Feeling Groovy With My Goovi

 Published in Lawrence County Advocate, Lawrenceburg, TN

              Feeling Groovy With My Goovi?    

By Martha Rose Woodward

    This article may seem like an advertisement or product endorsement. It is not meant to be either. I enjoy passing along helpful hints in case readers are debating whether or not to purchase specific items I may have some knowledge about.

   Goovi—a round, battery operated vacuum cleaner. (Pronounced goo vee).  It is an extremely thoughtful Mother’s Day gift that has been of real value to me.

   Goovi solves that age-old problem of the best way to clean floors. I had previously owned a Rumba, whose remote control was lost when we moved into a different house. It was never recovered thus the machine was useless. Yes, I tried in vain to purchase another remote, but the factory did not make remotes available.

  Keeping hardwood floors and room-size rugs clean is one of the major tasks for housekeeping that can be a struggle for me. We own three dogs who wander through the entire house dropping hair and tracking in bits of leaves and other dirt. Once an area is vacuumed, does not mean it will remain dog hair free. Unfortunately, dragging out a heavy vacuum cleaner with the needful attachments can seem like a job in itself. Goovi has solved this problem for me, plus it is great fun to sit and watch while my rugs get cleared of dog hair, threads, bits and pieces of leaves and other things the dogs track in from the yard.

  Goovi is one of the name brands for this type of vacuum cleaner. There are numerous others. Prices begin at around $150 and can scale upwards to $300. I can’t speak for the higher end brands, but I can rate the one I was given as a 10 out of 10. This machine does everything wanted and needed from a vacuum cleaner. It is truly amazing to watch as it goes about doing work.

  There are a few issues with Goovi. 1. The compartment that catches all the dirt and debris is small. 2. The machine has to be emptied every few minutes because of the size of this compartment. 3. Since it is powered by batteries, it will need to recharge frequently. The machine can lose power when it is under a bed or other furniture and be difficult to locate. 4. It has be guided or rather corralled into specific sections of the floor or it will travel to spots under chests, couches, and other furniture.  It can maneuver into other rooms, down hallways, and even cross door ways to outdoor decks or sidewalks. 5. It can easily get stuck under furniture. Once it gets stuck, it will send out beeps. If the beeps are ignored, it will shut down. It can be difficult to find it if it shuts down and has also run out of battery power. It won’t run off at the top of a stairway, however. How it knows not do this a mystery. 6. It is limited as to the size of items it will pick up. It won’t pick up pens or pencils, coins, pieces of paper as large as a letter, or small toys. It will get stuck on some items like fringe on an afghan or socks, so things have to be picked up out of its way.

  All in all, Goovi is worth the investment. You will truly feel groovy using the Goovi.

Weigh Down Founder Dead in Plane Crash

 

Weigh Down Founder Dead in Plane Crash by Martha Rose Woodward

   The death of Weigh Down and Remnant Church founder and dieting guru, Gwen Shamblin Lara, and the deaths of six others who were traveling with her in a private plane, came as a shock to the Nashville community and the world. Shamblin Lara rose to fame in 1986 when she introduced a weight loss program named Weigh Down which included her lectures and classes combined with a religious message. 

  News of the plane crash was sketchy at first.  It was stated the 500 Cessna plane had crashed into the water near the Percy Priest Dam 90 seconds after take-off. Passengers aboard the plane were listed as Gwen Shamblin Lara, her husband, actor John Lara, and her son-law Brandon Hannah. The four other members of her staf were musical director, David Martin and his wife Jennifer Martin as well as John Walters and his wife Jessica Walters. Although rescue efforts were begun, it was soon apparent that all aboard the plane had died. It was not clear who was piloting the plane. Questions arose if the small, private plane was carrying too many passengers with too much baggage. The FAA is investigating. All seven bodies were recovered on Sunday.

  Shamblin Lara’s is survived by her two grown children, Michael Shamblin and Elizabeth Shamblin, and seven grandchildren. She married David Shamblin in 1978 and divorced him in 2018. David Shamblin is credited with helping her establish the business and is credited with the name Weigh Down. She married Joe Lara in 2018. The value of her property in Davidson County and the ministry are said to be worth $5 million. Shamblin Lara claimed she “…never took a paycheck,” from the ministry, yet she lived in a million dollar mansion near Brentwood, TN, was often seen dripping in diamond rings and earrings, furs, and $500 shoes. She wore her long, blonde hair in an exaggerated bouffant style stacked 8 inches or higher.

  With the publication of her first book, The Weigh Down Diet Plan,  Shamblin Lara was featured on national radio and television shows. However, she soon fell out of favor as her teachings and somewhat bizarre behavior came into question. While being interviewed by Larry King she stated that people were simply eating too much. “The reason why the people in Nazi concentration camps were so thin is they ate less food,” she said. This same statement can be found in her numerous posted videos.

  She taught that divorce is the work of the devil, yet when she divorced her husband of 40 years, claiming his refusal to lose weight meant that God would not welcome him into heaven. She stated in numerous videos and speeches that “…fat people can’t go to heaven.” It was common knowledge that she expected all members of her church to be thin.

  Shamblin Lara claimed she was once 20 pounds overweight, however, she was never able to produce any photos of herself as anything but very thin. On the date of her death, she weighed less than 80 pounds; many say she was anorexic.

  Although she recorded thousands of hours of lectures, it is difficult to pin down her exact teachings about weight loss. She did state that she created the only true plan for weight loss. She never advised her members to check with a doctor before beginning her plan. Basically, she taught starvation. She believed that obesity is a sin. When you are overweight you are not in communication with God. No food is off limits but, you may only eat a small portion. She required members to cut all food into half and only eat up to 7 bites from any one plate. She believed that God would send the Holy Spirit to keep a believer from overeating. She often acted out plays in her classes and showed how she was about to eat a slice of pie when a glass of tea spilled on it. She said when a person was tempted to eat, he/she should pray, read the Bible, or talk a walk and talk to God. She taught that wanting to overeat comes from Satan and obesity is a spiritual battle. Members of her church were expected to enroll and pay for classes. They could be dropped from membership if they missed a meeting or payment. Church services were more like theatrical productions with plenty of music and emotional testimonies describing the greatness of Gwen. It is the consensus of the psychiatric community that Shamblin Lara’s ministry was a cult with her being the leader similar to David Koresh or Jim Jones.

   The surviving children announced they plan to “keep the dream alive” in a statement released last week. Buyer beware.

Inside the big wheel/Ferris type wheel in Pigeon Forge, TN...a great event and fun day.

 

Cedar table built by my son.

The cedar slab for this table came from a tree we had cut down in our back yard. My son refinished it, added legs, and polished. I LOVE it.
 

Great fun riding the Big Wheel