Martha's way #1: Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.

The Real Women's Way: Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete's sake, you are probably lying on the couch, with your feet up, eating it anyway.


Martha's way #2: To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

The Real Women's Way: Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix and keep it in the pantry for up to a year.


Martha's way #3: When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.

The Real Women's Way: Go to the bakery. They'll even decorate it for you.


Martha's way #4: If you accidentally over salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant "fix me up."

The Real Women's Way: If you over salt a dish while you are cooking, that's too bad. Please recite with me, The Real Women's motto: "I made it and you will eat it and I don't care how bad it tastes."


Martha's way #5: Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.

The Real Women's Way: Celery? Never heard of the stuff.


Martha's way #6: Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.

The Real Women's Way: The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust so I just don't do it.


Martha's way #7: If you have a problem opening jars: Try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non slip grip that makes opening jars easy.

The Real Women's Way: Go ask the very cute neighbor to do it.

Some places in this world you just really need to just shake the dust.

They will even lie and tell you your wanted there.....but in reality all they want is dipute.

The Lord has given me too much peace to hang around such dives.

They are a dime a dozen.

If there is no Virgin Birth, there can be no Incarnation
If there is no Incarnation, there can be no God-man
If there is no God-man, there can be no Atonement, for
There is none with humanity to shed blood and Deity for Efficacy
If there is no Atonement, there is no salvation and all are Yet in sin

Link

Considering this I have myself concluded that the "belief" of the virgin birth of Christ is the
"sin "factor.

Christ most certainly has taken sin from those that believe. Some of the scripture I love the most.

Luke 1:77  To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
Acts 10:43  To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

Now that idealism would not stop those that don't believe in the virgin birth to be "saved'. It is only an indication of whether it has yet happened in that life.

Is anything too hard for God?

For each salvation there is a season.

I doubt that anyone can be fully saved and not realize this.

Pureness

Titus 1:15
Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

Something to contemplate. All things pure.

Who are the pure but the redeemed? Believing.

A weak conscience signifies defilement.

1 Corinthians 8:7
Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.

Can we eat all things in purity? Without a weak conscience?

I ran into a group that wouldn't even go to a wedding because it was between a believer and an unbeliever...

They had weak consciences' concerning sin in another person's life.

They felt their attendance would show approval to sin...while I argued that they should attend to pray for the faith of the believer not to fail.

Tedious for sure.

http://www.jumbojoke.com/000232.html

On the First Day of Thanksgiving...
We give thanks for the fresh turkey feast and its hot trimmings.

On the Second Day of Thanksgiving...
We bless the cold turkey sandwiches, sloshy cranberry sauce, and hard rolls.

On the Third Day of Thanksgiving...
We praise the turkey pie and vintage mixed veggies.

On the Fourth Day of Thanksgiving...
We thank the pilgrims for not serving bison that first time, or we'd be celebrating Thanksgiving until April.

On the Fifth Day of Thanksgiving...
We gobble up cubed bird casserole and pray for a glimpse of a naked turkey carcass.

On the Sixth Day of Thanksgiving...
We show gratitude (sort of) to the creative cook who slings cashews at the turkey and calls it Oriental.

On the Seventh Day of Thanksgiving...
We forgive our forefathers and pass the turkey-nugget pizza.

On the Eighth Day of Thanksgiving...
The word "vegetarian" keeps popping into our heads.

On the Ninth Day of Thanksgiving...
We check our hair to make sure we're not beginning to sprout feathers.

On the Tenth Day of Thanksgiving...
We hope that the wing meat kabobs catch fire under the broiler.

On the Eleventh Day of Thanksgiving...
We smile over the creamed gizzard because the thigh bones are in sight.

On the Twelfth Day of Thanksgiving...
We apologize for running out of turkey leftovers -- but everybody cheers.

Shalom is a peace from God. It is a special peace that men can not create. It is a gift from God.

Shalom this Thanksgiving. I thank and praise God for this very special God given peace.

