Do People Really Fall For This?

I just received this in my Inbox. It has to be one of the most unprofessional emails that I have received from idiots trying to get private information.

____

Thank you for useing Sympatico mail account. there is a problem with our site due to some settings reasons so we about to upgrade the site and we discovered that after upgradeing our site most of you useing Sympatico account may lost your Sympatico account so you are told to send the CONFIRM YOUR Sympatico EMAIL IDENTITY BELOW FOR UPDATES

Email Username :

EMAIL Password :

For you not to lost your Sympatico account and you are to do this before the next four days thanks for your understanding do have i nice day

____

Yep. I'll get right on that! ROFL!

A New Era Has Begun

Many years ago, I was one of those hundreds of thousands of people marching for equality for all. Just a young girl in a long flowing "granny dress" with flowers in her hair, marching for peace, singing "We Shall Overcome Some Day" and looking at the world through rose coloured glasses, believing that no matter what our parents said, no matter what our skin colour or beliefs, that we were all equal and each of us were entitled to the same rights and freedoms as everyone else.

In my young tender pre-teens, I witnessed racism and prejudice on a daily basis, and I knew it was not right. Why was so much pain and heartache inflicted upon those of us who were perceived to be different just because of skin colour? Why were our neighbours "beneath us" because they were of a different religion or ethnicity? Wasn't all mankind supposed to be created equal? I could not understand it at all. At Sunday School, we were taught "Love thy neighbour as thyself", so if that were true, why was it that from Monday to Saturday, there was so much hatred? As a teenager, why was I not allowed to date or marry outside my "own kind"? Of course, being me, I rebelled.

I dated whom I wished and married who I wanted. I was told that I was lucky I was not "back home in Scotland" or I would have been tarred and feathered for "marrying outside of our kind".

Thank goodness those days are behind me, and hopefully with the new era that has begun, they are behind us all.

Yesterday was the dawning of a new era for the United States of America, and a new beginning for the world. A country that was built on the backs of slaves, that was, and in many places still is, rife with racism, has climbed above all of that and inaugurated it's first African American president, Barack Obama.

I watched the ceremonies on television, saw the hope and joy on the people's faces as the cameras panned over the hundreds of thousands of people out in the cold Washington sunlight, there to witness this historic day. And I was overcome with emotion. I never thought that, in my lifetime, a black man would stand in front of the country and be sworn in as 44th President of the United States of America.

President Obama, you have a long and difficult journey ahead of you. The hopes and dreams of millions of people, not only in the U.S.A., but around the world, rest with you. How you conduct yourself in the next four years will determine the lives of many for generations to come. May the history books of the future only write favourable reviews of your deeds.

Brightest Blessings
Sonia

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Welcome to 2009

The new year has been, shall we say, interesting, so far. If this past week is to be a sign of what is to come, I'd much rather crawl back into bed and wait for 2010 to arrive! LOL

January 1st was uneventful and pleasant. We had Mark's sister, Wendy, over for dinner and spent an enjoyable afternoon chatting and laughing.

On Friday, January 2nd, the story begins. Mark and I went in to town to do some shopping and to purchase a new bed for the father-in-law. When he moved in with us 3 years ago, we converted our living room to a bedroom for him, and he was sleeping on the couch-bed, which was not very comfortable. It was time for a "real" bed. We went to the furniture store and chose a bed that would be delivered on Monday morning...the story would continue on Monday evening.

On Saturday I went to work and the Library and on Sunday, Mark helped me to take down the Christmas decorations. It's amazing how quickly they come down with 2 people doing it. "Thanks, Honey!" (I'll expect the same help next year! LOL)

Monday morning arrived and about 10:00 a.m., Dad's new bed arrived. The delivery guys set it up and took away the old couch-bed. Dad seemed to be quite happy about the whole thing. :) That afternoon, I went to work to clean up the Town Hall and when Mark picked me up after work, he informed me that he had bad news. Dad had fallen out of his new bed and hurt his leg!

It seems that he was so used to the arms of the couch protecting him, he forgot that they weren't there and rolled over on his back in his sleep, right onto the floor!

I got home and Dad was sitting at the table (Mark had used a sit-down walker to get him to the table as Dad couldn't walk at this point.) After taking a look at his leg, his knee was swollen and bluish, I asked if he wanted to go to emergency then, or wait until morning. (We live in an area where there is no X-ray tech available at night except on a call-in basis). Dad sad he would wait until the next day. But, given his medical history (heart attack and a previous injury to that knee) Mark suggested that I call the emerg. dept. and get advice from them.

I called the emerg. and was given an 800 number to call a 24 hour medical hotline for assistance. After explaining the situation, it was advised that Dad go to hospital. An ambulance was called as there was no way Mark and I could carry Dad into the Jeep.

