Sabille Shop
I love sabilles. Sabilles are localized charity, “in a dry and thirsty land” they are provided by generous souls that the thirsty might have cool, fresh water to refresh thenselves in the heat of the day. You will see them at mosques, along city streets, in every neighboorhood. They come in fanciful shapes; if you type “sabille” into the HT&E search window, you will see more. I love the Kuwait Liberation Tower ones, and also the water-tower wannabes, but I also like the ones that look like old castles or old doors or jugs. I love it that people go to the trouble to make something utilitarian interesting, even artistic.
Recently, I found a shop in the Wafa Mall that sells sabilles:
The shop is called Fine Things, and also has some fancy presentation boxes and this, which looks like a mail box to me, but might be for collecting charitable donations, or . . . ? I might be totally wrong. Your guess is as good as mine:
I like this tiny little mall because it has commercial kitchen supply shops with all kinds of display cases and things you don’t find very often. There is also a mattress shop; I always laugh when there is a family shopping there for mattresses because the parents don’t say “NO!” to their kids, so the kids are JUMPING ON THE MATTRESSES! The salesmen seem unable to ask the parents to make them stop.
Taking the Cat for a Drag
When we were first married, we got our first cat. Being book people, we read a book about training cats that told us how easy it was to train a cat to go for a walk on a leash.
We tried it. We tried it several times. We tried it with several different cats. We never found a cat who could be trained to go for a walk on a leash. The Qatteri Cat scratched me bloody when I just tried to put on the harness. I never even got the leash attached. I still have the harness. I still have the leash – never been used.
We called it “Taking the Cat for a Drag.” It looks a lot like this:
Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!
Exercise to Counter Mild Depression
Today in BBC Health News something we all knew intuitively, but studies are showing it to be true – if you are depressed, exercise can help deal with the symptoms.
Exercise aids depression, say GPs
Doctors are increasingly prescribing exercise for people with depression, mental health campaigners have found. In a survey of 200 English GPs, the Mental Health Foundation found 22% suggest exercise to help people with milder forms of the condition.
This compares with just 5% in a similar survey three years ago.
The foundation said it was important that doctors did not just prescribe antidepressants for patients, and looked for other options.
Tackling isolation
Research has shown that exercise can help people with mild forms of depression by improving self-esteem – through better body image or achieving goals, and by relieving feelings of isolation which can fuel their depression.
It also releases feel-good brain chemicals such as endorphins.
You can read the entire article HERE>
Tips for an Exceptional, Superb and Powerful Life
I was at an utter loss for a blog entry today, when I was blessed to receive this from a wonderful friend in Qatar. Many thanks, Grammy!
Tips for an Exceptional, Superb & Powerful Life!
1) Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate antidepressant.
2) Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3) Buy a Tivo (DVR), tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4) When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, ‘My purpose is to________ today.’
5) Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
6) Watch more movies, play more games and read more books than you did last year.
7) Always pray and make time to exercise.
8) Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of Six.
9) Dream more while you are awake.
10) Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in
plants.
11) Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli , almonds
& walnuts.
12) Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13) Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.
14) Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative
thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15) Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class….but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16) Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17) Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18) Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
19) Life is too sho rt to waste time hating anyone.
20) Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21) You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22) Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
23) Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24) Ladies – Go on and burn those ‘special’ scented candles, use the 600 thread count sheets, the good china and wear our fancy lingerie now. Stop waiting for a special occasion. Everyday is special.
25) No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26) Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will this matter?’
27.) Forgive everyone for everything.
28) What other people think of you is none of your business.
29) Time heals almost everything. Give time, time!
30) However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31) Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch with them.
32) Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
33) Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. God provides remember?!
34) The best is yet to come. (in Heaven)
35) No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
36) Do the right thing!
37) Call your family often.
38) Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: ‘I am thankful for __________.’ Today I accomplished _________.
39) Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
40) Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don’t want a fast
pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.
Please share with friends!
Get Moving!
We all know that we need to get more exercise. This report from excerpted from BBC Health News tells us that if we don’t get moving, we are more subject to depression and later, to dementia. Get moving!
Inactivity link to mental decline
A lack of physical activity leads to depression and dementia, evidence presented at the British Nutrition Foundation conference shows.
It comes as new research from the University of Bristol found that being active cuts the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by around a third.
Currently only 35% of men and 24% of women reach the recommended weekly amount of physical activity.
Professor Nanette Mutrie, an expert in exercise and sport psychology at the University of Strathclyde, told the conference that mental health was not a trivial issue.
“It’s only recently that people have begun to see the link between physical activity and mental health,” says
Professor Nanette Mutrie.
“It’s important for increasing people’s self esteem, general mood, coping with stress and even sleeping better.
“And we now have very strong evidence that physical activity can prevent depression.”
She said inactive people had twice the risk of becoming depressed and there was also very good evidence that exercise is a useful treatment for depression.
Dementia risk
Researchers at the University of Bristol carried out an analysis of 17 trials looking at the effects of physical activity on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
They found that in both men and women physical activity was associated with a 30-40% drop in the risk of Alzheimer’s.
It is unclear why there is such a great effect but it could be associated with benefits to the vascular system as well as release of chemicals in the brain.
Professor Mutrie added: “It could be a simple case of use it or lose it.
. . . . . .
“There has already, justifiably, been a lot of emphasis on good nutrition but we must also find ways of helping people to be more physically active to ensure that they maintain health and quality of life in later years.”
Department of Health figures show the majority of adults do not do the recommended 30 minutes of moderate activity at least five times a week.
Read the entire article HERE.
Recent Comments
intlxpatr on Waiting for Snow intlxpatr on Waiting for Snow Abou Tabblouleh on t… on Waiting for Snow Abou Tabbouleh on in… on Waiting for Snow intlxpatr on Waiting for Snow Wikipedia Donate Button
Amazina
Early Voting in Florida
Here There and Everywhere 