Happy New Year 2013

I wish you

throughout the coming year!!!

Happy December Holidays!!

 I wish you and all your loved ones

 on this day

2012!!

May you all have a VERY

If you don't celebrate Christmas, that's okay!

I honour you and whatever it is you choose to celebrate.

 

Do you celebrate any of the following?

December

5 - Ashura (Islamic, Muslim)

6 - St. Nicholas Day (International)

8 - Bodhi Day - Buddha's Enlightenment (Buddhist)

8-16 - Hanukkah* (Jewish)

12 - Virgin of Guadalupe (Mexico)

13 - Santa Lucia Day (Sweden)

16-25 - Las Posadas (Mexico)

25 - Christmas (Christian, Roman Catholic, International)

26 - Boxing Day (Canada, United Kingdom)

26 - Kwanzaa (African-American)

 Or, do you celebrate none of the above??

Whatever you do or do not celebrate in December, I wish you

 

"Cleaning Poem"

I used to write a lot of poetry, and still occasionally write one or two poems.  I love writing them and hope the creativity and the 'flow of words' one day returns to me... the sooner the better, in my opinion.  In the meantime, I will share this poem with you. It came to me in an email and it pretty much describes me!! 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Cleaning Poem"

I asked the Lord to tell me
Why my house is such a mess?
He asked if I'd been 'puting,
And I had to answer "yes"

He told me to get off my butt
And tidy up the house
And so I started cleaning up...
The smudges off my mouse.

I wiped and shined the topside
That really did the trick...
I was just admiring my work...
I didn't mean to 'click'

But click, I did, and LOL I found
A real absorbing site
That I got SO way into...
I was into it all night
<<Sigh>>

Nothing's changed except my mouse
It's very, very shiny
I guess my house will stay a mess...
While I sit here on my hiney.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

ONIONS! I had never heard this!!! PLEASE READ TO THE END: IMPORTANT

This is a VERY interesting article I read on Facebook and want to share with lots of people. I can't promise it is true or that it really works, but a dear friend of mine read it and he used raw onions in his house when he felt a flu coming on... he didn't get sick. Read the article and decide for yourself if it is worth trying. It can't hurt and maybe it really can help!! Also, the information at the end could save you and those you love from food poisoning!!

In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu... Many of the farmers and their families had contracted it and many died.

The doctor came upon this one farmer and to his surprise, everyone was very healthy. When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home, (probably only two rooms back then). The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy. 

Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser. She said that several years ago, many of her employees were coming down with the flu, and so were many of her customers. The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work. Try it and see what happens. We did it last year and we never got the flu. 

Now there is a P. S. to this for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to me on health issues. She replied with this most interesting experience about onions:

Thanks for the reminder. I don't know about the farmer's story...but, I do know that I contacted pneumonia, and, needless to say, I was very ill... I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion put it into an empty jar, and place the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs...sure enough it happened just like that...the onion was a mess and I began to feel better. 

Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties. 

This is the other note. Lots of times when we have stomach problems we don't know what to blame. Maybe it's the onions that are to blame. Onions absorb bacteria is the reason they are so good at preventing us from getting colds and flu and is the very reason we shouldn't eat an onion that has been sitting for a time after it has been cut open. 

LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS 

I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, Makers of mayonnaise. Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what I learned from a chemist. 

Ed, who was our tour guide, is a food chemistry whiz. During the tour, someone asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise. People are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed's answer will surprise you. Ed said that all commercially-made mayo is completely safe. 

"It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it, but it's not really necessary." He explained that the pH in mayonnaise is set at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment. He then talked about the summer picnic, with the bowl of potato salad sitting on the table, and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when someone gets sick. 

Ed says that, when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the officials look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where those onions came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it's not the mayonnaise (as long as it's not homemade mayo) that spoils in the outdoors. It's probably the ONIONS, and if not the onions, it's the POTATOES. 

He explained onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked onions. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion.. He says it's not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your refrigerator. 

It's already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, that it can be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those onions you put in your hotdogs at the baseball park!). Ed says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put on your sandwich, you're asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist potato in a potato salad, will attract and grow bacteria faster than any commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down. 

Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions. 

Please remember it is dangerous to cut an onion and try to use it to cook the next day, it becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates toxic bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess bile secretions and even food poisoning. 

Please pass this on to all you love and care about. 
 — with Adonain Danny Rivera.

Even More Christmas Humour

Before I shut the computer down, I want to leave you with one last laugh about Christmas.

My Great Day

Today was very hectic at the Food Bank where I love going to do Volunteer Work.  I always feel better when I leave there than I did when I arrived.  Good people doing good work seems to lift one's spirits, I find.  With the rush on to get Christmas Hampers for the needy, there is a lot to do, and there are loads of people coming in wanting to be sure they will get their free food for the occasion.  We usually are out of there by 4:30pm, though today it was 5:00pm and we did leave some things undone to get out then.

My plans were to go to visit a friend after helping out at the Food Bank, but then I decided to come to Tim Horton's to treat myself to a relaxing cup of Pomegranate White tea and to get onto the internet  through their wifi connection... then I will go visit my friend. Since the battery on my laptop is now nearly dead, I must soon be off of here.  I think I will go to one store in the nearby mall to do a quick bit of shopping too.  I want to get a coffee filter set for Mom's coffee maker, part of her Christmas gift this year, and I want to see what they have for cd mailers as I want to send some CDs to a few friends of mine.  Then, with these things done, I can go visit my friend, ready to relax and enjoy the evening visiting with nothing on my mind except the things we want to talk about.  It is important to be 'present' with the people in our lives, and to 'live in the moment'.  So... off I go.  Enjoy your evening as I will mine.  

More Chirstmas Humour

Christmas Gift List

I know most people by now have already bought their gifts for Christmas giving, some even have them all wrapped and hidden away, while others, like myself, have barely begun to even think about this topic. Who should I buy for this year? Which siblings are going to be home for Christmas and which of their children will join the family gathering?  This all plays a part in the decisions to be made by me at this time of year.  I always, of course, buy for Mom!  This year it has been especially difficult for me to know what to get for her, though.  It's not like she will use Ski Gear or any other type of sports gear, not even dishes or small appliances like mixers or blenders, etc.  She is now 89 years of age so has everything she needs or wants and if she needs or wants anything else she is in a much better position to buy it than I am. The other day when I was visiting her, she did mention that she was having problems with the mouse on her computer and that someone had said to check the batteries, they might need replacing.  It's a corded mouse so has no batteries.  I told her it was worn out and I'd pick her up a new one.  I so wanted to wait until Christmas to give it to her, but she needs it now.  When I went to visit her yesterday I did give her a new corded mouse and told her "Merry Christmas".  She had also mentioned that she doesn't have a water bottle to carry her drinking water with her, so I've picked her up a stainless steel water bottle.  Since she recently got one of the new style coffee makers, I plan to get one of the baskets that go in them so she can use her own coffee and the amount she wants rather than using the pre-measured little cup things of coffee that are sold for this type of coffee maker.  Mom finds the coffee it makes to be far too strong for her tastes and I think that using her own coffee will save her a lot of money compared to buying the pre-measured coffee things that are sold in the stores for this type of machine. 

So, now that I have Mom's gift planned out, what will I give Terry & Alana? Who else do I need to buy for?  YIKES, only 11 days to go and most of those days are fully booked already!

Christmas Humour

Christmas is near and the jokes are flying through the emails and on Facebook.  Many are not worth sharing, though some are funny and I have decided to share some of those ones here.  I hope you enjoy them.

