indulge my artistic side in crocheting, making altered art, painting or scrapbooking, sailing the internet, doing a few chores and just relaxing and watching my favorite television programs. There truly are not enough hours in the day to do everything I enjoy. It is so important to enjoy the simple things you like. If your heart and soul aren't happy and healthy, then your body will not be healthy either. I have genuinely felt better the less stress I have in my life. I am happy, I am content; there is no doubt there is a connection.

I know that if the laundry doesn't get done one day, the dishwasher doesn't get unloaded, it is okay. No one is keeping score if your bed is made or your socks match. I have learned that no one really cares how expensive your outfit is, or even if it was bought "this season". There are no extra points in heaven for how clean your house is. The only reward at the end of the day is how happy you are and I am much happier with less............

*SCENTS & SENSABILITIES* Part Two or Andy Warhol

To continue with my love of fragrance, below is directly quoted from the wonderful Andy Warhol's thoughts on scent and fragrance.

"Another way to take up space is with perfume. I really love wearing perfume. I'm not exactly a snob about the bottle a cologne comes in, but I am impressed with a good-looking presentation. It gives you confidence when you're picking up a well-designed bottle.People have told me that the lighter your skin, the lighter the color perfume you should use. And vice-versa. But I can't limit myself to one range. (Besides, I'm sure hormones have a lot to do with how a perfume smells on your skin--I'm sure the right hormones can make Chanel No. 5 smell very butch.)I switch perfumes all the time. If I've been wearing one perfume for three months, I force myself to give it up, even if I still feel like wearing it, so whenever I smell it again it will always remind me of those three months. I never go back to wearing it again; it becomes part of my permanent smell collection.Sometimes at parties I slip away to the bathroom just to see what colognes they've got. I never look at anything else--I don't snoop--but I 'm compulsive about seeing if there's some obscure perfume I haven't tried yet, or a good old favorite I haven't smelled in a long time. If I see something interesting, I can't stop myself from pouring it on. But then for the rest of the evening, I'm paranoid that the host or hostess will get a whiff of me and notice that I smell like somebody-they-know.Of the five senses, smell has the closest thing to the full power of the past. Smell really is transporting. Seeing, hearing, touching, tasting are just not as powerful as smelling if you want your whole being to go back for a second to something. Usually I don't want to, but by having smells stopped up in bottles, I can be in control and can only smell the smells I want to, when I want to, to get the memories I'm in the mood to have. Just for a second. The good thing about a smell-memory is that the feeling of being transported stops the instant you stop smelling, so there are no aftereffects. It's a neat way to reminisce.My collection of semi-used perfumes is very big by now, although I didn't start wearing lots of them until the early 60's. Before that the smells in my life were just whatever happened to hit my nose by chance. But then I realized I had to have a kind of smell museum so certain smells wouldn't get lost forever. I loved the way the lobby of the Paramount Theater on Broadway used to smell. I would close my eyes and breathe deep whenever I was in it. Then they tore it