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 LIVING HAPPY     
UPLIFTING, THOUGHT-PROVOKING NEWS FOR OUR MIND, BODY,AND SPIRIT   

From Carole Kane


  Vol. I  No. 8                                                                   March 20, 2011

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in this issue
Golden Moments - Every Day
Angel of the Morning
Destination: Oaxaca, Mexico
Keeping fit - feelin' good
Think a Little, Laugh a Little
Your Space - For Guest Writers, Ghost Writers, and Commentators

Dear Friends,

Carole Kane

Carole Kane 

M.A., N.C.C. ret.

Welcome to Living Happy,  a nice way to feel and be our best!  Rather than concentrating on all the "bad" news in today's media, Living Happy is  about good, interesting, and fun things for everyone.  

 

This week, we have a "slice of life" from Helene Herman, who tells us how she solved a problem that many  parents experience with their little ones.

 

Next, Dr. Brad Holway takes us on a pleasant visit to Oaxaca, Mexico.   Start packing - you'll want to go!  

 

And there's lots more - my usual "uplifting" article, some laughs, some thoughts to ponder, and a really good "Biblical" cartoon.

 

Please feel free to contribute, comment, or criticize to your heart's content.  Just look for the "Comments" link below.

 

Happy reading!

Love, Carole XXX OOO

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Golden Moments - Every Day 

Do you ever think to yourself that the best days of your life were some time ago?  Do you sometimes think, "If only I can get through this time - I can't wait 'til it's over."? 
  open door in field
How about looking at life in a different way?  The best part of life is right now.  The day to day journey is the best part.  Destination always unknown - but exhilarating!  Meeting challenges, solving life problems, choosing a direction, changing course midway, being a good friend, a good parent, a good spouse, a good person.  Amazing, isn't it, just how much we do every single day?  Sometimes we forget how much we actually have - and I don't mean material things.  Friends, co-workers, siblings, family, children, grandchildren, - the great gift of love.
  
Love - it comes in lots of different wrappings, but the gift inside is still the same.  
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Angel of the morning                                                               By Helene Herman   

 

4:30 a.m.  The dew is on the grass, the sky just brightening.  All's right with the world.  As I dream I hear a scuffling sound - perhaps a squirrel running across the roof?  Then there's a soft touch on my shoulder.  I open my eyes to three-year-old David, my  wandering Angel of the Morning.

 

A week after David's third birthday, we had dismantled his crib and put together his shining new youth bed - a place where "big boys sleep."  He was quite pleased with his new pillow - the first one he ever had - and his colorful Sesame Street sheets.  At bedtime, he climbed into bed, we kissed him good-night, tucked in his old teddy bear, and left the room, feeling very smug about our grown-up boy.   But five minutes later, as we sat watching television, David appeared.  I took his hand and led him back to his room.

 

 "I no want to sleep in bed."  Oh, no, I said to myself. 

 

"But you're much too big to sleep in a crib.  This bed is so much nicer, and you have a pillow, just like Mommy and Daddy."

 

He climbed in again, and I stood outside his closed door, listening as his one-sided conversation ceased, replaced by gentle snoring.  I smiled. It really hadn't been so hard after all.  Somewhere around midnight I awoke to see David, like a little ghost, just inside our bedroom, clutching his teddy.

 

"Sweetheart, go back to bed, it's still nighttime."

 

boy sleeping

Now what???

I got up, and as I moved away from my side of the bed, David popped into it - and he wouldn't budge!  Finally, his father carried him, kicking and screaming, to his own bed.  For many nights this scene

was repeated.  We tried scolding, we tried reasoning, bribery, but nothing changed.  We were exhausted, at our wits' end.  I tried to find an answer -   what was David thinking, and why was this happening?  One night I used a new tactic.

 

When David arrived as usual, at 1 a.m., and rolled his way into our bed, my husband and I got out of bed. 

 

"Now, David," I said, "you want to sleep in our bed?  Fine.  But Daddy and I aren't going to sleep with you anymore.  Daddy's going on the living room couch, and I'll sleep in YOUR bed.  If you want to sleep in this great big bed you may - but you'll be all alone!"

