People around the world are celebrating the holidays. I wish no matter where you are that your holidays are full of joy, love, and hope.
If you have others to celebrate with remember to always treasure them and the time you have together.
If you are alone, please know I am thinking of you and wishing you happiness. You are important and do matter. Even if no one is around you, all you have to do is reach out and I am here with many others to remind you how truly amazing you are.
The spirit of Christmas is about giving, about being kind, and about thinking more about others than yourself. Why do we as a civilization need a holiday to remind us to do that?
I love all of the holiday lights. These lights are celebrating more than just Christmas, they are celebrating life. I especially love seeing the lights and hearing the music because it adds energy to the lights. Christmas trees are evergreen further adding to the message of celebrating life because unlike other trees that lose their leaves over the fall and winter, pines do not lose their needles.
What would life be like if we were the people we are at Christmas all year long? How many others could experience acts of kindness? How man people could be helped with year-long generosity? How much would even our daily commute to work be improved because drivers thought of others instead of themselves?
Why do we need a holiday season to remind us to be kind, generous, and thoughtful? It’s really not hard. Give someone a kind word does not cost us anything but a few seconds. When driving to work, allow other commuters to merge. If you see a stranger at work, or while shopping, or walking along the street, say good morning or good afternoon with a smile. You don’t know what kind of day they are having.
Men have their man-caves with the big screen television, bar with a small refrigerator and maybe a pool table or video game console. Women need a space too. It’s a space to do crafts, read, or just take a couple of minutes away from the chaos of our lives.
When deciding about how big of a she-shed you need, you have to figure out first what is going to be the main purpose of the structure. I am helping my husband build a she-shed for his sister and so far we have the floor down and the walls up. When I asked about windows, he said she didn’t want any windows because they would just be blocked with shelves. Windows are important for many reasons.
First, they let in natural light. We live in the south where the heat inside a structure that is not air-conditioned can reach 140 degrees — that is hot enough to melt candles and many other light-weight plastics. Windows would allow a cross-breeze and perhaps keep heat down a little.
If you plan on spending any time in the structure, depending on where you live, you may want to have access to heat and/or air. Also, I recommend getting a small solar panel so it can be self-sufficient. I found one on Amazon for about $193 (solar panels). They may be enough for a light and maybe a computer.
Some companies offer a kit — but I recommend finding someone who is handy – because you will get more bang for your buck. Also, always check with your local and state zoning requirements. Some areas require a building permit. If you are in a Home Owner’s Association – make sure you check with them and get permission.
Here is a link to some she-sheds for inspiration: She-Sheds
I live in Florida where the weather is generally nice enough to allow children to play outside to help reduce some of their energy. But, what do you do when they are off of school and it’s raining? My husband and I were going to take our grandchildren to Busch Gardens today but the weather is not cooperating. We made gingerbread cookie dough yesterday which went well but I don’t want to roll out the dough until after dinner which is when their parents will be home and we can make it an entire family activity.
What are the options available to keep the kids busy and semi-productive without just having them play on their electronics? That is the question many young parents face. Yes, there is life outside of youtube and video games. Before you start commenting that youtube is educational and so are some video games – Yes, I agree. However, children need to learn to be productive and efficient without so much reliance on electronics.
Option 1: playing with toys – Our grandchildren have an assortment of toys to play with including a kitchen set, barbie dolls, legos and toy cars. They must also learn how to play nicely together. And yes, some days are better than others. However, learning to play together also teaches them conflict management, negotiation, and general better communication skills.
Option 2: playing a board game — We have several board games and this is on our schedule for today. Uno is a great game because it will help the 4-year old be better at recognizing numbers. Unfortunately, both children are very competitive and want to always win so we have to handle any temper tantrums as they occur.
Option 3: Dress them for the inclement weather with rain boots and let them go outside and play in the muddy puddles. This is also on our agenda for today — but later when it is support to warm up to about the 60s. I’m also hoping for a break in the heavy rain. Yes, they are going to get dirty and yes, they are going to get wet. That is why when they are done, they both get warm showers and fresh clothes.
The bottom line is that children have a lot of energy. If you allow them an opportunity to expand some of that energy, you will be much more successful in keeping at least some of your sanity. What are some of your strategies for keeping children content on rainy or inclement days?
I wanted to make gingerbread dough with one of my young grandchildren. She is 4-years old and wants to do everything. The secret I found is in the preparation. While she was at school, I collected and measured all of the ingredients – I recommend the recipe in this youtube video. I have made it a couple of times now and it has been delicious each time — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCduKbOlHKI
Once I had all of the ingredients measured out in small containers, I set everything aside to get to room temperature. About an hour later when I got home from picking up her and her sister from school, she was excited to hear that we were going to make gingerbread dough. I took medium sized mixing bowls – In the first bowl, I had her pour in the the spices and mix it up with a fort. Then she poured in the flour and mixed that up. in the other bowl, I mixed the butter and brown sugar. When I was smooth, she poured the cracked egg that I had in a small container. I used the mixer and mixed it. A spatula is helpful for scraping the bowl and making sure all of the ingredients get mixed. She was in charge of holding the spatula – I told her it was like holding a queen’s scepter. She then asked where her crown was.
