DISQUS

Hi Annie - That sounds so yummy. I did not even realise it was possible to cook strawberries. I'm trying to lose weight but there's too many tempting foods to try.

Hi Annie - I didn't realise that it was already officially spring. It's still so dull here right now. The north of the UK is cold and we just don't seem to get real seasons anymore.

We're still desperately trying to find ways to immigrate to the US. I would love to be able to have a bigger house for a more reasonable price and decent summers. Houses used to be affordable here in the north but folk from down south bought them all up to rent out and pushed the prices up.

You seem to celebrate St Patricks Day more than we do over there. The trouble is, it is always around the same time as Red Nose Day over here (a huge charity event). I had an American neighbour a few years ago and she held a huge St Patricks Day party.

Hi Annie - I haven't got round to using Facebook yet but I just got an invite from a friend to join and I promised I would. It's just all so time consuming. I do use Twitter but I haven't really had a lot of time for that lately either.

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Hi Jim - I'm betting the States is a lot like the UK. The government don't really make all the decisions here - they're being advised and told what to do by civil servants all the time. The whole thing is just one big charade.

You hit the nail on the head re: the banks. Too many big profit companies have too much of a say in what goes on in the world - not just your own country. The supermarkets have a similar, if not greater power. It really is wrong isn't it - kind of like a legalized mafia.

Hi Annie - Your new theme is awesome - I love it.

I'm sorry you've all been sick. I didn't know you had kidney disease - being ill must make it feel a lot worse.

That is the trouble with school - the kids pick up so many germs and bring them home. I guess avoiding all that is another benefit to home schooling that I hadn't considered.

Hi Annie - I forgot it was almost clock changing time. I like it when it happens over here, as we get more time to go for a walk after work at night.

Plus, it gets lighter anyway, so it's nice and light in the morning too.

For me, it sucks more when it's the other way round, as it's dark here all the out of work hours then.

Hi Maya - Your daughter is so cute.  This reminds me of my daughter when she was young.  We were in a restroom and she was fascinated that it flushed automatically when you finished peeing.  After that, she would not use the potty anymore - only the toilet.  And like your little one - wherever we went - all she wanted to do was check out the restroom. 

Hi Jim - thanks for the warning. I clicked on an email I shouldn't have a few months ago and it triggered 100's of different spam emails to flood into my inbox. It's really scary what just one little click can do to your computer.

Another time, I opened on of those jokes a friend was always sending me - you know the ones you have to download and they usually have funny pics and stuff? It totally buggered my computer. Nothing on the hard-drive was salvagable at all.

Hi Annie - I'm sorry you're having problems with your blog. John Hoff is offering his new wordpress hosting to the world tomorrow. I wonder if he may be able to help you out? I'll pass you the details as soon as I have them.

Hi Jim - I'm still listening to it. It's sounds a bit depressing to me but I guess it could grow on me.

Hi Mark - my comments are so not showing up on your blog when I try to add them from a reader - so I've come out of it to see if it makes any difference. I don't know why, it's happening - the comment just takes ages to load and it never seems to get there.

This is an interesting topic. I always recognise voices but I'm rubbish with faces and I'm betting I've walked past a whole bunch of people and not seen them. I find it even harder when I see folk and I'm not used to seeing them in that particular type of place.

Some people will also ignore/avoid others when my self esteem is low. A few years ago, when I was still suffering quite badly from PTSD, I would deliberately avoid people. I looked different - I had a scar on my face, which put me off talking to a lot of people. Also, my life wasn't good and I just couldn't face conversation with folk I'd known from my previous life, when things seemed so bad.

I guess a lot of the time, the avoiding thing is more to do with the avoider than the avoided.

Hi Mark - I've read a lot of these and Atonement and The Curious Incident are the next in the queue, after the Jodi Piqolt (sp?) I'm reading now.

Life of Pi is something I've been meaning to read for years and not got round to.

Hi Annie - Well done. That is a great result after only 14 days. I need to try something like this. I lost some last summer but now I'm fatter than I've ever been.

Wow Annie - that was kind of a difficult situation with your ex at the weekend. Hopefully it was just the drink and he doesn't remember saying it.

