Monthly Archives: April 2023

SCAM ALERT: Domain Name emails

21 Friday Apr 2023

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message

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“Fraud is the daughter of greed.”
― Jonathan Gash, The Great California Game

Yesterday, I got the following email:

I didn’t know what to think, but I immediately grew concerned.  What if I lose my blog’s name?  A name that I have been using for over 10 years, and that means a lot to me.

How can a simple email have the power to make me feel so vulnerable?  Well, I know the answer to that: because I allow it.

“To feel helpless is to acknowledge our limitations, but it does not have to be an acceptance of them.”  ― Craig D. Lounsbrough

Moving on:

I contacted the IT support for my company.  He said that the email and company was legit, and they would probably come back and try to get me to sign up for the other extensions. 

I replied to the email saying I was not affiliated with that company and I would give no permission to anyone to use that name.

I haven’t heard anything yet.  This was just last night, so I assume I will hear something today.

In the meantime, I was talking to M and mentioned the email (without mentioning my blog’s name, since I don’t really share it with anyone I know – now, if you are a stranger, please come on over lol).  This morning he sent me an article, that eventually led me to: https://squelchdesign.com/featured/chinese-domain-name-registration-scams/

So, it is a scam! And it has been going around for years.  So, folks, be aware!  I am not sure how the scam unfolds, but I will not be going along to find out.  For me it stops here.

How do I make sure my blog’s name protected?  Or is there nothing to worry about?

It is such a scary world, online and otherwise.  The more I read, watch, see what is going on around me, the more I want to run and hide.  I am becoming afraid of my own shadow. 

Instead of hiding, I will be boarding a plane to Brazil tonight.  I am returning in a few days.  You all have the most blessed weekend!

“IN THE HANDS OF MAN

He who creates a poison, also has the cure.
He who creates a virus, also has the antidote.
He who creates chaos, also has the ability to create peace.
He who sparks hate, also has the ability to transform it to love.
He who creates misery, also has the ability to destroy it with kindness.
He who creates sadness, also has the ability to to covert it to happiness.
He who creates darkness, can also be awakened to produce illumination.
He who spreads fear, can also be shaken to spread comfort.
Any problems created by the left hand of man,
Can also be solved with the right,
For he who manifests anything,
Also has the ability to
Destroy it.”
― Suzy Kassem

 

 

 

 

 

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A cow in love… with blue flowers

19 Wednesday Apr 2023

Posted by in Daily Life, Dating, Finding Me, Mosaic and other crafts

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“Open the bloom of your heart and become a gift of beauty to the world.”  ― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

Life progresses likes waves in the ocean, with highs and lows. As the spring flowers blossom, so does M and I.  We continue flying high, so excited to have found each other and so eager for a future together.  

Unfortunately, at work now is a low point.  My co-worker will be having another surgery on Monday, to deal with cancer.  Fortunately, she thinks that it will be an easier operation this time. Is there anything easy about cancer?  I am bracing myself for another 3 months without her.

As she is leaving to have surgery, I am leaving for Brazil.  I am still trying to figure out how to do her job while in Brazil, without driving myself insane.  This time I am unwilling to take it all upon myself.  I have done that for over 20 years at this job.  Everything has always been seemingless and perfect no matter what the circumstances were.  I am not willing to do it anymore. Some people here will have to step up.

In the meantime, the mosaic studio continues to be my happy place.  There, I often do more talking than creating.   The ladies there look forward to hearing about the latest news about M.  They are so happy for me, as you all are.

This cow is the latest piece I finished.  It is a cow that is in love and sees flowers all around.  She was going to have legs, but it seemed too complicated so I just put her behind some bushes. 

              

“Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say, “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?”, here’s an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it’s not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!” ― Frank Kaiser

Love is in the Air – Easter Weekend Update

13 Thursday Apr 2023

Posted by in Daily Life, Dating, Finding Me

≈ 45 Comments

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 I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers.

Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.”
― Oliver Sacks, Gratitude

As usual, I am short on time, but I wanted to give everyone an update.  Things with M are going marvelously well!  Love is blooming to coincide with spring. Sometimes I am afraid to talk about it and jinx it.  He adores everything about me.  I keep finding reasons to adore him.

I believe in fairy-tales, and he is becoming my version of fairy-tale.  I plan on enjoying every second for as long as it lasts.  With him I feel natural and beautiful, I don’t care about the stubborn several pounds that I keep losing and getting it back.  I still cannot find a single thing about him that gives me pause.  Nothing.