Isaiah 51:3  For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

You can buy your poop moose at- http://www.poopmoose.com/ . It is deemed the coolest gift on the planet.

The reason I am so enamored is a simple little candy I love called Peanut Butter Balls. Also know as Moose Droppings.

I have to make these every holiday and they are so simple.

I usually use chocolate almond bark with a spoonful of Crisco in place of the melted chocolate but either way they are fab! I do end up with more melted chocolate than needed in this recipe as the peanut butter for me makes about 40 balls. I aways dip pretzels or ritz crackers in the left over chocolate.



Peanut Butter Balls (aka Moose Droppings)

1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups chocolate -- wafers melted in a
double boiler (available at most bulk
food stores) (2 to 3)

1. Mix the first four ingredients together well.
2. Shape into 1 inch balls.
3. Dip balls into melted chocolate and place on waxed paper lined cookie sheet to set.
4. *I find the balls easier to dip when they are frozen or at least cold.
5. I make the balls one day, pop them in the freezer and take them out a few at a time to dip-- this keeps them from being too soft to dip.
6. *If you can't find dipping wafers, substitute semi-sweet chocolate chips melted with 1/3 grated parowax (yes, parowax is edible!).


Per serving: 290 Calories (kcal); 20g Total Fat; (55% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 32g Carbohydrate; 2mg Cholesterol; 45mg Sodium
Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 4 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates

My significant other, not happy with my mood swings, bought me a mood ring the other day so he would be able to monitor my moods. When I'm in a good mood, it turns green. When I'm in a bad mood, it leaves a big red mark on his forehead. Maybe next time he'll buy me diamonds.

I am so glad there is no violence in my home through Christ.

The above joke, while funny in a way, is really not funny.

It is all too true that physical and emotional violence occur within the very structures that are suppose to be safe havens.

Lawyer's Funeral

A man is at his lawyer's funeral and and is surprised by the turnout for this one man. He turns to the people around him. "Why are you all at this man's funeral?"

A man turns towards him and says, "We're all clients."

"And you ALL came to pay your respects? How touching."

"No, we came to make sure he was dead."

It is so strange how you can be totally over something. Totally living simply in the present (which is a goal of mine).. and something someone in the present will say or do wil bring back a flood of memories of an abusive past.

I hate the past. I strive to move out of the past.

It does happen less frequently as healing is obtained but will it ever totally stop?

No longer living in abuse, Praise God, I now know there are places of peace.

There were times I didn't know this. I was caught in some sort of time warp where misery abounds.

The Lord freed me from that place so why does the devil keep trying to drag me back in?

I know this evil will not prevail. The gates of hell will not prevail.

I thank God for this moment and this moment at this time is all there is.

The future is out there...but it is future and the past is dead. I will no longer visit the empty grave.

To adapt "normally". How does one define "normal"?

I loved the comic Frankenstein movie where Egor goes and steals a brain for Frankenstein from some lab somewhere.

When Gene Wilder asks him where he got the brain because Frankenstien is acting violent, Egor says..

Oh from some jar with the name...AbbyNormal.

Link

Static versus Dynamic (Emergent) Cultures
Consensus versus Conflictual Cultures

Some cultures are more cohesive, coherent, rigid and well-bounded and constrained. As a result, they will maintain an unchanging nature and be static. They discourage anything which could unbalance them or perturb their equilibrium and homeostasis. These cultures encourage consensus-building, teamwork, togetherness and we-ness, mass experiences, social sanctions and social regulation, structured socialization, peer loyalty, belonging, homogeneity, identity formation through allegiance to a group. These cultures employ numerous self-preservation mechanisms and strict hierarchy, obedience, discipline, discrimination (by sex, by race, above all, by age and familial affiliation).

