Free 411 Directory Service

Here's something I heard on the radio this morning, and it's a service we'll all want to start using. The phone number is 1-800-FREE-411 (1-800-373-3411). The website explaining the service is www.free411.com. I checked into it, and it works.

Here's how it works. It's just like the regular service except before you get your number, you hear a short message from an advertiser. It's really short and not obtrusive. If you're like me and use 411 a lot, this service will save you some money each month.

Good luck and make it a great day!

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The Secret As Seen on Oprah

Did you see the Oprah Winfrey show about The Secret? It's a new motivational/inspirational DVD and system for empowering everyone to succeed by utilizing a "Secret" that successful people for centuries have been using. I didn't see the Oprah episode, but I was curious about what the Secret is. I found the video below on YouTube. It is the first 20 minutes of the Secret DVD. It's pretty interesting stuff.

In essense, the Secret is that "Your Thoughts and Your Feelings determine your future." It's obviously more in-depth than that, but that is the basic principle. What's interesting about this is that it's not just pumping yourself full of positive thoughts, but rather training yourself to attract whatever it is you are thinking about. This does make sense because it works both ways.

Have any of you seen the entire DVD? Anyone here using the Secret? If you have, I'd love to hear your feedback. Use this comment form to share your "secrets". If you want your comments to be private and not shared with my readers, don't worry. All comments have to be approved first before they go live. Personally, I haven't seen the full length movie, but I plan on it just to see for myself. I can't condone or condemn the program because I haven't seen it yet. I do know this, if you want to see the movie, rather than pay $30 for the DVD, just watch it online at their website for only $4.95.

Good luck and keep your thoughts positive! Now, enjoy the first 20 minutes of the Secret:



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The Evolution of Dance

Here's a little entertainment for you on this Friday. If you haven't seen this before, you're in for a treat. It's six minutes that you'll really enjoy.

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Lauren's Second Letter from Honduras

For those of you who are new to Positive Pelham, a friend of mine named Lauren has joined the Peace Corps and is going to be blogging about her experience in Honduras over the coming months. To find out more about Lauren, click here to read all of her letters. She's a special person doing a very good thing. Here is her second post. If you'd like to send her a message, you can use this comment form. Make it a great day!

Disclaimer -- "The following article does not reflect the opinions of the Peace Corps or the US government"

--Lauren's Second Letter from Honduras--
Hello everyone!

Sorry it has been awhile since I have written. They keep us pretty busy during training. We just finished four weeks of training in the town outside of Teguc. They have taught us about HIV/AIDS, STIs, nutrition/malnutrition, latrines, breast feeding, and diarrhea/respiratory diseases in children. A lot was a repeat from nursing school, but it’s always good to have refresher classes. Especially considering causes and treatments differ so much in other countries.

We also had our second language interview last week. I moved up past the level needed in order to be sworn in as a PCV! So at least that pressure is off, but I still have a long way to go. Language is definitely the most frustrating part about being here. The language classes we have are really good but it’s been really hard for me to stay focused in a classroom setting from 7:30-4:30 everyday - actually more like impossible. I feel like I have ADD =). But, only seven more weeks of training.

Part of me can’t wait until training is over, but then I know I am really going to miss my friends when we get moved to our individual sites. Two weekends ago we all went on volunteer visits to spend 3 days with current PCVs. I went to a town in the East to visit a Youth Development Volunteer, who has been in Honduras since June. She was really sweet and we had a lot in common, so we had a great time together. I went with her to give charlas (basically interactive lectures) to students at a primary school. She teaches business classes, English classes, art classes, and has a health club. It was a really great opportunity to hear what it is like to be a PCV and what to expect! Another interesting thing that happened was Friday I started to break out in an allergic rash and when I woke up on Saturday it was all over my arms and legs, even after taking Benydrl the night before.

So the doctors had me go to the hospital in Tegucigalpa where they gave me an IV with Solumedrol (steroid), which helped the rash a little, but I still have it on my arms and left hand. So we’re not really sure what it is from. If it does not go away in the next few days the PC Dr. is going to send me to a dermatologist in Teguc.

Well, Sunday we had to say goodbye to our amazing families because we left for field-based training. This is when the 51 of us split up into our three projects (health, business, and water and sanitation) and go to different cities where we get more field-specific, hands-on training. The 20 of us on the health team are in a bigger city now, sort of in the valley of some mountains. I was really nervous about my new family; because my family was so great before, this new one had a lot to live up to!

