Looking back at 2013 … from my standpoint!!

December 31, 2013

I’m originally from Puerto Rico. I was born in Santurce and raised in Rio Piedras. I have been living in Florida since 1999. I have a doctorate degree in Medicine which was completed in 1976. I finished a specialty in Internal Medicine in 1979.

I started working in the medical field in the summer of 1979 and worked for Puerto Rico’s health system until 1985.

 

In 1985, I started working with the Veterans Administration as a primary care provider.

2013 marked a major step in my life. 

 

February 2013

The last day on the job was February 22. The last 24 years of my professional career ended.

I retired from the position in the federal government  …. after a total of almost 40 years as a physician.

This is what I wrote on my retirement day:

“Almost 28 years of outstanding, untarnished service with the federal government.
Ended up on my terms and with my head held up high …..
in spite of the last 4yrs. being so tumultuous.

I’m proud of what I did. I’m honored to have served the heroes of the USA military.

Now … I lay back …. waiting for the next phase of my life.

This chapter in the book of my life is closed ….. another one opens.

Time for change, time for growth. I’m open to what the Universe sends!!!!

THANK YOU!!!”

After taking this major step, I had to decide what I was going to do. Many things went through my mind, many options were considered.

Should I go back to school, should I apply to a teaching position at a local health-related school? I visited and applied at a school of alternative medicine.

I was accepted as both student and teacher.

Do I need to? Do I want to?

As time went by, a friend suggested that I start writing ….

That is a wide concept. Writing …..  Many things are included in that word ……

…. hence, “It Is What It Is” was born!!!

March 26, 2013 

My life has taken another major turn ….. I now am part, I like to think, of the blogosphere!!

When I started I had no clue what I was getting into. I needed guidance. Step by step … I’ve learned. I know that there is a lot more to learn ….. every day I learn more and more …..

I got to know the beginnings of the WorldPress platform.

I “work” with it every day. I know that there is still so much to learn ….

July 1, 2013 

I had another birthday …. Retired, collecting my pension and Social Security benefits.

What more can anyone ask for?

As a professional, I have always been in a position for healing. I’ve always wanted to help others. When I retired, I thought that was done. I wondered if my life would be completely changed, I wondered if I was going to miss it.

Would I miss the daily routine of getting up early, getting ready and commuting to an eight hour job of sitting at a computer entering data related to patient care?

Would I miss the human touch of listening to my patients, their stories, their complains, their problems? I wondered … how am I going without this?

I asked, I believed and I received!!

I found this wonderful endeavor called blogging …. I’m back to the eight hour job, almost. I am back to sitting at the computer for eight (or more) hours, inputting data and writing with the keyboard.

I still do research, look up information. I still have the human touch of listening to fellow bloggers, their stories, their personal issues, their concerns? I have adapted quite well ….. because it’s very much similar to what I did before. The main difference this time?

I AM ENJOYING IT!! 

Wishful thinking!! 

And there is always time for fun!! No rules about going to bed early because I have an early morning. I have time for myself, my family, my friends and for fooling around.

Things could always get better but I am not complaining at this time!!

December 2013 

Christmas arrived in a flash ….. and it left the same way!!

 

Today we say goodbye to 2013 …. no regrets. There is a major feeling of gratefulness to have completed a part of my life as well as starting a new stage. The transition hasn’t been difficult at all. I’m having the time of my life!!

Thank you 2013!! 

While engaging in this new venture, I have made new friends. I believe that we will be friends for a long time. They come from all parts of the word. I have met them during this wonderful process.

I’m going to list a few who have really left a mark in this short time since March 2013. Please know that if your name isn’t included it doesn’t mean that you haven’t left a mark in my heart and soul. There are so many!!

~~I THANK YOU ALL~~ 

Shaun Gibson …. Scotland …. http://prayingforoneday.wordpress.com/

Eddie Tatro … Ohio ….. http://bishoptatro.wordpress.com/

Patty Wijnants-van Delft ….. Holland …. http://petitemagique.wordpress.com/

Jade Reyner … United Kingdom  ….. http://jadereyner.com/

Xena ….. USA …… http://blackbutterfly7.wordpress.com/

Juesseppi …. USA …. http://theobamacrat.com/

Yathzee … West Coast

Please, know that there are many others!! You all occupy a warm spot in my heart!!!

~~Wishing you and yours a very happy and prosperous New Year ….. 2014~~ 

 

This is what I stated on “It Is What It Is“:

“I want to offer any knowledge that I have to anyone “out there” who is interested. My views are liberal in almost every sense. My knowledge is “eclectic” – a bit of everything.

