A little updating... This is the set for our Newlywed game (for Valentine's Day). I had a long session making the big sign (refrigerator box, paint) and another to make the Conversation Hearts (posterboard, chalk).  The rest was cool.  I used the rest of my paint on three big hearts for the podium, put sheets in front of the tables (one twin ripped in half, yard sale, 50 cents) and we used black markers (6 of them) and white card stock for the contestants to write their answers.  A few Christmas lights and microphone and it's ready.  Ahead of time work:  Get a good MC and a bunch of non-"whoopie" Newlywed game questions!!  In our church, anyone can throw an activity for the whole ward (church).  We do it more than most because we feel there is a need to chat and get to know each other, and we have a lot of practice from Cub Scout meetings.  Sure wish there were more activities!!

 This was a diaper cake I made for a friend's baby shower.  I have made them three different ways:  Roll each diaper into a cinnamon roll and ribbon individually,  then ribbon them all together;  Make a huge cinnamon roll starting with one diaper then tucking the ends of the next diaper in and rolling until it's huge; And this one, which was totally cheater, I emptied out a round hatbox and lined with clear celophane.  Then line up the diapers around the outside, then crammed in as many as I could in the middle, ribbon. Repeat three times and make waves and rainbow to go with Noah's Ark theme.  You gotta really love someone to make one of these... that was a megapack of size 2s from Sams.  Then to "decorate" you add on cute little things like socks, rattles, thermometers, diaper-bag sized baby powder, etc. Fun fun! When it's that big it's hard to transport so it's smart to cut out a large circle to put it on at least during transit. 

I meant to include this on the last post. This is just what I canned January and February. In March so far I have just canned the leftover meatballs from Sunday's big dinner.  There were 7 quarts left over, just enough to fill up my pressure canner.  It needed a new seal so I refrigerated them in the jars and Monday morning we got a new seal and by noon they were on the counter. So I have dinner 7 times, already made, just add noodles, shelf stable and not taking up room in my freezer.  I am feeling very environmentally responsible about that. And they will warm up fast since they're room temp already. I'm thinking the noodles will take longer to boil than the meatballs will to heat through but they're pretty big, so it might be close!


Two weeks ago Julia came over and taught us how to make pie crust, so some of my apples got used up. I learned it is DUMB to can them in pints, because you're going to need 3 for a pie, so I will just be doing quarts from now on, pints only if there's left over apples. Julia's crust got a 100 out of 100 and the apples got about a 45.  Nothing compares with a great crust!

I have been working on the pantry meals and finally broke down and ordered the book when I got my tax return money.  Can't wait to get going on some of that. Also made a food storage order and found some spices (after reading My Year Living on Food Storage I felt it more important than ever to get some seasonings) on Myspicer.com.  Can I just say, WOW!! It was so much fun to "shop" online and get all excited about the spices.  I will get the box Monday and will take some pics then of the cool stuff and then we will be having some major cooking and taste testing going on over here!!

Pantry Meals

In my search for ways to use food storage, plan easy meals and make this easy to plan ahead, I have found some lovely websites, starting with http://eatingfoodstoragerecipes.blogspot.com which is the wonderful lady who lived off her food storage for 6 months. She has a friend who suggested a great system of organization to make sure the variety of food was wide and pleasing to her family without taking her an entire day to cook it all.  Pantry meals was her brainchild and that's putting all the dry ingredients in a bag and labeling it for use during the month.
I decided to start this a little backwards since many of her recipes contained food storage items I don't have available, sour cream powder, butter powder, etc., and featured things my family won't eat. So I went to my ancient, just obtained from a yard sale Make a Mix Cookbooks and came up with one.  I modified a side dish to be a main dish because I'm just lazy that way.  Chicken Continental with Rice turned out great.  Basically, seasoned rice and canned chicken (I used up some leftover chicken for my first experiment).  I measured out the rice, spices, and did this three times so two of them went in a zip-lock bag (marked with directions).  The recipe said stove top cooking was 25 minutes which is still fast for dinner, but I decided to make it even easier with the crock pot. When I get my wonder oven I will try that!  SO I threw in my "mix" and my chicken and 2 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of butter (I doubled the recipe which said it would feed 2, my girls are hungry) and turned it on low for 4 hours.  The rice was good and both girls said it was a keeper recipe.  SO I put the other two ziplocks in a paper bag with a can of chicken and labeled it with today's date, a yellow star (chicken) and a yellow dot (solar cooking ok) and that was waaay too easy not to do again. 
Do you have any shelf-stable easy recipes? By this I mean assembly (ahead of time) and a few ingredients.  I also made the make-a-mix snack cake for the girls. I followed the directions exactly and they were not crazy about the cake, even though it was chocolate with chips.  Good to know. This will be trial and error for a long time but hopefully I can accumulate a dossier of fantastic easy recipes!!
Projects in the next few months include building a solar oven too. Can't wait to cook with no electricity.  Here in the summer it should be easy!! Between that and my wonder oven I will be practically green! And canning means less freezing so that's green too.  Looking for a food co-op now to augment my canning possibilities.  I found out there is a book, Dinner is in the Jar.  May have to buy it, our library here is like a tiny mini library while there are renovations to the main building.  Boo.

