People Are In Our Lives For Reasons

Happy Memorial Day. In case you are unaware, as you may be in another country other than The United States of America. Memorial Day is the day that we honor those who fought and died for our country while serving in the military. I think some people confuse it with Veterans Day. Veterans Day is the day that we honor all people who have served in the military while Memorial Day is the day that we remember all of the people who have died, while in the military, to protect our country.Memorial Day used to be called Armistice Day. Memorial Day is always on the last Monday in May. I am not sure why they picked that day but I can think of three possible reasons (only my speculations) - they put it on a Monday so we would get a day off work and school so we would truly appreciate it, they have it in May because "mayday" is the international distress signal. And, the weather is usually a little warmer for a nice three-day weekend. No MATTer what day it falls on I thank all of the military veterans who have given their lives for our freedoms. I do not, however, discount the veterans that lived through wars and peace times for their services.

The Whole30 (the 30-day guide to TOTAL HEALTH and FOOD Freedom) program is still going well. Day four just began with cantaloupe for breakfast (I have never been completely sure what the difference between cantaloupe and musk melon is but I am pretty sure it was cantaloupe). So far, I have mostly been using recipes from their book (included in the book) for dinners. The first night I made the Classic Chili recipe. The next night we had Chipotle (not nearly as many things on my salad as I would have previously gotten - no corn, no black beans, no cheese, no rice...). Last night I made Shepard's Pie. For breakfasts I have made Kitchen Sink Scrambled Eggs (much better than the title would suggest) and we just had the cantaloupe today. Yesterday we went out for breakfast with Cha Cha's sister. I had tomato juice and two poached eggs and fruit. Other than making the Shepard's Pie, which was Hell because I did not pre-cut and measure the ingredients as I usually do, everything has been delicious and easy. The Shepard's Pie would have been easy too if I had prepared as I almost always do. I was rushed and messed-up because of that - it will not happen again.

I have been drinking coconut water; some mixed with pineapple, some with mango and some just straight, I love it but Cha Cha hates it. As my parents would always say, "good, that's more for me." I have mainly been drinking regular water.

I am watching Band of Brothers right now for probably the fifth or sixth time. I think this is the best mini-series, or whatever you'd call it, ever made. As far as war-related movies it is probably even better than Private Ryan. It was made by HBO so they are playing all episodes back-to-back for Memorial Day. It is also available on HBOGo. I bet it is also available on DVD. I cannot recommend it more unless you are opposed to violence and realistic war-time movies. Of course, there is blood and death and limbs being blown-off...

My favorite sister-in-law Kara gave me a Samsung watch that works with my iPhone. I cannot begin to say how nice that was and how grateful I am. I even got a compliment on it at Chipotle from thre lady at the counter. Apparently, these are highly revered. It tells me when anybody calls me (and I can talk to them on the phone if I wish). It takes videos and photos right from the watch. People cannot even tell that I am video-taping them or taking their picture if I don't want them to know. It tells me when I get emails or Facebook updates or when St. Louis Cardinals games score change. It measures my sleep (I will get to that more later). It shows me the weather forecasts. It measures my exercise (steps, heart rate...). It has a phone on it so if my "condition" acts-up I can call 911 or a taxi or something. It shows my calendar / to do list. I feel like Maxwell Smart with this fancy gadget. Kara is in my life for a reason (more than one actually) but more about that in a bit.

I said I would talk about the sleep part. When I go to bed I hit the "start" button on the Sleep icon. Last night the watch says I hit the button to go to sleep at 21:33 and I stopped it at 06:58. It says that I slept for nine hours and 24 minutes (I am not sure how long it was from when I hit the "start" button before I fell asleep but this had to be fairly close). It also says that I was motionless for 89% of that 09:24. I suppose it can tell if the watch moves a lot as if I turned on my side or got up to go to the bathroom... I wish I had had the watch before I got these sleeping pills because I would have liked to have compared when I was not sleeping as to now when I am. I haven't passed-out in over two weeks now. That is pretty exciting. I think the sleep is probably helping more than anything. I hope all continues to head in this direction - knock on blog.

I am even dreaming which means I am getting REM sleep. I had a dream last night but it was a sad or bad one (some would call that a nightmare I guess). I remembered it for awhile but, for the life of me, I cannot remember what it was now. That is why people keep dream diaries I guess. It's weird how dreams escape us so quickly. I will start writing them down.

Two nights ago I had a dream that I bought a really nice old Victorian house. It was beautiful. The next thing I remember was a bunch of guys entering the house and beginning to paint EVERYTHING purple (kind of an indigo). They were painting the walls and the ceiling and the windows and the appliances and the chandelier - literally everything. All of a sudden my friend from high school (though I have seen her a handful of times since then) Stacee appeared and she shooed them away. They ignored me but she was able to get them out. I sent Stacee a message about the dream and she responded back telling me to Google "head chakra color." Of course, I did, and what I found was really creepy. I found out the violet is the "crown" chakra. Your remember Jack & Jill a and how "Jack fell down and broke his crown..." I have a broken crown so is that what the purple was about? There are many, many sites about chakras but the first one I went to really fit me. Here is the link to my violet chakra if you are interested. I looked at other sites as well and they all fit what I have been dealing with. I believe my mind is trying to solve its own problems and I think Stacee, who has always been a very talented and artistic person, was in the dream for a reason. I was meant to tell her about it so she could steer me in this direction. I honestly feel that the cosmos or fate or destiny or god or whatever name you want to put on it is real. Kevin Donka and Stacee were both meant to be in my life (even though I have known them both since the 1970's) for the situation I am now battling. Kara is in my life too for many reason (right now, among other things, so I can measure my progress with my violet chakra). I have saved a few lives in my life and I know, even though most of them do not even know my name or remember my face, I was made a blip in their lives for that reason. I am not afraid to admit that, if this were the 1960's, I'd be a total hippie with my theories and beliefs..

I started writing this about seven hours ago. Lots of house and yard projects and Cha Cha and I have been watching old videos (yes, I am talking VHS tapes). We are going through tapes trying to get together clips for Fabio's high school graduation party. We have been watching lost of footage of when Splenda was very young (she was four and 11/12th's when Fabio was born). We just got to him coming into the world. Time sure flies - days and years both

I am sure I will have plenty more to discuss tomorrow. Thanks a lot for spending a bit of your Memorial Day with me. Have a rest of the day. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!