Just popping in to say hello. I rarely write on this blog anymore since I chose to go with my own domain name, but I like to stop in periodically. I still get comments (a few each month) on past articles I have written to do with nature. I wish I had more time to blog more these days (I don't blog a lot on my other blog either), but life has turned, and my time is being required elsewhere.

I still have fond feelings for the HSB community. I met so many neat people here that I still keep up with.

Some of my graphics went missing (the header, the sides). They were some that a friend had designed for me and then she saved in her files. I am thinking they got deleted. So I decided to pick some new graphics. Hope you enjoy the new look.

This came in my mailbox today and I wanted to share it with all of you! Enjoy!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height.
Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends.
The grouches pull you down.
(Keep this In mind if you are one of those grouches;)

3. Keep learning.
Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.
Never let the brain get idle.
"An idle mind is the devil's workshop."
And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4. Enjoy the simple things. Each one of them is what you decide it is, without giving it a second thought.

5. Laugh often, long and loud.  Laugh until you gasp for breath.
And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and  Lots of time with HIM/HER.

6. The tears happen.
Endure, grieve, and move on.
The only person who is with you your entire
life, is yourself.  LIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love
whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.
Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health.
If it is good, preserve it.
I f it is unstable, improve it.
If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips.
Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

Well, I have spent my day today redesigning my page...it has been a slow process and here I sit 7 hours after getting up and I am mostly done! 

Thanks to Amber at Trying is Bravery whose html code help me figure out what to do! Also thanks to the ladies whose graphics I used (see bottom right).  I hope you like the new look! I do!

I must go now though.

I need to shower and I just found out that the son of my high school English teacher (I loved her dearly) was killed in a car accident last night. I babysat him from the time he was born until he was 7. He was 20 years old and left behind a fiance and son. His mom's name is Ruth, please keep them in your prayers.

This came to my Inbox yesterday and I enjoyed it so that I wanted to share it with my friends here at HSB:) May God bless each of you!  Thank you for your friendship and support!

In kindergarten your idea of a good friend was the person who let you have the red crayon when all that was left was the ugly black one.

In first grade your idea of a good friend was the person who went to the bathroom with you and held your hand as you walked through the scary halls.

In second grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you stand up to the class bully.

In third grade your idea of a good friend was the person who shared their lunch with you when you forgot yours on the bus.

In fourth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who was willing to switch square dancing partners in gym so you wouldn't have to be stuck do-si-do-ing with Nasty Nick or Smelly Susan.

In fifth grade your idea of a friend was the person who saved a seat on the back of the bus for you.

In sixth grade your idea of a friend was the person who went up to Nick or Susan, your new crush, and asked them to dance with you, so that if they said no you wouldn't have to be embarrassed.

In seventh grade your idea of a friend was the person who let you copy the social studies homework from the night before that you had.

In eighth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you pack up your stuffed animals and old baseball but didn't laugh at you when you finished and broke out into tears.

In ninth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who would go to a party thrown by a senior so you wouldn't wind up being the only freshman there.

In tenth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who changed their schedule so you would have someone to sit with at lunch.

In eleventh grade your idea of a good friend was the person who gave you rides in their new car, convinced your parents that you shouldn't be grounded, consoled you when you broke up with Nick or Susan, and found you a date to the prom.

In twelfth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you pick out a college/university, assured you that you would get into that college/university, helped you deal with your parents who were having a hard time adjusting to the idea of letting you go...

At graduation your idea of a good friend was the person who was crying on the inside but managed the biggest smile one could give as they congratulated you.

The summer after twelfth grade your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you clean up the bottles from that party, helped you sneak out of the house when you just couldn't deal with your parents, assured you that now that you and Nick or you and Susan were back together, you could make it through anything, helped you pack up for university and just silently hugged you as you looked through blurry eyes at 18 years of memories you were leaving behind, and finally on those last days of childhood, went out of their way to give you reassurance that you would make it in college as well as you had these past 18 years, and most importantly sent you off to college knowing you were loved.

Now, your idea of a good friend is still the person who gives you the
better of the two choices, holds your hand when you're scared, helps you fight off those who try to take advantage of you, thinks of you at times when you are not there, reminds you of what you have forgotten, helps you put the past behind you but understands when you need to hold on to it a little longer, stays with you so that you have confidence, goes out of their way to make time for you, helps you clear up your mistakes, helps you deal with pressure from others, smiles for you when they are sad, helps you become a better person, and most importantly loves you!

Pass on to those friends of the past, and those of the future...and
those you have met along the way...[crying yet? oh there's more]

Thank you for being a friend. No matter where we go or who we become, never forget who helped us get there.

There's never a wrong time to pick up a phone or send a message telling your friends how much you miss them or how much you love them.

Kathy at Iluvtheland has started up a yahoo email group where those of us who need encouragement with losing weight and being fit can get together. Be sure to check out her article and sign up!  It will be a blast! And there is already a contest up and running!

I have found out about two amazing 'shortcuts' on the computer in the last couple of weeks that help make life simpler.  First I found out about alt/tab. Say you have a bunch of windows open...Explorer, Quickbooks, Outlook, Word, whatever...well instead of mousing down to the bottom of the screen to click on which one you want to see, you can hold down alt tab. This brings up a neat little box in the middle of your screen. Keep hitting tab until you get to the window you want to see, let go of alt and the window you want appears. Very nifty!!!!

Also Henry shared with me a neat function of right click. I was trying to figure out how to enjoy the Homeschooling Carnival without having to hit the back button so much. He says that if you right click on the link you want to visit, then choose open a new window, that a new window will pop up with the information you want to see. Read it, act on it if you want, close it and the original post is still there! Here, give it a try!

And a neat feature that I use a lot and have used for a while is tiling windows. When I am working in Ebay, sometimes I need to check out my auction software at Spare Dollar at the same time, so I open both windows (making them big and all other windows are minimized), then right click on the 'bar' at the bottom of your screen...you know where it shows you what windows you have open, but you need to right click in an open space. A menu will pop up and you can tile your windows vertically or horizontally. If you have two windows open, each will pop up, side by side and you can view them both with ease.

I would love to hear any other shortcuts people may be using!