Food Storage 2013

SO I have recently become unemployed outside my home (as always I remain employed in my family!) and want very much to spend my time wisely.  I have been reading a lot about being prepared.  I want to be prepared in every way I possibly can.  Here are a few of my thoughts on that:

Funeral arrangements
Food storage in case of worst-case-scenario (power outage, truckers strike, famine, pestilence, shortages, loss of income, hurricane, zombie apocalypse)
Self sufficient to make my own clothes; though I know this is more expensive than many other ways to get clothes
Self sufficient to make my own household items (Rag rugs being first on the list. We have extra fabric, old sheets, etc. but need rugs)
Emergency binder up to date (with all important information. Sadly, this is mostly classified information --serial numbers, social security numbers, passports) so it will not be easily locatable when complete)
 Mostly better educated on food, recipes, cooking and storage including using solar heat to cook with
Spiritually prepared, studying scriptures more, other spiritually uplifting activities, possibly journal
all of which together will help me become more
Mentally confident

So that is what I am working on now.  I also want to try eating food storage for a month to see what we can learn from that.  I have noticed from other people's blogs that fat storage is key, as is meat and spices.  We just stocked up on some German food (which we missed from Germany, but the mixes are not what we had hoped) so we will be trying some new German recipes, some curried and peanut recipes (since we are blessed not to have peanut allergies in our home) and hopefully find success doing something with beans.

As a beginning I canned some local produce, butter, bacon and meat (chicken and meatloaf).  Photo on my family blog, will try to get it here.  Below is a picture of my in-laws at the Iron Curtain. I'm sure those people didn't know that was going to happen and plunge them into 40 years without communication with their loved ones on the other side.  They didn't ask for war there either.  Can you be prepared for that? Well, be as prepared as you can.

Project for Elizabeth

Heroes

SO at church we're discussing heroes, and asking the kids to be Scripture Heroes and find something they have learned from reading their scriptures and share it with the Primary. It's been super and the kids love it! We are also asking them to find a scripture hero. I had to make a list then pick because there are just so many. I finally chose Daniel, who works for me in lots of great ways. Daniel was awesome. And we actually have some things in common, which make me really like him. (DH would probably pick Elisha. He was bald too, and there are some great stories.) Anyway, pick your scripture hero! And read and learn more about them and you will be amazed how much it helps you to know there is someone you can try to emulate or learn from.
SO the hero thing also applies to our missionaries who are serving all over the world, and there is a map up to chart where they are and place to put their letters and stories.
There was also a great lesson about avoiding trouble. Superman can't deal with kryptonite. He has to stay away from it. Just like we should stay away from temptation. Be a hero and stay away from trouble!!

Would love to hear if you choose a hero and what you're learning. :)

What cha been up to??

Yes Virginia there is a blogger still alive over here. I just have a life too! And a full time job and I spend a lot of time at the law office too. And I just got called to be the Primary Chorister, 3rd hardest job a woman can have in our church. I know because I have had all the easier ones and one harder one. If you do it right it's seriously time consuming and labor intensive and takes vast amounts of spiritual and temporal preparation.
Isn't everything though? If you do it right....
Like my favorite holiday reminds me, some things take time. And how we spend our time can really help us understand what's really important. Okay it's Ground Hog Day in case you didn't know, and of course we make Ground Hog Stew and watch the movie. It's wonderful and I love the lesson of spending time...
So I am about to have a little chat with one of my children about spending time wisely. Because parents have to do that if they want productive children and their children are not naturally overachievers. (Waiting for one of those.)
I wonder if we really kept track and pie charted our time what it would look like?? I found one online and it showed average Americans spend 54% of leisure time watching TV. So I am ahead already. What have I been doing with all that extra time?? I sure haven't been scrubbing my bathtub.
SO I am going to keep track for a week and average it for a pie chart. I had better get busy doing good things huh?!

