I’ve been really lax about getting to the posts on time, and honestly, I have had a hard time caring lately. It’s not that I don’t enjoy writing about the celebrations and some of the little things going on in my life – I do! But I don’t know that anyone is reading or caring any longer. Facebook hides my posts unless I pay them to show them, I can’t seem to get most of the readers to LIKE or COMMENT, though I have a few faithful folks who do, which would keep the posts in the feed. I have tried including links for Amazon for items I enjoy using, but people don’t click on those either. I get it. People are busy – I’m busy too, so I totally understand. This all takes a lot of time though – time I could be spending doing things around the house, or outside in the yard. Time I could be planning menus, meal prepping or just relaxing with Hubby and Moose. I cannot tell you how much I would appreciate it, if you enjoy reading about the celebrations, if you want to see future special projects, if you would sign up to receive the posts in your email. That way it wouldn’t matter if Facebook hides my posts to try to force me to pay for them to be seen. I’ll try to do better with staying on top of it, and also try to do more special posts. It would be encouraging to me to see more people reading though. Please let me know by your comments that you are still interested.
Verse of the Day
October 15, 2018
How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.
Thoughts on the Verse of the Day
“I am Yahweh, who saved you out of Egypt. You must never have any other god, but me!” The Lord God Almighty at the beginning of the Ten Commandments reminded us of this central, seminal, and consummate truth. What else is there to say?
www.verseoftheday.com
Food for Thought
This is the time of year when I find that there are two completely different points of view on the holidays. Decorations for three holidays at the same time are showing up in the stores – Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, with the predominant one being Christmas – of course. One point of view is that the holidays should be separate, and I used to agree with that, with each having its own time. While I agree with that in theory, in reality I find myself firmly of the mind that celebrating in a way that brings the least amount of stress and the most enjoyment is the way to go. For us, we don’t really celebrate Halloween. We will have candy available for kids that may show up at our door, though that is rare. That’s about the limit. If I know the grandchildren will be here I will decorate the porch with purple and orange lights, put out some skulls, spiders and pumpkins, but since that’s only happened once, I won’t call it a regular tradition. We start pulling out the Christmas decorations in October, with the goal of getting everything set up, except the tree or dining room decorations, by the 1st of November. This does two things, it reduces the stress for getting everything done in a short span of time and increases the length of time for our own enjoyment. We used to set everything up after Thanksgiving and to be honest, the stress was too much. Here’s a thought, do what is best for you without being critical of those who do things differently. Shaming people for different things has become a thing over the years – Mom-shaming, Fat-shaming, and now Holiday-shaming. Make it stop – don’t let holiday shaming be a thing. Embrace the special days any way you can, in the best way for you.
Global Handwashing Day – This is always an important and serious one, and I wouldn’t put it so much into the category of celebrating, but necessary to life! Through proper hygiene – including the use of soap and hot water – the transmission of infections has been reduced. This has been recognized for at least 150 years as being critical to public health, however actual hygienic practices around the world are far behind what should be thought of as a basic safety standard for everyone. The problem is worst for the poorest people of the world who do not have access to safe water, decent sanitation and soap. For these people are exposed to so many waterborne and hand-to-mouth pathogens, not only from lack of facilities, but lack of knowledge as well. When medical teams go into those regions, they are facing the same challenges, and sadly often find themselves ill with the very sicknesses they are trying to treat. For those of us who aren’t facing the lack of clean water and soap, it is a matter of overcoming bad habits. Not washing properly endangers each of us and the people around us! How many times do you go to a public restroom and note that people are NOT washing their hands??? That’s seriously disgusting! They are going straight from the bathroom and putting their hands all over shopping carts, products in stores, menus in restaurants! Gross! Even without the threat of illness, that’s utterly gross. I was listening to an educational audio on Natural News not long ago and they said that the minimum time necessary to clean our hands appropriately is 1-1/2 to 2 minutes with hot water and soap. For crying out loud, at most I’ve heard people just run their hands under cold water and walk away! Please, take note of what is going on in the world. We can’t protect ourselves from everything, but we CAN wash our hands to attempt to NOT spread viral fragments and bacteria everywhere we go! So, wash your hands. Right now! Get up and go wash!
I Love Lucy Day – How many of us have been raised watching, and loving, I Love Lucy? I can’t even guess how many hours I spent growing up laughing at Lucy and her antics with Ethel. Well, today is the 63rd anniversary of the much loved “I Love Lucy” TV show. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz broke new ground with their show, which first aired on this day in 1951.
*The show was filmed in front of a live audience in a time when most shows had a “canned” laugh track.