But my family here is wonderful too! Our city is pretty nice. Four internet cafes, hiking, hot springs for swimming, even a gym. And my family has a really nice house. My parents have four grown children, who all have children. They live in a compound with 3 houses so I am constantly surrounded by my little friends! Ruth and Victor are 6, Roberto is 7, Daniel and David are 8, Sara is 11, and Fernanda is 12. Ruth is my best friend here! She helped me unpack and we play doctor, take pictures, and dance to Shakira!

I have a big room with a TV with 70 channels (including HBO & Showtime!) and my own bathroom, which feels so bizarre considering I was expecting no TV for 2 years. My family has a washing machine too! The only thing is they don’t have an electroducha (warm shower) so you have to boil water and then pour it into a bucket and take a bucket shower, but I actually really like it. My family has cows, horses, and a coffee fica (farm) in the mountains. This is funny, my sister Melissa’s (29) boyfriend’s family owns an EGGPLANT farm!! How bizarre is that considering my obsession =) It is typically all exported to the US but they are going to get some for me! My mom has been amazing too about the vegan stuff. So far I have been really lucky. Well tomorrow we start language classes and we are having a charla about "In Charge of My life", which will teach us how to run Youth support/leadership groups in our communities so that should be interesting. Sorry I don’t have much more interesting to say considering we spend all day in classes but hopefully after training my emails will get better =)

Miss you all and I hope everyone is doing well!

Con Amor

Lorena

President Bush's Visit to Enterprise Alabama

The email below was sent to me by a friend who lives in Enterprise, Alabama. It was written by someone in Enterprise. She is relaying a message told by an ABI officer who attends Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Enterprise. The officer was with President Bush when he visited.

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There is a man at Ridgecrest who is an ABI officer. He got up last night and told us about having the honor of being paired with one of the secret service men who were with President Bush Saturday in Enterprise. He said when they started walking through the rubble at the school they came upon four students waiting for the President.

They were in an area where on the floor there was a emblem that read EHS Class of 65. When the President approached the students he asked which one of you is the president (I assume president of the student body)? One of of the girls kind of raised her hand and said I am then she hung her head and started to cry. President Bush wrapped his arms around her and the other three joined them. Barry, the ABI officer said President Bush started to cry and said "It's tough being the president isn't it." Barry said he talked with them a little longer. He said he was very close to the President but couldn't hear every word that was spoken, but he could tell that the President was quoting scripture.

After a while the President started walking again and said he wanted the emblem preserved whatever it took. The Mayor then spoke up and said they would take care of it and President Bush turned to him and said "I was speaking to the President." I bet that the Mayor closed his mouth then!!! and then President Bush said "by the way where are my children"? The four students who were lagging behind came running up to him and walked the rest of the way over to the church with him. The media were sent to a different area Barry said. When President Bush got inside the church to meet with the families of those that had been killed the secret serviceman turned to Barry and said this is as far as we go. This is his time with them.

Barry then asked him if the President was protected and the secret servicemen said yes, he is protected, but not by us. Barry could hardly contain himself as he was telling us this last night. He said he told the secret service man that he wished everyone could witness what he just did, then they could see that the most powerful man in the United States was just another human being, a father, a comforter, a friend and had true compassion for these people. However the media does not portray that, big surprise! Of course I don't tell this story with the humility that Barry did because he was there, but I thought you might like to hear it.

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You've Gotta Give If You Want To Receive

Hello all,

I was browsing through some stories online when I found a story on NPR online that originally aired on NPR's All Things Considered radio show back in April of 2005. The title of the segment was In Giving, I Connect With Others.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

"I have lived with passion and in a hurry, trying to accomplish too many things. I never had time to think about my beliefs until my 28-year-old daughter Paula fell ill. She was in a coma for a year and I took care of her at home, until she died in my arms in December of 1992."

"Paralyzed and silent in her bed, my daughter Paula taught me a lesson that is now my mantra: You only have what you give. It's by spending yourself that you become rich.

Paula led a life of service. She worked as a volunteer helping women and children, eight hours a day, six days a week. She never had any money, but she needed very little. When she died she had nothing and she needed nothing. During her illness I had to let go of everything: her laughter, her voice, her grace, her beauty, her company and finally her spirit. When she died I thought I had lost everything. But then I realized I still had the love I had given her."