down. I can look all I want at a picture of that lobby, but so what? I can't ever smell it again. Sometimes I picture a botany book in the future saying something like, "The lilac is now extinct. Its fragrance is thought to have been simliar to--?" and then what can they say? Maybe they'll be able to give it as a chemical formula. Maybe they already can.I used to be afraid I would eventually run through and use up all the good colognes and there'd be nothing left but things like "Grape" and "Musk." But now I've been to the profumerias of Europe and seen all the colognes and perfumes they have there, I don't worry any more.I get very excited when I read advertisements for perfume in the fashion magazines that were published in the 30's and 40's. I try to imagine from their names what they smelled like and I go crazy because I want to smell them all so much:Guerlain's: "Sous le Vent"Lucien Le Long's: "Jabot," "Gardenia," "Mon Image," "Opening Night"Price Matchabelli's: "Princess of Wales," in memory of AlexandraCiro's: "Surrender," "Reflexions"Lentheric's: "A Bientot," "Shanghai," "Gardenia de Tahiti"Worth's: "Imprudence"Marcel Rochas': "Avenue Matignon," "Air Jeune"D'Orsay's: "Trophee," "Le Dandy," "Toujours Fidele," "Belle de Jour"Coty's: "A Suma," "La Fougeraie au Crepuscule" (Fernery at Twilight)Corday's: "Tzigane," "Posession," "Orchidee Bleue," "Voyage a Paris"Chanel's: brisk "Cuir de Russie" (Russian Leather); romantic "Glamour"; melting "Jasmine"; tender "Gardenia"Molinelle's: "Venez Voir"Houbigant's: "Countryclub," "Demi-Jour" (Twilight)Bonwit Teller's: "721"Helena Rubinstein's: "Town," "Country"Weil's: Eau de Cologne "Carbonique"Kathleen Mary Quinlan's "Rhythm"Lengyel's (pronounced "len-jel"): "Imperiale Russe"Chevalier Garde's: "H.R.R.," "Fleur de Perse," Roi de Rome"Saravel's: "White Christmas"When I'm walking around New York I'm always aware of the smells around me: the rubber ats in office buildings; upholstered seats in movie theaters; pizza; Orange Julius; espresso-garlic-oregano; burgers; dry cotton tee-shirts; neighborhood grocery stores; chic grocery stores; the hot dogs and sauerkraut carts; harware store smell; stationery store smell; souvlaki; the leather and rugs at Dunhill; Mark Cross, Gucci; the Moroccan-tanned leather on the streetracks; new magazines, back-issue magazines; typewriter stores; Chinese import stores (the mildew from the freighter); India import stores; Japanese import stores; record stores; health food stores; soda-foundation drugstores; cut-rate drugstores; barber shops; beauty parlors; delicatessens; lumber yards; the wood chairs and tables in the N.Y. Public Library; the donuts, pretzels, gum and grape soda in the subways; kitchen appliance departments; photo labs; shoe stores; bicycle stores; the paper and printing inks in Scribner's, Brentano's, Doubleday's, Rizzoli, Marboror, Bookmasters, Barnes and Noble; shoe-shine stands; grease-batter; hair pomade; the good cheap candy smell in the front of Woolworth's and the dry-goods smell in the back; the horses by the Plaza Hotel; bus and truck exhaust; architects' blueprints; cumin, fenugreek, soy sauce, cinnamon; fried platanos; the train tracks in Grand Central Station; the banana smell of dry cleaners; exhausts from apartment house laundry rooms; East Side bars (creams); West Side Bars (sweat); newspaper stands; record stores; fruit stands in all the different seasons--strawberry, watermelon, plum, pleach, kiwi, cherry, Concord grape, tangerine, murcot, pineapple, apple--and I love the way the smell of each fruit gets into the rough wood of the cratees and into the tissue-paper wrappings."