Yard Dreams

I really want and need to clean up my yard and to make it look a lot better than it does now.  "Grossly Overgrown" is not the look I had originally been going for in my yard, yet it is in fact what I have achieved. Many fruit trees have grown where I didn't plant them, as have wild roses, and many/most/all need to be removed, the grass mowed and flowers &/or vegetables planted.  I admit I do really like the wild roses when they are in bloom and they do provide privacy by blocking the view of my property from the highway and from near by neighbors, but there are too many so they at least have to be thinned out.  I would love to put up some fencing for the look as well as I would love to have some animal that would eat the grass and such so I would not have to try to keep it all mowed.  I have often thought it would be great to have aluminum garden gates into the one area of my yard where I have raised bed gardens and my patio table and chairs.  It would be so nice to have all that area fenced as well, especially if company came since one place has a 6' drop I would not like to see anyone fall over.  Yes, there are many things I would like to do to my yard.... and they will all have to wait for now.... we got a fairly heavy snow fall last night so yard work is now best left until spring.

Another Truth

Inspiring Truths

Six Cartons of Milk?

A wife asks her husband, "Could you please go shopping for me and buy one carton of milk and if they have avocados, get six."
 
A short time later the husband comes back with six cartons of milk.

The wife asks him, "Why did you buy six cartons of milk?"
 
He replied, "They had avocados."

If you're a woman, I'm sure you're going back to read it again! Men will get it the first time.


I got this in an email. I am a woman and I got it the first time, didn't have to read it a second time.  Perhaps that's because I grew up with a father and 2 brothers, have had boyfriends and 2 husbands as well as male friends (buddies). Sheeeesh, when I read this I wanted to slap the guy. Thank God not all men are this stupid.... there is no cure for stupid. Okay, so it's kind of funny, and it is a great example of how men really don't listen to what women say.  In any relationship, communication is vitally important and obviously there is not much of that in the above story.  Good for a laugh, though.  Hope you enjoyed it. 

Expensive to Eat

I want to prepare better, tastier, and most especially healthier meals for myself.  As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I see the importance of eating a healthier, more sensible diet than what I have done in the past.  My body needs to be properly nourished in order to regain and maintain good health, so it must be fed good food.  I have always given my vehicles the care they need to run well and long, and I have always made sure I took good care of my animals, feeding them only the best of what they need to be healthy and happy, yet I have not followed through with this type of care & treatment to my own body.  It is time to smarten up and take better care of me!  This being said, it is really a huge challenge to do so.  I look at recipes for good, health filled meals, and there are many ingredients I have never heard of before, or there are ingredients I know well, but can only purchase in larger quantities than I need for the recipe and I know the rest of it will go bad before I get the chance to use it up.  For example, 1 tsp. of fresh cilantro, finely chopped.... I have to buy a full bunch of cilantro and the teaspoon of it for the recipe is only a small amount of what is there so the rest of it would go in the garbage before I could use it for another recipe some time down the road. A recipe calling for 2 stalks of celery leaves the rest of the head of celery to rot, unless one can use it up in some way.  I enjoy eating celery raw and I know it's good for me, yet I alone can only eat so much of it.  Being a single person really makes meal preparations a challenge compared to having a full family that would eat up the meal so much faster and therefore require many more meals to be cooked, and the ingredients to be used up much more quickly.  Being a single person, it is almost as expensive to live as it is for a family of 4, when you consider rent or mortgage has to be paid for 1 or for a family.... hydro, heat, phone, etc etc all have to be paid for 1 or for an entire family, then the food comes to nearly as much money, but the family eats it and the single person tosses a lot more into the garbage or, as in my case, the compost pile.

Signing In

I've been having a real challenge getting into this blog account lately.  Finally I get in, but it is only after a great deal of fiddling around and over coming problems.  I sure wish it would quit doing all this and become easy to sign in to again like it once was.  I am grateful to have this free blog space, so I do thank the people at Blogspot for it, and I thank them for whatever they can do to make logging in here go more smoothly.

