HAPPY HALLOWEEN: Samhain/Old Irish!

The ancient festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in), the origin of Halloween that celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and the beginning of the "darker half." The meaning denotes the end of the harvest and the end of summer. The beginning of dark, cold winter times often marked with human death.
BTW, the definition of Samhaim, it is a Gaelic festival or another Irish name or Scottish Gaelic name for November. Another one of its meanings is disambiguation. Disambiguation means to remove the ambiguity from; to make unambiguous. Ambiguous means doubtful, uncertain, lacking clarity of meaning or open to more than one interpretation.
Read the history on the following post:

Ancient Origins of Halloween: The Real Story of Halloween.

Ancient Origins of Halloween - The Real Story of Halloween - History.com

Ancient Origins of Halloween - The Real Story of Halloween - History.com

Mark Sanchez rocks: let the "hot dog" player eat a hot dog!

Via today's Facebook wall post I wrote the following:

Dora D. Carey...is wondering why the sport's pundits have nothing better to do today than to criticize Mark Sanchez for eating a hot dog on the sidelines during the Jet's/Raider's game. I love watching Mike & Mike (Greeney & Golic) first thing each morning at 5AM. Greeney defends Mark while Golic thinks Mark could have chosen a power bar to eat. They make me laugh. I think Nathan's should let Mark endorse their dogs. (lol)

Although I am a Dallas fan (have been since I was a little girl), I am really fond of Mark Sanchez even if he is a NY Jet. I followed his career kinda late when he played at USC. It is this blogger's personal belief that Mark was not really allowed to grow as a player under Coach Carroll thus his abilities were a bit over-shadowed by his past USC predecessors at the QB position...Leinart, Palmer, Booty (shout out to RB-Reggies Bush).

Bottom line is, the sport's world of late should have more important things to worry itself about than which player is eating what on the sidelines. I realize what the implications of eating on the sidelines could have if a player were eating something really gross or just out of bad taste (pardon the pun). But, Mark was just eating a hot dog. It was the quickest, fastest edible item that someone thought of handing over to him when he claimed how hungry he was. Mark had a quesy stomach before the game and therefore was unable to eat so it is understandable that he was famished during the game. Besides, they were beating the Oakland Raiders and beating them quiet handily. Mark was clearly not finished playing for the day, but he was in dire need of food replenishment. He ate it as quickly as he could and he did try to do so as discreetly as he could. It was the cameras who honed in on what he was doing. Give the guy a break.

So...after Sanchez being successfully picked up in the draft (against Carroll's wishes & prediction), getting a very good contract with a decent NFL team, and starting off his rookie year on a pretty good note...the best that the sport's world can do right now is pick on him for eating a stupid hot dog on the sidelines. Not like it occurred in the middle of a huddle. Besides, do any of us even know what the players (any of 'em - NFL, NBA, MLB) are really drinking in those Gatorade-laden cups?

The Sanchez/hot dog story blows my mind, and just makes me narrow it down to a laugh because I know Mark is better than this. However, it makes me leary that the media does not concentrate on positive, feel-good stories; the kinda stories which give us the "warm fuzzies". They are always too focused on the negative players and their negative actions. I welcome the spotlight for once going to an NFL player who did something good for his community and such. Those kind of stories are out there - I read about them all the time, BUT I have to search for them...usually when doing research for freelance writing gigs. Sadly those kind of stories do not usually headline any ESPN shows or other sport's shows or AP posts. I am proud of Mark Sanchez; he does a lot for the Latino community just by being the caliber player and the stand up guy he is. Viva Mark Sanchez!

STUPID ECONOMY: My niece Alex said it best.

If today's on-going, rotten economy is indicative of what we are going to continue seeing for several more months -maybe years - to come, then we had all better brace ourselves and start planning accordingly.