_____________________________________Warhol, Andy. Andy Warhol The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again). Orlando, Florida: Harcourt, Inc., 1975, pp. 150-153.

*SCENTS & SENSABILITIES*

People that know me well know that my favorite addiction is my love of fragrance, or 'scents' if you will. I maintain at least 100 bottles or more at a time and cherish each one of them. I belong to several online boards where all we discuss is fragrance, or our love of scent. We consider it a true gift to be able to detect the right notes in fragrance and appreciate our olfactory sense more than any other.

Recently on one of the threads we discussed our favorite smells, not only perfume interests us. I love how my friends describe the scents they love and appreciate. Without naming anyone, I am going to list some of the scents that we all love and appreciate:

Tobacco curing in the barns in the fall...

Catalpa trees in bloom, and why has no one used that bloom in perfume?

The original Coppertone lotion, the smell of summer and the beach...

The smell of jet exhaust mixed with the brewing coffee in the forward cabin of an aircraft. This is especially loved by those who travel and is so calming when one is boarding a plane.

Certain hotels (especially if they have a pool). The mixture of chlorine with the 'standard issue' smell a hotel environment gives off. This creates a sense of 'crispness' in one.....

Department stores. The smell of new merchandise mixed with the environment in general of the store is captivating. Stores such as Lord & Taylor or Marshall Field's store in New York City. This could be related to the fact that the makeup/skincare/fragrance counters are near the entry points in these stores, making a good impression on a hot and humid day. You can detect the smell better than because it is amplified with the air conditioning.

Libraries, old paper, new paper, so many books, such richness! No place smells as good as the library.

From long ago, freshly inked paper from the old ditto machines, those slick white pages with the purple writing. Takes one immediately back to childhood...

The fresh smell of country roads on a summer evening.

The smell when it first starts raining in spring, summer or fall in New Orleans. Sitting out on the covered deck when one has lit a fresh cigar and sips good wine. In early spring the rain would gently type upon the roses and tea olive trees in bloom. Many of these roses wer heavily fragranced old rose varieties such as Souvenier de Malmaison. One enjoyed the smells of soft rain, palm trees, osmanthus, various herbs and mint, roses and fresh tobacco. In winter, one could smell the smoky bald cypress tree scent. The air around New Orleans wasn't brisk and salty as sea air but there was a slight wafting of oceanic salt air off Lake Ponchartrain. In the background there was a soft smell from wet Spanish moss........

The smell of walking into an indoor swimming pool environment, clean chlorine.

The smell of the air before a springtime rain shower/thunderstorm, I love this smell...

The smell of the earth on a sod farm on a warm Florida morning. I have literally stopped the car and just sniffed this gorgeous fragrance.....

Freshly fallen rain on concrete......

A greenhouse, with freshly watered geraniums. I smelled this every morning on my walk to school as a young child and it is my favorite memory, ever..........

Freshly line-dried, crisp bed sheets.....

The smell of a newborn babie's head/hair, or skin.....

The smell of burning leaves in the fall........

The smell of a campfire in a pine forest. Variation: add the smell of coffee made on that campfire and maybe bacon too....

The Atlantic ocean. Brine and seaweed and fish and moist, fresh air....

The melange of scents wafting from a hippie head shop, patchouli, etc........

Smell from childhood of the inside of a purse: mint gum, lipstick, perfume.

The smell of fresh orange blossoms from an orange grove...

Freshly mown grass in the early morning....

The smell of night blooming jasmine in the early evening...

The smell of a brand new leather jacket, or a leather store that sells leather....

The smell of creosote. When no one is looking, I sniff telephone poles.....

Canvas in the sun..

Beeswax

A kerosene lamp

Popcorn-infused smell of an air-conditioned movie theatre....

A certain mechanical/grease smell of train wheels.....

Lit charcoal or a freshly lit cigarette....

A rarity now.....burning cigars and a lit Meershaum pipe....

The smell of a pine-needle path through the woods, especially on a crisp, cool morning....

Chapstick and Pacquin's hand creme....

Hot parafin...

Cat's tummy fur and salty paws...

Hot tar when a stree is being paved.

Earth covered roots of plants just pulled out of the earth...

Woodsmoke, peat smoke and coal smoke.....

What I like to call "the breath of the earth" My term for the living scent of moist earth, blackberry vines, green leaves, moss and humus that emanates from ground with mature trees and lots of undergrowth. This is truly the most beautiful fragrance ever.......... The earth is breathing free here, no concrete foundation or driveway or controlled landscaping to mute it's exhalations.

The combination of the beach in summer, straw hat and coconut oil and the drying sea water on summer skin....

The inside of old suitcases, rarely opened...

Clothes being ironed..........

The distinct smell of winter......a walk through the forest sniffing the crisp air, the pine fragrance, the fragrance of the earth and the cold.....

The smell of gasoline...

The gorgeous fragrance of old book or antique stores, fruit cellars, old basements.......

These are just a few of olfactory scents that most people take for granted, but not us with 'scents and sensibilities'.......

*2008* Old Age Is A Gift.....Retire Charlotte, Retire!