New Year

So I pulled on my sweats and drove the kids to piano this morning. I have *NO* idea why the piano teacher wouldn't reschedule, she has three kids and one on the way, and stayed up with a housefull of people last night at her house playing games, but she was bright and shiny when I dropped the girls off. Me, not so much. I stayed in the car. I hadn't looked at myself in the mirror yet nor touched a comb. Anyway, she's younger than me, I guess she has stores of energy I lack, possibly in the form of chocolate. But as usual I digress. What I noticed this morning on my drive was that there were almost no cars and lots and lots of people jogging or walking or somehow out and about.
Hah!
It's the First day of the New Year! Gotta start those resolutions!
Even though the house is still full of great food, we've got to slow down the intake and speed up the exercise and make the metabolism work for US!
Fortunately, here we have two opportunities for giving up stuff, New Years' and Mardi Gras. I like them both, because Mardi Gras helps you recharge as you're losing (or have completely lost) momentum by then. It's awesome to take time to recharge that resolution, that determination, that focus and work a little harder.

So besides doing one extra thing a day for your body, and one extra thing a day for your soul (you know you're eating better and reading a scripture a day) what else do you want to accomplish this year?
Ah, there it goes. My inner "Monster" telling me I'll never accomplish anything.
So I use Reason to overcome. Reason is awesome, wears a blue cape.
If I break it down into tiny bites, like the girl in the Shel Silverstein poem, I can eat that whale.
So if I make reasonable, weekly goals I'm more likely to do it.

I read in a book that was full of totally useless information this one nugget that surprised me.
Paraphrasing loosely, it said it was good to make the bites even tinier than you might think is reasonable. In other words, if you really hate dusting, for your first step, find the Pledge. THat's right, find the can and put it on the counter top. You're done for the day. Tomorrow, next step. Next step, get a dustrag and put it by the Pledge. Wow. So then you can rest for the rest of the day after that achievement. It sounds so simple, so slow, so ridiculous. But sometimes we DO need to break down tasks to achieve them, especially if they're something we're not comfortable with.
I keep thinking I can do anything until I am actually doing it. I got on Flylady and really liked her simple steps. I am still trying to shine my sink every day. I don't feel any pressure to get to the next step until I have mastered this habit.
Habits are a lot easier the younger you are. When I was young, I got married and extremely busy. We were always doing something with church, Boy Scouts, his work, my work, friends and travelling. My husband's schedule alone made any kind of dependability impossible. Three days days, Three days nights, when is he off, when is he home.... I remember a friend who had a child who did not take change well. They had to keep a tight schedule for her to be comfortable. This made them very regular church attenders and when things had to change, they gave her a lot of notice. I am so glad I didn't get a child like that, because our kids have had to be flexible with us.
But a lack of consistency has made me two things: Very flexible, your girl on the fly, if there is a last minute thing I can deal with it. It also did not give me good, steady habits.
Even though my life is more predictable now, I feel the need to make time for the important things I want to do, achievements I want to make, and knowledge I need to gain.
SO yes, I am setting aside some time every day for making myself check my list, re-evaluate my goals, and ... sigh... put the Pledge on the counter top.
Good luck with your resolutions!! :)

For the List Inclined

Okay, you haven't heard a lot from me lately, but I have a few great ideas coming up. Hang in there!

Tonight we are putting on a church activity. It's "Rubber Chicken Volleyball" and is played kind of like water balloon volleyball, with towels, but this is played inside with a rubber chicken. It's just something fun to do to get together and celebrate the new year. We don't need a reason to celebrate but if one comes up we jump on it!!