My intention is to bring this knowledge to an understandable level and to help anyone in need. I’m open to questions and will answer them to the best of my ability.”

…. and that is what I want to continue doing through the coming year 2014!! 

Time of My Life – Black Eyed Peas (Dirty Bit) Dirty Dancing Orginal Video

 I AM HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!! 

We ALL are ONE!!

We ALL are connected through this wonderful WEB!!! 

Share my Year 2013 Review through Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yearinreview/horty.rexach

Blog of the Year Award 2013 …… Listen ALL!!!

DECEMBER 31, 2013

~~BLOG OF THE YEAR AWARD – 2013~~ This is my 10th star!! 

I received this award on December 31, 2013 from Stephanie at http://hopeandloveradio.com/.

Like any other nomination and award received, this humbles me. It’s rewarding to know, on a personal level, that what I write is read by others. My main goal has been to share the knowledge I may have and to compile information that appears in different web resources and educational venues.

WOW!

Thank you Stephanie for considering and nominating “It Is What It Is” for this award!

I am honored by your nomination and gladly and very respectfully accept. 

The instructions for this award are simple:

1-      Select the blog(s) you think deserve the Blog of The Year 2013 Award.

2-      Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there are no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ the blog(s) with their award.

3-      Let the blog(s) that you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the instructions with them – (please don’t alter the instructions or the badges!)

4-      Come over and say hello to the originator of the Blog Of The Year 2013 Award via this link: http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/blog-awards-2-/blog-of-the-year-2013-award/

5-      You can now also join the Blog Of The Year Award Facebook Page Click the link here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlogoftheYear

6-      And as a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with this award – and proudly display the award on your blog – and start collecting stars!

Share your blog posts with an even wider audience.

The parameters that I use are:

1. The amount of knowledge that I have received by following your blog
2. The varied topics that are selected and written about
3. The obvious amount of reading, research and preparation that goes into every post that I read on your blog
4. The authenticity that I “perceive” as I read your material
5. The interactions that we’ve had in the comments section
6. They say that copying is the best form of flattery …. I have copied some ideas from your blogs to use in mine
7. I don’t read newspapers, I’ve really never have. The ink makes my hands dirty …. I don’t have a need to read them at all now because I my source of news, updates, recipes, art and entertainment and more ….. by following your posts
8. I can truthfully say that I’ve become a better informed, educated and well-rounded individual because of what I’ve learned from following your blog.

This is a VERY prestigious Award! Yes!! That’s right!! There are stars to collect!

Unlike other awards which you can only add to your blog once – this award is different!

When you begin you will receive the ’1 star’ award- and every time you are given the award by another blog – you can add another star!

There are a total of 6 stars to collect.

Which means that you can check out your favorite blogs – and even if they have already been given the award by someone else – you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum of 6 stars! You can either ‘swop’ your badge for the next one each time you are given the award – or even proudly display all six badges if you are lucky enough to be presented with the award 6 times!

You can find all the badges and banners and information you need via this link: ‘Blog of The Year 2013′ Award Badges.

Since this is the last day of the year,

I’M NOMINATING ALL WHO ARE READING THIS POST NOW.

If you are still missing any stars to reach the total of six, grab this one before the year ends.

There are so many wonderful blogs and writers out there. Some I follow and others I see through reblogs. There’s an incredible wealth of knowledge, information, facts, interesting stories, humor, celebrations, shared feelings and personal stories. We post and we share. We create bridges, we tear walls down. We connect!! We create friendships.  

Congratulations to all the bloggers! Best of luck to every one!

You ALL deserve Blog of The Year 2013 Award!

Boy Meets Girl – Waiting For A Star To Fall with Lyrics

We ALL are ONE!! 

We ALL are connected through this wonderful WEB!! 

People we lost in 2013 famous and whom we loved

To remember ……….

Two moon events in January 2014 ……

Looks like 2014 is starting out quite magically.

There is a new moon on the 1st along with 2 Super moons in one month!

That is awesome.

Looks like this could be a beautiful year for all of us if we use it wisely.

In astronomy, new moon is the first phase of the Moon, when it lies closest to the Sun in the sky as seen from the Earth. More precisely, it is the instant when the Moon and the Sun have the same ecliptical longitude. The Moon is not normally visible at this time except when it is seen in silhouette during a solar eclipse. See the article on phases of the Moon for further details.