Wireless World

Some time ago I bought a Lexmark printer for my computer. It was an All-In-One printer, copier, scanner and for being an inexpensive printer I found it worked very well. In fact, it still works just fine.  In the past, I have found that when I put in a new ink cartridge in a printer it often does not work due to the ink jets drying out and consequently plugging up.  This doesn't usually do this with the black ink, but does with the color ink.  This, I figure, is due to the fact that I don't use my printer often enough and when I do use it, it is usually black ink rather than colors that get used.  This leaves the ink sitting for too long at a time, so they dry up.  With Christmas coming up, I thought I might like to do up some nice letters to friends and mail them out. I feel these look so much nicer if the text is in black and it has some graphics/clipart in colors, rather than having just a plane black on white letter.  Hey, it's a Christmas letter, it should be bright a jolly!! haha.  I didn't think anyone I know would like to trade printers with me, my old one for their newer, working better one, and I saw a cordless printer in the WalMart sale flyer, so I ended up going and buying one of those for myself. This was a few weeks ago and still I have not even opened the box.  I guess this is what they call an impulse buy, something I really didn't need, it just seemed like a good idea at the time.  Oh well, one of these days I will open the box, take out the printer, and figure out how to use it. It will be nice to be able to print something without having to take my laptop over to the desk and plug it in to the printer, I will be able to just sit here in my chair with my beautiful cat curled up beside me, and send the job to the printer wirelessly.  Or at least that is the way I think it's supposed to work.

Humor.... or Humour, depending which country you live in

These are just too priceless and great, clean British humor.  Another email for me to share with you.

BRITISH HUMOUR IS DELIGHTFULLY DIFFERENT from what we have here in Canada, and to me both are great.

These are classified ads, which were actually placed in U.K. Newspapers:
_________________________________
________________________________________


FREE YORKSHIRE TERRIER.
8 years old, Hateful little bastard. Bites!

___________________________________________

FREE PUPPIES
1/2 Cocker Spaniel, 1/2 sneaky neighbor's dog.

________________________________________________

FREE PUPPIES. Mother is a Kennel Club registered German Shepherd.
Father is a Super Dog, able to leap tall fences in a single bound.

_______________________________________________________

COWS, CALVES - NEVER BEEN BRED.
Also 1 gay bull for sale.

____________________________________________________

JOINING NUDIST COLONY!
Must sell washer and dryer £100.

_____________________________________________________

WEDDING DRESS FOR SALE.
Worn once by mistake.
Call Stephanie.

___________________________________________________

FOR SALE BY OWNER. Complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica, 45 volumes.
Excellent condition, £200 or best offer.
No longer needed, got married, wife knows everything.

(Statement of the Century)

___________________________________________________


Thought from the Greatest Living Modern, humorous Scottish Thinker - Billy Connolly.

"If women are so bloody perfect at multitasking, how come they can't have a headache and sex at the same time?"

___________________________________________

Children Are Quick

TEACHER: Why are you late?
STUDENT: Class started before I got here.

____________________________________

TEACHER: John, why are you doing your maths multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.

__________________________________________

TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong.
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

(I Love this child)

____________________________________________

TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.

__________________________________

TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.
WINNIE: Me!

__________________________________________

TEACHER: to little Freddy, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are Sir.

________________________________

TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand?

______________________________________

TEACHER: Now, Simon , tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.

______________________________

TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's.. Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.

(I want to adopt this kid!!!)

___________________________________

TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher

__________________________________

Due to current economic conditions 

the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.

Mewsic & Daisy Rock

When I feel down, or when I want to get extra house work done,  I find it helps a lot to crank up the stereo and listen to some good music.  Usually something fast, like Country Rock or Classic Rock is what I love to listen to and to 'bop' to.  I also like to play with my animals to give my mood that little extra 'up'.  Music and animals both always add to my day in so many ways.  I named my cat Mewsic, a reflection on my enjoyment of listening to and singing along with good tunes, as well as that I love the sound of the mews and purrs she makes.... "My cat's purrs are Mewsic to my ears!!"   One of my Chinchillas is named Daisy and I like to sometimes call her Daisy Rock!  She is a real solid in my life and she is so cute and loving .  This little creature really "rocks" in my opinion.   Okay, so maybe I have a strange sense of humor, but I think that also adds joy to my life.  Laughter is so healing as is Love of animals and humans.

B.I.T.C.H.

B.I.T.C.H.

Beautiful

Intelligent

Totally in

Control of

Herself 

 

 *******************

 Brilliant

Independent

Talented  

Confident

Heavenly

 *******************

Blogging

Information,

 Teaching

Creatively and

Harmoniously

*******************

 Just a few 'creative' ideas. 