Other cultures seem more "ruffled", "arbitrary", or disturbed. They are pluralistic, heterogeneous and torn. These are the dynamic (or, fashionably, the emergent) cultures. They encourage conflict as the main arbiter in the social and economic spheres ("the invisible hand of the market" or the American "checks and balances"), contractual and transactional relationships, partisanship, utilitarianism, heterogeneity, self fulfilment, fluidity of the social structures, democracy.

Exogenic-Extrinsic Meaning Cultures
Versus Endogenic-Intrinsic Meaning Cultures

Some cultures derive their sense of meaning, of direction and of the resulting wish-fulfillment by referring to frameworks which are outside them or bigger than them. They derive meaning only through incorporation or reference.

The encompassing framework could be God, History, the Nation, a Calling or a Mission, a larger Social Structure, a Doctrine, an Ideology, or a Value or Belief System, an Enemy, a Friend, the Future – anything qualifies which is bigger and outside the meaning-seeking culture.

Other cultures derive their sense of meaning, of direction and of the resulting wish fulfilment by referring to themselves – and to themselves only. It is not that these cultures ignore the past – they just do not re-live it. It is not that they do not possess a Values or a Belief System or even an ideology – it is that they are open to the possibility of altering it.

While in the first type of cultures, Man is meaningless were it not for the outside systems which endow him with meaning – in the latter the outside systems are meaningless were it not for Man who endows them with meaning.

Virtually Revolutionary Cultures
Versus Structurally-Paradigmatically Revolutionary Cultures

All cultures – no matter how inert and conservative – evolve through the differential phases.

These phases are transitory and, therefore, revolutionary in nature.

Still, there are two types of revolution:

The Virtual Revolution is a change (sometimes, radical) of the structure – while the content is mostly preserved. It is very much like changing the hardware without changing any of the software in a computer.

The other kind of revolution is more profound. It usually involves the transformation or metamorphosis of both structure and content. In other cases, the structures remain intact – but they are hollowed out, their previous content replaced by new one. This is a change of paradigm (superbly described by the late Thomas Kuhn in his masterpiece: "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions").

The Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome Differentiating Factor

As a result of all the above, cultures react with shock either to change or to its absence.

A taxonomy of cultures can be established along these lines:

Those cultures which regard change as a trauma – and those who traumatically react to the absence of change, to paralysis and stagnation.

This is true in every sphere of life: the economic, the social, in the arts, the sciences.

Neurotic Adaptive versus Normally Adaptive Cultures

This is the dividing line:

Some cultures feed off fear and trauma. To adapt, they developed neuroses. Other cultures feed off hope and love – they have adapted normally.

This Thankgiving I will be the host with about 20 guests...
I say about.. because can you really call a 3 month old baby a guest?

I really do love doing the Thanksgiving thing.

I do it every year with different results as some family members rotate between in-laws and my husband and I.

I have compiled my list of thanks since it is mandatory this time of year.

I am Thankful..

That I finally learned to tolerate sweet potatoes.
That I'll be too busy with clean up for any Day After Thanksgiving shopping.
That some Thanksgivings are overcast so dirty windows aren't as noticeable.
That someone else kills the turkey and I only have to cook it.
That I remembered to wash the dust from my holiday wine glasses.
That the luminary paper bags lining my walkway don't catch on fire.
That the topiary I made from florist foam, toothpicks and fresh fruit stays in one piece.
That the pumpkin from Halloween isn't too molded to decorate with (if I turn the face to the wall)
That Thanksgiving is only once a year and....
That Martha Stewart is not one of my Thanksgiving guests.

All those that believe in psychokinesis raise my hand.

Images of Steven King's "Carrie" race through my head.

I wonder sometimes how much power humans have over other humans. Can someone's ill will toward another cause harmful things to happen in the other person's life without obvious manipulation?

There are people who claim to be able to teach others this procedure also called PK. PK Training
Teaching this through gambling tables in LA and even listing exercises to practice at home.

It is funny... But before I had ever come upon these exercise on the web or read of them in any fashion, I have used some of these techniques for inner peace in times past. Making lists and tearing them up or meditation of body funtions for healing or strength.