The original meaning of the phrase new moon, sometimes still used in non-astronomical contexts, was the first visible crescent of the Moon, after conjunction with the Sun. This takes place over the western horizon in a brief period between sunset and moonset, and therefore the precise time and even the date of the appearance of the new moon by this definition will be influenced by the geographical location of the observer.

The astronomical new moon, sometimes known as the dark moon to avoid confusion, occurs by definition at the moment of conjunction in ecliptical longitude with the Sun, when the Moon is invisible from the Earth. This moment is unique and does not depend on location, and in certain circumstances it coincides with a solar eclipse.

The new moon in its original meaning of first crescent marks the beginning of the month in lunar calendars such as the Muslim calendar, and in lunisolar calendars such as the Hebrew calendar, Hindu calendars, and Buddhist calendar. But in the Chinese calendar, the beginning of the month is marked by the dark moon.

Although the new moon is typically depicted as a black circle, its actual phase is a very thin crescent, because the moon does not pass directly in front of the sun (except during an eclipse). On July 8, 2013, French astrophotographer Thierry Legault successfully photographed the new moon, although the crescent itself was not visible to the unaided eye.

There are five supermoon dates in 2014, with the first coming on January 1.

That will be a new moon, as will another new moon coming on January 30. 

This makes January 2014 the only month with two supermoons until January 2018, according to EarthSky.

So what exactly is a supermoon? It’s when the moon is slightly closer to Earth in its orbit than usual, which is most noticeable when there’s a full moon.

“So, the moon may seem bigger although the difference in its distance from Earth is only a few percent at such times,” said Dr. James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on the space agency’s website. “It is called a supermoon because this is a very noticeable alignment that at first glance would seem to have an effect. The ‘super’ in supermoon is really just the appearance of being closer.”

Because of how close the supermoon is, it can appear “as much as 14% larger in the sky and 30% brighter to our eyes than at minimum size and brightness,” according to EarthSky.

While supermoons don’t normally impact much, they may bring higher tides than usual.

The term supermoon came from astrologer Richard Nolle over 30 years ago, and is only now coming into popular usage, according to EarthSky. Nolle said a supermoon is “a new or full moon which occurs with the moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit.”

This usually means an average of four to six supermoons per year.

The other supermoons in 2014 will be on July 12, on August 10, and on September 9. The moon will be the closest to the Earth on August 10.

Before supermoons were called supermoons, they were referred to perigee full moon, or perigee new moon. Perigee means “near Earth.”

Sources:

https://www.facebook.com/eutmpage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_moon

Read more: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/422729-supermoon-dates-2014-two-new-moons-coming-in-january/?photo=2#ixzz2p42tYO1e

Moonlight Sonata

Uploaded on Mar 25, 2006

 Dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven

We ALL are ONE!!

We ALL feel the light of the MOON!! 

~~New beginnings!!~~

To start the day …..

Start the day with a very wise and proper Apache Blessing.

This one is down to earth, sincere, simple and true! 

So full of wisdom and so inspirational.

We ALL are ONE!!

Native American Pan Flute & Wind of Change

We ALL are connected in SPIRIT!! 

Happy New Year!

Throwback to my memories …. of ABBA!! How I love their music!!!

Glorialana Magazine

Hello God!

Thank You for the 31st of December! It is a great day! Every this day in every year is magical and miraculous. Ded Moroz is today’s hero. I am waiting for him with all my heart, I know for sure he brings a joy to explore new wonderful things, new countries, new meeting with fantastic people.

Ded Moroz is Santa Claus’s brother, but the differences are between them.

There is a bottle of champagne on almost every table every the 31st of December wordwide. I was lucky to introduce with father of  champagne person to person in the town of Saint-Menehould, France. Please meet the next main hero of New Year Eve, Dom Perignon is on the stage.

My dear, beautiful friends, my dearest Gods and Goddess, I am incredibly happy to write these words and love to feel your reading eyes. Happy New 2014 year!

Happy New Year to…

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A GOOD REASON TO COME TO SCOTLAND!

Take a trip ….. make arrangements!!!

The @NRA Is Full Of Hypocritical Morons

There’s always an excuse for them … it’s never the guns!!! SMH …..

A gallery of greetings ……

Christmas has already gone by …. we all are getting ready to say good bye to 2013 and start the new year with loads of celebration and resolutions. 

In the Gregorian calendar, New Year’s Eve (also Old Year’s Day or Saint Sylvester‘s Day in many countries), the last day of the year, is on December 31. In many countries, New Year’s Eve is celebrated at evening social gatherings, where many people dance, eat, drink alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the new year. Some people attend a watch night service. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into January 1 (New Year’s Day).

