Found Not Lost

Whenever I get to travel and have to go through the Raleigh-Durham (RDU) Airport, I always make it a point to stop at the shoe shine place. No, I don’t need my shoes polished. I just want to catch a glimpse of my husband’s artwork hanging there. My husband is an incredible artist and his artwork hangs at several public places around here in Durham. He’s got a couple hanging at the main library and also a commissioned piece hangs at one of the major hospitals here in the city. What can I say, I’m just proud of him. If you’d like to see more of his artwork, check out his website, aaronmichaelmoore.com.

Two ideologies have been popular in the media in the past couple of years. The Secret, which expounds on the Laws of Attraction; it’s basically the “build it and they will come” idea. Before one can manifest the Laws of Attraction, one has to first follow the Laws of Surrender which means letting go of all the baggage that you have been carrying and be conscious of the moment instead.

The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle that Oprah is presently highlighting and conducting online classes on letting go of the ego and creating a greater consciousness. The idea behind Tolle’s book is that our egos make us believe in ‘illusions’ that we perceive as real. When we become conscious of our ego and learn to be in the present, we can let go of our illusions and stop spreading them to other around us.

Now there is the The Sedona Method which combines the best of these two ideologies. According to their website,

how do we bridge the gap between getting what we want through the Law of Attraction while not creating greater attachment to the ego? The Sedona Method is that bridge.

In essence, the Sedona method is how A New Earth meets The Secret.

Visit their website to receive a Free DVD and CD that will get you started on this path of enlightenment.

The girls and I saw something on TV recently about Las Vegas and it was so cute how they were all excited and saying, “OH, WE were there! and there too!” They still remember last year’s summer vacation in Las Vegas and how much fun they had.

One of their highlights was the trip to the Circus Circus Adventuredome. It’s an indoor (what else did you expect? This is Las Vegas!) amusement park complete with roller coasters and water rides. The girls loved the games too, where they won more stuffed animals to clutter their rooms

My sister and her family took the kids to San Diego for spring break this year. They did the Legoland and San Diego Zoo package. They didn’t use an agency to book their rooms and tickets just because a San Diego trip has been a ritual in our family ever since we ourselves were young enough to go to San Diego Zoo. Legoland wasn’t around yet then. We’ve always loved going to San Diego. The weather is always nice and there are a lot of attractions to see and do. One of my favorite things to do is to just walk around Balboa Park and have brunch at the Hotel del Coronado.

If you are a first time visitor to San Diego, I suggest getting San Diego zoo tickets and more from Trusted Tours and Attractions. Check out their website for added information on other San Diego attractions such as Wild Animal Park, Harbour Tours, Old Towne Tours and as I already mentioned, Legoland. If you want you can also take one of their all inclusive sightseeing tours and get a deal on all the attractions at the same time.

And just like the fable about the mouse and the cookie, if you are going to San Diego, you will probably want to go to Los Angeles and Hollywood too. The Trusted Tours website has a great list of things to do in Los Angeles and of course, Hollywood too. If you’re going to be in Southern California, this pairing just cannot be missed.

Trusted Tours and Attractions doesn’t just cover Southern California, they also offer discounted tickets to the best sightseeing tours in 23 cities across America.

If you’re planning your next vacation and looking for ideas on what to do or where to go, visit the Trusted Tours website to start. Better yet, sign up for the Trusted Travels eNewsletter and enter to win a Handheld GPS! Offer ends Monday, April 30th, 2008.

With warmer weather, which I love, unfortunately also comes bugs, which I hate. As much as I hate bugs though, I can’t stand the smell of Raid! I don’t know why that is, but pesticide smells just does something to my sinuses. I end up having to go outside until all the odors dissipate.

I found this comprehensive list of home remedies for combating pests around your home that may just solve this problem. Most of the remedies use common sense and products normally found in your pantry. My mother in law used to have borax handy all the time. Now, I know why. You can use it in a variety of ways to control ants and cockroaches and other bugs in and around the house. I’ll have to go get me some.

It’s easy to say, “it’s all in the mind”. Heck, I’ve said it before, believing that any bad habit or addiction can be overcome if we just put our minds to it. That is, before I started smoking. Then I also started gaining weight, so I smoked more thinking it would keep me from eating. People (well maybe not just any people, mostly my family and friends) would come up to me and tell me I’m on a losing cycle. That I need to just quit my nasty habits. My ready reply has always been, sure, I can quit anytime I want. I just don’t want to yet.

Then the time came when I finally said, I really gotta quit. Great, ya? Well, this is also the time I realized that it isn’t always so simple as just “putting your mind to it”. Any kind of habit or addiction is hard to kick. It has physical effects that you need to deal with, not just the mental effect. It takes a lot of will power to combat, and some people need extra ammunition to help them out. One of those ammunitions is drugs, yeah, it seems like a conflicting suggestion, but some drugs like Generic Acomplia release chemicals that signal your brain it is no longer hungry or that it doesn’t want nicotine anymore. I haven’t gone the way of using drugs yet, but at least I know the option is there if and when I need it.