"Because of Paula, I don't cling to anything anymore. Now I like to give much more than to receive. I am happier when I love than when I am loved. I adore my husband, my son, my grandchildren, my mother, my dog, and frankly I don't know if they even like me. But who cares? Loving them is my joy.

Give, give, give -- what is the point of having experience, knowledge or talent if I don't give it away? Of having stories if I don't tell them to others? Of having wealth if I don't share it? I don't intend to be cremated with any of it! It is in giving that I connect with others, with the world and with the divine."

To read the complete article, please go to this page on NPR's website.

Give to receive. We've all heard it a million times, but how many of us actually practice this approach to life on a daily basis? If more people did, life would be a whole lot easier for us all.

Make it a great day!

Thought for the Day

I'm not sure who said this, but I came across it this morning. I know I'm guilty of this.

People would enjoy life more if, once they got what they wanted, they could remember how much they wanted it.

Law and Order Might Finally Be Brought to the White House

It looks like Law & Order actor and former Tennessee Senator, Fred Thompson, might be making a run at the White House. The conservative Republican said he's leaving the doors open while he evaluates the other Republican presidential candidates and their positions.

Besides Rudy Giuliani and possibly Mitt Romney, none of the other candidates in the race right now have a chance to beat Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in my opinion. Here is how Thompson stands on some of the key issues: (From Yahoo.com)

• Is "pro-life," and believes federal judges should overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision as "bad law and bad medical science."
• Opposes gay marriage, but would let states decide whether to allow civil unions. "Marriage is between a man and a woman, and judges shouldn't be allowed to change that."
• Opposes gun control, and praised last week's 2-1 federal appeals decision overturning a long-standing handgun ban. "The court basically said the Constitution means what it says."
• Supports President Bush's decision to increase troops in Iraq. "Wars are full of mistakes. You rectify them. I think we are doing that now," he said. "We've got to give it a chance to work."
• Would pardon former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice now, rather than waiting until all his appeals are exhausted. Libby is "bearing the political brunt of something that should've never come about," Thompson said, noting that "practically every witness at trial had inconsistent statements."

To read the complete article, please go to this page on Yahoo.com.

What do you think about Fred Thompson? Would it be a good move for him to enter the race? Do you think he could beat Hillary or Obama? Before I give my opinion on him, I need to find out more about him, but I like his stand on the issues, and his presence on film is great. Remember Ronald Reagan folks.... In my opinion, the president's job is 75% acting and 25% substance. His main job no matter what is going on is to ACT in control and in charge. Fred Thompson could definitely do that.

Make it a great day!

Lauren's First Letter From Honduras

For those of you who are new to Positive Pelham, a friend of mine named Lauren has joined the Peace Corps and is going to be blogging about her experience in Honduras over the coming months. To find out more about Lauren, click here to read her introduction from a few weeks ago. She's a special person doing a very good thing. Here is her first post. If you'd like to send her a message, you can use this comment form. Make it a great day!

Disclaimer -- "The following article does not reflect the opinions of the Peace Corps or the US government"

--Lauren's First Letter from Honduras--

Hi Everyone!

Well I have been in Honduras now for almost two weeks. We got snowed in while at pre-staging training in DC and ended up there for a week instead of two days. It was actually really nice to be there for that long because we all got to know each other pretty well during that time and we had time to hangout in Georgetown and DC. There are 51 of us volunteers. I would say 95% are under 30…most being 22-26. We have one 40 year old volunteer and 4 married couples in their 20s. It’s about 60% girls-40% guys. Everyone is really nice and I already have some great friends in my group.

Well we flew into San Pedro Sula a week ago Sunday…that is the first and last time that we will be there since San Pedro Sula is a banned city in Honduras for Peace Corps volunteers (PCV) since it is as dangerous as Colombia. We took a four hour bus ride to a beautiful little town outside the capital, Tegucigalpa.

I am living with the best family! We live in a cute house, with rooms open to an outside patio. I have my own room. I am lucky because they have a washing machine, while the other volunteers have to hand wash their clothes using a “pila” and we have an Electroducha, which is a shower with hot water…which is REALLY nice because this town is in the mountains so it gets really chilly here at night and in the mornings.

