I'm a 60 something wife, mom and grandmom who is homebound/disabled by severe hypersensitivity to chemicals. I fill my days with learning, loving and art. My favorite values are truth, generosity and gratitude.
2A: Biden’s DOJ just launched another unconstitutional gun grab. Disarming people who pose an extreme risk to themselves or others sounds like a worthy goal, but you know it won’t be applied to elites like Hunter Biden or their bffs in the cartels. It’ll be applied to “bitter” Republicans in flyover states who, according to Democrats like Barack Obama, “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
COVID-19: CLICK the link to read “Four years on, COVID damage remains while Fauci & Co. pay no price” by Glenn H. Reynolds. I only want to add two thoughts.
One, I’m not embarrassed to have jumped on the shutdown wagon. Like he said, it seemed right at the time. It was only when I saw the media twisting Trump’s words and then esteemed physicians get censored and even fired that I realized we were not in a public health war against a deadly virus; we were being conned by politicians with a globalist agenda.
Two, and far more important, the evil people who did all of this to us will be brought to justice. I doubt it will be in this life, but I am assured by my faith in Jesus Christ that it will be full and fair.
FLUOROQUINOLONES: Fluoroquinolones are a class of antibiotic drugs that received FDA approved in 1980. They disrupt bacterial DNA replication and stop bacterial growth. They can also disrupt critical enzymes and harm mitochondria, triggering a whole host of devastating side effects.
HYPOCRISY: New York AG Letitia James has been making big political waves in her efforts to destroy Donald Trump for allegedly overvaluing his property to obtain a mortgage. Note please that Trump repaid the loan. And now we learn that one of her political allies, a man who overvalued a building to obtain a mortgage, has defaulted on the loan. Funny thing how James has no interest in punishing him.
QUIET ON SET: “The first episodes of a new documentary series exposing the inner workings of Nickelodeon — the children’s network that most people my age grew up watching in the 90s and early 2000s — called Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, just premiered. It’s worth watching because it’s one of the few well-researched, effectively produced looks into how the entertainment industry abuses children.”
CLICK below if you care to read more. I read some of it. My stomach is churning as I thank God we raised our girls without a television.
GRAMMY NOTES: My 5th grade grandson told me they would be doing a unit on keyboarding during the spring semester. In my day, we called it typing. I still call it typing. I feel a little old-ish. BUT … I do not care that I’m turning 70 in six weeks or that I thought my parents were antiques when they turned 50. I am NOT YET ACTUALLY OLD.
IVERMECTIN: Doctors who sued the FDA have scored a big win! In exchange for the doctors dropping the suit, the FDA has agreed to remove all its anti-ivermectin internet content.
MOSCOW: On Friday evening, at least three and possibly five gunman entered one of the largest concert halls in the Russian capital and began shooting at people. The venue was then set on fire. Forty are confirmed dead; at least 100 were injured.
BIBLE: It’s kind of like if you keep doing stuff that breaks your computer and your IT guy says, “It says right here in the manual not to do these things!” And you say, “I don’t believe in manuals.“
CLIMATE: [1:19:55] –Climate: The Movie (The Cold Truth) in English for free.
GET WOKE, GO BROKE: On March 16, I posted about a Planet Fitness member who complained about this man shaving in the women’s bathroom; they canceled her membership. From the time she posted the photo above to the internet, Planet Fitness’s stock price has dropped roughly 15%.
THANK GOD: On Wednesday evening, a hot air balloon crashed into power lines near Highway 63 in Rochester, Minnesota. The basket with three occupants hung up on the lines until the wire gave way and dropped them to the ground. Praise God! One of the three walked away; the other two suffered only minor injuries.
US vs. THEM: Washington Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill into law mandating that all public schools in the state teach LGBTQ history as a required curriculum.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed a bill into law adding the Ten Commandments to the American history curriculum in all Utah schools.
GRAMMY NOTES: I did part time secretarial work for the protestant minister at my college. On my first day, I asked what signal he would use to let me know I should vacate his one-room office.
Him: Why would I need you to do that?
Me: If someone comes in for counseling?
Him: Oh, they don’t come to me for that. They go to Father Bob.
ACID REFLUX: [2:26] – I am finding alginate therapy to be far superior to antacids for stopping the burn. The only problems with it are the cost, which is higher per use than something like TUMS, and that you have to stay upright for an hour or so after taking it so that the gel raft stays in the upper part of the stomach. But IMO, it’s well worth the $$ and the small trouble, because it works without reducing the stomach acid you need to properly digest your food. There are more and more brands coming on the market. The two I have tried and can recommend for both effectiveness and flavor are Reflex Gourmet Rescue and Life Extension Esophageal Guardian. The first is a thick gel you can lick off a spoon. The mint chocolate flavor is delicious. The latter is a berry-flavored chewable that is also delicious.