It doesn’t even matter to me that he lives in Florida.  A state that I said I would never live at.  He gave me the house keys, and says it is my home now.  He said that any time I need, I can just call and he will catch the next flight to NY.

We started communication on Match.com on February 8.  On February 23 we met in person when he flew to NY.  We barely know each other and yet it feels so right.

At times I remind myself that I have been searching for someone for over 10 years, so it may seem fast, and yet it is not. I am grateful, but also aware that it was about time lol

I have already been to Florida twice, and he has come to NY twice.   And we spent time in Park City, UT.

The last meeting was when he came to spend Easter.  He arrived last Thursday afternoon and stayed until Tuesday.  Yesterday, Wednesday, he visited some relatives in NJ and flew back home.

This time he stayed in my apartment.  It was just so easy having him there.  On the day that I had to work, he stayed out of the way watching his financial channels and doing research on some things for me.  When I went to the mosaic studio on Saturday morning, he walked around my neighborhood with my sister.

“That I may be able to say of love (that I had) 

Be not immortal, since it is a flame,

 But be infinite while it lasts” – Vinicius de Moraes

 On the other days he fixed some stuff around my apartment, we went to Kohls, and a couple of other stores, and we also went out to eat a bunch of times.  The most memorable restaurants were:

  • Harvest on Hudson in Hastings, NY. The location is just gorgeous.  The food was not as amazing as it normally is, but still was very good.  We had cod fritters, eggplant meatballs, cod fish with mashed potatoes and cauliflower, and a pasta and asparagus dish.  For dessert we had tiramisu and chocolate tart.  To drink we had the Brazilian Caipirinha (sugar cane alcohol, lime and passionfruit).
  • Telly Taverna in Port Chester.  Beautiful place, great waiters, and amazing food.  We had so many different foods, so is hard to remember, but among the dishes were:  For appetizers: Mixed fried vegetables, zucchini croquettes, fried potatoes, pita bread with hummus and yogurt dip, spanakopita (the best ever!).  For entrees we had: the flounder, the cod, and the salmon.  For dessert they gave us what looked like donut holes with cinnamon and honey.  We went a little nuts with the ordering and took some food home. To drink we all had a different cocktail and all 3 were delicious.  They were: Drunken Telly’s (Passion fruit, citrus, Metaxa and malibu), Paros (Aperol, St Germain, prosecco, Greek honey) and he third one I don’t remember the name, but it had cucumbers in, and it was my least favorite.
  • Alvin and Friends in New Rochelle. We were going to another restaurant, but it was closed for Easter, so we just walked into Alvins.  Always great, but some of the items were not as usual, and a bit pricy as it was $65 per person for the food, as it was an Easter pre-fix menu.  We had cod fritters and empanadas for appetizers.  Entrees were: Fried chicken with macaroni and cheese.  I had coconut rice with ribs, and M had salmon with macaroni and cheese.  For desserts we took home chocolate cake and fruit tarts.  To drink we each had a different cocktail and they were all awesome. They were: rum punch, peach martini and a prosecco raspberry.  The owner visits every table, every time, and that always feels like the nicest thing to do.

Breakfasts, and one meal I cooked at home.  He later commented to my sister that he keeps finding amazing things about me, such as the fact that I can cook.  All I did was makes eggs in the morning, and for dinner, heat up left overs and make some salmon, which I overcooked.  For some reason he is so easily impressed by me. (yes, I giggled writing that)

I will be taking 2 trips to Brazil.  The first one, in about one week, will be very short, just to get my mom and bring her to NY for her 88th birthday.  I will be returning to Brazil in May to take my mom back. I will stay there about 3 weeks.  At that time, M will come to stay some time and meet the rest of the family.  We haven’t discussed the itinerary yet, but we are both excited about it.

