JPPENS

WE THE PEOPLE, will continue to speak up, speak out, reach out, march, shout and PROTEST our present non functioning government that has been created because of the fear of a mentally sick man with money and moneyed friends. THIS can not be a one time thing...it must continue, grow and become frequent for us to get our country back folks.  

                                                                                We see, we hear, we read, we feel, we taste, we chew, we spew and we hope... We shout, we yell, we swear, we hurt, we throw, we cry, we try, we slam and we hope... We listen, we care, we feed, we cover, we dream, we call, we write, we fight, we believe, we hug, we love and we hope... and we hope... and we hope... We hang on to it, we trust it, we wear it, we smell it, we survive with it, we reach for it...  It is ours, no one can take it, no one can kill it... Hope lives... In our souls, our minds, our hearts... We own it and share it... Through hugs, through care... The POWER of HOPE, the POWER of HUGS  will get us through the POWER of HELL...

                                       Maybe I look at life differently because I was trained in teaching motor skills and my graduate work was in observation and evaluation but I know for sure that things I see and witness around me are seen through these paradigms.  Having been a coach and teacher of young women and men I know the skills and wanting needed to master any movement to become the best player of whatever athletic event one chooses; to be part of a team is in and of itself I think one of the best paved highways for a person to learn about themselves, their place in their world and the acknowledgement that teams are called teams because it can't be done alone. Being motivated to work hard and learning real discipline for not only yourself but for the good of others as well is huge in my book. Coaches live and work in the preseason, the season, post season and then preppin...

Adult lives are filled with work, kids and their lives, adult plans, family, grocery shopping, cooking, worries, gatherings, date nights, bedtimes, appointments, alarm clocks and the list goes on... It seemed there was always a struggle to find the time... until the loss of people we treasured stopped our regular hurried routines; took our breath away, at least until we could find that place to store our grief and then attempt to move back into our hectic lives.  That loss, that memory of that person who filled our hearts has always, I believe, left a shadow over our hearts.  Heart shadows have no limits, no magic number, there is always room for more it seems still leaving room for beats.  The other day I was pumping gas and the fueling station had music playing outside over the bays of vehicles; a familiar song came on that stopped my hand squeeze on the hose nozzle. The immediate visual memory of that dear person who had passed was as palpable as if I had just learned ...

I simply altered the Dry January to a Damp January. My acquired insights through the following months were anything but simple… So this is how it all began back in 2011… A British woman named Emily Robinson gave up alcohol in 2011 while preparing to run a marathon. The Dry January gained support in the U.S. and I have read that 15 to 35 % of U.S. drinkers took part in the challenge and that estimates say about 35 to 40% of Americans plan on trying a Dry January but that only about 16% actually continue through the entire month.   January 1, 2024… I was starting the day and I decided that I would limit the number of times I drank in a full week as well as limiting myself to no more than two standard glasses at any time.  The counting began. The back story… Alcohol has always been a part of my life. I was adopted into a Franco American family with more relatives then I could ever accurately count. My adopted Dad was an alcoholic. When in my forties I learned of my adoption ...

The Latest... As another sun sets over our beloved western North Carolina mountains rest, we are reminded that it seems like forever since inches of unrelenting rain layered our county while Hurricane Helene announced her arrival. In truth, three months is but a heartbeat compared to the time, strength and resources it will eventually take to get us somewhat healed. Most of the mud has been plowed, scooped, pushed and shoveled around, through and into the never ending mounds of debris, some already hauled off but much remains; in neighborhoods, city streets, riverbanks, parking lots...it just goes on an on. Dust and dirt now mix with the stillness of the chaff while the lack of room to house it all continues to slow the process. The downtown city of Asheville looks like it always did minus the hundreds of daily tourists playing in our city. The street corners are quiet as the popular Buskers remain silent. Hotels, restaurants and galleries are open for business, the water flows, the l...

  It's all about the bubbles!  Simply said, Carbon dioxide from the second fermentation of wine creates the bubbles in a French style sparkling wine. Champagne is a place, a region in France where the grapes used in making sparkling wine grow. It is not a grape and yes the old French Monk (Dom Perignon) is credited with inventing it quite by accident but in truth sparkling wine was done by the English years before the monk did it. Typical grapes used in making French style sparkling wine (often referred to as Champagne) are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier but other less known varietals are sometimes used.  Labels of French style sparkling wine may also say "Blanc de blanc" which means it is made with mostly Chardonnay grapes. "Blanc de noir" means it is made with more Pinot Noir grapes and gives a beautiful rose color to the wine and happens to be my favorite! A label that says "Brut" means it is dry (sugar fermented out) vs a label that says ...