So in our pack meeting mentality (My husband--a Bruce Willis look-alike-- and I done a lot of Cub Scout Pack meetings, all of which were legendary in their own way!) we decided it was best to have three elements to this evening's festivities. So there is the Rubber Chicken Volleyball (which could just be a fun game or if we want to get serious, he has printed up the double-elimination tournament grids) and there will be a Rubber Chicken throw (I got a funny chicken picture off the internet and enlarged it onto three cardboard dryer boxes, cut out a hole for the chicken's mouth) and then we found another game we could use. It's "Pass the Chicken Trivia" sort of. You stand everyone in a circle and one person is the moderator/game show host in the middle. Pass the chicken around the circle as fast as possible. When mod says, it stops and the person holding the chicken has a turn. They have to name 10 of something before the chicken gets back to them. SO all the other passers pass fast and the selected person has to shout out 10 of whatever the moderator says. So for example, the mod says "Ten European Countries", the selected person passes the chicken and yells out, Hungary, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, France, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, (which may or may not be disqualified, depending on the anality of the moderator, preferring "The Netherlands"), Germany, Poland. If they do it before the chicken goes around the person holding the chicken when they finish is the new "it". Of course depending on the circle you can change the number of items required. So if the circle is smaller you can ask them to name five, or whatever.
SO of course this made me interested to know if there were lists online of just such a thing!
Yes, Virginia, there are lots of them.
Not what I was looking for but interesting sure enough.
There are trivia query cites online so you can quiz yourself on all kinds of subjects from mythology to biology to horticulture and homemaking. Too fun.
Listverse.com and toptenz.net were just the beginning.
You can sign up for a daily top 10 list. Some of those are dubious. Really, made up by one person is so subjective, what I consider the top movie of the year is probably not shared by even 50% of the population.
So then I go to firmware, as I am referring to my books lately. They're not hard, or soft. Okay. SO I have a Top Ten List of 2006 book put out by an authority, Guinness, the World Record statistic people. I don't dare get it down or I'll be useless the rest of the day. But it's interesting to note the biggest cities in the world (some in Brazil? Really?) and all that.
So I am sticking to these topics for my game tonight. If you need them, here they are!

Cars
Breeds of Dogs
Santa's Reindeer (okay there are only 9 so this is either a bonus question or on a name 5 circle)
CHaracters from Snow White
Sports
Barnyard animals
Musical Instruments
Drinks (milk, OJ, root beer)
Cities
Zoo Animals
Professions
Herbs and Spices
types of pasta
Books in the Bible
Articles of Clothing
Planets (YES we are counting PLUTO! Also fictional planets are fair game! Ceti Alpha 6!)
European Countries
Presidents
Islands
Flowers

We found some more and will put them in the pile in case this is a big hit and we just can't stop!
Fast food restaurant chains
CHildren's books
Countries in South America
Sports teams
Things that grow in the desert
Vegetables
Musical Groups
Cartoon Characters
Cereals
Rivers in the US
Candy Bars made with chocolate
large bodies of water
aquatic animals
capitol cities around the world

I kind of like some of these too. Cereals... In 10 seconds how many can you name?

Call Me Senator - From David Zucker

How important are titles?? At work, I'm the Assistant Administrator. That will still get me no respect or perks on its own. But I'm happy to do my job. What is really important?? Some of us have worked hard... respect is important but calling someone Grand Pooh-Bah every time you address them is redundant and can be insulting in its own way. It's also a way of reinforcing false superiority complexes, and who wants to exacerbate problems like that?

Thought for the day!

I mean, really. The Ipad people got it on the nose. They figured out how to make something nobody had but everyone instantly needed. How cool is that? Even I want one... but I'll wait until the price goes way down!! I love that about technology.
But what's the next thing?
Nobody has a crystal ball but think about what would make your life easier. What would it be? Cups that fly into the dishwasher of their own accord? A button that could pull all the dirt off your floor? (Okay, the roomba is close)... What's your dream invention??

Joanna's Hair Thing!

My friend Joanna has designed these hair scrunchie things. It twists into a heart shape and holds your hair up. When it gets hot and rubber bands just aren't working, these look like a beautiful solution. Just plugging a friend and her new idea!! I hope she sells a million of these!

I have a lot of friends with home based businesses. Keli does Mary Kay and Scentsi, Michelle does Avon, other friends sell things on Etsy and at the Jockey Lot (those hair bows are adorable, too!) Rachel made candles. Whitni is a licensed tax preparer who makes house calls.

It takes a lot of faith to put your money where your dreams are and work on something until you get it right, then put yourself out there to whatever the critics decide! You ladies are AWESOME!!! :)

Counting down to CHristmas

I stole this from Kiddley.com. She has a lot of fabulous ideas, and I was hunting for advent calendars when I found this... A List!! You know I could not resist.

