Life Perspective: Reviews & More

Holidays are sad and lonely times for many people -- a poem and a devotional. Yule Haiku -- A Devotional about Holiday Loneliness | Christian Activities

Patriots For Economic Freed om - a federal political action committee has no shame. In their efforts to defeat Debbie Wasserman Schultz they resort to a continuous spam technique that has conservative who really don't like Debbie equally offended by Joe Kaufman, the candidate Patriots For Economic Freed om keeps pushing on us. Ignoring multiple requests to be removed from the list, the negative spammy messages keep filling up my inbox -- sometimes twice a day. To make matters worse, most conservatives already know Schultz is a left-wing lacky, but instead of telling us anything substantial about Kaufman, the spammy messages just continue to tell us all the bad things about Debbie. Don't get me wrong -- I no longer want to know ANYTHING about Kaufman after the barrage of spam, but Patriots For Economic Freed om has certainly done NOTHING to earn votes for Kaufman. I thought there were laws about adding people to lists without permission ...

 I don't have the answer on the Syrian refugee crisis. It is a complicated issue. Maybe my own story will shed some light one one angle of the debate. I don't plan to address the elephant in the room -- the fact some of these "starving refugees" look like strapping, seasoned soldiers and potential terrorists, because that is not a topic I feel qualified to discuss. But here is the OTHER problem I see with bringing these refugees into our communities. Read more at:  Syrian Refugees Need Aid? So do the Disabled, Sick, Widows, Orphans & Vets | Christian Activities

"The Road Less Traveled" by Robert Frost has resonated with me since junior high. I have often taken the road less traveled in my life both figuratively and literally. Yesterday my hiking buddy Lisa and I literally took the road less traveled on the Hike for the Homeless opting for the longer walk even though she has a bad knee and I am having some issues with my hip. We both left feeling a bit whipped but exhilarated. The road less traveled will do that to you. Read my devotional at: Taking the Road Less Traveled -- Christian Activities

The 16th annual Día de los Muertos took place Oct. 24 at Cheekwood Botanical Garden in Belle Meade. The popular Latin American family celebration was filled with activities including live performances, an international marketplace, food trucks with Latin cuisine and interactive art activities for everyone. Translated as “Day of the Dead,” Día de los Muertos is a day-long celebration for Nashville’s Hispanic population as well as for families throughout the area. The colorful festivities included face painting, shopping, watching the Aztec dancers, eating Mexican food at the food trucks, live music, coloring skull masks, interesting dolls , and enjoying the beautiful grounds all decked out for Cheekwood Harvest with flowers, pumpkins and scarecrows. The weather was overcast but nice and crowds of all ages certainly enjoyed the festival. Kathryn Darden with artist Julia Gauthier-Burciaga More from this writer: Bellvue Area Examiner * Skin, Health & Beauty ...

The 46th Annual GMA Dove Awards were handed out in 41 categories on Oct. 13 along with four special awards. Co-hosted by Erica Campbell and Duck Dynasty's Sadie Robertson, the night drew a record attendance at the Allen Arena on the campus of Lipscomb University. Read the article at: 46th Dove Awards honors Christian music's best (photos)

I have to brag on Apple tonight. After NINE MONTHS of calling Apple Care and going to the Genius Bar, and going through THREE PHONES and experiencing a lot of doubt from Apple that I was having all the problems I was saying I was having, they finally identified the problem as a bug in the first phone that transferred every time I backed up and restored my data. In other words, every time they gave me a new phone and told me to restore from my backup, the bug came along for th e ride. So after losing so much time over this and peace of mind over this, Apple made it right. Tonight Apple replaced my iPhone 6+ Gold with the new iPhone 6S Plus Gold with FOUR TIMES the storage of my original iPhone. This phone is just as thin but weighs more apparently due to sturdier components. I am very thankful and hopeful and optimistic this will be a wonderful solution and blessing. Single women over 60 don't have a lot of power in this world, but single women who use social media...