* The show was filmed with three cameras at once, rather than just one. This was so the director didn’t have call for multiple retakes of the same scene – which would have been difficult for a live audience. Even when the actors messed up their lines they didn’t have a retake – they just played off the mistake for extra laughs.
* Desilu (Lucille Ball’s and Desi Arnaz’s production company) pretty much invented the rerun. When Lucille Ball gave birth to their two children, she needed a little time to recover before going back to work, so they showed episodes that had already been aired for a 2nd time and it turned out that they were very popular!
“I Love Lucy” was the most-watched show of its time and ended its run at the top of the ratings. It won five Emmy Awards, and was nominated many more times. It always appears on “Best TV Shows of All-Time” lists and is still being rerun all over the world. It is still watched by forty million people in the United States every single year!
National Cake Decorating Day – Up until a few years ago, I couldn’t bake a cake that didn’t fall or look like I’d mauled it, to save my life. I dreaded events that would require a cake because I knew how badly it would turn out. I couldn’t even make a mix cake without problems! I know! How sad is THAT? Well, one day I decided that I was going to take one of those cake decorating classes offered at Michaels. I loved it! I took two more classes and loved them too! The advice offered by my instructor – since they didn’t actually have us bake a cake – turned things around completely. I haven’t had a cake fall since then, and I’ve discovered how much I love creating beautiful cakes and cupcakes – mostly cupcakes though. I even was blessed with the chance to bake the wedding cakes for my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding, and recently my daughter and new son-in-law’s wedding too! If you feel like you are death to decorating cakes, maybe take a class, or even look for a tutorial online – there are some pretty great ones out there! Standing back and seeing something beautiful that you did yourself is truly very satisfying. If all of the swirly frosting is intimidating, I found some beautiful, edible flowers and butterflies recently that are SO easy! You ice the cake, then stick these flowers to a bit of frosting. They are beautiful, and though they don’t taste like much, they CAN be eaten since they are made with rice paper. Happy Decorating!
National Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day – This one is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of each October, since we all accumulate so much extra stuff on our computers throughout the year. It was started by The Personal Computer Museum in Brantford, Ontario Canada. I didn’t even know there WAS such a museum, though I suppose that would be because it’s in Ontario . . . far . . . far away.
National Grouch Day – I know for a fact that we all have a grouch in our lives. You just smiled as you thought of them, didn’t you? They drive us crazy with their perpetually irritated mood, but at the same time they give us something to laugh about . . . behind their backs of course. If you don’t have a grouch in your life, you may wish to look in the mirror because it is entirely possibly YOU are the grouch! Do the smallest glitches in life put you in a bad mood? Do people often accuse you have having gotten up on the wrong side of the bed? If your name often included in the phrase “______the Grouch?” Does everything just seem to go wrong in your life, leaving you in a sulky, grouchy mood? If that’s the case, you really MIGHT be the grouch in your life. If so, well, today is your lucky day because you can feel free to grouch about whatever you want since today is National Grouch Day! It is the one day of the year that you can be as grouchy as you want and everyone else just has to deal with it. A gift for the grouch in your life may be a nice thing to do and MIGHT just put a smile on their face – try something like this! Gift or no, grouch on my gloomy friends! You may be smiling on the inside and the rest of us just don’t know it.
National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day – Sadly, one in four women experience a miscarriage in their lives, and many experience multiple miscarriages. How many women do you know who actually talk about it though? Probably not very many. Did you know that every single day in the United States, 2,000 women lose a baby to pregnancy/infant loss? That’s 700,000 each year, a quarter of all females in this country. The loss of a child is something that has become a “hush-hush” subject in our society, and women often feel forced to suffer in silence. Alone. Today, breaking the silence could be the first step towards the healing that so many women never get. I had a miscarriage years ago. My daughter was two years old when I found out I was going to have another baby. Like most women, when they find out they are pregnant, they immediately begin to envision that child in their lives. Plans are made, and the excitement begins. That’s the way it was with me anyway. A few months into my pregnancy I went in for my regular appointment and was looking forward to hearing the heartbeat and possibly getting the first ultrasound. The moment I saw the doctor’s face, I knew something was wrong. He kept trying to find the heartbeat, but never did. We had the ultrasound, but my baby was no longer alive. There isn’t a way to express the feelings I had, knowing that this little life that I’d been celebrating was gone already, and in heaven. I didn’t know grief could feel that way. There are still days, all these years later that I think about my baby and wonder whether it was a girl or a boy, and what would he or she have looked like. My story isn’t dramatic, or even any different than so many other women, and I know that there are countless grieving mothers who lost many babies through miscarriage, and many who lose their little ones soon after they are born. Today, know that if you have lost a child, you do not have to feel alone. All of those people who offered you platitudes until you were ready to scream in their faces, they don’t get it. They can’t, unless they’ve been through the same loss. That empty feeling? That is something that you felt to your very core, and today by breaking the silence and talking to other mothers who have gone through the same loss, you can heal from the pain, and fill the emptiness with healing. From one mother to other mothers – God bless you and know that you truly are not alone.