THey were talking about one family activity a day in December to count down to Christmas.

Don't ask me why my Hs are always caps. Okay it's because I use the wrong finger to push the Shift key. But since I am old now I'm pretty stuck with it. But I digress.

So here are Kiddley's activities :)

Here are ours from last year (Some you will see we gleaned from Stephanie and her readers which are all definitely worth checking out):

1. Paint everyone’s toenails
2. Have hot chocolate with all the fixings (we might do milkshakes if it’s too hot)
3. Star gazing
4. Give everyone crazy hairstyles
5. Backyard cricket
6. Go out for sushi
7. Have an indoor picnic
8. Write letters to Father Christmas
9. Use puppets to tell bedtime story
10. Have breakfast for dinner (I am thinking pancakes)
11. Make decorations for the tree
12. Have a camp out around the christmas tree
13. Pack a picnic dinner and have it at a park (or Botanical Gardens)
14. Fancy dress for dinner time
15. Wrap a toy and take it to a charity christmas tree
16. Make handmade gift tags for relatives
17. Fish and Chips for dinner down at the beach
18. Fold origami for the christmas tree
19. Dance like crazy to music
20. Watch a christmas movie with popcorn
21. Go out for gelati
22. Take Grandparents out to see the Christmas lights
23. Have a bubble bath
24. Special christmas Eve treat TBA

Going the extra step

NOT even miles...

Sometimes I get "brilliant" ideas. They're really cool--to me. I get ideas, get going on them, and then I wither when... it comes to involving others in my plan. What if they don't think it's brilliant? what if it's not? It's probably not... probably been done... I am probably just an idiot to think it was ever even interesting in the first place... then it dies, a lonely grey pile of dust, to be swept into the cobwebs of my mind.

Do you have some great idea? Perhaps this is the big year to make it happen. Write it down. Consider it. Get a buddy. Do some research and make it happen! Even if it doesn't make you independently wealthy, it's a growing experience!

Scrapbooking and Faith

While you are busy wracking your brain as to how, exactly, you are going to improve over 2010, here's an idea that gives a little twist to journalling, scrapbooking, even blogging. All these things and more can be combined into Faithbooking.

Faithbooking can be "a creative expression of a family's spiritual journey". This would be the place to put those faith building events that can be passed down to encourage generations to come. Baptisms, births, miracles, blessings can all be recorded here. When a child brings home a Sunday School paper with a picture of God, this is where it would go. This isn't the summer sprinkler pictures we show our friends, but the more spiritual side of our family.

Pages can be done by every member of the family or with contributions from each, verbally or in the form of a picture, piece of fabric, poem, ribbon, keepsake,... only you will know what is appropriate for your family memory. There could be one assigned record keeper or anyone could be allowed to contribute, or there could be regular times when certain questions are posed and answers written, testimonies recorded. Notes taken in church with the thoughts of the person taking them would also be appropriate here.

This year would be a great time to start a Faithbook together. It's a great way to focus on what's really important. :D

Brotherhood of the Scar

I had no idea there would be so many positive things coming out of my surgery.

I was a big fraidy cat to get it done. My doctor was amazing, my care impeccable, my recovery immediate and my scar is healing. Everything went well. I had two disks taken out and fused. That means they put in a metal bar and screwed it to my vertebrae and replaced the squishy disks between the vertebrae with plastic. Since my squishy disks had all squished out, my vertebrae were out of place and sawing on my nerve. The surgery completely fixed this. But I digress.

Now total strangers have a commonality that completely circumvents convention. The man pumping my gas the other day (I accidentally pulled into full service, which was worth blogging about all on it's own!) and the bright young accountant I saw at the office both immediately felt at home with me and showed me their scars.

It was really cool, having total strangers completely lower any barriers to chat about something meaningful to them. Really cool.

I mean, I chat. To anyone, about anything. I talk to people in stores, in waiting rooms, at libraries (SHHHH!!). It's one of those things. Out going, yes. I love chatting with people.
I even (sigh) facebook. But that's what I dislike about digital social networking, it's easy to know about everyone's every day life without having any idea of their real stories. What makes them real?

The Brotherhood of People with Cervical Fusions is awesome. How long did you take to feel better? Who did your surgery? Which disks? How long before you were back to work? How are you doing now? Did you follow doctor's orders? What else happened when you got your nerves back? They just jump into these questions. I went to church for three months and hardly anyone mentioned the enormous neck brace I sported. Like it was embarassing and not to be talked about. But those who have BEEN there have no trouble asking the cool questions and delving right in. Of course there are two reasons for this.

