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The Value Of Being Independent

The one thing that I know now is that I should have done everything I could to learn to be responsible for myself and to be able to be live independently. So many young women like me fail to realize their own self worth and live life relying on others, particularly men to take care of them. 

I always found myself counting on others to take care of me. I had no confidence that I was able to be independent. I relied on others, my sisters and two husbands. I was afraid that I would not be able to meet financial matters such as rent and basis necessities on my own. So I lived with my older sister for some time and then I married too young for all the wrong reasons. I needed someone to take care of me. Well, that never worked out the way I had hoped it would. I ended up taking care of a husband and three young children. 

Eventually, that marriage ended and I began the first steps to finding the confidence to live on my own, raise the children pretty much on my own. I also found out at that time just how important education was. Although I had finished high school, I had no real job skills that could lead to a well paying job. But I survived. I went back to school and learned some skills. One thing I did find out was that I was very good with money management. Having little money will teach you some good lessons in money management. 

Now that I am older, I look back and realize the many opportunities that I could have taken advantage of but when I was young, I wasn’t even aware that these opportunities existed. Joining a branch of the military, the peace corps or working my way through college would have all been great opportunities. Oh to be young again and know what I know now.

I survived those young years and I learned many valuable lessons that would have saved myself and my children a lot of heartache and pain. Number one, get that education before you get married or have children. Number two, have confidence in yourself to survive. Number three, good planning and good decision making will save a lot of pain and heartache. And finally, number four, learn to be independent. 

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Yoga And Dancing For Your Health

Yoga is more than five simple exercises. It is a complete exercise program that consists of a lot more than five simple exercises. It includes breathing exercises, stretching exercises and can even include strengthening exercises. Yoga exercises are included as a part of physical therapy treatment. Right now I am doing physical therapy for my knees. These are the simple yoga exercises that I practice at home. 

I first started with yoga years ago when I was having muscle problems. It was simple yoga exercises that I do at home which has helped me to stay fit and healthy for years. Yoga is for any age and does not have to include complicated positions. I am not able to do standing on my head or twisting my body into some form of a pretzel.  What level you wish to take your yoga practice to is decided by each individual person.  

My simple yoga exercises consist of leg raising and bending stretches, arm raises and using an exercise ball. I try to spend about twenty minutes a day doing my yoga exercise. 

Another great form of simple exercise that I do occasionally is dancing. Turn on the music you love and dance. It’s fun and you can choose whatever level of physical exercise your body is capable of. Older people like me will not be physically able to dance as strenuously as a younger physically fit  person. But as long as you can move, you can dance.

Exercise is important for all of us. It should be a part of everyone’s health plan. So choose what you enjoy whether it’s bike riding, walking, swimming or any other form of exercise. Simple yoga exercise and dancing are two great choices for your health and body.

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I Am Finally Back In My Website.

I have been struggling for months to get back into my site. For some reason, I seem to have been locked out of my site for months. I am still not quite sure exactly what it was that caused me to get locked out.

That was so frustrating. I couldn’t seem to reach a human to get help fixing the problem. I actually ended up creating a new site which I won’t use but it finally got me in touch with a human who after numerous emails, finally got me back to my dashboard.

I will be posting again on a regular basis.

Everyone make sure you save your receipts, emails and other important documents. It took me searching for hours and calls to my credit card to eventually find a receipt showing I own this site.

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Dreams of a Lottery Win: Family, Housing, and Philanthropy

It’s not likely I will ever win the lottery. You have to play to win and I rarely play the lottery. I sometimes buy a ticket if there’s really big numbers to win.

If I were to win the lottery I suppose it would change my life. First, I would be certain to make sure my family was taken care of. That means my kids and other close family members. I would pay off my house and maybe buy a newer house. Although I love my home I live in now, I will someday need a one story home, with a garage.

After those things were accomplished, I would donate a lot to foster children. I hear stories of mistreated and abused foster children and my heart goes out to them. I am not sure how or what I would do to help them. Perhaps start a foundation for foster children.

In terms of changing my life, I would also do some traveling to places that I dream of going to. I would visit Ireland and Scotland and Hawaii. I would also do some traveling in the western states of America. I often times joke that if I should ever win the lottery, I would buy a limousine and hire some handsome young man to drive me all over the USA.

While my odds of winning any large amounts of money are slim, it’s still fun to dream.