I had however never tried to impose my own thought patterns upon others.

I feel some manner of repulsion thinking there could be others sitting at a gaming table in LA across from me using these teachings to try and manipulate me. That is if I ever went to LA to gamble (which I don't).

There are scripture warning of evil imaginations against others.

Zechariah 7:10  And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
Zechariah 8:17  And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
Psalms 38:12 They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.
Proverbs 12:20   Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is joy.
Psalms 140:2  Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.

The strivings of my own heart is not to pray curses or imagine evil in others..but blessings and goodness.

With the Lord's help I know it is accomplished ( all without PK).

THOUGHT VIRUSES CONTAGIOUS!

What prevents Wise Thinking? by-MARK WILLIAM NORTH

Thought Viruses.

A Though Virus is a "thought criteria structure" that is contagious and produces inaccurate conclusions.

I have found these thought viruses among humans and suggest that they are major contributors to the collective ignorance of humans. They introduce errors in thinking that prevent solutions being looked for, found, and applied.

Lemming Virus - Effects deciding behaviors based on what everyone else does, says.

Ancestral Virus - Effects deciding behaviors based on how it is always done.

Mercury Virus - Effects judgments of credibility based on the credentials of the messenger instead of the accuracy of the message.

Professor Virus - Effects judgments of practical application ability based on academic grades within the same topic.

Jury Virus - Effects how problems are evaluated by claiming that all problems are caused on purpose and by an individual or group that wants to cause the problem for some kind of profit.

Me Virus - Effects what a person does thinks and feels based on what they have always done thought or felt. This one is a personal extension of the ancestral virus.

Me Part Virus - When a person claims that they have a bad (this or that body part) and uses that proclamation to maintain not healing themselves and not doing activities that involve using that part. Excuses may include that they were told by a “doctor” that they would never do certain things again, Sometimes after money making butchery.

Holy Virus - A very cancerous and primitive virus that effects judgment based on savage mythology that life is only a choice between heaven and hell for eternity and has no other purpose at all.

There are many more that interfere with wisdom. If you think of any more please tell me about them so that I can include them to develop thought vaccines that will be effective.

---

Now that is a refreshing way of looking at things.
The Holy Virus really gets me.
Life purpose-a choice between heaven or hell. I do believe the purpose of life is for learning so I suppose I haven't been infected. I hope this virus is not computer contagious.

Are some Dogs really rodents?

My goodness... When I was a kid our beloved Chihuahua, Pee Wee , was actually a large rat?

I will never believe it.

Some doggy humour- How is a dog like a man?
answer - Both are suspicious of the postman.


Actually comparing humans to dogs is probably not very nice.

I have a dog that is smarter than your average dog...Or rat.

Here she is laying on our front porch seat.

Queen

Queen was a stray that followed my husband and I, 30 miles, to find us.

We own a camp site about an hour from our home on a local lake. We only go there weekly through the summer and even less than that through the winter months.

Queen strayed around our camper one day looking pitiful.

She was so thin she looked like she was near death.

Hubby being an animal lover began to feed her scraps.

She did begin to look a little healthier from that point on. This went on about 6 months or more. The thing was since we only went there weekly, we were wondering what she did through the week.

One week she wasn't there. We yelled and looked, yet no Queen. We figured the pound picked her up or else someone else began to feed her. Two weeks went by and still no Queen.

Coming back home that second week I was following hubby as we had separate vehicles.

Suddenly from upon a hill about 5 miles from our home came running Queen chasing his truck. If I hadn't been following him we probably would not have seen her. I flagged him down and we took her home with us.

It amazes me that she went all that way without knowing where she was going. She had never been to our home yet here she was on the very road we travel back and forth chasing us down that near our home.

I would say that was smarter than your average dog...Or maybe even person.

Just take your Garage!

My younger sister and her husband live on a local lake.

They own a boathouse that they had docked at a nearby marina.
The marina has decided they are no longer going to house boathouses and put in new boat lifts.