The problems with your son makes me wonder. My son has been getting into a whole bunch of trouble in school recently and I did wonder if it was to do with seeing/not seeing his dad. He's seen him quite a bit really but his contact with the kids has been pretty inconsistent.

One year, he only bothered to see them once for about 3 hours. I wonder if it's the contact, or the inconsistency that is the issue. How often does your son see his dad? Is it a regular thing or not. How old is he? My son is 14. It is worrying isn't it.

I'm not sure if I have any weight loss tips. I'm in the same boat as you. What did work for me a few years ago was detoxing for a few days before I tried dieting. It did seem to speed things up and make the whole process a lot easier. Plus I did find that it encouraged me to eat more healthily afterwards - well for a little while at least.

I tried a few detox things but I really found the Carole Vorderman Detox Diet (you'll find her books on Amazon). The one I did was meant to be a month long - I managed to stick to it for a week, but I was really feeling the benefits by then anyway. You do need to go out and get a few herbs, supplements and special ingredients but I should imagine that's a whole lot cheaper than some of these detox pills they sell in health spas.

One more tip I've found really useful is not to be too strict with yourself. If you go off track and eat something you really shouldn't have - don't feel guilty. I think that just encourages you to binge. Instead just go for a long walk or something and you won't feel like you've ruined your weight loss plan.

Hi Jim - this is a really good point. It's so easy to Stumble the wrong page. I've had folk land on the homepage and accidentally stumble that instead of an individual mistake.

Another thing to remember is that if you are the first to Stumble a post, you should always write a review. Some folk just give a thumbs up - this gives less weight to the post and also to the Stumblers own account for being the first stumbler.

I used to use SU to help other bloggers before I was banned. I didn't do it in a spammy or cheating sort of way. I'd view the blogs of folk on my friends list and vote good posts. Also, I'd read and vote on posts that they had reviewed.

Fuck - you had a lucky escape Jim. It sounds like that is exactly what she was trying to do. It's a good job you had lots of willpower. She could have really stitched you up otherwise. I'm betting that happens a lot.

Wow Annie - that is a lot. Seattle is kind of in the same area as Oregon and I know Akemi said she had been snowed in there.

We had a bit of snow earlier in December but no more yet.

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Wow Annie - looks like you've had a heap of snow.
Where in the world do you live? It must have been a lot of fun moving hay on a sled.

I've just had to add you to my reader again. You had disappeared - I'm betting I probably misfiled you.

Hi Jim - Great review. As you know, I have believed in the Law of Attraction. Although not in the simplistic way it is portrayed in the Secret.

But as you say, they had to make it dramatic, to appeal to folk who would have ignored it otherwise.

And I think Hunter's book is a great way for folk who don't have great spiritual beliefs to take advantage of the positive benefits of the Law of Attraction.

Hi Maya - I love your equation. And it is true - you can have lots of relationships and wind up barely knowing those people. A few close relationships is better.

I've not tried it yet, but i'll certainly take a look at it. Digg became too spammy for me and I still need to look at Mixx - my favourite site right now is Twitter.

Hi Maya This is a tough one - I had to go away and come back to it after a couple of days. I think the girl has the most integrity - she was honest about what her intentions were all along.

The Captain has the least integrity because he wasn't honest. He took advantage of a situation to get what he wanted.

Hi Maya - I must admit - I've told a lot of stories in the past on my blog. But I keep thinking - people don't want to know what happened to me.

I almost missed Naomi's story but I saw it on Alltop yesterday and it brought a lump to my throat. I'm not surprised she couldn't do it on video. But it was also very inspiring. Look what she has achieved this year, despite huge personal heartache.

I've also heard a lot of good feedback about Tom's classes. He's a great guy. He has really made me think so much that when I have a problem - his words ring in my ears without him speaking.

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Hi Jack - I love when this happens - two people thinking or writing the same thing at the same time. Is it telepathy, or are we all getting our ideas sent from some planet we've never heard of?

LOL Mark - Great minds think alike. I've been thinking about this a lot recently and I just gave my opinion this morning, in a post - Is Blogging Dead?