This writer is no stranger to the negative effects that the economy has had to persons world-wide. Those who know me already know my dilemma so I won't bore anyone with details about it. All I will say is that people need to start saving as much money as they possibly can each paycheck. If you can put aside $5 here and there, it is better than spending it on frivolous things you really don't need. I facetiously stated $5 because it is quite obvious that people need to put aside more than $5 at a time, but maybe I am not too far removed from the financial ails of people and I can see that $5 could actually be the most that people can really put aside. Maybe most cannot even afford that. Whatever amount can be saved one week or bi-week is good because the time will come when those $5 or more will come in very handy.
Going forward in my adult life, I will listen more to what my Mom has to say and what advice she has to offer as she is the wisest person with the best foresight of anyone I have ever known. Since the new millennium began, Mom has been telling my siblings, me, their kids, friends...most everyone whom she had contact with to start saving our money, to be less carefree with our money and more frugal with our expenses; to buy groceries & everyday necessities (IE: sundries) in bulk for the hard times because the hard times were coming and coming fast. My Mom has been doing just that - doing just as she recommended that others do and she has prepared her household for those hard times which indeed did rear its ugly face and everyone is clearly seeing its effects if not also feeling its awful effects. She has helped feed others who fell short of being able to buy food, and loaned money as she could afford it herself. She has been a life-saver to many, many people. Her pantry is like a grocery store. My siblings and I are often the beneficiaries of her pantry and we can often grocery shop for the essentials straight out of her pantry. As for the recession that Mom kept forecasting for years & years, it took a few years to finally hit, but they are here. In actuality, my Mom saw the economy start to decline & she was quite vocal about it long before the un-necessary war of "W's" that saw fuel prices sky-rocket, long before the Lehman Bros. fiasco, long before the diabolical home loan/predatory lending scandals, long before bank bail outs and car industry plummeting sales, my Mom predicted the economy going sour long ago and was not afraid to tell people. Our ignorance to even acknowledge such an occurrence was probably born out of fear. Fear that she was right and none of us would be prepared for it.
I am certain that several people thought my Mom was being overly cautious or just paranoid. I am ashamed to admit that those thoughts crossed my mind from time to time, but I respected her views and opinions because she did have a history of being right. She had long been right about many things that most of us would not even want to think about. My Mom got it right as did many older people who have been through the great depression or similar. Those very people who went through worse times than we are seeing now, those people who have made a mental note of past bad times in order to prevent from repeating them. Those older people -our elders - who have since prepared for bad times each and every year. Who better than that generation, my dear Mom's generation, to be able to see when the bad times were coming AGAIN? After all, they had to live through and endure through the world-wide, financial collapse that came to be known as the Wall Street Crash of 1929; the very inciter of the great depression which saw several years of financial windfalls of epic proportions. My Mom's generation lived it, and they remembered it every day until things got better but as they moved forward they proceeded with great caution. The very caution that present day has eluded to once again. Did people forget what catastrophic events had to occur before the world recovered from the great depression? The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and in doing so they... "awakened the sleeping giant". WWII and all that ensued was apparently what brought an end to the great depression.

The United States has since then fallen asleep on too many occasions. The signs were ignored back then just as they went ignored this past decade. The demise of the financial world for the new decade, the new millennium would begin the minute "W" was "selected" by the Supreme Court (SC). Sara, my Mom and I hung our heads and agreed that nothing good would ever come of that man's appointment by the SC to President of the United States. Sara and I agreed that war would soon come our way. We said this even before the attacks of 9-11. For months we said that and hoped we be proven wrong until "W" announced war against a sovereign nation and pushed aside the real culprits behind the 9-11 attacks. Only the gas companies and certain construction companies would benefit from this wrong & cumbersome war. Fuel stocks soared and the Wall Street "bull" was happy and the "bear" was sad, but patient for his turn would come soon. Oil barrel production and prices would increase and hit extremely high prices that were really questionable, but no one did anything about it; shame on Congress. The "no bid contracts" made companies like Halliburton richer than ever; it was a damned monopoly and still no questions would come from Congress. The Senate waited for the House to make a move which would never come because the House sat on its laurels.
ANYway, the "W" administration was the worst one to date. "W's" reign began the descent of our country's financial system, of our country's reputation, and of our empire. His lack of action in some areas and his over-reaction in others was just too much. There was never any balance to his administration/reign. Our country would slowly start to spiral downward and it would have a domino effect on the rest of the world. During his reign is when financial institutions began their sorry attitudes of entitlement. No one was watching them anyway, all eyes were on the war and how it was being mishandled. The Lehman Bros. fall was not the beginning of present day recession, this recession started way back on January 20th, 2000...then for the next 8 years, things would just get worse as would the ignorance. I read a book once and in one of the chapters the author referred to a certain theory that touched upon the effect of "a man with no plan but who gains much power is a dangerous one". That theory and description is how I will always remember "W".
I bring this up because it makes me mad that so many people are suffering right now through no fault of their own. So many things could have been done to prevent this recession. I know there are always other people who have it so much worse; those who have nothing, but let me remind readers that had things been caught and tended to during the "W" years, these needy people could have been helped and helped big.
As I think about those who have nothing, I think how much they could have had. As I think of those who had a lot and lost it, I think how much could have been done to prevent it. As I think of the privileged that still have everything and had a hand in the recession, I think about the negative Karma they have invited into their lives and I feel sorry for them. One day they will see the error of their ways and maybe admit a little guilt for this stupid economy.