Today marks the end of my ninth month with my Gold Apple iPhone 6+ and to celebrate, I spent another four hours on the phone with Apple Care. To say this journey has been a disappointment is a vast understatement. Calling it a nightmare would be more accurate. I told Nikthia, the very nice and very helpful rep who helped me tonight (one of FOUR reps I spoke with tonight) that  I could have given birth during the time it is taking me to try to get the issues resolved. Apparently I got a defective iPhone last December. When Apple convinced me it was my carrier and NOT the phone, and persuaded me to leave T-Mobile and go with the pricier Sprint, they gave me a new Sprint compatible phone and had me restore my old data from a backup. Apparently the bug was passed along with the backup making my 2nd phone also defective, but it has taken months to figure this out. I have been calling Sprint every few weeks asking them to help me reset my phone because I would lose my ability to ...

Two of my life-long favorite artists are combining forces again this year for their popular Christmas Tour.  Michael W. Smith will once again bring holiday cheer to arenas, coliseums and theaters to more than a dozen markets this holiday season through his nationwide Christmas tour. Smith’s long-time friend and fellow GRAMMY® winner Amy Grant will co-bill with him in select cities including Houston, Dallas, Minneapolis, Sioux Falls, St. Louis, Atlanta, Greensboro and Fairfax. The evening will feature favorites from Smith’s latest Christmas release Michael W. Smith & Friends: The Spirit of Christmas, which includes an all-star lineup of guests – Vince Gill, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Amy Grant, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Nettles, Bono and Michael McDonald. Article at: Multi-Platinum Selling Singer Michael W. Smith Announces Return of Nationwide Christmas Tour with Amy Grant in Select Markets ...

Right before the Nashville flood my water heater went out and was still under warranty but Whirlpool would not replace it, so I went without hot water for a YEAR! It was a short in the thermostat system and the heater just would not heat. I boiled water like a frontier woman for a little over a year, because I knew Whirlpool was supposed to replace a defective heater that was still under warranty, and I didn't have the money to buy a new water heater after all my flood losses.  Finally, after a year, Lowes was able to get Whirlpool to do the right thing. Well, that relatively new hot water heater is now spewing 2 gallons of hot water everywhere every couple of days although I keep releasing all the pressure at the pressure valve which I do every year anyway. Once again Whirlpool does not want to replace it although Lowes says that much water every other day indicates a defective heater, and once again I have turned to Lowe's to help me get results. So far I...

Home Depot offers customers the opportunity to write a public review of their recent experience and then after the customer takes the time to write the review, follows up to say they are "not quite ready to display store reviews." Since Home Depot #0722 won't display my store review from last week, I will do it for them. This experience is another reason I prefer and recommend Lowe's : Your opinion is very important to us and the Home Depot community. Thank you for taking time to provide feedback about your experience in our #0722 Nashville store. We are not quite ready to display store reviews on homedepot.com , however, we are working to build this functionality which will be ready soon. Once the new functionality is available, we will proudly display your feedback on the #0722 Nashville store page. In the meantime, we will share your review with the Store Operations Team. Thanks again! Extremely...

After my ongoing problems with Apple , I finally got an appointment with the Genius Bar set for the past Monday. I had a conflict, so I called and canceled my appointment last Friday and tried to move it to the following Monday. Apple Care said they could not set an appointment more than a week out and arranged a call for me today. Sure enough, an automated call came in at about 3pm, but when the representative picked up, he had no notes and no idea why I was on the line. In addition, he didn't speak English well and I had to repeat myself more than once. At the end of the long call, he said he was sending me an email with the notes and confirmation. When I got the email, it had no info. The case number didn't pull up anything but an error message that said the case number and email did not match, so I had to call Apple back. I spoke to Yilka who said she didn't show any call for today, and I said, "Hold on, I have a case number right here," and I gave he...

There is a depression in the ground I have covered with tarp to keep water out until I can have some rocks and stones put in to fill it. An Eastern Box Turtle found his way into the depression, but he couldn't get out. Instead he scrabbled at the tarp trying to get a foothold but ended up shredding the plastic and getting the strands wrapped around his legs and pulled into his shell. He literally became attached to the tarp at each leg and all around his shell. A crazy whim drew me to the tarp this week which sits well out of view of my house hidden in some bushes and wild cane. I decided to trim back the tarp and see if the cane might stabilize the depression. As I pulled some of the tarp away, up came the turtle, securely attached to the tarp. I couldn't lift him off but had to go get scissors to cut a circle around his shell so I could begin the task of trying to get him free. It soon became clear there were too many strands of shredded tarp pulled around his legs and...