They care, because they have had it done too.

They know, they can see the scar, so they identify a commonality.

So many times we go about our shallow little lives without delving into others' reality. Never finding commonalities. And we are less because of it.

How much more wonderful the relationships where you know about each other enough to be sorry they got a diamond, or glad they're pregnant... how would you know? On Facebook or in person when you discover someone is pregnant, you wonder, is that a good thing or is this going to be a huge problem for them? Is this planned or is this going to destroy their relationship? What do I say? So you say, Wow! which, in and of itself, isn't much of a comment, but does show you read the post. (I don't like diamonds, by the way. How would you know? Send pearls! Or colors!)

So many times I find myself inadvertently offending someone because I didn't know enough to comment correctly and they choose to answer defensively. Look, if you REALLY know me, you'd know I do have opinions, but I wouldn't hurt your feelings on purpose for anything. I respect you and how you feel, completely. Politics, religion, idiology, morality, I can put all that aside and still love you and care about you.

We just need something in common.

Thanks, brothers and sisters of the Cervical Fusion. I love all of you, too. And thanks for the lesson.

Seize the Day

My insurance company is awesome. I love them and they send me stuff that's actually worth reading. In the latest issue they list 18 things to do before you turn 18. I'd list them here but they're copyright protected. Bummer. But it made me remember another magazine, Family Fun, which listed things you should do this summer, and rated them as far as difficulty, helpfulness, etc. They were things like, learn to do a cartwheel, whistle through your teeth, tie a bowline....

So many times we let the time pass, handling what we have to, and without a plan, we waste a lot of time. It's important to set plans and learn about things that are important to us or when the opportunity arises.

My youngest son just learned there is a fencing expert in our church. What a great time to learn how to do some cool swashbuckling moves! We have a child who will be moving away from home. When he does, we'll be learning all about his new home. This is not as spectacular, but it's part of the whole "Seize the Day" idea. Take those moments that are there for you and make something happen!

Sometimes YOU are the one who has to make them happen. Some opportunities fall in your lap, granted. You recognize them and appreciate them, that's super. But sometimes you have to reach out of your comfort zone, make sacrifices, make changes in your routine, and grab something less substantial but more meaningful.

If you're bored, try to discover why. Are you unable to do the things you want? How can you change that? Can you do something else? When I lived at Fort Bragg we were completely broke. I was clipping coupons and spending every "spare" dime on food. Sometimes we went without things. We didn't have cable, the dryer died, the stove burned up, the air conditioner didn't work. I had a little child and was pregnant. Gas was a luxury saved for getting Daddy to work and all of us to Church Sunday. I realized I really missed shopping. Grocery shopping with a little kid and pinching every penny buying the worst cuts of meat (could never afford potatoes or beef at all!) was just not very fun. The Library was too far away to justify the gas. There was, however, a book exchange, and I did have some extra books. I took some down there and traded them for "new" books. It wasn't SHOPPING shopping, but I did get to take my time selecting interesting books, looking at them, and picking the prizes to take home. The book exchange only charged tax, which was far less than a dollar a trip. It satisfied my need to "buy" something, got me out of the house, gave me a purpose, and helped my reading hobby. It also helped me weed out books I really didn't "need". I looked forward to these trips and really enjoyed them.

With fewer resources we learn to make do, we learn to be creative, and we learn self sufficiency. I would never have learned to change the oil on a car if I'd had money to pay someone else. I would not be so good at building a fire if it hadn't been the only way to heat my house. I would not appreciate hand me downs as much if I had been spoiled with name brand new clothes all the time. I would not have appreciated nature as much if I hadn't taken the time to go in my back yard and hang clothes.

It's important to have times in your life where you have to "make do" and times you have to do things that are hard and uncomfortable. Asking directions in a foreign country, changing a tire, working a job you don't like all build character and give you something they search for a lot these days, self esteem. If you know you can handle things yourself, and you don't have to rely on someone else, the government, your church, or friends, it does give you a sense of self that is stronger. This works as a family too. If you and your spouse can handle the vicissitudes of life together, it makes your relationship stronger.

So no matter what your circumstances, Seize the day! Set some goals for yourself. Here are some things to get you thinking!