Next, I had her pour in the molasses which I then mixed, scraped and handed it back to her. I found you must remind a 4-year old there was no licking of the scepter. Next, she poured in the dry items that I then mixed and scraped.
The last step is to spread out 2 pieces of plastic wrap on the table. She then helped me spoon out the dough onto each piece and wrap each one up. Now it sits in the refrigerator until tomorrow when we will roll it out and make mickey mouse gingerbread cookies. Happy Baking!!
It’s been a few days since I posted a blog and I am playing catch up. I have found you have to really be well organized and be a master of multi-tasking to juggle working, going to school and maintaining a blog. Today’s topic is the movie “The Sound of Music” from 1965. I watched it over the weekend and found several things that would not hold up in today’s society.
Let’s get rid of the elephant in the room first — those outfits that the kids had to wear — really?? That was almost painful to see teenagers where what looked like belonged only on an infant with that blue and white cow-print??? And, making the kids conform and wear the same outfit — not in public, they wouldn’t.
How does the behavior then relate to now?
It is kind of sad to think that movies like this which made you appreciate what you have are disappearing and being replaced with romantic comedies, adventure, and thrillers.
I write this as a still beginner blogger. I am stumbling through the trials and tribulations of daily blogging. Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot to say, but I need to focus on one topic at a time. I started this journey as a way to build readership for my book — well, my views on my book are almost nothing, but my blog posts seem to be holding steady around a dozen or so. Yes, I know this is sad.
I read somewhere about making money freelancing so I do what I do best and that is research the internet for where to start. I found two sites – one I had to pay for, so I won’t mention it because I did not sign up for that one – at least not yet. I am still considering this site, because, they don’t take a portion of what you charge — it is a flat fee.
Another site, called upwork doesn’t charge the upfront fee. The downfall of upwork is that they do collect 20% of all of your earnings through their site. However, I was overwhelmed by how many opportunities were available. The site is also super easy to navigate.
As I was going through and sending proposals on jobs that I could, I realized by the little blog is going to help me land one or more of those paying jobs. It looks like pay ranges depending on complexity and word count, but even $20 is more than what I get paid on my personal blog site.
I would love to know if anyone has experience with this site or other freelance sites – comment below.
Since I’ve written this, I’ve found a few other helpful places for fellow freelance writers. Facebook as several groups – just do a search for Freelance and request to join the groups that come up. During this search, I found a company called Uvocorp.com – when I tried to register, I received a message that they were already full for the day and to try again tomorrow.
I have received a couple of decent jobs on Upwork but that 20% really takes a chunk out of it. But, I am not paying to use it, so that is the fee for use. I am hoping that other similar sites become available which will help to drive the rate down a little.
Other sites I have found but have not checked yet are:
Update – January 2, 2019: I signed up for Writers.Work at a cost of $47 – Not sure if it was worth the money. I’ve had it for about 2 weeks but have not found any jobs yet with it. So far, I recommend to new writers to start their own blog site to use for your portfolio and then sign up for the various freelance writing groups on Linkedin. And check Indeed every day for freelance work. Although Upwork takes 20%, I have found opportunities on there that I have not found anywhere else. You have to be very selective about proposals you send you – and be willing to do the crap jobs to build your reputation.
Today’s blog is a little different than others I have written because it is observation based and not on any cold hard facts that can be proven. My belief is that the price that consumers pay at the pump is directly tied to consumer confidence and spending.
I noticed that gasoline was $2.19 per gallon today when I went to pick up my granddaughters from school. Last night, it was $209 per gallon. It is interesting to note that the Dow Jones plunged yesterday 800 points for an end year overall loss of 2%.
Approximately 8 years ago, consumers in the United States were seeing $5.00 a gallon at the pump and there was a marked decrease in big ticket purchases including cars, homes. Last year and this year, prices at the pump are staying under $2.50 per gallon and we see new construction of homes, retail stores are active as are new car dealerships.
Consumer behavior in the United States is very much tied to what we pay at the pump unlike in other countries where consumers pay over $10 a gallon.
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A trending topic I found today had to due to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and how in the cartoon, he is bullied by the other reindeer. When did we turn into a society where we no longer see a story’s hero battle adversity to save the day; but instead concerned that children will see that Rudolph got bullied and the other reindeer did not get into trouble?
When I thought about how many cartoons I have watched that had bullying in them, I was amazed. Some right off the top of my head include:
These are just a few that I could think of quickly — and in each movie, the characters learn a lesson and then live happily ever after. Why can’t we as humans focus more on the positive or better yet, just enjoy the movie for what it is – entertainment.
AFA Books 