Mark and I arrived at the hospital shortly after the ambulance got there and after a while, the doctor on call did call in the X-ray tech and x-rays were taken. Fortunately, no bones were broken, but he was in a lot of pain.

Dad spent the night in emergency and the next morning, Tuesday, he was brought home by ambulance as we couldn't get him home in the Jeep.For the past week, Dad has been getting around by sitting on the walker and using his good leg to push himself, or one of us pushing him around to get to the table, bathroom, etc. Hopefully he starts to walk again soon, else his leg will become too stiff to move!

Tuesday was an uneventful day, except for Mark and I running around after a very demanding patient (Dad).

On Wednesday afternoon, I had to work at the Library. Everyone knows that the library is a nice safe place to be, right? Well, not if you're me! LOL

It was time to take down the decorations at the library. I took everything down on the main floor, and then one of our volunteers came in to help with the upstairs. All of the decorations were removed without incident and packed away in their containers. Our volunteer went home, and later on, I remembered that there was still some decorations hanging on the windows, behind the blinds. I successfully removed a Santa from one window and went to remove another from the front window. I pulled on the cord to open the blind and...the blind came crashing down, just missing my head! EEK! the fixture at the top of the window had snapped off, so now, we have no blind on that window. LOL At least I did get the Santa decorations down. ~~grins~~

Thursday was a fine day, with no incidents and yesterday was another weird day.

I went up to the Town Hall to clean again and all was well. I only had about 15 minutes left in my shift and all was going according to schedule, until it came time to clean the toilet. I sprayed the disinfectant on the tank and began to wash it down. I cleaned around the little screw under the tank and water began to gush out of the tank onto the floor! It was like a mini Niagara Falls! Within seconds, the bathroom floor was a swimming pool! I tried to fidget with the screw, but no way was that water stopping! What to do? Then I remembered Mike Holmes from the show Holmes on Homes. I love that guy!

I looked at the toilet pipes, and there was a water shut-off handle thingy. I turned that and closed the water supply. ~~yayy me!~~ I then flushed the toilet to get the remaining water out of the tank and put a cup under the leak to catch any remaining water. After cleaning up the mess, I called the Town Foreman at home and left a message on his machine about what had happened, stuck an "Out of Order" sign on the toilet and went on to finish my shift. I hope the toilet gets fixed before Monday morning, else the girls will be running across the road to the restaurant to piddle.

So, that is how 2009 has begun for me. On looking back on this, it seems that Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are the days that I should stay in bed with a good book and a box of chocolates and hibernate. LOL

A New Year Will Soon Be Dawning

Here it is, almost the end of December and I have sorely neglected my poor wee blog. There really is no excuse for it, for surely I can find at least a half hour during the week to write a wee update.

This past year has been a hectic one. I took on the challenge of becoming webmaster for our town's website, took on an extra job as custodian for the Town, and continue to work at the library as well as managing and creating new designs for my shops (links on the left under Shopping header) and tweaking and updating my own websites (links on left under Favourite Websites). In between all that, I tried to keep the house fairly tidy, spend time with the family when I could and work on a few artworks. That was the hardest part of all this past year, trying to find time to get into my art room and lock myself away for a few hours. 2009 and will see a change in that!

My Goals For 2009

• I will be spending at least 2 days a week in my art room.


• I will be developing a new centralised shopping centre that will be linked to from all of my websites, instead of several shopping areas on each site. That makes more sense to me.


• I've decided to cut back from 3 shops to 2 over at CafePress and will have an announcement about that later on in the Spring.


• Website updates will be done once a week instead of every day like they are done now.


• Shop updates will be done weekly instead of grabbing time here and there to work on them.


• More time will be spent doing family things (games, picnics, outings, fishing, camping)


• I will lose the remaining 60 pounds by September!


• I will take a Sunday each month to write "real" letters (and post them) to those that do not own computers and have no email


• I will take time to do things that I enjoy and get proper rest each night!


• Housework? I'll squeeze that in somewhere! :)

So, bring on 2009! I'll be 52 years young in May and I plan on living another 50 or more years, so I had better get my life organised now so I can enjoy the ride!

A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year To All!

Get Ready For Christmas!

Larder Lake Public Library 16th Annual Christmas Craft & Bake Sale!

Join us at the Larder Lake Recreation Centre on Sunday, November 2, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There will be many Christmas gift ideas available from area artisans and crafters, as well as delicious baked goods to help you get started on your holiday entertaining!

The Library will also have a selection of good used puzzles and books for sale to help pass away the cold winter days. Lunch is also available, as well as a free door prize and tickets are available for various holiday draws, including a beautiful original oil painting.

