I have learned a lot as a member of Entrecards, visiting all sorts of blogs. I’ve learned that there are some incredibly talented and witty people who run great blogs, and I’m a lot smarter and blessed by them. I’ve also learned that there are a lot of really lousy, crappy blogs that are basically springboards for all sorts of perverse behavior. I try to stay focused on the really good blogs and not let the bad behavior of other sites bother me. But I admit, sometimes I get in a sour mood after seeing the nasty ones.

I’ve also noticed that a lot of blogs are devoted to relationships, especially marital (or marital-type) relationships. One blog I came across today caught me by surprise with its candor and insight. It’s called the Marriage Puzzle blog. The post is titled, “A Woman and Her Existence” and it is a very poignant and perceptive post, despite its brevity. It got me thinking, especially this part:

A woman’s capacity to love can draw the very best from a man… it can make him feel wanted, needed, important, and great. The way she patiently wait for him to arrive from a whole day work symbolizes her love. When his nerves and spirit are shattered and exhausted, her loves can comfort him. When discouragement crushes his will and his hopes and dreams have crumbled, she can help him build new ones.

Many men are nearly totally unaware of a woman’s need for romantic love. For men, romance might be an added benefit, but certainly not a requirement. But not with a woman! A relationship without romance would drive her wild with frustration. She needs to be cherished, loved, respected, appreciated and be treated special. It is unjustifiable for a man to ignore his wife’s need for romantic love as it is for her to deny him his sexual urges.

It made me think about marriage today, how it is depicted in Western culture. Marriage gets a really, really bad rap, you know that? I don’t know why. I think marriage is one of the greatest institutions known to man. I’ve been unmarried and I’m married, so I’ve been on both sides; I think I have some insight about this.

Think about how marriage (that lifetime commitment of body and mind between man and woman) is treated today. You who drop Entrecards, you see what I see– ads everywhere showing slinky women vying for the momentary attentions and lusts of men; and men blogging about (and showing photos of) the women that entice them. It’s very obvious that the man’s desire for physical satisfaction is what comes FIRST in our culture. It’s like I say to my husband, “Western culture is a teenage boy’s dream come true.”

But where are the woman’s needs emphasized? “Romantic love” is what we call it today, but when I think of that term, Harlequin novels come to mind. I don’t think “romance” is accurate. Women need to be loved- to be wooed, to be reassured, to be special and to be that “only woman” to a man. Men complain that women complain about their man’s wandering eyes. “It’s only natural” to lust after other women, men complain. Yet they completely ignore that the woman’s desire to be the only woman is “only natural” too. Why do men want to be “natural” when it comes to them, but dismiss the woman’s “natural” desires?

What I’m saying is that responsibility and committment are missing in our relationships in this culture. In our culture the message is this: the physical relationship is premier, and if women won’t fall in line with that, then they are cast off as undesirable. Even among marriages, this attitude persists. In our culture, the woman has to bend over backwards to please her man sexually; but for some inexplicable reason, the man is completely excused from giving his wife that “agape” love (agape is a Greek word for unconditional affection and self-sacrificing commitment) that is essential to her existence as a woman.

People are not animals who copulate at will. People have thoughts, reasonings, feelings, and are accountable to God for their actions. Marriage is holy, God said. Degrading the man/woman relationship to a level with beavers and dogs is disgusting. Why do we women tolerate it and even encourage such behavior in our culture? Why is there such an inequality, even though modern woman touts her “liberation” and “independence” in our culture today?

I’d like to hear your thoughts about this. Do you see this discrepancy, this inequality? Why do you think this is so, and why do women (and good men) tolerate it?

You knew it was coming– another post about my new kitten, with photos!

In case you haven’t heard, we have a new addition to the family: Olivia the kitten. She’s half-Siamese. She is the most ADORABLE thing I’ve ever seen!!! This kitten is the sweetest and most affectionate little baby. She hates to be alone (she will mew pitifully if she’s lost in the big house, and when she sees us again, she bounces over), she nuzzles our cheeks when we get close, and she rubs our legs when we sit in chairs. I am madly in love with this baby. She’s very playful and wants our constant attention. Need to know how to lose weight? Get a playful kitten! She is keeping us busy.

Yesterday while the kids and I were preparing dinner, Livvy decided to bother Daddy (my husband). She clambered up the desk chair he was sitting in, and marched across his shoulders. Every once in a while, she would teeter at the edge of his shoulder, only to grasp on to his shirt with her razor-sharp kitten claws. My husband was amazingly tolerant of her antics.

