Live and Learn New Mexico!

This is my first week volunteering for Bethel Storehouse in Moriarty, and I have talked to them about offering a free high school equivalency test preparation seminar. They offer many services like that to residents in the area. They were open to the idea. So I started thinking... We won't offer a regular class unless we see the need. What we will offer is a monthly (or more often if needed), 2-hour session to show people where to register for a GED/HSE (high school equivalency) test, find websites to help them prepare (e.g., Khan Academy, Google), and other helpful information they might need. We can also offer tutoring hours for those who might need some one-on-one help and for those who have no computer at home. This means we need tutors/teachers and computers/internet access. Could we use Bethel Storehouse space to have a tutor be around a few hours a week for walk-in help? I will check on that. I also need to find the closest public library. They usually have computers ...

Michelle Worley here. I was looking at old blog posts and decided to update this one. I think the message is good, and I have more readers now. Woo hoo! Enjoy. Ten years ago, I was stressed out, and that resulted in some serious weight gain. My blood pressure was off the charts, and my cholesterol was high. I started taking prescription drugs but didn't like them. They worked but very slowly, and they had side effects that made no sense to me. My parents, especially my mom, were firm believers in the power of prescription drugs. Maybe it's because so many breakthroughs in medicine were made in their lifetime. My mom went to the doctor for every little thing. She even volunteered at the local hospital after she retired. She died in a hospital of a hospital-acquired respiratory ailment. I've hated going to doctors all my life and luckily, never really needed to see them but at one time as an adult, I came to believe in preventive medicine, which to me was a yearly exam....

My daughter Kelsey came home from her psych class the other day and shared an idea that has given me renewed energy. She told me her instructor had mentioned that drug addicts are often reluctant to go to rehab because they do not want to, or can't, leave their pets. Kelsey said she would like to do a project that would create a safe place for pets of addicts to stay while their owners are going through addiction programs or are incarcerated, whatever the needs are. Kelsey's soon-to-be mother-in-law and her friend will be moving to a property that could be used for the project. Most importantly, the property is located near Espanola, an area where these kinds of services could really make a difference. All Sorts of Possibilities Kelsey's idea has been on my brain since, and I see all the possibilities: As well as providing kennels and compassionate care to their pets, we could arrange for addicts to visit or be visited by their pets during their rehab process.  T...