Recession takes its toll on local, small business owners.

Sara told me a story about a very nice, Hispanic couple we know who own an automotive shop. We have used their services in the past and they have always done a great job, been very nice and never took financial advantage of their patrons as other automotive establishments have been known to do. These people were cream of the crop; they excelled in what they did and they always took pride in having a very friendly and clean work environment; their shop was immaculate in appearance. One could tell how thankful they were that they were doing well with their business and they always took time to let their employees & customers know how appreciated they (we) all were. Well today, Sara called me to tell me that this couple, due to the current recession, had to drop their business insurance because it was getting to be too costly. Because their sales had dropped, they had to choose to do without certain things. Unfortunately for this couple, they opted out of continuing their business insurance in hopes that things would improve and business would pick up in time for them to renew said insurance. Instead, this couple suffered an awful loss yesterday as a fire broke out and their place of business burned. I am not sure how bad the damages were yet. The couple said that they would rebuild as best as possible. I remember they had two sons, one was getting ready for college and the other one was serving his country in the military and was abroad on a tour of duty. This family had done everything right and because of other people's love of money, other people's greed (aka: the banking system, Wall Street, etc.); they were now suffering for it...another victim of this stupid recession. I was humbled and glad I knew this couple ever more so after I heard what their reaction and comments had been today when the media interviewed them. They said it could have been worse and that they were just glad that no one had been injured or worse. What a class act they are. Many blessings & good Karma to them that they do recover their losses and come back stronger than ever.

Blame It on Rio!

Congrats goes to Rio de Janeiro for beating out 3 major cities for the 2016 Summer Olympics!

As much as I was pulling for the city of Chicago (CHI-town), I could not help but hope that Rio would someone pull off the victory today when the IOC voted. I had been pulling for them for months since the cities which were vying were confirmed. Jacques Rogge announced that Chicago had been defeated in the 1st round and would not continue in the voting. It was a blow to the people of Chicago and to many other Americans. Tokyo was eliminated in round #2; I am sure many Asian dreams were also deflated as they went out. My hopes of Rio getting the bid were really elevated going into the final round. I was not really convinced that Madrid would get the bid as they and Rio were the final two cities left to vie for the 2016 Summer Games. I was clearly not disappointed at the final announcement because as a continent, South America has never had the pleasure of hosting any prior Olympics. They need the money as much as any of the other 3 cities do. I was disappointed at how the Chicago venue, the people who were part of the USOC, citizens or just spectators, were saying negative things about Rio. Speculations over Rio's monetary ability to play host to the games as if our country is any better off financially speaking. All countries world-wide are going through financial woes. Other further negative remarks pointed out Rio's large wave of crime. Just more shameful accusations coming from the Chicago venue as if Chicago was itself free of crime. It could very well be that the very crime, the crime plaguing the youth of Chicago lately, is what deterred the IOC from considering Chicago enough to allow it to continue beyond the 2nd round of voting. When a city such as Chicago has the kind of crime it has had involving teenagers in which they are dying and no one bothers to come forward to testify against the perpetrators, I understand why the IOC would be turned off. Indeed, I believe that the IOC was sending a clear message to Chicago that they were not the best city to host the Olympics in 2016. I am an indignant American over political pundits within the American media who say that President Obama had no business in traveling to Copenhagen, Germany to help the USOC try to make a final plea in getting Chicago the bid. That this country has enough issues for him to have stayed behind. Either way, those pundits were going to mock & chide President Obama's attempts at getting his city (rather his country) the 2016 Games. Had Obama not traveled to Germany, those same people would have blamed his lack of action for Chicago not getting the Games. Many said that Chicago and the USOC had put together a fairly weak presentation and were in need of "power players" to drive the point home to the IOC at the very last minute. The President and First Lady (Michelle) tried their best and no one should say otherwise or put them down for it. I don't know exactly what caused the IOC to drop Chicago so early in the voting. For sure I cannot say that my previous comment about Chicago's crime is what put them out of the running, but I can say that it is about time that Rio (South America) won an Olympic bid. I wish one day to see my favorite city win a bid - San Antonio, but I won't hold my breath. Until then, way to go Rio. As a proud Hispanic American Woman, I will say that at least the 2016 Games went to a Latino country. Viva Rio!

