These are a few of my favorite things!

I watched a woman berate another woman for using the disability toilet when she clearly did not look disabled until.....the woman lifted her jumper to display a stoma bag which she had just had to empty. Visibility is not the criteria for disability

So, is it SPRING yet, or not? What about in your neck of the woods, caregivers?

We all know that Phil, the groundhog, has predicted an early spring. His work is done here. Even Jessebelle has put the groundhog avatar to bed, and now she has the cutest little bunny for spring!

GardenArtist said:
Sharyn, thanks for the insight on other issues besides mobility as a basis for a handicap sticker. I've seen so many people who walk better than I do parking in handicap places and wonder how they got their stickers, but didn't realize that there were issues such as those you mention which could be the basis for the stickers.
Thanks for sharing that information with me!

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This is my new favorite! The favorite things thread, where nothing is off-topic.

Thanks to encouragement from AC friends, I am getting better at using my kindle and developing computer skills, such as 'cut and paste', as evidenced above-the first poster to My Favorite Things topic.
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GardenArtist
Great topic!
Unfortunately, chocolate tops the list for immediate gratification and redirection of thoughts, but it generally results in a headache later.
Best of all therapy though is getting out in the yard and gardening, or even just puttering around. Years ago a little rabbit became so friendly it accepted whole wheat bread from my hand. Then one day it moseyed up to my foot and just took a nap! The contact and connection with this furry little creature was just so soothing.
Once a butterfly landed on my hand. It was an amazing experience.
Music is of course high on the list. Reading, whether garden magazines or favorite author's novels is right up there.
Garden crafting, needlework (embroidery and quilting) are also favorite activities, as are cooking and kitchen puttering. Especially enjoyable is just impromptu activity - making something special - hearty soups in the winter, fresh veggie salad combinations in the summer.
Sometimes just a glass or cup of heated cider is enough to rechannel thoughts.
Sending cards to family and friends is a nice way to start the day. Just looking through beautiful cards is relaxing, writing the message helps the "reach out and touch" need, and the envelopes after decoration with lovely address labels, coordinating theme stamps to the extent possible, and other colorful stamps are nice just to view and indulge in some real enjoyment of the blend of colors and objects.
I usually choose a theme especially for the person. A relative who also loves military planes get a card with a Purple Heart or similar postage stamp, VFW or other military charity address label, with plenty of either stamps or glued on cut-outs of our favorite planes. It's not quite as exhilarating as going to an air show, but it creates that same sense of excitement.
Rubber stamps used to be a favorite for decorating envelopes. I had two of a charming Victorian cottage, in the summer and in the winter. For summer correspondence, I used rubber stamps and various colored ink pads of flowers; for winter I used reindeer, snowflakes and sleighs. Sometimes the envelopes were so pretty I didn't want to send them!
This is a little off the chosen topic, but I'm speaking also to those things that give me pleasure and induce relaxation.
I'm anxious to see where this post goes, thinking it will around and around as we each share and stray a little bit from the original questions.

Repeating a favourite earlier comment made by Golden, on another thread:
Oh dear i

So, what you are saying, basically, is that we forgot to add hedgehogs to the list of animals that can predict the onset of Spring?

Im sorry I am in fits of laughter here. You see over here beaver is a very very slang term for a lady's lower bits to put it politely. Pubic hair or public hair as my mother insists on calling it has a slang name of a bush. Imagine then how I nearly crashed the car on a roundabout when I espied a sign that said Trim your bush with a Beaver trimmer. Beaver apparently make hedge trimmers. If you don't believe me then this is the pic:
htinypic/view.php?pic=2cxtcti&s=7#.VrJ_rjbzRHg

Send me! I know you were joking. An elephant would be hard to pull out of a cage.

Chocolate and cheesecakes!!

Chocolate for all caregivers! Take and eat!

Sharyn, I was joking making so many references to squirrels, groundhogs, beavers, and badgers. You had it correct-the groundhogs predict spring!
I prefer the first blooming daffodil to confirm spring has arrived!

Oh sendme, I agree. Who cares if it is a squirrely looking beaver or an elephant. Their size or appreance does not matter. Stupid animals.

Sendme2help I just listened to Eva Cassidy sing Somewhere Over The Rainbow on YouTube. It was absolutely beautiful. I had never heard of her. I also googled her and see she died of melanoma. How sad. Such a beautiful voice. I will be listening to more of her music. Thank you for the tip.

Sharyn, that's right, they shouldn't badger the poor beavers.

Sendme, I am with you!! Personally, I wish they would leave the poor ground hog to hibernate instead instead of pulling the poor thing out of his hole.

Phizphiz, My favorite rendition of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' is by Eva Cassidy, and would be wonderful to have it played at anyone's funeral.

The arrival of spring in So. Calif., L.A. is already here, I don't care at all what the squirrel says!

