Self-Honesty

"When people ask me how I'm doing, I'm always quick to say I'm doing great or I'm doing good. Then I go back and ask myself, 'Am I really doing good? Am I really doing great?' The truth is NO! I'm not always doing great. I'm not always doing good, but yet I still have a smile on my face with my head held high. It's okay to be honest with yourself and admit that you are not okay. God already knows how you are feeling so you might as well be honest with yourself. I'm learning that you don't always have to be great. God knew we would have struggles and he knows we are not always gonna be great, but the truth that makes me keep my head high and say I'm great is that God woke me up this morning to be great and that he has a great plan in store for me! I don't know all the details of it, but I do know he is in control! The fact that God gave me another day to live is enough for me to say I'm great! So if you talk to me and you ask me how I'm dong I will probably say I'm great, but just know that I still have daily struggles just like you, and that I don't have my life all together and that in spite of all that even though I don't feel great all the time; inside I am great because God is always with me and he has a great plan!"

Contributed by: Joshua Brown 

An Additional Peek Inside Higher Education for Poverty-Stricken Students

https://nyti.ms/2LpnY6F

R.I.P. Literature Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison

"I know the world is bruised and bleeding,and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge -- even wisdom. Like art." ~Toni Morrison

Today's Lupus Tip

Remember to wear your Blue-Light canceling glasses when working with your electronic devices.

www.peepers.com has some cute ones; Amazon.com also carries them. I always wear mine at night when reading on my Kindle in bed before sleep.

Happy reading and computing!

Jonesing for Nachos

I have become addicted to Nachos! I almost wish that my husband had not told me how to make them!
Granted, I think I probably make mine healthier than most do, but still...each time I fix myself a bowl, as soon as I'm finished, I want to make and eat another bowl. OMG! They are sooo good! This is how I make mine -- let's call them:

Oma's Nachos to Die For

1/2 Cup (or more) Greens (spinach/kale/lettuce)
Tostitos Cantina Style Tortilla Chips
Tostitos Scoops Tortilla Chips
Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Jalapeno Pepper

Place greens in bottom of bowl (if you use kale, stir-fry it first; if using raw spinach, add a bit of water)
Place blue tortilla chips horizontally along rim of bowl
Layer Cantina style tortilla chips; then shredded cheeses (thickly)and sliced jalapeno

Put in microwave and select 'Melt cheese, 8oz'
ENJOY! (with a glass or two of red wine)

'Vera'on Britbox

Excellent crime series starring an older woman, Brenda Blethyn, in the lead role. I've seen a small synopsis of the series with the words, "...Think a female Columbo." Not true. DCI Vera Stanhope doesn't play the bumbling idiot trying to pull the wool over the guilty parties' eyes. She is sharp and has no qualms letting the baddies know that she's coming after 'em.

One thing that the synopsis did get right is that DCI Stanhope is "caustic." I absolutely love her attitude and the way she presents herself. By the by, this series is staged in Northumberland, a beautiful part of coastal Northern England.

https://g.co/kgs/hXzfd6

Check it out. FY, I get my Britbox on Amazon Prime.

Enjoy!

Veganism/Vegetarianism and Pork Chops (las chuletas)

My husband is a straight-up carnivore, and as a loving wife and life partner, I choose to cook for him the foods that he enjoys; but let me tell you that my nose hairs even talk to me and ask 'Why????' when the aroma of the savory pork chops (las chuletas) that I'm preparing for his delight is wafting throughout the entire house.

Yes, it's a challenge to stick to my vegetarianism sometimes, but the health benefits over-ride the temporary demands of my olfactory sense and my taste buds. No, tofu definitely DOES NOT come close to being as tasty as a pork chop or a hamburger, or my fabulous homemade spaghetti meat sauce; but the enjoyment of a savory pork chop (Stephanie Clark's recipe) for a few minutes is not worth endangering myself with a potential life threatening circulation problem in my lower extremities.

My GP says, 'Oh, we're going to do some statins to try to stop this from progressing further.' Hell, no; I'm not going there because that 'we' is actually me. I've learned nothing about statins that make this woman want to add them to the Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis meds that I'm already on. I called my cousin who is a surgeon and has been vegetarian for over four decades...'Cuz,' he says, 'just switch to a vegetarian/vegan diet and leave those statins at the pharmacy.' 'Okay,' says I, and here we are today...cooking and inhaling the delicious, crazy-making, savory aroma of baking pork chops.

Don't feel sorry for me though, because I'm gonna make my special Nacho recipe or my special french fries for my dinner. I've made a choice -- food over pharma.

PEACE!!
'

Earth

A Tree Tunnel in South Carolina. Photo by Pepe Soho Photography. pic.twitter.com/UALPp82d2b

— Best Earth Pics (@BestEarthPix) March 4, 2019