ALABAMA: Effective October 1, 2024, state agencies, local boards of education, and institutions of higher education in Alabama are banned from sponsoring offices, programs, or curricula that promote divisive concepts about race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin.
BUSTING the NARRATIVE: [5:01] – If you’ve heard anything about Trump’s “bloodbath,” watch this. Funny how these self-righteous Democrats had no problem with those “mostly peaceful protests” in 2020.
INDIANA: Earlier this month, Cameron Blasek, a student at East Central High School in St. Leon, Indiana, drove to school with an American flag on the back of his truck. He was called into the office and ordered to remove it. He said no, citing both the flag code and the school handbook.
After hearing what happened, nearly 2 dozen other students flew American flags on their vehicles and the principal caved. After hearing the story, some business owners got together and gave Cameron’s truck a custom paint job!
MORMONISM: [8:41] – I’m curious if this version of Mormon teaching is correct. If so, it strikes me that Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, is kind of a latter-day Joseph Smith.
NEWS: There is just way too much crap going on. In a bid to avoid destroying my tenuous hold on my emotional well-being, I refer you to Not the Bee.
VAXXX: On March 19, 2024, a paper entitled “Stroke Risk After COVID-19 Bivalent Vaccination Among US Older Adults” was published in JAMA. In it, researchers reported that adults (65 and older) who get a COVID-19 bivalent jab and a flu jab at the same time have a higher risk of suffering a stroke in the weeks following than those who got just one or the other.
GRAMMY NOTES: After giving my life to Jesus, I church shopped for six months. Nowhere felt like “home“, so I went to a Catholic Tabernacle Chapel and prayed, “Please show me which church YOU want me to join!” I felt hands on the sides of my head gently turned my face slightly so that I was looking directly at the Tabernacle and a voice said, “What do you believe is in that box?” I suddenly realized that I had not a single doubt that the Holy Eucharist is the true Body of Christ. After that, it was easy. I think of myself as a Cradle Catholic who got Born Again and, by God’s grace, became a Genuine Catholic.
CATHOLIC: I’m also a huge fan of asking my guardian angel for help. Mama Buzz called this evening and vented at length about something the family had misplaced and really needed. Nobody could remember who had had it last or where it had ended up and searching was getting them nowhere.
I asked her to close her eyes and wait until she saw something in her mind. Then I prayed, “L’s guardian angel and my guardian angel, please find what they need and show them where it is.” Then, I said a Hail Mary and a Glory Be. At the Amen, I suddenly felt very giggly and offered thanks for the answered prayer. At that moment, her husband hollered from the other end of the house, “FOUND IT!” 🙂
COVID-19: The 2023 excess mortality numbers are in. They show a strong positive correlation with COVID vaccination rates. If the vaxxx had ever been truly and effective, excess mortalities would be higher among those who did not get the jabs. Instead, they are lower.
TRANS: [First 18 minutes] – Candace Owens tells the story of what the so-called “Father of the Trans Movement” did to destroy an entire family in his quest to validate his evil theories about sex and gender.
HAITI: While the U.S. Embassy in Haiti futzes around organizing a charter flight to get Americans out of the failed Caribbean state, Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL-7) has already pulled off two rescue flights.
HELL is REAL: [8:35] – While I think this video is well worth your time, I do want to add one thought. The fact that judgment is both instantaneous and timeless is paradoxical. I believe that, in the timeless instant after physical death, there is room for repentance and purgation. But I’m Catholic, so what do I know, right? ; -)
NEWS: I looked at it. It made me even more tired than I already was. Here’s the quick roundup because it’s all I can deal with right now.
TRANS REGRET: The above is a portion of an interview about which Candace Owens said, “I can say honestly that I’ve never been more proud or more haunted by any interview I’ve ever conducted than this one here. Children being influenced on tik-tok to permanently deform their bodies is the greatest evil we are fighting today. Please— everyone watch this and share. Thank you Briana for your bravery in this most difficult and personal conversation.” The full interview is @ CandaceOwensPodcast: “The Shocking Truth About Trans Surgery: Briana Ivy’s Story” [1:16:27].
CATHOLIC: Hong Kong has a new law requiring priests to violate the Seal of Confession if they hear a person confess a “crime of treason.” The spiritual consequences of such a violation are far more severe than any worldly government can impose. It seems likely that priests will go into hiding to continue their ministry.
