Wednesday’s Word: Proverbs (Facebook)

Is it wise  to write whatever you think on Facebook?  Are there some things that simply should not be said, “liked” or joined on Facebook?

1. Happy are the Facebook people who guard what they say on their status and happy are those who read it.
2. Wise is the person who keeps political comments to a minimum and maintains humility in all they write.
3. Very wise is the person who refrains from logging onto Facebook when angry or depressed. Wiser still, is that person when they call a wise, trusted and truthful friend.
4. Happy and joyful are all readers, friends and stalkers when Facebook is a place of encouragement and thankful hearts.
5. Honorable is the person who carefully selects their “likes” on Facebook, while another dishonors many by clicking “likes” that offend many.

Perhaps you can design a few Facebook proverbs of your own!

Find What You Like, and DO IT!

I got back home late last night from a tiring but fun weekend. I went with 2 friends to Myrtle Beach to run a race. I had a great time! I ran a good race, ate great food, wonderful conversation and sat by the ocean with the sun on my face and palm trees swaying in the breeze. As I started my work week, I thought,” It is important to do what you like to do sometimes”. We all have the obligations that require a big chunk of our time. Whether it is clean the house, take children to sports events, cook dinner, wash clothes, blah, blah, blah. But I think it is just as important, to take a few moments to do what makes you happy. Running a race might not sounds fun to some people but your “me time” could be walking along a trail, hiking, browsing through a bookstore, shopping with friends, eating lunch outside, napping! The possibilities are endless, the only thing holding you back is YOU! So remember, next time you are bogged down with work, chores and obligations, find a few moments to take time to do what YOU want to do. Life is too precious to be busy and frantic. Take time to be happy!

One for guys and moustaches….and girls, that is…..

Movember, no that is not a typo but Movember is a month where guys (and unfortunately some of us gals) grow moustaches!  Here’s the hair of the piece -

Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1st  clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month.  The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for cancers that affect men.  Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days!  Finally, something for men and NO they will not turn it pink but hmmmmmm, the idea?

So in honor of Movember, one of Forsyth Women’s writers is attempting the ‘stache.  You can support his cause by following this email,

“I’ll try to keep this short. Basically, I am going to not shave the area above my upper lip next month, and it’s going to look really bad. I promise to shave it off on Thanksgiving, because if I don’t my beautiful girlfriend Jenni will not allow me to visit her in Arizona or eat turkey, or mashed potatoes or cornbread or gravy.

Here is the run down:

Unfortunately, I am not very talented in the art of facial hair (like my coworker Mr. Jerry) and I don’t particularly grow a nice mustache. My idea is that you will donate money and if I raise enough, maybe you won’t have to look at the abomination that I am attempting to grow under my nose, anymore. So, I apologize ahead of time should you have to witness my future facial features.”
 
For more information on Mark’s team, or even to read some blog entries and race reports, check out:
http://www.kindhumansports.com/.
 
If you want to donate some money to Movember andMark’s sad excuse for a mustache, his individual page is located here: http://us.movember.com/mospace/630394/

We’ve had so much pink over October, may be kinda fun to see the guys sporting some new hair!  Think about giving to Movember!!

Wednesday’s Word: Marriage

To whom do you need to say thanks?  Be specific.  Today, my husband Tim and I celebrate 31 years of marriage and life is sweet.  Life is not perfect, life is not always easy, we disagree, we make mistakes but – life is sweet.  Today, I want to pause and say “thank you” to Tim: 

1. Thank you for being the person you are.  You are a godly man and a man worthy of your daughters’ respect, as well as mine.
2. Thank you for being honorable and wise – I have such great respect for your personal integrity.
3. Thank you for being a man of great strength – especially when I felt weak.
4. Thank you for being able to say, “I’m sorry,” and “thank-you.”
5. Thank you for working hard and providing for our family.
6. Thank you for the little things you do, like stopping at Lowes Food and picking up fresh flowers for me regularly.
7. Thank you for praying for our family and me over the years.
8. Thank you for staying with me – even when I have acted like a hideous, hormonal crazy woman in my younger years and a menopausal maniac in the later years.
9. Thank you for still telling me I am beautiful.  (But you really do need to have your eyes checked!)
10. Thank you for going with me to marriage enrichment events over the years, reading books on marriage, and actually applying the principles you learn.  (Love Dare and the Five Love Languages)
11. Thank you for supporting and encouraging me in adventures.
12. Thank you for making me feel treasured and cherished over the years.  You are a blessing to me and I am so grateful that our daughters have chosen men like their dad.

