5 STARS by Fizza Younis

It's a very good contemporary fiction about second chances, love, mending the fences, and healing from old wounds. I think that it's very well-written and I liked all the characters. I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to those who like contemporary stories about love and family.
Julia and Carl are recently divorced. She had just moved to her father's vacation home when she meets Nick. Nick is a single dad and a widower. He liked Julia right from the beginning and as the two spend more time together they slowly fall in love. However, there are things in their pasts that are still haunting them and they are reluctant to take a leap of faith.
Nick's wife had died leaving him to care for his only son. Julia's ex-husband Carl is having trouble and she feels that she must help him. Especially since there is no one else in his life who would do it. But what will it mean for her and Nick?
There are pasts scars that are haunting these characters. Their stories are intertwined and their fates too. Will things get better for all three of them or will they destroy each other's lives? These are some of the questions that are answered in this sweet, romantic, and emotional novel.
All in all, it's a great read. I found it highly entertaining and I think others will enjoy it too.

​I made this for dinner tonight. It's one of my family's favorites so I thought I'd share.

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken 1/4” thick. 
Olive oil
Milk to cover chicken 
1 cup grated Romano and /or Parmigiana cheese
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups white wine
8 oz chicken broth
Juice of 2 large lemons
Salt and pepper

In large bowl, pour milk over chicken enough to cover. Leave for at least 1 hour. This is a tenderizer. Mix breadcrumbs and cheese. Heat oil in large non-stick pan. Dredge each chicken breast in breadcrumb mixture. Braise in oil until  golden and place in 9 x 13 greased baking dish. Once chicken braising is complete, in the same pan add wine. Cook 3 minutes. Add lemon juice and broth . Cook together 5 minutes. ( I always double the wine but 1 cup is plenty if that’s your preference) if there is a lot of loose crumbs on bottom, I strain the liquid and pour over chicken. Sprinkle salt  pepper on the chicken. Add some sliced lemons over top. Cover with foil and bake 45 Minutes 375. Remove foil and continue baking another 30 minutes. ​

To find more of my recipes, visit : Recipes, Food Facts, and More by Donna Marie

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When I open the fridge and see this pitcher of lemon cucumber water, the first word in my mind is refreshing. After some research, I’ve discovered that my new beverage of choice is not only refreshing, it provides various health advantages, as well.  Here are a few of the benefits to think about when you prepare and drink your lemon cucumber water.

•        Lemons and cucumbers are natural immunity boosters due to their elements of vitamin C and antioxidants. This is a perfect thirst quenching drink to protect against disease.
•        Cucumbers contain a mineral known as silica which is often referred to as the anti-aging secret. Silica promotes the formation of collagen and elastin, proteins needed for strength and elasticity of tissues. 
•        Since lemons and cucumbers are alkaline promoting foods, a pH level will be better balanced to provide optimal health.
•        When drinking a lemon cucumber beverage first thing in the morning, you can count on more energy due to the vitamins and nutrients.
•        Many claim that a beverage with lemons and cucumbers reduces menopausal symptoms. Cucumbers are natural diuretics that will combat that bloated feeling. Hot flashes may also be reduces, as well. 
•        The citrus flavonoids of lemons aid in digestion and liver cleansing. ​
•        For the most flavorful, maximum benefit, infuse cucumber and lemon in water for at least four hours or overnight. 

Over the past 15 years, I've worked in the home health care field in a non-clinical role. Although not a nurse, I know many and have utmost respect for the men and women who choose to sacrifice so much as caregivers for the ill. Time and time again, I've heard how amazing a hospice team is for a terminally ill patient. Never did I realize just how very special a hospice nurse, nurse's aide, social worker, chaplain, and volunteer is to the patient and their family until my mother was admitted to hospice.
 
Mom fought Multiple Myeloma for nearly eight years. Such a prognosis was unheard of for a woman of her age. Her determination to be with the family she treasured kept her motivated. The months between chemotherapy when she felt more herself to enjoy a somewhat normal life with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren was all she needed to tackle the next round of treatment, even though it made her so ill during that time.
 
The last two events my mother longed to live for was my son's wedding and the birth of her 9th great-grandchild. With God and all the angels above, she was able to enjoy both of those special events. Shortly thereafter, this beautiful woman became tired, and disease was overtaking her body. Even then, she wondered if another round of treatment would help. But, her illness was too advanced and there was nothing more we could do but keep her comfortable.
 
