Sunday, February 17, 2008

Ningxia Wolfberry Juice



If you are familiar with the Wolfberry juice or Goji berry, I'd like to hear from you. It claims to give you energy, increase mental clarity, relieve headaches and insomnia, maintain healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels, prevent brain aging, and hundreds of other maladies.

I am on my second bottle of Ningxia Red. It contains the Goji berry (Lycium Barbarum). I must admit, ever since taking this juice on a daily basis, my hot flashes are gone. I used to have them many times a day and night. Also, part of the reason I am experimenting drinking this juice is due to family health history... high blood pressure and heart disease. That is why I am interested to know if somebody out there has a testimony about this product ... this juice is not cheap and I don't want to flush my dough down the drain. Or, is it worth it? Let me know please.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Best Friends Forever (BFF)

Do you have a best friend forever? What a silly question ... of course you do! :)
I met my best friend at a social gathering held at a mutual friend's house in the 1980's. I will not bore you with stories like "we've been through thick and thin, and going the extra mile to help", because she is all that. I will tell you though, that since then, our friendship is as strong as ever! We watched each of our children grow from diaper days to college years (this is showing our age, but what the heck) lol, and now one by one our kids are moving to a next level of their lives.

I would like to introduce to you my best friend's son, Bradley. As you would learn if you click the link, Brad (as we call him) is a very intelligent, focused, and well grounded young man. He took advanced courses when he was in high school and started college one semester ahead of his classmates. Way to go, Brad! :) One of Brad's childhood dreams is to have a platform online for people, specially students, to bounce off ideas, get answers, and for him to also share his knowledge on various events and developments. Over a month ago, he fulfilled his dream ... he launched his Totomer ... this site is a labor of love.... a lot of time, effort, and thought was put into this. And of course, he is also blessed with having strong, supportive, and caring parents who helped him along the way!
Please feel free to visit Brad's site, register, and share your ideas ... it might open up your eyes to many wonderful things out here in the cyberspace! Also, please note, this is a fairly new site ... be patient it will get there! We are so proud of you, Brad!

Monday, February 11, 2008

Award



Big THANK YOU mari for the award! It's a treasure and just in time for Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day my friends!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Memories of My Grandpa

At times like this where winter is upon us and there is not much outdoors activities that we can do (well, at least for me), I love to reminisce.

A lot of you probably agree that grandparents are a blessings. I grew up on a farm with my grandparents and, with that said, I have a lot of interesting and fascinating memories of them. One of my favorites is my Lolo (grandfather) telling us kids, his grandchildren, stories about the Japanese war. I am sure that there were a lot of exaggerations in his stories, but, at that time, we couldn't care less ... in fact we even asked him to tell us the same stories over and over because he delivered them with such suspense and excitement! He was a great story teller! Imagine, if you will, this scenario...

After dinner, he usually sat in his favorite rocking chair with his tobacco and try to take a nap (not a good combo) :) But, as a habit, I immediately climbed onto his lap and asked, "Grandpa, tell me a story please." I was probably 5-6 years old at that time.
"Hmmm ... let me see", he would say, as he scratched his head.
"How about the Japanese war you fought in!" I said, all excited.
"Japanese war? ... well, that was a long time ago ... I'm not sure I remember any of them", he teased.
"Oh yes, you do! ... please grandpa?" and I remember giving him that pleading look?
He laughed but at the same time he tried to get comfortable and I knew it then that I was in for a treat!

"One day, our troop was resting along a river", he began. "The Japs were camped across us behind tall trees. Then, suddenly we heard a rustling sound, we scrambled and started to reach for our weapons and positioned ourselves behind the trees. But then, we noticed something, the Japs were waving a white flag!" "Now, why do you supposed they've done that?" he asked.
"To trick you?" I proudly answered. Grandpa laughed!

He continued ...
"Hey, you want to barter?", called one of them.
"Sure come on over", we called back. There were five of them, and they quickly crossed the shallow river and we noticed that one of them was holding a sack.
"Can you guess what was in that sack?" grandpa asked me again.
"ahmmmm ... money?", I replied. Grandpa winked and smiled.
"Cigarettes and candy bars!" he chuckled.
"Now what do you supposed they wanted from us in return?"
This time I was so sure I was right so, exuding enthusiasm, I said, "Money!" again.
Grandpa laughed hard! "No, although that would have been nice, but what they've wanted from us was to give them a haircut!" "Haircut?" says me.
"That's correct, their hair was so long, so they badly needed a haircut."
While giving them a haircut we exchanged family stories. They missed their families in Japan. They don't want to fight in war but they have to do their duties for their country. After a little while, they slipped back across the river in a very good mood.

The next day, we were told that we were going into battle. Now that did not sit well with us. It didn't seem right fighting with the same Japs we'd given the haircuts to.
"So, what do you suppose we should do?", he quizzed.
In deep thought, I said, "Hide?" Grandpa burst into laughter! "Unfortunately, that was not an option" he said, "so we agreed to shoot over their heads!"

Nice guys, huh? :)