Livvy likes furry things. She discovered my son’s cookskin cap and has adopted it. Maybe it reminds her of her brother (who was of similar color and fuzz). My husband’s hair, actually, is similar color and texture, too. Livvy found daddy’s hair to be a great toy! I snuck in and snapped some photos.

Isn’t she ADORABLE?!

For us in the Northern Hemisphere– it’s baaaack! Autumn, and winter is on the way! I love autumn– it’s so colorful and the air is crispy clean. And I prefer cooler temperatures. However, as autumn turns to winter, my skin gets horribly, horribly dry. It’s so bad that my hands crack and bleed. No skin lotion seems to help. Last year I relegated myself to rubbing olive oil on my hands (and that stuff is not cheap. Not to mention I couldn’t keep the dog away from me, lol). But I got a free sample of skin lotion in the mail recently and have been trying it out. It’s Skin MD Natural, and it’s great! It has no fragrance (something I dislike about other stinkier lotions) and has natural ingredients like purifed water, aloe vera leaf extract, Vitamin E, Arnica, Comfrey, Chamomile, and more. This stuff is marketed as helping people with extreme psoriasis and eczema. A few applications a day has seemed to help my hands.

Now I’m not going to kid you– this stuff is not cheap. It’s $18 a 4 ounce bottle, and that doesn’t include shipping. But the folks at Skin MD Natural guarantee that you will love their lotion, and if not, you can return the bottle for a refund. That’s quite a guarantee! And I think it’s a good buy overall, because despite the small bottle, you don’t have to gob it on like you do with the WalMart cheapo lotions. And after a day or two of application, you should start to see a difference right away– so you use less of it, anyway. The price tag might scare some, but I have some good news for you Frugal Hacks– if you are willing to blog about the product with a review, the guys at Skin MD Natural will give you a bottle for free! I think that’s a GREAT deal. And the lotion is very good; out of all the lotions I have ever tried (and I have tried a lot), Skin MD Natural is the best. You can read some testimonials from people who also liked it, here. It’s also the only company that guarantees you will love the lotion or your money back.

If you’re interested, you can try some free samples (small envelopes) before jumping in with both feet. But I think it’s a good buy, and this lotion is the only stuff that has helped my hands. It doesn’t sting going on, and it doesn’t smell like baby diapers, either! Check it out here.

If you are interested in blogging about Skin MD Natural, email Pete Grimaldi at petegrimaldi@earthlink.net with your blog url and mailing address.

Here she is! My new baby! Her name is Olivia and she is 8 weeks old. She is so adorable that I can’t stand it! She’s half-Siamese. I used to have a half-Siamese calico cat and loved her, so I’ve been looking for another half-Siamese. And here she is!

She’s a little camera shy. lol

Here she is. It’s so hard to photograph a kitten!

I gave her some roast beef broth and she brightened right up for the camera.

She has 6 toes and the sweetest temperament I’ve ever seen in a cat. She’s playful and very, very loving. Her previous “mommy” took good care of her. Whenever Olivia sees a human face, she runs right up and starts to nuzzle. Last night she slept with my daughter, curled up under her neck.

Olivia– or, Livvy, as we call her– was the runt of the litter. She’s a little skinny, but already she’s gaining weight. She’s slowly getting used to our big old farmhouse.

I’ll have more updates later. Right now I have to go nuzzle my little baby. :)

That’s what my physical therapist told me. :D My orthopedist says that I still have great strength despite my herniated disk, but I do still need to exercise and continue to strengthen my abdominal muscles. Because I was laid up for so long, I had to cancel my gym membership. I really hated to do it. So now I am looking for a good home-based exercise program. Here’s something I have seen: XFLOWSION. It’s creator is Eric Paskel, a celebrity trainer and fitness guru. XFLOWSION sounds cool because it combines martial arts and dance, among other moves, combining three full workouts in one. Your body is constantly in motion with all these various moves. I just love multi-tasking. :D

I used to do aerobics in dance class as a young drama student– LOVED IT. This kind of exercise, done for a few minutes a day, burns that fat and beefs up the muscle tone. Paskel also promises that with the XFLOWSION, you’ll never get bored. That’s a very important aspect of any fitness training or exercise program, isn’t it, ladies?

XFLOWSION looks really cool. I know I’ll never look like a Hollywood celebrity, but being in shape and having strong abdominals is enough for me. If you’re looking for a new fitness program for fun or to feel great, check it out!

My MRI appointment was finally approved by the insurance company! It was a nail-biting experience to the last moment.