Acyrologia is an incorrect use of words-particulately replacing one word with another word that sounds similar but has a different meaning-possibly fuelled by a deep-seeded desire to sound more educated, witch results in an attempt to pawn off an incorrect word in place of a correct one. In academia, such flaunting of common social morays is seen as almost sorted and might result in the offender becoming a piranha, in the Monday world, after all is set and done, such a miner era will often leave normal people unphased. This is just as well sense people of that elk are unlikely to tow the line irregardless of any attempt to better educate them. A small percentage, however, suffer from severe acyrologiaphobia, and it is their utmost desire to see English used properly. Exposure may cause them symptoms that may resemble post-dramatic stress disorder and, eventually, descend into whole-scale outrage as they go star-craving mad. Eventually, they will succumb to the stings and arrows of such a barrage, and suffer a complete metal breakdown, leaving them curled up in the feeble position.

I used to get p.o.ed as well when I saw people with handicapped tags jump out of the car seemingly fine until I heard a comment from a lady with MS. She mentioned that her condition can fluctuate without warning and though she may be able to skip into the store she may be barely able to crawl back out to her car. I always check for tags when someone who seems able bodied parks in a handicapped spot, but if they have them then I am willing to believe they have a legitimate reason, they really aren't that easy to get after all!

jinglebts, my sis uses the cart yo help support herself too. I have suggested she use one of the motorerized carts we have in the grocery stores (you can sit), but she is afraid she will lose her mobility over time by becoming dependent on them.

One time my sis was too ill to go to the grocery store, she called them gave her list over the phone and they met her in the parking lot with her groceries. The store told her they would even deliver to her house.

In Toronto, Ontario, there's quite a hefty fine for using someone else's handicap sign. I know this as I have one in my car (I can't walk more than abt 50 feet), and when my kids came to pick me up *in my car* (long story, but there was a time when I couldn't drive for medical reasons), once or twice they were warned.

I have what I guess you'd call an *invisible disability* -- sometimes I don't take my cane to go into the grocery store, but I absolutely collapse on the cart!

I see people too that I wonder what their handicap is and I know that people will let family and friends use their placard. I know that with my sis, her blood pressure can drop suddenly with no warning. My brother had one now too. His issue is his right hip is very painful from arthritis. He needs a hip replacement.

It is hard not to wonder when you see someone who appears capable and healthy.

Though one of my pet peeves about handicap stickers is that the people that have them many times always use them whether having a difficult day or not. If they are having a good day, park further away so the hc spaces can be used by those that really need them that day.

Sharyn, thanks for the insight on other issues besides mobility as a basis for a handicap sticker. I've seen so many people who walk better than I do parking in handicap places and wonder how they got their stickers, but didn't realize that there were issues such as those you mention which could be the basis for the stickers.

Thanks for sharing that information with me!

I am so happy GA for you to have helped this man. There are many reasons for a person to have a handicap placard. My sis has low blood pressure and diabetes. The more activite she is the lower her blood pressure becomes. It causes lethergy, light headedness and once she passed out in a store. She may appear to be fine when she walks into a store, by the time she is done shopping, she is physically spent. This also applies to diabetes, heart disease and many other conditions. Not all handicapped people are immobile and in wheelchairs. (((Hugs)))!'!

Seeing someone help someone else in need.

Today while walking to my car after grocery shopping, I saw an elderly man bending over in the parking lot. His right hand was down on the ground, and I initially thought he was picking something up.

But I wasn't sure what was going on; then saw a young man come over and try to help up the older man. I realized then that he had either fallen or was about to, so I also went to help.

This poor man had little strength in his legs and had difficulty trying to stand. Between the two of us, we were able to get him up, and he was able to kind of stagger back to his car. He mentioned that he had just come from a doctor's visit.

I wish I had thought to ask him if there was anyone we could call to alert them that he might need assistance, but after we got him up, he immediately staggered to his car, and had actually backed out before I even got back to my car.

I was so touched to see this young man come over to help out the fellow who was having difficulty with his balance, and lacking support, might have ended up down on the pavement.

There was another car in the aisle, but no one got out to help; the driver just sat and waited for others to help the elderly fellow.

I never saw who might have parked in the handicapped spots, but I've seen so many who manage to get out and walk easily into the store even though they have handicapped stickers on their plates. This elderly man clearly needed a handicapped parking place, but there were none available.

Storms headed our way tomorrow and Weds., but that's ok - we've gotten off pretty easy for this winter so far, so it's our turn now. In fact, it's been warm enough the last 3 days that most of our snow is gone and we can see the grass again - so I guess it's time for it to get covered up again.

Favorite thing for today: energy. Not sure what I did yesterday, but something gave me so much energy that I couldn't sleep last night until 2am . Consequently, my day got off to a late start today and I'm feeling a little draggy. Trying to regain some of that energy I had yesterday!

Glad, hope you are weathering the blizzard. Is tomorrow your first day on the new job??? Sending you hugs of encouragement!!

A cold front has hit us...brrrrrr!!!

Enjoying my "Friday" night, crocheting and watching TV. Cozy!!

I haven't read these posts for awhile but let's go to Sesame Street and sing Somewhere over the Rainbow! I want that song played at my funeral! I really do love that song.