Tuesday, August 31, 2010

An Excerpt from Oil for Your Lamp

by Lisa Hammond & BJ Gallagher

Virtually every woman we know has the same problem - she knows what's good for her, but she often doesn't do it. She knows she should eat less and exercise more, but still she doesn't make healthy choices. She knows she needs to spend her time and money more effectively, but good time and money management elude her. She finds herself always putting others first, while neglecting her own needs and wants. She doesn't get enough rest or sleep and her endless to-do list hangs overhead like the sword of Damocles. As our friend Brenda Knight laments frequently, "Why am I always riding in the back of my own bus?"

We don't do the things we know are good for us because we are so busy taking care of others that we neglect ourselves. The problem isn't lack of information - we have plenty of information about the importance of sleep, healthy foods, and exercise. The problem is how we prioritize our lives.

Psychologists tell us that some people are inner-directed and some are other-directed. That is, some people focus on their own internal guidance system for making choices about how to spend their time and energy. Their own self-interest ranks very high on their list of priorities. "What's best for me?" is a key guiding principle in determining where they focus their attention and how they make day-to-day decisions.

And some people are other-directed, which means that their primary focus is external, not internal. They are primarily concerned with relationships, especially people they care about. "How can I help others?" is a key question in how they spend their time and energy. Building and nurturing relationships with loved ones, family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers is the guiding principle in their lives.

Research indicates that, in general, men tend to be more inner-directed, while women tend to be more other-directed. There are exceptions, of course, but as a group, men are focused on themselves while women are focused on other people. Men like to build things while women like to build relationships.

This difference in psychological orientation goes a long way toward helping us understand why we women often do such a poor job of taking care of ourselves. We run around filling others' lamps with oil, but forget to fill our own lamps first. Then we wonder why we're often exhausted, frazzled, stressed-out, anxious and/or depressed!

Awareness is the first step toward solving a problem. So the first section of this book is devoted to helping us acknowledge the problem and understand the reasons for it. Chapter 1 looks at how girls are socialized, growing up to be women who put others first. Chapter 2 examines the values women have adopted in the past 50 years, beginning with the feminist movement - leading us to believe that we can have it all - all at once. And Chapter 3 explores the corresponding myth that we can DO it all.

But don't be discouraged. Help is on the way - in Section II, we'll get into solutions for the problem. We'll learn the value of doing nothing, how to play again, how to become more inner-directed, and most important, how to ask for help.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Vacation

We will be gone until after Labor Day, a long over due R&R!

23rd Anniversary

Hubby surprised me on Sunday with these roses for our 23rd Anniversary!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Amazing God

Amazing God
Indescribable...

Amazing God...

All Powerful...

The awesome God who created the universe
also cares about every detail of your life!

God's love is meteoric, His loyalty astronomic.
Psalm 36:5 The Message

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Not Ashamed

Not Ashamed
I eagerly expect and hope
that I will in no way be ashamed,
but will have sufficient courage
so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body,
whether by life or by death.
Philippians 1:20

Share Christ with those around you with this message

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Not selfish

Genuine love puts self last and other first;
it is generous, considerate and self sacrificing;
it seeks others comfort, convenience and happiness;
and it produces a willingness to give ones life
in loving ministry for others.
(taken from 1 Corinthians 13)

Someone is Counting on YOU right NOW

FYI

At the American Red Cross, we closely monitor national and local blood supplies to ensure we can provide blood where and when it is needed.

There is a critical need for blood donors now. In fact, someone is counting on you at this very moment to give the gift of life. All blood types are needed, but type O negative donors can make the difference between an adequate blood supply and a shortage.

Please give blood as soon as you can and encourage a friend or neighbor to give too. Make and keep your appointment to donate today.

Visit redcrossblood.org. or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Get Well card for Vera

Front:


Front showing inside owl:

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Excerpted from Pulling Together: 10 Rules for High Performance Teamwork

Lessons From the Geese by John J. Murphy

Consistent application of the 10 rules of high performance teamwork ultimately generates trust, respect, unity and power within any team. Conversely, consistent violation of any one rule destroys this bond. While the author of the following is unknown, "Lessons From the Geese" is a powerful illustration from nature of the rules of high performance teamwork. As you read about the natural unity that exists among this species remember — this same unity can exist in your organization!

As geese flap their wings, they create an uplift for the bird following. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if any bird were to fly alone. If we share a common direction and a sense of community, we can get where we are going more quickly and easily because we are traveling on the thrust of one another!

Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. If we have as much sense as geese, we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go, and we will be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to others.

When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position. If we take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership as with the geese, we become interdependent with one another. The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. If we "honk," we need to make sure it is positive and encouraging.

When a goose gets sick or wounded or is shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. They then launch out on their own, with another formation or catch up with the flock. If we have as much sense as geese, we too will stand by each other in difficult times, as well as when we are strong. Let us all try to fly in formation and remember to drop back to help those who might need it!

BEHOLD THE POWER OF TEAMWORK

The greatest accomplishments in life are not achieved by individuals alone, but by proactive people pulling together for a common good. Look behind every winner and you will find a great coach. Look out in front of every superstar and you will see a positive role model. Look alongside every great achiever and you will find caring people offering encouragement, support and able assistance. Rising to this level of interdependent thinking can be challenging and difficult. Looking beyond oneself, asking for help or accepting help can feel risky. But people are not given life to simply take from one another. We are here to give. Our mission in life is to offer our gifts to benefit one another, to create mutual gain in the world. This is called teamwork, a win/win mindset stemming from a genuine commitment to the rules that allow it to happen.

Friday, August 13, 2010

"Jack" goes to his new home today!




1 puppy (12 weeks old today)left available:

Three great waves of tax increases

In just six months, on January 1, 2011, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect.