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Beautiful Ugly: An Engaging Review of Alice Feeney’s Novel

Beautiful Ugly is the first book that I have read written by author Alice Feeney. But it probably won’t be the last book of hers that I read.

Beautiful Ugly is quite an interesting story of a man whose wife has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Or she has just up and walked away from their marriage. This is the theme of the book and it’s told from Grady Green’s view for most of the book. But then it switches to Abby’s side of the story. It keeps you guessing the entire length of the book.

Abby was an investigative reporter who sometimes received death threats about her stories. Her husband Grady is a New York Times bestselling author. But Grady can’t seem to write a new book. He seems to be to be struggling after he lost his wife a year ago. His finances are in a bad place and he is about to become homeless. Grady is really a loner who wants to spend his time isolated but writing or with Abby before she disappeared.

And then his agent suggests a new direction that helps Grady recover and write another bestseller. She offers him a rent free cabin on an island that has only a few residents. On this island he can concentrate on writing a new book.

Grady agrees and moves temporarily to this island. Here he meets some strange residents and experiences strange happenings. Sometimes he feels like he’s losing his mind. But he can start a new manuscript. Grady has trouble sleeping and thinks he has seen his absent wife on the island. Is he cracking up or is Abby really there on the island?

The characters are very realistic and believable. Especially poor heartbroken, beaten down Grady Green whose only love is his dog since Abby is gone.

Abby is not quite as well portrayed. Her character though a main character is much of the time only Grady’s memories. But there are times we hear her story. Her story is also told in a lot of her memories of Grady and their marriage. Was she happy or unhappy with her marriage. Were there problems that Grady was unaware or chose to ignore?

There’s other characters of residents on the island that Grady encounters. Most of these characters though are minor characters. But each one adds to the story and the mystery.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing until close to the very end. And it has quite a surprise ending. I couldn’t have guessed what that ending was going to be. I love a good book with a very different ending than you would suspect.

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Introducing Jungle Sports: The Ultimate Monkey Mascot Team

Monkey Business

I would start a new team named Jungle Sports. A money would be the team mascot and the team colors would be jungle colors of greens and browns. A monkey would be the team mascot.

You need to be competitive in tree climbing, rope climbing, and swinging from ropes to join the Jungle Sports team. Coconut throwing would also be included. Eating a lot of bananas would be helpful.

If anyone thinks they could be interested, well it’s up to them to get this sports team started.

Daily writing prompt
If you started a sports team, what would the colors and mascot be?

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Blood Moon: A Thrilling Sandra Brown Mystery

First I love Sandra Brown books. Blood Moon is one of her newest books published this year 2025.

Blood Moon is a novel about Detective John Bowie who is just trying to keep his job. But he has a case that the police department arrested a suspect, prosecuted him and convicted him. But Detective Bowie has always questioned whether the right man was convicted.

Beth Collins is a producer of a true crime television show. Her boss is airing a show about the Crissy Mellin case. She feels that something wasn’t quite right about the Crissy Mellin case. Beth believes the real killer is still out there and is going to strike again when there’s another blood moon in just a few days. She convinces Detective Bowie to at least take a second look at the case.

Blood Moon

Bowie doesn’t want to get involved. However, his doubts about the case force him to get involved. Bowie also has an ex wife and doesn’t want to have another relationship. But Beth might just change his mind as they spend time together going over the case.

I always enjoy a Sandra Brown book. But for me this book wasn’t one of her best. But that’s just me. I didn’t enjoy or understand a lot of the scientific details about blood moons. I never did like science. For those, into science and the solar system, they will understand it better.

The characters were good. I liked all the characters. I was particularly fond of John’s teenage daughter. She was dealing with the usual teenage issues, as well as coping with her parents’ divorce. Beth was very believable as the girl who left the area and held a fast paced television producer position. John was the good cop dealing with an unreasonable boss and corruption in the police department.

Even though this wasn’t my favorite Sandra Brown novel, I would recommend reading it. The suspense is good and it keeps you guessing about who really is the killer.

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Dream Cottage: My Ideal Reading and Writing Space

The perfect place for my personal reading and writing space would start with a small cottage looking out over a beach. I would be sitting on a small porch in the mornings sipping a cup of tea while watching the sun rise over the water. That is always a beautiful sight. The evenings I would sit on that same porch with a glass of wine in hand watching the amazing sunset.

At times I would be sitting on that small porch in a comfortable chair reading a good book or eating meals watching and listening to the ocean. Afternoons would be time for a long relaxing walk on the beach.

