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Right now, you're wondering what the heck my (very organized) spice cabinet has to do with Donald Trump. I had planned to do lots of cleaning and organizing after the first of the year, like I do every year. Most years, I don't get an awful lot done. Chronic migraine or depression usually gets me before I get to organizing. This year, though, is different. I had a week or two of "winter blues", but not full blown depression. My meds seem to be working pretty well. But, I've been really anxious because of the political situation. Every time I look at the computer, it seems like the President has done something egregious or one of his spokespeople has said something outlandish. I've purposely

I know it doesn't look like much, but that bit of fungus in the picture is my latest treatment for acute migraine. And it works! A few weeks ago, a friend of mine from high school who is does a lot of botany and agriculture messaged me to ask if I'd ever tried Diamond Willow fungus. I had never even heard of it! And, as a ten year veteran of the chronic migraine wars, to have come up with something I'd never heard of was quite the accomplishment. So, my friend hooked me up with an herbalist friend of hers who sold me some of the fungus. A few days later, I got my 12 ounces of Diamond Willow fungus in the mail. The instructions said to light a little section on fire, blow out the flame, and i

* As of noon today, Donald Trump is now President of the United States. I'm not happy about this, but there it is. * There are, of course, protests of Trump's inauguration. Unfortunately, almost 100 people have been arrested because of violence in D.C.. What the heck?! These don't appear to be random thugs being stupid. These seem to be legitimate protesters. So, why do they think breaking windows is going to help anything? I oppose Donald Trump and many of his ideas, but I (and most who agree with me) do not condone this violence! * Is Melania Trump reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy or what? I love her dress, but the matching gloves and shoes are a little "1980's bridesmaid" for me. She's goin

I'm sure you've seen the "Strong Woman" meme. There are hundreds out there. These are just three that I picked at random. The thought of writing this today came up because I heard a young man on a reality TV show talk about the two "strong women" who raised him. What is a strong woman? Is it a woman who has opinions? A woman who says what she thinks? An extrovert? It is someone who has been through something difficult? According to the "Strong Woman" memes, a strong woman can be anyone who manages to get dressed in the morning to a woman who escapes human trafficking. I have two problems with the "Strong Woman" meme. First of all, we don't know who this strong woman is. She could be anyone.

Lagniappe is a South Louisiana term for "a little something extra". Seeing as how this is Epiphany, the beginning of the Mardi Gras season, I thought it would be a good time to start my Lagniappe posts. These are posts in which I share little snippets of what is going on in Maison Martin these days. * Christopher is theoretically home for Winter Break, but he is sleeping and working so often that we don't see him all that much. But, we do get more time with him than when he is at school and we cherish that. He and Patrick play video games together, and I spend time with him during the day. * We put the Christmas decorations away yesterday. The living room area looks much neater and less clu

My word for 2017 is "Peace". Today I'm thinking about practical ways I can make my life more peaceful. What is peace? The first definition in the dictionary is, "the normal, nonwarring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world." Well, that's not really helpful on a personal level, although I do pray for it regularly. It's actually the seventh meaning in the dictionary that applies on a day to day basis: "freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession; tranquility; serenity". I've been pondering the things I can do around the house and during my daily routine that will help bring peace. Here are some of what I've come up with. 1. Decrease clutter. Get rid o

Yesterday, our pastor preached a sermon on basic spiritual disciplines, including Bible reading. He included the usual scripture references: Psalm 119:11 and 105, and Romans 10:17. And he encouraged us to make reading the Bible, along with prayer, a daily ritual in our lives. And I definitely agree. The fact that we have the Bible that we have is nothing short of a miracle. No other text from that same time period in history has come down to us in so many copies and with such coherence. In fact, what the sermon made me think of was just how amazing it is that we even have the ability to read the Bible. Really, this time in history is the optimal time for the maximum number of people to be ab