Near the end of 2014, I purchased my first iPhone from the Apple Store in Green Hills (Nashville). The man who sold me the phone recommended T-Mobile as having the best-priced service for what I needed, and I left the Apple Store with a T-Mobile-compatible iPhone 6 Plus for a hefty chunk of change. By the next day I was having issues receiving calls when at home, dropped calls when on the road, and connecting to the internet. For a month or so I felt like a volleyball as T-Mobile would assure me I had a defective phone, and Apple would assure me the problems were with T-Mobile. After going through various trouble shooting and resets, the problem would seem to be fixed for a few days, but soon I would lose the signal at home, or experience increasing dropped calls or not be able to connect to the internet. After making numerous calls to Apple I got a case agent who would trouble shoot for me, and he finally convinced me the problems were with T-Mobile. I took my phone back to Ap...

Following both a landslide and a flood on my property, I have been trying to get my home repaired. I have interviewed a ton of contractors, decided to work with several and been terribly disappointed by most. Today I have had a couple of men installing gutter screens and adding gutters to my two bay windows that never had them, trying to get rid of more moisture around the house so it finally has a chance to dry out. I am tired of continually having mold and fungus issues following the Nashville flood. Lowe's: Never Stop Improving! I was able to go through Lowe's to get these contractors and have now used Lowes for home improvement several times. I must say, all the repairmen Lowes has sent out have done a GREAT job. These men arrived on time, did the work professionally, cleaned up, and all payments and scheduling went through Lowe's. If I have a problem, Lowe's backs me up. What could be easier? The only question I have is that both downspots were pla...

How Angie's List failed abysmally to live up to their hype. A couple of months ago, I signed up for a 3-year subscription to Angie's List in the hopes of finding repairmen and contractors to help me finish repairs to my house, damaged after the Nashville Flood. I was hoping for a long-term relationship, hence the 3-year enrollment, because the Angie's List ads sounded like this would be a great option for an older single woman. Make Hiring A Breeze With Our Reviews. Home Improvement Made Easy! I found the contractors on Angie's list no more reliable or professional and certainly no more reasonable than what I had found calling out of the phone book. However, what made me close my account and ask Angie's List to remove all my information was the disturbing experience I had with One Call Home Team and Angie's List's very minimal assistance in the matter. After being talked over by a pushy woman on the phone who was trying to talk me into a "...

Angie's List is not living up to expectations. On July 8, I called One Call Home Team via Angie's List. I explained my previous contractor disappeared for 3 1/2 weeks and then showed up wanting to be paid for the incomplete work, so I was looking for a company to finish the job and fix the parts that had not done correctly. I didn't mention that I had discovered he had liens out against him and was not insured or licensed as he had claimed, but I digress.... The woman went on and on about their company's do-it-yourself assessment that involved taking photos and measurements of the area to be repaired, filling out a form with a description, dimensions, etc, . When I tried to explain that I am not a contractor, am not sure what needs to be done to finish the project, and am not in a position to do the self-serve estimate for several reasons, she talked over me, asking me why I couldn't do this and that, and couldn't I estimate the square fo otage, etc. Sh...

The 4th of July is a great day to declare your SKINdependence! Since you can repair and eliminate many of the signs of aging, celebrate your SKINdependence this year with the anti-agi ng skincare products from the doctors who created Proactiv!  REVERSE your brown spots, SOOTHE your sensitive skin, UNBLEMISH your breakouts and REDEFINE your wrinkles, lines, and skin texture with our premium skincare products and advanced technology. Email skin_and_health@yahoo.com for more info on achieving healthy skin or Ask me how to save 10 - 60% on our clinical products.  HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

While most people assumed the liberal-leaning Supreme Court would make the decision to redefine the institution of marriage to accommodate homosexual couples, it is a decision that caused many leaders to voice their dissent. Several of the opposing Chief Justices felt their circumvented and reinvented the Constitution in making their ruling and some pointed to the history or diverse cutures where for thousands of years, marriage has been between a man and a woman. Other leaders felt the ruling unconstitutionally took the decision out of the American people's hands and put more power into the courts. Read more at:  Leaders Speak Out on Supreme Court Same-Sex Marriage Ruling | Christian Activities