 I'm sure you can come up with some more.

 

How to be a Gracious Bitch

Jennifer's wedding day was fast approaching. Nothing could dampen her excitement - not even her parent's nasty divorce. Her mother had found the PERFECT dress to wear, and would be the best-dressed mother-of-the-bride ever!

A week later, Jennifer was horrified to learn that her father's new, young wife had bought the exact same dress as her mother! Jennifer asked her father's new young wife to exchange it, but she refused. ''Absolutely not! I look like a million bucks in this dress, and I'm wearing it,'' she replied.

Jennifer told her mother who graciously said, ''Never mind sweetheart. I'll get another dress. After all, it's your special day.''

A few days later, they went shopping, and did find another gorgeous dress for her mother.  When they stopped for lunch, Jennifer asked her mother, ''Aren't you going to return the other dress? You really don't have another occasion where you could wear it."

Her mother just smiled and replied, ''Of course I do, dear.....I'm wearing it to the rehearsal dinner the night BEFORE the wedding.''

"Itis" Issues

In January 2012, I got bronchitis for the first time in a very long time. It's been more than 15 years since I last had a cold or flu so I was very surprised to suddenly be sick and diagnosed with bronchitis. I took antibiotics and in a short time I was well again.

Summer rolled around and all was great, then one night riding my trike home I noticed I had a bit or a sore throat.  I didn't worry about it, figuring it would be gone by morning.  The next morning it was way worse and my voice was barely working so I had to cancel plans to ride with the Lone Wolves as it was to be a very long ride that day.  As the day progressed I decided to go to the 'walk-in' medical clinic and have it checked out.  I was told I had viral laryngitis and that it would go away on its own in 2 to 3 days.  Over the next couple days I got feeling worse and went back to the 'walk-in' clinic. This time I was told I had also developed sinusitis and though I insisted I also had bronchitis, the doctor said there was nothing in my chest, the phlegm I was coughing up was from the sinuses draining down my throat. He said I would get better without drugs, that I didn't need antibiotics.  While it was wonderful to see a doctor who was not trying to push drugs on me for any little thing, in this case I felt I did need antibiotics since I knew he was wrong with the diagnosis.  The next day I got into see my own doctor. It usually takes nearly a week to get in so is the reason I often go to the 'walk-in' instead. This time I was pleasantly surprised and was fit in the same day. I was diagnosed with sinusitis AND bronchitis, by this time the laryngitis was mostly gone and no longer an issue.  I was sent for chest x-rays and given very strong antibiotics. About a week later I was phoned and asked to come in for a follow up visit, I did and he found I still had the rattle in my chest so I was given another go around of drugs and sent for a second chest x-ray.  In time I did recover.

Here it is November and once again I have sinusitis and laryngitis!!!  I've been home sick for several days now and on antibiotics for 2 or 3 days now as well as rinsing out my sinuses regularly with a Neti pot.  For some reason this time is taking a lot more out of me as far as strength goes.  I feel much more weakened by it than before.  Maybe that has something to do with the fact I've been staying home rather than continuing to be out and about while sick. 

It has been challenging to breath, feeling like I have a heavy weight on my chest and I go into nasty fits of coughing and usually hack up big gobs of phlegm.  The other 2 times, there were flecks of blood in the phlegm, though this time there has been very little of that. There has  been lots of blood in the phlegm/mucus from my nose, though. Thankfully this is showing signs of improvement.

Well, it's way past time for me to go rinse out my sinuses again, feed/water animals, and be off to bed.

Wishing you all good health!!

Drinking and Driving

I would like to share an experience with you about drinking and driving.

As you well know, some of us have been lucky not to have had brushes with the authorities on our way home from various social sessions over the years.

A couple of nights ago, I was out for a few drinks with some friends and had a few too many beers and then topped it off with a margarita. Not a good idea.

Knowing full well I was at least slightly over the limit, I did something I've never done before: I took a taxi home.

Sure enough I passed a police road block but because it was a taxi, they waved it past.