Do a good turn daily (okay I totally stole that from Boy Scouts!)
Learn something new daily
Learn how to do something well
Pick a family to shower blessings on. Have them over for dinner. Give them presents. Include them in family fun times. Bring cookies.
Find someone who knows a skill who will share it with you.
Make a Christmas ornament.
Choose a hobby or talent you'd like to master and read about it on the internet, at the library, talk about it with friends and total strangers, and see how far you can go. Find out if there are any competitions locally, and see what it takes to enter.
Start or add to your own blog. You have something to say!

If it's career oriented, cooking a special meal, learning how to jumpstart your car, or learning more about local politics, it's making you a more informed and more interesting person, who has confidence and abilities. Confidence is attractive. See, reading -- and acting upon-- this blog may make you more beautiful!

Library List

This post is about biographies. When I look back at my library use, it's actually been kind of systematic at times, sometimes just random learning. I went through a phase of biographies one time where I read about the lives of people that were fascinating. Maria Von Trapp and Sir Lawrence Olivier were two that stand out in my memory. Sometimes you are pretty limited to the selections on the shelves but you may be amazed what you learn from people. The autobiographies are best. You get more of the "attitude" when you read their writing, feelings come out better and they're just more interesting.
Take a look online or at your local library. Read about the life of a great person. Read about the life of someone who lived in a different time or place.
Think about someone famous you admire... they've probably either been written about or have told their own stories. Reader's Digest did a huge series of condensed books on people, 4 to a book, sometimes more, of varied people from music legends to political figures to inventors and innovators. Before the end of the year you should be able to put your feet in someone else's shoes and enjoy the walk!

Wealth

You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
Adrian Rogers 1931

What is important?

It’s about gratitude, and perspective…

I know my grandmas would laugh about this, because I am sure I was a silly brainless kid once…

But it seems lots of people today don’t know the difference between a necessity and a want.
It surprised me when I was doing credit counseling (very briefly) that there were people who would hock a watch to get money for Easter dresses for their children. Then they’d pay the fee, buy back the watch, and use it like a credit card for other events….
Credit cards are bad enough but pawn fees are even higher.
Going into debt for things you need, if carefully managed, can be helpful. I don’t know anyone who could pay 100% of their first home. Cars these days are very expensive. So besides settling for a very small home or a used car, obvious alternatives to overreaching your income, going into debt can be the only way these things are possible. If you can’t work on cars, getting a used one can be even more expensive than new, so I won’t belabor that.
I have recently been inspired by the family who got out of over $100,000.00 in debt by hard work and frugal choices. By knuckling down and working hard, they managed to pay it all off, and now have freedom from debt, a house, and the satisfaction of having completed a Herculean task.
I also know a woman who challenged her family to buy nothing new for a year. They would scour yard sales, second hand shops, resale stores and link up with friends to trade clothes and find the things they might need. Food was, of course, exempt. They gave themselves 5 “outs” or times when they could buy a new item. One time, on vacation, they had lost their sippy cup for the baby, and after a thorough search of the local thrift shops, came up empty handed. That was their only “out”.
What do you need? Really?
How grateful we would all be if we truly learned to live within our means, to find joy in making do, to learn how to be happy!

I’m making a list of things I am willing to sacrifice for. Things I am grateful for. No whining!

Christmas Lists

Yes boys and girls. It's time to make out your list for Santy Claus!
My mom would throw a Sears catalog at me and let me go for it. It was pointless because unless I could wear it or it was otherwise immensely practical, I didn't get it. I made my own clothes for Barbies I got from friends... but I digress. You might want to break it into four sections:

1. Things I need for school, sport, to wear or to sleep better at night:
2. Things I would like for school, sports, to wear or sleep better at night.
3. Things I would like for hobbies I like to do
4. Stuff
It's just a way to get them to think about things they need as well as the things they just see that are shiny in the catalog. I'm sure there is a better list! Tell me what you do!!

Dont forget to make a copy and send the original to Santa Claus, North Pole

North Polar - Santa Claus P.O. Box 56099 North Pole, Alaska 99705-1099
If you want a reply you need to follow instructions here http://www.northpolar.com/

or email to http://www.emailsanta.com/ in English or French for your French Immersion Student!

Don't forget to track Santa at NORAD. We do this every year. Gives NORAD something to do besides watch for missiles and UFOs. :D