The last time I had an MRI was two years ago. Technology is changing fast! Then I used to have to lay on a table and it sould slide me in to a small cubby hole in this noisy, clanging cavern. Now, they have something called “Open MRI” where they have expanded the cubby hole. It’s much more comfortable. It’s still clangs noisily, though. And the hard steel table isn’t much better. But I was thankful for the additional elbow room.

And MRIs used to be printed on film– those big black x-ray sheets that you see in the movies. Not any more! I was given a CD this time. All my photos of my innards are on disk now. I got to see what my spine looks like. I thought I’d share, because sharing is nice, right? Actually, I find stuff like this fascinating. Look how the body is designed!

These are photos of my spine, looking sideways. Those little white disks are the gel-like cushions between the bony vertebra. You can also see that one of them is squished and protruding. That’s what causes the pain- the disk protrudes out and presses on my sciatic nerve. All those years of tree-cutting and heavy labor probably weakened this area, I guess. So I need to again get that disk back where it belongs. Aren’t these images amazing!?

I’m doing better. I spend about half my day up and about now. I still get very tired and my oomph is still not full-steam yet, but I do feel better. :D

You’ve got a great blog, a great template, good content, but you need more readers! What to do? Why not promote your blog offline? This is the “in” thing to do these days– buy business cards or t-shirts and promote your site! I bought business cards for my travel blogs, and I love them! I got them through VistaPrint, one of my absolute favorite printing websites. I first heard of Vista from the guy who cut down a large tree on my property. He had the nicest business cards, and he said he got them for free from VistaPrint. Vista offers free, simple cards for people to try out. I took them up on their offer, and was so impressed with their customer service and pricing that I bought a whole box of customized cards for my travel blogs. I leave my card when we travel, or use them to give to people who are interested in our excursions.

I’m planning on getting some t-shirts printed up for us with my logo, and possibly expanding my new cards to include all my blogs. I highly recommend VistaPrint. They have more than cards and t-shirts, too! They have car magnets, rubber stamps, invitations, stationery, sticky pads, wall decals, calendars, and loads and loads more– and everything is fully customizable. And their prices make me very happy. :) They have some free products if you are timid about jumping right in (but you needn’t be). And I have a handy little promotional code for you for your order at VistaPrint. Ready?

Use the code VPRINT25 for 25% Off your purchase, site-wide, at VistaPrint.

Send your kids off to school with a t-shirt promoting your website, or have a business card with your url on it– how cool is that! I love VistaPrint, and I know you will, too! Check them out!

I think I’d freak if my cat acted like this with me. The camera guy seemed to take it all in stride, even enjoy it.

There is no shortage of funny cat videos on the Internet. In this one, a young kitty looks like he’s trying to play red light green. He’s not, though. He’s actually trying to kill the camera guy.

This video reminds me of something. We’re going to soon have a new addition to the family! I’ll have more details later. ;)

Oh my gosh! I made the mistake of letting my kids see this. I’m doomed, lol.

Pretty cool, huh? I’ll bet the office supply budget went through the roof after this…

Well, here’s a consequence to Hurricane Ike I never dreamed possible, all the way across the continent in Upstate New York: the bureaucracy. My medical insurance company is unreachable and cannot approve my scheduled MRI (an MRI is like an x-ray). Why? Because the insurance center is in Texas; and because of the hurricane, the power is out there. Therefore, everyone in New York State who needs approval for our tests, scans, and appointments cannot get approval for anything. My MRI has been delayed for over a week and counting.

I’m shocked by it, really. I have New York State health insurance coverage. It’s NEW YORK STATE. I assumed everything would be through New York State offices? No, says my doctors’ offices. New York State has outsourced its own health insurance policies! I asked the office– no one can schedule an appointment or a test- no one in New York State who has this coverage– because of the hurricane in Texas?! They said that is correct.

Well, blow me over with chinese air tools and call me Ike! For one, NYS can’t even support it’s own health insurance company?! Not only are New Yorkers leaving NY for Texas, NYS business is, too, apparently! And two, they KNEW the hurricane was a-coming! Why did they leave all that information in one location, so vulnerable?!

I wouldn’t care so much, but my health insurance coverage ends October 1st. I’m contesting the termination, but knowing how slow the bureaucratic slug moves, it may not be reinstated for half a year. And the funny thing is, the company needs an MRI to determine my eligibility. [insert crazy, maniacal screaming]

Somedays ya just gotta throw yer hands up in the air and give a good laugh. Holy cow, the things that go on around here!