FACEBOOK: Meta sells ad after ad after ad to Chinese scammers posing as disabled American veterans. Complaining doesn’t get them to taken down the ads; it gets them to take down your attempts to expose the scams!
FAUXTUS: During a speech in Milwaukee this week, Dementia Joe bragged, “We have among the lowest inflation rates of any country in America.”
LEFTIES: The Fitzwilliam Museum, owned by the University of Cambridge, has installed signage warning visitors about the dangers of enjoying landscape paintings.
“Paintings showing rolling English hills or lush French fields reinforced loyalty and pride towards a homeland. The darker side of evoking this nationalist feeling is the implication that only those with a historical tie to the land have a right to belong.”
MARIJUANA: A study entitled “Association of Cannabis Use With Cardiovascular Outcomes Among US Adults” was recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. In it, researchers report on their analysis of data from over 434,000 patients aged 18 to 74, collected between 2016 and 2020 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey.
Previous research has linked marijuana use to an increase in heart disease, but the findings were often dismissed because many of the participants also smoked tobacco, which has long been linked to various cardiovascular issues. Noting that cannabis smoke is similar to tobacco smoke, except the one contains THC while the other contains nicotine. Isolating those who did not use nicotine in any form, the study found that marijuana use increased the incidence of heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes. Even one joint per week increased the risks by 3%. Daily use increased the risks by 25% for heart attack and 42% for stroke.
PLANET FITNESS: A woman who complained about a man shaving in an Alaska Planet Fitness women’s locker room with a 12-year-old present has had her membership revoked. According to commenters, this is now a corporate policy. And it is costing them customers as people resign in protest.
SCOTUS: The Supremes have ruled unanimously that when public officials post on social media about their work, they are acting on behalf of the government and may not block anybody. But when they post on their personal accounts about unrelated matters, they can.
HANDBASKET to HELL: Dylan Mulvaney has a new music video out called “Days of Girlhood” in which he promotes finding happiness through shopping, drinking, engaging in casual sex, and taking drugs. The man needs prayer. And lots of it.
HOW THEY’RE MADE: [7:44] – Who doesn’t love their Crayolas?!
SOUTH AFRICA: On March 12, three Orthodox monks were shot and killed at their monastery in Cullinan, about 18 miles east of Pretoria. On March 13, a Catholic priest was shot and killed in the sacristy as he prepared to celebrate daily Mass.
TRUMP IN 1980: [2:25] – What Trump at age 34 had to say about running for president.
TRUMP IN 1988: [1:36] – What he had to say eight years later.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: Volume 15 [3:02] – 2018 when the city of Edmonton came up with a great idea for reducing noise complaints. 2016 when San Francisco prohibiting any city contracts going to companies headquartered in states that don’t share its far left values. And 1903 when a thin-skinned politician tried to legislatively ban unflattering political cartoons.
WOMEN’S SPORTS: The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, accuses the NCAA and several Georgia universities of violating Title IX, as well as the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. It goes on to accuse the NCAA of attempting to chill the free speech of athletes through speech codes.
GRAMMY NOTES: I got a glimpse into why God sometimes seems so distant when I had to stand back and watch my kids deal with challenges. I got into quite an argument with childless female relatives once, when I told them to stop helping my cocky toddler down the two carpeted steps into the carpeted den.
One of the ladies snarled, “You act like you WANT her to fall.” I explained that I had gone to considerable trouble to teach her to crawl backwards down stairs. They were holding her hand and helping her walk down frontwards on her feet and I could see on her face that she had no idea how much she needed that help.
I pointed to the two carpeted steps and responded, “I would rather she tumble down those and realize she isn’t ready than [pointing to the long stairs to the 2nd floor and the concrete steps to the front walk] slip away from us and try walking down those on her feet.” She turned white and all the ladies stopped helping.
HAPPY PI DAY: Although … if it really was pi day, it would never end. Just sayin’.
J6: On March 11, 2024, the Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight released its “Initial Findings Report” on the events of January 6, 2021. It also included findings regarding the Democrats’ hyper-politicization of the January 6th Select Committee.
Chairman Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) stated: “The American people deserve the entire truth about what caused the violent breach at the United States Capitol of January 6, 2021. It is unfortunate the Select Committee succumbed to their political inclinations and chased false narratives instead of providing the important work of a genuine investigation. In my committee’s investigation, it is my objective to uncover the facts about January 6, without political bias or spin. My report today is just the beginning.”
