TO NAME OR NOT TO NAME?

     OK, I had a few more ideas about the name of my new country
What do you think of something like:

 

"Marisol" -

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                or  "Tierra de Mar" - the Land of the Sea



There is also 
"Tierra del Sol" - the Land of the Sun

DECISIONS, DECISIONS...

     So, since I didn't get any suggestions yet from my readers in regards to a new country we can invent, I'm going to start by myself.
     Thinking about the name for my new country:

1. "Beautelia"?

2. "Freeland"?




                                                        3. "Hopeland"?

      4. "Heartland"?
     
     What do you think? 
5. "The Land of ..."?

     This will be hard to decide all by myself...
     

STARTING MY OWN COUNTRY

     I decided, I'll start my own country. Who's with me?
     Let's see: where would we do it? Some island would be the easiest choice!

     Do I want to be the President or the Queen? Perhaps, it should be the parliamentary monarchy. No, then I'll have no say in the way the country is run. On the other hand, I don't want to be involved in every nitty-gritty thing...
     Yes, the parliamentary monarchy it will be!
     Since it's going to need a parliament, I'll need your suggestions to what kind of laws the country will need and how it'll be run. By "your", I mean all of you, my readers! So, put on your thinking caps, "gird your loins" for the courage of your opinions and give me your comments!
     We'll need to create:
1. A country name - that's important. 
2. A Constitution.
3. A flag.
4. A country mascot.
5. An anthem (can be a popular song). If I don't get any suggestions, the anthem will be: "All by my-se-e-elf!"
     Please feel free to add whatever else this absentminded future monarch can't think about.

DAY AND NIGHT

     The house is quiet. Taka ans Sonny went to work. It was a long weekend: Taka took a day off on Friday to cut the grass and repair Sonny's door, which he took off the hinges in one of his rages.

     Yep, that's how mad he gets, trying to motivate Sonny to action. 

     My foot still hurts. It was better for a couple of days, but  started to ache again last night. The house is covered in the remains of the fast food: wrappers, boxes, cups from soda decorate every surface. I couldn't cook so much (or clean!) last week, and gratefully employed newly discovered food delivery services. 

     At night I hear Chicken Bone trying to get into a pizza box, left on the table. He goes after the leftover cheese, that's stuck to the top of the box, or some pineapple slices from eaten Hawaiian pizza. 

     I know, I'm prattling. There is a lot that's occupying my mind, but it's hard to decide, what is worth sharing with you in this blog.

     With Mr.P. we talked about Taka. He keeps reminding me: "You get, what you tolerate". It's true, I realized, I am prone to celebrating every small achievement in relationship to my husband, forgetting that I can't relax the boundaries, which help protect me, no matter how much I desire to be at peace. For example, Taka and I might have a strong conversation about something, in which I stand up for myself or Sonny and remind Taka of the things he himself desires in our relationship: warmth, intimacy. mutuality. Sometimes he would suddenly respond by altering his behavior for a while, which would send me over the moon! The struggle to maintain healthy connections is never over though, and I shouldn't just ignore the grating sounds of his voice, the next time he berates us for something, but I often choose to do so, because I can't stand to be in a constant battle with him. 

     Well, I myself got depressed writing this!

     

     

ORANGE HOPE

     My ankle is bright orange, and so are parts of the living room carpet. 
     For three days I limp and moan, favoring my aching foot.
I can't really complain: I had a year free of tendon inflammation. I walked without a cane, was free to exercise and shop til' I dropped.
     I took Eucommia Leaf Extract supplement. The proof that it works came, when I didn't take it for a few days and ended up in my current state. 
     As I said, my ankle is bright orange. It didn't turn that color because of the pain. Another natural remedy did it: the Turmeric poultice. 

     I am still amazed, how well these God-given plants work to help us with pain, sickness,.. housekeeping, etc. Sonny says, turmeric must have a placebo effect on me, but I swear: as soon as he helps me apply it to a swollen, painful joint, I feel relief. It shouldn't be possible because the body needs time to absorb herbal medicine through the skin, but I feel, what I feel!
     What I began to understand is, even though I didn't give much thought to taking Eucommia and didn't have much faith in its healing properties, it still did its job. I took it just in case, but it faithfully worked its magic anyway. 
     Is it so with our Heavenly Father? No matter the amount of attention we pay to Him, He still is with us, right? 
     I don't know. The first time I prayed, God rushed into my heart and life, filling me with hope and love. That was many, many years ago. I now often forget to invite God into my daily events. I might worry or feel hopeless about some situations. Why is it not my first instinct to tell God about them? And I find that, less and less miracles happen in my life.
     Maybe it means, now that I am a little more mature in faith, I should be more responsible for the relationship between Him and me. 
     It isn't a big secret: we need to work on the relationships with those, closest or most important to us.  Loyal spouses, loving children or parents, friends - all need to feel that we also care and are ready to lend a helping hand, when the need for it arises. Without it things fall apart. 
     Surely, I trust God more than some herb to help and to work in my life! I daily take the supplements, believing, they'll be my defense against an attack on my health! 
     What else is there to say? Perhaps He needs me not to just say some perfunctory prayers. I need to feel deep gratitude to my Heavenly Parent for the many times He helped me with His Grace. 
     That's what I'll try to remember while looking at the orange stains left  by Turmeric on my ankle and carpet. 
     Awaken, awaken, my heart! 
     

PRINCIPLES TRUMP POLITICS

     I understand, we want, whom we want in the White House. Bill Clinton is an animal, who attacks and uses women. Hillary, his wife and a present Presidential candidate, is a manipulative, greedy, lawless .... 
     
     Does that make right forTrump to have his attitude toward women?
Yeah, he said those things on tape ten years ago. Do you honestly think, he changed his ways since then? All those remarks of his about women being fat, needing to be beautiful to get a job; him petting his adult daughter on the behind during public events... Doesn't it make you a little nauseous? 

     We all want, what we want. To my remarks on Trump people tell me, how much worse Hillary and Bill are. They tell me, if Hillary is elected into Office, she'll appoint wrong kind of Supreme Court judges, and America will go to Hell. And therefore, it's OK for Trump to be a women-hating, tactless, pimply-adolescent-minded jerk. 

     In effect, people practice politics. They sacrifice, what's really important: care and respect for another gender, fairness - to promote a political candidate, who, hopefully, won't disappoint them.                                                                

                                                                

     It never worked before, you know! Whenever we sacrifice our principles for the sake of practicality, a disaster follows. 

     We can't bargain with the Devil. If we offer him a finger, he'll take the whole arm. We can't betray, what we care about for the sake of what we might want at the moment. 

               “Ideology knows the answer before  the question has been                                           asked. Principles are something different: a set of values 
                       that have to be adapted to circumstances 
                            but not compromised away.” 

                                                                                                                                  ― George                                                                                                                                                 Packer

TRUMP TALK

     



     So, some say, all men talk dirty about women. What does it prove? Do you feel good about it? Do you feel empowered that, you think, you have a right to do so? 
     As a woman, I feel that such mindset and behavior is a betrayal. Man's role is to protect and uphold his partner. Real, secure in their position and authority men, wouldn't demean women. Those, who hate women or fear rejection - would.