07.14.07
Posted in Education, Family, Self Improvement at 12:33 am by <ADMINNICENAME>
In the documentary, “The Revolution”, broadcast on the History Channel, it was stated that it is the opinion of many that George Washington’s most outstanding leadership attribute was his ability to listen and learn from others. George Washington had opinions, but he often changed them after hearing the ideas and opinions of others.
Near the beginning of the war, George Washington’s army lost the battle of New York. This loss tormented Washington, and he was compassionate about regaining control of the city because he felt the city was taken by England because of his inexperience and poor judgment. When the French army finally arrived in America, Washington felt with the additional strength to the patriot army, they were now strong enough to recapture New York. The French commander, Comte de Rochambeau, felt they should attack at Yorktown rather than New York. Although George Washington was passionate about recapturing New York, he listened and thought about Rochambeau’s logic, and then agreed that it would be better to attack Yorktown. Even though the battle of Yorktown was not the end of the war, it was the battle that won the war.
A religious leader, Boyd K. Packer recently stated, “To be a good teacher, you must be a willing learner.” (lds.org: Worldwide Training Meeting) I think if George Washington were alive today, his words would be a little different, but the meaning would be the same, ”To be a good leader, you must willingly listen and learn from others”.
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07.05.07
Posted in Family at 2:13 am by <ADMINNICENAME>
I had an unusual 4th of July yesterday. My husband had to work, and the only two children (two sons) left at home wanted to go with their friends so I consented to let them go thinking “Aaaah, I can spend some time by myself catching up on my never ending to do list”.
As I was thinking about what to do first, I overheard bits and pieces of a 4th of July program on the History Channel that my husband was watching before he left for work at 11:30a.m. I quickly became interested in the documentary on the Revolutionary War and totally forgot about my to do list.
There were flash backs between George Washington on the battle front and Benjamin Franklin who was skillfully negotiating with the King of France for funds to purchase the needed war supplies in America.
For the first time, I was able to follow the strategies used in this war because the minds behind this documentary thoughtfully used simple diagrams to show rather than just explain the strategies. The royal army was represented in red, the colonial army in blue, and once the French joined the war, their color was purple. It was so easy and enjoyable for me to follow who went which way.
I ended up watching this lengthy, but well done documentary all day long……I guess my to do list wasn’t that important after all. I enjoyed this program, “The Revolution” so much that I ordered it from the History Channel Store so I can watch it without the interference of advertisements and in shorter increments.
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07.03.07
Posted in Family, Health at 9:42 pm by <ADMINNICENAME>
My daughter is majoring in community health. In one of her health classes she studied a section on lactose intolerance, and she began to wonder if she was lactose intolerant.
Wikepedia defines lactose intolerance as:
Lactose intolerance (or hypolactasia) is the condition in which lactase, an enzyme needed for proper metabolization of lactose (a sugar that is a constituent of milk and other dairy products), is not produced in adulthood.
Lactose intolerance can sometimes be confused with milk allergy. In reality, the former is a lack of the enzyme lactase, while the latter is an aberrant immune response (usually) to milk proteins.
With lactose intolerance, the result of consuming too much lactose is excess gas production, stomach aches and often diarrhea.
The majority of humans stop producing significant amounts of lactase sometime between the ages of two and five. A relatively recent genetic change caused some populations, including many northern Europeans, to continue producing lactase into adulthood. Lactose intolerance is an autosomal recessive trait, while lactase persistence is the dominant allele. The gene is expressed and the enzyme synthesized if at least one of the two genes are able to express properly. Only when both gene expressions are affected is lactase enzyme synthesis reduced, which in turn reduces lactose digestion.-Wikipedia
When I had a stomach ache when I was a kid, my mom would tell me to go get a glass of milk. So when my daughter would tell me that she had a stomach ache, I told her to go get a glass of milk. As I think back about the use of milk as a stomach ache remedy, I know it didn’t work. I remember that my daughter’s stomach ache did not go away until morning, after a night’s rest, or probably more likely, after a night’s digestion.
As an experiment, my daughter decided to cut milk from her diet to see if it would improve her overall health, and it did. She no longer had stomach aches, or sinus and ear infections. My daughter replaced milk with yogart, and some soy milk (although there seems to be controversy as to whether soy milk is an healthy product…… See “Scientists versus the soya industry”
Since my husband and son had similar symptoms, they decided to reduce their milk intake, and increase their consumption of yogart and soy milk. They also noticed overall improved health.
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06.27.07
Posted in Family at 12:50 am by <ADMINNICENAME>
Last Friday, June 22nd, my oldest son, Ben, married his sweetheart in the Salt Lake City temple. The occassion was peaceful and unhurried with mostly only family in attendance. People commented on how beautiful Brittany, the bride, looked. Brittany was radiant and all smiles. Ben was more subdued, but seemed very happy.
The sealer who married the couple challenged them to follow four steps throughout their lives:
1. Cherish each other
2. Speak softly to one another
3. Don’t go into debt, live frugal
4. Pray night and morning, make God a part of your marriage
I really liked that he didn’t give them too much advice, just enough for them to remember.
To witness the love between my son and his new bride, renewed my feelings of love and committment to my sweeheart of 27 years. Witnessing the love between Ben & Brittany on their wedding day last Friday, helped me to remember the zest, excitement, and anticipation of the day I married Ben’s father.
Thanks for reminding me how much I love your father. B & B, Ben and Brittany, I know you will have a happy marriage as you work each day to keep loving each other.
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06.22.07
Posted in Family at 2:00 am by <ADMINNICENAME>
My youngest child, Tyler, who is 13 is taking advanced swimming lessons right now. As I sit on the sidelines observing his calm demeanor, I am pleased with his happy disposition and progression. At moments as I watch Tyler, I have flashes of frightened feelings when I was a child taking swimming lessons. I was terrified of the water and had a constant stomach ache when attending swimming lessons.