RSVP's gone ignored...for goodness sake, just say "yes" or "no".

I wanted to begin the day by posting about something very close and dear to this blogger's heart. To write about it and get that 100 lb monkey off my back once and for all- and that thing is in regards to...

RSVP's (and why they go ignored)

Here goes so bear with me now. Why is it that in these days and times with so many tools of communication available to us all that most people still do not seem to get the idea behind an RSVP. (rhetorical Q)

It just drives me crazy to know that some people completely ignore the RSVP idea and appear so non-chalant in getting back to the person(s) who originally sent it. The really funny or ironic part behind their inability to reply within a timely basis or failure to reply at all is that these people are usually the first one's to complain when they are the ones that it happens to. Going forward I will refer to this issue as...

The RSVP factor

Now I won't even try to act like I haven't been a culprit of the factor; I can admit that I, too, have forgotten to reply to an invite or waited until the very last minute to send one. I do understand that everyday life is often difficult and extremely busy and people can get all caught up in the mix and just plain'ole forget to honor an RSVP. I have been guilty of doing as such in my younger years. It is as I have gotten a bit older (and hopefully wiser) that I realize the value & courtesy of responding to RSVP's. I used to have the kind of career which would hinder my abilities to multi-task and in order for me to not allow an RSVP to go without response, I would have to revert to requesting that the person email me a reminder along with the RSVP. Sure that was probably not the best way to handle the factor, but it was my way of letting people know that their invitation was important to me and that by emailing me a reminder, it would ensure a reply from me.

I have friends and family who are really bad offenders of the RSVP factor. Either they wait until the very last minute possible to reply, they allow someone else to reply for them or they just do not bother with it at all. Boy, that used to chaffe my hide, per se, or just hurt my feelings, but here recently - I have decided to become equally apathetic about sending future invites to certain people. After all, if they didn't care enough to reply the first few times I sent them invites, then it should not bother them to get omitted from future gatherings I plan on having. Maybe I will invite them and call them at the last minute to un-invite them or maybe I will wait until the last minute and call someone we both know and have that person pass on the information for me that they are no longer invited.

Life is short, but precious and when an RSVP comes your way from someone who loves you and cares enough about you to extend an invitation to you, do the respectful thing and just reply. A "yes" or a "no" is best at the earliest time possible. If the RSVP has a date and time included by which you should reply, please honor it. The person who sent it did it for a very good reason of that I am certain. It takes a lot of planning for certain gatherings and when you receive an invite with an RSVP, treat it like you would like your RSVP to be treated. Maybe the problem lies with the fact that the offenders of the RSVP factor are the kind of people who usually do not host parties and such so they do not understand the importance of planning an event. I do not really know what their problem is. All I know from personal experience is that it happens all too often and by the same people.

I just don't get it. I would never ignore an RSVP in such a blatant manner, nor would I pass on my reply via a third person (not kosher either). If I had to reply at the very last minute because something important came up which created a delay in my reply, I would call the person and apologize for it and be honest with them. I would not over-do my apology either because that can be just as offensive as the late reply was.

