Shanann Watts

     I caught a little bit about her case in August of this year, and immediately tuned out.  Didn't follow much about what happened.  Then, last week or so,  I happened to see the testimony of Shanann's brother.  So heartfelt.  This family will never be the same.  Her father was so heart broken, just sobbing, sobbing, in the courtroom.  A terrible tragedy.  
     How could something like this happen?  Like the Lindburgh baby's murder that the entire country was following in the 1920's.  
     Shanann Watts, a young mother of two beautiful daughters, Celeste, and Bella.  Her husband, Chris Watts, annihilated his family.  Too horrible to comprehend.  Was he a sociopath?  A psychopath?  Will we ever know?  So many questions, with no answers.
     Justice was served -- he will never get out of jail.  His crimes surely must be among the worst in American history.
     I hope the family will be able to carry on and that they and others who knew Shanann will be at peace.  She will surely be remembered as a gorgeous young mom, who touched a lot of lives.

     I happened to come across the discovery for this case.  I cannot believe it is on the Internet.   https://www.scribd.com
The way law enforcement, medical personnel, and so many other facets helped solve this horrific crime is impressive indeed, especially the importance and care given the case by the Frederick, Colorado Police Department.  This case was quickly solved thanks to their quick action.  They wasted no time responding to the initial call for help by way of 
Shanann's friend.

     I'm done now with it and move on to the tasks at hand.
     
     
     

Mindful Eating

In Buddhism, you are what and how you eat.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/25/for-buddhist-master-you-a_n_828450.html 

He Should Have Stayed At Home

     I deeply regret that President Trump visited France recently, on the eve of the Armistice of World War I.  Even before he landed, Trump had disrespected President Macron on Twitter.  President Trump is an embarrassment.  Plain and simple.

Here's a commentary from the New Yorker:

"Historical ignorance is a Trump leitmotif. He started attacking Macron on Friday, just before Air Force One landed in Paris, tweeting, “President Macron of France has just suggested that Europe build its own military in order to protect itself from the U.S., China and Russia. Very insulting, but perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of nato, which the U.S. subsidizes greatly!” Trump returned to the White House on Sunday, skipping the three-day Paris Peace Forum, and on Tuesday morning he resumed his mis-capitalized assault. He tweeted, “Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia. But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two - How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for natoor not!” And then: “On Trade, France makes excellent wine, but so does the U.S. The problem is that France makes it very hard for the U.S. to sell its wines into France, and charges big Tariffs, whereas the U.S. makes it easy for French wines, and charges very small Tariffs. Not fair, must change!” Lastly, he took a few weak shots at Macron’s low approval rating at home before thumbing out “make france great again!”

So much historical ignorance crowded into so few characters! Macron, in talking of “building his own army,” was actually talking about doing what Trump supposedly wants him to do, i.e., spending more on the military to let Europe protect itself. (This is, in fact, a long-standing French preoccupation; de Gaulle withdrew the French Navy from nato because he didn’t want to be dependent on the Americans, whom he did not completely trust.) The actual logic of the alliance, from an American point of view, was always supposed to be: let’s all pay something, and we’ll pay even more, because it’s cheaper to protect Europe than it is to fight European wars, and that way we have reliable friends. The point of the alliance was to have allies, not shake-down victims. But long-term altruism for long-term benefit is not a concept that Trump can handle.

Indeed, Trump seems incapable of understanding the concept of an alliance at all, much as he does not seem to understand the concept of loyalty. When he cites someone as a friend, it means that he (usually mistakenly) thinks that the person has adopted a supine position. He’s almost always wrong, as with the case of Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, but it is the limit of his conception of alliances."

Writers, De-Clutter!

https://www.writermag.com/writing-inspiration/the-writing-life/declutter-hoarded-story-ideas/


From Writer's Magazine

Re-grouping

Rainy day, Christine here for coaching.   She's a vegan....also.

My goals:  walk every day.  Use the exercise bike at night instead of plopping down on the chaise lounge.

The Pleasure Trap:  Dr. Doug Lyle:  video on YouTube.

Find substitutions:  like knitting
                                moving
                                dancing

Never Binge Again:  Mentions Rules.
1.  Eat at the table.
2.  Consider myself great company.
3.  HAVE CLASSICAL MUSIC ON
4.  SMOOTHIES AND FRUIT
5.  CONSIDER A RAW DINNER
6.  LET THE FOOD PLAN BE MY IDENTITY
7.  INTERNALIZE THE FOOD PLAN --  CONSIDER THE FOOD CORPORATIONS THAT WANT US TO INDULGE IN JUNK.  DON'T EAT JUNK!!!!!
8.  REMEMBER THE POTLUCK THIS THURSDAY.  AT MELANIE'S.
9.

The One Hundred Good Things

1.  My primary doc, Allison Gard
2.  binaural beats
3.  librarians in general but especially Brandy the medical librarian at Duke's HSL
4.  relaxing
5.  lenox baker pool
6.  ladybugs
7.  steevie
8.  therapists
9.  warm water aerobics
10. banned books week
11. warm baths with epsom salts
12. not owning a house
13. mushrooms
14. christine frost
15. mali
16. bb king
17. using my iPhone  for reminders
18. eggs
19. not being a failure
20. being my own daughter
21. watching the circus doc on The American Experience
22.  Margot's picture in my secretary
23.  coffee free for the 3rd day
24.  jean black
25.  my pharmacist
27.  warmth
28.  heating pads
29.  Alex Trez
30/  Duke Chapel
31.  franklin the crisis dog
32.  puppy therapy
33.  my poem, I Am the Sky
34.  "this too shall pass"
35.  clean clothes
36.  pumpkin butter
37.  meditation
38.  not going to a halloween party
39.  making peace with food
40.  max richter sleep music
41.  blood pressure pretty good today:  130 over something
42.  having alex, morgan, maggie, and tom over for dinner
43.  last night's performance of songs by incarcerated women
44.  alex was on the state of things
45.  frank stacie
47.  wrote lots of poetry upon mimi's death
48.  deciding not to go to the writers' conference in charlotte on friday
49.  car running great
50.  avocados = good fat
51.  evening Qi Gong
52.  Tai Chi Chai -- soothing movement
53.   bb king to gaga technique
54.   not working for a newspaper
55.  clean kitchen and bathroom
56. Emmanual Marcon, President of France
57.  the woods behind my house
58.  ease
59.  stirring historical events
60.  having my father's WWI letters
61.  christine
62.  UU
63.  squash
64.  public radio
65,  tofu
66.  deep breaths
67.  the words of Jesus in red ink
68.  the Bible I bought in Alaska
69.  teaching kids who had been kicked out of school
70.  forgiving
71.  this sentence:  "forgive them no matter what they have done to you."
72.  the idea of the body as a temple
73.  my therapist
74.  my beautiful granddaughters
75.  a job interview soon
76.  30 min. walking today
77.  rest
78.  history
79.  Deborah
80.  Jacqueline
81.  Stacy
82.  poetry
83.  saturdays's broadcast on WUNC from a fayetteville vet
84.  the world war I poets
85.Illustrated Posters
86.  the "yoke"  concept
87.  meditation
88.  prayer
89.  a new beginning
90.  babies
91.  vitamins
92.  a meditation for pain on youtube.
93.  relaxing music
94.  having an iPhone
95.  my family
96.  mindfulness
97.  Rumi
98.  volunteering
99.  new store -- Sprouts
100.  letting go and surrender
101.  the 4:30 meeting on tues. of 90day OA