They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves.

On January 1, 2011, here's what happens... (read it to the end, so you see all three waves)...



First Wave:


Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief

In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families.

These will all expire on January 1, 2011.



Personal income tax rates will rise.

The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed).

The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent.

All the rates in between will also rise.


Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates.


The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:

The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%

The 25% bracket rises to 28%

The 28% bracket rises to 31%

The 33% bracket rises to 36%

The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%



Higher taxes on marriage and family.

The "marriage penalty" (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income.


The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child.


The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level.


The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.


The return of the Death Tax.

This year only, there is no death tax. (It's a quirk!) For those dying on or after January 1, 2011, there is a 55 percent
top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes, a business, a retirement account, could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones. Think of the farmers who don't make much money, but their land, which they purchased years ago with after-tax dollars, is now worth a lot of money. Their children will have to sell the farm, which may be their livelihood, just to pay the estate tax if they don't have the cash sitting around to pay the tax. Think about your own family's assets. Maybe your family owns real estate, or a business that doesn't make much money, but the building and equipment are worth $1 million. Upon their death, you can inherit the $1 million business tax free, but if they own a home, stock, cash worth $500K on top of the $1 million business, then you will owe the government $275,000 cash! That's 55% of the value of the assets over $1 million! Do you have that kind of cash sitting around waiting to pay the estate tax?



Higher tax rates on savers and investors.

The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011.

The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011.

These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.



Second Wave:

Obamacare


There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:



The "Medicine Cabinet Tax"

Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).


The "Special Needs Kids Tax"

This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children.

There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States , and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education.

Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington , D.C. ( National Child Research Center ) can easily exceed $14,000 per year.

Under tax rules, FSA dollars can not be used to pay for this type of special needs education.


The HSA (Health Savings Account) Withdrawal Tax Hike.

This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.




Third Wave:

The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Employer Tax Hikes

When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they'll be in for a nasty surprise-the AMT won't be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired.

The major items include:


The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year.

According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center , Congress' failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families-rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.


Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear.

Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or "depreciate") equipment purchases up to $250,000.

This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can currently expense half of their purchases of equipment.

In January of 2011, all of it will have to be "depreciated."


Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses.

There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the "research and experimentation tax credit," but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.


Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced.

The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available.

Tax credits for education will be limited.

Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses.

Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut.

Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed.

The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.


Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed.

Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA.

This contribution also counts toward an annual "required minimum distribution." This ability will no longer be there.



PDF Version Read more: ;; http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171#%23ixzz0sY8waPq1


And worse yet?


Now, your insurance will be INCOME on your W2's!

One of the surprises we'll find come next year, is what follows - - a little "surprise" that 99% of us had no idea was included in the "new and improved" healthcare legislation . . . the dupes, er, dopes, who backed this administration will be astonished!

Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company. It does not matter if that's a private concern or governmental body of some sort.

If you're retired? So what... your gross will go up by the amount of insurance you get.

You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen. Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year.

For many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even worse.



This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the15% that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases.

Not believing this??? Here is a research of the summaries.....

On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS-(sec. 9001,
as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002 "requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employees gross income."



- Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters.
- Go to Kiplingers and read about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Number 3 is what is above.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Can't pass up this Blog Candy

http://athousandsheetsofpaper.blogspot.com/2010/08/1000-sheets-for-thousand-sheets.html



Thanks Rita for posting it on your blog for me to find and win, hee, hee hee

Excerpt from Great Quotes from Great Leaders

Compiled by Peggy Anderson

1. The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.
Thomas Jefferson
1743-1826

2. Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.
Henry Ford
1863-1947

3. Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
Mother Teresa
1910-1997

4. If we are together nothing is impossible. If we are divided all will fail.
Winston Churchill
1874-1965

5. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
Nelson Mandela
1918-

6. The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.
Vince Lombardi
1913-1970

7. All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles have strengthened me...You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.
Walt Disney
1901-1966

8. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt
1884-1962

9. Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Mahatma Gandhi
1869-1948

10. I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will eventually triumph. And there is purpose and worth to each and every life.
Ronald Reagan
1911-2004

11. Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain.
John F. Kennedy
1917-1963

12. Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.
Ray Kroc
1902-1984

13. The time is always right to do what is right.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
1929-1968

14. There are two ways of exerting one's strength; one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.
Booker T. Washington
1856-1915

15. An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
Benjamin Franklin
1706-1790

16. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Theodore Roosevelt
1858-1919

17. Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
Albert Schweitzer
1875-1965

18. There is only one boss. The customer. And they can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending their money somewhere else.
Sam Walton
1918-1992

19. Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
John Wooden
1910 - 2010

20. What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.
Helen Keller
1880-1968

Monday, August 9, 2010

Friday, August 6, 2010

The true explanation (Thanks Carolyn!)

With time, women gain weight because we accumulate so
much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room,
it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are
enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think,
Good grief, look how smart I am!

Blog Candy Alert - Jak Heath.com



http://www.jakheath.com/2010/08/blogcandy-hanglar-stanglar-promarkers.html

More puppy pics




Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Sunday, August 1, 2010

The Pencil 5 Important Lessons

A PENCIL MAKER TOLD THE PENCIL 5 IMPORTANT LESSONS :

1.) EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL ALWAYS LEAVE A MARK.
2.) YOU CAN ALWAYS CORRECT THE MISTAKES YOU MAKE.
3.) WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS WHAT IS INSIDE OF YOU.
4.) IN LIFE, YOU WILL UNDERGO PAINFUL SHARPENINGS,WHICH WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON.
5.) TO BE THE BEST PENCIL, YOU MUST ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE HELD AND GUIDED BY THE HAND THAT HOLDS YOU..
.....THAT WOULD BE GOD!