I am not sure what has happened to people being honest and respecting other people's feelings. All I know is that I try to live my life each day by placing myself in other people's shoes as best as I can and try not to hurt their feelings. To treat others as you would like to be treated. No amount of church-going will get that into people's heads if they don't practice it first. It is a matter of right and wrong. Everyone knows right from wrong; one's actions prove that theory everyday. Rotten actions bring about rotten results.

Why we need to remember our past...

I am not perfect, and do not claim to be. I just want to be the best person I can be and to show appreciation for what I have and for what others have done for me. I have had numerous difficult times in my life -and am currently going through another rough time. Thankfully, though, I have overcome many of those difficulties but they linger close to my heart and are deeply embedded in my mind so that I do not forgot them because true is that old adage of "remember your past or you will repeat it".
If someone needs my last dime, I remember a long time ago being without one myself so I will give it because ever since I have had a change of heart to give rather than to expect to receive, He has never allowed me to go without anything. He has replaced my dime many times with dollar bills or just with a full heart and good health and a loving family with their own good fortunes. If someone needs a ride anywhere, I will bend over backwards to give the person a ride because I remember the countless times I had no ride so that I could go to work, to school, to Dr's appts or just to run daily errands. It totally bites to be without a car, and I just don't see how anyone could ignore other people's needs. I am deeply saddened by the idea that those who have never been without a vehicle simply just do not understand what it is to be without one therefore they justify their lack of helping others by way of some stupid excuse. Or they just ignore the person's needs. It's so very shameful when one ignores others needs when that person who needs assistance is one who has always been there for you. If someone has done something good for me, I will remember it for a long time and try to one day repay the favor or will just show little bits of gratitude here and there. If I once bought you a little gift, took you to eat or just did a little something nice for you...you probably once did something nice for me at a time I needed it the most. If you do not remember an occasion in which you did do something nice for me, then my gift was just to show my love, respect & appreciation for you, of how much you mean to me. The things I do for others are never-never-never about what that person can do for me to repay me one day. I believe in doing things for others without never expecting them to pay you back. Not even money; one should lend money if one can afford it and then treat the idea with no expectations of getting the money back. After all, if you could afford to lend it, you should be able to afford to not get it back. Don't lend it if you cannot afford it - those who truly understand your situation will understand.

Here lately as Sara and I have had our struggles, there have been many people who have offered an ear for us to just vent and it meant a lot to us. Some have actually offered money and although we have turned it down, it meant more to us that it was offered. My Mom has given me money and I am deeply grateful to her for it. She is truly a God send. Her offering of the money came at a most needed time for us and it was hard for me to accept it, but thanks to my sister Josie, she and Mom made me realize why I needed to take it. Regardless of what I have done for my Mom in the past that she wanted to show her appreciation now, I will continue to do whatever I can for her and for my entire family. If a person completely ignored our struggles and was not concerned enough to pick up a phone, to open up their outbox to send an email or to figure out a way to just communicate with us to see how we were doing - we forgive their lack of action. Even if we were there for them once before, and they have not tried to find out how we are, we forgive their lack of action and continue to wish them the best. We have been okay. Even when the worst of days seemed upon us, we made it somehow and blessed were we that some people did show concern for us and were part of the reason that we overcame certain things. Most people just need someone to listen to them or to acknowledge their tough times. If I failed to be there for someone who needed my help, shame on me. I pray for forgiveness and that I learned from it and will not forsake anyone else going forward.
I still believe Sara and I have it good, though. There are way more people out there struggling worse than us - whether we know them or not - other's are suffering badly. Some people have no home, no food, no family. I feel very wealthy compared to most. I am most thankful to date for my Mom and for her health. She cares for her family and loves us unconditionally like no one else. She is always there when we need her even when we have forgotten her needs, even when her health is worse than ours, even when someone treated her badly, she is there. She makes excuses for our shortcomings and continues to brag on us even when all we did was what one should do as part of life. I love her dearly and value her so much. I want to love her, appreciate her and do for her as much as I can while we are still blessed to have her here with us.

In the end, what do I really know...just that more people need to try harder to lend a hand or an ear. It really is not that hard. Just picture yourselves in other's shoes and run with it...(pardon the pun).