It was a really good weekend. Saturday, we hung out, watched Christmas movies, ate the treats I made on Friday and just generally rested. Yesterday I decided to put the leftover chicken I had from Thursday nights dinner to good use and made a pot of chicken vegetable soup, then at the last minute I made homemade egg noodles to put in it – which just topped it off nicely. I also finally got around to baking the pumpkins and getting the pulp pureed, measured out and ready for pies. There’s something pretty wonderful about a hot, steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup on a chilly November evening that makes me smile. I get to repeat the smile today, because it’s what is for lunch today too!
Verse of the Day
November 19, 2018
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Thoughts on the Verse of the Day
I get to choose which sources of information I feed my mind. But this privilege and freedom is also a responsibility. God longs to bless me, but that blessing remains dormant until my heart delights in knowing and doing his will.
www.verseoftheday.com
I Am Thankful For . . .
There are so many people that I have met that won’t eat leftovers, which I do not understand. Leftovers are wonderful! The combination of not wasting food and saving money just go together so nicely. Today I am thankful for my leftover soup to have for lunch, and for being blessed to have food in the house that is plentiful, nutritious and filling.
American Made Matters – American Made Matters® (AMM), is an organization that is dedicated to educating consumers on the importance of buying American-made products. They have declared November 19 to be the first annual American Made Matters® Day. On this day, AMM is encouraging consumers to buy at least one American-made product to show their support for American manufacturing. This event will kick-off a movement set out to encourage Americans to buy products made in America throughout the upcoming holiday shopping season. American Made Matters has a list of nearly 200-member companies that use the AMM logo on at least some of their products. The criteria for allowing its member organization to use its label on goods is to at least have 50% of the product’s cost (labor, materials and overhead) incurred in the U.S., and the final assembly “or transformation” (whatever that means) must take place in the United States. When you are shopping, please take an extra second or two to look at tags or labels. It may surprise you how many products come from outside the U.S., and how simple it is to buy a similar product made right here in our own country, contributing to our own economy.
Equal Opportunity Day (aka Gettysburg Address Day) – There is likely no speech in American history that is more revered than this short message given by President Abraham Lincoln on the occasion of the dedication of a cemetery in the little town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Not long after the Battle of Gettysburg, the Governor of Pennsylvania, Andrew Curtin, asked David Wills of Gettysburg, to oversee the cleanup of the aftermath of the battle. Across the battlefield were the bodies of soldiers from both armies, rotting in the heat of the summer sun. Wills didn’t just bury the bodies in a hurry wherever they happened to lay. No, he managed to acquire 17 acres of land to create a national cemetery so that the dead could have a permanent resting place. (personally, I think David Wills was a hero!). A landscape architect from Germantown, William Saunders, made the plans for the cemetery, and the burial began not long after. On September 23rd, Wills invited highly respected Edward Everett to give a speech. The dedication was to happen on October 23rd, but Everett wanted more time to prepare, so they rescheduled the ceremony for November 19th. Almost as an afterthought, David Wills issued an invitation to President Lincoln to make a “few appropriate remarks”. Lincoln accepted the invitation and gave a speech that lasted a few minutes, which was quite opposite of Everett’s 2-hour oration. The speech given by Everett has long been forgotten, but Lincoln’s remarks are arguably the most famous words ever spoken in this our history. So many people from around the world have shown an interest in President Lincoln’s speech that it has been translated into 29 different languages. If it has been awhile since you’ve read The Gettysburg Address, please take a moment and re-read it. It’s something we should all be very familiar with, and have the sentiments firmly in our hearts, seared into our souls, and as such renew the resolve of every citizen of our great nation to return her to the beautiful land of freedom that she was created to be! Those in our government need to remember the last line of the speech, and remember that THEY WORK FOR US, not the other way around.
President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:
Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion–that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Have a Bad Day Day – Well, what is this? Is it good? Is it not good? Hmmmmm . . . Well, as I began reading about it, I thought I would find that this day was intended to recognize that everyone has a bad day now and again. That wasn’t so! Apparently, whoever set this up, and of course they didn’t have the courage to put their name on it, wanted to encourage people to wish people a bad day, for example for sales people to stop saying “have a good day” to their customers, and replace it with “have a bad day”. Huh? Why? That sure doesn’t sound like a very nice person created this holiday – but I’m betting when they did, they were having an awful day and just wanted to spread their sour mood. I can’t actually encourage anyone to celebrate this one, but if you happen to run into someone actually celebrating it, just smile happily at them and maybe you can turn their deliberate frown into a smile. It’s worth a try, right?
