Happy St. Patricks Day

Here are some ideas to help us go green and save money too!

1. Recycle gray water, water gardens plants, flush toilets etc.

2. Use scraps for fertilizer (not meat or dairy) Banana peels are great. Just throw them under your bushes.

3. Save scraps of soap to put in a mesh bag, makes a great skin scrubber.

4. Buy a filter for your tap water, bottled water is expensive and so much plastic.  If you need to you can use chlorine to purify water. (8-16 gtts per gallon)

5. Skip paper towels, rags work so much better and you can just rinse them out to use over and over.

6. Reuse cereal inner bags they work great for storage of lunch.

7. Use your toaster or convection oven instead of a big oven.

8. Take a cold shower in hot weather,  its so refreshing. Luke  warm water is so much better for your skin in the winter.

9. Use  good old petroleum jelly to soften and protect skin. Buy it in big containers and it lasts a long time.

10. Pay attention to the packaging you buy things in. Keep it to a minimum.

11. Used recycled tissues, toilet paper and napkins.   Avoid:  Puffs  Kleenex,  Charmin,  Cottenelle,  bounty viva.

12. Try herbal or natural products that contain cedarwood, lemongrass, peppermint, rosemary

    and thyme to keep your pets pest free.

13. Buy one compact florescent light bulb a week till you replace all your old bulbs. This will save you lots of money on electricity.

14. Eat  more fruits, vegetables, and grains  and limit your intake of red meat. This can reduce your risk of coronary disease and colorectal cancer, while reducing your grocery bill and the impact on the environment.

Check out this site for lots more practical information

http://www.simplesteps.org/#tk-switchboard-blog

Bah Humbug you think, but thats not what you feel. So what can you do to feel better?

Here are 10 Ideas to Help you get Through the Day.

Stay up the night before and work then you can sleep the following day away.

Go to a movie about bad relationships. (How about fatal attraction).

Spend time with a couple who is always bickering. Go sit in divorce court for the day.

Watch / read health reports on Sexually transmitted diseases.

Spend time with a friend bashing the opposite sex.

Think about your worst relationship and all the terrible things that were done to you.

Remember the divorce rate is over 50%

Contemplate that solitude is better then a bad relationship.

Here’s one especially for the women: single women live longer then married ones.

Have a good day whether alone or as a couple!

What you say, no one recycles in Kenya, there is garbage in many streets and especially rural villages.

Well yes that is true there is no unified effort to recycle by government, and plastic bags and bottles are everywhere. Well this made me very discouraged until I saw with different eyes.

Nothing is wasted in Kenya, if it can be used again it is. Today I saw empty detergent bottles used as flotation devices by some kids, wow. Empty containers are also used as water carriers, scoops, baskets, and any number of useful items.

How about old tires, you will not believe what they can make from them

• shoes
• gaskets
• ropes
• swings and toys of all types
• car parts
• carriersRepairs are made on everything, shoes made new, even cheap  flip flops are repaired, They are driving OLD cars that have been fixed so many times it is unbelieveab

Plastic bags and pieces of twine make great soccer (football here) balls.

All kind of junk are used to make jewelry, I especially like the wire scrap use.

I will keep an eye out for more ideas and keep you updated.

Have been  in Kenya for 2 weeks, having fun and working with children. The ocean is beautiful but it is hot, hard to sleep, no electricity and no fan where I am now.  Sometimes there is a nice breeze, the  mosquitos are annoying but it is too hot to use a net. Hope my malaria pills work. I am sending 2 boys from an orphanage to High School andcoulc use some help with funding. Without  a HS  education they have no future. If you can spare $5.00 would appreciate it. Send it to mypaypal account.     vduffy@rochester.rr.com

Thanks and Blessings

Here are the lyrics: however, many people seem to remember only the first verse.

Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
And here’s a hand, my trusty friend
And gie’s a hand o’ thine
We’ll tak’A cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne.

It’s that time of the year where some of us (fewer I hope) make those New Year Resolutions that we often break leaving us feeling like failures.  Why is that??  I wonder if it is because we often try to make ourselves into something or someone we are not.

I love this quote from Steve Jobs of Apple.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. ”

In thinking about this I realized that as I have gotten older I am more and more sure of and ok with, who I really am.
But knowing who you really are takes thought and time.

That might be a good New Year non-resolution for 2010,  pay attention to knowing  myself better.  How can I do this you ask?

Here are some ideas I came up with, I am sure you could add many more.