Because she was suffering with much pain, it was suggested that hospice would be the best way of keeping her comfortable. Since her needs surpassed our ability to care for her at home, the decision to place my mom in a hospice residence did not come easy, especially because of her continuous will to live, even at her age of 91. A medical social worker guided us through the process of her admission to hospice care.

When Mom was moved to the place we knew would be her bridge to heaven, my sister, brother, and I were immediately overcome with a calmness as the atmosphere was full of love and compassion from the first words spoken to us as we registered her into the home. While signing appropriate documents with the registrar, a nurse and an aide went into my mother's new room and closed the door behind them. Apparently, they were getting her set up in her new surroundings. After she was clean, fluffed, and tucked, the three of us stepped in to be with her and were mesmerized of her home-like comfortable surroundings. It was not only a room for Mom, it was a room for all of us. When someone says hospice takes care of the patient as well as the family, I now have an understanding of just what that means. The bed wasn’t a standard hospital bed. Mom's bed was large enough for three so we could be next to her whenever we wanted, which was often.
 
Her pain was always attended to by the nurses. They knew just when she needed less, and then needed more. Mom already looked more content than she had been in weeks. Throughout her time there, the staff continued giving her whatever she required for comfort care. At the same time, they always asked what they could do for us. A priest and chaplain prayed with us. Volunteers crocheted for us a memory square which was accompanied with a prayer. The entire family, children, pets and all were welcomed for visits. With the spaciousness of her room, my brother, sister, and I were with Mom day and night since it was indicated it wouldn’t be long before she’d leave us. At times, we sat in the beautiful chapel and prayed, ate as a family in the full kitchen where cookies were baked fresh every day, or took comfort in front of the fireplace set in a sitting room which even had a grand piano.
 
The more hours which passed, the less mom verbalized. However, the staff assured us she would  hear whatever we were saying. Due to her vitals and other signs, the nurse expressed she was close to the end. We told mom she’d see Dad very soon, and that they’d be dancing together once again. When she was taking her last breaths, the nurse confirmed it was over, and mom was passing. We kissed her, we cried, we held her hand until her last breath. As sad as it was to see the death of our mom, it was also a beautiful moment to feel we somehow guided her peacefully to the angels.
 
Without the hospice team of people being at our beck and call, I don’t believe we would have had the same experience. Whether a hospice team cares for a patient in his or her own home, in a hospital setting, or in a residential type hospice home, the care they give is tremendously selfless and superlative. They are the experts. They know what a patient and family needs. They care, they comfort, and they provide compassion to all involved with their patient at the end of their time.

Self-talk is the inner conversation you continually have with yourself throughout every moment of the day. Either your self-talk flow of unending thoughts will originate from logical reasoning. Or, the negative inner voice takes over and crushes any morsel of positive thinking. Listen closely to what your inner voices are telling you. Are you regularly putting yourself down? The following are clues that your self-talk is on a negative slope:

FILTERING signifies you are accentuating the negativity of any given situation while filtering away any positivity. One thing will go wrong when ten will go right. However, that one wrong issue will hound your mind for the day.

PERSONALIZING will occur when you find blame in yourself with any situation which goes the wrong direction. The garbage man forgets to take the filled recycle bin. But, you say to yourself that you didn’t place it close enough to the curb to be noticed.

CATASTROPHIZING is a sense of anticipating only awful things will happen due to any less than pleasant occurrence during the day. You sleep through your alarm and are late for work. In your thoughts, the rest of the entire day just has to be terrible.

POLARIZING is the need to be perfect. If you are not, you are useless because there is no in-between. At least that’s the way you may feel when polarizing. There is no gray area in life, only black or only white.

Intervene your negative self-talk to positive thoughts.
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• Make a conscious daily effort to listen to your inner thoughts. If negative, turn them around to be positive.
• Smile and laugh. It’s the best natural blues buster and may also bust negative self-talk.
• Exercise whenever possible. Something as simple as a 10 minute brisk walk will play a role in relieving stress.
• Avoid mingling with negative people. They will bring you down.
• Encourage your self-talk to be positive. Tell yourself things you would publicly announce. If you wouldn’t say it out loud, you shouldn’t say it to yourself.
• Unfortunate things sometimes happen. The key is to find a glimpse of positive in every negative.