I officially retired at the end of 2007 and I can't begin to tell you what a difficult decision that was for me. Oh yes, I did retire back in 2003, but I kept on working as a nurse on a contingent basis. But now, in 2007 it was time to call it quits entirely. My children had been begging me to do so and I don't know why the decision was so difficult to make. Was it a loss of identity? Was being a nurse my only identity as I had done it so long? I sat and figured out income, outgo, the whole nine yards, and yes, I could retire. I would not be able to blow money as I had in the past year or so, but I could conceivably do it. Was it losing my identity as a nurse, or was it a fear of admitting old age to myself and to others? Then I thought, well what is wrong with ageing? Is it because senior citizens are thought to be no longer productive? Was it because I felt that if I wasn't working I would have no life? What was it? I had books by the dozens that I wanted to read; I had DVD's by the dozens that I wanted to watch; I wanted to scrapbook and be with my grandkids anytime I wanted..........yes, I decided, I would retire and that old age is a gift.................

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. No, not my body! I sometimes despair over my body, the wrinkles, the sagging butt. And often, I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror, but I don't apologize over those things for very long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray/white hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've learned to be more kind to myself, less critical of myself. I've learned that I can be alone and I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, for deciding to sit and enjoy a book all day, getting up only to eat or use the bathroom. I am so entitled to a treat, to be messy, or to be lazy and spend te day reading.

I have seen too many dear friends, even children, leave this world too soon; before they knew or understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read, or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?

I will continue to dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 70's, 80's and 90's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love................I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the prying glances from the young and thin.

They, too, will get old someday.

I realize that I am sometimes forgetful. But then again, some of life is just as well forgotten and I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken, and maybe I broke a few as well. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when someone's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But..........broken hearts are what teaches us compassion and understanding, and give us strength. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed and loved as I have, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

Old age has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste my time worrying about what could have been, or even worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day if I feel like it.

* THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR AT CHRISTMAS*

Caller ID because telemarketers can't take the holidays off.

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I'm thankful for toast - how something so simple makes your kitchen smell so good, and with the right preserves tastes so good!
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November 4, 2007: One more hour of much needed sleep at the end of daylight savings time.

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Lower priced GPS units, for finding your way to grandma's house.

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Gas station attendants who give accurate directions at no charge.

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Beautiful fragrance, such as Dior's Diorissimo pure parfum and Serge Luten's Un Lys (breath of an angel)

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The sublime combination of grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup.

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Winter citrus (Oh, my darling Clementine oranges!)

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Irish coffee spiked with Bailey's Irish Creme Liquer!

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Thanksgiving dinner leftovers: featuring turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie.

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I'm thankful for home-cooked meals made by someone else.

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Family members who feel like friends.

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Friends who feel like family.

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Family members with four legs and fur, who meow or bark.

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Unexpected, handwritten notes and letters.

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Smart TV on DVD to get you through the holiday reruns (Little Britain and Weeds)

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Clever YouTube's finest programming!

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The new and improved lower priced Tivo, HD, which can beam TV shows and movies from the internet straight to your TV (TIVO.com $299)

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Clinique's "Black Honey" and "Black Raisin" almost lipstick.

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Old-fashioned bubble lights - instant holiday spirit.

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Board games such as Monopoly with my grandsons!

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The most over-the-top houselighting displays near you (tackylighttour.com)

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The ultimate what not-to-do primer in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

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Claxton, Georgia, the fruitcake capitol of the world, I love it.

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The beautiful music played and produced by one of my favorite artists, Yanni. It is so beautiful it makes one weep and takes you out of the bluest funk!

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The unconditional love and warmth of my fur babies! I have never doubted their love nor their loyalty. It is wonderful to wake up late one night or early in the morning and find them, each in their own spot, purring and snuggling next to Momma..

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The love and trust of my grandchildren, and especially my great-grandchild Alyssa Nicole. Her innocence has not yet been tainted by life and I so enjoy spending time with her!