1. Spend time alone
2. Spend time doing nothing
3. Allow thoughts to come, don’t judge them just acknowledge what are they about
4. Allow yourself to feel and acknowledge the feelings to yourself.  Remember feeling is not behaving.
5. Reconize what makes you happy and write it down.  It may come as a suprise and may be different then what you had believed would make you happy.
6. Recognize what makes you feel angry, frightened, stressed, bored, unhappy. Try and be specific.  Allow yourself permission to avoid these things when possible.
7. Spend more time with those you enjoy who bring you peace.
8. Cut down on your obligation visits.
9. If you have already unsuccesfully  tried  to improve relationships, then  give yourself permission to avoid those that make you feel bad or unworthy (even if they are relatives).
10. Ask yourself these questions frequently

• What do I really care about?
• What are my basic beliefs and values?
• What would I do if I recieved a diagnosis of a terminal illness, how would it  change my behavior?

Fight any feelings of self indulgence or guilt. Remember Self-Awareness is a basic building block of self-esteem,  Not selfishness.  Further healthy self -esteem allows us to be positive influence in our world.

Happy Holidays

I was being silly here mostly because I was with a friend who has 5 year old twins.  Kids can always put me in the holiday spirit and make the world seem better.  If you are not feeling so jolly its ok,  you are not alone!

Here are two references that  might help you

The first is a professional article that offers scientific evidence for alternative and complementary treatments for depression.

Below you will find my answer to a question about holiday blues.

Hope you find something helpful here.

Question: I often get down during the holidays, why is this, what can I do.

It is not uncommon for people to feel sad during holiday time. This can be a result of not having a “picture perfect” family, unrealistic expectations of what a holiday should be, or memories of holidays gone by (often glorified in the memory).
To avoid this:
1. Do not build up the Holidays in your mind,  keep expectations to a minimum.
2. Keep it simple
3. Start a new and different tradition (go out to eat, go away for the day)
4. Avoid reading all those Holiday Magazines!
5. Avoid shopping, try online or catalogs
6. Only spend time with those you really want to.
7. Get outside, and move!
8. Help someone else.

9. Focus on your spiritual side

Seasonal affect disorder is different than Holiday blues and may need treatment.

Remember to take care of yourself.  You MUST squeeze out a little time each day for yourself!  Find a fabulous book or magazine you love, take a bubble bath, watch a movie,  just be alone for a while.

By the way to clarify what I say in the video 30,000 Kenya Shillings  is about $ 390.00

If you are looking for a unique useful gift for the helper or health care worker in your life, consider a copy of my book Behavioral First Aid: Managing Emotions During Emergencies. It will be appreciated for its practical information and advice. Free shipping till Christmas! Buy it now

• Make plans well ahead of time.

• Ask others what they would prefer to do on the holiday.

• Setting up a schedule (and getting everyone to sign on) for who visits who on the holidays and sticking to it helps avoid problems. ie: grandmas on Thanksgiving, Christmas at moms, Easter at Aunt Lucy, Fourth of July at your sisters etc. This can be spread out over a few year period or rotated each year.

• If people can’t agree on who does which holiday, draw holidays from a hat!

• Ask people what they would like to bring. I think sharing the cooking works best on all get-togethers.

• If you can’t agree on what to bring, go out to dinner as a group or have it catered. Costs should be split evenly.

• Have an activity planned besides talking. Go for a walk, go to a movie, have friends for desert, play cards or a board game if this generally goes well. Hire entertainment. Make people laugh. Ask everyone to bring their favorite joke. DO SOMETHING, DON’T JUST SIT AND TALK!

• Watch a movie about a family in trouble and how they solve it. Do NOT watch one of those silly movies that portray storybook lives!

• Make a funny invitation and have everyone reply and add a list of topics they wish would be off limits during the visit. (grandmas wish for a grandchild, politics, religion etc)

• Set a time for the gathering ie 4-8 pm, try not to extend this. State the time of dinner and serve it at that time no matter who is late.

• Avoid alcohol or limit the amount on hand.

• Change the subject if a touchy topic arises. If this is not successful, say “ok who wants to go for a walk”. If no one goes you go yourself.

• Remember the things you love or at least admire about everyone present. If not to corny for you, have everyone name a strength or good point about each other as a holiday gift.

• If someone in the family is a real problem, do not invite them to the gathering. Be honest with the others beforehand. If you wish to do something separate with them arrange a lunch or similar outing.

• Take care of yourself with a simple menu, a massage the next day and give yourself a pat on the back for a good job.