REGRET: A Pew Research survey found that 24% of tattooed individuals regret their decision. That’s nearly one in four who regret making a permanent change to their bodies that does not affect their reproductive futures.
GRAMMY NOTES: Dearest after half a day with no appointments outside the office … “Are you SURE you don’t need anything at the store? I could run something to the post office for you!” Speaking of hubby’s work … yesterday was his architecture business’ 36th birthday. ♡
A friend asked me how I am managing to make such great progress with my 2024 Organize and Declutter project. It turned into a whole “thing” so I am going to post it here and just give her the URL. 🙂
Professional cleaners say they get through their work because all they do is clean. They don’t get distracted the way we do by our STUFF. We can get similar fast results by taking a similarly targeted approach to cleaning, as well as to decluttering and organizing.
Do a sweep of the whole house with a trash bag and ONLY touch actual trash. Ignore everything that is not going to the curb!!
Do a sweep of the whole house with a laundry basket and ONLY touch dirty clothes. Take them to the laundry room.
Do a sweep of the whole house with a dish pan and ONLY touch dirty dishes and other food-related items. Take them to the kitchen.
Do a sweep of the whole house with a recycle box and ONLY touch things that are ready to recycle. Then put them on the curb or in the trunk of your car. (Then don’t forget to drop them off! LOL)
Do a sweep for donations. Or do what I do and create a designated spot for ongoing collection to put things as you encounter them. Whenever hubby has an appointment near the drop off center, I hand him the box and start a new one.
Doing a series of targeted sweeps like this will get you a long way towards feeling less like you’re choking on your own stuff. So after each step, congratulate yourself for getting rid of unwanted clutter! Now … on to the organizing part!
Re: Getting advice from professional organizers. There are a lot of them, but in my opinion, Clutterbug has the best advice. I haven’t been slavishly applying her tips, just listening to her videos here and there, waiting for the nuggets that resonate with me.
I’m going to talk about targeting again. But this time, it’s zeroing in on a very particular thing about your stuff that is annoying you. One of my first 2024 projects was to do something about my hanging kitchen utensils. The two strips of hooks were both under the upper cupboards and both had problems. One was a wedding present that was very poorly designed for the utensils that came with it. The other had accumulated more than double the things than there were hooks and all of it was bunched up in the same corner with two canisters of hole-less utensils and right next to my magnetic strip of knives. I was always having to move things to get what I wanted, then put back all the crap that had fallen off while I was at it.
I decided to take a very targeted approach, keeping firmly in mind that my goal was just to make my hanging utensils less annoying. I got them ALL out, gave it some good thinking (the most important part!!), identified which utensils actually would stay on those blasted wedding present hooks (not the ones that came with them!) and which utensils could live in my two “short things” and “tall things” canisters. I ended up donating a few things that I honestly never use, but decided to keep some that I rarely use, but when I need them, they are the best tool for the job. E.g., my rolling pin. I also decided the wedding hooks and utensil canisters could stay in use and where they had always been, but that I seriously needed a better storage solution for the ten big hanging utensils shown above.
I had to consider several things.
What did I want? I wanted to be able to reach out and take down or hang up a utensil without having to duck, scramble, or argue with other utensils.
How much space do I need and where do I have said space at eye level? Over the sink.
What “organizing hanging things” solution would work for me? I took measurements and did some serious internet sleuthing until I found a metal peg board system at Lowe’s. I made the shopping list below for Dearest, who doesn’t like to think too hard or get things wrong. He was delighted that everything was exactly where I said it would be.
The next question was to figure out what to do with the stuff that was already on that wall, which turned into another Organize and Declutter adventure featuring my disorganized spices. Some were in a cupboard, some were over the sink, some just hung out by the stove … I got them all out and sorted, composted a few that were just way past it, and made a couple of policy and labeling decisions that have really helped me cook more efficiently and creatively.
At each step, I’d tell my husband what I was thinking about and he’d say, “But what are you going to do with that stuff?” And that, right there, is what I think may be our biggest roadblock to getting anything organized or decluttered. I call it “globalizing.” Keep. Your. Project. Targeted.
While I was saving my pennies for the Lowe’s purchase, I got the spice thing planned and started, then grabbed Mr. Handy on a day off and asked him to move the racks. He was so delighted with the result that he didn’t even remember that I have a little pile of things I took off that wall to deal with … some day. Not today. It’s in the “Round Tuit” place. And I’ll get to it. Eventually. But for now, I am too busy reveling in how easy it is to COOK!!! I hadn’t realized how stressful clutter can be until I got a couple of these targeted projects done. It’s really amazing.