 

Twenty minutes later David was shaking me.  He wanted his own bed back.  My husband and I returned to our own room and got our first half-a-night's sleep in weeks.   My idea had really paid off.  It wasn't our bed that David had wanted, but our company.

 

It wasn't too many more nights before my Angel of the Morning stopped his wandering altogether.

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Destination:   Oaxaca, Mexico                     By Bradley Holway, PhD

 

A gem of Spanish Colonial architecture, the city of Oaxaca sits amid the rugged mountain landscape of its namesake state.  The plaza is like a trip back to the Spain of Cervantes, flanked by old luxury hotels, cafes, restaurants and two magnificent,

Oaxaca Morning Market

Photo:  yogawithflowers.com

hyper-baroque churches with painted ceilings and ornate gilded altars.  At night, bands play and lovers stroll;  the laughter of revelers can be herd in the cool evening air.

  

The morning brings brilliant sunlight, as Mixtecs, Mazatecs and Zapotecs, clad in traditiional costumes, descend on the town from the surrounding hill villages to hawk their wares. 
 

A short ride from town brings the visitor to the mysterious ruins of Monte Alban, an ancient city perched on a steep hilltop, the setting being as dramatic as the abandoned temples and pyramid-like structures themselves.  Nobody knows for sure who the denizens of old Monte Alban were, but scholars believe that it was the first great metropolis of Mesoamerica and gave rise to the later Mayan, Toltec and Aztec Civilizations

 

Monte Alba Ruins near Oaxaca, Mexico

Photo:  townandcountrytravelmag.com 

 

 

After this brush with dim antiquity, you return to stroll Oaxaca's cobbled streets, maybe to browse the numerous artisanry shops, maybe to have a coffee or a cold beer at an outdoor table and watch the people pass by.  You sigh contentedly, back in the comforts of the Seventeenth Century. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Keeping fit -  feelin' good
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 Remember to keep that body moving!  When you carry the baby, or lift up a toddler, or spend half the day on your hands and knees picking up toys and cookie crumbs, that's exercise!  When you push that cart loaded with a week's groceries for your family, that's exercise.  When you're on the floor fixing the leak under the sink, when you're mowing the lawn, gardening, weeding, washing the car - that's all exercise!  You don't need to join a gym to get your time in.   As we grow older, however, we need to build some extra exercise into our life.  Walking is a great way to do this.  If you have sore knees

 or hips, and walking makes them worse, a really great way to get your exercise is by working out in water.  A water fitness class is so enjoyable, you really won't believe you're exercising - but it is very, very good for us.  And if you prefer to work out by yourself, just walking back and forth in the water for twenty minutes is a great workout.  A little soak in the hot tub after the pool, (I'm talking health club here), a nice shower, and you'll feel so good!  Try it, you/ll like it!  P.S., everyone looks pretty much the same in the pool - when they're exercising, they all jiggle, they all have wet hair, all their makeup comes off.  No one cares how you  look - they're not on the beach - they're working out!  So don't worry about it!  Enjoy!

 


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Think a Little, Laugh a Little.....   

biblical cartoon our son is...

e-mail submitted by Brad Holway

 

 

A bird that you set free may be caught again, but a word that escapes your lips will not return.
                   
Source: Jewish Proverb 

 

And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter and the sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.       The Prophet, On Friendship

Kahlil Gibran

  

 

 

 

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the bananasstore.  If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster

Submitted by Max Toth  


 

 

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Your Space - For Guest Writers, Ghost Writers, andCommentators


Do you have comments about Living Happy?

 
       Would you like to contribute an article? 

             - What makes you smile? 

 

- I'm still asking:  any good ghost storiesor unexplainable experiences out there?  

 

                      - Do you have a little "slice of life" to share?  

This Could  be YOU!


         - How about a review of your favorite book or movie?
 
 


For Comments and to Contact Living Happy  click this link.
 

I'd love to hear from you!  And thanks!!!  

       
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