Rocky and Bullwinkle Day – Happy 59th Birthday Rocky and Bullwinkle! How many hours did many of us spend as kids watching this funny duo on Saturday mornings? On this day in 1959, Rocky and Bullwinkle played the heroes and saved the world for the very first time – the first time of many! The show was funny, witty, and though it had terrible animation, it ran for six years and had all sorts of spin-offs. We all l loved Rocky, Bullwinkle, Boris and Natasha, Dudley Do-Right (I admit – Dudley actually annoyed me a bit), and even Snively Whiplash. This was one of the great shows where the good guys always win, it doesn’t pay to break the law, and all’s well with the world until the next episode. Ahhhh, those were the days . . . when cartoons were actually entertaining and not mind numbingly stupid propaganda intended to dumb down our kids and shove them into a hive mentality world. Bring back the good old days and show them cartoons with true entertainment value!
World Toilet Day – We are so fortunate to live in a country where we likely have never had to face a situation without a flushing toilet, vault toilet, porta potty or some other form of facility to accommodate our sanitation needs. The only time most of us will have had to do our business outdoors is if we are hiking the back country somewhere and have brought our own shovels and biodegradable toilet paper! Today brings to light a very serious global problem – one that we may take for granted, but many see as a luxury. Around one billion people in the world face indignity every day by having to go to the bathroom out in open spaces, and the diarrheal diseases that are associated with this practice kill more children every year than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. We are so fortunate to have grown up in a country where proper sanitation is standard, and where we learn the basics of hygiene from a very young age and our facilities are modern and clean. Global Vision International (GVI) is a global volunteer organization that runs sanitation projects in countries like Nepal, Kenya, India and South Africa. Their statistics say that in South Africa alone, approximately 75,000 children die before they are 5, in many cases due to a lack of education in general healthcare practices. The problem goes beyond the need for proper toilets, with education being a key factor in putting a stop to the health problems in these countries. The lack of clean and safe toilets isn’t just a health issue, but it has had an impact on education also. A large number of girls drop out of school when they reach puberty because they don’t have adequate facilities. GVI goes into these countries and helps renovate toilet facilities in schools and communities, improving conditions, educating the communities and giving these people better lives. Today please appreciate how fortunate we are, and perhaps reach out to a group such as GVI, World Vision, etc. and help these communities with the problems associated with lack of clean facilities and water.
This Day in History –
1863 – Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.
Food Celebration of the Day –
Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day – I love caffeine. I know a lot of people do, especially around here where you can find a coffee shop on nearly every corner and sometimes more than one in a city block. I also love carbonated beverages – usually in the form of a Zevia soda. Today is about combining your carbonated cold drink with caffeine – which sounds like a happy celebration to me. Did you know that 90% of adults in North America consume caffeinated beverages? That doesn’t surprise me.
National Macchiato Day – Do you ever walk into a coffee shop and get a little confused about all of the choices? I’m sure we don’t get as confused now as we did when all of the coffee shops started popping up everywhere. It’s coffee though – not all that confusing, so how did it get to be so wordy when you try to order a hot beverage? There are so many French and Italian words involved that sometimes the person who usually just orders plain black coffee could easily get lost in the menu! Two of the words most often associated with coffee in shops are latte and macchiato. The word “latte” is Italian for milk, and in Italy caffelatte is used to ask for coffee mixed with milk. Now in our country we order a latte and it’s a coffee mixed with milk, but if you order a latte in Italy, you’ll just get a cup of milk! A latte is coffee with more milk, a macchiato is an espresso with a spot of milk – so more coffee, less milk. The Americanized version of a macchiato is that the milk is added to the coffee as foam, instead of the original steamed milk. Later versions of both latte and macchiato are both foamy so it went from being clear to being confusing again! The true difference is in how they are prepared. Lattes are prepared with the espresso in the cup first, followed by the steamed milk and any flavoring on top. The Macchiato is made with the steamed milk being poured in first, with the coffee following. They are both still steamed milk and coffee, no matter which order you make them.
Now that we are all completely caffeinated, or planning to get that way, we should be revved up and ready to get to work. It’s a short week for most of us so let’s not waste a moment of time getting ready for it! God bless you and I’ll see you tomorrow.
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Celebration list sources:
www.verseoftheday.com www.brownielocks.com www.holidayinsights.com www.thenibble.com www.foodimentary.com