One ginormously helpful tip I learned from Clutterbug is to not buy any organizing tools … no containers, bins, hooks, shelves, whatever … until after you have identified what you want to store, where you want to store it, what the dimensions of your stuff and storage needs are, and what limitations you have. THEN, you do your measuring and thinking (the most important part). THEN, you do your shopping. And only after you are certain you’ve found the best possible storage solution do you purchase anything. The fun happens when you finally get to put your stuff away in your wonderful, targeted, and perfectly fitted organizing tool! And keep in mind that buying something new may not be the best solution. The only thing I bought for “Operation Annoying Trail Mix” was a bottle of glue to reinforce and pretty up a cardboard box. Hubby cut down an Amazon box to the dimensions I wanted and I had the fabric in my overcrowded fabric stash … which scored me a small, but let’s cheer anyway win on reducing the fabric mess! LOL
Over time, I have developed a list of Stuff Management rules that I use when I’m doing the Big Think part of a targeted project. I’ve also found a few online suppliers that have excellent organizing tools at reasonable prices. I got the Poppin bins (below) from The Container Store @ https://www.containerstore.com/welcome.htm for $14 each. They’re pretty, sturdy, and exactly the right size for my shelves.
They solved two problems, one of which was my way too much fabric issue. These bins are STUFFED with the old bed sheets, batting, and other “not pretty quilting cotton” materials I use for my clothes and quilting projects that used to be piled in dusty, annoying corners. The other problem the bins solved for me was that those bottom two shelves are the worst dust magnets. I have been using them for books, but honestly, they were too low and too dusty to be any good for books. My thinking on this project actually began with the dusty books. Clutterbug talks about bins a lot, so once I had the idea and found those Poppin bins, the solution to my dusty, annoying piles just happened. Two for one! The bins come in prettier colors, but I decided on gray because of the inevitable dust. Instead of the dust dulling a pretty color, it will just make the bins look … well … gray. 🙂
I’m a label person. And I use a LOT of essential oils. When I started with them, I bought a couple of wooden boxes. Then I got more and more oils and they just metastasized all over. I realized I needed to reorder some, but since I had zero idea what I even had, I picked that for an Organize and Declutter project. This also didn’t cost me much, since I had these wire racks hanging out in another room, collecting dust and clutter. Putting all my oils in one place and at eye level has been fabulous. I alphabetized the bottles, but there are so many that some had to be behind others. My dd suggested label holders, which I got from Amazon, 50 for $8 @ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QX6PQFQ. Thankfully, they also fit nicely on the Poppin bins as well. (Please ignore the weird wall. I want to paint the bathroom; that patch is a color I tried and rejected.)
Another of my little 2024 targeted projects was the bathroom cubbies. I took everything out onto a table and sorted it all into three approximately equal categories that I could label in a way that made sense. Then, I had Dearest look at the piles and tell me if the categories and label names I’d chosen made sense to him. Our brains work very differently, so it’s important for me to check with him before proceeding. I couldn’t find any pre-made bins that fit the cubbies (5” x 5” x 5”), but I did find these (5″ x 5″ x 6″) corrugated boxes @ https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-4704/Corrugated-Boxes-200-Test/6-x-5-x-5-Corrugated-Boxes. I got a pack of 25 shipped flat for $15 and only needed to slice an inch plus the top flaps off, then assemble them to make perfectly fitted cubbie bins.
I thought I’d be okay with the corrugated until I had the idea to photograph our pretty shower curtain, print the picture on to paper and decoupage it to the cardboard. I also found some card stock in my paper stash that matches the bathroom counter top. I used that to line the boxes and make the labels. They turned out so cute! And it is SO much easier to pull a bin out and put it on the counter to find what we want than it was to root around in the open cubbies. I also really like it that I know exactly where the essential, but rarely needed tools are. E.g., tick twister, thermometer, pill splitter. Even better, my hair scissors aren’t constantly threatening to fall on my head when I use the toilet!
Phew! So that about covers the “How I am succeeding at organizing and decluttering my messes.” I’ll let all y’all go now, so I can get back to sorting beads and figuring out how many I need of which styles of these containers I’ve chosen @ https://www.containerstore.com/s/office/craft-hobby/stackable-craft-organizer-drawers/12d?productId=11008488. I’m so excited about turning my “Bead Drawer From Hell” into a delightful art resource! I had hoped the drawer could fit under my bed to hold overflow yarn, but it’s just a smitch too tall, so it’s going to ReUse It! The overflow yarn is in the “Round Tuit” pile. I’ll get to it. Eventually.
polination.blog 