I'll be there with some of my products and gift ideas from Visions of Fantasy. Drop by my table and tell me you read my blog and get your name in for a beautiful Fractal Fantasies Wall Calendar. I hope to see you all there!

Weight Loss Journey - Month 2

Well, I see that I have been neglectful in posting my journey to a healthier me. It isn't that I have fallen off my path, but that things have been so hectic around here this past month and a bit. :)

First off, there was extra hours to be had at work (both places of employment), so of course, I grabbed them as the holidays are soon approaching and gifts to be purchased. Between work hours, I was busy fixing up the Dreamland Magic Halloween site, removing dead links, finding spooktacular Halloween party supplies and gift ideas for the Halloween Shopping Centre and creating 5 new Halloween designs for Lakeshore Pines.

This old elf has stopped to rest on a pile of big orange pumpkins in a farmer's field. With his Jack-o-lantern resting beside him, the old elf catches sight of a colony of bats soaring toward the full moon.

Even the bears get in on the fun this Halloween! This little bruin is wearing a purple and green clown costume and a big smile as he carries his big orange pumpkin pail down the street in search of treats this Halloween night.

A black cat with an orange pumpkin hanging from his collar and a blue witch's hat surrounded by a yellow full moon is a spooktacular Halloween gift whether you choose clothing or Halloween home decor.

Halloween is a time when the whole family can dress up in colourful costumes. A time when dad can become a pirate, mom becomes a witch, sis dons her princess garb, little brother can be a vampire and little sister can wear her fairy wings. Halloween can be fun and entertaining, and with these cute Halloween Family products, complete with a yellow full moon and bats flying high, you are sure to receive compliments this All Hallows Eve.

This sweet little witch is having a wonderful time at a Halloween party. She isn't afraid at all as she dips her face into the basin and pulls out a shiny red apple. What a wonderful Halloween treat!

All of our Halloween designs are available on T-shirts, sweatshirts and even Halloween maternity tops and are perfect and comfortable for home, school or office wear, and there is a nice selection of Halloween gifts that are appreciated by all Halloween party hosts and hostesses.
Don't forget to hand out Halloween buttons, pins, magnets and stickers to the little ghouls that come to your door for Trick or Treat! They last longer than candy, and don't cause cavities! Get your Halloween treats, party invitations, home decor and Halloween clothing in the Halloween shop at Lakeshore Pines Supermall

So, needless to say, I have been a busy lass. And yes, the pounds are continuing to slip off. I did stumble over Thanksgiving as I could not resist hubby's turkey and dressing and his scrumptious pumpkin pie! But, I am happy to report that in the past 6 1/2 weeks since I started my journey, I have now lost 21 pounds! :)

Weight Loss Journey - Week One

Well, here we are one week later in my journey to a healthy weight loss.

This past week has gone well in my wee opinion. I have managed to change my eating habits and get into a routine of eating at regular times. No more getting home from work after 8:00 p.m. and eating a large supper. That just was not healthy and the meal only sits in the tummy all night, turning to fat.

My meals consist of:

Breakfast

• 1/2 bowl of raisin bran cereal with 2% milk


• 1 slice of toast with a wee bit of margarine and a tablespoon of ginger marmalade


• black coffee

Lunch

• 1 sandwich: usually toasted with tomato and a tsp. of miracle whip


• black coffee

Supper (dinner)

• Small portion of meat (easy on the gravy)


• small portion of whatever starch we are having (rice, potato or pasta)


• large helping of vegetables with a tsp. of butter

Snacks: One of the following:

• a pear


• a golden delicious apple


• a few cantaloupe slices


• green pepper slices and baby carrots (about 5 of each)


• 1/2 cup of trail mix (raisins, peanuts and cashews)

I have one snack between each meal and one at about 9:00 in the evening.

So far it seems to be going well. Because of the eating at 3 regular times, plus healthy snacks in between, I find that I am not as hungry at supper time, and when I feel my tummy is full, I stop eating, even if there is still food on the plate.

Leaving food on your plate was always a big no-no when I was growing up. We were not allowed to leave the table unless our plates were "clean". Parents, don't do that to your children! If they don't want to eat everything on their plates, it isn't going to kill them, and guess what? By the time you sent the food over to "those starving kids in India", it would be rotten and they wouldn't eat it either!

So, I have learnt that I don't need to empty my plate (Lady loves the leftovers anyway) and if I am comfy with how much I have eaten, that's the way it should be. :)

So, this past week, I have stuck to my new eating habits and yes, the weight is falling off. I'm sure that this week was mostly water loss, there is no way I could have lost that much weight just by changes in my eating habits, is there? How much weight have I lost this week?

I started last Monday at 224 lbs. Today, I am 211 lbs.