The island nations of Kiribati and Samoa are the first to welcome the New Year while Honolulu, Hawaii is among the last.

NEW YEAR’S EVE
Fireworks at the London Eye in central London
ALSO CALLED	Hogmanay (Scotland) Calennig (Wales) Silvester (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) Réveillon (France and Brazil) Old Year’s Night (Caribbean and Iceland) Ano Novo (Brazil, Portugal, Macau) Año Nuevo (Latin America and Philippines) Nochevieja (Spain) Bagong Taon (Philippines) Malam Tahun Baru (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia) Oud en Nieuw (Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, Netherlands Antilles) Nytårsaften (Denmark) Nyttårsaften (Norway) Nyårsafton (Sweden) Uusivuosi, (Finland) Uusaasta (Estonia) Viti i ri (Albania and Kosovo) Revelion, Ajunul Anului Nou (Romania) Nova godina (Bulgaria, Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia) Sylwester, Nowy Rok (Poland) Новогодняя ночь (Belarus, Russia, Ukraine)
OBSERVED BY	People around the world
TYPE	International
SIGNIFICANCE	The final day of the Gregorian year
CELEBRATIONS	Reflection; Late-night partying; Family gatherings; Feasting; Gift exchanges; Fireworks; Countdowns; Watchnight services; social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and/or watch or light fireworks
DATE	December 31
NEXT TIME	31 December 2014 (2014-12)
FREQUENCY	annual
RELATED TO	New Year’s Day

UNITED STATES

In the United States, New Year’s Eve is celebrated with formal parties, family-oriented activities, and other large public events.

One of the most prominent celebrations in the country is the “ball drop” held in New York City‘s Times Square. Inspired by the time balls that were formally used as a time signal, at 11:59 p.m. ET, an 11,875-pound (5,386 kg), 12-foot (3.7 m) diameter Waterford crystal ball located on the roof of One Times Square is lowered down a pole that is 70 feet high, reaching the roof of the building one minute later to signal the start of the New Year. The Ball Drop has been held since 1907, and in recent years has averaged around a million spectators annually.

The popularity of the spectacle also inspired similar “drop” events outside of New York City, which often use objects that represent a region’s culture, geography, or history — such as Atlanta‘s “Peach Drop“, representing Georgia‘s identity as the “Peach State”.

PUERTO RICO

In Puerto Rico, New Year’s Eve is celebrated with friends and family. The Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan is the main attraction for Puerto Ricans during the celebration.

It has Latin music, fireworks at midnight along with the signature song “Auld Lang Syne” in Spanish.

MEXICO

Mexicans celebrate New Year’s Eve, (Spanish: Vispera de Año Nuevo) by eating a grape with each of the twelve chimes of a clock’s bell during the midnight countdown, while making a wish with each one. Mexican families decorate homes and parties in colors that represent wishes for the upcoming year: red encourages an overall improvement of lifestyle and love, yellow encourages blessings of improved employment conditions, green for improved financial circumstances, and white for improved health.

Mexican sweet bread is baked with a coin or charm hidden in the dough. When the bread is served, the recipient of the slice with the coin or charm is said to be blessed with good luck in the New Year. Another tradition is to make a list of all the bad or unhappy events over the past 12 months; before midnight, this list is thrown into a fire, symbolizing the removal of negative energy from the new year. At the same time, thanks are expressed for all the good things during the year that is ending so that they will continue in the new year.

Mexicans celebrate with a late-night dinner with their families, the traditional meal being turkey and mole. Afterwards many people attend parties outside the home, for example, in night clubs. In Mexico City there is a street festival on New Year’s Eve centered around the Zocalo, the city’s main square. Celebrations include firecrackers, fireworks and sparklers and shouts of “¡Feliz año nuevo!”

BBC Symphony, Chorus & Singers – Auld Lang Syne

Uploaded on Jun 24, 2008

Auld Lang Syne by BBC’s Symphony Orchester!

~~LYRICS~~

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

CHORUS: For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stoup !
And surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne. CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pou’d the gowans fine ;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin’ auld lang syne. CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
frae morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin’ auld lang syne. CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
And gives a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right guid-willie-waught,
for auld lang syne. CHORUS

We ALL are ONE!!

We ALL observe as the wave of the New Year covers the WORLD!!

~~Dr. Rex~~

~~”It Is What It Is” wishes all of you, and yours, in the blogosphere a very Happy New Year – 2014~~