There is so much more I could write about my husband, but I will spare you all the details. Today, let me encourage you to say thank-you to someone and be specific.  Take it one step further, and publically comment on this blog!

 Chains do not hold a marriage together.
It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads
which sew people together through the years.
(Simone Signoret)

Garlic, It’s Not Just For Vampires Anymore!

As Halloween creeps closer and closer, it is hard not to keep those fall sicknesses away. Don’t you wish you could just throw some garlic around your neck and they would just disappear? Well it is almost that easy. Garlic is not just for warding off vampires, it can be very beneficial as a home remedy! Don’t believe me? Read below:
• Use garlic juice to help ease an earache. The garlic has antibiotic characteristics and helps ease the pain.
• Garlic has been known to help clear acne. Rub the affected areas with raw garlic, several times a day.
• Garlic can help a nagging cough. Just place a quartered garlic clove in 2 cups of water. Slower simmer, skim and sip the broth.
• Eating garlic at the first sign or a cold or cough to help lessen the symptoms and garlic can also help bronchitis by loosening mucus.
• You can make garlic oil by crushing a clove of garlic and adding oil to it. Let it stand for a half an hour and then rub on your feet. This also helps athlete’s feet as well!
Who knew garlic could be so beneficial? Adding it to your soups and salads over the fall and winter months might help you ward off some of those colds and coughs. Not to mention a few vampires!
Got any great uses for garlic?

Menopause The Musical!

I had the priviledge of attending Menopause The Musical last night in the company of good friends of Forsyth Woman/Forsyth Family!  Now prior to the musical at a delicious dinner at The Old Fourth Street Filling Station, I mentioned, “I’m still a little too young for this, I wonder if I’ll understand it.”

Boy did I not only understand it, but laughed the whole way through!  Menopause the Musical is hilarious fun about the “changes” women go through when hitting Menopause.  There are all my zen magazines that explain about this being a natural part of life, that we just become one with the wiseness that comes with age, that we just smile our way through it.  These women told it LIKE IT IS, and in such a funny way!  They took familiar songs like “Chain of Fools” and reworked it to “Change of Life”  they talked about Hot Flashes, about mood swings and this humble blogger hates to admit it, I could RELATE to various parts of this!  An hour and a half show felt like 15 minutes with the girlfriends as we laughed and clapped, and laughed at such a funny take on such a normal change of life!

My favorite part of the show was watching older women, laugh—the sheer joy as they hooted and hollared with their girlfriends when listening to the song “My Best Friend” sung to, well, you’ll have to go to the show to find out!  Oh, and when one of the few males in the audience went into one of the song!  Too funny!

Menopause the Musical runs through tonight!  If you don’t have plans with your girlfriends and want a good time – get tickets and go see the show!  You’ll laugh until you cry, or until the hot flash comes along!

Wednesday’s Word: Horror!

Have you experienced horror on the highway? Yesterday I experienced total and complete horror underneath a mountain in West Virginia. I get a little claustrophobic driving through mountain tunnels, but yesterday I was horrified out of my mind as I looked into my rear-view mirror and saw a large red truck driving at a rapid speed.  It seemed logical to me, that a person might slow down as they entered a tight, dark tunnel but this trucker thought it was time to gain speed!

