anitamo I am glad you asked the questions you asked. Many of the things you ask can be answered by reading the links about Vipassana meditation and what it is and isn't. Your thoughts are not silenced so much as re-directed when they arise. You learn to focus your breathing on a point at the base of your nose on your upper lip area ...a spot the size of your fingertip. Breath normally...don't try to regulate your breathing. As you concentrate on the breath and the spot there will of course be thoughts that will arise..gently...smilingly let them go and refocus on the breath and the spot. This is why it is necessary to meditate for an hour. Some days it takes almost 1/2 or more of that hour to get the mind to settle. The reason people have repeat behaviors ...negative, addictive...whatever they are is because they don't have the patterning in their brain to waylay those thoughts and behaviors. Meditation allows you to get into that calm place that , over time, allows your brain to short circuit the behaviors and reactions that you want to change. There is a split second between the time something touches one of your 6 senses and you react. Meditation allows one to enter that split second and change the response. It is a simple and as complicated as that. This does not happen on a time table. Each person is different. You do really need the intense 10 day course to learn the entire technique. The part I told you about above is only the first 3 days of the course. It is a start though. Meditation is not secular...it is NOT related to any religion. it is a way of life. it is based on the 3 premise that I linked to above. Anyone can learn and anyone can practice and change the habit patterns of the mind. It is an experience that requires a very alert and sharp mind. it is not a passive practice. Sit up right and be alert and allow yourself an hour 2x a day. Set aside a place that is only for your meditation...a pattern will begin to form. Please feel free to email me and we can talk more. I am SO glad you asked. c

How many people are coming?? I thought about bringing Coach's Oats cookies (lots of coconut, oatmeal, and nuts). I may bring almond chex mix ... crasins, cashews, almonds, and covered with a cooked sugar/karo/butter mixture - a friend from my book club calls it "legal crack" because it is so addicting! Sue

I got the bags at a local promotional products company (I happen to have a friend working there). They are canvas oilcloth and look a bit like the LL Bean totes but were much cheaper. It was cheaper to get one color silkscreen instead of many, and my friend matched the pantone color of the bag and went a bit darker for the screen, she also did the design. It's crazy how cheap you can get those boat totes wholesale!! Just for example, check out this link. Some of them are minimum orders of like, 50, but you can get as low as 12 as a minimum order. Update: In the end I decided not to stuff the bags as I didn't want to seem too extravagant. I gave them out last night and the ladies said they were really thrilled! One even started crying -- but she is 8 months pregnant ;)

Kathy- I just got The Storied Life of A.J. Fikrey and so far, I love it! Thanks for the recommendation : ) I finished the book....and I really enjoyed the first half. I think if it had ended there, I would have recommended it to many of my friends. The second half seemed like too many gaps in time and not enough detail. Almost like a different book. Maybe that was intentional or just to keep it short, but I didn't care for it. The ending was not my favorite (don't really like that type) but before any of that was even suspected, it started feeling a bit different around the topiary park. That was when it seemed unrealistic to me. I mean, do people all really act like that? One and done...then long term relationships? And Maya was so cute as a little girl. I felt like I missed a lot of her growing up. Also, I really liked the chief, but thought the closet find (and his reaction) was too contrived. Maybe someone else, but not him. This really helped though, so thank you for the recommendation! It made me realize what I like and didn't like about the pacing and this will help me layout my own story. Oh, and it was funny that I signed up for a free month of Unlimited Kindle to read the book, after starting the free peek on Amazon. Then, I got to his rant about e-readers! LOL