So...they had to move the boathouse to their own cove. My husband and I took our boat to help any way we could. It took us 4 hours to slowly pull the thing (trading off to allow some rest time for each of us) to their cove.

I got some pic's and this one is really pretty with the trees all colored. It was overcast and looked like rain all day.

While we were poking up the lake some guy in a bassboat stopped and said...
"Wow, when it looks like rain you guys just bring your garage!"

Overweight America is Hooked on Sugar

by Eric Margolis
NEW YORK -- Refined sugar is the world's most popular and widely used drug. (Webster's Dictionary defines a drug as a "chemical substance used to alter the state of body or mind.")

Read more...

Overweight America is Hooked on Sugar -
by Eric Margolis

---

Americans are overweight. The average person in the USA is on the heavy side. Who would ever think of sugar as a drug?

I stay pretty active through the summer but the winter months I need help.

I have taken to journaling for my winter weight relief.When I feel a few pounds starting to accumulate I journal for a couple of weeks to get it back down.

Journaling consists of writing down everything you place in your mouth. You keep consistent records of all the food you eat and the calories you take in. You try and keep your calorie intake within a limit. I put my journaling limit at 1200 calories a day.

I will journal one week and eat normal three weeks, or journal two weeks and eat normal one, according to the way my body feels, ECT.

If this doesn't work you can always get out the old weight watcher cards.

To find out which weight watcher card you most resemble follow the link below.


You are Fluffy Mackerel Pudding!! You somehow
manage to combine seafood and dessert into your
wonderfully fluffy world. We should all be as
tolerant of New Taste Sensations. And of
big-yolked eggs.


What Weight Watchers recipe card from 1974 are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Peace

Full Story Here

Even Arafat's critics acknowledged his death was "a significant moment in Palestinian history," as President Bush (news - web sites) put it. Bush, who had accused Arafat of blocking peace with Israel, expressed condolences to the Palestinian people.


"We hope that the future will bring peace and the fulfillment of their aspirations for an independent, democratic Palestine that is at peace with its neighbors," added Bush, the first U.S. president to publicly call for an independent Palestinian state.

---

A free state at peace with its neighbors. A sign of Christianity is an abundant peace.

Too often there is violence in situations that are "called" Christian. Abuse in Christian homes or churches between the very ones claiming peace. Much like the verse that says..peace, peace, when there is none.

Consider the peace within the manger of Christ's birth.

---

"And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"
(Luke 2:7-14 ESV)

I have been in both situations. Violent before salvation and peaceful afterward. I praise God for the knowledge He has allowed me through both situations.

The Wall Street Journal has named the top 50 women in business.

I wandered close to get a peek and I was surprised in just a second. Number 3?

A chairman ( or woman?) at Avon products. Avon...Who would have thought ...Not me.

1. Carly Fiorina - Chief Executive, Hewlett-Packard
2. Margaret C. Whitman - Chief Executive, eBay
3. Andrea Jung - Chairman, Avon Products


I've got nothing against Avon products.

I did buy some hair spray from Avon once that gave me an allergic reaction. My eyes swelled and turned red about an hour after using the stuff and it took me a month of using it before I could figure out what was causing it.

When I get to thinking about Avon however ..I think of little women carrying around suitcases filled with smelly samples and old retired aftershave containers.

I love to flea market and there are some people who make their living selling old retired Avon aftershave bottles.They come in bird shapes of pheasant, old west shapes of wagons, 60 and 70 shapes of cars or boats.

I believe I may have an old wagon bottle packed away in my attic.

I may go dig for it a little later.

Little Ditty by Me

I want to climb mountains. I want to ride seas.
I want to smell blossoms and sip on green tea.

My mom always told me..
my wants couldn't kill.

So here I sit typing...and typing...until?

Someday..

I'll climb mountains..Someday I'll ride seas..
Someday I'll quit typing and sip on green tea.