I arrived home safely without incident, which was a real surprise.

I have never driven a taxi before and am not sure where I got it. 

Okay, so it was a joke I got in an email.  It was funny so I thought I would share it!! Hope you got a chuckle out of it.  Seriously, though, if you are going out drinking, please do not drive home, get a ride with a sober driver.  You might save some lives!!

My Life as of Late

Most of the time I am out and about, being social, doing things, going places, seeing people.  It is rare that I stay home much at all and when I do feel like I need to stay home to 'recharge my batteries', it's only for 1 - 2 days, then I get 'cabin fever' and feel like I must get out of here or go crazy!!  Well, for some strange reason, for the last week or two I have been just staying home, sitting in my big chair all day every day and halfway into the night just playing Spider Solitaire, game after game after game. I am happy to say that I am getting very tired of the game as I got very tired of MahJong after playing so much of it for so long, and Solitaire before that. I really must stop sitting here playing stupid games on the computer (something I never used to do) and get back to being more active. I know that this is not good for my mental or physical health to just sit here like this. I`m sure that, like all other things, this too shall pass.... I just hope it passes quickly and I get back into enjoying a much more active life style.

Do You Have Small Children???

  (Anyone who has ever dressed a child will love this)

   

Did you hear about the teacher who was helping one of her class pupils put on his boots?  He asked for help and she could see why. Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn't want to go on. By the time they got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost cried when the little boy said, 'Teacher, they're on  the wrong feet. She looked, and sure enough, they were.

 

It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on.   She managed to keep her cool as, together, they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the correct feet.

He then announced, 'These aren't my boots.'

She bit her tongue, rather than get right in his face and scream,  'Why didn't you say so?' like she wanted to.
 

Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner had they gotten the boots off when he said, 'They're my brother's boots. My Mum made me wear 'em.'
 

Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. But she mustered up what grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again. 

 

Helping him into his coat, she asked, 'Now, where are your mittens?'
 

He said, 'I stuffed 'em in the toes of my boots.'
 

She will be eligible for parole in three years.

Volunteering at the Food Bank

The last while I've been working more in the back at the Food Bank than I was previously.  When I first started doing volunteer work at the Food Bank, I worked exclusively in the kitchen area where we portion out food that comes in large quantities and has to be put into smaller containers to be given out to the needy. After awhile, though I was still portioning, I did some work sorting food items that were donated as this all has to be sorted to be put away where it belongs on the shelves.  This led
helping to put together the food hampers that are given out to people. Eventually, I started working at the front desk answering phones, making appointments, dealing with people that come in, and doing various small jobs on the computers. I also became the 'filing girl', doing all the filing of time sheets and other things that need to be filed.  This latter is something I just do about once a month as it can pile up and still only take me an hour or two to get it all filed alphabetically.  The gal that used to work in the back doing the food hampers isn't there any more, she had some health issues and had to leave. This has left us short handed, leaving Ron to do the hampers all by himself as well as the several other jobs he has to do.  Because of this, I have been working mostly in the back again, doing hampers, sorting when needed, restocking shelves, etc.  I also still do the filing.  For the most part, I drop in whenever I am in town and have a few hours of my time to give, though I do sometimes put my name down on the employee attendance calendar, indicating when I will be there to work.  I like to be free and uncommitted during motorcycle riding season, although now with the summer behind us, I will most likely settle down a bit and commit to a specific day each week when I will be there, as well as drop in for another day if I happen to have to opportunity.  Some of my friends doing see why I work for free, but I really enjoy my time at the Salvation Army Food Bank and I have no plans to stop working there any time in the foreseeable future.  I have formed new and wonderful friendships with people I work with there, we have a lot of fun and do a lot of laughing while working at doing something important.... feeding the needy.

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
― Winston Churchill

 “I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.”
― Kahlil Gibran

 “For it is in giving that we receive.”
― St. Francis of Assisi

“As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.”
― Mary Anne Radmacher

“The only gift I have to give, is the ability to receive. If giving is a gift, and it surely is, then my gift to you is to allow you to give to me. 
”
― Jarod Kintz