Frankly, I do love the candies and desserts that come with this holiday, but I do like something different. A pumpkin bundt cake means something different to many folks. To me a pumpkin Bundt Cake speaks of pumpkin and the great spices, white raisins, nuts, chocolate chips and a wonderful cream cheese frosting covered with pecans!
So, tomorrow, we’ll be handing out chocolate to the trick or treaters, sitting by a fire pit and enjoying some Pumpkin Bundt Cake!
Life is supposed to be interesting and my daughters certainly love to do curious things. Sometimes they are a bit too ‘interesting’ for their mother… but I do see much of their mother in them. Laura is a professor who loves what she does and, by her example, our daughters have had the academic experience of both sitting in the seats and at the lectern. They both have masters degrees and have the genuine thirst that comes with life long learners.
Kristin is competent and professional, but her appearance has generated a few comments from friends and family with the moniker “Combat Engineer Barbie.” She just tactfully smiles when she hears it.
Kristin has finished her second tour of Iraq, the first coming at the original invasion in 2003. We have had some glimpses into her life as we all are ‘friends’ on facebook and Kristin has been nice enough to share some of her everyday life with us. Her Army future seems to be planned out for the next few years… and I hear, that teaching for a while at her alma mater West Point may be in the works. With Kristin soon to be on the east coast near Karen, I suspect that they will continue their travel adventures together as Kristin has leave.
Not a lot of folks make their own jams and jellies anymore… and this is too bad because the homemade stuff is well worth the little time, effort and practice to make it right.
Blueberry jam isn’t exactly on the top of most shoppers lists, but it should be as it is wonderfully delicious and as my daughter Karla informs me,”Blueberries are very healthy too.” ( That is, if you ignore the large amount of sugar that goes into the process)
The basic recipes are easy and they come with any package of Sure-Jel or equivalent ( this is pectin which adds the body to the mixture). You might consider adding a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice and a bit more sugar… but it is a very nice set of simple recipes.
In the meantime, Karla is happy to have some Blueberry Jam in the house.
Relationships like raising children are best when both share the same view
I seldom agree withDear Abby, and this is again one of those occasions that I definitely don’t agree. Women who dispense advice tend to try to smooth over family relationships, bind difficult people to the community standards (theirs) and ignore the obvious. Today was just one of those occasions.
Dear Abby was taking to task a father who was pointedly and ‘cruelly’ warning his wife that their son could very easily take after HER brother and fall into a tragic life. To be fair, neither Dear Abby , nor I, have all the facts… but I think I can sort through the ambiguity and make a guess as to what is really going on.
Relationships, like child rearing, are best done by parents who agree on virtually everything. Science is showing that the more similar a couple is … the greater their chance of compatibility and sustainability. Similar personalities is — to me — clearly one of the key factors to mutual happiness. How we view the world, our individual beliefs, our personal values and our unique political perspectives , when similar, can in a relationship help facilitate a lasting bond of love and friendship…. and as those core values, beliefs and perspectives become disparate, then it can be a recipe for disaster for both the relationship and in trying to raise successful and happy children.
Let me guess about Dear Abby’s couple. The man is probably what we might consider traditional … while the mother is permissive with a ‘hands off’ child rearing philosophy. She probably advocates : 1) that the child explore the world with no discipline or consequences, 2) using words instead of fists, 3) experimenting and gaining friendships with a wide range of interesting people and 4) undertaking activities with the minimum of supervision or structure. Let’s just say, he feels quite differently. The mother was probably also raised in a fairly unstructured and permissive environment, which may explain why her brother likely had the opportunity to discover a troubling path through new and interesting friends.
I do have some sympathy for the mother, she probably really doesn’t understand what is wrong. She is raising her child as her mother raised her… and her brother. Since both she and her brother turned out differently, she is more likely to attribute the difference to ‘luck.’ Therefore, if a child turns out ‘well’ , it is merely chance or luck… but, she is sadly wrong. It goes with out saying, if you allow the village to raise your child, don’t be surprised to end up with the village idiot. Because, it is the involvement of parents that makes all the difference in the outcomes of children… even though the journey can be fraught with many more challenges than the permissive parent… it is the positive outcome for our children — after all — that we are striving.
So, my dear traditional male friends, my advice is to find someone just like you, someone who shares your values… if you do, you will have a better chance to be happy and proud of how your children grow to become fine adults. Remember , my friends, bimbos seldom make happy relationships or good mothers.
Our family is fascinated with technology of all kinds. We have interacted through a variety of technology that is amazing in its evolution!
Personally, I have never used an alias either for email or for internet games… it never struck me as very ‘honest’… it doesn’t pass — as Karen says — the transparency test. However, I have learned there are plenty of ‘innocent’ alter egos on the game sites and on one of our favorite hangouts… FACEBOOK.
I was playing an on-line game on FACEBOOK called Mafia Wars and had my head handed to me by one of the more experienced players. He must have taken pity on me as he gave me a couple of ‘hot’ weapons and some ‘advice.’ First thing I need to do was to open a second Facebook identity and let this ‘alias’ do many fund raising tasks for me. So I thought I’d give it a try and … sure enough it is working wonderfully….
So, I chose an alias. As a young child growing up, I enjoyed the various heroic stories of the magnificent Spartans. King Leonidas met the Persians at about my age… no spring chicken … and I thought I would tip my hat to him by adopting his famous name. I noticed an interesting phenomenon in this game among young male gamers who adopt the picture of what they might call a ‘babe.’ WHY? Well, part of the strategy is to build a powerful mafia family and honey attracts bees.
Anyway, there is no real deception as to who I am on the game as I am ‘fully disclosed’… but it is an interesting study in how people act in on-line games.
