I’m not a fan of “The Secret”, but I am happy that we are finally at a place in our society where a way of thinking that emphasizes the power of thought and intention is a popular notice. I have always thought that you bring things to you in by the way you think, by what you expect to happen, and by your intensions. Does bad luck seem to follow you around? You are inviting it. Same goes for many of the blessings in your life. I’ve seen my own mother shift the way she thinks and bring healing to her own life. It’s mind over matter in its purest essence.

The “One Minute Shift” features on the website for the Institute of Noetic Sciences give you messages of wisdom and thoughts on our higher awareness, all in a one-minute format that anyone can fit into even the busiest daily schedule. They feed the thirst so many of us have to explore the power of thought and how our inner consciousness relates to the world around us. How does science meet spirituality?

Shift In Action is a program that offers an entire library of media like the video I am including in this post. The site explores alternative thought and the very real power of our minds and intensions.

I’m ashamed of the fact that so many teachers here in Florida seem to be making such pathetic decisions when it comes to their students. The latest news here in the Tampa area is that a male math teacher at a Bartow High School math teacher was arrested yesterday for offering a 16-year-old old student an “A” in exchange for oral sex.

Apparently, Isaac Nathan Tillis — who is 29 — n 29 was asked by one of his students how she could improve her grade. He said she could do extra work, but she would also have “to do something for him.”

The student asked him what he meant and he went on to whisper in her ear, pantomime oral sex, and follow all of that up with a note on a restroom hall pass that said she could get an “A” if she gave him a blow job.

Classy.

The student informed Tillis that she did not do things like that and left. Yesterday, though, she met the teacher again. This time the p0lice had wired her and the entire thing was caught on audio. The teacher walked the student to the restroom in the teacher’s lounge, pulled down his pants, and then told the student to perform oral sex. The student said a pre-arraigned code word and the police then entered. Tillis was caught bare-arsed, so to speak.

He was charged with solicitation for unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

What a blooming idiot. Did he really think he could be so brazen about soliciting sex from a child and not be caught? The guy deserved to be in jail. Due to Florida’s Code of Ethics, he will certainly lose his ability to teach here, which is the least that he deserves.

Who says the American Dream has to be a sprawling McMansion? I say the American Dream is a life without debt and a massive house does not usually fall into that particular dream.

I am so over big houses. I say that from much experience. I grew up in big homes, but just big enough. When I was married, we had a perfect sized home before moving back to the Tampa area. Then, we bought a house that was just too big to take care of and now that I’m divorced, we are having a horrific time selling it in the current housing market. People are not generally looking at houses in that price range now.

If you look around Florida, you will see that a majority of the homes built during the era of “old Florida” were small ranches. Most of my fiends who actually grew up in Florida were raised in small homes. People had just enough space to live comfortably, but not so much that they had a hard time keeping up with maintenance and finances. People paid off their homes and then went on to travel and add swimming pools and live without the stress of massive debt hanging over their heads.

Now that it is just me and my daughter, I actually sit and envision my dream home for the two of us and the home I dream about is small and tidy and cottage-like. I cannot fathom having more than we need. When I think about what I want to leave to my daughter, it is a place to live, no debt, and a college education. If I overextend my finances on a home, then I am not leaving money for the other things I wish to provide for my child. I’m nothing if I’m not wise and logical.

Appropriately, I found a site called The Jewel Box Home, which celebrates homes that are generally less than 2,000 square feet. The site does, however, say that larger homes can be considered Jewel Box homes if they are modest in their design, practical and efficient.

I think in this day and age of environmental focus, smaller home living should be the focus for more people. Of course, that might be easier for someone like me to ay, since I have never been into status symbols and actually get a thrill out of bucking trends. Also, when I have walked into homes with soaring two-story foyers and open areas over the family rooms, I immediately think how great it would be if that space were being used for actually living space. I hate waste, even in floor plans.

When I was living in Gainesville, my home was one story and just over 2,200 square feet. Every single person who came into my home commented that due to its efficient use of space, it had move living area than most houses approaching 3,000 square feet. It was true and I miss that house. In all actuality, I would love to one day reproduce the floor plan.

Anyway, back to the Jewel Box Home website. It has decorating tips, entertaining suggestions, and feature articles about living in smaller homes. One article I am looking forward to reading once they publish it is the upcoming Living with Children in a Jewel Box Home. Check it out. It’s an inspiring site that adds validity to living modestly.

There is a lot of debate about whether or not the adult boyfriend of underage Jamie Lynn Speers should be prosecuted now that it has been confirmed that he impregnated the minor.

I say yes! Absolutely yes.

This is a crucial crux in a debate that is bandied about on a daily basis. It is common practice to prosecute an 18 or 19 year old for sleeping with a 16-year-old. It happens in almost every state all of the time. So, if this very public situation were to pass without legal implications, it will set not only a horrific example, but also a precedent that our society cannot afford to shoulder.

The information the family is leaking only make this situation sound worse. They met at church? That does less to impress me than it does to horrify me. Of all places in our society, you would hope and pray that when your daughter meets a boy at church he is not going to be the one to get her into bed.

In Tennessee, where the couple live, there is a very real possibility that he could see as much as 10 years behind bars, according to the laws in that state. He is over 18, she is 16, and I am pretty sure they are more than years apart in age.

If Jamie Lynn Speers is indeed a “role model”, as the tweens of our land have stated in the past, then she needs to continue to be an example of what typically happens in a case like this. The public needs to see that the adult in the situation (in this case Casey Aldridge) needs to be charged with statutory rape. Speers should also be fired from her Nickelodeon series “Zoey 101”. She should not continue to collect a paycheck playing a virginal 9th-grader on a children’s network.

What is not typical in this situation is the ability that Jamie Lynn Speers and her white-trash mother have to turn a profit based on the pregnancy. OK! Magazine broke the story and will pay Jamie Lynn $1 million when the baby is born. Money cannot buy a good reputation, good morals, or common sense, but it will keep Jamie Lynn from having to collect WIC and live in HUD housing.

While we’re at it, Lynne Spears just needs to be kicked in the teeth. What is she so busy doing that she is not protecting her young daughter from this kind of behavior? Yes, while Jamie Lynn is still a minor, her parents are indeed quite responsible for reigning her in. In fact, they have the absolute right to have forbidden her from dating this older guy in the first place.