Our town is basically a beautiful resort town outside of Teguc so it is probably nothing like where we will be placed after there first 3 months of training…but we are loving it here for now. The locals are used to having Gringas here so it feels very safe. My family has three children…Marcio is 20, Iris is 17, and Jairo is 16....and a bird named Polly. The mom, Sandra is wonderful. She is so sweet and works so hard around the house...her job title is Ama de la Casa..which means Heart of the House =) She cooks me all vegan food which is absolutely amazing!.......By the way Mom and Vida...she got eggplant in Tegus last weekend and made it for me today!!!!! I was so excited!

I get up at 5:00 in the mornings to go running with a few other volunteers. We have classes at our training center from 7:30-4:30 Monday-Friday. We have been placed in Spanish classes based on our language level. I am at Intermedio bajo so I need to go up one more level before I can be sworn in as a PCV in 2 months. I have forgotten pretty much all of my Spanish from my four years off so I am behind most of the volunteers (who studied or lived abroad)…but I’m hoping it will come back pretty quick.

We are put in classes of 3-5 PCV per Spanish teacher so we have a lot of support. We have language classes all morning, then our “moms” walk our lunches to the center everyday….which is so nice. In the afternoons we have other classes about safey & security, honduran culture or specific to our projects. The 51 of us are in 3 different projects…business, water & sanitation, and health. There are 20 of us in the health project. Three of my closest friends are in the health project with me so that’s really nice. We are getting really great training on STIs, AIDS, etc. We had a doctor from USAID come talk to us last week which was really interesting.

After classes and during the weekend we have been exploring, hiking to see the sunrise, sunset, playing futbol (soccer), hiking, going out, studying, hanging out with our families…(Iris, Jairo and I watched the Notebook with Spanish subtitles on my laptop the other night so that was fun!) This weekend I am going with my good friends Kyle, Chris, Regina, and Leah to hike at a National Park. On Sunday my mom is taking Kyle and me to the market and mall in Tegucigalpa. We are all getting cell phones…and it is FREE (no minutes used) to receive calls so I can receive calls from the US easily! Well that’s all for now…I could write all day but I don’t want to bore anyone too much.

Please keep in touch!

En Paz

Lauren

By the way my new name here is Lorena =)

--

P.S. If you haven't signed up for the Positive Pelham newsletter yet, please send a blank email to PositivePelham@gmail.com with the words "Subscribe to the PositivePelham newsletter" in the subject line. I send out an email once a week with a recap of the week's posts. And, I take your privacy very seriously. I only use your email to send you the newsletter. No spam. I promise.

Thanks! - J. Anthony.

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Be Careful When Playing The Lottery

For all of you who play the lottery and hope to one day be able to quit your job....

Make sure to double and triple check your numbers before you do something you're going to regret...

Good luck today.

Make it a great one!

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Bare Necessities Animal Video

Okay, this one is for all you pet owners out there. It's about five minutes long. It's a lot of cute, funny, sweet and weird pictures of animals set to the song Bare Necessities. I think you'll like it, and if you have kids, they'll love it.

Make it a great day and enjoy the video!

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Tornado Relief For Alabama and Georgia

Good morning everyone. For those of us not living in Enterprise, AL, Americus, GA and the surrounding communities, life goes on as normal. But, for those living in these areas, life is anything but normal after the devastating tornadoes last week.

Some of you who read my blog know that I grew up in Dothan, Alabama, which is only about 30 miles away from Enterprise. In high school, Enterprise was one of my high school's (Northview High School) biggest rivals, and I know how close knit this community is. The devastation particularly hit my mother hard because she personally knew some of the people whose homes were destroyed in the Echo community.

As a way of helping the victims, here are some different links to websites where you can learn how you can help either through financial contributions or through volunteer work. Any assistance will help. Events like this remind me why I write this blog. Life is short. Life is unpredictable. Life is hard. Life is challenging.

But, life can also be wonderful if you focus on the positive and help those who are having a hard time focusing on the positive. We're all in this together, so let's help these people get back on their feet so they can start enjoying the life we are enjoying right now.

To help the victims in Alabama:

Donate Money or Food

Volunteer to Help in Person

To help the victims in Georgia:

Visit the Americus Chapter of the Red Cross

If you know of other areas where people can donate to help, please use this comment form to let others know.

Thank you and make it a great day!