View of the Seal Rocks at the north end of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California.

It would be a small cottage just big enough for one person. But there would be modern appliances and good air conditioning. Small and easy to clean. I don’t want to waste my time doing a lot of cleaning.

My ideal writing spot would be by a window with good lighting and an ocean view. It would be furnished with a long desk positioned near that window. The window would be open to allow the ocean breeze to gently blow the lacy curtains. A computer and a comfortable chair for the desk with drawers for paper, and other writing supplies. A plant hanging in the window would be a nice touch. Bookcases or shelves where I can organize my favorite books would cover one wall.

How peaceful and relaxing that small cottage of my dreams would be. How awesome to have a space just for me for writing and reading. Morning tea on the porch and wine at night. Eating meals outside while enjoying the ocean breeze. A girl can dream can’t she?

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Women In The Workplace Harassment

In 1974, the government required that steel companies hire women and minorities. This included the Eveleth Iron Mining co. This was the immediate start of the first class action suit by women claiming sexual harassment, abuse, and violence against women in the workplace. The case was Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co.

As women who were looking for good paying jobs to support their families, some brave women went to work for Eveleth Taconite Co. These women had no idea of the stress, harassment, humiliation and intimidation they were going to face. The men who worked for the mining company highly resented women taking good paying jobs from men. In their view, women should be staying at home, cooking, cleaning and raising children. These women really had no choice. Some were single mothers or the main breadwinner of the household. They needed good paying jobs every bit as much as the men.

Lois Jenson was one of the first women to go to work for the Eveleth Taconite Co. and became a member of the union workers. Right from the start she was a target of sexual harassment. Lois and the other women were victims of stalking, groping, and threats of rape and physical violence. Another problem that the women faced was the lack of bathroom facilities. They often weren’t near a bathroom and some developed urinary problems from holding their urine for extended periods of time.

Lois Jenson filed numerous complaints with management, the union and the mine owners regarding the abuse the women were subjected to. All wanted these women to quit, so all of her complaints were ignored or even sneered at. Eventually, Jenson filed a complaint to the Human Rights of Minnesota office. The state ordered Ogelby Norton to pay $11,000 to Jenson and form sexual harassment policies. The Eveleth Taconite Co. refused to follow the states orders.

Finally, in desperation, in 1988 Jenson hired private attorneys Paul Springer and Jean Boler to file a complaint. Jenson was joined by Pat Kosmach and one other woman to make it a class action lawsuit. Unfortunately, Pat Kosmach would die from Lou Gehrig’s disease before the lawsuit was settled.

Not all women supported the lawsuit. They feared for their jobs and the intimidation on the job became even worse. It became so unbearable that Jenson was under so much mental stress that she quit working at the mine.

During the trial the women were subjected to intensive and invasion of their privacy. Questions were asked about their pasts regarding former relationships. Their former sexual pasts were put on display. There were accusations that their behavior had caused the problems of harassment. They were accused of lying about the effects the harassment had on their physical and mental health.

After years of fighting in court the women finally got their verdict. Their case was settled on Dec 31, 1988 for $3.5 million. Not all women received the same amount. Each case was judged separately with some receiving more than others. But most important for the women was that the company had to have and enforce a no harassment policy. This policy protected the women from the abuse they had been dealing with. They could keep their jobs without the fear of harassment and violence. They had won the right to be respected.

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Nostalgia for the 1983 Chrysler New Yorker

It was 1987 when I bought a 1983 Chrysler New Yorker 5th Avenue used car. It was in excellent condition and I had just gotten a new job so I was making enough to afford the payments.

It was a beautiful dark blue with soft blue interior. In 1987 it had all the newest electronic features like electric windows and doors. The first time I drove it to work, my supervisor was asking who the nice car belonged to.

A 1983 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue en.wikipedia; PD

I made sure that car was well taken care of. I refused to let my husband at the time work on it. He thought he was a great mechanic but he often times made problems worse. Instead for the first time, I started paying a real mechanic. I wasn’t going to let him mess up this car. And when my husband and I separated that car went with me. It survived my kids growing up and being hauled everywhere.

I drove that car for over six years, then made the mistake of buying something newer. Many times I wished I still had that 1983 Fifth Avenue car back. I have even been doing some searching for one like it. The memories are great but it’s time to move on and go with the SUV style of today’s popular vehicles with more modern features.

Daily writing prompt
What is your all time favorite automobile?