When my dad dug a water hole on our farm so that our family could swim in private and without driving to town, I was finally able to relax in an unpressured environment, and gradually overcame my fear of the water. I will probably always have reoccurring childhood memories of frightening times at swimming lessons even though I am no longer scared of the water.
Of course, I didn’t realize when I was a kid that all I needed was a relaxed atmosphere to learn and progress at my own speed. I came to the realization as I raised my children that swimming lessons are a waste of time and money if you have a child that is frightened of the water. I have learned that it is best to take small children to the pool in a safe, relaxed family setting. Children thrive in an unpressured atmosphere, and although all six of my children progressed developing their water skills at different rates, they all learned to swim and they all enjoy the water.
I sincerely believe whether you are slow or quick to enjoy the water, everyone can learn water skills.
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06.18.07
Posted in Family at 10:11 pm by <ADMINNICENAME>
The past 8 years I have been working full time plus keeping up with the demands of six children. I quickly realized that I had to find ways to save time when preparing meals for my family. Here are a few shortcuts that I use to save time:
- Use inexpensive paper plates. They not only save time, they are sanitary.
- Buy already washed and cut vegetables. Yes, it is more expensive, but if you don’t have time to wash and cut up veggies, it is better to spend a little more money and continue to eat vegetables with your meals. I am convinced that eating plenty of vegetables helps cut down on trips to the doctor’s office. My favorite place to buy washed and cut vegetables is Costco.
- Purchase restaurant size Stouffer’s lasagna. They are great tasting and only cost $8 to $10 for twelve large portions. Stouffers lasagna will satisfy even growing teenage boys.
- Hamburger Helper and Supper Bakes are economical and fast to prepare. They taste great even when using lowfat cuts of meat like turkey, and lean beef.
- Tina’s Burritos and Tony’s Pizza, although they are higher in fat, when they are eaten with lots of fresh veggies, it is a healthy meal.
- Buy in bulk when possible so you can make less trips to the grocery store. Again, my favorite place to buy in bulk is Costco. They have good quality, large bulk meats, fruits and vegetables, and prepared foods. A couple of my favorites are their pressed frozen hamburger patties, and frozen bagged chicken breasts.
- I think in terms of a meal as a main dish and veggies. Keeping it simple will alleviate stress, and keep a happier atmosphere in your home.
- If you are having a dessert, popsicles, creamsicles, rice krispy treats, frozen Marie Callendars pies that often go on sale, and already prepared cookie dough are fast choices that save time. Even better than buying prepared cookie dough, let your kids have the fun of making cookies for the family.
Please share ways that you have found to save time when preparing meals for your family. I would love to hear from you.
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06.14.07
Posted in Cleaning Tips, Family at 3:15 am by <ADMINNICENAME>
I am often aghast when I look at the front of my shirt, to find spots and spills that I wonder how I could be so sloppy. I used to throw my spotted clothing directly into the laundry, but since it generally takes me a week or so before I get around to washing my clothes, the stains would dry, and became immovable even after being treated with stain removers.
I did some experimenting, and I discovered that stains were easily removed by pouring a little liquid detergent on the affected area, whatever brand is your favorite (I usually use an off brand or one that is on sale), and leave it to soak in a bowl of cold water overnight, or until I get around to washing the garment.
I rarely have a stain that I cannot remove anymore. The trick is applying the liquid detergent as quick as possible, and then immediately letting it soak in cold water. I have not had a problem removing even hard to remove substances like oil, tomatoe base foods, chocolate, etc. since I started applying liquid detergent to my stains.
The only thing that I have found that liquid detergent does not remove is ink, but I learned awhile back that hair spray removes ink. Give it a try sometime and see if it works for you too.
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01.25.07
Posted in Family at 11:36 pm by <ADMINNICENAME>
I looked at Bed Bath and Beyond, Home Depot, Target, and JC Penneys for a Chicago Cutlery serrated knife. After taking the time to go to the all those stores, it finally occurred to me to shop online for the knife, and guess what, I found the knife I was looking for in less than five minutes at Amazon.com.
I had purchased some books from Amazon.com so they had my contact information on file so I didn’t even have to take the time to fill out my contact information. I pressed a few buttons and almost like magic, a few days later, my serrated knife arrived to my door step. I didn’t have to pay any freight because I purchased a couple of books with the knife and so my total was more than the required $25.00 to qualify for free freight. You simply cannot beat that!!
This experience converted me to shopping online. Saving time and gas not only saves money but my sanity! This past holiday, I was able to enjoy more time with my family and doing nice thoughtful things for them and my neighbors. Discovering online shopping has made me feel less frustrated, thus, my shopping experiences have become happier and more positive.
If you are like me, you won’t miss the holiday rush and waiting in long check out lines. I am proof that even though I am approaching 50, I can convert my old ways to new and better methods. Give shopping online a try, I am pretty sure you will like it.
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12.16.06
Posted in Family at 2:10 am by <ADMINNICENAME>
I recently found out that it is not a good idea to carry debit cards in your wallet or purse. It is like carrying the amount of cash that is in your checking account everywhere you go. If someone steals your debit card or you lose it, you are responsible to prove that someone stole your debit card.
On the other hand, if a credit card is lost or stolen, it is the responsiblity of the credit card company to prove the card is in the hands of someone else. Given this information, I choose credit cards so I don’t find myself dealing with the hassles and costs of recovering stolen or lost banking cards.
Another perk for credit cards is that if you pay off your monthly balance in full each billing period, your credit scores increases, and over time you will gradually qualify for the best interest rates.
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