White Cane Safety Day – This is an interesting one because very few of us have had the opportunity to see what it is like to be blind when we aren’t. My daughter’s ex-husband is visually impaired – he lost an eye when he was shot in the face in Iraq. Occasionally she would attend events with him where wounded warriors with either blindness, or limited sight, get together to compete in athletic events. She went, in part, to cheer him on, and in part to offer her assistance with the people who are completely blind. On one such occasion they were at a college campus where an event was being held, and the people she was helping wanted her to see what it was like for them, so they blindfolded her, handed her a cane after a quick tutorial, and following behind her to make sure she didn’t get into any trouble, she made her way from one side of the campus to the other. She said that the experience was one she will not only never forget, but that really gave her a perspective she never had before – not only what it was like to walk with the cane, but how other people perceive the blind, how the hearing is enhanced in that situation, and how incredibly challenging everyday life must be. This is an important awareness day, and one that I hope everyone gives some thought. On October 6, 1964, Congress signed a law authorizing the President of the United States to proclaim October 15th each year as White Cane Safety Day. The day is intended to raise awareness for the everyday safety challenges that the blind face every day and commend them for the extraordinary way they have met those challenges. The white cane is such valuable tool for the blind, giving them the freedom of moment that they may not have otherwise. If you know someone who is blind or visually impaired, celebrate this day with him or her! Here are some interesting facts about blindness: Worldwide, someone goes blind every five seconds; 80% of all blindness is preventable or curable; by age 65, 33% of all Americans will have some sort of vision-impairing eye disease. You can celebrate this day by scheduling your next eye exam for yourself and your family members.
This Day in History –
1951 – “I Love Lucy” premiered on television.
Food Celebration of the Day –
National Cheese Curd Day – For the folks living in Wisconsin, where this one was started, they know what cheese curds are. The rest of us may not. Cheese curds happen during the cheese making process, before a solid cheese is formed and aged. They can be plain or flavored, or be white, natural or yellow. They are soft and a bit salty with a texture that is slightly rubbery. I’ve had something CALLED cheese curds but based on this description, I’m not sure if they were real ones! Have you ever had them? Do you like them?
National Chicken Cacciatore Day – The term “alla cacciatora” is Italian for “in the manner of hunters.” Real-life translation: a delectable dish of braised chicken with saucy tomatoes, herbs and veggies. Hmmm . . . I was wondering what to fix for dinner – wonder if I have all of the ingredients?
National Mushroom Day – There are many different species of edible mushrooms, but I admit to only being familiar with a couple of them. If you aren’t personally acquainted with mushrooms, they are the fleshy bodies of several species of fungi. Some are edible and used in cooking, and because of their nutritional content, valued by people who eat a vegetarian diet. Some mushrooms are cultivated, some harvested from the wild, but harvesting from the wild can be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. It is easy to confuse edible mushrooms with toxic ones. Mushrooms are considered to be the “meat” of the non-meat world because of their high protein content. They also contain vitamins B and C, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sodium and zinc. We celebrated this last night without even knowing it, by having sautéed mushrooms on our steaks.
National Red Wine Day – This is another one we had last night with our steak! YUM! Did you know that one bottle of wine contains the juice of about 3 pounds of grapes? I could go on and on about the benefits and wonders that are red wine, but I won’t. Foodimentary.com had some interesting facts to say about red wine, and I figured I’d share this really interesting one with you. The ancient Greeks had a wine glass that ensured the drinker keep things in moderation – if the wine was poured above a certain level, the cup spilled its entire contents out the bottom. That’s pretty cool!
National Roast Pheasant Day – I’ve never eaten pheasant. It’s expensive, and not typically in the stores anyway. I hear it is delicious though, so maybe someday I’ll try it. The pheasant is a game bird that is native to southern and central Asia but has been introduced successfully to Europe and North America. It is well established in the United States now. They are also raised commercially. I read up a bit on cooking a pheasant and it seems to be very similar to roasting a whole chicken.
Within the couple of weeks, I am going to be starting on the annual holiday celebrations, delving into the history of different parts of Halloween, Harvest, Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions. Some we will be familiar with, and others we aren’t, at least in our country. I find them to be very fascinating and I hope you do too. Some people say it is too early to start in on the holidays, but I don’t feel like it’s ever too soon. I hope many of you feel the same way. In the meantime, I need to head to work and I’m sure many of you do too. God bless you and if motivation strikes, 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