First of all, I’d like to say thank you to all of you who left such heartfelt comments to my “There Is No Shame In Needing Help” post. They were very much appreciated, indeed.

Secondly, and keeping in line with that post, I’d thought I’d share a personal accomplishment with you guys. I will preface it by reminding you that for a very long time now, I have been “hiding away” in my house; away from life, away from most people. That changed with the recent change in my medication, as well as the recent trip I took with my daughter. On said trip, we did A LOT of walking. More than I’ve done in eons! Upon returning home, I told my daughter that I didn’t want all that good walking to go to waste, so we agreed to walk together every night (she’s a BIG walker; walks all over the place all the time!). So, we began on Monday, and have continued to do so every night. Well, I reached a milestone tonight when I walked a whole mile — without stopping, and at a quick pace! Now, that may not seem like a very long distance to those of you who walk all the time and have done so forever, but for me it is HUGE! I was so happy, and so proud of myself! I emailed my bestest bud, Debbie, almost immediately. LOL! Then I decided to tell all of you, too. I have a feeling that before long, I’ll make it to TWO miles! Yay!

Walking, Daily Walks, Walking For Health

It’s not very often that one can actually praise a business these days, so I’m going to take this opportunity and run with it! LOL

Yesterday my daughter and I were at a place where cell phones needed to be turned off, so of course we complied. Well, when we left and we turned our phones back on, hers displayed the “Initial Programming Required” message. What?? Her phone has been programmed for ages! Long story short, I ended up spending at least 45 minutes on the phone with a really nice Verizon tech support guy named Sam. When we finally hung up I felt like we were friends. He did everything he could to help fix her phone, but in the end we both realized it was just going to have to be replaced. That was early yesterday afternoon. Her new phone arrived at around 12:30 this afternoon! I was very impressed and my daughter was very happy. So Sam, if by any chance you find your way here from our discussion about my web site, THANK YOU!

Verizon Wireless, Verizon Tech Support, Cell Phones

I just received this from my sister. It’s called “The Day God Spilled the Paint”

This is the east side of the Carrizo plain, in the Temblor Range, about 50 miles due west of Bakersfield, California . Photo was taken by Barbara Mathews on May 14, 2005.

Temblor Range, California, Spring Colors

Have you ever heard of Centralia, Pennsylvania? I hadn’t either. Until, that is, I read this very cool and informative post over at chonksworld.com. Take the time and watch the video - it’s only a little over 5 minutes long. The still pics are great, but the video really gives you a feel for what it’s like. What what’s like, you ask? The underground mine fire!

The fire was started in a garbage dump over an open coal seam in May of 1962. The fire was reported and seemed to be quenched at the time, but actually continued underground. There are many additional versions of the original cause but the garbage pit and the date are probably right.

I just find the whole thing extremely interesting! You’ll find LOTS of pictures and the entire history of the fire when following the first link, and the cool video when following the second.

Centralia Pennsylvania, Underground Fires, Coal Mines

Hey peoples - especially you women - go check out this post over at Tidbits O’ Chunks. It is one of the most enlightening and empowering things I’ve read in a long, long time! She is a very brave woman - much more brave than I, and totally plugged in to the truth about us animals called human.

Rox, you go girl!!!