My father and me  My father would be 105 if he were alive today. Although he has been gone for many year, and I am now a woman of 61, I still miss him very much. If you still have your dad, make peace, make up, and tell him you love him. Happy Father's Day! Father's Day Haiku How everlasting Are the bonds between fathers And their little girls. -- Kathryn Darden

Col. William Allen Darden For Father's Day, why not give your father the gift of appreciation? This collection of Father's Day poetry was written in honor of father's everywhere, but most especially, for my own father. Father's Day Acrostic F athers are not appreciated A s much as they should be. T hey toil at work and work at home H oping to meet out needs, E ach day beings new occasions -- R easons for appreciation, S howing thanks for his deeds. D ad, I wish I could tell you this, A s I sit with m y memories -- Y ou are so very dearly missed. From: Father's Day Acrostic - a Father's Day Poem Father's Day Haiku How everlasting Are the bonds between fathers And their little girls. May 11, 2009   From: Fathers & Daughters - a Father's Day Haiku Poem   For Father's Day For all the times I never told you thank you, For all the times I ignored what you said, For all the years I acted so indifferent, I want to say how much I thank yo...

 WARNING! Groupon deals may not always be as good as they seem!  On May 18 a Groupon ad appeared on a Facebook page I was visiting for a pair of 14K Solid Gold French Lock Hoop Earrings at an extreme discount of about 80% off the normal $200 price making the beautiful earrings shown only $24.95. Wow! $200-something earrings for only $24.95??? I couldn't sign up fast enough so I became a Groupon customer on the spot just to get the earrings. The earrings were 12mm which I assumed was diameter from the picture where the French lock shown was proportionately smaller than the rest of the earring. When I received the envelope from Groupon, I thought it was empty. I couldn't feel any lump or bump at all. I tore it open expecting to find nothing and shook the empty package just to make sure... and a tiny pair of earrings fell out, about the size of my pinkie fingernail. Doll-Sized Earrings Looking at the tiny earrings in my hand, I couldn't help but think the minia...

As a former Sears associate, I was so sad to hear from some of my friends who are still employed at the Bellevue store that the announcement was made that the store would be closing soon. With recent news of the redevelopment plans for the old Bellevue Center mall finally moving forward, and news about the apartment complex and stores like Sprouts Farmers Market confirmed to be a part of the redevelopment project ( bizjournals.com) , it is not unexpected to hear that the Sears Autocenter is closing on June 12 (see "What is going on with the Bellevue mall?" ). Now store employees say the Sears anchor store which held on for so many years after the rest of the mall closed is heading to liquidation as the store makes plans to close its doors. Read the story:  Bellevue Sears to close, headed to liquidation sources say

This picnic-festival was a fun neighborhood event last weekend which Jack and I thoroughly enjoyed! More than 60 vendors, candidates, local businesses and food trucks filled Red Caboose Park and the adjoining parking lot of the Bellevue Community Center for the 2015 Bellevue Picnic . Presented by Nashville Christian School, the event featured many other sponsors. Read more at: 38th annual Bellevue Picnic packs Red Caboose Park, ends with a bang (photos) - Nashville community | Examiner

Tracie Bonds, Natalia Yosco, Leigh Barnes, Kathryn Darden, Marcy Onan at Lexus Cool Springs This was an exceptionally exciting and fun event at the Lexus dealership in Cool Springs. Almost 100 independent skin care consultants swarmed Lexus of Nashville in Cool Springs on April 11, 2015, to celebrate the achievement of Trudy Copeland who earned her free Lexus recently. Some of the top leaders in the company were on hand to congratulate Copeland and celebrate the milestone with her. And somehow my friend Marcy and I got in a photo with them! If you would like to find out how you can earn a decent part-time or full-time income in anti-aging skincare, working the hours you want ant the schedule you set, with no inventory, deliveries or returns to handle, let's connect! skin_and_health@yahoo.com Article at: Skin care group swarms Lexus of Nashville Find out more at: Skincare Examiner