The trucker did maintain a “safe distance” of twelve inches behind my vehicle the entire length of the tunnel. What was the matter with him didn’t he know that I was someone’s mother?  Below are a few thoughts I had as I tried to calm myself down:

  • No, that is not like the big red truck you see in horror movies . . .
  • No, this isn’t like the tunnel that Lady Diana died in . . .
  • No, this tunnel isn’t swaying . . .
  • No, the walls aren’t caving in . . .
  • Remember breathe . . .
  • Is that a bright light I’m going towards? (Daylight-Yeah!)

I did survive and watched the red truck swing around me at an evening higher speed and I thought, “I would like to” . . . . Well, let us just say I would like to grab that trucker and put him into “Nightmare on My Street!”

How do you define H O R R O R on the Highways?  Do you have any effective stress reducing techniques that you use on long trips? I might mention the three cows running in the emergency lane along side I-77 did not bother me at all!

Warning:  If a child appears at my door, dressed as a big red truck this Halloween, I cannot be held responsible for my actions, but definitely -  NO CANDY FOR THEM!

My Memories of Jack

20 days and counting and then the streets will be cluttered with ghouls, ghosts, bats, pumpkins and a couple cute princesses here and there!! So what do you love about Halloween? It is one of my favorite holidays and I am not really sure why! Maybe it is the change of the season, of maybe it is the chance to dress up and be whatever you want to be or maybe it is the candy! One thing I know that I love is the pumpkin carving. I can remember carving jack-o-lanterns with my father. We always would pick out the pumpkin together, whether it was at the pumpkin patch or the grocery store. Then we would take it home and make a master design. This was long before the days of pre-cut designs! We would all have to agree on a face and then the real fun began. My dad would make such a big production of cutting into the top, like he was a brain surgeon. We then got the fun of scooping out all of the guts and separating the pumpkin seeds! I loved roasting the seeds with seasoned salt and a little garlic salt!!! Yum. We would then light our pumpkin and stand back and admire our beautiful, scary, ghoulish, funny or silly Jack-O-Lantern!! I keep these memories going with my own child. I see it as a way to remember my childhood and help her create memories to share as she gets older!
So what do you like about Halloween?

Wednesday’s Word: Blessing

Last Friday morning I received a Facebook Message, “Good morning, Mrs. Goodman! Will you and Mr. Goodman be home today around the noon hour? I’d like to give you a call if I could. ”

This message was from a young man who has been dating our daughter for a little more than a year – hmmmm, wonder what he wanted? Unfortunately I had to message back that “Mr. Goodman” would not be available until around 6 pm. So he messaged back that he would call around 7:00 pm. (Poor guy, it was going to be a long day for him.)

The phone rang promptly at 7:00 p.m. The young man began with a little small talk and then moved quickly to the point of his call. He told us that he loved our daughter very much and was calling to ask our blessing on their future marriage.

When did this honorable tradition return? The tradition of asking for parents blessing before proposing is such an honorable tradition and we were delighted to give our blessing to this young man.

What do you think about this returning tradition? It’s one thing to give permission for a young man to marry our daughter and it’s another thing to “bless it.” What does it mean for parents to bless their child’s marriage?  If you have children how could or how do you bless them?

Previous Wednesday’s Words

Hope       God     Encouragement    Arrogance      Desidarata 

      Priorities       Gratitude         Devotion     Neighbor      Service      

Peace         Rest        Veggies (Twisted Salsa Recipe)      B R E A T H E

A Festive Fall Drink for these Autumn Days!

There is that cool crisp feeling in the air. And there is no better time than to enjoy a warm spiced beverage to enjoy the leaves and the change in the seasons. Here below is a great recipe to share with friends or by yourself as you wrap up in a blanket!

Ingredients
• 5 cups apple cider or apple juice
• 5 cups cranberry juice
• 1-1/2 cups guava juice or mango nectar
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• Honey (optional

Directions
1. In a 4-quart Dutch oven combine apple cider, cranberry juice, guava juice, lime juice, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. If desired, sweeten to taste with honey.
2. To serve, pour into mugs. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
More fall drink recipes can be found at Better Homes and Gardens website.