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Sad News of Mindy McCready Passing Tonight

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You might have heard about Mindy McCready’s domestic and personal troubles over these past 5-6 years. The saddest news came tonight that she was found in Arkansas with a fatal, self inflicted gunshot wound, on the porch of her house, next to her dog. R.I.P., Mindy, and I hope you have finally found the peace that you so desperately needed but never had here on earth.

Mindy was a country singer whose personal life spiraled out of control after just a couple of hit songs. My favorite was “10,000 Angels” and it seems a fitting song tonight to pay tribute to her. She had a sweet, soft voice and was very pretty. Too bad she could not find a good man to share her life with, and too bad she had to overcome such a horrible abusive childhood. And then the law had to get involved and mess up everything even worse, ending up with the State taking away her two children. It is a sad, sad story and a very bitter ending for this poor woman who just couldn’t handle it any longer.

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Shopping for Roses and Chocolates for Tomorrow

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Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, so I need to get out of the house and go shopping for roses and chocolates for tomorrow. I don’t usually buy roses for anyone on Valentine’s Day, but my sister and I thought it would be a nice thing to do for our mom, since our dad passed away last summer. Mom had a hard time with the first Christmas without him, and he used to always give her a dozen yellow roses on Valentine’s Day.

The color of roses and types of flowers that you give to people are supposed to have certain meanings, like the color red for roses means love. So we had asked Dad why he gave our mom yellow roses instead of red ones. He said that because she was born in Dallas, TX, that the two of them had always had a private joke about her being his “Yellow Rose of Texas.” So he always gave her yellow roses whenever there was an occasion for flowers.

My sister and I agreed to go in together and split the cost of the roses, and I will take them to her in the morning on my way to work. We could have them delivered, but we want her to get them first thing in the morning, so her entire day is brightened and she doesn’t have to spend all morning being sad, missing him.

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Chinese New Year Starts Next Week

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graphic of Chinese symbol for the year of the snake

Next week is the Chinese New Year. It is the biggest holiday for people in China and many Asian countries, and also for people who live in many big U.S. cities that have their own Chinatown districts. I have been to Chinatown in San Francisco, Oakland and Washington, DC. Each one is a treasure trove of great food at authentic Chinese restaurants, natural medicine shops and imported gift items.

The cities have big parades, firecrackers, and many traditions and superstitions that everyone must honor and observe. The one that I like is you cannot sweep your house on New Year’s Day or you will be sweeping all the good fortune for the coming year out of your door and you will not have good fortune.

Next year will be the Chinese Year of the Water Snake. I don’t know very much about what birth years are included in the Year of the Snake, but I will try to look them up and see what calendar sign is related to my own birthday. You should do the same!

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Car Trouble This Morning

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On my way to get in my car this morning and head out on errands, I noticed that the right front tire seemed a little low and bulging. That tire seems to having trouble, needing air every couple of months. I have had it checked at the tire store several times for a nail or leak, and they never find anything wrong with it. But that tire keeps losing air when the other three tires never give me trouble. I think the tire store just doesn’t want to admit that they sold me a bad tire and should give me a replacement under the warranty. I don’t know how to prove this other than taking the car to a different tire store. In the meantime, I have to drive straight to the gas station and get air in that tire before I drive it on the highway.

Anyway, not only was that tire low, but when I started up the car the warning light on my dashboard came on with the brakes light. Oh, no! I really do not have the money in my budget or the time to deal with new brakes for my car. I hope that it just means the brake fluid is low and not that the brakes are really going bad. I guess I need to take the car for an oil change and have them top off all the fluids. If that doesn’t make the brake light go off, I will have to find a way to get the car in the shop for a brakes job this month and move some bills around in my budget so I can pay for the repairs and keep my car running.

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Our First Snow is Here!

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Most of the country seemed to enjoy a white Christmas, but we only had rain here in Nashville. It was cold and windy and dark, but most people were focused on being inside exchanging gifts and feasting on traditional Christmas dinner foods. Some guys were all about watching football and there were some great children’s movies on cable to keep the kids occupied.

But when I woke up this morning, there were huge snow flakes swirling around in the air. It is just about 32 degrees outside, so I wonder if any of it will stick to the ground and give us a snow day today? We don’t get very much snow here anyway, so when it snows around Christmas that makes it special – even if it is the day after.

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