The Howell Blessings

St. Patrick’s Day is one holiday that most of the world enjoys celebrating. These days, celebrating St. Patty’s Day means green clothes, green drinks, and green rivers, with the loose interpretation of an Irish shamrock meets the luck of the Irish and “Kiss me, I’m Irish." The real story behind St. Patrick’s Day begins with a teenager, who was believed to be named Maewyn Succat. He was not even Irish! At the age of 16, Maewyn was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland as a sheepherder. It was there that he learned the Irish language and began to pray to the God his parents had told him about. Maewyn was in slavery for about six years when he escaped.  It is said that he had a dream from God telling him to walk along the coast and find a ship waiting to sail to Britain.  He did as God told him  in his dream and there was a ship, and he escaped. There are many stories as to the timeline of Maewyn’s life, but one thing everyone agrees on is that aft...

‘Twas the night of Thanksgiving and all through the house There are leftovers, and crumbs, and “Oh! …Is that a mouse?” The food and clean dishes were put away with such care Hopes that the kitchen remains clean, is now my current prayer. At the end of a long day, my honey and I went to bed With visions of stuffing, and pies, potatoes and bread… Remembering “Grandpapa and Nana” spoken sweetly from our laps, Thoughts of our babies remind me that gifts need to be wrapped. Still thinking sweetly today of last night’s sweet chatter, It’s off to make lunch, geesh; I’m already getting fatter! I remembered my healthy option that I hid in my cache I threw open the fridge, but could not find my stash. I stood there a moment, completely aloof Then I had a thought that could raise the roof! Instead of eating leftovers that could cause a heart attack Why don’t I make a smoothie, and then hit the NordicTrack! So I made a blended mix that had spinach and cherr...

Spring is coming up fast! I, for one, am ready for it. The house has been closed up since late autumn; Christmas brought extra things to store and I am ready for Spring Cleaning. During this time of the year I always get excited to start purging clutter, organizing rooms and “stuff”, cleaning the house and detoxifying my body. My body needs to be cleared out from all the holiday yummies I allowed myself to have and that are now sitting heavy on my belly. Detox is a hot word these days. It was once known mostly for rehabilitation from drug and alcohol use, but more currently there are detox programs for weight loss and other various health and mental ailments. Detoxification is being used for our insides, outsides, and can be used to cleanse our mental state of mind too. Detoxification is defined as the process of removing toxic substances or qualities. Our liver and kidneys are great partners in cleansing our body of unwanted toxins and foreign substances that could potentially...