He has been learning Portuguese since meeting me.  I so appreciate his efforts in being ready to communicate with my family. He even offered to stay with my parents in Brazil if I needed a break.  He is one of a kind! And he is now mine! 😉

“You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect—you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break—her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.” ― Bob Marley

Mirror, mirror on the wall

10 Monday Apr 2023

Posted by in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts

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“It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.” ― John Joseph Powell, The Secret of Staying in Love

M. came to spend the Easter weekend.  He is leaving tomorrow.  I will be posting about it in the next couple of day.  In the meantime, here is a mirror I made at the studio a month ago.  I forgot to take pictures at the beginning and along the way.    “Every man carries with him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow.”
― W.H. Auden, The Dyer’s Hand and Other Essays

  

“For I do not exist: there exist but the thousands of mirrors that reflect me. With every acquaintance I make, the population of phantoms resembling me increases. Somewhere they live, somewhere they multiply. I alone do not exist.” ― Vladimir Nabokov

   

“Mirrors,’ she said, ‘are never to be trusted.”
― Neil Gaiman, Coraline

“Why on earth do you carry a mirror around with you?”
“It’s purely a defensive device. We seldom quarrel, and this is one of the reasons. Can you imagine yourself getting all worked up and contorted and illogical and then coming face to face with yourself, looking at yourself exactly as you look to everyone else?”
― Theodore Sturgeon, Venus Plus X

 

 

 

About last weekend- 2nd weekend in New Smyrna

06 Thursday Apr 2023

Posted by in Daily Life, Dating, Finding Me

≈ 28 Comments

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“…And my heart opened
like a flower under sky,
its petals of desire,
its stamens of dreams…”
― Federico García Lorca

On this visit to M’s house in Florida I went alone.  Everything else was the same.  I took the same flights. Left Friday evening from LaGuardia to Orlando and returned Sunday night.

We didn’t have any set plans.  On Friday he picked me up at the airport.  When we arrived at his home, we had some cheese and crackers with a Prosecco drink.  

On Saturday morning, after a late breakfast, I organized his closet and some drawers. I had been wanting to do that since the first trip.  His home is very clean, but it needed some organizing, which I am happy to do.

After I was done, we took a walk into town, picked up nachos at Yellow Dog Eats and drove to the beach. There was a line to get into the beach at this time, so we started eating in the car.  We finally got settled in our spot at about 4pm.

It was great at the beach.  We sat looking to the ocean, people watching, got ice cream at the only vendor in the beach. In Brazil, there are a lot vendors on the beach.  Here there is only an ice cream truck that drives by.  And immediately I want ice cream.  Yes, sometimes I behave like a 5 year old.

We would have stayed longer, but at 7 pm the beach was closing.  When we got home we were supposed to get ready and go to dinner.  I was tired and decided to just order pizza.  We went to Baci Restaurant to pick it up.

It was delicious. Then while stopping at a convenience store to get lemons, I saw Dippin Dots ice cream (some version of it), and I had to bring it home for dessert.  At home,  I made a drink of Prosecco and St Germain.  I had two drinks and fell sleep while sitting on the couch.  I think it was a combination of the ocean and the alcohol that made me just pass out.

“It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy;—it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.” ― Jane Austen

Next day, Sunday, we had a late breakfast. Then I organized the pantry.  I love organizing, and he seems to enjoy my interest in doing that.

We spent the morning at home talking about investments, and other subjects.  I want to retire as soon as possible and join him in travels and adventures.

We were supposed to go to a couple of stores to get some little things for his home, and for me to have it there when I come, but instead we shopped online. I got bathroom rugs, hangers, small containers for Q-tips, a phone charger, Valrhona chocolate for my coffee, a bath robe, etc.  He wants to make sure that I have all I need there.  So thoughtful!

After shopping instead of having lunch, we decided to just drive to the airport.  I was not hungry, but we left in plenty of time so we could stop for lunch if we wanted to. We stopped by Publix to see if they had asiago cheese Einstein bagels for my sister.  His idea.

I ended up eating at at the airport.  I had rice and beef at the Delta lounge. It was delicious. No kidding.  I wrote Delta to let them know.

Speaking of delicious, everything about this trip was delicious. All was perfect, laid back, fun,no pressure. We seem to just mesh so well.  He is very easy going. With him I feel calmer.

He will be here any minute to spend a few days.  We don’t have a lot planned.  We will be doing life together, going to Costco, cook, go out to eat.  He will fix some stuff around the apartment for me, as well as my sister’s apartment.

All is great!!

The celebrity on the plane this time was Chevy Chase. Seeing him made me want to watch European Vacation again.

Please forgive typos, and other errors.  I don’t have time to edit this, and wanted you all to have an update.  This love continues to blossom. Thank you all for your good wishes!

“I was for a while troubled with the haunting fear that if I handled the flower freely its bloom would fade—the sweet charm of freshness would leave it. I did not know then that it was no transitory blossom, but rather the radiant resemblance of one, cut in an indestructible gem.” ― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre